LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15489, 22 December 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

Wireless advices received last night from I the captain of the Canadian-Australasian j mail steamer Makura. indicate that the i vessel will arrive at, Auckland at 6 p.m. today from Sydney. The liner is bringing a •■ largo number of passengers and European and Australian mails. She was delayed ' at Sydney owing in the recent labour | troubles, and is now running four days I later than schedule time. The Makura I will berth at the Queen's Wharf on | arrival, and will load about 22,000 boxes '' of butter and other lines of New Zealand products. She is now timed to sail at 11 p.m. to-morrow for Suva, Honolulu, and VancouverThe special Christmas supplement, which, will bo issued with the New Zealand Herald to-morrow, will contain special features of interest. It will contain Christmas stories by such well-known authors as J, J. Bell, F. H. Shaw, Theo. Douglas, and L. S. Moborley, and in addition to special stories and pictures for the children, there will be a. number of carefully-selected articles. The illustrations will comprise Christmas cartoons, topical photographs, and amusing sketches." A man named Louis Eppershant was arrested by Constable Lefevre in Dominion ußoad on Saturday night on a charge of assaulting Ah Wall, a Dominion Road fruiterer. It is alleged that the man went into Ah Wah's shop and asked for oranges, and when the Chinaman asked for payment the man struck him two violent blowg on. the face. ' 6

The squally unseasonable weather which has been experienced during this i' : ' : month is reflected in the rainfall record S which is already above the average faDecember. According to the official re cords compiled by the meteorologist 'M for Auckland (Mr. T. F. Cheeseman) ft,- ' rainfall lor the first 20 days of December ■ amounted to 2.75 inches, which is 13 % inches above the average taken over a - ; period of % years. December of last yea - ' was very dry, only .81 inches of rain beine 1 recorded. The wettest day of this month \ was the 10th, when .46 inches fell; while, : the downpour last Friday evening nica- ' sured .31 inchesMr. F. W, Rowley. „[ Wellington, at present chic! inspector <■: factories, will bo promoted to the position of Secretary for Labour on January 1. whim Mr. John Lomas will leave th- Department 0:1 We months' leave of ar.< .n,e jt. i to his i e . tirement on superannuation. Mr. Lomas is one of the original menibti". •■! the Department's staff, and Mr. Rowley joined the Department as ?. cadet o:dv two years alter it was rreat-en. During the whole of his service be has been attached to the headquaiwrs staff. A special effort is beirz made by the Salvation Amy to secure eligible men ?.r.d women who are prepaied to devote tlie;r lives to the work 01 the organisation January 4 has been appoiii;-d by Commissioner W. T. Richards .v. Candidates' Sunday,'' and on that day tie appeal will Lr impressed at the meet;:'.'h of every corps in the Dominion. A-.'ipted ;andi. dates will be admitted to the William Booth Memorial College in '.Veilingfoii which will be comnlcted in March.

Brief indication of the coins.' he desired to be followed was given by Hi, Honor Mr. Jnaiec. Cooper at the Supreme Court on Saturday in the cose in which 1 step, father and mother made appiwittoti under the Mental Defectives Act, 19! i, to be set •jp as a committee to manage the farm of c mental defective. The estate is situated at Manurewa. Mr. E. Mahoay appeared for the petitioner, and the Hon. J, A. Tole, K.C., opposed the application on behalf of the Public Trustee. The petition was heard on Friday. "On considering this matter," said His Honor on Saturday, " I find that further information ii necessary." On the assumption that the petitioners might be appointed a committee, he wanted to know how they proposed to deal with the property, and he also wished to ascertain what had beca done with it since the committal of the owner to the asylum. In addition, he desired evidence from the Public Trustee as to what had been done by the Public Trust Office in reference to the property, and what, if the Public Trustee was not displaced, the office proposed to do. He aLso wanted evidence as to who had been looking after the property. Without fur- ,' ther information he was unable to determine the subject matter of the petition. . ■

