LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2662, 6 January 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Captain Hall Thomson of H.M.S. Philomel, has telegraphed to the Defenco Minister that the Christmas gift goods sent to the ship from New Zealand had arrived, and had been' much appreciated by the men. .The directors of tho Bank of New Zealand have advised tho Minister for Internal Affairs that they have decided to pay the £10,000 which the bank has agreed to give to patriotic purposes into the account controlled by the National War Funds Council. The Minister for Public Health has been advised that 96 of the Malieno's soldiers who had been sent into isolation at Auckland as enteric convalescents had boon discharged as free from infection after examination by the Medical Boards. The Minister said that further discharges would be made from day to day. The Minister tif Public Health (the Hon. G. W. Russell) received the following' information from Dr. Hughes, Public .Health Officer at Auckland, last night:—"No further discharge of enteric patients per Malieno from hospital to-day. The medical superintendent in charge reports all well. Specimens have now been taken from all the men, and the examination is proceeding. I expect further discharges to-morrow and following days." Speaking at the messengers' farewell to Captain Hcrinali last evening, the Hon. G. W. Russell said that lie was afraid that- the ambition and ability of the New Zealand public • servant was not being given full play under the existing law. He believed in able men being free to rise to the top, and he would do his best to mako that possible. A preliminary meeting, to form a Returned Soldiers' Association, is to be held at the Y.M.C.A..rooms on Friday afternoon. Captain Sinisou is the convenor of the meeting, which will, in a measure, bo historical as a gathering of Gallipoli fighting men. Tho objects of the association are to deal witli matters of interest to leturned soldiers as citizens of New Zealand. Associations 011 similar lines have recently been formed at Invercargill, Dunedin, and Christchurch. There has been a distinct shortage of labour on the Wellington wharves during the Christmas and New Year holidays, but the position appears to be gradually improving. During the past few months, it is stated, many of the members of the Waterside Workers' Union have enlisted. As each battih of recruits is. called up, it includes a fair proportion of waterside workers, and this is beginning to have its effect, especially at rush times. In response to a request by tho residents of the district, the Minister for Internal Affairs has agreed to' the deletion from the map of the name of German Bay, Banks Peninsula. The hew liame of the bay is to be matua Bay. The Hon. G. W. Russell has received telegraphic advice that the Gisborne Patriotic Committee has decided to donate £250 towards the cost of the equipment of the convalescent camp at Rotorua. A pamphlet containing an official report of tho controversy known as the Von Zedlitz case- has been published by the Victoria College Council. An enormous shark showed himself in the Kawhia Harbour the other day, and creat preparations wero instantly made to "run bim to earth." All orthodox sharkhook of extra large dimensions was carefullv and cunningly baited and temptingly offered to the marine monster, which promptly annexed the meat and left the hook. Tho next eftort was equally unsuccessful, being followed by the immediate straightening out of .he great hook-and the shark left abruptly. The amount of money invested by through tho totalisator at the Ellerslio and Alexandra Park racecourses during the holiday racing season shows a decrease of £9006, as compared with last year. The total sum Ihis year was £301,123, and for last year £310,129—a record. There were four days' racing at Ellerslie and three davs at Alexandra Park. Ten per cent, of'tho total of £301,123 is apportioned for tho racing clubs and the State. The former receive per cent., and tho latter 2J- per cent. Thereforel the clubs benefited to the extent of £--,584 and tho State received £7028—a total deduction for the clubs and the State of £30,112. A special • war tax of 2} per cent., as prescribed by the I'mance Act 1915, was also deducted from tho dividends. An additional sum .of £6947 19s 9d. was realised for tho Treasury in this'way during the seven days'racing.

In the stokehold of the Gear Meat Company's works at Petone yesterday morning seven firemen belonging to 110 labour organisation, who, it is stated, had been negotiating for somo time with the head of the department for an increase of wages from 10s, to lis. per day ' or' lid. per hour, stopped work. The' men's' demands, it is stated, were refused, with the result that twentyfour hours' notice was given of their intention to cease work. The men state that they need only havo given one hour's notice, as they were paid by the how, but wished to_ give the company ample timo to consider the matter. They state, further, that recently a rise in pay to tlio company's enginoers of Is. per day, and to the greasers of Bd. per day was granted, but the firemen had been overlooked. After negotiating unsuccessfully to obtain an increase, they decided to cease work. Three shifts of eight hours each are engaged at the fires, and at 8 o'clock yesterday morning tlio last watch finished up. The men, it is stated, left everything in perfcct order, tlio furnaces being charged sufficiently to last at least 0110 hour without being touched. The works arc now in full swing, and require the six boilers to maintain full pressure. No settlement had been arrived at last night. We invito gentlemen to come along and inspect a special light-weight of summer pyjamas at Ifts. Gd. Also tussore silk at Wa, Gd.i and Viyclla at 235, 611. Geo. j'g.wlds. Ltd,, 50-sli Maws strcet,-Advt,

