From Cook to Brigadier

Levin Daily Chronicle, 12 February 1918, Page 4

From Cook to Brigadier

PROMOTIONS IN THE ARMY. LONDON, Jan. 3.1. Lord Derby, Secretary for \V:ir, speaking at the Aldwych Club, declared that undue prominence had been given to the Cambrai reverse, which, he said, was a sort, of thing that might happen to us or the Germans at any time. In refuting the allegation of the existence of a ring against promotion of new army officers, Lord Derby mentioned that the second cook of a college at Cambridge University had become one of the most efficient stall' officers, going from sergeant-major to the rank of commander of an infantry brigade, and from mess-sergeant to commander of an infantry brigade.

If the world were not at war, humanity would deem the tragedy of the Yellow River the greatest disaster of the times (says a writer in the "Daily Chronicle"). China's Sorrow! So they call this mighty devastating torrent, which periodically ravages the land. Earthquakes and volcanoes claim their 'thousands and scores of thousands, but the Hoang-Ho drowns millions. The Chinese had the cantilever bridges ages before wo applied the principle, and they could have spanned this raging monster if it could be kept within its bed. But it cannot. With its tremendous volume of water it brings down and slowly deposits such volumes of detritus that it raises its bed. The Chinese embank and embank to keep it within bounds, but still the river rises. The race between river and" engineers goes on from age to age, till boats sail upon a broad expanse of water up in the air, while men walk far below. Then the breach comes, and the far-flung flood, and the devastation and drownings.

The ills which man is heir to are not the only forms of disease which may bo contagious. During the course of a lecture in Christchurch on plant diseases, Mr T. W. Kirk cited an instance of how potato blight may be carried on one's clothes. A man once came to him with a few leaves of the potato plant, which lie had obtained from a neighbour's "■arden. Ou examination the leaves were found to be infested with potato blight. "I hope tlieve are none on my plants," said the man fervently. '' Take off your trousers and let us have a look at them," said Mr Kirk. His visitor was rather surprised at this extraordinary request, but he complied, and his surprise was not diminished "when, under the microscope, he was shown that the legs of his trousers were covered with thousands of pore of the blight fungus. Needless to sa>«j he changed his clothes before he again visited his own potato crop.

At the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, yesterday, Arthur Bradshaw, who did not, appear, was lined £5 on the charge of being a bookmaker and trespassing on the Riccarton racecourse while a race meeting was,being held.

As showing the buoyant state of the stock market, it may bp mentioned (says tilo " Lyttelton Times") that ttte New Zealand Farmers' t,-j-i>pcrai»vL-Association of Canterbury sohl to a leading butchcr last week 2000 lambs from their mothers at 24s 9d a head, for immediate delivery.