THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO With which is incorporated "The Kaipara Advertiser & Waitemata Chronicle" HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, March 14, 1918 FLASHES.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 14 March 1918, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO With which is incorporated "The Kaipara Advertiser & Waitemata Chronicle" HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, March 14, 1918 FLASHES.

I _The Secretary of the Helensville A. ( and P. Association notifies that prize ; money in connection with the Show will be paid out to-morrow (Friday) from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. A special meeting of the Helensville Town Board will be held on Monday, 25th March to confirm a resolution adopting a scale for the licensing of motor vehicles. Some petty thieving has been going on at the Helensville South railway station lately. A fortnight ago one of our business men lost a small parcel valued at about £6, which was known to be delivered at the above station by the evening's train; but when the owner searched for the goods they were nowhere to be found. The Hon. G. W. Russell, Minister for Public Health, arrived in Auckland on Saturday morning last with Ms private secretary, Mr C. J. Drake. He left for Whangarei on Monday evening by the Manaia, and wilt visit Helensville on Friday afternoon next. A deputation from the Domain Board will interview the Minister on various matters pertaining to the Hot Springs. The Hon. Arthur M. Myer3 (Minister for Customs) stated last week that the Customs revenue collected throughout the Dominion for the month of February amounted to £257,515, and the excise beer duty to £19,014. The figures for the month of February, 1917, were £225,552 and £14,555 respectively. The increase in the excise beer duty, stated Mr Myers, was accounted for by the increased rate of duty. Millinery at ridiculous pricey—Friday 15th, at Stewart's.

A Land Transfer Act notice appears in this issue. A public meeting will be held in the Parakai Hall on Monday evening next to consider the reduction of the debt owing on the Hall. Among the laßt lot of invalided boys to return to New Zealand was Private Albert Constable of Helensville, and we are very pleased to see him back in our midst again. Dress goods, prints, sheetings, laces, hosiery, gloves, and fancy goods, all to be cleared at Stewart's Stocktaking Sale, commencing to-morrow (Friday). * President Wilson has issued a proclamation extending the Enemy Alien Act to permit the authorities to seize the property of wealthy interned Germans, and thus prevent them continuing to trade with Germany. What | are we doing in N.Z. ? Thus says a Wellington contemporary —Barmaids, housemaids and chambermaids have become suddenly transported | into mermaids. The six o'clock closing has been a blessing to them. Go down to any of the beaches of the Dominion at any time after six pea hem and you'll find a bevy of youth and beauty disportj ing in the surf. " And they'll charm you like a nigger with the beauty of their figger." Ring off, Mr Shih-Yuan Lin, the new Consul in New Zealand for the Republic of China, now located in Auckland, says the commercial interests between China and Australasia are expanding slowly, but he believes they will develop rapidly in the near future, and partly as an outcome of the war. Such development, he considers, must be greatly to the advantage of all concerned. He is sure that many things manufactured in China will find a ready market in New Zealand. Dr. Morrison, political adviser to the Chinese Government, and recently on a visit to Auckland, strongly urges the fostering of trade relations between China and New Zealand. A number of professional women gardeners have been engaged to tend the graves of our soldiers in France. They are enrolled as members of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, are engaged for the duration of the war, and work under the direction of the Kew authorities. Miss Helen Colt, the well-known writer on horticultural matters, is one of those selected. The problem is to find plants that will be decorative, hardy and permanent, and will require little care. There is a suggestion that trees from the various overseas Dominions should be chosen to mark the graves near the battlefields—the wattle for Australia, the maple for Canada.

The official ban of high boots for women started from January Ist so far as their manufacture is concerned in England. Reference to the subject was made in the House of Commons, London, and an Army Council prohibition order was issued. This order forbids the manufacture, after January Ist, 1918,' without a permit from the Director of Raw Materials, of boots for women with uppers exceeding 7ins in height if of leather, or Bins in height if of any other material, from the seat of the heel to the highest point of the upper. The purchase or sale of such boots without a permit from tb.9 Director of Raw Materials is prohibited after February Ist, 1318.

Northern roads are notoriously bad, but apparently we have not •' got it all on our own." A gentleman who motored from Hawke's Bay to Auckland writes as follows to " Wheeling " :—" Any person who intends to visit Auckland by motor-car should be warned not to go, as motoring is nothing but a misery, and it is ruination to a car. All about the Rotorua district the roads are awful. Even in the town they are bad. and on the way out to the different sights, they are mere tracks, unfit for any car. The main road to Auckland is in a bad way, and when the number of motorists who use and would use the roads is considered, it is a disgrace. The Government has control of most of the roads between Taupo and the Hamilton district, and they are absolutely the worst in the country."