LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 99, 26 April 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Among numerous messages congratulating the Mayor (Mr. J. V. Luke) upon his re-election ■ unopposed was a cablegram from the Prime Minister (Right Hon. W. F. Massey), ab present in England.

"We tire very grateful to Sir James Allen for c6mlng here to-night, after his efforts to promote industrial peace," said Colonel J. G. Hughes, D.5.0,, at the Anzac reunion in the. Town Hall last evening. "I had a rattling good battalion—of course, I thought it was the best in the division—and _ some of the best men in it 'were the miners belonging to the t 13th Wellington and _ (West Coast Company."

A' striking demonstration of. the whole-hearted loyalty of the; people;''of ■ New Zealand, to the' cause of Empire was given at the An^ac'.: Memorial Service at the Clyde-quay School yesterdayJust' before the 'service..commenced, Mr. W. I*: Foster (head master) called for every child iri the room Tvhq had father, brother, .cousin, or any relative at -the war to Taise his or her hand._ Instantly there was a , forest of waving, eager handg, and beneath the glistening eyes of ths owners, ptoud of the fact that their own. flesh and blood were .helping in the great struggle % right and freedom. . ', . '■' . ,-..''■' ' ' :'

AfterVthe results of the council elections were announced last night an impromptu gathering was held in the Mayor's room at the Town Hall. The M*yor (Mr. J. P. Lvike) proposed the toast of the successful candidates, which was honoured enthusiastically. At the; same time he expressed his personal regret that. Mr.' T. Bush had; -not been' re-elected. Mr." Luke paid a suitable tribute to the Returning Officer (Mr.J, Ames),. who has had-the distinction of returning every Mayor, of /Wellington. The officer's health was drunk with enthusiasm,. Great satisfaction was ex-, pressed by all concerned with the arrangements made : by /Mr. Ames for the smooth working of-the poll and the speedy announcement of the results :

"One boy," said Rev. A] E. Hunt in his address on "Anzac" at the Clydequay School yesterday, in describing, the, terrible hardships those who first landed on the historic shoresl of , Anzac had to withstand," "was hit no fewer than five times. He was hit three times with^ out much damage being done, and then a sniper bowled him over."'_ When he recovered himself, he was gazing'dazedly round, when a piece of shrapnel caught him, and hurled him over the cliff. AVhen next he regained consciousness he was lying in a hospital on tho shore. That boy," said Mr. Hunt quietly, "was my own Nbo-y—my only son." ■'"■:■

The "Watch Your.Step" R-evue Company lias kindly offered to give aconsjert in the streets to-morrow in aid of the Crippled- Soldiers' Hostel.

ITollov.-ing on heß,vy rains, causing floods, the electric light power was cut out in WJiangarei on Monday night. On Tuesday morning there was water to a depth of five' feet on the floor of the power station, Wairoa Falls is gradually subsiding, and should favourable conditions continue, it is expected the light will be restored at an early date.

An artificial outlet for the Tarawera River, with the object jof draining the Rangitaiki Swamp, near Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, has just beer, completed. The water was let out to sea by the new cut on Friday. It is claimed' that the result will be to effectively drain the Rangitaiki Swamp, and thus throw open for cultivation a large area of most valuable land, which has to a great extent hitherto been unused. There will now bo two ferries to cross between Wliakatane and Matata. ! Speaking _t the Anzac Reunion last evooing, Sergeant J. D. Harper, chair man, stated that the proposal to appoipt a Minister to look solely after returned soldiers' affairs was no reflection on the present Ministers. This was not meant tat all, but it wag-felt'that the time had come when the problems that would confront the country would have to bo grappled with. Some sixty to seventy thousand soldiers would return to New Zualajid, and to look after their affairs properly a Minister would be required who had nothing else; to do.

