LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2900, 12 October 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities advise that tho mails which loft New Zealand on August 17 arrived in London on September 23. Thes.s. Manuka, which sailed from Wellington on ■_ Thursday last, carrying Australian mails, arrived in Sydney on Monday morning. Owing to the wet weather, tho parade of that section of tho Eighteenth Reinforcements that are to visit Auckland, arranged for yesterday afternoon, was abandoned, greatly to the relief of the men, who did not fancy the long tramp in their great-coats. Quite recently a number of men have been black-listed by the State Labour Bureau in Wellington. The reason for listing then) is that they have applied for work, positions have boon found for them, and they have not gone to the jobs. This kind of conduct is strictly discouraged by tho bureau. A man who fails to keep an engagement to go to a job may seriously inconvenience the person who wants_ the work done, arid also through stating that he will take work which he does not intend te take may keep some other man out of a job. The following are particulars of mails dispatched to the, Now Zealand Expeditionary Force during the last month :— 129 bags of letters, weighing 80571b.; 198 bags of packets, weighing 7&81b.; 1554 bags of newspapers, weighing 71,1291b.; 1620 cases containing 54,027 parcels, weighing 101 tons. An obelisk was unveiled' at Oniarumii yesterday in pouring rain by the Hon. J. D- Ormond to commemorate th's battle fought near Napier against the Hau Haus in 1866. There was a large gathering of veterans from all over New Zealand. —Press Association:

A big effort is being niado in the Wairarapa to secure funds for the Red Cross Society. A house-to-house canvass is being- made, and street collections aro being taken.

An endeavour is boing made with this year's census to obtain fuller information as fo the reading habits of New Zealand's public, and as to tho condition and establishment of our public libraries. There is a. special schedule _ for public libraries, mechanics' institutes, and other literary institutions which roquires a percentage classification of books, thus:—(a) fiction, (b) technical or professional, (c) other (historical, biographical, etc.).

Instances of doliberntn shirking come under tho notice of tho Defence authorities occasionally. It is by no means an unknown thing in Now Zealand for a man to register for service and then make, a more or loss obvious attempt to secure a cortificato of unfitness by exaggerating some minor defect or feigning a weakness that does not exist. Tho eyesight test has presented particular difficulties to the authorities in this respect, since- if a recruit professes inability to distinguish letters at the regulation distances, his word under ordinary conditions would bo taken. But the medical officers have learned a good deal by experience, and special tests for suspected shirkers have been dovised. Attention has been drawn recently to tho oaso of a man who failed to pass' tho eyesight tost when ho presented himself as a recruit for tho Expeditionary Force, but passed easily when ho became an applioant for an appointment of a more attractive kind.

"Desiccated egg and liquid yolk have come exclusively from Germany, but importation of the latter is now prohibited under the Pnro Food Act," said the British Trade Commissioner in a report upon New Zealand trade for the year 1915. The prohibition, as shown by tho deputation which waited upon the Hon. Dr. M'Nab on Tuesday, has not been given effect, and though the' dried desiccated whites and liquid yolks are not now coming from Germany they are being produced in China in accordance with the German methods and shipped to New Zealand. China, it may be mentioned, is a country in which German trading firms are still very active.

The treatment accorded to interned enemy subjects at Motuihi a"nd Somes Island is considered to be completely satisfactory by the American ConsulGeneral, Mr. A. A. Win6low, who, early in tho war, 'was requested by the United States Government, acting as intermediary for Germany, to report periodically upon the matter. At the outset Mr. Winslow was asked by his Government to visit tho Motuihi internment camp once a month. So satisfied was he, however, with what he observed there on his first visit, that ho wrote in reply stating his conviction that a monthly visit was quite unnecessary. His representations resulted in the matter being practically left to his own discretion. As a con6equenco, Mr. Winslow states (says the Now Zealand "Herald") he has only visited the island camp twice in tho space of a year. Ho had received' no complaints whatever of a serious nature from the interned

prisoners, tho matters which had been brought under his notice being comparative trivialities. The prisoners, he declared, were well fed and otherwise looked after, and had the run of the island, their worst trial being the monotony of the life.

New Zeala.ndors have an excellent record in doing the duty required by tho Census Act, and the average standard of intelligence showii in filling in correct auswors is very high. It has not previously been found necessary to inflict the penalty provided for cases of wilful negligence or refusal to answer quostions. Tho authorities arc confident that this year, when a correct and conscientious doing of a national duty is more than wery important, by reason of the war, the Dominion's splendid record will not bo marred. ■: All information .'given will be treated as confidential. Any 'person who wilfully refuses or neglects to fill up, sign, and deliver tho schedule, or to answer inquiries which tho enumerators are authorised and required to mako is liable to a fino of £20. A similar, penalty may be inourred by a person who furnishes false answers or obstructs anyone in the performance of any duty imposed on him by tho Census and Statistics Act. . Finally, a special duty is imposed by the Act on all householders to have the schedule properly completed and ready for tho sub-enumerator when ho calls- on Monday, October 16, or as soon after 'as ho is ablo to call.

