LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2632, 30 November 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The mails Which left Auckland by R.M.S. Niagara on October 18 and connected with the R.M.S. Sonoma at Sydney, arrived in London on November 27,' sis days late.

Yesterday there were no casualty or hospital reports issued from the Defonce Department.

JYo 6towaways were handed over to the local police on the arrival of' the Union Company's steamer Manuka from Sydney last "evening. '

The Napier Soldiers' Club has proved such a success that a similar institution is to be established at Hastings.

-Reporting on the health of the garrison at Samoa, Colonel Logan says:— "Health of troops good. Sergt. -J. Glenn, kicked by horse; Corpl. J. Swann, swallowed denture, not out of danger ; Ites. J. Mechen, corobro concussion; H. J. Ellerby, ptomaine poisoning; J. Mills, diarrhoea. All doinc well." Some misapprehension appears to exist about the renewal of the medical staff of the Maheno. The Defencs Minister said yesterday that all the officers of the staff would be relieved and would be rested until the ship returned to New Zealand again in about six months' time.

Hie applications received for tho positions on the Board of. Trade are heinc classified by the Department of Industries and Commerce. The Prime Minister said yesterday that it would be at least a week before tho applications could como before Cabinet.

Twenty-seven members of the New Zealand Institute of Architects are now serving with the various Expeditionary Forces. By a special resolution of the council their annual subscriptions have been waived pending their'return to civil life.

The members of the Wellington Territorial Non-Commissioned Officers' dub have invited the non-commissioned officers of tho National Reserve to membership of the club, and at a meeting held last evening the non-com missioned officers of the National Reserve decided to avail themselves of the offer. A subcommittee was formed to arrange the preliminaries.

By the Manuka, whioh arrived from Sydney tost evening, there was on board parcel of 5000 lialf-sovoreigns consigned to the Bank of Now Zealand.

Out of 14 men wlio volunteered for sotive. service at Hastings last week, oply passed tho modical examination.

Mr. H. Edwards, contractor for tho re-seating of the Town Hall gallery, has received an order to supply 260 or the same description of tip-up air sprung seats for the Martinborougn Town Hall. The seats are to be upholstered in bright red "moroccoliue." •

With reference to the fire at Kaiwarra, a correspondent writes:—Tho firt was discovered at 1.30 a.m. by a passer-by, who at once gave the alarm (it had a good hold when discovered). The newlyformed Kaiwarm Volunteer Fire Brigade wore very quickly on the scene, and within six minutes had a stream °f water playing. By their efforts, and witli tn© assistance of a few civilians, tho buildings, except the workshop, which was gutted, were 6aved. Oreat prniso is duo to those who acted so promptly, and to the Kaiwarra Brigade, wlio did so very well in their first fire. Tho local men wish to thank their City friends for standing by, but in this instance did not have to call on them for assistance.

We invite officers to inspect our Officers' i°', r « on ft. khaki and brown .as.™ ss&ik *» H *

' Describing the sinking of the British transport Royal Edward in the Aegean Sea on August 13. Captain A. E. Wilkinson, of the Auckland Mounted Rifles, with the Fifth Reinforcements, says in a letter to his wife: "Wo sighted tho Aegean Islands in the early morning; and about 8 a.m. we saw the large Brit's*' trj" s l] or t Royal Edward, with over 2000 English Territorials aboard, coming up on our starboard bow. At 9.25, wliou she was about five miles away, wo were horrified to eee lier reel' in tho water. A cloud of water roso in tho air qs high as her masts, and thou she quickly sank by the stern: her nose rose m the air, and she went down stern first within five minutes of the time she was struck. Our ship sent a wireless message to a hospital ship that/" had passod between the two steamers half an hour earlier, and the latter returned to til© scene of the horrible disastor, Sho saved some lifeboats full of men, who reun that the ship had been torpedoed, doubtless by .an Austrian submarine, when not far off an island. Our ship promptly altered her course, and increased her speed. Our men were quite calm."

. T.?™ "' a ? " no very much disappointed individual left on the Mangaweka railway station platform as a train -steamed away with recruits a few days ago. He , had come a long distance in oixler, by hook or by crook, to enlist. Hearing that a certain recruit had dropped out, irn f} nco assumed that person's name at Taihape and travelled under it to Mangaweka, Here the recruiting officer, in checking the list, found there were two names almost identical in every oarticular. -Explanations followed, with the result that the rightful owner of the name was duly installed among the recruits, whilst the other individual was ■reluctantly left behind. The officer was loath to part with such an enthusiastic volunteer, but in the absenco of a. medical certificate and other requirements he had no alternative.

