LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 76, 24 December 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Owing to unavoidable delay and complications caused by the recent, epidemic it has been found impossible to innouuee the results of the law and accountancy professional examinations held Inst month. Tho results may bo expected enrly in tho new year.

Corrugated iron, which soared to about ,£IOO per ton, is coming down with a rush. A' month ago it was still being quoted at £80 per ton,,but on receipt oi advice from Home an Auckland firm lowered that quote by ,£3O. Advice has been received locally that London is prepared now to ship ordinary 26-gauge corrugated iron at ,£2B por ton, f.0.b., which looks liko a big slump. It is thought that the reason for the drop in prico is that the British Government is releasing large stocks of black (sheet) iron, which is being secured' in big lots by manufacturers of corrugated iron, Two or three months may see a_ big change take place in Iho iron market all over the world.

The General Post Office was a particu-. larly busy placo throughout yesterday.' The telegraphic branch is •never spared by the public nt this time of the year, and yesterday was no exception to tho rule. Tho announcement that sixpenny telegrams, causing Christmas greetings, could be Bont no doubt influenced many to take advantage of tho wires to exchange seasonable amenities with their friends. Half way through yesterday afternoon telegrams to the number of over four figures had been dispatched, and there wore then between 700 and 800 to dispatch before the day's work was concluded. Tho postal business was not a great deal more than normal. This is partly duo to dislocations in the intercolonial steiunor services, which deter many from writing, nnd also to the fact that hostilities aro at an end as far as tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force is concerned, nnd there is not the same compelling necessity to write as frequently as when our sqldicrs were in the thick of the fray. The parcels branch is always busy at this time of the yeni. and tho officials are kept going at fu'l pressure dealing with mouhils of those gifls which come under the heading u: '''Christinas boxes."

Mr. G. Allport (Secretary of the Murine Department) sbited yesterday Hint the evidence taken at. the preliminary inquiry into the cause of tho stranding of the F. and S. linor Dorset on Hope Shoal had been considered by the Department, and that it. did not warrant the holding of a magisterial inquiry.

Of the cases of insobriety'which came before the Magistrate's Court yesterday several were those of mcirwho had been celebrating the Sabbath in an intemperate manner. One instance was that of a youth of 18, who was found in a drunken condition on Sunday night. "I wonder how this happened?" asked Mr. V, V. Frazer, S.M., when disposing of the case of the youth. "It does not sound very nice. I notice that there are a number of cases of Sunday 'drunks.' It is bad enough having 'drunks' during the rest of the week without, having them on Sundays."

The following yachts.and launches left (or the Sounds during the week-end:— Resolution, Psyche, White Heather, Doris, and Muritai. Yesterday the last of the temporary influenza hospitals, that established in the Seamer's Institute, was closed, and only two ftivalescent homes, those at Oriental Bay and Wellington' South, remained open. The convalescents remain, ing at Oriontal Bay numbered 23, and those at Wellington South four. A steward in the employ of the Union Steam Ship Company was arrested by Detective Carney yesterday morning on a charge of having stolen en November 3 a diamond ring, .valued at .£l2O, the property of Mr. John Collins, of Duncdin. The ring was discovered in a. box during a search through the steward's effects at his shore lodgings. The accused will be brought before the Magistrate's Court this morning to answer the charge. ■ " A innn named J. Morrison, believed to bo a resident of Knitote, was admitted to the Hospital last night in ft. dazed condition, as the result of falling from a moving train at the Hutt. station. No serious consequences are anticipated. On view in a 6hop window in Blenheim are samples of a new winter fodder —Borseen clover. This clover has been grown from seed supplied to various schools by the Wellington .Education Board. The samples are 27 inches long and their stalks one-quarter of an inch in diameter. "Even though tho next general election takes placo during the coming year, there is now not a little speculation as to tho prospective candidates for the Wairaii seat/' says the "Marlborough Express." "Various names have been on the public tongue from time to lime, but as yet the majority of them are shrouded iu uncertainty. Hearing from a reliable source that Councillor B. J. Cooke is going to oppose Mr. R. M'Mlum, M.P., at the next election contest, an 'Express' representative sought confirmation of this .report. Mr. Cooke stated that, in response to many repeated requests, he had definitely decided to contest the seat."

