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Otago Witness, Issue 3193, 26 May 1915, Page 7

Our London correspondent, writing under date March 30, says that the Federal Shire vessel Surrey, which will be well known in New Zealand, has been taken over by the Admiralty. 'She had the misfortune recently to strike a mine, and is now beached off Deal.

Writing on March 30 our London correspondent records the safe arrival of the Remuora with her large number of passengers and a very valuable cargo. There was one exciting incident during the voyage from New Zealand. After the Remucra had left Montevideo a tramp steamer was sighted sending cut signals of distress. Shortly afterwards a large vessel approached the Remuera at a high rate of speed. The passengers feared that she was the Kronprinz Wilhelm, and Captain Greenstreet sent a wireless warning to'a British cruiser in the vicinity. This was sufficient for the stranger, which turned and fled. A tribute of respect to the soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces who have fallen in the fighting at the Dardanelles was paid in Dunedin and suburbs on the 18th, when, in response to the request of the Mayor {Mr J. J. Clark), the flag poles carried their flags at half mast. ‘Wo are being very unjustly treated in the matter of grants from the general Government,” said Dr Marshall at the annual meeting of the Graduates’ Associa: tion last night. He was referring to the support accorded Otago University by the Government. “ The general Government,” he said, “docs not, and certainly the other colleges do not, realise what a widespread amount of work we do. They do not realise the number of faculties we have, and the extent to which they are at work. Consequently we are dropping behind, rather, in the amount of support granted to us by the Government.” In the annual report of the association it -was stated that while two other colleges received £2OOO more than was recommended in Mr Hogben’s report, Otago University received £SOO less.

By the steamer Muritai, which recently left for England, there sailed a young man —a Gisborne resident—who has shown more than ordinary keenness in responding to the Empire’s call. One of his possessions was a valuable cavalry horse which he did not wish to part with, and so arrangements were made to send the animal forward by a subsequent steamer. The Gisborne resident is making the trio and freighting his horse entirely at his own expense, and his practical patriotism certainly deserves more than passing mention. Considerable stocks of kerosene, benzine, and other oils are already being landed in the dominion or are on their way here (says the New Zealand Herald). A shipment of 167,790 cases of assorted oils reached Auckland on Wednesday afternoon from Philadelphia by the steamer Cape Finistcrrc. Another shipment of about 128,000 cases of benzine and 12,000 cases of kerosene from Singapore is expected to reach Auckland about May 26 by the British Imperial Oil Company’s steamer Physa. She will discharge 30,000 cases of benzine and 3000 cases of kerosene at Auckland, and the balance of her cargo at Wellington, Lyttelton, Timaru, and Dunedin. The Japanese steamer Asama Maru is reported to have left San Francisco for Auckland and Wellington with a part cargo of assorted oils; and additional supplies are expected by the Union Company’s cargo service from Pacific Coast ports, and by the vessels coming from New Yor’k by way of the Panama Canal.

The case of a man who had persistently refused to render service under the Defence Act, and who intimated his intention, a month ago, of joining the Second Expeditionary Force, came up again before the Masterton Magistrate’s Court last week. The officers of the Defence Department stated that the defendant, who did not appear, had made no effort to enlist with the Expeditionary Force, nor had ho attended drill. His Worship imposed a fine of £5, and made an order under section 5G of “The Defence! Act, 1912,” depriving him

of his civil rights for a period of five years. This means that the defendant will not be able to accept any position under the civil service, and his name, if on an electoral roll, shall be erased. The deprivation of civil rights does not affect the obligation of the defaulter to render personal service, so that he is still liable to prosecution, fine, and detention for default.

“The thanks of the dominion are due to Mr W. H. Turnbull, of Wellington, for permitting his log of Captain Cook’s Endeavour to bo photographed and his journals of the various officers in Cook’s and Vancouver’s expeditions to be copied and reproduced here,” writes Dr M‘Nab in the preface to the second volume of “Historical Records,” published by the Government. In another part of the preface Dr M'Nab remarks:—“There is in New Zealand no Department of Archives, nor are there any officers with the duty imposed upon them of collecting, arranging, and publishing material regarding the infant days of the dominion. The writer’s connection with the work is purely honorary and comes about in this way: He is engaged privately in investigating the early history of New Zealand, from its discovery by Tasman in 1642 until the proclamation over it of British sovereignty in 1840, and from time to time he publishes the results of his investigations. At present, having completed the southern, he is working on the history of the northern portion of tho dominion.” Students in particular, and New Zealanders in general, should be glad to read tho translations of Tasman’s Journals and the records of the Durville and Marion expeditions, as well as tho documents of Cook and many other men who figured notably in New Zealand’s early' history. A Press Association message from New Plymouth states that in a letter to the press Mr Wilson, Mayor of New Plymouth, suggests that in order to encourage farmers to put in more crops associations should be formed in the towns for the purpose of guaranteeing a supply of labour at harvest time.

