LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 12, 9 October 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tho House of Representatives met at 7.30 p.m. yesterday. It passed a motion of condolence relating to the death oi the late Hon. J. D. Ormond, and adjourned at 8.20 p.m. .as a mark of respect to the late ox-niember. To-day the Town Hall Recruiting Office is to 1» Closed and enlistementa. of men who may Btill join the Forces voluntarily will in future ho received at the Drill Hall, Buckle Street. ' The shortage of shipping for .the carriage of coal from West Coast ports is seriously discommoding at least one of the companies mining coal there. In the House of Representatives Inst night Mr. .Webb spoke'of a trouble at the Brunner mine, tae trouble being that the coni'pany could not pay the miners' wages. The Minister of Mines (Hon W. Dvh. Mac Donald) said that he had been in touch with the agents of the company, and the fact was that the company was unable to pay wages' nn the ordinary pay day on account of delay in shipping coal. Immediately the coal could "be taken awav tho companv would be able to pay. He "understood that although (lie. mine was idlo the company had-no. intention of stopping the pumps and allowing the'

mino to flood. A'fire occurred at the "Rangitikei Advocato" printing office on Sunday evening (says our spodial correspondent), and •resulted in damage to tho extent of about J3IOO. 'Hie origin of the fire is a mystery. Replying to a question in the House of Representatives last night, the Hon. W: Fraser,' Minister of Public Works, said that ho had received a report fipm his inspecting. engineer regarding the recent strike at a tunnel on the North Auckland line. The engineer had taken evidence with the object of placing the blamo on the right shoulders. The Minister' added that the report had reached him that day, and he had not yet had tune to examine, it. The delay that has.taken place in the discharge of a steamer now in Wellington was mentioned in the House of Representatives last night by Mr. L. M. lsitt iOhristchurctt North), who asked the >rime Minister what the Government was doing to uecuro a settlement. "'.The Government have not yet taken action with regard to the-discharge of this ship,"-said Mr. Massey. "We know exactly what is going on. Labour has been 'balled for on the wharf, but no labour

has been forthcoming for the purpose of discharging that vessel. I shall possibly have somothing more to aay on the subject within a few days." Last night, in the Masonic Hall, Brooklyn, a public meeting was held, under the auspices of the 'Wellington LabourRepresentation Gommittee, for the pun pose of forming a branch of the New. Zealand Labour Party. Mr. W. Maddieon (president of the .Wellington Labour Representation Committee) .was chairman. Messrs. H. E. Holland, E. Kennedy, and R. Lee spoke, supportingithe New Zealand Labour Party, and urging the meeting to form a local blanch. On the motion of Mr. H. E. Holland, seconded'by Mr. I). H. Thomas, a resolution, approving of tho platform of the New Zealand Labour Party, and resolving to form a Brooklyn branoh, was carried unanimously. The following officers were elected pro tern-.—Presidont, Mr. L. D. Brown; secretary. Mr. E. H. Thomas; treasurer, Mr. J. Brown; executive, Messrs. J. Barras, J. Smith, D. Makonoy, X Brown, iand L. King; L.R.C. delegate, Mr. M. Ballantyne. The first meeting of the branch will be held next Tuesday evening

Whilst Miss Ada Reevo was at dinner in the Midland Hotel last evening she was serenaded by the Trentham Band, which' afterwards played her : down to»she Perry Wharf to the tune of her favourite song, "Tennessee." Some thousands of people assembled on the wharf, and when the band played "Anld lane Syne" the refrain was taken up by hundreds of voioos, the effect on the calm,, clear evening being delightful. As the! Maori left the wharf Miss Reeve carolled a good-bye to her returned soldier friends and the Trentham Band (whioli had done her such honour), and as the steamer moved out from the wharf three rousing cheers were given for tho "soldiers', friend." In leaving, Miss Reeve said she would always have a soft spot in her heart for Wellington, where the people had given her 6uch a splendid welcome, and had been so responsive to her appeal. She hoped it would not be tho last time she would visit the Empire City of tho Dominion. Last week forty-two men applied at the State Labour Bureau in Wellington for work, and all but nine wero placed, twenty-seven in private employment and nine in Government employment. Tho applicants' included four farm hands, three of whom were placed. Tho Roll of Honour, which is issued with the annual report of the Christ's Collego Old Boys' Association, gives the names and units of no fewer than 579 old boys and eleven masters on active service. Of that number eighty-three have been killed. 'All units in the servico ashore and afloat are represented in (he list. Tho record price of 40 guineas was obtained at the Dunodin Horticultural Society's Narcissi Show for the Incomparabilis champion seedling bulb. The flower is to bo frozen and sont Homo to compete at the Royal Horticultural Society's Show in April. It is understood (says an exchange) that this is tho highest price ever paid for a seedling narcissus in New Zealand. "ADVICE TO INVENTORS" is the, titlo of an interesting book full of vain-' able information regarding patents. It gives a long list qf suggestions of articles, which need improving and simplifying. Send for a free copy of "Advice , to Inventors" to<lay,—Henry Hughes, Ltd., Fcalherston Street, Wellington—Advt, , J

