LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2318, 27 November 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

His Excbllqncy the Governor paid a visit to the camp of the Expeditionary Force at Trentham' on Wednesday and expressed himself as being very pleased with what he saw.

The new parcel post regulations which provide for the sending by post of parcels or packages lip to 281b. ni weight aro published in the Gazette. In the event of any loss or damage being sustained transit compensation shall not exceed £2 for any uninsured parcel.

The water main at' Wellington Terrace, opposite Mee's Steps, is to be relaid in steel pipes, as a precaution against breakage. This was decided by the City CounciHast night. The main has burst on several recent occasions and caused serious inconvenience to occupiers of premises in the vicinity.

Tho Prime Minister stated at Lower Hutt last evening that to-day 5000 sacks of wheat would be placed aboard a New Zealand-bound steamer at. Sydney, and would be here very shortly.

The Valuation Commission resumed its sitting in Wellington yesterday morning, but did not heaT any evidencb. The Commission will sit at Otahuhu on Tuesday next, and probably in Auckland oh Wednesday. It will'then proceed to Masterton, and its subsequent appointments are not fixed. It is expected that the.Commission will sit in Wellington again. •

The good rain-fell.again last evening in spft, sweeping showers that filled tho heart of the horticulturist with gladness. The spring in Wellington has been the driest on record for many years. Save for the rain which fell on Sunday'laßt, and that of last night, there has been none to speak of during Novembor, and the city and suburban gardens and lawns were beginning to show evidences of a_ dry time. If the feed is to last out in the country districts a good deal more rain will be wanted this side of Christmas.

. Three boys, aged respectively 18, 9, and 13 years, were charged in the Juvenile Court yesterday morning with throwing stones at a carriage of a railway train hear Kaiwarra, and breaking a window in one of- the carriages. The two elder lads "were each ordered to Tcceive six strokes of the birch, and the -younger lad admonished and discharged. Another boy, aged 11, was charged with stealing a Post Office savings bank and contents, valued at 7s. 9d., from Kate Unchurch. He was admonished and discharged. A Hawke's Bay settler, who desires anonymity, has (says a Press Association telegram from Napier) donated £1000 to the British' relief fund. The Hospital Board held a special mooting yesterday to consider applications for,the post of medical superintendent, vacated' by the resignation of Dr. Hardwick Smith By a process of elimination, tho twenty-ono applications were reduced to six. The six candidates' left in will be interviewed by representatives of tho board before the appointment is made.

■Women, folk are not particularly welcome at Samoa' just at present.,"' According to instructions'issued by tho Union. S.S. Co-npany to its branch managers, wives or other female relatives of residents of Samoa must, if they wish to visit Samoa, first apply direct to Oolonol Logan, and his reply Riving consent must be produced before tickets are issued.' Lady missionaries or wives of missionaries'have also to apply, to.Colonel Logan through their respective organisations, and present the' reply when taking out a passage. In tlie case of other female applicants for passages from New Zealand, th'ey must obtain permits from the officer commanding tho military district iii which "tho application is made.

At a meeting of the Mount Hector Tourists' Track Committee a letter was read from the Under-Secretary of Public AYorks (Mr. H. J.H. Blow), stating that £100 was at tho disposal of the committee for the formation" of the track, and from the Tourist Department,, stating that £50 had been allocated for the erection of a hut on tho track. A committeo 'was, sot up to deal with tho question of finance and other matters appertaining to the carrying out of the works. It was % decided to erect a hut 18ft. by 20ft. i with ,7ft. studs.

Messrs. C. It. C. Robieson, H. F. J. Tewslev, and .A.. J. White havo been elected' members of tho Ohakrnio Fire Board.

AVo understand Hint Messrs. T. Armstrong and Co., Ltd., of Christchurch, have purc'hnsed the wholo cf the salvago stock of Messrs. Wacky Logan, of Napier. The lot, amounting to nearly JI3OOO, ii being ehiiipsd to .Christchurch,—Adyt..

Our Palmerston correspondent re-i ports that the Minister of Internal Af- ; fair's has informed the Kairanga County Council that last session's Motor Traffic Rgulation Bill will be reintroduced next; session, but in, the meanwhile regular 1 ' tions will be made. The Christchurch Amateur Operatic > Society is dissolved by notice in tho 1 Gazetto'. There appears in this week's Gazette 1 ! a list of enemy vessels which hava either been captured at sea or held inj port as far as was known on August i 2s, -which somewhat remote date discounts the value of the list to some ex- : tent. There is also, a notice intiinat- 1 nig the number of German • vessels which had been detained at Antwerp on the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and Belgium, and notifying in-; terested British parties to make good; their claims before the Tribunal of tho; First Instance to whom the Commission; (constituted to prepare inventories of' cargo) was to report. This contained' the names of thirty-four vessels. As! Germany since taken Antwerp the! vessels will nave reverted to their orig-i inal owners if not otherwise disposed of! tho Belgian authorities before. Ant- 1 ' werp yielded to the enemy.

