LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1729, 23 June 1917, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A number of local people visited the Palmerston Show on Thursday and Friday.

Frank Both well was fined £2O at Christchurch for handing a betting chart to a boy.

A resolution in favour of six o’clock (dosing was carried at a large meeting of the National Dairy Association, with one dissentient.

Miss Moxham, of the local State school staff, will spend a week at the Wanganui Central Infants’ School, for observation purposes. At the evening service at All Saints’ Church to-morrow night, Miss Wills will sing “The Lost Chord.”

During Dr. Mandl’s absence from Foxton, Dr, Bryson, of Levin, will take charge of the practice. Messages should be left with Mr Patterson before 10 a.m.

In response to the Committee’s representations re repairs' to the roof of the local State school, the Board has asked Mr Fraser to have the necessary repairs carried oat. Mrs Burch, seur., of Greytown, on Thursday attained her 94th birthday. She is still hale and hearty, though not able to get about very well.

Mr Buick, M.P., told a deputation in Palmerston' that he would present to Parliament its petition for (i o’clock closing of bars, but he would not support it personally.

“An engine is like a woman —it has to be understood” —a remark which caused some levity at the proceedings of the Military Service Board on Thursday, when marine appeals were being heard. The Rev. AY. G. A\ T illiams, the assistant superintendent of the Anglican Maori Mission, is visiting this district this week-end. He is preaching at All Saints’ Church op, Sunday evening.

An order has been issued"by the head of a Government office in AVellingtou forbidding the girls to powder their faces. The time lost in ■frequent applications of the powder during the day is made the grounds of objection!

A writ has been issued on behalf of Downs Brothers, importers, AVellington, claiming £2,000 damages from the John Bull’s Register for alleged libel in connection with a paragraph which appeared in the issue of June Kith.

“Bulks may cull us Now Zealand dairymen,” said Mr G. Dash in a patriotic outburst at the annual meeting' ol the National Dairy Association at Palnicrston on Thursday, “hut thank God we are AngloSaxons.” „

Lieut.-Colonel Dr. H. A. Delntour, who is engaged in work on the Medical Board under the Military Service, died suddenly at the Grand Hotel, Invercargill, yesterday, aged 08. The supposed cause of death is heart disease.

The mobilisation of the 31st Reinforcements will take place next week. The draft is expected to enter canq) over strength, the surplus of recruits going to reduce the shortage of men in training that has been carried forward since last year.

Big Bill Squires, the ex-heavy-weight boxer of Australia, was the victim of a savage assault at Newcastle the other night, and had to be treated at the hospital, where 28 stitches were put in the knifewounds in his right shoulder and left side. His assailant was a Russian named Afesah.

“You take it from me that numbers count in a deputation to Parliament,” said Mr P. Nathan at the annual meeting of the National Dairy Association at Palmerston. “You send live or six in a deputation, and they give you an evasive answer. Send a few hundred, and you will find the reply very different.”

The Tory Channel whalers may now be said to have commenced the season in real earnest, says the Pictori Press. Word was received in Picton on Saturday that two monsters of the “hump-back” species had been captured and safely towed in. The party is equipped with the most modern appliances, and if the whales are as plentiful as usual in these waters, a record season may be looked for.

During'the course of a eulogy on the late Father M’Menamin, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Auckland, Bishop Brodie mentioned that Father M’Menamin had the distinction of being the first soldier hero priest in New Zealand, although all eligible priests had volunteered for chaplaincy work. Father Dore and Father, M’Mena rain were the first to be appointed. Father Dore was seriously wounded, and is still an invalid. It may be mentioned that Father M’Menamin had attainments such as athletic powers and musical ability which gave him great personal influence, and made him a great favourite with the soldiers.

Timothy O’Driscoll, a returned soldier,-was convicted and discharged for drunkenness at the local police court this morning, befoi’e Mr Horn blow, J.P.

Replying to a deputation in Wellington, Sir James Allen gaid he was fully conscious of the growth of popular* feeling in favour of the early closing of hotels. 6e agreed that early closing would be useless without stringent regulations deal-

ing with the wholesale supply of liquor to private persons. He would submit the deputation’s representations to Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward and the Cabinet as a whole as soon as possible.

