LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Post's Auckland correspondent telegraphs:— Local importers state that there is quite a scarcity in certain lines of imports in daily use. Glass, oils, and ■white lead ars amongst the articles that are gradually becoming scarcer, and sheet and corrugated irons are now practically unprocurable. Corrugated'iron, sold before the war at about £18 a ton, cannot be bought now for £80. Substitutes for this iron as a roofing material are also greatly advanced in price, and are nov so satisfactory a«.the material they displace. Tiles, for instance, came here through Marseilles, an^i were brought over generally by slow-sailing vessels. Now they do not come at all. Wire of all grades and kinds has been banned as an export from -Britain. A large importer of ironmongery states that peopl» do plot realise the position. They apply for certain quantities of goods, and we give them, perhaps a. quarter of their order. They are Onnbyed. The position is not brought home to them, and it is past the time when it' should* be made clear that there are no stocks of any materials coming, and what now lies in hand is being steadily and surely dispersed. Sir Joseph Ward on his return from the Old Country eaid he would not be surprised if everything except foodstuffs was barred ac exports from Britain. This seems to be quite true. We have very little in hand now, and stocks are going to get lower and lower, till they are at a very low ebb indeed, and they ■will stay low for a long time after the war.

The Mayor of Petone,' Mr. J. W. M'Ewan, presided yesterday at the local Grand Theatre Concert Hall over the monthly meeting of wives and mothers of soldiers at the front. There^ was a large attendance, and an interesting programme of music and recitations w.as rendered by Miesee Davis, Cotton, Drummond, Hutchinson, and E. M'Whirter, Mesdames Smith (2), Wallis, J. Piper, Jones, and Mr. Chamberlain. Addresses were given by Beys. A. M'Bean, H. T. Stealey, and A. B. Todd. It is intended to arrange for "a special Christmas treat for the children.

In connection with the recent sale of unclaimed goods by the Harbour Board, a correspondent is curious as to how some of the lots, with well-known names and marks, ■ -were not delivered to their owners. There could be no doubt, he says, as to who the owners were, and in that'statement he is perfectly correct. However, the position is this: Through somebody's neglect or oversight, tha goods have been allowed, to remain in storage until the ■wharfage and. other dues claimed "by the Harbour Board have mounted to such an extent that they have exceeded the Value of the goods. Obviously, under those circumstances, it would not pay a firm to fake delivery^ Instead, the periodical clearing sale is awaited, and the goods are then very oEten purchased, at the, lowest price possible, by >bhe owners.'.

A mean theft was described in the Magistrate's Court to-day, when a young Native named Walter Hector Tainui was charged with stealing a moonstone necklet valued at £7 10s. Chief-Detec-tive Boddam stated that the defendant had beeD employed in the Public Trust Office for two years, and the owner of the necklet was also employed in the same office. The young lady placod the necklet in a safe, and it was found there and taken by_ the accused. The latter had not previously been in trouble. On accused's behalf, Mr. P. W. Jackson entered a plea of guilty, and admitted that the theft was a 1 mean one. Tainui had been tempted, however, and had committed the offence on the spur of the moment. Mr. S. E. M'Carthy, S.M., said that unless some' check was placed.. on these offences men like accused would think they had a right to commit them. A fine of £5, with the alternative of one month's imprisonment, was imposed.

A somewhat serious erosioc of the bank of the Hutt Biver has been taking place forsome time at Gear Island, and a disagreement as to its cause has arisen between the engineer of the Gear Company, Mr. Lodder, ..and the Hutt River Board's overseer. The lattery states that the erosion is caused by the action of the southerly winds on the water, while Mr. Lodder blames the board's protective works. , The overseer reported that the Gear Company had requested the board to do certain work which he estimated would cost £100. Last evening the board decided that as the proposed work would not be of benefit to the river it could not see its way to carry it out.

"University 'Life in America" was the subject of an address delivered fit Victoria University College last night by Professor Clarke, M.Sc, Ph.D., formerly of Harvard University. Many of his remarks concerned Harvard, and in relating some of the queer customs of the students he caused considerable interest and much laughter. At one university students who failed to put in sufficient attendances at chapel were required to write an essay upon some Biblical subject chosen by the president. As the, essay was subject to review "by the Professor of English, it had to be carefully prepared.! The universities in general were open to women, but at one Wesleyan College it was almost a tradition that the men should make an annual protest against having women in the college No woman was allowed in the College Campus at Princeton, and if one ventured upon it she would be solemnly escorted off by as many men students as could be,gathered. Professor Clarke had something to say about baseball, which he described as the predominating sport of the universities. Sensational headings. about a basebalj match often displaced, on the front page of the newspapers, important headlines regarding the war.

Steady progress is being made with the construction of the sea-wall at Oriental Bay, and one can now obtain a fair idea of the appearance that will be presented when the wall and parade are completed. The wall is in the form of two curves, roughly following the line of the bay, and joined in, a semi-circular' space, where a band rotunda will be erected. The whole of the-western wall has been formed, and a portion of the, eastern to a point jusfc beyond Grass-street. The space between the wall and the. roadway is now being filled in with spoil, but it will probably be .some time before the construction of the parade is commenced. Concrete work upon the wall has been suspended in the meantime, in view of the labour being required for more urgent works, but once the labour is available the remaining stretch of wall should be completed quickly. The wall has an overhanging edge,' so as to prevent the roadway being drenched with spray. In various places there remain little corners of beacli where children congregate as in former years. The construction of the wall, and the filling-in of the intervening space, has increased the width of the loadway, so that it is now a fine thoroughfare with ample space for the duplication of the tramway if this is ultimately deemed necessary.

