LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 115, 1 February 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A General Order issued yesterday states: "Drinking by commissioned officers in tho public bars of hotels, being detrimental to discipline, is strictly forbidden." Official notices published in this week's Gazette prohibit tho exportation of live nigs, and of manures of every description, except by consent of the Minister of Customs. Following is a summary of casualty lists of tho New Zealand Expeditionary Forces up to January 21:—Ofcrs: Killed, 322; died of wounds, 137; wounded, 1132. Other ranks: Killed: GSO2; 'lied of wounds, 2630; wounded, 27,632, There wore no petition.- in bankruptcy filed with the Official Assignee (luring the past month. In January, 1917, there was one bankruptcy. An earth tremor was experienced in Featherston at about 6.30 a.m. yesterday, being accompanied by a. distinct rumble. A tremor was also felt in Wellington at tho same time. General Orders specify a scale of rations for soldiers undergoing detention in Now Zealand. Tbo items include 31b. of bread, 31b. of meat, lib. of potatoes, ill), of vegetables, 20/,. of oatmeal, 2oz. of sugar and a quarter of a pint of milk. Tea, butter, and salt are also to bo provided. A Press Association telegram from Woodville states that at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning thrco botelkcepers wero fined sums varying from £1 to £2 for permitting shouting on December 5. Tho offences were admitted formally, but it was urged that being race day the hotels wore bney and the breaches of the law wero inadvertently committed. The nolice stated that tho hotels were well conducted and there had been no previous convictions. Tho Magistrate snidWthc fines were light because of the polic evidence and the fpet that tlinre wer" no previous convictions, but if the offenders came before liim again severe penalties would bn imposed.

The members of the Wellington Land. Board have decided to pay a, visit of inspection to the soldier settlements in tbo Whirinaki and Eetarukc districts, and will leave for Taumarumii on Friday next. ' John Philip Sousa, the famous composer aud bandmaster, who visited New Zealand with his own band some five years ago, has relinquished very lucrative engagements to take over the control of the U.S.A. Naval Band, which now figures in all the great patriotic demonstrations in the Eastern States. This Naval Band has three .hundred members, includes nine military and side-drums, and twenty slido trombones. An American paper says that if tho Niagara Falls is the greatest sight in the United States, the greatest sound is Sousa , s Naval Band. Sousa is said to be in receipt of Government pay—one dollar per day.

Sir James Carroll, M.P., is paying a visit to the South Island in connection with the selection of' a Government candidate for the Southern Maori seat, rendered vacant by the death of Mr. Charles Parata. Mr. G. Witty, M.P., is accompanying him. Tho following disputes have been sot down for consideration by the Conciliation Commissioner during the present month -.—February 7, United Furniture Trade (Wellington district); February 12, Electrical Workers (wiromen); February 13, Electrical Workers (linesmen) ; February 18, Wellington Enginedrivers (district). Tlieso will be tho first disputes to be hoard before the now Conciliation Commissioner for Wellington, Mr. W. Newton.

For the past two years the New Zealand Natives' Association has had a desire to perpetuate the memory of the New Zealanders who have fallen in the war by the erection of a soldiers' memorial hail, in which will be provided social rooms for soldiers and -their wives and children for all time, and the establishment of a repository for war trophies. Tlie object in providing such a hall is to keep alive old associations, aud at the same time to throw its doors wide open to all ex-New Zealand soldiers and tlie members of their families, as well as the members of the New Zealand Natives' Association. A definite scheme has now been adopted for the raising of inouey to build the ball. This will take the form of an Easter egg gift scheme. Every "egg" purchased will mean a prize, that will range from-a Chevrolet motorcar to items of household use, nothing below sixpence in value. The association's committee holds the view that so far nothing tangible has been dona in New Zealand to perpetuate the memory of those who have fallen.

