LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2375, 3 February 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Moeraki, which arrived from Sydney yesterday, brought Australian mails only. Mails which left Auckland on December 29, per R.M.S. Makura, arrived in London, via Vancouver, on February 1, four days late. Prior to the hearing of a serious charge against a young Chinese fruiterer ir. the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, Mr. H. H. Ostler (Crown Solicitor)' addressed the jury with a few brief remarks relative to the upholding of British justice. '"It is our boast,' he said, "that wherever there is a British Court of justice, everyone— be he black or white, yellow or brownstands absolutely equal in our courts of law, and is entitled to have justice administered to him in exactly the same way as a European. lam going to ask you to maintain that boast, and I am sure you will. I a-sk you not to . allow any prejudice to cross your mind, just because this man is a Chinaman, and to consider the charge as if he were a European. Living as he does in the midst of the community, he is entitled to the privileges of. our law, and is just as entitled as is a European to have a jury stand between him and the law. It would be a scandal if that benefit were turned into a mockery, and if you allowed prejudice to take possession of your minds." Information has been received that the wife of the commander of the illfated Monmouth, which was reported lost in action off the Chilean coast, has received a cable from her husband, from an unknown source, to the effect that he is alive and well, but a prisoner. It is, therefore, probable that at a later date a very complete story of the engagement between the enemy's ships and the Good Hope and Monmouth may be made available for the public information. A Press Association telegram from Greymouth says:—With regard to a paragraph going the rounds of the Press that Mr. J. Liggins had been taken prisoner by the Germans, who cut {ho tendons of 'both his wrists, completely disabling his hands, a correspondent, writing to the "Star," says the report is untrue. A cousin of Mrs. Liggins, residing in the Grey district, has received a letter from Mr. Liggins's mother, who is now in England, and which says tliero is absolutely 110 truth in tho statoment, that Mr. Liggins is still in England with his regiment, and'does, not know when he is leaving for the front. A very heavy thunderstorm yesterday evening supplied sufficient rain to relieve the anxiety of farmers for a few days (says a Press Association telegram from Hastings); .38 inches fell in less than an hour. In the country districts the rainfall is reported to have been much heavier, accompanied with hail. The vital statistics for Masterton for tho month of January wore as follow:— Births, 23; marriages, 5; deaths, 7. Tho Christchurch City Council on Monday decided to have a scheme pre: pared for tho establishment of municipal markets and cool stores within the city. The'scheme will come up for discussion on March 15. A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that eighty moil left by the midday express yesterday to join the reinforcements at Trcntham. Thirty-, nine of them wo for the Engineer .Corjjv

A boy, fifteen years of age, appeared before Mr. D. G. A. Cooper at a sitting of the Juvenile Court yesterday morning, charged with stealing a bicycle, valued at £3. He was admonished and discharged. Tug head office of the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company has prepared an interesting table showing the armies of the countries at war, the numbers fighting, and available, total strength, losses, etc. Copies can be obtaineu gratis from the local representatives, Messrs. Johnston and Co., Ltd. Tho rainfall registered in Masterton for the month of January wag 102 points. Rain fell on only four davs during the month. The average for the month of January during the last ten years has been 2.56 inches. The children of the Takapau School have given £8 lis. 3d. to the Belgian Fund. The high prices charged for meat and the fact that many consumers are dropping off, or using meat in much smaller quantities, is having a had effect on tho small retail butchers in Wellington, and many are finding a difficulty in carrying on. It is stated that the retail butchers have lately had more than one interview with the wholesale providers', with a new to getting a reduction, but that no concession of a6ize that can be traisferred to the publio is in sight. Yesterday, in the window of a butcher's shop in Tory Street, appeared the following notice:— "This business will be closed for two months, on account of the high prices of meat. Thanking my past customers for support, etc." Another retail butcher states that the week-day trade. has fallen away, a large number of thepublio only buying meat for the Sunday dinner. The Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) and tho city engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) yesterday conferred as to the immediatesteps to be taken to repair the Hurt-' Boad, now that the Government havegiven a guarantee to pay any portion, of the share of contributing local bodies not recovered by the council. In the, meantime culverts, etc., are to be clear-1 ed out, and minor work done. The' rubber tyres of motor-cars have beencausing a certain amount of damage to i the top of the roid, and it will all be< top-dressed in the autumn when the' rain comes. The Mayor states that ai great portion of the width of the road' will be repaired. The Masterton Poultry, Pigeon, and Cage Bird Society has decided to apply .to the central body for the following ichammonships for its next show. Working homers, Hamburgs._ Yorkshirecanaries (anv colour), orpinsrtons, and minorens. The society has decided to apply for Wednesday and ' Thursday,. July 14 and 15, a3 dates for the show. A party of Young Australia League boys, en route to San Irancisco. wilt • arrive in Wellington bv the Maitai today. It is tho intention of the Mayor (Sir. J. P. Luke) to give them a civic : reception, but this will take place to--morrow, owing to the possible late arrival of the hoat. The quantities of kauri gum beingshipped weekly from the Northern Wai-.-roa, it is estimated, do not exceed threetons, whereas prior tft the war 30 tonswere so handled. The average weekly quantity dug approximates eight tons, but, owing to the depressed state of' 4 the market, country buyers are 'charyj of Durchasing more than is necessary j to liquidate the indebtedness of diggers f for food supplies. At the same time, t the regular diggers, amongst whom are some_ 300 Croatians, do not appear 1 over anxious to tell, and are storing, their gum on the fields, being satisfied that at the cessation of the war allj grades of the material will command ( higher rates than those which havw, ruled hitherto. A large meeting of Lower Hutt Knoxi Presbyterian Bible Class girls held on Monday night was somewhat marred at its conclusion by the discovery that somo vandal had slit open with a pen ( knife the back tires, of some eight bicycles bolonging to the girls. Some of the girls had to travel five miles to their homes. The matter is now in the hands of the police.

