LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2459, 12 May 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Telegrams at week-end rates addressed to wounded soldiers in Egypt or to other persons inquiring about woundsoldiers are reported to have been refused. The Telegraph Office advise that such telegrams are to bo acoepted at week-end rates without - minimum charge. Telegrams at ordinary rates on any subject are of course to be accepted.

The following notice has been issued by the Telegraph Department for the information of all officers"Three free telegrams may be sent to the Headquarters of. the Expeditionary Forces if addressed to the secretary of the Genera! Post Office, Wellington, about any- member of the forces reported seriously wounded or dangerously sounded. The inquiry must ba briefly worded and must be confined to asking about the condition of the wounded person. It must contain full information; for the identification of that person, including rank, names, regimental number, ana name of unit; in the case of, the Navy the Christian and surname of the person, his rank of rating, his official or divisional number, and the name of the ship or establishment. Inquiries concerning persons at the seat of war in France or Belgium are made through the High Commissioner, who will have to writ© from London by post. The foregoing does not refer to soldiers reported wounded or slightly wounded. Anyone may send a week-end message or a fully-paid message on t'he subject of a wounded soldier or on any other subject addressed to the soldier himself or to a private person. Addressed to Egypt, a week-end message must be about a soldier. Week-end messages, inquiring after the health of wounded soldiers or conveying sympathetic messages for them are_ free from the requirements of a minimum rate. The actual messages sent are charged"' for by the word as follow; —To Egypt, at IHd. per word; to Malta, at 9d.; to Great Britaiii, at 9d."

Some dissatisfaction has been expressed at the method of posting, written reports of the latest war news at the General Post Office, it having been contended that t'hese were difficult to read, and impossible to decipher from a few yards distant. A change lias now been made, and the reports are printed in bold, black typo, which permits of the news being read from a distance.

e Colonel Logan's weekly report on the r health of the troops at Samoa is as j tinder:—"Health of troops good. Headquarters: Captain J. G. Roache, enr terio fever. Samoan Relief Force; Ser- » geant R. Oliphant, lacerated fingers; jj Corporal W. J. Heasley, dengue fever; 6 Privates G. Morrisey, colitis; R. T. Nelson, meatitis; R. T. Robertson, tonsilitis; T. G. Risk, dengue fever, j All doing well." 3 The intercessory service in connection , with the Lusitania tragedy is to be 5 held in Newtown Park on Sunday week , next.-; ! ' The Prime, Minister stated yesterday ! that there was jjow less ground for anxiety as to a shortage of butter for , local needs. There are 55,000 boxes of butter in store to-day, and the fnc--1 tories are still working, although on a 1 reduced scile, <iwin(? to the shortage of milk. He repeated his previous state- . ment that all export would' cease if . there was any increase in the retail ( price. i The president of the New Zealand i Moderate League, speaking on she ques. ( tion of liauor reform'at a- farewell tendered to Mr. W. B. Pearson by his fel-low-members of the Central : Executive vesterday, stated that the league would j deDutationise the Government as soon ! as arrangements could be made for the Prime' Minister to receive them. They .would ask that the whole of their suggestion* of reform should be carried into effect, and in order that the matter might receive the most careful investigation, would urge the immediate setting up of an impartial Royal Commission of Inquiry. The prominence given to the liquor question by events arising out of the war in Europe would moan that the subject would now be much ■more thoroughly studied than formerly, The fact that the British Government had declined, to _ entertain the suggestion of Prohibition in-spite of an apparent need for drastic action, and instead were legislating for better regulation and control, was, he added, the strongest possible endorsement of the moderate viewpoint as propounded bv the league, and should act as an added stimulus to those who were working for true temperance. • The Auckland wirelesß station on the top of the Auckland Post Office has been closed down, says a Press Association telegram. The authorities consider that the powerful station at Awanui in North Auckland, which is in direct telegraphic and telephonic communication with Auckland is sufficient for all radio pitrposes in Auckland. Tho Auokland instruments are not to be dismantled for the present. Many telegrams and letters from the relatives of New Zealanders wounded in the Dardanelles have been received at the Prime Minister's office, in reply to messages of sympathy that have been sent out. ' These replies all show a high- patriotic spirit on the part of the senders. One tologfam recoived is as follows :—"Sorry to hear that my only •ion has been wounded. I am proud bevond words to know that my son had offered his life for his country. 'Ho that hath no sword, lot him sell his garments andvbuy one.'", A letter signed by both the mother and father of a wounded soldier buys : "Your very sympathetic telegram to hand ro our bov, who was wounded at the Dardanelles. I hope and pray that ho will soon be able to get back with his mates into the firing line, and help to dofeat the 'unspeakable Turk and the .German Hun.'»' A letter has been received by tho Primp Minister from a Now Zealandor, 'who has just recently visited all the principal ports in Australia. He points out that New Zealand is far ahead'of Australia in the excellent management and energy she has displayed in tho 1 matter of getting hor proihice away. In Tasmania, the letter adds, though it , is not an average _ season, half the apples remain unshipped, and the fruit* , farmers aro complaining bitterly. Meat < and wool also cannot be shipped, though ' it is a verv short season there on ac- j count of the drought. Wool is 'still stacked on many of the stations awaiting shipment. The correspondent ' ntat«s til at in these respeots the Aus- , tralians are fully cognisant of the splen- , did work done by the New Zealand Gov- f eminent. g j At a meeting at Dannevirke tn Mon- j day evening to stimulate rccroitinc and devise means for providing soldiers -] from the district with comforts, a Red t Cross Fund was established, £300 be- 1 ing subscribed in the room, headed by I rift of £100 by Mr. G. Hunter, M.P. a s s

