LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15930, 29 May 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The postal authorities advise that the R.M.S Makura, which is due at Auckland very early .on Monday morning from Vancouver and way ports, with about 100 passengers, find with 930 tons of cargo for Auckland, is bringing 685 bags of European and American mails for New Zealand. Of this number, 195 bags will be dealt with at Auckland, 255 bags at Wellington, and the balance of 235 bags will be distributed throughout the South Island. The Westralia is due at Wellington on Monday from Sydney, with 326 bags of European mails, via Suez, and Australian mails. The Auckland portion of this mail, comprising 73 bags, should arrive here on Tuesday afternoon's express. The English portion of the mails which were despatched from New Zealand on April 7, via Sydney and Suez, reached London on May 24.

A patriotic Rugby Union football match will take place in Auckland next Saturday, when a team of footballers from the military camp at Trentham will play tho representative team. The. men in training at Trentham include some of the finest footballers in the Dominion and the team coming North next week will include sevei New Zealand representative players. Every member of tho team has gained provincial representative honours. Ihe first idea was to devote the proceeds to the Belgian Fund, but permission is now being sought to hand over the proceeds to the Hospital Ship Fund.

' The reinforcements which left for Trentham yesterday were divided into four platoons, and when the, roll was called there was one man missing from No. I' platoon,.two from 1 No. 2 platoon, and four from each of No.'3 and ' No." 4 platoons. 1 This left 11 vacancies to be filled to complete Auckland's quota, but tho recruiting officers quickly obtained a sufficient number of men from among the bystanders to make up the deficiency. The new men! had passed the medical examination, but! were awaiting their turn to be posted . to 1 , a reinforcement draft. Subsequently ; two of the men who had failed to answer their names appeared at the drill shed, and explained that they had mistaken the time fixed for the departure of the train, xuey were sent on to Wellington by the express last night.

The Union Company has announced that the Canadian - Australian mail steamer Makura is' to sail at 6 p.m. oh v> Monday for Sydney, and will carry New Zealand passengers for Australia at the ordinary intercolonial rates. The Makura will berth at Auckland 6pon after 7 a.m. on Monday.

) .: '■ A private conference between the Hon. H. D. Bell, Minister for Internal Affairs, and the members of the Auckland University College Council, in regard to the question of a site for the proposed new local University College, • was held yesterday afternoon. Prior to the conference the Minister and the ,members of the council inspected an area of land at Mount, Eden, near the new Grammar School, which is amongst tho various suggested sites. At the conference Mr. Bell and the council members exchanged ideas on the subject, and Mr. Bell will report the result to the Minister for Education, tho Hon. J. Allen, on his return to Wellington.

A gift of fruit for the officers and crew" of the cruiser Philomel, now on foreign service, is being arranged by Mr. T. W. Kirk, director of the orchards division of the Department of Agriculture. In a telegram addressed to Mr. A. B. Mansfield, horticultural instructor for the Department, Mr. Kirk explains lhat opportunity to forward a few cases of fruit in cool storage will be afforded by the first outward voyage of the hospital ship.' He states that any freight charges-for the delivery of the fruit will be paid by the Department. Any fruitgrowers or others who wish to participate in the gift are' invited to communicate '.with Mr., Mansfield at the Department of Agriculture.

It is one.year ago to-day since the Empress of Ireland disaster occurred on the St. Lawrence River, 'resulting in the loss of 1023 lives. Those drowned included four Aucklanders—Colonel W. R.,' Mrs., and Miss Hilda Bloomfieldi and Mrs. Wynn Price.'. The Empress of Ireland, which was owned by the Canadian-Pacific Railway Company, was a steamer of 14,191 tons, and was struck amidships by the Norwegian coal steamer ' Storatad, near Father Point. The disaster occurred at night, in a dense fog, and .the liner sank in 14 minutes. Only 432 passengers were saved. The Empress of Ireland carried a full equipment of boats and other life-saving-appliances, but it was impossible to launch most of them, owing to the steamer heeling over.

It was stated at the annual meeting of the Wilsons Portland Cement Company. Ltd., yesterday, by the chairman, .Mr. George Elliot, that evury one of the seven members of the company's staff who had enlisted had been injured. Two were killed, and the other five Were woundedTheir names were: Lieutenant Scrcaton and Private Morris, killed; and Privates Witters, Warin, Tomlin, Smith, and Clay, wounded.

An .accident' occurred to a waterside I worker named George Green, when engaged yesterday morning on the steamer Kaiapoi, at the King's Wharf. Green was walking across the deck when he tripped over a rope and fell, breaking one of his legs. \ He 'was conveyed to the hospital, and. last night was reported to be progressing fayourablj,'

■; The- supplement issued with the .JIM Zealand Herald to-day - contains muchinteresting matter. "The Giving .of. Love" is the title of an article by To hunga, and Frank Morton writes on " The Cordial Country." An interesting article on Constantinople is contributed by Arch--deacon Mac Murray, Alice Ferguson deals with " The Unexcitable Briton," and Wil J liam Satchell with Britain's motives fop" entering into the Great War. "Imperial Clay," by Nudis Verbis, forms another feature of the issue. In addition there is Mercutio's column of Local Gossip. The illustrations include photographs of British bluejackets landing at the Dardanelles, and deflated Austrians marching out of Przemysl. There is also a picture of the sinking of the Falaba, which was torpedoed by a German submarine on March 28. Many interesting war storiesappear in the supplement.

