LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15825, 23 January 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Whelk handling timber on the wharf yesterday, James Shaw, aged 21 years, a labourer residing in Abbotsford Terrace, Devouport. slipped and broke his leg. He was admitted to the hospital, whore bis condition last night was stated to bo satisfactory.

"Wo are a sporting nation and fond of our games, but our one thought at the present time should be how can we assist in bringing the war to a speedy and successful conclusion," said Colonel J. E. Hume last night, when addressing the members of the National Reserve. " ' regret to say," he added, "that the crowds which congregate round a news board are often larger when the result of some race meeting is posted up than when some item of European war news is published."

Th© light rain which fell yesterday afternoon made the surface of many streets very slippery. As a result, two accident cases were admitted to the hospital, and many minor mishaps occurred. Mr. A. V* . Russell, an Epsom resident, was thrown cut of a trap, his horse having slipped on the Grafton Bridge. Ho was picked up unconscious but subsequently his condition improved, when it was found that he was not severely injured. Ihe other patient admitted to the hospital was Miss Margaret Eastern, of Papatoetoe. who slipped while crossing Queen Street*, and fractured a shoulder blade. Opposite th© Herald office, a horse fell down and its load had to be lightened before it could regain its feet. A number of territorials assisted the driver in reloading his cart.

The war does not appear to have affected the motor-car business in Auckland to the slightest extent. A local proprietor went so far as to say yesterday that he had done greatly increased business since the outbreak of hostilities. " I cannot give any particular reason, for it," he responded when questioned, " but there is one peculiarity worthy of notice. Before the war people used to walk into the shop and purchase, say, a £350 car, with a deposit of £200, the balance to be paid in 12 months, or so. To-day buyers axe prepared to pay cash. Perhaps they had made up their minds a year ago to have a car, and would not let the war stop them. I notice this difference, however. The higher priced cars are not selling so well. It is the good average kiiid that is in demand. It is evident that people have every confidence in the future."

Thirty more recruits passed the medical officer at the Drill Hall yesterday. Twelve were declared unfit for service, mainly on account of defective teeth and varicose veins. So far the recruiting officers have about 100 infantry and over 20 mounted men "ready for Trentham in February to join the fifth reinforcement draft, whereas the Auckland City and suburban quota is 75 infantry and 35 mounted men.

An interesting relic of the old days of the Maori, prior to the advent of the white man, has been found under a kauri log in some swamp land belonging to Mr. T. Hinton, of Horotiu, near Ngaruawahia. The article is a typical Maori spade, a wooden implement, measuring fully 7ft in length, tapering from about l{in in thickness and 4in in width at- one end, to a circular shape of about fin at the small end, on which a knob is carved. It is made of matai wood, and considering that it has been lying near the surface of the soil for so long a period, is in a surprisingly good state of preservation.

" The greater portion of our fruit has not shown any substantial reduction in size as was anticipated on account of the drought," stated the manager of an Auckland auctioneering company yesterday. He explained that both in quality and quantity the fruit reaching tho Auckland market appealed to be as good as that of former 4"ears, when a heavier rainfall was experienced. It seemed to him that growers who had systematically cultivated their orchards had not been very greatly affected by the drought, but there was no doubt that as regards the output from neglected orchards the fruit was small, and in many cases it was dropping from the trees.

Notwithstanding the drought the New Zealand Dairy Association distributed amongst its suppliers on Thursday the sum. of £66.055 9s lid, covering butter-fat supplied during December. The amount distributed for the corresponding month of the previous year was £71.212 166 3d.

A special meeting of the Ponsonby Schools Committee was held this week for the purpose of considering the question of constituting an urban area, as provided for under the new Education Act. The following resolution was unanimously carried :—" That this committee, whilst not satisfied with the present mode of election of candidates, there being no check provided that only those householders entitled to vote do so is opposed to any change in the. direction of the urban scheme. The committee believes that the present method of election of committees for each district provides members who have the best interests of the respective schools at heart, which might not result under the urban scheme."

