LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 264, 27 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Mayor of''Wellington (Mr. IT. P. Luke) waited on the Acting Prime Minister yesterday lo ask the assistance of iie Government in mitigating tho difii•ulty now being encountered by the ■'•aiuway authorities in the city in deal•)g with' the rush nf traffic between the •ours of 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening, t'ho .Mayor's request was that the employees in the Government offices .should work between the hours of 8.30 and 4.."fl p.m., instead of from !) a.m. aud 5 •i.iu., in order that these employees aiighl be carried to their homes earlier. The Government has not decided yet to !« anything in the matter, but inquiries >ro being made as lo what the effect of tie change is likely to be.

Tho Secretary of the-Post and Tele:rapli Department received a telegram roin Chrislchurch yesterday afternoon •tnting that, the railway line from Spring•eld to Arthur's Pass would bo open for raffle to-day.

A spirited declaration of his wiliing-x-ss to st-rvi' his country was made at ihe Auckland Military Service Board sitting on Wednesday' by the father of an appellant, himself a veteran soldier and fx-nan-commissioncd otlicer of the Life 'Guards. "Yes," he exclaimed, "my youngest bo.v enlisted as .soon as war iiroke'out, and I did my best to. follow him! I shaved off my beard and moustache. and ioltl them n lie—yes. Your Worship, T lied to them!—aud told them I was 15 instead of 85, I was so anxious tn go. "Jul it wasn't a.ny use," lie added sadly; "they wouldn't take me.'' In proof ui' his statement he exhibited a document, stating that lie.had volunteered. but had been rejected as being over .•niliUi-y, age.

Having been judged an alien by a New Zealand Court, Chicles 11. Sehiilz, hairdresser, Norwich Street, Clirisl - church, appealed 011 these grounds io tin. Second Canterbury Military Service Board 011 Wednesday. The chairman, Mr. il. W. Bishop, remarked that he remembered the appellant, whom,he had had occasion to line for endeavouring lo change his name. It was slated that 'appellant was of German parentage, though he had been born in Loudon. Mr. Bishop thereupon emphatically staled liiat New Zealand wanted 110 Germans to tight for her, Personally, he would not trust a German further I hail lie could see him. liven litled German; at. Home hud shown themselves the jrealest. traitors. lie was not, he said, r>Heeling 011 the. appellant' personally, bill on Germans as a whole, and, 11s had hap-iion-'.-l i" 'ornier ease-, if the board passed the man 011, fhe military authorities would not have him. It was the man's misfortune that ho had German blood in him, and in conclusion Mr. BisUon stated that his feelings with regard to Germans were not likely to be altered as long as he lived. The appeal was eventually dismissed, and liny further proceedings will therefore lie ivi th Ihe military authorities.

(In the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the City Council on Thursday night granted a return! of half the ice paid in connection with the children's dance in aid of the Navy League funds. The Wellington Savage Club was grauted the gso of the hull for a. patriotic entertainment on August 30, and tlfo Associated Swimming Supporters . wero granted a refund of ill) in connection, with their use of the Town Hill 011 June G and 7. '

A resident of Wellington who left for Auckland by Tuesday's Main Trunk train writes to a friend:—"The recent liejvy full of snow mused quite a change in the appearance of the country right along the line, and this was more" especially so after we had passed Hunterville. We got glimpses of snow from the time wo left Wellington, and the ranges at the back of Olnki were thickly covered, but the most striking part was when we approached towards Tnihnpe. Here for miles tho ground was covered with dtw snow, and to a depth, I understand, of one foot, and in places three and four feet. It continued so right on through .Ohakunp and the. other places )o Wai.nnirino and down the Spiral and oil to Taumarunui. All 1 along the line was snow—acres and acres, miles ami miles— everything covered with a deep mantle of clear white snow. You would see paddocks fenced off and a third in height, cf tho posts buried in the snow, the branches of the forest trees hung down with snow, tho big black punga terns, at other times such a .beautiful green colour, now looked liko lingo open umbrellas. all covered white with snow. As tho train flew jiast the effect on tta forest trees reminded mo of pictures I have seen of winter scenes in North America or Northern Europe. _ Some of tho smaller houses near the railway line were almost covered up with snow." —

■\ llatepavcrs' Association has been formed at Petone, aud the. following have been elected n committee.pro t.em. to arrange for a larger meeting in a' fortnight's timet—Messrs. HurreU (secretary), .Tunes. Sibun, .M'Ewen, Cody, bdy, Sneers, da L'ssn, Morrali, and Beumgfield.

