LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The southern portion <if Iho largo overseas innil, which reached Auckland this week, per I lie 11..M.5. Jlakura and (lie Manuka, was brought to Wellington l).v the M;iiit Trunk ex|ii'ivs ye.slerday afternoon,'.' The Jlakura (from Vancouver) brought' 2.102 bags. ami the Ma-n-kit (from Australia) 212 bays, of which the Wellington portion totals !lt!t) bags Included in this is a large <|iiatilily o? mail mat tor. from members of the Kxpeditinnary Force abi'oad. The inailroom staff at: tile Tost Ollice is making mi effort to have the mail ready for delivery in Wellington this morning. .'Wording to the latest lieiircs of the <"!nveniincni. Stiilistician (Mr. Malcolm Franer) it look ,C 1 Its. 7<l. during the final iiuavter ol' last, year to purchase what could have been bought for XI in l!)KI-H -a l i-'e of over .il) per cent, in the cost of food, clothes,' and mfllerial generiiilv. The (I'reater Wellington Association Iw.s decided to support the candidature of Mr. T. S. Weston for the city Mayoralty. The matter of the ii.ssoeintion'.s candidates for the (.lily Council-will probably bo settled next week. The Kelbuni trnmicnr service was held up for about forty minutes yesterday, owing to an nxlo 011 one of the cars having to be attended to. Another car was substituted for the damagod one.

In connection with (lie attitude taken up by many ol' the soldier patients at Christchurch Hospital in refusing to attend in their blue uniforms Hie garden party arranged by the Governor-General and Lady Liverpool, the following order ] has been issued b.v Lieutenant-Colonel Wylie, oliicer commanding Hie men nn--1 dergoing irenlment:—"The oliicer commanding regrets I hat certain of the patients of the hospital saw lit 011 Tuesday, March 11, lo so far forget, themselves as soldiers and men as lo behave in a manner' which can only bo described as discourteous in the extreme, and wishes to point out that grievances, real or imaginary, can never be rectified by behaviour such " us till')' were guilty of. Conduct of this kind not only rellects on them, but <111 their comrades, as well as I lie hospital in which they arc, and renders acceptance of an invitation 011 their behalf in future dillicult, if not impossible." A further order regarding local leave states (hat 011 and after Friday, March It, the hour at which patients must return lo hospital is altered from | !) p.m. to S p.m. Later leave will only be granted on special application and for special reasonst—Press Assn. : At the meeting of (he Main Body Jvo- : ception Committee in the .Mayor's room yesterday Mr. J. I.ewis said that there were those in Wellington who tlesired thai a receptiun should also be accorded ] to the Main "Body men among the 5 A then in's draft, due hero next. Tuesday. ' It seemed only fair that they should be i treated simitirly lo (he llororala's men. . The Mayor (Mr. .1. P. Luke) said that i( was all very well, but could Mr. Lewis say where I lie finances were com--1 ing from'? He had made appeal after < appeal for funds for the purpos;, but ' flic result had been very disappointing. ■ Mr. Lewis said the money '. could lie [• raised all right if I he nropcr means were taken. Councillor I\. A. Wright s-;aid that if (he Mayor (old the public the amount required, and stressed the • need of it. lie did not think 110 would ■ have any difficulty in getting it. The Mayor elided- the discussion by saving , that they had better fix up the business J in hand before tliev talked of other receptions. Later 111 the day Mr. J. 1 Lewis informed a Dominion" reporter [ (lia( >i movement was on toot to suit- . ably honour the liome-euniing of all returned soldiers. Souu> disturbance occurred at an openair meeting held ill .Tost Office Square yesterday. The' meeting was being addressed by representatives of the Prohibition Party, and one of the. speakers made a. rather personal retort to an iuterjeetor. who happened to lie a returned sol- [ dier. After some argument, in whiclra ! second returned man;took part, the lirst m in attempted to make a statement from the'curt occupied by the Prohibi- ' tion speakers. He fell, owing to a sudden movement" of the cart, and there was then a. confused struggle, which end- ! ed wliesi the police escorted the speakers from the scene. A noisy section of the crowd followed as far as Lambton Quay. Under the will of the late Mr. John , Oonnal (says a Press Association telegram [ from Christchurch) a bequest of .£ISOO ' is left to the Board of Governors of Can- ■ terbury College lo provide two scholari ships of the value of ,£2OO each, tenable | for two years, to be awarded in connection with such of the following subjects as the board may determine: English, ' Latin, French, mathematics, and history. ] The above bequest will be. augmented by .