LOCAL AND GENERAL

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1772, 5 January 1918, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Included nmong the recent draft of war invalids from the front is Pte. X. P. .Neilson 9/1085, Poston. AA'e lire in receipt of a very artistic 'wall calendar from AA’allcer and Furrie.

An Auckland telegram reports that a man who had been living with a woman for 18 years was fined £5 for posing as a single man.

It is. understood that a contract has been let to a Wellington firm of builders for the erection of new premises at Otaki for the Bank of New Zealand.

The s.s, lYaverley left Pa tea on Monday for Wellington. By a curious coincidence, the vessel left on the same journey on tbecame day of the year, and the same tide, tifl years ago, with the present harbourmaster, Captain' Tinney, in command.

The weather yesterday and today is gloriously fine, and in marked contrast to that experienced during the New Year. Although heavy rains fell in other parts duriugl the week, very little fell locally, and gardens and pastures present a very dried-up appearance.

The (juinnat salmon season, will" open on loth January. Reports from the South indicate that the fish are already running in the Waitaki river, and if expectations are fulfilled, the salmon will he ascending the Waitaki in thousands within the nest fortnight.

Mr A. E. Gibbs has returned to four through the Auckland distnc Fox ton after a very enjoyable inoloi and thermal region. Special prayers will be offered in all churches throughout the Empire to-morrow on behalf "i tic war. *

There will probably be some changes in the. teaching staff of the local State school when it re-as-sembles. At present we are unable to obtain definite particulars. A telegram from Gore states that a child 2-1 years old, son of Mr Valentino, of Waimurau Road, near Mataura, had been straying about the yard yesterday afternoon. He was missed, aifd later was found drowned, head downwards, in a water barrel.

The death occurred on Wednesday of My David Anderson, head of the firm of Messrs David Anderson and Sons, grocers, Wellington, at 82 years of age. He was born at Weedon , Buckinghampshire, England, and came to Wellington with his parents in the barque Pilgrim in 1849.

An elderly man named James Hawkins committed suicide at Ashburton on Wednesday by strangling himself with binder twine. He left a letter for the Public Trustee as to how to dispose of his properly, and three other letters to friends. He is supposed to have- been drinking heavily during the holidays. While accompanying her sister, Mrs Hornblow, on a motor trip through the AVairarapa during the New Afear holidays, Mrs Gunn, of AA’anganui, was taken seriously ill, and was compelled to enter (he Paliiatua hospital while en route to Poxton. AYord has been received that the patient is progressing satisfactorily.

In France, teachers in the schools apply a test to children whose intelligence is in question. Troughs, into which water from taps is running, arc placed before'the children, and they are asked to hail the water out. The length of tiny that any child take. 1 ? to sec the need for turning (he tap off is considered to he some measure of the child’s intelligence,^ Since six o’clock closing has been law there has been a decided decrease in drunkenness in Wanganui, and especially during the holidays (says the Chronicle].- Since December 22ndonly three first offenders have been before the Court —one on December 241 h, one on December 2()th, find one on December 28th. Since that date not a “drunk” has appeared before the Bench. Three members of the Cooper family had an exciting experience on Saturday last near Eketahuna (states the Wairarapa Daily News). They were driving down a hill by Mr Thomas Moss’s homestead, wdien they were overtaken by a tornado. They heard a great explosion, and, becoming alarmed, got out of Iheiu vehicle and lay (hit on the ground. By this means they saved their lives. The wind struck the barn ami cowshed of Mr Elsinore, removing the roofs of both buildings and carrying them high into the air. It also uprooted trees and scattered debris for a considerable distance.