To farewell one of their number who is leaving for (lie front, members of the Well iiif,'ton Patriotic Society's Band held n smoke conceit mid musical evening on Thursday. Several members'of the band who. have returned from service abroad were 1 welcomed home." The _ departing encst was -Private A. I'. Smith, of the Forty-first Reinforcements. A tnneful, musical programme was gone- through, and altogether the evening was a pleasant one. Mr. Joseph Lewis, who presided, announced that a roll of honour of the. band's twenty members (retumfd and away) was shortly to be hung in Ihe'ir hall.

At the TauKariuuii Magistrate's Court Mr. Rawsoii. n.M, was. for over eight hours on Thursday hearing charges against thirtv-l'our .Tugo-Slavs for refusing to work on the Stratford main trunk. Mr. Selwvn MnyS prosecuted, and Mr. Ostler defended. . Commissioner Cullen said 1800 .Tueo-Slavs had registered in the .Dominion. ' Of. these. 425 vere on national service, and at had_defied'the. law, and were in rebellion. Atr. Ostler. said the men had. tio de-firiito conditions of piece-work ottered them. If such were submitted they-would return to .work to-morrow. The Crown Prosecutor would not accept this. He said he had to think of other Slavs in the Dominion. It was not a safe policy to give way now. He contended that the, conditions were explained to the men. Th° Magistrate reserved his decision, and Mr. Ostler said lie would advise the men to return to work if the conditions were properly exnlnined according to the regulations. Ho .took up the case because tho new regulations had classed the men as enemy aliens, which they were not, and it was a great injustice to men who were loyal to tho Allies. , .

The inconveniences and disorganisation' of many businesses occasioned by employees being sent to the CI Gamp, was referred ,to on Wednesday by counsel in an appeal heard by the Auckland Military Service Board. It seemed n great pitv, said counsel, ■ that a mail's whole business should bo disorganised through his leaving to enter what was practically an experimental camp. A larse number of men had been sent home after a few days, having, in ■ some instances, suffered not merely inconvenience, but .severe hardship in the inevitable disorganisation of their domestic and business affairs. It was true that ,after a period in,-tho CI Ciimp a number of men had been classed A. and passed on to the other camps, but il had not yet been ascertained how many of iliese 'men eventually reached the firing-line. The chairman of the board, while staling that it had no option save to act in accordance with the medical decision, concurred with counsel's remarks. , '"Much satisfaction was expressed at a recent meeting of the committee of tho .Wellington., Assom.tion .ivii.cn a .letter was read from Coionel •Valintih'o asking ..for" Hie, co-operation. Rtf tl(e association ,in the matter of starting returned soldiers in a trade other tmui that which they followed prior to leaving with tho forces. Many returned soldiers by reason of . their war disability are unable to follow pre-war occupations. The names of these men are asked for by Colonel Valintine in order that they may be allocated to a trade suitable to their war disability.

. There is p. remarkable article in the "Deutsche Zcitung," the lending organ of the profiteering warmongers, which throws ijii amazing light on Die weakness of the (|ierman situation:—"What would bo the 'Ifl'eet on tho German people wero our Government to coneludc. peace now with our western enemies? We should find ourselves bent "beneath such a formidable burden of debt that to pay the crushing taxes wo should lie forced to practise, the most rigid economy in every department, of life. The only courso left to lis would bo to abandon marriage ami stop the increase in the population, for children cost money. Economy in this resp'ect would assume gigantic proportions, but with what results! 1 It would be tho beginning of the end. Think for a moment how very grave is our situation already. Think of it—a monstrous burden of debt and an irreparable loss of the best, the healthiest, and most vigorous .of the peoplo throuirh the war! No children. No-future. The beginning of the end. That would lie the effect of the peace Hint is to-day demanded .in bucli a loud' voice by so many nf the thoughtless and the unscrupulous."