There has been a movement among members of the City Council to induce Mr. A. J. Entrican. the senior member of the council, to accept, nomination as a candidate for the Mayoral seat, as Mr. C. J. Parr, C.M.G.. whose term of office as Mayor expires in May. does not intend to seek re-election. When approached yesterday Mr. Entrican stated that, while he appreciated the compliment of the request. he would not be a candidate for the Mayoralty, as he would not be able to spare the. necessary time to do justice to the office. Mr. Entrican has been connected with the City Council since 1898. and has also been chairman of the Harbour Board. It. is considered by many that the chairman of the Harbour Board, Mr. .7. H. Ounson. should allow himseif to be nominated for the Mayoralty. It is understood that a strong effort is to be made to induce Mr. Gun&on to accept nomination. Among other suggested > andidates the names of Mr. John Couit and Mr. Robert Tudehope are mentioned. Both have seen many years of service on the City Council. The former was elected Deputy-Mayor during Mr. Entrican's recent absence in England.

The Mount Roskill Road Board has been promised a loan o£ £1500 from the Government for water supply purposes. At a spe< ial meeting of the board held on Thursday night it was resolved to take the necessary steps to use the water which many people btlieve exists in abundance on the board's reserve. The board has accepted the tender of the Machinery Exchange Company for erecting the pumping plant at a cost of £780 and Messrs. Seager Bros.' tender of £280 for building the reservoir. Arrangements were made for taking a poll of the ratepayers, it being necessary to obtain their consent to the levying of a special rate as security for the loan before the inonev can be obtained from tha Government.

The supplement issued -with HebaiJ) contains a variety of HrjjiTpT'l reading matter. The question Food of the World" is 7** jf % Tohungn. An article, descriptors \ Khandallah, a suburb of Weliinetcm - ! contributed by Frank Morton chener's Army" is the subject dealt bv Lieutenant-Colonel A \ r.* N.Z.F.A., and Elsie K. .Morton S'l on " Business as Usual." I n addict there is Mercutio's column of •• rT/\ ' | Gossip" and tv.-o other articles "p father's At*/' by X.Z. . and ■' in landers. by Critic. Num. * etoiW from the front and other item* '' intercut in cwuiection with the war also included. The illustrations corned : views oi a French village destroyed T the Germans, the Marine Parade Y» mouth, in which bombs w ere dropped fnl! the air by the Germans this week • j New Zealand troops in Egypt. '

In order to make the Auckland Adversary Regatta mnr-j attractive to ti. public the committee has made an < portant alteration in the. course, jj," upper mark buoy for yachts and launch-, will be placed in mid-channel, onpoj;' the Hobson Street Wharf, instead of'of* Birkenhead as formerly. The origjjjjj mark buoy, however, will be used for tjjg large trading vessels' rf.ee. The placinof the buoy near the flagship is to make the racing more spectacular and further, in view of the number of hn]Jg and steamers moored in the upper ha bour and the construction of the westejj tide deflector, the committee thought it unwise to send small competing craft - far as. the old buoy. The committee is meeting with satisfactory support, tha sum of £130 having been collected to'difc The surplus from the regatta win bs added to the Belgian Relief Fund.

The complaint of an official of Legion of Frontiersmen concerning the recruiting work being carried on at th Drill Hall was referred to the No. i group commander, Captain Rust, yesterday. The officer said that the Legion ol Frontiersman's statement that the rMti 1 . ing officers were absent from their posts at Christmas and the New Year was jj. correct, for, with the exception of ChriiV mas Day and Boxing Day, two men remained on duty throughout the r-oiidjv season. Recruits coming in were duly enrolled and were given instruct,! to attend for medical inspection on JanairT 4, when the medical officers resumed their duties.

