LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 171, 14 April 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The annual meotings of householders will be hold this evening for the purpose of electing the new committees for the various school district/). In crder to facilitate the publication of results, secretaries of committees or thoso delegated for the purpose at meetings in the suburbs and outlying districts are asked kindly to communicate the facts of their meetings to The Dominion by telephone this evening.

A aPress Association cable message from London states- that thieves ransacked Sir Joseph Ward's attache case on board the Channel steamer during the passage from Boulogno to Folkestone. (The documents contained in it were not disturbed; only a gold-mountetf fountain pen being missing.

An alleged attempt to vote twice in the licensing poll at Auckland resulted in a. man being arrested at the Drill Hall. It. is alleged that he \ oted at a. polling place, and shortly afterwards attempted to secure a second vote in another name at the same polling place.

A smart piece of fair and above-board safe-opening was accomplished by Mr. A. J. Wycherley, the local lock and key specialist. On Saturday morning a Wellington institution delivered to his workshop in Customhouse Quay a consignment of eleven iron safes, no less thau ten being locked and the keys missing. After three men had been at work on them for just, under six hours the whole ten were unlocked and tlie doors opened, not one of tho safes having suffered: the slightest material damage. Seeing that nine' of the ton safes opened were of standard English thief-resisting typw, this may be considered a very creditable piece of work.

At the last meeting of the Petone branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers it was resolved: "That this branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers deeply regrets the recent fatal accident at Petone station, and requests the Railway Department to alter tho platforms and gates on the railway carriages so as to make them safe for the travelling public, as at present they are merely a deathtrap."

Through .tho upsetting of a lamp by one of the chilaren, the railway porter's residence at Woodside Junction was destroyed bv fire last week. The house was occupied by W. Johnson and insured in tho Phoenix Insurance Office for £100.

Under the auspices of the Wellington Social Democratic Party, Mr. P. Hickey, vice-president of the Victorian section of. the 'Australian Labour Party, last evening addressed A 'meeting in the Kmr>ie's3 Theatre. There was a good attendance, over which Mr. It. E. Holland, M.P., presided. Mr. Hickey related the history of the two conscription fights in Australia. He stated that according to Mr. Charles M'Grath (Federal member fo,- Ballarat and returning officer in London for the soldiers' vote) the men in tha trenches and the hospitals cast an anti-conscription vote by twenty to one. Labour in Australia had within 'the last three rears "sot its house in order," and the credit for tho origination of the movement was largely due to 'lie Trades and Labour Council of the city of Melbourne.

The illustrated lectures 'in "What Town-Planning Means for tho Dominion." which are being.delivered by Mr. Hurst Seagei, F.H.1.8.A., honorary o>ganiser and director of the town-plan-ning conference and exhibition to be held in May. are creating . much interest. Having lectured in tho North Island, Air. Hurst Seager left for the south last week, and has already lectured in Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, und liivercargill. Owing to the referendum poll the lecture at Oamaru was confined to the Mayor and councillors of that town. After the Easter holidays Mr. Hurst Seager will continue his lectures on the West Coast. All -lectures have been well patronised, and a great deal of interest is being developed.

A woman who voted at the Richmond School booth in Christehurch placed her voting paper in a ventilator, thinking it was the ballot-box, says the "Press." Attempts were made to secure the paper, but they failed".

The purchase of tho Ascot Fstato at M'angere, near Onehunga, for a settlement for disabled soldiers was formally reported to the executive of the Auckland Patriotic Association on Wcdnosdav by' the Claires Board. The transaction was approved, and authority was given to the Claims Board to draft the terms and conditions governing the allocation of the land and its development generally, as well as a definition o! eligibility of anolicants. Tho scheme provides for the securine of '-mall holdings for soldiers not in a fit state to take up ordinary farming.

