LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2917, 1 November 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

No bankruptcies wero recorded in Wellington last month, while iu October of last year thero was one.

Tho congregation of Knox Church, Invcrcargill, is taking out a policy of £500 on.the life of its minister, tho Rev. Hector M'Lean, who is joining tho Twenty-second Reinforcements as a private.

Owing to the uncertainty as to when the materia! will bo available, the work of laying the Eastern Extension Cable Company's new cable from tie city to Titahi Bay—tho new landingpoint—will not be commenced for a few weeks. This work is to be dono by the staff of the Post and Telegraph. Department, who will collect the cost in due course from tho company. As soon as the material arrives,.the work will be commencod. It is not anticipated that tho company will be operating direct from Nathan's Building until about tho, middle of nest year.

As a result of a special canvass by six recruiting officers in Masterton oil Monday, two recruits wero secured. Thero would appear to be vory few eligible men of tho first division remaining in tho borough, says our Masterton correspondent.

Councillor .J. G. Smith will move at the nest meeting of the Onslow Borough Council: "That the' council take' steps to erect a permanent memorial to those residents of the borough who have enlisted."

A recent cablegram to the Australian papers from Johannesburg (South Africa) records the fact that Andrew John Gibson, who was- arrested in Sydney, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life,, for bank frauds amounting to £3765. Hois described as a most expert forger, and had convictions in England, America, South Africa, and Australia.

The Mayor of Christchurch has announced his intention of deopeillng the upper reaches of tho Biver Avon by constructing a weir just below tho Antigua- Street Bridge. It was intended originally to have tho weir built somo considerable distance downstream, but owing to the strong opposition, on th© ground that it would cause a deal more Koakage through _ to the neighbouring properties, tho site was fixed as at present —about a couple of chains below the Antigua Street bridge (near the Hospital).

• The balance of the material for the memorial to be erected in Christcliuroh to Captain Scott, the Antarctic hero, has arrived at Lyttelton, and is expected to be delivered on tho site, opposite the City Council Chambers, in a day or two. When it is received, tho work of erecting the statue will be put in hand.

In connection with the telegraphed statement that the Hon. A. M. Myers, Minister of Munitions, had penalised the contractors for Armv boots to tho extent of £200 for failing to supply goods up to standard, M. O'Brien and Co., of Christchurch, for several years contractors for Army boots, have received a telegram from the Minister (states a Press Association telegram from Christchurch) stating that the telegram 5n no way rofers to their firm.

Tho bottles collected by the schoolchildren of Dunedin were sold by public auction on Monday night for tho benefit of tho Belgian Piuid. The bottles sold numbered 307,000, and tho suni realised was over £1500.—Press Association.

While tho Newcastle and Hunter River dredge was proceeding up the river on October 19, the captain noticed a body Uoating in tho water, and notified the police. Upon arrival at Paterson they investigated, and found tho body of a woman, between the age of 35 and 40 years, dressed in a blue velvet blouse, a black skirt, black stockings, and black. high-heel shoes. Her legs and arms wero seourely tied with ropo and wire, with an irou weight about 501b. attached. Tho body had apparently been in tho water about three weeks.

There is a growing habit among school-children, and even in youths above the 6cliool age, ■writes a correspondent, of throwing about those tiny explosive packets that are so dangerous in many respects. These packets, of Chinese origin, arrive with the "silly season" a, week or two prior to Guy Fawkes Day, and are jnircliased and thrown, about promiscuously by the vacant-minded, who find entertainment in tho mild explosion these miniature bombs makes when they strike the ground or some object. The danger lies in the fact that each little packet is filled with grit of a flinty character, which could easily cause blindness by striking a person in the eye. These packets of trouble are being thrown about in some of the theatres, and generally where' there are crowds, and the thrower is difficult to detect. The puzzle is why the police do not prohibit the sale of such a dangerous firework.

Three bankruptcies were recorded in the AVairarapa during the month of October, making thirteen for the ten months, compared with nine for tho same period last year.

A paragraph appeared in The Domxion recently regarding one of Lord Nelson's ships, tho Poudroyant. which stated amongst other things tnat she was wrecked at Blackpool in 1897. This is a mistake of a liundred years. The facts relating to the ultimate fate of the Poudroyant were supplied to a Dominion representative by Mr. E: Bezar, of Wellington, an old Imperial Service man, and Crimean and Maori war veteran. Mr. Bezar is the possessor of a walking-stick made, at some period subsequent to the date of Trafalgar,;- out of oak salved from the Poudroyant when she was wrecked at Blackpool in 1797. The stick bears the registered number 311,490, which suggests that the relios made out -of

Poudroyant oak must have been very numerous. Oil a copper ferrule, also part-of the old ship, appears the following inscription, and the features indicatSl: "Horatio Viscount Nelso(i. (A bust- of Nelson in has relief.) Born September, 1758, died October, 1805. Oak and copper from the vessel after sho was broken up. Poudroyant, Nelson's flagship. (A representation of tho ship.) Commenced 1789, launched 1793. Wrecked Blackpool, i 1797. Regd. No., 311,490."

