ANZAC DAY

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 86, 10 April 1916, Page 4

ANZAC DAY

It is time that we should decide upon the form which our commemoration of Anzac Day is to take. We are taking it for granted that an event that will go down in the history of the British Empire for practically all time —the landing of our troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula —will not be less honoured and observed here by some public function or celebration than it i s to be in other parts of the Dominion, as well as in the Commonwealth of Australia. To use the words of the Commonwealth Premier: “This is the day which brought imperishablefame to Australia, and gave us an unassailable place among the nations, wo cannot forget, amidst all these recollections of the glorious heroism displayed of homes throughout Australia this day will bring mournful memories of dear ones who lie buried on the shores of the Dardanelles. It is in celebration of the one day in which every State, and not only every State, but every town and village—almost every family—is indissolubly interested. The worthy and suitab'e commemoration of the first anniversary of the day which made Australia famous throughout the civilised world will prove that we are not unmindful of (our obligations.’'’ It might not be out of place to hold the weekly half-holiday on Tuesday the 25th in place of the following Thursday and after the close of whatever function is held contributions for Red Cross work might be taken up, for in the great efforts that we all feel are imminent on all battlefields, it is the duty of even the poorest amongst us to give our dime towards relieving the sufferings of the unkilled fallen. Recruiting speeches might also be made, for, although men now enlisting may never have to fire a rifle, it is of the deepest and most extreme importance that we should present a united strength of forces that will make it plain to our enemies they can never •hope to boat. Men offering themselves now are much more likely to he life savers than life takers, therefore we think Anzac Day would be a most opportune time for urging young men to offer themselves—before Parliament meets and decides upon any particular method of compulsion. Whatever it is intended to do should be made known as early as possible now, so that the whole district may have ample time to arrange to, take part.

A soldier was arrested at Featherston last week on a charge of bigamy. The Grey town Dairy Factory’s whey butter brought 152/ per cwt. on the London market-.’ No fewer than six Maoris have been declared bankrupt in the Hawke’s Bay district in the past three montis. tf ' Tho Dunedin' master bakers are reducing the price of the 41b loaf, delived, from Sid to Sd. Levin and Co. have just given £I,OOO to the Wellington War Belief Association.

A five-rocmcd house, with two acres of land, in Taihape, only ton minutes' walk from the Post Office, is advvrt.se for sale in another column.

There are 138,776 acres of Crown laud being thrown open for selection this month. In addition 11,407 acres are already set aside for disposal in May.

Mr. Massey informed a flourmillers ’ deputation that he knew of a ship which had cost about £70,000 to build, q good cargo vessel' of -her type, and this ship had recently been sold for £150,000 cash. (

The largest land transaction which has taken place for years in South Wairarapa is that of some 4,100 acres of the property known as ‘ ‘ The Admiral Eun, ” by Messrs. W. Kay and Brown (Dunedin), for £43,,000.

“What does the Department mean?” qnieried Cr. Poison, at Friday's meeting of the Wanganui County Council, when a letter from the Public Works Department was read asking for a list of urgent works for which grants were required. “A little while ago," continued Cr. Poison, “the Department intimated that it intended to carry on these works themselves* unless these works had been undertaken. Now they ask for applications for grants for these works.”

The Director of Education in South Australia (Mr. M. M. Maughan) is of opinion that country boys learn to be more self-reliant than town lads. Speaking to a pressman, he told a little story illustrating the point. A little boy was with his father, a farmer, when eight draught horses got away, and galloped down the road. The small chap, who is only foun years old, instantly ran in front of them, threw up -his hands, and shouted. And the great animals actually stopped in obedience to his orders! Mr. Maughan said, “That boy had confidence in himself, and he will doubtless grow into a fine, level-headed man.”

The past montli was an exceptionally busy one for the Wellington meat freezing trades, all available hands being employed, and good time was worked.

A woman, who was arrested on Saturday for drunkenness, was called upon to answer a charge at the Taihape Court this morning, before Mr. J. P. Aldridge, J.P. She made no appearance and the bail of 10 was estreated.

Adventurous ladies from the Wellington Red Cross shop opened a stall on the Trentham racecourse last week. Many "girl assistants took round trays of goods and did splendidly, finding the soldiers among their best customers.

The repairing of the Aurora at Port Chalmers is not likely to bo hurried, as she will not be able, on account of the ice. to get to her Antarctic destination until December, or perhaps January. Hence sufficient time is available in which to put. the vesel in the bo.A of order before she leaves.

The walnut crop at Akaroa this year is a very good one, the nuts being clean and free from disease, though the dry weather is responsible for the fruit being on the small side. In no* part of the Dominion do walnut trees grow like those on Banks Peninsula and visitors from other parts are filiewith admiration at the many stately trees.

There are some good jokes current about shirkers. A prominent Feilding lady, says tho Stan, who takes an interest in recruiting, rang up another lady cn the telephone and asked why h recently married able-bodied son had not gone to the front. The question was parried by the Scotch method of asking another —why had the first lady’s single son not enlisted? The

last answer sounded like the gurglirr of a flooded brook. The cream of the joke is that the "enwly wed,” despite innumerable difficulties, had sent his name in for service.

