LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 123, 16 February 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Yesterday's heavy and continuous downpour of rain was .extremely welcome ill many quarters. The water ill 1 the 'Morton Jam was about 17 inches below the by-wash a few days ago, and »• continuance of tho dry weai-uer for a week or two longer must havo occasioned some . little aiuiiety in municipal circles, but thanks-to yesterday's solid soaking the water, in the big reservoir ia once more ilowing over the lip of tho dam, and the situation is probably secure for the remainder of the summer season. Survey work in connection with tho proposal to tap. the Oroiigorongo Stream has been steadily proceeding during the past month.

A reservist who appealed.before the Third Wellington .-nii'itary- Service Board yesterday has a patriotic mother. She had four sons at the front, aud the appellant was her tiftli and last. Sho had written to say that she did not want him exempted. His place was at the front with the other-men. of the Empire. At 2.18 a.m. yesterday the Fire Brigade received a call to Alpha' Street to a six-roomed house owned by Messrs. Ballinger Bros., and occupied by Mr. Edward Homes. It' is-thought that the' liro was caused by a defective portable stove. ' Tlie ' building wa6 insured;-in the Phoenix Office for £300;- A leanto and contents were damaged.

"His retirement.'is not merely a'loss' to the party to which lie allied himself, but it is a loss to the.',community, though lie will continue to 6crvo the Dominion in another important sphere." Tho "farmers' Union Advocate," commenting on -the retirement of. the Hon. A. L. Berdman,

Tlio shortage of telephones was mentioned by an oflicer of tlio Post and Telegraph Department before the Third Wellington Military Service Board yesterday. Additional telephones cannot bo obtained in Wellington at tlio present time, and this has been the position practically for the last six months. The same state of affairs is being experienced in other centres! Under such conditions the rotention of maintenance experts is moro than ever important.

Albert Lamb had an unusual charge preferred against him in the Magistrate's Court yesterday by James Driyie, Corporation Inspector. lie was charged with mixing mortar in a public street. For tho defendant Mr. T. Ncavo pleaded guilty, but contended that the offenco was not a serious one. Lamb had mixed the mortar 011 the top of the step.? in Kowhai Road, I(olburn, the only \piece of flat ground available for tho purpose." Mr. J. O'Shea, city solicitor, explained that Lamb could easily have got a permit by applying to tho council. He was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence-when called upon.

An inquest was hold yesterday afternoon by Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., into the caiise of death. of Clement l'raderiek Johnston, seven years of age, who died in the Wellington Hospital shortly before 9 a.m. 011 Wednesday from hemorrhage caused by rupture of the lungs. Gilbert Frederick Johnston, a motor driver, residing at the Lower I-lutt, father of the deceased, stated that his son left. home . about 0.10 a.m. to go to town with Mr. ICilminster. Witness heard of the accident about 7 a.m. and immediately went to, Petono in his car, and brought..the! lad to the Wellington Hospital, where ne died a few minutes after admission. Arthur William ■ Kilminster, . fa.rmer, Taiia,-stated--that the lad had como .to town with, him' on; four or five previous occasions. On--Wednesday. liis two-horse brake was loaded with potatoes in bags. The boy was sitting on top of tho load in what witness considered was - a safe position. ~ When opposite the Petono railway station the horses started to trot down the incline. Witness turned "to look at another vehicle, and when ho looked back lie saw the boy slipping down. Although witness pulled in the horses at once, tho vehicle was not stopped until one pf the-back wheels passed over tho boy's body. "The road at the spot wheifl the accident occurred was fairly rough. The' Coroner returned a verdict of accidental death, being attachable to the driver of the vehicle, who had placed the deceased in what be thought was a safe position, and did all he could for the child after tho accident happened.

The .assistant-secretary of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union - (Mr. E. Kennedy) has written to the Primp Minister (Eight Hon. W. F. Mas'sey)/ asking that the maximum penalty provided by the-. Police Offences Act for Sunday trading should be increased from £1 to'£loo. In support'of"this request Mr. Kennedy quotes a letter from ; the ex-Attorney-General (Mr. Justice Herdman); -in the course of which it stated "One of the difficulties of suppressing Sunday, trading is that the maximum penalty is a- fine of only £1, and in many cases this is not likely to act as a deterrent" Mr. - Kennedy . suggests that. a .brief amendment to the law should be passed during the shoyt session of Parliament in April. The -Prime 'Minister has referred the letter to the Minister, in Charge, of the Police Department for consideration.

"The quarterly meeting of the Public Sorvice Superannuation Board was held on Thursday. Mr. J. H. Richardson presiding. Twelve 'iontributors, retired under Section 35 of the Act by reason of ago or length of service, were granted allowances totalling £1972 ss. per annum, and three contributors,, retired as medically unfit for duty, were granted allowances aggregating ■ £198' 6s. per annum, including a special allowance of £75 per annum to a police officer wh6se; .medical . unfitness was caused by injuries received whilst on duty. Eleven widows and nineteen children were granted the statutory allowances, amounting to £i4o per annum. The'hoard declined to grant allowances to throe contributors whom it was sought to have retired as medically unfit. Jn.consequence qf the retirements under Section 35 of the Act compensation to the amount of. £3911 became a liability of thi Supera'nnimtidn.jnnd^nd' a .cp,rrcspond r . ing relief to'the Consolidated Fund.

