LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16020, 11 September 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

I Several - petitions have been presented [ to Parliament {rem Auckland and Christ- | church, asking that '■ the day, for tie closing of shops for the half-holiday should be made optional. The Petitions Committee, to -which the matter -was referred, reported yesterday that as the question ; was a matter of policy it- had no recommendation to make. Members "who spoke briefly on the subject expressed the opinion that' as the day of the •week on which "the half-holiday should • be held had been decided in each case by a poll of the people concerned, it *was not- for Parliament to interfere. It was pointed out that in Gbristchcrcb, after two years* i experience of the Saturday half-holiday, a poll had resulted in favour of the retention of that day. A remarkable reputation has been earned by Private E. R. Jack, machine-gun section of the Auckland Infantry Battalioni He is a son of Mr. N. P. Jack, of Henderson, and a brother to Lieutenant Alex. D. Jack, who has forwarded the following account of him to his father :—" Xed has a great reputation. He has more Turks to his gun than any other man, and is called the machine-gun fiend.'' One of the officers told me that if he lives through it he ought to bo mentioned for some decoration. They say he keeps wonderfully cool and lias never been seen flustered." Private Jack is only 20 years old, and has refused promotion I in order to retain his place in the section. When Lieutenant Jack wrote on August 1 he was in Egypt, bat since then he has proceeded to the front with the fifth reinforcements, and has been wounded. The raising of £100.000. the fifth instalment of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board's £500,000 loan, was thej subject of a statement by the chairman J of the board, Mr. J. H. Gunson, yesterj day. '' The board has commissioned its | bankers to place £100,000 worth of debenj tures on the market and the prospectus i has now been prepared," Mr. Gunson \ j stated. " The loan will be offered im- ] j mediately at 5 per cent, at par, 5 per | j cent. being payable on application and ! the balance on or before October 7. The ! j security of the board is probably the best! j that is offered in the Dominion, from a; j local body's standpoint, the ratable value I jof the board's area , being some ! £26,000,000. The board . has- no liabili- ! ties whatever, other than loans sold since , i 1908. the money of which has been used j for the construction of the board's worksj After this £100,000 is sold, the board has- ! still a further £50,000 worth of debentures unissued, but these will not be put on the market for some time." A tribute to the sterling qualities of the non-commissioned officers of the Expedij tionary Forces was paid yesterday by the j chairman of the Soldiers' Belief Com- : mittee, Mr. V. J. Lamer. "It is most i noticeable," he said, that the non-com-j missioned officers never seem to be in trouble, but always seem to have enough I trouble, but always seem to have enough money to see them through their holiday I leave. Unlike some of the rank and* file, "they don't want any assistance to tide i them over until their next-paw, and, so far as the Relief Committee's rooms are concerned, they are conspicuous by their absence. - Their conduct speaks well for the method of selection of non-commis-sioned officers, and for the class of men we are sending to the front."

The question of enforcing the Gaming ; and Lotteries Act during the present crisis ,-was raised at yesterday's, meeting of. the ! council of the Auckland Chamber of Com- ! merce by 3 letter from tie Tanmannmi .Patriotic Carnival Committee, which'forwarded a resolution advocating that permission be granted for the holding of patriotic art unions on a larger -scale, and with a wider scope of prizes, .providing that the sanction of the body ' controlling the patriotic funds be first obtained. It •was decided to reply that the matter was before the Government—at- present,- and that- the tissue was not one that directly concerned the chamber.; :' •

It is the intention of the chairman of the executive of the Auckland Patriotic and War Relief Association, Mr. George Elliot, to bring, forward certain proposals by which assistance may be given to any wounded soldiers in Auckland needing help, without the men having to make a personal application for relief. "As far as we know everything is being done for the wounded men who- are already here,"* Mr. Elliot stated. "T understand a committee of ladies has* been visiting the" men and looking after their needs. It appears to me desirable,. however, that there should be ~a,, joint committee of ladies, and perhaps members of the Patriotic and War Relief Executive, to personally inquire into the cases of all the wounded' men arriving here. A register should be - kept, and - those men likely'to need assistance should be visited regularly, and their wants, as far as possible, supplied."

