NEWS SUMMARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16205, 15 April 1916, Page 6

NEWS SUMMARY.

Auckland.: k •! The Horti;ultnral Show was opened at : Ihe Town Hall yesterday. It will be con- " tinned to-day. Nineteen recruits registered in the city yesterday. Of that number eight were awepted. six were deferred, and five were ' rejected as unfit for active service. A prisoner named John O'Grady died at the public hospital on Thursday -while on remand, the cause of death being gastroenteritis, due 'to drinking swamp water. ' The Minister for Native. Affairs, the Hon. W. H. Herries, foreshadowed the purcliaso by the Government, for settlement purposes, of the land in the Urevera Country.

New Zealand: A youth named Vernon Solly was accidentally shot dead at Takaka yesterday. ' War pensions and allowances granted to date represent an annual liability of about £60,000. The Petene Woollen Mills dispute has bean settled, an increase of 10 per cent, in wages having been conceded. The gross payments under tho Pensions Act in tho last financial year amounted to £563,969, an increase of £23,919 on the previous year. The question of Government assistance to soldiers in the payment of mortgage interest and insurance premiums is being ■discussed in Christchurch. The award in the general labourers' dispute in the Wanganui, Napier, and Hastings district contains provision for payment of a war bonus of 10 per cent.

Australian: The commission of inquiry into the allegations regarding bribery continued its sittings in Sydney. A deputation representing the Commonwealth Trades Hall Council has asked Mr. G. F. Pearce, Acting-Prime Minister for Australia, to place the patriotic funds under Government control. British and Foreign: "'■ The Government of Mexico has asked the United States to withdraw its troops. Referring to the political unrest in "-'China,'Lord. Robert Cecil stated in the House of Commons that the lives and 'property of Europeans in China were not being.endangered. His Majesty tho Xing has conferred the rank and status 01 a first class chief of the Bombay Presidency for life on '' Aga. Khan, tho head of the Ismaili Mahommedans in India.

:,. The War: ■■ 11 The bombardment of Hill 304 and Mort - Bomme and the Cumieres front continues. ~„-jThe, Germans attribute the present lull Jh operations at Verdun to tie inclement ''.state of the weather. J« A total of 169.066 officers and men of the -.. Australian' Imperial Forces .had- embarked . for service abroad up to the end of March. "•" Hie French have made an attack with ■ ' gas north-east of Compiegne, on the River ■ Oise,. which the Germans claim to have ~ repulsed. Reports received in reliable financial -• circles 1 , indicate that German bankers are <?■ transferring their reserves to neutral countries; as a precautionary measure. ' A telegram from Washington states that in-view of the gravity of the situation Arising from the sinking of the Sussex, Mr. Wilson has cancelled his engagements. n 3 In-, consequence of renewed disturbances "* leading'to bloodshed between the Germans and Bulgarians,' the respective staffs are 'stated-'to have ordered the complete separ' * 4'rat of the troops. ■3" \6 'r'h■"■'■'^-' ■■'.•■ : . v The Italians claim to have wrecked the •.enemy's trenches at St. Michele and San 7^MartinoV in the.Carso Plateau, with hand ' : • bbmfej. d There have been. artillery , duels :• :; along i the whole of the Carso front. ~