LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 15, 17 January 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It is intended to bring into operation as from the Ist of April an arrangement under which the staff of the Post and Telegraph Department will be paid fortnightly instead of monthly, as hitherto lias been the custom.

The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) has received the following cable message from the High Commissioner in London:—"With reference to your telegram of 9th January, fixing of retail prices applies equally to New Zealand and Argentine meat. .'Maximum wholesale prices have been fixed for all meats, difference being made' between home-killed and imported. Irrefpective of maximum wholesale prices, retail prices must be based on actual wholesale cost, retailers being limited to profit of 2|d per pound or 20 per cent., whichever is less. "'

"Thrift" writes as follows to The Post:—"One of-your correspondents recently drew attention to the waste of cocksfoot grass-seed along the railway lines. Another matter worth mentioning, and well worthy of attention by our city fathers and the Efficiency Board, is the unnecessary wast* of the luxurious growth of good,. clean grass now being cut in the various, reserves, and being burnt or placed on rubbish dumps. very little,trouble, and practicably no increase in cost of handling, tKe better quality of grass could surely be turned into hay, and thus help to reduce the municipal outiay -on fodder for the corporation's, large team of horses."

Anniversary Day (Tuesday next),' usually associated as a day of meeting amongst the pioneers, is not to have its usual gathering under the auspices of the Early Settlers-'- Association.- -At a committee meeting last evening, presided over by Mr. J. E. Jenkinson, it was decided, in view of the war and co much- bereavement amongst most of tjie pioneers' families, to defer the. celebration. An endeavour., will, however, be made for a garden party, or some kind of gathering, before the fine weather comes to an end, and the president promised to make enquiries .and report to a meeting of the committee a fortnight hence. Very general regret was expressed that the hoif. secretary (Mr. \V. E. Edwards) was unable to be present owing to illness.

At' Saturday's sitting of the Military Service Board at Hawera, the military representative (Capt. Walker) emphasised that reservists who appealed on the ground that, they were in tho wrong class 1 of the Second Division should produce both their""mjrriago certificates and the certificates of birth of their children in order to satisfy the board of the correctness of their statements. The Chairman {Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M.) endorsed the. remarks of Capt. Walker, and said the board had to be thoroughly satisfied that an appellant, who appealed on the ground that he was in the, Second Division, was married. Second Division resei'yists should therefore be particularly careful to bring proof of their marriage before the board.

A conference of- representatives of county councils north of Auckland is to be held to consider the difficulty of collecting rates on Native lands and urge .the Government to open up waste areas belonging to the Crown and the Maoris.

A reception will be given to-night in the Palace Theatre, Petone, to the returned soldiers of the district. SpeecKes are expected to be given by the Eight Hon. W. F. the Hon. T. M. Wilford, and the Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan). .

The. Greymouth..Star :says that a gazetted military deserter, from Trentham Camp, named Daniel Hayes, was arrested at Dehuiston, where he had been working in the mine.. He was despatched to Greymouth to bs handed over to the military authorities. '

The amount of work which ha« been performed by the. New Zealand Dental Oorps'iri the training camps in New Zea-' land during the year ended 30th November last is revealed in figures which, have just been computed. These show that during the period the total work performed was as follows:—Total-- fillings, 79.759 ;.. scaling. Extensive, 1125.;. scajing. simple, 5425-; extractions, 28,424; full dentures, 4694 ; partial dentures, 6188 ; repair, 1268. The figures given afe exclueive of sundry operations and dressings performed in the camps, and also of work outside the camps performed for recruits by civilian dentists.

When in. Dunedin last, week the Prime Minister mentioned to a deputation from the. ptago Expansion League and the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce" that a' dearth of labour, and a decrease in the number of prisoners were responsible for the curtailment of afforestation in different parts of the Dominion. But a great deal of- afforestation had yet to be done". There had been planted up to date no fewer, than 30,000,000 trees. It was the' intention of the Government, Mr. Massey .said,' to sat up a Forestry Department,." and he could assure the deputation that the Minister in charge would be xery enthusiastic. It is proposed to employ 3000 men in connection with the work of the Lands Department after the war.

A man > named Frederick William Schlutev appeared, before Mr. S. 'E. ■M'Carthy, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court this morning on a double charge of changing his name without permission, and changing his place of abode without giving notification to the military, authorities. Defendant, who is. a. married man, said that he^came up from the South Island and changed his name to Wells in order to avoid the German name "Schluter." He had no intention of avoiding.his responsibilities, for sincecoming to Wellington he had enrolled and enlisted as " Wells." The 1 Magistrate said, he was satisfied there had been, no attempt to evade service in the changing of the name, but on the charge of failing to notify this change Schluter was fined £5; with. the.option, of, .a month's, hard labour.

