LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2296, 2 November 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

No oversea mails arrived in Auckland yesterday. The Makuru, howover, is due to arrive: there .some time to-day with a small English and an Australian mail. Tlie southern portion is expected to arrive here by tho Main Trunk ej:press either to-morrow morning or■'tomorrow afternoon, ' ,

The Telegraph Office adviso that with' the . resumption- of the acceptance of cable messages written in authorised code; tho present letter counting system is-to cease, and word counting resumed. This applies to all cable messages, also radio messages transmitted partially by cable. Only one authorised code may be used in any one -telegram. .. • •

On and after Ist proximo, says a; notice issued by tho Telegraph inent, a limited number of authorisedi. codes may be usod in cable messages to tho United Kingdom. Tho codes authorised aro: (1) A.8.0. (Fifth Edition); (2) Scott's. (Tenth.Edition); (3>; Western Union; (4) Lieber's. The name/, of tho code must be inserted in the instructions and telegraphed, but is not to be charged for. Cablo messages in private' or any other code not autnoriodf must not bo accepted. All code telegrams to and from the United Kingdom! will be censored in that country. The system will be extended to. intercolonial mossages whon arrangements are com* plcted.' '-. .

"I know what party lias the fighting funds, and I' know where they, coine> from," said the' Prime.Minister in the House of. Representatives on Saturday; when Mr. W. A. - Veitch wfcs-talking about the fighting funds of wealthy, parties. Mr. Veitch replied: "I.would .like to exchange fighting funds with! you in my electorate." Mr. Musseyl "I won't spend oue-quarter of. what you will spend." Mr. yeitch: "Perhaps your friends will spend it for ■yon? , * -Mr. Massoy (emphatically): ,: They will not." Mr. Noswbrthyi "We can get in. without 'spending money."

The Salvation Army officials in charge., of Roto Roa Island-, to which habitual' inebriates are committed by the Court; have been much concerned by v thai amount of' drunkenness (says a Press); Association telegram from Auckland), All attempts to trace tho source of the liquor supply ■ failed, until a detective was engaged to watch the iumates'of the home. He founds many of them keenly interested in gardening, and.. unusually , interested in the cultivation. , of parsnips, from which, it transpired* a wine of considerable strength watf manufactured by a simple process. It' proved such powerful stuff that those" who, drank it almost immediately became hopelessly intoxicated. Needless to say,' the new industry was promptly!'; suppressed, and Roto Roa has resumed? its reputation for dryness. : '

A particularly heavy north-east gala visited Wellington yesterday' morning, , and towards evening it increased in fury. About 4.30. p.m. black clouds) which had been banking up from the' north, reached the City, and then tie \ rain came down heavily. ' The harbour was a' picturesque sight with its wind*' lashed waters. Heavy seae pounded the>; Boat Harbour breakwater, and at timestliey swept high over tho structure. Seas washed right over the new re»; (.-lainied land at Ta Aro: Vessels arriv* ing- in port during the day reported'' having experienced heavy, weather ire Cook Strait. • Aft a matter of fact, thel. Strait was "feather white" as far a*; tile eye could see. ' ■ ■ !

Tho following telegram was received, on Saturday from Tokomaru Bay:—"At' 3.55 sharp shock of earthquakes was felt. No ii&niage was done." .'.•'.■• Prom November 16 to November 28 a! voluntary refresher course for and non-commissioned officers of the New Zealand Military Forces will. b£ held at' somo placo yet to be: fixed, on*j Names ot thoso who wish to attend , * should be handed to the b&* fore November i. Pay will not be giveif those who attend, but travelling ex* penses will ho rot'unded and food an6s lodgings' provided. \ . ■ •.■;■•■. :...)

, In an article pubh'shed on Saturday! it was inadvertently made to appear! that the clauso in the roport pr'tW, Education Committee of the House o£l Hepreseiitativcs : upon the Bible-in* schools'. potitions which had been in*; eluded accidentally, after its rejection . By the chairman as irrelevant, was that in which the committee recommended; that the Referendum Bill be not allowed' to pass..'ln point of fact, the. clausal in question was one relating to th&' Nelson system. > \ • ■'

"A policeman's • lot is not.' a happjj one," said the playwright, and an amus-*. ing esamplo of the discomforts that have) to be endiired by "the long-suffering members of tho Force occurred in Prin-i ces Street, Dunedin, on Friday evening, states tho "O.tago Daily Times." The attention of quite a crowd was by a little old man'who was calfcng out' "Police! Police!" as though he wero in danger of suffering some personal vio-> lence. After some moments, a "man ire blue" madfl his appearance, and the old' man, who was considerably excited, com-* 'menced to explain that a young mwtstanding near by had applied a most! discourteous epithet to him; "He called, me 'Bullswool,' and T want you to kk primand him severely, constable," said the man whose dignity and calmness had! been TufFled'by such on irreverent re-" mark. * "You soem to be doing pretty : well yourself: Talk to him ' severely,'* replied the police officer, who left thfll old man, looking considerably discon-< certed at the nonchalance with the law regarded a matter that-helook-t. eel upon nvuch more ' .'■■', / ■

One result of last night's gale that several shop; windows were dam-* aged inthe City. '

On Saturday Detective Bailey arrestt ed a man on warrant .on two of f alee .pretences at Auckland.