The ketch ' Dominion, 25 tons, went ashore some weeks ago at Oere Point, near Ponui Lighthouse. The vessel was about to enter the Orere Creek to load firewood, when she was left high and dry on the shingle beach at the mouth of the creek owing to the tides taking off. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to re-launch the vessel with bullock teams. Captain Watt, master of the Dominion, arrived in Auckland on Thursday evening, and having completed arrangements with the harbour authorities for the tug Te Awhina to be despatched to the scene, the vessel left port yesterday afternoon. Captain Watt accompanied the tug, and, assisted by the exceptionally high tide, the Te Awhina succeeded in towing the Dominion off about six o'clock last evening, and- brought her into port fcur hours later. The ketch does not appear to be damaged in any way.

At the resumed inquest on William Henry McAuliffe, who, on March 10, was knocked down by a tram in Hobson Street and who <'ied from his injuries at the end of last week, evidence was given as to the deceased's sobriety. Dr. Grant, the superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, however, said that the deceased when admitted to that institution was not suffering from excessive drinking; and a chemist who saw the deceased immediately after the accident said that- he detected no trace of liquor in the deceased's breath.

Patriotic feelings actuated a member of the National Reserve yesterday in ordering six flags of the allies for brother reservists and himself to wave an encouragement to the recruits who departed for Trentham in the afternoon. In order to have the national emblems ready the girl employees of the establishment where they were made worked overtime during the luncheon-hour, completing their work just in time for the occasion. The whole of the flags in question were commandeered by the recruits in passing, and those to whom they were surrendered undertook to carry them with honour into ,the firing lino. Two or three of the flags were displayed on the troop-train as it left the station.

A collision between a trap and a tramcar took place near the corner of Clyde Street and Manukau Road; last night, and resulted in injuries being received by Mr. C. E. Brooke, butcher, of Queen Street, Onehunga. Mr. Brooke was driving home in the trap, when the horse' bolted and ran into the car. '• Mr. Brooke was thrown to the ground, and was severely wounded in the head. , He was attended to by Dr. B. G. Dudley, and sent to the hospital, but after bcinp treated in the j casualty ward was removed to his home. i ' •. » ">/•< \

Probate of the wills' of the" following' deceased persons has been granted by'-His Honor „ Mr. Justice :5 Cooper:—William ■, Monoghan (Mr. Baxter), William Corbett (Mr. Thome), William Jackson Bradshaw (Mr. Peak). Margaret 1 Coo.iey (Mr. Fallon)/ John Crawshaw (Mr. Thome), ~ David Dalton'(Mr. Mahony), Henry/ 'Bridge Dunnet (Mr. Sbeltonj/ Robert Cockerline (Mr. Collins), Beatrice Mary Dunn \ (Mr/ Hammond), George Samuel Gongh. (Mr. Mahony), and Duncan Mackay (Mr. Hall Skelton). . Applications for letters of ad-: j ministration were granted in connection I with the estates of Boulton Ormandy (Mr. Carruth) and Hellen McFarlane Culpan (Mr. Clayton). ' J -, ./

A young man applying for enlistment at Christchurch was rejected at a medical examination recently because his clwsi expansion was not great enough. He informed the officials of this,/ and they explained to him how to breathe properly,and within 19 days he went up for another medical examination, 'and was passed with an increased chest expansion of 3J|in. Another story 'is told of a Christchurch man who was rejected because of a complaint requiring a minor operation. He proceeded to the hospital, but found that ha would have /to wait some.time before he could- be operated on. and if he did not immediately take a bed he might have to wait indefinitely. Remarking that he would "go through anything to get,to the front," he took a bed, and lay between the sheets for a week' afterwards awaiting the surgeon.

The problem of the stoat and the weasel was mentioned: by Mr. L. Tripp in his opening remarks as chairman of the annual meeting of the Wellington Acclimatisationc Society on Wednesday night. *" They are climbing trees and taking the eggs from native birds," he said; "they are killing the birds before they kill the rabbits."' He gave an example. Alongside a stoat which had been killed were five quail; and in one day a shootist was lucky enough to get rid of eight or,ten weasels and stoats. Another gentlemoi present said that he and his brother shit 19 stoats and weasels in one week-end. A suggestion that a price should be put on the heads of stoats and weasels was received with applause. Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., stated that he considered that the hawks were as great a danger as the stoats and weasels.

Strong complaint was made by several members of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society at a meeting on Wednesday night tff the action—or, gather, inaction— some magistrates in dealing with offences against the Act. Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., gave a case in point. A ranger spent four cold nights in the open watching for a- poacher. He got him at' last, and the magistrate fined the offender 10s, with 8s costs, and practically apologised for the indignity he had to put upon him. "If 6uch people were fined £5, or even £25, there would soon be an end to the practice," said Mr. Field, and the meeting said, "Hear, hear," with great unanimity.

An official return which was recently completed shows that there are 15,280 buildings in Greater Wellington. This total is composed as follows:—Dwellings 8847, butchers' shops 62. milk shops and dairies 57. various other shops 1263, stables 336, hotels 47, private hotels billiardrooms (licensed) 13. public buildings 18, private hospitals 12, factories, warehouses and offices 848, churches and schools 80, dwellings in outlying districts 4461. These figures show a total of 16.072, the excess of 792 above the actual number of. buildings being explained by the fact that buildings used as shops and dwellings' are included in both, dassificitioMj,