LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2874, 12 September 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"Dominion Day" (September 25) will bo observed as a holiday by the State schools of Wellington. The board is instructing school teachers to give lessons bearing on the significance of the event. There aro seven other charges against Abraham Levy, who was fined £50 recently on a charge of breaking his contract to supply the Defence Department with uniforms. The matter of the hearing of these remaining cases was mentioned in the Magistrate's Court yesterday by Mr. P..S. K.. Macassey, who said that he had arranged with Levy's counsel to ask for an adjournment till next Monday. The Court granted the adjournment. Yesterday was the second anniversary of the occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Expeditionary Force. A few days back a. wedding was celebrated in Frederick Street, and at the subsequent party the bridegroom figured in an altorcation with an intruder, who called along to say thathe did not thank the hosts for "having his missus there." The bridegroom disposed of the intruder, and when ho mot him that evening requested (so he says) an apology. Apology was not made, and tlie bridegroom felled the other man to the pavement and left him there. The adventure was related in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, and the aggressive young husband was fined £1. The State schools will reopen this morning, after the second-term holidays. Tho male teachers of the Wellington district are being advised by tho Education Board of their obligations to enrol under the provisions of tho Military Service Act before September 15 (First Division) or September 16 (Second Division). All those teachers within the ago limits prescribed aro instructed to personally notify tho board of their having complied with the requirements of the law. A man now in the custody of the polico, John Mooney, who stands charged with tho theft of £25, stated in tho Police Court yesterday that ho had found the money, not stolon it. | Inspector Hendrey remarked that' a large sum of money had been lost recently, and added that publication of this caso might ho the means of informing the loser that £1S now awaited him at tho Police Station. Mooney had spent £7 of the £25 in "having a good time." Jn a letter from Chicago, U.S.A., Mr. T. B. Hughes, of Auckland, writing to his father, has soniething interesting to state regarding, the heat wave. He writes: —"Yesterday was over 100 in tho street, and 07 on the top of a high skyscraper. The heat at night has been very trying. Even at midnight tho mercury stands about 80. Bare arms, bare legs, and bare chests.are the'ordcr. ■There havo been several dozen deaths •'on account of'tho heat. The first fewweeks wo found very trying, but fruit diet, minimum clothing, and acclimatisation enable us to feel more comfortable. I never wear a collar, seldom a hat, never coat or waistcoat. Men walk about in light pants, shoos, white or very thin shirt with sleeves rolled up—anyhow to kcop comfortable. Even in church it is quite proper to doff one's coat and sit in shirtsleqves. Fans aro everywhere softly flapping, used by men as well as women. You have no idea of the intensity of the heat." There's a man up Raiigiora way that has qualified for the most 'cordial friendship of newspaper proprietors, in these days of stress and anxiety (says the Christchurch "Sun"). He bought a newspaper in tho train the other day, and, after digesting it from cable headings to publisher's imprint, laid it down on tho seat beside him.' "May 1 havo a look at your paper, sir?" Rsked a noighbour. "Certainly, certainly!" replied the owner. "You can have it for what I paid for it." . In tho Christchurch Supreme Court yesterday, Mr.. Justice Denniston gave his reserved decision in tho caso of Hugh R. Hamilton v. the Institute of Architects, in which plaintiff had sought the Court's power to make tho institute grant him registration. Tho institute had demanded that ho should make a declaration that he would not engage in any other work. The Judge held that this wa6 beyond tho institute's powers. He gave judgment for tho plaintiff.—Press Association.

"The prospects for the approaching season are very good," wrote tho Wcl- i lington Acclimatisation Society's ran- I gor on September 11. "Most of the rivers and streams throughout the i district aro clean and in good coudi- i tion for fishing. Thero is still a quan- ; tity of green weed to be seen in the Wainui-o-mata stream, which I am i afraid is going to bo very bad for fishing during the summer months. Local anglers should get plenty of good sport from the Hutt, Akatarawa, Whakatiki, and Mangaroa. These streams are all very clean, and in splendid fishing order. The same applies to tho Waikanae, AVaikawa, Otaki, and tho Ohau rivers." A protest from tho - North Wairarapa Sub-committee regarding the alleged neglect of its district was considered at a meeting of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society last evening. The sub-committee stated that its district had not received a fair share of attention from the society, and its rivers had not been kept properly stocked. The recent season had been a particularly poor one, and anglers placed the blame upon the shoulders of tho parent society. Tho council decided to reply, pointing out that the society had always done what tho representatives of North Wairarapa desired, and had actually distributed a very large quantity of young fish in the district year after year. Many complaints have been made.by the parents of New Zealand soldiers killed in action that they havo been unable to obtain the whole or part of the kit of their sons though it was handed to tho proper quarter for forwarding. The matter now is to receivo a wider ventilation in tho shape of an application for a- Commission of Inquiry (says an exchange). It is stated that a soldier killed in action at Gallipoli possessed among other effects an automatic pistol and a money bag. Letters received by the parents from comrades 6tato that these articles were handed by them to tho proper quarter for forwarding to New Zealand, but though the dead soldier's other effects have long sinco reached here, these have failed to arrive. The lad's fai tlier is now making application for an inquiryCaptain Easson, master of the Westralia, is among those who question tho statement that the Stormbird was tho oldest iron steamship in the world. The Edina, now in Melbourne, must be the oldest. She was in the troop service in the Crimean War. Mr. Charles Philpot, of Auckland, writes: "The s.s.. Edina, running between Melbourne, Port Arlington, and Geelong, carried troops to the Crimea War in the years 1853 and. 1854, was sunk three times in Pore Phillip, and is now running and carrying passengers at the cheapest .fares in the world—ninety miles for 2s.