LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2727, 23 March 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"We want to be careful that we -are not doing work of a religious character: our work must bo purely secular," remarked Mr. W. Ferguson, at the War Relief Association yesterday, when a certain application for money was before the body.

A cablegram received from Colouel Logan, in charge of the garrison at Samoa, states that Private C. Smith is suffering from a dislocated shoulder; Private W. Strants has lymphangitis ; and Private W. Fincli, bronchial asthma.

The necessary firemen were forthcoming yesterday for tho ferry steamer Maori, and she was able to leave for tbo south at the ordinary time last evening. The Pateena, which took up tho Lytteltoiv run w'liile tlio Maori was laid aside, has again resumed in the. Picton and Nelson service. She left last night for Picton.

Yesterday Detective Mason and Constable Russell arrested a man, who will appear at the Magistrate's Court this morning to answer a charge of theft of £S.

Tho Wairarapa Automobile Association lias arranged to entertain the returned soldiers at a garden party at Carrington House, on Thursday afternoon next.

No official advice is available here as to whether Sir Ernest Shackleton will make Lyttclton or Hobart his first port of call on his return from the Antarctic, says a Christchurch message. The •Australian papers apparently assume that Hobart will have the. honour of first receiving tho explorer and his party on their return to civilisation but it is just as likely that Sir Ernest Shackleton will be first heard of at Stewart Island or Lyfctelton.

It is desired to give an appropriate name to the aeroplane which is to ba presented to the British Government by the public of Auckland Province. For this purpose a competition is being arranged, in connection with which a prize will be given to the psrson who suggests the most suitable title. Each competitor will bo required to send, along with his suggestion as to the Jiame.'a fee of Is. Tho amount so.subscribed will bo devoted to the Aeroplane Fund. *

It is anticipated that within the nest month or two a Compensation Court will sit in Auckland to hear the claims made by some 20 merchants against the New Zealand Railway Department m connection with tho taking of hud for the proposed new Auckland railway station. Tho claims are expected to aggregate £250,000.

A staff of men have been employed for some time on the Town Bolt just off Moxham Avenue, draining the ground in preparation for a City nursery which it is proposed to establish there. The area of tho nursery will bo about three acres.

Ouv sidesmen enjoy booking large orders for "No Rubbing Laundry Help," because it lightens woman's toil. Weilington Merchants.—-Aclvt.

Yihi can get a well-made Glace or iiox Calf Hoot id 225. Ccl. lo Ms., from Geo. lawlds, Ltd., Mauuors Street,—Advt.

A Taumarumii message says: "Ono of the four nuns who recently came to Taumarumii on the opening 0 f tho new convent, Sister Leonora, «•«» arowned_ in tho Wanganui River, near Maminiii, on Monday afternoon. Monday was St. Joseph's Day, and the jubilee of the foundation of the Order to which these nuns. belong. They celerriiiCtl '£ ] l y a " icuic at Maminui, I'ather borde accompanying them. After lunch Sister Leonora, being fond "t rowing, stopped into a small boat moored by the bank, and pulled out into the stream. Here she lost an oar and got into difficulties. Father FoHei went to her rescue, and wading into tin water up to his neck, pushed tho boat nearly to the shore. Before reaching it, however, tho current amine the boat round, capsiVod it. and carried J'other Fordo off his Jeot. ' Ho had tlio greatest difficulty in scrambling nlon« the bottom, and got to land oxh'iwßtoif the unfortunate occupant of the. boat M-iis.cnrncd down about 300 yards Sh> rose twice, and was observed to look lip. but did not utter a sound. She was taken out of the water within 10 minutes, but, all efforts to restore her proved fruitless. Sister Leonora was tho fifth daughter of Mr. J. J Clements Uemuera. She was 22 years of

The war taxation imposed by Parlia- !& do ™B >l«»sfon has so he Minister tor Finance, Sir J. fj. Ward ■..formed a, lor&ern reporter, fully S lffl£ n a M U S! Bcst,n,ntedb S ,li » »' willf, n ~l^ tcninnt - w, »th« , hl 7 "fot the war expenses yet remains to bo seen, and it will not bo Z \,T I - h ? end of the fi n«noial eai, as f„U m f orniatioll ;„ ( fa the amounts coming to charge in Lon don is not yet to hand. While giving a reserved judgment in ie Dunedin Magistrate's Court a few OS ago, Mr. Jj. Y. Widi.wson, S.M., Piioty ol persons addressing letters to .mi coiicerning any case biought under if. notice. "I have received fiom somebody an anonymous letter in the interests of one of the parties," he said "In my capacity as Magistrate I have only received two such letters. He is a very stupid <md impertinent person too does such a thing to interfere with tho course of justice. My instinct is to consign these things to their proper place, and that is the waste-paper basret. 1 have been considering whether this has not gone too far, and the question is whether I shall have further action taken in the matter. It is a stupid and an impertinent act, and one that should never be committed. ]f I had 1 the gentleman before me probably he would go away a wiser if not a sadder man."