£IOOO on the death of a beneficiary. TIIO : sum of .£1(100 has been left to the Y.M.C'.A. (Christchurch), which will also 1 benefit to Ilia extent of a further ,£'looo on the death of a beneficiary. St. An--1 drew's College, Christchureh. benefits the same as the Y.M.C.A.. while the Salvation : Army of Xmv Zealand receives ,£IOOO and the Sailors' Institute. Lyltelton, J2200. Several 'Presbyterian clergymen benefit under the wi'l. ' Frequent reference is made in English literature to. the expression, "Dead Sea 1 fruit," by which term is meant some--1 thing barren, tasteless, worthless, unprofitable, or ungrateful. It may not be ; generally known that there actually is 1 such a product, as Head Sea fruit, and I doubtless it is from that fruit..which the. saying is derived. A trooper writing ' from Palestine says"Round the shores of the Head Sea was to be found a fruit tree bearing a fruit called by us Dead Sea apples. It was a small fruit with 1 a large stone inside, and vye sometimes '' used to see the Turks gathering them. Atlast T understood the expression 'Dead Sea fruit" meaning disappointing or not up to expectations. ' The apples were all' stone. Another sort of 'Dead Sea fruit' was the bathing. True, one cannot sink, 1 but who wants lo lloat in a brine-tub? It is too unpleasant. 1 only bathed once • in ,the' Dead Sea. That was quite sufii- ; eient for me!" Chaplain Lopdell, who has seen two years' service in France, and was at [ Messines, Passchendaele, and the March 1 •'push,'' is in Wellington for a few ! days. Chaplain Lopdell .was gassed at Polygon Wood, and recently returned from the front. He will speak on "The Religion of the Average Soldier" in St. Andrew's Church, The Terrace, on Sunday evening. ' An interesting little brochure has been arranged and printed by the Wellington City Council commemorative of tlib visit and reception of General Fail and the members of the French - Mission, The souvenir contains portraits of the members of the mission, the Mayor, members of the council, and also includes two or three views of the city, together with a full report in French, and English of 1 the speeches delivered at the Town Hall on the day mentioned. Copies, bound in leather, are being forwarded to France to the members of the mission, and others in a more modest yet appropriate binding have been printed for the members of the .Ministry and the council. The Raglan County Council has asked the Minister of l.'ubl'c Health to veto a big Maori gathering proposed lo be held at Xgnruawahia next week. Tile council stntes that the gathering is undesirable in view of I he possibility of a re-crudest-Mice of the iiilliienzti epidemic. The 11011. G. W. Russell stated yesterdnv that ho had received the suggestion from the Raglan County Council. He had niso received from the Ngaruawahia Town Board a strong recommendation : 111,' it tho Maori gathering should be al-iowi-d h proceed. He had requested (he Chief Health Oliicer to obtain au immediate report from the Health Officer at; Auckland in connection with the proposal. Aftir being idle for some weeks, eight plasterers commenced work at the new . Parliamentary Buildiugs yesterday, and more are expected to start on Monday. This means the settlement of another minor labour dispute. Some time ago the men concerned asked for 2s. per hour, and. because (heir demand was uut acceded lii a( once, they adopted a go-slow polijy, ' and were dismissed. .Negotiations have been proceeding ever since, and last, Monday the Builders and Contractors' Association agreed lo pay '2s. per hour, providing the men returned lo thoir old employment, the understanding being that I hey would not find work elsewhere It is on these terms that the men have resumed. It is stated that llie settlement is due to the good' offices of .Mr. Al. .1. Reardon, president of the Trades mid Labour Council, and Mr. 11. Mail,land, president of the Building and Cocti actors' Association. Although no cases have recently been reported, all arrangements for coping with a possible recrudescenco of the influenza epidemic have been handed over to the Wellington Hospital Board, which will supersede the City Council and the Public Health Deparlmeut. In the event of anything so unlooked for as this the Hospital Board appeals (o tho public for support and co-operation in the immediate organising of temporary hospitals, am. balances, food supplies, and workers both in hospitals and at (he homes of the people. As an initial step it: is requested thai all who will be prepared to work in the temporary hospitals should send in their names and addresses lo the secretary of the Hospital Board. The following classes of assistance, are parliciilarl.y required: Trained nurses, male n.nd ( female; untrained or partially trained women to do nursing; women willing to assist in preparing food, in cleaning, in taking messages, in keeping records, and iu other similar duties. A limited number of men and women to attend to delirious patients are also asked for. Applicants must bo strong and healthy, and preference will lie given to those with mental hospital or similar training. The board recognises that, many efficient, workers cannot afford fo give their services without payment, nu-.l for those the rates of pay have been fixed. Having abolished proportional represen. tntion, thn Christehureh City Council, at a. spocia] meeting last, night, decided to conduct, tho forthcoming municipal olec tion under tho ward system.—Press Assu,

