LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3129, 6 July 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

In the House of Representatives yesterday, .Or A. Iv. Newman gave notice to ask the Government why butter is sold retail in Wellington at Is. Bd. per lb. and at Is. sd. per 11). in a State-governed shop.

The protection of life on ships is the subject of regulations i publisehd in last night's Gazette. The regulations run:—' "1. When cargo is to be worked onboard n vessel the officer in charge of such vessel shall see that tho following things aro done, namely: He shall, before any working of cargo on such vessel is commenced, appoint a member of the crew for each hatoh, and tho member eo appointed shall superintend the removal of the hatches, and shall, wlien the hatches aro replaced, superintend .tho replacing of such'hatches, in each case seems I hat tho hatches are removed or replaced in a proper manner and with due regard to (ho safety of all persons having access to Ihe ship'oithor as members ol Hie crew, stevedores, or otherwise 2 Every perron who commits a breaoh of those regu, la ons, or fails to do what is required of him, is liable to a fine not exceeding Iu Chambers yesterday the Wellington Law Society made application to tuo Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) to have William Howard Hill, .solicitor, sfnick olf the roll. After the defendant had been cross-examined on .an affidavit lod-ed in connection with the case, an order was made reserving tho matter for argument before tho Court of Appeal next Friday. Mr. A. Gray, K.C., appeared for the Law Society, and Mr. H, F, O'Leary for defendant,

Sir. AY. ,T. Birch gave notice at yesterday's session of the Anglican Synod lo move: "That tho method of raising money, for the relief of soldiers and their dependants by carnivals and art unions and similar expedients is not only harmful in tendency, but altogether unworthy of tho sacrifice our men are making and of the great crisis through which tho Empire is passing."'

A proposal was made by Mr. H. G. Ell in tne House yesterday to the Minister of Internal Affairs that ho should make a collection of the arms of the different provinces of New Zealaud and display them in some suitablo portion.of the new Parliament Buildings. The Minister said he would accept the suggestion, which ho considered an excellent one.

Tho latest returns of unemployment in Auckland and Christchurch show that in Christchurch there are twenty-liyo men still requiring work and that in Auckland there are nine. Of the twenty-five in Christchurch, fifteen are labourers.

The conference of the Second Division League which is to lie opened in Wellington on July IS will ho attended by about thirty delegates. The remits lo ho dealt with are numerous, and the league will deputationise the Ministerial authorities.

The Court of Appeal has adjourned to Friday of next week.

A boy aged fifteen years was charged in the' Juvenile Court yesterday, before Mr. S. E. M'Carthy, S.M., with the theft of postal notes valued at Xi. The lad, it was stated, had not previously offended in nnv way. lie was severely cautioned, ordered io come up for sentence when called upon, and was also ordered to refnud the amount stolen by instalments of ss. per month.

A sitting of the Supreme Court will be held on Mondnv morning at 10 o'clock, when the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) will pass sentence on several prisoners. At last evening's meeting of the Picturned Soldiers at their club on Lambton Quay, Sir Eobert Stout mentioned that he had twenty-nine relatives that he knew of fighting in Trance.'

One of the suggestions made at the meeting of Returned Soliders at their club last evening was that the returned soldiers should have representatives on the Land Board. Tho Crown tenants elected their representatives—why should not: the soldier settlers have similar representation ? A large number of Teturned soldiers will witness this evening's performance of "Broadway Jones," which is to be staged for the first time in New Zealand by Mr. Eobert Greig and J..C. AVilliauison's Comedy Company.

News has been received that Captain H. J. Bawson, R.A.M.C. (sou of Mr. Herbert Kawson), has been appointed officer-in-charge of an advanced dressing station "somewhere" up the line from Salonika.

An appeal for contributions for an Anglo-American Hospital lias been received by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) from Dr. John A. Cope, who was in Jnew Zealand as a member of the. Shackleton Antarctic Expedition. Dr. Cope desires to raise .£IO,OOO towards the founding of the hospital, the services of which will be offered to the British Government. "The main idea," the doctor writes, 'is to establish a casualty clearing point as near'the firing line as permissable, and the main base well behind tho line. Communication is to be kept up between these two stations by means of motorambulance wagons. It is also hoped to establish at the base a research laboratory,' whereby 'the experience and knowledge gained'by tho Anglo-American Hospital may 1)0 used for tho benefit of our wounded heroes after the war is over; for it is obvious that medical work will liave to be continued both.in the field and at home for many a long day after the declaration of peace.".

