LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2467, 21 May 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

■» Tbo Itotorua, with the first contingent of New Zealand nurses on board, arrived without mishap at Plymouth on Wednesday. Some time ago the Prime Minister made arrangements with tho owners of the ship lluritai that tho steamer should come out to New Zealand in ballast to load frozen meat, and on behalf of the New Zealand Government ho agreed to pay £3000 to the owners. The Muritai has come and gone long ago. Yesterday the Prime Minister received a cablegram informing him that the Board of Trade would pay the £5000 out of profits made on the sale of New Zealand meat not required for Army supplies. In addition to the houses already placed at tho disposal of the Government for our convalescent soldiers, tho Hon. 11. Heaton Rhodes, Minister of Public Health, has received a communication from Mr. J. N. Williams, of Frimley, Hawke's Bay, offering his house for the same purpose. ; The first of tho winter term holidays (one week) in connection with the State schools of the Wellington education district commences on Monday, May 81. As Empire Day (June 3).oocurs within the week, the holiday will havo no special significance as far as tho school ohildren are concerned. Yesterday afternoon the Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey), tho Defenoe Minister (the Hon. J. Allen) and the Minister in charge of Hospitals (the Hon. R. H. Rhodes) visited Trentham Camp. The immediate purpose of their visit was to bid farewell to the staff cf the Stationary Hospital to leave New Zealand to-day, under the command of Dr. M'Gavin, one of the leading surgeons of this city. All three Ministers made very brief speeches of farewell, wishing all the Btaff the best of the fortunes of war, and also thanking them on behalf of the New Zealand people for offering themselves for this most important branch of State service. A movement is on foot among tho sports bodies in Auckland to arrange that one Saturday be given to drilling oil suitable men for each Saturday given to sport. The Hockey Association Executive "is enthusiastically in favour of the proposal, and the controlling football also support the idea. Other similar bodies in,other cities are to be approached.—(Press. Association.) A meeting of creditors in the estate of Chas. Coates Howard, store-keeper, Chatham Islands, was held before tho Depiity-Offioial Assignee yesterday. The liabilities in the estate were shown at £1068 12s. Gd., and the assets at £708 195., including stock-in-trade, £205, and book debts £460. As most of the creditors in tho estate reside in Chrlstchurch, and a 6 there is a direct boat from there to the Chatham Islands, it was decided to apply for a tiansfer to Chrisfcchuroh. A confirming meeting will be held on June 2, and an application will then be made to the Court for a transfer. Ah error ocourred in our report of the Victoria College meeting yesterday, regarding the award of the Jacob Joseph Scholarships. The fact about these scholarships is that one of them was awarded some time ago to Mr.' W. Heine, and the second was awarded on Wednesday night to Miss E. M. Shlrer. The Wellington Hospital Board Tesolved yesterday that no recommendation should be made in regard to the letter from the ELorowhenua County Council in which the council stated that it would not pay any further hospital levies. A resident of Papeete, who was a passenger to Wellington by the Marama yesterday, said that beyond clearing away the debris caused by the fire, there has been little done in the direction of restoring the business part of the town, which suffered so severely by the bombardment of the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (since sunk at the Falkland Islands). Hie old French gunboat Zelee, which was sunk beside the wharf, still lies peacefully on the coral strand. All that has been done by the aid of divers is to remove her masts and guns. And out on the harbour beach, almost high and dry, lies the German cargo steamer Walkure, which the _ Zelee, on the proudest day of hor existence, captured and escorted to Papeete* where she was hcled by the guns of the Scharnhorst. Tho Walkure is not _ very seriously damaged, but no serious attempt has been made to refloat her. ' Five Chiuese were through passengers from Papeete to Sydney by the Marama. They are en route to China. The adjourned marine inquiry into the stranding of the Union Steam Ship Company's Marama on' the coast of California, hear San Francisco-, on Jannary 27 last, was set down for hearing at the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon before Mr. W. G. Riddeil, S.M., and Captains J. W. Reed and C. F. Post (assessors). * As the Marama did not arrivo from Sail Francisco till the afternoon, it was decided to continue the inquiry at 10 o'clock this morning.

