LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 27, 1 June 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The price of milk in Melbourne ha? been raised to Is 8d per gallon. The Stratford District Licensing Committee will hold its annual meeting at noon on Friday next, at the Courthouse. Lieutenant Gray, Area Officer, has left a number of enrolment cards at the Post Office, where intending recruits may obtain them should Lieut. Cray be absent from town. A meeting will be held in the Public Hall, Midhirst, on Thursday evenng to make arrangements for holding i Carnival Queen function, the proceeds to be devoted to the Hospital ship Maheno. At a sitting of the Magistrate's .'ourt on Friday next five civil eases vill be heard. The Licensing Commit;ee will hear five applications for Reie\val of Publican's Licenses, and one lpplication for a Renewal of Wholesale License. The Stratford Home Defence Corps last night voted five guineas from, its unds to the Hospital Ship Fund. Since the Company met for its first | drill, its subscriptions, a s a Corps, to! the various funds brought into existence by the war amount to close upon L'7(). This is certainly an indication of good work done. . At Mr Newton King's sale to-day, | a sheepskin which was offered in aid) of the Belgium Belief Fund, on be-j ball of the Makahu Sports Committee,' brought the magnificent price of £331 ss. It was bought five times at 5s per lb., twice at Is b'd per lb., and finally at Is per lb., making the above! total, which will be paid in to the local' secretary. \ The following are the scores of the ' Stratford Home Delencers in the handicap match for the James medal:— Rifleman Watkin (handicap 15), total 66, Captain McMillan (ser) 64, Robson' (4) 61, Ireland (5) 64, Johnson (2) 63, Edgcombe (3) 63, Brocklebauk (3) 63, Rimington (7) 63, AY. Brocklebauk (3) 62, Col.-Sergeant Richardson (3) 60, Pi vac (2) 58, A Hanson (2) 58, Pinhey (9) 56, Plouriglit (9) 54, Ellis (15) 54, Pearce (15) 45, Lander (14) 37.

According to a despatch from Paris, Frenchmen speak with astonishment of a letter published in a New York paper on February 27th in which its correspondent, Itobert Dunn, told of his visits to the Bavarian's trenches near Lille, and described himself as taking a rifle from a soldier and shooting at two French soldiers. It seems hardly believable, but if the despatch is correct, Dunn will do well to keep out of France unless he is desirous of adding to his impressions the sensations of a man who lias stood against a wall in front of a firing party. There are circumstances in which "everybody's doin' it'' is not a valid excuse.

To-day. Ist June, is the first clay of the 1915-1916 military Near as far as the .New Zealand Forces are concerned. All senior cadets who have reached the age of 18 are posted to the Territorials, and youths who have reached the age of II must register. It is understood that the Defence Department intends to enforce the regulations very strinegntly. Surely this intention is justifiable, for now is the time for all men to come to the aid of their country. The past year has been an historic one. as the ready response of Territorials to th e call and the prompt despatch of the Expeditionary forces have proved the worth of the Defence Act over and over attain. May the New Year bless our Forces with many bloody battles and success. "V In conversation with a Lyttelton Times reporter Captain Henderson, master of the cargo steamer Berwick Law, which arrived in Lyttelton yesterday from New York direct, via Panama Canal, remarked that when he was in the American capital the war in Europe appeared to be the chief topic of conversation. In spite of the large number of Germans to be found in the Tinted States he wa s firmly of opinion that the general opinion of the populace was in favor of the Allies. This was particularly noticeable in regard to the expression of the various metropolitan daily newspapers. There was no doubt that England land, a- the result of her supremacy on the sea. was being assisted considerably by tl:o Ar—rieans as far as the .supply ol munitions was concerned. Hel'ore learini; he bad been informed thai some guns of a very large calibre were being sect to England, while assistance was also heiii" given in several other respects.

