The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1916. Local and General

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 January 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1916. Local and General

% Tiie Chronicle will not bo published on Anniversary Day (Saturday next.) There will be a partial eclipse of tl'.d moon to-night and il the sky be cloudless it will be visible liero. L'lie campaign of the new Department ot Recruiting in Ireland ha,s been inaugurated by full-page advortiiomeuts in ail the Irish newspapers, and by a~ personal letter l'roni tlie Lieutenant, who is Director-General of the Department, to all men of military age in the country. This latter statjs that oO.OOQ new-TrisTi recruits are required. Probably there is no person in the Dominion whose name lias appeared more frequently in Police Court records tlwit Eliza I.estrange (says the New Zealand' Herald). until less than ;i month ago she lia« been out vi the public eye. under a two months' sen twice in Mount Eden gaol, but on Saturday she was again before the police court for drunkenness on what SubInspector Mcllveny stated to be her 217 th appearance, thongn he doubted whether even that record was complete.

Alter a most enjoyable trip to Auckland the Rev. li. T. Stealey returned bo Levin a few days ago much benefited by his trip. While in the north he visited the Maori training camp ;it Is a row Neck, whore lie saw several Maoris from the Lovin and Otaki districts, and. also several- of liis oM friends from Maori College in Hawke's Bay.

Lance-Corporal Owen Whitehouse. of Levin, writes to his relatives iron Heliopilis (Egypt) where Jie is undergoing training with the i\ew Zealaicl Seventli Contingent. At time of writing he had not seen much of the country, "as there had been no pay-; ay since leaving Hobart," but a pay-'> it was imminent, and he hopedto see some of the sights in his coining spare tune. The heat wns gre«t, hut all the men were in good health. He saw several men who left Levin in earlier contingents, Private A. Smith, of Levin, toeing amongst the number.

A recent visitor to the .Maori training camp at Narrow Neck, Auckland states thai some difliculty is being experienced in feeding the uutivo i uriiits from the South tioa Islands. In the lood being totally different to what iliey htive been accustomed to m the islands. In one case a, party o> new arrivals, on being served wifclt roast beef, potatoes and rice pudding mixed the whole together and then poured their tea over the mixture. Very few *ot the islanders can speak English.

Under the heading oi "A Poor Joke.'* the Chrisfehurcb News pti lishe.v u report oi ail extraordinai y case heard in the Magistrate's Court there. Certain persons as a "joke" accused a man oi a horrible offence, and extorted money trout liim. It appears to have been a wholly false accusation, but it it? one regarded, i\ith such horror ill at men accused hare been known to commit suicide rather than face the light to clear themselves. It is in England a common source of revenue to blackmailers. let here tw.i offenders ©scaped without other punishment tthan a conviction, one with a fine of £5 and all three to disgorge their paltry but ill-gotten gains. Surely such, an offence cries out for exemplary punishment. Otherwise no man in the community would be safe.

Levin hadi warm weathef yesterday. Over eighty degrees in the shade was registered at 1 p.m., but an hour later the temperature' dropped to 75. ' The price of breed will be raised to 4Jd the 21b loaf in n ellington next week. Keplace advertisements troin Messiii X Jennian, hairdresser, and A. W. Smith (cycle dealer), will appear tomorrow. Tlnee children Vera, Ulive, and Sam Slumlord, aged ten, seven and six r'~ spectively, were drowned m the la':* - at lliccartou racecourse yesterday afternoon. They were paddling and slipped over a shell into nine feet oi' water. The lighthouse- keeper at Waipap'i lieart Foitrose, Southlaud, tells of an interesting visitor he entertained during eight months until a short time ago Regularly each evening a seal clambered over the rocks and through the tussocks and vegetation to the foot ol the lighthouse, a distance oi some 200 yards, and there spent, tne night. Ths animal was quite tame and was a source of much interest to the children. Occasionally he would oversleep himself until midday, and on waking yawn prodigiously, note which way the tidal current was setting, and thereafter strike out to sea. During the next fortnight (says the "Mauawatu Standard") the greater portion of the 400 men ot the New Zealand Medical Corps, now in training at Awapuni racecourse, un ier Colonel Hardie Neil, will have completed tlieir training anti be drafted out to different spheres of usefulness*. This week a number of them, under Captain Wilson, will join the Maheno. They will all be fully trained in their work. An even larger exodus from the camp will be that of the Field Ambulance, which is to join the 3rd and 4th Battalioiis ot the Rifle Brigade. Colonel Hardie Neil will g j with the Field Ambulance. The camp fit Awapuni is however, an established training place for the Medical Corps, and every week fresh drafts have been going in to take the plac' o f those who go on active service.

