LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2404, 9 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

[ His Excollenoy the Governor has extended his patronage to the grand assault-at-arms and display of jiu-jitsu whioh is to take place in the Town Haill on Friday evening, March 26, tinder the auspices of . the Wellington Kailwaymen. In regard to the matter of notify jug the next-of-kin of the death of a member of the Expeditionary Force, it has been decided that the officer in command of records will notify the group commanders or area officers directs This notice will contain next-of-kin, religion, and the causo of death. Group commanders will then communicate with relatives direct; where possible it is to be done-personally or by a chap-' lain of the Defence Department, otherwise the notification will be by tele-

graph. This course is to save unnecessary delay ; and reduce to a minimum the possibility of the relations obtaining the information from an outside source before getting it officially. A telegram was received by Inspector Hendrey yesterday from one of the country districts up north asking whether hotels would have to be closed for the licensing eleotions. It- may be of interest to note that a, reply has been sent to the effect that the hotels

are bound to be closed from noon till 7 p.m. in those districts where elections are taking place.

Joseph Kirkus, ranger to the Mira* mar Borough Council, has been missing from hiß Some since Wednesday la'Bt. The police have been inquiring as to his whereabouts, but 60 far without success.

The local office of His Majesty'* Customs has received the following telegram:—"Re Order-in-Council of January 20 prescribing certificates of origin, •paragraph B,' of Regulation 13, revoked. On- all ships exports to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, or Italy on and ofter March 8 will require certificates, whatever the value of tho consignments." .

Writing from London on January' 18 Mr. F. W. Haybittle, of Wellington, who has always taken'a lively interest ■in. the stage,_ deplores the death of Mr. Lionel Mackinder, the popular London comedian, at the front. "Three actors have just come home for a. week-end," oontinues Mr. Haybittle, "Huntley Wright, Denis Neiken-Terry, and George Barrett. They helped at a patriotio concert last night. (Sunday), and gave some of their experiences. They are splendid chaps,, ana to hear them tell quietly of the awful trench work, with death stalking every footstep, is to inspire one with feelings of envy for those who are privileged to go out and fight for King and country, and, at tho same time, admiration for their splendid courage; their cheerfulness under terrible conditions of mud, slush, and snow; their supreme contempt of the danger that lurks on every side, and their shining and splendid example. _ Next week I start motoring recruits' in from remote villages t-o London, interspersing that work with taking out convalescing invalids from the London hospitals round the parks and suburbs. Hundreds of private .motorists are now doing this, and I must do my share. The nospitals and private nursing homes are crowded with our men and Belgians. I shudder to think of the awful slaughter that must take place among the Allies when a real offensive movement takes place' on tho western side. No- opeii ground or environs of a town will be' safe, for mines are said to be strewn in the probable pathways of the Allied advance." .

The following is a list of successful tenderers for stores, etc., for the Wellington Coast Defencesßread, Robert Shaw and Automatic Bakeries, Ltd.; butter and cheese, Meadows and Co. • candles. New Zealand Candle Co., Ltd.; coffee, Empire Manufacturing Co., Ltd. • jam and_ tea, Thompson Bros., Ltd.: meat, Garrett and Co.; condensed milk, Nestles, Ltd.; coal, Westport Coal Co.

The inquest into the death of Minnie M'Neill, who died while undergoing an operation, at tho Hospital, for tho removal of lier false teeth, wliieh sho accidentally swallowed, has been postponed until to-day at 4 p.m.

An enthusiastic and well-attended meeting of employees of the Gear Company's Works, Potone, was held yesterday, Mr. T. Townsend in tho cha'ir. It was •unanimously decided that a weekly contribution should . be mado, tho amount as collected to be forwarded direct to the Mayor of Wellington and included in tho Mayor of Wcliiniiton's Belgian Relief Fund. Messrs. T. Townsand, G. Bowles, and H. Cook as lion, chairman, treasurer, and secretary respectively, and delegates representative of cach dopartment, were appointed to act as a working committoa.

The Solicitor-General has' ruled that Section 25, New Zealand Defence Act, 1009, dealing with extra training for defaulters, is inoperative until regulations are drafted laying down:—(1) The determining officer; (2) manner of classification: (3) nature of the extra training. These are to be drafted and gazetted in due course. In the meantime no action, can be taken against those who failed to qualify last year.

AAliere medical attendance is necessary on members of the Territorial Force and senior cadets, and the charge is considered to be one that should be borne by the Department, all sick or injured are to be treated in a public hospital. _ In cases where' this ™ not bo possible, the patient will be attended by an officer of the New Zealand Medical Corps, and a fee of 7s. 6d. per consultation or visit will be paid by. the Department; but unlets under a certificate of the principal medical officer, not more'than three such consultations or visit® will be paid for. In the event of a territorial or senior cadet livmg_ more than three miles from the medical officer's residence a fee of ss. per mile one way will be paid, but for one visit only.

