LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2287, 22 October 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Tolograph Office advise that on and after Monday next registered code indicators will be allowed as addresses ■in telegrams exchanged l —(l) between any two places in British territory, inojuding Egypt; (2) between British ter- 1 ritory, including Egypt, and territory of - allied countries and the United States of America. The name and address of the addressee must be written at the foot of tho telegram by the sender, but uot telegraphed. No' telegram .for an address registered since June 30 last is to be accepted. The Censor at tho office of destination may require the delivery office to furnish, the address at which a telegram is to be delivered. A code indicator cannot be accepted as the signature of a telegram.

"There is far too much.abuse in our political life," eiud Mr. K. A Wright, the Reform candidate for Suburbs, at Karori last night. ''When a man stauds for Parliament there aro those who immediately get to work with a microecopo and look on his past life> back to the cradle, and try to discover a flaw. If any little thing is discovered it is magnified, and distorted." . Ho thought every candidate should be given a fair hearing, and judged upon his merits;

Tho price of flour in Auckland was raised yostorday by 10s. per ton to £12 155., net cash. . Baiters are to meet immediately to make a proportionate increase, in tho price of broad. —(Press Association.)

The Minister of Defence made a statement to the Houso of Representatives yosterday regarding tlio pay of Territorials mobilised for active service in harbour defences and guard duty in New Zealand. He said that Cabinet had considered the matter, and had decided that the men in the- forts and the men on guard at Somes Island and Motuihi should receive- the same rates of pay as the men serving with the Expeditionary Force. The increased rato would bo paid *as from September 1. Also the uniforms and boots would bo replaced from the Defence Stores as they were worn out. Arrangements would also be mado to allow a certain number of tlio men now mobilised for service hero to volunteer lor service at tlio front.

A cablegram lias been received by tlio Russian Consul from the Imperial Russian Ministry, of Foreign to tho effect that the Ttar lias consented to allow , all Russian reservists desirous of to join the Now Zealand Expeditionary Forces.—Prose Association,

The State schools will observe a. holiday on Monday next, October 26 (Labour Day).

The Primo Minister informed a reporter yesterday that the maximum amounts of loans which may be granted to workere by the State Advances Office has been raised from £350 to £400. Prior te the war it was £450, but it was reduced to meet the changed monetary conditions. ' ,

A Mohammedan was being sworn at tho Auoldand Magistrate's Court on the Koran. He, veiled his eyes as. ho pressed his head on the sacred volume, and kept it there whilst the oath was administered, nodding his assent that he would speak the truth. Hβ then frankly admitted he owed the debt, and produced £10 in notes with which the case was promptly settled by tho Magistrate handing over the cash and getting receipts for the money. Mr. Kettle, S.M,, remarked that .the man could have been saved about £5 had the solicitors met and settled it out of Court, instead of bringing people long distances at great expense. "Half tho oases which occupy the Court," added the Magistrate, "could easily bo settled by the solicitors if they chose." • > Tho Auckland Anglican Diocesan Synod passed a resolution impressing upon all tho members of tho Church or England the duty of voting in the coming elections according to conscience as in tho sight of God, and with the view of removing the bar in tho way of the Bible-reading and religious teaching in the State schools of the Dominion urges them so to act as to ensure that the will of the people in this most important matter shall be carried into effect.

"Are you in favour of Germane holding responsible positions with the GovornmentP" was a question asked of Mr. R. A. Wright, the Befor'm candidate for the Suburbs seat, at Karori last night. Mr. Wright at once answered "No," to the general principle of the question, but at the. same time pointed out that there were many loyal naturalised Germane in New Zealand. Some had even Bent their eons with • the Expeditionary Force. If they; had been giving years of faithful service to the country, nothing should be done that would be unfair to them. Tho question was a difficult' one, he admitted, for even naturalised Germane in England had been found aseisting the enemy.

Word has been received from London (our Wanganui correspondent states) tJhat Richard Jack's -"Reflections," which was exhibited this year at the Royal Academy, has been purchased for tho Sarjeant Art Gallery at Wanganui. The price paid for the picture was three hundred guineas.

Owing to the movement to get a new award increasing the wages of borough workers from Bs. to 10s. per day, the Palmerston Borough Council has arranged a conference with other local bodies to consider joint resistance to such a demand. It is considered by the council that tho present time or war and local distress is inopportune for increasing wages "to an extent which would mean an extra £1000 from the borough funds.—(Own Correspondent.)

