LOCAL & GENERAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 May 1916, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL

The lollowing volunteers enlisted at the local recruiting office last week :— A. I'. Bignal, L/Cvin (infantry) ; J. H. Doyle, Koputaroa (infantry)N. Porter, Koputaroa; (A.S.C.)

Alternative tenders are invited by Levin SchooJ Committee for, (1) general cleaning of school' buildings, cutting grass * a'nd trimming hedges; and (2). general cleaning only. Details are sot oh by advertisement on pagie 3.

By a seemingly miraculous providenco an accidental fire-arm fatal I 'ty was averted a few days ago. A r'fle, carried by George McDonald, a local lad,, was accidentaljly: discharged through the carrier tripping over ail obstacle. The bullet passed throtgh the bicep of his arm and) made a clean, exit through the flesh, missing tlie vrtery and the bone' by. an irreducible margin .of snfoty. ' Dr Sorley, who attended the found, regards tho escape from serious, if not fatal, injury, -as' almost, remarkable.—AV&imarino County cTa'n.

From a reporter's view-poiril local 'authority meetings are often enough suggestive of a Sahara of sawdust. There is, however, an oooaisional oasis. At the Town Board! meeting last evening, a. number of the Inspection Committee reported that a certain culvert was sometimes completely choked up with corks! The humor grew aipace when it was pointed out that, his own business quarters were very handy to this particular culvert. It was a simple matter to advance the theory tliax the corks were washed. clown tlie channel by rain water, and then was suspicion averted to several immaculate mem bers whose premises were on the line of route. Still another culvert ivas similarly reported; upon amid renewed amusement.—Waimarino County Call.

Sir Robert Stouit, Oliiot Justice, lias consented to. write to the "Herald," giving his impressions of Foxton ind some thinigs ho thinks he needs. Sir Robert knows a good deal of what- lias been accomplished *{n France by tree planting in the "Lnndes, 1 ' and w.ill uo doubt touch on this question, which is of importance to sand, drift country. Herald. An old farmer down the country, giving instructions for his will, direoied a legacy of £5000 to be given to his wife. Being informed some distinction was usually made in case the wid(o\V married again lie doubled the Bum, and when told that this was oontrarv to custom, he said, with heartfelt sympathy lor his possible successor, he saiil "Ay, but him that gets her'il deserve it."

Ail Bavaria is in mourning over the death of the chacpion sharpshooter 01 Crown Prinoe Kupprecht's army, Lance-Corpora 1 Georg Herrnreiter, wli'o was shot in tho storming operations in the west on January 28th. As a large Bavarian contingent lias been stationed continuously opposite the British lines in Flanders, it is possible that a bullet fired! by a Tommy Brouiht Hernirfititer to grief. The Munich newspapers describe the dead sharpshooter as "a coftl-blood champion shot, who in civilian life, was a common workman flrom the district of Lower Bavaria, which is famed for vf® brutal customs." Herrnreiter is said t > have killed "his eighty-sirtli Frenchman." He was extremely popular with his superior officers 'because of ,a quite remarkable genius for observation. During the war he earned- not, only the inevitable Iron Cross, but ( numerous other decorations, and on ono occasion, after a particularly brilliant shot, was permitted to review his regiment alongside of his general and to eat dinner in the officers' mess. Herrnreiter, who appears to have been something of a nationa* hero i n Bavaria, was Ailed with megalomaniac belief in his immunity from harm, notwithstanding that the sharpshooter's tree from which he was accustomed to operate was "a Tavourite target of enemy infantry and l artillery and hat his rifle was twice entirely and once partially shot to pieces in his hand. '

A young man (in khaki) named Clarence Ward, pleadied guilftv at tho | I'aliia.oua Magistrate's Court on \Ve<lI nesdav on a charge of using explosive in tho Hanga'lainoka river, at Hainii;i, 011 March 12th. Ccnstaible Burrel «wud Ward was one of til© three caught .n the act of destroying trout, and on« of the number had .been fined on last Court day. The charge was laid under the Fisheries Act, 1908, and gelignite was by the defendants to destroy trout in the river. The defendants were detected! by the Acoli matisation's honorary ranger. Mr U. H. D. Yin it'll. A great number Atrout had Tjoon Iciljicml by the explos-? ive. -Tworney, the alleged ring-lender of tho trio, who is missing, lias yet to -be dealt with. The Magistrate ch-r----acterised the offence as worse than fishing with out a license. It was a wasteful proceeding. Defendant who belongs to the 14tli Reinforcements, was convicted and fined sft), frith costs Vs, in default 21 days' imprisonment. He wae allowed a week in which to pay the amount.

This is from the Daily Mail of March 22nd': ''Our New York cable in yesterday's Daily Mail announcing that Charlie Chap>in had signed a contract with a Mr Freuler, of an American film company, at a salary of £134,000 with a stipulation that he shall not visit Great Britain and run -the risk to a single man of military age of being conscripted, was receivoa with disfavor both m film and in pubi'.c circles n London yesterday. We have received several letters asking if it is patriotic to go to see Chaplin films. One correspondent asks lioiv Mr Chaplin invents hiiis , savings—In American stocks vr British war loan ?''

