Local and General.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VIII, Issue 312, 5 December 1918, Page 4

Local and General.

St. Matthew’s choir, Hastings, will resume practice to-morrow nigh at the usual time. It is expected that the Napier Money Order office will commence business in their new building in Hastings street, next week. Sir Joseph Ward was asked in the House yesterday whether an effort would be made to have, cable charges reduced, respecting messages by relatives to soldiers at the front. Mr. Wright said that the oid charges were eighteen pence a word, but hi understood they had been increased. Sir Joseph Ward explained that he had made representations to the cable companies on the subject, and would secure a reduction as soon as possible. At a. meeting at Wellington to-day of the Federation oi the New Zea land Patriotic War Relief Societies it was resolved, regarding the repatriation of soldiers, that the Feder ation regrets the Government car not see its way to carry out the resolution of the Repatriation Boarc re capitalisation of improvemerr's It was resolved that any gift for th< benefit of soldiers given during th-iife-time of a donor, nr after Im death, should be exempt from Stamj duty.— Press Association. The case in which Yi n Keo, Ch’n ese fruiterer, Napier was on Tues day fined £23 for selling oranges al an excessive price, was r«-heard this morning before Air. R. AV. Dyer. S. M., who was of opinion on looking through the Act he nad no jtirisiliction to deal with the case. He sav. nothing in the Act giving a Magis trat-e summary jurisdiction. SeniorSergeant Eales said jhc Act was iv doubt very vague and misleading Mr. Gleeson said if :t went to. tin Supreme Court, he would simply have to plead guilty as at the first hearing. The case was accordingly struck out.

A soldier writing from France, to a friend in Hastings, says: ‘ ‘By the way, staff officers of the Air Service, who remain in England and who do not fly, are known as ‘Kiwis,’ for the obvious reason.” The sitting of the Supreme Court, which was to commenced at Napier on Monday next, is now adjourned until Tuesday, January 14th. The Grand and Common jurors summoned for this Session are therefore discharged. The Hawke’s Bay Education Board meet a± Napier on Wednesday afternoon next at 2 p.m._ A special meeting of the Board will be held at 3 p.m. to hear objections to the taking of the proposed site for the Napier Main School. An open air public meeting at Rimu last night favoured lifting a portion of the timber reservation for mining purposes, and for sawmilling to assist in giving continuous employment in the, district. A motion was also carried urging the Government to stand firm on the question of not handing the Pacific Islands back to the enemy. A Palmerston soldier who has just been discharged from Trentham says that the clothing taken from the men in camp is being tossed haphazard into a huge shed just as it is taken from the wearers’ backs. No attempt is being made at sorting or fumigation. The result will be, he thinks, that thousands of pounds worth of valuable khaki will quickly’ deteriorate and go to waste. An eruption is reported to have taken place at White Islahd on Sunday. About 3 p.m. a slight shock of earthquake was felt in Whakatane, and yesterday the sea between White Island and Whale Island was black on the surface, according to reports of fishermen, who thought there had been an upheaval somewhere in that locality. It will be remembered that a few years ago a number of men who were working for a sulphur company on White Island were all destroyed by an outbreak of that volcano. Nearly’ a year ago ten New Zealand soldiers, part of a newlyarrived reinforcement, being taken bv tram to cainn, jumped out of 1 hen while waiting at Beres Ferrers station, only to be cut in pieces bv a passing express. The' Devon folk were so touched at this i fate ot men who had travelled thou- 1 s.ands of miles from overseas that ■ t ! 'ey have set up m their old church, where Drake once worshipped, a memorial tablet, at the unveiling of which the Bishop oi Exeter officiated about the middle of September. A gentleman connected with the biidwii. bm-miss icßrring to the statement that trie Government is luakme inquiries about the quantity or bsrhert and plain wire which is available tor shipment for the use of tanners, informed a Christchurch it at this would have a very t upon the business of Tnerchants who had committed themselves to large purchases. _ If t ent, he said, was going to interfere in this manner, they miffht as well run the business altogether. and pay the taxes, because the merchants could not pay them if t e C mt- were going to run Apparently in England in August last they .were not only tipping who would win the war, but- .when it would be wen. The following is an extract of a letter dated August. 15, 1918, received by Mrs. Sid. Gainsford, of, Edward Street. Woollahra, from her sister, Miss. Fitzsimmons, residing at 136 Finchley road, London:—“We are faking our victories very quietly—there is to be no glorification until peace is declared. I say that it will be on November II at 6.53 a.m. That is my guess on the question. Lots are picking out dates.” The, armistice was actually signed at 5 a.ni. on November 11, 1918, so that Miss. Fitzsimmons is not two hours out. In protesting against the “side tracking” of the Waikaremoana hydro-electric installation, the Hon. A. T. Ngata said, in Parliament on Monday, that he would like an assurance that the work was regarded as one of the Government's responsibilities, and he would also be glad to hear when a commencement would be made with the East Coast Main Trunk railway. “Do you want the waterworks or the "ailway first?” said Sir Joseph Ward. “Both at once,” said Mr. Ngata. “The Government knows that the heaviest buyings of land by’ the Native Minister have been in the territory I represent, and the Prime Minister, as Minister of Lands, knows that if it were not for the nuarter-million acres he has up his sleeve in the Urewera Country he ’■mild not face, the repatriation . of soldier-farmers with the smile he has on his face now.” Ft will come as a surprise to mosi people to learn that tne banks ot .\ew Zealand paid the Government in the last financial year no less than £167,914 as tax on their note circulation. In tins connection it has oeen suggested in the Finance bill io issue o, - bank notes apparently oecause of a snortage of silver, oanks view this proposal with distavour for several reasons, including sue greatly increased work that tne .landlmg of the notes would entail on the bank, staffs and the -necessity to pay three per cent interest on the five shilling notes in common with notes of other denominations. Besides this, silver is convenient to aandle, and appeals to the average orinsii citizens’ liking foy hard cash. It is worthy ef note that siiver was last quoted at from 4/1 to 4/3 per ounce, at which British is nought by the Imperial Government for coining purposes. When it ,s redelivered to the banks each junco of metal has been converter .nto 5,6 in coin, the difference jeing profit to the Imperial GovernUCllt. When a members of the Now Zoa.and Forces is in England on fur.ough he finds that the portion oi >is military pay that he is allowed t<_ .iratv is totally inadequate to meet us expenses. Consequently he •ables to his parents for money in ; rder that he may see the sights oi oondou and other towns in Great Britain and Ireland. Naturally Jib intents are anxious to send t'n .onc-y asked for even it’ it- meam hat they will have to deny themv.'lvrs something in order to do so mt the assistance tl'-cy receive fro' lie Government is negligible. Com ilainls are being eoutiimaffy madt that Pi’ll rates are neuig charged by the Telegraph Department for calling money, and as late as yes-tc-ruay tn irate father who wished to sen<‘ 'i’\ boy money by cable came to the "Times” office and complained that ',he Telegraph Department denanded Cl 1-i 6 to cable £2O to ‘.hi High Commissioner, or if he wa>--on-tent to allow the cable to be held ’or an indefinite period rhe servic< vouh] bo eventually performed for is.-, "This.” he ' said, “is the iconntrv's recompense for a lad wh.ol offers his lite for his country,”

In the House of Representatives yesterday Mr. McCallum, desired to know if the Defence Minister had made any arrangements for setting up a Parliamentary committee to J inquire into the disastrous outbreak on the troopship carrying the Fortieth Reinforcements after it had left Sierra Leone. Sir James Allen said that under the pressure of business the matter had gone out of his mind. If the Hon. member still desired it, he was quite willing to set up a committee.