A well-known Douglas settler' has a young grandson with the true British spirit (says the Stratford "Post"). As the Irish lad) told King George, he is quite a boj" now, bat ho wanted to ngnt for his country, so he ran away trom home. His pareiits lost him altogether until a few days ago, when his niothor received the following letter:— 'Dover Barracks, September 25, 1915. Dear Father and Mother, —I hope you are all well. I walked to Waitara that uri'r' cau sht the 7 o'clock train to U and went to the wharves; went aboard a liner, looked nil round foi a place to hide, and got under a canval .cover. The captain sent me down shovelling coal. I joined the Fusiliers, and am getting on all right; will soon be going to the front —in about four months. I nave learnt a lot since I have been away. I only wish I had somebody with me I know. I enlisted at Tilbury Docks, passed all right. I said I was 19. 1 nope you will write to me."

The Rev. J.' A. Kempthorno, of Inglewood, informed the vestry last week that he had been offered and had accepted the charge of the parish of Taumarunui. An effort is being made by tho Inglewood Anglicans to retain the Rev. Kempthorne'.s services.

Taking advantage of the wet 6pell, which has caused a temporary stoppage of shearing operations, a big gang of Maori shearers rode into town on Tuesday with fine patriotic spirit to ascertain what arrangements could be made for them to go to the front after the shearing season tsays the Gisborne "Times"). _ They appointed e spokesman to wait upon Lieutenant Moltzen, local area officer, and Sir James Carroll, both of whom gave the Natives all possible information on the subjost. Su James stated that it was hoped to get about, 1009 Maoris together in January with a view to their leaving for' the front in March. Sir James added 1 thac he was much gratified at the patriotio 6pirit|;e?hibit(jd r .by fi The spokesman .'directly • represented: about 200 young Natives eligible for tho front.

At different times many queer places -have been devised for hiding money, and other treasures, and in. this connection a well-known Gisborne lady is relating a good story against herself (says the Gisborne "Times"). Last week, when about to leave her home to go to the oarnival, she remembered that sho had a good sum of money in the house, and, for safety's sake, popped the banknotes in tho kitchen oven, as the most unlikely place in which a possiblo thief would look. The fire was out, of course. On returning home after the carnival the lady was horrified to find that hei daughter, who had. arrived homo first, had, in ignorance of the precious contents of the oven, lit the fare. Prompt salvage operations resulted in muclicharred fragments of the notes being retrieved, and the lady is now wondtering whether the banks would accept her little heap of ashes and fragments in return for good money. It is stated that sufficient- of the notes remain for identification purposes, and that after certain, formalities the banks mil "pay out."

"People out here do not know what part, the United_ States has played in the big war," said Mr. Paul Burns, of the "Potash and Perlmutter" Company, in the course of an interview yesterday. "Do you know that, apart altogether from the munitions, our. factories and foundries are turning out for the Allies, there is not a city in the United States but has its war organisations for the relief of the people of Belgium, Poland, and Serbia. The Belgian people would have starved to death in tne first eight months of thewar had it not been for regular American supplies bought and paid for by the donations of tho charitable. Then they haro got a system by which the men contribute so inuoh money per week to this or that war fund. Through my father I am contributing five dollars a week to a fund that looks after the Belgians—that is said to be enough to keep a Belgian family in food for a week.

Yesterday afternoon it was stated that as the Maori was three firemen short of her complement there might bo some difficulty in getting her away for Lytt-elton in the evening. During the day efforts were made to procure the necessary complement, with the result that one man signed' the vessel's - articles. At, .7.30 p.m. 6he was still two short, but a man was found on the wharf who wa3« willing to make the trip. He was immediately placed on, board, and the Maori sailed for Lyttelton on time. ' '

mop n g x.—FAVOURITE WITH MILITARY DISPATCH RIDERS—AND WHY. It Has sometimes "been paid, with much truth, that the business teat is the best fA<tt of any motor. War is the grimmest business of mankind. t ind the military "motor-cyclist stakes his life, very often, aDon the reliability of his mount. Here la n-hat Sergeant R. E. Schofield, H.E., ennior instructor of the Motor-cycle Section at Aldershot, hna to eay:—"Nearly Avery dispatch rider that has gone to the front has passed through my hands, and I nm therefore in a position to judge how the difforent makes of machine are in favour. The B.S.A. is by far away . the favourite, and it luis yet to happen that a B.S.A. has failed to act up to its 1 well-earned repute. ... 1 may state that 50 per cent, of the machines here are B S A.'b. A- motor-cyclist with the Second Cavalry Division, British Expedition, ary Force, writes in a private letter: "Th# roada are hellish. . . . My B.S.A. is the poods. I never have to touch it. They ore the bikes, my boy. They knock the and any other make you like to mention into a cocked hat." There are plenty of other letters from the front, all to the same effect. We are landing 20 of the {latest model B.S.A. s ex s.s. Marlborough this week,'and can five immediate de. 'livery. They are ideal machines for I either Bola or Bide-oar service, and theii reliability is famous. Tlxu h.p. is ij, and the three-sp-sed countershaft gear is foolI proof and wonderfully efficient. Adams, Ltd., Christchurch, Wanganui, Palmerston North; Sutherland and Hankine, Wol l Ungtoai Tourist Motor Co., Hmtingt, 4tt«ate tot 8,8.A.-Advt,

