NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1689, 22 March 1917, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

The luck of the ballot falls in strange places. Some men, willing to go when the marble says their I urn has arrived, arc; missed by ballot after ballot. Others who have relatives already at the front seem to often get drawn in their stead. The last ballot included a man from the West Coast of the South Island who is one of a family of five sons. Four of the boys are already at the front, and now' the last and remaining member of the family has been called up.

An Ell ham motorist writes to the Argus: This is Manutahi’s conception of a joke; I was motoring through from Wellington last night, and passed Manutahi about 10.30, There was another car ahead of me, when just a little beyond the pub., I discovered a figure lying spreadeagled on the road, and noticed the other car pulling up. I at once jumped to the conclusion that a drunk had been run over. I stopped, and a friend and myself got out to render assistance. In the meantime the driver of the other car commenced to run back. 1 blamed him for killing someone, and he blamed someone also for being callous in leaving a man aftey running over him. We hastened to the unfortunate man on the road —the figure was a straw dummy, but both the driver of the other car and myself were badly frightened. The Manutahi pub people were at the door some little distance away, enjoying the joke. The “body” was lying in the middle of the road. Needless to say, we dismantled it, and threw the “limbs,” clothing, etc., to the four winds. It’s laughable, but it did not appeal to any of us at 10.30 at night.

Says a writer in the Rangitikei Advocate: —The farmer must do his part. He must work also, spend less time in his motor car, in the pub and in the town, and help each

other. With regard to race meetings let me remind you that every meeting shows “record" investmeats on the lotalisalor. But, worse, look at the waste of lime and labour caused by these' meetings. 'fake a single one day’s meeting, and suppose the attendance is 3,000. That means approximately 3,000 day’s work of one soil or another. But multiply that meeting by the number that lake place yearly, and (he economic loss to (he Stale is beyond calculation. Add to this other labour allowed to waste and who can deny I hat more wheal growing is not such a dil'licitl! proidem at'ler all.’ Add much alcoholic drinking. Abolish more of that as well as strikes, “going slow,” parlies, loafing farmer.- and race meetings and the remedy is largely found. There will then be more wheat growing and a sounder prosperity.

A housewife whose competence hits always won my admiration surprised me (says an Australian writer) by leaving unfinished bits of plain knitting lying about in nil her rooms. When 1 accused her of becoming slipshod she laughed and said, “Those are for visitor.- who drop in to gossip. They are traps for the talkative. Knitting is infections, you know, and ns soon ns I begin a knitter is pretty certain to pick up the other set of needles and try to beat me. .1 start slowly and drop ;t stitch or two to lure her on. I get quite a lot of socks knit led.” After the refusal of (he Allies to entertain or even consider Germany's peace proposals, the Berlin Lokalanzieger broke forth as follows: —“The time bits come for every German to sacrifice bis property, for nothing now belongs to the individual, but everything to the Slate. The enemy has deemed it lit to reject onr offers of peace. It is therefore our part to light with (he same energy which we have displayed in our eager striving after the peace that these hell-hounds will not have. Lot it now be universally known that we have done with neutrals that we most emphatically refuse the aid, the counsel, or the interference of neutrals with as much rudeness as the enemy bits declined similar good offices towards the restoration of peace. May this declaration serve to convince neutrals that further meddling will be at their own peril,”