It ie not often that children of sucK tender age as five months make theiii. : appearance, in tlie Police Court, bpt such was the case on Friday (states thai Auckland "Herald") when two babies, each of whom was born only last May,,, were summoned for being without • means of support. This etepwns taken, to enable the infants to bo committed;;' to an Industrial School, which was done< One child, at the ago of 11 weeks, has .been left at the District Hospital, and, the police had been unable to trace the paronte. In. the ordinary course: of events children oommitted to. an In-v dustrial 'School are taken, there by a] ■: constable, but in the present case Mr; ■;', F. V. Frazer, S.M., 'thought that the? spectacle of a constablo with;-a youngj baby on each arm would be rather incongruous, so he arranged. with twot, sisters to take:the children to fheir new! home in a taxicab. ....... • . 'The Miners' 'Union office at Huntl£" was destroyed by fire early on Saturday morning-' All tlie books and supposed to havo been burned. origin of the fire is a niystery.-Pxess. Association. . - ■" Seme time during the early part ofe Friday evening the sumof £52,,14e. Bd. was stolen from tlio private oflice at thei Epsom tramway 'depot (says a PresA; Association telegram from Auckland),/. : The money ''iad been .deposited there in readiness for payment of the men)-; on the night-shift duty. The drawer?,' containing itM been forced chisel The incident was quickly. re£ nort«d and inquiries were instituted ' almost immediately by a detective..

•'■, •-: The Government. recently autl'orised : :.■■■ the building of teri m'pre workers' dwell- ; \' : ing"s v in .Wellingtbni the Department . ■';: or ;Labotir is now .dealing with the ap- ;,. plications for theso houses. '.-.■'. <v . . •■■;•' V 1 Aji old refidinit ot .Wellington,. oom- . ':-'.-. tnenting upo'u ; ;th6 impatience of : some ■ .people :at the.scomparative■ paiiotiy of ■■'i'. -thenar ;news,during the past few-days, ; ; .states'that they ought.to have been.in -■ Wellington at the time of the Crimea, : ■''■. n-hen toe war news-arrived six and seven .-' - months after the events took place. In . : ■''-1855-6:the're;.were no-cablegrams or even :- v . telegraphs,- andi;.;.- all the news ;was .? brought.by .sailing vessel, 1 either direct ■■'.' a'rvia Melbourne. As'.there were a great . number of sailers then, trading tb-.Mel-,:'-;bourne, a. mail service per schooner was ;'- ■'.-. instituted between that.port and Wel- :'■ |ington, ; ;and,it was;the schooner Marchioriess (Cajitain Kreeft) which brought V ■■to;:Wellingtonthe first news of the fall of Sevastopol. .'lt was announced in an '.:■■ altogether novel mannor by the schooner '-■■•'■' arriving in port with'the words "Sebas:'Vtopol, paintedi'mMlaige letters : on•• her • eide) : ■an announcement which .'■'• iiaturally oaused considerable escitement ■}■ injthe'tpwii:-': .WvV^-^r;. -. .'■■: .■'■■. . ■' '.V Oolonei lobin visited the Trentham wilitary camp on Friday,' and he states ■..'.■r that '.the" men wider. canVas- are rdoing form, and their ■ training is proceeding' very satisfactorily. ;O'ther men in training elsewhere : : are also reported to bedoing-well, and •'.the whole, he states-;, ara'a very escel- . ; lent 10t.; , ,' ;':'; r '■■■..'- ; ;..-.;.:■:•■ "'■';■ ; -Onei.of the men under.cahviis.at the .•■'■ '.■' .Trentham' military -camp' developed- ty- '■■■' phoid fever,'.and he has beep! sent to :,*: the Wellington. \Public .Hospital.; < The '.'-. complaint was, not contracted in _ the -■'■ >. camp, and-tho doctor reports that it is'. ."- <iuite clear-that: the ; man :• had ; caught v rit/before^joining''the'ranks.'.•'■:;':,•., ; : :

