LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2232, 19 August 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Warrimoo, which is due at Wellington to-day from Sydney, is bringing Australian mails only. Although rumour has made free with tho destination of the First Expedition which left New Zealand at the end of last week, official reticence upon the subject is still maintained. ' The prime Minister stated last evening that jthe date of the departure of the main Expeditionary Force had not yet been Uetermined. It would depend largely, 1 J said, upon the Imporial authorities. ■ ■ • ' I Some curiosity has been expressed in tie Parliamentary ■ lobbies a> to tho pjobable fate of tho Legislative Council lijform Bill, and it has even been predi ted that it will not see the Statute Bdpk this session. In all likelihood this is Y mistaken opinion. Tiiero may bo members even on the" . Government side of tho House who would be willing to seeitho Bill postponed for 'a year, but the probabilities are all in favour of tho Government making every efl'ort to push it though this. jear. If they did not, a gikt part of tho elaborate and long-; drawn-out procedure which has earned | the Bill to its present position might haveito be gone through n second time, A legal opinion advises the Westport jllarbour Board to claim £4000 from the Union Company'for the salv:i"o if tho'steamer Kauri.—Press Asaociatim. - .

MTiile the Union Company's ferry steamer Maori was in port .yesterday seven of her firemon signed off the vessel's articles. Considerable dililculty was experienced hi replacing them, and consequently, tho departure of tho steamer for Lyttcltou laet evening was delayed till 9.5 p.m. At the present time there is a shortage of labour on tho waterfront, the cause of which is attributed to the amount of work which , has to be dono in fitting up the number of steamers which have been engaged to carry the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force* to Europe. During the past four or five days tho work of discharging the transports and fitting them up has been proceeding night and day. and exceptionally good money has been made by men employed' on the waterfront. In view of tha above- facts, the'opinion is held that the firemen who were employed on the Maori left the ship yesterday with the object of 'making hay while the sun shines." . * The prize-winners in the BaillieArt Union were as follow-.—First, 'Mr. Charles Wilson; second, Mr. J. C. Young; third, Miss Black; fourth, Miss Francis; fifth,. Miss Gweu Isaac. Tho idea that difficulty will be experienced in procuring a suffjoiont number of horses suitable for military-service for the use of tho Expeditionary Force is discountenanced by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Allen). Ho stated. last evening that Mr. C. J. Beakos (Chief Government Veterinarian) had' informed him that there would be no difficulty at all in getting the required number of horses of a good stamp." So far the Wellington City Tramways Department has lost, about twenty men, who have left the service for the purpose of going abroad with the Expeditionary Force. As there is always a plenitude of applications for positions in the service, there has been no difficulty experienced in filling the places, of those who have forsaken'the clipper for the rifle. '' . Mr. E. Focke,..late German Consul, reports that a la/rge quantity of German.' papers, magazines, _ and books have been forwarded to his office for the use of the German reservists now interned on Somes Island. Such literature is very welcome, and.''he expresses the hopft th'&t the supply will bo continued, as at present the,men, many of- whom are respected residents of New Zealand, have nothing wherewitlrto occupy theii* time. Magazines, printed iii English, and New Zealand newspapers will also be gratefully received for transmission to tho island. A good number of those who - were placed under arrest have signed the parole order. and have been liberated. While a party of men were engaged in blasting operations in. the. neighbourhood of Masterton, says our correspondent, they pursued the usual course of putting the gelignite in front of tho fire to warm it. -Haidly had they done so than a terrific explosion occurred, one man being blown for. a considerable distance, though fortunately without serious injury. . •'' * ' Since the Philomel reverted at ihe outbreak of war to her original status as an Imperial ship, and is no longer avail-' able, tor-the training of New Zealand recruits* for naval tervice, the prosecution of the local naval defence scheme trill necessarily he.to some extent'delayed., New Zealand will not on that afceount, however, ho contributing any less than in former years to the upkeep of the Navy. The Naval Defence Act provides that the sum of £100,000 a year, formerly, paid as'a subsidy, shall bo applied to meeting the cost of the local preparations , but that any balance remaining shall bo paid over to the Admiralty. This year the balance will be larger than it have been in normal'circumstances. "* .'"••• There is a movement afoot in- the northern pa/rt of jthe Horowhenua County to', sever, theirioonnection:with the WellingfoVHospita'l"and Charitable i Aid Board, and administer their own affairs in that connection. To further that purpose representatives . of the Horowhenua County Council, the Levin Borough Council, and the Otaki Town Board are '.to wait upon the Wellington. Hospital and ; Charitable Aid Board at its meeting to-morrow afternoon. , .'■■■* -.. . Mr. W. H. Morton (City -Engineer) is at present in Auckland in connection with 'the' proposed ' extension of the water supply system. Reports* haye already been euppJied to tho Auckland City Council respecting two sites for a new reservoir, apd Mr. Morton was asked to report on.* which one he considers the best in the interest of the city. ' - / In the Hawera on Monday (states a,Press Association telegram) the licensees of the Dominion, ■ Royal Hotels were prosecuted for liaving sold liquor on a recent Sunday. Decision on a legal point was les'erved in the case against the Dominion Hotel, but the licensees of the Egrhont and Royal Hotels were fined £5 and £10 respectively. , It is probable, says our Masterton correspondent, that a meeting of local 'bodies and leading oitizene will be held at an .early date to 'urge ,t]ie Govern« ment to provide loans to local bodies wherever possible. * • "The opinion of the Government with, regard to hostile cruisers," tho Prime Minister remarked yesterday, "may be gathered from tihe fact that we have given 'inetruotione for the lights to be lit at the entrance to the principal harbours." : Though most of the members of Parliament have gone home for the adjournment, a fair number.are still to be onoountered about Parliaindnt Buildings. Opinion in the lobbies upon the whole, leans'to the view that the Legislature is likely to put through a considerable amount of business in the couple of months or so that will remain available from,the end of this ir.outh. It is thought that debates will be neither very profcraoted nor very, acrimonious and that the Financial Debate may be indefinitely postponed by agreement, but this last is by 'no means certain. One prominent member of the Opposition Party-spoken to yesterday remarked'that there were a ilumber of questions raised in the Budget which certainly ought to be discussed, but he 6eemed to be doubtful as to the attitude his party would take up in tho matter. The Education Bill, the Land Bill, and a number of smaller pleasures are /regarded as likely to be passed. The prospects of the Defamation Bill, 60 far as the present session is concerned, are considered moro dubious, and so also' are those of tho Local Grants and Subsidies Bill. In reference to the latter measure it is likely that a proposal will be advanced to sot up a board or commission to provisionally classify local districts and tho works to bq parried put therein, leaving the remaining provisions of tho Bill to stand over. Not much information of a definite character is yet available regarding the response to tho Prime Minister's appeal to fanners to Dlant additional giain areas, but Mv. Massey told a reporter yesterday that the project was being taken up in Canterbury, North Otago, and elsew'horo. There are, of course, large areas in different parts of the Dominion where.land cannot be. lint down_ in grain at short notice. This applies particularly to dairying and stock-raising districts where niitch of the land is not in l the necessary state of preparation for grain-growimj. At the present juncturc-farmcre in these districts in ninny cases would have difficulty in securing the additional capital required and may be loss inclined to make the attempt since tliny nre tolerably sure of a good itinrlsct v foi' Iho stnolc mid produce they are now raising nlid producing. The Masterton Competitions Socioty lias decided to abandoii its conipotitions this year owing to the war.