LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16895, 6 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

i Today is the 25th anniversary of the i wedding of King George and Queen Mary, Their Majesties having been mar- ' : vied'on July 6. 1893. Their family cor. , sifts of live sons and one daughter. The. eldest. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, was hum on June 23, 1894. The natal days' of the remaining members of the Royal Family arc :—H R.H. Prince Albert, De- , comber 11, 1895; H.R.H. Princess Mary, | April 25, 1697; H.R.H. Prince Henry,! March 31. 1900"; H.R.H. Prince George. ■ December 20, 1302; and H.R.H. Prince John, July 12, 1905. It was recently announced in the crams that Their Majesties, though feeling that in war time 'thing should he diverted from charitable purposes, had been touched by the wish of Londoners to present them Willi a memento of their silver wedding. and therefore they had been led to make an exception and receive a gift only from the capital of the Empire A wonderful escape from serious injury ; wa., the experience of a man in Queen Str-et Yesterday afternoon. While he ; was at work on a ladder, about 25ft from i the ground, a passing vehicle knocked tho I ladder fiom under him. Willi great presence of mind he seized a hanging rope and held it until the ladder was placed in position again. Injuries to the head were sustained by a seamen named Charles Saunders, through falling horn the rigging of the Manaia yesterday morning. He was sent 11.- the hospital. ' Mr. Saunders Is a single i man, aged 24 years, and hi; home is in ' Grove Read, Edendale. I Two motor-vtliicies collided at the.

' corner of Beaumont Strict and College | Hiil at one o'clock yesterday. ' One of the t vehicles, a motor-uVUvery-van, owned by I ' Messrs A. 15. Wright and' Sons, and driven j , by Leonard Adam*, was overturned and j j damaged; tlio other, a motor-car, driven by .Mr. 0. J. .Malvern, escaped injury. __ Neither ol the drivers was hurt. j i An appeal for six months' extension of „ ler.Vi was brought before the M.lilary Ser- ! vice Board yesterday by Gunner A. B. « ; Anderson, Marangai, a returned soldier j ■ home, on furlough alter nearly lour years' I t .mm vice. Appellant explained thai he , desired leave in order,to attend to farm j work. One brother had been killed in ' ( action, one was on service in Palestine, and the brother who had been looking ■ ! after the farm was now in camp. Hit mother and sister, both of whom are in j poor health, were living alone on the tain;, and the latter expected to have, to go into hospital shortly. A married , brother, who lived six miles away, was i running a property of 400 acres, but | | appellant did not consider he would bo J t able to look after his mother's farm also. ; ( The boa id decided Ui grant leave without j pay until October 31. | The next Gazette calling up reservists I The next Gazette calling up reservists J for service, will be published on July 24. . ! The Gazette will include, in addition to ( the second draft of Class C reservists, lists , ( ; »'. accretions to the First Division and ( I Classes A and B, Second Division. ( \ A further increase ill the price of cm- r j tain brands of igarettes will be made in r ! Auckland on Monday. The lines affected ; ] I aro the cheaper varieties, which until a few ; ' '■ months ago were sold at sixpence for a I • packet of i.O. The price was then raised '' to seven pence, and is now being increased I 1 I '' to eightuence. Packets of 20 are to be 1 1 increased from Is 2d to Is 3d, and packets I , 'of 50 from 2s 9d to 3s. The reason ] ; 1 assigned for the increase is the growing ' scarcity of the Virginia leaf, much of the j land in America which formerly grew this ! i class of tobacco having been devoted to _ ' j raising the Turkish variety of tobacco. ( i An agreement fixing the conditions in i ; the rattan and wicker-workers' trade i ' : has been effected by a conciliation council ' 1 under the presidencv of the commissioner, j ' ' Mi. T. Harle Giles. Mr. S. K. Wright ' was advocate for the employers, and Mr. ! W. Muio-on for the union. The agree- | ment provides for hours as in the provi- ' 011s award. Journeymen's wages were in- ] 1 creased from Is 3Jd per hour to Is sd. i ! 1 ! The scale of wages for apprentices was ; ' ; j fixed at 12s 6d first year, 16s second . ' ' J year, 17s 6d third year, and 30s fourth ] ■ year, showing a general increase as . • ! against the former award. The award i ' . j will come into force on July 8. I I A visit to about 15 centres in the Waii kato and King Country portions of his ' , diocese has just been concluded by Bishop ,' Averill, Amongst the places visited were : : the principal townships on the llauraki; , ' Plains. 'I he bishop tales that it is prob- j ' ' < able that a church will he built at 'luruai ' i nt no distant date, and that the question' ' of building at Xgatoa and Waitakarunc ' .' will be kept in view. Dr. Averill, who j < ' had not previously visited this portion of j I ' the diocese, was agreeably surprised at the: '■ advanced stage of development to which • ' the land on the plains has been hrobghtl ! within a comparatively short period. | ' ! The opening out in the bank of tin hot i lake at Frying pan Flat, Waimaiipu. in '! order to let old the increasing volume of! > , water has increased in width to 80ft. , ' ' Some danger was attached to the milking! I . of this outlet, owing to the pressure ol the j ' I I accumulated water, which was only llin J j from the top of the bank. A charge of ' dynamite was compaiatively ineffective,', owing to the want of solidity of the maI teriai, and a small outlet was made by j . I shovel work. In a few minutes this was] I several feel in width, and a large volume- i "j of water was rushing through it. The; ' : water from the flat is emptying itself into I - : ! Lake liotomahana, the level of which has > ! been raised 2Jin. The level of tilt Frying-1 , pan Lake has gone down 40ft, and all fear | ' , ; of a sudden break through has been re-1 ! I moved. The bank holding in the water is 1 1 from 10ft to 12ft in thickness. The twin ! I ' geysers which broke out recently in the • } flat are still active, and are throwing large . columns of water and debris into the air ■ to a height varying from 50ft to 150 ft. A contract for the restoration of the I; , Marsdeii Cross, at the Bay of Islands. , i has been let by the Auckland Anglican i diocesan authorities. The cross, which i - was unveiled in March, 1907, at Rangihoua ''

