LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2382, 11 February 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A whale fifty feet in length was cast up on the Castleppint beach on Tuesday night. A body of military police is being formed to assist the civil police in the execution of their duties. A parade of members of the new body was held at Defence Headquarters yesterday morning. The census of members of industrial unions, which the Labour Department takes annually, was to have been, completed by January 31, but it was reported yesterday that there are* many unions who have not sent in their returns. It seems likely that the result of the census will not be known for some little time. At about 10 o'clock on Saturday night (says a Press Association telegram from Invercargill), Robert Newlands, a young man in the employ of Mr. Kenneth M'Lennau, whose farm is situated on Tuturau River flat, about two and 1 a half miles from Wyndham township, returned, home after a visit to Wyndham.On reaching M'Lennan's house, Newlands found the door locked, but on recognising his voice Miss Ivy M'Lennau, who was in charge of the household while her parents and elder,sister wrfe down town, let him and and told him that a strange man had been peering into the windows. Newlands went to his hut to procure a lamp and investigate. Emerging from his hut ho was suddenly tripped up by a strange man, who then gripped him firmly by the throat until he lay semi-conscious. Tho assailant then ran away, and by the time Newlands had recovered himself the man was missing. The police have been informed of the occurrence. Sidney Sheans, who was seriously injured through falling off a ladder last week, was reported from the Hospital last night to bo not so well as he was. the previous night. During tho past few days the office staff at tho Government Shipping Office in Wellington has had a strenuous time. On Tuesday somo 400 men were signed off, paid, and signed on again on various vessels in a little over three hours, and yesterday some 150 men were handled. Notwithstanding the cramped space at tho office, there was no Jutch in tbo j

A section of the New Zealand troops at Samoa is reported to have had a busy; time on Christmas Eve. The men resented the closing of tho hotels, and are; said to have opened tlireo of tbem by force. Afterwards some German- warehouses were attended. . Much damage was dono in the hotels and the other premises. Referring to the disturbance, says tho "Star," an Aucklandor states in a letter that Colonel Fulton, commanding the company, who had been in* hospital when tho trouble occurred,) afterwards called a parade of his inenvi and addressed them. At tho end of the parade all tho men concerned itf the affair handed in their names, which; wcro duly forwarded to Colonel Logan, Some days later Colonel Logan issued: an ordor saying that he was very grieved) at tho conduct of the troops, but that ho would try to look upon it as due to-, youth and inexperience. He ordered every man hi the garrison to: pay 3s. towards making good the* damage. "It is rather hard on those who had nothing whatever "to do with; it," the writer goes on, "and more so when one remembers that he had all the names of tboso who participated. I don't care so much about the 35., butt I feel as if I am being fined for some-;' thing that I had nothing to do with.**' The Wellington Education Board ad«< vise that the following additional Senior "B" Rural Scholarships have been.: awarded by the Wellington Education!- 1 Board: —Leslie Ordish, Carterton, 1475 marks: Nicholas Brazendale, Carterton, 1222; Ella Header, Masterton, 1212; George C. Petersen, Masterton, 1212;j Doris E. Welch, Carterton, 1171; Har-v old W. de Castro, Masterton, 1134 jHedwig B. A. Posselt, Carterton, 1133 c Charles Jamieson, Carterton, 1120 j Fanny I, Collier, Greytown, 1092. "It is our opinion," runs a passage in'the annual report of the Executive Committee of the Greater Wellington; . Town Planning and Municipal Electors 3 -', Association, "that the labours of tho/ ; association do not lie so much in. thai direction of abolishing slums as is gerw era! in old lands, but rather to vigilent^ • ly guard against tho creation ofsluW i areas, particularly in the rapidly-deJ L veloping suburbs of the city. The . maxini, 'prevention is better tban< [ cure/ is ' most applicable to the true* , 'unction of economic tojvn. planning." ! "The unemployed question does noSf exist in Dunedin, and very much I the-. . same applies to Christchurch," said tha 5 Hon. W. Feasor, Minister of Puhlio j Works, yesterday. "There is a certain.