The N.H. Natives' Association Band will play at Newtown Park to-morrow at 3 p.m. The Commonwealth .Minister in charg« of shipbuilding has announced his expeclation thai three Australian-built shipe would be launched during March. These are llie trading vessels at Walsh Island and WillinmstoM-n, and the "OflU-ton collier which is being Viuilt at Cockatoo island. Mr. Poynton sta'-ed that the engines for the Willianistowi. vessel, (he construction of which is in — the hands of Messrs. Thompson and Co., Casllemaine, are ready, while the machinery for the other two ship? is well advanccd. Towards the end of last year the Brit> irdi authorities notified the Commanwealtli. Government that thev were prepared lo register claims in the Foreign Claims Ufiice, nil behalf of persons of British nationality, on account of debts ■ owing by persons who 011 August 1, 1914, ivere in the -Russian Empire, including Finland. They were also-prepared to register claims against the Russian Government. This undertaking did not necessarily imply that fiiicli claims would be put forward or .satisfied. The Commonwealth Government duly made tha offer public, but the Minister of Customs stated last, week that up to date only one claim had been received, which, would be forwarded to the Imperial authorities in due.course. He pointed,out, .however, that as the. exports to Russia in 1012 amounted to only .Slfti.b'O!), and in 1011) they had risen to .£1,463,399,' it i-eemed very.probable that.there were still some outstanding claims that had not been notified. Although tho time had expired for lodging such claims, he indicated that the -Commonwealth -authorities would tike steps to send on anjthat might be received. Will Germany ever recover her industrial position in the world? Mr. K. C. Martens, a Xew Yorlt shipping authority. holds the view that it. is very, prob- . lemalical. Germany, formerly one of the largest manufacturing countries iu tlie. world, is, Mr. Martens contends, not only in a. bad state generally, but is in a specially bail state in view of- the fact that she -has lost her main sources of raw material—Alsace and Lorraine. For this reason, it is-contended, it must Ifllte Germany a. considerable time to recover her industrial position, "if she ever docs eo." Thus Germany's.shipping losses am not so serious (o her as they would: appear to be oil the surface, for-it' follows that: Germany will not require anything like the enormous carrying capacity that she would under ordinary peace conditions. The buying rapacity of the German multitudes will also, Mr, Martens remarks, he low. As late as March 1 all the theatres and piclurc-houses in Melbourne were still closed, and no announcement had been made as to a reopening date. As some compensation open-air concerts and picture shows were permitted to be held. On the evening of March 1 the Musicians' Union's Symphony Orchestra, under Slapoflski, gave a conccrt 011 the Melbourne Cricket Ground, at which Signor Riilboni. Miss Elsv Treweek, and Mr. Fred. Collier sang,' and the same night a. theatrical carnival was held 011 the St. Kilda Cricket Ground, a concert on tho Carlton Cricket Ground, and pictures were shown on the Fitaroy Cricket Ground and the Williamstown Reserve. On March i Signer Lois (late of- the Gonzales Company) sung on the Filzroy ground. An infant named Eileen Agnes Reade, aged two years and eight months, died suddenly yesterday at her parents' residence. .3!) Sutherland Eoad, Maranui. It is probable that an inquest will be held. An extraordinary fine fighting record* is possessed by Brigadier-General H. E. Kliiatt. C.M.G., D.5.0.. C.8., of Ballarat. He left Australia with the first continent in 19U, and has been on service practically continuously ever since. .Ho w.is wounded at the landing at Gallipoli, ami when the armistice was signed he was iust recovering front another -wound. The war and his own distinguished servile have brought him numerous decorations. including two foreign orders, the last being the "French Croix' do Guerre, with.the golden star. Brigadier-General Elliou is a son of the late Mr. Thomas "Elliott, of Ballast, and as a boy atfeiuM the Ballarat College.