t A special meeting of 'the Bowling a Club ivill be held on Friday evening. i The Kxeeutive Committee of the . Stratford Chamber of Commerce meet this evening at 7.3 G o'clock in the j Borough Council Chambers '■> . ... fhe man tram this morning carried :i large number of passengers. The excursion fares no mnibt will prove™ an inducement to manv people to tra- ' vol. ' I The revenue of Xew South Wales | for eleven months increased by £337,383, and for a similar | revenue decreased £ reports .1 the .Press Association. A Press Association telegram to-dny from Dunedin states: The local branch of Messrs Turnbull, Martin and Company Ims received cable advice that the Argyloshire reached Havre • undamaged. I A London cablegram supplies the following shipping items: Arrivals—j Morea, Hawke's Bay, Star of Australia. Departures— For Wellington, Huahine; for Dunedin, Waimato; for Auckland, Caldergrove. A public meeting was held last night in New Plymouth to set up a committee to organise town labour to assist farmers at harvest time with a view to encourage the increased ! growth of cereals. Hope was exI pressed that a similar movement would be made in other parts of the Dominion. The annual meeting of the Acclimatisation Society was held tasH evening. It was decided to adjourn the meeting until the 9th June, when I all holders of fishing and shooting licenses are uregutly requested to attend. The meeting will be held in the A. and P. Society's rooms. As interj est iu the Society has in late years I been lacking, sportsmen should make a special effort. The object of the Society is to protect the interests of sportsmen and therefore true sportsmen should let such a Society live, not merely exist. A meeting of creditors in the Estate of William Pope was held at the Deputy Official Assignee's office on Friday last. There were present— Messrs. I). Davis, T. G. Hodder, W. E. Jones (Mr. W. G. Malone) representing Mr. Hodder, the Bankrupt I and Mr. R. Spence representing Bankj nipt. The Deputy Official Avssignee presided. After a statement of the i Bankrupt's affairs had been read and I the Bankrupt had been cross-ex- ' amined, it was derided to take no action, and the meeting adjourned sine die. | The sneak-thief and the hoodlum are abroad in the land. Yesterday the theft of a ham from the backdoor of a residence was recorded, and now two other cases, although of a slightly different character, come to light. One man states that the sockets of his spring-dray lamps were taken out one night and damaged and then thrown into a creek nearby. In Another category is the case of a man who had the covers of two horses ripped in several places with a knife, while the animals' tails were docked and the manes shaved off, even to the forelock.

The statement of the Minister of Defence regarding recruiting should be reassuring to the community as a j whole. Xo doubt the despatch of U]£ special body caused the authorities* some anxiety, but the required numbers have been made up as well as the quota for the 7th Reinforcements. What is required for the future is a total of 2600 every two months. As the authorities have had no difficulty in raising 2000 men every two months before the special force was enrolled, there is no reason to believe that there will be any difficulty henceforth. The greatest recruiting agency, the daily casualty list, is now acting, and no d-.ubt the response will be greater than before.

At the Salvation Army Hall on Sunday evening. Adjutant Cook announced that next Sunday a. collection would be taken up for Hospital "Work in Alexandria, Malta, and England, to provide comforts for the wounded soldiers from New Zealand. This appeal will be made throughout the Dominion in every Salvation Army Corps, and Stratford has been asked to aim at £5. In making the announcement, the Adjutant said: "Of course we shall get it. It only requires ten people to give 10s each and the figure Mentioned is reached." Immediately, one gentleman present gave a £1 note. It need scarcely be added that Adjutant Cook will be only too pleased to receive contributions for this purpose. In Egypt with the troops, the Salvation Army have an officer, who is a Captain-Chaplain from New Zealand, and he will see to the proper distribution of the fund among the New Zealand wounded boys at the front.

The sight of a small boy with a new football under his arm being escorted by a white-coated Eonsorial artist down Broadway this morning led tc some apprehension that a wicked deeq had been done. On investigation it was found that a number of footballs displayed outside a local tobacconist's proved too strong a temptation for j small boy. whose leaning towards tin national game led him a des perate deed. During' s/Tfjarp cross exnmi aat ion conducted with grea ability by the prosecuting party, i was adduced that the light-handed youngster bad walked from Tariki t< Stratford. He did not wish to re turn home empty-handed, so though to relieve the tradesman of the res ponsibility of the best hall on show Unfortunately, for him. he wasSSi* lieved of his capture, and after bein severely ami again sharply admonishe was informally convicted and requests by the tradesman to come up for sel tenee when called upon,