An appellant beforo the Military Service Appeal Board in-Masterton stated that ho was one of a family of five boys. I'oiir had gone to the front, of whom one was killed, another rotiirned minus an arm, a third had sustained an injury to the leg, and the fourth was still fighting. The chairman remarked that this was an excellent record.

Replying to a question in tho House yesterday, the Defence Minister said it was quite true that the Defence Department was looking round for new quarters. At present different branches of the Department were scattered all oyer the city, and he had wished that the Department could be consolidated- into one building if possible. Some of tho branches of the Department had outgrown the accommodation they, occupied at the present moment. One branch, that dealing with the calling up' of balloted men, was in accommodation which was reported upon by Surgeon-General Henderson as being insanitary, and he wished to have this branch moved as soon as possible. It had been sugested that he should refer the matter to the House. 'He did not think the House would be competent to judge on the matter, but ho would have no objection to referring it to a committee of the House. Mr.'Ell suggested that if the work on Parliament Buildings were speeded up much more accommodtaion could be made available without extra expense to the public. The Minister of Public Works said that this matter had been considered by him. One insuperable difficulty, however, was if the buildings were all completed. they could not bs, occupied, because the equipment was not available for the lighting of them. An endeavour was being made to get the necessary appliances, but it was quite possiblo'that this effort would bo .unsuccessful. ' ■ An appeal has been made to The Dominion for assistance for the widow and two children of a man accidentally killed in the city a. few days ago. The children are aged 7 years and 2 years, and their mother, has been loft with only 9s. with which to support them. Donations for the assistance of the mother will be acknowledged by Mr. Frank Gartrell,. 42 Adelaide Road. Tho Prime Minister and Sir Joseph Ward have accepted the New Zealand Club's invitation to be the guests at a luncheon which will be held in the Town Hall on Monday, July 18, when addresses will be given by both leaders. 4. conference of representatives of farmers' freezing companies was held in private in the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Tenders have been received by Messrs. Crichton and MTCay, architects, for the erection of a substnn al three-story brick warehouse iu Wellington for the •Vcetylene Gas Lighting Company of ■Dunedin. The new building .which will be of a strictly utilitarian character, ,s to be erected in Lower Tory Street, opposite the ■ Wellington Gas Company s property. Tho tenders have been forwarded to Dunedm The body of Les Darcy, the Australian boxer! who died in the United statesreached Sydney on June 2G. The landing of the heavy casket was witne sed I>V a large crowd, which formed a procession to the mortuary. An.en*fmous number of people, viewed the body during the day and night, as it lay i state (says the "Daily Telegraph ) In the evening it was estimated that 2.00 persons were hourly passing through the mortuary. At about 9 o'clock the crowd became so dense that an extra body of police had to bo called out to handle the traffic. Admirers of tho dead boxer crowded so tightly in front of the mortuary that two large plateglass windows were broken. A Masterton resident, who has recently taken up his abode in London, states that the cost of living is a troublesome problem in face of the followin" prices:—Brown sugar (when, you get itf Gd. per lb.; flour (mixed), Gd. petjk • Is. 9d. to Bs. Gd. per dozen; bac'onr n ßs. per lb.; fish (fresh). 2s. per lb.; chops. Is. fld. to 25.; steak, 2s. to "5 .id.; joints (mutton). Is. 7d. to 25.; beef Is. hd. to 2s. Id.; jnm (very scarce), lOd. to Is. 2d. per lb; butter, 2s. 4<l to 2s. fid. , The fund in aid of the children sufferers by the air raid has. benefited to tho extent of £1 25., the result of a dance' held at Knrori. . Mr. A. Johns was secretary of the Dance Committee, and he has 'handed the proceeds of the enthorine to Mr. M'Kcnzie, headmaster of the ICarori School, for inclusion in the school fuud.