The Vacuum 0:1 Company's steamer 1 Navarino. "which arrived at Auckland from ' New York, via the Panama Canal, yester- ' day, with a cargo of oil, was held up from August 6 to August 11, owing to slips in the Gulefara Cut. On August 7, the second officer, Mr. H. Whitlock, died suddenly. He was apparently in his usual ' state of health when conversing •with some of the other officers about 9 p.m., hot shortly afterwards he was found lying dead on the deck. Death was due to heart failure. The body was buried at Caracal, on the canaL Deceased, who was a married man, of 54 years of age, belonged to Yorkshire. He had been on the Xayarino about 18 months. An invitation was recently extended to the Provincial Employers' Association by the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Belief Association to co-operate in obtaining employment for returning incapacitated soldiers. In replying, Mr. S. E. Wright, on behalf of the Employers* Association, states that- the matter had been considered by the committee of his association. The committee,, he stated, desired to do all in its power to assist the wounded soldiers, recruits, etc., in finding suitable work, and the officers of the association would be glad to render assistance. "We think it advisable," the letter proceeded, *' that lists of applicants for work stating the trade of the applicant, his age, and other particulars, should be sent to the office of the association, so that employers engaging a particular class- of labour can be communicated with, and suitable positions found for the applicants." A suggestion was made to the Minister for Education, the Hon. J. A. Hanan, by Mr. H. Poland, yesterday, that- the junior C3det system should be re-established in the public schools. Mr. Poland quoted from a report of the Auckland inspectors, who commended the system highly. Mr. Hanan replied that -the matter involved a very import-ant question of policy. There were reasons which had induced his predecessor to abolish the system. The question was one to be carefully, considered, and be would not care to reply to it offband. It was his intention to give the matter consideration, and he promised .to make a statement later in the session.

• Much interesting matter is?contained:** the * supplement issued with £ to-day's \Xew * Zealast> Herald. Tob-imga's contribution this week is entitled "The Soul of France." '"The Last New Zealander" is the subject chosen by Frank Morton. Lieutenant-Colonel A- A. Grace •mites on "The Disability oi Allies in War."' Other articles are "William IL— Moslem/' by • the. Rev. J. Takle, "Botha and Smuts.' by E. W. Reid, and "Mixed Musings." by J- Giles. The illustrations include ,-v remarkable view taken at a soldiers" open-air church service held in London, and some excellent j snapshot* in connection with, the Dardanelles campaign. Considerable progress has been made by the committee appointed to organise the proposed carnival in aid of the funds of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Association. The committee met on Thursday afternoon, and the meeting was then adjourned until yesterday afternoon, when considerable business was transacted. Invitations will be forwarded to many prominent citizens to act on the various committees, and the hope was expressed that these gentlemen would realise that it was their duty to give their ser- | vices to the carnivaL Six ladies, who played a prominent part- en the committee of the Post and Telegraph carnival, have been nominated for the Carnival Committee, of which Mr. George Elliot is chairman, and Mr. Eliot Davis, vice-chairman. This committee is distinct from the Organising Committee, the chairman of which is Mr. Charles Rhodes.

It was reported to the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce yesterday that the Telegraph Department had given notice to business men that the deposit system for cablegrams and telegrams was to be discontinued. Such a change, it was said, would cause great inconvenience to business houses, and the chamber was urged to take the matter up. The secretary, Mr. A. J.- Denniston. stated that for.years past business men had paid a sum of £10 or £20, and the Department had advised them when the money had become exhausted. He had written to the head office of the Department. Further consideration was deterred pending receipt of the Department's reply.

