LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16169, 4 March 1916, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Auckland quota" of the eleventh; infantry reinforcements, comprising 6W soldiers, who have been spending their final leave' here, will depart on their return: to Featherston ; camp': this; evening. A special train mil' be provided for them, leaving the *city •■ at/: 8.50 /p.m./// Soldiers :, and civilians will,be 'admitted to the-platform bv the southern and northern entrances respectively. The ?. usual precautions will be taken bv the railway officials to permit of the troops being; : properly entrained. On Tuesday next 72 recruits from Auckland and 52 from Paeroa will ; travel-south by the.mid-day express train. A special train leaving Auckland at 2.50 p.m.: on the same date will convey to camp 2U men from Auckland 'and 205 / from Frankton and Hamilton. -,■- Eighty-two recruits . from Whangarei will, leave by the evening.express. The': local draft vbfv the mounted rifles section of the twelfth reinforcements will be' granted leave from Friday next until March 18.",' ' ■;: The theft of-a dinghy and some sailing gear from the place where it was/moored near the Northern "- Steamship Company's berths was responsible /for ,an exciting chase' bv the police late'' yesterday afternoon. The dinghy 1 had been: purchased earlier in the day by Mr. Matthew Davidson, a resident of the Thames : district, and he moored the boat in readiness to be transported to - his -,/ home. ■ '.; About; four o'clock he reported to the ( wharf pohco that the.dinghy was missing, and he and Constable- Trotter left immediately: in a launch to search for it. When off farnell they sighted the- boat, and gave chase. The , dinghy was • run J ! ashore,' and two young fellows; apparently-aged about 18, leapt out and made off towards .the city. The officer and the owner of the boat-fol-lowed suit, and- eventually "ran the two young men to earth hiding behind some | trucks on King's /; Wharf. " -They: were' arrested, and will be brought before the, Court. I The . value of the dinghy was about £9. ;* *r , \ '...'',; ■ '•;.'• a ■:- Three boys, two aged 15 j; years, respectively, 'and"' the other, aged '16,'•■ were charged 1 before Mr. F. /V. ■ Frazer, S.M., in the Juvenile Court yesterday with stealing 22s 6d from a dwellinghouse in Devonport on/February 27. ' It was stated that after bathing the/ boys happened• on : a house from which the tenant was absent. The house was entered by means of a window, and the money was taken- from the pockets •of i two: pairs of , 'trousers \ which were found hanging in one of the rooms. The boys were severely 'admonished and placed under probation for 12 months, it being stated that if. they were sent away the loss of their earnings would embarrass their parents. Defendants were ordered to refund the money taken. A Maori. boy, aged 14, was sent to the Weraroa Training Farm on a charge of obtaining £2 .by false pretences at Dargaville, by presenting a false order. ' , , - The news that Japanese firms are not accepting orders for certain lines of goods, pending improved shipping facilities, to contained in ; a letter from Japan received by a local firm and published in yesterday's Hebaip.',.Amongst the goods mentioned as being liable to be thus restricted in supply bottles. '-Inquiries amongst bottle importers in Auckland indicate ttat the effect of a "shortage:; of;, supplies-,: of bottles^ from Japan would not be serious here. Most of them are; imported, from Australia and America, tad-the": Japanese market has not been largely drawn upon in the past,;;;;.";,;./.;;;.. \ . ' ' A small fire occurred early yesterday morning at the premises of Messrs. Carr, Pountnev and Company,/ Fort Street, The fire'brigade was quickly.on the scene audi had no difficulty in/quelling the outbreak. The damage was - confined to a couple.of kegs of staples. The cause of the fire is unknown. ; v ■' The ■ compensation claim mado:-.- by Martha' Matilda' Young against the New Zealand Sulphur Company, Limited, with respect to the death of her son in the eruption at/White; Island '-, in j September, 1914, was before the , Arbitration Court yesterday. Mr. H.P- Richmond, on behalf of the defendant company, applied for leave to take in London the evidence of Mr. W. H.Willoughby,,manager, of the,company. Mr. F«" Stilling, counsel for the claimant, did not oppose the application, which was accordingly granted. . •■'■. The annual appeal on behalf of the; Auckland Auxiliary Fund Committee will be made next Saturday, : . when, a street 1 - 'collection and house-to-house canvass will be made. By means of a Sunday demonstration in' the Domain last; year," the committee raised £121, and during 'the./past -12 months .assistance has Deen given to 40 families and more thai.' 120 children/;;;; The work of giving assistance to persons 1 who are without means when discharged from the hospital andVto/ the/ dependants 1 ; of patients has so largely increased that the committee/; hopes, to/ obtain/; much //more libera) provision /for;/ the coming year. Three hundred ladies : will give their- services support of the a-upeal, and in/addition to the collection in the, streets, from 7.30 a.m. to 10.30 p.m., a canvass will bo made from".