LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2344, 29 December 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A man was arrested by Detective Bailey yesterday oh warrant on a .charge of wife desertion in Gbristohuroh. The body of the man w"ho was found by Constable Thompson on Friday evening last is still unidentified. The inquest will probably bo held in-.* day. or two. . Thanks to the fine weather that characterised the week-end, the tramway receipts for the week ended on Monday night compared favourably with the corresponding period last year. Tho receipts for the week totalled £3/S4 12s. 7d., as compared iwith £3753 9s ; for the corresponding week , last year, an increase of £31' 3s. id. This is regarded as especially satisfactory, as only ordinary fares were charged on Ohristmae Day this year, whereas double fares were charged last year. A Saturday followed Boxing Day last year, as against a._ Sunder this year. Taking these conditions into 'consideration, the latest return must be regarded 86 eminently satisfactory. The Pacific Commercial Gable Company's steamer Restorer has been selected to repair, the damage done at Fanning Island a few weeks ago by the German cruisers. This vessel woe at Seattle a few weeks since, and opportunity wae then taken,, to change her registry to the American. The officers and crew of the Restorer are all Britisn subjects. A cablegram received at 'Auckland from Suva yesterday states that*, l* N Gaudin, of Auckland,, was tried by the military authorities at Apia on bsyeral charges and sentenced to five years imprisonment with hard labour. Mr J R. Sinclair, the New Zealand representative on the Empire Trade Commission, returned to New Zealand bv the Manuka yesterday. He goes south to Dunediu to-night. Interviewed by a Dominion representative on arrival,. Mr. Sinclair gave an account of the sittings of the Commission since it left New Zealand. The Commission met in London on. January 5 towArta report for Australia and New Zealand. When tbat section was completed it ett in the beginning of February for South Africa, Acre it took evidence nv all the loading towns of the Imion. Then reCel to London and drew up tlio report for South Africa. In tlie Winning of July it set out for New Kid and Canada, sitting first m No* Zealand, and then touring the 3d he work of the Commission Sir Sinclair deemed it improper that he should offer any observations on the work of the Commission. Mr. Crow, of Aorangii has (says the board the Wrecked Good Hope. A third brother, an infantry officer, is at present at the front. ' Frederick Brooke, employed .pn.the New Zealand Shipping w*W. e v,V -S katime, berthed at tile Taranakt Street Wharf, was admitted to the Hospital last night suffering . from a fracture of the Lμ of tile skull, and internal injuries. Brooke, Who is iij a serious condition, is stated to. have fallen down the hold of the vessel. A remarkable accident occurred to Mr. Samuel Dennis, contractor, Ndrtlicote . (Victoria), recently. Mr. Dennii undertook to. conduct ah oxperinioiit with a new explosive invented by Mr Duncan, manager of the Commonwealth Match Factory; and he decided to test its power in a quarry. A holo was drilled into tho rock, and Mr. Dennis was tainpiiig a charge of the oxplosive home, using a broom-handle as tlio thhiher (states the Melbourne correspondent oF tlio Sydney "Daily Telegraph"). Apparently 'ho bvordid the tamping operation, for tlio charge exploded, and tlrdve the brooiii-liandlb backwards Uiroiisli Mi , . Dennis's.hand and through tlie fleshy part of his right shoulder, Mr.-Dennis, was also Knocked down.and bruised.. Hβ was tukon to St. vincelit's Hospital iira serious condition. The broom-handle had to bo sawn across between, the back, to the .unfortunate man's hand and his shoulder b6fore it could twt withdrawn,

Approximately 300 German vessele, costing for their upkeep roughly £5000 per week, are lying at the piers in Now York (says the "Shipping Gazette Weekly Summary" of October 23). As far as can be learned, German expenses aro being paid through tho medium of Now York bankers with Berlin affiliations, but no one will hazard a guess as to when the payments will cease. On one little German tramp steamer alorio the weekly wages amount to £50, with a I like sum for food. This class of vessel ili New York is already up for sale, but there are few reasonable bids_ at a time when money is tight, freight scarce, and risks great. Naturally tho two big German companies can ■■•withstand a long siege. Tho extensive offices of th» two shipping concerns oft Lower Broadway, New York, present a

