LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2669, 14 January 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The.Public Service Commissioners are engaged just now in hearing evidence on a proposal that tlio staffs of the Legislative Departments should be classified. At present these staffs arc under the direct control of tho Speaker of the House,/and the Commissioners are acting at his request. The AVairnrapa V.'ar Fund Executive decided on Thursday, iu response to a circular from tho Minister of Internal Affairs, that tho time is not ripe for holding another conference of patriotic societies, hut if tho majority of the societies consider such a conference necessary, the Wairarapa Executive will be prepared to appoint delegates. At a meeting of New Zealand soa]> maliers, which was hold yesterday, it was decided, owing to tho high cost of raw materials, to advanco tho prices of all soap and soda crystals. Lowgrade soap will he raised £1 per ton, iligli-grado £i! per ton, and soda crystals IDs. per ton.. The increased prices will taho effect from to-day. Geo. Fowlds, Ltd.,: Manners Street, carry a splendid ran<re in hats, hard felt, soft felt, or straw. The nrices are moderate and tho firm Guarantees a fit for every head,—Advti

Among the mercantile firms doing' business in New Zealand who have supplied from their staffs volunteers to the colours, the number volunteering from tho staff of Messrs. Dalgety and Co.. Ltd., rank very high; the number of the New Zealand staff who have been acccpted for service abroad up to the present time totalling 101, of which six have been invalided to England, three are sick and in hospital, ten wounded, four missing, and four killed. From the outset of tho war the rank and file have been, and aro still, continuing to be paid half salary. To those lioldI ing commissioned rank the company previously also paid half salary, hut now is making up to them the difference as between their military pay and their ordinary salary. Referring to War Pensions at a gathering of tramway men on Wednesday night, the Defence Minister said that tho full purport and meaning of the Pensions Act had at first not been understood. When the Pensions Board began to administer tho Act it did r.ot interpret it in the spirit in which it wais intended the statute should be interpreted, but the last month or two it had been interpreted in . a much broader manner—the maimer in which Parliament and the people intended it should bo dealt with. The Act was not all that could be desired, but it was unquestionably the most liberal Pension Act in the world. He did not say that it would not need to be amended and ma'do more liberal, but he thought that liberal provision had been made for those who had suffered in the service of their country. The auxiliary scow Magic, which went ashore on Shag Point, Evans Bay, 011 Wednesday evening, was successfully refloated at high tide yesterday morn-; ing, undamaged, save for the loss of one of her propeller blades. A Lower Hutt resident complains that a crop of potatoes that he had planted in a section in the Te Momi Estate, when just about ready for digging, disappeared in a night. Thieves must have worked all night to dig plot,, which the owner estimates would have yielded about six sacks. The Hon. Dr. M'Nab wrote as follows to the Mayor of Hastings in connection with the departure for Trentham of a draft of the Twelfth Reinforcements :—' 'I ha.ve always preached to the boys going into camp the seriousness of the task they aro taking on. I do still. But I never felt so confident as I do at this moment that the long lane of warfare has its turning point in sight. Sickness of the head, disunion among its leaders, and discontent throughout the people are the parasites of decay which betoken the nearness of the end • even of what is apparently, an invincible nation. All these elements are now conspicuous in our foes, and aro day by day becoming less conspicu-' ous among us. On Monday evening, Mr. Mayor, you aro giving a send-off to men, who, in my opinion, are going to be there when the end comes, and are going to he in at the finish. All that is wanted, and we know that it will be done, is to follow - in the footsteps of those who have already blazened out the trail, and the men who are noiv crowding' to the colours will, as t'heir forefathers did over a century ago, stand in armed array before a capital while their