— from Melbourne to Geelong and back." The Transport Board has removed to new offices on the second floor of Bethuno's Building, Foatherston Street. A case of interest to niotorists was, says our special correspondent, heard at tho last sitting of tho Carterton Magistrate's Court," when a motor-car driver was charged with driving his car through Carterton, the registered number of the car not being affixed in accordance with the Act. It appeared that tho number was fixed to the car all right, but that the defendant had hung a spar© motor tyre over it, and obscured it from view. The police stated that this was the first case of the kind brought in Carterton, and they did not press for a heavy penalty. This case was merely a warning to niotorists that action was boing taken along these lines, and in all future cases a heavier penalty would be asked for. Tho defendant was fined 10s., and costs 7s. v> "When tho war began," said Bishop Julius at a farewell social to one of his clergy, the Rev. H. N. Roberts, last week, "the idea prevailed amongst some bodies of tho Church that we could not afford to send our best parish workers to the front * with the forces, but that we should send TiTo 'loose ends.' There isn't, in my- opinion, a bigger work in tho whole of Christendom than that which a clergyman is called on to do at the front amongst his brothers in tho ranks, and we must send the very best men we can possijily lay our hands on. No bishop in Now Zealand is doing more important work than is tho man who is out there ministering to his brothers. I might say that when I expressed theso views they took me at my word, and carried off man after man from my diocese. Of course, I can't say 'No.' I can only say 'Yes,' and carry on the work of tho diocese as best I can. I can, however, say this," Bishop Julius added, "that I only wish I wore young enough to go myself." The Bishop incidentally remarked that nine of bis clergy had already gono to tho front, and it was impossible to get men to fill their places. He had many good!cures now .vacant, and would have more still. In some cases ho had found lit necessary to combine two cures, and in other cures he had found it necessary to mako various arrangements to cope with tho shortage. . ' Mr. C. C. Davis, of Onehunga, says that on the journey'from Auckland to Vancouver ho travelled with the New Zealand Parliamentary party, including Sir James Carroll. Ono evening Sir James Carroll gavo a lecture on the origin fo the Maori, and, later on, Mr. Ashmead-Bar.tlott, who was travelling by.the. same steamer, lectured on the war. . At a subsequent gathering Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett mimicked Sir James Carroll's original lecture, whereupon Sir James Carroll invited himself to contribute the next item, which he called "A Lecture on tho War," practically repeating a lecture which he had heard Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett givo in Falmcrston. One particular little bit in his speech which created much amusement was: "Gentlemen, I havo been there; I have seen all that I have been telling you"—then with a pause —"through my glasses." After finishing, he turned to Mr. Bartlett, and, with a grin, asked, "Am I rightP"Mr. Bartlett jumped up and said he could only shake the cbairman by the hand, and said ho would nover lecture on the war again. A good deal of merriment was caused (says the Gisborne "Herald") at the auction sale at tho Poverty Bay Sash and Door .Factory's premises. Amongst a number of odds and ends was an old notice board, the intrinsic value of which was absolutely nil. "Won't you put up the board?" jokingly asked one of tho buyers. "Oh," said the auctioneer, "if you wish me to put it up I shall, and, furthermore, am prepared to :bet a new hat that it will realise a couple of pounds in genuine bids." The challenge was immediately accepted, and the auctioneer, lifting tho board high in the air, commenced: "Gentlemen, the legend on this hoard, 'No admittance,' applies to the attitude every truo Britisher will adopt towards German travellers when tho war is ended. 1 purpose submitting it to auction and devoting the proceeds of the sale to tho gallant little Red Cross nurses who arc comforting*our boys at tho front." Needless to 6ay, the £2 was readily realised.

Complaints have been made concerning the employment of single mou on Government works in tho Taranakrdia trlcfc, and the local Recruiting Committee communicated with tho authorities on the matter, and has received a reply to the effect that it had been found impossible to obtain the necessary labour otherwise} but that as opportunity offered the services of eligible singlo men would bo dispensed with. A representative of the Christchurch "Press" has been shown an envelope which bore rather a unique series or addresses. It was addressed, in tho first instance, to "Captain Charters, O.C. B Company, Ist Canterbury Regiment." Then the address stopped. In consequence the letter has Veen travelling. It went to tho First Auckland Infantry Battalion, on duty, somewhere in France; to the Second Canterbury Infantry Battalion, also in France; to tho First Canterbury Infantry Battalion; to the Second Otago InfantryBattalion, and eventually to the First Infantry Battalion, of which Lieutenant-Colonel, A. B. Charters, C.M.G., is in command. Ho recognised that it was for his brother in Christchurch, and re-addressed it.