LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2621, 17 November 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, with Australian mails and English mails via Suez, which left here on November 11, roached Sydney on Monday afternoon. 'Rather more latitude is being given to the Now Zealand soldiers at the front in tho matter of letter writing, or rather in the range of domestic matter allowed to go uncensoTcd. For that purpose an official envelope has been issued to the men, which has the following note printed above tho space left for tne address :—"On Aotive Service.—Note.— Correspondence 'in this envelope need not be censored regimentaHy. The contents are liable to examination at the base. The certificate on the flap must be signed by the writer." The certificate referred to reads:—"l certify on my honour that tho contents of this envelope refer to nothing but private and family matters—(Signed) ." This privilege was accorded to the troops in France many months ago.

A resolution passed at yesterday's conference .of tlio Church of England young Moil's Society was to tho effect .that, in view of the crisis through which this nation is passing—a orisis that demands from the whole of the community the utmost self-sacrifice— tbis_ conference calls upon its members to discourage race-neetings and all other unprofitable amusements, and by a consolidation of the whole energies of the people to bring all we have and all we are to the service of the Empjre. The Teachers' Superannuation Board held its quarterly meeting yesterday. Retiring allowances were granted to 15 contributors retiring on account of age or service, amounting to £1660 18s., and ranging from £15 2s. to £232 10s. per annum, and to five contributors retiring on the grounds of medical unfitness for further duty, amounting to £387 3s.,.and ranging from £54 ss. to £131 lis. Two widows and three children of deceased annuitants were granted allowances totalling £75 per annum, and ono widow of a deceased contributor was granted a refund of her late husband's contributions, while her child was granted an allowance of ss. per week. In the cases of members of tho fund who had been killed in action while members of the Expeditionary Force, refunds of contributions to the deceased's estates were approved amounting to £168.

The members of the Miramar unit of tho National Reserve met in the local Town Hall to farewoll two of their number, Messrs. A. M. Stuart and R. E.* Bennett, who are joining Hie Expeditionary Forces. Lieut. R. H. Nimmo, who has taken a great deal of interest in and worked hard for tho unit, was also present as a guest. Major F. Townsend presided over the gathering, which took the form of a smoke concert, several prominent residents of the district were present. In proposing the toast of "The Guests of the ■Evening," tho chairman took the opportunity to'-refer to the regular, attendance at and interest in tho drill which had been manifested by Messrs. Stuart and Bennett,'and concluded by handing to each as a token of remembrance from the unit a wristleti watch. The recipients briefly replied. Toast, song, and story whiled away a very pleasant evening, members and friends contributing to a.very enjoyable programme arranged by Q.M.S. Norton-Taylor. Writing on September 14 to his mothor in Wellington, Staff-Sergeant Iveith Little, who has returned to Anzae after a spell in Egypt; says:— "When I arrived here I got a big "mail, including a; letter from you which was picked up at sea by a French torpedo boat in tlio Mediterranean. This letter was in a bundle with some others, wh'ich had found their way into the water as the result of a steamer being torpedoed." An_ appeal is advertised elsewhere for contributions of flowers for buttonholes, vegetables, fruit (fresh and preseryed)j jam, etc. The gifts will be sold in the streets on Gallipoli Day, Saturday next, on behalf of the Soldiers' Christmas Gift Fund. The committee hopes that the public, wliichhas already contributed generously to similar movements, will again come forward readily on this occasion. Amateur gardeners are invited to send flowers, especially roses, to the care of the custodian, Town Hall, on Friday or Saturday.

At the lecture in the Y.M.C.A. last night, Mr. W. H. George, who presided, announced that the Rose Day Fund had that day readied a total of '£1001, and there was more to come. He had personally been collecting, and on not one occasion had ho met with a rebuff. Three Victoria Street firms, he said, were giving £100 between them. (Applause.) The generous response to tlio" appeal, said Mr. George, showed that the public were beginning to realise that the Y.M.C.A. was organised in Egypt in such a way, and in such close touch with the troops, that if anyone wanted to (Send comforts or help to . the troops the best ivav to do so was to send it through the Y.M.C.A. Money would not bo. tied up in tlio banks for months, waiting for someone to administer it. .Tuesday, December 7, has been fixed as the date'of the performance of "The Messiah" by. tlio Wellington Musical Union.

