LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2406, 11 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ihe postal authorities advise that the s.s. Wimmei'a, which sailed from Hobart on March 8 for Wellington is bringing Australian nmils only, and is due tomorrow.

An interesting souvenir, namely, the menu of the dinner at a re-uinon of Wellington College Old Boys', held at the Grand Continental Hotel, Cairo, on January 23, 1915, was shown at tho annual meeting of the Old Boys' Association last night. It was sent out by Mr. S. Ronaldson, and was an object of much interest.

At Greymouth yesterday, states a Press. Association telegram, jurors at tlio Supreme Court handed over their fees to the Belgian Relief Fund. Tho drought- has broken, mid the growing greenery on the parched hillsides, the grand revival in gardens and lawns, and the smiling face of he who labours to produce his own cabbages all proclaim the glad tidings. Soft, thick ram began to fall in town at 2.30 p.m. yesterday, and was still falling at an early hour this morning. The only stations that reported rain at 9 a.m. yesterday were Timaru and Greymouth,'but there aro prospects of a wider rainspreafl to-day.

Consequent on the decision ■of the Firfi) Marine, and Accident Insurance Offices in Wellington to forgo their annual picnic, £101 10s. has been handed to the executive of the Belgian Relief Fund. This sum is equal to the amouut which would liavo been expended on the picnic, plus contributions which have been made by members of the various oftioe staffs concerned. .

Mr. H. S. Richards, of Canterbury College, who has been chosen aS this year's Rhodes Scholar, and who is to leave shortly to take up his residence at Oxford, was the recipient of a presentation on Saturday from a number of friends and admirers. In view of tlie fact that the provision of a travelling kit and the payment of the fare to England involves a cohsiderable'outlay, a committee, on which his Honour Mr. Justice Denniston was chairman, set to work to raise a sum of money to enable Mr. Richards to defray his preliminary expenses, and' at the same time to express their appreciation of tlio fact that Christchureli had \ion a Rhodes ' Scholarship for the first time. Tlie presentation, which consisted of a purse of sovereigns, a sot of hooks, and a steamer ticket to England, was made by Mr. Justice Denniston, who referred to Mr. Richards'B most recent scholastic achievements. He had taken his M.A. degree With, first-class honours In _ mathematics and mathematical physics, Slid had been awarded the Cdok prize for the most distinguished student in the University of New Zealand in pure and applied mathematics. The committee which was responsible for the presentation fras convened by Mr. L. B. Wood.

In the course o( his address to members Of the National Reserve in the Auckland Domain Cricket Ground on Sunday, the Rev. Father H. Holbrook mentioned that a cousin and namesake of his had played a prominent part in the war. The relative the Auckland priest referred to is Lieutenant Norman _ Holbrodk, who was awa.'ded the Victoria Cross, after he daringly entered the Dardanelles minefield in command of the submarine 81l and sank the Turkish battleship Messudiyeh. Another speaker at the gathering, the Rev. 0. C; Harrison, said .that his people lived in the district of Hartlepool, and had witnessed the German bombardment of the town. "I have a personal reason for my visit here to-day," ho added, "b'ecaiise relatives of mine are amongst those who have been maimed for life at the front."

Mr. E. G. Banks, superintendent of the Wdilii Gold Milling Company, had a fiariow escape from drowning on Sunday in the channel between Bowentow aiid Matakana Island, reports t an Auckland paper. He was returning from his launch in a dinghy when a swift current capsizod the boat, and was carrying both out to sea, when a Maori launch succeeded in rescuihg Mr. Banks, who had a close call, but is now none the worsa for his adventure.

"How does that come about?" inquired the Coroner on Tuesday niornkig, at an inquest held at Auckland, when a youtli stated that his name was 0. Bensoti Johnson, and that he was the son of Ben Johnson Benson. "Surely your name is Benson." The young man explained that he was Swedish, and that it was the Swedish custom to interchange tho names in this manner with each succeeding generation. His father was Johnson Benson, he "said, lie was Benson Johnson, Ana his sons would be Johnson Benson. —"Star."