■ Tlie Mayor of Christchurch (Mr. H. * Holland), -with Sir.'Ernest ..and. 'Lady, 'Rutherford, returned on Friday:-"affcer-noou from a trip to Lake Coleridge. ... Speaking to,a Christehurch "Sun'.'.re- ■ porter .after his.retu'rn, the .Mayor said that eince his lastvia.it all the machinery had been placed/in.position,, and' every-. thing now was; in perfect order, • .the whole plant power station, being complete. of the '.broken "nature,of the rock, the.intake could not be taken so far' as : was/intended:.' Diffiaulties had r also - been met with in regard- to the ,depth of shingle over ■jtbe rock. Two coffer dams had been placed jn ■'.•position, .-tms the;- outer, -one-.was ■ damaged by.', the. late. gale, : and when the ■ party" arrived'--the'', inner,';, one was being washed % a' series'of heavy ivavcs,-and the'men,ha<l been flood^out. The rock had been excavated'inside the second dam, and it.was;only.a'questionpf..days.. ' when the power ywp'uld be..- sent ", down the linei-The switchboard Jiad been ; tested;-and a voltage qf 70,000.v01ts recorded,''which' is : stated to''be about the '-record for New Zealand.' Mr. Holland thinks that'•'within a ; fortniglit ; tlio light should be availablo.'fpr the city, ", - : ; An innovation in.summer-drink establishments .will--be introduced;, tp the ChristcKurch public, this_weok/when a commodious : ; • underground ' hpartinent, Bpepially: and quaintly ,fur|iished for de-'voteesof-the soda-fountain, . is ,tov. he .. opened.';-.-■..-.- ' ! \. ;'-\'-;.-^,-. ■ ; !;-,'-;i- ; ■■■''-. '■ ■In connection with.the case in -which - Robert-Henry :Todd' was charged with failing to provido for the-maintenance of. his wife and with cruelty towards her, we. are requested to .state that, so: : far .'as' the" : charge• 'of maintenance "is Cf.ricerned'the defendant was supportinp; hie wife .'and had'paid : for her board and lodging up to and beyond the day on which tho. charge was laid. The clif-. ference between"'the: parties, : we. are 'informed,- has now been settled out' or .-•• pourfc." ■■ ": ; . : - .'..■"■-','..•. \~:y'-\v y: ■'■.-■ ■

•Duriug last, month' ;■ no. : -bankruptcies were recorded by the Official.Assignee in Wellington.'ln October, .1913, there . were two. -So •far.this year,'.tho.,total v number of banEruptcies. handled.by.;the ■ Official Assignee 1 is nuie,-,.for:the:simi- . : lar- period' pf. laet/y'ear the. number was. fbirtoenV.:-.-.;;.'.'.'.' , -,: ;'■'■• -"V:. .. ■ , A spirit of-adventure appears to have seized two chUdien—Charles Eugcno Sullivan (aged nine years) and Margaret 'Sullivan (aged seven years)—who left . home - at' 66 • Maclaggan Street, Dunedin, on Thursday morning - .to.go. to -the ■ Arthur Street School, and of. whom all 'trace was lost by their, parents till about half-past 3- the next., afternoon, 'when , they were, found ;Vby their- mother: in George Street,' and cheerfully informed her that they wore just coming home: Naturally the disappearance of the children oaused their parents- great anxiety, ./and a ■diligent search faMU to locate -their whereabouts-for the; time being. The police were also informed -of their disappearance. ; ; .The. children, can give no coherent story of whore thoy wont to'or whore they spent the night.. The jjoy informed his mother,;, however, that they sldpt at a ..woman's place -at-tho • INorth-East Valley/:but'.;that he-did not Tiriow her name, nor the actual locality fcf her residence. The children eyidontly did not lack for foodj ; as the police have, ascertained that money ..was;.given to them by one or two persons;. and that -they spent this in buying :lollies and cakes.—("Otago, Daily Times"). , . '•■' V\

It is gratifying^to'-know*-remarks the ; "Hawke's Bay Herald,"'that the four Hawke'sßay seats will be contested for the Government. <■ Throe .of them" will ibe contested by the .'sitting':.members. 'At', present there is no.one nominated against Mr. :Escott. '-'' Mr.- Hunter's op-, ponent will be Mr. Jull,. whom.'he'.heat three years ago. Mr.. Campbell is; opposed by Mr. M'Nab, and it is evidence of-the position .of the Liberal Party in Hawke's Bay' that they had to go : outside for a candidate. Ih.Nripier,; Mr. Venables will havo a keen fight .against the sitting member, but as ho is assured of the loyal and undivided support of tho Reform Party he may be counted: as. a formidable opponent, \ and it is -likely that'liis selection will result in: all,four ..Hawke's Bay' seats going^to.the.cause, of Reform.. ') : ■':',•■■:' : : '-. ■■'.'. : :; "' i