-house, to house in tie city and the.''suburbs./;- Twenty-five motorcars have been placed at,the/disposal 1 of the committee for; the day by members of the : Auckland . Automobile .Association. During the;; evening several parties will give entertainments in Queen Street and Newton. ', ' Strong criticism of the Tramways Company was made /by ■ members ; of the Onetree Hill Road Board last night in connection with the dust: nuisance on Manukau Road. The chairman, Mr. H. B. Morton, stated that the board had in several cases caused the surface /of the worst portions ■ of 'the/road to bo tarred:':,; Every" request made to the company /to adopt a similar method with regard to its portion of th. road had been met with a refusal. '; Members of the Young Women's Christian ; Associations throughout New, Zealand will assemble next week at Broad Bay, Dunedin, for. their.annual conference. It is some "• time since;/ the .- conference • has been held in the South Island,' and Dunedin has been chosen to enable the smaller associations there to.send representatives. The conference will be under, the leadership of/Miss Helen F. Barnes, ; national secretary, and Miss" Mary Geddes, national secretary ■ for < girls'/work. : ' All aspects: of the ... association's work, both .: devotional and technical, will be considered, and addresses given by prominent speakers. ' The sitting ol the .Assessment Court to deal with/city assessments will take -place on April 12, ■; when ; : Mr.:■■■ E. .C. - Cutten, S.M., will probably preside. ■/ Over/ 100 notices of - objections to assessments have been received. The dates on which' objections lodged against suburban valuations/will, be heard have not yet been fixed.':..; .; ;/' : V'//-:,;/. ./„•//;.-;'. y ■;-',,;: • /A; temporary exchange :of ' parishes has been arranged between : the Rev. A. H. Colvilo, of Mary's, New Plymouth, and - the . Rev. A. Richards, of ./St. Sepulchre's, Auckland. Mr. Colvile will arrived from : New > Plymouth on Wednesday, and during his stay in the city will deliver : « .'series of five ; addresses jin connection ''with -the Lenten programme arranged by the Evangelistic Council. '

• me supplement issued mm the Houm* ' to-day-contains a number of interesting features. Tohunga's article 'is entitled ' .-' "Nerves of Modern Men." LieutenantColonel A, A. Grace writes on the Verdu •-'• offensive, while Frank Morton's conlrib.: ; '■. tion is entitled "The Other Half." '%,- tain and Portugal" is the subject f'f||j R. W. Rcid's article, while Archdeacon Mac Murray writes »on the topic of ' "Moral Forces in War," Several war cartoons and pictures are included amonj • ' tbe illustrations. ■ • -•' ,';. The Methodist Conference has handed over a sum of £40 to the Auckland p ro . " ' vmcial Patriotic' and War Relief. Fund as V the result of a collection taken' at the patriotic service' held at the Town Hall - - on Sunday afternoon. Some amusement was provided by a Maori witness in the Supreme Court yes- ■' , terday. First, this witness gave his '..vi-denee-in-chief through the medium 1 of an ' '. interpreter. 'Then it was discovered that he was as familiar with English as with his mother-tongue. 'Dr. Bamford '. in'-'■. ' cross-examination, asked him to state in / ; English the. purport of a conversion '" as to which be had been questioned. The witness hesitated for a few minutes, then plucking up resolution, said: "Well I'll - ; v-' : ; give it a go," and proceeded to quote the ■■'"■ conversation in nearly as good language v as that; of his interlocutor. Presently however, under the pressure of the doctor's examination, he declared that he '// must have the assistance of the interpre- ' tor, and relapsed into his original Maori.' The Auckland City Prohibition Lea m has supplied the following summary of the offences caused by. drink and dealt with at the/Auckland Police Court during the : i month of February:—Drunkenness 107* obscene language, 10; theft, 10 receiv- ! ing . stolen property, 3; vagrancy, 8; I breach of prohibition, 14; supplying liquor to ;: prohibited '; persons, 1; insulting . language, 1; committing nuisance, 5; . incorrigible rogues, 2; threatening behaviour, 1; refusing to quit licensed pre-' mises, 1; / shoplifting, 1; indecency, 4 "'[ - maintenance , orders, 2; breach of traffic ■ by-law, 1; importuning, 1 ; disorderly, ■ 2; unlawfully on premises, 4; desertion, 4 damage to -property; 6; assaults,' 4; : drunk while in charge of car, 1; hop beer and sly grog-selling, 4; total. 