LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2732, 29 March 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Riverina. which left AVellington on Thursday, March 23, carrying Australian mails, arrived at Sydney on March 27.

The Eleventh Reinforcements will be reviewed by His Excellency the Governor on the Trcntham racecourse this afternoon at 2 o'clock.

Reporting from Samoa under date March 27, Colonel Logan says the health of the : troops is good. Private. W. Finch is suffering from bronchial asthma and Private J. White from phlebitis.

The heavy westerly wind which blew on Monday night fanned incipient fires in the bush on the western hills at tipper Hutt. All day yesterday tho township and the hills and valloys adjoining were enveloped in a dense, smoky haze. At night the sight presented by the blazing bush was'a remarkable one.

A sensational capture of a hare was made by a Hutt Valley resident a few, nights ago. .He was driving along tho straight road between Silvorstream and Upper Hutt, when he saw a hare running along the road some distance in front of the motor-car. He drove faster with the idea of catching up on the hare, but could not. Then he blew his horn, and the hare, galvanised with fear; turned and jumped at the car. The hare was picked up with a broken back.

The Prime Minister had not received last night any reply to his message to the Aurora.

Many events happen on the first day of April; Amongst others, it i 6 the opening day of the red deer stalking season in the Wellington district, and stalkers .are now on the move.' At Fketahuua some fine heads have been seen. Camps have been formed in the Tararua Forest Reserve, the Haurangi Forest Reserve, and at Paraparaumu. The stags are beginning to roar, and given average weather, many fine heads will fall in the first week of April.

Aii adjourned sitting of the Assessment Court will be held at the Court-, house on April 7 at 10.30 a.m., for the purpose of hearing objections to the valuations of properties in Wellington and. Miramar.

The renewed application for a side school at Seatoun (to the Worser Bay School} which occupies a lighthouse situation on the top of the hill above the bay from which it takes its name) has been referred to the chairman, inspector, and secretary of the .Education Board for a report.

A visitor who travels extensively all over New Zealand, stated to an "Otago Daily Times" reporter that fife railway service seemed to be conducted more efficiently in the South Island than in the North Island. This, was particularly noticeable in the matter of regularity of the trains, which in this island appeared to be run in observance of the scheduled time-table. Seldom are the expresses and goods trains erratic in tho South, hut in tho North Island a different state of affairs exist?.

Despite the fact that there are hundreds of acres of apples coming itno bearing this year in .-New* Zealand, reports from various centres give indications that that market is by no means overstocked. A visitor froni-.tho north told an "Otago Daily Times" reporter that in the different towns in New Zealand, whore he had been recently, he was unablo to procure any of the Cox's Orange apples, which is acknowledged to be one of the best varieties on the market. On Saturday, ,in Dunedin, he managed to obtain some at 6d. per lb., which can be bought at Wellington for 3rd. An _ outstanding feature of the fruit retailing business in the capital, ho mentioned, was that the Chinese merchants there, now that they have become established, havo ■ put up the prices', and fruit can be' purchased cheaper from the European retailers. He added that the applo export trade had commenced in real earnest, and ho noticed that hundreds of cases were being sent weekly from Nelson, where the season was reported to be an exceedingly good one. Thousands of cases of apples were also awaiting shipment on tho Motueka wharf. The fruit export trade ,was certainly destined to become one of the most important of the Dominion's staplo industries.

The AA'airarapa South County Council Inn decided to increase the pay of its employees to 10s. per day, and the permanent men will/ receive Is. per day increaso on their wages' also. The council has also decided to pay all permanent men who have enlisted the difference between their military pay and the wages received by them from tho council.

At the mooting of the Education Board yesterday, it was_ decided that as the AVainui-o -mata district is now provided with a hall, the old school building bo offered for sale for removal.

The Board of Trade goes south tonight. The board will first investigate the prices of wheat and flour in relation tc> tho price of bread.

Petrol motor traction is advancing tv leaps and bounds throughout tho Dominion, nnd tho forward orders for English motor vehicles at present in tho hands of tho local Dominion Motor A'ehiclos, Lf!l.', are piled up, and now represent a capital value of many thousands of piumte. Tho difficulty of deliveries is a most serious factor, and whilo we thank our many customers for their patience and willingness to wait, wofrccognise that business must go on. Wo havo, therefore, secured control of absolutely the finest Standard American Motor Lorry, and have now on show n 2/3-ton vehicle, with everv possible equipment, mid designed for 'heavy roads and rough work. Wo . iuvito inspecion by all our present clients and intending , purchasers. The Dominion Motor A'eluoles Ltd., 85 Courteaay Pmce. Advt,