gloomy and deserted appearance, in striking contrast with former scenes of activity and cheerfulness. Empty chairs and closed desks meet the eye on every side, and a quietude, suggestive of rusticity. and somnolence, porvades the atmosphere. From one of the few officials remaining in. the offices of the Norddeutsoher-Lloyd Company, wlio Consented to talk to me, I learned that both the Norddeutscher-Lloyd and the Hamburg-American Lines are prepared to soil offices, fixtures, tugs, piers, ana every available asset in ifhe country so long as they can keep their palatial ships and support their crews until ■Aβ end of the war. This official admitted, however, that tho etruggle would.be a-, hard one, and estimated that if the war continues for a year his company will have paid out in this country for wages, food, tases, etc., eome millions of dollars."

A man named David Leokie vrae removed to the Hospital yesterday suffering from a. fractured leg and a broken nose, caused through falling from a 40foot scaffolding on whioli he was irork-

A successful concert in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund -was held on board the Union Company's steamer Manuka on the ran from Sydney to Wellington, when the sum of £4 6s. waß.collected. Mr. J. R. Sinclair presided, and the following contributed, items: —Misses Mackay, Van Staveren (2), and Ishorwood, Mra. Wright, Messrs. T. Stone, Wilson, 0. Tancred, W. J. S. Eyre, J. Larkin, and J. Weir.

Much resentment has been excited in | a small settlement in the Mangonui district by the manner in which the daily bulletins of war news are being virtually suppressed by the local postmaster, states tho- Auckland "Herald." The office is held by a German fanner, and as is usual in country districts, the postal business is transacted in his residence. Settlers in the neighbourhood state that the official refuses to display the telegraph messages'for general information, and inquiries for news are evaded by irrelevant answers or by statements which have frequently been found inaccurate. Messages reporting the enemy's successes have, however, been promptly dieplayed. An unusual and exceedingjy sad surprise awaited Mrs. L. Sinclair, of Wairarapa, who was visiting her mother-in-law, Mrs. Katherine Sinclair, of Waterloo Road, Lower Hutt. Arriving at tho residence of the latter shortly after noon yesterday, the visitor found tho place locked) and after entering by means of a window, was shocked to discover her mother-in-law dead. The police were at once informed, but as Dr. Minims, who had been attending thedoceased for apoplexy, is prepared to grant a certificate a.s to the cause of death, no inquest will be necessary. Mrs. Sinclair visited Dr. Mirams's sugery on Friday, and was given a prescription for her complaint. It ia thought that in all probability she died on Saturday evening last at about Q o'clock. She was a widoWj aged about fifty years, and resided with a .grandchild two years old. The child was found undressed, as though ready for bed, and had.managed, to exist by some means till i discovered ■ yesterday. It had been shut up in the house with its grandmother for at least two days, but last evening was reported to be in the best of health, Saturday last being fine Mr. W. I. Shanley and his. son went over Mt. Reeves to the Tauherinikau Valley, says our Gfeytown correspondent. He reports that a party of three had preceded him by a couple of hours and made for Mt. Alpha to camp there. The party probably came from Wellington. On Reeves he found a card signed by W. S. and J. Y. Radcliffe, who left Tβ Horo on October 24, and crossed tie ranges on the 25th and 26th, reaching Woodside on the latter date. As heavy Bnow' must have been on the mountains at that time the secretary of the Mt. Hector Tourists Train Committee would be anxious to get a report from them of tlie trip. The Groytown committee are getting men "to clear the track to Tauherinikau, and make a horse track from there to Mt. Hector, if funds permit. Also a hut will be built at Mt. Alpha. Memories of the early gold-hunting days on the Wbst Coast of the South Island are to bo revived in Wellington, on Anniversary Day. The West Coasters' Association have been invited by the Early Settlers' Association to cooperate with them in celebrating Wellington's birthday, and at a special meeting of the West Coasters last evening it was decided to accept the invitation. The Coasters will commandeer a couple of drays for tiiiiir part iii the procession, and these will convey miners (typically dressed) and auriferous soil to Newtowil Park. At the park tho miners will produce an old cradle and sift the gold from the dirt. The public who keep their eye'on the miners will get ail excellent idea of how the pioneer diggers carried on business in the morniiig of New Zealand's history.