LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2598, 21 October 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Under the Soldiers' Gift Club schcma pest parcels separately addressed to members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on active service abroad may bo combined in one parcel. Hitherto the post office has required such combined parcels to be addressed to the officer commanding <1 regiment; but in. order to avoid probable indeiinito delay in delivery, it now requires tliem to bo addressed to the officer commanding a unit. The separate packages contained in one parcel should, therefore, be for members of the same unit. Tils import duties on wheat/ and flour, which were removed by the Government on March 22, aro to bo reimposed on and after November 1 nest. Tho duties are 9d. per 1001b. on wheat and Is. per 1001b. oil flour. Tho suggestion was made at yesterday's confereiico of the Veterans' Association that members of tho various local associations throughout the country should attend all recruiting meetings and do what they could to inspire yomiE men to enlist. Various speakers thought that if the veterans- attended the meetings wearing their old war medals a good example would be set to the younger generation. The suggestion met ivitil hearty approval, and is to bo carried out by members. For the future tho Wellington Liedertafel will be known as the AVelliugton Male Voice Choir, for reasons too obvious to particularise. The choir's next concert will lie given in the Town HaV Concert Chamber on Tuesday evening next. ' Corporal William Juriss (formerly of the Cliristchiireh Fire Brigade, and now of the 4th Howitzer Battery at Oallipoli) writing; on September 4 to liis brother, Mr. Harry Juriss, of Wellington, says: "Wo had' another big fight about two weeks ago, 'and our howitzers fell in for some more good work, mowing down the. Turks in good style. Wo are now between Gaba Tepe and Suvla, and as 1 am writing (the letter is a scrawl oil an envelope) one ofour battleships is firing big shells into the enemy trenches,' They all say we will bo here for the winter. . . A good many of the boys are sick. 1 am one of th& few who' are not. Their sickness is caused through tho flies —there are million's of them, and they worry us more than the Turks and Germans put together." Applications are being called by ; thc Government for membership of . the Hoard of Trade, to be set up under the Cost of Living Act of last session. At to-day's meeting of the Hospital Board, Mr. F. T. Moore will move: '•That after December 31' next no case of attempted; suicide or of delirium tremens bo admitted to the Hospital." The Y.M.C.A. are erecting a large marquee, 110 ft. by 38ft., for tho convenience of the men in training at May'morn Camp. Games, such as quoits, bagatelle, chess, draughts etc., arc provided, in addition to all facilities lor correspondence and reading. A piano is also on tho ground, and the men will be served from totfn as occasion/offers by' concert parties. The association lias arranged for Mr. William Tavlor, of tho Christeluirch Y.M.C.A., to take charge. Ho arrived ill camp yesterday, and the social marquee, capable of accommodating 800 to 1000 men, will soon be in full swing. Mr. Varncy, of the locvil association, will bo pleased for gifts of books, magazines, games, and gramaphono and records. Tho quarterly meeting of the officials of tho Wanganui Methodist Circuit; was hold on Tuesday last, the Rev. T. G. Hammond, chairman of the district, presiding. There was a large attendance, thoroughly representative ' of all branches. It was decided by a unanimous vote to invite the Rev. H. L. Blamires, who is at present absent as chaplain with the Forces, to contmuo to hold the position of superintendent of the circuit, and to cablo this decision to Mr. Blamires. During his absence Mrs. Blamires continues to do excellent work for the church. Conference is to lie asked to reappoint the Rev. John Wixon as 'pulpit "supply" until\Mr. Blamires finally returns. • ■ The never-ceasing wonders of coincidence were never perhaps so remarkably illustrated as was the case in connection with a Nov/ Zealand soldier, with .Wellington relatives, serving his country abroad. Feeling tho need of something outside tho ordinary fare provided by his country, he entered into the'canteen and bought a cake "that looked like mother's." On cutting it open'ho found a silver match-box with his own name inscribed thereon, and 'Inside the match-box was a sovereign. The eako had been-made by his mother's own hands, and the tokens of love included in the ingredients were jjlaced there in the fond belief that there eoul;I be no miscarriage. How it found way to the canteen was never explained, but the marvel that it should havo heen purchased by the one to whom it had been forwarded seems almost incredible. Good work is being done in recruiting at the Town Hall. Up till 5 p.m. yesterday over 400 recruits had been registered there, and a