LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16309, 16 August 1916, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

«■ Nt~jierots spurious half-crowns and | florins are in circulation in Auckland, and j many residents have been victimised in j consequence. The counterfeit coins a.re I -aid to be made of pewter metal, and are ! a cowl imitation of the genuine article. J They tan he detected by their dull appearance compared with the coin of the realm, and by the lack of "ring." A] number of counterfeit halt-crowns have j been handed to the police by residents j who have been victimised. Yesterday was the second adversary of the departure of the first New Zealand Expeditionary Force, in cennection with the present war. The expedition went to Samoa, where it hauled down the German Hag, and took possession .of the group in ! the name of the British Crown. I ! A parade of part of the Maori rein- | for, ements, now in camp at Narrow Neck. i will be held in Queen Street to-morrow. i The- men will arrive in the city by ferry [ steamer f.'-ni pevonport, shortly after 11 la.in., and at about 11.30 a.m. will march j to the T..wn Hall, where they will he ad- '. dressed by the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson. ' and the officer commanding the district. I Colonel C. W. S. Patterson. After the i ceremony at. the Town Hail, the troops will march back towards the waterfront. Lieutenant Q.uane will be the officer in charge of the draft. An important shipping arrival at Auckland early next week will be the new cargo 1 steamer Leitrim, which is described as I the latest addition to the fleet of the Union : Steam Ship Company. This vessel, i which is on her maiden voyage to New Zealand, left Sydney last Saturday even- ; ing for Whangarei and Auckland. She 1 is due at the. former port to-morrow, and I is expected to reach Auckland about Tuesj day next. The Leitrim is running in I conjunction with the Federal Shire, Line, I and is coming here to load under charter Ito that company. The Leitrim is de- ' scribed as an exceptionally fine vessel of j 9540 tons gross register. She is a new steamer, of the same type as the new ! Devon and Cumberland, and was built at , Middlesbrough-on-Tees, to the order of i the Union Steam Ship Company. The I Leitrim will load what is stated to be the I largest shipment of frozen meat yet taken by one vessel from Whangarei and Auckland. She will ship a total of about 104,000 carcases at the two ports. A juryman, Joseph William Wood, failed to appear when hi name was called in the criminal division of the Supreme Court yesterday morning. Mr. Justice Hosking fined the defaulting juryman £2 unless he appeared and offered reasonable excuse for his absence. When the Court resumed after the luncheon adjournment, Mr. H. J. Durham appeared for Woods, and explained that his client had been j called away to attend to some machinery in the morning. When he remembered his engagement at the Supreme Court the appointed hour had passed. Counsel apologised on behalf of bis client. His Honor said he would excuse Wood in these circumstances, and ordered the fine to be remitted. A meeting of the Claims Board of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Association was held yesterday, the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, in the chair. Twenty-three returned soldiers appeared before the board, and after hearing particulars of their claims assistance was granted in 22 cases. The trim little barquentine Wanganui arrived at Auckland last evening from Sydney, after a creditable passage of eleven days. The vessel left Sydney at 4 p.m. on August 4, and encountered strong south-west winds and high seas throughout the voyage. From the time the Wanganui cleared Sydney Heads until she rounded Cape Maria van Diemen, her decks were • continuously awash, but the little vessel proved herself a good sea craft, and came , along before the strong winds at a fair speed. She was reported off Tiritiri yesterday afternoon, and was towed into port by the tug Te Awhina, berthing at the King's Wharf at 6 p.m. The Wanganui was formerly known as the Carla, and was stranded on the beach near the Wanganui River Bar about four years ago. She i was subsequently refloated, and was later purchased by Messrs. H. Bleakley and Co.. of Sydney. The Wanganui has been regularly employed in the inter-colonial trade, carrying timber from Wanganui to Sydney, and returning to the river port > with coal from Newcastle. The vessel will load a part cargo of timber at Auckland, and the balance at Whangaroa, for Sydney. The question of improving the Wha-ngarei-Dargaville Road was further discussed at the last meeting of the Whangarei County Council. The Chamber of • Commerce made strong representations on j, the subject, but in the absence of any , satisfactory financial proposals the council could not undertake the work ' The Navy League's appeal on behalf [ of the men of the navy and their dependants has been heard, not only throughout New Zealand, but has called forth a warm 1 response from even the outlying islands s of the Pacific. The following letter was i, received yesterday by the hon. secretary, ( Mr. A. Burt, from* Mr. F. W. Plaits, Rarotonga, Commissioner of Cook Islands : — ' We will be able to do something for your excellent fund, and will forward : subscription list and produce bv next , boat.'' 1 An examination for promotion of terri- - toriail officers will be held to-day and to- , morrow in the Society of Arts building, ' Kitchener (late Cobuxg) Street. The board 1 of examination is : Captain R. C. Hock- . ing, adjutant, 3rd Regiment, president ; • Lieutenant W. J. Cox, 3rd Regiment, and Lieutenant H. P. R.. Caughey, ord Regiment, members. Boards of examination ' will also sit both at Whangarei and Hamilton to-day and to-morrow-.