The lion, treasurer of Iho Aotca Convnlscent Home (Egypt). G.P.0., Box 1520, ■Wellington, acknowledges with thanks '(lie'following donations:—Mrs. Sangster, .CIS), on account of Wharehuia Settlers* Committee', Stratford; Jlrs. M'Millan, J.-200, 011 account Stratford Women's Nalional Reserve; llr. D. A. Abercrombie. Wellington, J010; Tokomaru Bay Patriotic (jjpmmittce, ,Cl5O.

Contributions to the New Zealand Tribute to Franco Fund now amount to «C2G9i Is. Among the latest arc:—Proceeds of "French l)a,v,''. d£526 2s. 2d.; Hank of New Zealand, JJ2OO;' llnrton Jockey Club, ,CSO; John Kirkcaldie, .£lO,■ Sidney Kirkcaldie, <£10; Vivian Street Baptist Church, £a Is. Id.; Charles Jlaines, XS 1-ls. In a previous list an amount of X!i was wrongly credited to Mr. George Price, instead of to Mr. George l'irie, Wellington.

\n inquest was held by the Coroner, Mr. W. G. Hiddell, S.M., yesterday, touching the death of Joseph Si) years of age, hulk-keeper of the Union. Steam Ship Company's hulk, C. Tobias, whoso body was found 011 the rocks near Ngiiiiauraiiga'' on the morning of July •2t. Sergeant Wade conducted the proceedings on behalf of the police. Captain i'. S. Walton, local marine siiperintendeut for the Union Steam Ship Company, slated that ho examined- the hull; and found no evidence as to how deceased had gone overboard. It was I bought, however, that, deceased had endeavoured fv «o ashore, as the anchor lights had been hauled down. Deceased was a, steady, cheerful, all-round; Rood mail. The sea was moderately rough- off Kaiwarra, where the. hulk was anchored, at the time the accident must have occurred. A verdict of "Found Drowned" was returned, there bninfi no evidence-to show how deceased fell overboard.

i Tim New Zealand Automobile Union, which mot in "Wellington '' yesterday, proposes to. take a lesson from (lie proceedings iii the State of Victoria, where a body culled the' County Bonds Board was created. This body ivas incorporated in an Act in the year 191.3, mid was

Riven a subsidy ot <£490,000 a year for live years. During' that time, tip to Juno *30, 1915, some 750 miles of fresh road had been constructed and 5500 miles of road had been mainlined. Huge savings had been made in the cost of construction ami maintenance of roads by having them made in a p-ropor and uniform manner. The object of adopting such a system here (according to the Automobile Union) is to do away with the conflict which arises between counties through which main highways run. It seems to the union that it is as reasonable that the main trunk (railway should bo placed undefthe jurisdiction of 'the counties ■ through which it runs as that the roads should be.

A licensed plumber named Francis Cooper, for whom Mr. J. Scot! appeared, was charged at the Magistrate's Court yesterday with having connected a cisIcrn without receiving a permit to do so from the City Council. Mr. Scott stated that the failure to obtain a. permit was purely an oversight. There was no suggestion that the work had beenimproperly e.u'ried out, as the cistern acted all right. Mr. J. O'Shea, the city solicitor, said that in all such cases it was necessary to got the approval of the cily engineer for the execution of the wovlc. Defendant was fined 20;., with costs 7s. A case arising out. of theanti-shoutiijg regulations was heard before Mr. W. u. Uiddell, S.M., at: the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when Frederick ITill was charged with having paid for a drink consumed by Henry • Arthur Claridge. The latter was charged with being n party to the offence. Mr. P. T\. Jackson appeared for the defendants, and cuter,>d a plea of guilty.' In connection with the same case, Airs. Mina Munro and Adam JolTn Munro, the licensee of the hotel, were charged with having permitted treating.. Mr. Jackson appeared for the latter defendants, and pleaded not. guilty. F.vidence was given by two constables that at A.25 p.m. on July C tliev'were in the bar of the New Zealandcr Hotel, and saw Claridge and Hill served with a whisky each by Mrs. Munro. The liquor was paid for by Hill, who tendered a two-shilling niece, and received Gd. in change. In reply-to Mr. Jackson, the witnesses stated that there were notices in the hotel prohibiting "shouting," and that Mr. Munro was ill in bed at the time. The case against tlie licensee was dismissed, defendants Claridge and Hill were fined £2 each, and Mrs. Munro was fined .£5.