Charitable, aid was given by the Wellington Charitable Aid Board to sixtyfour persons during the month of April, Cash uranfs and vents given totalled ' £to 10s. (id. A movement is on foot amongst the Carterton tradespeople to close their premises at 5.30 o'clock during the winter ovenings, Thursdays and Saturdays excepted. The matter is to be considered at a meeting of tlio tradespeople to be held presently. The following motion is to be moved by Mr. W. Cable at noxt week's meeting of the Harbour Board:—"That tho Wellington Patent Slip Company, Limited, having refused to comply with tho resolutions passed by the Board on April 2i, the whole position be reviewed by the board, and steps taken to remedy the deadlock. Tho correspondent of tho Melbourne " Argus" with the troops in Egypt recently wrote: —When it comes to a. question of endurance it would seem that tho soldier recruitcd from tho occupations which require riioro brain than muscle is able at least to hold his own with the man whose body has become toughenod by hard work. On a rccenfc long in arch inquiries uiado amongst the troops who turued'back showed that all except 0110 had previously earned his living by his hands, and the exception described himself as a professional walker! Medical statistics taken in camp also load to tho conclusion that tluisd who develop sore feet are usually men accustomed to hardships iii thoir ordinary callings. The young soldier who has played a littlo football, a little tennis, and can swim, seems to bo equal to tho best,. He is cheerful when others are becoming irritated, and in tho final rush of an assault he is, as a nilo. in the forefront. Perhaps tho host, volunteer of all is the young farmer, who docs not know the word "fatigue." Ho enlrrido all day, inarch all "ifcht, sleep anywhere. Tho sum of jfel.l was raised for the Belgian Fund by means of concerts given on the Marama oa the run down from San Ifxiuocisco.

A loan of £6000 has been granted by tlie Public Trustee to the 'Wellington Hospital Board for the purpose of having improvements and auditions made to the hospital building. On Saturday next the "Violets" intend to tour the streets of Wellington in the interests of the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. They will be accommodated in motor-cars, and will sing their songs and choruses at prominent street corners to induce the money to flow. Tho Onslow Borough Council last night unanimously disapproved of tho Hospital and Charitable Aid Board's proposal to purchase a dairy farm. The following are extracts from tho April report of Dr. Basil Adams, the "Wellington Hospital Board's tuberculosis medical officer: —"I propose attending every morning (except Friday) at 10 a.m. in- the jlispensary for administrative purposes, and on Wednesday and Saturday at 11 a.m. for tho examination of old and new patients. Scddon Annexe: I have examined all eases except those very recently admitted. but I should like my position put on a clear footing; there. I propose visiting there for tho present on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at a tune to bo arranged. I should like the patients admitted nominally under my care, and direct their treatment. An effort should be made to get cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, especially those with, cough and expectoration, out of tho general wards. It is not riplit that they should be kept there, _ either for themselves or for other patients. Tho majority of cases of this disease are Hot urgent cases, and admission to Seddon annexes should practically come through tho dispensary."

