LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 275, 16 August 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Owing to the restrictions on travelling 011 the railways, Defence Headquarters have had to cancel the arrangements made tor the holding of an examination at District Headquarters, i'almerston North, for first, appointments to commissions in the Territorials and Senior Cadets. The cancellation affects half a dozen Wellington city candidates, but it. is intended to conduct the' examination a.s soon as the railways resume a normal service. .

"Inquiry has elicited the fact that the increase iii tram fares, which commenced on Monday last had had no appreciable effect on the traffic-, in the slack hours the loading on the city section has not been so heavy as formerly, bn.t in the rush hours it is as heavy as cvei, a little more so than the ; tramway authorities desire.

In connection with the recently-report-ed magnetic disturbances which tia.ve been affecting .the lines, it is interesting'.to note that a faint, aurora was observed by several people resident on tho heights on Monday evening. In that connection tho "Otago Daily Times" records, that on Monday.evening a very tiii'e display'of (lid Aurora Australia was discernible in the southern sky. . A. special "featurn of this show of "southern lights" was a half arch of vivid green, from which strong red rays radiated. The display lasted for Some. time.

Rather ah unusual case—that, of a railway guard charged-with-quitting' « train-in .motion—was .hoard by-Mr. E. Page! S-M., yesterday. -E. Harrison was the defendant. The police said that ho 'and. three 'other persons left, a moving train about Upper Hutt.' Harrison admitted having left the train, but said iilint linder -instructions' issued by the Department railway employees were ou duty at all-times on any station'or any train';- and ho drew thu inference that though in fact lie was on leave on tho da to in question, he w'as entitled to claim that-he was oh duty. The Magis-;-trate'iefcried to the by-law under wtui:h tho charge- was .laid, ,'aiul lie observed that, it read:' "No person shall enter or quit.a (rain while, it is in motion " He could not find that the defendant w;is on duty at the liiuc of leaving the.train. Harrison was'.in the position of any other member of tho public. A line of I'Os. and "costs was impose.'!.

| -A public indignation inciting at Pnlmerston North, last, night (says a Press I Association telegram) passed tho following resolutions: "(1) That inasmuch as ' tie.insanitary,', overcrowded condition of the .schools of. Palmerston North'constitute'a menace to the health of tho children and tho.welfaro of the community, this meeting, impeaches the educational authorities' incapacity and neglect and calls, upon the Government to take steps to provide suitable buildings and'forthwith put an end to .such a scandalous state of affairs'.. (2) That failing a de. finite and completely 'satisfactory answer from the Government by September 30 regarding tho. Campbell Street School, this' meeting recommends the School Committee to close the-school forthwith, and assures thu committee of their wholei hearted support. (3) That the Health Department be requested to send an ! officer to-'the Campbell Street School I with a view to condemning tho building. (-1) That this meeting demands that tho Government increase tho education voto to at' least, three millions in order to | make possible comprehensivo reforms to ; bring New Zealand into line with modj ern conditions.".

| Councillor Luc.kio is to move at a spei oifll. meeting of the City Council on I Tuesday: "That the council enter into | negotiations with the Education Depart- ; mont. with s, view to offering to leasa to ; the Department such portions oi -the I Town Belt as may bo suitable for the | purpose, for the eviction thereon of State schools to take the places of those at present situated in Willis Street, Tory Street, Riddiford Street, and other congested areas in the city." The' condition, of The.lma Jacltsw, the little child wiin was struck by a tramcar in Adelaide Road on Thursday, was last night reported to be improved. The projected visit of Brigadier-Gen-eral G. S. Richardson to Palnwsfon j North ami Taranald, whiSh was to have been made next, week, has heen postponed indefinitely.