leaders dictate to its humbled rulers a peace which will render war, for this generation at any rate, a physical impossibility." The secretary of the New Zealand Patriotic Society (Wellington Branch), Mr. Joseph Leu-is, acknowledges receipt of the sum of £20 from Councillor John Hutcheson, being a donation to the Society's Life Insurance Scheme Fund. Several German shells charged with lachrymose gas were taken to the Paris Municipal Laboratory for exhibition a few weeks ago. One day, in spite of the precautions which had been taken, tlie gas escaped into the grounds of the city barracks just when a number of the Republican Guards were ciossing with their horses, with tho result that for several minutes the Guards and their horses shed copious tears. The incident at first caused considerable excitement, but this soon gave way to hilarity when it was realised that the effects of .the gas ware not serious. A recruiting office has been opened at the Petone Mayor's Room, under the charge of Sergeant-Major Stewart. A similar office is to ho opened at tho Lower Hutt Council Chambers under Sergeant-Major Wiechern's charge. The hours of attendance are: —From 1.30 to 0 p.m.,- and from 7 to 9 p.m. A report on the number of single men eligible for active service, and also the number of aliens in' 1 the employ of the Manukau County Council, has been presented to the meeting of that body by its foreman. 'It was stated that a oareful watch had been kept in regard to this matter since the outbreak of War. With tlie exception of three, all the employees of the council ware married men with dependents. The three in question were men who were over the piescribcd age, who had been rejected for military service. It was stated that there were cases in which contractors were employing eligible men as drivers. Only one alien was employed,_ and he claimed to' be a Serbian by birth. Tlie Greytown Borough Council has fixed upon Thursday for tho weekly half-holiday. A sum of £400 (including £200 from the Carterton Committee) has been voted by the Wairarapa, War Fund Executive to the Y.M.C.A. for the provision of extra comforts for the soldiers in the hospitals at the front. Our Greytown correspondent reports that Mount Hector is now clear of fog raid snow, and that, a .number of tourists will be going through from town to Otaki during the current month. The tramwaymen of Wellington mustered in force at a social gatlierhig to bid farewell to some of their comrades who are shortly to leave for the front. Unfortunately,'out of the twelve tramwaymen in khaki who had received invitations to attend, only five were able to be present. Those invited were:— S.M F. Be::ar, Corpl. T. Hibberd, Ptes. W. W. Barnes. F. Foxwell, C. Rider, F Wylde, W. H. Hamlin, T. A\. Page, M. M'Lean, S. Potter, H. S. Jones, and D. Johnston. The Napier Borongh Council has purchased a Diesel engine for the tramways from tlie Miramar Borough Council. A member of the Samoan Garrison, writing to a friend in Wellington, says that °Sanioa, the "Paradise of the Pacific," is beginning to pall a bit after a sojourn of 11 months. Of all tie pests, the hies, he says, are the worst. "I heard," says the cgvrespondent, "a iot about centipedes before I came here, but havo not seen many. There aro 110 bluebottle Hies. Fruit, is not very plentiful, although we havo had a good many bananas and pineapples lately. Edible fish is scarce in Samoa; I think 1 havo only once had fresh fish since I landed, -i have not found the climate trying so far. We should be well into tlie rainy season, but up to tho time ol' writing 23) there has not been much ram. The heat gets rather oppressive just beforo and after rain. *1 'here are a l.vgc number of birds hqro : like the New Zealand pukeko, and fantails, and kingfishers, hut in other parts 1 of the island birds are scarce, and sea birds especially sp. Flying foxes aro very plentiful. The soil seems fertile, but tho great drawback is tho stones, ; which prevent tho use of ploughs or cultivators, in tho plantations, which 1 use Chinese or Solomon Island labour. ' The Samoans aro not fond of work." Last year the State Firo Insurance . Office did record business, and made the ' highest profits ever made by tho institution in one year—£27,ooo. The pre- ] vious best for one year was £10,600, in : 1914. The reserve fund at the close of i the year was about £117,000, an increase of sonic £30.000 in the twelve months.

