LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15719, 21 September 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

■The steamer Maheno which arrived

from Sydney yesterday afternoon, brought 430 bags and hampers of European, foreign, and Australian mails. The Southern portion was despatched by the Main Trunk express last night, while the Auckland portion will be delivered in the city . and suburbs this morning. The Ulimaroa | is due at Wellington to-morrow morning from Sydney with a large quantity of Australian mail matter fpr New Zealand, the Auckland portion of which should arrive ion Wednesday morning. Mails from i Europe, America, Canada, and Island ports are expected to reach Auckland about Wednesday or Thursday by the mail steamer Marama. An inspection of the forts was made I yesterday afternoon by the Minister for Defence, the Hon. J. Allen. He was accompanied by Colonel G. W. S. Patterson, coast defence commander, and Colonel W. H. Hazard, officer commanding the , Auckland Garrison Artillery. Forts Bastion, Gautley, and Takapuna. were each in turn visited by the Minister. At the conclusion of the inspection, Mr. Allen expressed himself as satisfied with the work at' the forts. As many of the men doing duty at the forts have expressed a desire to join the expeditionary force, the 1 Minister, in a brief address, stated that he himself was a Garrison Artilleryman, j and he pointed out to the men that their ' services were required in New Zealand. . It was the duty of the men, lie said, to stand by the forte, and so keep the harI hour safe.

t The fleet of steamers which arrived at s Auckland on Saturday and yesterday from 3 oversea, Australian, Island, and coastal ] ports, totalled over 26,500 gross tons, e The list included the liner Pakeha., of 7911 i tons, the Maheno 5282 tons, the Mokoia • 5502 tons, Kurow 2581 tons, Rakanoa < 2246 tons, and the Rosamond 721 tons, i all of the Union Company's fleet. The i coastal steamers of the Northern Com- 1 pany's fleet which arrived during the two 1 days included the Maraia, Clansman, Au- i pouri, Ngatiawa, Waiotahi, Taniwha, Waimarie, Rotomahana, and the Wakatere. This fleet totalled over 4000 gross tons. The departures for the two days included the Union Company's steamers Navua and Warrimoo , and the Northern Company's steamers Rarawa, Eaphne, Kanieri, Tasnian, and Taniwha, of an aggregate gross tonnage of 8360. A burglary, and what looked like an attempt at burglary, were reported to the police during the week-end. A house in Remuera was entered on Friday night-, while the occupants were away in the city, a small sum of money and some jewellery being stolon. In the other instance a man was surprised late on Saturday night in a passage of a Symonds Q|pet boarding, house. He, however, made good his escape through a window. Nothing was missed from the house. As fEe steamer Star of Victoria, of the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, has j been taken in Australia for use a 5 a troop- j ship her cargo for Auckland, Gisborne. Napier, and Wellington is being' transhipped from Sydney. The Star of Victoria is from London, and arrived at j Sydney on September 8. She had on : board 4500 tons of general merchandise j for Auckland, and 350 tons of this cargo was brought from Sydney by the Maheno yesterday. The cargo for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin, by the Rangatira from Liverpool is being brought to New Zealand by the Union Company's steamer Waitemata. Tho Waitemata was expected to leave the New South Wales port last Saturday for Auckland, and she should, therefore, arrive here about Thursday. As the Rangatira's cargo consisted of several thousand tons. • the Waitemata will probably be a full ' ship. The Rangatira has also been taken over by the Commonwealth Government j for use as a troopship. ; The local agents for the German steamer | Wildenfels have been advised that the ■ Auckland cargo by this vessel from New York is being transhipped at Sydney, and will be forwarded by the Riverina, which is due here next Sunday. The Wildenfels was on her way to the four New Zealand main porta when the European war broke out. She was detained at Melbourne for several weeks, pending the decision of the Commonwealth Prize Court. The cablegram received by the local agents stated that tho Wildenfels had been granted permission to proceed to Sydney, where she arrived on Friday last.

The Mounted Rifle Squadrons, under the command of Colonel 0. E. R. Mackesy, marched from tie Epsom camp into Queen Street on Saturday afternoon. The troops r.rrived in Queen Street, via Wellesiev Street East, and marched towards the wharf and returned to the camp, via Customs Street East. The march through Queen Street was an impressive spectacle. As the troops turned to go up Customs Street the last of the rearguard -was opposite the Strand Arcade. The ride through the streets was to have taken place in the morning, but owing to the review at Epsom taking longer than was anticipated the mounted men could not leave the camp grounds till nearly 2 p.m. A great crowd lined Queen Street in the morning and were disappointed at the non-arrival of the troops. Many, however, remained till the afternoon and vitnessed the march and vero rewarded for their patience by a fine display of men and noises.

The Government recently appointed Messrs. F. J. Burgess, S.M., and F. G, Ewington as a- commission to inquire into and report upon the question of whether the lessees of land in the town and suburbs of Rotorua should be allowed to - "/ 're the fee-simple of the land held by them, and, if so, upon what terms. The commission commenced the taking of evidence in the Magistrate's Court at Rotorua on Friday, when Mr. H. S. W. King, president of the Chamber of Commerce, submitted a statement drawn up by a committee of that body in advocacy of the freehold. Several witnesses gave evidence ill - support of the statement, and it is understood that many more, for and against the granting of the freehold, will follow, so that the sitting of the commission will continue for several days.