The "Official Year Book of the Commonwealth, of Australia," now in its ninth year of publication, furnishes corrected statistics for the whole per'od of Australian sottlomcnt, viz., from 1788 to 1915. TVhorover space has permitted detailed statistics have been furnished, in tho latest issue, for each year sincn Federation, that is to say from 1001 to 1915. Tho inclusion of'the total available information in the moro important branches of statistics enables thiß valuable work of.reference to be used wherever it is desired to make a comparative survey of the evolution of. Australia. Not only are the results given for tho Commonwealth as a whole, but also for each State therein. Special articles dealing with particular subjects constitute a valuable feature. Svnopse s are given of some articles of this type published in previous issues. Free use is mado of maps and diagrams which useful I v elucidate and epitomise tho text and tables. Spocial circumstances arising out of the'war and other causes have been responsible for the present Year Book appearing somewhat • later than preceding issues. "Professor" "W. T. Mills, who for somo considerable time was a prominent Socialist agitator in Wellington, is, according to the latest American exchanges, one of the Californian candidates for the_ United States Senate. Ho is standing in the Socialist interests, two of the planks of whose platform are tho total exclusion of Asiatics, and the putting into operation of an educational test in connection with all other immigrants. Campors-out report that a. monster sea leopard came ashore at the mouth of the Toko Eivor last Thursday, having evidently been washed up by tho high tides (says the "Bruco Herald"). The leopard measured over 10ft. in length, and was an object of interest to visitors. They pushed it back into the river with manuka sticks, the animal barking and biting viciously. After regaining tiio water it swam away, bub was seen again on the following morning stranded on another point of tho beach across the river. Tt eventually regained the water, and disappeared. It is reported, says _ our Carterton correspondent,-* that during show week several persons were caught infringing the anti-shouting law, and will shortly appear 'before tho Magistrate.

The result_ of tho weight-guessing competition in connection with tho Wairarapa Show was made known on Saturday. The correct weight of the bullock 'was 827J1b5., and tue nearest guesses as follow: —Ross Jackson, SSOIbs.; H. H- XOvans, 8301b5.; T. Scrimshaw, S32llbs. The correct weight of the sheep was 225J1b5., and tho nearost guesses wereJas. Cross, 2251b5.; B. S. Morgan, 2281b5.; W. Rnapp, 2311b5. Mr. H. R. Bunny also guessed 2311b., but tlio ballot favoured Mr. JKnapp. The pigs aro to bo weighed later in the week.

'l'lio Nelson Anglican Cathedral, which lias been showmjj tlie effects of age during the past, tew years, and which occupies the most historic and picturesque site in the little city, has lately had its appearance considerably changed. In the interests of safety, it has been found neccssary, after taking the advice of two architects, to remove the tower and steeple cf the building, which is built of wood. The question of providing finds for erecting a new cathedral was put before tho recent meeting of the Diocesan Synod, and a Bill providing for tho creation of a chapter and cathedral erection board was passed. Bishop Sadlior, in introducing the Bill, said that they had tho finest church site in New Zealand, and that whatever building was erected on such a site in future should be of a permanent character.

Clenve's Auckland Provincial Directory for 1916, a copy of which we have received from the publishers, is now in its twenty-eighth year of publication. The latest issue has been added to and improved in many ways, and the various detail sections, maps and directory lists, as well as tho miscellaneous features, have been carefully revised and brought up to date. The Directory bears evidence of careful preparation and seems to. compare well with other publications of the kind. Considering tho mass of information it contains, the volume is remarkably handy and compact.

Towards the conclusion of a lecture on "Infectious Diseases" in Christchurch on Saturday evening, Dr. Lestef departed from the impartial historical survey of the progress of bacteriologi-" cal.research with which his lecture was. principally concerned, and expressed a few personal opinions. After advacat- , ing the addition to the list of "notifiI able diseases" of whooping cough, measles <ind venereal complaints, he inveighed against public apathy in the matter of public health . organisation. After asserting thjit the people of this community did not care a "twopenny damn" for the efficiency of their publio health organisation, he reminded his hearers that every community got very much the sort of public health administration it deserved. The public health organisation in New Zealand was far from perfect, but its limitations were largely imposed upon it bv false ideas of economy. If the people were prepared to pay for the proper safeguard- : ing of public health,' 1 they would get) , it.