Respecting tho dental branch of tha Wellington Public Hospital, the report for April shows that the number of outpatients is fifty-nine, and the number of in-patients is seven. The following members of the hon. dental staff were in attendance during the month: Drs. Jones, L. P. Daviss, W. Mantell, 0. V. Ellis, T. E. K. Burgess, C. Woods., E P. Jtishworth, andM. E. Denniston. Nurse Hun?erford took up lier duties on April 28. Wednesday, July 14, will be observed as a public holiday in the Government offices throughout the Dominion for tha celebration of Arbor Day. ' The annual report of tha City's Chief Sanitary Inspector states that 403 cases of infectious diseases were reported by the Hospital Board during the year ended March 31 last. They were as follow:—Scarlet fever, 138; diphtheria, 74; tuberculosis, 79; enteric fever, 11 j blood poisoning, 7; chicken pox, 94. "There are now 4611 buildings in the outlying districts of Wellington, being an increase of 211 for the year," says the Chief Inspector (Mt. J. Doyle) in. his annual report. "The drainage department Teports 600' additional drainage connections, so it will be seen that j i.he work of linking these districts with the main sewers, considering the unavoidable difficulties, is progressing satisfactorily." \ A seller of "Qaeen Carnival" tickets who was ejected from a tramcar bv a conductor has laid his complaint before the Mayor. His Worship has stated in reply that no one is allowed to sail tickets for any organisation without first obtaining tho consent of the com- ■ mittee, and as there has so far been no s meeting of the Tramways _ Committee "• since the election, no permission could have been grapted. The position is made interesting by the fact that the tramway men have a candidate for the Carnival Queenship in Dr. Platts-Mills, and up till last evening conductors were doing their level best to sell tickets to passengers. If this is to be allowed in regard to one candidate, others may establish a claim to be allowed the same privilege, and the lot of passengers will not bo a very enviable one during the next six weeksThe last issue of the Labour Department's Journal .states that in Wellington the conditions of trade and labour continue satisfactory, and_ unemployment is not very prevalent in the city. The skilled trades are up to standard, and the outlook for the winter is reassuring. The textilo. trades are still very busy, and a considerable amount, of overtime has been worked. The turnover in the retail trade is up to expectations. The fine weather conditions have contributed to the excellent employment outlook. One or two large bricklayers' jobs have been put in hand during the month, and employment is fair. In all building > trades the same thin" applies. During the month 284 unskilled labourers applied at tho local bureau for work, but, generally, thore had been less evidence than usual of the slackness of work which comes at the end of the dairy season. All applicants had been plac- , ed. Calls for more men for carpenters, engineers, bushme". and coal-miners were still unsatisfied. A number of Dunedin business men tearing their offices shortly after 1 o'clock on Monday for the luncheon adjournment, took part in a rather exciting "paper chase," and incidentally earned the gratitude of the leading character in the chase. It appears (says the "Otago Daily Times ) that at the hour mentioned, an officer of a local public body, detailed to pay out a considerable sum of money, was proceeding along Crawford Street, his vouchers and cheques—one gentleman stated there must have been a hundred of them—in his hand. A gust of wind suddenly snatched the bunch of papers from the officer's hand, and chaos immediately reigned. Enveloped in the | whirling mass of papers, the officer ' vainly' fought against tho odds, in an | endeavour to gather them in But the business men aforesaid quickly summed up the position, and after a livelv ten minutes, a breathless officer, crumpled papers clasped firmly to hi# breast, sought the privacy of an adjacent office and busily set himself to rearrange the precious documents. It is believed that all were recovered.

WTT4T DR. POBIUTT, OF WaNGANTTI, SAYS ABOUT THE STUDEBAKEH. The firm or ACams, lk., ones not handle second-grade goods. . bolds the asencies for the Silent Knight Jliserva car the Hurnber car, the Triumph motorI cycle, and the B.S.A. motor-cycle, and last, but not least, it has added to its list of agencies the StiidebAker car, bfr Having it to be in every way the best of all American cars? During the last two veavs some hundreds of Stuaebnkera havo been sold in this country; and in every instance the car has given perfect satisfaction. He.'e is what A s;orth Island Studebaker owner. Dr. Porritt, of Wanganui, has to say of his eipenenoo:"Just a few lines to tell you hovr pleased 1 am. with the Studebaker you recommended me to buy. As you know, 1 have got my Second one now. I h.-d the o-seater a year, and during all that time had some hard running, and had the slightest trouble with It. ,\ dnJl . t wish for anything better than the &■ swter as a family car, but for me of course, in liiy doctor s work, the 3-seater | h more convenient, and flowJ is hard tn realise how we ever did Without the self-starter and electric lights, neither of which havo ever given me a qualm. I would always be glad to tell anyone how satisfied I have been with mv two Studebaker cars (I have had live different .cars now and so have liad a little cxperionce of tiiem) if it is day help to'vou, but I imagine vou don't waut much helping, ns they seem already lo have established thnir popularity. The prices of the nfw 1915 Studebakera. aro:—2s h.p. Sweater. -£345; 25 h.p, Thriio-seater, .£345; Six-cylinder Fiveseft.ter, .£455; Six-Cylinder ' Revon-seater, .£465. We art now booking orders for Studebakers to arrive at an early date. Adams, Ltd., Studebaker Importers, Christehurch. District Agents:—Tourist Motor Co., Hastings; Adams, Ltd.,. Palmerston N.«and Wahjramii; Newton King, Taranaki; The Grovo Motor Co., WGlliigton; Hutchinson Bros., Eketahunaj .Tombs and Co., Hamilton; .T. C. Mercer, Nelson; E. A. Rnmi-ou, Dannevirke; A. and E. Donald, Pahiatua; J. H. Little, Mostertori.—Adrt, 1