A small boy, ten years of age, was to have appeared before the Magistrate last Tuesday on a charge of wilfully damaging a dwelling in Hanson Street. On discovering what lay before him the little fellow_ ran away from borne on Monday night, and it was not until Wednesday that he was found. Ho bad slept out for two nights. His offence was that be gathered a lot of dry grass, placed it against tbo side of a house, and set fire to it. When the flames began to leap up tho boy became frightened, and. ran away. Tho firo was discovered before any serious damage was done, and was extinguished. It was alleged in Court that the lad was not under proper control, and ho was therefore committed to tlie Stoko Industrial School. An English paper reports that a Scarborough linker named Jacob Cohen was fined £50 for selling bread less than twelve hours old. An undoubted note of exclusiveness and novelty is struck in the beautiful striped silk sports coats which are now showing nt Davis inicl Outer's. The combinations of colours are extremely smart and above tho ordinary, while the quality of theso Silk Knitted Garments are up to thn highest standard, which is a special foatiiro of our stocks! Wo invito you to call. Davis and Clatcr, Ladies' nnd Gentlemen's Outfitters, 21G Lainblon Qtiny, Wellington.—Advt. ,

Tlio lire I, number of the "New Zealand Journal of Science find Technology" Inis just hecn issued. It has sixty-four nil Bos, and contains l'our--I,ocm special articles in addition to reviews and editorial notes. This journal i.s published by tlto New Zealand Hoard of Kcionco and Art, of which Hie Minister of Internal Affairs is chairman, and it is to bo produced bimontbly. The articles ineludo "A Systematic Examination (if the Kefraclory Clays of tlio Cimtprbury District" (11. V. l(owc), "Commercial Uitcs of New Zealand Minerals and Honlis" (1 , . (;. Morgan), "Experiments in Mm Smelting of New Zealand Ironimnd" (,I. K. L. Cull), "Is a Sardine Industry Practicable in New Zealand?" (J. A. Thomson), "Economic and Scientific Development Resulting from the Lake Coleridge Hydro-Elec-tric i'ou'or Scheme" (L. Dirks), and "The Kconomics of Water-power Distribution" (13. Parry).

In October last the Hon. Arthur Myers, Minister of Munitions, announced that the Director of Munitions in Melbourne had prohibited tlio exportation of white lend, and at about the same time a restriction was also placed on tho exportation from Australia of linsocd oil. In order to ascertain as to whether any change liad been effected in the position of the above supplies, a representative of Tub Dominion yesterday approached the Minister, who stated that he had this wenk received a communication from the Director of Munitions, Melbourne, intimating that an arrangement had been effected with the two firms manufacturing whito lead and linseed oil respoctively in. the Commonwealth, which leaves them free to control their cxfiorts, provided essential local Austraian requirements are met. In view of this the Minister remarked that it would not now be necessary for firms ordering linseed oil and white lead from Australia to apply to his Department for priority permits for supplies, from Australia, as had for some time past been done. Should, however, any difficulty be experienced in procuring these supplies for essential purposes he would be pleased to make representations with a view to effecting release after private endeavours have proved unsuccessful.

A "welcome homo social" was accorded in Mastcrton to Monsignor M'Kenuii on Wednesday evening by the Roman Catholic community of the town, to signalise its gratification at his recovery after a painful operation. Durinpc the evening Mr. A. Stempa presented Monsignor M'Kennn with a handsome cheque as a token of their love and esteem.

A relative of a Wangnmii resident invested £100 in a shipping company in England shortly before the warten shares at £10 each. The company was paying 15 per cent, before the war, and during the three years since the dividends have been 20, 25, and 30 per cent., all free of income tax. Becently tlie lucky investor received a further cheque for £200, with a circular saying that the company had an accumulation of capital, and had decided to distribute "part" of it amongst the shareholders—£2o per share. In little more than thref years the capital invested has been returned threefold, and the investor still holds the shares.

The following notification with reference) to temporary officers and the Expeditionary Force has boon issued by Defence Headquarters: "It has been previously notified that temporary officers appointed under the provisions or Headquarters memo. No. 28/98, dated September 25, 1915, are not eligible for appointment to the Expeditionary Force as officers. When such gentlemen, therefore, are drawn in the ballot or volunteer for service with the Expeditionary Force they will not be attested as officers, but be sent into camp as ordinary recruits. In view, however, of the services which those gentlemen have rendered to the Territorial Force in the present emergency it has been decided that their temporary commissions will not be allowed to lapse while they are on activo service.'

