LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3097, 30 May 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The impression appears to prevail that men who aro rejected for military service- after being in.camp, aro discharged. That is not so. Tho practice l of discharging lutm was discontinued sonw time- ago, and those who arc sent out of cairn) as unlit are given indefinite leave witU nerto wear civilian clothes. All rejects sire classified, and according to their classes are liable to bo called up for service- should they be required at any time. They aro no less liable to be called for service than any other Keeervists who have- never "been through the camps.

Tho town of Mnrton last -evening experienced its third night of setni-dark-ness, says our special reporter. Something has gone wrong at the gasworks, and repairing operations are still in progress. On Sunday night tho town was in almost total darkness.

"We are not ({oiiiz to do .any Rood until we stop Ibis cry of town versus country/' said Mr. 0. Sykes, M.P.. at tho Farmers' Union Conference at Marton yesterday. Mr. Syfces deprecated another delegate's use of languaEo decryine some of tlio town-dwellers, and said that it must' be borne in mind that to gain success all must pull together.

The Third Military Service Board concluded its Kitting in "Wellington yesterday and will resume the hearing of appeals on Tuesday. June 5, at Palmcrston North. The First Military Service Hoard will sit in Wellington on Friday. Jnno 1.

A letter has just been received by +ho Defence Minister from Lieutenant-Colonel Pickerill. lately head of the Dental School in Duncdin. Professor Pickorill was sent Home from New Zealand ispecially to deal with jaw 'cases among tho New Zealand wounded. Colonel Pickerill writes: "I have settled down at WaiUm-mi-Ttmines, where all jaw cases arc to be segregated. 11. is proposed that wo should have lifty 'mis. Thnro are 31 cases »t present. ' The hospital is very well equipped, T lind. and 1 hope to lw ablo to do some useful work there. The dental service' seems In be working most smoothly now. The drafts arc coining forward in a much more Kt condition, so Mint present staffs should hold their jobs down now without difficulty." .

fleoree Krost has given nolice thai hu will move «t Hie uexl meet ins,' of the City Council: "That the chairman of the National Rfllciency Hoard be nskcil lo beat Hie, report of the Tramways Manager of May 7, or any letter Mieremi which may have been forwarded lo him. as purely pmsonul, as (ho said ivporl lias not been adopted by this cuuucil,"

It should bt- gratifying to those in camp :\t Trunllmni mid I'diliierslon to know that the New Zealand troops who spent ii fortnight in the Liverpool (New South Wales) I'aimi say that tlicio is no comparison either in th<-' lay-out or iiiTuiiKi'incnt of the camp, or the manner in which they arc run, with the two bis; Ntw Zealand camps. Une of the fundamentals of eami) life is the food i>uplily, and in that respect, one New Zealamler, writing to his mother in Wellington, said that the boys want to have u week at Liverpool to realise how well oil' they arc at 'J'rentham. The New Zealand troops have, however, .been well veceivi'd, .iml their appearances in Sydney have beon greeted with enthusiasm. The annual Dominion conference of beekeepers will bo held in Wellington on June (i, 7 ami 6. It is expected that all tho provinces will bo represented. Among tho .subjects set down for discussion are .beekeeping for returned soldiers, apiary sites, and the standardisation of honey-Packages. A feature of the conference will Iks the setting-up of a committee in each province to assist the National Efficiency Board in looking after the apiaries of soldiers who have ioinetl the colours.

Over 1300 names aro now included in the Wellington College Jioll of Honour. Since December. 1!)1G, seven more old boys have died in their country's cause, and nineteen more have bten wounded. Further decorations havo lieeu gained by the old boys, the list of men so honoured being headed by Lieut-Colonel (sinco 'Brieadier-Gencral) B. C. k'reybere. V.C.. D.S.O. To thoso who have fought, and especially to thoso who have fallen, the old boys of tbo school propose to erect a memorial hall, 60 that, in tho words of "Tho Wellingtonian," tho future college* boy may "know himself ranked as one of a brotherhood so many of whose members have so splendidly displayed their noble ideals in the face of death."

