LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15948, 19 June 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

One thousand and forty-five bags 65 European and American mails for all parts of New Zealand are on board the steamer Maitai, which is expected to arrive at Wellington to-morrow morning from San Francisco. The Auckland portion, consisting of over 150 bags, should arrivo hero on Monday afternoon. The Atua is due at Auckland to-morrow afternoon with mails from Samoa, Tonga, and tip. Iho Westralia, due on Monday from Sydney, Is bringing 81 bags of Suez and Australian | mails for Auckland. The New Zealand mail, which was despatched from the Dominion on April 28, via Suez, arrived in London on June 15, two days late.

Cable advice has been received that the machinery for tho new works which are being erected by the Westfield Freezing Company has been shipped. The manager of the company states that there is now no doubt that the company's cool stores will be ready for the new season s produce in October. By the erection of this storage and tho recent additions to the Whangarei Freezing Company's works, the cold storage facilities of the province will be doubled before the new season starts. The Whangarei works have been completely remodelled, and the freezing accommodation has been trebled. This work is almost complete) and the con struction work • has not, so far, stopped killing operations. The Athenic will visit Whangarei Harbour tit' the end of the month to lift a large shipment of beet and sundries.

The captain of the mail steamer Maitai, en route from San Francisco to Wellington and Sydney, has reported by wireless that the vessel has been delayed by extremely bad weather in the Pacific, but it is expected that she will reach Wellington to-morrow morning. The Maitai left San Francisco on May 27, one day late, and was due at Wellington yesterday. The Auckland portion of her European and American mail should arrive here by the express on Mpnday afternoon, while local cargo by the vessel will com# forward by tho Paloona, due . here on Juno 24.

A clerk named William Badger was admitted to the hospital shortly before six o'clock last night, suffering from a severe cut on the back of the head, caused through his falling off a tramcar in Hobson Street. His condition is not serious.

The Westralia left Sydney at 1 p.m. on Thursday for. Auckland with .40 passengers and 1370 tons of cargo, and should arrive here on Monday evening. She in timed to sail on the return voyage at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

A contribution of £100 has been mada to tiio funds of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Tho amount come l , from the estate of the lato Mrs. Harriett Jones, of Shelly Beach Road, ■ Ponsonby, in accordance with t'he tsrnts of, her will. Notification of the bequest was received by the committee of the society at its last meeting, and the secretary was instructed to convey the thanks of the society to Mr. T. W. Jones.

_ The adoption of a markets improvement scheme by the City Council on Thursday night last will involve the demolition of the present unsightly buildings on the Elliott Street area as early as possible. Tho Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, stated yesterday that negotiations were now in progress with the auctioneering firms concerned as regards the class of buildings to be erected on the Customs Street site, and their requirements, as, in view of their long'tenancy under' tho council, thoy would be given preference in these matters. In any case it would be unreasonable to terminate their' occupation of the present building without giving" them ' 'sortie * consideration. It would probably 'be some months before the demolition of the present market buildings -was- started. The work having been authorised, however, no time would be lost.

"The War in the Dardanelles; Unlocking the Door to Constantinople," was the subject of a lecture delivered by the Rev. W. G. Monckton, M.A., in St. Sepulchre's Hall, last night. The lecture was illustrated by lantern views, and Mr. Monckton explained in an interesting manner the course of the operations at the Dardanelles. The proceeds were in aid of the Church of England Men's Society's camp fund, and a, sum of about £10 was thus obtained.

Tho recruiting office at the district headquarters, Rutland Street, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including Saturdays, On Monday and Wednesday evenings the office will be open from 7.30 to 8.30 o'clock. Medical examinations of men offering their services will take place on Tuesday and Friday mornings, from ten to twelve o'clock.

The Sailors' Home Council last evening decided, on. the motion of the president, Capt. E. J. Thomas, to inform the chairman of the Hospital Board that the council was prepared to accommodate a limited number of wounded or sick soldiers returning from the front. The president mentioned that there were 23 beds at present available, and that additional accommodation for the housing of 50 men could be arranged. It was-also mentioned that the council would do all that was possible to a&i'st the authorities in any emergency, lite council expressed tho opinion that the Sailors Home was a very suitable place to accommodate returning soldiers, being close to tho waterfront, trams, and the city.

Measures are being taken by the Goveminent of France, to extend her commercial relations, and the Consul, M. J. Kigoreau, has been instructed to invite applications frgm merchants in New Zealand who would be prepared to represent French firms. The assistance of the Chamber of Commerce has been invited, and the necessary application forms may be obtained from the office of the chamber.

The rabbit pest lias become so troublesome in and around the Maraetai district that the settlers held a meeting recently in the public school, at which Mr. R. Rowan, inspector, was present. It was decided to form a Rabbit Board, in conjunction with the settlers of the Whitford district, and to embark on a campaign of systematic poisoning.

1 he suppiy of periodical literature which is reaching the garrison force in Samoa, 'has apparently been insufficient lately to satisfy the desire of the men for news of the outside world. A bos of books is being forwarded by Mr. A. W. Wood, 42, St. Mary's Road, Ponsonby, by the next mail. He states that he will arrange for the delivery of papers, magazines, and books I forwarded to him.

An offer of a canvalescent home for invalided soldiers has been made to the Mayor of Cambridge, Mr. Mervyn Wells, by Mr. Samuel Adams, of Auckland, who has expressed his desire to place his residence, Waterside, in Cambridge, at the disposal of tho Defence Department during the duration of war. The offer has been communicated to the Minister for Defence by the Mayor of Cambridge, and Mr. Wolls has telegraphed to Mr. Adams an expression .of appreciation of his action.