Good harvesting weather has been experienced in the Tapanui district during the past week, and a large amount of the late oat ‘crops has been secured. There is now every prospect of all crop being saved. Thrashing mills are at work, but they will have a short run. Advantage is being taken of the high pH* 3O ruling for oats, and most of the grain is being .carted to sidings. This will have the advantage of saving the roads from being cut up by •winter carting. Ploughing stubble and lea ground has been started on many farms. The president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce (Mr Robert Burns) related at a meeting of the council of the Chamber of Commerce on Friday an anecdote of the recent visit of the two Japanese commissioners, which was not without its moral (says the New Zealand Herald). During an instructive conversation with the commissioners, said Mr Burns, one of them remarked : “ New Zealand and Japan are very much alike. Both are mountainous countries, with long valleys. But there is one groat difference between the two. Whereas New Zealand is inhabited by ‘ sheepses ’ and ‘ cowses,’ Japan is inhabited by < peoples and children.’ ” This, commented Mr Burns, was absolutely true, and to the point.

The Minister in charge of the Public Trust Office (Hon. A. L. Hcrdman) has made a, statement relative to the affairs of the Continental Tyro Company, a German firm, concerning which a question was raised by the Auckland Automobile Association (says' the New Zealand Herald). Members of the association do not wish to deal with the firm if moneys paid to it arc to be kept in trust by the Public Trust Office and handed over to Germans after the war. The Hon. A. L. Hcrdman states that the receipts will be held until a final settlement takes place between Britain and Germany when the war is over. The company s business in. Melbourne is being conducted by a controller appointed by the Federal Government, and in the same way the Auckland and Christchurch businesses of the company are running under the charge of the New Zealand Public Trustee’s district representatives. tl The stock in hand when the Public Trustee took charge was,” said the Minister, “ approximately £20,000 in each branch. It was decided to continue the sales of stock, the proceeds of such sales to be paid to the Public Trustee s account, but that no fresh stock was to be procured. It was found that none of the staff were Germans, and that they were trustworthy and necessary to the carrying on of the business. It would be a hardship, to them to close the business down.”

Now that our troops are fighting on Turkish soil we shall have to make ourselves familiar with Turkish place names, which are extremely difficult to remember, not only because they are unfamiliar, but because the same name is spelt in so many different ways. There is no general agreement as to tire correct way of transliterating the Arabic characters or of representing the Turkish pronunciation. Perhaps the easiest way of fixing the names in one’s mind is to remember the meaning of the words which occur most frequently. “Bahr” means “sea,” or “ocean,” and “Scdd-el-Bahr” is the “Ocean Barrier”; “Kilid Bahr” is “Key of the Ocean”; “Kaleh” (or “Kale”) means “fort,” and “Kura Kaleh” is “Sand Fort.” “Chanak Kolessi” (the si is a grammatical termination) is “Pottery Fort.” “Kalcl-Sultanich” is “Royal Fort.” “Tepoh” means “hill”; “Gaba Tepe” is “Shapeless Hill”; “Shchr” (or “Shehir”) means “town”; “Eski-Shehr” is “Old Town,”- “Yeni-Shchr” “Now Town” —and these two names occur with bcwildcr-