In the course of ( an address given at l atumahoe the Prime Minister sounded a warning note. Now Zealand could not expect to get as much for its produce alter the war as it was getting now,*- ho said, and it would have to provide employment for large, numbers of returned | men. 'file people sometimes forgot thu enormous war expenditure of the country. The war was costing; New Zealand £800,000 per "month, <wd there was' a prospect of a still further increase. He believed, however,, that the country would see the war through to the end. There was ono thing certain: No country would recover from the effects of the war as New Zealand would, for tho energy of hor people and the quality of her products would stand by her. Mr. Massey said he believed the demand for New Zealand ■produce would continue, and .the advertisement it was at present receiving would be of invaluable service in normal times. i

To Major P. A. Wood, who has just been invalided home with a shattered light hand, belongs the honour of having been awarded the Military Cross, tho new decoration created since tho present war commenced. It was awarded to him for no special act of bravery, but for -his continuously fine work on Galiipoli, -culminating- in" a brilliant piece of direction at the famous assault on Clninuk Bair. The Auckland Mounted Rifles and the Wellington Regiment practically held Clninuk Bair against the whole assault of the enemy, and when Major Chapman and Major Scholncld, the two officers commanding, were placed out of action, the command devolved upon Major Wood, who acquitted himself with great bravery. The forces bo was commanding on that occasion were practically decimated, and only 22 men out of 318 came out unharmed. In the'eourse of conversation Major Wood emphasised tho fact that there were hundreds of men on Galli-' poli who deserved to he decorated for their manv magnificent acts of bravery, and he said that sometime*, an officer I was only entitled to hold the decoration as tho representative of the men under him. Major Wood has had a distinguished career as a soldier. Ho went to South Africa at the time of the Boer war'as a trooper in the first contingent'. Ho won promotion in the field, and canio home with a captain's commission, AVhen he arrived in New Zealand ha abandoned his commission in order to join the New Zealand Permanent Staif as a sergeant-major. At tho outbreak of the present war he ■ left with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as captain-adjutant of tho Auckland Mounted Rifles. He was promoted in the field to his present rank. Ho spent a period of five months on tho Peninsula, and he speaks very highly indeed of the work of tho New Zealaiidcrs on Gallipoli. He says their bravery was a thing to marvel at. He also mentions iu grateful terms tho treatment ho and his men received in the Old Country, boffl in tho hospitals and at tho private homes'of the English people, j

Among the effects of Captain A. B. Morton, New Zealand -Staff" Corps, forwarded from the peninsula and received in Auckland last week, is a diary which contains what appears to. be a complete list of casualties from April 25 to April 30. The names of COO officers and men, killed, wounded, and missing, are given with full details as to unit, rank, and number. These names of men killed in action did not reach New Zealand until nearly two months later. Tho list is complete only up to April 30. Captain Morton himself went into action with the Otago Battalion the following clay, was reported missing on May 3, and is now believed to have been killed in action while leading an attack on Quinn's Post. This was ono o'.' tlie worst bits of fighting on the peninsula, tho attack being beaten back, the casualties for tlio two days' action being heavy. During tho armistice held in May, every effort was made to discover some trace of Captain Morton, special search parties being formed, and the Turks themselves assisting in searching ground inaccessible to the British. Although all other missing officers are said to have been found, no clue was ever discovered as to Captain Morton's fate. The diary in question contains a vivid description of the perilous journey from Egypt to Gaba Tepe, being complete up to the evening before the landing, and it ends with the message sent to General Hamilton bv His Majesty the King: "The King wishes you and your army every sue" cess, and you are all constantly in His Majesty's thoughts and prayers."

Petrol motor traction is advancing by' leaps and bounds throughout tho Dominion, and the forward orders for English motor vehicles at present in the hands of the local Dominion Motor Vehicles, Ltd., aro piled up, and now represent a capital value of many thousands of pounds The difficulty of deliveries is a most serious factor, and while we thank our many customers for their patience and willingness to wait, we recognise that business must go on. Wo have therefore, secured control of absolutely the finest Standard American Motor Lorry, and have now- on show a 2/3-ton vehicle, with every possible equipment, and designed for'heavy roads and rough work. Wo invite inspection by all our present clients and intending niirchn.«crs. The Dominion Motor Valur-lo:' Ltd., Go Courtouay Place —AiivU ,

Mr. James M'lntosh has been appointed to tlio seat on the executive of the War Relief Association recently vacated by Mr. H. G. Hill.