In the course of an address to the Southland Leaguo on Monday night tlio'. Defence Minister is reported to have said: "He wished tlicy could tell him when the end of the war would take place. There probably would Tie tremendous conflict not only on the Western but on the other land fronts as well, before the finish. At tlio same tinte lw sincerely hoped that' the -end would be this summer. One of his cor-respondents—-a brigadier-general on whoso judgment l~e placed , a good deal of reliance—had made 'no : mention of a possible ending until just a few mails ago. Now ho says that the war will end this summer. Ho : (Sir James) hoped that this opinion might provo true, and that the men might be hack before the close "of this year. If, however, it was not to be so, and if ho wero correct in his estimation of the land, lie knew ,that the further, necessary sacrifices would -be made/-' He would, have been only too pleased to see the Main Body liien back",'but it was not possible. All arrangements had been' "made to bring them back on furlough . when . they received advice from- the Arm'v Council that it was impracticable. ■ They.-might rest satisfied, that the - reasons were .'sufficient', when',, in Secret, conference, the had been unanimous ill falling .in: with. the Army • Council's wishes. •' lit compensation, arrangements - had been made to -give almost every man a. : furlough in England, and for some pf. the more, urgent cases of business or family affairs to oome here."

A case presenting some' unusual features came before the Supreme Court at Duncsdin (says the : "Otago £)ailv Times"). Last month a man named David Henry Hill presented a money order' for 7s. 6d. at the post office in Oamaru, and the clerk, who was lint accustomed to the work, made a singular mistake in handing to Hill the sum of £7 Cs. instead of 7s. 6d. Hill the money and walked off, without acquainting the clerk with the mistake he had Mr. Justice Sim stated the law very clearly on the matter, pointing out that if a man receives a sum of money which lie must know was paid to him in mistake, andwhich lie knew he had no right to, he was.as guilty of theft as if he bad put his hand over the counter and taken the money. When charged with the offence on Tuesday, the accused plead-ed-guilty, znd'after hearing the facts His Honour released hint on-probation for twelve months, on condition that lie refunded the money and paid the costs of the prosecution. The awkward position in which the •steward on an overseas steamer was placed ; .by the operation of military law was ventilated when Harry .J. 'Had-, away approached the First Auckland Military Service Hoard seeking exemption. Ho said he lived in Australia, and called himself a citizen of the Commonwealth. He had been compelled to register as a reservist at Wellington two years ago, and had been gazetted as a deserter while he was at sea following his occupation. His case had been brought, to the notice of the authorities. Appellant, born in London, said he came to Australia thirteen years ago; the rest of the family followed in 1910. Tlis home was in New South Wales. "Ho signed on his boat in Sydney, but as the agreement with the men on inter-colonial vessels expired' every six .months, lie had to sign on again when hi; boat arrived at a New Zealand port. He had never lived here or even slept a night on New Zealand shores. He bad not .willingly gistoi'ed in Now Zealand'because 1 he had been previously registered in Australia. The board allowed the appeal, holding that appellant 'was not a reservist of New Zealand.

No present more useful to a soldier, tlmn a* good pair of Khaki Socks, Is. Gd., 2s. Gd.,"3s. Gil., ss. Od., at Geo. Ltd., Maimers Street.—Advt.

A donation of £5 ss. lias been made by Messrs. W. and J. Staples, Ltd., to the I'oci'oation fund of' tho Fire Brigade in recognition of the smart way in which the recent outbreak of five ill the firm's boot factory in Ghuznce Street was extinguished.

"I assure you, no member of tiic staff has put me up to this stunt," declared Mr. 0. T. J. Alpers at the Technical College prize distribution in Christchurch. The "stunt" was a denunciation of the poor salaries which were paid to members of college teaching staffs. "Let me tell you," continued Mr. Alpers, "that tho heads of millinery and dressmaking departments 'in our big stores, the women under whoso direction your hats and gowns aro made, would turn up their dainty little noses at tho salaries paid to the men and women whose work is tho training of the morals and minds of tho students of the future. Tlieso meagre salaries for our educationists are a shame on onr democracy."

