LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2301, 7 November 1914, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho mails which loft Auckland ofl October 6 per R.M.S. Niagara arrived, in London, via Vancouver, on November 5. Tho members of the Commission set lip to investigate tho working of the Valuation Department, and especially the multitude of complaints against too liirli, valuations are: Messrs. T. F. Martin, of Wellington (chairman), Ewen Campbell, Wangunui,, and James Rutherford, of Auckland. Tho order of reference of tho Commission is very < wide, empowering the Commissioners to , inquire into everything connected witti tlie administration of tho Valuation Act. i 'A Press Association telegram froiri Nelson states that a sharp earth-" quake shock was felt at 7.45 lasti might. The shock was also folt in. , Wellington at 7.45 p.m.

When the Union Coinpany'e training steamer Aparima arrives in Now Zealand waters from the East towards the end of next month, several of her apprentices will have completed their four* years' service, and they will bo transferred to the Union Company's steam- , ers as junior officers. Up to the pre- , sent 20 cadets have been appointed officers in the fleet. As several other;. vacancies will be made i!his voyage! early application . for bdrths on HJlie Aparima is necessary. It is not often that- when a person is fined in Court he will "turn, tho othetf cheek" and request the 'Magistrate to doTiMo the fine and donate it to same charitable object. Such a case, however, occurred at the Magistrate's Court yesterday, for when a man who had committed a breach of tho by-laws was informed he had been fined 55., he turned to the Magistrate and remarked that he "thought ■ this fine should go to help tbo Belgians. I will tell you what," he'eontinued to the Magistrate, confidentially and moreover 6eriously f "I will make it double—l will pay 105., : and it can be made over to the Bel«' gians."

■ The southern end of Kelbum Park, which has 'remained in its present un-. formed, unattractive state for some' time, is shortly to be taken in the City Council. The attention of the council was recently drawn to the matter by the Hon. A. L. Herdman,.JM.P.for Wellington North, who yesterdayj was advised by the Town Clerk that Che council had given instructions for the formation of tho uncompleted part of tho park to be carried out. The lonic, which arrived in Wellington from London yesterday, had an l ' uneventful run out. The.usual precautions ■ were taken at night to guard against lights being exposed, and portholes were covered and deck lights extinguished. When the lonic loft England she was escorted dowii the Channel by the Edinburgh Castle, and passengers were able to .witness the searchlight display from' tho naval ports at Mght. Ca-ptajin Starg took a more southerly course than usual, in order to' keep out of'any possible" danger from an enemy cruiser, and was fortunate in not coming acroes one. The passengers on many occasions got a thrill of excitement when the 6moke from an unknown, vessel wae picked up on the horizon, but in every case the stranger proved to be'a peaceful merchantnianrBefore the vessel arrived in Wellington' the passengers presented Captain Starg with a letter-, of appreciation for his having conveyed them in safety to their destination. AtHobarta mentally-der fective person who had escaped from the Tainui was brought on board, and was transhipped last night to the Tainui, to be taken back to England. "This is a particularly bad case," said Mr. E. M. Beechey, appearing for the Corporation in respect to a charge against Mary Paton of hosing her garden without a meter. Mr. Beechey / said that defendant had a garden at Maranui and nss.de.free use of the hose this' summer. The noise of the water passing through the hose had annoyed the neighbours at night, so that they had complained.. The amount of water used, said Mr. Beechey, must have been considerable from the hopeful appearance of the garden. Defendant had been guilty of a similar act last year. A! fine of £1, with costs 75., was imposed.^

A journal to be called "The Casey; Court Gazette" will.be published on Monday in the Hutt Valley. The new paper will chronicle the evente in Trentham camp, and is. being edited by. Private G.sßitossi. y The Mayor's room presented tie appearance of the receiving office 'of S Dank yesterday, for every, table in it was .covered with money, notes, gold, silver, and copper, and little round .parcels or coin.. It was some of the money collected by school children ou Guy Fawkes Day, and is to go.to the Belgium Relief Fund- Amounts handed m to the Mayor yesterday included £74 0s ' 6Jd., collected by the scholars of Clyde Quay School; Kilbirnie School, £48 9s. 2d,; and Hosoncath School, £12 3s sd. The headmaster, of'the Terrace School'wrote to eay. that ho would be forwarding a sum of.about £50, and iriany other amounts are yet to come in. The fund will gain by hundreds of pounds by the efforts of the chddren. To all the schools the. Mayor is forwarding a letter of appreciation of the scholars' efforts. Apart from sums coming 'through the schools, a little lad of six years fonyarded £3 Os. 83d., which he had collected by his own efforts at Heretaunga. Another smaU .collector, Noel Veal, seven years, sent in £3 Iβ. Hd and P. Sherwood (six years), and Norman Wane (seven years) contri. buted 7s. ,-'.■■ T The amount collected by the Lower Hutt School children for the relief of Belgian children,' rose yesterday to £29 2s. sd. The ordinary monthly meeting of the council of the Surveyors' Institute was. held yesterday, when the by-laws wore ndin under consideration, to the exelusion of all other important business At the Petone Court yesterday, before Messrs. J. W. M'Ewan and R. Short, JP 's J. Burton and G. Stenson wore charged with assault. The former was connoted and discharged, but the lastnamed was fined £1.

EXCEPTIONAL OPPOKTUNITX-D& MONSTRA.TION DAIMLER &, TAL, BOT FOR SALE. CHEAP.

