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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2742, 10 April 1916, Page 5

- The building of tlie new Pipitea wharf /has been commenced. The question of the equipment of offi- * cers in the Expeditionary. Forces is still in an unsatisfactory position (says I the "New Zealand Herald"). On the , one hand, \tlia Minister of Defence de- ' clares that everything necessary is provided by his Department; 011 tb,e other, t the officers are equally emphatic that * the allowance is inadequate, and, have applied to the patriotic associations for its supplementation. With regard to / the Eleventh " Reinforcements, the \Auckland Patriotic Association supple-, nionted the allowance made by the Department for. officers hailing from Auckland district. 'Whether the same course will be taken with respect to the officers of the Twelfth Reinforcements lias not yet been considered, but the policy of the association is to see that tho i officers are not left 'acking in matters that seem vital. It was reported by cablegram a few days ago that a high tribute had been Avon in surgical circles ,hy Major ScottSkirving, of Sydney, ToMiis success in ' extricating a bullet from a soldier's heart. A correspondent writes to the / ; Auckland \ "Star" "The Major Scott- • Skirviug mentioned for many years had liis consulting rooms in Elizabeth * Street, Hyde Park, Sydney. The doc--tor is another example of a wealthy, " clever man who has rushed to help , the ■ Mother Country in these sad timeß. The doctor and Mrs. Scott-Skirving, with their two sons, were in England to enjoy a holiday when war broke out. The doctor and his sons all laid their services at will of King and country. ' The oldest son, Robert, was fighting in France from the first of the war. The second son, Archibald, joined-the Dublin Fusiliers, and the doctor was .serv- . ing for months on a hospital ship somewhere near England. After some months the doctor had to return to fix his - affairs in Sydney, which}, he soon did, arid set out for England, and it was when nearing England he got the ' sad news of the death at the Dardanelles of liis youngest son, Captain A. V. Scott-Skirving, a promising young man, just passed, as a doctor. Writing to a friend, the doctor mentions '■ having had 42' operations before noon, ' he and his chief, and he is understood to be in charge of a great hospital for wounds." - Aii Australian paper has published an amusing account of "My First Day," supposed to he written by a young woman who. had taken the place of a raihvav porter who had enlisted. She found that "lugeage-lugging" was hot her only occupation. She was supposed to be a walking encyclopaedia of information about trains, times and platforms, and to receive complaints about the general management and'details of the wliele railway system. 'Among the questions asked was one from a small hoy as to' whotlier his Auntie' Nellie had arrived. A rather inebriated gentleman who had missed his train was anxious to know, if-his wife had caught it.. A nervous old lady wanted to know if were many people killed on the line by which she wb s going. to travel, and if the enginedriver and signalmen were all total abstainers. These were a few among of the questions she was sup.posed to answer. She found that most people adhered carefully to the rule of tinning the railway employees, and, ■ although she put through a great quantity of luggage,' at the end.of the day she found herself possessing the munificent sum of half a crown all told.