LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 281, 16 August 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The First Wellington Military Servico Board concluded its Wellington session yesterday. On Tuesday the toni'd is to leavo for Wanganni, after which it will proceed to Taranaki, During (he past month several burglaries have taken place in Ivelbitrn and Wollington Terrace, and another case has been reported. The scene of the latest occurrence reported was Wellington Terrace, but fortunately the thief did not steal anything more than a small sum of money. The burglary happened early 011 a recent evening, when the occupants of the house were all. downstairs. A fire escape provided an easy means of obtaining- access to the residence, the robber making liis entry through a window of a bedroom in .the upper story. The contents of this room were ransacked, but nothing was abstracted. The intruder continued his search, however, and in another bedroom he found a bag which conj tained a cheque for ,£3 and casli amounting to .£1 Ids. .The cash was stolen, but | the light-fingered olio evidently deemed it prudent to leave the cheque behind ! him. None of tho inmates of the house heard the man at work, and it was not until the next day that tho burglary was discovered. Two small fires occurred yesterday which necessitated the attention of the fire brigade. The first call was received shortly after !i p.m., some gorso having caught alight in Brittomart Street, Ber-1 hampore. Early in ihe evening the chilli- . ney of .a house, No. 10 Marion Street, was diseoverdd to .be on fire, but tlip j brigade suppressed tho blaze before any | damage was done. The house is occupied j by William G. Fitzgerald. ; It is notified by the Hon. A. M. Xvers I for general information that, particulars j obtained by tho Government indicate; that thoro is available for exportation n j quantity of neatsfoot oil amounting to'' approximately 2000 gallons. Applications J for permission to export such oil to Brit-j ish or Allied destinations will accordingly ! be considered if received by the Comp- ( trailer of Customs,' Wellington, not later : than August HI. Applications should, if possible, slate tho name of the exporting \ shin and of ilio proposed consignee. ! A coal-worker named Ernest Warren, I residing at 280 Willis Street, fell oil'a coal stago at tho Railway Wharf last night and received injuries to one of his legs which necessitated his removal to the Hospital. Tho accident happened at 7.30 o'clock. Warren is 3!) years of age and a widower. In two (lays this week four fresh cases of diphtheria wero admitted to tho Mas' terton Hospital (says our speoial correspondent).

o Mr. Arthur Rickard, president of tho Sydney .Millions Club, has secured firsthand ovidenco about the brutality of tho Germans to tho Armenian doctors. An ex-member of (lie club has forwarded in the president, a photograph showing fivn doctors hanging by tho neck with their feet about fft. from tho ground. Besido them aro linlf a dozen officers, apparently enjoying the sight. Tho doctors wero not hung in .the ordinary sense of tho word—they wero strangled. Tho ropo wns attached to their necks, and they were held off tho ground and alto die in agony. The original of this film was found in tho camera of a captured German officer. Tho film was developed and sent to Australia. Mr. Rickard is presenting the print to tho War Museum. At a meeting at Dunedin last night, the Rev. R. S. Gray stated that, in reply to an inquiry by tho Now Zealand Alliance, Sir James Allen said he understood the proposal by the National Efficiency Board "was that tho liquor question should be settled by a simplo majority vote of the people.—Press Assn. The Zealand Insurance Company, Ltd., >yhich has now practically a worldwide business, has decided to further extend its operations by opening a branch in New York for fire and inarino business. The now branch is to be in the charge of Mr. 11. E. Kempthorne, at present Wellington manager for the company, an able and experienced officer, who was formerly manager at Calcutta. Tho company is already represented in the American Continent by branches at San Francisco and Buenos Aires. Mr. D. ,T. Bews.i 1 secretary to the company, at its head offico in Auckland, has been appointed to succeed Mr. Komntjiovne in the management of the Wellington branch. In answer to an inquiry, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) stated yesterday that the filling of the reservoir attached to the new fever hospital was not calculated to place any strain upon tho supply of water to the residents of Roseneath. The water was to be led from tho Roseneath service reservoir through tho Town Bolt to tho hospital, owing to tho elevation of that institution being too great to be safely fed from the ordinary city mains. The new reservoir at the hospital will be filled during the night hours when the pressure helps with the filling of tho Eoseneath basin. Common jurors under notice to attend at tho Supremo Court this morning are notified by advertisement that they will not be required to attend until Saturday morning at 10 o'clock.