steady flow is maintained daily. It is held by some that very much moro satisfactory results would be obtained if the central recruiting office were ' established i on Lambton Quay, in Willis, or Manners Street, whore the greater bulk of the population pass and re-pass. Tho Town Hall is rather out-of-the-way to catch the "man-in-the-street," to whom it is almost as obscure as the Bucklc Street ■ Drill Hall. A correspondent suggests that if a patriotic propertyholder could be induced to give the uso of premises right on one of the main streets, of tli'o. oily, that there would bo a substantial increase in the number enlisted. In answer to a letter from tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), the Minister of Defonce (Hon. J. Allen) has n;ritten that a medical man will bo available to attend at the Town Hall for sufficient time during the day to meet the demand. It has been officially denied in Berlin that the Hamburg-Amerika and tho Nord-deutscher-Lloyd Transatlantic Lines are bankrupt. This (states a Geneva telegram of July 29) may be true from a purely legal point of view, as the shareholders havo taken no public action in the Courts, but there is little doubt that both companies aro insolvent from a business point of view. The Nord-deutscher-Lloyd Lino has issued the following , circular, which reached Switzerland through Basle:— "For German navigation on tho seas, tho declaration of war against France', Russia, and England represents for us the most terrible catastrophe. All our navigation since the end of July, 1914, lias been paralysed by tho insecurity of the political position, and it was completely stopped at the beginning of August. In'comparison with 1913 the number of our passengers has diminished by 284,582. In the first seven months of 1914 there wore 376,795, against GG2,385 in 1913. Since August last both tho passenger and goods traffic has entirely ceased." Tho report adds that it- is not yot possible to estimate the great losses incurred by tho two companies, but it appears that they owe several millions sterling and cannot pay their creditors, and as their indebtedness increases daily by leaps and bounds the question of bankruptcy is only a formal legal matter. Flowers were sold yesterday in Mastertoii in aid of t.lio Rod Cross Fund. iimVn nui« of 8131 wna mliaed- A flnti ia to bo to-div lor tho same fund,

So far the sum of £24 ss. has been collected in Napier towards the Italian Widows' and Orphans' Fund. Tlio Court of Appeal was occupied throughout yesterday with tho heaving of further argument ill the appeal case, Wellington City Corporation v. Kichardson, M'Cabe and Co. Counsel for the respondent was still addressing tho Court at 4.30 p.m., when tho case was adjourned until half-past 10 o'clock tills morning. The I'etone Borough Council has accepted the offer of tlie Dominion Motor Vehicles, Ltd., of a 3-tou chassis for a bits. The chassis is to lie dispatched from England almost immediately, and the bus is expected to ho running by January next. Colonel G. Cosgrove Chief Scout Commissioner, estimates the number of Boy Scouts in New Zealand to be 20,000. The. Loughusli flaxmill will, says our Carterton correspondent, continue operations till tho ond of the year, having acquired a considerable area of flax at l'onatahi. About 250 members of the Wellington Waterside Workers' Union were present at a meeting of the union, which was presided over by Mr. F. Curtice, president, last evening. Amongst other questions discussed was one concerning the places of engagement. It was finally resolved that a ballot bo taken on Wednesday, November 3, as to whether the places of engagement be as now constituted or as they were previous to the 3913 strike. The trouble on tlio Komata. has been settled, and the vessel left port for West-port' last evening, after having been delayed for several days. Tho Shipping and Seamen's Amendment Act of 1903 provides for the vessel to carry three firemen, two trimmers, and two greasers. To this manning -scale the union has objected, and after several conferences the Union Company gavo way and acceded to the union's demands, viz., six firemen and three greasers. It is contendedby the Seamen's Union that the manning scale, according to the act. is inadequate for the amount of work that has to bo performed'in the stokehold. There ara six vessels affected. All of them have six furnaces, and thus, under the old manning scale, means that one fireman lias had to attend to six furnaces in a watch. The executive _of tho Seamen's Union met and discussed the whole question with the result that it was found that out of thirteen vessels affected seven were carrying six firemen and three greasers —the quota the union desires. "Our Maoris have made a great name," says a- New Zealander, writing from Gallipoli. "They charged hill after iiill,.and drove tho enemy flying. The Maori' wounded were as happy as children, and quite proud of their -wounds. A pretty charge was made by our boys