LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Advice lias 'been received i.\Y the Mil), istei- of Defence that Hie first portion of the Forty-third Keinj'orcosncnte has iirrived safely at its destination.

Tho denth occurred early yesterday morning oi' Sergeant James Saunders-an, a member of the guard on Somes Island, under circumstances which-will uecessitate the holding of an inquest. A report furnished to the police states that at 115 a.m. Sauiidersoii, who was a returned soldier, was relieved of duty by (mother member , ' : of tho guard (Limw- . Corporal ■ Brown). --Fifteen minutes later Brown heard the report of- a' hrearm from the direction of the giinrd-i-oom, and on entering tho building-he found SaimdersoD lying on his. back, with a service revolver in bis liaiul and it bullet in his bead. Saunderson was unite dead. ■ ■ So'far as can bo aecerlaiued the ■deceased had no relatives in Aew Zealand.' ' ire' left a note' bidding farewell' to Major' Matlie-mi and the stall, and iiamil)?.Mr..Janies Moore the Seamen's Missloner, as , his next-of-kln. Hi> was a single man, 49 years old, and left New Zealand with the Thirteenth Reinforcements.

Tho question of house rents cropped up at the Chambers of Commerce -Conference on Thursday. Mr. H. W. Hudson (Auckland), produced the papers in an estate (mixed business and bouse property in Auckland), which returned £GM per'annum in rents. That seemed a large amount, but.when it was realised that tho taxation altogether amounted; lo ISs Jjd. in the ',£, there was nothing in ilf " The speaker said that there was not a foot of that.property' that was notde-. veloped, yet tlio owners, found themselves in.the .portion..of> having.to pay three; quarters of. their total rente .into, ihe colfers of the State.' The return they ac-tually-made on. tho value ot the. estate was nearly H per cent, and yet people talked of high rents and robber landlords. "It is a monstrous thing, said one delegate, "and in common justice ought" to lie brought before the Government." Mr'. 11. W. Hudson also iV formed the conference that Ins hrm [U. D Nathan and Co., of Auckland) had comttieuceda profit-sharing scheme with their'eriipldydds,. by which they were div voting all profits over (i per cent, for the benefit of their employees in the shape of a superannuation fund. But what did they find? .Tho'Government.'actual--ly stepped in and charged income tax on tho amount set aside for siiperannuatuifi, regarding such money as distributed profit?. What encouragement was. there. fon ..-.firms, -t-o ■ -initufo superannuation schemes.'if.that sort, of thing-was going, to-be, done by the Government? It was. ii..tax-on "thrift J ■•

' The Telegraph Officd lulviso that tho acceptance of fiill-ralc anil deferred lues, sages for .the United Kingdom, via fcastern, has'noH' been resumed.'-

Onr Mnslerton correspondent states that-something in ll«o nature of a demonstration ocftimrcd at ]• entiieralou Camp yesterday, when a new regulation was posted requiring soldiers when on leave to wear only service .dotlung, including, boots. The men waited upon 1-Tend'quarters'j.n a-body and made a strong ' pi'bicst, fo" which' ft, reply was to be given last"evening.-' ■•'

-V seaman named Samuel Gaskill wns admitted to the Hospital yesterday afternoon suffering from cuts <n the head and- face, received as a lesnlt of tailing down a comnaniomvay on the steamer Ngahere. •• ■ . . .... Alt-accident which, unfortunately, had fatal results, occurred ,at the .laranaki Oil Wells, New Plymouth, - n 'luedduy afternoon. Whilo engaged \.&mg a pair of chain tongs, in Iho course ot repairing the No. 5 well, Frank Salmons Bhirv -received injuries' through a pin breaking and the to'hgS striking "him on the head, rendering him unconscious. Dr- Wado was .eummonod '.nimediateiy, and ordered-/(he man's.vemqval to. .the. hQspita.l, where-ho died shortly aftev admission without regaining' wuisciousnefs.. Deceased was ft married-.man,. -aged ,)',,. living at Barrett Road-West, aiui leave? a widow and tteee children. Up had 'been connected with the oil industry for many years. - . 4t the Ciril Service Club the news of Ttirkey'sunconditiojial "surrender was- received" with the" greatest joy. A [celebration in keeping with the occasion was heliL.and Mr. P. ,W. Jackson the 'toast-of "The Aljiqs." He.eaid: lbs is one of the' brightest days we have had since August,. .1914, as it opens the Dardanelles, which pur boys tried to unlock in \pfil,'l9ls. ' He could not tmderstand how Turkey ever came to be on the side of the Central Powers, as all her sentiment should have been on the side ot, the British. Now that she had given in he laid great.Mfess ui»n the fact that the food problem of Great Britain would be greatly alleviated by the quantity of wheat which would now be taken out of tlio country, now .open to us. Other' speeches 'werd made ami toasts honoured, and-tho' singing of Rule 'Britannia"'' arid ■"'God Save the King ended a happy gathering.' ; ", :

As the American-.papers, nnve for. weeks past been printing photographs of the super-Dreadnought of the air, which by this time has probably made its appear iince on tho Western front, it is diselos-, in* no'secret to" the enemy to say that , 'if this gigantic, bonibor is only half as formidable a? it looks the Germans are in for a' particularly dirty time (says "Lloyd's News"); It' would not be surprising if one of these monsters; which in length extends lo wTTa't the Americans call it "block," was the-first machine to cross-the Atlantic by air. . They have on trials covered more than the distance between America, and Europe, . at an average speed of , ninety inile.3 •an hour. ■It is scarcely,an.exaggeration to say that each of them could . carry a platoon of American soldiers across the ocean, in addition to puj-rol and provisions-.

