NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9172, 12 October 1915, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Further consideration will he given by "'the Onslow Borough Council on Thursday night to Mr Fulton’s report on tho proposed water supply. Replying to the member for Palmerston (Mr D. Buick) in the House of Representatives yesterday, tho Dei fence Minister stated that tihe impending. removals of the troops from Rangiotu" camp was only temporary. The-camp-would-be rcocoup'ed later. ; ■ “I have 31s 2d on- me, and have a couple of - ‘dnid’ coming to tne;” remarked a defendant who had been fined £3 for using obscene language by Mr D. G. A. Cooper in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, and who asked for time to l secure the full amount of the fine. Time was not granted* but tho polico undertook to assist accused in securing the money- due to him. At a": largely-attended meeting ■ of shearers at Masterton on Saturday night, the- following resolution, was passed:—‘‘That the shearers attends mgThis',meeting will engage for not less than 25s per 100, and foundrams and stud sheep according to the awardbasis.” It was reported at the’meeting- that many shearers had already started work at 25s per 100> and others had arranged for 28s.

Sub-Inspector - McKinnon stated, in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, that a. number of complaints had been received by the polico in respect to men indecently exposing themselves in the streets and public reserves. Tho complaints were made by women, and; the "difficulty was to get them to; oome to court and give • evidence. ‘‘lt is; hardly ta be expected,” said the subinspector, “that any decent-minded girl or woman will willingly come into the epurt and give evidence in" cases of this nature;” With this remark Mr Cooper, S.M.', concurred. In a letter received by Mr Atack, manager; of the Press, Association, from Mr F. W, Haybittle, of the firm of George Thomas and Co.,- Limited, of this city, the latter states that ho is-on active service in France as a dispatch . motorist, attached to the R.A.M.C. Recently Mr Haybittle was confined to hospital through an attack of, enteritis, . but has since recovered his normal health. ' Mr Haybittlo states that while in hospital Wilfrid Findlay (son of gir John Findlay) was brought in wounded, and they wero -the .only New Zealanders in the institution, which contained a large number of cases. Mutual recognition led to the Now Zealanders comparing- notes and chatting about friends in tho Dominion.

A lady .who recently parsed through ■ Suva on 'her. way to Now Zealand was greatly impressed by the almost total ' absence from the town of-tbo ordinary human male. This singular erudition is the. result of the glorious response of Fiji to the call of the Motherland, Wishing ito ' change a cheque, the lady went to the bank, where a small boy of about 12 peered up at her from the business side of the counter. ”1 want; to see a clerk or a teller or something,” said the lady vaguely. While the small boy? was convincing her that he was himself the entire hank staff, a girl of 14 or so walked in. with a sheaf of cheques and money to _ bank, the day’s takings at the principal shop. Thus it is in Suva—now! ■ At tile request of the Defence Department, and under the direction of His Worship the Mayor (Mr J, P. Luke); the Wellington War League has undertaken a vigorous recruiting campaign. Among those co-operating in this work are Captain Barclay, Professor Bankine Brown, and Messrs J. W. A. Marchant, C. AV. Smith, C« Barraud, Clement AVatson, M. J- Kilgour, Alfred Atkinson, S. A. Atkinson, and 11. F. von Haast—The enrolling of volunteers is already in progress at the Town Hall and elsewhere, and it is also proposed to organise street parades with hands and banners, and to hold a number of open-air meetings during the luncheon hour and at other suitable times, when recruiting addresses will he delivered by prominent speakers. ■ Everybody will comprehend that it is desirable that the manufacture of explosives in New Zealand should be encouraged, and ©specially so at this juncture. The progress l of 'Sabulite, the new safety explosive, which is now made in this Dominion at works near Auckland, will therefore be regarded with much interest. Already, one successful test has been made of Sabulite hand-grenades in AA’dlingtcn, and another is to follow at Fort Dorset, Seatoun, to-morrow afternoon, at 4 o’clock, when military men in particular are invited to be present. It may be observed that a cablegram lias just come to band, intimating that the British Sabulite Company has received an order-for 6000 tons of Sabulite. from the Minister for Munitions, and that this oxplosive i has been adopted for war jiurposes at Homo.

Auckland Grammar School Old Boys are reminded of the inaugural reunion to be held at Godbor’s rooms, Cuba street, to-morrow, at 8 p.m. AU “old boys” are requested to attend, and those in camp with the reinforcements are particularly invited. Messrs Johnston and Co., agents for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, advise that the sleeping car special Marseilles train, which connects with the P. and O. steamers, and which was temporarily suspended, is now re-cstahlishod. and commenced running to connect with the Medina, which left London on September 4th, and with the Persia, which left Sydney on August 7th. A man named Larson, for masquerading as a returned trooper, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by the magistrate (Mr Poynton) at Palmerston North ysterday, states a Press Association telegram. The man went to a local shopkeeper and said ho was suffering from a bad ground and deafness received at Gallipoli. Previous convictions included a term for collecting money allegedly for the relatives of Titanic victims.

