LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15715, 16 September 1914, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Thk steamer Manuka, which arrived at Wellington yesterday afternoon from Sydrey, brought a large quantity of Australian mail -natter fox- New Zealand. The Auckland portion, consisting of 30 odd bags and hampers, will arrive by the second express this afternoon.

A fire was discovered in a hear of old sacks and other rubbish in a section adjoining the engineering works of Messrs. A. J. Parker and C>>. in Quay Street East early last evening, by Constable, McHugh, of the water-police. The flames had a strong hold, but the, constable. to work and quickly extinguished them with a few buckets of water. An hour afterwards tho constable discovered that the tire had broken out afresh, but he soon had the flames under control.

Painful injuries were sustained on Monday by a man named Ernest Firberg, an employee of the Auckland Harbour Board, who, while handling a, heavy hardwood pile on the Queen's Wharf, had his right thumb torn off. He was. taken to the Auckland Hospital, where his injuries were attended to. He left the institution yesterday and proceeded to his home in Mount ixlen Road.

Owing to the condition of the nun Suteliffe, who was burned by the firo which broke out on the auxiliary ketch Endeavour on Friday evening last, the inquest concerning the death of the unfortunate engineer, P. J. Knnst, has been adjourned until September 23, at the Magistrate's Court. It. was at first reported that Sutcliffe, who was the cook, had only received minor burns, but it ha-s since transpired that he is severely burned about the head and face.

The postal authorities advise that the English mail which left Auckland on July 30 for London, reached the Home port on September 11. This mail was carried to Australia, and then via Suez. The mail left Auckland on© day before the mail carried by the Marama, via. Vancouver, and reached London one day later than the Marama's mail.

Crown lands open for selection this month comprise a total area of 12,127 acres, of -which 3974 acres are in the Auckland land district. The latter area represents 17 rural sections ranging up to 531 acres and 86 small allotments in towns and townships,

A Cingalee named George Richard Johns appeared in the Police Court yesterday on a charge of vagrancy. To every question Johns replied with a monosyllabic "No," in spite of the efforts of two interpreters to make him understand that "he had the right to be tried in the Supreme Court. A remand for eight days was finally granted, Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., intimating that if Johns regained his command of English, which he is said to speak quite fluently when he likes, he might be brought up sooner.

An interesting ceremony took place at Palmerston North on Saturday afternoon when the Mayor, Mr. J. A. Nash, on behalf of the ladies of the town, presented the colours of the 6th Manawa-tu Mounted Rifles to Lieut.-Col. Meldruni for the Wellington Mounted Rifles. He also presented to Bandmaster J. Simpson, of the expeditionary force, a silver mounted baton on behalf of the citizens. At this trine of year plenty of rain with warm sunshine is looked for by farmers and those who make their living from the land. In the North if seems that abundant showers have fallen, but ' in Auckland itself and in the Waikato j the season has been exceptionally dry, i and warm, heavy rain would be welcomed. j Although the actual rainfall has been I much below the average the effect of the I dry weather has been counter-balanced to ' a great extent by heavy dews, wet fogs, and slight showers, which have kept the top soil fresh. Those in the city who have laid out new lawns and beds have ■ suffered most from the lack of rain, it I being too dry for the newly-sown grass and other seeds to grow well. Should there be a copious and general fall of ■ rai'n in the near future, however, it is j I anticipated that the dry spell will have had no serious permanent effect. The Onehunga Cemetery Act has just been passed by Parliament, and it provides that the revenue now derived from the Onehunga cemetery may be used for the purpose of acquiring a new cemetery. The principal clause in the new Act reads as follows :—" It shall be lawful for the Onehunga Borough Council to apply the proceeds, which are now and which may at any time after the passing of this Act be held by the said council and which represent moneys received from the sale of the night of interment in, the present cemetery, in the purchase or acquisition of land for' the purpose of a cemetery. The Onehunga Borough Council shall be the trustees of any cemetery so acquired and shall have the control and management thereof." The cemetery fund is now in credit £3104. At the last meeting of the council it was deo : rfed to thank the Hon. F. TV. Lang, the member for Manukau, for his assistance in having the new Act passed. " It is a despicable thing to misuse the King's uniform at a. time like this and to utilise it to impose upon generouslyinclined people." said Mr. F. V. Frazer. S.M., when Thomas Francis Hill and Frank Wilson were brought before him in the Police Court yesterday on a charge of soliciting alms. Hill, who appeared in the dock wearing a territorial uniform. was stated to have joined the Epsom camp on August 15. The same night he absented himself without leave, being arrested a fortnight later by the guard. He was sent to the hospital to recover from a drinking bout, but left and was finally discharged from the force on September 7. Since then, with Wilson, he had been begging in the streets from other territorials and civilians, the proceeds being spent in drink. His Worship said that 14 days' hard labour would have a beneficial effert in the case of each of the accused.