The "Otago .Daily Times" states that, about i a.m. on Tuesday, according to a report received by the police, a most daring -robberv took' place at a house in Lawrence-Street; South Dnnedin. The occupant of the house and his wife retired to bed about 11 p.m. on Monday, and about *1 a.m. on Tuesday the latter was awakened by a light being flashed into her eyes, followed by a noise. Not wishing to disturb her husband, who had not been in good health of late, she arose and went into the passage, where she was confronted by a man. He assured her that he would not harm her if she kept quiet, but he struck her -on the head, disabling Her'.•"Another man was observed waiting oh the outside' of the building. The lady's' two , brothers; who were residing at the place at the time, heard the noise, and rushed to their sister's assistance; but by this tinio the two intruders had-disappeared. .On searching the. house il' was found that a waistcoat, in which the. husband had placed a roll of notes to the value of about XlflO, was missing, and the garment was Inter discovered lying on the verandah, minus the roll of notes. Two ningle notes and ono five pound note.,which had not been placed in the roll wore still" there. D'r. Linden was called in to attend to tho lady, whom he found to be suffering from severe shock, but otherwise uninjured.

"That this- conference favours the exclusion of all' German subjects from Now Zealand territory for. a period of ten years" was the effect of.one roinit which ciuue before tho Chambers cf Commerce Conference on Thursday afternoon. "I. would not mind supporting that Q'emit," said-Mr. C. 11. Edwards tNapier), "if the-mover will add the. words 'and ■goods', after .'German: subjects."- . The amendment did not meet with tho approval of tho conference. Air. 11. W. Hudson (Auckland) stated ihat German goods could not be excluded from comTng into the country, 'but what could be done was to put a high preferential duty of. 15 or cvoii 20 per cont. on German goods. That was- tho only way he-could seo they-wero going to bring it home to tho people who for tho future would buy German goods. Peonb should be .made to realise that they had to pay more for them- than for British (;oods. "Then," said i 1 1 ,.' Edwards, "we'll liavo flic — line bringing out German tjoods nearly freight free, <ind the difi'eronco won't bo anything!" The subject was then al-. lowed to drop.

If you cannot eomo in to s e'o i;s, drop n postcard for our freo booklet, "Advice to Invontors." " It contains an abundance of valuable information coicerniiig patenting. Study it at home.' Call if you can. Henry Hughes. Ltd., 157 F-Satherston' Street,' Wellington, and else where,—Advt, ' ; : ■■■

The Secretary lo the Public Service Commissioner writes:—"With reference lo the paragraph appearing in the 'Personnl. Hems' of Thursday morning's issue of your puper- in regard to llr. J. H. AVnlt's.'severance, of his connection with the War Kxpen.ies'Branch of the. Defence Department, and to/''remarks purported to have' been made by Jiini Mint the Public Service Commissioner hnd attempted to censure him for taking part in the recent by-election at Wellington Central, •! am directed by the Commissioner to advise (iir.t lie—Hie Commissioner—never bad Mr. Watt's name before, him in such a connection, and Ims not, as alleged, attempted to censure him." ■ :..-..'.

The City Council decided on Thursday to give oiled to the following recommendations br the Director of Parks and Besorves:—(.l) That llr. Brewer be appointed the director's first assistant; (2) that Mr. 11. ■ Jfoss bo - appointed acting-fore-inan at- the- Botanical- Gardens' for the ■current year; (3) Hint the City Engineer be ■ instructed to prepare plans for the erection of an office adjacent to the director's residence'; (4) that inquiries be made from America and elsewhere as to the available motor-driven mowing-ma-chines, and their cost; (5) that those stale at''he Tlionidqn Esplunade' in good repair and properly fastened down be ■left in their present position, but' the remainder bo' removed, repaired, aiid placed iti other approved positions;

Turkey's capitulation to (he Allies was celebrated at an impromptu afternoon gathering of members if tho Wellington Working.Men's , Club. The president (Mr. 13. Finucane) proposed the health oi tne King, and the National Anthem was Bung. Mr. Finucane .spoke on the success ..of ..the Allied cause, and claimed that as over W per cent, of the members of the club had enlisted for active service .they proudly regarded the part that, the workers bad played, in. winning tho war. ~Ho v called, for three cheers for "the Allies,", and. three'.more ."for "Our tloys atithe Front, , ' which wefe .responded- -to. with .enthusiasm. .Mr.. I?, it. liyan, ivbo had three'and a... -hajf,years'., service Ht the front,, reeitcd.soine verses written by-one of .'his,deceased comrades, entitled "The Landing, at Ansae." _ Jic was loudly applauded at tho conclusion of his rendering, and many of those present who had sons at tlio front were deeply touched by thi> vivid , description of tho heroic landing. Over twenty of, the members present were returned soldiers who saw service on Gnliinoli.