LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 136, 26 February 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

•At tho annual conference of 'the Newspaper Proprietors' Association of New Zealand yesterday tho following motion was carried:—"At this crisis in

tho affairs of tho nation the united Press of New Zealand wishes to record

its deep thankfulness at the splendid courage which has been manifested by all branches of the Defence Forces of the Empire in the great conflicts which ( have taken place with a powerful enemy since tho commencement of the war. Their courage and endurance have been an unflagging manifestation of the deep patriotic spirit with which they are imbued, and it is in a similar frame of mind that tho newspaper press of tho Dominion now assembled in annual conference desire that a message be transmitted to His Majesty tho King, through tho Govcrnor-Gerroral, expressive of its unswerving loyalty to tho Crown, and its earnest prayer for tho speedy triumph of His Majesty's Forces and their bravo Allies, and for a lasting peace founded on tho principles of righteousness and justice ami the liberty of tho world." The motion was carried witli cheers for the King, following which the National Anthem was sung.

War bonds were referred to as a mixed blessing at last night's meeting of the Potone Borough Council. Tho remark was prompted by the reading of a lottcr from one of the council's creditors, who stated that ho was unable to renew his loan of £10,000 to the borough, as ho wished to invest tho money in war bonds. These, ho pointed out, wero considerably moro remunerative to him. In a general discussion it was stated that the attraction of capitalists to tho war loan lay in the fact that these investments were exempted from income tax. Councillors agreed that it would be hopeless to renew the loan through the same channel, and the matter was left in the hands of tho borough executive officers to arrange to place the loan elsewhere. According to tho Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan) tho war bonds were going to have the effect of raising the rate of interest generally as regards local bodies.

When an appeal of a Second Division reservist came up before the Mrst Auckland Military Service Board, Major Conlau said he considered that these appeal? were premature, as these married men would not be accepted in camp for months yet. Hearing their appeals now was only taking up time unnecessarily. "Any Second Division man should not at the present moment think of putting in an appeal," added the military representative. The appellant whose ease occasioned the remarks said he was only aware of postponement of the calling up of the Second Division through the newspapers; he had no official advice personally.

Mention was made by the Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan) at last night's meeting of the Petone Borough Council of the fact that a section of the legal profession in Wellington had recently expressed an opinion that one city Magistrate leaned too much toward the police in his judgments with regard to certain classes of cases. Mr. M'Kivan stated that the public had every reason to be well satisfied with the judgments <i the Magistrate in question, and he moved the following resolution:—"That this council notes with regret that according to newspaper reports dissatisfaction has been expressed amongst a certain section of the legal profession at the decisions given by one of the city Stipendiary Magistrates, and it desires to place oil record the fact that since the Magistrate in question has occupied tho bench the results of his decisions are quite apparent in this town. Tho council is of the opinion that he gives a careful and impartial hearing to the cases brought beforo him, and administers justice without fear or favour, and he lias tho entire confidence of the council." Other councillors spoke highly of the decisions of the Magistrate 'in question as applied to Petone, and tho upshot was that the motion was carried unanimously, with a rider to tho effect that a copy of the resolution be forwarded to tho Minister of Justice.

_ The following resolution was carried at yesterday's conference of tho Newspaper Proprietors' Association of New Zealand:—"That this association desires to place on record its admiration of the gallant raliy to tho colours of members of all branches of tho news-

paper and printing business of the Dominion, and its prayer that those who are now fighting on tho war fronts, or have been wounded or disabled, having done their duty nobly to their King and country, will be spared to return to their homes in this Dominion

to receive the grateful thanks of their fellow-colonists. To the memory of tho_ hallowed dead who have fought their last fight in defence of the liberties of' the Empire and the world wo record our reverential homage. Their comrades and relations will know them no more, but their deeds will live to inspire future generations and add fresh lustre to our nation's history." _ Thirty-fivo men applied at the Wellington Labour Bureau for work last week, and all but seven were placed. Of the total six were farm hands and three of theso applicants were placed. An outbreak of typhoid fever has occurred at Tolago Bay among tho Maoris.

