LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 82, 10 July 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The monthly meeting of the Stratford Borough Council will be held this evening. , I &

At the close ot\ Miss Pankhurs.t's address at Westport a lady in the audience expressed strong disapproval of the tenpr of the address, and?yehe-> mently denounced the speaker,' 1 who, she said, would never have been allowed under the German flag to deliver such an address. Miss Pankhurst replied, and, after a further stormy protest, the interrupter bounced out of the 'meeting: exclaiming: "If I had my way I'd shoot her. She'd got a drumhead courtmartial in the morning."

Dr. Gibb dods riot lack a sense: of humour, which is, popular superstition notwithstanding, a leading feature of the Scottish mind. He was referring (says the "New Zealand Times") to the fact that although soldiers could not get drink in camp they could get as full as they liked in town. He related a true story of a potential hero who got back to camp in a mellow condition and fell foul of a puddle near the entrance. He was rescued' from the slough of despond by the'military police, and was heard matter, as he wa : s conducted'"ii his tent: "The end of a perfect day !" M " |

The-art linioit,' donated; by M»3 Campbell Wpunded 'Sttldiers' Fund, ! antl' \V-liicll w^s-organised by the Ladies'"Patriotic committee, was drawn during the interval at His Majesty's Theatre ori' Saturday evening, and was won by Mrs Kate, of Toko. Prior to the drawing, Mr J. McMillan explained the object of the art union and called "for l further sale of tickets, resulting in an additional sum of £6 7s 6d being obtained, making a total of about £6B; Miss Muriel Spence was called upon the audience to the stage and drew the ticket. , The Committee wish to thank Mr. F. Foley for allowing the drawing to take place at the Theatre and also Mr. McDonald for taking charge.

, Only two passengers alighted at W/yndham railway station,.on, Thursday morning "by the train that t ;fourjor, ; five years ago used to belatedly) struggle, in crammeof.and jammed with,,. auctioneers, dealers,* the 'monthly stock sale ' dnys f . <i ,says.,|ihe Wyndhatti "Farmer."' ' Tfoe. (:xj)la'na-, tion is simple: this is the era of the automobile. It is estimated that fully 100 motor-cars sped into our township —the writer counted 60 odd of them, shortly after noon, standing in Redan street alone, in addition, both stables were congested with horses in for bait, as the scores of vehicles drawn up outside Jhose establishments fully proved.

Considerable amusement was caused by the evidence of a witness in a charge of overcrowding against the proprietors' of the Wliangarei picture! theatre. Witness said he was the fireman on duty that night. At 9.15 p.m., after the deputy had called his attention to people standing in the alleways, he (witness) went up to one man who was offending in this direction. Said witness: "I asked him to find a seat or else Ire would have to go out. He was a big six-footer, and after eyeing me up and down, said, 'Did you pay for my ticket?' I said 'No, but you.must not block the gangway.' At that he turned and said, very significantly, 'l'll wipe the floor with you.' As I did not want to be used as a broom I got out of his. sight." At a later stage in his evidence this, witness caused further amusement by saying that he found a seat for himself, as he considered it politic, to efface himself as much as possible in case the six-footer was about.

"For every pound spent in school material only 15s in value is received," stated Mr H. A. Parkinson at, a meeting of the Wellington Educational Institute. He moved:—"That the, Education Department be asked to consider the advisability of establishing a store for the supply of school requisites." Such a facility, he said, was extended to the Railway and Postal Departments. Considering that the amount spent in school requisites ran into thousands a year, scholars, teachers, schools, parents and the public as a. whole, were losing a great deal of money under the present arrangements." Mr Hbpkirk seconded the motion, but the discussion was postponed.