Within a few days, Messrs. Adams, Ltd., expect to recoivo delivery of a bis shipment of new oars, which will bo exhibited at the November Show nt Christclrarch. In order to find garage rcora for. these it has boon.found necessary to dis-i pose of a couple of demonstration cars. The first of these is a 15-28 h.p., fivo-scator touring Silont Knight -Daimler, of recent model, with stylish torpedo body. The car is in magnificent condition. Its equip-" ment includes five Dunlop detachable wire wheels, C.A.V. electric -tail and side lamps, khaki hood, horn, windsoroen, powerful head-lanipa, and everything ready for tho Toad. It is a beautifully finished ear, runs absolutely silently, and cost Tho prico to-day is fixed at £3hO, to stimulate a quick pale. Tho other car is a two-seater, 12-22 h.p. Tnllwl, olso of quite recent model, and right in tho fashion. Tho Talbot car has a reputation for durability and reliability second to none, and probably holds more prizes won in competition than any other umke in. the world. This particular two-seater is in splendid condition, fully equipped fqr tha wad. Tho pvico is fixed at the extremely low figure of .5230. 'Both these cars are finished in the latest shndo of biscuit, and are absolutely new and clean in a[y pearance. . Call at our garage and see them. They won't bo there lons. Illus. trated photographs on application, Adams, LU-.Hieh Street. Ciristchurch, ;

For eome njonths past the contractor, Mr. A. E. Hurrell, has been pushing on the construction of .the new Boys Institute and S.--A. .Rhodes'a Homo for Boys in Tasman, Streets where the work will be carried on on a much larger scale than in the-present buildings in 'Arthur .Street. The ceremony of laying the-foundation-stone-will-take place on Wednesday, November 18, when His Kxeelloncy tho Governor, Lord Liverpool, has consented to perform tlie ceremony. A strong .committee of ladies, with Mrs. J. HiSlop sis convener, •is making preparations for the afternoon lea, and also for a. band'of fair collectors, the amount collected during the day being intonded for tho special purpose of furnishing the new building.

On Thursday morning Charles Daniels, U. burly Saranan, stepp&d into tho. dock, and when charged .with drunkenness declared ho would never get drunk agaiu. ."Pleased, to hoar it, Daniels," remarked the Magistrate , "You will be fined 10a., or 48' hours.". Yesterday morning Daniels again stepped into the dock, and was again charged with drunkenness: This time Daniels was more eraphatio, and gesticulating with his hands he shouted, "I guarantee I don't get drunk never again no more;" The Magistrate was also , more etnphatio. "Very well, Daniels, you are finedJJOs., or two days.". Although he had broken his resolutions, Daniels was at least grateful; and replied, "Thank you" very audibly as he stopped out of the dock. It is explained on behalf of the Opposition,.. says the Chrietchurch "Press," ,that the deferred 'bonus for. babies, which Sir Joseph Ward has copied from Ezra Parker, "president of the First ■National Bank" of a New Jersey village,, has for its purpose "the encouragement of the birth-rate." Apparently, what has discouraged people from having children is the fact of the 2}d. a week' which .they must put by in order to amass £7 10s. in fourteen years. The scheme is one which naturally appeals to a financier like' Sir Joseph. Ho would borrow the. £140,000 required for the deposits for the'' 28,000 babies born each year.. Hβ,would then, in the. ordinary way, borrow the money back from the Post Office. When the fourteen years expired, .the babies, or such of them as had survived, would claim ■their bonuses. But, as about 20 per cent, would have died, according to the official statistics, there would ho only' 22,400 valid claims, and most of the claimants would have 'forgotten all about it, so that probably three tenpound notes would meet all the actual claims. , And in the, meantime, in the Bacred name of. the birth-rate, . the Government could every year increase its borrowing for roads and bridges, and everything else.'.-(It is ! exactly the kind -of idea to appeal to the Leader Df the Opposition. ' •

The "old-established - business of Messrs.' Feigusson'and Mitchell, Ltd., printers and publishers, Dunedin, has been purchased by .Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. The premises now occupied by. Whitoombe's will be vacated at' an early date, ■ and .almost immediately plans will be prepared for the building of an up-to-date establishment in. keeping /with , their' Christchurch and Wellington houses. ' , On her last trip from New Zealand to England the lonic, which arrived back in Wellington yesterday, had on board twelve officers, twenty chief petty officers,.and ninety other ratings from H.M.S.. Psyche, Philomel, and Pyramus, who'left those ships when they were reoommiissioned in New Zealand. When the lonic arrived in London an Admir 7 alty tender.oame alongside and a number of the men were transferred to the ill-fated H;M,S. Creasy,,which was torpedoed early in.'the war,.in the North Sea. .. ■..-•'■■■ ■-.•■;■-■ .' '.

The Petono LadSes , Social Committee held another.'successful- evening last night at St. Augustine's Hall. • There was a good attendance. Mr. D. leaser acted as ; M.C.jVand Mrs; Fraser sup-, plied the music. . , ' A movement .Is. on foot, among the University students and. ex-students of the four large centres I<o 'organise as many of their .number as. are able to volunteer into/a force to be sent with the second reinforcement to the Expedi; tioriary Force, A i number of students have, already gone to the front, but many who would, willingly have volunteered before have, until now, been 'debarred from,doing.so by the University courses and examinations. It is hoped that a large number willpffer, for men of the calibre of 'Varsity men Bhoiild be welcome in any force; bringing into it as they do'special knowledge of many things, such as electricity, medicine, engineering constructive work, and modern languages. The force will not be distinct in any way from other reinforcements, being sent to the front. The men will be on precisely the name. footing, and will receive .the pay of their respective ranks. •Enrolment lists have been, opened with the Registrar of each university college. The executive of the Hutt electorate No-License League is making a thorough clean-up of ■'■ the roll, as several sam.ee appear therein that Whould not he there. . : ; :. .' ' : ':•.-,