A conference of representatives nf the Sheepowners' Association and Sheepshearers' Union will take place in Wellington to-day. Conditions of labour and wages relating to the industry will be discussed.

Of Captain 0. V. Bogle, at one time a master at Wellington College. Lieut'. Dimiell writes to "The Wellingtoniun": "Dr. Bogle was in the Ist Battalion, anil his death was ;i great loss. Ho was a personal force in the battalion, an allround sport, aiid always watchful for the interests of his men. Tf ever u man was endowed with what Kipling calls 'God's own common sense' it was G. V. Bogle. His loss is to me ot a porsonnl friend. He was lulled by a shell outside the dressing station behind Flers village. He had worked without ceasing for 48 hours among the wounded and dyinsr. When wo were relieved on Raturdav night we were lold on our arrival nt the village that ho had been killed about five minutes before. He should have .been a battalion officer, not a doctor. On September 15 he rallied several hundred men who had received the wrong order to retire. For this it w:\s I'rer-Iy stated that he was to receive the highest decoration for gallantry."

The Wellington recruits for the 30th Reinforcements have been directed, to parade at the Buckle Street' Barracks this morning, and they will go into camp to-morrow.

Tho Minister of Defence 7uentioned in Cliristchnrch on Monday that the Defence. Denartment was not taking men nf ■It and f"> years of age for the Expeditionary Force unless they were "specially St." It has been tho practice of the medical boards to be particularly severe in their examination of recruits over forty year 3 of age, the doctors being aware that a man who has entered his fifth decade is very likely lo have developed a physical weakness of some kind. Many of 'these men, however, are thoroughly sound. It is a well known fact, indeed, that men of over 15 years of age have been able to pass the doctors and get away with the' forces by ".msstating their ages.

At the Wellington Farmers' Union Conference in Marton yesterday. Mr. E. Law, of Shannon, said he had heard of cases in which two men who were to be examined as to their military fitness smoked over one hundred cigarettes the day before the medical examination. Also, it was said that men tool; drugs to make it appear that their heart was affected. These thing* were nommon tall;, nnd if true the state of affairs was disgusting. .! 11 has been decided by the local bodies of (he Wairairapa to erect a. fervo-coii-trote bridge over the Waingawa River, in replace the present wooden structure. Tho cost of the bridge, is to be spread over the local bodies from Featherston to Manriceville. inclusive.

The Fire Br'igadp was summoned early yesterday morning to Adelaide Road to cope with an outbreak of fire at No. 475, .1 combined dwelling am! general store, owned by .Mrs. Martha Mercer, of W" Derwcnt Street, and occupied by Mr. .Tames Tfenry. The blav.e was suppress!

only after "i(. had done considerable damage to tho shop and its contents. Tho contents of (he shop were insured for JM.iO in the Standard Office and tho

furniture for .£287 in the samo office. The insurance, on tho building was XCOO in tho Alliance Office. ■ ■

Shipmasters as a rule are resourceful, and a master of a vessel which was loading wheat at Sydney during tho time of tho mico plague proved no exception to tlio rule.. The first irnckload of wheat for his ship simply teemed with mice. There were hundreds of the nests, and they fell through the wharf in dozens. Others were more lucky, and some infested the clothes of the labourers, while a large number of course sot into llio hold of the ship. This proved the interesting point to the master. Cats! Many cats! was his first thourrht. Then, how to get them. He thought of his crow, and made known his intention of paying sixpence for each cat brought on board. The- crew responded'to the idea, and the hunt began. Soon after cat No. 1 arrived, then Nn. 2, and so on until a dozen had leen obtained, when the captain withdraw the reward. The eats were sent down tho hold to do their business Then an entirolr new uliase of the mice plague was heard about. Advice has been received from tho Featherston Cuinji (says our special correspondent) that Masterton hs>« been declared "in bounds" as from Wednesday. In reply.to "Cobar," who complained in a, letter published yesterday about tho disrespect the harbour ferry steamers have for their own time-tablo, Jlr. Day

