LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 242, 1 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tho public is again reminded that the curtailed services in connection with the lost and Telegraph Department take effect as from to-day. .This entails the -stoppage of all night collections of mails the tarher closin? of all mails, and the restricting of the ioiirs for telegraphic work, and tho P.O. Savings Bank.

During the first six months of the current year there were eleven petitions in bankruptcy, as against fhree during tho corresponding half of last year.

_ An appeal for the release of prisoners in .gaol for having uttered sedition was made by a deputation of the Sawniill Workers t Federation which waited on Ministero on Saturday. When they were asked to whijji particular prisoners their request hail reference they replied "All of them." ami they did name tho man Chappell, tho preacher who was convicted for something ho said at Grcymouth. .11 transpired that Chappell/ was the only prisoner at. present undergoing sentence. The Hon. W. 11. Herrios eaid ho thought the deputation would agreo that the Government had acted in cases where there was 6ome hardship on the persons imprisoned. The case of the prisoner Chappell had already been before Cabinet, and the. decision had been that, no action should 1)?. taken. He would bring the representations made to tha notice of tho Minister of Justice, and no doubt lie would again refer tho matter- to Cabinet.

Caustic comment was made by Dr. Keller, at Auckland, on the utterance of the Hon. T. 51. Wilford in regard to women sitting on juries. Dr. Keller said that after, a good deal of experience in attending the courts she felt certain that women on juries or on the bench could not nieto out worse .justico than mou do. In whoso hands was the justice in the home butin tho hands of the mother, who wao constantly con-s-rained tc adjudicate between iirnthcra' disagreements? She thought the Minister's comments a slur on tho home, where women were constantly meting out justice to its inmates.

The Government of Fiji, writes the Auckland "Herald's" correspondent, has niado arrangements with the New Zenland Government for a half-caste plntoon from Fiji to bo embodied in the troops from tho Dominion. An anonymous offer has been accepted to equip and transport to New Zealand tlio platoon of sixty men. Tho pay and upkeep of the men will Ik borne by Ihe Fiji Government.

In a lecture delivered in Auckland by Jlr. Florence Keller on tlio "Use and Abuse of C'lollies," the speaker eomnienlcd upon tho absurd and cruel way children are dressed, as seen in llm Auckland streets. She had often noticed a woman wrapped up in ii heavy fur coat ilrnsrciii!.' nioiiß an uni'orlutiale'child by the liand who had mdliinp,' on its litHe legs nearly up In the WiiUt. 'i'hesi' children sufl'ercd greatly from Ihe blondvessels being congested, and get ill, gd bad hearts, or congestion of (h<. lungs, or constipation through tho solfiehness and, vaiiitj pf their mothers*

There was a ecrics of encounters be- , tween ii considerable numbor of strangers , to Wellington and tbo police between G. 15 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Saturduy. The ; men were in a riotous niooil, and" when remonstrated with by the police- they showed fight, and several melees took nhico in Willis Street, Mercer Street, and Bouleott Street. Extra police had , to 1)0 called out, and though they acted with discretion they eventually "had to jipi)ly > firm incisures. In a Cuba Street boardinghouso a qunntity of crockerj was smashed by soino of the men referred to above, who, when the police were in to eject them, resisted violently, iwo arrests were innde on a charge of causing wilful damage. Sir James Allen .states that the task pi gathering material for the New /earn ml history of the war is going on well, letters being sent in freely. All, the information in them is being tabulated by a staff at Base Records Office, and later on an editor will ho appointed to put all the information into shape. Sir .lames Allen says there is no particular flurry, for this appointment, as a great (leal more matter lias yet to be collected. —Press Assn. ,/Phe Postal authorities advise that cable messages of a personal or domestic nature of plain language may bo accepted in occupied Palestine territory at ', rates to Alexandria, whence messages -vill be posted. The address must contain the name 'Alexandria.'" Tho National Dairy Association has been advised from London by cablegram that arrangements are being 'made to lift all bulter in store in New Zealand. This may be sot down as,,-roughly, 193,000 boxes, of which 335,0(t0 boxes iir'o the properly of the Imperial Siiuplie,- Deimrtment. The bnlancj will be more than available for local requirements for July and August and up to .September, when the new season's butter comes in. A certain quantity of butler still heinu made is also going into store or to local consumption. In the Divorce - Court en Saturday morning, before His Honour the Chief Juslico (Sir Robert Stout), Michael Gordon Templebn, labourer, for whom Air. JI. P. O'Lenry appeared, petitioned for the nullity of his marriage with Annie Hollier. The petitioner in his evidence •statcil that he married the respondent in September, 19)2, and they lived in Wellington and also' near Marlinboroush; Hi? wife then left him arid went to live with another man. Petitioner then took proceedings in divorce, ami in tho statement of defence tho respondent alleged Hint petitioner was not her lawful husband. In consequence of this inquiries wore made, and; it was discovered that on April (i, 1898, (ho respondent had been married to one William George Hollier, and, further, it was Inter discovered that she had been marrcid to Frederick Bradley. The latter proceeded for nullity of marriage and obtained a decreo in December, 11)10. His Honour granted a decrco of nullity of mnvriugJ.