} amount of difficulty being experienced!!' by carpenters and bricklayers in get»| ' ting work,. because all the buildlngi 3 trades have been very slack for somei , months, but already there are indica-; - tions that matters will improve in thfe t respect. There is any amount of work 4 i, in the country for those men who>] s choose to look for it. I have stopped;; 2 tho work in Christchurch on the Zig~ . Zag, which was started for the relief o& I. married men unemployed, and yester-* ' day Mr. Howard, the union secretary, ? expressed the opinion to me that I was 1 very wieo to stop tho work now in/ <~ order to keep it for next winter. Wheni " a union secretary sayß that, there can.'e be no serious unemployment now. On* - all my trip not' a word was said to me? a by any deputation about unemployment/ 6 Occasionally a man or two would ask j mo to put him on certain works, and) y every such request was granted iinmedi. ' atcly. The grass-seed harvest iu Cant terbury is not ovor yet, and tho wheat •* harvest operations are general. Soon 1 tho Otago crops will be ripe, and then; 5 I -am sure all tho available men will' s bo needed. I .am doubtful whether t sufficient men will be obtainable." ( '•" A gang of workmen aro now at worKf d demolishing the wooden building oa>i k the site known as "Quinton's Corner,'"l s at the junction of Bowen Street and' a Lambtou Quay. The building is beingj r removed in preparation for the street. improvement scheme being undertaken' -in connection with the new Parliament' Buildings'plans. The angle of the ' corner is a sharp one, and the removal! i of the old budding will allow it to be>j ■" rounded a little. The rounding of th»! 1 corner will also open up the view o£l ') the grounds from the street, and will' .- leave a wider expanse of roadway, irf t front of the big gates of the main v enJ .- trance.. The .Labour Representation Comnrit-1 s tee is inviting nominations for seats on] r the various local bodies, -which are o be contested at the -forthcoming muni. f oipal elections. So far the General g. bourers' Union has nominated Mr. A.i r Aislabie as a candidate for the CitjjJ „ Council elections. j ,s The following will constitute the Trerw ;, tham camp police :—Sergeant Carr, Pri« 0 vates J. J. Drinnan, I. J. Drinnan, AW Cochrane. P. J. Owen, M. White, P< 1 Walsh, J. Pickering, J. Colbeck, Te e Noster, G. Goodall, C. Coard, F. M'DonV " aid, A.' Crosado, M'Govern, Pullinger. ) f Speaking with regard to the steps which have been taken by tho Aucb* ? land Performing Musicians' Union to] ■* bring under his notice the presence ofrj 6 German musicians in some of the Auck-j >. land moving-picture orchestras, _ th« i Prime Minister remarked to an f viewer that according to the decisions; :- of the highest Courts, naturalised Ger4 v mans were entitled to equal right*! ' with British subjects unless it could ba proved that they were in active synw '" pathy with the enemy. If the Gov-1 '■' ernment ascertained, however, thai" 7 either naturalised or unnaturalised GerB mans were assisting tho enemy verjj l serious consequences were hkely to' - follow. ,! 3 The Pahiatua Borough Overseer, MrJ R. Parker, will attend the annual corw ference of the New Zealand Society o£| Civil Engiuers, to be held -at Danedim next month. I The establishment of small . each to supply the requirements of -aa ', narrow district, is being seriously conW sidered by branches of the Farmers*-! Union (says the Auckland "Herald.")} ; During an organising tour, as far south! i as Waitonio, the provincial secretary,] ' Mr. A. Schraitt, discussed the idea witM i several of-the branches in districts lack-{ • ing convenient railways accessible toj the ordinary sources of supply. He{ ! found that farmers who had to pas , heavy bills for railage and cartage on^ ■, their supplies of flour were much im-^ - pressed with the economical ■ of a district mill, preferably conducted^ by co-operative enterprise, which could.' ; grind a sufficient quantity of wheat! i grown in the neighbourhood to satisfy the needs of the settlers. It was antin cipated that there might bo difficulty rrf ' securing sufficient employment for suctf 1 mills, but Mr. Schmitt suggested that* ' this could be avoided if the settlers 1 would guarantee to devote a 1 area to tho production of wheat an?! ' nually.