_ A representative meeting of the Advisory Board of tho Protestant Political Association of New Zealand, held at Wellington yesterday, unanimously carried a motion congratulating the members of the Ministers' Association of Feilding "on their public stand in defence of civil and religious freedom, and the unanimous decision of the crowded meeting to form a branch of the association." The motion also expresses deepest sympathy with the Revs. Stockwell and Miller in the attack perpetrated on them, and reaffirmed "the citizens' right of freedom, of speech on the platform and in the Press, and call upon His Majesty's Government to suppress immediately those attempts at mob rule and to provide adequate protection to all sections of the community." . Captain P. Baldwin, military representative. told tho Third Wellington Military Service Board yesterday morning that at least one bank in I'almerston North is carrying on its operations entirely with women, with the exception of a manager and one teller. , With reference to the notification in the New Zealand Gazette of January 10, 1918, regarding goods which aro prohibited ,to be imported into tho •United States, except under licence,' tho Hon., Arthur Myers . (Minister -of Customs) states for general information that in cases where sucli goods are .-required to be consigned -to an 'association no, special form of consignment is, necessary. In such cases it'will be satisfactory if bills, of-lading are "either* (a) Drawn t-o the order, of the association concerned, or (b) endorsed to'such association. ' ,

"A lady gave me the other day ... a pamphlet, a gift - from _ the clouds, which she had cauglit as it fluttered down from ail aeroplane flying over Coventry," says the "British Australasian." She w.as an Australian, and this pamphlet, to the Coventry strikers m-;tb'e 'aeroplane works not to endanger our. .aerial superiority by refusing to work, happened to have been written by a distinguished Australian, Boyd Cable. I have heard it suggested lately by a soldier and an airmail that Britain might stir up a very large amolint of extremely useful unrest among the German soldiers and people, by arranging that pamphlets, in German, telling them a hundred things about the war which their Government conceals from them, should be scat tered-generously on Germany territory over which our aeroplanes fly when on t scouting- expeditions or bombing raids. Cue man—and no pacifist either—went sg far :is to say that ho thought .we could hit Germany far harder by droppine; a ton of leaflets on Mannheim or I3erlin than by dropping a toil or bombs. I don't know about this, but propaganda from the sky should not bo neglccted."

J An extraordinary affair occurred 'in North Canterbury 011 Wednesday afternoon, a motorist being stfing into' iiiiconsciousness by-a swarm of bees. As'' a party of motoristsi.we're-ieturiiin'g to Rangiora from Ghristchurch; ( ; along'the lino road at Flaxton, th'iy- came'..upon a motor-car, the driver of which was lying on the sido of the road in a delirious condition. The disabled man was' recognised as Mr. Harnciss, rcprescn-. tative of the New Zealand Farmers' 1 Co-operative Association, Ltd., 'at Amberley. When returning home he had been attacked by a swarm of bees. Tho' occupants of the second car rendered first aid and Mr. Ilarneiss was taken to the Brocklehurst Hospital and attended by Dr. Burnett, of Rangiora. Next morning lie was reported to be making a good recovery.

■ Perseverance is' usually rewarded, and an example of this was shown by the exnerience of a partv of ladies who were dotvn at the seaside near Christchurch. Two, who went off to bathe, left their jewellery, including • a v'alur. able diamond ring, with the .third, who, unknowingly, dropped it in .tho sand and lost it. There was great, agitation when'tlie loss became, known, and a long search failed to bring the missing ring to light. Then a bright idea occurred to one of the.party ;■ a seed protector, made of fine mesh netting was borrowed- from :a nearby house, and the sand where the ring was lost carefully sifted. Tho workwas carried on for an hour and a half, but. finally the searchers'' natienoe was rewarded, and the ring-dredged'up !

■ The forthcoming conference in connection ivith the Impend purchase of slipe wool, hides,' and skins ; was discussed at, a meeting of the Auckland Industrial Association. Tlie' chairman,. Mr. S. J. Harbntt, said he considered the manufacturers 'unci; consumers should be represented at the conference, which was of a highly important nature. During the nine months nrior to tile Government requisition of hides and skins there had been no fewer than four increases in the -price of leather, and since tlie commodities bad been requisitioned prices had remained steady and manufacturers were able to make business arrangements with con-, fidence. It was decided to make representations to the Government with a view to manufacturers and consumers obtaining representation at the conference: to request the co-operation of the industrial associations in other centres in making the request: and. to call a public meeting in Auckland to discuss the matter.

Considerable feeling exists amongst Nelson niarkot-gardeners'owing to men of British blood being called np for active service while single and married Italians of military are allowed to carry on their business as. usual (says an exchange). During the past few years large numbers. of Italians have settled in Nelson, and nearly all _of thein have taken no gardening, prineinallv tomato-growing. Several British <7ardeners have been called up in the "ballots. One of those appealed at the last sitting of the- military Board, urging tliat he was engaged m an essential and Iwd considerable capital snnk in„glass houses, and, further, that lie did'n large, business in raising early tomato plant* for other gardeners. The board did not, apnoar "greatly imoressed with npnellant's view, and informed mm' that lie would have to p>, hut tnnt lie Tonln be allowed extra time before going into eamn. Following this a meeting of British market-gardeners was culled, at which a resolution was passedeiitering a most emphatic motest the svstem that compels men of British blood of military age to go to the front and leave their businesses, homes, wives, and families, while' single and married aliens of military age are allowed to carry on business as usual. The Watersiders' Band will play selections at Wilton's Bush-to-morrow at 3 p.m. Weather permitting, -.the' annual picnic of The Dominion staff'.will be tield at Muritai s?ark to-day.