Experiments have been made by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Food Investigation Board, in the rapid freezing of fish in "brine, instead of the air freezing hitherto generally Tesorted to. The piinciple is the freezing of the muscular tissues of the fish as rapidly as possible, 60 that the water contents of the tissues become ice In minute crystals which do not cause rupture of the tissues (with a consequent loss of essential juices and therewith flavour) after thawing. _ Tho New Zealand .Produce Officer v-sited Billingsgato and witnessed the plant in operation, and a small demonstration in the freezing of whiting, cod, and eels. . Very «nall fish wero completely frozen in from 12 to 15 minutes, a cod of 10 to 12lb. weight Inking almost an hour. Upon thawing nut the fish resumed a natural appearance? even to tho eyes, and could not be distinguished from Hie fresh article.

The restrictions regarding rlin eomniuniention of private messages by wireless to troopships returning to (lie Dominion have now been lifted. The local wireless station has been advised to this effect, and next-of-kin of returning soldiers and others desirous of forwarding messages fo those on board troopshins within wireless range aro nn.v parmilted to do so under the conditions existin,; prior to the bringing into force of the War Regulations. Advico has been received that the Willochra is now within range of Wellington. Somo anxiety was, felt regarding (he little steamer TCiwaka which left a week aw for Wancanui to Psli on her way up the coast. The secretary, of Ihe Marine Department has now received iefonmitinu that (he Riwaka left Jfana Island on Tuesday morning,, and arrived at Wnmranui on Sturdny morning. Homo 'Ill.aOO acres of the well-known Parongai-o.iign Mf«'« '» N'e far north Auckland district have been offered In Die tloveriiment for the_ purpose of soltleinent bv returned soldiers. The price asked bv the owners, among whom is Mr. 1?. Kccne, of Wellington, is ,C) 17s. fid an acre. The Auckland Returned ?nldiers' Association has considored the pioposal, and has expressed tho opinion tb.it the estate is not suitnblo for scttle--1 mont by returned men,

Detectives attached to the criminal investigation branch of police, headquarters, Sydney, are at present engaged on tho work of endeavouring to completely clear up ono of the most extensive waterside robberies which have been reported there. Several arrests have already been made, and the accused have Uen remanded on bail. It is stated that tho nature of tho goods which were missing is chiefly of drapery, serges, and tweeds. These left England in a ship which was torpedoed. They were transhipped and brought on to Australia. They ere believed to be worth J.'10,00l), and were insured for over .£9OOO.

The degradation from knighthood of Sir Joseph Jonas, the Sheffield steel manufacturer, is the second since the war, the other being the downfall of Ko;;er Casement, but one would have to do some searching to find many parallel cases (says a writer to "Tit Bits"), Kvcn in iueliaeval days the punishment was rare; it was the severest inflicted by the Court of Chivalry.. Among the few I can'find was one in the fourteenth century, when Sir Andrew ITnrola, iCarl of Carlisle, was degraded for treating with the Scots.; in J -Hi t Sir Ralph Grey lost, his spurs, -and in Ki'il Sir Francis Mitchell suffered degradation. The pro. ccedings were humiliating; the recreant knight had his sword belt .lit so that the weapon fell, next his spurs were hacked off and thrown different ways. then the swohi' was broken and cast awav, and lastly came a proclamation by a herald to the effect that the degraded knight should henceforth he reported as an "infamous, arrant knave." Immediately after this followed the final proceedings on the scaffold.

The Lake Wakatipu "Mail" states that tho Glenorchy Schcelite Mining Company received a notice from tho Department of Imperial Government Supplies on April 2 that the Ministry had decided to can eel tho contracts for schcelite from all parts of the Empire, ami' to accept only that shipped up to the end of the month; but as it desired to deal fairly with producers) it promised Unit full ■ onsideration would be given statement if any losses were sustained by lliem through the cancellation. Subsequently, the "Mail" reports, intimation was received that the Government had extended for one month the time laid down for tho accepting of Fcheelite shipped.

