LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 236, 24 June 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A slip occurred on the Main Trunk line on Saturday morning between , Mangaweka and Utiku, states a Press Association message from Taihape. All traffic is stopped. A clearing gang is being sent from Taihapo. The magnitude of (be slip is not known at Taihape, end the authorities cannot say when a clearance will be made. The examination of Class B reservists will be completed in most parts of the Dominion this week. The medical boards will begin to deal with the Class C men, drawn in the last ballot, this wee!:. The reservists, as usual, will be taken in alphabetical order. ' The uses of a Prime Minister are many. Mr. Massey, who with other statesman of the Empiro is engaged in the business of the Imperial War Council and other matters of enormou3 importance, has been asked by the Auckland City Council to attend to a shipment of'drain, pipes. Tho delivery of these pipes has been delayed and the council has cabled to the Prime Minister requesting him to havo the material released and shipped. The position of the threatened trouble between the coalminers' unions and tho owners of the mines has not changed since tho meeting between tho representatives of the owners and members of tho Ministry. It may be eoino timo yet before any further action by either side in the disputo will bo taken. The owners have yet to meet to consider the question of whether a conference is to be 1 ' agreed upon, and to consider also what they will do in the event of a conference with tho unions being held. The Inspector of Awards at Pahiatua proceeded against a shearer named H. J. Scott, who was fined .£lO and costs 365. for a breach of tho Wellington district shearers' and Bhe<l hands' award in absenting himself from a shearing shed nt MaUnri without leave, and for taking intoxicants on to tho station.—Press. Assn. )

Somo doubt appears to exist as to the correct procedure to be adopted by next of kin who wish to cable to soldiers, cither on active service or in hospital in England or France. The authorities state Hint the names of hospitals in which men are located arc not now supplied by cable, this information having proved of little or no valuo in tho past, owing to tho fact that many transfers from ono hospital to another takes place. For cabling purposes it is not necessary to know the nanio of a hospital. The following aro specimen addresses, the first being for England or France, and tlio second for Egypt:—"ll/21G1, Brown, caro Zeadvocate, London"; "10/619, Robinson, care SCealandic, Cairo."

Ou Saturday the Eire Brigade received a call to No. 50 Willis Street, but on arrival they found that their services wore not required.

The following court-martial sentences have been promulgated:—At Trontham: Desertion when under orders for active service and loss.of equipment, Private It. Korr, Details (lalo Thirty-seventh Reint'orceiiients), 90 days' detention; desertion when under orders Sor active service, Private G. W. Price, Details (lato Thirty-third Bcint'orcettiente), and Private 1\ H. Paintin, Details (Into Thirtythird Reinforcements), 180 days' detention. Private D. M'N. M'Cormnck, A.S.C., found guilty of disobeying in such a manner as to show a wilful defiance of authority a lawful command given porsoually by hie superior officer, in the execution of his office, sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for two years. At Featherston: Desertion and loss of equipment, Private Robert Ramsay, Details; Private William James Doolev, Details; Private J. Taylor, Details, each ISO days' dontention and stoppages of pay to mako good deficiencies in kit.

-As the steam collier. Poherua. was berthing at the Glasgow Wharf on Saturday afternoon an empty coal hulk was moor»d away from the wharf to allow the , Poherua to berth. While she was slowly moving alongside the liulk a waterside worker, over-eager to bo the first or. board tho steamer to get a "clean claim" at which to work, jumped from tho hulk to (ho Poherua, but the distance being greater than he had estimated, he fell between the two'vessels. Luckily for him his fall was not broken by either of the ships, and he fell into the- harbour. A rape was thrown to him, and ho' was hauled to the deck none the worse for his "splaeh."

Captain A. C. Firman, Twenty-third Reinforcements, writing to his brother, Mr. H. Firman, Worcester Street, under date April 1, says:—"l had the experience of my life a few days ago -while on the march. My company had halted, and were having a snack of lunch on the side of the road, when a large motorcar pulled up almost alongside where I was. A general got out;, and asked who was in charg*. I happened to be, and he said, 'Come along, I want to introduce you to the King. , I was taken alone; King George got out and shook hands, and conversed with me for several minutes."

