LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16011, 1 September 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

I I . . . j 1 ■ flic Shaw.. Savill. and Albion my* J lonic arrived at Auckland early this . ! morning from London, via Alexandria.! I Egypt. the vessel anchoring in the stream ! at. 12.45 a.m. Owing to the early ljotir of! j her arrival, no eommunicaflfen was made I with the shore. She berths at the Queen's ■ ! Wharf at daybreak. The lonic left- Lon-1 j don about July 20, and called at ! j Alexandria about the end of July to land' ! several thousand British troop?. She left j Alexandria on August 1 for Auckland | direct. The vessel brought only a moderate ' j (|uantity of cargo for New Zealand this, j trip, the amount- to be discharged at Auck- . [ land totalling about 780 tons. She will | load frozen meat and other Dominion pro- j ' ducts at Auckland. Whangarei. and Well-1 i ington for London. From Wellington the; j lonic will go to Sydney, to complete her ; 1 loading, and is to leave that port oil S^p-1 j tember 24 for London. !

Tho postal authorities advise that the j New Zealand mails despatched on July ' 22 for London reached the Home port on j August 28. five days late. These maila I were carried by the Maitai from Welling- | ton to San Francisco, the vessel arriving j at the Califcmian port on August 13. two ; days late. It is expec'ed that the next ' European and Australian mail to reach j Auckland will be by the R.M.S. Niagara, ■ due here from Sydney on Monday mora- j ing. September 6. It is expected that. ! the lonic, which arrived in the stream at ■ Auckland early this morning from Lon- : dor, via Alexandria, has on board a. i quantity of Egyptian mail matter for j Now Zealand. Twenty bags of Australian • mails, -which reached Wellington from Sydney by the Moeraki on Monday afternoon. arrived at Auckland by the express yesterday afternoon. The R.M.S. Maitai is due at Wellington on Thursday, September 9. from San Francisco with European and American mails, the Auckland portion of which should reach here about j Saturdav, September 11.

Several juvenile cases were dealt with by Mr. F. V. Frazer. S.M. yesterday morning. A girl, eight years of age, 1 whose father lias gone to the front, and whose mother is alleged to be a victim to drink, was committed to an industrial school. A boy, 13 years of age, who previously admitted having hired two bicycles and then sold them, appeared for sentence. He was formally committed to the Wereroa Training Farm, but the magistrate allowed him to stay with his parents j so long as his behaviour was satisfacj tory to the probation officer. Two boys, i aged nine, admitted having stolen money | from shops in the Eden "Terrace district. I A third boy. who received some of the 1 proceeds of the thefts, was charged with ' receiving. Two of the boys, including I the last mentioned, were put on probation j for six months, and the remaining boy • was sent to an industrial school. i Trie total Customs duties collected at ! the Fort, of Auckland during the month [ of August amounted to £76,331, against 1 £91.365 for the corresponding month of • la't year, a decrease of £15.054. Th« | beer duty totalled £2091, compared with. • £2126 for the previous August, a decrease jof £35. The details of the gold and silver j exported from Auckland in August are as : follows :—Gold, 47990z. value £18,668; ; silver. 94,99205, value £9466. The values for the corresponding month in 1914 wera respectively, £55,556 and £5313. showing a decrease in the value of the gold export for August, 1915. of £36,888, and of the silver export- of £4153. " He is a notorious liar," explained the Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., Crown froscI cutor, yesterday, when referring to the case of Harry • Kelly, a full-blooded j Maori, who came before Mr.* Justice Cooper for sentence on charges of break- j ing and entering and theft at Gumtown. The prisoner was to have been sentenced some" time back, but, as" be told v his | counsel. Mr. J. R. London, that he bad j been induced to plead guilty, the state- | ment was investigated, and found to be ' incorrect. His Honor thought there -was j some irregularity, as the prisoner was a ' full-blooded Maori, despite his name, and j there was no evidence that he understood ! English. Mr. Lundon assured His Honor ! that Kelly was a perfect English linguist, j in fact, an unusually capable raconteur. ; He was indignant at not having been. I dealt with on the previous occasion, as he i desired to join the Maori Contingent. He | ' wanted to be sentenced now. His Honor i inflicted a sentence of 12 months' im- ■ prisonment.