Flaxmillers in the Waikato (says the New Zealand Herald) are greatly concerned at tho restriction that has been placed by the Railway Department on the carriage of flax. It is stated that should the restriction be not lifted within a week twelve flaxmille, between Pukekohe and Huntly, will" be compelled to close down, rendering idle some 150 men. Work in connection with the erection of a butter factory at Tuakau for tihe Waikato Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd.,*-has been suspended, owing to the builders not being able to secure building material, which the Railway Department refuses to carry. ■ , A cablegram hap been received by Mr. R. R. Hunt, of Auckland, asking if 3000 tons of iron ore could be shipped from Parapa-ra, Nelson, to -England, France, or Italy, After consultation, with the Parapara Iron Ore Companies, it was found (states the New Zealand Herald) that none could be shipped)* for the reason that capital was lacking to erect the necessary plant to convey and load the ore into the vessel. It was stated that one of the companies had 2000 tons of ore available, but owing to the difficulty mentioned, and the shortage of shipping; space, nothing could be done in the matter. •

An interesting personality at present in New Zealand, is Mr. Brooms Smith, F.R.G.S., whose missionary travels in Africa have covered a vast area of territory, embracing Cape Colony, Kalakari desert, Madagascar, Congo Free State, the Slave and Gold Coasts. Nigeria and Uganda. He has translated the Bible into five languages, and. besides his work of evangelisation he has done much medical and pioneering work, and iii recognition of his travels he had the honour of, being elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Mr. Smith is at present touring Australia and New Zealand, doing deputation work. Later on he returns to Africa, and takes up a mission field in the cannibal district of Southern Nigeria.

The outstanding feature of our schoollife (says the annual report of the Eoseneath School Committee) was the opening of the side school at Hataitai on 2nd September, 1916, with an attendance roll of 108.' Scholars were admitted up to Standard 111. A little discontent was evinced by residents in close proximity to the school at the restricted admissions, but, knowing the whole of the circumstances, we have no hesitation in saying the Education Board acted in the best interests of the copmunity. However, on representation being made to the board the regulation has been relaxed, and now children who have never attended a school are admitted up to Standard IV.

Good patriotic work, is being.done by Mr. Thos," Nicholas, a Feil<jl}rfg poultry fancier. The Feilding ■ Star' states, th"at durjng tho. past; two-years Mr;- Nicholas, lias ieen sending his purebred Black Orpingtons to salej'ards up and down and across the. country, the proceeds going to various patriotic funds: In this way he has, raised £272 3s; 6d during, thel 1915-16 season for 26 birds arid seven settings of eggs. He anticipates rais^ ing over £300 for tha succeeding season.

In the course of his address < to the Court in relation to the charges against th« nine miners of Waikato and Westland (says.the, Auckland Star) Mr. V._ R, Meredith, for .the prosecution, mentioned -that four miners of, the .Blackball mine told the executive, who asked them to "go slow," that they had been; exempted from military service in Order to get; coal, and ,they were * going to get coal, and "be damned to the union.' r One of those men, counsel said,, was on the, executive of,.his' union," and- he had been- expelled from the executive of-.his union for his Sentiments and actions. "It is pleasant," continued Mr. Meredith, "in these; times to find ;there jarO amongst these miners men who hold such principles, arid; are, prepared, to stand by those principles';:.in spite, of coercion." :;. '.■:.■ : ■'■■. !.■ ■ ■

The question whether hedge-cutting is a hazardous 'employment as defined iii the Workers'' Compensation for. Acci* dents Act was involved in a. claim heard at: the Arbitration Court in Auckland this week. Arthur Morris claimed compensation from George, Miller John* ston, solicitor, stated' that while ; cutting defendant's hedge a thgrn ran.intp his left th.uinb and caused; blood,!poisoning, as ft result of which he had. been totally disabled, arid had since been unable to work. Counsel for the plaintiff f-ont-ended that the work engaged in . conies ;within the definition,' of hasMU'dous callings, ajs specified by the Act, or alternatively pomes within the' definition oj: domestic service. . Mr.. Justice Stringer decided "that'the work of, cutting a hedge could not be classed as scrub-cutting, as defined in the Act under hazardous employment; nor as a domestic service. He held that plaintiff's case did riot come within the provisions of the Act, and- gave judgment for the defendant without costs. :

The Roseneath School Committee recently decided to erect a memorial in honour of the old boys who have fallen, and the project is meeting with unanimous approval of householders. The amount in hand and promised is £75. The City Council was asked to grant a piece of road reservation between the Church of England and the school gate, and has granted the petition. A'design submitted by Mr. W. J. Helyer has been approved, and has been submitted to -the City Council for approval.

