LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 99, 21 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The steamer Wiltshire, with fortythree New Zealand officers and six hundred men on board, was expected to arrive at Fremantle yesterday. The officers and men have been taking part in the Palestine campaign.

The Minister of Marine (the Hon. T. M.' Wilford) informed a Dominion reporter yesterday that' tho steamer Tutanekai had .been banded oyer to the Naval Adviser, to be used In minesweeping work. The shin is now undergoing alteration to fit her for this duty. °Some little timo ago the Government decided that the Tuetanekai was something of a white elephant. She is not the sort of steamer they need, and they thought of selling hor with the Hinomoa, and buying another larger steamer, which could be used for tlmcarriage of cargo when she was not in use for other Government purposes. An estimate was obtained as to the cost of fitting out the Tutanekai as a cargo ■ steamer, and tho figure was £7500. The Minister decided tbat as the war was over he would not have the work done.

The bear that reached Wellington aboard the steamer Annette Rolph on Saturday is a young brown bear from the National Zoological Park at Washington. It was reared in captivity, and sent to the head' of the Tourist Department, Mr. B. Wilson, who has handed it to "the Wellington Zoo. A pair of black bear cubs and a tiger cat are to come later.

' A report by the captain of the Hinemoa on the s'earch for the missing boat from the ill-fated Aryan has been received by the Minister of Marine. Mr. Wilford states that he is satisfied from the report that everything possible was done to try to pick up tbe missingboat, and he has complimented' tho captain and crew on the thoroughness of the search made.

Cox, residing at Ngahauranga, and employed by Dimock and Co.. was yesterday admitted to the Wellington Hospital suffering from an injury to his back. It appears that he was hurt by a'fall from a scaffold standing twelve feet above the ground. No further particulars were last night available.

Both the' ferry steamers left their respective ports last night. Early yesterday afternoon it.looked doubtful whether sufficient firemen would be found to make up the minimum crew that is allowed to work the Maori with a reduced number of fires; but ■ tbe men were engaged, and 'she sailed at 7.55, p.nji for Lyttelton. The passenger accommodation on the Maori was filled to the last berth. The Mararoa left Lyttelton at 6.30-p.m. yesterday for Wellington. One.or two other ships are detained owing to short crews.

A visit of members of Parliament to W»ikeria Prison Farm is one of the schemes which the Minister of Justice has in mind. / It is claimed by the. prison authorities that'the prison is the most tip to date hi the world, and they are anxious that the work being done in it should be seen and understood. There are even electric bells in all the cells. But a prisoner is not allowed to ring his bell when lie wants coffee. . The bell is for use only as an alarm in case a prisoner should be in trouble. It is possible to get to Waikeria, which is twelve miles from To Awaniutu, in fourteen hours or'thereabouts, leaving here by the Auckland express. The prison can be visited the following .day. and the party could return here by the train leaving the same evening. ' At a meeting held yesterday the Temperance and Morals Committee of the Methodist Church' of New Zealand (passed a resolution condemning the action of Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M 1 !, in giving his casting vote in favour of granting a conditional license to Trentham racecourse on race day. It was ponted out that inasmuch as the camp bounds are extended on race days to include the racecourse, the Magistrate's action was a contravention of the law governing the expeditionary camps, where no liquor is allowed. The secretary was directed to send a copy of the resalution to the" Minister of justice and the Minister of Defence.

Now that Australian prisoners of war have been released from Germany, and have reached England, the true picture of- German brutality is being painted. Private W. Birch, formerly employed on the staff of the Melbourne "Age," while a captive in Germany, sent, letters and postcards to his relatives, but for obvious reasons refrained from even hinting at the treatment to which he was subjected. A recent letter received from him in England, dated November 22 last, says:—"Just a few lines to let you know we arrived in England again, and not sorry, either, after the way we have been treated. It has "been most dreadful. It is now that the true facts will come out from tho boys about the way they have been treated. As for myself, lam not too good yet. lam going into hospital again for a while. I was struck with a rifle, and it did me no good, but it will not be long before I am better and on my way to Australia again, I hope, after being through the trials I have been. We were the first to land in England from Germany, and they gave us a lovely reception."

The following two resolutions were carried at the last monthly meeting of the Wellington branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants: —(1) "The members of the Wellington branch strongly disapproves of Mr. M. J. Mack, general seoretary, accepting tho position on the Conscientious Objectors'. Franchise Board at tho present junoture, as his whole services are required most urgently in tho interests of members of the society." (2) "That tho Wellington branch support tho Engine-drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association in tho demands for better conditions from the Government."

Ttio Wairarapa Hydro-Electric Investigation Committeo has completed its task, says tho. "AVairarapa Age." Comprehensive reports on the various sources of supply have been submitted to and approved by Mr. Parry, tho Government engineer. "It is estimated that the cost of tho AVairarapa scheme, on present prices of labour and material, would be no more than £175,000. The interest on this amount, at six per cent.-, allowing for a sinking fund, would bo about £10,500 per year. This would be a charge against the properties included in tho hydro-electric power district. But, after tho first year, the consumption of electricity would, it is thought, more than pay tho interest, so that the coU lection of a rate would be unnecessary. In order that the rating shall ho equit. able, at tho outset, it would seem desirable that a revaluation of the counties and boroughs affected should b<-. made at the earliest possible date."