At the animal conference of master bakers, held at Napier 111 - . W. S. Dustin was elected vicc-presideiit of the Master Bakers' Association, and Wanganui was selected as the place for the next annual conference. The council of the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce will, at its meeting next Monday, consider the following resolution adopted by the committee of the Australasian Merchants' Association (Louden): —"That as the action of the German Government with regard to submarine activity lias inflicted considerable losses upon the British people here raid in the Dominions beyond the seas, this committee of tho Australasian Merchants' Association respectfully suggests to the British and Colonial Governments that steps should be taken immediately after the war to levy upon German and Austrian vessels each time they enter a port within the British Empire a differential and special charge for port dues over and above the customary port rates, the proceeds so obtained to bo used as tho Governments concerned may determine. | This association is of opinion that tho suggestion made will, if acted upon, lin course of time reimburse the people for some of tho losses inflicted upon the community." Our Napier correspondent states that a call was made yesterday morning for eleven extra men to go into camp at Trentham on Tuesday next, wlien five men from Hastings aiid one from Napier immediately responded to the call. A sturdy patriot is the Mayor of Wellington. Talking of enlistment at a tramwaynien's "social," he said that if tho age limit wore raised he would offer himself. "As far as lam concerned," said the Mayor, "my age is a bar to my offering myself, but if the Hon. James Allen can see his way clear to raise'the ago limit, I will be. one of the first volunteers to offer for the war. (Applause.) I am saying this with 110 idle boast. Many men of my age are just as physically fit as many men of twenty years of ago." He added, that he had talked! the matter over with Colonel Gibbon, who had stated that men over the. age limit could stand the training all right, and would reach the front, but when it came to the critical moment they would not have the necessary physical reserve force. Referring to Mr. Luke's remarks later, the Hon. "James Allen said he admired the spirit of the Mayor, and he knew another who would go if'the opportunity offered—that was the Mayoress. (Loud applause.) "She's a, real brick; a thorough little brick, and: she has done splendid work," continued Mr. Allen. "Her name will'go down, revered in the story of New Zealand for what she has done." (Senowed applause.) Mr. Allen went 011 to say that His Worship appeared anxious to go to the front, and lie was almost inclined to take him at his word. (Laughter.) It ' was quite possible that the Government might ho able to accept men over 4& years of age for a special purpose —a wireless company that was now being formed for service abroad. Mr. Luke: "Put. me down!" Mr. Allen: "We want the Mayor here. - It is quite possible that lie' can be even of more -use here than he -would be at tlie front." (Loud applause.) The annual retreat of taio Marist Brothers of the whole of the Dominion lias just concluded in Auckland. The religious portion was conducted By Rev. Father Mangan, Redemptorist. Brother Clement, Provincial of the Marist Brothers' Order lor Australasia, presided over the meeting at the conclusion of tho retreat, and notified the following transfers:—Brother Alphonso, director of the Sacrcd Heart College, Auckland, to Fiji, his place being taken by Brother Benigmis; Brother George, transferred to Australia; Brother Luke ; from the Sacred Heart, goes to Thorndon, Wellington; Bro. Phelan, directoi of Vermont Street, to be sub-director of the Sacred Heart College; Brother Henrick, transferred from Vermont Street to Wanganui; Brother Emichan, from Vermont Street to Tasman Street School, Wellington; Brother Justin, late director Wanganui, goes to Greymouth; Brother Zazarius, from Wanganui. to Vermont Street;' Brother Basil, director at Wellington, is to be director at Wanganui; Brother Palladius goes from Napier to be director at Christchurch; Brother Paul is to be director at Napier and Brother Donnatus is transferred from Wellington to Timaru ther Fidelis goes from Wanganui to Christchurch; Brothers Methodius and Boniface both go to Australia, and Brother Calixtus, director at Christchurch, is to be director at Vermont Street f Brother Jarlath, of Christcliurcli. eoes to Wanganui; Brother Leo, of Christchurch, is transferred to Invercargill; Brother Alfred, of Greymouth, is to be director at Invercargill, and Brother Anslern, of Invercargill, will be director at Christchurch. Several vacancies in the various houses of the Dominion are to be filled by brothers from Australia. Brother Clenient left for Australia by the Maluira on Monday night. An incident unprecedented in London history occurred recently in tlio hall of the Ancient Scottish Corporation in Crane Court, Fleet Street. The occasion was a recruiting rally addressed by tlie Secretary for. Scotland to inspire the remaining Scots in London. A real fiery cross was shown, cut from the old tree at Fortingall, in Perthshire, where tho fiery crosses of tho turbulent Highland days were got. Tho fiery cross had to be blooded as well as burnt, and the blood for the symbol in November, 1915, was taken from a goat which was the mascot of a London Territorial regiment. It is strange to think that an ancient Celtic rite was thus carried, out in London, attended by its original significance in tho twentieth century.