LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2, 31 August 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Makura lias arrived at Yancou-j ver. The Napier City Council last night decided to issue a free tram pass to all returned soldiers.—P. A. ! The Stratford Gun will meet' at the County Hotel to-morrow; evenink at <S 6'cloclc. The price of butter in Dunedin will he reduced from Is 8d to Is 6d per lb, to-mororw. states the, Press., Agsociation. At the Trinity College examination. I the local Convent presented for examination thirty-nine t-aitdidates jj and gained thirty-nine The annual meeting ...of. .jugl&bers of the Stratford Jtacing'CluTT^vnlT' lie held this .tT , uesdtfy)ue.rwning.: in the office of the secretary. Mr.:.A.i Coleman.. hVuton -Street,'»)(> rj&i ; ; ; * "A \ meeting of the "hard up" social Wmmittee in' connection \vith the Fire. ■ tore!)light procesxioii ' and dahcje to, lie held on September 9, will be'ifteld at' the library.' Fire''Stiitimi,' to-nSglit. :l a't 7Aid o'clock. !'' I I ■•' " '■ "" ' '>»>'" • ■"■■> At the close of the Trinity (College musical examinations in Stratford, Mr) S. Myerscough, Mus.'B.',"met>the local music teachers, and gave a very interesting address on music and the correct" method to adopt' in preparing, candiates for examinations.

.a'.-rr: i: jo:.*maj j.'ioair The Gorman steamer Walkure, which was sunk' by. v ,the., (..Germans during their bombardment ,«f, .Papeete, was to have been.,sold by auction, hut the .sale; has ibeen postponed. Resting on an even (keel in about nine fathoms pf water,/it is. anticipated that, the ,Walkure can, be raised with very , ; little difficulty. ; The masts, funnel, and bridge are showing out of the water.

An ; idea of tbe spirit with which the Germa'n advance is regarded in Russia is given by a letter received in Auckland from an English , lady who has resided in Russia for about ten years. She is governess in the family of onp of the very high officios in Petrograd, and writing to .her sister she says that the Russians are preparing Petrograd to withstand a siege, and are perfectly .confident of

being able to beat off the Germans. They are daily receiving from Japan enormous quantities of ammunition and huge guns, larger than any the Germans can possibly take for the siege.

The privilege of telephone exchange subscribers to secure special 'messengers from the Post Office is stated to be availed of locally to a very limited extent, only one business man making regular calls upon the service to any extent. It may be stated that on request being made to tbe exchange during the hours the telegraph office is open, such messenger may be utilised for running an errand, ordering a cab. delivering a letter or a small parcel not exceeding .'slb. in weight, or any similar service. . vThe delivery fee for each article not exceeding 31b in, weight is (kl lor the first mile and 3d for each additional mile up to two miles, or three miles in all. by the nearest practicable road. . On Sundays, double tbe ordinary fee is I 'charged. Kxceeding .'{lbs and not exceeding! Bibs, the cbarge is double. During the last few days many civilians have been wearing military great coats and putties, and cannot be aware of the heavy fines that mar be] imposed lor breaking the regulations^as defined in the following clause, which is an extract from the .Military Regulations :—"Every person not serving in His Majesty's naval or military forces, on in the defence forces, or in the junior cadets, who, wears without j the Governor's permission the uniform , >f a»y of those forces, or any dress | laving the appearance-' or bearing! j my of the regimental.' 01 " other dis-j 1 :inctivo marks of any .such uniform, in' < i manner or under circumstances like-, ' y to firing contempt upon that uni- '• orm, or employs any'''Other person so o wear that uniform or dress, is liable ( o a fine not exceeding £lO. or to im- ' trisonment for a term not exceeding ' me month," ' * :.__ -,. ■• It

Postal people are so bound u[ with'red tape that it seems almost : waste of time suggesting thai, the loca penny-in-the-sloD postage-stamp mac hine be placed where it will be mor< get-at-able during respectable hours by the general public. At present, ii is in the private box lobby, where th< presence of the public is disoouragec by regulation. At any rate, the ]obb.\ "would surely be the last place few ol the public would expect to be able tc secure a stamp. More than . likely, the officials will say the public ought to know this thing, but the fact remains that they are not cognisant,ol the facility thus afforded, as is shown by the average monthly takings of the machine, which are about £2 only. While not wishing to labor the point, it may also be pointed out that Sunday is essentially "letter-day" in many homes, and there seems little sense in locking up the stamp machine at six o'clock on Sunday evenings instead of midnight as is the case on week nights.