Tho recruiting net nowadays offers tho way out of mauy difficulties, and even tho Police Court fiuds'it handy, states the Auckland "Star." A; hefty young man. who had been a rolling-stone for many years, and had got out of touch with his people, was .arrested several weeks ago for not complying with an Ardor of maintenance respecting an illegitimate child. To seud him to gaol would not assist the girl, to keep the fchild, and to set . him at liberty with any, security meant probably a further evasion by him of tho responsibility, while ho had no person at hand who could guarantee his good faith. Several remands were granted to enable lim to try to get in touch with a brother and with former employers, but no satisfactory reply was got, so the young mail finally suggested enlisting, and having part of his pay attached for the benefit of the youngster, and was sent along to interview the medical officer.

The Wellington Industrial Association has received a Communication from the Canterbury body, stating tliat there were evidences that the women of Christchurch were awaking to the importance of doing all in their power to encourage locnl industries by insisting on being supplied with tlio.se articles which were known to be niado in New Zealand, in preference to those which are imported. It was stated by one iileniber at Tuesday's meeting of the association that the war was showing that articles equal iu quality and which cost no itiore than tliose imported could be made in New Zealand. One case in point was stirrup irons for the mounted troops. These had been imported by the Government for years, and now, when tliey are unobtainable at Home, thoy had to be niado here, and an even superior article to the regulation British one is now being supplied to the Defence Department.

Tile Christchurch Chamber of Commerce has been inquiring, states the •'Sun," as to the progress of the Otira tunnel. The Minister of Public Works has advised that the tunnel bad been fully excavated from the Otira end for 2 miles and 16 chains, and from the Bealoy end 52 chains, at tho end of last voar. Tho bottom heading bad been advalicod -Hi chains during tho previous twelvA months. , The tunnel was bored from the Otira end 2 miles 38 chains, aiid from the Benlcy end, ft! chains. The pribabla progress during tha present year is estimated at 40 chains.

At next Monday's meeting of thtf Central Chamber of Commerce Mr. J* • 11.I 1 . Atkins will move:—"That this Chamber co-operate with the Napier Chamber of Commerce, and invites all • local bodies throughout tho Dominion to use their best endeavours to urga tho Government to place Mr. T. K. fciidey's Daylight Saving Hill upon tlid Statute Book."

A particularly mean ease .of sneak* thioviuj* was discovered by the prOpriej tor of the Christchurch Theatre Royal sUpper-room on Monday, states a Christchurch paper. A box for tlia' purpose of receiving subscriptions to tho Belgian Fund had been placed, on tho counter for some time, ana the sum of £'4 was acknowledged from that bos a few weeks ago. On tho previous (lay the box had vanished with its contents. which wore estimated to amount to at least' £1.

Tho congregation at St. Michael's Church, Christchurch, were amazed on Sunday evening, states the "Lyttelton Times," by the unexpected and .unusual appearance of a canine worshipper. _ A large bulldog wflndei'ed dowJi tho aisles, and after hopelessly, trying to find his owner, calmly took a seat beside two ladies. The ladies were alarmed at the proffered friendship, and hastily jumped Up. The dog thereupon left the seat, and found Tiis way into a pew occupied by a well-known worshipper and bis wife, but the lady, on seeing tho 'unwelcome intruder hastily jumped up as if to leavo tlia church. Her husband thereupon took tho animal in his arm 6, and carried hint oiit, depositing him in tho road, aiid closing the gato. Before he could resume his seat in church, however, tho dog had outdistanced him, and took a ataad besido Canon Burton. Ultimately tho animal was eiiticfid ,t<S tho belfry by the verger, and was shut up till the conclusjon of the service, ai sadder and a wiser dog.

