LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2692, 11 February 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, which left Wellington on February_ 4, carrying Australian and United Kingdom mails, arrived in Sydney at 10.30 p.m. on February 8. His Honour Mr. Justice Chapman will preside at a Chamber sitting of the Supreme Court at 10.30 g.m. to-day, when tho civil list will be called over and the order of cases fixed.

Since the establishment of permanent camps at Trentham and Featherston, the'demand for houses, rooms, and board and lodging in their- vicinity has steadily increased. This lias been duo to the desire of officers, n.c.o.'s, and men on the camp staffs who are married to have their wives and families near _ them, and also to the fact that relatives of the officers and men in training often spend a few.'weeks in 'lodgings near the camps in■ order that they may see their soldier boys frequently. Jn a lesser degree this has been the case in Wellington and Palmcrston North, though there has been an exodus from the latter place since the Rifle Brigade battalions left. New cottages are in course of erection at Trentham and Upper Hutt, and at Featherston_ to meet the demand for accommodation, competition for which is so keen that high routs are raid. One house-owner has let a furnished 6-roomed cottage for £5 10s. a week, four rooms being; let at £1 a week to separate tenants, and the lean-to, containing a kitchen and bedroom, at £1 10s.

Regulations notified in last night's Gazette state: "No telegram in plain language relating io betting or to investments on the totalisator, or in coded language reasonably supposed to relate to _ betting or to investments on the totalisator,' addressed to any person on a racecourse, or addressed to any person who has been convicted in a Court of W.v under the Gaming Act, 1908, or any amendment thereof, of any offence relating to betting or investments 'on the totalisator, and no money ordter telegram addressed to any such person, is to be accepted. Money order teVegrams addressed to a racing club, or to a secretary, or other officer, agent, or servant of a racing club, relating /to Tnvestments on a totalisator, whether addressed to a racecourse or elsewhere,'must be refused. Anv person tendering a telegram of a seditious, libellous, indecent, or offensive nature nn/st be informed that before it can be accepted a copy will have to be telegraphed to the secretary, and authority, obtained for its acceptance."

An increase in the charge for passports was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. G. \Y. Russell) yesterday. "In conscqiience. of the largo number of Passports being applied for-in New Zealand," Laid the Minister, "and tho large amount of work that is thereby thrown upon the Department of Internal Affairs and the police, Cabinet lias resolved Uiat for the future the charge for a passport shall be raised from ss. to 10s., the latter being the sum charged by the Australian Government. The increased charge will take effect immediately. To all applications lor passports now in the hands of the Internal Affairs Department the lower rate will applv, but future applications will rcqtiira 'to bo accompanied by a fee nf 10s."

The total numher of men of the New Zealand lixpeditionary Force known to be prisoners of war is twenty-three. Ot these sixteen belong to the Wellington Battalion, two to tlie Auckland Mounted Rifles, two to the Auckland .Battalion, two to the Otago Battalion, and one to the Canterbury Mounted allies.

, ' rll ° Prime Minister, the Right Hon. . J). Massev, remarked to a leporter yesterday that they had heard some criticism of the Rotorua Soldiers' Convalescent Home, but the other side of the picture was revealed in a letter lie had received from a soldier patient at the Rotorua home: "Am sick of hospital and want to get to work. Thev tieat us very well here and Dr. Herbert is one of the wliitest men I have iKGt since I came back."

Tlie Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) stated at last evening s meeting of the City Council that complaints had been made about the number of young men acting as conductors of trams. He had been into tlie matter and had ascertained that most or the young men engaged recently wore married, and had not married to escape military service. They could not expect aged married men to do the work of conductors as satisfactorily as younger men

It-was decided by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society on Tuesday, that a petition be presented to the Minister of Internal Alfairs, asking for the approaching shooting season to be a close one for native game, and also- that imported game bo shot during tho months of May, June, and July, aB hitherto. In connection with this matter a letter was reoeived from Mr. E. J. C!endon, of Thames, stating that there ; is a strong feeling in that district that some endeavours should be made to open the shooting season for native game, including pigeons, for a month, or Slx weeks this year. It was pointed out that native game were plentiful and pheasants also, in some places.