A report was received in- tho citr. on Saturday afternoon that an object, which appeared to be an upturned scow, hud bee.i seen floating out to eea from Palliser Bay. Preparations for a search were made, and at G o'clock yesterday morning the. Government steamer Janio Seddon 6et out to locate the supposed derelict). The vessel cruised about PalliEer Bay and the vicinity for the greater part of the day, but saw nothinff, and returned to port abnut i o'clock in the afternoon. The report may have some connection' with what was seen by the crew of the Himitangi, which was 'returning to .Wellington from Lyttelton yesterday rooming. This looked'like a capsized craft, and was observed drifting across Cook .Strait. An investigation was made, and tho derelict was discovered to be a largo dead whale. Around tho tail were bound alwut twelv-3 turns of rope. It is presumed that the carcass broke loose from its moorings at the Pelorus Sounds whaling station, and was carried across the Strait during the recent southerly blow. It was evident that tho whale had been dead for somo time, for the odour from tho carcass was distinct and very definite.

The following sittings of the Conciliation Council havo been arranged for consideration of tho Wellington grocers' assistants' (country districts) dispute: Napier, 9th July; Wangainii, ltth July; Palmerston, 12th July. Messrs. J. H. Mortesen, A. W. Croskery,' and H. M'Kecn will aot as assessors for the union. The secretary (Mr. M'Keon , ! has received letter!) from various employers concerned, in which the latter state that they are fully prepared to agree to the major portion of tho demands. The claims are for conditions ' similar to those ruling in Wellington city.

In a lecture delivered at. Auckland, on "How to Select Food for tho Toiler," Dr. Florence Keller mentioned that in tho last letters received from America, she hod been told that the States had to again' cut down their bread allowance by ninety millions of bushels becaueo tho hundred millions of grain bought in the Argentine by tho Allies had beon destroyed by treachery, and the people in tho United States had to make up tho deficiency. The writer stated they were making very good bread with one-fourth bran, one-fourth maize, one-fourth potatoes, and one-fourth of wheat {Jour. Six pounds of this white flour was allowed a month for each individual in , the family and two and a half pounds of sugar. Tho speaker went on to say that the whole world was fast being faced with famine, and although we in New Zealand had so far not felt tho slightest pinch, yet in the speaker's .opinion wo would do so very shortly. Then we, too, might have to pay from two to three shillings for meat like her friends in the States, and it was for this reason that she was trying to placo before the women more-scientific knowledge of food values.

Considerable annoyance is being caused to ladies in the city by a person who is going about sprinkling their clothes with indelible ink, a form of amusement which, with kindred acts of foolishness, is tho recreation of imbeciles. , White /garments are those usually selected for attention. On Saturday night, between 9 and 10 o'clock, a young lady was walking along Manners Street when a man suddenly bespattered her white overcoal: witli imleliblo inV, lendering it unfit for further use. Tho coat was valued at about .£3. She reported the matter to tho police, but in the meantime the offender had disappeared. About a month ago a similar incident occurred, also in Manners Street.

A meeting of ratepayers was hold in the Karnri Schoolroom on Friday evening to discuss the question of amalgamation.between the Karori Borough and the City. Mr. J. Catighley vrns elected chairman, The following motion was curried unanimously:—"That this meeting resolve itself into a deputation to wait upon tho Mayor and Councillors of ICarori to urge that tho borough en- ; ters into negotiations with the City Council with a view to amalgamation.' It was also resolved to ask the Mayor to receive tho deputation, and invito by advertisement all other ratepayers in sympathy with the movement to join the deputation at tho Karori Council Chamber on Tuesday evening next. The meeting alro formulated reasons for tho amalgamation and general basis for negotiations with tho city. Mr. S. Kirkcaldio and Mr. Caughloy were appointed to speak on behalf of Tuesday's deputation. Referring to the almve matter tho Mayor (Mr. J. V. Luke) reiterated his idea. I hat tho time had come when tho smaller Riirrounding boroughs should amalgamate with the- city and form one big metropolitan area, when everyone could enjoy tho advantages that city residents now enjoyed. One saving tnat would be unado by snch an amalgamation would be in tho administrative debts, as in some cases it was know that the expenses for administration nlono were very high. In one case as much m 40 per cent, of the total revenue—which left very little margin for Tunintonanco and the carrying out of works essontvil to tha well-being of a widc-awako eiibnrban borough. Still they had to go slow and weigh well the advantages or otherwise to be gained by amalgamation on both sides, as it would not do to benefit greatly one section of Hie community at the expense of another, ami furthermore, no ono wished to force tho neighbouring boroughs into amalgamation. Mr. Luke confessed that he woul:l be a proud and happy mar. if a metropolitan area taking in Miramar, Karori and Onslow could be brought about during his ■ term of office (is Mayor of ■Wellington.

