Letter from the chairman of the Recruiting Board

We have received the following communication from the chairman of the Recruiting Board in Wellington: - ``For some time past the Defence officers, as well as the Recruiting Committees throughout the dominion, have been compiling lists of families that come within the provisions of section 35 of the Military Service Act. This is the section that empowers the Minister of Defence, if he is satisfied with respect to any family that it consists of or includes two or more brothers who belong to the first division of the reserve, and are not permanently medically unfit, to call on any or all of these brothers to show cause before a Military Service Board why they should not be called upon for service in the Expeditionary Force.

``A total of between 1000 and 2000 names have been submitted to Defence Headquarters as coming within the category. Steps are now being taken to verify the particulars with respect to each of these men in order to ensure that the notice to appear before a Military Service Board shall only be served on those to whom section 35 does apply. It is expected that the progress of these inquiries will be sufficiently advanced to enable the first batch of notices to be sent out late this week, and they will then be despatched unless in the meantime the men concerned have, by voluntary enlistment, removed themselves from the operation of section 35. It is intended to send these notices out through the group commanders, who have been instructed to cancel the notices in all cases where the men named therein have since come forward and voluntarily enlisted. Although the Act empowers the Minister of Defence to call on `any or all of these brothers', it is intended to serve a notice on every brother in the first division, no matter how many may be affected in a family, and leave the Military Service Board to decide as to how many brothers from one family shall serve.

``The Recruiting Board, therefore, wishes clearly to warn all brothers who belong to the first division of the reserve that this is their last chance to enlist voluntarily. After this week they will be soldiers of the Expeditionary Force unless they can show cause to a Military Service Board why they should not be called up for service.''

A new port in Foveaux Strait will shortly be opened at Mussel Beach (states the Bluff Press), where an Australian firm proposes to expend 25,000. A township of 25 houses will be built, and also a wharf. The syndicate owns two steamers, and will take a hand in the timber industry.

The country round about Mussel Beach is heavily timbered, and forms one of the finest stretches of natural, uncut forest in New Zealand. The Hump (3000ft) is beautifully wooded with silver birch, and the beautiful little-known Lakes Houroto, Poteritiri, and Monowai lie inland.

In the course of a very interesting talk on ``Motor Fuels'', given to the Otago Institute last night, Professor Inglis expressed surprise that more use was not made of coal tar products in this country. The valuable spirits benzole and toluole, so much in demand in the manufacture of dye-stuffs and explosives and for other chemical purposes, were simply allowed to escape into the air, he said.

For some reason people who manufactured gas here did not think it worth their while to pay attention to things of that type. The products he had named could quite easily be removed and incidentally the tar would be improved by their absence. - ODT, 4.10.1916.

 - Copies of photo available from ODT front office lower Stuart St, or www.otagoimages.co.nz