j So long a spell of fine weather has been | experienced in Taranaki that- the farmers j are anxious for rain, according to Dr. j A. W. Averill. Anglican Bishop of Auckj land. -who returned yesterday from a tour lof that district. Some of the settlers 1 ■were beginning to fear a drought. said the bishop. He remarked also upon the excellence of the roads, even in the back blocks he visited. Taranaki -was looking very flourishing and the dairying season had just started, making matters very bnsv. The effects of. the war were being

keenly felt owing to so many men having left for the front-. The late Colonel M alone vrae one of those most- missed in the district.*. The bishop was gratified by the response to his efforts on the part of the Taranaki people, especially those in the back blocks, where the congregations at- his were very large. The Mount Albert tram service will be

started to-day, some time before noon. The new .section, which will have a doable line throughout- its length, runs from the Morningside railway bridge to St. George's Hall. Mount Albert, just beyond the junction of the Onehunga and Mount Albert Roads, and in close proximity to the Mount- Albert railway station. It is proposed to institute a 12 minjites' service on week days, the first car leaving Mount Albert for the city at 6-28 a.m. and the last at 10.52 p.m. The first car from the city will leave at 6.46 a.m. and the last at 11.22 p.m. There will be a 24 minutes' service on Sunday afternoons.

• The suggestion made by the Hon. G. \\ . Russell that the bowlers of the North and South Islands should assist in the equipment of the proposed main convalescent homes at Rotorua and Hanmer is being taken up • enthusiastically by the officers and members of local clubs. Mr. A. M. Bryden. secretary of- the. Auckland and Dominion Associations, stated yesterday that the Ministerial estimate of the amount required for the homes was £10.000 each. As the bowlers of the Dominion now number 15,000. and as they, as a class, are not poor men, it was jVIt that a properly -organised effort should easily obtain the estimated sum of £20.000. Two clubs of a'-. .ut 75 members have announced iLat they -will each raise the sum of £100. Mr. Russell met the bowlers of South Auckland yesterday, and later, on his return to the South, he will meet the Southern bowling officials.

There were 288 births in Auckland last month. against 292 in August of last year. The deaths numbered 116. compared with 122 :n the previous August, while there -a ere 156 marriages, against 152 for the corresponding period in 1914. and of these, 57 were performed by toe registrar, compared with *9 in the previcu* August*

The pictures in the Auckland Weekly 1 Sews, issued to-day. deal with several 1 subjects of. outstanding interest. A | ieattire is made of the Dardanelles cam- J paign aeaihst the Turks ■ and many fine j photographs appear depicting various as- j pevts* of the war in which the New Zea- j land soldiers are engaged. A striking j full-page photograph pf tig guns in action I is included. Another pi« ture shows troops i in the act of issuiug from the trenches to attack the Turks. 'lb- Roll of Honour this week comprises 169 portraits, one j page being devoted to the portraits of | New Zealand officers who have' fallen, i Two excellent panornmi" views show the . departure of the Auckland faction of the j eighth reinforcement dealt icr iien'hani | last week. j The City Council i« keeping in view \ the n<ed for making arrangement? for the < erection of a clock to take the place of J the one on the old premises of the New Zealand Insurance Company. A temporaryj arrangement, which will 1k»v» to he confirmed by the Works Committee of the council, has been made bv the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson. who hope? to have a

clock erected in a suitable place pending j the placing of a permanent time-piece in ! a prominent position in Queen Street, j The Works Committee. M. Hunson ex- ' plained yesterday, had befor° it an offer j from the New Zealand Insurance Company in regard to the structural work necessarr for the reception of a clock. This offer woild be dealt with at the meeting of the .committee to-morrow.

