LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1557, 30 May 1916, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Poxton Ladies 7 Patriotic Guild acknowledge l a donation of one guinea- from “a sympathiser." The King’s Birthday will tie observed by the local business people on Monday, June sth, instead of Saturday next.

Those hi king' part in the forthcoming pntriotie eoneert :ire making' splendid headway with the choruses under the direction of Mr Aitken, assisted tiv Mrs Freeman.

On Thursday evening next, at. the Salvation Army Hall, a service commencing at 8 o'clock will he conducted by Adjutant McCauley, of Wellington. ■»

The offer of the presentation of an aeroplane to the Imperial Oovernment by the Union Steamship Company has been notified to the Crime Minister. Mr Massey has accepted the offer on helm If of the Imperial authorities. It is understood that the value of the machine will be about .02,500.

A letter which a writer in London Opinion has been privileged to see from an American in Berlin to a friend in London contains this striking passage : “If yon saw the Kaiserin now you would not recognise her. She is a haggard, nervous old woman ; her head shakes. Since the day when her guards so cruelly abused a poor woman who (dung to the Kaiserin's carriage crying, ‘(Jive ns back our dead !’ she has rarely been seen in public."

Two cases uf cerebro-spina I meningitis are reported at Fealherslon Camp. On tin* Bth insl.. Fie. Alan Wilkinson, of (he lath Field Artillery Heinforcements, was admitted lo the racecourse hospital suffering from measles. The disease ran its normal course, and on the loth cerebro-spinal meningitis intervened. The patient sank rapidly, and died on the 17th. Another soldier is also reported to be suffering from cerebro-spinal meningitis following an attack of measles. There are no other cases.

An instnnco of the careful mot hods of records Unit have gradually evolved in (he Hast' Records Office. Defence Department, was brought under (he Wellington Post’s notice recently. The enquiry bureau of a certain institution rang up asking tin 1 Base Records Olliee if they'could locate a soldier of the Fxpedit ionary Forces named Brown. The only clue given was : “Probable next of kin. sister named Clark, Fngiand.” In ten minutes the information was supplied, the man named being' a returned soldier located in a New Zealand hospital.

In The Times of Ceylon issue of March ‘2!Mh last, appears the report of what is described as “an interesting Rugby match,’’ played on the Barrack Square, Colombo, between a team of New Zealanders composed of Marshall, Corder. Melville, Robinson; Drummond, Park, Carrad, McNatty, Dayman, Boyne. Baines, Marsh, Barnes, Ward and Smith, and a team selected from the Colombo Forces. The Robinson mentioned is Corpl. Fred. Robinson, of (he Wireless Detachment which left New Zealand with the Tenth Reinforcements, a son of Mr and Mrs F. Robinson, of Thynne Street. The Times of Ceylon describes the match as follows : —“lt was a grilling hot day, but the visitors apparently welcomed the opportunity of disporting themselves, to judge from the enthusiasm which they displayed right through the game. The football was not good, for the visitors were a scratch team who had never played together, but every one of them showed a splendid knowledge of the rules. They made things interesting from the start by indulging in Ihe Moari cry just before the kick-off, the Forces team responding with cheers.” It was a forwards’ game right throughout, and the New Zealanders kept the local team on the defensive almost the whole time. The first, half of the game showed no score on either side. During the second spell, the home team managed to score a try. which they failed to convert, and a free kick awarded the visitors nearly resulted in a goal, the ball falling just short of the bar, the game ending three to nil in favour of the home team. The New inlanders, at the conclusion ot. the game, responded to cheers by again rendering the Maori haka. A huge crowd witnessed the game.

A Master!on resident is now digging potatoes (hat be planted in the month of February, says the Age. The concluding episodes of the “Million Dollar Mystery” will be screened at the Town Hall to-mor-row and Thursday. Warm rains have fallen throughout the district during the past few days. If they continue it is anticipated that the Manawatu will flood. The suggestion that 10s banknotes should be issued in view of the shortage of half-sovereigns, is under consideration by the Government. A taxi car conveling passengers to the Hangiotu camp on Saturday night collided with the Hangiotu bridge, and was badly damaged by the impact. In the Auckland Supreme Court, Cecilia May Dowd, for unlawfully using an instrument with intent to procure abortion, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. A meritorious feature has been arranged for Friday and Saturday at Fuller’s, “Gretna Green,” a comedy drama of 5,000 feet, featuring Mary Bickford's rival, Margurite Clark. Heart disease was the principal cause of death in the four, centres of (he Dominion for April, it being responsible for 28 deaths. Cancer caused 27 deaths, enteritis 21, and senility (old age) 2(1.