The supplement ;of 'the New Zealand Herald to-day . contains a. number of

articles of an' especially appropriate; character. This being the centenary year of the destruction of the power of a would-be world's domir.ator, Napoleon,Tohunga contributes an interesting article reviewing" the events of "A Hundred ( Years Ag6." "The Truth About the War" is told by William Satchell, and | Elsie K. Morton treats of famous epochs in the world's history in "The Famous 'Fifteens.' " The übiquitous New Zealander is described by Frank Morton, and Lieutenant-Colonel A. A. Grace, N.Z.F.A., contributes his views on "Conquest by Exhaustion." "Absence," by Bessie Nina Watty, and Mercutio's column of "Local Gossip' are other attractive features of the supplement. The illustrated section of thd issue is especially interesting, as it contains photographs of the first wounded New Zealanders to arrive in Cairo from the Dardanelles, mounted men exercising in Egypt, and a march of the fifth reinforcements through the streets of Wellington.

" I don't know whether bootmakers will ever take warning and not hang boots outside their premises," remarked Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M.. at the Police Court yesterday. He pointed out that on an average tho attention of the Court was occupied once a week in hearing cases relating to tho theft of boots, and this was largely due to the habit of hanging quantities of boots outside sbtfps 'where anyone could take them.

" With tho closing of the London money I market, that fertile channel of supply of | our local financial requirements has become. absolutely spaled," said Mr. H. Beauchamp at the meeting of shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand in Wellington yesterday. "We have consequently no loan flotations to chronicle on this occasion. For tho information of those local bodies who may have schemes of expenditure in prospect,- I may say that, apart from the uncertainty of tho war's duration, it is, in my opinion, exceedingly unlikely that the London money market, even after the termination of hostilities, will become favourable for the issue of loans for some time. The demand for capital to make good the destruction that has been wrought by the war will be enormous, and the sources of supply will, to some extent, have run dry. It is, therefore, onlv reasonable to assume that it may be s< . years before the financial equilibrium is restored and normal conditions again prevail. In any case, when considering the question of loan flotations, borrowers will 110 doubt have to readjust their ideas as to rates, for when London loans again become possible there is bound to be a great rush for applications, and this naturally will result in lenders demanding higher rates than those which in recent years they have been ready to accept."

The provision of club rooms in the city for members of the Auckland Automobile Association was discussed by the committee at a meeting on Thursday evening. It was decided to submit proposals on the matter to the annual meeting of the association, on June 29. Four tenders for the supply of 10,000 cases of benzine were received. They were referred to a subcommittee for consideration.

The Court of Arbitration yesterday con- J sidered an action brought by the Auckland ■ branch of the Australasian Federated Sea* | men's Union against the Auckland Seamen and Firemen's Union, in which it alleges that the latter body had committed a breach of an industrial agreement of February 16, 1914, by having refused to admit William Simpson, a man of good character, to membership. The opinion was expressed by the Court that the union had given its secretary no authority, express or implied, to decline Simpson's application, but it was not proved that the union was a. party to the secretary's action, which was entirely beyond the scope of his duty, and could not involve the union in any responsibility. The facts did not disclose a breach of the agreement. The hope was expressed by the Court that the union would take immediate steps to fee that the secretary properly performed his duty, which was to oring all applications for membership properly before the union; otherwise the union would lay itself open to the charge of being a party to improper methods, and would be responsible for them. The plaintiff union was justified in initiating the proceedings, and no costs would be allowed against it.

The Union Company's steamer Atua is expected to arrive at Auckland to-morrow afternoon from Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji ports. She is bringing over 50 passengers, mails, and, in addition to the.usual shipment of fruit, a large quantity of copra, most of the latter being for transhipment to Sydney and London. The Atua will leave Auckland again for South Sea Island ports on June 26.

The third monthly contribution from the Auckland Province for the Belgian Relief Fund was remitted to the Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs last evening. A now system was inaugurated on April 1, by which the remittance of funds raised in New Zealand for the relief oi distress in Belgium is controlled by the Government, the Dominion having undertaken to contribute at least £15,000 every month. Of this amount £5000 is drawn from the State purse, a similar amount is raised by private subscriptions, and the remaining £5000 is provided by a State subsidy on private subscriptions. The proportion for which the Auckland Province is responsible is £1325, and payments have now been made for April, May, and June.

Mr. J. P. Kalaugher, supervisor of the manual and technical branch of the Auckland Education Board, has written to the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association stating that ho is desirous of instructing farmers in wool-sorting and asking for suggestions as to which centres would be the most suitable ones for the establishment of classes. The letter was received at yesterday's meeting of the executive committee of the association and sympathetic interest in the project was expressed.

The Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association had before it at its meeting yesterday a letter from the New Zealand Sports Protection League asking the association for its support in protesting against a proposal which was being discussed by the Government to impose further war taxation on the totalisator receipts. It was pointed out in the letter that the tax already imposed on s the totalisator turnover in tho Dominion was sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund in connection with th° battle-cruiser New Zealand. Further taxation would be likely to affect racing and possibly cause a decrease in totalisator revenue. The letter was received.

Tho executive committee of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association, at a meeting held yesterday, decided, on the motion of tho chairman, Mr. S. W Lux ford, not to hold a provincial conference of the A. and P. Associations this | year.