»•: A bogus sergeant who, it'appeared, had been profiting out of the patriot- : ism of others, was dealt with summarily at a meeting of the Auckland Patriotic League. He wore a. sergeant's uniform, and claimed to be an. Imperial Reservist (says the "Star"). It is stated that ho wrote abettor to a prominent Auckland citizen in October last, asking help for his family, whom ho had left behind him in the'city when he had joined, his company., This lotter 'was sent from Trentham. Another communication was received from the saino man some weeks ago, requesting the league, to post relief money to Lim at Albany. On January 28 another letter came to hand; asking for money for his wife and ;,children, and stating that he would come to town and explain his difficulties. In due ' course he arrived at ; the office of the Patriotio League, whefi he was introduced to.'an official of the, Defence Department. The man was immediately; recognised,' and with a few strokes of a knife he was relieved of his stripes, while' he was likewise deprived of his belt and uniform. It appears that the man had been lately going around the ; city stating that ho had been sent up ' from Trentham to secure recruits for the forces.' • Mr. Herbert /"Wnittaier, an ex-Otago High. School hoy, who is now in the service of the Imperial Government as a surveyor in Fiji, had a trying time during the recent hurricane in that island, says the "Otago Daily Times." .He writes: "I arrived back in Suva, after an exciting time. We , had a nice little blow hero on Christmas Eve, and I was in the thick of it. It was my'first experience of a hurricane. I was camped on the banks of the.Bewa River, which, rose ;fifty feet in:'a few hours. ■ Luckily we were among some decent sized bush. Ihad all my tents blcwn clear away, and had to make for the highest tree in the vicinity—a large banyan. Myself and boys in a pretty short time hauled up our gear (or what was left of it) after us. We were up that blessed tree for fourteen hours, with the flood rolling underneath. Fortunately, the river went down as quickly as it rose, as I.was quite tired of acting the monkey. The boys were green with terror. However, I man-' aged to save most of my gear and instruments., but my outfit was lost:" Some surprise was attached to the movements of a stranger wandering round Bluff Hill, says a Press' Association telegram from Invercargill: The stranger was observed to take several photographs, and also to make some sketches, with the result that an eyewitness promptly reported the matter to Captain Nicol, of the loeal Defence Force. When the suspicious-looking individual returned to the port he was promptly arrested by the Defence officer and the sergeant of police, and his, camera was seized. After a lengthy explanation, the somewhat puzzled stranger succeeded in satisfying his capturers that he was a harmless tourist. His sketches were examined and his photographic plates exposed to the light. He was then allowed to proceed to Invercargill. The second annual gathering the Southland branch of the Catholic Federation was held at Riverton yesterday, v:nen between five ,aud six thousand peoplo from all parts of the proivnce attended. > High Mass was celebrated, after which the attendance repaired to the Recreation Ground, where speeches were given by the clergy and Messrs. D. L. Poppollwell (Mayor of Gore), Jno. Shepherd, and G. Girling' Butcher (sec- j retary and organiser of the, New Zealand Catholic Federation), the latter speaker traversing.the aims and the objects of the Federation since its inception less than two years ago>—Press Association. . ■-—; . . *■

The recent fires in the Pongaroa district caused considerable damage to bridges and culverts throughout the ;: AMtio County, .says our. Pahiatua cor- j respondent. At the last meeting of the "Akitio Council it was decided to replace two burnt bridges with large concrete culverts and earth fillings. It was pointed ' out that concrete would toot bum while the procuring of -suitable bridge timber was a costly, item, owing to a large quantity of milling timber being destroyed by log and bush rfires. The council also decided to effectsubstantial repairs to the MakuriPongaroa Road, which is the principal outlet for the Pongaroa residents. Further metalling works are also to be carried out on the road between Pongaroa and the coastA strike on a minor scale occurred last Friday at one of the Auckland wool stores. It is the custom, after J the close of local wool sales, to employ ' casual labour in the work of stitching up the bales which have been opened during the sales. Twelve men had been so employed since "Wednesday last at the wool store in question, their rate of pay being the same as that obtaining in all other parts of the Dominion. These rates were Is. per hour from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Is. 6d. per hour for work done before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. The men applied for an in-, crease, and before this could be refused they went out on strike. This happened on Friday night. The firm inserted an advertisement in the next morning's newspaper, and was inundated with -applicants, so flat the cessation of work by the. malcontents caused very little inconvenience. ' The result of the recent entertainment given by the Rifle Club of Wellington in aid of the fund for the relief of the dependents of New Zealanders who fall or suffer on active service i 3 proving very satisfactory. TJp to_ the present over £100 net'has been realised, ind with further ticket-money to be landed in at to-night's parade this should be increased. . Donations _ are '.' now being taken up from the individual members of the local clubs to further increase the amount. On members of the Karori Rifle Club subscribed on the range £25 to' the fund. Mr. T. Shields, who has devoted *his Wednesday afternoons during the summer for many years past to teaching ,' school-children to swim, will be absent < from the baths during the next two "reeks. Ho leaves for Masterton tolay, to give a swimming demonstration ihere, and will go on to Napier to attend the swimming carnival, and give i children's demonstration on Tuesday afternoon. Next Wednesday week Mr. Shields will give another demonstration /for the benefit of the Pahiatua chil- < dren. During Mr. Shields's absence the work of instructing the children at Hhe Te Aro Baths will be continued by >Dr. Platts Mills. ■ ''