i A meeting of Khandallah ratepayers, presided over by Mr. Coivles, was held at Khandallah last night, when it was decided to form a Khandnllah Batepayers \ Association. . A temporary comnnttee consisting of Messrs. Cowles, Harkness, Grant, and Stafford was sec ui), to arrango rules and regulations, and to report to a further meeting to be held on May 20. Mr. R. A. Nicol was appointed secretary pro tem.

The Auckland Automobile Association' y. is asking the Government what fie in--1 tentions are with/regard to the assets ■- of the Continental Tire Company, the 6 affairs of which are mow being administered by the Government. The asßooia. .. s ->r ays it makes largo purchases of - -i , but does not want to support any I German institution, and does not proj pose tb buy Continental tires if the j. muney so obtained is to be kept in trust and handed over to Germans after the war. —Press Association. The Lower Hutt police reported last evening that the party of three which journeyed to Orongorongo at the weekend for the purpose of pig-hunting, and who were stated to be missing, have k arrived borne safely. i r In anticipation of the opening of the ' Parliamentary session painters and cleaners are busily engaged at N Parlia- ? ment Buildings getting everything in readiness to receive the new legislators. The woodwork in all the passages is being given a fresh coat of white paint, while the carpets are up for their annual shake. The work end tailed at the annual cleanings is suffi--0 cient to require the services of a pood e number of _ workmen, and an appreci- - able effect is made on the labour mars ket. ® Matters concerning the 'Wellington' Technical College building were remark- " ed on at last evening's meeting of the j Industrial Association. The cnairman v 1 (Mr. C. B. Nprwood) said that it was. quite time Wellington got a better building for such important work. Mr. , R. J. Hardie Shaw said that the class- | rooms were not only too small, but were unfitted for the uses to which they were _ put. Other members agreed with these ~ observations, but thought that little change could be looked for at the present time. v j ■ The New Zealand contingent in Egypt; j is attracting m-ich notioe in the Italian: 3 papers, not ojiiy because the men are 9 fine fellows, well found, but on account . of their efficiency, writes an Italian correspondent. In fact, the colonial 3 troops excite more attention than ll fessional. Tommies, because they _ arm - volunteers instead of trained soldiers, f whose calling is to fight. The papers j publish all. news received and place it 3 side by side, so that one can easily sea , how one account contradicts the other, ) and the truth merely becomes evident . when one sees where the next action is - fought. 0 The City Corporation auditor (Mr. 'A'.J T. Clark) has completed the audit of the tramways and electric lighting ac--0 counts. In both cases the audit is conclusive, and the, report satisfactory; .to the management of-the undertaking. The annual convention of the Freee masons of New Zealand will be opened - at 10 a.m. tc-day'in the Concert Cham- , ber of the Town Hall, for the transacv tion of masonic business. At 7 p.m.a in the Concert Chamber the Grand a Master, MrT Dougall, of Christchurch, e will be •re-installed. for a further term' of office. During the afternoon the s wives of the delegates are to be enters tallied at afternoon tea at the Kelburn . Kiosk, and in the evening, as a party, . they will visit the King's Theatre. On ~ Thursday morning at 10 o'clock the . delegates meet again for the transaoV tion of business, and in the afternoon ' the delegates and their wives go to Day's Bay, and on Thursday evening ' there will be a concert in the Town • Hall. 1 . Both the Prime Minister and the Min.