1 It was recently reported to Captain ) Henry (inspector for tho Prevention of l Cruelty to Animals Society) that it was 5 becoming a practice in some parts of , the country to hobble the sheep dogs [ when not on duty, by tying one of . their fore-paws to the collar. Hearing , of one specific instance of this form of [ refined cruelty, tho person responsible was warned of the offence ho was com- ', mitting, and the warning had the de- \ sired effect. Sheep farmers who prac- ' tice this method of hobbling, may not be aware that they are not only caus- ' ing pain and inconvenience, but are • making the dog less fit for hard work. There is some dissatisfaction among bathers at Island Bay as to the design of the new diving pier, which is an i island structure. The complaint is that there are plenty of people who dive and jump into the water who are perhaps ' not skilled swimmers, and these are ■ deprived of the use of the pier through . not being,able to roach it. The wish , of theso people is that tho pier should bo connected with the beach in tho ordinary way, with two or throe springboards at varying heights from tho water. Another point the bathers raise is that the one spring-board provided projects from tho side (western), and nob tho end of the pier, and that owing to the pier being only eight feet wide, they are unable to get the run they would were the board placed at the end of tho pier.. When consulted about last week's earthquake, Mr. George Hogben, Government Seismologist, stated that the instrument registered a strong but short earthquake,'strong because of tho vibrations that were registered for some time after tho shock itself. He had not all tho data he would like yet, but judged that tho seat of the disturbance was somewhere in the open part of Cook Strait, between Blind Bay and Cape Egmont. Tho 6hock was severely felt all along the west coast of tho North Island as far north as Taranaki, and the crew of the Hiuemoa were awakened by the vigorous shaking given that vessel as she lay,off d'TJrvillo Island. According to a correspondent of the "Tarauaki Daily News" the tremor at Tongaporutu was very severe, and a strange occurrence was noted at the wharf. The incoming tido ceased and there was dead water. As the tide was due at full at about 4 a.m. the correspondent stayed to make observations. For the next two hours the tide did not make, but remained at the one level for nearly the whole of that time, when it commenced to recede. Taking particular measurements at the wharf, he states tho tide was from 12 to 15 inches lower than at ordinary tides. It would certainly appear that tho earthquake was particularly severe somewhere at sea to affect in so remarkable a manner tho notion of tho tido. The merry hopping timo is now keeping everyone busy in the Nelson district. At each hop-picking season there is always an urgent demand for workers in tho field from Wellington, and so far some thirty odd people have been sent across to Nelson through' the agency of tho Labour Department, and more are required. The work is pleasant, healthy, and fairly lucrative to the industrious. The Kaitoa left last evening with a full complement of pickers, and more will follow to-day. Miss Bremner is the lady official in charge of the employment bureau as far as hop-picking is concerned, and will supply all information on the subject. Tho following additional donations have boon received by tho treasurers (the Hon. J. G. W. Aitken and Mr. M'Lellan) of the Scottish Women's Hospital Fund for War Service:— Amount previously acknowledged, £716 17s. 6d.; "X.Y.," £13; J. M. Chambers, W. H. Simcox (Otaki), and J. M'Kerrow, £5 each; E. W. Mills and Co., W. A. Kennedy, and Mrs. W. F. Massey, £2 2s. each; "Hobo," H. M'Lean, A. S. Mitchell, H. B. Grange, and W. G. Duthie, £1 Is. each; 8... A. Holmes and "Mrs. C," £1 each; "P.O„" 145.; •N. 'Meldrum, 10s.; "H. 8.," 6s. Total, £761 18s. Gd. Tho annual conference of the WelDistrict of Oddfellows, 1.0.0. F., M.U., will commence under the auspices of Loyal Britannia Lodge to-day. Some thirty delegates will assemble from all parts of the district. The matter of devising a scheme to meet the obligations entered into as soldiers' sick pay will be the chief matter for consideration, whilst tlio election of officers and. committees, also delegates to attend the biennial movable conference to be held at Wellington during Easter, is expected to create considerable interest.