The Rev. ]£. Eliot Chambers, of St.Saviour's Church, West Lyttelton, oil f/imday completed his thirty-first year of continuous servico as vicar (says a Christchurch paper). The occasion, was celebrated by special services morning and evening, both of which were largely attended. In the evening the preacher was his Lordship Bishop Julius, who made eulogistic reference to the work ,of the Rev. Mr. Chambers, who was the first vicar of the church, and during whose administration tho church, vicarage, and .Sunday School had been built. In conclusion, he said lie hoped the parishioners would support their pastor well and as loyally i in the future as in tfio past. It was stated by Llr. T. W. ttowe in, the Cbristctiurch Magistrate's Court on Saturday that a witness from the Laud Transfer Offico would not be allowed to attend the Court to give evidence unless a fee of one guinea was paid. Ilia Magistrate (Mr. H. W. Bishop) said that he could not credit the statement, and ho would send over to the Department for an official to explain the reason for the charge. It showed how, long one could be in the Public Ser-* uce and not find out all the regulations. The clerk of the Court had never been paid when giving evidence at the Supreme Court. Mr. Rowe said that the guinea went not to the witness, hut to the public funds. Mr. J. A. Ambrose, of the Land Transfer Office, attended later and said that tho guinea was charged in accordance with the fees laid down by the Land Transfer Act, and was nominally for the production of documents. The charge was laid down by the Governor-in-CounciL Mr. Bishop said that he did not caro for fifty Governors-in-Councili he would not allow the proceedings of the Court to be interfered with. In this instance he would allow the guinea expenses, as. the Government wanted all the money it could get in these times. It is not necessary to go from hom® to find marvels of surgery and medicine! (says a southern paper). Last spring there was put aboard a transport in Egypt the wreck of a once well-known New Zealand athlete. It was his only, chance. Three days at sea would, so his comrades said, bring him promise of life or death. He was almost completely paralysed, tho result of a wound in the spine. • When the boat touched at her first Now Zealand port ho war, one of the cheeriest men on the ship. Ho could movo his toe! And his delight was childlike. But he was weak, and terribly thin. A few months . ago ho was seen in an open vehiclo provided by friends to allow him and other convalescent hospital patients to witness a pageant. To-day be is custodian of a; soldiers' club. ; Mr. W. P. Hicks, chief clerk in tli<* office of the Chief Engineer, Railway Department, Wellington, recently retired on superannuation, after a servico of 381 years, baring joined the £'ervic<* in Christchurch in 1878. Mr. Hicks, who wa-s an experienced accountant, performed valuable services to the department in connection with the organisation of tho Maintenance of Way and Works Accounts, and throughout his long servico was a highly respected officer. Previous to joining the railway sendee, Mr. Hicks had been in the offico of the New Zealand Steam Ship Company in London and in Christchnich. As a token of the regard in which' ho was held in the Department his follow o dicers designed a taste-

fully illuminiited. letter referring to their keen sens© of loss occasioned by his retirement. arid to his never-failinjc courtesy towards those wifel> whom l\o had been so long associated. Tho letter, which' was signed hy officers of the' engineering staff from Auckland ro Invercargill, and 1 accompanied by n. puree of sovereigns, was presented to Mr. flick? by Mr. F. W. Mac Lean, Chief Engineer, ou behalf of the signatories.

Corporal Tj. S. Drake, formerly motor expert to the Oitv Corporation, relumed from West Australia by the hospital ship Maratna, after being- away for about three months. As a result of a kick in tho stomach from a horso in tho ,Fe<\therstou camp, Corporal Drake had to leave tho transport ho was on at Fremantle, and for threo weeks ho was laid up in the hospital there, after -which he was removed to the Albanv Hospital, where he spent, another two weeks. Then, as he did not show signs of mending, he was sent hack to New Zealand by the Maraina.

On Friday nioniinn;, Mr. H. S. Alpe, of Christchurch, will walk from Upper Hutt to Wellington and make an attempt to break his previous record for tho distance —3* hours. Mr. Alpe will leave the Hutt at 10.15 a.m. oil • Friday,'- the 21 mile journey will he completed on arrival at_Kelburn Avenue somewhere about ] .45 p.m. Lady collectors on behalf of the Our Daylunn will he statioued at.various points of the road between Hutt and Wellington. and it is anticipated that tho walk will result in a considerable addition to tho fund.