Speaking at Manawatu, Sir James Carroll spoko on the recruiting question and expressed his belief in conscription. Ho said tho voluntary effort had been good up to now—it was marvellous what had been done—but voluntarism had its limitations. There was a slackening now, but ho trusted the scheme or tho National Government would have adequate results. If not, he must again preaeli conscription. If it came to a vote to-morrow 011 the question, conscription would be carried by two to one, because all those who had relations and friends at the front would form a solid phalanx for conscription; if there was a referendum the issue would not bo left in doubt at all. In a few days tho Govorninpnt would liavo developed its scheme, and tliey should throw all their weight behind it; hut if that failed, then they must take the other course. _ „ Messrs. Burns, Philp and Co., Ltd., managing agents of tho Nippon lusen Kaisha Line, have received the following cablegram from the head office of tlia.» lino at Tokio:—"Port Said telegraphs, December 22: 'Yasaka Maru was tor-" pedoed without warning on Tuesday afternoon. The ship sank in forty-five minutes. Ail passengers and crew wore saved and picked up by a French gnuboat at midnight, and landed at Port Said to-day. Accommodation has been provided for passengers and crew. Have telegraphed London office for instructions. Passengers express great admiration of the skill of _ the captain and officers and the discipline of the crew. Most perfect order was maintained dur- , ing the embarkation, which wa6 carried out with, the greatest promptitude.' " The balance-sheet of tho Dominion Belgian Relief Fund as at December 31, 1915, shows that the subscriptions received amounted to £20,632 3s..lid. The disbursements were: Paid to Internal Affairs Department, £467 lis. 2d.; to Taranaki district, £20 7s. 3d.; to Hawke's Bay district, £112 Is.- 6d.; paid insurance, £7 9s. 6d.; petty cash, £10; Belgian Refugee Food Fluid, Masterton, £249 los. 2d.; Wairarapa district freight refund, £08 17s. 2d.; invested with Wellington City Council, £15,000; invested with Public Trustee, £4500; and there is a balance in tho Bank of New Zealand of £208 2s. 2d. The "Hawke's Bay Herald" states that tho Johanna Lohse Scholarship Trustees havo awarded scholarships for 1916 as. follows: —Miss A. M. Beatrice Butterfieid, Puketapu; Miss Kempthorne, Nelson; Miss Ismcno Christian, Christchurch. The scholarships are or the value of £100 per annum, and tenable for three years. They are awarded to the daughters of New Zealand clergymen who distinguished themselves in ait or education.

Oil Christmas Day (states tlio Whakatane "Press") White Island gave an unusually fino display. Great banks of white smoke could bo seen spouting up' for a considerable height. Recently Mr. H. Okey, M.P., communicated with tho Hon. Mr. Myers, Minister in Chnrgo of Munitions and Supplies,-' relative' to the making of shells from the iron manufactured front Taranaki ironsand (reports the "Taraliaki Daily Nows").. Tho Minister replied 011 December 23 as follows: "I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter in which you state that Mr. Heskett, who has been experimenting with the Taranaki ironsand, thinks the article being turned out v.'ill be most suitable for making shells after being put through a "further process. I note your request to be informed as to whether - arrangements have been made for any particular quantity of steel to be imported and in this connection I have to inform you that the quantiV we havo under order and which is due to arrive here shortly, is sufficient for the trial hatch of shells which it is proposed to manufacture. It will, of course, depend oil tho result of tins experiment whotlier there will be any further steel required, and I regret thereforo that I am unable to give you anything mora definite than this at present Outside King's Cross a lank and limping Australian trooper from GalUpoli stepped up to a man and asked for " a light." He seemed just a bit strange and forStikGii in Loudon, nnd the Englishman who accommodated him with a match asked if he had friends in town (says tho "Daily Express ). "Not in London town," the wounded man replied. "But Scotland way. ■ Then, asking his new-found acquauitance to step to where the glare of 3 station lamp would enable him to rea.d, the Australian pulled from his tunicpocket a. much-lingered letter. It 3 from a Dundee lass," ho explained, "and I'm on my way to see her and '.her parents and fix things up. This is [how it came about:—Folks m Dundee have been sending out sandbags, and it happened to be my job one da.y to 'turn them—they always arrive inside out— and fill them. Well, out of one tumbled a letter from Miss , of Dundee, saying if it fell into the hands of a, lonely soldier she'd be glad to cheer him with an occasional letter. I for that act, and we've been writing to each other ever since. I've got a prosperous sheep farm back in Aus- - tralia, and I'm going to Dundee to try to make her see the advantage of accepting a half-interest in it for life." The Petono Court returns for the last quarter of 1915 are as follow: ; Amount sued for, £133 2s. 6d.; amount recovered, £131 17s. 10d.; plaints entered, 26; judgment summonses issued, 3: orclers made on judgment summonses, 1; . warrants of committal issued, 1: number of summonses served by bailiff over two miles, 2; distress warrants executed by bailiff within 2 miles, o; •amount in civil fees, £o 12s. j persons summoned, 62; amount in criminal fees £6 25.; amouut in fines, hli los., total £29 17s. The police returns for •the year show that 113 offences were re•ported, and that 101 persons were sum. moiled or arrested- 90 males and 2 females were convicted 2 males were committed for trial, ond 7 dismissed.