An "absent minded beggai. —A prominent Hastings shopkeeper, either by fore© of habit or "eke in a Rip van" Winkle state of mind, opened his premises on. a recent. Sunday. Ho whs standing at his shop door as usual waiting for , customers (says tho Hawke« Bay tr.bune), when a man in blue happened along. Tho shopkeeper, on bo ing asked if lie know what day it was 6aid lie didn't, know, but on being told it was the Sabbath day, woke up, rubbed his eyes, took off his apron, and inade a rush, tp, close Ills 6hop. It :s said he has since been studying the calendar to find out .how long his lapse has ' been.

At tue second day or the Wangauui Jockey Club's winter meeting held an SatuwJiay, the Grandstand Steepiecasa was won.by Captain MacKy, Nita being second .aiid.. Ma'rton third. Tho ftata Hack Hurdles fell to Jiransfield, Austin and Golden March tollowing in that order. Crown Pearl accounted for the May' .Hurdles, Styrax being second and Vladian thirci. The Empire) Handicap fellr to Square 1/eal,

George being a good aecondi and Client .third. Tho Farewell Handicap was won by Ligtning, who beat the labourite, .-Maid i>' Gwvrie, by half a length.,wit}) an outsider in ELaupai in third place.

Sir Robert Stout Bounded a note owarniing at Tuesday's sitting of the Levin-lirateford railway deviation Commission when evidence' was being heard on land values in the KaingitiEei district. Sir Robert said he had Been three land booms in New Zealand since lie first came -here. Property which was bought aft a certaan figure i nly realized half its , value when submitted to auction • fiix monthls later. He said at the present time there was a liability to over valuation. People were estimating land values on ihe price of produce. . Tilii® was absurd, and .people should ~ : be careful that such a, practice did not lead to disastrous results.—Standard.

In oho course of an interview with n "Press" representative, Mr J. An/jtey, M.P. for Waitaki, saidf .in reply to a question as to whether his (sympathies were with those who offered bo mil 'h destructive criticism of the Minister o. ■Defence, -that they certainly were not. The-Hon. James Allien, he said, had gone up, immensely in the estimation of the House by reason of the splendid work he was doing. He worked early and late in a most thorough atodl paiT6taking way, was most courteous to all with whom he had to do, and: wolf* deserved, the complimentary reference oi those who were best able to judge o. the value of his arduous and very responsible work. It couldi 'be 6aid tor him that he had "delivered the goodls,' and they were goods of the "beet quality-

Few people are aware of the slow growth of the tree lorn (says the "Wattganui Herald"). One specimen in a greenhouse has been known to make only three inches of frunk in 25 years, and it is a generally accepted fact tihat e- -tree fern the height of a man is M years old. Those who chop down tihe largest of these beautiful plants to deoo rate a shop front for a few hours little think that they are destroying over a century of growth. Each ring of fronds represents a year's growth of truoK. Those who wish to calculate the age ot a tree fern will thus have little difficulty in estimating the age by the top, portion' of the tree. The age of the whole tree then becomes nn easy matter of calculation.

A novel feature of -the sixteenth annual Auckland provincial conference of the New Zealand Farmera' Union on "Wednesday (reports the Her, aldl) was the presence of a delegate from a trade union. Invitation to tho conference had been sent by the executive to various trade unions ui Auckland, and Mr J.F. Derrick, a

delegate from' the Aucifiand Builders andl Contractors and General Labourers'. Union, gave an address. Mr Derrick declared tihat the intersts of all workers, both in the town 'and country, were identical. The workers were all in the grip of exploiters; and the class which raised undiuly the price of commodities required by the farmers was the Same which raised unduly the price of the necessaries required by the workers of the towns. Hie fairms could not prosper long at tlie expense of tihe. town®, nor the latter ait the expenß© of the country; their prosperity was interdependent, andl ho trusted that in the deliberations of the conference the position of the town workers would be borne in mind. What some workers envied aibout the Farmers' TJnio(ii> was it® co-operative trading concern. He did not know its constitution, tut if they were abl# to allow town workers or members of any other unions to become member* of that trading concern, ho believed that many would join and would be a source of strength to it. 00-operation was the keynote of success and to tho fanners belonged the credit of having proved that in New Zealand .co-oper-ative trading was no. more an idle dream than it was in older countries. He hoped the old misunderstandings between . farmers and town workers would not be repeated.

Representative of the Horowhenua County Council, Lovitt Borough. Uounoi if and Obaki Town Boara met in alio borough chambers on Friday to plan the campaign for the separation, at i.ho Horowhonua diistriicrti (from tho Wellington hospital mstrict, and* matte arrangement# for the deputation wliioh 6lhortly will wait on the Miniiefter in connection with the name object.