At tho Magistrate's Court at FeatherBton on Friday a special sitting was held to deal with breaches of tho War Regulations at tho Empire, Eoyal and Tauhercinkau hotehi eevtral bar-ten-ders king fined.

The Koseneath School Committee has nominated Xlessni. Thomas Forsyth, Dr. Kington. Fyffe, and Mr. Fred. j. Evane for tlio vacancies on tho Education Board. Nominations for the three vacant city scats, and tho one vacancy , each for liutt, Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Marlborough will closo on Wednesday.

There are times when parcels for soldiers necessarily take n long timo in reaching tho addressee, owing to circumstances none can foresee or provide for, and it is auch casee that are usually commented upon by correspondents, who fail to appreciate the great wonder that the parcels do in 99 cases out of 100 carry true, an that in i\ normal apace of time. Parcels arc known to have reached men in tho fighting line in Franco within eleven weeks of their having left New Zealand, which reflects credit on th<> jwstal work at both ends of tho system. On the other hand, a gentleman recently called nt Tiie Dominion to say that paicqla sent to his two brothers in France had taken over ten months to reach tiicir owners, and that they had been delivered absolutely intact. He was not complaining about tho length of lime the parcels had taken (as he realised that many things might occur to delay them), but more in a spirit of thankfulness at their having at length reached tho parties for whom they wero intended without having been tampered with in any way. The postal aspect of the war is not one of the least of its many wonders. The soldiers in the trenches of an .evening may read the London papers of the same morning, and a paper actually written, printed, and published closo up to the firing line, is, before the ink is dry, being circulated to the four winds.

Tho New Zealand commissioner of the National Association of the French War Orphans, Mr. L, J, Du Flou, Hamilton, has received the following letter from the managing trustee of the fund in France-.—"To be of the greatest possible use during the present tragic times, our association has agreed to give the benefit of our organisation to the Municipal Council of Paris and has now mado final arrangements to take care of all the distressed children of the capital, setti.i'.iK them in its provincial resorts— named colonies—away from tho danger of aerial bombs and gun bombardments. We trust that you will, more, than ever, make the greatest efforts to help us in our work, that of saving the race. Immediate and wide help is, under the piesent circumstances, absolutely needed, and it is necessary to cable funds as fast as you receive them." TJp to date, ,£I6OO has been received by the New Zealand commissioner, out of which .£I4OO has been cabled, and several towns have promised help soon.

"In view of the threatened shortage of local supplies of timber, it is of importance that the utmost should bo made of what we now have" (says Mr. E. (Speight, M.Sc, F.G.S., Curator , of Canterbury Museum, in May issue of the "New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology"). One source of waste is due to tho ravages of tho borer, which necessitates the replacement of a considerable amount of timber by fresh material. There is no doubt that this waste could be minimised by the adoption of methods of sterilisation in conncctiou with building timbers. Some of these processes would not only prevent entirely the attacks of the borer, but would prolong the life of the timber as well, and have no deleterious effect on human life. Some specifics are naturally open to this objection—e.g., corrosive sublimate, and.arsenic. ,A thoroughly satisfactory method of treatment on a small ecalo has been found t9 b« the 6oaking of the timber in petrol in which carbolic acid and camphor are dissolved. These are effective as far as the petrol penetrates the wood, and would, therefore protect new timbers entirely. But both, these eubstances no doubt disappear from ,the wood in time, the former as a result of the action of water, in which carbolic acid is slightly eoluble; and the latter owing to its gradually missing off as a vapour. It is possible that tho substitution of naphthalene for the carbolic acid would to some extent obviate these slight objections.