NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1085, 21 December 1911, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

A large monkey, which recently escaped from a cage at a private house in Adelaide, ferociously attacked Mr Harwell, who was sleeping outside on his verandah with three children. The monkey was afterwards shot.

Here is an illustration of the long arm ol the law. A. man who has been “ wanted ” by the police tor a long time was arrested in Hawke’s Bay. He is accused of having, at Ashburton on August 4th, 1900, broken into and entered certain premises. He has enjoyed freedom from arrest for over eleven years.

Canada has increased its population Irom 5,370,000 to 7,081,000 in ten years, and is not content. In these ten years she has had 1,750,000 immigrants, and this, added to the difference between births and deaths, should have given another million of population. Where has that million gone? Plainly the tide of emigration from Canada to the United Stales has not been properly estimated. Hundreds 01 thousands have been slipping over the border line unrecorded.

From Home papers we learn that, owing to the hot season, an excellent crop of wheat of unusually fine quality has been secured, with a minimum expenditure of time and labour. The dryness of the grain causes it to weigh heavily, and 671 b per bushel has been recorded. The general average for Great Britain stands at 97 per cent, of a full crop, i.e., the entire British crop approximates to what a farmer would describe as a really healthy and good yield ol wheat. Only twice has such a result been achieved since 189 S, and the average stands 315.3 points higher than that of the ten previous years.

Sir George Reid, High Commissioner for the Australian Commonwealth, writes to the Condon Hxpress to correct the misleading statements in a pamphlet which seeks to discomage emigration to Australia and Hew Zealand, on the ground that “ compulsory military service, alias conscription, is enforced tor all males between twelve and twenty-live years of age.” “To speak of the new defence organisation as conscription in the Continental sense is extremely ridiculous,'’ says Sir George. “It can be said practically not to interfere at all with industrial life.” Sir George shows that the training for the citizen forces is only sixteen whole-day drills, and for the naval, artillery, and engineer forces twenty-five whole day drills. Moreover, the Act does not apply to any person who had reached the age of eighteen on January ist last.