LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2866, 2 September 1916, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The ' postal authorities aclviso that the. s.s_. Riveriim, which sailed from Sydney at noon. 911 August 31 for Wellington, is bringing Australian mails onl.y, and is due here 011 Monday.

The. Minister.of .Internal Affairs (the Hon 6. AY'! Russell) notifies, in the Gaze'tto tliatt opossums are absolutely protected in tho Wellington district. " ' •' '

At the big meetjng of '-the heads 'of boroughs in the City Council Chamber on. '-Thursday- afternoon, Captain liarclay, ofticer-in-charge of the Town Hall Recruiting Office, quoted figures to show how,, they, had .enrolled ,217 for .'Wellington'quota . of 1.73 . for the 20th Reinforcements, and then .lie was staggered to learn one day that the draft was 50 short, and following that 100 short. : Working, out : quadratic equations'was, lie said, a fool'to it! He was, however, pleased to hear that a new R.vste.nv of recruiting., was .shortly to be -adopted,' one in .which'.they would swear the men in. after they passed .the doctor.: ; This was what he. had bpori lighting for* for ten ' months... and he claimed it as a ' victory. Then tliey would have veal men for each draft, not mero names!'-

Loft, alias Jf'Lean, who escaped from the. Kaingaroi Camp on Tuesday, was arrested yesterday mornim* on the Taupo .Road,. .Sprigging, alias M'All'ster, who. escaped from Rotoairn Camp on Mohday, was arrested last night at Tokaanu.—Press Association. .

Horace G'oldin, , the magician,- who is now at the Grand Opera .House, will«present .£25 cash and a free season ticket to the first person who approaches him after- G. 30 o'clock to-nisht C?Murclay), September 2, with an Anznc Art Union Ticket, stamped on the bach, "1\ A..M'-Hardy." These tickets are obtainable at tobacconists and . booksellers.*

' - Wo life showing' some favourite patterns in good material shirts, 3s. lid. each of three for -lOs-.-Gd. -Geo. -Powlds, Ltd.. Manners Street.—Adyt.- .• ~,,.

An. argument about .the..naval fight off the Jutland coast was responsible for the appearance in the Magistrate's Court - yesterday of Ike Kutner and Kristian l-lenry Jansen. On June- 24 Jansen, who is a Dane, was holding forth in Manners Street about the prowess of the Germans, and declaring that they had "knocked out of Jellicoe," and would do it next time they met. Kutner, after hearing as much of it as lie felt inclined for, cut into the conversation, and thero was a disturbance, in which lie fared,the better, until the appearance of a. policeman interrupted the mill. Later in the day the men met again and renewed the argument and the fisticuffs. ...'This time they did some damage to a shop window. Kutner eluded tne- policeman at tho time, and "as'soon" as'an opportunity offered a little, latpr lie called at tlie shop and paid the woman wlio kept it for the damage done. Both men were convicted and discharged on condition that t-hcy paid witnesses' expenses, 4s. each.

Tho' Fire Brigade received, a call at 10.38 'a.m. .yesterday to. 33 Tasman Street, a four-roomed cottage, where the contents of a bedroom were on fire; Little damage- was done to the house, except- to the one room and its contents. Mr.. William Parker is the oceupier, and 'Mr. William Palmar, the owner of the dwelling, on which there is an insurance of £2-25 in tlie Guardian office. . There ...was w>. insurance on the- contents... '

The Maranui School -Bazaar, which concluded yesterday, resulted in over £330 being raised for the Wounded Soldiers' Fund and for improvementsto the school grounds.

'Che ]son. G. W.'. Russell, replying, to a deputation-.of: representatives of. tho shipping companies' in Auckland in' regard to permits to seamen and engineers, said that as far as,-his Department —Internal Affairs—was concerlfe'd he would do everything possible to facilitate-Llic granting of.-passports ..to bona-fide seafaring': men for the purpose 'of getting ; vessels away to sea. He warred the deputation that a largo number of applications by men tio work as firemen and trimmers came from de-' liberate shirkers, and the Department had to investigate all applications care, fully. Ho promised to suggest cer-:" tain modifications of the regulations to make matters work more smoothly. —Press -Association-. ■ ''" " '<

At the meeting of "Mayors of boroughs held on ThA'sday- to consider recruit-, ing matters, Mr. M. W. Welch' (chairman of-the Hutt County Council) said that the system of ■ medical inspection must be very bad,'in viejv ..of the minir. ber of men who were being thrown out of camp, after having been passed by a medical officer and being six or eight weeks in camp. Mr. AVelcb thought that such a state of was a reflection on the-authorities; as. it must' bo very distressing to those men who have made arrangements to go and who may have made all sorts of. sacrifices. He did not blame the camp authorities, but ho blamed the. medical men who first examined and passed the men.