The Rev. John Snapc. D.D., pastor of the Hollywood Baptist Church, Los Angeles, suggests the following ;,s the lCaiser's epitaph:—"Here lie- a monsterWilliam Hohcnzollern. For M years he held 'sceptred ;sway over 70 million souls. Swollen with pride and arrogance, and consumed with the lust of world-conquest, ho plunged tho nations into war. For four horrible year's his legions stormed the gates of civilisation, battered at the foundations of democracy, and trailed their slimy way across the doorways of oomesticity. Tliey defiled virginity, despoiled leninlcs, destroyed treasures, doported civilians, depopulated com munities, and defied the world. But. the king is dead, and his dream of cosmic rule lies (jlialtercd like the cruiilieo.' fragments of n fragile vase. Tho monarch departs, but tho man lives—a. fugitive from his Fatherland, the Cain of civilisation, the Judas of humanity, the monster of history. He claimed familiarity with Deily, yet did the Devil's work. Ho sent his subjects to destruction and his sons to safety. He started n conflagration that lacked but little of burning up a world. Ho failed in his ambition only through tho sacrifice of 20 billions of dollars and eight millions of lives. He lo«t his crown, his throne, his country—aiitt gained tho hatred of mankind. God lives, truth endures, peace reigns, freedom is established, justice vindicated, and the defenders of democracy are tho saviours of tho world."

Apple profiteers are being brought to book in the English police courts, most of them under the old Older which fixed the maximum price for stated sorts and sizos of apples at Bd. per lb. Francesco Dallaniuro, Pimlico, charged with selling such apples at 2s. Gd. per lb., was fined £2 and a guinea costs. Nathaniel Field, who charged Is. 9d. per lb., said that ho was under -Hie impression that the Order applied to cooking apples only. Fined il and a guinea costs. Israel Swentsky was fined ,W> for imposing a condition on the sale of apples. He refused to sell apples unless nuts and oranges were bought. These offences were in London. At Brighton William Larry Marsh was fined J:00 for selling apples above the maximum price. He was said to have had 250 bushels, and if he had sold them all at the price he asked he would havo made an illicit profit oi i! 800.

A romantic episode in relation to the Gallipoli campaign is brought into special prominence in a dispatch received recently from the A.I.F. heaoquarters, London, by tho Acting Minister of Defence in Australia. 'After the Anzacs had established themselves upon Gallipoli," relates nil English newspaper, "tho Second Australian Brigade wa3 removed lo the southern portion of the peninsula to co-operate with British troops in the operations of early May. Tho brigade "rained ita objectives, but lost heavily. One of ils eoldicrs found a photograph of a girl on a portion of the fought-ovcr ground and the picture so impressed him (hat lie has retained it ever since. Coming over to England for his first leave in February last, he phownd the photograph to a canteen worker, saying that though it scemetf impossible that he should do so, he would like to meet the original of it. The lady said the picture greatly resembled a friend of hers, and offered to arrange an introduction. The Australian is now married. The photograph was identified as one that had b?en given by tho lady it depicten' to her husband, who was killed in the Gallipoli operations. But the widow is not sacrificing the memory of her dead husband nor discarding her weeds. Tho photograph was taken years ago, and it is the daughter of tho original and tho dead snloier that- the Anzac will take tack with his to Australia."

Tho -"Melbourne Argus" says:—Queensland has'tho misfortune to bo the only State in which the worst elements are behind the existing How debased those forces have become is revealed by the Brisbane "Worker," which has published in its columns a blas,plicmous travesty, on Bolshevism. The full text would be so offensive to every decent-minded person that it cannot be Ijiven. Its grossness may be judged from the fact that it deals with a revolution in Heaven organised' by the Bolsheviks, and the principal sub-heading is "God Abdicates." The name of the Deity is bandied about; there 'Is a ribald "jest" about the Virgin Mary, and an infamous reference to tho Saviour. This brazen affront to the community has been resented in Brisbane, but,so far no person in the Labour ranks has had the wurago to disown a, word of it. Truly the Ifyau Government should be proud of tho support which, keeps it in office.

Immediately after recording her vols on the liquor issue at Wakefieltf (Nelson) on Thursday afternoon Mrs. Harold Evan, a lady over 70 years rf age collapsed. She was taken to. the Wakefield Hotel, but expired two hours later.

An accident occurred on the ketch AVill Watch as she was proceeding down Auckland harbour on Thursday uiqrning, en route to Whangaroi. When hoisting sail off Devonport a sailor named llarlin .Gustafson, aged 58, a native of Sweden, fell backwards and struck his head on tho hatch-comings. Ho was severely injured, and the vessel returned to Auckland, and landed him for removal to the hospital.