A further batch of- reinforcements •■ left Dunedin for Trentham yesterday, morning (says a Press Association telegram). These included several 'Varsity men, who were enthusiastically farowclled by a strong force of fellow sjtadenti. \ The agreement between tho Post and; Telegraph Department and the City! .Council, with respect to the carriage; of mails on cars, expires on December. 31. It is to be extended for a-period of twelve months from January 1, 1915, subject to termination by one month's notice on either side, in the event of a more comprehensive service being adopted, or desirable alterations being' made.

A meeting was held in the Newtown Free Public Library last evening in.' connection with a proposal to form a committee in Wellington South to thor-! oughly canvass the district on behalf .of: the Belgian Christmas. Gift Fund. The.' idea was' that every house in every,; street should bo visited, and the occu-j pants asked to contribute the sum of.j a. shilling. Mr. H. George, who occu-' pied thd chair at the meeting, said that | surely we in New Zealand, who sit snug i and secure when, our soldiers and our 1 allies aro suffering awful hardships,) should be able to contribute a shilling , to provide some measure of comfort to ! .some of those brave people who haoV stood for liberty before the whole world.. Tho attendance at the meeting / was' small, but thoso present were willing i to lend all assistance. On account of! the meagre attendance it was decided: that tho meeting be adjourned, and 'that; a special ladies' meeting be called for: next Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock in tho Library, and a general meeting of' tho residents of Wellington South be Jieid in the same place on the Wednes-; day evening, same to be notified through i the Pross and pulpit (with, the consenti of the officiating ministers of the; churches in the district). The following letter has boon received by Mr. E. M. Be&hey, seoretary of the ■. Wellington City Corporation Staff War; Eelief Fund, from Mr. C. J. Johnston, Vice-Consul for Belgium :—"Sir,—l am ! requested by the Consul to acknow-l ledge your letter of the 24th instant,! and to say how very grateful the Bel? \ gian Government is for the very hand- j some cheque for £334 ss. 2d. which j the staff of the Wellington City Corpor- j ation has given in aid of distressed Bel-( gians. History will accord to heroio' Belgium imperishable fame for that re-' sjstance which alone could give the; time necessary to enable the Allies to adequately meet the foe, and I feel sure from the generous gift which I so glad- : ly acknowledge, the staff of the City Council had in their minds full appreciation of this fact as well as a great pity for the awful consequences to the Belgian people. Will you please convey to each and all the thanks of the Government and the people?" After a successful season, Messrs.George Stephenson and A. Linley's pan- • tcmime company brought their Wellington season to a close last evening. The company will leave here for the south' by' the Wahine this evening. A notice in this week's Gazette (copied from the London Gazette) contains a complete, list of all the goods . the export of which from the United Kingdom has been prohibited. The list, includes arms, military 6tores, and ac- . coutrements of all kinds, drugs of nearly every kind, hempen cloth, cotton ' waste, coal 6acks, silk cloth, silk braid, silk thread (suitable for cartridges), ; forage for all kinds of animals,, wheat • and flour, barley, oats, live animals, butter, margarine, cheese, eggs 4 jams and marmalade, condensed milk, 6Ugar (refined and unrefined), ''molasses, chrome, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, tungsten, wolfram, all ores, benzol, all oils, turpentine, hides of all kinds, pigskins, leather (dressed or undressed), and Taw sheep and lambs' wool. 'A notice in this week's Gazette places a prohibition on postal correspondence and money orders for Post van der Burg . and Co., of Willemsplein, 11, 12, and 13 Rotterdam, Holland. Alterations to by-laws were passed j by the City Council last night dealing j with motor traffic in narrow streets,! displaying goods on footpaths, and the l 6ale of fish. Oriental Bay was again, a subject on l tho order-paper of the City Council' meeting .last night. . Councillor W. H.jP. Barber's rescinding motion, which! had previously lapsed (while under die-' oussion) owing to want of a quorum, was reintroduced, but waß not reached. Early in the evening, however, a deputation of citizens waited on the coun-, "oil to urge that the city engineer's! scheme for improving the bay -be pro- j ceeded with. The speakers, Messrs. C. M. Luke, 'A. Leigh Hunt, and Waterhouse, all emphasised the u ec es ji sity of preserving this last stretch of | beach available to the citizens. Ibe Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), in reply to j the deputation, said that any delay in. carrying out improvements at Oriental Bay was on account of tho financial j aspect, liter giving credit that night; to the- general fund account for tho,. profits from all the trading concerns of tho City there remained an overdraft! of £3'4,000. Tho council was fully alive to 'tho importance of the wholo matter, and would give it every consideration, but the work could not bo, proceeded with until the financial position improved. '