' The Minister of Public Health (tho Hon. G. W. .Russell) stated yesterday that the- statement on the cancer menace, which is being prepared with tho joint authority of the Health Department and the British Medical Association, will 1)6 ready for issue at ah early dato.

A strange case was heard by Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M., at Upper Hutt yesterday. Angus John M'Curdy accused William John Patterson with having assaulted him at tho Upper Hutt Railway Station ono night when there was no one else about and when M'Curdy had his hands full of parcels and was unable to defend himself. M'Curdy is the editor of "The Upper Hutt Independent," and he and Patterson are connected with rival pioture shows. Mr. J. S. Barton, counsel for Patterson, from M'Curdy's paper numerous paragraphs which, he suggested, were published for tho purpose of discrediting defendant's picture shows. M'Curdy, when asked whether he considered the comments fair, _ responded: "They aro all in the joke column.- They aro Upper Hutt's idea of a joke." Mr. Barton said that thcro was no legal Temcdy against tho informant, who sheltered behind his daughter, in whoso name the paper had been registered. On Monday night M'Curdv was given an opportunity to defend himself, but did "not chooso to do so; Counsel submitted that Patterson had been given ample provocation. In giving M'Curdy a sound thrashing, defendant had done a public bervico. His Worship said tho Bench wasNjuite satisfied that the defendant had. sufficient provocation to justify rim in taking tho law into his own 'lands. Such references regarding doFendant published in a paper circulating in such a district as tho Upper Hutt were quite enough. Tho references wero, even more than despicablo and mean, and wore enough to tousc the ire—flic just ire—of any man. Such a thrashing as he received he deserved. The information would bo dismissed. At a meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday it was decided to convene a conference of representatives of local bodies and industries to discuss the question of securing hydro-electric power for tho Wairarapa. Some bathers are dubious concerning the effect of the alterations that have lioeri made at Te Aro baths. It is stated that in consequence of the construction of a new concrete rctaiu-ing-wall tho level of the water in the bath at ebb tide is considerably higher than that of tho water outside. This appears to mean that the tidal action will not change the water in the bath to tho same extent as previously, and it is pointed out that oven last year, when the breaks in the wall provided effective sluices, the water did not always look attractive towards the end of a hot day, when the number of bathers had been large.

Tho Chevrolet bids'fair to become tho favourite this season with the motorloving public. , Already one can see Chevrolet core in all parts of New Zealand. Tho city man, the farmer, the traveller, and tho lady driver aro all fascinated with this beautifully designed French-American car. Little wonder, when odo thinks that it can be purchased with all its equipment in any colour or finish at prices from .£255. For further particulars, write or ring up THE DOMINION MOTOIt VEHICLES, LIMITED, 65 Courtenay Place, Wellington.—Advt.

Although there was some doubt as to tho reported stranding of the Poherua on Sunday (states a Press Association message from Chri6tchurch), a 6in. hawsor of 120 fathoms has been found on Wakamoa Reef, near Akaroa, and forwarded to Lyttetton. It is presumed that the hawsor was placed ashoro by tho vessel in case of eventualities, and abandoned when 6ho got off.

Tho Acting Minister of'Fiunnco informs us (says the Dunedin "Times") that ho has gone carefully and thoroughly into tho suggestion t ; hal the Government should mako provision for the custody of war bonds as well a 6 of war certificates, and that, in faoo of the groat difficulties which would present themselves in carrying out tho suggestion, he regrets that it is not considered desirable from the Department's pint of view to accept tho responsibility of the custody, payment of interest, registration, etc., of war ibonds. It is to be understood that thore is legislative provision for replacing any war bond that may bo lost or destroyed.

Tho steamor Talune, which arrived at Auckland from Samoa on Monday, brought 16 soldiors, in charge of Lieutenant A. L. Gee. Eleven of the men who returned areoopn p leave. They are: Quartermaster-Sergeant D. M. MTjcod, Privates H. 0. Andon, Buncehall, A. Bnrton, D. Cammock, W. Chamberlain, L. Cottam, Crouchor, I. Dance, A. Eastgate, and J. Edgar. Tho following fivo men wore invalided as sick: Sergeant J. W. Butler, and Privates M. Mitchell, E. Tetley. J. Harris, and W: C. M'Pherson.

Messrs. J. H. Bethune and' Co. held a property auction at their rooms_ yesterday afternoon. A leasehold business block in Willis Street, adjoining the Albert Hotel, having a frontage to Willis Street of 60ft., widening to 65ft. lliu., by a depth of 124 ft., was sold to Mr. T. Dwan as agent, at a rental of £370 per annum. The lease is for a term of 21 years, with the right of renewal for further terms of 21 years. Five sections in Parkvale Road, Karori, were offered, by instructions from the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and wero sold to Mr. W. E. Mellish, as" agent, for 1E635. A cottage, No. 167 Adelaide Road, and 4-roomed cottage in Mantell Street, Seatoun, and a vacant section in Overton Terrace, Kilbirnio, were passed in, and are now in'the hands of the auctioneers for private sale.