The Minister of Defence, replying to a question by Mr. A. S. Malcolmn, state* that ahould a vacancy occur at any time on the War Pensions Board, ho will be pleased to give consideration to {he appointment of a returned soldier to fill the position.

"The Medical Board does not differentiate between volunteer and ballot m«n. All men are treated alike; in.'fact, the board does not know whether the manbeing examined is a ballot man or at volunteer." —Statement by Sir James Allen in reply to a question by Mr. Payne. ■

"Several ex-regular sergeants-major now serving as assistant instructors in the training camps 1, have repeatedly applied for permission to be allowed to proceed to the front, but the applications have-been refused," states- Sir James Allen. "A few First Division- men have been allowed to go, as it was considered they should be given preference in this respect. These instructors are extremely difficult to replace, and it is considered that-their services are even more valuable in the training camps than at the front."

Mr. G. E. Butler, formerly of Wellington,^son of Mr. Joseph Butler, resident here, has had two pictures in this year's Royal | Academy Exhibition. One, "The Supreme Sacrifice," shows the interior of a rained church sopewhere in the war area, which is giving shelter to wounded soldiers. The light falls upon a crucifix against a pillar. Wounded and c!y|ng_ soldiers lyirig in the straw look up with confidence into the face of Christ, and appear to be irradiated by whai they see and understand. The other picture, called "Blood and Iron,"-shows Christ ministering to a dying mother with her children around her, while the Kaiser rides by, scornfully gazing on the King of Kings, and beckoned on by a shadowy sable-garbed figure. All around is the ruin of war, and in the distance smoke and flame. Both pictures are remarkable for their religious feeling and the vivid imagination of the artist. Only half-tone reproductions of them have been received in Wellington so far.-

Mr. E. P. Bunny, on behalf of the Hutt River Board, has pointed out to the Minister of Internal * Affairs an anomaly in the Hutt River Board Bill, which has been Before the House of Representatives. The object of the Bill is to place in the hands of a commission the duty of dealing with rivers which the commission may consider are beii)g neglected by the boards which control them- Mr.,- Bunny pointed out that the reason why boards did not carry out work's was want of funds owing to inability, under the exisiting law, to borrow money from Government Departments. The Bill proposes to.give the commission power to so barrow, and Mr. Bunny Stated that it would be better to, in,the first place, give the boards the borrowing power required. It was also mentioned that it was unfair that districts that had neglectful boards should be, through the commission, granted power to borrow from the Government, while boards which were attending to their business were refused the privilege. Mr. Bunny stated to the Minister tha<j the advantages of borrowing powers were to be seen in the Hutt River district; where, after , spending £40,000 of loan money, the land valuation had increased by one million pounds.

A further letter, dated 15th May, has been received from. Flight-Lieut. Hugh' Hamilton, of, Nelson, a prisoner in Germany. He states (says the Colonist) that he has had another move, and at the time of writing was at Magdeburg, this being the fifth hospital of which he has been an inmate. He says that his right arm had so far recovered that the bandages were taken off, his face was practically all right, and it was expected I that in" another three, weeks or a month the skin would have grown over the burnt ilcsh on the left arm. When he had recovered he expected to be shifted to an. officers' prison camp. He repeats that he is allowed to write one letter only each fortnight, arid, -as he has to make provissign by letter for his needs to be met_by parcels from England, this restriction prevents him: from writing as regularly to his relatives as he would wish... He also states that, exclusive of bread and biscuits,'. most of the parcels came' through a committee set up by the Government, and the allowance per man was three 101b parcels in each fortnight.. In addition to that relatives or friends ,were permitted to forward articles to an aggregate weight of' 221b per month, exclusive of apparel and "smokes." Incidentally Lieutenant Hamilton gives a few additional particulars of his descent from the height of 9000 ft in a naming 'plane. He says that a bullet perforated the petrol tank and the spirit took fire. He got from his seat on to one of the "wires, and, reaching over, was ab]# to manage the aircraft. When anroaching the ground he was frightened to make a landing, as the machine was so much on fire that he thought it would collapse under the shock, and bury his gunner and himself under the burning debris. He therefore stalled" the machine, and called on his gunner to drop off, and then himself dropped to earth, both of them escaping without further injury.

The 42nd Company (Kilbirnie) Senior Cadets met a,t the "Charlie's Aunt Social Hall, on Tuesday last, to tender a Teception to their 0.C., Lieutenant A. C Richards, and a farewell to then Company Sergeant-Major C. Ibbottson, who is proceeding to camp. Lieutenant Richards went to Samoa, and. then to Egypt and Gallipoli with tfte 4th Reinforcements, and was -wounded. The chair was occupied by Lieutenant Nimmo, and 1 the company stood to attention, for one minute, as a mark of respect to the falien. Among those presen-V were Lieutenant 3. Thompson and Staff SergeantMajor J. King, who addressed the company. Sergeant-Major lbbottson was presented with a leather waistcoat and a clasp-Knife, and musical items wire contributed by Messrs. Norman Aitken, V. M'Kenzie, R. Oswin, and W. Crawford.

The Mercantile Gazette reports registration of the following new company : Harold W. Brown and Co., Ltd. Registered private company, Wellington. Capital: £26,000, into 26,000 shares of £1 each. Subscribers : WellingtonHarold W. Brown 25,000, Eva Brown 1000. Objects : To acquire as a SoinS concern the business of Harold W. Brown and Co., wine and spirit merchants, etc. ■