LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16848, 13 May 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Referring on Saturday to the conference of dairy company representatives at Wellington on Thursday last, Mr. EL E. Pacey, managing director of the New Zealand Dairy Association, said the conference was for the purpose of affirming a policy and appointing a committee to carry on negotiations for the disposal of next season's butter output. It was desired by the dairy companies that Mr. R. Ellison, representative of the New Zealand National Dairy Association in London, should have a part in carrying out the negotiations with the Imperial authorities, and it was also desired that New Zealand *nd Australia should co-operate to some extent in regard to the disposal of butter. Mr. Pacey added that last week's conference was the initial Btep toward arranging for the disposal of next season's output, and the Auckland representatives appointed on the Dominion committee were Mr. H. Goodfellow and himself. Owing to illness, he had been unable to' attend the conference, but the matters dealt with had been discussed by the dairy companies from time to time, and the appointment of a Dominion, committee was a necessary preliminary to the carrying out of negotiations for the disposal of the coming season's output.

There was not a single case of a soldier being found by the military authorities in a public bar on the day of the recent arrival of a draft of returned men from England, when the hotels were placed out of bounds. The officer commanding the district, Colonel G. W. S. Patterson, states, however, that in spite of that fact the observance of the order depended largely on the hotelkeepers. • Colonel Patterson has addressed letters to the various licensees thanking them for their loyal support in the matter. He has pointed out that the object of placing the hotels out of bounds is to uphold the good name the New Zealand soldiers have made for themselves. "Many of these men are invalids," says Colonel Patterson, in the course 'of his letters, " and have not had liquor for some considerable time, and the previous results have shown that as soon as they partake of liquor, however small the quantity may be, it has disastrous effects upon them."

A commission has been set Tip by the Government to inquire into the matter of accidents on the waterfront, and the first sitting will be held in Auckland to-morrow. Evidence will be taken at 2.30 p.m. The Hon. T. M. Wilford, Minister for Marine will preside. It is expected that the Auckland sitting will occupy three davs, and the commission will then sit in the other three chief centres.

The captain of the Mount Albert Fire Brigade states that he has arranged wife a sufficient number of men to take up the duties of firemen in the place of the nine men who have resigned. The notice given by the latter men will expire on Monday next.

The report that Major F. B. Knyvett, formerly of Auckland, died recently has happily proved to be unfounded. The cablegram from New York published about three weeks ago referred to the death, . not of Major Knyvett, but of Captain R. H. Knyvett, an Australian officer, who ! was wounded at the front in November. ' 1916, and who, on his return to Queens- " land, delivered a number of stirring recruiting addresses. He was granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps as captain, and engaged by the American Government to deliver war lectures throughout the United States. He was married in the United States to Miss ' Lilian Maude, niece of Mr. Cyril Maude, J the actor, and the late General Maude.