-' s istor of Defence have received many ap- . plications from mechanics who are pre- - pared to go Home to assist in the manur facture of munitions of war for the Im- . perial Govornment. Mr. Allen states . that he has twice cabled to. the authori- : ties asking if they would accept the serp vices of these men, but no reply haa l been received yet. - The twenty-seventh annual r&< . port of the Courtenay Place Congreea- - tional Church states that during the i past year the Sunday congregations, both morning and evening, have consid- [ erably increased, and at the evening services there are few vacant places. ' Twelve new members have been receiv- , ed: ten have been transferred to other , churches, or the names removed by revision or death; leaving a net increase of two. The membership now stands | at 127. of whom 23 are resident away from Wellington, but still retain their membership; s The finances _ of the church are in a healthy_condition. The total amount raised during the year for all purposes was £643. .The Sunday, offertories show an advance for the year of nearly £100. Of the'total of £353 received through the offertories, £163 Bs. 2d. has been contributed through the envelope system, an increase for' the vear of £66 19s. 2d. _ The sum of £101 4s. 2d. has for the foreign work of the London Missionary Society, £45. for home missions, and £18 for a posibles deficit in the C.M.S. grants. The sum of £26 19s. was also contributed to the War Distress Fund. The newly-formed Ladies' Guild during the first vear of its" operations raised £82 17s. iOd. ■ _ A somewhat unusual incident was witnessed by a Gore.clergyman.on Sunday last while proceeding by motors bicycle on his parochial duties.' Approaching tie bridge near Maitland he saw coming towards him an unfamiliar object which he at first took to be a. black hen with a broken wing'. On coming nearer he saw that a weasel had fastened its teeth in a half-grown black rabbit and was dragging it away. The weasel, however, missed its meal, for evidently frightened by 'the approach' of the bicyole it relinquished its hold on its victim and plunged into the river. WHAT DH. POKRITT, OF WANGANBL SATS ABOUT THB STUDEBAKER. The firm or Adams, lita., aoes not .handle second-grade goods. It holds the agencies for the Silent Knight Minerv car. the Humber car, the Triumph motcycle, and the B.S.A. motor-cycle, ( last, bat not least, it. has added to list of agencies, the Studebaker car, believing it to be in every way the best of all American cars. During the last two years some hundreds of Studebakers have been sold in this country, and in every .instance the car has given perfect satisfaction. He.'e is what a North. Island Studebaker owner, Dr. Porritt, of Wanganui, has to say of his experienco.— "Just a few lines to tell you how pleased I am with the Studebaker yon recommended me to buy. As you know. I have got my second one now. I had the' a-seater a year, and) during all that time had soma hard running, and never had the slightest trouble with it. I don't wish for anything better than the Sseater as. a frimily car, but for ae, of course, in my . doctor's work, the 3-seater is more convenient, and now it is hard to realise how we ever did without the self-starter, ar.d electric lights, neither of which have ever given me a qualm. I would always be glad to tell anyone how satisfied I have been,with my two Studebaker cars (I have had five different cars now, and so have had a little experience of them) if it is any help to you, but I imagine you don't want much helping, as they seem already to have established their popularity." The prices of the new 1915 Studebakers pie:—2s h.p. Five-seater, £345; 25 h.p, Three-seater. .£345;' Six-cylinder Five, seater, .£455; Six-cylinder Seven-seater, ,£•165. Wo ar« now booking orders lot Studebakers. to arrive at an early date. Adams, Ltd., Studebaker Importers, Christchurch. District Agents Tourist' Motor Co., Hastings; Adams, Ltd., Pal. merston N. and Wanganui; Newton Kins. Taranaki; Tho.Grovo Motor Co., Wellinsv ton; Hutchinson Bros., Eketahnnaf Tombs and Co.; Hamilton; J. C. Mercerl Kelson; E. A. Banieou, DanriAvirks; A. and K. Donald, Pahiatua; J. H. Littk Ifastertoa,—Adv^k