The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY APRIL 6, 1916. LOCAL & GENERAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 6 April 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY APRIL 6, 1916. LOCAL & GENERAL

Captuin Hardham, V.0., is at present 011 a visit ta Levin. He is staying with Mr 11. iDrkcolli, Bartholomew road. I'Yoni a notice issued to recruits for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force : '"You should report wearing a pan - o< serviceable boots, and with your toilet outfit. No additional ciothing \s required." Practically all of the new shares issued by the Zealand "Distributing Company, 'Limited, last year, have been taken up. Tlie company's now is assured of a strong liivanee, ami as fi result of this its operations are showing; very satisfactory expansion and profit. We are in receipt, (says the Ilutt and Pet one Chronicle) of a letter withdrawing the Wellington Woollen Company's advertisement from the Chronicle "as the mill is now closedi and as it is now not needed." , We ironder If our outspoken remarks oil the dispute has Mused the directors to further curtail their expenditure However, the giving of an advertisement does not control our opinions. The tomatjo caterpillar (Heliotbii obsoletia) is making its appearance 'n some of the tomato crops in the Ashburton district this season. Specime have been left with the -weal Jfiel Is Inspector who says that it its a difficult pest to deal with. If the affected crop is a small, one it is desirable r-o go through it ana" remove the affected fruit so as to prevent the pupation of the caterpillars. The dull, fawn-col-oured will probably be seen, and should he destroyed. A Southland farmer, in an interview with a Southland' Times reporter, said that he regarded the estimates of the grain yields very much the same as tue average man regards lishing stories. The 100 'bushel crops ol oats in Southland this year will he lew and far between',. the CO bu§hel ones common, and the 40 bushel ones much more so. Government statistics on this particular product will, lie maintained!, continue to be absolutely vain jess until there is some system of threshing-mill returns adopted. The rise in the cost of paper is hitting the big Australian newspapers pretty hard. The morning papers in Melbourne and Sydney use a- lot o paper each issue, especially every Saturday when they consist of 24 pages. A copy of the Melbourne Age, duted Saturday, March 25th. arrived at the Chronicij office this week. It was in 24 pages made up of six sheets,, each 42 inches long or a total or seven yards for each paper. The daily circulation of the Ago is 151."JO, which multiplied hy seven gives over a million yards of paper, or a strip 603 miles long and 26 inches wide. Eacli paper weighs nine ounces or a total of 38 tons. A few pounds added to the cost per ton of paper makes a great difference in the credit account at the bank at the end of the year. But 6uch papers as the Age can stand this, there tieing a lot of money in them. In fact, there is a lot of 'money in all' newspapers—put there either hy the proprietary or bv tile public.

The condition of the Rev. H. T. Stoaiey shows continued improvement but it. will Ibe sometime yet before he is able to get about.

A caaracc. iistic French incident is narrated by tne Figaro.* l'he oiliciaL receiver ol war loan contributions at Chatou was visited a few days ago by a sturdy old peasant. He carried a •canvas wag m ins hanu, soiled wxtii eartii anu ua.iug ai/i the appearance oi having dug out oi a secret lading place underground. "L am bringing ou IS,I JO . ;u..« (£/20) in this," he said. (Jut came the loug-lioarded gold and notes which were uuiy handed over, anil when the oflicial receiver thduiicdl the old peasant, lor so substantia* a contribution he simply replied: "Tliey ha ve / Killed my soil. J'herel'ore 1 give you all.'' It is a general belief in newspaper eirciis (says the Taranaki Daily -News) that before the present war is over every paper in the .Dominion will be compelled tu reduce its size by onehall, unless of course, more freight than is in sight becomes available. An indication thet paper _is becoming scarce is afforded to patrons of the local reading room-. Hitherto there was a fine variety of Dominion newspapers placed at the disposal of readers Now each week sees au_oldi date pencil'ied ''Last one forwardel." •ill 1 11. J. Richards, provincial representative of the New Zealand Farmers' Union has returnee]: to Levin from a trip to Wanganui and district. lie informed a Chronicle reporter yesterday, that he had secured 114 mow members for the Wanganui branch of iho union. Seventy of these were gained iast week: JO at Waver'*>y and 30 at Mangaweko. He goes to Himterville next week, to interview the farmers of that district. He reports/, also, that good support is being given to the proposal to establish at Wellington a Dominion Farmers' Institute; shares in this venture having been taken up 'by farmers throughout the province. In fntuie parents desiring *o get a son under the age of 20 years out .ol the Expeditionary Force Reinforcements, must produce his birth certificate in support of their claim that he is under age. Moreover, either they or the" sun must pay for the cost of maintenance at the rate of 2s per day, cost of uniform, and refund the railway and steamer charges. There has been a certain amount _of trouble with parents iately, and. these regulations will be enforced rigidly in the future. It is a curious but none the less indisputable fact that some parents do not seem to know the ages of Ciieir own children. A prohibited man in Carterton a few > ears ago was •'fortunate" enough to procure a bottle of whisky, (savs the "•Wairarapa Times"). As he was mounting his cart- to drive off home he noticed a policeman eyeing him suspiciously. flow to (save tb£ whisky was the uppermost thought, and the man left his cart anil dashed into a butcher's shop. The polyps-man followed him, but could find nothing. As the policeman turne d to leave the place his eye fell 1 en the brine tub in,which the butchers pickles their nieatF Serenely hobbling about in the heavy salt waiter was the bottle of whisky which was proinptk confiscatedl. 'Hie nwm was fined €t and c-fits for being in possession of liquor while a prohibition order was in- force.