Notwithstanding the thinning out which took place last year, deer are still numerous in the Masterton distriot, and good ptalking is promised for next month.

The Masterton Racing Club has granted permission to the Defence authorities to hold kinematograph performances in the grandstand of the Opaki racecourse during the "forthcoming encampment.

The number of arrests made in Masterton during the year 1914 was 72, of which fqrty-four were for drunkenness.

The annual report of the Wellington United Storemen's Unibn states that in the past two years the membership has increased by about 75, and the increase of recent date has been rapid, due no doubt to the fact that storemen generally are finding out the true value of the union. • "It is imperative," stales the report, "that all should do their utmost to enlist new members, inasmuch as the union is going in for a new award, and the more members enrolled the better the conditions will be. The financial position of the uniop ia not as good as it might have been," the report goes cn, ''but talcing into consideration that about 35 members have gone on active service we cannot complain, but congratulate ourselves that our union Has members at the front defending Britain's glorious prestige—the defender of the weak and the upholder of our liberty and agreements." ,; '

An enthusiastic meeting of the Paekakariki railway employees was held on Sunday for the purpose of discussing suggestions for raising subscriptions in response to the recent appeal on behalf of the Belgians. It was unanimously decided that each member so willing should contribute Is., or more, each fortnight, and arrangements were made to forward the subscriptions to the proper quarter fortnightly until the end of the war, or longer, if nccessary. It wa6 also decided to invite assistance from local residents to augment the railway employees' donation. An entertainment committee of railway officers and residents was formed to. arrange entertainments locally, the proceeds to be also given to the Belgian Relief Fund.

At a oommittee meeting of the Mana* w»tu Racing Club last night it was decided (says a Press Association telegram)] to vote £200 to the Belgian Relief Fund. The first of the "patriotic" potatoes planted at Island Bay will be dug on Saturday next, but it will probably be another three weeks before the main crop is ready. The method of disposing of the tubers will not be decided upon until an idea of the probable yield is obtained. The suburban committee is giving consideration to a scheme outlined by one of its members, (the effect of which is to hold a -patriotio auction: of the tubers in some central room, tha potatoes being bagged in both sacks proper and sugar, sacks, so as to cater for the small purchaser.. Further, it is suggested that the potatoes should bo delivered to any quarter of the town, thus freeing the purchaser of anything further than the necessity of; bidding for and paying for his potatoes. *

An unknown visitor recently called at; the Milton Methqdist Church parsonage, and handed in a letter, without comment or revealing his identity. The letter, on being opened, was found to oontain £100 in notes, with the brief request that the_ money be placed to tha credit of the building fund. The officebearers do not know whom to thank' for this generosity.

"The favourite presentation to our. soldiers seems to he a wristlet watoh. The worst wound I saw in Africa was that of a "man who was shot through the wrist while holding his rifle firing. If it had not been fir the wristlet watch the wound would not have been so much, but the presentation watch; being there, his wrist was blown to pieces," says a medical correspondent of a Dunedm paper.

All licenses issued to hawkers in Wellington expire at the end of the month —the termination of the Corporation's financial year. A new by-law is now being framed, whioh the authorities hope will make the conditions of shopkeepers who have to pay high rents and hawkers, who pay practically none, more equal than they have been in the past. How lucrative a business can- be done on a good City 6tand through the medium of a hawker's cart is known by the offers that have teen made for special stands. Under tho new by-law stands are to be dono away with, and hawkera will have to hawk in the proper seuso of the word by moving one way or the other when not actually engaged in making a sale.

I On Sunday night an excited young man rushed to the police station with the startling intelligence that there was the dead body of a woman in a, section at Lawrence Street, Newtown. A squad of seven constables immediately dispatched with an ainbulanoe Btretcher to the scene of the tragedy. The young man led tho police to the section, and sure enough a crowd had- gathered round what was apparently the body, of a woman lying face downwards. Way was made for the police, the stretcher placed conveniently on the ground, and a constable gingerly approached the "body" to discover that it was nothing more than a bundle of rags. The stretcher was . used after all, however, for the rags were conveyed with all due ceremony back to the police station.

Between the hours of 6.30 p.m. and 10.80 p.m. on Saturday the dwelling of Mr. R. Hancock, situated on the Hutt Road, Petone, was broken into, an 'entry being made by forcing the front « door. Mr. and Mrs. Hancock loft their home at about 6.30, returning at 10.30, and discovered the front door forced open, and a search disclosed the faot that £6 had "been stolen in cash, and that jewellery to the. value of £61 ...Was missing. The matter was ro- ! ported to the police. It was reported to the Petone police on ''Friday evening that a, mian, evidently of ' a curious disposition, was entertaining himself by staring in the windows of a private house in Bay Street. Some two or three years ago a person continued this objeotionable practice/for 1 a period in Petone, in some cases startling residents, who upon entering a room with a light, were amazed to see .i a man's face peering through their windows.

