LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3069, 3 May 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A new proviso was inserted in an exemption from service issued by the Military Appeals Board here (says a Press Association telegram from Palmerston North). Tho settler concerned was absolved from active service provided lie remains in his present occupation and "raises such crops as may be required ,by tho Minister of Agriculture." In another case the board ordered to camp a young man previously exempted on misleading evidence. In referring to tlie excellent results of the operations for the year of the Electric Light Department of the City Corporation, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) during the course of his remarks yesterday stated that there might lie some who thought that the council should Cheapen the cost of current to the community. That they were in astrong position was true, hut whether tho cost of electric light should be oheapened was a matter for the coun-. cil to decide. There was another aspect of the question. Owing to the war they had not heen in a position to make those improvements that are wanted in the direction of new plant and an_ extension of tho services, hut by setting aside the money now they would, instead of borrowing, have a sum ready to be expended on ■those improvements that must he mado to meet the needs of a growing community. The Minister of Public Health (the Hon. 6. W. Russell) has under consideration a proposal to extend the benefits of - the St. Helens Homes to make them available to tho wives of soldiers absent on active service. It was announced some time ago that wives of soldiers would be treated in tho institutions without fee- or/chargo of any kind, hut tho concession, is of little value to women who do not happen to reside at or near to one of the five centres in which homes are established. To make the concession a real one, the travelling exponses of theso women to and from the hospital would have to he provided, and the difficulty is that'the Government has no funds from which this money can be paid. The Internal Affairs Department has ill hand certain moneys, hut they have been subscribed for tho benefit of sick and wounded soldiers. Mr. Russell is now taking the advice of tho Crown Law officers as to whether this money can he used for the benefit of the dependants of soldiers, and if the advico is that tho money may bo so used, the Minister is prepared to oxtend this special, benefit to the wives of the soldiers. Speaking of.the subject yesterday, Mr. Ilussell said it seemed to him that tho charge was one that the Patriotic -Societies might meet, and he commended the matter to their consideration.

At the installation ccrcmony of the new Mayor of Eastbourne yesterday tho retiring Mayor, Mr. J. P. Kolly, quoted figures showing tho improvement that had taken place in the ferry service to the bays. In tho financial yoar ended March 31, 1915, tho receipts totalled £9146, and tho expenditure £8987, showing, a surplus of £159; in 1916 the figures wero:—Receipts, £10,948; expenditure, £9389; surplus, £1569. In 1917 the figures wero:— Receipts, £12,241; expenditure, £10,222; surplus, £2020. The investments were: In 1915, £1556; in 1916,. £1793; and in 1917, £3843. The bank balance was: In 1915, £273; in 1916, £1225; and in 1917, £1233. Mr. Kelly further, stated that since tho ferry steamers had been acquired by tho borough the service had been doubled, and tho fares reduced, and he behoved thai the sorvice was one of the few, if not tho only one, in the British Empire that had not raised fares since tho war com-, monced. .' ■■ ■

The only item of outside business transacted at yesterday's meeting of tho City Council was the granting of permission to the Roscneath Scnool Committee to erect a memorial to tho pupils and teachers from tho school who have fallen in the war. The Mayor said that some councillors were under tho impression that the committee was asking the council to commit itself in connection with the finance, hut that was not so. Councillor M'Kenzie said that the letters which had been received certainly did! ask for financial assistance. The Mayor stated that tho portion of tho letter referring to finance had been an oversight. He suggested that Councillor M'Kenzie should move that the necessary authority bo given. Councillor M'Kenzie agreed to do so, as long as it was mado quite clear that tlio council was not cimmitted to any expense. Tho Mayor said that ■ tho pioco of land 1 where the memorial was to be erected was outside tho school ground—a_ road reservation. Councillor Luckie' asked if it would be required for" road extension" in tho future. The reply was that it was a "pocket I .' in tho roadside that would not he required for other purposes. Tho proposal was agreed l to on tliovoices.