Otaki is the most Jiistoric township nil this ceast and its climate and beautiful and peaceful surroundings should make it an ideal "pleasure resort. Instead ot attracting hundreds of people from Wellington, very few iind their way there. Perhaps the Otuki people are to blame in thi.s connection for not advertising the sights ond providing suitable aoonnnodation. A trip up the gorge provides a sight never to be forgotten. The scenes once familiar to the great fighting cliic'l i'e Rauaparaha, and Ins lieutenant, llangimhaeta, are well worth tramping over to students of Maori history. Then there is the site of Bishop Hadfield's first residence and the Maori Church, the first builciing ot its kind in the Dominion. The sea beach is close handy rind a glorious view of Kapiti is obtain ed With a little enterprise"' Otaki could become one of- the chief health resorts and show places in the Dominion.— Foxton Herald.

A curious will lias just been setthd containing a moral worth a wider cil- - than a miser's last testament often obtains. The poor man died, when to general surprise it was found he left £34,000. The £30,000 in package, signed and sealed, was to be given to his native town; one thousand each to three brothers, and one thousand to a friend with whom he had quarrelled. It was stipulated that none of the four should follow the body to the grave, which suggestion the three brothers gladly accepted... but the quarrellcr walked alone, and forfeited his £1000 for the saTce of paying a last mitigating honour. When the package was opened for the town it disclosed another will, giving the £30,000 to any of the four who should disregard the stipulation.

For the Horowhenua A. and P. Association's Annual Show, to bo held nest AVednesday, 2(itli January, satisfactory entries have been received, and everything points to a succ ssful function being achieved. The interest shown ill the Butter Fat Competition is much keener than last year, there being nine entries for this as again.sUfive last year. Keen competition is also noticeable in the dairy, classes,, in which Air AY. .M. Clark is donating a five guinea cup, to be won on points; and Messrs Stiles and Matheson a •special cash prize of three guineas to be won outright, for the best da fry cow. All competition dosses have filled well, and the public can look forward to witnessing some good, sport. The show profits are to be given to the Patriotic Fund, and the Association feels sure of hearty public patronage.

Mr. John Redmond, replying to a correspondent who drew his attentioJ to a newspaper statement that largo numbers of young Irishmen were em igrating from Ireland in order to avoid compulsory military service, writes:— J tliink my best course is to send you the most recent official figures with regard to emigration ' trom Irelan. l. In the year 1013, 30.907 persons eniigranted from Ireland; in 1914, 20,314 persons emigrated from Ireland; and in 1915, up to the end oi September 11,446 persons emigrated from Ireland. In the months of July, August and September, 1914, the total emigration front Ireland was 8,319: in the same months for this year the total emigration from Ireland was 4,429. From this it appears that Irish emigration is dropping m a most remarkable degree—at least 50 per cent.—and that the decrease is going on up to the preee-'.t moment. I see that a similar statement is made in some papers with regard to the alleged emigration of young men of military age from Great Bn - oin. __ Though there may do some oases cf this kind:. I think it will be found in investigation that it is as little true of Great Britain as it is of Ireland.