LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2431, 9 April 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

An interesting menu card was received by Captain Rockstrow, of Defence Headquarters, by tho last mail from Egypt. Captain Eockstrow was ono of the contingentors who volunteered for servico in tho New Zealand forces at the time of the South African War, and the menu card is a memento of a dinner which was held in Cairo by members of the Now Zealand First Contingent to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Contingent's departure for the front. Tho anniversary had passed long before the mon arrived in Cairo, but they took tho first opportunity of celebrating tho occasion. The card bears the names of those who wero present at tho. function. They were Major J. G. Hughes D.5.0., Major I-larrowell, Major H. S. Orbell, Major J. Mitchell, Captain A. H. Wilkie, Captain Smith, Captain F, A. "Wood, Lieutenant P. T. Emerson, Lieutenant A. S. Batchelar, Sergeant W. Maliood. Soigeant W. Johnston, and Corporal-Sad-dler J. Aitken.

The state of the employment market in tho chief centres of New Zealand outside Wellington is indicated by tho reports received this week by tho Labour Department. Tho reports concern last week. In Auckland 47 married and 77 single men applied at tho Labour Bureau for work. Thirteen were placed, and work was wanted for 111 more. These may be sent to the Whaiigarci railway works. Employment is needed for seventeen men at Napier. forty married and nineteen single men applied at the Christchurch bureau. l''orty-four of (.he total worn labourers. Nino married labourers lvero sent to the Waiiuatc railway operations, and fifty ujou blili ffaut work.

The dispute between the private hotel workers and tho proprietors will bo hoard beforo tha Conciliation Council on Wednesday noxt.

An Order-in-Counci] published in the Gazette last night empowers tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society to issue licenses to iisli for porch in certain, specified lagoons at an annual fee of five shillings.

A deputation of prominent business men of the City waited upon Mr. Win. Cablo yesterday, and asked him to bo a candidate lor a seat 011 thu Harbour Board, representing City ratepayers. Mr. 11. l'\ Allen, on behalf of the Wellington Provincial Industrial Association, and Mr. 1). Robertson urgod the request. Mr. Cable replied that he would allow himself to be nominated. Ho pointed out that it was eighteen years tsinco ho was first elected to represent tliem 011 the Harbour Board. If elected this timo lie would do his best to serve the ratepayers. Mr. C. B. Norwood, president of the Wellington Provincial Industrial Association, has also consented to stand. Twenty-three of New Zealand's First Contingent for the South African War are serving in the present war. All except three of these are now officers. Tho First Contingent was only 214 strong. Farm labourers wcro in great demand at tho Wellington Labour Bureau a while ago, but lately the demand has slackened off considerably. During March there were very few applications for farm hands. The Department states that there are still some vacancies for boys on farms. Of the forty-four men who were on the books of the Wellington Labour Bureau during the week ending April 3, one was a carpenter, one a farm hand, three were painters, thirty-seven labourers, one an electrician, and one an hotel worker. Employment, was found for thirty-fivo of tho applicants. Unemployment seoms to be practically non-existent in Palmerston North. Reports received at the Wellington Labour Department _ yesterday show that for the week ending April 3 only two people (ono a labourer, the other a domestic servant) applied at the Palmerston North Bureau for work. Both wore place.d in private employment, and the books woro then clear of unemployed. Tho curtain falls to-morrow on the Wellington cricket season. The result ol : the city championship contest is very much in doubt, and it is possible that tho last games of the seasonmay bo exceptionally exciting. Petfluo holds the lead in the contest, but thero is a chance oi' East's defeating the suburban cloven. If that happens, North come on the scone. North are playing University, and seem- likely to score a three-points win. If they do, and Petono loses, North gain the championship by one point. If North gain only a two-points win, and Petoue loses. Petono and North will bo equaly ana will be bracketed as such in the chain, pionship records. If Petone beat East, North cannot win by any means. The impression that a play-olf will be held in the event of a tio between. North and Petone is wrong: the names will be bracketed. Last year, North and Petono tied, and this course was taken. The matches which are to be concluded to-morrow were commenced a week ago. Against Petone, East in their first muings made 181, and when stumps were, drawn for tho day, Petono had lost one wicket for 39. University's first innings against North yielded 57 runs, and North.replied with 12!). In a very little while now the men of the Sixth Reinforcements will be called into camp at Trentham. It is an interesting testimony to the satisfactory progress recruiting is making in New Zealand that the members for tha Seventh Contingent have already been obtained, and that tho total for the Eighth is almost obtained. The following Wellington shopkeepers have been enrolled as an executive comluittee of the Shopkeepers' Defence League:—Messrs. H. ■ Seaton. G. Fownes, L. M'Kenzie, J. R. Burlev, T. Queree, A. A. George, T. Coltman, J. Godber, T. Bush, Willey, Kuch, Henry, X. P. Halpiu, Archer, S. S. Patterson, Evans, O'Brien, G. Dines, W. Smart, J. Brown. ' For the two seats on the Harbour Board allotted to the Wellington Suburbs Combined District, the following nominations were recoived yesterday by the Returning Officer (Mr. W. J. Gardner) :—David James Watson, nominated by Alexander Ferguson and John Ndson Grant; Charles M'Arthur, nominated by James Caldwell Gardner and William Hendry; Richard Walton Short, nominated by Ben. C. Warnes and Leonard Jenness; John William M'Ewan. nominated by Daniel M'lntyre. Daniel Burke, AlfroJ Coles, and Charles Russell. The two sitting members for the Suburbs District are Captain Watson and Mr. M'Ewan. A Press Association telegram was recently forwarded from Timaru stating that George Reginald James, who had pleaded guilty to theft of postal notes for £28 10s., had come up for sentence, which was deferred. The charge was incorrectly stated. James was charged with having secreted 131 postal packets and opened four of thorn. When the case was heard it was stated that nothing had been stolen, defendant having merely put away the packets entrusted to him, instead of delivering them. Judge Sim took the view that the offence was not serious, and admitted accused to probation.