Good progress is being made with the issue of slouch hats to alt thn Senior Cadets in Wellington. _ Host of the companies have been equipped, and Iho coloured puffgnrew, with hose to;:s io matoh, give the lads an exceedingly smart appearance. Owing tortile exigencies of the war it was fouu;! nicessaiy to supply the Cadets with the service caps ordinarily worn by tho Territorials!, and this was always a sore point with them. The caps wero difficult to keep in-shape, and if they chanced to be-a little on tho big side they never looked neat, henco the great dislike to wearing them evinced By the Cadets. The coloured tops to the hose are also a distinct improvement to the uniform, as they tend to relieve the monotony of the khaki.' It is expected that all the Cadets in tho city will ba supplied with slouch hats during the course of next week. The guard o? honour to His Excellency the Governor-Genera' at the opening of Parliament on August 28 will be supplied by the' Nos. 31 (Wellington City), D 9/40 (St. James), and 2fi (Newtown) Senior Cadet conipauit%. The Cadets a.ro taking a great interest iu the rehearsals for the ecreniony, and givo promise of making an excellent display. The quarterly meeting of the T'ublio Service Superannuation Fund Board was held at the board room on Thursday, Mr. J. H. Richardson, C.M.G., presiding. Twenty-six contributors retiied under section 35 of the Act. by reason of nge or length of service, ware "granted allowances totalling ,£t£.)7 per annum, and four, contributors, retired as medically unlit, were granted allowances iff a total of ,£147 per annum.. Retiring allowances wero refused in iivo cases of contributors whom it was sought, to retiro as medically unfit, !Ts tho medical reports were not. conclusive. Eleven widows and I.wenty-seve.il> children were granted the statutory allowances amounting to .£slll per annum. In conscqucrico of retirements under section 3.1 of the Act, accrued compensation in tho amount, of .tiTHI became '» liability of the superannuation fund and a corresponding relief to tho Consolidated I'und. At tho general meeting of the Wellington Returned Soldiers Association, which is to be held in tho club on ""ondny next, ut 7.311 p.m., members nP* have an opportunity of hearing the district organiser, Lieut.-Coloncl Mitchell. The majority of returned men knew (he colonel Well, and are locking forward to hearing his views on matters of innnediate importance.. Other business to be transacted will be the election of vicechairman, and also one. member of the committee. Matters of general interest, to members will also be discussed.

A correspondent wishes to know Hit avo'.age ace of a cockatoo, and what is the greatest ngt tbey have been known to live to. There is, he says, a cockatoo which has been in the possession of n Wellington family for- 4i years, and they cannot say what age it was ivlieil they acquired it. .It: appears to be still going strong. Some time ago it escaped from its cage and flew away, and the members of the family were greatly perturbed at their loss, but as one of the sons 01" the owner was passing down Tiuakori Road the ancient bird (tew from a neighbouring cluster of irees on to his shoulder, and said "Hullo i" Our correspondent would like very much In know if such longevity in coclftiloos is usual. 'The "Farmers' L'nion Advocate," commenting editorially on Mr. Massey s remarks at the laving of the foundation =tone of the new Stale Fye Insurance Building on Wednesday last, says:-".\ew Zealand is particularly fortunate in being 'a producer-of food, and though now our exports per head of population are higher I linn any other country, there is no" reason to believe I hat we cannot rise to the Jlr. "Massey lias made for an increase o'f o0 per cent. It is quite probable that if ouv produce .were placed nn the open markets of the world to-day there would'be a jump of several millions in the value of our exports for the next vear, but an increase gained bv higher prices is not what is meant; it is nn increase in quantity that is needed. The best incentive to increased quantity is', of course, high prices; but we have entered into a compact to sell our produce till June, 1920, nt fixed rates, and until that dale wo must be content to go on."

The Stale forests of Victoria recently been placed under a Forest: Commission, so as to freo them, like the railways, from political control. Mr. Owen '.lanes, nn Indian forester of ten years' service, has been appointed as chairman of the Commission. Tim present Conservator of forests, H. Mackay, is the second ' commissioner. For .the third rommissionership C. K. LaneI'oole, the Conservator of Western Australia, was at first announced, but ho has declined, and another will liaVe to bo appointed in his place. The Inst report. of the Victorian 'Forest Department slates the cost of tlio Department'and its' work as ,£OO,OOO, this figure embracing a fair proportion of works and improvements. including 2820 aere.'i of tree-plant-ing and 50 miles of new tire-lines'in the native foresl, where mosfc of the work is done. Firewood worth JCBS,IBO was sold during the year.

A German internee died recently at tho Holdsworthy Camp, New South Wales. Following precedent, an inventory was taken of his effects.with a view of forwarding them later to .his nest-of-kin. Two of the A.M.C. ticked them off. "A razor." said one. : And-so it went on, articles of little or no value being enumerated. "A bar of .soap.!' w.asi called. ".That's' no good to sell..or keep," said the other, and it was cast aside. An A.S.C." man picked it up. He added ii to his scrubbing kit. He was rubbing a floor with it industriously next day, when, lie. found he had struck a gold mine. The soup had concealed in it 25 sovereigns. - Tho next-of-kin will get. them. ■ '