197. Fourteen were; women;;' three were sent to ' " Pakatoa. / Four men ' r were sent to. Roto Boa/ and 15 new prohibition orders were issued. \ ' ' A serious- accident occurred on the/ Mountain Road, Taranaki, on Sunday. Mr. T. V. Simons,; with his two daughters and two sons,: were driving in his motor- • car over a portion of the road now under ; repair,/ when the : edge of \ the formation, ; ' gave way tunder the weight, the track being only some.: 9ft' wide, . and the car , rolled over a drop of 10ft. : - By the" fall Miss/Simons had; her thigh broken and her: back injured. Mr. Simons land the / other:daughter and the two sons 'escaped . without anything worse than a severe /.; shaking and a few bruises. ■ . 4 - In the course of an address to members of the National ' Reserve in Wellington, *■/ .Major Sleeman,' of ,the Royal Sussex Regiment,/; who came out to New s Zealand ; in January;. last to/ take up the position of assistant director of military training, said ' that as "a result of 18 months of \ fighting, , all' on the Western, front;, both officers and -■■■■?■'■'; men/weTe most optimistic. ;They felt,that ./ if /Germany,; with/ all her ..initial advan- ;v tages of numbers and. pi eparedness, her overwhelming advantages as regards muni- sfe tions and; so 'forth; had not been able to >/ win out there was now no chance of her M doing so when (the,allies' munitions were -./? equal or more than -equal to hers, and / the advantage of numbers /was beginning ./:'; to tell on the side of the allies. Bat while tney. were optimistic, he said, they should : ;./// not let that interfere /with //their/recruit- ' ing, nor with their making every effort to put forth their utmost strength, for Germany/was, still very-/strong.//She' would.■■'■■■ doubtless take a lot of beating, and she was .;.- a- great : bluffer. If she saw. any slackening in , British recruiting, arid other preparation's, whether at Home, or in the • /■' Dominions overseas, she would take heart ' again and fight on > all. the" longer, thus costing the . allies .; far ;more '• in• blood .and treasure. : But Germany ./was now losing /// heart, and of British recruiting was kept f~\M up and British preparedness was kept up to the highest standard it would break //i /Germany's heart, and she would 'jrive.in, - .South, Otago farmers are asking that-.v.: there shall be no prosecutions this year on account /"of/ California n thistles." • The harvest has come on rapidly, and at an - earlier/date/ than ii'snal, and there is a shortage -of -labour. > These facts alone would, .they, hold, justify 'the Departmera of Agriculture in publicly notifying that . there would be no prosecutions this year. But the thistle "has ceased to be a terror to farmers. They declare that it is not / ;' the .noxious weed :it was thought to be, . <and if J cut as the farmer can-find it, and: : allowed to wilt in the sun, it makes a splendid food for stock: just at the time grass is often going off.. Farmers complain ', that their views'have little weight with the "'/..': Department, ;■ arid they , are being urged by some of the more active to lose no chance of putting their case before a Min- ;/ ister of the Crown whenever; one visits / Otago. The resentment against - prosecu- / ■ tions grows from year to year.: •: -; '/' ..The official report of the results of the '■/'.; examination for" first appointments to commissions in the territorial force, held in ; ' August, 1915, / states, that the results, are / again most disappointing. //'Of 247 'candidates who sat, not including those belonging to the reinforcements, only 36' passed, '/■-... and 211 t failed./'.and in many instances /" failed badly. The failures in the different subjects were ; as follow Candidates' arm, 46;, oral,; 65; field service regulations, 117; English, 57; arithmetic, 87 hygiene, ; 130 law, 157. ' /The 1 results, /states/the report, show that many candidates are ,/ permitted to sit •■ who are not up to the ■■■'•■• /; required standard. i : Among those present at. a social held at .// Hororata on Thursday, night was a Maori who has seven brothers in the contingents. •// He himself endeavoured to enlist /at an -Y; \ early stage, but failed to pass the medical • examination. He then weighed 17st, and -,' . he determined to have another try, taking.../// work .at a: threshing mill in order to' -;// reduce his weight./ So far he/has got, ','_% down two stone. .About half-past eight o'clock last even- /; s ing a s man named / Joseph Symonds, who >/-..;■> resides at 64, /Vermont Street, Ponsonby, /;| was admitted to the hospital in an unccin-- ■// scious condition; /■ He was suffevii."* from' . concussion as a result, ii is stated, of in- .. juries received through falling down a ( flight of stairs in the Queen's Ferry Hotel. / At an early hour this morning Symonds' was still 1 unconscious. ;,' The Third Auckland Regiment of In- - fantry . will complete its annual period of;.,; : / training and, return to town to-day. The regiment has done useful work dining its spell under ; canvas ;at vMotuta'pu Island, and Colonel J.. E.: Hume," the : officer commanding the district, who inspected the camp, on Thursday, expressed himself as : satisfied. ' . , ;:. 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