At the inquest on the late Wm. Hall, a victim of the Runanga tragedy, for which the man Eggers is to stand his trial, Dr. Usher, medical superintendent of the Greymouth Hospital, gave evidence that he had several conversations with the deceased, who stated he had not been able to recognise the identity of the masked man. The only thing that may lead to identity was that early on the Tuesday morning following the shooting, Hall suddenly opened' his eyes, and said: “He is a' wellspoken man.” Asked by witness if (here was any conversation that he was able to recognise, the deceased said, “No; he (the masked man) only said ‘Hands up!’ but it was the way he said it,” Asked as to the siz,e of the masked man, the deceased thought he was of medium height and fairly strong build. The following cireular Ims been addressed by the Minister of Finance (Sir Joseph Ward) (o head school teachers throughout the Dominion “I realise that the aid I received from the teachers in August last was of very great value. Not only were many certificates sold to children, hut they received a valuable lesson in the possibility of helping the Stale by their individual efforts. For the furtherance of the sale of War Loan Certificates I have issued a small folder, of which I am sending you a supply. On this the price of a five-year certificate may he saved ’in stamps. May 1 again ask your assistance in helping to raise the further sum required to sustain our small but valiant army in the field ? Children receive many money presents in the holiday season. They will willingly,' if so advised by their teachers, set aside a .portion, and lend it to the State. It will he a training in self-denial and self-reliance,-winch will make each of them a better citizen'in the days, |.o come. The, cause is the cause of ouj- young nation; it is the cqu.se of our Empire and also of our race. It is your cause and mine; yet without individual effort w t « would he powerless. ‘ But each wjll do his duty, and we shall win.” The fold-* cr contains spaces for sixteen Is stamps, and the Minister adds- “ Buy a shilling stamp at the post ofhee as often as you emu before March, 1918. When the spaces are filled,-present this at anv moneynrdor office will be given in exchange. I want the boys and girls/ of New Zealand to show their elders- how to raise money. Which school will top the tree?” /

Mr G. Hunter, M.I?. for AVaipawa, has offered the Government a free gift of -2,535 acres of land, part of the Porangahau Estate, for soldier settlement.

■ Some farmers candidly confess that they do not think city men can do effective work on the farm, but there is a prominent Canterbury farmer (says the Press) who does not share those views. He believes that the ordinary and intelligent city man, after two or three days, can. do really good work on the farms. He has arranged to employ two city men at harvesting, one a member of the Christchurch City Council. • „

The grading of teachers occupied the attention of the New Zealand Educational Institute at its conference at Wellington for some time on Thursday. Concerning the constitution of the Teachers’ Appeal Court, conference came to the conclusion that it is an improper arrangement that the senior inspector of a district should be a member of the court, seeing that if. is his grading which is being appealed against.

The death occurred on, Tuesday of Mr .Tames Smith, one of the oldest residents of Nelson, at the great age of 94. He came to Nelson in the ’fifties in connection with the t construction of the Dim Mountain tramway' line. A few years later he look up land in the Maitai Valley, where he lived until quite recently. The deceased leaves a family of four sons and three daughters. There are over 30 grandchildren, iind one great-grandchild.

The Sanson Concert Parly, a.’talenled company of vocalists, some thirty in number, have offered to give a concert in Fox ton on Friday evening jiext, in aid of the local Patriotic Fuiul and Ked Cross. The Mayor has accepted the ■'offer, and requests all patriotic workers, especially the ladies, (o meet in (he Council Chamber on Monday evening, at 7.30 o’clock, to discuss details. The concert parly will arrive by special tram.

The pleasure of bowling was manifest at Palmerston on Wednesday by a luting wind that not only discomfited the. players, hut actually took a hand in the pla\. In one match a Foxton rink was lying one in the last head and winning the' game. The last howl was coining up the green, but he fore it got near (he nest of howls a violent gust of wind shifted the “shot” howl, and gave Foxton’s opponents throe! In another head in which Levin was engaged there were only two howls left on the green out of sixteen.

■The Bishop of London (Dr. Winnington Ingram), in his Christmas * message, said: —“Great Britain is rising like a tower out of the deep. The nation passes into the now year honoured by the admiration of her friends and honoured by the fear of her foes. If we fail now we had \l better no! have begun the Avaiwli 5 the league of eighteen nations now Jiamled together do not force justice now, will they ever be able to do so.’"

