LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 65, 12 November 1914, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“Would you rather have a felt or a straw bonnet, Mrs McDuff?” “\\ eel,” said Mrs McDuff, “I think I’ll tak’ a strae one. It’ll maybe be a mouthlul to the coo when I’m done wi’ itt.”

Cr. J. Smith, of the County Conned, desires it to be stated that ho was not the author of the question asked at Mr Hine’s meeting on Tuesday, the question apparently having been asked by somebody else with the same name.

At the meeting of the Ashburton County Council on Friday the chairman stated that up to the present it had cost the council as much as £2OO to clear the roads and races of trees blown down during the wind storm in the early part of October.

From January 1 the regulations governing the use of private mail bags will be amended, to allow two or more persons to use the same private mail bag without the extra charge now being made. The purpose of this concession is to give mail facilities to settlers on roads traversed by coach or train, but where there is no post office.

There/- are different ways of showing patriotism. A case worthy of mention in this respect is reported from Onehunga. An old widowed lady owns a number of cottages about the Onehunga waterfront, from which she derives a small hut steady income. The cottages are occupied by tenants of, in most cases, long standing, and the landlady las!t week conveyed to them the information that she regarded this as a time for prateical patriotism, and the rent of each cottage would, until the end of the war, he reduced by a shilling per week.

The Freemasons of England have just given a very generous proof of their loyalty and devotion to their country (states “The Queen”), The quarterly communication of the United Grand Lodge of England was held at Freemasons’ Hall, London, under the presidency of the Deputy Grand Master, the Right Hon. F. T. Halsey (who has no fewer than five sons now on active service, three in the army and two in the navy). It was resolved that £IOOO should be voted to the Prince of Wales’ National Relief Fund, £IOOO to the British Rod dross Society, and £IOOO to the, Belgian'.Minister in England for the benefit of the Belgian refugees. In all, the Freemasons’ gift, therefore, represents £6OOO.

In December last the Port of London Authority ga\T a German firm an order for three pairs of lock gates, and to another orders for a bascule bridge, swing bridge, and caisson for a dry dock. These Orders were in connection with the Royal Albert Dock extension. The lowest tender by a British firm was slated at the time to be £179,071. Bygiving the work to Germany the Authority claimed to have saved over £46,000. Wit the declaration of war no alternative remained but to cancel the contracts. Its' award to Sir William Arrol and Co., while undoubtedly requiring an increase of expenditure, will be greatly appreciated in Glasgow. This is only one instance of many.

In the Oamarn Athenaeum reading room (says the North Otago Times) elderly gentlemen were discussing the comparative areas of the warring countries. Using Otago as a unit, taking Otago as containing Ft,ooo square miles-—the correct figure is a little less—Belgium is smafter than' the Otago province. Luxemburg is such a speck that it could be snugly tucked between Dunedin and Waikouaiti. On the other hand, gigantic Russia would swallow up Otago dSO times. The’-United Kingdom is between eight and nine times as large as Otago. France is .14.7 times as large, Germany is 14.9 times, and Austria 18.6 times as extensive. As affording a local illustration of the length of Continental battle lines - it may bo added that the distance across the bend of the Marne where three German armies recently operated, is about thp same as the distance from Oamarn to Dunedin.