LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 37, 14 February 1916, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

In a report to the Inspector-General of Hospitals (Dr. Valintine), the Auckland District Health Officer (Dr. Hughes) states that the symptoms in the cases of infantile paralysis under treatment in Auckland differ to a very large extent. In most of the cases the paralysis is in the lower limbs and arms, which are painful^on movement, with twitching convulsions. Delirious patients 'are very rare, the mind generally being clear, although some children are drowsy. The report states that a noticeable fr-aturs of the cases is the large number of patients who have been stricken down after hav-. ing paid a visit to the beaches.

A preliminary enquiry into the mishap to the steamer Regulus at Long Island was recently held at Nelson, and the evidence has' been forwarded to the Marine Department. It is evident that the vessel encountered a dense fog while bound from Wellington; to Nelson, and Captain. Vickerman considered it advisable to turn round and shelter under Long Island. Apparently the Regulus got 'too close to the island and.fouled1 a rock, suffering slight damage. It. has not yet been decided whether or not any further enquiry will be necessary.

A resident of Wellington who has been on a visit to the Riwaka and; Motueka districts states that the gathering of the1 earlier varieties of this season's hops will probably commence about the 26th inst. The picking of the main crop will, however,' not start until early next month. The crop on the whole is expected to be very satisfactory. Hopgrowers are experiencing considerable difficulty in obtaining sufficient labour to work the hops, the majority of the available young men in the district having responded to the Empire's call. Experienced hop stringers and driers are consequently a somewhat scarce 'commodity in the. Nelson district just now. On the other hand, as the great majority of hop-pickers are women, little difficulty is anticipated in obtaining the necessary labour in this direction at least,. . 7

An Auckland firm recently received a cable message, in code, which itdesired to transmit to it* Wellington office. On presenting the telegram at the Auckland Telegraph Office, however, .it was informed that inland messages containing code words could not be accepted. Writing on the subject to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, the firm suggested .that it was. absurd that a message which could be sent from Sydney to Auckland, -or vice versa, could riot also be sent from Auckland to Wellington. The explanation of the Telegraph Department on the point was that under the censorship regulations the use of code language in inland messages is prohibited, the purpose being to avoid the delay which the censoring of code language would impose on inland traffic. lii; the case of cable messages, it . wa» pointed out, censoring is unavoidable, and code language is therefore permitted. This explanation was accepted by the council of the Chamber as being satisfactory.

The Hon. G. W. Russell told a Christchurch reporter that although a large number of men desiring to leave New Zealand had been "turned down" and. refused 'passports, the number of those who obviously wished to avoid military service was diminishing and they had evidently sized up the situation and realised that they could not get away. Where men expressed a desire to leave the.Dominion to join some.branch of the Imperial force, commonly the aviation corps or motor mechanic service, the passport was issued after due enquiries to ascertain the bona fides of the case, and a condition was. imposed that all applicants should sign a sworn .declaration before a Justice of the Peace that they - would offer themselves for the branch named, and that if not accepted they would, join some other branch of the Imperial forces. They were" also required to present.themselves to the High Commissioner's office,' as a guarantee of good faith, . and a list of the men with their declarations was forwarded to the High Commissioner, who kept a record of whoever attended and what became of them in England

Milton Borough Council passed a resolution ': last' week urging the Government to pass legislation in favour of the adoption of conscription.

A sixteen-year-old boy named Frank Collett, of Aurora-street,' Ngaio, slipped:; while carrying a loaded gun at Plimmer-. ton yesterday., ' The weapon exploded;."! and the charge: entered his, right' side and hand. He was attended by Dr. Thornton, of Johnsonville, who brought. .him in to the Wellington; Hospital, "where he is getting on satisfactorily.

There was only a small attendance at the weekly route march. yesterday morning. If sufficient members do not take part'in next week's 'march there will be no regular fixtures in future, but a number of members will arrange weekly walks iri company. Yesterday the route taken was across Mount Victoria, through Kilbirnie to Lyall Bay and home. Next Sunday the route Nvili be through Polhill Gully* and Karori to Wilton's Bush and Wadestown. ■'..'■.'.'

"He would be able to pay his arrears if he were not so foolish," remarked Inspector. .Hendrey, at the- Magistrate's Court to-day, during the heading of a case against a person charged with being, in arrears on a maintenance order. "He pays 4d or,6d for,his pint of beer, 'and then pays £2 7s in fines. ' His' drinking is so expensive." "You had better do your best to keep away from drink," was the advice, of the Magistrate (Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M.) as defendant left the witness-box.

