LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2353, 8 January 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The three scouts placed by the AYairarapa Automobile Association on the Rimutaka Hill on New Year's Day report that 37 cars,. 8 motor-cycles,' and \ motor lorries passed over from Wellington during the day.

Tho first meeting of the City Council for tho New Year has been fixed to be held on Monday, January 25. This meeting was scheduled to be held on Thursday, January 21, but as there is a holiday noxt day (Anniversary Day) and somo of the councillors might wish to bo free for the week-end, it has been decided to postpone the meeting nntil tho following Monday.

Tho establishment by the Railway Department of a ticket and booking office in the oentre of the city (Bang's Chambers) proved a' great "boon to travellers during the holiday season as tho figures show. During the four weeks ended January 2 over £4700 waa taken over the counter, an average of nearly £1200 a week. In addition to the bureau being a great convenience to tho public, the tioket offices at the railway stations have been relieved of tho congestion that occurs at times during tho festive soason, and at the same , time travellers are given facilities for. acquiring all information about trips at their leisure. A visitor recently commented upon the shortness of the time over tvnich a monthly £6 or £10 tourist tiokot is available over the railways. The answer to that oomplaint is that these tourist tickets are used fairly extensively by the commercial community, and to extend the time over the month would mean a differenco in the revenue for the year? Here are those ivho think it would be an advantage for the bureau to open at 9 a.m. instead of at 10 a.m. ae at present.

Rabbits are reported to be increasing rapidly in some partfl of the Wairarapa, as a result of the continued, dry -weather.

With his boots in his pookets, roaming about without apparent lawful excuse, a man was observed on the roof of the Direct Emporium Company's shop at 37 Willis Street at one o'clock yesterday morning. It was Sergeant Cassidy and Constable Parkinson who saiv the prowler, and they stood by in hiding for some little time until tho man came down to the street again, when they pounced on him. The officers found that the man was the same known as Oscar Strangeby, alias Mioldeson, alias Stanley. They also found that at- 7 tempts had been made to break into the Direct Emporium Company's premises, the shops of R. Smith and Company, booksellers, and of - Hyman and Company. JThe man Strangeby. was brought before the Magistrate in the Police Court yesterday morning on a .charge of attempting to. break and enter the Direct Emporium jeweller's shop, Willis Street, by night. On the application of Inspector Hendrey he was remanded to January 13.

The construction of the extension of the tramways system from the top of Constable Street to Kilbirnie South is to be made an urgent work during the first half of the current year. An amount to cover the cost of the extension was included in the schedule to the proposed, loan of. last year, but on acoount of the outbreak of war all money-raising propositions were knocked on the head, and with this went the municipal loan proposals. Now, however, the work is considered of sufficient urgency, : owing to the . congestion on the Mount Victoria tunnel section, that it is. to be constructed on overdraft. The line should be ready for use in time for the traffic of early spring. Mr. J.'Latigridge, curator of the Wellington 2(oo, returned from Auckland yesterday 1 in oharge of a healthy young Hon, which has been loaned the City Council by Mr. J. J. Boyd, proprietor of the Onehunga Zoo. The latest arrival has been accommodated in semidetached quarters in one of the existing lions' dens at the' Zoo, where it has already been viewed by many admirers of the king of beasts.' The lion was brought down by rail in a strong wooden cage, and- though he gave no trouble the.beast was restless enough throughout thy night to keep his caretaker wide awake.

The following visitors to Wellington, were recent callers at the Tourist Department's bureau;—W. P. Cottrell, Los Angelos, Cal.-; R. L. Austin, Surrey Hills, Melbourne; E. J. Ililey, St. Hilda, Melbourne; Clarence Weber, Melbourne; L. A. .Bacon, London; L. M. Sharp, Victoria, 8.C.; H. A. Sharp, Victoria, 8.C.; Fourness Barrington, Sydney, N.S.W.; Ed.- B. Brown, Melbourne; W. M. Maclardy, Sydney.

Mr. Philips-Turner, of the Crown Lands Department, is at present in Greytowu, says our correspondent, and is going up to inspect the bush on the Totara Flat up the Waiohine Gorge.

