LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 246, 5 July 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Q Official a<lviee has been received by tho Minister of Defence that tho Tliirtyeiglith Mounters and the Third Rarotongans havo reached a port of call all well.

There aro two vacancies at present 011 the Magisterial Bench, the positions formerly held by the late Mr. JCerr and bv Mr. C. C. Kettle, who is very ill. It is admitted that there will have lo bo a number of new I'.ppointmonU shortly, because of several Magistrates being just on I lie retiring age. The Minister of .Til-dice' liiuls that ■ llii'vo may be important changes in the Magistracy very soon, but 110 declines to give any hint of what tho nature of tho changes will be. At iiresc.it there ii a great shorlage of Magistrates owing to several of them having been taken from their circuits to act as chairmen of military service hoards. Two of them also have of late been acting as cqinmissicuevsj holding inquiries.

"A man should nol; lie penalised for his whole life because lio is a little backward in his courting," said a member of tho I!(-turned Soldiers' Association at a meeting last night. He explained that under the existing law a returned soldier drawing a war.pension 011 account of some disability incurred on active service can get a pension for his wife if he marries within two years of his discharge. The recent conference of returned soldiers nt Aucklnnd dccidcd to urge Ihnt the time limit should be removed, in order that partially-disabled soldiers might; be enabled to marry, and assist in improving Die birth-rate. Shortly beforo (i o'clock (111 Wednesday evening u collision occurred on the Hull "Road, Bomo distance past JCaiwarra, between a motor wagon lielonging to li. Stent and Co., and a spring dray, liio properly of King Dros,, carriers, I'e•<"io. 'i'ho spring drav and the car were both damaged considerably, the latter to tho extent of about JEW.. J A meeting of Hie Hoard of Kxainiiiers under the Coal. Mines Act was held at tho Mines Department Office yesterday morning, t.he;-e being present Messrs. I'. G. Morgan (chairman), J. C. Drown, •lames llishop, and E. 11. AVilmol. Messrs. C. Strongman (Cobden), T. King (Granity), and M, M'Lean (Ngakawau) wero granted certificates as first-class mine managers, and Mr. James Robertson (Nightcaps) a certificate as secondclass mine manager. Tho (results of the May examinations under lhe Mining Act are" still under consideration by the board. Tho officers of the Maori on Tuesday moniing, on the vessel's arrival at Ljt-tc-llon, stated that the previous night's trip was the worst the ferry sleatner had experienced for five years. It will certainly bo a memorable trip to a parly of foil" ladies, and to the passengers also of the top deck.cabins, who were si artled at 1145 a.m. by cries of "An explosion! All explosion!'' Tho four lady passenK<"is, apparently startled .by the pound of smashing crockery underneath them, and the craßh of deck 6cats overhead, which followed a particularly .bad list of the ship, rushed upstairs panicstricken. Two of them later explained that what did happen was that an clderlv lady was first to give the alarm, whereupon all four endeavoured to don lifebelts, but without effect. They then rushed upstairs, lifebelts in hand, and clad in nightdresses only. And yet the only consolation to their distressful cries came from the proverbial Scotsman—an A.B. 011 the ship—"Fur . . . goodness sake get to your beds!"

His Worship the Mayor acknowledges the following donations to the Wounded Soldiers and Sailors' and Dependants* Fund: Amount previously acknowledged. ■£19,061 15s. 7d.; Karon district (two monthly contributions), .£2O; employees Littlejolm and Son (two monthly contributions), J32 Bs.; staff Wellington Harbour Board (41th instalment), ■£•! 17s. Cd. Total ■£!!>,08!) Is. Id.

It is difficult to imagine how even a heavy snowstorm would seriously affect a telegraphic wire strung tnutlv between poles, owing to its offering so little surface resistance, but they do become affected, as is the ease in North and West Canterbury at tho present timi.% ' The ordinary telegraphic wire offers enough, surface for moisture, and that is all that is needed. As the temperature sinks below freezing point tlint moisture freezes, and the thickened wire offers more surface to tho driving snow and sleet, which add little by little to J'jie frozen line (of which the wiro is tho core) until the great weight put upon it, combined with iho working of tho whole _ mass in tho cale. causes something to ennp-iuul that is when communication ceases. That may occur on top of a range of hills or in a mountain pass, and by the time. Ht(j repair gang reaches tho spot the wire, in its sheath of ice, may be lying buried in three or four feet of snow for a lenirlh of perhaps hundreds of yards. The Superintendent of Telegraphs at Wellington (Mr. Talbot) relates that he has seen a fallen telegraph wire encased ( in a sheathing of ice «s thick as a mans body. Under such circumstances tho men havo (o wait for a thaw until thev can do any repair work. The only remedy, it is said, for snowstorm breaks is to entrench tho wire, which is a costly business in the first place, but may pay in tho long run '-particularly, if the winters are_severe. Various .authorities have from time to time advocated the burial of important frunk transmission lines, and whilst -nil' arrco that, -t would mean an 'unbreakable service, fine weather or foul, thorn would always l>e the big initial cost of tho work as a deterrent.

The foundation stone of the Infections Diseases Hospital, which is being erected on. tho hill at the back of all the existing hospital buildings, will bo laid towards the end of the month. Tho Minister of Public Health is to bo asked to perform tho ceremony.

An inquest was conducted by tho Coroner. Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., yesterday touching tho death of Yip Yen, a Chinese, who was found dead at No. 3 Hnining Street on Tuesday. Deceased was a gardener, and was about 70 years of age. Evidonce was given by Dr. -W. Kington Fyffe, who made a post-mortem examination of tho body, that there was evidenco of tuberculosis in the lungs. The heart and kidneys wers also enlarged. Tho cause of death was chronic phthisis. A verdict was returned in accordance with tho medical evidence. Sergeant M'Lean conducted the proceedings on behalf of tho police.

His Honour Mr. Justice Edwards has ordered that letters of administration with the will annexed of the . estate of Thomas Kilmisior, deceased, do issue to Mr. Jamos Moncrielf, chairman of direc.lors of the Wairarapa Trustees, Ltd., and tho nominee of the company. The Court further directed that the company should be accepted as the sole surety for the administration bond. The order above referred to establishes a very important precedent in the Dominion, It has been very generally believed that no .limited -company could act as administrator without a special charter obtained through Parliament. The Wairarapa Trustees, ,llxl„ however, aftor careful consideration of 'the legal position, was established in 1915 as a private coinnnny without charter, and has since been carrying on business and accepting nomination as executor and trustee of wills. Until, however, occasion arose to apply to administer, there was no judicial decision in New Zealand governing tho position. As such companies will offer the advantage of pormanenee, also (he security of tho uncalled capital, and tho very great advantages of strict accountancy and auditing, it is highly probable, now that the legal position_is settled, 'Ihat. similar private companies will be formed throughout th" Dominion. Tho solicitors wero Messrs. Robinson and Cunningham, Masterton.

Tlio interruptions to Chrislchuroll's supply ot electricity havo not been without humorous incidents. One of these occurred in tho Government' Buildings when the .electric power was suddenly em off on Wednesday morning. A certain officer of the Defence Department was on his way to keep an appointment at District Headquarters, and with a cheerful faith in the electric supply, lie stepped into the elevator on the ground floor. But the roof of tho elevator cage had scarcely drawn level w'lh the first floor, on which tho Defence. Department's offices iiro situated, when Uic powsr went off, and llio cago was led "stranded" between the doors, in the dark shaft. And there the gallant officer and the elevator'attendant had lo remain for about lialf-an-hour, while, a Public Works electrician was sent for. and the cago was "wound" down to tho bottom floor again.