A strange . and almost' ludicrous episode. wliicli" occurred nt the end of the Palestine 'campaign -was related nt Auckland by. a-New Zealand'sergeant, who returnee! by the Ulimaroa (says on exchange): At a spot" oil the Me'c<|a railway, about 20 miles south of Amman; the-Second Brigade, of Australian Light Horse- had -received the surrender of about .1000- Turks., who formed a part of-tlw enemy'.v army in. that On the railway there were .wagons of Turk: ish arms and iimmuiution, anfl'the Arabs were determined to secure (his.and other loot before it fell- into tho hands of the British, 1 .They assembled in great numbers, and. harassed, the. force so much tliat the 'fuMcs joined with tho . Australians in keeping, oil' these .tribesmen. The situation became' so. difficult: that the New Zealand Mounted. Brigade was sent to the scene to make it possible for tho Australians to take their prisoners out in safely. When the New Zealauders' arrived wirly-onc-niorniug they nTet oiltpost parties "consisting of Australians and Turks, all fully armed, coming in after night duty. "They seemed quite happy and fraternal," : said the ffi'gcant, "and it was difficult to .realise that- the. Turks lntd been' the enemy so recently. The Turks .were in a serious position. They wanted to surrender, and wanted to be protected from the Arabs. The Arabs wanted loot and anything they could get, and we, 1 suppose, -wanted everything. Tho New Zealandeis finally held the Arabs while the Australians and their prisoner comrades retired."

Tho threepenny piece, which is so useful.- in tho business transactions of the community, has evidently received attention at the. hands of the counterfeiter, as some spurious coins of this denomination are in circulation in Dunedin (says the "Otago Times"). Ono shown to a repovter was 'apparently made of _ aluminium, but it was an excellent imitation. of the genuine article, and on a superficial examination would easily be pasSsd as good.

An interesting ceremony took place at the Defence Headquarters, Dunedin, on Jloiidav, when a Militai-y Medal was formally presented to Private A. E. Miliisj of Tiniaru, the Ofiicer Commanding tho District. Colonel T. W. M'Donalil, making the presentation. The medal was to have been presented by Sir Jftnita'A'.lcn (JJinister'of Defence) on the occasion of "his last visit to Dunedin, but Private Mlllis wns unable to be present. The. recipient, left New Zealand with the Sixth Reinforcements, - and gained tho distinction during tho operations in and around Passchendaele.

A proposal to provide a war memorial for. the One-tree Hill district (Auckland) isi being considered- by the local Road Board. It has been suggested that aii. obelisk of dressed 'stone, s(lft. high', bo erected on One-tree Hill. Tho site was an ancient fighting platform at a»slightly lower altitude than tho pinnacle. >Jt v.as a level sward, 31 •varas i'.i diameter, steeply scarped on ivevy side, the scene of many bygone battles, the very ground being Steeped in the blood of fighting men, 1 warriors who fought for their hearths and homes. A 3?j«>r.ument erected there would be visible for a great distance. It was propose! ' that the obelisk should' have a polished tfi-aiiilo base, on which would lie inscribed the names of .tho dead and thiwe •.lounded. gassed, or shell-shocked. The cost could be raised by voluntary subscriptions in tho district. .The Christchurch "Sun" has the following Like that of the policeman the lot of . the Justice of the Peace is not always a happv one. according to II r. H. Holland, who presided at' tho social jiven by the Canterbury Justice of the Peace Association. Mr. Holland said he would like , to'mention a matter of interest to Justices of tho Pence. Ho hao just leccivcd a copv of tho "J.P.," published by the New* South Wales society. It contained the account of a case which showed that J.P.'s wero incurring serious personal responsibility-in presiding at the Courts. With regard "-to this particular case the association should be quite sum of. its position, and the Minister of Justice should be. asked to define the position of a .T.P. when presiding in nr. honorary capacity at "He Court. The case referred to was as follows:—A brother and sister quarrelled. 'I he brother occupied a house belonging to tho sister, lie would not nay rent so «I\o instituted proceedings. Three justices presided at the Court. Tho brother did not attend, and the sister's lawyer pressed for an order compelling him to vacate the house and to pay the arrears. That course, failing, a distress warrant: was to lie sought, and failing that commitment to prison. There was some' doubt in the minds of the iustiees as to their power In commit, but they had the assurance of the lawyer. The brothsr was arrowed and sent to prison for three and a half days. It was then found that: the iustiees had exceeded their powers. Tho man was released from prison, whereupon he claimed .ClflOO compensation for iiiiprsoiiniciil. '''he justices paiti Hi:'- sum "f CT.'i ie'o Court in full salisfaclion. Not satisfied, I lie man look the case to Hi" Supreme Court, which awarded 'i;ip the sum paid into Court. Mr. S. V.. .M'Carlhv. S.M., in explanation, sl'atwi ("ays the'"Sun") thai: when a just : ce makes a mistake in law or hi fact his decision mnv be appealed against in l,j. : |,pr iViirt. lie wes net liable to '■ie li: 1 !'--', 1 ii wionccd bv his decision, Tf lie went beyond his jurisdiction, and anyn'ie s'ul'.'itil any damage through it. then lh'' iuslice had to pay. Willi reIk Ne«- Sonlli Wales enso he •■•fvilft tilV that if Hi? Clerk of the Court had been wcrth his salt he would not K.': ihe iustiees make such a mis-