Whether a polling bootli will record one thousand votes on the election day or only a few does not concern the electoral authorities, their duty and aim being to see that provision is mado in accordance with statutory requirements (says tho "Lytteiton Times"). The cost to tho State of some of the votes recorded in the Southern Maori ejection must he a tolerable item. • At Tahuahna, in Wednesday's election, two Natives exercised their suffrage. Tahuahua is an islet in Queen Charlotte Sound, and a motor launch liad to be chartered from Picton to bring in the return. The duties of the deputy returning officer and his associate at Slope Point, on the south-eastern coast-line, consisted in tho record of one elector's preference, while if there are any e'ectors in the vicinity of Reomoana they failed to put in an appearance, a blank being recorded at this booth.

"The schools in Wellington certainly need remodelling, and a good many of them need rebuilding altogether," declared Mr. Luke last evening. Recreation grounds, he added, wore badly wanted in connection with tho schools, and that was a disgrace in a young country like this. At some of the schools the children had to be turned into tho streets to play.

Upon one of the Antarctic journeys Sir Ernest Shackleton was obliged to reduce his luggage to the smallest possible quantity. Up to this point Iho Bible given by Queen Alexandra to the ship's library (provided by the British and Foreign Sailors' Society) had been carried with the party, but it was decided, with reluctance, that this must be abandoned. As the Bible contained, on tho fly-leaf, a message written by Queen Alexandra, the leaf was cut out, together with tho page containing the 23rd Psalm, and the chapter in the Book of Job which speaks of the sea being frozen. These pages were carried to tho end of tlie journey. Sir Ernest has promised to present them to the society, to bo sold on behalf of its funds,

In Trentham Camp orders it is notified that a special train for the benefit of relatives of members of the Thirtyfifth Reinforcements will be run to and from Wellington on Friday next, leaving Lambton station for Trentham at 10.20 a.m.

It will be remembered that some time ago the Government arranged for the exhibition throughout Now Zealand by the Y.M.C.A. of the picture film imported by the New Zealand Government, under arrangement with tho British War Office. The proceeds were devoted to patriotic purposes. The Y.M.C.A. expressed a wish to retire from the scheme, and tenders were invited from tho different film agencies operating in New Zealand. The Government has accepted the offer of the New Zealand Picture Supplies, Ltd., and this company will in future control the showing of these war films through this country. Mr. Tom Pollard has been appointed adviser to the Internal Affairs Department in connection with tho matter. The proceeds of the hire, after tho payment of the capital cost' of tho films to the Government, will bo divided by tho Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. G. W. Russell) amongst the various patriotic associations in New Zealand. The films will be shown in theatres controlled by New Zealand Pictures Supplies, Ltd., and this means that they will ho shown in every centre of importance in the Dominion, reaching a much more numerous public than could be reached hy tho Y.M.C.A., which had to rent such halls as were available.

Discussing New Zealand trade returns at the annual meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, the president said that in 19U the average value of goods imported was approximately £16 a ton. in 1917 tho average value of the goods imported was £26 a ton. To this groat increase must also be added the extra cost of freight and charges, so that it was quite safe to reckon that everything now imported was costing more than double prewar rates. The high cost of imports was, lie said, one of the dominating factors in the increased cost of living, and as all imported goods were costing greatly in excess of their intrinsic value it behoved all to buy as sparingly as possible of them. The impbrtation of all kinds of luxuries, lie thought, should ho prohibited, as, in this time of national peril, it was of paramount necessity that the gioatest economy puould be exercised.

When the book "Historic Trentham" was published, a copy was sent by Sir James Allen to Mr. Walter Long, Home Secretary, in tho Imperial Government. By a recent mail, a letter of acknowledgment has been received, in which Mr. Long, in expressing his thanks, refers to the publication as "a most capital book which I have looked at with great interest."