An, important matter to anglers was mentioned at a meeting of the Council ol the Auckland Acclimatisation Society by Mf. D. P. Hargraves, a represon tive of the King Country Society, tie said that Maoris who owned land m, the upper reaches of the Waimea , Liver wore in the habit of charging pakehas who desired to fish there a" fee of 10s. This meant that fishermen were required to pay their license fee of £1 to the society, and an extra 10s ; to the Maori who owned the land. Mr. H. .H. Ostler said that the question of legislation on this point had been discussed some time ago, but nothing definite had resulted. In the case of the Maoris living in the district named, they apparently were charging the fishermen a- fee for crossing their land, and there was 110 redress. In some or the larger rivers a chain right-of-way was retained along the border of tlie rivers, but in the case of the Waimea River and numerous other rivers running through native land, the Moans owned the land over which the river flowed, and naturally had the rights over the fishing. No right-of-way had been retained. He suggested an agitation for amending legislation. "The time is coming," added Mr. Ostler, "when fishing rights in Now Zealand will become much dearer." It Was left to the King Country Society to act in the matter if it desired.

The City Council decid'cd last evening that the Wellington Education Board be informed that their request to be allowed to surrender their lease of Town Bolt scction, Mitchelltown, cannot be acceded to until the section urns -been cleared of gorso aud the fences put into good order. Failing compliance ' with tho above conditions, the board be advised that the council will have the work carlied out and charge the cost to the board. The request of the Education Board to erect a wooden retaining wall in connection with t'hc Bvooklyn school was declined, such a, wall being contrary to the by-laws, which provides that all such walls must be of concrete.

A fireman and a sailor had a quarrel on the Tarawera, lying at the Queen's Wharf, Auckland, and came to blows. After the fight each man declared that lie would not sail oil tlie vessel if tho other did. They interviewed the captain, and he decided that the fireman had better.leave the ship, but fresh trouble was caused by all tlie other firemen saying 'that if, this fireman left they wonld also leave. It was then decided'to dismiss tlie sailor, but liis mates, not to be outdone in loyalty to a comrade by the firemen, then de-: clared that they would leave if their comrade left. A deadlock ensued, and the captain was in a quandary. Finally, after the vessel had been delayed an hour, the sailor stated that he was not anxious to remain ,on the vessel, and he prevailed upon his comrades to agree to his departure. The vessel then sailed for the south.

The Hon. Colonel Rhodes, now at the front, has written to Mr. Beadel, of Tai Tapu (says a Christchurch paper) _ suggesting tlmt a scheme might bo initiated for the purpose of bringing before bee-keepers that honey would be very much appreciated by the Dominion soldiers fighting in the trenches. To set the scheme going Colonel Rhodes has sent a donation of £100 for the purpose.

Mr. M. Maiton, hon. secretary of the Momit Hector Tourist Track Committee, Greytown, has received a letter from Mr. R. Kane, in which tho writer states that lie and liis party had a capital trip over Mount Hector from Otaki, .the journey being very enjoyable. He expressed,his. thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Brabender, Waiohine Gorge, for their kindness to the party,

Wadestowu is to have a fire station. It was announced a.t the meeting of the City Council last- evening that a site had been procured <md instructions have been given for tho work to be proceeded with.

Tho provisions of tlie Trade and Commerce Act have been suspended in so far as the.v prevent or restrict tho employment of discharged soldiers. Tho effect of this is to put the discharged soldiers outside the operation' of the under-rato workers and apprentices' provisions. Last night's Gazette states that now an Inspector of Factories, "after making inquiry as to tho fitness and ability of the applicant for such employment, and after giving tho union which 16 bound by the award oc industrial agreement a reasonablo opportunity of expressing its views upon tho application, may, in writing, issue to him a discharged soldier's permit to bo employed in tlie, industry for such term, at such rate of wages, and upon such other conditions as he thinks fit."

Councillor J. Godber asked tlie Mayor at last evening's meeting of tlie City Council when the access would be completed through from Wright Street to the tramway terminus in Wallace Street. This work had been promised months ago. In reply, the Mayor said that'tliere was some difficulty about the original lease of the ground that was to provide a 6ft. right-of-way, and there were other legal difficulties to contend with. Now that the big "C.tsss tlfo city solicitor -was concerned in were practically over he would be able to devote some attention to the mattor.

"1:1ns any step bee:i taken with regard to the encroachment on the corner of Dixon Street and AVellington Torraco?" was a questi>n asked of the Mayor by Councillor T. Bush at last evening's meeting of the City Council. The Mayor replied that no further 6teps had been taken because the engineer was awa.v, and it was a matter which concerncd him. Several councillors xirgcdl that if it.was an encroachment tho fact of tho engineer being away should not prevent tho machinery being set in j motion.

Something like, a range in money belts for soldiers, . 2s. lid., 3s. (kl., ss. Gd„ ss. lid. j snake or bucklo fastener? -too, lowlds, Ltd.—Advt.