Messrs. Murray, Roberts and Co., Ltd., shipped to Chile this week a consignment of - Romney rams from the flock, of Mr. J. 0. Bidwill, of the Lower Valley, and Mr. Ernest Short, of Feilding. .

A Salvation Army officer reporting to Berlin headquarters from Tilsit states that "this was the most flourishing city in the eastern part of the country, but now there are only about 8000 or -10,000 inhabitants left. -The well-to-do people have fled. The work of businesses and factories has stopped, and the men are marching off." The German "War •Cry" states that despite the great lack of funds at tho Salvation Army's Berlin headquarters, £250 has been set aside for the people of the affected area. Tho money will bo especially for the poorest. "Our officers who have the opportunity of moving amongst them, and who oan best find out needs, will with great devotion undertake the work of relief."

By permission of tho Mayor tho Salvation Army on Saturday will take up a street collection on behalf of the relief and emergency fund which the authorities at national headquarters, Courtonay Place, have.organised for the relief of the Belgian refugees and the distress caused by the war. Every Salvation Army Corps in New Zealand is actively talcing up the cause of tho fund, and each officer and soldior is contributing to it. The Wellington divisional headquarters _ have contributed £101), Auckland divisional headquarters £100, William Booth Training College £60, Stratford Corps £21, and Wellington City Corps £48.

A sufficient number of uicn ha? been obtained to completo the Otaeo quota of the infantry for the Third and Foui tli Reinforcements, says a Press Aswciation telegram fiom Dunodin, but names are being taken, and medical o>animations conducted, for lecrmts for nto Fiftli Meinforeeaionts, which will go into chnip about tiio nnrtdle of J'ol.ruary. Tho Fifth fteiiifireeinont.s if ill be boufinod to mounted rifles and infantry..

A civic reception is to bo recorded to the Right Hon. Andrew Kislier, Inderal Prime. Minister, at the City Council Chamber at " 30 o'clock this evening. ■. After this gathering Mr. fisher is to bo entertained at a social to lift tendered to kirn by tho Labour Tarty in tlie Concert Chamber.

A special meeting of i.bo Mount Hector Tourist Track Committee was hold yesterday 'morning faays ou Greytown correspondent) ,■ when extra men wcro put on the Hector track, so as to expedite the work there. Notice of motion was given that the committee be formed Into a registered body, to zs to attain

■ ■ i • i 1 : — I ' J Competition in. tie retail eroceryi business in Auckland iB described byj i a wholesale merchant as being excess sively been. He declares that among! " ; the shops in that city there are be-' tween a dozen and a score which ard nofc_ securing an adequate return on' j their enterprise, and as a result wholes sale merchants have had a much larger percentage of bad debts during the past year than in previous years. He has no hesitation in saying that these* / men are not making working expenses J

A shipment of 526,000 bulbs—daffo«j dils, tulips, anemones, hyacinths, ,nar-j cissus, iris, and ranunculus—readhedf new York just in time to avoid tha ! war-time ■disturbances that unsettled) the .freight schedules, and have reach-' ed the. San Francisco Exposition/ grounds in safety. These varieties nave already been put (through their) paces in the test beds which have been.' maintained throughout, 1914 in the' South Gardens at the Panama-Pacific* International Exposition ait San Fran- 1 «*°- Tilcso formal French gardens. 1 will bo a golden glory, as befits the* (joiden when tliG Exposition opens on February 20, for no other oolour. will be used in these . beds where a low growing Eort will form a! groundwork for another variety to flower above it, as, for instance, .tulips blooming abovea carpet of calceolaria. Before the yellow tarnishes there will be a change made—over night—of scarlet flowers which have been brought to bloom in, ithe hothouses, the change being offected by assembling all workmen employed in the twenty-four gardens for the night change, of which no trace will remain in the morning except that crimson will rule where yel-' low was before. 'Three geagonall changes are contemplated in the plans! of -Mr, Donald MaoLaren, .acting chief*, of the Department of Landscape. EnJ gineering, who is in charge of the ExJ position work. ( | Nominations by industrial -unions ofj employers for the position of employers*! representative on -the Arbitration Court! close with the Secretary of Labourj Wellington, on January 27.

