GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 39, 16 June 1915, Page 3

GENERAL.

An Auckland resident the other day' aired his views on the war in a public place j and said if lie iiad the opportunity lie would go and fight for Germany. He was reported to thei military authorities, who promptly a*' rested him, and he is now confined in detention barracks at one of the forts. At Milton on .Monday. Captain .John Robert Henderson was committed for trial on several charges of stealing Government funds. Accused was admitted to bail in one surety of £'2oo and his own recognisance of £2OO on the charge of stealing £2O, and his own recognisance of £IOO on the other charges. Probably the most interesting ap-. plicant in a recent day's recruiting in Sydney was a young farmer from the vicinity of Tenterfield. He was so tall that he had to bend his head to get through the doorway of the recruiting office. When he had the measure put over him he registered 6 feet 7 inches. In age lie was a youth—being only IS years.

Another contrivance to enable railway rolling stock to travel over varying gauges has been devised by Mr T. -M'l'herson, cabinetmaker, of Ascot Vale, Victoria. The inventor claims that by using his idea rolling stock may be taken over either the lit .S.Jiii. gauge ol the New South Wales railways or the oft JJin gauge of Victoria. The invention is claimed to be simple; cheap and reliable. The principle oT the idea is the use of a double wheel.

At a recent patriotic meeting at iiingara (X.S.VV.) a novel method of raising money for the Red Cross funds was adopted. A resident donated a. quantity of St. julien claret, and announced that anyone present who cared to donate 10s would be allowed to have a glass of •the claret when the war was over. 15y this means he raised £3O for the hind,-and in the. meantime the claret is reposing in the local bank until such time as peace is declared.

In the course of a patriotic address, delivered at Dunedin a day or two ago, the Rev. Father Coffey disclosed the following incident:—A man in this town volunteered for the front, giving up a position bringing him in £.'s 10s a week. He was promised by the company who employed hi in that his wile, should receive £1 a week lor six

months, and if he had not then returned the position would be again considered. He goes to light for his country because he is a patriot. Yes. And what is the result!' His wife receives from him Is a day—practically all he receives as the pay of a soldier. At the end of the six months the £1 per week is stopped .and to-day, while the husband is out fighting for his country, his wife has to go out to earn her own living.

A"k'rioiis case of. sorghum poisoning occurred at Dog Trap, a few miles frojn■■Jnvercli (reports the Sydney Daily Telegraph), when sixteen cows belonging to one herd were prostrated. The sorghum had been growing since November, but owing to the dryness of the season it did not come into head. The owner, therefore, did not anticipate any trouble, but to be on the safe side the sorghum was cut and left lying on the ground for 30 hours before feeding, it proved to lie deadly poisonous, however, and within a short time 16 cows showed symptoms. A local veterinary surgeon was at once sent for, but on his arrival two cows were dead and twelve others were in an advanced stage. The vet., however, used a treatment of his own, with astonishing results, and within an hour the whole of the affected cows had recovered.

Aii Auckland pressman who "flew" with Aviator Walsh the oilier clay says of his experience:— "Presently there conies a new sensation, T!ie speed is now nearly 50 mile an hour . The hull, of which only a lew inches still rest on the water, rises to the surface of the ripples, striking each one with a bump as a fast motor car spurns stones upon a smooth, road; There is no longer any spray; the water runs below undisturbed. With a farewell bump the seaplane is flying. Without the least discomfort to his passenger the pilot lifts his machine higher and higher on a long slope, and then by a slight movement of the control brings it on to 'a level keel' a hundred feet above the water. The surface speed has become til) miles an hour. The air rushes past one's ears with a deafening roarj one's hands become (hilled; the sensation is one of exhilaration and entirely pleasurable. The sense of security, in a large measure inspired by confidence in the pilot, is supreme above thoughts of personal risk. The machine flies so steadily that one feels inclined to stand and walk about. There is no overpowering sensation oi speed. There is none of continuous fiddling with the steering wheel that one watches in a motor car, for in the air there arc no obstructions. To measure the rapidity of the flight the passenger must look over the side, directly below the machine. There the.wafer races past like the lip of Niagara."