The tohunga is not yet dead (says the Wairoa "Guardian"). Wo were informed tho other day that when caterpillars were very troublesome oil iva est ato a. few miles out of Wairoa a tohunga visited 0110 of tho paddocks, ato a few of the ngarara, and after sundry incantations every caterpillar took liir, departure, and the oat crop was saved.-

At last evening's meeting of tlie City Council Councillor R. A. Wright asked if it were possible to arrange that tlie lights of tlie City be given a twitch at exactly 9 o'clock each evening in order that'people may know tho exact time. The Mayor stated that he had mentioned the matter to the city engineer; who saw a difficulty in having the engineer at the power-house to be at th< switchboard precisely at 9 o'clock every evening. Councillor Hutoheson stated that Mr. C. E. Adams (the Government Observer) gave the time out to the shipping people at 9 o'clock every evening by twitching the red, white,- and blue lights from the Observatory at Kelburn.

The receipts from the Annual Centre Bowling Tournament were as follow:— Entry fee, 58 rinks, £58; donation Dr. Koss, £1; total, £59. The expenses amounted to 15s. only, and as the latter is being charged to general account, a cheque for £59 has been handed over by Mr. J. J. Roberts (hon. secretary Wellington Bowling Centre) to His Worship tho Mayor as a contribution from the centre to the Mayor's Fund for Sick and Wounded Soldiers.

■ The Wellington Cricket Association has been granted permission to charge for admission to the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoons, February 12 and 19, subject to the usual conditions, and also that the charge for adults be limited to sixpence.

A. now set of regulations for telegraph officers has been gazetted. On® qf them reads: In tlie case of temporary interruption to the New Zealand land lines making communication with Auckland impossible, messages for Norfolk Island, Fiji, Fanning Island, and Sandwich Islands must be referred to the sender, who should be informed that tho message cannot go forward unless routed "Via Eastern a'nd Pacific," and an additional 4d. per word paid; mes-' sages for America, Great Britain, and Germany presented unrouted or marked "Via Pacific" must be amended to "Via Eastern and Pacific" without reference to the sender; all _ other messages should bear, the indicator "Via Eastern.''

In the course' of an article deUling with the Commonwealth Post Office, and the crying need for its almost complete reorganisation, tho Melbourne "Leader" says: "Mr. Webster, it is understood, > believes in the t appointment of a board, but whether it' should consist of one or of three commissioners is not known. After the decision of tho caucus it is unlikely that he will seek a reformer from within the service. Ho is certainly displaying no haste to secure one fiom outside. It lias been announced that Mr. Webster is about to' visit New Zealand to inquiry into postal administration in the Dominion. . Perhaps ho intends to unearth a, reformer there, 'l'ho one branch —accountancy—which did earn the commendation of Mr. Anderson was organised and systematised by a former New Zealand officer. But wherever he seeks the right man for this difficult task it is to be hoped, in the public interest, that, the search will not bo prolonged." The reference is to Mr. 11. Triggs, Assistant-Public Service Commissioner, who reorganised the accountancy branch of the service immediately before coming to New Zealand.

j It was on December 30 last that Mrs. . Denman, of Brooklyn, received a cable* > gram announcing the death of her son I Arthur, who was lost overboard from | H.M.S. Goshawk, "somewhere at the [ other end of the world." By the \ , last mail Mrs. Denman received a letter from Commander Dashwood Moir, written 011 December 28, just after the fatality. In it he says: "This carries "with ' it the heartfelt sympathy of all officers 1 and men of the Goshawk for- you in your 1 great loss, which is ours also. He was ' a great favourite aboard, and he will ' bo greatly missed by everyone. We were at sea wlion the accident happened. 1 and the weather was very bad. I feel 1 the responsibility of his loss doubly, 1 as, besides being under my charge, your ' son was on a message for me, when ' he must have lost his footing and ' slipped over the side. It was very dark, and no one actually saw him go; but '• one or t\fo heard a cry, and he was ' missed within two or three minutes. We ' did all we could to find him, but never i saw any trace, &nd though two of us ■ (destroyers) searched for nearly 1 hour, we had to come to the conclusion that lio must have gone -under Your eon was a very promising .voung leading seaman, and his death is an Imperial as' well as, personal loss, espe< . cially at such a time as the present, when no man can be spared." The Trades and Labour Council Jasti ' night considered several communications received from members of affiliated unions now in camp at Featherstoij, regarding the outbreak of gastro enteritis.The communications declared that there was a- serious epidemic, and that some men working for the Public Works Department had had to return home seriously ill. On behalf of its members, and all the soldiers in camp, tho council decided to immediately approach the Prime Minister and the Minister or Public Health in connection with thf» matter.