Mr. Neville Mayman, president of tho Benevolent Society of New South .Wales, who was commissioned by the State Government to inquire into tho methods employed by tho New Zealand Government and by private organisations in New Zealand for the. reduction of infant mortality and the welfare of mothers and children, has nrosented his report fears the "Sydney Morning Herald .). Ho suggests that the Stato might supolenient tho earnings of fathers of larae fa-iml)o3 by direct payments on a fixed scale for each child after the second. Preference in public, and private employment to such fathers would also be helpful, together with concessions in taxation and other matters.

The secretary of the Dnnedin Patriotic Association lias received information from the Commissioner of Pensions, Melbourne, that the mother of a Eoldier who was! killed while serving with the Australian Forces has l>een awarded a pension of £i 6s. Bd. per month, which will ba payable through the Commissioner of Pensions, Wellington. This application, which refers to tho death of a soldier which occurred over a year ago, had been made through several sources, but without success, and the case becoming known to the Patriotic Association, it was -taken m>, with the above result. The commissioner writes that the pension will bo pnyable from the date of the society's application, and is the highest rate paid under the Australian Act. Tho highest widowed mother's pension rato in New Zealand is 15s; per week. . It is stated by those who should know (says an exchange) that there is likely to be a severe shortage of seamen and firemen in New Zealand in the near future. The reason for this possibility ia said to be consequent on ths number of men who are deserting from Nen- Zealand ships on each of their trips to America and Canada. Tho wages for both sc-nmen and firemen are considerably higher in America to-day than those rulinsr here, and this ie put forward as the chief reason for the men thus taking tho opportunity to vessels illicitly for tho signing on on American steamers. For instance, the rate for firemen on tho Pacific Const of America is 75 dollars n month, as enm-

pared with the nword wage in the Do-

minion of about JEIB. ■ The "Otago Daily Times" states that a story is going the rounds of how a. Government employee made' a great success of hjs department in the face of discouragement from his superior officers. This employee was tho head of a tree-growing plantation in the South Island, and as it appeared to him that if he were permitted to run scmo 6heep a great saving, would bo made- in the cost of keeping down ths-grass between the trees, ho mode application to his Department

for the necessary permission. The permission was at first declined, and the employee was informed that he was expected to grow trees, not sheep. He. was persistent, however, and finally he was granted J6200 nsl a fwid to do what ho liked with in the direction ho desired. The employee has now received a much bettor position, and has left tho Government omploy. So successful were his operations, however, that the fund ia said to have now reached the Teepecteible total of .£ISOO, and, in addition, there are 1700 sheep on the estate.