supported by tho Gurkhas. It was thrilling, ancl very successful. There is a certain hill here over which thousands of Turks charged, but our machine-guns and artillery got right into them, and now there are many thousands of dead piled up. The country here is mostly high hills and plenty of scrub. There aro a few farms, but everything has gone to ruin." When addressing the Ashburbn County men who left on Wednesday for Trentham, tho Rev. Father J. J. O'Donnell stated that a- report had been circulated to tho effect that he had advised members of his flock not to volunteer for active service. In refuting such an unfounded and base charge he dared not trust himself to the use of tho King's English. He had to say, however, that tho charge was absolutely false, and whilst lie said that he would like to add tlio suggestion that the people who had so maliciously spread such calumnies concerning him could be better employed at a time of national crisis like the present. He asked: How could anybody with a sense of decency do anything but strive to swell tho armies that were out to fight ill the sacred cause of patriotism and freedom ? Who, he asked, would bo so base as not to fight for freedom and for tho honour of the country of their birth? He said he trusted ho would hoar no more of such vile and untruthful rumours. / There died last week at Tikorangi (says the "Ta-ranabi Herald'') a wellknown Native resident of Egmont Road, named Hone Puruwliare (hotter known as "Johnnie Bull"). Johnnie was popularly supposed to bo in the neighbourhood of 120 years of ago. Residents now past middle age can remember him as being an old man when they wero children, and he liimself used to 'narrate that when the Waikatos raided the Natives in these parts, nbout 1820, he, then a young mau "with hair on his face" (according to his own description), was carried away with his sister, who was taken as a wifo by one of t'ho raiding chiefs; "Johnnie Bull" , was kept by his captives until'tlio war ended, when he was returned to this district. He retained his Vigour to the last, working about' liis place and making frequent visits to town. Here he was a_ well-known figure, being always barefooted, bent with age, and with a honic-mado walk; ing-sfcick. He was a half-brother to Moro Tahana, who, until her death at Puketot-ara some three years ago, was equally well known in New Plymouth. Those who have endeavoured to trace Johnmo Bull's cor reel, age are' convinced by information gained that ho must have been at least-120 years old at the time of his death. Writing from Gallipoli on August) 23 to Mrs. K. Girdler, of Dargaville, Private F. W. Bullott, of the loth, 'North Auckland, Company, refers to a gallant exploit on tho part of Sergeant W. Brydo'n, who is now invalided in tho Auckland Hospital. He states that Australians, aro never tired of reciting a brave deed of Brydon's, and the manner in which lie led an attacking party of ■ them. They consider that only Brydon's bravery saved them from annihilation, and aver that when they seo him again t'hey will carry hiin shoulder high. In .the course of an interesting lotter from'Gallipoli, Captain A. J. Cross, late' of Wellington College, says: "I have been right'through the thickest of the fighting, both here and before Acln Baba, and Providence lias been pleased to keep me safo and unharmed, though men next to mo have been killed so close that I have been splashed with their blood. On one occasion, during a seven-hours' fight for tho possession of a ridge, tho man on my right and the man on my left were killed within iv few scconds. Incidents such as these make one think of the real tilings of life, and make one wonder why ono should bo thus spared when worthier men aro taken. I should like to be able to tell you what it feels liko to bo in action, but I'm afraid I can't. Morciful Providence clouds a man's reason with .the excitement of battle, and the sense of one's responsibility as an officer, with the men's lives dopondin" on one's-orders; helps to keep one from thinking of one's own danger. My own sensations just beforo we get Mi'e word Go! are "Just the same as you all know on tile football Gold on the day of an important match. Onco the whistle has blown, and you are off, the worst is over. When tho _ evening comes, and we are 'dug in' in a- now position, we get time to look over the Mit .and it seems like Hie memory of a dream. Our company .has made three bayonet charges, and, to bo perfectly candid. I hope never to be in another. I have yet to meet the man who says ho enjoyed it." Chevrolet— Hero is an opportunity for n reliable up-to-dato motor-car at a reasonible price- Equipment includes only acoe«ovies of proven qualities, such _as /niiii'i carburettor, Connecticut igmfion, (utolite self-starter, grey muffler. These L on lv EOme °f splendid feature: of the famous Chevrolet car. Full par. licillars will bo mailed yon if you commimicatf with Ths Dominion Motor tahiclWi Ltd,, 6S Courteuay Place,-Advt