The local office of the ITuodart-Parker . Company announces in connection with . the accident in the enginei oom of the j Riverina on the passage from Sydney to | Auckland last "hat it was found on closer examination that the high-pres-sure piston was broken through the centre, and the necessary repairs will take longer to complete than was anticipated. It is possible that the vessel's trip down the coast to Southern ports may be camelled, or possibly the> number of ports of call may be altered. The Riverina was advertised to sail at 3 p-m. to-day. but the local office is awaiting instructions front the head office in Melbourne before making a definite announcement as to the vessel a movements. A large number of passengers have booked through to Southern ports by the steamer, and it is expected j j that they will be able to obtain full in- j ! formation at the company's office this ' | morning. Merchants intending to ship ' cargo by the Riverina have also beer, inconvenienced, and shippers should communicate with the company's office before sending goods to the ship. During the next tew day? several large oversea steamer* are expected to arrive at Auckland. The lonic reached port early this morning from London and Alexandria, while the Batsford. Navarmo and Norman Monarch are now fully due from NewYork, via the Panama Canal. The Bats- j ford and Norman Monarch will discharge general merchandise, and will afterwards visit Southern and Australian ports, while the Navarino will di/cbarge about 50,000 cases of assorted oils, and will subsequently go to Napier, Wellington, Lytt-el-ton, Timaru and Dunedin to complete bet" discharge. The Htirunui. from Liverpool and Australian porta, and the Whakatane, from Montreal. Ha Australian ports, are expected to arrive on Saturday with general merchandise. The mail . steamer Niagara will arrive from Sydney on Monday morning next with mails, passengers and cargo. Lengthy argument was heard by Mh. Justice Cooper yesterday in connection ■with an appeal against a decision of Mr. Dyer, S.M., at. Whakatane, in. the case. Manuhiri Tiaki Rewiri. defendant, nowappellant (Dr. H. - D. Bam ford', and Charles F- Eivers. plaintiff, now respon--1 Charles F- Eivers. plaintiff, now respon--1 dent (Mr. R. McVeagh). The parties

owned adjoining properties and a fire lit by defendant, or his servants, spread to plaintiff land and caused damages which were assessed by the magistrate at £167 10s. From the decision in favour of Eivers, Rewiri appealed. His Honor adjourned the case in order that further evidence could be called, if the parties so desired. Some time ago an agitation was afoot for the appointment of women police patrols for duty in the environs ui military camps. More recently it- has been announced that women police have been appointed in Australia. The Defence Minister telegraphed to the Australian Defence Minister to ask whether any of these women police were employed in any duties connected with the military camps. Mr. Allen has received the telegraphed reply of the Commonwealth Minister, which is that women police are not so employed in Australia. When punishing two young men yesterday for breaches of their probation orders. Mr. Justice Cooper remarked that it was important that it should be fully understood that a breach of a probation order by the commission of a serious offence rendered the person liable to imprisonment in respect of the offence upon which 'he had been admitted to probation. The | effective administration of the First Offea- i ders* Probation Art depended upon the! fact that the Court had that power, because, otherwise, the admission of an offender to probation would mean an escape from i all punishment if he committed any | offence duripg the period of his probation. He could not allow that, and the principle and spiri'r of the Act must be preserved. In the case of Charles Henry Martin, .who admitted committing forgery during the term of his probation on a similar offence. His Honor passed a sentence of six months' imprisonment, to run concurrently with a sentence of six months already being served. Fred Spencer, who had been admitted to two years' probation after an offence of breaking and entering, . committed an assault causing actual bodily harm. For that breach of his probation order His Honor inflicted a sentence of six months' imprisonment. to run concurrently with a term of 18 months' imprisonment in connection with the assault.

Appreciation of gii'*s of i iotliinz tor! *ick and mounded soldiers ii. he British hospitals is expressed in two letters received by Mrs. C. Smith, ot Park Read. Auckland, a member of the nursing branch of the St. John Ambulance Association. Mrs. >tnit h. who is st!]"*er:nt**n dent of the ladies" corps of Q-jecr .Marc's Gudd for bounded feoidieis. forwarded a consignment of garments of various kinds to the London office of the organisation. These were the gifts of Auckland contributors. The hon. secretary of the Grand Priory of -St. John. Mrs. J. Calvin Lines. in her letter of acknowledgment. espresses pride that the "old brigade" is doing such tine *** ■>i k ><> *;;■ away. The president. Lady Helen S. Slogan, thanks Mrs. Smith and the contributors on behalf of the Ladies' Committee, ana adds : The calls for hospital requirements, clothing, and comiorts for the sick and ■wounded, at Horn* and abroad, are so numerous and urgent that all sifts are most gratefully received." Further funds for the same purpose 'arc being collected, and as the proceeds of the file of «»n autograph at a Rea Cross tea 2i*\ en I at Mrs. John Buchanan's, .Mount Eden, a. cheque tor £40 was handed to Mrs. Smith. At the same tea £5 was collected for poor children in London.