The Mount Albert Borough Council (Auckland) has confirmed as a special order a resolution to borrow £8000, for the purpose of carrying out drainage works in the ■distict. Tito loan will ba repayable at the expiration of 25 years : and will bear interest at the rate of 5 per cent, por annum, the security being a special rate of l-9d. in the £ upon the capital value of all rateable property within tlio borough. The local Natives are very proud of the Maori Contingent which recently left our shores for Egypt (sayß the Riverton "Star"), and befcre leaving they discussed a proposal to the effect that each family should contribute 50 mutton birds of their catch, the whole to' be sent as a gift to the representatives who have enlisted. The proposal met with hearty support, and in due course the Maori warriors should receive from Murihiku a present that will greatly please them.

A night engagement will be fought at Trontham Camp to-night. The troopß to be engaged will bo out in tbe field all to-day, and will not_ reach camp again till to-morrow morning.

The usual quiot of tho peaceful suburb of Wellington South was broken last night by a commotion in a Chinaman's shop in Adelaido Koad. It is alleged that a woman entered the shop of Jo iWali, at about 10.15, and rushed the till, breaking it open and taking the contents.. It is stated that the Chinaman caught hold of tho woman and knocked her downj but that sho got away and ran up Riddiford Street. Constable F. Hedgman was informed by a telegraph boy that something was amiss, and ho subsequently took tho woman back to tho shop and after inquiry srrostod her on a charge of theft of the sum of 17s. 9d.

"Thorough cricket training does not consist merely of learning a pastimo," says Mr. J. H. Board, the English cricketer, who sailed from Wellington yesterday. "Cricket training entails discipline. "Under proper cricket discipline a player does not come out in grubby flannels, he does not forget to clean his boots, and so on. Of course, I don't say they do those things here, but they are done in some places. And there's no need for it, because a man has all the week in which to get his flannels and boots cleaned.'.'

Seven members of the First New Zealand Contingent which sailed for the South African War a little over fifteen years ago are now officers fighting on tho Western frontier in the present war. They are: Major-General Davies, Lieutenant-Colonel Chaytor, Major Maddocks, Major Ward, Major Bartlett, Captain Lindsay, and Captain Miller.