In a letter which he has received from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Mr. Rainage, of Tokomaru, Manawatu, is informed that New Zealand meat was selling at 1& 4d to Is 6d per Ib, potatoes (old) wef 2£d per lb, sugar was almost unobtainable, and butter was at such a price that only those in the best circumstances could purchase it. At the time of writing, the weather was frightfully cold, and in a dipping from a Chesterfield paper sent with the letter a description, is given of a large fire which oc-' curred during a cold snap. So intense was the frost that the building on fire, became enveloped in ico, and icicles were to bo seen a foot long and of a surprising thickneßs. Icicles ac long as 4 inches hung from the firemen, whose clothes were ac stiff aa boards—in fact, when one man took off his clothes they stood up Jike a man ! •

Further enquiries, are being made by' the Auckland police into the circumstances of the death of Perekei Kaihau, son of the 'chief Perekei Kaihau, at a pa near Waiuku. A posse of police, comprising Detective Cullen, Senior Sergeant Cowan, of .Pukekohe, Constables O'Dounell, Christiaiison, Taylqr, and Mr. W. J. King, District .Coroner, with an official interpreter, visited the pa. to exhunie the body. The father of the deceased angrily refused permission, and said that he would guarantee that there was not sa mark of violence on his son's body. "Detective Cullen then read his authority to <?isinter the body. Kaihau became very angry and told .the paEce that they would have to get rid of him before they interfered with the grave. Constable Christianson, who speaks Maori, kept Kaihau engaged while the work, of exhuming the body was carried out. An examination of the body was made by Dr. J. Ick-Hewins, who had been , instructed to follow the party, ■ and at a subsequent inquest stated that there were no marks of violence upon the body and that there was .sufficient -evidence of tuberculosis to account for death. The inquest stands adjourned.^ "Fly and Mosquito Larvicides" was the subject of an, instructive lecture delivered to the members of the Wellington Philosophical Society last evening, by Professor Kirk. Dr. C. Hector occupied the chair. Tjie lecturer gave particulars of his crusade in New Zeajand against the mosquito, anil stated that his work had been subsidised by the Department of Internal Affajr3 to the extent of 3325. The work, he eiaid, was taken up originally with the s hope that it would be. qf service to. the troops abroad, but it had been-found that the authorities at Home would be able to effectually cope with the pest, and mosquitoes had not been found very troublesome in 'the camps, but appeared to. pay a good deal of attention to the cities. He Dointed out that to kill the larvae meant, killing the mosquito. He gave a",practical demonstration of this, and went on to show hpw the use of light oil in the water where larvae was found was ■ the most effective larvicide. As regards fly larvae, he had experimented with borax,- which was strongly advised in some quarters, but had been unable to get good results. The lecturer strongly advised the utilisation of heat as an effective .method, of dealing with the larvae. For those "people having small quantities of manure for garden purposes, he prescribed .hot water. An interesting lecture, describing the principle of perpetual calendars, \yas also delivered by Professor Sommerville.

Mr. John- Castle, of Wellington South, has received a cable message from. Loiw don announcing the fact that Mr. Edward Gordon Anderson has just taken his degree in medicine. Mr. Anderson served his apprenticeship with Mr. Castlo and afterwards qualified as 1 a, pharmaceutical chemist. His parents lived in Wellington for some time, hut are now residents of Nelsoij. ' J