At last night's reunion of the members of the First South African Contingent, Colonel Robin stressed the value of the use of the bayonet in coniimction with accurate rifle /firo, and loped that the members of the Expeditionary Force would be as e'ffioient in the use of the former as they would be frith the rifle. The tactics used in South Africa and in vogue in the present etruggle were dissimilar. From the immense number of men in actiojj. at present, there was very little room for .6eparate. r sortieS; Everything depended dn the manner 1 in '-wtiioh' , the troops faced the fire. of the enemy and their capacity for bearing punishment. They could see the value of the bayonet in the compact advance of the" troopa.

A member of the First South African Contingent at last night's i reunion of the members of the contingent, in declaring -he -was now a peaceable farmer at Wailii, regretted the fact that he had "turned his sword into a ploughshare."

A lady fell, off a tramcar near the Basin Reserve last evening, and was taken to the Hospital, where hor injuries were found to consist of nothing more than a rather severe shaking.

The splendid selection of photographs of Wellington to be sent to the PanamaPacific Exposition by the Wellington Harbour Board were on view at. the hoard's room last evening. Thoy coneisfc of a panorama of the city and harbour, taken.from a point near the Mount Etako wireless station, a view of , Wellington from above Clifton Terrace, taken in 1868, and a companion picture taken from the same point of vantage during the present yeai'; a eeries of three views of the wharves, one of the now wharves from the wool wharf northwards, and a very fine view of the Boat Harbour. \

Mr. M'Laurin, Government Analyst, and Professor Easterfield. of the Victoria University College, have been appointed, to act as arbitrators in connection with the question of the safety.of the use of the explosive monobel in the Huntly ::oal mines. Dr. M'Laurin represents the Government, and Professor Eastorfield the mino owners. Mr. Justice Cooper will act as umpire. The inquiry will probably be held in Auckland.

Preparations for the season at Mount Cook are well in hand (saye the Timaru "Herald"). Mr. Cook, manager of tlho Hermitage, is getting together a full staff. The guides are assembling. Mr. Conrad Kain, who'" was at Mount Cook as o private guide last season, and has now been engaged by tho Tourist Department, is already at the Hermitage, with two or three others, and Mr. Petor Graham is expected shortly. The roads are said to be in good order, and doubtless will bo improved beforo November 1, when the cars begin running Tcgularly.

The Piilmerston A. and P. Association, our correspondent roports, las received notice that January -7 is the date fixed for tho departure of the steamer conveying New Zealand's exhibit of lamb carcasses-to tho Panama Exposition at San \Franoisco. Tho Association hae appointed a committee to arrange • for entries.

The Palmereton Agricultural and Pastoral Association on Tuesday discussed a letter from the Union Steamship Company notifying that tho former 10 per cent, concession on • show'judges' fares would bo discontinued. Members greeted the announcement with expressions of disappointment, declaring that it was a poor return for the assistance farmers gave in loading ships during etriko time. Some of the speakers declared that the company ought, on tho contrary, to grant cheap excursion rates to nil travellers during e'how timo. It was decided to ask the company to reconsider the matter. —(Own Correspondent.) ' •

American' trade has not materially suffered through tho war, according to Mr. P. E. Quin, Acting-Commissioner for Now South Wales at San Francisco, who is on his way to Sydnoy by tho Makura oh a holiday trip. As a. matter of fact, he said, the United States cx'l>ects to • benefit in several respects. Enormous, orders have been placed in America} for instance, for blankets for both tho British nnd tho German armies. Foodstuffs for export nro also in gre.it domand. Furthermore America anticipates inheriting a good deal of Germiinr's trade.

Colonel A. W. Robin, Commander of tho Now Zealand Dofonco Forces, leaves for Auckland today, to inspect tho Maori contingent encamped at Avondale. On his return lie will visit, tli? Trcntliam camp, whero a vigorous training policy will oa oarried out.

The latest and a very welcome ad« dition to the long series of interesting and valuable books on early New Zealand history which have been published by Mossrs. Whitcombe and Tombs has just made its appearance. This is "Early Rungitikoi, ,, by Mr. J. G. Wilson, the president of the New Zealand larmers' Union and one of the oldest and most respected eettlere in the Rangitikei. A detailed review of Mr. Wilson's book will appear in these columns as soon as space will allow.

