THE DOMINION'S BATTLESHIP.

Mataura Ensign, 14 May 1913, Page 2

THE DOMINION'S BATTLESHIP.

VISIT TO LYTTELTON. j UNITXL PEEBB ASSOCIATION. CHRISTCHURCH, May 13. To witness the arrival of H.M.s. New Zealand large numbers travelled to Lyttelton this morning and were rewarded by viewing the great ship coming up the harbor and berthing at one of the wharves. In addition to the Harbor Board's invited guests who went out in the dredge Canterbury, and other bodies who went out in small steamers, there was a large body on the Maori. A flotilla of vessels accompanied the warship in fr.nn the heads, where she anchored at ] a.m. to-day. About 8.30 a.m. the anchors were up, and she berthed shortly before 10 o'clock. At 11 a.m. several official calls were made on Captain Halsey. In tlio afternoon at the Theatre Royal Captain Halsey and several of his officers returned the call made upon them by the Mayors of Christchurch and the surrounding boroughs, the chairman of the Harbor Board and the chairmen of several local bodies. The proceedings were most enthusiastic, and Captain Halsey's speech evoked much applause. In the evening 200 men from the warship were entertained at a smoke concert. At the civic reception this afternoon to Captain Halsev and officers of H.M.s. New Zealand, speeches were given' by the .Mayor (Mr H. Holland), the chairman or the Lyttelton Harbor Board (Mr R. Moore), the president of the Canterbury branch of the Navy Leaguo (Mr J. J. Dougall) and the president of the Veterans' Association (Mr J. Trimbell). Captain Halsey on rising to speak received a great ovation, cheers following the applause, and "He's a Jolly Good Fellow" being sung. After returning thanks Captain Halsey said he hoped that the citizens of Christchurch would all come aboard to see the fine ship which the Dominion had given the Mother Country. They in the Navy had no politics, but he thpught it was only right to say that the Government of the day when the ship was given was presided over by Sir .Joseph Ward. The gift of the ship had been of the greatest value to the Empire in more ways than one. For one thing it had led other dominions to do the same tiling, and caused possible enemies to see what Great Britain could produce in Greater Britain. There could be no doubt that the present'of that ship from the Dominion had made a tremen-j dons stir in Europe. There was another j Government in power, and he wanted I to trive all honor to the'present Gov-j ernment, which had so heartily ar- j ranged for the comfort of tin New Zea- 1 land in New Zealand waters. It was ! said—and lie hoped it always would be j said all over the Empire—that politics had nothing to do with the Navy, and ho was glad to see that that was exemplified so well in New Zealand.—(Applause.) Captain Halsey pointed out the value of the schoolchildren's visits to the ship. | So far the ship's company had received | nothing but kindness in New Zealand, | and he desired to return sincere thanks j for all the kindness shown. He was thankful that the Lyttelton Harbor had j been so improved as to make it possible j for the sliip to come to the wharf. The i credit of bringing the ship into the I harbor so well was due to the chief | pilot (Captain Thorpe), and not to him- | self, as the Mayor had said.—(Loud ap- I plause.) I TELEGRAPH OPERATORS PRAISED! I CHRISTCHURCH. May 13. I The Postmaster-Ge;neral has received ! the following letter from the general: manager of the Central News Agency, j London:—"l trust that I may be per-1 mitted on behalf of the management of j the Central-News Agency to thank you and the officers of the New Zealand Telegraph Department for the efficient and wholly admirable manner in which they dealt- with the exceptional and im- . port nt traffic, wliich arose out of the i -ad c -aster to Captain Scott during the T- eek - mmqncing February 10 last. I r>fer ;ot only to th<} despatches sent! t.> us : London and to the Australian ai 1 Nt v Zealand Press Association by Mr Kii; ;ey, but also to the messages wh h our local correspondent, Sir Drummond, sent to the 'Daily Chronicle.' London, at our request. The work j could not have been done better, and it is greatly appreciated by the Central | News and by yours faithfully.—(signed) ! John Gennings, General Manager." i MILK FAMINE IN AUCKLAND. | AUCKLAND, May 13. I At the. annual meeting of the whole- j sale milk held last) night it I was stated that suppliers were experiencing the worst year ever known in the milk industry. Many suppliers had already used winter food during the dry summer, and the prospects of many are gloomy. An increase of |d per pallon was agreed on as the price of milk from August 31. A resolution waa passed favoring the soiling of milk at factory prices. A curious circumstance was that at the sunoer which succeeded the meeting condensed milk had to b« used for the tea. other milk lw?ing unprocurable. PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE. _ AUCKLAND, May J3. . Hon. A/ L. Herdman (Minister Justice), replying to the criticism < f the appointment of M- M. C. Barnett as' inspector of the Public Trust Office branches, said that the Public Trus'.'s original intention was to appoint an officer to be inspector for the examination of properties and to see that the previsions in all leases wero properly completed. Tho Public Trust considered the salary ol £3OO a year am pie fvr th : . c officer, and had made a recommendation accordingly. However, il op peared to Mr Kerdman's judgment that an inspector of wider {lowers should be aopomt^d; consequently the Public Trustee's recommendation lml not acted upon. When the matt ox oame up finally for consideration tho Public Trustee could not be consulted owing to a serious breakdown in health. Mr Herdman ridiculed tho suggestion that political influence was responsible for Mr M. C. Barnett's appointment. THE KIMBOLTON FIRE. » FFILDTNG. Mny 13. T!e insur ces in connection with the Kimbolton fire are as follows: Poole's Hall. £3OO in the New Zealand office; ?vlr-Hailey, £209 on one motor and £IOO on stock mid plant in the New Zealand office, and £4OO oq the other car in inoiher office; Mr Patterson, £225 in the New Zealand and £75 in the South British; Mr Chittenden. £l5O on the furniture in the State offioe.

CHRI Sl'CiiU RCH. CHRISTCHURCH, May 13. At the Supreme Court sentence was deferred in the ease of Albert Jennings, found guilty of stealing a lady's bicycle. T-hos. Stirling pleaded not guilty to a charge of having stolen 13 fishing-nets, valued at £29 ss. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy on the following grounds: (1) Of previous good character and (2) that the prisoner originally took the nets without intending to deprive the owner of them, but afterwards in assisting to conceal them, he was actuated by fear of the consequences. As is is not known what the above verdict amounts to, the matter is to he discussed before the court to-morrow morning to ascertain what the real verdict is. In the meantime prisoner is allowed to go free on his own recognisance. THE POLICE ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, May 13. In connection with Hon. A. L. Herd--maii's (Minister for Justice) statement regarding the Police Association, tho following preface to the rules of the association has been posted to him: "We wish it to be distinctly understood rbat the association has not been formed in a spirit of antagonism to the Oe; >a: tment, but rather with the idea of assisting to find the real grievances wnich are existing in the service, and on ail matters affecting the working of the police service to put members' v:tws before the officers in concrete form, and to urge in a proper and respectful manner the alterations and improvements which should be made to ensure the better working of the service ar.d the comfort and convenience of those who work it. To members we would urge the necessity of doing their duty conscientiously, so that the fact of Leing a member of the association will he a guarantee that the duties of such member will be fulfilled thoroughly An<! well. It must also bo clearly understood Vliat this association is not formed' for political purposes and has absolutely no' connection with any other organisation, political or industrial."