At a meeting held on Tuesday afternoon, presided over by Dr. Averill, Anglican Bishop of Auckland, the following statistics relative to the work of the Flying Angel Missions to Seamen, ins submitted to the local committee bv the missioner. .Mr. Arthur P. Cowie : Visits to shipping, 20: services held in Sailors' Home Hall. 3: services held on vessels in harbour, 1 ; parcels of literature distributed. 20: letters received for seamen mission post box, 58; letters written by hi on behalf of seamen in institute, 4] : letters of gratitude received, 17; seamen obtaining employment through agency of .mission, 14: seamen assisted in various ways, 45; visits to Auckland Hospital, 8 ; concerts provided for seamen in institute, o: attendance at games, concerts, etc, 358: attendance at the three service's in institute, 149. The Flying Angel Missions to Seamen has the use of the Sailors' Home Mission Hall, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and each alternate Sunclay. This mission is conducted by the Church of England, and is open to seamen of all denominations. The work has been in progress in Auckland for seven years, and the misoion has occupied in all 10 institutes.

A small tire occurred in a washbouse attached to a dwelling in Hobson Street, shortly after midday yesterday. Very little damage was caused, the main loss being the destruction of sonic clothes belonging to the occupier of the dwelling, Mrs. Emma "White.

Judgment was given yesterday by Mr. C. C. Kettle. S.M., in the case of Broadbent and McCoskrie, land agents, v. Thomas McWhirter, which was a claim for £150 commission for arranging the exchange of the Hotel Arcadia, at Wellington, for Mercury Island. For the defence it was contended that the plaintiffs had failed to cany out their instructions, and that the man who wished to exchange the Arcadia for the island was not in a position to give a title to the island. Judgment was given for the plaintiffs for the amount of their claim with costs. Mr. M. G. McGregor appeared for the plaintiffs, and Mr. A. E. Skelton. instructed by Messrs. Morrison and Smith, of Wellington, for the defendant.

A married woman named Ellen McIntyre, who resided in Wyndham Street, died suddenly yesterday morning. It is stated that she left her bed at about 6.30 a.m. for the purpose of securing a drink of water, and that soon after returning to her room she collapsed and died. An inquest will be held this morning.

A deputation from the Point Chevalier district, headed by Mr. \Y. Forrest, waited on the Hospital Board last evening and urged that 'ho. infectious diseases hospital should be removed from the district. In port of the request Mr. Forrest asserted that th© presence of the building was proving a bar to settlement at Point Chevalier. The residents were trying to inaugurates a motor-bus service and to cany out a programme of streets improvement, but the existence of the building referred to was a serious handicap to the efforts of the resident";. The chairman of the board, Mr. J. M. Mennie, stated that the matter would receive the consideration of the board. He stated that there was an idea to establish a convalescent home on the site. To this the deputation made no objection provided the contagious diseases hospital was removed. Later in the evening Mr. M. J. Coyle moved that in the opinion of the board the time had arrived when the building complained of should be removed and that 'the Government should be asked to obtain a site elsewhere for the infectious diseases hospital. Mr. S. J. Harbutt seconded the motion and urged that a suitable site could be obtained at Motiiihi. The motion was carried unanimously.