In one of the populous partis of Mount Koskill.the other day a resident was aroused from a siesta on hie verandah by the crack of a rifle, and he noticed his pot parrot suddenly flap its wings and ruffle its feathers in a manner that raised fears that a bullet had just missed finding a billet'in the bird., Investigations resulted in finding that two boys of thirteen in a street near by had got hold of one of the short rifles that the Government bad some time ago issued to Senior Cadets, and were practising with it at a target acainet a stone wall. The boys® came before Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M:, m the Auckland Magistrate's Court, and when, he learnt that the rifle threw a .303' bullot and had an effective killing rangeof something like a thousand yards, he; gave the lads a little talk about fooling with dangerous firearms in a city that will probably develop, their common-sense in such matters. Flocks of lambs aggregating 1000 and upwards are comparatively rare in anty of the saleyards of the Dominion, but' occasionally lines running into four ng- ; ures are offered for sale, but it is seldom indeed that lines of such dimen- : sions average over 20s. per head. How-j ever, an instance of this sort happened in Canterbury during last week. Out Thursday at the Hawarden sale Messrs. EL Matson and Co. offered on account of Mr. Leicester Matson, of the wellknown Brooksdale estate. 1000 particu-. larly fine lambs, which realised prices ranging from 225. to 253., the average, for the line being 225. 6d. In the opm T ion of competent judges present at thoi sale the line was one of the best ever, seen in a public saleyard in the ■ province. Only two building permits, of th<v value of £494, were issued in Masterton during the month of January. Several) larce oontracts will, however, shortly b £ ' put in hand. There is a very keen de. mand for residences at the present timaA young French doctor who is al the front with an Algerian regiment, writing to his sister in London, tells a delightful story of a Barmecidal feast. Having shot a pig. he took the trouble to smoke a ham, and, after giving it to an orderly to boil, he invited his bro« ther officers to the feast. TYhen the psychological moment arrived there was no ham, so the doctor went nr search of it. He found the orderly sitting in front of an empty pot. "Wl? Te V® ham?" asked the doctor. The Arab, in halting French, replied: ''I hke you much. You no eat ham. Ham is pig, nnd Allah punish you._ The faithful Mohammedan had buried the feast lßn n field. . • ' j

The attendance at the reopening of the Napier public schools yesterday was 1677, as compared with 1574 at the same date last year. A heavy thunderstorm passed over the 'Wairarap'a yesterday afternoon, says our Masterton correspondent. It will do an immense amount of good to the country, but more rain is required. An impudent thoft is reported from the Takapuna (Auckland) district. The Chinamen who till the vegetable gardens in the Northcote>Lake Road had dug a field of potatoes, and these, it is alleged, were removed by means of a horse aiid trap during the night by some unknown outsider. An example of the tasks some people expect thp_ postal authorities to perform is indicated in the shape of a letter received at the Christcuurch Hospital, the address on which reads as follows:—-"Mrs. Harriett Gynn, Christthurch Hospital, or elsewhere! old-age pensioner, South Island,, New Zealand." An American visitor to Christchurch told a reporter on Saturday that the statues there wanted a wash. "Take a look at the monument to your late Queen Victoria in the Square," he said. "If s- a fine piece of work, but at present it looks as if it had never been touched since it was set up. You just walk around it, and you will find it streaked and soiled in a most undignified manner. The same applies to your records of your great men. The dust and grime of the years have gathered upon them, and it would be a good stunt for your fire department to do a little hose work. I've been looking round this little city, and I must say that I appreciate it very much. It is very dusty, though, and that, with' the help of the birds, has not improved, the look of your monuments. If you want to pay tribute to the memory of your great men, I guess you would like to keep their statues clean. Another thine: I had a' look at that stone in the North' Park where you had your Exhibition. Do you know that the inscription on the stone is about as plain as Germany's explanation of' the war? You can't read it. It's all rubbed off!" A woman, residing in North Richmond (says an exchange) was ap- . preached a few day 6 ago Dy an elderly manj apparently in the last stage of destitution. He preached a pitiable tale, imploring assistance, as his wife and family wore in want, not having even a bit of bread in the house. The householder told him she could not give him money, but-retired indoors and came back with a loaf of bread, which the man refused on the ground that he was "not going straight home." Farmers' sons form a large percentage ■ of the Southland quota of the Expeditionary Force, and the first tangible evidence of the manner in which the primary industries are likely to be influenced was obtained at the meeting of the Southland Land Board on Thursday (says the "Times"). Fourteen applications for transfer of sections were dealt with, and in 6even cases it was Btated that the necessity to transfer arose as a consequence of the previous lessee having gone to the war. It was stated that one farmer had been deE rived of the services of three sons, who ad gone to the front, and that he'could not work his holdings without assistance. In another case not included in the seven applications for transfer the lessee of a section in the Aparima Hundred applied for exemption from residence during his absence with the Expeditionary Force. He 6tated that he had made arrangements regarding the payment of rent and the carrying out of improvements during his absence,and the board approved his application os it did those referring to transfers.