_ Two motor-cars, driven by ladies, collided yesterday afternoon near the Lower ■Hutt Post Office. One car sustained a damaged wheel, mudguard, bonnet, and step, and tlio other minor damage. Tho drivers received cuts about the face and hands, and were attended to by Dr. Mirams. Again the amassing pranks of coincidence. Sapper Guy Little, of Wellington, knew on his arrival in Cairo tliat his brother, Staff-Sergeant Keith Littlo, was "somewhere in Egypt." He saw a likely-looking man in Cairo with stripes underneath a bi§ helmet, and thought ho would ask him if he knew tho whereabouts of a certain Staff-Ser-geant Little. Just as ho was about to speak, tho man wheeled round —it was the very man in all Egypt that he wanted to meot —his brother. As tho result of tho sale by auction at tho I'eatherston Bowling Club's green of a set of bowls presented by Mr. William Benton, about £90 has been raised towards tho cost of the Soldiers' Convalescent Home at Rotorua. Tho highest bid was £20, from an anonymous donor. Mr. J. 0. Bidwill was tho final purchaser at £8 Bs. At Thursday's meeting of the Onslow Borough Council, Councillor Budd will move: "That the work of taking off tho corner of Izard Road an<l tlio road leading toMona Crescent, provided for on the Estimates, be not put in hand until suoh time as the council may determine later; and that the unnamedstreet referred to bo named Mona Crescent."

A great deal of troublo has been experienced in the Wainiate West district (near Hawera), says an exchange, in consequence of the. employment of a young Bulgarian. The engineer reported to the County Council that he discharged the young man when ho ascertained theirue position. The chairman said that this was a pretty hard case, but tho council could. not employ unnaturalised subjects of enemy countries, nor did tho council want any British subject "loafers." Thoy were not going to employ any young man who could or should go to tho war. Tho ongineer, in a further reference to the yomig Bulgarian, said that lie was married to an English girl. It was cortainly a hardship on biin as lie had recently been dismissed from tho Government Railway Works on account of his nationality. It is now urged that in a case such as this, if a man is to ho excluded from all means of earning a living, the practical course would agpear to ho. for the State to take charge of him during tho war, and to make proper provision for liis young English ■ V \vife.

The War Pensions Board met yesterday to deal with" applications for pensions, but all could not be disposed of at 0110 sitting. Tlio board resumes this evening to clear tho list. The Defence Minister stated yesterday that although work on the now permanent camp at Featherston was progressing satisfactorily, it would be the end of the year before the maximum number of 4500, which the camp was designed to accommodate, could bo taken in. Over £6000 in war tax was collected by the State in Christchurch during race week. Tlio four days of the Canterbury Jockey Club's meeting produced £3981 2s. (3d., and with £2820 10s. from the three days of the Now Zealand Metropolitan Trottinjj Club's Meeting, the total amount ot revenue derived from this source during the soven days was £6801 12s. Gd. Considerable interest is being displayed in the auction for space in connection with the Patriotic Exhibiton to bo held during February next in tho Town Hall. Applications have como in freely for stall space, and Mr. F. Townsend will conduct an auction in tho rooms of the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce this afternoon of spaces for which there are more applicants than one, or for which no applications liavo so far been received. The committee has fixed an upset price for each stall, and only in the event of competition will a purchaser have to pay a- highor price than that fixed by the committee. Any stalls not taken up at the auction will be available for disposal at tho upset price. A large attendance is expected at the auction, and the committee invites the attendance of the public during the prooeedings. All sorts of questions crop up unexpectedly for the decision of Judges of the Supremo Court (says the Chrißtchurch ''Sun"), but a little matter of a decidedly novel character called for the attention of Bis Honour Mr. Justice Denniston in the Supreme Court. Among the witnesses in a caso before the Court was an ex-raihvay porter, who is now a soldier belonging to the Expeditionary Forces. When called to go into tho box ho handed Sir John B'indlay a note. "A littlo matter of etiquette," remarked Sir John Findlay to His Honour. ''Tlio witness wants to know whether he should wear his hat or not. When witnesses give evidence before a military court thev keep their hats on." "I do not know,"*' 6aid His Honour. Witness: "The point is, Sir, in a military court . only a man who is a prisoner has his hat off." "Well," said His Honour, "you are not a prisoner. You will not be suspected. We will take the facts as wo .find them. Yon have your hat off at present, and we will leave it off. But we will not make a precedent- of it."