As a memorial to fallen soldiers, Martinborough proposes to improve its town square. Mr. A. D. M'Leod has contributed £50 towards this object, and has offered an annual subscription of £10 for ten years.

Representatives of tho Borough of Karori will meet tho Finance Committee of the City Council at a, meeting of the committee, to-day to discuss proposals for tho union of the suburban borough with .the citfr

The (toll of the electors of Onslow Borough in connection with tho proposal to amalgamate with tho city will be held on Fobruary 5. The roll will close at 5 p.m. to-morrow, January 22.

The Eastbourne Borough Council has appointed Thursday afternoon as tho weekly half-holiday for tho borough.

A defectivo chimney is supposed to have been responsible for a firo which destroyed tho house occupied by Mr. Joseph William Cranfield, in Ailington Boad, Karori, between 5 and (i o'clock yesterday morning. Tho house, which was owned by Mr. 11. F. Neill, was of six rooms, and wnß insured in tho State oflico for £350, and the furniture was covered by a policy of £100 in the Northern Company.

"We cannot have the police knocked about with impunity," remarked JJr. F. V. I'Yazer, S.M., at tho Magistrate's Court yesterday, when fining a soldier for having assaulted Constable George Dowling whilst in the execution or his duty.

The Mayor of Invcrcargill has cabled to Sir Joseph Ward in London asking him. to arrange that a transport make. Bluff the first port of call to permit Southland people to meet troops unjjer conditions equal to other parts of the Dominion. —Presß Assn.

A Press Association telegram from Elthain states that there is a serious shortage of eoal there. No household coal has been available since October. It is understood the prospects are bad.

The Masterton Chess Club is endeavouring to arrange a big chess tournament during Easter, when, players are expected from all quarters of the Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawke's Bay provinces. In order to make tho visit as pleasurable as possible the Masterton Bowling Club is to be approached with the object of instituting a bowling tournament in which the visitors may participate.

To-morrow the Railway Department intends running special trains to Trentham for the Wellington races, but it is not yet in a position to provide the full services arranged under normal conditions. For this event intending travellers would be.well advised' to book, early, and travel by the earlier trains. If the earlier trains,are allowed to go away not fully loaded it is only to be anticipated'that thcro will be an overcrowding for the later trains, and possibly late avrivals may find themselves unable to obtain admission. Passengers joining trains should, see that they purchase a ticket before boarding cars on -trains, as failure to do so renders them liable to prosecution.

~ One of the German mines laid off the coast of New Zealand was sighted on Thursday by Captain Brigden, officer in-charge of tho s.s. Waverley, some sixteen miles off Fatea, as tbe vessel was proceeding to the latter port from Wellington. Immediately tho mine was sighted Captain Brigden took measures to sink.it by means of gunfire, circling round it until its destruction was successfully accomplished. The mine was similar to those that have been washed up on the coast recently.

The Auckland "Star" states: The police are again taking steps to check the practice by. small boys of running trolleys and "scooters" down the footpaths of steep streets. Three lads were brought before the Juvenile Court on Saturday morning and admonished. Sub-Inspector Wohlmann mentioned, as an instance of the danger of the practice, that the other day a small hoy on a "scooter" ran into a team of horses, which came suddenly from a right-of-way, with the result that the boy was very seriously injured. Mr. J. E. Wilson, S.M., stated that if warnings had no effect action would have to vbe taken to have offenders placed under probationary control. The parents of the boys in the case under review were ordered to- pay,. 7s. costs apiece.

A somewhat interesting tion regarding the state of affairs in Holland has been received from the Consul-General for the Netherlands at Melbourne' by Mr. M. Copeland, ViceConsul at Auckland (states the "Star"),. It states that in consequence of the scarcity •of food the Government considered it advisable to limit as 'much as possible the number of foreigners coming to the Netherlands. With that end in view it has been decided that no Netherland consular visum. should be placed on any passport of a foreigner who intends to go to Holland -without such Consul having received official authorisation to do so beforehand. This makes it incumbent upon tho consular officer to apply for authorisation and answer certain ques-. tioiis, of -which a list has been forwarded. These include particulars as to the profession or trade of applicant, age, place of birth, residence, nationality (and if naturalised elsewhere, to be stated}, also references to persons in tho Netherland, object of journey, proof of same, length of visit, and means of subsistence. Photographs of applicants also require to be forwarded. No separate passport is necessary for children under 13 years of age.

The London representative of the Sydney "Sun," cabling on January 7, says that the German papers lately bavo been developing the idea that Germany can safely count upon tho economic strength of America to_ accomplish anything unaccomplished through the political programme of I'resident Wilson. The "Frankfurter Zeitung" sets out to show that New York has become the financial capital of the world, that the American flag is taking the place of the English on the seas, that America has become the most important c'xporter of raw materials, especially cotton and corn, and predicts that while England is engrossed in problems of internal reconstruction America will make rapid progress in the,world trade. The "Zeitung" asks if this wonderful wealthy America will permit imperialism to rob Germany of the power to ■ live—:that Germany which must bo a natural customer of the United States. The newspaper laments the fact that Germany's West front collapsed at the moment when Germany hoped that the importance of the American Army would place President Wilson in the position of dictator to the Allies, whereas since the armistice the real power of Dr. Wilson has greatly dimiii* ished.