LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2739, 6 April 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, which left Wellington oa Marcli 30, carrying Australian andEnglisli mails, via Suez, arrived at Sydney at 5.20 'p.m. on Monday.

In the course of an open-air address in Masterton on' Tuesday night, the Right LI (in. W. ]?. Massey said he predicted that in the early , stages of the coming session of Parliament a Bill would be introduced providing the power to employ compulsion inthe event of the voluntary system failing. The Bill would probably enact that in any disti ict where the quota was. not voluntarily filled, the doficienoy would be inade good by means of a ballot from those eligiblos whose names appeared upon the National Register. Mr. Massey urged that local committees should use tlieir utmost endeavours to make the register complete.

A serious outbreak of diphtheria is reported from the country districts, says a Press Association telegram from Napier. ' It may bo added that an officer of the Health Department has been in-" vestigating- an outbrcalcNat Shannon. Two cases have been reported in Wellington.

No cold- car rides if yon' wear, one of the latest nap overcoats at COs. to 905., 'from Geo. Fowlds, Ltd., manners Street. —Advt.'_, . Yes, Ladies, the abolition of washboard slavery is certainly a great triumph for "No Rubbing Laundry Help." Noto our Flmt'MiUa cir XIO row with every is. naakfliß. Wellington Grwa.—Advt,

The Prime Minister stated yesterday that ■it was proposed to set apart for settlement by discharged soldiers 2138 acres of good grazing country, situated 22 miles 'south-east of Carterton, to be subdivided into a' number of holdings. Also it was proposed to set apart tor the same purpose the Ot-awhao Block, of 2G98 acres, near Takapau. This block has been subdivided into 24 holdings, and it <is very good land. If a 9®"°'' should prove to bo necessary it will be taken on May 10.

The Hon. A. L. Herdinan, who is at present 'at the sceno of the recent trouble with the Maori prophet Run, yesterday sent tho following telegram to police headquarters: —"The polico have left Maungapohatu with the prisoners and the injured :nen, and expect to reach lluatalnuia to-night. The party will go tol?otorua by stages, and should arrive oil Friday. All tho members of the party are in good health, and the injured men are progressing qui to satisfactorily. Every effort is boing made to secure their wclfaro."

The oxecutive of the Now Zealand Educational Institute have boon permitted to examine tho "grading scheme" which is in course of construction, aJid they state that they are satisfied that teachers have nothing to fear from tho introduction of such a echctro..

The first meeting of tho newly-oon-stitutcd advisory board in connection with tho Patriotic Societies of New Zealand will be opened in "A committee room. Parliament Buildings, at 10.30 a.m. to-day.

In order to conserve tho diminishing supply of water in our reservoirs, sea water is being used to spray the strcots wherever practicable. As a sequel to the talk he had with the Friendly Societies' representatives on Tuesday, the Minister for lublic Health (the Hon. G". W. Russell) has written to tho Wellington branch t or the British Medical t Association. asking for an interview with its representatives ott -the subject of the difficulties that have arisen between them and the Friendly Societies.

In addition to the soldiers who afo accounted for in tho daily bulletins of the flick in military hospitals, there are other soldiers back from the war wlio ore being treated at. general hospitals throughout the Dominion. For tlio week ending March 27 the total numbers of these soldiers wore Out-patients, 24J; in-patieiits, 327. The Eastbourne Borough Council, which owns the ferry service across the harbour, recently wrote to the Minister for Public Health to state that free passages on the ferry steamers would bo granted to returned wounded soldiers; who are patients at Lowry Bay Convalescent Hospital, and also to nurees belonging to this institution. istcr has written to the council thanking it for tho concession. An Orchestral Society has been formed in Napier with Mr. Roy, Spackman as conductor and Mr. L. S. M Clurg as leader. /

A meeting of tho Wellington Recruiting Committee is to be held in . tho Mayor's Room at the Town. Hall at 8 p.m. to-morrow to discuss Uaptain .Barclay's report on recruiting, and transact other business relating to the' cajnpaign. - The Tramways Department of the City Corporation has just finished the construction of a new loop in front ot, tho General Post Office in Customhouse Quay. The provision of a loop at that point will be found extremely useful to tile freight ear, which has to pick fip the bulk of its load at tho. central depot there, besides affording an additional shunting convenience. The Carterton Tradesmen's Association lias decided to adopt early closing during the winter months, commencing from April 10 until September 30. In the course of. a rccruiting speech ill the Masterton Municipal Hall on Tuesday evening, Mr. T.' M. Wilford, M.P., paid the following tribute to the Right Hon. W. F. Massey. He said: "There is no more genuine Imperialist in Now Zealand at the present time than the Prime Minister. While on the : floor of the Houso in peace time I may he a political opponent, : m war time I'm —- if I will oppose him I"—(Masterton correspondent)., 1 The number of' passengers who were booked at' the Masterton Railway Station during the year ending March 31, was 95,726, compared with 81,924 in the previous, year. The revenue of the station for the year was £33,806 17s. lod., compared with £31,362 17s; lid. in the previous period. A deputation waited upon the Prime Minister, in Masterton on Tuesday night in reference to the embargo that had been placed upon the exportation of hidos. It is understood (says our Masterton correspondent) that Mr. Massey stated that the embargo had been rendered necessary owing to the military ' requirements. The Telegraph Office advises that cable messages for members of ,the Volunteer Sisterhood in Egypt may te accepted, via Eastern and E.F.M. rates, the senj dor to accept all risk of noil-delivery. Messages must be fully addressed and bear an endorsed certificate of the sender thafc the addressee is a member of the Sisterhood. A youth was arrested by DeteotiveSergeant Rawle last evening-on a charge of placing an obstruction on the railway Mile at Paekakariki. A small outbreak of fire was discovered in one of the bedrooms of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel at about' 3 a.m. yesterday. It was extinguished before any material damage was done. , A brief meeting of the Management Committee of. the Wellington Football Association was held last evening. Two ntjvr junior clubs —-E/npir© and KilbimW —were' granted affiliation. Some weeks ago—following upon a meeting of the Institute of Marine Engineers, held to ■ consider tho Union Company's answer to a request by the engineers in their service, for' better conditions—it was reported .in The Dominion that it was practically certain that the men would accept the comoanv's offers. Tho secretary of the institute (Mr. T. 11.. Wallace) now announces that the new agreement has been signed, it will remain in operation for a period of three years from March 1. The terms of the agreement have already been published. Tho steamer Waimarino,.which arrived at Auckland from Vancouver, San Francisco, and Suva on Sujiday, had on board three stowaways. The men were found one day out from San Francisco, and, as they stated that they wished to come to Auckland to enlist, they were given work to do m tho stokehold and were brought on. Particulars are given in the "Railway Officers' Advocate" of the claims lor increases put forward by the Rauiyay Officers' Institute (representing.. the First, or clerical, Division in interviews with the Minister of Railways and the Minister of Finance. Tho deputation suggbstcd that 'the following scale of bonuses should bo adopted for the period of tho war :-For officers drawing from £50 to £140 per annum-878 officers —(these arc al swgle moil) £10 per annum; over £140 to £.60, 1169 men, the majority of whom are ; married £20 per annum over llbU to £315, 171 men, £15 per annum; over £315 135 me n, £10 per annum Ihe cos to the Department would bo £36,075 per annum, if tbe figures on the 1915 D-3 wore takon, without any allowance being niado for those ofhcei ft who woro at tho front. Possibly the appointments to the First Division durin" tho year just ended would countor- • Balance these. Tlie Ministers promised that the representations would receive consideration with the claims of other railwajTncii.