LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15834, 3 February 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

An" accident occurred on board the coastal steamer Kahn as she was coming up Rangitoto Channel from Gisborne early last evening. It appears that <» fireman named William McNab was struck on the head by a bucket of coal. The man's left ear was almost severed and his left shoulder was bad'.y bruised. On arrival at the wharf, Dr. Coldicu't was summoned, and after the injured man had been treated he was sent to the hospital. The wound to the ear is not considered to be serious, and it is not thought that the man's bearing wiU be impaired. McNab is single and is 24 years of age.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded yesterday by the district coroner, Mr. E. C. Cut-ten, S.M., at the adjourned inquest into the circumstances of tbe death of Rarnaby Turner, a labourer, residing at Waiuku, who fell from his horse on January 24, and subsequently suffered from cerebral hemorrhage. Evidence was given by William Michie, a Waiuku builder and contractor, who said that while riding a bicycle on the'Waipipi Road he hoard a horse galloping towards him, and saw the rider fall. The injured man was conveyed to Waiuku. where he received temporary medical aid, and was then taken to the hospital. Dr. Alexander McGregor Grant, senior house surgeon at the Auckland District Hospital, stated that Turner was operated on immediately after his admission to the hospital, but died three days later.

After nearly five years' absence in Australia a middle-aged man named Andrew Carmichael has returned to Auckland and surrendered himself to the police under a warrant issued at the instigation of his wife, who had been granted a maintenance order against him. Carmichael appeared at the Police Court yesterday before Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M. The warrant for his arrest, Detective-Sergeant oil's explained, was issued in 1910, and although the arrears at that time were only £1 10s they now amounted to considerably over £100. Mrs. Carmichael, however, was willing to take £10 in satisfaction of her claim for arrears. Ten sovereigns were thereupon handed to the clerk of the court, and the old order was cancelled, a fresh one for the payment of 10s weekly being made out. It was stated that Carmichael, with the consent of his wife, was going back immediately to Australia, but would keep up the weekly payments.

A charge of failing to account to the Auckland Farmers' Co-operative Milk Supply Company for £19 13s 9d paid to him on the firm's behalf was made against a young man named Percy George Shirley at the Police Court yesterday. DetectiveSergeant Hollis asked that Shirley, who was a milkman employed by the Milk Supply Company, should be remanded until February 10, as there were further accounts to bo examined. The remand was agreed to, Shirley being allowed bail in two bonds of £75 each.

Rapid progress is now being made towards the completion of the new ferroconcrete bridge across the Manukau Harbour, between Onehunga and Mangere. The remaining parts of the old bridge will be pulled down by the end of the week as there are only about 160 ft of the original structure left, and the work of demolition is being continued day and night. This branch of the work was greatly impeded yesterday by the rough weather, as it is only at high tide and under calm conditions progress can be made. In connection with the new bridge four Deadstocks, or ferro-concrete supports, have now been completed and two are in course of erection. In all there will be 17 headstocks. About 15 men are now engaged in the work of erecting the new bridge across the Tamaki River at Panmure. Concreting has commenced, and piles have been driven in the embankment. Piles and beams of reinforced concrete are being made, and the actnal erection of the bridge will be commenced in about a month. The arbitration case, M. Torpey (contractor) v. the Dargaville Borough Council, which arose out of a contract for the formation of Hokianea Road, Dargaville, is to be heard at Dargaville to-morrow, at 10 a.m. A dispute originated between the council and Mr. Torpey regarding the contract, which was let to the latter at the price of £527 6s. Mr. H. -Metcalfe, C.E., of Auckland, will appear for the Borough Council in the present case, and Mr. D. L. Cochrane, C.E., of Waifcumete, for the contractor, as arbitrators. Mr. A. Sturges, Mayor of Otahuhu, has been selected by the arbitrators as umpire. Mr. R. McVeagh is acting for Mr. Torpey, and Messrs. Hayes and Darling for the council. A meeting to form motor and signalling branches of the New Zealand National Reserve was held at the St. John Ambulance Rooms last night. A strong signalling corps was formed, among the men giving in their names being several who are already proficient in the art. The signallers chose Wednesday night for their weekly drill. There were fewer motorists present, but the nucleus of a corps was obtained. The annual camp of the 3rd, Auckland, Regiment will be opened at Avondale on March 22. Non-commissioned officers who are not efficient must go into camp on March 18 for four extra days, but they will receive no pay. This order also applies to privates who are not efficient. The number of men' employed nn the cooperative labour system on railway works in which the province is particularly concerned, for the months of November and December last, was as follows, the first figures being those for November and the second for December:—Kaihn section, 44, 67; Kawakawa-Hokianga, 34, 36; Whangarei southwards, 131, 131; North Auckland Main Trunk, 308, 313; Waiuku branch, 103, 116; Huntly Awaroa, 188, 92; Waihi-Tauranga, 84, 79; TaurangaTaneatua, 255, 282; Gisborne-Motu, 128, 119; Napier-Gisborne, 165, 164; Stratford Main Trunk, east end, 280, 280, west end, 221, 224; Raetihi-Main Trunk, 183, 187.' Total men in North Island for November, 2136; South Island, 655. For December: North Island, 2096; South Island, 625. The number of men employed on roads was: November, North Island, 2160; South Island, 776. December: North Island 2278; South Island, 720.

