LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2635, 4 December 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A shortage in' her stokehold crew was responsible for delaying tho departure of the Manuka from Sydney to Wellington till G. 30 p.m. yesterday. The vessel was tivo men short. It is understood that tho positions were filled prior to tho vessel's departure. A live-roomed dwelling, near the Main Road, Ngaio, was totally destroyed by fire about 11 o'clock yesterday morning. The building was owned by of Wellington, and was, it is -understood, covered by insurance. At a spccial meeting of the General Labouiers' Union held last night to consider the question of conscription, a resolution was passed to the effect that in tho opinion of the meeting the question should not bo considered in New Zealand until the matter has been determined by the Imperial Parliament. As the Expeditionary Force haß grown, and grown so rapidly in numbers. the work of the Records Office and Pay Office in Wellington has grown also. It is common knowledge that for - a time records got out of hand, but presently the work was undertaken seriously by a big regular staff, assisted , by regular and casual volunteers, and the records are now in good shape. Tito Pay Office is now_ to bo _ reorganised, ■ and voluntary assistance is to be obtained from qualified civilians. Complains. of one sort and another come to the Defence Minister frequently enov.gh, but every now and then ho gets a letter like this one, which he received yesterday: "We have just received letters from my brother ; of tho Main Expeditionary Force, stating that the New Zealand and Homo authorities have treated them splendidly, and that there is no room for complaint, everything possible being done for them. He also states that tho clothing given them is good, and every--1 thing is done to help them under' trying circumstances, which is encouraging to the men." The writer of this letter was not known personally to Mr. Allen. The official organ of tho locomotivo drivers, firemen, and cleaners in tho New Zealand Railway Service declares its policy regarding conscription in tho following passage:—"lt would be impossible for this union to take part in anv conference which erects a stone wall against conscription, when it is proved to the hilt that the army is starved for want of volunteers. It would really mean that we would bo assisting to murder our comrades at the front. We aro not going to do that at any rate. We candidly say that conscription must bo enforced if our men fai' to enrol. 1 ' ' A wcrd regarding the money sent to Egypt to be spent for the benefit of New Zealand troops was spoken by Captain D. Munro in an address to the New Zealand Club yesterday. He said that up to the time that tho men went to the front they had plenty of rations At the front they got plenty of bully beef and biscuits. When one fell sick or wounded he was taken away immediately, and eventually reached a hosThere was 110 time when removing him to go back for his belongings, and so many reached hospital destitute. Therefore, every available penny was wanted for necessaries—raiwrs,-strops, nnd so on. Up to the time' Captain Munro left Egypt there had been no shortage of money, but it was running low; Some towns had sent money to be spent on the men from their locality: but it was impossible to carry out th" wish of those donor's'.' In going through a hospital, one could not give something to ono man, ask another if he came from So-and-So, and, receiving a negative reply, say, "Nothing for vou, then." No, the men were' nil New Zealancers, and all there for the same job. They could not make exceptions for men from particular towns.- (Loud applause.) The takings at the Wellington Zoo for las-; month amounted-to £45 65., a small increase over the corresponding month last vear, when the receipts were £39 4s. 6d. Filled-in- specimens of the income tax return, which is causing some perplex- ' ity to farmors, have;been prepared by the Land and Licome Tax Department, and may he had on application by anyone .who cares to havo them. The specimens will assuredly be of rrreat assistance to. any farmer in- doubt as to oxactly what information is required of him, The difficulties under which the postal officials in Egypt labour- were touched on by Captain D. Munro (returned from the New Zealand Base) in an' address yesterday. He said that he had felt nnnoved at'the non-receipt of mail matter, bir; when be bad been shown wli.nl the task amounted to ho had ceased to wonder why there were delays. Tbo delays wero inevitable. Almost every man a;; tho front was sent three or four letters, and many papers, by every m-nil. Multiply that by tho number of soldiers there! What an enormous undertaking it was! Imperial, New .Zenland, and other men were mixed up together in the same hospital, and men -| were frequently changing from 'one institution to another. A postal sorter picked un a letter addressed -to a certain soldier, and probnhly the .only thing he could do would he to go richt down the nominal roll to find the address of the man. It might take ton or, twenty minutes to deal with ono letter. Commissioner Hodder, of the Salvation Army, who is at present on a lengthy tour of the North Island, and is holding services in many centres, has just completed a visit to Rotoroa Inebriate Island, wliero avery close inspection was mode, and interesting developments foreshadowed. The Commissioner was accompanied- by LieutenantColonel Powley (chief secretary) and Brigadier Bray (men's social secretary). ' . At the Grand Opera House last evening some goods left over from Gallipoli Day were sold by auction by Mr. Sam Lo Bert and Miss Margaret Vinton. A pair of field-glasses realised £23, and a smoker's cabinet about £15. Tho proceeds. of the sale go to swell the Sports Bodies' Christmas Shilling Fund. Writing from Egypt, the special re-, presentativc of General Booth, who is at present engaged in Red Cross work in connection with the Australian • Forces, says: "In Egypt I was struck by the loyalty to the King of the men from the' Dominions. They sang tho National Antliem whon to do so. was to open wounds afresh, and the tlireo cheers'they gave sounded far into the brown expanse of the desert." After paying a high tribute to tho organisation of the New Zealand officers responsible for base and hospital work, he says:—"Ono of the" brightest places we entered was a convalescent homo, which has recently been opened by Lady Godfey. ... I cannot here state all about this splendid venture that I would like, as spacc will not permit. This good lady has fought through difficulties and hardships, and has succeeded at last' in petting her heart's desiro in the establishment of this home of rest. 1 trust that" after the war she will tell tho story, or that someono will do ift for her," for it will make most creditable and satisfactory reading." . Those in search' of a really silent and beautifully smooth-running motor-car of moderate price would do well to inspect the shipment of 8-cylindcr Kings oust landed by tho Dominion Motor Vehicles, Ltd., at tho D.M.V. Garage, Tory Street. A demonstration run oannot fail to impress ono with the remarkable power and smooth running of the car. Telephone for particulars, or, better still, call and see it for yourself to-day.—Advt.