The following jurymen failed to answer to their names when, the jury was being called at the Supremo Court yesterday morning:—Patrick Kennedy, Frank Hodgson, George Childs, and Alexander Smith. As there was a possibility of tho hour of attendance haying been mistaken, His Honour Mr. Justice Hosldng decided to ' hear the explanations of the defaulting jurymen at 10 o'clock this morning.

Gifts of clothing, socks, boots, tobacco, pipes—in fait anything suitable for a shipwrecked , crew who have lost all their possessions—will be gratefully received to day by Mr. J. Mooro at the Missions to Seamen, Whitmoro Street. Tho officer commanding the Government steamer Tutanekai will distribute anything sent to the wrecked crew\ of tho Hinutangi at the Chathams. As tho steamer will probably leave to-night. Mr. Moore would bo glad of a speedy response.

Decision in the waterside workers' appeals which were heard by tho First Wellington Military Servico Board on Wednesday is to be delivered this morning.

Mr. S. Rastall, of Wellington, was very successful at tho Auckland dog show. Mr. Rastall took a braco of bulldogs up to tho northern show, and a telegram received last evening stated that the Wellington owner's dogs won everything they wero entered for. Mr. Rastall also carried oft' the "best in .the show" prize.

At an inquest held at Carterton yesterday afternoon touching tho death of Percy Parker, who died as a result of injuries sustained through colliding with a train while motor-cycling along Kent Street on' Monday afternoon last, a verdict of accidental death, no blame being attachable to anyone, was returned.

During th'o week ended August 10, 12,051 tons of coal wero exported from Groymouth, and 13,3(32 tons from Westport.

Tho following nominations have been received for the offices to be filled ,at tho annual meeting of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, to ,be held this evening:—Vice-president, Mr. H. F. von Haast; council, Miss D. K. Richmond, Mrs. J. A. Hannah, Messrs. W. A. Bowring, ]?. G. Hood, A. F. Nicoll, J. Allan Thomson, and A. A. Bender; treasurer, J. Allan Thomson, A. A. Bender, and E. Gi Hood.

Auckland is to follow tho lead of Wellington in having a hostel for returned soldiers. There was some official opposition to lh6 project at first-not from tho Government—but the scheme is now well established, and the hostel is to be opened shortly by the Minister of Internal Affairs (tho Hon. G. W. Russell). Tho house that has been taken for iho purpose is that known as "Tho Abbey," in Upper Queen Streot, quito near the centre of the city. It is an old house, but it is. very woll built in brick, and is of attractive, old-fashioned design. It is being renovated and altered to suit the requirements of such an institution as a hostel. The control is vested in a board, tho chairman of which is Mr. li. W. Alison, M.L.C., and tho honorary secretary, Mrs. von Stupiner. Shortage of supplies in several household commodities _ is reported. liy the wholesale houses, in Auckland. Of tiie articles in daily use stocks of soap, matches, and salt aro very scarce. 1 The total amounts spent in the acquisition .of properties for settlement of returned soldiers in. the various district aro:—Auckland, .£272,771 ; Hawko's Bay, £78,203; Taranaki, £30,74 i; Wellington, £280.493; Marlborough, ,£39,550; Nelson, ; Canterbury, .£165,033; Otago,, ,£15,• 290; Southland, ,£20,051; total, .£941,550.