Vriduv was the -fortieth anniversary of llu! death d Dr. George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of Lichfield, and formerly of New 'Zealand. Bishop Selwyn died in England on April 11, 187S, at the n"e of CO. He was consecrated the first [ii'shop of New Zealand in 1811. He went to England in July, 1807, to attend the Lambeth Conference, and lie remained there, and was enthroned Bishop of Lichfield on January !), ISSB. Later in the «ame year he came back fo A'cw Zealand and presided at the General Synod In <"''« ' !I,u '-' ' >lu ' l of ly ' 8 ,!p jolurned to Midland to take up the work of (he bishopric,of Lichfield. He wis very cln.-clv identified with the early hi'slorv'of \'i".v 'Zealand, and it was he who established the Anglican Cliurcn in New Zealand upon >t< foundations, lie was (lip founder of SI. John's College.

Tho men of Wellington and District will learn with considerable pleasure of (ho popularity of "Cnrlington Uu.proof Trench Coats. Anyone rajimw one of these Smart Coats should call early, as wo can eel »° morc lh,s ' ;i ' !ir ' on - T;nvlS and Clater, Ladies' and Gentlemen's Ontfittors 216 Lambton Quay, Wellington. Advt.'

Discussing tho contemplated changes and improvements at Motuihi Quarantine Station, the Chief Health Officer, Dr. T. 11. A. Vnliutino, said it was iutoiulcd to construct a new wharf nt a moro suitable site than the present one. A! present, he said, difficulty was experienced in unloading at the wharf when the weather was at all tough, and a new anchorage and-wharf site lad been chosen in a more sheltered position at the island—"New Zealand Herald."

A new phase of Bolshevism nas manifested itsolf at Sydney, where a police constable attacked a returned soldier and called him opprobrious names. Following so closely on the heels of the action of the Brisbane police in protecting Russian Bolsheviks in that city, it is a remarkable development, which- has stirred the Sydney "Telegraph" to outspoken criticism. It says: "Astonishment is a mild word with which to characterise'thc public feeling engendered by the evidence given in the Police Court in the case in which Captain Henry Maddrell a returned soldier of the A .1.1?., was proceeded against bv Constable Lnycock on a charge of assault. In the courso of his evidence Captain Maddrell stated that this constablo said to him: "that will do, you jackdaw; Willie, where's your cane?' Witness replied that he was no Willie «nd that he had four and a half years' service to his credit. Ho asked the constablo to leavo his sister's name out of it, and to take him into custody instead. He was then taken in charge- As the Magistrate, after hearing further evidence, dismissed the case against Captain Maddrell, it mav he- inferred that he believed the statement of the military officer to be more reliable than that of the constable. It can hardly be denied by anv unprejudiced person that the words said to have been used by the constable to Captain Maddrell were grossly provocative and insulting. The decorations which the returned Anzac wears are marks of honour conferred on him by his country for courage and good service in the field. That a constablo should sueer at him for wearing these decorations is incredible. ... Tor a. policeman charged with the responsibility of preserving the peace to use insulting language to anv citizen calculated to provoko disorder would ho intolerable, hut to insult (ho uniform and the honour decorations of a soldier who had served his country in the" war is outrageous, Surely the matter is not going to rest where the Police Court proceedings left it."

The Royal Humane Society of New Zealand was constituted in 1898, and during its lifetime the society has granted 105 letters of commendation, 152 certificates, 108 bronze medals, 81 silver med.ais, 7 gold medals, and 21 "in niemori.im" certificates. The, Stead gold medal lias been awarded in three cases, .

The custom of convicting and dischargins those who, being charged with drunkenness, are "first offenders," was referred to by Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., in the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court. His Worship said he did not know why this should he done, that a man should In let off because it was his first offence, or, more especially, because he was a "statutory first offendpr," through not having been convicted in the preceding six months. The Magistrate said that in future he did not intend not to fine an inebriate merely because he did not happen lo have been convicted within the previous six months. If. a man could afford to be drunk he could afford to pay a fine.

