LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3042, 31 March 1917, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

On Good Friday the Telegraph Office will observe Sunday hours—lo to 10.30 a.m. and 5 to 5.30 p.m. On Easter Monday, April 9, the Telegraph, Office will bo open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m.. 'to midnight' ' The Telephone Exchange will be open continuously. . One well-known municipal officer computes the cost of the elections to be held all over the Dominion on April 25 at a-sum no,t less than" £10,000. It is known that some of the boroughs in the vicinity of Wellington have been trying to obviate the necessity of holding an olection by endeavouring to arrange that the nominations shall not exceed the.number of vacancies to be filled. This appears to be the only way out of incurring expenditure that many boroughs can ill afford to incur. : A number of prisoners.will come before His, Honour the Chief Justice for sentence on Monday morning. /. .'/■ . The members of the Board of Trade aro now. in town. Yesterday they met the Butter Producers' Committee to ■discuss certain questions that havo -: arisen in connection with the butterfat levy' and the scheme for the pay-i 'meht to suppliers of the locals-market 1 of/amounts r;to compensate-fithem for., their loss of profit in selling to the, local market at,a price lower than is obtainable for butter exported.'...-.,-'■■

■Jn the Magistrate's Court at Christ ohurch yesterday George Deightpn was

fined £s,'and James Delaney £1, for failing to:notify a change pf.-abode,, as required by the. Military Service Act. —Press Association. , • ; .

. The hearing of certain charges against local newspapers .for- alleged breaches of the War Regulations in the matter of giving publicity to steamers' movements, has been/ adjourned until Monday next. . ■[.':' ■ --

Information that has reached importers indicates that the restrictions' placed! upon the export of foodstuffs from the United Kingdom are going to prevent further' .supplies cf English' chocolates and confectionery being ship-, 'ped to New' Zealand.. This-may notmean an immediate shortage, sines there are'some stocks'in the Dominion as well' as- on- the water, but the time probably is'not :far distant; when. New Zealand people will be unable to obtain some favourite brands of 6weets. There appears to be no difficulty in getting supplies 'from the United ■States.'. ':'■'.■ .-.;.''

. Some little time ago there were held in Wellington Bwimmihg.sp6r.ts; 'for pupils of. public, schools, at which _ a ohampionship race'.fof boys, oyer'a ;dis- ' tance.of. 440 yards was■ very; streniiou'sly'ioiight. out between two'stalwart, welMevelpped. lads.;. They finished .the race, and had their photographs'; taken, and -looked little, if anything the worse for their .strenuous ..few minutes. At the next meeting of' the Wellington. Branch of. the:- N.Z.E.l.'following; a discussion was provoked as to or'bad effect on school-children of; com/ 'petitive swimming, .'' arid sporis, "and a ''cbipnijttee'was. /Set up to report oh the'subject-to a later meeting. The report of the'committee was received at the meeting of the; Teachers' Institute last evening. The committee declared' that swimming ought to' be encouraged, 'and, Awhile recognising the praiseworthy' motives of the Amateur Swimming .Association, which haoT promoted the championships, declared also that some'of the, races were too long, and that the maximum distance for schoolboys' races' should not exceed 100* yards. This-part of their report was adopted, but a further recommendation that a : Fublic Schools' Swimming Association, to bo directed by'teachers, be formed for the control of schools' swimming,. l was rejected.- There were two reasons-advanced for the rejection of this proposal—that the teachers who had to do with snort were busy enough already, and that competitive sports were apt. to be. overdono, and to bo subversive of school discipline.

. "On Friday night, at Rurow, during the temporary absehco-on a short holiday' of Mr., Frank StofFan and his wife," states -tlie Dunedin "Star, "their house was' broken .into. The windows were smashed, the furniture and mirrors broken, all tho crockery and glassware knocked, to atoms, the household stores'thrown' about; tho floors, and the chain of the gate filed' through. An envelop© tacked to the door bore these words: 'Clear out,-you -— Germans; if not wo will-burn yon ,out.' The damage .is assessed at £130. Mr; Steffan is not a German. He is ail Austrian by birth, but-camo here when 18 years old, and is.naturalised, and offered to enlist. „ -He;carries on business as taxidermist. Bis wifo is British-born. This may be the German idea of fairplay.., It is not the British idea."- . J

Details of speoial train, arrangements for tho Easter holidays will-bo found in this issue ■