1 Buy, Buffered considerably by the rough : weather of last year. The memorial marks I the spot near the beach on which the late ! Samuel Marsdeti preached his historic* 1 " tim New Zealand sermon " on Christmas Day, 1814. It is a stone monument in the 1 form of a Celtic cross, of a height of over 20t't, and was built to a des.gn provided ' by the late Archdeacon Walsh. The s Anglican Bishop of Auckland, Dr. Averill, who visited the spot early this year, discovered that the cross had fallen ' from the monument, apparently as the ' result of stormv weather causing the disintegration of the cement joints. The new , cross will be of practically the same design ; as the former one, but it will be lighter i and more stable, 1 i

The supplement issued with to-day's Herald contains the usual budget of interesting articles, including " The Union Jack and Old Glow: Their Common Symbolism,'' by Matanga, "Teuton Strategy" by Lieutenant-Colonel A, A. Grace, N.Z.F.A., Keg.. "Surgery and the Soldier" by Hilda Kenne, "Mixed Musings" by J. Giles, "Tales Out of School . by Edith Howes, and " Nature Notes" by J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Protests against enemy aliens being at large were made at a meeting of the Roto- > run branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association. The meeting passed the following resolution:-" this brand: urge:- the ej.ctiuu of all enemy aliens from respon- 1. B.bk positions, whether Government or] Civil that all enemy aliens be subject to I strict. Government supervision and control, and that the headquavteis of the New Zen- , \a\\4 WeUwueA «m' Aviation be . aslcod to a)) a parade o) returned »W«w a* a, protest acainst enemy alien subjects being at large/' I The prospects of dried-milk manufacture' were discussed by the Minister lor Unds in an interview in Wellington. "1 have advised all who have approached me on the subject not to be Jed away by present prices into projects of large expenditure." said Mr. Guthrie. " There is no question that the keen demand and the pi went high prices for dried-milk products are due to the largo order* of the Imperial authorities and a certa.n section of the community in the United States of America. It is very debatable whether, judging from the present position, the dried-milk industry will realise anything Ike the present results later on.' The continuance of a demand for the lower giades of dried milk appears to be very likely, because they are used largely in America for confectionery purposes.' but, outside of the persons who are intimately connected with the Industry, there are few who have such information as would justify the expenditure of large sums in dried-milk schemes at present." : i Appreciation of the bravery and selfsacrifice of the officers and crew of the ■ wrecked Wimmera was plaicd on record ' by the Relief Fund Committee yesterday. The Deputv M«\or, Mr. A. .1. Entritan.l said that but fir the splendid services of the ollicers and crew the loss of life would have been much greater. Mr. r.rnest Davis said the gallant actions of the officers and crew were a wonder! ex • ample of true British pluck and resource. (The traditions of the mercantile marine I of ('.rent Britain had been worthily upheld, lie had been told by survivors , that the missing men were quite uncoilJ corned regarding their own safely so ; lonir as the passengers and other members I of the ship's company got away. Unusually cold weather has been exJ perienced in Auckland during the past I three days, and the air at nights has been I particularly sharp. A number of resident* at Kpso.n! Mount Eden, and Mangere noticed a thin film of ice on water standing in vessels yesterday morning, and » slight ! frost was "reported in outlying parts of the suburb*. The dry-bulb thermometer at Albert Park gave the minimum reading for the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. ' yes'erday, as 40 degrees. | A number of amendments and additions to the regulations of the Auckland Sailors' Home Association were adopted at a ' special general meeting of the association j [ last evening. The meeting also passed a I

