LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2360, 16 January 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities advise that tho s.s. liivcrina, which sailed from Sydney 011 Thursday for Auckland, is bringing Australian mails only. The Wellington portion,is duo per Main Trunk .express on Tuosday morning next. The Hospital and Charitablo / 'Aid Board notify that on account of tho largo number of inmates at the General Hospital, Newtown, only urgent cases will he dealt with. Mr. H. F. Allen has received a letter from llr. Herbert Gabv, who was a resident of Wellington for fifty-ono .years aiid now resides at Teigumouth, Devonshire, England. Mr. Gaby states that he has been in the doctor's hands owing to blood pressure on the brain and was hoping to ,pull through though lie was now 81 years of age. "This war is a terrible affair," writes Mr. Gaby, "It seoms as if hell waß let loose.'The losses to the Germans are tremendous. I hope it will soon be over. The Kaiser is mad, and has no pity or mercy in him, destroying old and beautiful places, and murdering old and young, women as well as children." Mr! Gaby ivn's at one time secretary of the Hospital Board, and at another time was a member of the board. For many years ho was closely associated with St. Mark's Church. ' A shortage of slaughtermen is being experienced at the Waingowa Freezing Works, says our Masterton correspondent. The. dry weather has caused a rush of stock to the works, and a greater number of butchers are required.

The ferry service to Day's Bay and Eastbourne has returned handsome profits to the Eastbourne .Borough over snico tho purollaso was mado. In a report presented to the Eastbourne Borough Council last night it was stated il -n > lm P roy cd revenue had enabled jiSin rr,v Boar transfer tho sum of £600 to the district fund account, under tho arrangement mado for such transfers. This profit has' all been earned this summer, in spite of the bad season, and the profit is reckoned only after full allowance is mado for interest and sinking fund charges. _ Tho institution of a regular late servico from the city has also been a profitable venture to the borough, as well as a boon to residents. In their report to the council last night tho board presented a return of receipts anil expenditure for these committeo trips, which showed a highly satisfactory result. Tho Mayor remarked that it showed also that a regular night servico was a payable venture, as he had always contended that it would be. The board has under consideration a proposal to have tile sooting accommodation on both steamers increased, and ako to have other improvements made for the comfort of passengers.

t Wlien the R.M.S. Maitai called at Tahiti on her passage from San Francisco, the port authorities were taking steps to have the sunken gunboat Zalee removed from tile channel in the liarbotlr, Owing to the closo proximity of tho vessel to the wharf, it has beeii found dangerous to blow the vessel up. It lias, therefore, been decided to pass heavy chains round her and t-ow her on to the opposite side of the harbour clear of traffic. The services of « la'rco steamer due at Tahiti are to bo requisitioned to carry out the work. The German steamer Walkure, which \yi> sunk by the shells from the German cruisers, still lies practically submerged So far no attempt has been made to salvo the vessel.

Quite an unusual increase in pupils "ttfudmg schools in the Wanganui Education District occurred last quarter, being oUO over those in attendance during any other quarter of last year.

Mr. f. L. Sedgwick, who. takes such tin interest .111 tho immigration of boys, mid who recently sent a numbor to csew /caland, is at present .in Sydney. \\ ntmg to a friend in Nov Zealand, he says ilicro arc thousands upon thou? sands of young people who want to conic to the South Pacific. Ho considers that the war has brought tho coloured peril in 20 years nearer, and the best safeguard, is to adopt a vigorous policy of white immigration. Mr. Sedgwick expects to pay aiWther visit, to Now Zealand shoi'tly if ciiCuiiietattces .Remit.