The tray in which the reads at Waitakere are being damaged by the operations of the State sawmill -was commented on by the engineer of the Waitemata County Council, Mr. G. A. Jackson, in his report to the council yesterday. The snigging of the logs along the roads caused great rats, ho said."" and completely destroyed the roads. The conndTs solicitors advised that, being a State concern, the mill was bound by no lav, and that the council •was powerless to prevent tile destruction that -was going on. It was also stated that a number of totara trees growing along the road, which the council bad intended using for culverts, were likely to be taken to the mill. The council decided to write to the Government, the manager of the mill, and ,the haulage contractor, with a view to securing their co-operation in preserving the road and the timber near the road. ;

A street- collection was made in Newmarket yesterday for the purpose of "raising money to purchase leather waistcoats for soldiers. , The Mayoress, Mrs-- J. MeColl, had guaranteed 35 waistcoats, but the collection -was so successful that! a sum of £44 ls,_sd was secured, which represents 110 waistcoats, or nearly, treble the number suggested. . In addition to the collection-boxes, ' Sowers were sold \by young ladies, and by this means a great part- of the money was collected. The children of the Newmarket school- - conducted a street stall, but the total of the returns .from this effort .was- not available last night. Of 250 members of the Manchester Unity . in- the Province of Auckland -on active service, 11 have been killed in action, six have died of. wounds, two have died i of disease, five have been reported" as missing, and 30 have been wounded, a total of 54 casualties, or nearly 24 per cant, of those on active service. Over" 80.000 members of the Manchester Unity j Oddfellows are now on active service in j the navy and army.

The-One-tree Hill Road Boards application for a loan of £6000 for the purpose of purchasing's, road' roller and an. area of land "with -which to form a domain for the district, has been favourably.: considered by the Government Insurance Department's -Board of Investment, "i: The terms of the loan include interest at .5* per cent, per annum for a period of 35 years, with a sinking fund of 1 per cent., subject to the sufficiency and legality -of the special rate forming the security.. The Insurance Department's commissioner, ; in writing to the Road Board, mentioned that the accumulations' of sinking fund ■would not be sufficient to repay the whole oi the loan at the end of 36 years. The board wrote asking for an explanation of this position. No reply frag yet been received. The proposals the board have in view have not yet been placed before the ratepayers, and a poll to sanction the raising of the loan has yet to He held.

Reserved decision was given bv MrJustice Cooper yesterday In an originating summons, under the Declaratory Judgments Act, asking the Court to declare the rights of the plaintiff under a memorandum of agreement. The parties were Wilbert deary, of Whangarei. orchardist (Mr. H. P. Richmond), plaintiff, and Robert IJearce Gibbons Foot*, of Whangarei, settler (Dr. TE D. Baniford), defendant. The defendant, said His Honor, was not entitled to charge a salary for himself for any personal service he had rendered in the management or tillage of the land in' question as a fruit farm- The agreement did not give him that right. His- Honor | answered a number of questions at- issue, and suggested that in lieu of an inquirv being directed as to the amount of occupation rent, and the fair rate of interest to be charged, the parties should agree to set the one off against the other. The Court of Arbitration will $Jt in Auckland on October 18, at 10 a-m. Seven industrial disputes and nine compensation cases are pending. Purchases of stud sheep on behalf. of the Japanese Government have been made in the .South Island by Mr. T. Hijncbi. of the Imperial Experimental Stock Farm of Japan, and Mr. M. : Ishikawa, a Kobe merchant, who left ; Wellington for Sydney on Thursday. In the course of an interview, "Mr. Ishikawa stated that the Japanese Government was anxious to ascertain the class of sheep j best suited to the Japanese climate i and conditions, which would give a ] strong-fibred wool and be valuable as »i mutton sheep as well. Already they had j on the Tsukisapu State Farm selections | of Southdown and Shropshire sheep, and those looked like doing well, but they wished to be quite sure" which was the best breed for their sheep-farmers of the future. Whilst in the South Mr. Hijuchi purchased from Mr. C. H. Ensor, of North Canterbury, one stud Corriedale ram and 10 ewes, and from Mr. Telford, of the Clifton Estate, North Canterbury! one Romney Marsh ram and .five ewes. Other purchases win be made in Australia by Mr. Hijuchi for the Japanese experimental farm.