When remanded for a w£ek in ■ th& Auckland, Police Court on Monday on a ck'argo of theft, a prisoner asked the Magistrate to make an order that some money which he said was owing might bo paid to him, reports the "Herald." When asked the reason for his request ho said-ho wanted to buy himself a; few luxuries while awaiting trial. The Magistrate said ha had ilo power to mako such an order.. The accused, ho added, would find the fare in Mount Eden wholesome and abundant, even if plaiti. The accused mentioned that it was not so much the Mount Eden fare which'he wished to supplement but the "lock-up" fare. "That will ho all right," commented tho senior-sergeant,' "l'or he will only bo in the lock-up. for a few hours before being sent on to tlio gaol."

■ An address upon the subject of a; shopping week for Wellington is to be given at the next meeting of the Central Chamber of Commerce by Mr. W.F. Ponder.

As a member of the Council of the Fed* - eral Institute of Accountants, and repre- J schtativo in Queensland of the Society-; of Incorporated Accountauts and Auditors of England, Mr. 3 . D. Bell gives it as his opinion that the matriculation examination is "altogether too stiff" as an entranco to accountancy. In Aub- , tralia there is not absolute uniformity, but it is essential that candidates for the accountancy examinations shall have a good education. Thi6 is secured ,bv a provision stipulating that they shall ■ sit for a preliminary general knowledge examination unless tnoy have .already, passed a junior University examination, oi' gained a scholarship to the Grammar School. To insist on an examination of matriculation standard would, however, ■ discourage a great many candidates, and simply mean a reversion to the old order of things, when accountants did not bother to study their subject. It was surprising tie numbers that annually "buckled down" to the . examination' courses in Australia- now. Many of them were men over forty years of age, and matriculation would practically debar that class of candidate.

The Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) states that the applications, for relief on account of distress caused by the war, fird quite normal. Tbore are a good many callers 011 the Mayor daily, as may be seen any morning' by a visit to tie iipper corridor of the Town Hall, but most of these require work, and whatever possible is done to accommodate them, cliiefly through the medium of the Labour Department's Bureau, where all applications for work nro carefully sifted out. With the winter ahead, thero may bo a greater demand for Work, and asjjrade continues finite good and the building trade is picking up, it is quite ]ikel v_ that there will -be no decided pinch this. year.

; Mr. AY'interbottoin, Chief Constable of Hartlepool, writing to a friend in Wellington, gives a i'resii piece of information in regard to tlie : raid of the Gorman baby-killers on that town, and enolosed a piece of a German shell that > was found m the Hugh llattery after the bombardment. "I note in the morning paper/' Writes the Chief Constable, "that the captain of the BlUcher, now a prisoner at Edinburgh Castle, had stated that we killed niue men and wounded 20 men with the fire of our small 6-inch guns in the Hugh Battery. .. The news that their fire had been effective must have been very to those men who worked the guns in the luce of a heavy bombardment from heavy naval guns. 1 •

"i am firmly of opinion that a Board of Trade, if properly constituted, is a very excellent thing," said Mr. J. D: Bell, of Brisbane,, yesterday, when discussing the question with a reporter. His attention had been drawn to the subject by the proposal before the rtieStinpr of the industrial Association on Tuesday night. Such a board would fulfil a"very. usoful ptupose, and would help to improve the relations between the Government of the country and. tlld trading community. As a Government Department, If wever, it would not do for it to be composed of the ordinary typo of Civil Servants. It would rer quire a strong representation of busuWs& men, as the ordinary Governmentman did not understand the needs of tlie community, l and was tGo much inclined to stand iiloof. A board could no Fainablo work in fostering trade, and.was badly needed to assi:b business people in competing with foreign nations like Germany, and one of ?ts objects could be to study tariff and suggest alterations, wliioii miglit be of benefit. As to tlie merits of Mr. Mascey's scheme, it would, of course, ,l>e impossible to pass an opiniott until mote was known of what was in his mind.