C.apt. C. E. W. Bean, the Australian war correspondent, writes : The" Scotsman is, I think, the most unrelenting fighter that- I have come across. The Australian is the most severe fighter in battle, but he is quite ready to make friends afterwards with his enemy. Once he has taken a German prisoner he is 'apt to treat him more liberally than most troops—more so, I think, than the English soldier—and that is saying a. great deal. To the Scotsman, when Jie escorted those prisoners home, those prisoners are German: atill. He has never, forgotteri ;the tremendous losses which the Scottish regiments suffered at the beginning of the war. He does not feel kindly towards the, man who inflicted them.. With the Australian, once the fight is^over, the bitterness is left behind. The Scotsman makes prisoners, but he does not make friends.. :•- '.■■■■.-, ■■■ ■-.

"The Soldiers' Club in ■Russellsquare has been an enormous benefit lo' New Zealand eoldiers on .leave," writes Mr. I. W. Raymond, Chairman of the New Zealand War. Contingent Association, London, to Mr. L. 0. H. Tripp, of Wellington; "It is always full, and accommodation often, has to be foundkputside. Thei'e is a good reason for its popularity: it is splendidly 'conducted. and economically run; the food supply is of the best and fully SO per cent, cheaper in value than what can be obtained anywhere else. The staff of cooks and waitresses is entirely voluntary, and With one or two exceptions wholly New_ Zealanders. This fact"'alone exercises a. great'influence for-good and 'helps to make the" club a centre of-attraction to the boys who are anxious to get into touch with womenkind who .knpw.about them and their country; </ Concerts and dances are.held, at this club as frequent-, ly as possible. I think' everything is being done that reasonably can be done. 1 am-satisfied that-the members of tlie association and their band of helpers wo'iild only" irritale'ah'd~anii6y"the" boys if they tried to push themselves too much infb'their-life during.their short holiday., That cases arise where some member of the forces has discredited;.himself is a. rare occurrence, btit ( --when it doesoccur it is one of those'events that one could almost say is remarkable because it. does'not occur any more frequently.""

A slander case in which 1 the parties ;were two well-known farmers in the, district occiisio'ned' some ■ interest at 'the Upper Hutt Court yesterday. The trouble' arose on 20th October, 1917, at the Wallaceville Ilailreay, Station,. where, the fanners were unloading their milk. Thi plaintiff was E. Whiteman, and the defendant John Geange. It was alleged that defendant made use of the* following • words, which were construed by plaintiff as an accusation of.theft: "You had better, bring thpse i milk cans back that_. you've got over there. You've got my cans in the vallay. That's no good to me. ['11 give you two days to bring-them bade or -H-l-mako trouble for you ; " Plaintiffclaimed the sum of £150 by way of damages. '■ Witnesses for the prosecution stated 'thai the accusation was repeated several times, and both parties became heated in their remarks. Mr. T. S. Weston_, for the .defendant, asked the Bench, which was occupied by .Mr. S.- E. M'C-arthy, S.M., to rule that there was no case to answer. The words,, he said, did not contain an allegation of thoft, and wore not so meant, but merely indicated that plaintiff had 'by mistake taken some of defendant's cans. The Bench.ruled that, taking all the circumstances into consideration, there had been an allegation of theft, though the words themselves might not bear that construction. At this stage the parties, on- the suggestion of Mr. Weston, withdrew for' a conference, and, on resuming, it was announced that a Kettlemeut hnd been ;arrived aby defendant making- the' statement that he never meant to impute theft to Whiteman; that he regretted than aiiy :such-deduction was -drawn; and that-ho ! was quite prepared to accept Whiteman's ' assurance that he.never had any of his (Geange's) cans. He'agreed to ..pay the. costs in full up to date. Mr. G. G. G. Wataon, plaintiff's solicitor, said that his j , client all through had. desired to arrive .at a settlement of the case oii the above lines, /and so long as his honesty was vindicated he did not desire and would . not have accepted monetary compensation. The Bench thereupon dismissed the case.

The Third Wellington Military Service Board had before it an application by Mrs. Clark for exemption, from service "of - Edward James Payteh, who i's managing.her mine, 6ome forty miles' out of Blenheim. It was stated that the mine ; (which. Mrs. * Clark hae Held,' for. some eigiht or nine years) is now ready to produce ;gold~ and_ echeelite, ' and thai, itwould- be a valuable asset to the country. The board was not satisfied that the mine was actually producing, and, in order to allow of.an effort, to replace Payten, leave until ,30th Aprils was; granted. •'-■;' . '

"It 1 will interest you to know that •tho: patients in. the New Zealand hospitals., fare ._ better than those in any iother that I have visited," states the' Chairman of the New Zealand War Contingent Association, London, in a letter, to Mr. L. O. H. Tripp. "The O.C.s and'-their 'stafl'3 are invariably efficient,kindly, and sympathetic. The food is good and supplied in' ample quantities, and is well cooked. I have not heard more than half a dozen complaints during_tli6-many .visits I have paid. to_ hospitals." ■ ..

At Upper Hntt Magistrate's Court yesterday, Caroline. Fraser proceeded against Hugh Telford in. a civil claim for the sum of £2Q_for damage alleged to have, been done, to her garden and' fruit trees at Trentham by the trespass of defendant's stools.-Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M., who. occupied the bench, held that the trespass had been proved, but damage couid not be claimed, as the fencewwass s not a sufficient fence : under the Act. Tlie case, was therefore dismissed. Mr. R.. H. Webb appeared for Mrs. Fraser, and lir. E. P. BunnvforMr. Telford.