Writing in the "Sydney Morning Herald," Sir Henry Lucy remarks that there is a contingent consequence of the active participation of the United States in the war. Ho writes:—"We, and others who have in various ways more or less acutely suffered from the war, find comfort in the assurance that generations yet 'unborn will profit by it. When the Kaiser and his bloodthirsty crow aro hounded out of Germany, the unholy lust for war upon which their systeniatised action was founded will also, according to the desire and hope of masses of the community, finally disappear. Consequently, there will bo a general reduction of the costly armaments hitherto to a largo extent maintained by drafts upon tho scanty purses of the. wage-earner. Given such condition of tiling?, the money annually paid would ill time cover even the fabulous sums that have vanished in smoke on many battlefields. Great Britain, Russia, Franco, and Italy might reasonably be expected to join in such a pact of peace. Prospect of realisation of the millennium is made infinitely nearer and clearer'by the accession of the TJnilcu States to" the family party. Finally, breaking its long-established national policy of avoiding war by isolation from European quarrels, America, entering the circle, brings .with her imperative adhesion to the principle of settling international difficulties by other means than recourse to arms."

Speaking in Cliristchurc'u prior to a lecture bv Dr. Trilby King, Mr. D. G. Sullivan made reference to the lact that New Zealand had one of the lowest birth-rates in the world. Dr. Truby King, when it came tohis turn to speak, corroborated what. Mr. Sullivan said on the subject, and added that it had always struck him as particularly unfortunate that New Zealand should have a low birth-rate, partly because the conntry so badly needed population, and partly because the mitive uonulation was so infinitely preferable to the imported or emigrated article.

If the price of the hitherto comparatively despised cotton gets much higher, housewives will soon estimate their wealth by tho number of reels of cotton they own, rather than by their jewellery sun'olies. says a Christchurch paper. It waV stated at a meeting of the Cashmere Red Cross Fund that cotton now costs sixpence a reel at Christchurch haberdashers, and in London +116 price over the counter was one shilling. Jhe nrosnects are that the price will further increase. Early marriages were strenuously advocated by Dr. Truby Kin? in the course of a lecture in Christchurch, on the score that earlier marriages would mean a larger and healthier population. Children "born of nnrents at the height d. their vitality were better born than ,the children of 'parents in later life.

\ case was recently reported to the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association in which, it was alleged, a First Division reservist from Auckland, who had been passed as fit for active service, and who was an attested member of the ±,x----peditionarv Force, had been granted a permit to leave the Dominion. The matter was referred to the Minister of Defence by the association, and the following reply has been received from Sir James Allen:—"This man enlisted as a volunteer on March 3. Owing to delay in forwarding advice of his attestation to the Government Statistician, his name 'was left in the register of the resrve, arid was drawn in the ballot which took nlace on March 13. He was passed fit. He appealed, and the appeal was dismissed, leave' being granted until May 29. Oh Mav IS. the group commander telegraphed to Headquarters, stating that this man desired to join nn overseas ship as engineer, and asking if this was permissible. Unfortunately delay occurred in forwarding a wply to the effect that this man could not be permitted to leave, and was to be sent into camp with the next draft. Tn the meantime urgent representations had been made to the Minister- of Internal Affairs, who controls the issue of nassports, and permits, on the nitrht before the departure of the ship, to the effect that this man's services were required as sixth engineer to enable the steamer to sail for overseas. On the information supplied to tho Department the bona-fides of the case seemed unquestionable. The Department i<-as further'under the impression that, the shin in question was being used as a transport. It was only discovered after tho permit had been granted that this was not the case. Had that fact been established in the first, instance, of course, no permit would have ■been is=upd without fuller incmiries.

. ... The position, so far as this man is concerned, is that lie left. New Zealand without the authority or concurrence of the Defence authorities while a soldier under orders to proceed to enmp at a definite date. He is technically, therefore, a deserter, and I propose to instruct the commandant to consider' the 'advisability of. requesting the Tmpprial authorities, on the arrival of the shin in England, to order the man to loin J the N»w Zealand Expeditionary Force there."

At the Magistrate's Court, Tauranga, yesterday (says a Press Association telegram), Mr. Dyer, .S.M., sentenced Harry Peterson, alias Schilling a German, to three months' imprisonment for declaring while drunk that the Germans wore tetter than the British or French. The evidence showed that at the time of the occurrence accused was knocked down by the captain of a coastal boat for making the statement.

. A meeting of representatives of the Dairy Farmers' Association and a number of milk vendors was held yesterday, at which it was stated that there was a shortage of milk in 'Wellington, and that supplies were being distributed unevenly among the various vendors. The meeting decided to appoint Mr. Henry Bodley to be the receiving agent for the vendors, to bring about an equalisation of the distribution. For this purpose the Farm, ers" Association will consign the milk to Mr. .Bodley, who will superintend its distribution among the various vendors, so that none may be left unduly short. The scheme is to come into operation at once.