. Some excitement was caused in Auckland business circles hist week by. the rumour, that "forged; id-notes;on the Commercial Bank of Australia; were in circulation. : ' ■ No .one- is actually reported to have seen one of the torgod uotes, but strangely enough eeveral firms received warnings from Various sources to avoid accepting or/ cashing notes, bearing the uunioer .001,207. Naturally,: remembering the big fraud practised-on Auckland' some-months ago througb cleverly-forged ; Baiik of New Zealand-notes, tho. rumour 6pread like wild-fire, and wherever tho Commercial Bank's notes were presented they .were examined with the closest scrutiny, but tho alleged forged notes-were never re■oorted as turning up any where. .■■ When consulted on Saturday Mr. E: P. Yaldwyn, the general manager, of, the Commercial Bank for : New Zealand,, stated that the matter had been brought under, his-notice from Auckland, but ho was quite unable-to state whether the , rumour was a hoax or not. but tho forged notes'had not been brought under, the notice 1 : of the bank's officials, which would soon be' the. case if they wore : in circulation...:; Mr...' Yaldwyn Btated 1 that only .on: one occasion had the notes of his bank been forged. That was many years ago now, and tho forgery was so crude that it was almost immediately doteoted. As a matter of fact he said that the Commercial Bank notes were ; perhaps the most difficult to forge of any of the Australasian banks, as in addition to a yery:com- ,'■ plicated engraved design, there were a ■ Variety:;.of tints employed, one shaded Into the „ otherj'.-: that' were difficult to imitate without some:research .and ,a very fine plant. Even the £I'note, wliich was generally! printed in a neutral tint, was in their.case,coloured.on both aides,, neutral ..tints being., cunningly'interwoven with a'.pale green-: ■■.blue,'-:whilst on the back, green was shaded into a band of lemon colour in tho centre. Should there .be anything in.the rumour tlio bank officials should beat.once communicated with. ' ;...:■

AVhen Mr. F. T. Moore, a candidate for the Wellington, Suburbs seat, epoke at Jphnspnville last -Thursday evening, he created the 'impression .that it ■ was unlikely that , Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald would be in the field,to contest that electorate. ■Mγ. Fitzgerald, who opened his campaign in. the Liberal interests car Saturday, evening, states that; some little time, ago, when it was considered that tho Liberal-Labour vote in the electorate sEould not be split, and that either Mr. • Fitzgerald or Mr. Moore should stand down, he ottered to submit his name (if Mr. Moore would thit his) to a ballot of the unionists .affiliated to the and Labour Council. He sent in his nomination papereigned by n. number of prominent Labour men, but for some reason, which had not been explained the off or. to ballot for "the. -right'.' to stand was; refused. He now .repents the offer in the fonii of a- challenge to Mr. Moore. .

Saturday's sitting of the Magistrate's Court was brief., Mr. D..G. A.. Cooper, S.M., was on the bench: For insobriety, George William Jackson was fined £2, Joseph Thomas Barrett 10s., aui Thos. Reeves £3. On a charge, of indecency, Clifford' William Fredoriok Parrant'was remanded on bail till Wednesday next. Mr. Cyril J. Ward! ■ (of the firm of Messrs. Kinsey and Co;, Ltd.), ActingConsul for Belgium at Christchurch, acknowledges with thanks the amount of £24 1357 9d., : received from Mr'. Gbrrard J. Biddoll, Mayor of Picton. Tins amount has been subscribed in Pictori. The total received by Mr. Ward to date is!£l2l9 Us. 9a,- ■■-;;;;■. .-. ■" '■ During' , the, discussion on the Steel Industries'-Bill in ihe Legislative Council on Saturday afternoon, the Hoii. S.T. George mentioned that he called tenders; for steel for. a large, steelframed- building in Auckland, and the price 1 quoted wae £6a-ton. In sleepy Wellington, ho said, the same steel cost £13 a ton, and he could not understand the reason for the; great differ'encb in the price of the.steel. Was it stole?"'inquired another member, the sally raising a laugh.-The Hon. J. Duthie' said that probably the Hon. Mr.. : George 'had liot given people m Wellington aii; opportunity to tender for.the steel. They could successfully compete with Auckland firms, for Wβ firm he- was 'connected- with; had two large '-contracts', let in: Auckland,; one' with' the' Auckland Harbour Board, for 2000;tbns,'and the other with tho Dominion Cement Company: As for the pricoj he had not heard ; of £13 having been paid Oiere.-,..1t must have; been a very, long'.time, ago.''.'■;. --.J ■-..■; -.-'•. Local residents .and visitors to the Palmerston North Show will be pleased to learn'that Godbers, Ltd., of. Weiluigtori, are the. caterers. ■■-.... ' ■•