WITH© gathering driftwood during theT holidays on the Northern beach atPort' Molyneux, Mr. E. J. Boyd, of Balclutha,j picked up a few lumps of whitish Bubs.tance with a faint aroma, which is gen-' erally considered to be ambergris. jSig' find-aggregated about 16oz. Ambergrisj has been; previously picked up on the: Catlins beaches, but never before at-' Port Molyneux. The rabbit industry is evidently & payable one in South Australia. A Rabbit Preserving Company at Mount Gam-!' bier reports that there is such a d&' mand for tinned rabbits that the factor} output, whitfh is 6000 rabbits daily could be profitably doubled if tb"e rabbiti were available. The difficulty is in getting supplies in the hot' summer, weather. For some time there was a pre- 1 ' judice against tinned rabbits, but it' seems to have passed away, and the company finds no difficulty in disposing? of every tin-prepared; indeed, the ord- ; ers are much in excess of supplies.

Sons of four ex-Presidents of France* are now fighting. The Marquis MaoMahon, who was promoted to be a gen-: eral recently, is one, and he has also a; brother, who is a commandant at thaj •war. M. Sadi Carnot is in a fort neafj Paris. M. Claude Casimir-Perieris ait infantry officer, and was wounded wW cently, and M. Paul Loubet is an officer;! at'Yerdun. \

The story •is told of a well-knowHi Warepa angler who made a sensational' catch on the Waiwera (OliftonV leaving his companion, he was ratner anxious to have the honour of securing the' catch of the day and the largest fish,: Near Clifton Homestead. the banks afi the stream are well covered with flax.', He cast well down stream, and his ex-! flotations ran high when nearly all his! line ran out. : He began to realise that : something exceptionally good waß in' storelor him, but when he'got on clear ground he found that he had hooked a, crossbred sheep. Travelling down the side of the stream, and doing the 100 yards in something over lOsec., he to save his. rod and line, minus the cast.

Arrangements'have, been made by tha. Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association for .40 carcasses of Auckland' lamb and 35 carcasses of mutton toibej sent to Wellington and shipped to San[ Franisco, there Jo form part of the Newi Zealand court at the Panama Pacific International Exposition, opening on February 20. The carcasses, which are the pick of the entries in the fat sheep classes at the spring show, range from, , 671b. to 1021b. for both ewes and wethers, and 341b. to 421b. for. the lambs. They are graded into eight different grades, with the object of striking the requirements of the 'Amorican market. The carcasses hare been handled isith special care, and, .in the opinion of the president of the association, Mr. S. W. Luxford, it would be impossible to get a finer exhibit of the province's prime meats.

What appears to have been e most' dastardly action was perpetrated on the locally-trained trotter Utopia, says the Westport "Times." The horse was to have token part in the recent races, and shortly.after 8 o'clock was inspected by the owner and trainer, F. Higgine, and seemed to be as fit as training could make it. About 11 o'clock when Mr. Higgins went to get the horse, he found that' it had been badly injured at. the knee, which was cut and swollen, evidently the deed of some_ miscreant. Tha: engagement at the Trotting Club's meeting had to be cancelled. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police for investigation.

No person is allowed to retain a seat' on a publio body if he has been sent- ■ enced to imprisonment for any misdemeanour. F. E. N. Gaudin, who has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for a military' offence, therefore automatically ceases to occupy his position .as a member of the Auckland City Council, says the "Herald." • It is provided by law that when an extraordinary vacancy occurs on a local body notice must be given to the returning officer by the town clerk. An interesting Doint has arisen as to whether Mr. Gaudin's enforced retirement lias created an extraordinary vacancy on the coun- ; cil. . Eighteen members constitute the legal number of members of the council, but nrpvision is made all the members of a body whose district Tins -joined the citv may sit as members of the City Council until the next ensuing election. As Grey Lynn joined the citv Inst year the City Council consists of 25 membors. and-legal opinion is, therefore, to bo token as to whether an extraordinary vacancy exists, aespitr Mr. Gaudin's retirement.