The secretary of the Wanganui Education Board writes on behalf of his board complaining that a letter sinned . "Oroua Glen," published in our issue of November 13, ,rellects on the loyalty of ono of tile board's teachers, by suggesting that lie is a "shirker." Tha letter in question protested that in certain cases unencumbered young men of military age had been appointed as teachers in schools in the place of "father teachers" who had enlisted. The secretary of the board mentioned states that this is an undeserved reflection on :l _ particular teacher, and narrates the circumstances of the case in question. Wo are not awaro that any particular individual was referred to in tho letter, but in case any sucli interpretation should liavo been placed on it. we gladly publish the board's explanation of tho circumstances of tho case it has in mind. The facts, as stated bv tho secretary are as follow: _ "The late head teacher of the school in question enlisted. and to the vacancy was temporarily appointed a young man to whom doctors refused to issue a certificate of health. Neither for his teacher's certificate nor for entry into the Territorial Force could be obtain tho necessary medical authority. His brothers have enlisted and he himself has done what ho could by expressing, through the National Register, his willingness to serve his country." We quite agree with the Wanganui 'Education Board in its denunciation of any attempt, if such were made, to reflect on a young man in tho position of tho teacher quoted. Tho deputation arranged by the War League in regard to war pensions and pay, etc., will wait upon the Prime Minister at noon on Monday next at Parliament Buildings. Invitations have been issued to local members of Parlian'c'jt. to tho local authorities around Wellington, and to the various patriotic societies and others. All those who are interested in the removal ol 'tho various anomalies and injustices poinied out in tho report of the league, pubfished recently, are cordially invited to take part in the deputation. Tha prompt removal of all known obstacles m tho way of recruiting is especially necessary at this juncture, when there semes to be serious danger of a shortage of recruits. The Otaki Town, Board is unable to raise the loan necessary to enable its proposed electric lighting scheme to bo carried out. There are a good many wool-growers in New Zealand regretting the advent of the private buyer, and poorer by ,some hundreds of pounds sterling- because they listened to the flattering tale told them prior to the first of tho season's wool sales. Many rushed the offer of Is. 2d. and. Is. 3d. per lb., as it was a bigger price than thev had ever experienced in their lives only to find their more cautious neighbours realise Is. 6d. and Is. 7d. for the same quality of "wool. It is related of one grower of' high-grade wool that he not only sold his entire clip at Is. 3d., but advised all the fanners round about him to do likewise. Some followed his advice, but others who took a chance with the market realised as liigh as Is. Bd. and Is. 9d. for their wool. Since tho first sale at Christchurcb, there has naturally been a big slump in private buying whilst tho lesson learned will probably teach wool-growers to act with greater caution in tho future Included in the cargo lifted by 'tho p-aiid D. liner Star of Scotland, which left for bsudon early yesterday morning, were 7005 boxes of butter' and 4002 crates of cheese, valued at £28,000 and £24.000 respectively. The opening of the rowing season in connection with the Wellington Star Boating Club takes place this afternoon, the formal ceremony being performed by Sir Francis Bell. Some interesting events will take plaice, as, in additiou to other trials, teams from Trcntham will compete. Afternoon tea will be dispensed by a committee of ladies, and an interesting afternoon may be looked for. given fine weather. ' , An unusual accident befel a soldier named Francis Rush on leave in Auckland from Trentham. It appears that Rush, who was on a ferry-boat on his way to the Takapuna races, was leaning over the rail near the Ferry Wharf, Auckland, when the boat swerved against the wharf and be struck bis head again a pile. He was admitted to the hospital suffering from shook. A trial was carried out last week at the Rcdcliffs rifle range, Christchurchi before the military authorities of a new periscope rifle, invented and made by Mr. E. Moss, of Dallington, the inventor of the _ postal stamping .machine. :The conditions under which the trial was carried out were by no means favourable, as a strong nor'-west wind made it extremely difficult to obtain accurate shooting, even by the most experienced shots, says i a Christchurch paper. In spite of the unfavourable conditions the shooting had to he acknowledged as .extremely good. Those present expressed satisfaction with the device, and were of the opinion that they would prefer to sight with the periscope than in the usual way, as both eyes can be used for the purpose. A protest against collecting work being placed in the hands of children was made at a meeting of the Otago Education Board, when a letter was received from the Hospital Saturday Association asking permission to forward, collecting lists to schools throughout Otago for tho purpose of obtaining funds for the association's annual collection. Mr. J. Wallace said he objected to the use of schools as collecting agencies for theso purposes. Mr. W. Scott said that it was unfair to ask school children to go around canvassing, and it also led to deception on the part of unauthorised child collectors! He had met with cases himself that were not genuine. The chairman. Mr. G. C. Israel, explained that the idea was merely to send a subscription list around the schools, and ask tho children to donate a pennv each, or some such small turn. w\st year £50 had been gained in this n.snner. In tho light of the chairman's explanation the board decided to giant tho required permission. The Kelburn and Karori Tramway Co. advertise that their cars will not run to-morrow and Monday, ou account of overhauling tho machinery. Christmas is fast drawing near. The women folk should inspect our stock of nicely-finished silk handkerchiefs, with ■ initials, at-2s. Gd.' and 3s. 6d. GeoFowlds, Ltd., Manners Street?.—Advt.