LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 151, 15 March 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Hon. G. W. Russell, Minister of Internal Affairs, notifies that advice has been received from the Canadian Government and passenger agents in that country that much inconvenience is being caused them through women who have been granted passports to journey to Canada endeavouring to obtain passage through the danger zone to Great Britain. To alloviate this inconvenience it has boon decided that, whero passports are issued to women for passage to Canada or the United States of America only, such passports will bear a special endorsement invalidating them for journey, through the danger zone.

Tho Thirty-sixth Reinforcements, which set out from Feathorston Camp to march to' Trentlmm, reached the latter camp yesterday morning. In the courso of their march the troops bivouacked at .Kaitoke for ono night, and spent the second night in night operations at Mangaroa. They arrived at Tre'ntham looking fit and well.

Tho birtliß in tho four, metropolitan areas of New Zealand during February numbered 626, as against 781 in January. The deaths numbered 272, as against forty-nine in the preceding mouth. Forty-nino, or 18 per cent., of the deaths wero of children undor five years of age. The death rates of tho four metropolitan areas for tho month were as follow:—Auckland, .64 por 1000 of population; Wellington, .83; Christchurch, .60; Duncdin, .74. A Press Association telegram from Wairoa states that tho Waikaremoana Parliamentary touring party arrived early yesterday morning, after a rough passage. The weather prevented immediate departure for the lake, so the district was toured, and the visitors wero entertained locally. An objecu of interest inspected was tho cabbage treo palm under which Sir James Carroll was born sixty years ago. The mombers of Parliament present are: Messrs. Wright, Lu'ko, Harris, Buick, Lee, Hornsby, Dr. Newman, and Sir Jameß Carroll.

The horse attached to a cab driven liy Walter Dolman bolted in Tory Street at 10.40 last night, and at the corner of Tory Street and Courtenay Place collided with a , tramcar. Iho cab driver was thrown on to the road and had to have several stitches put in his head. A passenger in the cab had his head cut with broken glass from the cab window, and had to have eeveral stitches put in the wound. The cab was severely damaged, and the horso was also considerably knocked about. The damago would have been moro serious had tho motorman not pulled the car up promptly. Beforo the Defence Expenditure Commission yeßterday Dr. Falconer, Assist-ant-Director of tho Medical Services in tho Otago district, continuing his evidence, said it was an anomaly to have n Defence office in charge- of civilians. Tho Defence offico should make the fullest use of tho Red Cross in dealing with convalescents.—Press Assn. "There is no doubt that tho Samoan chiefs and the natives generally are satisfied with tho condition of things ■ since tho British occupation," remarked Sir Jamos Allen to an Auckland reporter. "They aro loyal to the British Crown, and are most gratetul lor tho privileges that have boon extended to them." That, ho added, was tho tonor of an official report which bad been received from Colonel Logan, the Administrator. Samoa had now been recognised in the Government flag, and this had given great satisfaction. Tho applicants for work at the Labour Department's Employment Bureau in Wellington last woek numbered fifty-eight including three returned soldiers. Work was fouud for. forty-five of tho men, tho majority being labourers. Carpenters and painters were among the applicants. Four farm hands and six labourers were not placed in jobs, ilio returns from centres throughout New Zealand indicate that thore is a keen demand for skilled workers in most trades. At tho Christchurch bureau thero were twenty-ono callers, most of them labourers, and of theso sixteon were placed in positions. Tho Dunedin bureau had twenty-one applicants, thirteen being found work, and tho Auckland bureau twelve applicants, of whom bight wore placed. On Saturday the Thirty-eighth Specialist Company p-ocoed to Papawai for musketry. On Saturday, March 2A, tho Thirty-sixth Specialist Company, return from Pnpawai; tho Thirty-ninth Mounted Rifles proceed to Papawai for musketry; l> Company, Thirtyninth, from Canvae Camp to huts; and the Thirty-sovonth Infantry move from huts to Canvas Camp.

John Robortson, who is to stand his trial on a charge of tho nrurdor of Poter Larseu at Karioion l'ebruary 24, was brought to Wellington _ from Olalnine yesterday and lodged m the Terrace Gaol. Roberta* will be tried at Wangamii. _ ,■,.,.■, Tho Minister of Defence is delighted with the results of tho CI training camp at Featherston. "It has been an extraordinary success," ho said to a reporter at Auckland "By judicious physical training the health and strength of many men have been greatly improved. Not only have men below the standard .measurements been nnde fit for service, but others, nioludfthose with slight heart trouble, n-vo been mado fit The men in the c'lnm are very keen," ho added. 'Tho meal nmiorily of them are very anxious to ninlifv for admission to the activo 3 drafts. Captain Brock was nccially brought from Kngland for this tvori and to give instruction in bayonet Z tin* , and he has done excel ently, and hM now trained an efficient staft of instructors."