• On Saturday,' March 31, a man-will traverse the' principal streets of this city present a half-sovereign to' each percon who, on request by him, can produce a Eed Cross art union ticket.*

The • total number, of men on the register of the Discharged Soldiers' In-formation-Department was, on March 29 last, 7582. Of these 111 are oa the Employment Wanted Register, tha largest .number, being at -Auckland, where there are 29 men looking-for work. In Wellington the unemployed men are distributed as. follow:—Martou 1, Palmerston. 1, TaranaK 7i Wanganui 3,. Napier; 3, Dannevirke 1, Pahiatua. 3, Wairarapa .1, ; Wellington s;\ • • '■"''■ ■•'•''.' ■'•

A man named Clark, employed-• ati Murphy's brickworks, was admitted to the Hospital; yesterday,-.suffering '.from .'an. injury to-.the big" toe of the right' foot,'calised. by a roller fallingon "it.

■ ; - Another'street improvement 1 is : being affected''where it 'is' needed.. . -Blair Street flanks one side.'of the fruit and produce markets in'that busy' quarter between CoUrtenay 'Place - and'-" Wakefield Street, aiid,'tbe macadam-has to stand a great deal of hard wear from vehicular 'traffic. Now the City; Corporation is laying down a concrete surface about 9 inches-in depth, which,when thoroughly set, is to receive/a' coat of tar an3"sand. This will be, still' another variety of tho many, experimental street- surfaces,, which have been laid down the' past year, ands tho manner ,in'which it .stands the strain will.be watched with interest, as it will be the nearest approach to a concrete road in the pure• in .Wellington. : , ">•' ': ■ .

At'a in divorce yesterday the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), granted a decree nisi on the petition of Virginia Townsend against William'-. Townsend, on grounds of "Sesertion. Costs on the lowest scale were allowed against'tho.respondent." \ ■'-;; - : 'Ah echo of tho 'motor ambulanoa accident which occurred near, the Basin Reserve on the. morning of March 8= was:heard in the Magistrate's Courb' yesterday, when Harry Melville Brown,' driver of the ambulance, was'proceeded against .by the .'police, for negligent driving.. ■' Mr.. P.. W... Jackson, who 'appeared for defendant,, said 'that- Brown, •was a careful.driver,' and on.the;day ; ia! •question.had voyy.'. :which;to catcli ,a-!:train., / '.,TheV.acciden't , 'mth:. the .tramcar. ocburfed ' through; defend- '■ . ant, j who; wasl, in.'-'a ;great '= nurry,''think-' : ihg 'that ho' could "get pasts the tram-i oar,' and' makingan 'effort ito' doy^so.j 'There, may have been want Jin his action, but" ho'was not negligent.'; After, hearing the evidence the Magis--trate (Mr. L; G. Raid) remarked thatf ! with wounded soldiers m the ambulance the driver- should not have taken, any j risks; "A fineof 2Gs., with cosisj was' imposed; ."' ,: ' :: '" "'.;" : ; ; :'■' v: . : .

■ The annual .contracts accepted /by the [ Wellington Harbour Board for the year : ending. March .31, 1918,. are contract No. 1, Munt, Cottrell and Co.* [Ltd., (55 per cent, on schedule rates;! cartage contract No. 2, Munt, Cottrell! and Co., Ltd., 85 per cent, on schedule! rates; coal, schedule A, Westp'ortStocktoh Coal Co. (Gf. H,' Scales, Ltd., : agents), schedule prices: coal, sohedules B and-C., Blackball Coal Co., Ltd., schedule prices; coal, schedule D, D:: Andrews,- schedule prices; removal of rubbish;. Munt, Cottrell and Co., Ltd., schedule prices; ; ' ..■' The Union Insurance Society of Cannon, Ltd., and the British Traders' Insurance G0... Ltd., which are now established iu-New Zealand, havesecured: premises in Hunter Street (No. 29) that aro now. being altered ty suit their requirements. ■ Mr. A; J. Johns, for many years with the New' Zealand Insurance. Company,.; has .been appointed general manager for New Zealand, andMr.'Geo. Shirtcliffe (of Messrs.-A,- S: Paterson and Co., Ltd.); and Mr. J. W. -G. Brddie. (of the British Empire Trading Co., Ltd.) have been appointed a. board, for both' companies.