Several disturbances occurred or. the ~ waterfront late on Saturday night, and as a result -two men were arrested for as- . sault. Shorty after 10 p.m. the services '. of the water police were sought to quell , a disturbance on board the steamer Manuka, which was preparing to leave for Sydney. The vessel shipped an entirely new crew, and a difference of opinion be- , tween two firemen over the recent labour troubles ended in a fireman named Drew--ing being taken into custody. While performing his usual round of duties along Quay Street East shortly after 11 p.m., a "special", constable was attacked by several hoodlums in the vicinity of the man-o'-wnr steps. 'He was knocked. _; senseless, and was then kicked by several. : of the roughs. A man named Codyre, : belonging to the steamer Kurow, came to' the "special's " assistance, but was in turn ' set upon by the gang, and rather badly ~ punched and kicked. The police then arrived on the scone, and arrested one man out of the crowd, and a 6 a result of a : , statement made by him several more ar- ' rests are likely. . -;.':

! The recklessness of a motorist was"; I described in the Petone Police Court da 1 }; , Wednesday, when Thomas A. Pamell ad- " | mitted having driven over a level crossing-;r j when a train was approaching within half- : }. a-mile. According to ths evidence thai' , defendant drove abreast of the train to \ ! the crossing, and then crossed the lino , | when the engine was 15yds away. When I clear of the line the- defendant' turned'.;" I round in the car, and put a finishing touch:-: • I to his foolhardiness by rudely gesticulat- -.;! ' ing at the driver of the train. 'The magis- ,; : Irate characterised the defendant's action ~ i as a " deliberate defiance of the law," and' J fined him £3, with costs 13s. , i*

There was a very poor attendance at the "I I Domain on Saturday afternoon, when the. ! j Auckland Amateur Athletic and Cycle ' | Club's sports meeting was held. . Those- , j who did attend, however, witnessed some } i close contests, the 100 yds, 440 yds, and '.? j 880 yds races ir, particular being very ex-. ': ! citing. The feature of the meeting' was : the excellent running of A. W. Dormor, ; the middle-distance champion of Auck- ; I land. Dormor won the 440 yds and half-S,' | mile events from the scratch mark with I ease, his times equalling the New Zealand ' j records for the distances. L. J. Mark j won the 100 yds championship in 10 1-53, %(\ jJ. J. Mnlvihill being second, and tho ■*£ ; : I versatile Dormor third. '■%

Weather conditions were not very j favourable on Saturday for cricket, tho | wickets, as a result of tho rain, being j rather soft. In consequence the bowlers ; had much the best of matters, and big scores were tho exceptions. In tho senior competition Grafton defeated Kdsn A c;i the first innings, and two points were gained by Waitemata, Eden B, and University. Grafton are now leading Eden A i for the championship by a point.

The first move of the Social Democratic /£ ! Party in Auckland in connection with ' next rear's elections was made on Bator* . ; day, at a well-attended meeting in the Trades Hail. Tho platform was occupied - i by the general secretary of the party, 'the I president- of the local branch, and other I officers of the party. Committees repre- . j senting each city ward were set up to | make preparations for the political cam- r ' paign in tho different electorates, and a ■ | Central Committee, consisting of 18 mem- '*■' bers, was .formed. Another sale cf material salvaged from ■..- the wreck of the steamer Devon was ; held in Wellington recently. The,.*goods included a large quantity of agricultural machinery, such as disc har- . - rows, etc., also winches, anchors, and other equipment of tho vessel. There is v? still a considerable amount of material on -' board the wrecked vessel. Afi Very few persons were aware of the fact, <•? but in a birdcage, department of the'; ;< train which arrived in Christchurch from ' ~ the Bealey one night last week four men, ~' armed with revolvers, guarded 15 sealed ;/.' boxes of bullion, containing 11,5930z cf-J|t| gold, valued at £46,074 19s Bd. The bid- '£* lion, which was forwarded by the Grey- || mouth branch of the National Bank of ; - New Zealand, was being sent to Lytlelton for transhipment to Australia in "order ;■, sthat it might be minted. Another large ,;• quantity of bullion was conveyed to Ins-•■;'': boat at Lyttelton by the second. express .->' from the South. '