The Minister of Public Health (tho Hon. G. W. llussell) wan asked by tho iihyor of Whangnroi whether tho Government would consider the establishment of intermediate asylums f«r l\w treatment of certain mental cases. Tho Minister said that the ma-Uer lu«l been under consideration, and added that ho liopd to be nhlo to establish "rest homes," where there was a 'chanco of healing patients without recourse to the mental asylums. For this purpose he lioped to 'bo ablo to utilise the Wolfe Homo at Auckland, which was to be vacated shortly by the military patients at present there.

A peculiar phenomenon on the Waikanae (Gisborne) beach Inst week was tho presence of millions of globular objects which, when trodden on, burst with a sharp "pop," as do some species of seaweed. Persons handling tho globules, however, were somewhat badly stung, tho hands swelling up painfully within a few minutes (stales tho Gisborno "Times"). Several peonlo were made victims in tbo course of the afternoon, among tliem being a bather who was stung on the knee while in the water, and then stung on the \hand when ho attempted to crush the offender. It is thought that the globules are a variety of the genus I'hysalicl, or "Portuguese Man-o'-War." These marino globules are fairly common on tho West Coast beaches between tho Kaipani and Mamikau Harbours.

A special Public Service entrance examination is to bo commenced about June 24 iiext. Entries will be received by the Director of Education up to April 30 from both malo and female candidates. There will bo an entry fee- of £1, which will bo refunded if the applicant passes the.examination and nccopts employment in the Public Service. The examination will most probably be held at the following centres: Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Hawera, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Gisborne, Napier, Dannevirke, Mastertou, AVellington, Blenheim. Nelson, Greymouth, Christchurcb, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Gore, and Invorcargill. Should sufficient candidates oifer, the examination will bo held also at other centres.

The suggestion recently made by Mr. J. H. Gnnson, president cf tbe Auckland Patriotic Association, that a second pensions board should be appointed to expedite the hearing of claims, was referred to Sir James Allen, Minister of Defenco, on Monday. "I do not think there is any need for another board at present. We have recently strengthened the existing one, so that it can work in shifts, and the arrears of work have now been fairly well overtaken. The now member is Mr. Harper, who was appointed, to represent the returned soldiers. Mr. Facho, Commissioner of Pensions, has also been appointed to fill the position of an absent member, and thus ti quorum is always assured." Tlie Minister added that in fixing; pensions it was very important that tho same standard should be maintained, and h« thought that tho appointment of a. second board would lead to diversified judgments.

The practice of charging procuration fees in addition to solicitors' fees for services rendered their clients by solicitors in raising loans was referred to during the hearing of an action at the Supreme Court at Auckland. It was stated that.ono of the partieß desired to raiso a first mortgage of £2000 on a farm, and for this service his solicitor had charged both a procuration and ordinary fee. Mr. Justico Hosking remarked that this practice wob not a universal one in tho Dominion at present, and when practising as a barrister ho had never charged procuration fees. It seemed like turning a solicitor's office into a sort of financial agency, and he did not think it was good practice. Counsel stated that it was the common practice in Auckland for solicitors to charge procuration fees, although ho believed it was not the general practice in the south. Tho quostion liad been referred to tho New Zealand Law Society on several occa-' sions, and the existence of tho practice as a custom was recognised. It was stated that a number of the large financial institutions in Auckland did not allow solicitors acting for them to charge procuration fees. A member of the crew of the Aparima informed an Auckland "Star" reporter that when the explosion took place ho was asleep in his bunk. Ho dressed in an old uniform and ran along to tho engine-room, and reached tho steering-gear platform. Tho water was then half-way up the engino columns, and he concluded it was useless l to attempt to do anything in tho engineroom. "I then made my way to the boat deck," bo continued, "and let sp the after tacklo of the No. 2 boat. The water was just up to the- bottom of the boat, and I was immediately sucked down, and I do not Tcmcmbor anything further until I felt my feet kiclring against the bottom of tho-boat, which capsized when it got into the water. I was underneath. I dived under the thwarts of the boat, and two people caught and helped me up. Tho_ boat wns'crowdcd on top. Presently it began to roll very considerably and I told all hands to endeavour to turn the boat over. In the attempt, some of the men were lost. I could not say whether they wero Europeans or Lasears. When tho boat was righted thorn wero Rovpn natives, three cadets, and myself. We heard a voice near v,i, and it proved to bo a. endet clinpiiif to a pieeo of wreckage. A rope was thrown to him. and tho worlcngo mado fnst to Mm boat. .After drifting about for an hour and a half, throe of thr> Lascars died from oxnoKure. At dpvhreaWjJrn found nloneside, thfl body of thi efflef steward, James Maclde. Fo _ lwd a largo soar over the top of his right <vye. TTo mufit have received a severe blow boforo ho was 'Iroirnotl. At 7.30 a.in. wo wero picked un»l>y a motor-boat, and at tlm sumo time w> saw the occupants nf another boat being , Toscued. Tt tnnk about of, an l'onr to tako us into Wovmouth. Bay, where wo were to n tntr. Aftnr laiulinn: wo w»r* tnlc»n lo thn British and ForoVn priors' Society's Institute and cared for."