A paragraph in General Orders- refers to the payment of gratuities. or additional pension to holders of the Victoria Cross, Military Cross, or Distinguished Conduct Medal. The War office has agreed that in cases where a temporary pension only is granted the additional Gd. per day will be paid during the currency of the temporary pension, and if at the oxpiration thereof the full amount of tho gratuity (£2O) has not been paid in pension the balance will be paid in tho form of a gratuity.

A notice in this week's Gazette indicates that the Nobel Committee of tho Norwegian Parliament, is ready to receive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize for 1918. The number of people who liavo dono useful work in tho cans'e of peace during the last twelve months appears to be small. The Town Hall, Publio Libraries, and Lighting Offices (Harris Street) will be closed to-day for the corporation staff animal picnic. The libraries will reopen at 7 p.m. The public baths will remain open as usual. The riglits of users of the roadway was tho subject of what lie termed a ono-miivute sermon by Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., Auckland. "The motorist ana the pedestrian," dated His Worship, "have equal rights to use the road, with the proviso that tlie motorist, being in charge of a speedy, heavy and possibly dangerous machine, has cast on liim the special duty of taking care that tho machine does not cause damage to anything or anybody. Tim motor horn is provided to sound a. warning to others to look out, so that everybody concerned may take the precautions necessary to avoid a collision not to hoot people out of tho wav in a clear-out, the rbad-belongs-to-me manner." In addition to this statement of the rights of the road, tho Magistrate informed the dozen motorists who appeared for failing to sound a warniii.l2; when approaching a stivst intersection in tho city, that tun horn must be sounded heforn tho par crosses an intersection, irrespective of whether ! the traffic constable signals a clear road or not. The truffle constable's wave, it was explained, f'-id not mean "Come on," but was simply thai, the w/iy was clear of vehicles, and the oncoming motorist had to taK-o «ili the ordinary precautions of sounding the horn and going slow, to avoid collisions with pedestrians, that were taken whore there was no traffic constable. A. batch of nearly twenty motorists win had boon summoned 'for not Rounding tho motor horn ns wnmina of approach when about to cross street intersections, having been thus instmotrcl in manners and law, were convicted, and diselipvsjed. People at homo who talk of the slight distress caused by the war should see Armentiercs, writes tho Commonwealth official « correspondent in France. For two ycirs the town lias always been under shellfire to a certain extent, but within tho past six months tho Germans have prosecuted a scheme of deliberate destruction, just as they threatened Paris in 1871. Quarter by quarter, street by street, the town has been systematically bombarded. There is wanton destruction—not a house is untouched : many arc ripped open, and reveal tumbled furniture, floors littered with household possessions, just as the civilians were obliged to leave them. Many hundreds of women and children havo been killed or wounded by high oxplosivo gas shells. Armcntieres, dead and desolated to-day, was once a flourishing residential garden city, with a history which reached back to the earliest times. This trontmont at the hands of the Germans, whether or not it is defensible on tho grounds of military necessity, serves as n perfect ob-ject-lesson of the merciless German destruction no less than nt Bapamne, Peronne, and other towns which were blown up in the south.

The treatment accorded to a man drawn in a recent ballot by his employer, a business man iu Christcliurch, is creating considerable Indignation (says the "Press").' The man, who is married, with one child, after being medically rejected two or three times when ho volunteered for active service, was passed by the Medical Board after ho was drawn in the ballot. Ho was ordered to proceed to camp next April, over two mouths hence, but his employer, hearing that lie had passed the doctors, immediately dismissed him ami filled his place with a foreigner. In Iho meantime the man is without employment until he proceeds to camp.

It lias been found that tho disease commonly known as brown rot is developing "seriously among stone fruits, such as nectarines and plums, as well as some apples, says tho Auckland "Star." The latter fruit can bo in. perfect order in the morning, and in the afternoon it will show signs of rotting, and next morning it will be absolutely rotten. It appears that this disease, which has made big strides within the last two seasons, has so seriously affected the local fruit that it is considered high time that the Minister of Agriculture, as well as his immediate advisers, should make serious attempts to combat it. In view of the fact that the Government intends to put returned troopers on fruit farms, it would be to the benefit of all connected with this trade that the diseass bo stamped out.