Fiaed a penny and given a month in which to pay it! In the Central Sammons Court at Sydney last week a man named William R. Wallace v: proceeded against by the City Council’s inspector on a charge of hawkina in the city streets without a license The magistrate, on hearing the circumstances, thought the ca§e should be withdrawn, but the inspector thought the opposite. His Worship, thereupon, turned to the defendant and said: ‘ 1 You ar e fined one penny, in default, a minute’s hard labour. I’ll allow you any reasonable time to pay —a month if you like. How long do you require?” Wallace; "If your Worship pleases—a month.” The Magistrate: "Very well, you •-are allowed a month to pay. I must reduce it to an absurdity.”

Over 60 railwaymen who enlisted in the Main Body, of the Expeditionary Force got together in Egypt prior to the Gallipoli campaign, and were photographed, says tiic Railway Review. Porter IST. C. Delaney, who has “done his bit,” and is now back in the railway service, writes stating that the 60 men in the group included members from all branches of the service. Ore has been mentioned in dispatches fm good work; others hav e done noble deeds, and have been noticed by their officers. About 20 have been killed in action, two are prisoners of war, and, he adds, “I will be correct if I say the rest are on casualty lists. So you will see we, as a small body of railwaymen, mixed up in different units, have been in the thick of battle. The majority of these men are from the North Island. Time and duty would not allow us all to be present, as we were off to the front in a few days.”

A number of firemen of a certain well-known passenger steamer, who are ardent admirers of Charlie Chaplin, the world-famed cinema comedian, whilst in Dunedin the other day, kidnapped a large dummy figure of Chaplin from the front of a local theatre, and escorted it in triumph to their vessel. On arrival at th e boat they filed past the dummy and ceremoniously saluted it. One admirer, in an excess of appreciation of Chaplin's efforts to amuse them at the cinema show, surrendered his bunk to the dummy,, and slept on the floor. When he woke up later on he objected to the presence of a “stranger” in his bunk, and there was very little of the dummy intact when th e fireman had finished dealing with him. We do not know what sort of firemen “life the shovel "in Southern cities, though the invogorating climate —or perhaps it was a holiday night—might have caused this “spirited” outburst.

Wore I so tall to reach the sky, Or take the ocean in my span, What use is length, unless there’s strength? , Now tell me if you can. Suppose I’m ill with rasping cough Or tickling throat —well, to be sure, I don’t talk length, I gather strength With Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.

One or two furnished rooms are wanted by a gentleman in an office.

The Postal Department draw attention that the s.s, Eiveriua leave Well ington for Sydney on Wednesday, in stead of Thursday, this week.

The Dunedin Presbytery has unanimously agreed to the nomination of the Rev. Andrew Gray, of Eavensbourne, for the position of Moderator of the Synod of Otago and Southland.

'‘lt seems a crying shame- that men should have to go beseeching young men to go to the front,” said Captain Lilico to a Southland Times reporter. It was necessary that every tit man should go. The men of the main body badly needed restand had undergone a great deal. It would be found that every available man would be required.

Cultivation given to the lucerne at Rnakura during the latter part of January had c. wonderful ofiVct on the succeeding crop. Rye-grass, Yorkshire fog, catsear, and sorrel, which had constituted the principal weeds in the lucerne, were almost absent from this growth. The cultivating operation was carried out under ideal weather conditions, a hot. sun rapidly withering up the weeds after they had been dragged out by the cultivator and harrows.

A gathering of about 1,500 people assembled at the mass meeting in the Auckland Town Hall last week to urge upon the Government the legal abolition of “treating"’ or “shouting,” and the early closing of hotel bars. The Eight Eev. Dr. Averill, Anglican Bishop of Auckland, presided, and associated with him on the platform were the representatives of various churches and the Y.M.C.V. The various resolutions were carried unanimously.

Our farmers have long faces to-day (Tuesday) over the wool sale (says the Dunedin Times). Prices have dropped by Id per lb in some classes, up to as much as 3d in others, and we know of one grower who refused 15Jd at the Feb unary sale for a lot that to-day was bid for at only 11:] d. Up to Friday tliere were hopes of a fair sale, but the news that the Eangitira had been stranded off the African coast killed the expectations of some who were preparing to ship by her, and that settled the prospects of the sale.

The desirability of initiating a system of “one class” travelling on the suburban railways has stnongly impressed itself upon the Victorian .Minister of Railways. He said last week: “Ever since 1 visited America I have been impressed with the fact that the right thing for a big suburban railway service is one class. In America they have on c class right through—country and suburban —and if a man wants to travel r, bit more exclusively he has to purchase, a ticket on the- ‘ Pullman ’ car. I don’t advocate one class on our country trains. - I would keep it to’the suburban service. ’ ’

At the mouth Halfmoon Bay (Stewart Island) there is a group of bushy islands, including one known as Pukeokaoka Island. Here Mr,. J. Bragg recently cleared a patch about ddft x 24ft and sowed it down in pctotoos (mostly Up-to-Datcs). He did not, visit the place for hilling-up or anything else until a few weeks ago, when ho popped over to see if the crop had come to anything. Imagine his surprise when he dug up a shaw or two to find potatoes weighing about 21b in weight—huge tubers every one of them. This small patch returned a cnop of half a ton.