Concerning the. formation of the Zealandia Kifles, ■to which -reference was madeirrc.onnection. with the death of Mr. A." JV Schulenburg, a correspondent writes.that the company was formed in 1898, principally. from the New Zealand Natives Association, Mr. C. B. Mcrison.being the first captain. It had only been in existence about three years when Captain, now Major, Corrigan assumed command.- Mr. Schulenburg had been a sergeant in the :Dunedin City Guards, and on removing to Wellington joined the Zealandia. Rifles, later becoming secretary with the rank of sergeant

"I am writing this letter in Newtowu :Park after enjoying a cup of tea, for which., the hob water was, provided free by our City Council." (writes "Grateful" to The Post). "I am wondering why-we cannot enjoy a similar privilege in the Botanical Gardens? One doean'fc want.to travel south every day, and 1 a ride to the. Gardens makes a pleasant change of locality, but at present it entails taking a dry lunch or afternoon snack. . Lots ot mothers-would appreciate some arrangement whereby they could get water for. tea-, a-nd I would suggest that Councillor Frost make, provision for same. If. too 'late in the season to make a permanent copper J ._cpuld npt..a_EQ.rtable one be used for the two or three summer months, remaining,,say near the ladies' accommodation house on the main, walk or about the fernery" :

The National Committee of the V.M..0.A. - hag- received- from i-he Governor-General and the Countess of Liverpool a communication conveying the patronage of Their Excellencies to^ed Triange Day, which is being held as an appeal--in-support.of the. .War.-Service Fund of/the V.M.C.A. 'The Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. G. W. Russell) has sent the .following letter to Mr. H. W. Kersley, chairman of the National Committee of the V.M.C.A-, New Zealand:— "I have very' much pleasure in heartily supporting the Red Triange Day. The ; association has by steady, reliable -work ■secured for itself the confidence of the people^ofr New Zealand, and I am- satisfied that it will only be necessary to announce that this further effort is about to be made to ensure a munificent response from our people; The association hat v%j fullest approval, and support, in. carrying out the proposal.—Yours faithfully. (Sgd.) G. W. Russell, Minister of.. Internal Affairs." ■ ...

The Upper Hutt Court was yesterday asked to decide the definition of a sealed package.-. It is.,now a common practice, to sell honey in cartons, the contents ot wliicH "are secured by a disc of papiermache being "sprung" into a groove which runs round the inside of the top. of the receptacle. This has been found to hold the contents securely even if the carton is placed upside down. In a number of cases the grocers receive the honey in bulk and fill the.cartons on the premisfs. Th 2 regulations under the Sale of Foods and Drugs Act, 1903, stipulate- that a'l goods sold by weight must have '; plainly marked upon the package the net weight, contents, und the manufacturer's name. At the Upper Butt Court yesterday. J. A. Hazehvood was prosecuted for not complying'with' these conditions when selling honey made up as'above stated. Mr. S. E.'M'Cnrthy, S.M., was on the bench.'; Mr. J. M. Tndhope appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. G. G. G. Watson for the defence. The facts were admitted, but the defence relied, on a clause which exempts goods made upon the vendor's premises in un.sealed, paokages for the purpq^e'df' ready sale. It was contended that Ihe carton? were.-unsealed, as ,a slight leverage. o:i the edge" of the'disc was sufficient for its removal. The prosecution held, however, that the- cartons: were always regarded ■ as. sealed, as the contents were secure. The.bench reserved its decision..

The committee of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Clubhouse Society acknowledges the following further subscriptions and .donations received since 23rd December:—V. Riddiford £.5. Bell," Gully, Bell, and Myers £5, Mrs. G. M. 'Scales £-1", -A. Gray £4, Smith and-Smith,-Ltd., £1, employees Bristol Piano Co. £1, Gerald Fitzgerald £1 10s, P. Nathan \ £o,'Mra.'Mandel £2, .P. Griffin £5. . ' A, quaint, pair that attracted attention at the Dominion bowling tournament in Dunediu, says the Sta-r, were Snell and Knox (Edgeware Glub), winners of the pairs on. Otago green. Knox is about 6ft 7in in height, while his lead confesses to'Sff 2iii. "They were a sporting pair, and played a rattling game. In the past the Upper Hutt Police Court has been noted for the number of penalties . recorded against .owners of straying stock. Recently, however, Mr. S. Ev-M!Carthy, S.M., has been making the penalties for this offence very sub-stantial,--with the'-result that the number of-cases is steadily diminishing. Yes- * tei-day there was only one offender before the Court, J. Davis, and he was fined £5 on each, of'two charges, with 14s;coista. - A flow of 80,000 gallons of water a day is being obtained from an artesian well 80Sft' deep, which has been sunk in'the Wanganm Hospital;grounds. ■. ■-- ;