Some time ago the consulting engineer to the Ellerslie Town Board prepared a scheme for the reticulation of the district. The following tenders for the work were considered at a meeting of the Town Board last evening:—H. Bray and Company, £8578; J, McLean , and Sons, £8999; Trayea Brothers, £9250; Woolley and McLean, £9969; Mays and Gordon, £10,227, G. Knight, £10,788; Bray and Lupis, £11,918. The engineer's' estimate was £8960, and the board decided to accept the lowest tender, that of H. Bray and Company. The scheme provides for a system of septic tanks, but, ultimately, it is the intention to carry the sewage through the One-tree Hill district to Onehunga, and finally discharge it into the Manukau Harbour. The board has the money in hand for the reticulation work, which will be commenced immediately by the contractors. , The Huntly coalmine disaster has drawn attention to the fact that the Government had for many years a''small fund for the relief of distress caused by accidents in mines. When the Kaitangata coalmine disaster occurred in 1878 a large sum was collected, and in 1892 the residue of this fund, amounting to over £10,000, was placed in the hands of the Public Trustee, with the proviso that, after the needs of the sufferers through the Kaitangata accident had been met, all other moneys were "to form a coalmining accident fund for the relief of widows, orphans, and dependents of miners who may lose their lives in mining mishaps of any kind and in any part of the Dominion/" The last statement of accounts published in the Gazette of April 1914, showed that the fund had diminished to £3743, and that there were nine people drawing from it a total of £293 per annum. The Palmerston North Hospital Board < .insiders that the law should be altered so that persons being admitted to a hos--1 ital from another district should not be made a. charge on the district left by the patient, A letter urging that the" law should be "altered so that each hospital board could take full responsibility for any patient admitted from other districts was forwarded to the Health. Department, which in turn forwarded it to the Auckland Hospital Board for an expression oi opinion. The letter states:—" There is a nomadic class of people in New Zealand who are always moving. They are the | wasters, as a rule, who- change their residence often because they are too well known in one district, and hope to get a living for a while in another. Of course, these do not form the whole of those who charge from one district to another, but j they form the largest number of those who ! get hospital treatment and charitable aid. ! They have often to conceal the fact of their last residence, and when they are quesi tioned by the officer as to where they have i lived they concoct a tale." It was urged 1 by the Palmerston North Board that the , trouble ' and difficulty in tracing the : patients received fiom other districts | would be obviated by altering the law in . the direction indicated. At the meeting oi I (he Auckland Board last evening Mr. P. IJ. Nerheny took exception to the word j "wasters" in the letter. Mr. L. G. BagI nail said that some were undoubtedly ! "wasters." Eventually the board decided I in favour of the law as it stands at present. j An illustrated booklet designed as a | souvenir of the New Zealand expeditionaryforce has been published in several town's of the Dominion and a number of young women have been employed in Auckland to sell copies. Th> enterprise has been officially considered by the Finance Committee of the* Patriotic League, a request having been received from the publisher of the souvenir that the league should give , its support and authority to the saie. The j Mayor stated yesterday that the committee unanimously decided to repudiate any as- , sociation between the citizens' fund" and the publication, and agreed that it was advisable the public should understand that no authority had been given bv the j league tor the sale of the booklet.

An important phase of the training of pupil teachers was touched upon by Air. G. D. Braik in a recent report to the Wanganui Education Board. He remarked that at one of the schools he visited he was struck by the want of tact and capacity that one of the former pupil teachers of the board, now an assistant, displayed in managing an infant room. He Niid he could hardly understand the reason until lie reflected that she had never been in an .nfant department, having been trained in one of the Wa.nganui school* It was quite clear, Mr. Braik went on th::t every pupil teacher should, during ler practical course, spend, if possible 1% months at one of the infant schools, otherwise her course of training would be but partial. The board agreed with the inspector, and his suggestion* will be pat into practice in future.