LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 226, 12 June 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The estimated population of Now Zealand on March 31. 1918, was 1.167.M5G. This included '1i1,77G Maoris and 12,71)7 residents of tho Cook Islands and other island dependencies of the Dominion. The population would have been at least 00,000 larger, but for llio effect of tht. war taking men away to Europe- and checking immigration.

Attet tho close of Hie ballot yesterday morning the Mayor of Wellington made refcrt'ii'co to (ho fncl; I hat tlio Ooverjiinent Statistician (llr. Malcolm I'Yaser) hiiil "drawn a marble." Mr. Friiscr draws all the marbles, since n pnrt of his duty when ho is conducting ballots is to jmt his hand in the revolving box and lake out the little wooden balls that determine the fato of reservists. But it happened on this occasion flint oni? of tho reservists selected for service was Mr. Eraser himself. Tho Government: Statistician has passed his forty-fifth birthday, so that lie will be- classed C 2 automatically when he goes before tho doctors.

That working conditions on lh,e Wellington wharves are satisfactory from a wage-earning point of vjew would appear to bn the case judging by the evidenco ofl a witness, in an action at the. Magistrate's Court yesterday. The witness stated that ho hnd been employed on the waterside for twelve yours, and sinco the outbreak of war there had been lira or three increases in wages. During tho past twelve months his averago weekly -earnings had been over <C"> per week. "Would they bo less?" asked counsel for the defendant. "Well, very littlo less," replied tho witness.

In respect to llio case known as tho Kelbnrn raid ease, notice of appeal Was lodged yesterday on behalf of Mary Griffin and Winifred Olsen against tho finding of Mr. S. E. M'C'arthy, S.M. Tim two women wero each sentenced lo twelve months' reformative treatment, tho former for keeping a house- of ill-fnme and the latter for being concerned in tho management of the same.

A driver named Htilme, in the employ of Mr. F. .Lniiitcerff, mi iidmitterl to tlio hospital at G o'clock last night, suffering from severe- injuries to Ilia face, causeo by a load of timber fulling on him.. An operation was performed, and at a lato hour tho injured man was reported to bo progressing favourably.

About S o'clock yesterday morning a fire was discovered in a two-story house, No. 23 Nelson Street, occupied by Mr. 11. Vann. A defective, chimney wan Iho ciuiso of the outbreak, but tho Firo Jirigado wero soon on the scene, and quickly extinguished tho (lames, which did st good deal of damage to tho contents and building. Tho effective* work of (he brigade prevented anything but very slight damage occurring to tlie adjoining properties. Tho bnildint: was insured for ,£250 in the Stato Office, and f lies contents wero covered by a policy for -CIOO in tho Commercial Union Office.

Thieves were at: wortc in two city hotels between 8 and 9.30 o'clock on Saturday night. In ono caso tho belongings of the bonrders wero interfered with, and a number of articles wen; otolcn. The bedrooms in an upper ntory of another liotol wero also ransacked about tht snme time, and snmo trinkets and jewellery wero abstracted.. In neither caso was Iho vnlnß of tho articles stolen very considerable

Tho crew of n. steamer at present in port wcro liolding a concert in the 'tween decks of thn vessel last night when a Ferious ticculent occurred. A hatchway fell on Hie heads of several of tho men, nnd three of (lipni wpvo injured. Two of the men, John Stevens, a (rimmor. nnd .loii" Brown, :i firpinnn. were badly hurt. They wore attended to by t'ic ship's surgeon, who ordered their removal to the hospital. They wero admittod to tin? institution in nn unconscious condition Rbout 10 o'clock, and an operation was performed upon each. Thp injuries to the third'man were nor of a eevern nature, and ho romaiyed aboard tlfc ship.