Whaling in North Auckland waters, off Cape Brett, is illustrated in to-day's issue of the Auckland Weeklt News by an interesting and striking series of snapshots. These give a vivid idea of the F , exciting nature of the work of securing the monsters of the deep. Interesting war pictures and topical cartoons are included g in the number. One of the most strikins of the war illustrations is a full-page picture, showing French soldiers storm- q ing a German trench. Interesting phases of the record march of New Zealand's sixteenth reinforcements over the Rimutakas are given, and there is also a photo- „ graph of the departure of the fifteenth reinforcement draft for the front from j . Wellington on July 29. Among the many j excellent features of this varied number s a pace dealing with the important flax industry of New Zealand. The Roll of Honour this week contains the portraits of 100 of our heroes, who have suffered " in the great war. Taken as a whole, the issue is hound t-j attract general attention . I The inner history of the passing of f the Auckland Harbour Board Empower- « j in- Act. 1916. is disclosed in a memoran- \ { iluni i.-tu>?d yesterday by Mr. H. D. j i Heather, chairman of the board. The J (.urpc.se of the Act is to enable the board! , to borrow £150.000. with which to pay off ; a loan falling due in October. 1917. The j , only serious trouble experienced in deal- ; ing with Parliament related to the fixing i of the rate of interest at which the money ( ! is to be raised. As originally drafted the I Dili provided for a rate of 6 per cent., i but this the Local Bills Committee re- | duced to 5£ per cent. In view of the determination of the Government to issue | its war loan at 4i per cent., free of inI come tax, the chairman of the board conI sidered it would be impossible to float I a loan at this proposed rate. After a j considerable amount of negotiation he succeeded in having the clause again amended, in committee < f the House, to provide that the rate of interest shall be fixed by the Minister for Finance. This was the best that could be done, as the Minister absolutely declined to allow the Bill to go through in its original form. Votes of thanks were passed by the board to Mr. A. E. (Mover. M.P., and the Hon. S. T. George for their services in taking charge of the Bill in their respective Houses of Parliament. Some interesting details of his experiences a? an officer in the Admiralty service have been received in Auckland from Captain W. T. Williams, late of the Harbour Board's pilot launch Waitemata. "My ship was lost some nine weeks ago,'' he writes. "It struck a moored mine, pnd I am one of seven survivors out of a crew of 25. We had left port about 12 hours previously, and were steaming at 'full' during the forenoon, and within about two miles from the land, when a stunning explosion occurred, followed by a rattle las of machinery gone mad. I happened to be on the bridge at the time, and quickly realised that the vessel would not float long. A? a matter of fact, she sank in less than 30 seconds, carrying us all down in the vortex. The boats, which had been swung out on leaving port, were smashed to matchwood by the force of the concussion, and the only ones which came to the surface had been on the chocks griped down, i How they cleared themselves is a mysj tery ; anyway, although they were bottom up. they saved the lives of myself and I three seamen. The water was bitterly cold, and when the patrol trawlers picked us up we had no strength to take our wet clothes off. The engineroom staff had no earthly chance. They must have been blown to pieces. The watch below had no time to get out of their rooms, so you can gather that it was a close call for all of us. I had a fortnight in bed with bronchitis after it. I am now chief officer with the rank of sub-lieutenant R.N.R. in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. i Members of the Wellington City Council < are reported to be of the opinion that j ' , fish should be so cheap as to be a com- ■ I mon article of food, and not a luxury, ! but they differ as to a remedy for the 1 present state of affairs. The municipal fish market in the Southern centre is losing I money, and the committee concerned with the running of the market reported to the council at its last meeting as foli lows : —" The committee is very much con--1 corned at the loss of £63 19s lid, and ; ! with the view of placing the market upon la payable basis recommends that further ' inquiries be made from the Auckland City Council, to ascertain the capital cost of its trawler, erection and equipment of its ' market, a statement of the working costs, ' ; and details of the system of the disposal ' ; of fish supply, and if additional informai tion is required that necessary authority be granted for certain members of the • committee to visit Auckland and obtain ; same." The report was adopted. It was stated that fish could be bought in Auckland for one penny per lb. i The famous old hunter and high-jumper i Desmond has just died in New South Wales. This old favourite had been kept : in a special box for several years, and had ' a run in a small paddock in which a foal 1 was always kept for company for the old ' fellow. Desmond was about 50 years old, - and was undoubtedly the greatest show--1 ground jumper that has ever appeared in 5 Australian rings. He must have won " something like £5000 in prizes in the - shows. His great point was his consis- '<■ tency, and he was never taken to a show 3 at which he did not score something for s his owner. He was bred near Benalla, In 5 Victoria, and passed through several hands i before coming into the possession of Mr. - H. D. Morton, who bought him when he r jumped 6ft lOin at Albury. Subsequently, , when Mr. Morton dispersed his jumping i string, Mr. Judd bought Desmond with ] several others, and the horse was even 1 more successful, so far as years of jumping b went, than when he was with Mr. Morton. The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce , has decided to oppose the proposed removal of trawling restrictions in the Hauraki Gulf. For the first time for some months there . was not a single charge of drunkenness f heard in the Police Court yesterdav. 1 Miss Henrietta McKay, whose dis- * appearance from her residence at Mount 1 Eden, on July 30, caused some anxiety, is now in the A von dale district, where she has been residing with some friends. She is in good health. t Eight members of the jury by which the i Maori "prophet" Rua was tried at the 5 Supreme Court, have signed a petition to 5 Parliament representing that their verdict , was misunderstood by Mr. Justice Chan- , man. The petition was forwarded to : to Mr. C. H. Poole, M.P., in Wellington, r but it arrived there after his departure' 1 at the close of the session, and has since I been returned to him in Auckland. Mr. Poole has accordingly forwarded the docu- _ ment to the Minister for Justice for consideration. A fine of £1 was imposed by Mr. F V i Frazer, S.M., at the Police Court yester- - day upon a .uaori named Ngakulra Paora ; for travelling on the ferry steamer Ngoiro 1 from Orakei to Auckland, without paying - his fare. When he was detected on" the i boat without a ticket he said he would 1 pay "tome other time," and that he had " to go to the city to eee his lawyer."