Bench and Bar nt tho Christchurcli Supreme Court were somewhat taken abaok, soys tlie "Press," when, after tho announcement that waiting jurors were relieved from further attendance had been made, one of the jurors; Mr. W. P. Spencer, arose, and, addressing llis Honour Mr. Justice Ilerdniau, said: "I have heen asked to make a personal application to you, if I am allowed." His Honour remarked: "This is very unusual," and Mr. Spencer, -after some hesitation, said that, if permission had been given, lie had been asked to submit a siißßcstion that jurors should receive an increaso in pay. Tho hearty laughter that ([reeled this remark was indicative of the relaxation of a tenso period durinp which no one was Isuro wli.it shape the bombshell would take. Mr. Spencer added that,- at the present timo the payment made to jurors was not sufficient. His Honour remarked that the matter was one over whicli ho had no control. Mr. Spenccr asked if His Honour would lay tho recommendation that jurors should receivers. per day before the proper authorities, and His Honour ronlied that if the jurors wrote to the Becistrar lie would, no doubt, forward the communication to the Minister of Justice. Tho Defence Department lias taken a lease from Dr. Edith Huntly of tho Miramar (lato Lahmann) Home at 'Minimal' as an auxiliary hospital for tho treatment of soldier patients. It is not intended that the building shall bo used for cases of any particular class, but only to tako the overflow from the -Victoria Ward at the General Hospital. Tim Defence Department had proposed to make some additions to tho Victoria Ward, but had refrained from doing so in deference to tho wishes of the Tlos- j pital authority. The building at Miramar j is considered to be quite suitable for tho ' purposes of tho Department—ample for present needs, and if tho needs should incmisf! an addition to tho building may j be made. | A sleamer has arrived in Dnnedin ! wil h a cargo of about 211,000 Backs of : Victorian-grown wheat, this line com- ; prising portion of the first 2,000,000 bushels of wheat recently purchased by the : Government on behalf of the millers of ; tho Dominion. The. allotment of the wheat amongst tho various local mills lms been made by tho Wheat Controller (Mr. W. G. M'Donald), and the sampling and distributing arrangements arc in the hands ;if Mr. Arnold Smith, tho chief j local Government grader. The finality j of the wheat, the "Otago Daily Times", j states, is not quite so eood as that of the last shipment of Australian wheat which arrived in Dunedin, eome of it being rather thin. '

Tho "Otago Daily Times" states that ono of its reporters who is acquainted with a returned soldier who w at present acting as a. military policeman passed tho time of day with him, and casually asked him how ho was. getting on. Tho soldier, to the surprise of tho reporter, replied that he was "fed up with tho game." This answer naturally prompted a further inquiry as to what was'tho matter, and tho soldier then unburdened himself of tho statement that he was getting tired of tailing after officers to see whether the private soldiers they passed saluted them. Ho said their, latest instructions were that if they noticed a soldier pass an officer and not salute him they had to put him under arrest, and convey him to headquarters, where ho was interrogated by an officer as to tho reason of his lapso. Two or three men have already been arrested, and severely reprimanded for not saluting. Two runholders wero lost lii the snow for eevoral hours inctlio Mackeuzio Country last week, (reports the Timaru "Herald"). Finally t'liey got i\to tho bed of tho creek, and after groping blindly about for a long time, they had tho gijod fortune to como upon a hut which tno Mackenzie County Counoil had erected for just such an emergency. Never was the sight of. a shelter more welcome than by the two runholders in question, for it afforded shelter from tho storm, and meant Hie difference between danger and safety. Though the but was inhospitable enough in somo ways, in that it had neither firo nor food nor bedding, it had a telephono connection, and by this means the travellers wero able to relievo the anxiety of their friends. _ They had perforce to spend the night in the hut without food, bedding, or warmth, but they cheerfully paced tho floor till daylight came, and then continued their journey, wet through to the wnjst.

Messrs. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Wellington, report having conducted an auotion sale of land on account of the trus-. tees of the late J. H. Bacchus and Mrs. Enid Bacchus, at Manalmu on Wednesday. . There was a large attendance of the nublic, and as a result tho homestead" block of 216 acres .3 roods 35 perches was disposed of at .£3O per acre, which is considered a very satisfactory price. Tho 279 acres 1 rood 3 perches was passed in, the reserve not being reached, and is now open for privnto sale.