A recruit who recently enlisted in Nnpier was under-sized, und would have been rejected only for the fact tlnil he was capable of a chest expansion of eight inches. His height was only live feet two and a-half inches.

Eight subscribers tire required to the local telephone exchange to enable the exchange to keep open front 8 a.in. to 10 pan. The list contains more names than the number required (100), but several .are duplicated, and others are one-line connections.

An illustration of the growth of the farming industry in the Taumarunui district is .a Horded by a single transaction which look place recently in (he'Olmra. A fanner sold to a Waikato buyer a mob of 31bullocks and -1 fat cows for a total price of GKiSO. The animals were all from the seller's own farm.

“The Prisoner of Zenda,” screened at Fuller's last night, is without donhl one of the lines! productions yet shown in Foxton, and lovers of a really good picture should avail themselves of their last opportunity to-night. A sequel to the above picture, “Rupert, of Hentzau." nil! hi' screened next Monday, for one night only. The Covernmenl has no intention of buying American-built ships, said the Prime Minister in answer to a question by Mr Payne. To buy ships now. he added, would probably mean that at the end of the war the ships would mu he worth more than one-third of their present value. The Covernmenl thought it was better to go mi as at present, in the hope that the war will come to an end in the md-far-distant future. The present system of giving customers sweets on payment of their accounts is to he discontinued by the grocers of Auckland from the lirst of next month, in accordance with a decision arrived at by the master grocers at a recent meeting, says the Herald. The reason given is the heavy working expenses the grocers are placed under on account of the war, and tlit* increased cost of the materials —twine, paper, and hags. -V day or two ago Mrs Patuaka Tattehe, of Kuku. while on Ihe Kttku beach, noticed something glittering in tin l distance. On going to ascertain what it was, she found a lump of metal lodged in the root of a tree. To all appearances it is a nugget of gold, and several persons to whom the tind has been shown declare it to he a valuable hud. worth about ,t!400. The lucky finder is taking steps to ascertain definitely the true value of the nugget. It is thought possible that the gold was washed down the river from the hills. If that is so, there must he "gold in the mountains,'' as many have declared'there is.—Ota Id Mail.

The immortal “Bill Adams” —(he man who won the battle of Waterloo —has several prototypes kicking round Hu* country at the present time. The Mayor of Palmerston was recently interviewed by a relumed soldier. During the course of conversation the exsoldicr graphically described his impressions “of being under tire." Subsequently Mayor Nash discovered that his interes ling' visitor hud drawn upon his imagination, as he had been invalided home from Kgypt, and had not even heard the reports of the enemy’s guns. An interesting story of the recoverv of a watch which a Xcw Zealand soldier lost during the Gallipoli campaign is related by a Wellington man now in the Military Hospital at Rotorua, in a letter to a friend in ’Wellington. The writer savs ; “Whilst at the Dardanelles a, Xcw Zealander lost bis watch (with name engraved thereon) in the trenches. Later another soldier happened to obtain the watch from a wounded Turk, and when he himself was wounded brought it back to Xcw Zealand as a memento. He had been unable to secure any information as to the whereabouts of the original owner until in this hospital the other day, when he came across a fellow of the same name as that inscribed on the watch. This proved to he the owner, who is greatly pleased at being able to once again hold his watch —this time with a much stronger grasp than before.”

A sensation was caused at Kaiapoi on Sunday night by a man, probably a lunatic, calling at houses late at night and demanding admittance. He was hatless, and had blood on his hands. He said : “They’re after me. Give me a pistol.” One house refused him admittance, and he broke the windows, which would probably account for the blood. The police were notified yesterday morning. In view of the recent murder his arrest is awaited with interest.

By a seemingly miraculous providence, an accidental fire-arm fatality was averted a few days ago. A rifle, carried by George McDonald, a local lad, was accidentally discharged through the earner tripping over an obstacle. The bullet passed through the biceps of his arm, and made a clean exit through the flesh, missing the artery and bone by an irreducible margin of safety. Dr Sorlcy, who attended the wound, regards the escape from serious, if not fatal injury, as almost remarkable. Waimarino County Call. An important .development has taken place in connection with the charge of attempted murder preferred against the Maori woman, Tuhirangi Tawhai, who is alleged to have shot a man named Enoka at Te Meranga 0 Kapu Island on 2nd May. When the case was called in the Magistrate’s Court at Auckland on Friday, Sub-Inspector M’llveney intimated that the accused had shown decided indications of insanity, and her conduct in Mount Eden prison, where she had been awaiting trial on remand, had been so violent that she had to be placed in a straight-jacket. The prison surgeon, Dr S. A. Stride, had written to the effect that accused was unlit to appear in Court. The subinspector said' it was probable the accused would be committed to a mental hospital,, and, if so, the charge of attempted murder would lie withdrawn.