A case of shell-shock, the first to he treated in the Dominion by hypnotism, is claimed to have been practically cured by Air G. Wilberforce Wilson, who, at the invitation of the committee, addressed the Returned Soldiers’ Association in Auckland recently. Mr Wilson gave an interesting demonstration of tho practical uses of hypnotism, and was heartily thanked for his offer to treat gratuitously returned soldiers suffering from nervous disorders. -

Henry H. Lowe, railway employee, Topunui, appealed on the ground that he belonged to the Second Division. ■ The case had been before the Third Wellington Board, hut the Railway Department had withdrawn the appeal. Air Elliott, on reviewing the marriage cert ideate this week before the Auckland Board, said appellant was very lucky. He was married on Alay Ist, 1915. Had he been married on Alay 2nd, he would have been in tho First Division. Major Conlan: “A lucky marriage.” The Board decided that appellant was not a reservist of the First Division. The death occurred at Carterton on Tuesday night of Mr W. Aloorc, a very highly-respected resident, at (he age of 54 years. Deceased took a keen interest in public matters. From 1907 till 1909 lie was Mayor of Carterton. lie was a former president of the Carterton Tradesmen’s Association, a member of the Wairarapa Hospital Board, a member of the Carterton Choral Society, choirmaster of St. Mark’s Church, and a jmimincnt Freemason. The deceased had been a prominent footballer and cricketer in his younger ((ays. Air Moore, of the staff of the Alaslcrton Post Office, is a brother.

“Your conduct towards women seems to he very disreputable,” said his Honour at the Wellington Supreme Court on Thursday, to Albert Kaiti Wiig, who had pleaded guilty to bigamy at Wellington. According to Ids own story, Wiig married a barmaid at Napier, hut she refused to Jive with him. He came down to Wellington, where he met another girl, and from something that happened lie was forced into marrying her. He further admitted that an order for the support of an illcgilimate child was in force against him. A sentence of six months’ imprisonment, with hard labour, was imposed.

To tender a note for £5 in payment of a penny fare on the tram (says the Auckland Slur) seems an absurdity, hut that was done by a lady the other day. On Sunday a man who tendered a £1 note was given a receipt for the balance, and (old to call at the office for the change. A woman on the car on Snnday tendered half-a-sovereign to pay a penny fare. The conductor saw a penny in her purse, which she declined to hand over . He had a heavy bag, so the lady received in change 5s in silver and 4s lid in coppers. A man on the car suggested to her; “Put it in your bonnet, mum!”

Mr Clement L. AVraggc-bas (telegraphs the Post’s Auckland correspondent) issued the following further forecast; The sun continues in an abnormal condition of upheaval, and a new mighty eruption is now approaching the central solar meridian. The earth is responding and throbbing under the titanic wireless waves which pull our atmosphere as by tidal action. Hence a renewal of bad weather is probable in various parts of the Dominion and Australia generally, but the results will be modified or intensified by (he latitude and physiographical features. Despite the intervening fine spell, the meaning of; the sun-storms is too potent to be ignored.

Thd story of ;i most despicable theft comes from Spreydon, a suburb of Christchurch. An old lady who has three sons at the front (one a prisoner of war in Germany ) had, out of the allowance left by her sons, saved up a sum of £39, which she kept in a box in her room, having an old-fashioned prejudice against banks and safe deposits. On May 18th this money was stolen. By June 18th she had managed to save another £l3, and, failing to benefit by experience, kept the money in the house, and the mean thief, evidently aware of the date on which she drew the money, ugain purloined the lot. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police.

He crouched in a doorway, hungry and cold, Homeless and hopeless, and sad; I could see at a glance he needed help, That no friend' in the world he had. So I gave him a crown and choice cigar, And advised him strong drink to abjure; He moaned his need w T as a bed and a feed, And Woods’ Great Peppermint - 10

*■■■ .■sfeg. Mr Kont-Johnston (late of I'Siton) Town Clerk of Otahuhu, has ;; resigned that in order to j take up the appointment as (tiecountant of the Auckland Patriotic 4 and Relief Association,. He takes up these duties on August. Ist. 1 Mr Greville, editor of the Dairy- j man, stated at a Palmerston meet- i ing on Thursday night that he had 1 been informed that butter was being sold in Auckland at thirteen pence per pound. There were’ over two hundred thousand boxes of butler in store that could not be shipped. This fact accounted evidently for the price he had quoted. .7 The power of the Government to collect arrears of taxation “to extent of treble” was referred to Mr W. H. Hemingway hr an addrePP*' on the taxation question at Auckland. “I have it on very good tuiIhorily,” he said, “that there are surprises in store for shirkers Uti soon as the stall of the Department is relieved of the present pressure of work. I know of several cases' in which, when taxpayers found themsolves confronted with the ascertaining of their standard income, (hey somehow discovered that in the selection period they had underestimated their true income, and so had paid too little tax in pre-war : years. To inform the Commissioner ' of this was to run the risk of a A penal tax, yet even that might be = better than paying 45 per cent, on the excess profits which would oth- ; erwise lie shown.” • ll is freely slated that in Tara-. naki farming land is rapidly passing into the hands of foreigners. A land salesman informs the Eltham Argus that the position is getting serious. Ho says that our own countrymen are going away to light and when they come hack, if they ever do, they will find their properties have passed into the hands of foreigners. From what our frieiuf. tells ns, says the Argus, it would appear that peaceful penetration is getting in its handiwork in TartP*. naki. Is anybody going to do anything in the matter before it is too late? Aulopcds have made their appearance. on Dunedin streets. An auloped hears some resemblance to the “scooter” beloved of youngsters, hut is more elaborate (being motor driven) and more practical. By its means message boys can “scout” on their errands at a pace that will he a pleasant surprise to heads of offices. Grown-ups, too, may use the auloped for purposes of business or pleasure, for it will lake them to the other end of the city or out into the country with equal ease. Its maximum speed is something like 25 miles an hour, and speed and direction are very simply controlled from the steering pilhi? —the driver-passenger being in a standing position. Thc.autoped hasbeen introduced in Dunedin by a mil firm ,who have imported four for use of (heir staff. Advice received in Wellington shows that body shields are in use by some of the New’ Zealanders on active warfare. One of the shields 'A was ordered by Mr J. 0. Shorland in order to obtain information asJfM H its efficiency, and is now on the Buckle Street Barracks, W7llington. The Post states that a strange feature is that the shield is nou-metallie, and it is claimed that it is more effective by reason of this fact. It affords ample freedom of movement, and is proof against bayonet thrusts. It is claimed fox it that it will resist bursting shrapnel at a velocity of 750 ft. per second and ordinary service rille fire at six paces. , These claims are bucked up by the report of the British Ministry of Munitions, which has subjected the shield to military tests.