A complaint that the office of the medical superintendent of To Waikato Sanatorium (Dr. G. M. Scott) had been used as a mortuary was recently received by the executive of the Auckland Patriotic Association, and forwarded to the Minister 'of Public Health (the Hon. G. W. Russell), states the "New Zealand Herald." A communication on the. subject was received on Wednesday by the executive from the Minister. The Minister stated that, owing to the uusuitabilily of the' mortuary at the sanatorium, the complaint was unfortunately true. The circumstances under which the practice of using Dr. Scott's office for mortuary .purposes had grown up were somewhat special. For some timo his Department had been giving consideration to the whole question of dealing with consumption, and finite a number of developments to Te Waikato Sanatorium had, on that account, been suspended, as the adoption of certain proposals now Jn view might involve a radical change in the i»°nt's policy in this connection. The Minister said he had. however, given instructions that a small building, suitable for a mortuary, was to bo provided at the sanatorium without delay. Steps were being taken accordingly. It was decided to forward Mr. Russell's letter to the Waikato Returned Soldiers' Association, from which body the original' complaint emanated.

A British, naval surgeon tells this_story aliout King George's visit to tho Grand I Fleet just prior to the surrender of the German Fleet (says' a message to the American papers from London, under date of December 28). Some while back it was officially announcid that on armistice day His Majesty took wine for the first time—except on the ailvice of his medical man after his accident in Franco—since, as an example to the nation lie and the late Lord, Kitchener, in the early days of the wv,r, became total abstainers. Evidently, however, the announcement mentioned escaped the notice of the Navy, for this is what happened: When the King, accompanied by the Prince of .Wales, went aboard one of Britain's most famous Dreadnoughts, ithqro was some slight embarrassment. 'Finally an officer took , the Prince of Wales aside and begged permission to ask if His Majesty was still teetotal. The Prince laughed and replied that the answer was. in the negative. Then His Koyal Highness added: "Do yon know, that was the first question I asked ■ father when I got home."

"A road of peace," in the form of a grand national highway as a monument to the soldiers who have fought-in the great war, is the dream of Mr. S. Hurst Seager, honorary organiser for the Town Planning Exhibition shortly to bo held in Wellington (says an exchange). "Heaven forbid," said Mr. Seager, "that wo should repeat the fearful memorials of the Boer war, but let us rather enter upon a scheme which vould prove permanently useful and ' permanently beautiful." The speaker went on to paint in the details of his general scheme in the rosy colours of enthusiasm, suggesting that such a highway as he advocated should be lined with trees and should have appropriate, but plain and inexpensive, monument* erected at intervals along its course. Mr. Seager also outlined a plan for the building of garden cities for returned soldiers on this high-t way, and stated that the best brains in the country ought to be devoted to the elaboration and execution of the whole scheme. ■

During the talcing of the licensing poll in a country school in Central Otago it was discovered that the temperance wall sheet provided by the Education Board had been rolled up and put away, somewhat torn.. The scrutineer for "the trade" assisted the New Zealand Alliaiico scrutineer in repairing it'and affixing it to the school wall again.. As the sheet asserts inter alia that "beer, wine, and spirits contain a dangerous substance called alcohol, which is harmful to the body," that it "lowers (lie powers of the body to resist disease," and that "many crimes ure caused through drink," it «ill hardly be suggested (states a southmi paper) that the liquor representative was a hardened bigot.

Lyttclton does not possess a host of motor-cars and cabs; in fact, four motorcars, four traps, and three wagonettes aro about the- only conveyances owned in the port (says the "Lyt'teltou Times"). Thcso were all put in commission on Thursday for the elections. Some amusement was caused by a certain draught horse, drawing a wagonette, which at tho time was to convey tho licensee of an hotel to the polling booth at tho courthouso. When the passenger got into the conveyance the horse refused .to go forward. Persuasion, mild and forcible, was tried lo induce tho animal to get a move on, but on no account would it move, except backwards. The hotelkeoper finally got out, and led the horse somo distance. lie then boarded tho conveyance again, but the horse still refused to pull. After further persuasive efforts the licensee deoided U> walk, declaring that tho liorso was an "out and out prohibitionist."

.Tust the cream of the best outs goes to make Doctors' Cream O'Groats. Try this delioious N.Z. preparation—always fresh. -Advt.