LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 134, 23 February 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It is Announced in a Gazette Extraordinary,. is&ue'd yesterday, that .the maximum : 'prjcc .of. bacon, and bam when spld.;.by''.t'he .liiahxifacturer shall be the Btandard."pr.ice. thereof, on December 1/ .1917—that .is :. to say, in respect of every locality, the current, price . at' which on that day goods of the same

.nature and quality wero saleable in that . locality when sold in the same quantity and on the same terms as to

payment, delivery, and otherwise,

The district agents of the Labour Department who: supply reports for the "Journal" state in their latest con-

tribution" that unemployment among skilled tradesmen i= negligible, workers: 'having", little difficulty in finding work, ; 'In;" Wellington 'the ' official bureau-'received forty-two applications for work, and thirty-seven if the applicants were placed. They were mostly gonerat labourers. In Auckland the iipplieations-'.fdr wprlc had fallen off considerably. In one. weak only

twelve wero received.' your were placed. The others were .generally in search ofT:light '-work! In Dimediu;.. -fourteen-, ••out of twentyapplicants were . provided with work,, and . seven, out. of eight were plafcvd. in, Gliristchurcli. There have

been-few c'pmplain.ts about' the .short'age of labour' up to the present.

_ An explosion caused by a naked 'light meeting the funies from benzine occurred on the coastal steamer Hiiia about 10 a.m. yesterday, .while she was. berthed at No. 11 Queen's Wharf. On ■Thursday "a full cargo of cases of benzine .had been loaded; when the hatches ■had been closed. The fuines which usually escape from .highly inflammable oils such as benzine liad accumulated, and a light on the floor of the engineroom, where a member of the crew was cleaning, ignited the fumes in the after (and smaller) hatch, causing an explosion. The. hatch covers' Avei'6 blown about 20ft. high, and the sound of the explosion attracted a crowd of . wharf workers.' The smoke from, tho ignition, of the funies looked, alarming, and two fire carts from the Centrnl'Station were called,' but' these were not needed, as there was no' sign of fire," -No one was hurt, and tho vessel was not damaged. An official inquiry will probably bo held. ' ■ , ■

| The following notice', signed by the 1 Minister of Marine (Hon. T. M. Vil-i'oi-d), appears" in this' week's Gazette "The Marine Department , is advised that the Admiralty intend to apply tlie provisions of the Defence of the Realm Regulation No. 37 '(c). to British ships of Dominion registry which visit .the United Kingdom, and which have a nieaii loaded draft of not less than 12ft. , _ The general effect of this, decision is that—(a) Such vessels as are niciitioned above must, on next arrival in the United Kingdom, be fitted with tho 'Otter' protective' gear; (b) ..their crews must oe properly instructed in its use; (c) the master of a vessel so fitted is responsible, under the Defonce of the'Roalm Regulations, that tho apparatus is always in good order, and -that it is' efficiently used at such times and in such areas,as the Admiralty may direct. Owners concerned sliould communicate with Messrs Vickers (Limited), Broadway, "Westminster, London, S.W., with a view to arranging for the necessary gear to be fitted on each ship's noxt visit to tho United Kingdom.'! !

_ Tho New Zealand Natives' Association Band will play selections at Central Park to-morrow 1 at 3 p.m.

A well-known citizpn of Wellington recently.lqst one.of his sleeve-links and offered,£l. reward for its recovery, Thomissing. link was founj by a lady,' wlio duly delivered it to tho owner and received. the promised reward. Being of a generous turn of. mind she sent the unexpected wealth to tho Y.M.CLA. as n. donation towards Tied IViaatrlo Jla-v.

The assistance rendered by tile Auckland Harbour Board and its staff .to the military authorities during ' the search for the German escapees from Motuilii was acknowledged in a letter from Colonel G. W. S. I'atterson, written at the direction of the General Oftieer Commanding the Forces in New Zealand. This communication stated that tho information and assistance''afforded by tile board was, to a great extent, the means of effecting the' i'ceapiuro of the prisoners. Colonel Patterson specially emphasised the untiring efforts of the harbourmaster, ■Captain H. H. Sergeant, in this connection. He stated that it was mainly due to the latter's advice that, the capturmg vessel was sont to the Ivermadecf.

. Sea bathing is a pastime that is everincreasing in popularity in Wellington. It is with the school children that most df the added popularity is noticeable. One» of the beaches that has been crowded with bathers this year is! that between Hataitai and Kilbirnie. ■ On' several days recently there have been hundreds of bathers there at one time.

The High Commissioner for New Zealand, representing the New Zealand Prisoners of War Committee, has advised that extra comforts in the way of tinned meat and preserved milk would be .very acceptable for New Zealand prisoners of war interned in Germany and Turkey The information is, accordingly made public so that patriotic societies and the public generally may, if they so desire, make a contribution of each for the purnose.S Any such parcels should be marked "For New Zealand Prisoners of War Com-

mittee," and addressed to Captain Bilton, "K" Shed, Wellington. The goods will be forwarded as early as possible.