t Ihe progress of the Borough of Eae&i bourno is shown by the fact that iuj the .year just closed there were twenty*! nine building permits issued by thfl' Borough Council, for buildings of an estimated value of £5264 10s. Tho real value would 110 doubt be considerably higher in almost every case than that' set forth in the application for the permit. At tho meeting of tho council last night the Mayor expressed tha opinion that this record was a highly, creditable one for a small borough like jWastbourno, for it should be remembered that the district of Day's Bay, where! a considerable amount of building had; been going ou was not taken into ae-i count m tho borough figures, the settled went being outside tho borough limits, i I M >> Heivitt, S.M., delivered a little!, lionnly on the cost of living at Kumar® Y°P°rt3 tho Greymoutli "Star"). Tha defendant 111 a judgment summons easS said it took all ho earned—something over £4 per week—to keep himself ani> family. Ihe Magistrate said the troubled mas' not so much tlio cost of living asi the standard of living. He knew therof were hundreds of men with families who! got 110 more than £2 10s. per weekJ and who lived decently and paid 20s, 1 111 the £. The trouble in New Zealand - was the high standard of living—not the high cost. Here we had not yet felt the pmch of distress, but he watf afraid the time was not far olf when we would, and tile people would have to live within their means. If a person could not afford butter, they should eat dry bread; if he could not afford meat; lio should go without it or not get tha best joints. Tho Magistrate also stated/ that too many such cases were comiug; before him. If a man honestly intended, to pay 110 would endeavour to do so. Htf had never known anyone ; who Teally, wanted to do a thing, and who put ail his energy into trying to do it, to fail.

A little girl who was knocked downfc by a motor-car at Lyall. Bay on Thurs-i dav afternoon had a lucky escape fronV serious injury. With two companions' she ivas funning across the road to the! esplanade by the bathing pavilion b-S 1 the car was approaching along the par. 1 ade from the east. The driver of thqj car, a lady, made a sweep to clear t-hj children, when the little girl in quesi tion, Winnie Campbell, eleven years ofi age, stopped and started to run back? 111 the direction she had come. A col* lision followed, although the car which' had been slowing down, is 6tated td'i have been pulled up in its own length J Hie child was caught between the front axle and the steering gear and escaped; with bruises and gravel rash on her. hands and knees. She was taken in? the motor-car to the Davis Street Hoe j , pital, where she was attended to by. Dr. Pattie, afterwards going home witfr her aunt ; Mrs. J. M. Ferguson, oS Caroline Street. A heavy downpour of rain occurred nil early hour of Friday morning, sayrf our. Alasterton correspondent. This J rollo\\ ing oil the rain of Saturday and Sunday last, has relieved the anxiety or a considerable number of farmers; the ram does not appear, however, tof-j have reached the sottlers of the Easfr . Coast, and the position there is vert serious. Largo drafts of stock are be«' mg removed to other districts. *' A constable's capture in Courtenajjl Place at an early hour yesterday.morn-j ing was one of a particularly unusual' Kind, and there was no elements of J' criminal intent in connection with iljo case. The law-invested person. ivlio6fl lot in general has been described by| the songster as not altogether n happy;' one, was pacing steadily along his beat' when a fluttering sound in tho roadway" disturbed him to tho point of investiga*'' tion.' With a sense of duty to be done,', he set out for the spot of and found—a panting young sea-bird/ To this he was applying the of first aid when tho next "beat" canw£ along, ' and also two late homegoersi"" An ornithological discussion ensued, iiv; which the strange visitor to the Cityji was variously described as a puffin, sea-*,. 1 martin, albatross, r/iollyhawk; and other; Undeserved names, till tho constable hs charge closed the argument by saying ■' that he was going to take the .unde-l fined wayfarer in the "booby-hatch" fof the timo being, and subsequently, lika; many imprisoned gulls, ft would enter, upon a slug-seeking life ill his vegetable'garden. . ■ i