A Press Association telegram from Dunedin states that',advice lias been received indicating that the Y.M.C.A. Commissioners nave made an auspicious start, tlie passengers on the Niagara to. Vancouver subucribing £650 for a hut in France: '

The public health inspector, Mr. Leslie Hardic, predicted in tlie Magistrate's Court,' Christchurch,' 'Nfliat stables, as well as piggeries, : would soon have to leave the city. He in-, stanced - a splendid up-to-date stable in Christchurch, where everything sible to. keep, a- stable-in <i sanitarjstate, was done: Tt was all brick; with' no wood or anything to catch filth. The drainage was excellent, the could be properly cleaned, and yet,, owing to the flv miisance, the Department r had been compelled to give notice, to the owner to abate .thb:;o nuisance: The stable was minion, but scientists: insisted that'the. stable fly must ■ be kept--under iri ithe interests of the community.

The gold'-dredging industry' on -the West Coast is bcirsgr seriously affected by' present war conditions. A number of 'investors ver<3 hopeful that, by improving the dedges; installing greater power, and obtaining greater efficiency a solid revival would take/place in tlio industry.- It is, however (says an exchange), becoming increasingly difficult to get crews, while tho of coal lias, in some, cases, nearly doubled; all dredge supplies are'at almost famine prices, and the foundries are passing the full 10 per cent - war I'omts on to the rate of wages they charge to the companies. Unfortunately. the dredging companies cannot pass on the increased cost of output-: indeed,'they ai;c setting-slightly less for their gold, a s they have to bear increased bullion and insurance charges.- It 'is..feared th»-t a number of West Coast dredces will have to closo down until after the war.

An exchange is responsible for the following:—One of the cooks on .the Tongariro was tho only man to gather his luggage together. He deposited his boxes 'in one of the boats, and then went away for somo other purpose. On. his return he found, to his dismay, that the crew had thrown over his bagr gage, and, incidentally, £60 in hardearned cash.

Tho "Wyndham Farmer" reports oil a recent storm: At about 4.40 o'clock, almost immediately after the worst, of. the, meteorological pandemonium, a nerve-racking of . thunderclaps," heralded- by.'.brilliant .flashes of lightning, broke out; and :ip one part of this district, at least, the electrical Visitation left in its 'trail proofs of its uncanny power. On "Coldstream farm. Seaward Downs, the "pro'pertv of Mr. Robert M'Kenzie, two calves shottering behind a .gorse hush stnick dead"by lightning ; while the five wires of a fence near by were.'all cut through, the- severed parts appearing as- though tlior had been tinned with a soldering holt: The lightning travelled alohg' the wires, whicli it snapped in two other places, divergin" tho while on'to two cross fences. ,F.re ' its"- energy became exhausted, the'lightuing had vim alrtng tilo.fence, for a distance of 40 chains. There were no marks on the bodies ot' the calves. . -■ - - .•■ . ;

While encaged in sinking a ,ditch at"Waikana, Otago. Mr. Tho-.'.is M'Kennel made.-an interesting discovery of mines Which .are believed .byWW •**<>• <>aye seen them to bo .those-.of a moa. \mong them, are several _ short, thick ti»ncs."an3 very, heavy-iipints, and. one hrge let: bono, "bout' 20in\!<msi.' ; -Tliero ai'iTalso a number of small bonea about a loot- lone which look as if they, were the. toes of the. bird. Another, .interesting hone, is .the spur, which; is_ about 2m. long and fully an incji thiol: nt thi» ha.se. Tlieso litter hrnies indicate eleirly that they ore nart of a. bird. ' The bones-wpre fmmd nlimit '4ft." fiin. deep, and Tifr. M'Ker""! " stai.es that tftpre a»'e other hones still ihero

In answer to a question as to ; tho damage-' doiie' in the recent fire, at Trentliam the' Hon. A. M. Myers told ;,n Auckland reporter that the. loss was not so, serious as was at first anticipated. "In any ease'the holding of reserve stocks lias disposed of any difficulty likely to have beev experionceil in supplying equipments for reinforcements that, enter camp."- explained theMinister.—Press Association. '

The war loan lecturer reports that. Messrs. J. Nathan and Co. and Thompson. Bros'., Ltd., are purchasing war loan certificates for. their employees, and accepting small ivcoki.v repayments in return from thoso participating. • ■ ••••' . ..

Over GOO Women secured prize's in the re®nt Desert Gold Tea Competition. A ne\v : competition is now under way/with .£SO in prizes, and also gift prizes. Drink Desert Gold Tea and save 'the "Camels.-" —Advt. ' •