Last Wednesday a middle-aged man named Charles Goddard attempted to take his life by cutting his throat with a razor. He was an inmate of the Hospital until yesterday when he was charged in the Magistrate's Court with attempted suicide. Goddard admitted tho offence, and Inspector Hendrey said that accused Tiad represented that lw was without friends or money and had been out of work a long time. The luspeotor asked for a remand till today, so that inquiries might be made as to the unfortunate man's future

..?§.- J ; H. HelliwoU, secretary of the Wellington Gas Company, who Jiae just returned from a visit to the Old Country, states that ho visited most of the large cities in England and inspected the gas-works wherever he went. "I can honestly say," said he, "that, after making a deliberate comparison between iinglish works and our own, the Wellington Gas Company has little or nothing to learn as te its equipment and ■ working system. Indeed, I would go so : far as to say that if the gas companies at Home had been as enterprising as our company, they would in all probability be in a much stronger position to-day/' While he could not deny that; electricity for lighting purposes waa advancing into favour, particularly for public lighting, enormous progress wasbeing made by gas for cooking and, heating purposes. ■ ,

; Inquiries have been made of the Minister of Defence as to whether''the Territorials mobilised for active service in Aew Zealand, doing duty at the coast defence forts and elsewhere, will be entitled to the war ribbon and war medal. Mr. Allen informed a questioner in the House yesterday that this would be a. matter for the Imperial authorities td : decide. He would, however, bring tha matter under their notice at the proper' time. . r '

A handy force of volunteer mounted infantry, comprised of farmers in the. linui district, is,in active training at the present time, and should the occa-; sion ever arise when such men are re-! quired foi\ home defence, they should" render a good account of themselves. Tho last drill was held on Saturday abj Tinui, under tho direction of Captain.6. W. Braddell, 1 of Masterton, who ie taking a lively interest in these selfappointed rough-riders. About 70 men turned out, all well mounted and good shots, and did splendid work in field movements. On Saturday week the troop is to undergo firing exercise under instruction. If this idea were taken up in other farming districte,- New Zealand • would have a mounted infantry force; ready-made for an emergency that* would do credit to any country. ■ The Bishop of Wellington (Dr. tiprott) visited' St. Mary's , Parish, Ka»| rori, on Monday, and held two confirmations. In the afternoon, panied by the vicar (the Rev. G. Y. j Woodward), he drove out to Makara, '■ and at 2.30 p.m. confirmed 16 candidates in the St. Matthias. The; Bishop preached from, the text Ephe-j sians iii, 16: "Be strengthened with' might by His Spirit in the inner man." Hβ spoke of baptism and its connection; with confirmation, and explained' that God gave Hie Holy Spirit in confinna-: tion to strengthen and help the keeping of the baptismal vows. ••• In tho evening at 7.30 o'clock, tfoo Bishop held another; confirmation in St. Mary's, Karori, when 33 oandidates received the laving on of hands., The: Bishop based his address on the. words of St. Paul to Timothy, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." He out-« i lined the duties of a Christian soldiery and showed that his life here was a daily' light against sin, the world, and the devil. That soldier was fighting for a kingdom, and that was the Kingdom of ' God, and it' was a kingdom in which' he was to have a share of the glory. The Bishop made a 6trong appeal to the candidates to try to realise more and more the meaning "of thie kingdom, for that would he their greatest help in their . warfare on ■ earth. The number confirmed in tho parish was 48 (22 men. and 26 women). There are at present about two hundred prisonere of war interned inv New Zealand, the majority of them being on Somes Island. "The judicial system upon which nau* tical inquiries are conducted is most unfair," said Mr. J. C. Martin at Auckland during tho. re-hearing of the nw quiry into the circumstances of the Clansnian-Pahiki collision in Auckland Harbour on June 24, Had such a condition of affairs obtained with any othep section of men than sailors, it would! not, he said, have been tolerated so long. An officer was not. called upon to show cause why hie certificate should nob. bo cancelled, or why he should.not.be ordered to pay the costs of some uiqwr. and yet ho was liable to have either of these-things happen to him. No oppor* tunitywas given to him to ask of what he was - accused, or to meet the implied! charge against him. Mr. Martin, made ii quite clear, that he was not in any way impugning any, Court j; it tob the legal system that he was criticising, and ho drew attention to it advisedly. A, sailor's whole career depended upon the, finding of the Court of Inquiry, and yet he was not given anything like the opportunity that was given to the meanest criminal to defend Bmself. . American papars to hand state thnt Friediich Pfannishchmidt, the wellknown German nculptor, and a caP™m of the Fourth Foot Guards, was killed in a battle noar Clialons. A dispateli from Berlin also records tho death ot Lieutenant Werner von Beauhou, one ot the best of tho German Army aviators, who was killed whilst reconnoitring on September 4. , ! On Tuesday' the Palmorston A. and P Association took the rather novel, step of returning a cheque sent iii' asa contribution from the Licensed Vic tuallors' Association. Tho reason given was that tho amount (£25) was inadequate in a district in which seventeen hotels derive groat benefit from the shows. The Licensed Victuallers will bo asked to increase the amount. —(Own Correspondent.)