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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2284, 19 October 1914, Page 5

A private letter from Mr. A. Donald, of tlie firm' of A. B. Donald, Ltd., of Auckland (Island merchants), gives (says an Auckland paper) a few more particulars of the raid made by the German oruisors Scharnhorst and Gnoisenau on Papeete on September 22! It appears that those two German war vessels' entered the splendid reef harbour of Borabora—an island about 100 miles from. Tahiti, and one of the same group—where they obtained supplies the day before they arrived off Papeete. Mr. Donald states that the damage done to the latter town by tho bombardment was not so great as was at first reported. According to the advices his firm has received from its manager at Papeete,' this company's loss would be somethiug like £15,000; its fine concrete main building did not suffer much.. The damage was mostly to a number of the, firm's small retail stores adjacent, run by Chinamen. Maxwell and Co. s concrete store did not suffer much. Not so much damage was done by the shells thrown as' by tho fires they caused, which destroyed the Market Place, hotels, -small stores, and other buildings. to the value of some £150,000. Tho Government-Buildings escaped. It is stated that the Government coal destroyed (to keep it from falling into the hands of the enomy) was £4000 worth.

A Balclutha resident has _ received a letter from a relative in Victoria, advising that the .'drought is occupying the Victorian public's attention even more than the war (says'the "Free Press"). In the Goulburn Valley and in the Rochester distriot the farmers and graziers were, when the lotter was written (October experiencing a terrible time, while in the border town, of Wodonga the drought waa held to be the worst experienced in seven years; In order to 'Save stock from destruction thousands "of head "of cattle and sheep were being railed to the Gippsland distriot,' distances of 500 and' 600 miles.In the mallee country of Victoria, noted for its excellent wheat crops in normal years, .there are thousands of acres that will never be stripped (the mode of harvesting practised in Australia), and the loss is bound to be enormous. In the interior of New South Wales drought conditions also prevail, although in the coastal districts good rains have fallen.

The Mayor of Christchurch; (Mr. H. Holland) was in an anecdotal mood when he opened the' Maori Fair in the Salvation Army's Citadel on Tuesday. He began by saying "Ten'a koe," paid a graceful compliment to the white "wahines" present, and then described an experience he had when attending a conference .associated with the Wesleyan Church in England in' 1908. He said that ho made a fairly long speech at the conference dealing with the affairs of the Church in these parts, and, by an inspiration, concluded with the words "Kia ora." When *ie descended from from the platform ho was surprised to find himself surrounded by twenty reporters, who, with pencils and notebooks in hand, demanded the meaning of the strange phase he had hurled at the conference. •When he explained that it represented the best of good wishes, they were completely satisfied. On the same visit to England, he told a friend that the New Zealand words for "welcome"' were "haere mai." Later on, his friend' 6 daughter was engaged to be married, and an invitation was .sent to Mr. Holland, but it was merely addressed "Haeremai, New Zealand." It Went to every New Zealand town with a, Maori name, then returned to the writer in England, and finajly Teached Mr. Holland two years after the marriage had taken place.

Tho 12th anniversary of the Petone Baptist Sunday School was celebrated yesterday,,... tho V.Kev..,.H. B. . Hughes, M.A., 'of'-A'sh'b'urtb'hV conducting t the Eervioes throughout the day, before large audiences. The singing of thechifdren was ; a feature of tho celebrations.