LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 14, 16 January 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Owing to the indisposition of the Act. ing-Chairman of the Third Wellington Military Service Board (Mr. W. H. • Sefton Moorhouse), the sitting of the board to 'have been held to-day was adjourned until 23rd January. Efforts' are being made to hold the-sittings arranged for to-morrow and Friday.

The Telegraph Department was greatly surprised recently to-find that-the- cable newly laid across the Strait had developed a fault. On inspection, a shark's tooth was discovered embedded in the insulation. . This had caused the leak.

' Up to the present the altered conditions in the licensing trade, following upon 6 o'clock closing, have not led to the unemployment of many workers. A. Post reporter, who made enquiries of the Hotel-workers' Union, was informed that one or two hands had been dispensed with here and there, but there had not been anything in the form of a general reduction of staffs.

It is often said that the New Zealand trains are not out for speed records, and an instance of this is recorded by a wellknown settler, who states that he was a passenger by the late train to Wanganui recently (says the Wanganui Chronicle). The whole outfit consisted of about 50 trucks and carriages, and was going at such a slow pace that the guard was able to get off and run along by the side of t!he train and release the Westinghouse brake by pulling the wire on the side of the carriage, and jump on again, as if the effort were the most natural thing in the world.

Writing to a former colleague on the New Zealand Rugby Union, Lt. W. Perry, of Wellington,! states: —"Congratulations to you all on the great effort to save the Park. It will be a great monument to you all. You know how short was the spin of the great old skipper—Dave Gallaher. He was leading his section, when a shell burst about Bft in front of him. How he was not killed instantly is a miracle. He died in England, the scene o! his 1905 triumphs. 1 have been here five months, and have seen plenty of , fighting, including La Basse Ville and^ fourteen days of Passchendaele Ridge."

A few days ago Mr. William J. J. Charters, of the Taieri, aged 60, contracted blood-poisoning through a scratch on the head from a branch of a teee. On ITriday morning ho • was admitted to theDunedin Hospital, and during the evening fie died. Deceased was a son of the late Mr. Robert Charters, one of the oldest Taieri settlers, and was a. wellknown breeder of horses and cattle. He was a prominent member of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society,- the Taieri Agricultural Society, and acted on many occasions as judge at Southern shows. He was also a steward of the Dunedin Jockey Club. The deceased gentleman leaves a widow but no children.

Some discussion took place at a meeting of the Management , Committee of the Wellington Cricket Association last evening, when a telegram was received from the Canterbury Association asking if the local association had any objection to Patrick, who played for Otago a short while ago, playing for Canterbury in the match between Canterbury and Wellington, commencing next Saturday. Patrick since playing for Otago had taken up his residence in Canterbury. The local association has replied that in ite opinion the rules concerned, which state that no man should represent more than one centre in a season, should apply to the case. Since this reply another telegram lihs been received from Canterbury, expressing surprise at Wellington's answer. The committee has decided to adhere to its previous decision.

It is understood that Mr. Henare Parata, brother of the late 'Mr. C. Parata, M.P., will be a candidate for the Southern Maori district/ • ■

The Tapanui Courier states that an organised gang of Southland poachers are said to be working the Upper Pomah'aka, Waipahi, Otamita, and. other streams, dynamiting fieh in a wholesale manner. They use acetylene lamps, and work at night and in early morning.

The Post's London correspondent, writing on 13th November, says' that the' details issued by ihe National Rifle Association in connection with the 1917 Imperial Challenge Shield Competitions show that 608 teams entered for boys over 3.5 years' of age, and 361 teams in the Junior Division, representing nearly 10,000 boys. In the Senior Division Australia wins 21 prices (chiefly leading ones), Great Britain 24, New Zealand "5, Canada .4, and the West Indies 1. The Home Country has a total of 26 in the Junior Division, Canada 7, Australia 6, and South Africa 1. In the Senior competition, :the let Royal Australian Naval Brigade, No. 1 Company, Launceston, had an average score of 93.6, followed by the Ist Division Cadets, Hobart, with 92.2.