Tho following appeared in tho Loudon "Daily Telegraph" of April 21:—Recently tho London County Council asked. Dr. F. S. Boas to mako researches as to tho literary origin of the National Anthem. In an able report ho staled that there is no evidence of the existence of the song before the Restoration, and that it has grown, liko a folk .ballad, out of orders to the Fleet, tags from religious services, and even prayers in tho theatre. Tho following letter, written by Dr. F. CBurney (the father of Fanny Burney) in 180G, is an interesting piece of hearsay evidence:—"Old Mrs. Arno . . . assured mo at the timo (17-1G) that 'God Save the King' was written and sung for King James in 1(188, when tho Prince of Orange was hovering over tho coast. She said she had hoard it sung, not only at tho playhouse, but in the street. Her son, Mr.'A'rno, composer to Drury Lane Theatre, at the desire of Mr. Fleetwood, the patentee, harmonised this loyal song for the stage. . . . There are many conjectures concerning the source of this loyal production, but they are moro conjectures, ... I pretend not to swear that (i.e., the words) were expressly written for James, but am most certain' that they were sung for him at the timo abovementioned.'"

Very little is tknown in Australia (says the Melbourne "Argus") of tho activities of the various patriotic leagues in South Africa, whoso hospitality to Australian soldiers increases as the war drags on. They have been the subject of enthusiastic comment by almost'every officer in command of troops who has touched there. The Minister of Defence (Senator Pearce) lias directed attention to a letter that had been received from an officer commanding a transport, relating his experience at a South African port. On one day considerably moro than 1000 free meals were provided for tho Australians, on tho following day about 2000. ant] on tho third day about 700 were entertained in the same way. The various institutions were run by public subscription, and the generous support extended them •was a convincing expression of their good feeling towards Australia. The officer concluded by remarking: "I am certain little of tliis is known in Australia, or a more general acknowledgment of the public's appreciation would bo made. The Minister has himself written expressing the thanks of tho. Commonwealth for tho work that was being done for fhe. men. The gifts of a cornet,.a flute, and a clarinet would he greatly appreciated in Trentham Camp just now, where they would be used at the Y.M.C.A. Institute to assist at the Sunday evening services and on other occasions. There are always a number of men in camp who can use these instruments well, and who could combine to form an effective orr cbestra. Tho National Headquarters ot the association, in Baker's Buildings, Featherston Street, will gladly take charge of any such gifts.

Petitions were presented to the House of Representatives last evening from scheelite producers and miners in Otago and Marlborough asking the Houso to immediately insist that so long as scheelite continues to be needed by the Imperial Government the price paid to henr Zealand producers shall he at least as uood as is bein K paid by the Imperial Government to neutrals and Allies that is at least 90*. per unit; or, in the alternative, if' the Imperial Government has not sufficient need of the New Zealand scheelite to pay this price, the House will at.once lift the present embargo on the shipping by producers cf their own scheelite, and that they thus will be placed in a position to export to America, France, or any country allied to Great Britain.

"We must trust the expert in economies," said Mr. R. M. Laing at a meeting of the Philosophical Institute at Christchurch, following oil a humorous suggestion by Mr. Lawrence Birka that legislators should bo made to sit for examination in economics. "We have utter charlatanry in economics, Mr. Laing continued, "and we hear of the leaders in New Zealand declaring that' the law of supply and demand lias failed, -lou mVht as wellsay that the law of gravitation is abrogated because one can hold up a pound weight; in the hand as say,that the law of supply and demand is abrogated, because the Government has interfered in certain ways to alter result?" He added that a largo amount o? ignorance : and very great presumption occurred in economic matters, in l>?ess Parliament, and popular assemWes and the man who really knew--tho subfect was hardly to be found outside the University. ,