The Hastings Wounded Soldiers' Fund stands at £13,848. There are those who on wet davs aro somewhat embarrassed occasionally by the point of their umbrellas coming in contact with the big gas globes which aro now used so extensively to light up tho show windows from outside. The question was propounded to a Dominion reporter yesterday by a tall gentleman, who to know if a person could bo held liable for damage if ho were to break one of the globes by accidentally coming into contact with it with his umbrella. The point is a nice one, as such accidents are likely to occur, whilst tho innocent party is walking along a public way beneath an umbrella which prevents him seeing anything immediately overhead. One authority thought that a person could be held to be liable, as there was no need to have an umbrella up when passing under a \ erandah, and most of tho shops with suoh lights have verandahs. On inquiry at the City Engineer's office it was found that the bottom of the lamp globes should be at least 7ft. 6in. from the pavement, but in many cases they are eight feot above it-. Whoever is responsible for damage done in the manner suggested, it is agreed that all such lights should be at least Bft. above the ground.

Lateoomers. very nearly missed their passages to Lyttelton by the Maori l«t evening. l Although the boat was advertised to sail at 8.45 p.m. the gangway was not dropped till 8.50 p.m. Even then as many as eight persons came running down the Queen's Wharf with their bag_ and baggage. Fire of them were soldiers. They were assisted aboard by willing hands, and their luggage tossed on after them. Tro others, apparently a newly-married couple, wore also among the late arrivals. The woman was in a state of nervous excite, ment, and was quite willing to do anjfr thing anybody told her. Someone suggested a "jump for it." She did so, and was caught by passengers , on board and hauled head first over the Maori's rail, much to the amusement of the crowd. The husband was left lamenting on the wharf, till suddenly a bystander said: "Have a go for it, old man,' and he did so. Much to the amusement of the onlookers he was hauled on board, and several willing hands helped the quartermaster, purser, and other passengers to get their luggage there also.

• Certificates in lieu of prizes will bo presented to those students of tho "Weilington Technical College, who have merited (such awards. The 'money that would normally be spent in prizes will oe devoted to tlie patriotic funds. The Mayor will present the certificates on December 8.,

There aro not many men in Dnnedin W C° from raising their hats when God Save the King" is being played xir sung (says the "Otago Daily Times"). Three of this class, who were present at the band concert at th« Gardens one night last week; had cau6e to regret their breach of good manners and lack of patriotism. Amidst a sea of uncovered heads the three hats wero very conspicuous. They were observed by a returned soldier from Gallipoli, who was leaning on a stick as the result of honourable wounds.- . His hand was observed by a bystander to be shaking, his nerves not having fully recovered from the racking they received in the trenches, and this evidence of disloyalty or forgetfulness was too much, for him. He leaned forward, and with his stick knocked off the hats from, tho offenders' heads, his action being loudly applauded by those who witnessed it. A great many cablegrams requesting money to be sent urgently to tfie oare ol the New Zealand High Commissioner, London, have been received in Dunedin (says the "Otago Daily Times") from men who have been invalided home to the Old Country. In some cases there has been reason to doubt''the'authenticity of these requests, aind, in consequence, the secretary of the Otago Soldiers and Dependents' Welfare Committee (Mr. J. L.. Stewart Wright) sent the following telegram to the Hon.- Jas. Allen (Minister of Defence)" Several relatives of the wounded men in Homo hospitals received cablegrams requesting money, to be remitted, care 'Deputy,' London. Reason to be dubious about authenticity of cablegrams. Would High Commissioner accept money and distribute if satisfied wjtE identity of individuals?" The Minister has replied as follows:—"I have no doubt the High Commissioner would distribute the amounts if the money were sent to him through the Defence Department, This can Ire done by oommunicating _ with Quartermaster-General for Expeditionary Force Paymaster-General, Brandon Street, Wellington; the only charge would be the cost of the cablegram.

Those in search of a really silent and beautifully smooth-running motor-car of mo"l'r("ti price would do well to inspect the shipment of 8-cylinder Kings just landed by the Dominion Motor Vehicles,Ltd., at'the D.M.Y. Garage, Toit Street. A demonstration ran cannot fail to impress one with'the remarkable power and smooth running of the car. Telephone for particulars, or, better still, call and 6ee it for yourself to-day.—Adrt.