resolution of sympathy with those who, suffered loss or hardship by the sinking of the Wimmora, and an expression of admiration for the heroic conduct of the late Captain Kell, the officers and new, and the passengers of the ill-fated vessel The June returns of Dominion gifts to | the Auckland Women's Provincial Patri- j otic League show that in the country | Hamilton heads the list with 450, Raglan ' being second with 336. For the schools, Avondale lends with '13, Newton East, being next with 40. In the city, Mount Albert with 109 has the best total, Devonport being second with 82. These J figures do not include tlio contributions made through the city campaign. ■ A denial has been given by the .Minister for Agriculture to statements that the Moumahaki State Farm is to bo closed.' Mr. Mac Donald states that the reorganisation of the Suite farms is in J progress, this being necessary in many! respects to increase their efficiency. There; was no one who appreciated the value of | the State farms more than he. These! farms bad done wonders in assisting pro- j duetion, and in view of their great use- ! fulness and value in the breeding of the' right kind of plants and stock, there was: no prospect of any agitators against State farms ever succeeding in their efforts; at i dll events not while he was Minister for Agriculture. " The depletion of the locomotive, running star!—caused by resignations and enlistments—is becoming a more serious j matter than some people seem to realise," says the New Zealand Locomotive Engineers' Journal "There are few cleaners entering the service, and those who do so i are in a year or two called to the j 'colours.' so it seems a waste of time j taking them on at all unless exempted; from military duty. This system, of course, is going to hit the man in charge. of a locomotive very hard, because there , will be no trained men to assist him in ; his work in running the train. When we j get back to a normal state of affairs it will be found that locomotives will be; manned by firemen who have had no practical training, and this will place a great load of responsibility upon the engineer. The depletion of the staff on our railways in the locomotive department, has got far below the safety line, and if not taken in hand soon will prove to be irrecoverable." Record entries, numbering 346, have been received for the annual practical ] examinations in connection with the I Associated Hoard of the Royal Academy and Royal College of .Music, to be held j in Auckland at the end of August. The [ entries comprise 102 primary, 85 clemen- | tary, 51 lower grade. 32 higher grade, 41 j local centre examination, 17 licentiate diploma, and eight theory. Last year ' only 290 entries were received. j The completion of the Victoria League's memorial to Ihe soldiers who fell in the Maori War is not yet in sight. The • principal difficulty at present is that of! procuring a block of marble sufficiently : large for tin shaft of the obel'sk. The! marble is to he obtained from a Nelson j quarry, ami, Although all supplies from : this source were requisitioned for the new Parliament Buildings, the Government architect promised about a year ago that, when a block of suitable size was found ! it would be banded over to the league. So | far, no block lame enough has been hewn, i The' sight for the memorial statue, at the. top of Wakefield Street, was selected over six years ago. Swarms 0 f mice were seen crossing the Kaiori Road, Wellington, in the neigh-1 bourhood of the viaduct. A nurse who] was motoring to Karori, about two o'clock ' one morning last week, says the car was i stopped for a few moments, and the mice were p'ainly visible by the road light, and the car lamp. The mice appeared to be making for the Karori tunnel. Telegraphic communication between Wellington and Christchtirch is still in- , terrupted, the only service operating i being via Nelson and Greymouth. There is consequently a serious congestion of work in the Wellington office, and all messages to the South Island centres are considerably delayed. At a late hour last night the local telegraph officials stated

that no definite information as to "hen the breaks caused by the snowstorm in the direct line would be repaired was available. The employment of girls as telegraph messengers has proved highly satisfactory, according to the superintendent of telegraphs at Wellington. " They are smart and attentive to duty," he said. There are 40 girls at work in Wellington. The girls start at 15s a week, and, in addition, are provided with a dress, overcoat, macintosh, cloth hat, sou'-wester, and leggings, so that they are always well protected in all kinds of weather. The experiment has proved quite a success. I