At the weekly sitting of the Wellington Land Board three applications for land under Section i of the - Discharged' Soldiers'' Settlement Act, 1915, were affirmed. The board dealt with thirteen applications for private land to be acquired under Section;■ of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement. Amendment' Act of 1017 for allotment to applicants. In four cases no recommendation was made. Four applications for ; financial assistance (o acquire rural lands were favourably entertained. The board also had under consideration eighteen applications for financial assistance to purchase dwellings in Wellington suburbs and elsewhere.

Tho fourth annual meeting of officers and delegates of the Dominion Estate Agents and Land Auctioneers' Association of New Zealand was held on Thursday, representatives beinc present from >\iickland, Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury. and Otngo. Mr. ,T. 11. Jackjon. (Auckland), president, was in the cliair. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year President, Mr. L. D. Kitchie (Dunedin): 'vice-presidents, Messrs. A. A. Gellatly '(Wellington, reelected), and H. W Heslop (Cliriscchurch); treasurer, Mr. S. HaToourt (Wellington, re-elected); auditor, Mr. E. W. Hunt (Wellington, , re-elec-ed) A large number of matters of considerable importance to t lie public and the land agency, business wore considered and dealt witn, and a special general meeting to amend tlir. rules was also held; the meeting concluding with a vote of thanks to the retiring officers.

Mr. It-. Burns, president of the Auckland Chamber, of Commerce, ;)wsent the following telegram to the A. M. Myers (respecting tho inadetiwicy oi the present eteamer communication between Auckland and Australia Kindly advise result of your inquiries in connection with the representations by deputation which you received hero, thai while Wellington has foni: irood s^nier 8 in fibular /euland trade, Ai«Wand lias none. Mail amwd at Wellington from Australia- on Tuesday, but only a. part of it caught lie northhound train, thus. prevention the delayed portion being renlied to by mail fm AusInlia closini? at Auckland on \\ nines chv night. Could not arrangements lia\n been nmdo for forwarding all that mail on Tuesday?" The attention of Mr. W. G. Mddl, S M was occupied for some time yestcidiiv in hearing a case in waicli the licensee of the .Wellington Hotel, Martin Ryan, was charged with permitting drunkenness on the premises on July'lfThe wife of the licensee, Mrs. , Mary Evan, was charged with, supplying a drunken man with liquor. There was also <i charge, against tl>3. I\pen6ee of sellmc;,li(iuor to a man in.an intoxicated state. Inspector Marsaek. prpseciitwlv. mid Mr. J. J. M'Grath appeared tor defendants,. who pleaded not Evidence was given by-Sergeant .T. Mveeney that on the alternoon of the date in I question he visited, tho hotel in company with a constable, and saw a drunken soldier in the private bar. In front of the soldier, who was subsequently arrested, was an empty beer-glass, in reply to Mr. M'Grath, the witness stated ♦hat lie did not know how long tho man had been on the premises, and whether or not lie. liad been served Willi 'quay in the hotel. He did not tell the licenseo to order the man off the piemises. After corroborative evidence had been given by two constables, Mr. M Oram submitted that the charges against tho licensee must be dismissed, because there was 'no evidence to show how long the man had been iu the bar, and knowledge, connivance, or negligence on the part of the licenseo had not been proved. A conviction should lint be entered against cither of the defendants unless it was t shown that they were willing, parties to the commission of .an pffencc. CJivino evidence, Kyuu said he had hecii a licensee for eighteen years, and had never been before a Court.before on such* a charge. He knew nothing of the present case except what lie had been told. \Tlie man who was stated to have been drunk was a regular customer at the hotel, never got drunk as far,ns ho knew, ami alwavs patronised the hotel alone. Mrs. Eyaii deposed to serving the man with a medium shandy, but stated that she thought he was sober, as.there was nothing about his manner to'excite her suspicions. His Worship, reserved his decision.

, There is a disposition on the part of somo local, authorities to ■restrict tho use of what motorists consider adequate headlights on motor-cars travelling country roads. The executive of the Automobile Union lias been instructed to consult with the experts of the city councils witlv a 1 view to having tests made as to the best method of doing away with the glare in headlights, either by altering the shape of the lamps or by (ho use of one of the various dinunins devices and lenses, on the completion of these experiments tho committee to make a report on its findings to the Minister of Internal Affairs.