Mr. Alfred Shackelford, formerly in business in Manners Street, and who has been connected'with many mercers' and clothiers' shops in Wellington, died at his residence, Macdonald Crescent, on Sunday ' morning.' ■ The deceased, who was 56 years of age, was a native of Hastings, Englimd, and came out to New Zealand 1 twenty-nine years ago, settling in Auckland, where he has a brother, Mr. J. AV. Shackelford. Four years later he came to Wellington, and for some years was in business in Manners Street! Since then lie lias been

employed by the Te Aro House Company, the Union Clothing Company, and , others.' Mr. Shackelford, who had been & in poor health for a long time, was a member of the Loyal Britannia Lodge of Oddfellows, and at one time was a wellknown member of the Working Men's Club. He leaves a widow, throe sons, and a daughter. The funeral will take place to-day. The interment will be private.

A .meeting of the Hutt Park Com-mittee-will be held on Thursday to appoint a chairman vice Mr. Baldwin, who has resigned from- the committee. Further consideration will be given the Hutt Valley Trotting Club's application for a lease of the Park for trotting purposes. ;

In reply to inquiry made by Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., as to whether , the » Government would purchase land at Newlands, near Johnsonville, for tho purposes of tho Workers' Dwelling Act, the Eight Hon. W. F. Massey stites : that he referred, the matter to tho Superintendent of Workers' Dwellings, who informed him that the Department already possesses a suitable block of land at Johnsonville, comprising nineteen sections. far no use has been made of the same, as applications for workers' dwellings in that district have not been forthcoming. The land v already held, ho adds, should fulfil the requirements of the district for some years. Any workers desiring the erection of dwellings on the block should obtain the necessary application forms and particulars from the Department's office in Wellington. ,Mr. Francis Birtles left Sydney on February 13 on a cycle journey ..cross Australia. He will proceed to the extreme north-west of New South Wales, and thence to Alice Springs. He will then travel across the desert country to Port Darwin and along the north of ' West. Australia. In Central Australia he will takfe pictures along the route followed by the Bourke and Willß Expedition, together with cinematograph films , under arrangement with Australasian Films, Ltd., of everything of interest encountered on' his journey. ■ Birtles expects to be away for two years, but another year may be added to that, should he decide.to cross to New Guinea with an exploration party now being formed. _ Mr. Birtles' only companion on this trip will be his bulldog' Wowser. '*■' At a small-port on the (Pacific, coast of ' South America were moored four steam- • ens, British, French, Russian, and German. One day there came news of the -'German'.naval victory off the-Chilean coast, in which the Good Hope and Monmouth were lost., The German crew gave pantomimic evidences of delight, rrewntly the captain'became grossly offensive. He produced the English, French,' and Russian flags, laid them "on his gangway, and invited tho shore folk to walk - over them. Ho himself leant : over the rail with gloating mien, and.spat upon the flags. Signals began to pass between the other three ships, and after a while a boat load from each of them set off towards the German vessel. The British

got tbero first, and the fun on the German deck was fast and furious. "I am ijJjappy to say," observes .the young Cardiff officer who sends 'the story to the London "Daily Telegraph," "that I got one in on the "captain's _ nose, but our skipper, who was following up behind, landed liim a glorious right-hander on the point, and down that Teuton captain went for a count that was a long way over ten." Worsted in the combat, the Germans. complained to the police, and next day every man in the raiding crews was fined a Bum equivalent to 18s. "It was the cheapest bit of fun I ever had at the prioe," says the Cardiff officer. At Messrs. Robjohns, Hindmarsh, and Co.'s warehouse, Port Ahuriri, on Saturday the members of the staff assembled in full force to bid good-bye to Mr. J. St. J. Hindmarsh, who leaves for England to join the British Army. Mr. P. Ashcroft, who acted as leading spokesman, in presenting Mr. Hindmarsh with a serviceable pair of field glasses and a wristlet watch, congratulated him on the step he was taking, and .wished him a successful military career. Mr. Hindmarsh _is a_ greatgrandson of the late. Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh, who took part in the Battle of the Nile. Word has been received in Bulls by Mr J. M'Donald of the death of his son, Alister M'Donald, who left New Zealand for England with a consignment of horses, and then joined _ the Foreign Legion. He was working a battery with eighteen others near_ Antwerp, when they were blown to pieces by a shell.

Mr. George Innes (son of Mr. G

Innes, of Palmerston North), who actcd as manager of the Auckland branch of the Bank of New Zealand during Mr. H. Buckleton's absence, in England, was presented on Wednesday with a handsome leather travelling case from, the members of the staff of the bank. Mr. Innes left Auckland on Wednesday evening for Palmerston North, where ho is' spending a_few days prior to taking up his position as manager of she tank's branch at Gisborne.

At'the annual meeting s of the. Masterton, Professional Musicians' Associa-

tion Miss Hampton was elected president, and Mr. A. B. Wallace secretary and treasurer.