According to a return of inmates fiuv'i nished to tho Hospital Board on Decemi' bcr 22, there were then in the various' hospital institutions 283 patients, com*! pared with 294 at that tima in tho pr&4' vius year. Of these 159 were inmates of the General Hospital, a number that( means'congestive conditions. Actually it means that the Hospital is full t<i!. capacity, but that must not be as an indication that sickness is morel, prevalent _ than usual, as the Hospital' lias been just as full on other occasions,.' but it means that the enlargement of; the General Hospital, talked about foP, years past, is becoming increasingly), urgent, and will shortly be discussed as; such by the board. Whilst the General.. Hospital is crowded it is satisfying toi, note that there is ample room in thai Children's Hospital, ana the Fever Hos* pital (incorrectly termed ,tlie Infectious; Diseases Hospital) only had nina; patients on December 22. The latest rejj turn of inmates for the various institui; tions is as follows: —Victoria Home, 10! males, 19 females; Seddon Hospital, 9j males, 10 females; Fever Hospital, 9, males, 7 females; measles, 3 males:' Children's Hospital, 25 males, 2© females; General, 29 males, 78 females* Total, 283.

Reference was made in Wellington atf, Monday's meeting of the Patriotic Fund) Committee by the Mayor of Christy church (Mr. H. Holland) that when thi troops left tho camp held in Christy church, and also when the first sectiort of the Expeditionary Fofce left Treiw) thani, that a good deal of discarded clothing was left on the 'ground, show-j, 1 ing, according to Mr. Holland, thai} there had been a good deal of overlaps ■ ping in connection with tho supply of garments. Mrs. Luke, who had a greajj deal to do with the distribution of couU forts and clothing to the troops, sayi thftt the fact that clothing was found on the ground did not prove altogether that there had been overlapping, as' thq men themselves brought lots of clothing| which thoy finally found tliey could not carry away witli them, and doubtless much of the garments found after tha men broke camp were goods bought bjj the men to supplement their whilst jh camp. A sharp earthquake shock was oxj perienced at Mastcrton about throe o'clock on Thursday morning. : "Old Wellingtonum" writes to cor* rect nn inaccuracy in the history of tha brigantino Enterprise as recorded irf Thursday's issue. The brigantine, it iq' 6tated, was brought over from Sydney l , in 1871 by Captain John Sedcole, who* with his partner, Captain 'Mowlenij 6ailed her until his death. * |

I:"V ■ - - The following are the successful tenders for various Public Service stores: — One thousand table telephones, B. L. Donna, Wellington, £2453; five tons houseline, E. W. Mills and Co., Ltd., Wellington, £380; 500 copying books, manufactured in tho Dominion, tho Government .Printer, Wellington, £200; 1000 memo, books, manufactured in tho Dominion, Collins Bros, and Co., Auckland, £40 j 150 books, with index, manufactured 111 the Dominion, Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, £30; 1000 memo.-books, quarto, manufactured in the Dominion, Whitcoinbe and Tombs, Christchuroh, £35; 3000 bolts for leading in wires, F.' W. Markmann, Wellington, £2 7s. per owt.; 8000 reams, of , manifold paper, A. Cowan and Sons, Ltd., Wellington, £225; 50 miles of wire, P. R. Baillie and Co., Wellington, £582; 7000 dry cells for telephones, P. R. Baillio and Co., Wellington, £271. On, account of the dearth this year of public functions in connection with swimming, natatorial folk are looking forward, with more than usual interest to the annual regatta of the Worser Bay Swimming Club, to bo held on January : .22 (Anniversary Day). Arrangements are well in hand, and everything promises well for a most successful carnival. A donation to the .Belgian Relief Fund was received at cur office yesterday from tho Assyrian Benevolent Society. The amount, £30, was subscribed at a meeting of the society held this .week. A most despicable act was committed in Okaiawa. last week (writes , tho \ Hawer'a. "Star" correspondent). The tables for the wedding breakfast in con- / flection with a wedding were laid in the evening prior to the event. The feelings of those concerned may bo better imagined than described when it was discovered next morning that tho hall had been entered during the night and the tables so disarranged and messed np that they had to be cleared and reset. In addition to this tho top tierof the wedding cake was removed, and this article, whicli upon such an occasion in the cynosure of v all eyes, was, as far as appearances were concerned, quite spoiled. The correspondent adds - that the act savoured more of a petty spite than anything else. , The Waipa collieries have now a daily output of about 400 tons of coal. ' Tins will shortly be increased by another 150 tons per.cky when development works, now - ill progress, are completed, by - opening np new faces from which to -break, out coal. For tho last threo or four months a dip has. been'driven at the heading' in order to enable other faces to be opened np. About half the output is going to Auckland, tho balance' being sent down the line as far as Wellington. The £1 note issued by the Lords Com- - missioners of H.M, Treasury, auctioned at the November wool sales in Wel- ; lin'gton realised £30 10s. Writing to a friend in New Plymouth, ■ a gentleman .living in the Northern Territory says"ln the thrco years I have been up here, Darwin has been considerably. improved, One entirely new suburb has been built, and the' advent of tho freezing works means that yet another 0110 is commencing. The gratifying thing about the works is that' this is being done entirely with privaa