At a recent meeting of (he Palmerston Chamber of Commerce the following resolution was passed: — 1 That in the opinion of this Chamber the closing of the flux mills for the purpose of providing labour for harvesting is unwise, unnecessary and impracticable, and that the views of this Chamber he forwarded jfo the Efficiency Board in detail with a request that before any action Jra taken representatives from the Chamber, the New Zealand Flaxmillers’ Association, and the Flaxmills Workers’ Union he invited to give evidence on the matter.

The old Milk John William Dare, at one time an ocean-going wind* jammer, built in the reign of King William IV., seven years before Queen Victoria came to the throne, has been sold by (he Melbourne Steamship Company, Ltd., and is shortly to he broken up. The sale is practically completed, but before relinquishing possession of the hulk the Melbourne .Steamship Company, Ltd., are awaiting the formal approval of the- Commonwealth authorities. Of 282 tons, the John William Dare was 105 ft. long, 26ft, beam. According tom retired mariner of Williamstown, who rerneinhers the vessel about 40 years ago, she was originally a familiar trader between England and Australia.

Lt. Gerald Lyon, who has-been awarded a Military , Medal —Bis name was included in the New Year Honours list—is the eldest sou of the lute Mr William Deans Lyon, and well known in Wellington. He . is an Old Boy of the Wellington College, and left with (lie Artillery Di- i vision of the Main Bodv in October, 1914. He served throughout Galliv poli, and earned his commission on the field. During the last two years he has been in France, and is extrernejy popular with all. While in' Wellington he was a member of tire D Battery, and was employed at (ho National Mutual Life Office. At the time of his enlistment he was in tiro C "dice of the Foxton Hope and Twine Works. Lt. Lyon has two brothers, also serving in France—Ronald (late secretary of the -Wellington Savage Club) and Eric (of the firm of Lyon, Franks, and Hunter, solicit tors, Christchurch). THROAT HABITS. A cough, a hack in clearing the ' / throat, may become habits. They begin, with a cold, and keep coming automatically after the cold has finished. A slight exercise of tho will and the use of Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy will soon rid you of - this,-constant annoyance. Chamber- 1 • lain’s Gough Remedy has a prompt "N specific action on the throat oi| air passages. For sale everywherp,—-i Advt. ..J.—

*Mr Clement Wragge, who forecasted the meteorological changes, wrote to Wednesday’s Auckland Star: “The sun remains in a great state of upheaval, and the gigantic ■wireless wave lengths therefrom are permeating the whole solar system. The response on earth is indicated, by the Guatemala' earthquake, the ■ eruption of Vesuvius, incoming Australian rains, the West Coast Hoods, and in other ways. Altogether it is a most interesting period from the scientific standpoint, and readers should still watch the cablegrams and look for the aurora further south.”

The hospital ship that has arrived in New Zealand has the sad distinction of bringing home the most warbroken freight of New Zealand soldiers who have yet arrived ~( s ays the Auckland Star). A total of 547 of all ranks returned (including 25 officers), of-whom 88 are cot cases (including four officers) two arc dangerously ill, two are totally blind, and ten are mental eases. There is a verv high proportion of limb cases, an unusually large number of the soldiers having returned minus an arm or a leg, but thanks to the special branches of the medical services in England, all of these patients have been fitted with artificial limbs of the most improved pattern.

Captain-Chaplain Wilson, speaking at a recent meeting in Sydney, told an incident which illustrated how courageously Professor David, when badly injured, had thought of • duty before self. Despite his 60 years, Professor David proceeded to France to “do his bit” as soon as his work in connection with the Mawson Antarctic Expedition was finished. Me had been let down with a bump 60ft. into a well, and a doctor had (o be sent below to bind the professor up before, sending him up in'a bucket, so severe were the injuries he had sustained. On the way up Professor David gave the signal to cease winding, and (hen, pulling out a notebook, commenced to take notes on the geological formation of t’ne ground. When hauled up he was covered with blood.