Tlio following letter has been received ■in Christchurch from Lieut-Colonel J. J. Esson. C.M.G., a member ot the staff of the Now Zealand Forces in Egypt: "I am directed by the general officer commanding the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to acknowledge the" receipt of 103 cases of Christmas Rifts, sent-by the Ohristchurch branch of the Lady Liverpool Fund. I have much pleasure in stating that the oases were disnatched as follows:—Eighty-six to Ismailia, sixteen to Helmieh, ami one to Ghezireh. The contents wero. distributed to the men at these places. Please convey to tho committer the best thanks of the general officer commanding, on behalf of the troops who participated in the distribution."

The printer of the Commonwealth postage stamps has drawn the attention of tho Australian Government to tho fact that thoro may bo a shortage of paper required for stamps. The suggestion is accordingly made that, in order to conserve as far as possible the supply of stamps, where the postage of an article amounts to more than' a. penny, stamps of a higher denomination should be made tiso of instead of penny stamps. At the present time 1b,730 reams of paper are absorbed annually in Australia in tlio printing of 450,000,000 stamps.

Since January the War Relief Association of Wellington has dealt with over 170 applications for assistance.

A rather unusual incident is reportcd to have occurred at the Hamiltoa Presbyterian Church last Sunday morning. The minister, the Rov. A. Gow, during the sermon, read extracts from a book by Stephen Graham, wherein the author drew a lurid picture of the behaviour of the men of the Main Expeditionary Force at Cairo. At the conclusion of the service. SergeantMajor Purdom, who left with tho main body, and was with them in Egypi and Gallipoli, rose in the body of"the church, and stated that while the author might have some data for his comments, the strictures anplied only to a small handful, who had a predisposition in the direction indicated, and who, in all probability, would have acted similarly in New Zealand. But it was an exaggeration to infer that the men as a body were affected. , Numerous agencies were actively at work, both to assist the men and to warn them of the pitfalls, and many officers were ever ready and anxious to conserve tho .welfare of tlio men. He could personally assure parents and friends of men at the front that the picture drawn by Mr. Graham need not give them concern. Marked signs of approval of the sergeant-major's remarks were shown, 'and the incident closed.

llie Hostel . Committee reported to the executive oi : iTuc War lMief Association yesterday tiiat it- had had several -meetings, and recommended-'thai owing to the difficulty of obtaining ' a suitable building the matter of a "further hostel should bo hold in abeyance for Hie present. Mr. W. Ferguson said taat all were agreed that the building should be in a central situation. Such a building was difficult to get except at a fabulous rental, so the committee preferred to bide its time. Mr. S Kirkcaldie remarked that every liotei and boardinghbuso in Wellington was i full, and had been for some time. The | Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke) said that either the City Council would have to recognise a responsibility, or the General Government would havo to go in for a much more progressive policy than it was following at the present time. It • was Hie, City Council's duty to see that there overcrowding in the City, and if there was any it should not be allowed to continue. He could not say what the council would dp, but he could bring the matter before them. Pie suggested that time should be allowed for him to take that course, and 1 his suggestion was adopted.

An encounter between New Zealand troops and tho Semis-ii during January is thus described' by a Thames member of the Iliito Brigade:—! l Tho fight was of a much livelier character than that on Christmas Day. We had to go 25 miles to meet the enemy. Our company was rearguard', so we wore last to go into the fighting, but as soon as we did shrapnel began to play round us and about a quarter ol an hour later a machine-gun opened on us. After half an hour we were shifted to the loft flank to stop tho advance of a number of tho enemy Who had come in that direction. This we did effectively. Wo were away from camp thee-'days altogefcher. We left camp at 3 o'clock, marched 15 miles; and camped for the night, which turned out wet and cold, and we got but little sleep. Next morning wo went another ten miles before we came into contact.with the enemy. The fighting; ceased about sis in the evening, and wc then won 1 -- into biruuao for tho night. The trinsport wagons I got stuck along tho road, and we liad to do without our blankets and overI coats for the night, much to our'sorrow. The night was so cold ond' wc(> that we could not sleep, and passed our time sitting and talking round fires we lighted with some trouble. Next morning wo got ready to como back to our first camping place ,a distance of about ton miles, but it took us nine hours to do it, as the roads were bad and the motor-cars had to be pulled 1 along with ropes. The. muu was up to our hoot tops when we first started. Water was one of our troubles. I can tell you we tvero glad to got some. Wo camped, that night about six o'clock and wore able to- make hot tea and stew for ourselves. The night again was very wet, with a piercing cold wind-blowing. Although we bad our blankets and coat? wo could not sleep. Next morning wa were up early, though wo did not start until half-past nine. We reached camp about 5 p.m., tired' out."