." A deputation from the New Zealand Conference' of the Women's Christian waited -ion .the; Hon* ;j: ! -Hahan', , *Mihister- l o£ Education, Ton ■ : Thurrsdayiim'ornrngj'KStatej/.thftv.-Auok-land •,f'Star, , . , :.'for ,the-purpose--of:/ask-ing;that v scientific temperance 7instruction' be made compulsory- in- the., public schools, of optional .'as/'ai present, and. that in. training colleges, be thoroughly grounded in the subject' before ; they wore' sent "out to teach. . The.deputation explairied-tbafc : at present the giving of instruction 'depended solely .on 'the 'teacher'spersonal interest or indifference,: as'the case might be; ' -■ It Vats hot desired that'in-. struction"should/cover more than'the scientific facts relating to the effects of- : alcohol.on the human body, as set forth' : by Sir "'Frederick' Treves, " ; Sir. Vi6tor Horsley. and others. .'lt had been found.' that children's essays. on. temperance 'dealt' mainly with tho evils_of , v excessive.' drinking ■ rather than ■ with the ill effects of even small doses'of alcohol.' The Minister, in reply; said that he cordially sympatHsed with.the* aim to build up a'sober nation. ;;Noi.. thinking man could ignore the; evils arising from alcoholic excess.-.and he agreed' with the /deputation that there. was" a need 'for- more dermite_temperance instruction in schools. He would look into/the question, and would do , all he' could to help them.

The following resolution was. passed at a meeting of the committee of.tbe' Wellington Returned Soldiers' Associa-f tion on Thnwday—'That thiTcomniit-' tee of the-Weltagtonr-Returned Soldiers' Association -recommends . that steps'lshall W'taken:,to : approach the 1. •National Government" with a'view or appointing a- Minister who shall, be m Ksole charge, of all- returned soldiers - . affairs'.'"-' The resolution-will tte discussed 'at'a meeting■ of. the Wellington. Association and forwarded on-as are., mit'tt the Dominion : Gonferenofe: of t&>. '.turned : :soldiersfto;bo MdpfcMaym r~~ In; Addition ;to '■. the- motorcar-, ".presented -by Misß,Aiderspn ) . ; of.-Kerertt, H. 8.-, through the Hon.G. W v Eußsell, ■for the art ■ union •to raise furids.for.-a; returned soldiers': hostel nearer, .the; ■centre of the City, Mrs.' TV H; Lowry, of Hawke's Bay; :has given 150 ewes,, valued at £200, and Mr. Lowry:£100 : cash. A branch of .the National Reserve on the east coast'-had given, £50. .....

An' official report on the operations of the Public Schools' Savings Bank to. Wales "states that in-, spite.,. of war conditions, and the patriotic [efforts of school children in connection with various iuncHf, nearly: £10,000 more were dcpositedjn. 1916 than, diir-.." iug\the previous year—in fact, 1916 constitutes a record both in regard, to " the credit balances remaining, "the amount deposited during the year,and the amount'transferred by pupils to the Government Savings Bank. At tlie close of the year 726 school, banks wore in existence. The balance to the credit of school pupils on December 31, 1915, was; £11,176 12s; 10d., and ori / December 31, 1916, the credit balance was £13,174 19s. 7d., an increase of nearly £2000. The pupils' deposits for the voar amounted to £37,097,* and the withdrawals to £BEjjQ9JI. / ;

The Wellington .Patriotio Society's! Band will play selections at Lyall Bay. to-morrow afternoon. -....'.-..*. . .;:'•:

'.Wellington ladies, remember,.it is the famous'.: Thinker Note Book with: Shakespeare's photo and.-. best philosophy on the cover ..which we. are. giving free with every Is. packet, of the genuine "No Rubbing" Laundry Help. Wafdell . Bros, aud Co.—Advt. . ■'.'.

Warmer pyjamas for the colder nights. —Splendid line at 7s. 6d. jnst opened at Geo. .Fowlds, Ltd., Manners Street.— Advt. • :'••:••.:. ■'- ■.. '•' ,-• -

Once feel the thrill of the eight-' cylinder King superiority, and there-will be little satisfaction for. you in.other cars. ; Lightning "get-away"; from .a creep to a racing speed 'at the movement of a finger; hills'on "high"; silence; economy; these > are a : few reasons ...for .7 King Eight success. ' Send .for a catalogue to the - Dominion Motor Vehicles Limited, 65 Court way ■