ing frequency in Turkish geography; “Hissar’" means “castle”; “Hissar-lik” would b© the'“place where there is a castle,” and “Eski Hiesarlik” might be given as “Old Castletown.” Useful words to remember are:—“Burun” (or “Bumu”), “cape”; “Doreh” (or “DeiH/’), “valley”; “Keui” (or “Koi”), “village!”; “Kavak,” “poplar”; “Fanar,” “lighthouse”; and “Liman,” “harbour.” Of adjectives, after “Eski” and “Yeni” (“old” and “new”), the most commonly occurring in place names are: “Ak ” “white”; “Kara,” “black”; “Sari,” “yellow.” “Rumili,” “European,” and “Anatol” (or “Anadol”), “Asiatic” ore often used to distinguish two places of th© same name. Rumili Kavak and Anatol Kavak are the names of two places on opposite sides of the Bosphorus recently bombarded by the Russians. On Wednesday, May 12, a Press Association telegram was sent from Wellington stating that Mr W. Baloh had been convicted of arson in connection with th© destruction of the White Horse Hotel at Ngahauranga. This was incorrect, the actual fact being that Mr Balch was acquitted. The Press Association regrets that such a mistake should have been made, and desires to give every publicity to this correction in fairness to Mr Balch.

The following letter, which explains itself, has been sent by the Prime Minister (Mr Massey) to Messrs Plimmer and Hall: “Dear Sirs, —I beg to thank you for your letter of the 6th insk enclosing cheque for £ISOO, representing the first instalment of the profits of the Plimmer-Hall Company’s tour in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund, Wdl you kindly accept, and convey to all those associated with you, my sincere thanks, on behalf of the Government, for the splendid donation which you have been able to make for the fund. This large contribution reflects great credit on all those connected with the company, and I take this opportunity of congratulating you on the success that has attended your efforts. I shall bo glad to see the money is duly placed to the credit of the Belgian Fund.’

Some time ago (says our Wellington correspondent) the Prime Minister mad© arrangements with the owners of the ship Marital that the steamer should come out to New Zealand in ballast to load frozen meat, and, on behalf of the Now Zealand Government, he agreed to pay £SOOO to the owners. The Muritai has come and gone long ago. On the 20th the Prim© Minister received a cablegram informing him that the Board of Trade would pay rhe £SOOO out of profits made on the sale of New Zealand meat not required for army supplies.

Mr Justice Sim presided at o sitting of the Supreme Court on the 20th. The case of Miller v. Gunn, claim £219 on t a promissory note and interest, was settled out of court. Probate was granted in the estates of John M'Kinnon, Margaret II aiming. Mary Richmond, James Howard, and James Willocks. In Thomson v. Melville, a motion for directions as to service, directions were given as prayed. The divorefl case of A. U. Blythe v. Mabel Blythe and Isaac Wildash was alsc before his Honor. This was a motion for leave to prove a ease by affidavit, and was supported by Mr Wilkinson. After hearing counsel his Honor gave leave to the petitioner to verify his case by filing an affidavit to prove that the respondent and the co-respondent have been guilty of misconduct.

A resident of Christchurch, whoso brothel joined one of the northern regiments in the First Expeditionary Force, received a small sum as half-pay for about three months (says the Press). Then the payment ceased abruptly, and the next thing was the receipt recently by the local resident of a notification from headquarters to the effect that hie brother had been discharged from the forces prior to their departure from the dominion, and demanding the refund of the money forwarded on his behalf. The recipient of this notice was somewhat at a loss to understand, and Ins surprise was intensified last week when he opened the paper and saw his brother’s name amongist the wounded, and later received telegrams from Mr Massey and Mr Allen, expressing the hope that his relative s wounds were not serious.

The people of Hokitika have ceased to be alarmed over the encroachment of the sea upon the town (say’s a correspondent of the Greymouth Star), At the worst period of the trouble it was feared that part of th<. old mining town would have to be abandoned, but the most threatened sections are intact to-day, and the general situation, compared with six months ago, is that several acres of accretion, rather than encroachment, have to be recorded. A somewhat alarming report on the position was recently given to the press by a visitor. Following upon this, the inspecting engineer of the Public Works Department visited Hokitika and made a careful examination of the beach, the result being highly reassuring. Accretion has progressively gone on from the south, most of tue groynes built by the Public Works Department having succeeded in holding the moving material. (Borne have been completely buried, thus giving evidence of their utility. Camp street groyne, the centre of the trouble, added 6ft to the beach height in three weeks, and in another place the highwater mark has receded by four chains. Expert opinion favours the belief that the trouble was, exceptional. A general tendency to beach erosion on the West Coast during recent years had been noted by old residents, the sea having in some places washed into the bush. Now, for some mysterious reason, the process has stopped, and certainly at Hokitika the land is gaining over the ocean.