GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 42, 25 January 1916, Page 7

GENERAL.

The Tapanui Courier says that some great hoggets were shorn at Mr JR.Kirk’s (“Greenbank”), last week—--34 fleeces to the bale. The Westport Times say that the sum of £9B was stolen from the licensee’s bedroom at Dowie’s Hotel, MurJhison, on Christmas night. Writing from Salonika under date November 4 t Sergeant Alex. Prentice, No. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital, said: “At the present time we ,fre being afforded an opportunity of Seeing the information of an immense Anglo-French army, side by side with the mobilisation of the Grecian thousands. The whole place is full of soldiers, all moving north. To-day we see a whole hillside covered in tents, and to-morrow everything is gone. The Frenchmen are magnificent soldiers, and if they are the fruit of conscription, then let us have it every time, for in Kitchener’s army there are too many boys and not enough of big, strong, lusty men. In equipment, uniform, and everything the French appear to advantage, and their cheerful, happy faces are an indication that they are in earnest about the ' whole business even though they are Conscripts.” V ; \-’ /vV v •

An unknown potato blight has made its appearance in the Damiovirke district, and the. opinion of the Agricultural Department has been solicit ed. A smart capture of two Chinamen with opium in their possession was effected by Constable Parkhill at Part Chalmers on Friday (states the Otago Daily Times). It appears that the Chinese visited Port Chalmers in a motor car, and, after spending some time there, they were about to return to town when the constable’s suspicions wore aroused and he decided to search the car. The result of his investigations was the discovery of six Jib tins of opium, and in consequence the two Chinese will appear before the Court on a charge of having uncustomed goods in their possession. The erection of the toll gate near Stratford will assist in sounding the death knoll of toll gates in the Dominion, says the Eltham Argus. Travellers maintain that this particular toll gate is an imposition. If the roads were tar-sealed, and made comfortable to travel on, people would recognise that they wore getting something for their money, but to have to pay toll and not to have good roads to travel on gets people’s hacks up. A private member will next session introduce into the House a Bill to abolish toll gates, and it will pass through all its stages quite easily.

Japan is exporting mandarin oranges to Auckland via Sydney, but two j shipments have arrived in poor condition. The first lot were condemned as unfit for consumption, but a lot of 590 cases by the Riverina were passed 1 although in poor condition. The packing is said to he good, but the cases are too airtight i” ’ i The argument that the Auckland ‘ Queen Carnival was an expensive method by which to raise money, it hold to be completely disposed of by the an- ] nouncement that the working expenses i 1 of the executive of the Soldiers’ Queen i i amounted to a little over 1 per cent. It (says the New Zealand Herald). The I c executive’s certified. balance sheet lias 11 just been issued, and shows that a|] sum of £29,294 18s 5d was raised for j c the Patriotic Fund. The total expen- ! v ses amounted to £349, so that a sum a of £28,945 18s od had been paid over • ; i to the Central Executive. A satisfac- 11 tory feature connected with the ex- . t penditure is that the disbursements t for salaries and wages totalled only j : £-15. The detailed receipts are as fol- ; v low:—Receipts and donations from I v various sources, £20,403 11s 8d; art ■ t unions, £.3149 15s 7d ; children’s day, t £2106 Is 7d; house-to-house canvass, a £ll3B 4s 3d ; mock court, £B7S 'T 5 s 3d ; \ sale of badges, iron crosses, buttons, ;i post cards, and kiwis, £636 7s lOd; ( . An/ac tearooms, £558; voting blocks, £ £271 2s 3d; sale of flag, £156 2s. }, ]

. While fishing one Sunday afternoon at the mouth of the Esk River, where it runs into the inner Napier harbor, a man felt something entwine itself round his leg, and discovered tlmt ah octopus was clinging with one of its tentacles (says .the Hawke’s Bay Herald). The marine visitor gave a good squeeze, but it was hailled (ashore with the assistance of another man. An examination 'showed that the feelers were ISin to 24in in' ‘lehgjfh. Manual activity on a lug scale is prevailing just now in the Waitakere hills (says the Auckland Star). It is connected with the construction of the big dam at Nihotupu, which is to conserve a quantity of 540,000,000 gallons of water for the supply of Auckland residents. The dam is being erected immediately above the big waterfall, which is 110 ft in height and the dam itself will be nearly 150 ft above stream level. The length at the top will lie 520 ft. At the bottom the thickness of the dam is 101 ft., ami at the top 12ft. Above the weir level piers will be erected to carry the roadway, which, it is ultimately hoped, will , serve as a portion of the tourist track extending from the present mo-tor-drive up to the Nihotupu reservoir, across the dam, and thence to the West Coast Road. The dapi.will have ei surface area of 3G acres, and the catchment area will be 2200 acres. As the contract time is three years and aiialf, the work should.be completed in 1919.

A c-nsehcfory 1 lie Invercargill Court 'on Wednesday goes to show that the practice of throwing stones at lionsos

[cannot l«> indulged in with impunity I (says the Southland Times). A young lady, who did not appear, was charg'ed with throwing stones at a house on Kelvin road, occupied by a woman with a German-sounding name. In a letter the girl expressed sorrow at what she had done, and, as the olfence has not been committed since, the magistrate said he would convict and discharge the girl.

Some days ago the cablegrams stated that .Mr Malcolm Ross, the New Zealand war correspondent, was dl. Ihe tallowing letter (says the Auckland Star) has been received hy Mr D. Ross, of the Agricultural Department from the Prime .Minister, in re-

sponse to an enquiry respecting toe health of his brother;—“in reply to

your letter, the only information so far received regarding your brother, Mr .Malcolm Ross, was contained in a telegram to the Minister of Defence, stating that he had been invalided to a hospital ship, much against has will, by the ship’s doctor. I am unable to say how the statement regarding his health, recently published in the newspapers, came to he made. I do not think there is any cause for, you to he anxious respecting his condition.”

“The Army and Xavy Journal” reports that the backing of the armour plating of the I’.S. battleship Arizona, now under construction in New York, is having a concrete-backed armour plate in lieu of teak, and in this instance the economy is emphasised, as both material and labor are cheaper. Generally in England use has not been made of Portland cement and cement concrete by our shipping firms and ; ship repairers, and similarly not by our barge builders and pontoon contractors. Italy took the initiative in eon.strbotion of reinforced concrete in barge building, and there are a considerable number of pontoons and •bargqs on the inland waterways, and have* proved sufficient after stress and ordinary wear and tear. They seem durable, and the cost of painting is “nil.”