capital. Tho firm jvliich is 1 putting them up has taken up huge tracts of country, and its managing- director has entered into commitments in connection with the lands and tho works which will not leave him very much change out of a million. Indeed, ho himself volun-. teered the statement that if his firm could get the country wanted it was prepared to spend that amount. Min-, ing, of coursc, has been pulled up with a jerk b.y the war. .Still, the Maranboy tinficld is said by somo to promise another Broken Hill. At all _evonts, the'Stato is .putting up a battery,' which it hopes to bring into operation during 'the next dry' season, aiid we shall soon know then whether tho field is going to be the big thing we hope it will. ■ The progress of small settlement hero has been disappointing, largely, I think, because we have the wrong class of people. When settlers who are 'breaking in' 'the country find • it necessary to send beer and wine in case lots to their bush settlements you can understand- that they find themselves hard up for necessaries. However," I think it is usual in a new settlement to have to do a lot of weeding before you get down to good men. and have no doubt it will be just> the same here." The fishing for kingfish in the vicinity of Rnssell has been 6omewhat disappointing this year, according to several sportsmen (savs-the Auckland "Herald"). An. angler, who lias iust returned to Auckland from Russell, stated that although he spent a month fishing he had experienced practically 110 good sport until liis -last day's outing, when lie secured three small kingfish. Slioals of kahuwai infested t ehw'aters round Russell during tlie greater part of the stay.' Another angler who had been further up the coast-,' past Mangonui, said that the kingfish in that. locality were exceptionally plentiful, but were considerably smaller than usual, and whereas last year his party's catch averaged 451b., this year the average had fallen to betwfcen 221b. and 25Jb. No doubt these fish would move down to -Russell shortly, and would be followed by the larger ones.later. • The sitting of the Valuation of Land Commission next Tuesday will be the last opportunity for interested parties to tender evidence. The Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) Btated yesterday that lie was. endeavouring ,to make some arrangements to provide'a "rest" room in somo central part of the city for the use of members of the Reinforcements in camp at Trcntham .when visiting the city on leave. It was really necessary that the men should have sojne central place where they can meet and yarn instead of eternally tramping the streets and worse. Some place should be provided where, a trooper could drop in and. write a' letter, and which the publio could keep supplied with magazines, papers, and even novels. The.Mayor would not bo averse to receive_ an offer of .the use of any centrally-situated room for tho very lahdable purpose mentioned. About a week ago the "Otago Daily Times" made an appeal to tho public to provide by the end of January £1000 for a motor ambulance to be sent to the war." Subscriptions received up to yesterday total £1122. The response has been so gratifying, and several promises to assist having been received, that it has been decided to make an appeal for an additional £1000 for a similar purpose.—Press Association. According to Mr. J. L. Lennard, indent merchant, the impression that lysol is off the Now Zealand market is not correct. Lysol, according to our informant, is being manufactured in England by an English house who are shipping supplies to New Zealand, and who guaranteo it identical with the line so well known. Kirkcaldie and Stains, Ltd., announce that, owing to the annual picnic of their staff, they will close ait 12 noon to-day - Advt.