A motor-car accident which occurred on March 9 was tho subject of a claim for ,£l5O damages heard by Mr. W. Ci. Biddnll, S.M.. at the Magistrate's Court yesterday. The parties wero liobcrt Richards, waterside worker, plaintiff, for whom Mr. H. F. O'Lnary appeared, and Alfred Jf. Guy, defendant, dairyman, represented by Mr. D. Jackson. The damages were claimed in connection with injuries received, loss of wages, and medical expenses. The caso for the plaintiff was thati on March il last plaintiff, with other waterside workers, wns waiting for a tram at the corner of Fcntherston aiul Bunny Streets. It was alleged that defendant's motor-car come along on the wronc; side of Ihe road, mid suddenly running across, to the other sido got in front, of a tratnear, plaintiff being (struck from behind anil carried a distance of 20 feet. Plaintiff was hurt, and was attended for nine weeks by Dr. H. C. Faulko for inflammation of the knee nnd other injuries. After several witncssDs had been called on behalf of the plaintiff the further hearin? of tho case was adjourned until to-morrow.

Mr. W. G. Eiddell, S.M., siMin<r with Messrs. M. W. Welch nnd H. B. Le.ightou as assessors, as a Compensation Court on Monday, went into the merits of tho value of certain land on the ridgii of tho Bimutaka Range and within tho Wnimii waterworks catchment area. . The owner, Andrew Gorrie, put in a claim for ,£5 per acre for tho S3! acres taken by the Wellington City Corporation, for which the City Valuer (Mr. James Ames) for tho corporation hod offered tho lump sum of .£lO5. After tnkin? evidence tho Court awarded the owner .£l7O for the land taken, tho City Corporation to pay costs. Mr. A. de B. Brandon appeared for tho owner and Mr. .Tolrn O'Rhea (City Solicitor) for the corporation. With the acquisition of another 25 acxra of land (owned by Mr. Charles 15. 'Rwansonl the acquisition of the wholo of the Wainui-o-mata watershed will havo been completed.

An appeal for appte3 for tho soldiers at King George's Military Hospital and Sanatorium at Rotorua has been made to Nelson orchardists by LieiitcmlntColonel JI. O'B. Deck, medical oflieer in charge. There aro 200 cases at the hospital and about 00 bad cases at tho Sanatorium. No apples are obtainable at Rotorua, and a supply would be grontly appreciated by the inmate?. Arrangements have been made with the Anchor Company, the Railway Department, and tho wharf authorities for the free transit of the fruit.

As a.result of an accident which occurred somo time ago, whereby a waterside worker was injured through being knocked down by a motor-car, a claim for damaffea was hoard at the Magistrate's Court yesterday, tho plaintiff being the man wbo was hiw't. "When bein" carried to Iho doctor did you not ear yon had a premonition that something would happen to you that day?" plaintiff was awed by counsel for the defendant. "No, I did not replied plaintiff "Now, be careful, remarked counsel, "as wituesses will be brought to siiy I hat yon «nid something of the sort 'Premonition of accident', is a ghastly phrase. Aro you euro you did not. siiv you, had a premonition something would happen to your " \os, 1 am certain I sf.kl nothing of the kind, for I don't knoiv Die l.ieaimijr of (.lie word premonition," replied plamtill, amidst laughter.

Constable Cleury, of Cambridge tocoived word on Kritlny evening that several pcllv robberies had taken place, and a man"working at Leamington was Spooled. Tbo constabln made inquiries and found the suspected man had ecanined. Hs searched all hirM, •ml < is- • 'el him on Ihe train on Saturday uon in- iiist lii'fci-e it started. When ed in m look-up,

Au inquest was held , by the Coroner, Mr. W. G. Kiddrfl, S.M., yesterday touching tlio death of D. Wood, 50 jears of age, whose body wits found in a liwntory in Young's Private Hotel, on Monday morning. Evidence was given to the client that deceased hnd Ik?g:i nn inmate of Porirua Mental Hospital from b'eptemlwrj 1017, until February last. ll<i had gona from Palmenlon North to Taihape. and was in a feeble state o[ healtii. Dr. W. Kinglon Fyffe, who conducted a post-mortem examination on the body at tho morgue, testified that there were evidences of an acid poison. Further evidence was given pointing to the fact that deceased liad been an hotel worker. The Coroner returned a verdict that deceased died from poison selfadministered. Sergeant Wade conductedthe proceedings 011 bt'hnll' of the police.

