LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 17, 15 October 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The report of the Cost of Living G'om'wittea will be placed before the House of' Representatives this evening. This committee, whicli has been silting sine© the early part of the session, has heard, a great deal of evidence, Mid is expected io make some recommendations as to methods of checking the riso of priccs. One recommendation Trill be the appointment of a Pood Controller. The report will be discussed by the House this evening. , A heavy Australian mail,- weighing about GO tons, thq first from the Commonwealth for over two weeks, reached Wellington yesterday morning. Another meeting of the supporters of the National Government will be held this week, perhaps on Wednesday. The War Pensions Bill has been passed by both Houses, but the new scale of separation allowances has not yet been revised iinally by Cabinet. The rates proposed will be placed before the National Caucus. The Minister of Defenoe stated when introducing the War Pensions Bill that tho now rates would be 3s. a (lay for a wife and Is. a day for a child, but members have asked for further increases, and the jnatter is to bo considered again by Cabinet before the caucus meets. The Loan Billvcontaining the authority to borrow an additional Xi,000,000 lor war purposes, over and above the .£21,000,000 already authorised this session, is not likely to make its appearance until next week. , Tha Paoific Cable Board announces that there will probably be heavy delay on all classes of United Kingdom tramc, especially on deferred cablegrams. Two boys who were riding doublebanked on a bicycle opposite Apu Crescent in Onepu Road at 2.55" yesterday afternoon collided with a tramcar. One of the boys, Basil March, aged about 12 years, had his skull badly fractured, and was taken to the Hospital. The Postmaster-General (Sir Joseph Ward) states that tho proper outer covering for tins of condensed milk dispatched to soldiers oversea is a second box of wood, metal, or strong and thick leather. But in order to enablo the postage to be kept as low as possible, the Minister will Taise no objection to light absorbent material in sufficient quantity being fastened around the tins of condensed milk by other means, on the supposition that a thick visoons. liquid such as condensed milk, if escaping into soft absorbent packing, will probably not leak so far a 6to cause damage to other packets in tho mail. This will oertamly mean the prohibition of. posting tins; of milk of the present weight at tho M. . rate of postage. But the condensed milk, being of looai nufacture, can no doubt lie put up,in smaller tins. This concession will subsist bo long as there is no occasion to raise the objection that the packing is insufficient, or so long as any other Postal administration docs not ob- ' Reorganisation of the control, of the city reserves and public gardens hsa been undertaken by the Reserves Committee, of which Councillor G. -Frost is chairman. The council has approved tho ohanges reoomemnded. Mr. G. P. Glen, Superintendent of Reserves, has been appointed Curator of the Botanical Gardens; Mr. L. Brewer, caretaker of Newtown Park, is to be overseer of all recreation' grounds, Basin Reserve excepted; Mr. B. Hill, City Forester, is to bo officer in charge of Town Belt (including the municipal golf links. Queen's Park, and Central Park), and street, plantations. The committee recommended the change as in the direction of effecting a considerable saving in cost of maintenance of the reserves and gardons. Speaking in Melbourne lost-week, the Federal Minister of Defence (Senator Pearce) said that Australia's voluntary effort had been as good as the voluntary effort of any other country, but if Great Britain had not adopted conscription the war would have boon lost and Australia with it. He supported the Prime Minister's statement that Australian troop 3 had been withdrawn because there were insufficient reinforcements. As well as recuperating, the men had to wait till reinforcements came from England to fill the gaps, and there had been times when the number of men in England who had sufficient training was dangerously near exhaustion point. Men who recovered from wounds and returned to tho fighting line (some of them two or three times) were struck off the list of casualties. Yet it was saiil in effect, "So long as such a man can stand up, let him be wounded." Senator Bakhap remarked that the recruiting situation filled him with pain, and that the time had arrived when tho people should be asked to reconsider their decision on conscription. A serious accident occurred at a Se.itoun quarry on Saturday. A young man named George Mullison was preparing a blast when the charge fired and injured him very severely about the head and face. Mullison was taken to the Hospital, where he was reported last night to bo in a grnvo, but probably not dangerous, condition. He is a single man, residing at Young's Private Hotel. Special anniversary services in connection with tho Wesley Church Sunday School were conducted yesterday. During the past year the scholars contributed over -£G0 to the home and foreign missions. The anniversary Bervices provide the only opportunity during the year when the 6chool may come to the public for financial help. Tho money given at yesterday's special service and at !..»• |f\ 'iioi'lin-: provides the income for tlir whole year. We know that a motorist, in order to enjoy peace of mind and satisfaction, must own a car which possesses all of tho essentials for comfort and convenience. If any essential is missing the loss is felt, for it entails extra labour and effort. It is these essentials that have been fully attended to in tho manufacture of the advance 1918 CHEVROLET model, "Four-Ninety," now offered by the DOMINION MOTOR VEHICT-ES, LTD., 05 Courtena.v Place. —Advt.

A representative oonferenco of the people of Natal recently passed a unanir mous vote to present as a free gift to Great Britain .£50,000 worth of maize, potatoes, and. beef, and f armers have agreed to allot acreage for growing their respective contributions. A new scheme has been initiated in Brisbane by tho Queensland State Recruiting Committee in an endeavour to secure recruits. A returned Auzac bugler sounded the call to ur utside the premises of ono of the It was advertised in the moni! .t the recruiting committee asked 0110 recruit from the bank. A lew minutes aftor tho call sounded one of the employees walked out to the recruiting sergeant and volunteered for activo service. If the demands are not met at any institution visited the premises will be again visited a week later by a patrol of Boy Scouts kettledrummors, who will play the tattoo incessantly in relays. All institutions and business places in the city, both Government and private, will be systematically canvassed. A tragio story surrounds the death of Captain L. S. Jennings, formerly a wellknown Canterbury tennis player, and, prior to his departure with the Forces, a master at tha Waitaki Byys' High School. It is said by ono of his fellow-soldiers, who liaa since returned to New Zealand, that Captain Jennings -was bringing in some 20_ German prisoners when, noticing ono limping _ along behind the rest in apparent pain and difficulty, he went back to him and asked him if he thought he could' get to the base without help. The German muttered something, unintelligibly, after which Captain Jennings had occasion to turn his back on him. The fellow instantly lifted a gun from the ground and shot the captain through tha heart. Tho soldier who related the incident said it was not long before several bayonets had pierced the treacherous foe.