A strong south-east gale was experienced during the first 24 hours after the Union Company's steamer Maheno left Sydney_ for Auckland on Wednesday. This was followed by strong easterly winds and heavy head seas for the remainder of the voyage, and the vessel's progress was retarded considerably in consequence. The Maheno left her usual berth in Sydney at 7 a.m. on Wednesday for Woolloomooloo Bay, where she was occupied for about nine hours in loading 350 tons of tranship-

ment cargo from the steamer Star of Victoria. from London. She sailed from the bay at 4.30 p.m. for Auckland, the pas-

sage of 1281 miles thus occupying 3 days 19. hours' actual steaming time. The Maheno brought about 900 tons of cargo, which includes transhipments from the

following steamers : —Wimmera, Wyreema, Katoomba, Aldenham, Tumi. Camberra, Gabo. Otway, Changsha, Indarra, and Star of Victoria. The departure of the Maheno for Sydney has been postponed until eleven o'clock to-night.

The commission appointed to inquire into the City Council's scheme for the widening of Beach Road and Jermyn Street and the transformation of the latter into a well-graded outlet for traffic concluded its sitting' on Saturday morning. In addressing the commissioner. Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., the City Council solicitor, Mr. J. Stanton, said that the council would be in a position to pay all the compensation that would have to be awarded. As nearly £50,000 would be spent on the roads in question it was manifestly unfair that the property-owners in the neighbourhood should benefit by this large expenditure. The proposal to buy up all the land beforehand had a precedent in the Government's railway policy, and was the most economical way of settling the matter. The Jermyn Street area, by being transformed into a warehouse district, would be prevented from remaining a squalid and unprogressive part of the city. The commissioner intimated that he would forward his report, together with the evidence, to the Governor at an early date.

The Auckland Builders', Contractors', and General Labourers' Union, at a recent meeting, adopted resolutions directing the attention of the Government to the. continued rise in the prices of the necessaries of life; urging that the time has arrived for the State to take full control of the food supplies; requesting the Government I to institute a State Bank of issue, instead | of continuing to proclaim tie paper currency of the private banks to bo legal tender; and suggesting that it is the duty of the Government to see that production is increased instead of slackened.

The Government is taking active steps to provide for adequate facilities for the shipping of New Zealand produce to the Home markets. The Minister for Defence, Hon. J. Allen, informed a Herald representative on Saturday that the Prime Minister was now in communication by cable I with the Imperial authorities and shipping I companies in England, and it was hoped that as a, result an ample number of cargo steamers fitted with refrigerating machinery would be available to take Nov,- Zealand produce Home. The Minister also intimated that the Government was taking full advantage of the opportunity to ship produce by the troopships.

Local nurserymen and orchardists, says our Tuakau correspondent, have had an exceptionally busy time during the past winter. In fulfilment of orders, large consignments of hedge plants, shrubs, and fruit trees have been sent away, the despatches of the latter being more than double those of any previous season. Spraying, pruning, and other work has this season been completed in good time, and the orchards now present a profusion of bloom. The peach and plum trees give promise of heavy yields of fruit.

A case of alleged attempted suicide occurred early yesterday morning, a man named John Douglas, of Warenga., Waika.to', being found with his throat cut. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital at half-past four o'clock yesterday morning by the police and received surgical attention. His case <is not considered serious.

A garrison artillery gunner stationed at Fort Cautlev, named Hector Spence, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital yesterday morning suffering from concussion of the brain. While performing

his duties in the gun pits he slipped and fell and his head struck one of the shells used for the big guns. An inquiry made at the hospital late last evening elicited the information that his condition is not considered serious.

A member of the New Zealand forces m Samoa, in a letter dated September 5, states that there was a mild scare there the previous evening. "It was reported about 10.30 p.m.," he says, "that three chips were approaching the coast. They stopped some distance off, and began to signal in an unknown code. Three Limps on different parts of the island answered them a, few words, and then disappeared before troops could arrive at the spots. All troops were called to stations, and Colonel Logan, and his staff never slept at' right. They stood in our lines practically all night, anxiously reading every message from the pilot station. At 1 a.m. wq had to drop all our tents, and remove our baggage out of sight of the harbour. The picket boats scanned the harbour all night. The ships, whatever they were, steamed j away a good two hours before daybreak. I Colonel Logan himself saw both the lights at sea and the lights flashing ashore. The troops have been scouring the country all day in a quiet manner, but have found no trace of anything suspicious, except the place where one lamp was situated. Five of us are going out to-night to Observatory Point, where one of the lamps was found. Our instructions are to challenge if anyone approaches, and if our challenge is not obeyed at once, to shoot."

According to advice received locally, the | cable-repair steamer Iris is expected to arrive at Auckland to-morrow morning from Norfolk Island. The Iris left this port on June 19 on a three months' cruise to the cable stations controlled by the Pacific Cable Board. Advice has also been received that the British-Imperial Oil Company's steamer Physa will arrive at Auckland to-morrow or Wednesday. The Physa is bringing a full cargo of case oil for. (he New Zealand main ports. Included in her present cargo is a large consignment of printing paper, transhipped from the steamer Anglo-Egyptian at Sydney,