In the Divorce Court yesterday, His Honour Mr. Jiislico Hosking heard tho petition of Gertrude Emma Stewart, of Casliyl Street, Christchurch, for tho dissolution of her marriage with Herbert Juincs Stewart on tho grounds of misconduct with ltosa Moon, , a domestic servant in his employ, at his home near Murchisun. The parties were married on April 7, 11)01. 'I here was one child of Hie marriage, born December 31, 1911'.). There was no defence. His Honour granted a decree nisi, to be made absolute in three months,-mid the petitioner was allowed ,£25 costs and disbursements against the respondent". Interim custody of llio child was given to the petitioner, tho respondent to have reasonable access to Ihe child. Mr. 0. T. J. Alper-, of Christcliurch, appeared for the petitioner.

An uniisiwl incident occurred to a horso ul. Ngapnrn during (he dog trials there. The animal was tethered'near a well, and during the night ho fell down il. Luckily the rope, was long enough lo pennil of tho horse striking the water before it drew laul, but the. rxtviciilion of the beast proral a problem. A rope whs passed round it. behind Iho forelegs, iiinl, to prevent it knocking its head on tho sides of the well, the, hultev (stiil on) was lied lo the rope above rtheas - - Icgs wore rigged uml the horse hauled up, when it wn-s found that (ho fore((imrtdVi oniy could be raised above.the well toKaiisu of tho shortness of the shearlegs. About: tilie time il was noted Mint 1110 rope hnd stretched with its burden bo that most of tho weight was i,n Ihe hiiltor, and tho liokb was fast plranslni;?. Its dying contortions accidentally saved 1111 life, paradoxical as it may appear, and succeeded ivluire the wjl of miiil had failed, iW it drew up il* " in,l }?S* , i, "' 1 stuck its hocks across t;no well kerb, and il wafl bundled on to firm ground by fivo pairs of willing hands, little the worse for its adventure.

The value of digested soil as against soil which has not been through n. etnarn digester was illustrated at the meeting of the Wellington Bowling Centre last cveiftig. Two boxes of soil, tho one treated, the other untreated, had been planted with lawn grass from the same sample, lit the case of thp treated son tho grass had grown in neat rows without'any sign of a weed, but in the other tho crass had como up almost as well, but with it came up all manner of weeds. The demonstration was an excellent on* in favour of treating bowling-green soil with tho aid of a digester. A waterside worker named John Bird appeared before Mr. W. G. luddc.l, S.ivl., at the Magistral's Court yesterday on « chaise of stealing six this of herrings and tomato eauce. ■» allied at 95., i om tho cargo of a Union Steam Ship Company's steamer. On the application of he police accused, who is alleged to have admitted the oftence on June 10, ffas remanded for eight day?, bail being allowed in tho snvi of X 25 and one surety of JKf. M* P. J- OTlqjM appeared for accused. Complaint was mads ot last night's mcntinE of the Management Committee S to Wellington Kugby TJrnon regard;l hnfts from the clothing of player on various football grounds, The Lynl Bay Club wrote, stating that a sum of SM been stolen from the pockets of several players lust Saturday. be» miltee decided to bring the matter under the notice of the police authorities, .requesting that sufficient police ""permon bo provided at tho union's grounds. During the March quarter of »» the amount advanced to settlers by the Slate Advances Department was .183,334, ami the amount repaid ]>y settlers was ' 1 117 370 Tho advances made to jorK-μ-s in the same period amounted to «c:3 708 and the repayments to X3a,831. ■n, O money advanced to settlers by the Sfato (twins the year ended March »i. 1918 umonnted to £%1M as against .■£589,9(5 in the preceding year. 1» toWi repayments by settlers during We yenr muled March 31 last amounted to 2501,009. ■