Southern papers record, that -Mr.. K. Denby, fishing riot far from the .mouth of the Rakaia River, recently landed a female quinnat salmon weighing, 2&i-lb. The fish was seen by Mr. D. Hope, who confirmed Mr. Denby's conviction that it was a-quinnat, and it is said to be a record for'weight, the second largest fish having .scaled* 18|lb. Its. extreme length was 37in, and girch 25in. There was no .little'.sport'in* landing the fish, which is the largest fish of any description caught in the Rakaia.. The impor : tant point connected "with the caicn. is that the quainnat appears to have -beep, thoroughly established -in New Zealand.

"Pater," writes to The' Post as follows: "At the request of several lady residents of South Kilbirnie, I write entering 'a 'protest against the. dumping of cases "of rotten bananas on the flat near the south end of Yule-street' and no attempt being made. either to burn or bury said decaying fruit. The smell from the cases is very unpleasant. The matter is the more serious especially at this time of the year, as children were observed playing amongst the fruit, and one mother nearly had apoplexy, when her boy brought home some of the overripe fruit. Is there no better way of getting rid of this offensive rubbish, and thus save mothers the worry of thinking of infantile paralysis, diphtheria, and the numerous other diseases we read so much about in the papers nowadays? These flats are also the dumping-place/ of other offensive rubbish, and should certainly receive more attention from those in authority, whoever they may be." '■.-.

Speaking at a social function in Christchurch on Friday night (reports the Lyttelton Times) the Hon. G. W. Russell stated that as' a member of ■ the National Government he would say /that ; they hoped to win the war by the voluntary system, but if. that means failed the Government would not shrink from any other plan necessary to safeguard the Empire. ' (Hear, hear) The Prime Minister at the beginning of the' war had said that New Zealand would spend the last shilling and send the last man if necessary. To-day the National Government upheld that promise. (Hear, hear.) Let them learn from their foes. There was much that could be leauaed from Germany. (Hear, hear.) The lesson was that, they mast perfect, .their organisation* in - education and military matters, and give to their producers the privileges given to others. He was in favour, as he had always been, of a small amount of protection and keep in the country the money that was now being spent to pay for leaden bullets* by'their-enemies.'* ;-"

When proposing the toast of the Parliament of New Zealand at- the- viceregal luncheon at Whangarei last week (reports the New Zealand Herald), Col. Steadman said-he would venture to trespass on politics, to make reference to the land which it was proposed to give returned soldiers. He did not consider its quality sufficiently good to enable the "man to make a living. In the course of his reply, Mr. Mander, M.P., said he quite agreed that the men should be well treated on their return, but all the men who returned would not be suited for farming.. They would have, to find out what the man wanted. It was proposed to give them sufficient land to carry 1000 sheep, and if a man got this he did not "Have much to complain Of. He also' held, that it was possible "_ to make a complete success of fruit-farming in the North..At Port Albert there,were men making £1000 a year from their holdings. If that could be* done at Port Albert, where the land was poor enough, it could also be done in the Whangarei district.: But it would be\ necessary for the Government to give assistance; ,He saw no., reason whatever why the.. Government should not set aside gum lands for fruit, farms. He was sure the Government would do its best for the men who returned, and every member of Parliament would help. ,

While going home at night on 17th December, Leonard Whitelaw noticed a man in a crouching position on the verandah of the house of a friend. He asked him what "he was doing there, and the man replied that he lived op the premises. After, knocking Whitelaw down, the nocturnal visitor bolted, with Whitelaw in pursuit. A capture wa3 not effected, however, but subsequently Whitelaw saw the man again, and identified him. The police then interviewed him, and found that . his name was Reuben Parker'. - At the Magistrate's Court to-day he was charged with being, a rogue and vagabond, in,that he was found by night on the .property of James M'Keon. , He was also charged with assaulting Whitelaw. Mr. J. J., M'Grath, who appeared' for defendant, explained that he had hitherto boma a good: character. Inspector Hendrey said that Parker had left his boots, cap, and a bag containing beer at the gate, and was peeping through a window, when Whitelaw, detected him.'. Several offences of the same had taken place in the vicinity" recently, although there was no evidence that Parker was connected with the other incidents. Some sharp warning should be given so that such . conduct. would cease. ' The , Magistrate fined defendant 20s for the assault, and 19s 6d witnesses' expenses, and on, the charge of being a rogue and vagabond convicted him and ordered, him to come up for sentence when called upon. ;

At its last meeting the Levia Borough Council refused the request of a petition, signed by 29 males and 22 females, to allow mixed bathing in the municipal baths. " .-.. ■ .....