A man was charged before Mr D. G. A. Cooper, S.M., in. the Magistrate’s Court, yesterday, with assaulting another man at the telegraph counter in the General Post Office on Saturday morning- Defendant stated he was ashamed of what ho Ifad done, and offered compensation, but it was not accepted. A fine of £2, together with repayment of £2 2s medical expenses incurred, was imposed. .Half the fine was ordered to he jiaid to the informant.

An echo of the gas fatalities of April last was before the Chief Justice yesterday, when Mr E. -6. Jellicoe applied, on behalf .of the families of three Chinese who were killed, for a commission to take evidence in China in support of the actions. now pending in tho Supreme Court at Wellington. The Chief Justice granted the commission to the English Court at Hongkong. Mr Neavo was counsel for the Wellington Gas Company. The three actions are in the list for trial at the next sittings of tho Supremo Court, and in each case £IOOO damages is claimed as compensation.

Yesterday morning Captain E. B. Atwood completed his survey of the cargo out of No. 4 hold of tho AVimmera, in which a fire occurred during tho passage from Melbourne. The damage has been found to ho more extensive than was at first believed, but it was occasioned mostly by water. None of the cases of merchandise ha* been opened yet, but several are smoked on the outside. At present it is impossible -to - 1 estimate . tho damage. Nearly all tihe cargo affected is for southern ports. The AVimmera sailed for southern ports, Hobart, and Melbourne at 6 o'clock last evening.

An adjournment until next ’Monday was made yesterday in the cases of Charles Cook, charged ou . two counts with selling intoxicant lienor to Constables Oswald Persy Gillespie and James Pratt Richards; Daniel Morris, charged with being the occupier of No. 2, Holland street, where the liquor was .alleged to -have been .sold; ■ and Michael Morris, Agnes Hog, Joseph Tobin, and Alexander Watson, charged with being on the premises in Holland street when the liquor was alleged to have been sold. The adjournment was granted by the magistrate, in order that Mr-E. G- Jellicoe might he present to defend the two first accused. Replying to a question in the House of Representatives yesterday, , the Minister for Munitions (Hon. A., MJtiyers) . said that !ho fully Beal UK d; that the departure of the troopships from Wellington, had given an .advantage to tenderers in'this part of the Dominion. , The Defence authorities had not always been able to give sufficient notice to outside, manufacturers when supplies were required.- But the arrangements that-, had-... been _ made lately would ■ overcome ■■ this difficulty, he thought, and he suggested- that manufacturers in other centres,' when tendering for Defence •upphes, should apply to tho Railway Department or the shipping companies for special concessions, , ... When James Ashby was charged with using obscene language, in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, he burst into tears. Sub-Inspector MaoKmnqn said that His Worship might extend the leniency of the, court in the case, as it was not of a serious nature., Ashby was a hard-working man," and was also hard up. The kindly remarks by ■ the sub-inspector had. the effect of stopping the copious flow: of tears, and after His Worship had admonished defendant ho convicted and ordered him to come up for sentence when called upon. .As Mi Cobpei’ finished each sentence, Ashby respectfully gave a military salute, and a final one as he left the court much relieved in mind. . - Additional regulations under the Waf Regulations Act were gazetted yesterday.” They empower the Defence Minister to prohibit b3 T “Gazette*;. notice the sale of any book or other publication the sale of which he deem* injurious to the public interest in. respect of the present war, and so long as any such notice remains unrevoked the book or publication to which it relates shall he a prohibited publication within tho meaning of this regulation, „It is forbidden for., any person to sell, or offer for sale, or have in his possession for„salo, or procure, or attempt to procure, possession ot, a prohibited publication. No person having the possession or custody of a prohibited publication shall deliver' or offer to deliver the same to any other person, or permit the same to be read or examined by any other person. The proposals for a now award put forward by the Wellington Grocers' Assistants’ Union were dealt with by the Conciliation Council yesterday, Mr P. Hally (Conciliation . Commissioner) presiding. In the absence through • illness of Mr W. A. W. Grenfell. Mr J. H, Stott (secretary to the Wellington Master Grocers’ Association) appeared as agent for the" employers', and their assessors were Messrs D. Anderson, J. Mcllwraith, and H. Wardell. lor the -union, the- assessors were Jlossra I, Mackenzie, James Kennedy, and William Earl. Tho union claimed, inter alia, a 50-hour week for assistants and a minimum wage of £3 5s per week ; with a minimum of 10s per week for youths aged 15, rising at 20 years to £2 15s per week. The union also claimed the statutory half-holiday each week, whether another holiday falls in the week -or not. After considering the matter in committee for some time, the Council adjourned, Waihi is doubtless known to the public. Although off -the beaten track and quite out in the “back of the world,” so to speak; nevertheless, on a recent occasion when Signor Abel Rowe sang New-Zealand’s national song “The Soldier,” he created a furore. The recep- , tiou accorded “The Soldier” was phem omen*’ . ,