The Bay of Plenty Times announces that in consequence of the heavy increase in the- cost of newspaper production it has had to increase its advertising charges by 50 p?r coat, as from July 1. The editor points out that owing to the high cost of paper, .coupled with the increased charge by the Government for Press Telegrams, the daily issue of the ne\vspap?r in the Tauranga district has been threatened, and it has become abundantly clear that a daily paper at existing rates is impracticable. Two alternatives presented themselves, namely, increasing the charge . for advertising, and for the pap.v iise,;, or to reduce the issue to three clays a week. By way of a test the advertising rates are being raised as indicate!. Other New Zealand papers hare felt the war pinch severely, and the s : ze of several south-, , em papers has been reduce-.] from 12 j to 10 pages, and the width of the pages from 8 column,-, to 7 columns daily.

Many of the sailors of the Japanese warships now in port in' Wellington" are provided with handy little redcovered hooks, which give them a handy guide to everyday phrases in the English language, such as "I feel no hungry." "Where to will I go?" and "Is there the eat shop?" On© i sailor was asked now he managed to , pronounce the English words, even though the Japanese equivalent (in I meaning) were placed opposite. He !at once turned to the beginning of the j, book and showed there the alphabet, the vowels and consonants all set out ,in proper sequence, "with Japanese sound equivalent above each letter. ,Jn this'"maimer the visitors are takadvantage of the present voyage ,to learn English.. The one word of Japanese that local people are.learning ■ is the pretty word "Sayonara," the ordinary salutation in Japan equivalent to our "Good day" or "How,do, I you do?"-' ! t* ; : -. : "" : ■ v *» ■

A lady correspondent, writing from Bheims, says:— "At the present timo ■there are 20,000. people in this once, prosperous city absolutely dependent upon public and private charity. Homeless, workless, ruined! What a condition of a thrifty, laborious population; how impossible is it for you at Home to realise what German devastation means! Pillage is the rule whenever country houses are taken possession of, pillage and destruction.: Whatever can be..carried off is seized, what cannot be stolen is dented or destroyed. Alas! I fear that |he \ arch-burgler and his. revelare less native than the'invaders of ; 'yl. My i wise friends the winegrowers of Burgundy then took the precaution to seal all their 'vin ordinaire' and leave unsealed their famous Mines. The unsuspecting Teutons laid hands upon all the sealed bottles, and'many of them having never tasted claret before 'licked their chops' over the delicious draught. But tho hordes of '7O and '7l behaved like lambs compared to those of to-day."

The good folk of a back country township were visited recently by a man who gave himself out as a returned soldier. He was received with open amis, and deluged with hospitality. Tales of derring-do on the hills of Oallipoli rippled from his tongue to the delight of the ladies and the interest of all. He became the lion of the neighbourhood, and invitations to social functions fell thick upon him. At a banquet lie responded to the toast of the.Anzacs with tears in his eyes and the tremolo of deep emotion in his voice. Upon his departure he had a great send off; but he assuaged tho township's grief by an assurance that he would soon return. He was back ih a few days as principal witness for the police in cases in which several of his erstwhile hosts were, on his information, charged with slg-grog selling. In the witness-box lie gave his age as 27, and followed this up with the startling assertion that he had been a member of the Sixth South African Contingent. Counsel for the defence drew attention to the fact that he must, then, have been a soldier in South Africa at 13. Needless to say the case was dismissed.

The "Anzac" Minstrels will present their full entertainment of minstrelsy at Cardiff to-morrow night, the whole proceeds being donated to the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. The usual dance will terminate the evening's entertainment. Prices of admission are gents, concert and dance, 2s; ladies, lg and backet. The Company will also perform at Tariki on Thursday next. x "O, the divinity of being rich!" —Randolph. It is not wealth of money, but wealth of health that matters most. A primary cause of much ill-health is inattention to chest and bronchial troubles, which could have been quickly remedied by taking Baxter's Lung Preserver. At Is lOd for a big bottle everyone can secure a reliable safeguard against coughs, colds, sore throats and like complaints. "Baxter's" is also a splendid tonic. Your •chemist or storekeeper has it. Order to-day.