Seme excitement was caused on board the steamer Athenic when it was in tit Indian Ocean on its return to New Zealand with 54 members of the expeditionary force on board. According to one of the men who returned the vessel was not long out of the Red Sea when one night suspicious lights were seen ahead. All lights on board the Athenic were atones put out, and the gun crews went to their stat.ons, but there were no further developments. Once or twice during tie remainder of the voyage precautions •srere taken when suspicious vessels hove in sicht.

The poll of the ratepayers of the Eden Terrace district on the question of raising a special loan of £23,000, will be held on February 10, between the hours of 9 i.m. and 6 p.m. The poll will be taken at the Eden Terrace Public Hall. It is proposed to expend the money on the formation and improvement of all the streets and roads in the district.

In connection with the effort to assist the dependents of soldiers, the following letter has been received from England by Mrs. W. Coleman, hon. secretary of tit Plunket Nurse Society, Auckland:—"We are venturing to enclose some matter dealing with the efforts of organised women of England to help in the relief of the distress and disorganisation caused by ths war. Much of this distress inevitably falls upon the women and children, and it is with this knowledge that we confidently appeal to you to make known to tie women of New Zealand, through the medium of your organisations, our need of help. The Dominions overseas hsvs been so generous in their response to the call of the Home Country that we feel sure their wemen will once again come to the aid of those working on behalf cf tie women and children of Britain." Those signing the appeal are Mrs. Henry Fat?cett, Lady Francis Balfour, and Lady French, wife of Field-Marsha! Sir Join French. Those willing to help may apply ; ' 'at the Plunket Rooms, Strand Arcade, next Wednesday, between 11 a.m. and 1 [p.m., and between 2.30 p.m. and 4.39 I p.m. ■

Men with large families are finding 1 * difficult just now to make both ends meetA case in point has come before the Iw* Plymouth Magistrate's Court this wesk* A debtor stated that he had married 4 widow with nine children and that bis family now amounted to twelve. He was a fisherman at Waitara and it toos t" :sl all his time to eke out a precarious living on the fish he could catch. With a small roast of beef at 3s it was exceedingly difficult to keep things going and, be added, " people would jump down his throat £ he charged more than Is for a schnappsHit, wife, a quarter-caste Maori, life© 4* Maoris, owned some land, but she " g o ' cnlv 17s a year in rent from it. He added that sicknc&s in his family added to to difficulties as, to the nature of ths sici.ness, diphtheria, be was precluded from going about among the public sellis; his fish. The magistrate expressed surprise hat he should have been allowed to travel to New Plymouth under the circilEst;m< >s. The refresher" course for the serKff officers of the Auckland military dstrttj. which began on Tuesday, was conclfl' yesterday afternoon. The greater part o the time was taken up by instruction $ the system of training territorials, tactical exercises as for p. mixed body 6 troops were aLso included in the P' gramme of work. A voluntary course instruction for territorial and &er.'~r cade i officers will be commenced on Mood*/ r.r.d will be com luded on the folio's ifSaturday. ,

Burbink plums have reached the Aw" land market in such quantities that t® prices have dropped to a point at w 1 they will not pay tlx? growers. One clone revived 3COO odd oases yester «£> and is de.-ir'lis of informing clients 6 further consignments of this f'uit not be forwarded to them. In 16 s " 10 ' plums are being sold at 2d per pOTnd, the jiritri i>er i.ase i? v. ry much Several manufacturers of jam j lß * B i, fused to accept any further consign"*-* 1 oi plums. ~ .he Touris' tor certain reasons iUe . Department lias ceased preparing a of the tourist traffic in the Domini 0 ". therefore, no definite figures arc ava " to show how this year compares . . others in the matter of patronage _ tourists. However, the Department 18 a good position to form an the matter, and that is that neither - Zealanders nor Australians «ho L u £ jf; New Zealand have curtailed o |- ; travelling tins season. In one cvgvisitor it seems certain there W" 1 shortage and that is the Aipnje ,wtp| ber. A fair number of P 6o ?® -forS visited Mount Egmont, but the sea~ , jjjtl ascending that mount-air. has on -■ commenced. ' i