Ine delegates attending the ann'iial meeting of t.lio New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers spent the whole of yesterday inspecting local works of interest. In tho morning a party, in charge of Mr. A. J. Paterson, travelled to Karori to' inspect the two big dams there in connection with the city water supply. On returning to. town, peispecial tramc'ar, thoy were taken over, the corporation yards and destructor .works at Clyde Quay, and- some visited the carsheds at Newtown. iLater the delegates were taken in hand by Mr.' M'Andrew, of the Railway Departnmt, and shown over the railway workshops ac I'etone. Those delegates wha.iire "still in Wellington will visit-other city, works to-day. ■ . ■ The motor, "scooter" has coma to Wellington. This. is ail advanced edition of the ordinary push scooter, with a little niotor in front, .'two pneumatic wheels, set close to the ground, oiie " behind the other.' There is a vertical standard control with two handles, and two rubber-carpeted steps for 'the driver, who stands erect. : -

Trooper L. P. Wornall, of tho Sixth N.Z. Mounted Rifles, writing to his father in Christchurch from Palestine under date of November 18, says:— "We have been getting along 'some good 1 these last few weeks, and all hands are enjoying the constant advance. The country has improved so wonderfully that we can hardly realise the change. Miles and miles or orange orchards have been passed, and every tree is breaking under its heavy load of golden fruit,'so we fare very well in that respect. .1 can se° she" breakers from where we are camped to-day, and our horses are picketed down. beside the band rotunda iii'a verv -fashionable city here._ We frater our liorses at the" fountain in the square. We have been able to buy brown bread ; a change after Ihree to four weeks' on biscuits and bully beef.' I' also got some tomatoes, eggs, beqf, and jam, but everything is so dear. I paid as much' as. six shillings for two pints of jam, that being grape and made with honey, :as ; tfo sugar has been in this country for three years. I just got thisypap'er and ink out of Turkish. Headquarters here (the Town Hall)vT!fi'e stamp oh jhs' first page .is the Turkish'.Army stamp.!'

A proclamation published in a Gazette Extraordinary declares tliat the proclamations for the time being in force relating to trading with the enemy shall apply to any person's of enemy nationality ..who have. been, removed from any part of the British Dominions for the purpose icf being' interned ,in and are interned in any-"neutral country, in the. same, manner "as they apply to persons resident .or carryingon business in an enemy country. Nothing in this proclamation is 'to be taken to prohibit anything: which: may he specially permitted by a license given by the Lords Commissioners (of the Treasury or the Board of Trade.

' "As farmers we are exceedingly, grateful for the help given in the country districts and in gathering the harvest by men and boys of Christclrtirch," said Mr. D. Jones; president' of" the North Canterbury executive of the New Zealand Farmers'' Union, at a meetingof that/body. '" "Until v.'a, meet e'aoh other, we do not realise the amount that has beeiP <lone in our assistance, the amount of labour that has actually gone from the. city into the country." Mr. Jones added that but fo* this-as-sistance it would have,..been exceedingly difficult to have, handled; the liar.vest in time to prevent a! greaCdeal ofthe grain from. growing, in .the stable. Mr. F. G: Horrell endorsed Mr! 'Jones's remarks, and added that iii his district almost the wholo of the harvest was (gathered by workers from the city and other places. In some cases mem who .received bigger pay in tiieir ordinary. ! occupations than they did in harvesting 1 were helping. Lads, too, did much good work—and got some; good cheques. He did not think that the workers went out so "lunch for the money as because they realised that the farmers were in need. The executive passed a resolution of thanks to the city people and others who had given so much help inharvesting.

Recently an outbreak of malaria occurred on ft hospital ship carrying' 690 soldiers and others during the voyage' from England to Australia. > The ship reached Sierra Leone during the height of the malaria season, and anchored 2000 yards from the ?hore. Subsequently 35 of the soldiers became. infected with malaria. Oil the evening of the •third day the vessel was in port a new position was taken up only 1130 yards from slioro. Towards evening a fresh breeze sprang up from the':land, and soon after nightfall mosquitoes were, troubling the sbldiors ; the 1 pestis evidently having been driven out by the wind and sought shelter 011 the vessel. Taking the date of the occurrence as tlio time of infection it was possible for the ship's doctor to calculate the incubation iwriod with fonsiderable accuracy! The first casearoso-9J days after leaving port, 011 ten days Jjftbr' the arrival of the mosquitoes. The last-case appeared on the twenty-second day. The shortest incubation period, therefore, was days the longest 22} days. Malaria parasites were found in 33 out of the 35 cases. Two of the patients died. It had been contended by Sir Patrick Manson, the tropical diseases expert, that, from 1000 to 1300 yards was, under ordinary circumstances,, a safe distance to anchor from a 1110s-quito-infccted shore, but the experience in this ease showed that ships'lying. 1130 yards off are not necessarily, immune from infection.