At the installation of Mr. J. W. M'Ewan as Mayor of Petono last evening, Councillor M'Kcnzie stated that one of tlio first things the council 'sliould undertake was to approach the Government with a view of getting the old age pension increased by 2s. 6d. a week, so that the pensioners could meet tho increased cost of living. The Mayor (Mr. J. I'. Luke) made' ono point in respect to the water supply of tho city at tlie installation function yesterday that has been overlooked. Hitherto when there lias been a dry summer and a shortage of water, tho high levels liave suffered by tho pressure being reduced, but now, owing to the high efficiency of tho water service on the high levels—thanks to the system of service reservoirs—the pressuro is iust as good and oven as that on the low levels, and consequently during a dry spell the consumption is just as great in tho elevated suburbs as elsewhere. Now tho council must push on with tho Orongorongo scheme as rap'dly as possible, and so ensure a supply that will serve for many years to come. Discarded kid gloves are in demand for a very useful purpose at present. They aro to bo mado into waistcoats for our soldiers, in tho samo way as was done in Australia. Mrs. D. Davios, of Hoseneath, who has undertaken the manufacture of some of tliose waistcoats, states that sho has a small supply of gloves, but not quite sufficient for the number of waistcoats sho wishes to send. Mrs. Davies therefore appeals to anyono who has any discarded gloves to leavo thorn addressed to her, oar© of Mr. Wilson's auction rooms, Lambton Quay.

At last evening's meeting of the Miramar Borough Council a councillor stated that on his land maize had grown to a height of six feet in ten weeks. This would appear to bo no mean testimony to the' fertility of tho Miramar soil.

An article recently published in tlio "Vorwaerts" discusses the toy industry, and incidentally turns tho limelight on the brutality of tlio German character by revealing tho secret of the cheapness of their goods. The centre of the' toy industry in Germany is in tlie Erzebirge, where the people are so poor and miserable that they are hardly humanv Tho toys are made by children of from four to five years old> who work from 6 in the morning till 11 to 12 at night for the wage of a farthing to a halfpenny an hour. The writer in the "Vorwaerts" is not very disturbed at the Allies' efforts to make cheap toys, as ho gleefully points out that only in the Fatherland could work be done for such low wages, and therefore Germany will always be able to undersell tho more humane countries who do not sweat the children.

No alo or stout is now being brought from tho Old Country to Now Zealand (says tho Dunedin "Star"). Tho merchants will not trade in it. They cannot. Prices are too uncertain. The "Dogshead" "nips" that before tho war wore retailed in the hotels at sixpence now cost at tho least 7Jd. to land, apart from breakages, and, giving in those breakages, the "nips" could not be retailed at less than lOd. Bulk beer lias not been imported for years. Tho last consignment from England to Otago went sour, and was poured down tlio sowers —a waste of vinegar base. Mention of this recalls the fact that a shipment of'champagne went tho same way at tho time of the bottle-gathoring. The wine went "off," and became of less value than tho bottles, so the corks wero drown, the liquor ran into a drain, and tho bottles were given to the patriotic fund.

Considerable doubt seems to exist (says the "Lyttelton Times") as to the exact number of children a member of tho Expeditionary Force is entitled to receive allowance for. The following riding has been supplied to the Citizens' Dcfenco Corps:—"Only in very special cases is the voluntary enlistment of a man with more than three children accepted, but it lias been decided that, whero voluntary soldiers with more than five children have been accepted, or may hereafter be accepted, for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, children's allowance is payable for each child in the family.- This applies also where men aro compulsorily enlisted. In both instances approval dates from March 1, 1917."

When Mr. Malcolm Niccol, grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand Freemasons, was in London at tlie time of tlio outbreak of the .ivar, he had the misfortune to be the victim of a theft when travelling on the. underground railway, whereby he was deprived of a valuable gold watch, presented to him by ,the Freemasons of Dunedin. Mr.' Niccol has just attained tho jubilee of his admission into Freemasonry,- and occasion was taken recently by a number of his Masonic friends in Auckland, in celebration of tho event, to present him with another gold watch, similar to that stolen from him. ■ <