The totalisator figures tor the Wanganui Jockey Club's two days' meeting were £54,910 as against £55,193 last year, which' shows a deoerase of £293, a amallil dropping-off considering the weartJher. ■ «

Levin is to be honoured this week by tho (New Zealand's Farmers' Union The Wellington provincial annual conference of that body is to be hold her®, in the Foresters' Hall, Oxford street, to-niorrow and on Wednesday. A long agenda pmper is to be gone through, and tho "remits' deai with ft wide range of subjects. The "visiting delegates are to be entertained on Tuesday evening, at a banquet given by tho local branch of the N.Z. Farmers' Union. i There is some, interesting anecdotage aibout the persona i side of the war n an article by Mr James Alilne, entitled. "The Spirit of France,' 7 which appears in the April "Fortnightly." Tho writer atates that when the battle of the Marne wae at a turning point, General Fofcili, who (commanded ono of the French armies most heavily engaged, issued this message': ' '.Vly right has been broken, my left 'has been turned, J attack." That—and there can be no doubt about iit—represents the (spirit.ot ovory Frentoh Boldior, trom the youngest private' to the much-trusted eom-inandler-in chief, General Joffre.. One reason why he is France's complete hpro, "a man with a command over Iter surh as none has won since Napoleon Buonaparte," is this: he not only Stands for her strong right arm, but for the humanitarian spirit which "r----radiates her, now as always.

"Any man should have .the right to go and see his girl at an hotel and stay later tdan -dosing time, ' contended counsel) at the Greymouth iS.M. (Jourt dhiirinig the hearing of a cliatge against » first offender of having been on hceased premises during the lioufu in wh.oli the saJe of intoxicants is prohibited. The octencliant pleaded that he iad

not been in the pairticudar hotel stat-

et| in the inlformiation, but in a Juriel dose by. He liad been "seeing 'lis girl" in the -ki'tohen and had left by the back, gate at 11 p.m. Counsel later stated tbait lie. knew of a nMEfber of ea««s wheM felloes had rammed behind at the flrbtol aftei* tho time for ©tensing, and, this, too, he added, wae the best time to see their girls who were generally very busy up to 10 o'clock. On the edlmssion o# the defendant the name of' the hotel >n tho information was altered to that o> another, and a fine of 5s was imposed. I

There were some splendid views of lie district of Herzegovina And' .Bosnia- in "Such a Little Queen*" the chief picture shown by Farlfind's pictures on Saturday night, and gave otte a good idea oi the country, while the story allowed how quick a revolution is fonientod among the Bailkan peopjies. It showed also the presence of mind at conic in seizing the main dhanct>— exemplified in tiie case of Prime Minister, who filled his pockets from the treasury chest before fleeing'from tihe revol ntionariee. Tiie • experiences of tho exiles in America is replete with humor tor the onlookers, though the pawning of tho crown and the attempts at cooking were catastrophes for ibe Royal party. The picture will be shown again to-nigriß.

One oi tlie originals surveys 01 tue iVlanawaitu railway imo wub piaced before the Deviation Commission by u, J- W. McY illy, assistant general m .'.linger, ot the New /lealand railways. Thu survey constituted part oi the Well-ington-J? oxton-Waitara route, ana Ui SXoVilly explained that when the survey was madi-o in the TO'.s it wae pro. .posed to have direct communication {between Wellington and the line of route being tuken from Levin vj* Fox ton and, on towards the Marton d.ibtriot. At that wine l*'oxton was the oniy point where goods couild be supplied to the Manawatu district Ly means oi sea carriage and Palmer at on i ■wa.B served (by means of a tramline irom ioxtou. late 70's >arly 80'o a faeries of floods tooik place, and covered the Fotxon line to a deprth of as much as nine ieet ot water, so that the authorities were compelled to ,ook for a better rouiEe for the maim. ii ne . At tluc tdxlie Hailmeraton wtas devetopjflg a*.a mid-iNorth Island ceotrt, the fine district surrounding it was becoming settledi and the authorities had 4 io hesitation in changing the proposed line in the direction of l'almerston and taking up the connection towards Taranaki by fie route followed ait present.—Standard.

A private cable rnesage roseeived in Wollinfltoa Hiatal that Mr Hugh D. 'Mclntajli, tho managing director a the Tivoli Theatres, hadi completed the purchase of the Sydney Referee, Sunday 'limes, Globe and Saturday .Referee (four newspapers issued, from .ho one office in Sydney, of which enterprise he is assuming tho managing directorship. Mr Mcintos'h first oame into promninence as a cyclist and eeretairy and organizer of the N.S.W. [League of Wheelmen, the 'fetaional "facing concern. When that boom ceta»dt he became promoter of the pri«e light® in Sydney. He erected the Stadium at Rushcuitters' Bay, ana became noted as the promoter ot the Buras-Johntpn fijglut for the bigg -st puree yet offered in the worldi. Subefqueotly he left lor England there, ajid aleo in Pans, promoted several bijg oontetta. When Mr H. Rick&rde Mr Mdntosh bought into the company which controls the Tiwli Vaud«nri*4e Theatres in Australia nd became the controlling authority. These imterwjte he atdH retaina.