A curious civil action came before MrWyvern Wilson, S.M., at Westport lant week (says the "Tillies'';. Aliss Iviizabcitb Tottenham sued Mrs Louisa Hastings for £(5. which she alleged: had been dedue.ed i.om her uy J.'i. :i l.mt at the rate of 10, a month, iVr tho Sick and Wounded Soshlrier®' Fund, but had never been paid over by defendant. Phuiitie audi defendant were employed in K'leaniiig-out tjlie Post ■Office, and for some time tliev each received £3 10s per mouth. Later on the deduction, as alleged, was made, .by the defendant and under the cir-' cuunstances assented to by the plaintiff: but she afterwards heard from one of the postal officials that he knew < f no such deduction being made from other .salaries for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers' Fund. On the other hand, the defendant alleged thai she deducted the money from plaintiff because she had to stand all the complaints. The Magistrate snid he .felt hound to •believe -th- plaintiff's, evidennee, and gave judgement in equity for amount c',aimed, with £2 6s costs. • Mr Oottrell appeni'n!i for plaintiff, and Mr Moloney for defendant. The Methodist Girls' uuild will hold a social gathering in tho Century Hall (Levin) t >night. There will he a musical program and games. Admission 'will be one shilling, and the proceeds will go to the Red Cross Fund:. Some strange stories have 'been told in connection with the war (says ''lie Timai'u 'Tost"), and one of the latest is worth recording in print. It is vouched fo; by a .gentleman ill touch with military affairs, and happened only in December last, when the British War Office aeronautic experts were testing the ulablity and craft uo&ty of the latest aeroplane fitted with the very latest conception of aircraft gunnery. A trial was ordered a specified time at the famous uendon Aerodrome and for'this purpose special mechanics were deputed to fly the machine. Some two hours before the time Bet- for the trial, two allegedly Imperial officers arrived at the aerodrome, and ordered a preliminary test. They boardedi the machines with the mechanics, soared into the clouds, and landed on German soil. Further explanations are unnecessary, hut the story is founded on fact. Several cases for recovery of debts were lieardi at Levin S.M. Court today by Mr J. \V. I'oynton, S.M. Judgment by default of defendants w«s entered for plaintiffs in the following ca.-e.i:—Levin BorougS Council v. Grey F. Phillips, £0 ss, costs £1 (is; N. C. Holdaway v. Mare Muru«hi, l"4s, costs 10s; .same v. Patu Watson, El ss, costs 10s; same v. Moses Pakuraku, £1 17s 6d, costs TOs. Exemption from attending all casual and annual training camps--has been granted to Harry McDonald Essex, farmer, of lieatherlea. Cevin, on lite groundi of scarcity of hired help. The application was heard at Levm ti. d;.y by Mr I'oynton, S.M. William Raid, charged with failure to aHfiiid did: on the Bth March, did not appear ;w Court. He was fine.' _'os. Uandall. tor having ridden a eycAe, by night, without a li wa.-> convicted and discharged. Pob< r> Melton. charged with_ having assaulted John Thomas Oa'K, was defended by Mr W. S. Park. He was convicted and ordered to pay court ;:oits. A caibit.'gram from Lo" !«>••' inn. unces the death of Donald Win.. •. :ho worldfamous athlete. lie toured New /jealand about, t.nity years 'ago. Dmine was reputed to have «'<>■ ten thousand'contents in running and other athletic sports.

Levin S.il. Court returns for the quarter ended 31at ultimo sJioav that eighteen app&cuticiis for old age penbioUK ivefe received!; isixteen w®re granted. aud two refused. i'lie amount 01 lilies. ijvied in ci\il and criminal case.* aggregateui Jj'2i) da. Inere were live sittings ox the court, and in ail forty cases were heard. Ttie aggregate amount sued lor was £1004 i/s, and 'oi this £575 IDs wye recovered. teix judgment summonses were issued and. one order made thereunder. One distress warrant was issued. Within a radius of two miiies there were «h> summonses served and over iwo miles 22 were served. Two distress warrants were executed by the bailiff and assistant® within two miles and. live distress warrants were executed over two miles. Of the lines recovered £1 10s went to the Horowhenua County Council. This sum accrued from lines levied on owners oi wandering stock.