The Chronicle LEVIN: FRIDAY, DECEDMBER 1. 1916. LOCAL & GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 December 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN: FRIDAY, DECEDMBER 1. 1916. LOCAL & GENERAL.

' Thi> Levin Clean-up and I'aint-up Society lield a meeting this week, when preliminaries to the New Year' campaign wore arranged. Among these is tli© procurement of a moving-picture | film, illustrative •of ilic benefits of a : rapid cle.'.n-up. A supply of ''stt/jk- ; er.«," for u.«e on tlio envelopes of | tradesmen's busine.ss letters l)v way of ornament and advertisement is anotlie" . item to be expeeted. A lot of ser- , vie literature on the subject, is to br piv cured from headquarters in Amer--1 i-a. and .several other .means of popn• larhing the "clean-up" scheme w : ' young and old are lindvr consider\tio;'. Ars soon as the approaching | I'o'idavs have been got through, th .'soe etv will nrake an effective mov . towards its lirishieii'iu; goal. ! j In the event of the c, al strike cans. . ing a shortage of coal in the Domin- : ion, Christclnfrch, according to a local i paper. would be the least affected ow- ! ing to the fact that Lake 'Colen'.'g" I electricity :s avai.able. It has been estimated that owing to the in:-rensed use of electricity in that city the amount of coal received in Christchurch this year showed a decreaise of 27 000 tons, as compared with the . amount of coal normally used.

.Flour ifi reportedi by some South Island mills to have advanced to £15 per ton, a rjse of 10s since Wednesday, and £1 since Monday. Stocks of wheat and flour are reported to ba very short. Sydney reports that the coal tribunal after hearing addresses from both parties held a s:cret conference at which J it was decided that the men would resume on Monday on the e'ght hours' bank lo bank principle, the proprietors to rereive compensation for any pecuniary loss involved. Other matters under dispute will be dealt ivitli later. There is a chance that Australia will be without paper next year, and country newspapers will cease to exist (says a Sydney paper). We are depending on Canada for supplies, but America has stepped in and bought all Canada's output for the next few years. At present we are depending on Scandinavia for supplies. The Sydney papery are seriously troubled whero to buy supplies, and a b>,g shrinkage in the size of city papers can .safely be forecasted. A city daily that used to get paper at £10 signed a contract the other day for Cl 2 per ton. A Press Association message from Greymouth says the chairman and secretary of the Blackball Minors' 'Union waited on the mine manager at Blackball yesterday afternoon, informing him that the miners did not intend to resume work until a 'referendum on the conscription question was taken. The mine was idle .all day, no workmen entering the pit. Everything is quiet in the township. At the State mines at liewanu: works is proceeding as usual, and everything is quiet there, although last evening a meet•iig of miners was held and a resolution passed to the effect that if the men were conscripted the remainder w u-d 1 "down tcols." Work is pro-, eroding satisfactorily on the water l:v;nt, although many rumours are afloat. According to advices received in Well'ngton to-day the Blackball miners, at a stop-work meeting, decided to strike in opposition to the Conscription Act. They demand its repeal before resuming work. They also demand a 17J per cent increase in the minimum wage. It is understood that the strike does not meet with the approval of the Miners' Federation which has instructed! the Blackball miners to resume work to prevent the strike spreading to other unions.

'Ilie Cliriitclinrcli Stipendiary Magistrate is hearing a case in which' L'hrissie Hoben is suing 'Ernest Dennis 'H'.'ben for separation and mainten. ance. The plaintiff alleges persistent cruelty, commencing in Palmer.ston and ending in an assault in a Christcllurch tram car, to which several witnesses deposed. Plaintiff called a medical man to testify to her normal mentality, but alleged that he husband was subject to savage outbursts after (severe headaches, during which, on one occasion he tore her hat off her head and; tossed her on to a bed with one hand. The defence has yet to be heard. It alleges that applicant is neurotic and has imaginary grievances. At the annual meeting of the Nation Insurance Company, held at Dunedin -on Tuesday, the chairman of directors said with the item "ha-; debts recovered £IG9 19s 2d," was associated an episode that disserves publicity. During the year the general man ager received from one of his branch managers a notice of the payment o that sum, accompanied by a letter, lrom whfch the following ifi extracted. ■ —"\ou willi probably remember l |in the estate of the late , jyour claim amounted to £188 8s 2d, and that you were pa'fid 2e in the £1; in consideration of such payment you executed a release in the year 1894 in full of all claims and demand. If ht had livedi and his affairs had been prosperous we, the undersigned, his two sons, are .quite sure he would have been only too pleased to have paid you '■?n full. We, out of respect for his. memory, have now pleasure in enclos ing our cheque for £169 19s 2d, tin' « j paying .you the full amount of our late father's debt to you."

Speaking in the House of Commons the Rt. Hon. Austen Chamborlan'n said that the Germans had sent a mission to Afghanistan for the purpose of creating disloyalty. The mission consisted of Indian anarchists and Turks, The Amir was loyal to his pledges and dismissed the mission. It would not be in the pubKc interest to say what bel'el them. The Russians and British capturedi some. Mr M. Tremewan, of the Shannon school staff, has been granted leave of absence by the Education Board in order that he may enlist. The Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald) has stated tli,.t an agreement lias been arrived at with the wool buyers as to the basis on which the New Zealand wool clip requisitioned by the Imperial Government is to bp valued. The Minister added that the details at' organization are being proceeded with, and that the whole scheme will be in working order in a low days. A party; of valuers left Wellington yesterday for Napier to value the wool in that dii&trict, so that it may be shipped without delay. Two points were still outstanding,, connued Mr MaoDouald, one relating to and the other with regard to wool purchased prior to the clip being requisitioned by the British Government. Though these were not big questions, a great deal of detail work was involved in them.

In defending a, case brought against a golfer for having indulged l in a game on -Sunday Mr J. MoGratli, a Wellington lawyer concluded his defence by remarking that a learned friend of his (Mr A. W. BLur) had furnished him with a memorandum showing that there was clear Biblical sanction for golf. In the fifth chapter of the Act- of tho Apostles it was related that Ananias and Sapphira lay down dead after a bad lie! As a matter of fact, it was after two bad l lies. (Laughter.)