(borough clerk) says that such happenings arc rare, uud were only caused on Monday by the Cobar taking an ho«r and a naif to do what usually occupies half an hour, being hampered by the stiff southerly galo that was blowing, the full force of which 18 folt in Evans Bay. Sir James Allen, Acting-Prime Minister assured a Christchurch reporter on Monday that he had no intention'of retiring lrom politics (?ays a Press Association message). When asked to amplify his southern utterance on tho subject; ho remarked that when speaking to his constituents he had said he did not expect to remain very much longer in politic?. At his age it was quite a natural remark. Hβ did not think any notice would be talcen of it.

Speaking of men rejected m camp as medically unlit, Sir James Allen soul they had been given leave without pay, this being done to wovent them from going back" into the ballot. He desired to let such men know , , however, that they could USD tl\e ordinary pension forms to apply for .a pension, and if tho Pension Board decided in their favour they would be given tho equivalent in , pay, although it could not be called a pension strictly speaking, as they were not discharged.

To show what ,an inferno of tlauies the unfortunate seamen on the To Anau had to pass through in effecting their escape from llio burning forecastle of that ship during the fire iu the lamproom on Monday morning, ono of the oflicors stated to a "Telegraph" reporter that when ono man arrived on the deck all his clothes had bco.'i burned off him. The nther men were all iu a more or less (laming condition, and were unable to get nut of their garments quick enough to .avoid severe burns.

Tho reference to Br. Hjelninr von Daniievillo in our issue of yesterday as the medical officer of tho Lahiuaun Health Homo was inaccurate. Dr. von Daiinevillo was nieroiy ono of the assistants at the home, and was -understood by those in charge <f the institution to be of. Danish and not of German birth.

Napier sportsmen do not .-peak very enthusiastically about tlic iimonut of game in the principal shooting grounds of the province this your, remarks u Tlawke's Day paper. Several parlies which went to wairon earlier in the month foinul an average number of ducks about, and pheasants were scarce. A conplo a day lias been- the average bap of pheasants in the Wairoa district this year. Quail were fairly plentiful, both Californian and Virginian. Many reasons are attributed for the scarcity of pheasant's. It may be, said a Napier sportsman, that the increase in small bird 3 has something to do with it. Insect life is not found s<> easily as it was before sparrows, goldfinches, thrushes, and blackbirds overran the country. Therefore the young pheasant has a harder fight for existence, and many go under. Stoats, weasels, and hawks also are guilty of depredations among the young.

Addressing the First Appeal Board at Auckland, and stressing the fact that Now Zealand was now approaching to a stage where very essential men were, being dealt with, Mr. Hall Skelton gave somo figures which, lie said, showed that, k> far as the Dominion's contribution of men to the Empire was concerned. New Zealand was 12 month? ahead of tho other colonies. We had sent away liß per cent, of our men. leaving 32 per cent, at home. Australia had sent 21 per cent, awav, and Canada 23' per cent., the latter ■ countries, therefore, having now respectively 7G per cent, and 77 per cent left. ".New Zealand's influence, continued Air. Skelton, "has been much, morn'effective in t''i s war t,la " wc realise."

White. Island has been most active for some days (stated the Whakatnne correspondent." of the "New Zealand Herald recently). At 2 a.m. one night vivid flashes of blue flames were observed issuing from tho crater, tho whole oi the sea between the island and the mainland being illuminated. Several residents tit Whakiitane wero awakened by the glare of light through their windows, and wero rewarded by a good view of the display, which lasted for a considerable time.

On June-9th and 10th persois producing on request a Crippled Soldiers' Hostel irt union ticket stamped on the front "Llord, Jeweller," receive a present of jewellery or silver plato; .£25 wnrlh now on view in Lloyd's window, l.ambtou Quay, will be given away.*