With rospeot to those teachers in the employ of Education Boards who went into camp in .January with the New Zealand Forces, a letter was received from the Government by the Wellington Education Hoard intimating that such teachers would be paid full salary for January as well as their military J)ay. Tho chairman (Hon: J. G. W. 'Aitken) said that he was 6ure that tnembors would consider that arrange tuent satisfactory. For some time past tho Wellington Education Board has wanted to support a bank in the Brooklyn \ Schoolgrounds with a wooden wall. As the bank forms the boundary of a street, it is contrary to the city by-laws to allow such walls to bo constructed in anything but brick or concrete. The Board's, offer to do the work substantially in hardwood timber has been refused. Yesterday, tlie chairman of tho board (Hon. J. G. W. Sitken) said that the council's refusal did-not close the matter, which was still one for correspondence. Only last year a new and up-to-date school was opened at Berhampore. YeslZ td *l t?ere was an application before the Wellington Education Board for increased accommodation at that school, winch indicates a lively growth in the population of that part of the city. ine board agreed that it would be better to wait for the report of the first quarter of the current year (ending on I'riday) in ordof to ascertain the exact position of the school on this years working as to'accommodation. The Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Wright, of Sydney, in discussing matters connected with the Anglican Church, expressed the opinion that thero was as yet no marked religious revival in Australia arising out of the war. War in itself, he said, would j?* o *? sß such a revival. He admitted that there seemed to be many cases where at tho front large bodies of men came out of battle with a re-created or deepened religious feeling; but what; he asked, would happen when these men returned home to find the people there still lax in,their religion? Archbishop Wright stated that in order that the Church might try to meet the needs ot this time he had given his sanction for a. great mission to be organised in New South Wales towards the end of the present year. Several meetings had already been held in connection with this mission. The bishops of Australia were also going to be called together in May, primarily for their own devotional purposes, but it was probabje that they would also confer on the special work of the church that \ the war and its effects demanded. The waters of the Bay of Islands are renowned for tho variety of their fish and the sport offered to anglers. Englishing and hapuka-fishing have long been recognised as one of the most exciting forms of sport, and by some to equal the far-famed tarpou-iishing off tho coast of Florida. Angling for swordfish, however, i s claimed oy a correspondent from Whangarei to be far superior in point of both ekill and thrill to anything else of the kind (says the Auckland "Herald"). "Of late kingfishing has quite taken second place, and angling for swordfish is the aim of tho most expert anglers," v he writes. "The hooking and landing of a 3001b. swordfish is a rare test of nerve and slnll and endurance. Unlike the kmgfisk. which keeps below the surface, the swordfish, after his first long run, pomes to the surface, and leaps in the_ air. It is probably the most exciting moment of any angler's life-time when his first big swordfish comes to the top and hurls himself into the air, falling back with a mighty splash, and doing this not once or twice, but a dozen times with some, or even up to 40 or 50 times with others, befonthey finally give in ,and are brought alongside and roped to the launch. V. . . Doubtless when the war is over this unsurpassable sport will gradually become -widely known; and will attract many anglers eager to kill their first swordfish." Major H. J. M'Lean, % . of the R.A.M.C, who was for many months on active service at Gallipoli, cabled to his sister, Miss- M'Lean principal of the Wellington Girls' College, that he was leaving by the Maheno. After, receiving a bullet wound' iii the shoulder, which penetrated to the lung, he was removed to a hospital ship and taken to the '-Blue Sisters' " Hospital. in Malta, where he- received excellent nursing. While there he had an interview with Lord Methuen. Later on Major MiLean was taken to England suffering from joint rheumatism which so crippled him jthat he was obliged to use crutches. He was first at Endsleigh Palace,' and afterwards at Bexton Hydro for treatment, and was sufficiently recovered to walk without help. His diary was secured By his orderly the day he was wounded, and it was forwarded to New Zealand in the care of the captain of one of the liners, and safely by his relatives. A meeting of the Public Health Com-, mittee of the City Council was held in the Town Hall (committee room) last evening, Councillor JauieS Godber presiding. The business of the evening was to confer with persons connected with the milk trade of _ Wellington, and to consider the regulations for the proper control of the sale and inspection of milk within the city of Wellington, which have been drafted by the city solicitor (Mr. J. O'Shea). The meet. . iug was not open to tho Press. , The domestic hel-n liroWem pleasantly solved. Thanks to" "No Rubbing Ladry Help" for washing clothes clean without rubbing or injury. Wellington Grocers.—Advt. Just to announce we have opened a fine iange English and Colonial Underwear for winter season. Come and inspect, the goods with our moderate cash prices, ueo. Fowlds, Ltd.—Advt.