During the month of January the following cases of infectious diseases were notified to the district health officer Dr. Makgill:—Scarlet fever: City, 3 cases; suburbs, 2 cases; country districts, 6 cases, total, 11 cases. Diphtheria : City, 3 cases; suburbs, 4 cases; country districts, 8 cases; total, 15 cases. Enteric fever: City, 5 cases; suburbs, 9 cases; country districts, 18 cases; total, 32 cases. Tuberculosis: City, 7 cases; suburbs, 13 cases; country districts, 10 cases ; total, 30 cases. Blood-poisoning: City, 2 cases; suburbs, 3 cases; country districts, 1 case; total, 6 cases. Chickenpox: City, 8 cases; suburbs, 6 cases; country districts, 12 cases; total, 26 cases. Cerebrospinal meningitis: Suburbs, 1 case.

Farther interesting photographs of the New Zealanders in Egypt appear in today's edition of the Auckland Weekly News. These fine pictures show the men in camp, on route marches across the desert and through Cairo, and at the Sphinx and pyramids. The series includes two different viewß of the New Zealand camp and one of the Australian camp. Thev serve to convey some idea of the country in which the troops are being trained, and of their daily duties. A considerable portion of the illustrated section is devoted to war pictures. These are chosen from a large selection of interesting photographs, and depict many scenes in the fighting areas. The principal subjects are the ruins of Pervyse. including the total destruction of the beautiful old church of St, Nicholas, German infantry cleaning their arms after a strenu-, ons time in the trenches, British Red Cross workers operating on a wounded soldier behind the firing-line, a Belgian soldier slopping peacefully on the floor of a church while his fellow-countrymen pray beside him, the arrival in Berlin of wounded Germans, a. remarkable photograph of a French battery shelling a position held by the enemy, Belgian nuns engaged in helping the wounded, British Blue Cross men dressing the wounds of an injured horse. Belgians diverting flood-waters towards German trencher, and British cavalry hunting out hostile stragglers in a captured village. Bearing upon the North Sea engagement appear views of H.M.S. Lion, which led the British ships, a near view of her great 13.5 in guns, the Seydlitz, one of the German battle-cruisers which suffered severely in the fight, and portraits of Admiral Sir David Beattie and Commodore R. Y. Tyrwhitt. A panoramic view of the Trent-ham camp and parade ground is reproduced, together with another of the men at rifle practice. An artistically arranged page of yachting snapshots depicts pome of the best-known Auckland boats racing on Regatta Day. The numerous other illustrations include views of the opening of Myers Park, the Manawatu rifle meeting at Palmerston North, the Tokomaru, sunk by a German submarine in the English channel, fire at Dargaville, and good hauls of fish at Russell and Napier.