During the lunch hour tne day last week, writes a correspondent to the "Sydney Morning Herald," the peaceful air surrounding the recruiting stand m Martin Place was disturbed by the raucous voice of a foreign-looking person who mounted the steps, breasted tho barrier, waving a blue handkerchief, and shouted: "Ladies and Gentlemen—J stand before.you to wave the emblem of liberty, a true representative of the 'One Big Union.' We are going to' — he got no further. "Shut up, shouted a returned soldier. "Revolution is the only way," continued the speaker of the square head. "Get down; get back to your 'own country," shouted soldiers in the crowd. One soldier, a well-kuowi-figure on the recruiting platform, grabbed the' Bolshevik by the back ot the neck and seat of the trousers, ran nun across the platform and down the stops, to the delight of the crowd. The police subsequently escorted him up Moore Street. Tho following further donations to tho Island Bay Epidemic Fund have been received :-Mr. T. Smitton, £5; Mrs. L. Coleman and Messrs. J. W. Jack and H Hunter, £& 2s. each; Mrs. Ewmg, £1 ; Messrs. Howard and Tilyard, £\ Is.

•U the monthly meeting of the Wellington Branch of the A.S.R.S. the following resolution was carried:— That the members of the Wellington Branch desire to express their appreciation of tho noble work - dona by all voluntary workers, Boy Scouts, and specially mentions the names of Drs. Ross and Hardip for their untiring efforts during the recent epidemic in the Petone district. The appointment of Colonel J. J. Esson, of the Treasury, to be Acting-Assistant Public Service Commissioner, has been made, it is stated, in order .to facilitate the work of the classification of the Public Seryice, which is- to be undertaken early in the new year. t,

The local agents of ihe steamer Arawa advise that it is expected to dispatch tho vessel from "Wellington for London on Saturday/ next, passengers embarking on the afternoon of that ("ay. The FederalShire Line notifies passengers booked for tho Dorset that the vessel will leave Wellington for London at daylight on Sunday next. They must embark tho previous afternoon,

It is not yet definitely known when the prison at Lyttelton vill be -closed (snys the "Press"). The number of prisoners in custody has decreased during the past few months, the majority having been transferred to Templeton. The establishment will probably be utilised in future ns a police prison, for the accommodation of prisoners on remand and those serving short sentences.

Several inebriates were dealt with by Mr. R, D. Hanlon, J.P., at tho Mount Cook Police Court yesterday morning. John Robinson, who had been in the cells 6ince Saturday, was convicted and 'discharged. Two "Sunday offenders," both of whom were first offenders, were each fined £1, in default 48 hours' detention, and a soldier was ordered to be handed over to the military authorities. One first offender, who failed to appear, wns ordered to forfeit tho amount of his bail (10s.).

Thero will be the usual Christmas tree,' well Inden with toys, at the Children's Hospital i to-morrow evening, to which cheerful function the members of the Hospital Boa'rd have been invited. At the Ohiro Home a special Christinas dinner will be provided for the inmates, and during the evening the usual.entertainment will be given as, a bright ending to Christmas Day. ,

Although the weather on' the whole, has been far from seasonable, the demand for accommodation at the seaside lias never been so acute as it has been-this year. One hears of much' as ,£3 and £i per week being paid for cottages at the bays, and any demur is met with the answer that, hundreds could be let at the prico if they, were available. At one time Lyall Bay was regarded as a summer resort purely, but now it is a large town-' 6hip composed of people who reside there all the year round, nnd that trend has, more or less, becomo a fixed one in respect to Seatoun, Knraka Bay, Muritai, and Bay's Bay, so that the task of accommodating those who only w'ish to spend a few weeks at tho seaside is be-, coming greater eacli year.'

A praiseworthy action on tho part of Constable R. Anderson, of the waterfront police, in promptly rushing fa tho assistance of a five-year-old hoy who had set alight to his clothing was disclosed at an inquest held by the coroner, Mr. M T . G. Riddcll, S.M., yesterday. Constable Anderson was returning to his home about B.M p.m. on Friday, and when passing the house of Mrs. Edith Brown, 110 Aro Street, he saw a glare in an upstairs window. Receiving no answer to his knocks on the. door, lie burst in and found the child, whose name "was Stanley M'Connghcy, already badly burned, crawling to tho" door of the room. The constable wrapped the child in a bed coverlet and jumped on to an Aro Street tramcar, which was immediately run back down the line to Br. Robertson's residence. The child was at once sent to the Hospital, but he died shortly afterwards. From the time tiie child was first discovered to its arrival in tho Hosnitiil n period of only fifteen minute' had passed. It appeared that the childhad hern put to bed by Mrs. Brown, with wlinin he had been slaying, a candle Pint n box of mulches being left in the room. Mvidenlly the bov had got un and struck :i mutch, with tho resuU that his linnncWte nightdress ciuu'ht fire. Olhcv -viileiir-f win tendered thai Ihe child had '-'.'en wilh Mrs. Brown for some time, and had always been carefully and well |»»lt"(1 after.' A verdict was returned Hint death whs due to shock following burns accidentally received.