Mr. M. W. P. Lascelles, hon. commissioner for the NewvZealand V.M.C.A., has left England en route- for New Zealand (states the London correspondent of The Post, writing on 13th November), and his travels will take him through Egypt and India. At a farewell dinner in London, Mr. Lascelles was presented with a piece of plate by members of the New Zealand V.M.C.A. staff in appreciation of his services in England. "At the Shakespeare Hut, too, there was a farewell gathering attended by a large number of soldiers. After inspecting the V.M.C.A. centres in Egypt, he ■will give a series of lecturer in India, dealingVwith the V.M.C.A. work in England and France. As an interesting coincidence it may be mentioned that India was his birthplace. Mr 6. W. WE. Hughes, supervising secretary for the New Zealand V.M.C 4., crossed* to France with Mr. Lascelle*.

At the annual meeting, in London, of the Auckland Electric Tramways, thti ■chairman (Mr. 0. G. Tegetmeier) mentioned that under the New Zealand law income-tax was levied on the taxaible income of companies, and not on the individual shareholders in the companies, consequently the whole profits of the company paid income-tax on the highest scale, although a very large number of the holders of ordinary shares in the Dominion would have to pay a much lower rate on their individual incomes derived from the company. As the .company served a public need, and was limited by statute in. the price it could charge for its services, "we may, I think," said Mr. Tegetmeier, "consider with some reason that the New Zealand system presses upon our shareholders somewhat unfairly. It i« 'certainly an anomaly that a similar enterprise in New Zealand, it carried on by a municipality, Is entirely exempt from taxation."

A young woman. Miss Nellie Freeland, daughter of Capt. J. 'Freeland, of the trawler Simplon, who resides at Mountain View-road, Morningside, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital on. Saturday suffering from a scalp wound 1 and severe bruises, on the hand inflicted by an unknown assailant on Friday night. Miss Freeland had been visiting_ a friend, at.Grey Lynn, and was returning home along the' Point Chevalier-road shortly after 10 o'clock. When near the Western .Springs, states the Herald, in a rather lonely part of the road, she heard quick footsteps behind her, and the same mo* ment received a violent blow on' the head, which dazed her. She raised her hand to her head and immediately received a second blowj which fell partly on her fingers. The second blow felled her to the ground, but she did not entirely lose consciousness. 'No further attack was made, however, and. there was no attempt at "robbery. Miss Freeland states that she saw nothing of Her assailant, and, beyond hearing the footsteps before receiving the first blow, heard nothing. The wounds received by Miss Freeland ,are not considered dangerous, but the brutal nature of the attack is indicated by the fact that, in addition to the scalp wound, one of the finger-nails on the hand which received the second blow had to be removed.

In a letter to the Minister of Defence, General Godley makes the following re 1 ference to the Tunnelling Corps :—"I have lately been on a visit to the New Zealand Tunnelling Company at , the New Zealand Veterinary Hospital at Calais, the New Zealand Railways Operating Company, and the New Zealand Stationary Hospital. I found them all working well, and was much interested in the work the tunnellers did at the time of the big offensive at I did not realise before,' and I am sure you have not realised in New Zealand, what an immenße amount of work they did, and how much they contributed to the success o£ the .operations there. 1 have told Vickerman to write an account of it in a form in which it could easily bo published, and I will send it to you. It was very interesting to walk in. their tunnels and caves underneath the old town of , and to find them labelled and known, as the caves were, by the names of the . principal towns in New Zealand, linked up by passages named Princes-street, Eiccarton-avenue, Lamb-ton-quay, Queen-street, and so on. I had a very good report of the work of the Veterinary Hospital also from the Chief Veterinary Officer,'and from what I could see it appeared that the work of the hospital was very good. The corps in which the Railway Company has been working ha 3 given me a very good report) of it, and the Stationary Hospital, which is now in a new location, has got settled again, and is once more doing good work. Everything is going well with the division at present.

In a defended civil case in which Archibald C. M'Phail Sinclau', for whom Mr. T. W. Hislop appeared, claimed -fron? Jame3 "Laing, who was represented byllt. A. W. Blair, the sum of £5 7s, arising out of a dispute over a building contract, Blr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., yesterday disallowed one claim of 10s, allowed defendant to set off £1 12s, and gave judgment for plaintiff for the balance, £3 ss, including £1 8s paid into Court.

At Saturday's meeting of the Horowhenua County Council, Cr. Catley stated that starlings were proving a great nuisance to growers of fruit, and that all other birds were a bad second to them. The clerk poipted out that, despite the fact that the council was selling poisoned grain at cost price, none had been sought afterj >