LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1655, 23 January 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tlie Department of Immigration ,Ims authorised Mr. J. \V. Collins, of the Labour Department, to conduct an exhaustive inquiry as to the shortage of Inbour in all the industries of the Dominion, and he has already commenced his inquiry in Wellington. Tho scope of tho investigation is wide enough to avoid false deductions being drawn from mere accidental,shortages, for the period to be covered is the twelve mouths just pusscd. Employers of even fairly largo numbers of workers are being asked to say what classes of workers they find difficulty in procuring, about what wages nro usually paid, and whether regular employment could bo offered in the event of an increased supply of labour being available. When Mr. Collins has. completed his, inquiry in Wellington he will go to .the other centres to make similar investigations there. An aviation corps will shortly become part and parcel of tho Commonwealth military forces, and arrangements are now being made lor the building of a military school of aviation in the Federal capital territory. One of tho aviator instructors, engaged at a salary of JUDO per annum, has arrived in Melbourne, and the other will arrive in about u fortnight- Ho will bring with him four aeroplanes, Which have been purchased at a cost of about .£BOO each. A number of mechanics will have to be engaged in connection with the school,, and motor lorries and other vehicles tor transporting the aeroplanes to and from suitable grounds for commencing flights are being purchased. The full' strength of the new corps will bo about 15. . \

Freak weddings arc becoming more and more common in Sydney as a feature of various shows (states an Australian contemporary). Wonderland City set tho example with a marriage'on the back of an elephant, and quite recently the public were invited to'behold a, dwarf bride and bridegroom at Tiny Town.'. Lust night another was added to the list by a wedding in a circus arena, The place was Bud 1 Atkinson's Circus, at .Mooro l'ark, tho. brido-elect being Miss Koso Jean : Isabella Durnclt, of Sydney, and tho. bridegroom an' American cowboy, by the name of Harry ' Murphy. By a happy omen, tho rain, which had been falling steadily throughout the evening, ceased before the procession, picturesque in red shirts and bear-skin trousers, and headed by ''Colonel" Lavclle, paraded ,slowly round the ring to the strains of Mendelssohn's "Wedding March," A striped marquee had 1 been erected,, and here tho ceremony was performed, tho assembled cowboys celebrating its conclusion with a salvo _of revolver snots; which. compelled the .bride to put her.fingers in lier cars. Tho couple were then made tho recipients of a number of wedding presents, amid th<> plaudits of the huge-audience. ' ■

When the military forces of the-Com-monwealth were recruited 'by voluntary enlistment all Icaudidates wcro.. required to take the oath 'bi allegiance. Now' that that -service, has become compulsory for all 'niale members .of 'the community between the ages' of 14 and 25 years, tho Commonwealth \ Attorney-General has given the opinion that there is no necessity for asking the boys on-joining the : ranks to tako the oath.> There is nr mention of the oath of allegianco so iar as compulsory clauses of the Defence Act are concerned, and area officers are now being instructed that the boys will pass into tho senior cadet ranks, and afterwards into those of the citizen soldiers without any. legal formality. \ . ■\, Tho Melbourne coroner (Dr. Cole) expressed an opinion on January 18 that swimming should be included in the curriculum of; State schools. ■ • Tho'xoroner made this remark at an inquest on three boys, 12, 7, and s:years of age respectively,,who were drowned in a hole in Gardner's. Greek, near Glen Iris. The parents gave evidence that the bodies Were recovered from the same spot by dragging. The eldest boy. Was learning to swim. A verdict of accidental, den A was recorded..'. ,' '.'■' •■.'■. ,

"1. do "not understand why., wonien .will persist in coming into, theso ; courts and chattering," Eaiu Mr. ', Love,' S.M., indignantly, at tho' Glebe :, Police: Court, Sydney, last week. ; "Do/stop'thosepeople talkingl Do anything , with them— 'put'them out into'the street. Why don't they stay at home and cook their'.husbands'dinners?"' .:■;,, •' .'..':', ■■',: '