The announcement made in Saturday's TTivTtjr.Ti that Count' -run Luckner and Lieutenant Kercheias would arrive that morning from Wellington, en route for Motuihi for re internment on that island, resulted in several people going to the railway station in order to witness their arrival. The military authorities, however, decided to avoid anything in the nature of a public • demonstration, and when the express drew in to the platform the two Germans were taken off the train on the wrong side and from thence conveyed to the wharf. The prisoners of war duly reached Motuihi and were placed under the charge of the commandant, Major S. C. Schofield. Since the inquiry into the escape of von Luckner and his compatriots Motuihi has been placed under , the control of district headquarters, Auck- ; land, to whom the commandant is directly responsible. Services of intercession in relation with the war will be held daily this week in the Anglican churches of the Auckland diocese. There will be celebrations of Communion every day at 7 a.m. and evensong at 7.30 p.m. "Wednesday is to be observed in several of the churches arc a day of continuous intercession from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and members of the'congregations are being auked to attend for at least a quarter of an hour during the day. An adjourned sitting of the Conciliation Council, set up to deal with the Rotorua hotel employees' dispute, was held on Saturday, the commissioner, Mr. T. Harle Giles, presiding. The employers, through their representative, Mr. J. H. Palmer, intimated that, in view of the decision of the Arbitration Court in Christchurch on April 12, that it would not make awards at the present time in relation to licensed premises, they regretted they were unable to proceed any further with the case. The dispute, therefore, passes on as unsettled to the Arbitration Court. The appointment of a deputy official assignee at Whangarei was asked for by a deputation which waited upon the Hon. D. H. Guthrie at Whangarei on Saturday evening. It was stated that 10 years ago there was an agent of the official assignee in Whangarei. but the office was discontinued for some unknown reason. The appointment was urged on the score of economy, as at present the debtor, solicitors, and creditors have to come to Auckland. Officers have to be sent from Auckland to administer the estates, and the deputation thought it would be better to have a man with a knowledge of local conditions. Mr. Guthrie promised to bring the matter before the Minister concerned. The General Committee of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association has elected the Executive Committee for the current year. The members of the executive are: , Messrs. Joseph Ambury, H. Brown, Selwyn Hamlin, S. Hodge, T. E. Hayr, A. C. Jones. J. P Kalaugher, I. G. Gray, A. Muir, W. W. Massey, E. D. McLerman, V. F. KerrTaylor, John Wyllie, A. A. White, J. G. Rutherford, J. R. Walters, A. S. Thompson, the Hon. G. J. Garland, Sir Robert Lockhart, and Major Lusk. Commenting on the action of the military authorities in declaring all licensed houses out of bounds last Friday for soldiers in uniform, consequent upon the return of a transport, Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., stated at the Police Court on Saturday last that it was only fair to say that licensees had apparently endeavoured to assist the authorities in observing the regulation. He appreciated the manner in which the new restriction had been carried out. He had occasion to be in the city twice-on the afternoon of Friday, and. although there were a large number of men in uniform about the streets, he had not noticed any cases of intoxication among solidiers. Senior-Sergeant McNamara said that one regrettable feature was that some civilians supplied liquor to soldiers, generally in bottles. One soldier who was arrested had one bottle of whisky and six bottles of beer in his pockets. Mr. Frazer said civilians who supplied liquor to soldiers on days when hotels were declared out of bounds would be severely fined if brought before the Court, because, in the eyes of the public, the licensee would be blamed if liquor were found on a soldier. The senior-sergeant said that on Friday four drunken soldiers had been arrested. The Auckland branch of the Public Service Association met on Friday last, when a number of remits from various Departments for consideration at the annual conference were discussed. Messrs. F. H. Pope, of the State Fire Insurance Department, and J. F. Stewart, of the Justice Department, were re-elected chairman and vice-chairman respectively. Mr. Grey resigned the position of secretary and treasurer, and Mr. Menzies, of the Lands and Survey Department, wa.3 appointed in his stead. Messrs. Pope and Menzies were appointed delegates to the annual conference to be opened in Wellington on June 18. It was reported that the members of the association had been most assiduous in carrying out the extra duties devolving upon them owing to the depletion of staffs in the various Departments caused by so many members being on active service.

A proposal to plant Marsden Point, on the southern entrance to Whangarei Harbour, with Australian black wattle, to prevent the movement of the sand dunes, was brought before the Minister for Lands at Whangarei on Saturday. It was mentioned that the bark from this tree was used very largely by tanners, and bark of a total value of £30,000 was imported annually. The Minister said that if it was found possible to undertake the planting of wattle a start could be made easily on Marsden Point. In regard to the 'planting of the dunes at other points, he stated that the matter had been considered seriously by the Government, but anything that might have been done was prevented by the war.

An innovation was introduced "into Anglican Church matters yesterday by the new vicar of St. Sepulchre's, the Rev. W. A. Keay. At his invitation the members of the vestry and choir, and their wives, were hin guests at breakfast in the parish hall after early communion service. The vicar spoke interestingly in regard to the carrying on of church work.

"There is no necessity whatever," declared Lieutenant-Colonel T. W. McDonald before the Defence Expenditure Commission at Wellington, for the existence of the recruiting branch of the service." The useless communications in the shape of telegrams and registered letters, which were sent out by the branch, he added, were simply iniquitousi Moreover, said the colonel, the branch was a star chamber of undesirable influence which was utilised to have men wrongfully inserted in Class C2. He promised to give the commission particular cases to prove what he said. The files of the director of recruiting with regard to different soldiers were of no use whatever, and there was really a triplicate system in operation with the camp, group, and recruiting branch records.

The Otira tunnel, after years of work, has reached a stage at which those in the two approaching ends are within communication distance. This interesting fact was established at two o'clock last Thursday morning, when, according to the Minister for Public Works, the district engineer at the Bealey end, the engine having stopped and the tunnel being quite silent, distinctly heard shots fired at the Otira end, 11£ chains away. He at once telephoned to the Otira engineer station the exact time and number of shots heard, when his observations were confirmed. The return of postal revenue for the first quarter of 1918 shows that a total of £506,353 was collected, as against £546,802 in the first quarter of 1917. Savings Bank deposits amounted to £4,454,730, as against £4,330,270 in 1917, the amount of withdrawals being £3,349,322, as against £3.031,649 in 1917. The excess of deposits over withdrawals was £1.085,408, as against £1,298,621 in 1917. The medical examination of reservists, mainly Second Division men, at Hamilton, has resulted in a very small percentage of men who have been classed as physically fit. Five men out of 55 examined were passed as fit on Thursday, while on Friday eight men out of 53 passed the test.