The idea that a civilian required to be called upon in the name of the King before it was incumbent uponjT him to render assistance to the police was shown to be a fallacy in the Auckland Police Court - this week. Prior to 1913 the use of tlnV*" precise formula was required by law, but legislation passed in that year did away with this requirement. It is not now necessary for a constable to make a formal apK peal, a simple call for assistance being sutiicicnt. This point was brought out through a man charged with failing to assist a constable averring that he had not heard him call for assistance, and adding that his attention might have been secured bad the phrase “In the King’s name” been used. Satisfactory progress is being continued in the condition of the youth upon whom a surgical operation was performed at Auckland ’ last month—on its being diagnosed that an accident in childhood had allectcd his brain, and presumably brought about the condition of in which he committed an for which he was sentenced to long term of imprisonment. In the w opinion of the prison medical authorities his condition is such that he has this week been removed from the Mater Miserieordiae Hospital, and taken back to Mount Eden gaol. “It is premature as yet to say whi ther the cure is absolutely success-' ful,” said the Hon. J. A. Hanan, Minister for Justice, in Wellington the other day. “I could not take the responsibility at the present time of saying whether the outbreak of violence on the prisoner’s part was entirely due to the physical condition referred to, the pressure on the base of the brain. We must make sure that the cure is complete before 1 . f there can be any question of reviewing his sentence; and we can- * not be sure of that until he has under observation for a length period,” . .

At the Palmerston Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Mr W. G. K. Kenriek preseding, Stewart Watts King and Florence King, alias White, alias Stewart, alius Sweeney, alias Palmer, appeared on remand on a charge of breaking open a show ease at the entrance to the premises of Messrs Collinson and Cunninghame, and stealing a quantity of clothing, gloves, and boots, of the total value of £2O 10s 4d, on the night of June 14th, 1917. The male accused pleaded guilty, and the female not guilty. Sub-Inspector McKinnon said King had a previous conviction against him in New South Wales, but nothing was known of him in New Zealand. Both accused were sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. A good story comes from Melbourne as follows: —A party of Japanese were being entertained by a well-known hostess one afternoon, and things got on pretty well until after tea, of which they partook squatting on the carpet instead of perching on chairs. Tea over, cigarettes were handed round, and small dishes of sweets and preserved fruits dotted about within easy reach of the guests. A gramophone was put into action, and the guest.-, Silt in a silence that was strangling, smoking and chewing sweets. The petty officer in charge was the only man who knew a word of English, and his vocabulary was somewhat limited, though lie considerably heartened the hostess from time to time by remarking, “Ver naiee, ver naiee,” accompanied by a smile that was positively adorable, but the silence that sal on the carpet behind him made itself so insistently felt that his little hursts of politeness soon lost their effect. Record after record was put on the gramophone, and the guests sat and sat and sat until the hostess helplessly wondered if she would have to send for the police and have them removed. Happily her husband saved the situation by arriving home shortly before 7 o’clock, and innocently enquiring, “Wasn’t it time they were going I’” or words to that effect. Instantly (lie word was given, and they rose from the carpet with alacrity and in it perfect storm of bows and smiles took themselves off. Several days afterwards the hostess learnt that in courteous Japan it is the height of insult to leave a parly before being told to go, and her guests would have sat on her carpet until next morning rather than hurt the feelings of their entertainer by leaving before being requested to do so. The guests must have felt quite as uncomfortable about it as she did.