LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3033, 21 March 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A troopship due at Port Chalmers early this morning is bringing four invalided soldiers belonging tothe North Island. ' The escaped prisoner named John Dome was still. at large at an early hour this morning. ' The portion of the Twenty-third Reinforcements which is - in camp at Featherston will 'be transferred to Trentham by special train to-morrow, and will be reviewed by His Excellency the Governor on Tuesday next. The Twenty-fourth Infantry Reinforcements will begin their route march from Featherston to Trentham to-morrow. They will make the ' usual halt ■ and bivouac at.Kaitoke, and engage in night manoeuvres;, at Mangaroa on Friday night, marching into Trentham during the forenoon, of Saturday. The Twenty-fifth Infantry Reinforcements, now in Trentham, will move to Featherston on Friday. ' _ It was stated by a lawyer at a recent sitting of the Third Wellington Military Service Board that there was not a treat deal of buildihg gping on in Welngton just now. Inquiry at' the State Labour Department shows that it Is considered there that', the building trade is still busy in and about tho city. Also, a valuer who has an excellent knowledge of the piiy says that building is exceedingly busy here, and that the city is growing more rapidly now than ever before.

The annual' meeting of tho Australian Associated Chambers of Commerce, held at Adelaide, adopted the following post-war commercial proposal:— Restriction of enemy tra3ers within the Empire, penalising enemy, shipping, retention of all German ships-in the possession of the Allies, and the replacement by the enemy of all destroyed ships.—Press Assn.

The National Efficiency Board held a I meeting yesterday, and adjourned in the evening without having completed its business. The board will .meet again to-day. ' Three prisoners will come before Sir Robert Stout for sentence on Thursday morning. 'The State Labour Bureau in the city was asked the other day if it had any marine engineers on its books. The question was put in view of the appeals before the Military Servioe Board. 1 The bureau's reply was that it had none. ',-■•-

The Miramar Borough Counojl. has purchased a Hudson 29 h.p. chassis for the sum of £375, and this is being fitted with a handsome body at a cost of £112, so that the council will own, at tho low cost of £487, a very serviceable motor bus that will travel 17 milos on a gallon of petrol. The new bus will seat 18 inside and three on the i driver's seat—2l in will have a siuglo entrance and exit, on tho right-hand side of the bus, just behind the driver, so that ho will have no difficulty hi collecting tho fares. The newbus is to be ready for the road in five weeks' timo, and will be employed in the Seatoun-Karaka Bay service. The Board of Trade intends visiting Wanganui to inquire into the question, of the price of meat. ' A sitting of the Juvenile Court yesterday morning was presided over by Mr. L. G. Roid, S.M.- The Truant Inspector, Mr. John Dineen proceeded against a number of parents, who were fined for failing to send their children to sohool. A boy, aged ten, who had previously been convioted of receiving, stolen property, was convioted of stealing a watch' from a man's pocket "at the Petone bathing-shed. He was sentenced to receive six strokes of ' tho birch. ' It is the intention of Councillor D. M'Kenzie to move at the nest meeting

of the Petone Borough Council:—"That it be a recommendation from this counoil to the Government that the strictest supervision _ be' exercised in tho medical, examination of recruits for war purposes, so as ,to guard against unnecessary hardship on the men who are taken overseas. Knowing that laxity of medical inspeotin of reoruite has revealed the faotthat many soldiers who loft New Zealand were unable to proceed boyond Britain, owing to physical disabilities, apart from the economic question or cost and the humane consideration of tho person, we ask that this j state of affairs be speedily rectified."

Tho Broken express w«3 two hours lato in arriving at Broken Hill recently, having been delayed on the South Australian, line by grasshoppers. One train, which left Broken Hill for South Australia had to return after travelling a few • miles, finding the track blocked by jthe pest."

The Wellington Patriotic .Society Band will play _ at : the Basin Reserve at 8 o'clock this evening.

A requisition is being signed freely, says our Mustefton correspondent, inviting Mr. J. M. Coradine to allow himself to be nominated for a further

term for the Mayoralty of Masterton. As there were no criminal cases for hearing at the half-yearly sitting of the Masterton Supreme Court, the presiding Judge (Mr. Justice Chapman) was presented with a pair of white gloves. The Judge said it was a mattor for great satisfaction to find an entire absence of serious crime in the distriot.

Quaint paragraph.from a West Coast paper: —"All Coast towns are complaining of dnll trade on account of the war. This oan be no longer used by Stafford people, for tho Canterbury Education Board have decided to repair the school verandah and chimneys and to paint the bell tower."