Mr. H. A. Beauchamp, of Kodak, Ltd.j referring to a Napier statement published yesterday to the effect that photographic chemicals had serionsly increased in price, says that the information is incorrect. Photographic materials generally, he adds, advanced considerably at the commencement of the war, but they have since come down to a great extent, so much so that the professional photographer, who uses large quantities, will only have a few pounds extra to pay. for material for a year's operations.

There are about 1200 factories (within the meaning of the Act) in Wellington City and suburbs, and of these 650 have already fulfilled their annual obligation to register. The Inspector of ■Factories remarked yesterday that the applications for registration should be coming in faster, and ho added that in a few days he would be sending out the final notices, which. would include a warning that factory-owners were liable to a fine of £5 for every day the factory remained unregistered. The Wellington area extends far enough to include Lower Hutt and Johnsonville, and the registrations outside that district are handled by the local polico officers.

When it was, decided- to send away a contingent of nurses for service _ in Europe, the Minister of Defence invited persons interested to submit designs for a badge, to be the permanent badge of the Now Zealand Army. Nursing Service. Some 140 designs were submitted, snd a committee, was set tip to examine them and select those most suitable. This committee selected four—those of Mr. T. W. Clayton, of the Valuation Department; Mr. A. Lanrenson, Messrs. G. T. White, jewellers; Mr. Frank Grady, jeweller, Wellington; and Mr. Erie Reeves, of Wellington Tho Minister informed a reporter yesterday that none of these was quite what was desired, and the one for which tenders were called was. prepared by the draftsman of the Defence Department, and incorporated features from several of the designs submitted. Mr. S. S. Stubberfield, of Christchurch, also sent a design which was very close to the one that was finally designed. The successful tenderer for the supply of badges was Mr. C. M. Bay, of Wellington. "I desire," concluded the Minister, "to thank all thoso who were good enough to submit designs."

Mr". W. H. Atack, manager of the Press Association, writes as follows: — The extract from Captain Bean's letter regarding tho Maori, and other New Zealand troops, which you remark in a fobtnoto "The Press agent at Sydney has delayed sending," was hung up by the censorship for a week. It is difficult to see why, as the Australian Press was allowed to publish it, but.it has often happened that censors have refused to pass for New Zealand, or have kept back for days, items to which no objection was found in Australia.

The members of the Japanese Trade Commission which is visiting New Zealand spent, yesterday morning at the office of the Japanese Consul arranging details for their stay- in the City. They were entertained at lunch by the council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, and in the afternoon visited several wholesale houses. To-day tliey will see members of the Cabinet, and m afternoon visit the Gear Company's works at Petone, and the Wellington Woollen Company's mills. To-morrow morning they will visit the Hon. H. D. Bell (Minister of Internal .affairs}.

Two troopers were responsible for a disturbance in Mauners Street yesteriday morning. They are alleged to have assaulted members of _ the military police, and when the civic polico arrested them they violently resisted. As a result of the melee the disturbing duo will, appear before the Magistrate this morning to answer charges of resisting and assaulting. -

"The rabbits are inoreasing in the province," said Major Lnsk, the president' of the Auckland branch or the Farmers' Union, to a "New Zealand Herald" reporter. "We have had communications from different districts complaining or lamenting over the matter. The advice we have , given is the formation of rabbit boards, which are recognised by the State. In every district where the rabbits are becoming i nuisance steps should be taken in the direction indicated. . This course lias proved to be wonderfully successful, and is relieving people of a great deal of trouble and anxiety. The Rabbit Board "icts in much the same manner as ,a drainage board. ,An area,_ generally a large one, is defined, in which the operations of the board take place There is a small contribution, and farmers pay a trifle on each head of stock towards the operations. The board employs an expert, who has charge of-the area, and he is responsible for keeping tho pest down. He can command assistance, and, if taken in hand in the proper manner and in the proper time, an immense amount of good can bo done. In the district between Yvhakatane and Opotiki the scheme has proved entirely successful. The work is done principally by poisoning.' " .