LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 43, 26 January 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

An Auckland Press Association telegram states that the Takapuna races wer e postponed till Thursday owing to heavy rain. Stratford picture patrons will learn with interest of the advent of Annette Kellerman ("Neptune's Daughter") to His Majesty's Theatre on Thursday, 10th inst. At Midhirst this even.no- the res'dents are holding an interesting war function, when a returned trooper will be welcomed and several newly-enlist-eds will farewell "for the military camp. Weather forecast.—Northerly strong winds to gale and backing by west to south. The weather appears likely to be cloudy and unsettled. Rain probable. Barometer falling, but rising after about 24 to 36 hours.—Bates, Wellington. The Maheno was visited yesterday afternoon at Wellington by the Governor and members of the Ministry,] who made an official inspection, and shortly after six o'clock the vessel moved out into the stream, preparatory to sailing for somewhere. The Press Association stales that large' crowds of people watched the departure. The local recruiting authorities are anxious that Taranaki's reputation for supplying lier quota to the several reinforcements should not be allowed to fall just now, and special attention is 1 requested to be made of the need of 2U' men for the infantry in the 13th Reinforcements, intending recruits are, reminded that they may enlist with Lieutenant Gray or Mr W. P. Kirk-! wood,, honorary recruiting agent, Stratford. Referring to the failure of the operations in Gallipoli, "Trooper Bluegum" wrote to the "Sydney Morning Herald": —"I am convinced that the whole enterprise would have succeeded if the Australians had been given the Sulva Bay job instead of Kitchener's men. Some of the Australian battalions wer e actually split up and put in the British brigades to stiffen them. Yet our hoys had less training than Kitchener's army." Tlie Right Hon. W. F. Massey, interviewed in Auckland, said that in no part of the British Empire occupied by Europeans is the cost of living so low as in New Zealand (states a Press Association telegram). Care must be taken not to interfere with the productions of our own country or with supplies from abroad. The aim of the Government has been to keep the country prosperous, and see that if the people had to pay more for commodities they were in a position to do so. So far no serious pinch had been experienced. He lieved if we had fewer croakers we would have a correspondingly smaller number of shirkers.

Some photographs were shown at the Native School Teachers' Conference in Auckland of the open-air Maori school at Te Hapua on the Parengarenga harbor. The latitude within which the township of Te Hapua rests —35 deg. south—is the same as that

of Sydney, so that the locality is admirably suited for the conduct of school in the open (says the Auckland Star). The room, which is really a large verandah attached to the school building, measures 28 feet by 14 feet, and has accommodation for 40 pupils. Mr H. G. Vine, iho headmaster, states that the experiment of open-air teaching has proved entirely successful.

The extensive kauri areas of the Northern Wairoa, says an exchange,. have in years passed .procJueed many millions of feet of timber and are still producing large quantities. This constant drain cannot be maintained for ever, and the fact thai the last log in the Mangakahia is expected to be delivered into the main stream in another year's time, is tangible evidence of I lie complete decimation oi the forests. The area of Kirikopuni a s a timber producing territory will follow suit, and then all logging activity will be centred in the Kaihu Valley, where some 50,000,000 feet of mixed timber is available. Further yet is the Waipotia State forest, which is estimated to contain 100,000,000 feet of kauri and the same quantity of ocher timbers.

Liniments cannot cure Rheumatism, Gout. Sciatica, or Lumbal". The uric acid must be removed from the blood. Kx+erior treatment will not do it—RHEUMO will. RHEUMO has cured thousands of cases, permanentlyly. Oout. Taimbap-o. Sciatica, all complaints named by excess of uric, seldom fail to yield to BHEUMO. s

The syndicate which purchased the ex-German steamer Walkure which was sunk by German shell fire in Papeete harbor, is making a success of the salvage efforts. During the course of an interview, Mr £. J. Lamb of Messrs Houlder Bros, and Co.. Ltd., stated in Sydney last week that when he was at Papeete on the way back to Australia lie inspected the coffer dam that had been built around the partially submerged vessel, and it was a remarkable piece of work. The operations were being carried out under the supervision of Captain Curtis, who had been sent out from San Francisco with a party and all appliances in the specially-chartered auxiliary schooner Chehalis. and by this time the vessel should be afloat. It is understood that the Walkure is to be named Republic when she is taken over by the owners.