In urging the continuance of education, the School Journal stales; Some shrewd hoy or girl may ask, ‘Does it pay to continue my educa- ■. lion?’ Well, ligures showing the extent to which it pays have not been compiled for New Zealand, hut lot us give you some figures that have been compiled elsewhere. Two groups’of citizens were taken; (1) those who left school at 14, and (h) those who left school at 18. It was found that I hose who left school at 14 began to earn money at once received, by the time they reached 25 years of age, only two-thirds of

what was received by others who remained at school till they were 18, and for four years earned nothing. Moreover, at 25 years of age those who stayed at school for the longer period were, on the average/ caTfT" ing nearly two and a-half times as much in yearly salary as those who left school early.

Bigger, bonnier, and brighter than ever becomes each successive issue of Blue and White, fjt. Patrick’s College’s animal, a copy of which is to hand from the editor, who, with his printers, is to be congratulated upon Ihe typographical and general get-up of this big quarto. Profusely pictured with reproductions of photographs, mostly of old boys at the war, the magazine contains a complete record of every interest of this educational institution, plus special articles of merit. Among the many illustrations L a picture of Form HI., in 1908 —six years before the war. Of the 23 New Zealanders the form then contained, 21 were single when the war broke old, and 21 enlisted! Sixteen were passed for active service, and since then six have been killed and five wounded. “St. Pat’s” has had no fewer than 454 old hoys at the front, and of these, 41 have been killed, and 87 wounded.

We regret, to have to record the death of Miss Daphne Hodgson, second daughter of Mr J. W. Hodgson, postmaster of Otaki, and late of Foxton, at 1 lie early age of 20 years. The deceased passed away at the Wailii Hospital on Thursday morning, at 10 o'clock, after a brief illness. Mr Hodgson, who received an urgent message on Wednesday, was unable to arrive in time to see his daughter before her demise. Miss Hodgson was well-known in Fox ton, being an ex-pupil at the local State school, and her happy disposition made her a genuine favourite with all who knew her—and who did not know Daphne! Shortly after leaving Foxton with her father, she applied for a position on the nursing staff of (he Waihi Hospital, and soon established herself as a favourite with the medical and nursing staff, and patients. A few weeks ago she spent a holiday in Foxton, and was apparently in Hie .best of health and spirits. The cause of death was appendicitis followed by complications. To Mr •Hodgson avc, in common v-‘ . th e Foxton public and f' s' old school mates and coui I ,..nions, extend our deepest sympathy.

IMPORTANT TO ALL. Is there anything in all this world that is of more importance to you V than good digestion? Food must be eaten to sustain life, and must be . digested and converted into blood. ? When the digestion fails the whole : body -sutlers. 'Chamberlain's Tablets are a rational and reliable reliever of indigestion. . They increase the flow of bile, purify the blood, strengthen the stomach, and tone up the whole digestive apparatus to a Y natural upd healthy action, For B sale everywhere. —Advt,

William Snow* au 'individual described by the police, as .being “not jill there,” appeared before Mr D. G. A. Copper, S.M., in the Wellington Magistn, k e’s Court yesterday to answer three charges in respect to the Military Service Act. Snow was charged (i) with giving wilfully misleading answers to questions as to his enrolment in the Military Reserve; being a reservist he changed his name without the permission of the Minister for Internal Affairs; (3) failing to enrol in the reserve. Snow appeared somewhat dazed with the array of charges against him, and with the imposing nature of the wording of the same. He admitted the last charge, and the others were withdrawn. After giving/ toe kindly words of advice to ac> ied, Mr Cooper said he would .feat him leniently. He fined him 40s with the option of spending seven days in gaol. "Unsatisfactory, undemocratic, and producing most undesirable results,” was the phase made use of at the Educational Institute Conference at Wellington when the subject of the present method of electing Education Boards was being discussed- The way in which the members of the boards were lected was not what it should be. The franchise was much too limited —confined to school committees —and it should be widened. Mr F. T. Evans (North Canterbury) said that the extension of the franchise may raise the calibre of the board, but certainly would cause a lot more interest in an election. To what extent the franchise should be widened was perhaps debatable, but the principle was sound. Mr A. N. Burns, M.A. (Hutt), advocated the doing away with local education boards altogether, and the substitution of a National Board. The motion was carried on the voices.