For the first time for many years the large Maori war oanoes on Saturday took no part, in the Ngaruawahia regatta. The fact that the old canoebuilders. are dying out and the succeeding generations are too apathetio to learn the art of canoe-making, coupled with the difficulty of obtaining trees suitable for the large canoes are given as the reason for the non-appoar-anoe of the craft this year. Last year tho Tangitekiwi won the war canoe race, but this year the canoe was too rotten to participate. To avoid the possibility of what in the past.has been one. of the foaturesof the regatta dying out. the committee is considering the advisability, of having .canoes-built and hiring them out to the Maoris. As the canoes are fashioned out of a single log 75ft. long, and there are no suitable trees in the Ngaruawahia district, it may-be necessary to get trees from elsewhere.

Notwithstanding continual rises in price of leather, we can still quote 'good, stout Men's Boots at IBs- 6d„ 245. 6d., 87s. 6d., and 30s. Geo. IWHb, Ltd.— AM i

Somo time ago a lad named Robert Watson lost a leg through endeavouring to board a train at Petone. A fund 1 was started in that town io provide him with an artiiioial limb, and at a meeting of subscribers held last evening it was repoited that .-.the' amount subscribed totalled £91. line

mooting decided to gat the young follow another artificial limb, the Rail-

way Department having already/provided hiin with one, and' the trustees wo authorised to invest the balance at tks money for the benefit of young Watson: '•/.'.

Addressing a meeting of M'anganui fanners > and business men, Mr. Moss, who is a.member of the National Efficiency Board, stated that there' were great difficulties ahead in/organising the man-power of the Dominion ana assuring the mainteuarce-/ of production and! essential industries.. It was suggested that three sheep' farms could be worked by the same supervisor, and that the - same teams could be worked in neighbouring properties, whilst someone with very little knowledge of the subieot suggested that.dairy farms could be grouped and worked together. (Laughter.) It was not so diffloult to manage sheep farms, but the dairying industry presented >many difficulties, which, however, they hoped to overcome by proper and efficient organisation. What they-had to care-, fully watch was that those going away to fight for us were not called! upon to make . every sacrifice. Coming through the Manawatu he saw /a 'property tUat was going to rack and ruin. A young fellow had taken it up, but could not dispose of it when called uj?; neither could he make arrangements for its oare during his absence.' The result was that it'was rapidly go-' ing back to sorub. This was wrong, and the country must see to it that the interests of these brave soldier boys were protected and conserved. Some' general'. hints were made at the last meeting of the Auckland Presbytery -to the pressing shortage of ministers and home missionaries. In exhorting members upon the need for j congregations to recognise the short-1 age of and to exert them- ! selves to sustain their faith during | the existing war circumstances, the' I Hot. Inglis (Mount Albert) said: "Is ft absolutely necessary to have a minister to conduct a service of our church? Can't they read the Bible and sermons for themselves P I believe ■it would be an innovation even if we could get away from sermons, somewhat, in the services." Says an English paper:—The other afternoon soldiers nome on leave marohed from Waterloo across the road to the Union Jack Club, singing lines that, it is believed, were composed by l a man jn tha Somme district:—-."We beat 'em at the Marne, We beat 'em at the Aisne, We gave 'em 'ell at Neuve Chapelle, ! And here we are again I" Assuredly, there will be no r

lack of choruses when the war is over, Every fighting man has a collection.

At a sitting of the Canterbury Military Service (No. 1) Board, the chairman (Mr. J. S. Evans, S.M.) warned 0 2 (homo service) men of the danger of allowing their appeals to be automatically dismissed. As a matter of, fact, ho said l 0 2 men were not out of the Expeditionary Force Eeservo at all. The very faot that they were getting leave until, further notice showed that they were under the control of the military authorities, end liable to be called up at any timo. It had been suggested that these men would be given a further opportunity of-appeal-ing-if called up, but the board were only concerned with dealing with the Act as they found, it. Class 0 2, men were, ipso facto, liable to be called up.. So far as the law stood, all men drawn in the ballot had one right of appeal, and one' only. This was their only chance at present; what might happen in the future he did not know.

A public meeting, attended by about 1600 people, was held at Auckland last night to consider the question of a campaign against venereal disease. It was resolved that the serious, inroads made by the disease on the publio health and domestic and sooial life of the Dominion require the most urgent steps oh the part of the Government, hospital' boards, Christian churoh.es, and focal bodies. 'A committee waß.set up to arrange a further meeting in.' furtherance of the campaign. . The Hon. G. W. Russell, in a sympathetic speech, indicated that he was prepared to consider granting finanoial assistance to the hospital boards in furtherance of the movement.—Press Association. A Press 'Association telegram • from Auckland states that five pupils of the New Zealand Flying Sohool passed the flight tests for the Eoyal Aero Club, pilots' certificates, namely, H.. H. BlaokwelL Kaiapoi; J. L. Foubister, Epsom: D. G. George, Wellington; K. J. Gould, Napier! and W. P. Warner, Ohristchurch.