The ranks of the Legion of Frontiersmen have furnished several hundred men for the New Zealand force. Between 500 and 400 are comprised in the main contingent. Abont 100 frontiersmen were included in the second reinforcement, 40 of this number having been drawn from a single squadron in Poverty Bay, while 34 men of the howitzer battery are frontiersmen, many of whom were formerly naval gunners. One hundred men from the legion are in. the ranks of the third reinforcement. Every one of the 26 men forming the Waitemata troop has joined the force.

The water pipes leading from the Nihotupu reservoir are laid in places through long tunneL«, on the floor of which are trolley rails. During yesterday's City Council excursion to the ranges the party was conveyed along the pipe-track by horse-drawn trolleys. Two of the three horses, however, were not used to the dark tunnels, some difficulty being experienced in inducing them to go through. For seme time the party found themselves in the middle of a long tunnel with a horse which refused to move. Another delay occurred in one of the tunnels through the derailment of a trolley. On-' of the party sustained a painful cut on the hand from a sharp rock on the wall of the tunnel.

The Defence authorities announced last week that they desired to obtain 58 engineer recruits from Auckland for the reinforcements for the expeditionary force. It was stated that men with experience in the building trade were preferred. Of the volunteers who responded there were some who inquired whether they would be paid similar wages to those which they earned in civilian employment, and whether the Defence Department would meet any expenses which they might incur. When informed that they would only receive . territorial rates of pay, and that expenses would not be paid, one or two showed surprise, and declined to enlist. The military authorities wish it to be known that all recruits, no matter for what branch of the service, can only receive pay according to the scale fixed for the expeditionary force, viz-, 6s a day. By far the greater number, if not all. of the men who returned to Auckland a few days ago from the expeditionary force in Egypt, surrendered their uniforms to the Defence authorities yesterday. This does not include those who were invalided home. The announcement was made yesterday that if any of the discharged men were in uniform after mid-day, they would be arrested, but that if any of them were without civilian clothes, the Defence authorities would provide them with a suit each. Consequently, many of the men presented themselves at the Drill Hall, and disappointment was expressed by several at having to wear the denim clothes provided. However, when it was pointed out that refusal meant arrest by the police, the men handed in their uniforms. The police made no arrests during the day. but they brought one or two men to the ; Drill Hall to have their uniforms changed for denim clothing. A meeting of the Devonport Rifle Club ! was held on Tuesday night, Mr. Andrew Meeney presiding. Twenty-two men were sworn-in as members of the club. On Friday night the members will attend at the Drill Hall to receive instruction in the elementary principles of musketry training. " .Although for some years Auckland had capable men at the head of its affairs, \ yet the time did not seem opportune fir • the launching of large schemes. But with the election of Mr. A. M. Myers to. the ' Mayoralty, the man arrived with the ! hour and a progressive policy was in- ! augnrated," said Mr. C. J. Tarr, CMC, I yesterday, on the occasion of the City I Council picnic in the ranges. " Auck- \ land, with its great future, was able to i face a large expenditure on muniapal , works." he continued, "but at the pre- i sent time, in view of the war, it is necessary to guard our finances, and, perhaps, curtail our progressive -policy for the time being. We have quite sufficient in the way of large works on our hands, such as the water supply and the Jermvn Street improvement scheme." Difficulty is being experienced by the fish merchants in Wellington in disposing of the heads and offal from the large fish which are occasionally caught in considerable numbers. It is practically impossible for the fishermen to clean the whole, of a large catch at the time of their capture, as the fish would go stale before the operation was concluded. The new destructor refuses to take the responsibility ' of destroying the offal, except in the case of small fish, although the old destructor accepted it*. The. merchants have consequently to despatch the refuse to the strait*, which costs money. Suggestions have been made that the offal should be converted into manure, as has been done in other countries, and the Mayor of Wellington proposes to invite the City Council to discuss the advisability of un- j dertaking the disposal of all fish offal in the form of fertiliser. J