A remarkable case of mental abborration has just come 'nuclei* the attention of the Dunediu detective force, states the "Otago Daily Times." Between two and tlireo o'clock on Wednesday afternoon an elderly man called at a bank in the city and 'requested change ill silver and gold for a bundle of notes riinninj; into nearly JCGOO. As the roquost was such an unusual one and the man's lr.anner appeared strange, the bank official declined to~ give him the change, and telephoned to the police station, n'hen a detective appeared on the scene, however, tho old man hud disappeared. On Thursday morning the detectives gathered further informal ion about tho incident, as an official from another bank informed Detective-Sergeont Kemp and Detective Hammorlef that an old man had come in and aalied for chango for ,£4O worth of notes. This official gave him change for J!* worth, unci then, noting some symptoms of irresponsibility, told him to come back later for the balance. The old man leftf the notes, and did not return. From the information given them b.v this officer, the two detectives presently located the old man, who lives in one of the suburbs with Ins relatives. They proceeded them and interviewed him. He remembered nothing whatever of the circumstances, but upon producing his money from various horns of paper in which, it was wrapped, lie found tlmt he was .£36 short-just the sum he left at the bank. The detcc.ives therefore prevailed upon the old mnn to go to town with them and his relatives and to deposit the bulk of tho sum in ono of tho city banks.

The Government will contribute X 25 towards tho cost of Mr. S. Hurst Senscr, tlic well-known Cliristclmroli architect, Mini; us \inofficinl representative of the Town Planninc Aesocintion of New «alard to tho Town Planning conference at nrisbane. Mr. Seasor will attend tho conference, and the Minister of Internal Affairs imposes the condition that ho shall submit a report on matters of special interest to tho Dominion. In the last ballot Mr. V. W. FnrkeH. chief inspecting engineer of the Public Works DcjmrliiH'jiit, was culled up. Interviewed in Ohristchurcli the Hon. W. Fnisor, Minister of Public Works, declined to Kay ivhat the Department intended 1o do in the matter, ho remarked dial Ilio military call Imd cut tho Public Works slnHing down l<> hcnl to iiioi-liiiisr —Ijjirolv sufficient to carry on with. iMon! Underwear is not such an cxpensivn Horn if you buy from u«—2s. lid., 3s. lid., 4s. (id., 4s. Ild-pnnts or singlete. George Foirlds Lcd.-Advl, ' ,

11l connection with tho campaign which is shortly to bo launched for tho prohibition of tho lkjuor traffic upon the basis recommended by the Efficiency Board, tho New Zealand Alliance decided to. request the Hanover Street Baptist Church, Dniiedin, to release its minister, the Rev. Ji. S. Gray, to undertake special work throughout tho Dominion, and at a meeting of tho church, held last week, the following resolution was passed unanimously:—"That the church, recognising the high importance and extreme urgency of this work, in the interests of the Kingdom of God and of national righteousness, gladly releases its minister (hut ho may undertake this special work in connection with what it hopes will be the 'final and successful effort to extinguish the liquor traffic in the Dominion."

Home garage proprietors in Christchurch have been put to considerable inconvenience and loss owing lo n recent shipment of 20.000 cases of petrol having been held up under Government authority.- The result (says the Christchurch "Press") was that orders placed with tho distributing company were not filled, and the garage proprietors involved lost business, as thev had ■ to turn customers away, not having the petrol to supply them. The matter was brought under the notice of the Efficiency Board by the Garage Proprietors' Association, and was referred by that board to the Board of Trade. The last-named body has informed the association that the distributing company has been recommended to distribute the shipment as far as possible in conformity with the original commitments.

At a committee meeting held in Ha"wera on Thursday, final arrangements were settled in regard to the commemoration on July 12 of the fiftieth anniversary of the Tiiruturu Mokai fight. The veterans and settlers of fifty years' standing will lie' invited to a dinner, to he held at noon, and if the weather should be favourable, an adjournment will Iβ made directly afterwards to the site of the. historic redoubt, where some brief addresses will lie given. Jf it can be arranged an endeavour will be made to assemble all the school children in Unworn in the largo hall of tho Winter -Show Buildings or in the grounds surrounding Ok water tower, so that they may meet, the veterans, and narticulnrly tho two surviving heroes of that historic fteht at Turntnru Mokai—Mr. Beamish, of Paten, and Mr. Tuffin, of AVanganui.