Several demo fogs .have been expelcnced in Hamilton Has mason. OnSun<lnv the fog (lid not lift all day-. Miaitj o on thc°H.akariin ? ta raises retried that tlio fog prevailed on lite holiest ridges £ thickly ue on tho lower W country. Beforo Mr. W. G. Siddcll, S.M., at tho Mugistrale'i Court yesterday, h. \\. Slade. Ltd.. printers. P'W*d£ «saif tho Dominion Mercantile Apnc), Lt 0 T for tho recovery of a sum-ot *U <*■ ••* ; in connection.with the pnnbne ?f traje gazettes and reports. Mr. P. ™:,™£ eon appeared for the plaintiffs, the defendants being represented V *''■ .' ' E Anderson. Defendants counter-cla.m----«j for a sum of Jtt 13s. lfld. for Marches made through instruments regwto «In■ | or defendant on tho counter-claim for tho amount clninied and costs. The executive of the Church Council, a ™ meeting held recently nnanimo^J £•certain disorderly house. A discussion arose at the Auckland Pdice Court on Monday cone™th ! capacity of beer mugs. Mr. J. V. W listin" a. barman how mucu , Deer " &«s?£%& in the usual pint bottles. Uis »oi» added that he know quite well that a Rood many "mugs" «™l d . h g r n e ltbSr deal more than a -pint ot Deei, reputed or Imperial. Scarlet fever and diphtheria seen,'to bo on the increase in the Otago and South land district. During May 20 cases oi ssmfM of diphtheria were notified to Maj, which is. an increase of U on.the^i urn her for April. The disease seems to I a o made its strongest appeßrancein South liiiid where 57 not ficalions were lecciuu „ the fiital district. A lam number of curriers recently discovered k been removed to the isolation hos IUI at Kow, near liivmargill. A teoleuolo Cist has been placed on duly b> p Health Department in this disli-ict « J£l the outbreak continues. .'Hij heatinent of curriers with chloraminc-1 has been commenced, but the results cannot yet ho indeed No diphtheria cases «<•«- n tieTduring the month from the WaN laeo hospital district, though some «evei| rases were reported m April. }™£ the diphtheria eases belong to tie »ai t«ki liOspit.il district. T"^" 1 ? , '? J." causing the medical .men somo anJioft, I he notifications of ty'O trouble nm>>'« in- 23 which ie an increase ot 14 us eompared with April. Nine were no h d by the medical boards. Tho schools i I lie Dunodin district do not appear to have been badly affected by •'* (lemir. So far as nmicdtn is noiiccrne;. the Macandrew Knad School . (,!05 « , ,. a trifle early for th? mwUnnlor holiday, but the cases of illness were very It*So far as the country schools go two o> three onlv aro closed at tho present time Tho Hampden School, which was closed three weeks ago, is still dosed,

A point stressed by the architect in. charge of the proposed alterations to tho rooms under the show grandstand to render them suitable for tho hospital treatment of returned soldiers (says tho "Southland Times") is that if male ordorlies are used to attend to the men tho alterations will cost a good deal less than if Cemnle nurses are employed. Tho contention is that if men are employed the concrete floors will not r.eed to be boarded, and the accommodation for tho stall' will also be much less elaborate than if women are to occupy the quarters.

The Commissioner for Hie registration of Jugo-Slnvs in the Dominion, Mr. J. Cullen, on Monday made a statement to a reporter of the Auckland "Star" in respect to the number of Jugo-Slavs who have registered. The registrations total 1800. . Of these between 21)0 and 300 are already engaged in railway, construction and drainage works. Those outstanding Ti-ould shortly be interned on Somes Island, Wellington, where thc-re are already lodged, for. different reasons, some 20 of their ■ brethren. The regulations governing the registrations provide-. 1 for tho men to report to the police in tho event of a change of address. Tho date allowed for registration expired several months past.