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Taihape Daily Times, Issue 209, 12 October 1916, Page 4

In a humorous speech on the war, the Eev. T. C. Ceilings, a Church of England Army chaplain, advocated smoking at religious services. He was not a High Churchman, he said, but he believed in incense, even if it only arose from shag at I'd an ounce. The sheep returns as at April :50th show that the total number of sheep in New Zealand (24<755,150) is 113,271 less than at 'April 30th last year. The North Island shows an increase of 504,SS:S sheep, but this is more than counterbalanced by a decrease of 675.154 in the South Island. It is announced that shearing has started at To Mata. Hawkc's Bay, at "5/- per 100. The last information about that station was that about a week ago the men had refused to work for a 2/6 v,ar bonus advance on the previous minimum rate of 20/- per 100. Mr G. Hunter's station at Porangahau commenced shearing last Tuesday at 25/per hundred and £3 per. week for shed hands. i .-_, ~,. ...

New Zealand trained an army of 30,000 men for home defence last yean, says Mr Allen, besides the reinforcements sent to France.

The first, of the season's pick of strawberries reached the Auckland market last week, and sold at 2/6 a punnet. The weather of late has been unfavourable.

The Base Records Office will be glad to receive any information regarding the relatives of Trooper A. B. Robbie, who was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, at Netley, England, on July 25.

At the close of the Cabinet meeting hold on Tuesday afternoon, the Hon. J. Allen (Acting-Prime Minister) stated that the Government had come to no conclusion as yet in regard to the butter question, except that the price of butter will certainly not be higher for home consumption than it is now.

'' That this conference is of opinion that legislat'ion should be enacted within the Dominion to give preference to British shipping companies by permitting Harbour Board authorities to give a lower scale of tonnage, dock and wharf dues, and port charges to British owned ships.'' The foregoing is a remit from the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, which will come up for consideration at the next conference of the New Zealand Chambers.

It happened to Mr Sidney Kidman, the Australian cattle king, when he was covering a wide tract of country on a motor car. The big machine overtook a traveller carrying his swag across the plains. Knowing that he Avould wipe out 50 miles while Shanks advanced five, Mr Kidman goodnaturedly had the car pulled up, and called out, "Have a lift?" "You don't get me openin' all your gates for you," the traveller answered laconically—and tramped on_

The Hon. G. Fowlds is of opinion that there are traces of the German spirit in the Dominion. Speaking at the laying of the foundation stone of the new Congregational Church in Auckland, he said that, judging by the tone of some utterances in the press, there was a spirit manifested by many of our own people not much different from the German spirit. There was a real danger that after having delivered ourselves from the evils of Germanism, we might get some of it engrafted upon our own system.

Mr. Ormonde Butler, Police Magistrate at Temora, N.S.W., who recently entered a protest against unnaturalised Germans of military age beingcalled as witnesses against British subjects, in dismissing a case, said: "It is a public scandal that the Feceral Government allows unnaturalisec Germans of military age to work amongst and in competition with British subjects. . .We are having our sons and friends slaughtered, whilst British men and women in German; have no freedom whatever. I may be called upon to account for my action, but I will take the responsibility of it."

The Wellington Chamber of Commerce has prepared a remit for the conference of the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce, asking that the Government should legislate in the direction of making it obligatory that before a company can be registered at least four-fifths of its share must be held by British subjects; also that all applications and transfer of shares shall set out the nationality of the applicants and transferees. It is also suggested that the annual list of shareholders of a company filed with the Registrar should state the nationality of shareholders, and that foreign companies should be required to file a list of shareholders getting out the nationality of the same.

The Frankfurter Zeitung publishes a letter from the Western front about the effect on animal life of the gas attacks. The writer says that all the pets in the trenches suffer. The guinea pigs are the first to scent the gas, and the cats also complain at once. Many dead rats and mice are found in the trenches after o;as attacks. Owls are greatly excited *" A number of horses have died of asphyxiation. Behind the front fowls and ducks are said to become restless a quarter of an hour bcfor.c the gas clouds approached, and the gas kills ants, caterpillars, beetles, and butterflies The writer says he found a hedgeho- and an adder both killed by gas. The only birds that seem indifferent to gas arc the sparows.

A product of the Dominion—scheelitc —which, prior to the war. was practically all exported to Germany, is nowbeing taken by the Imperial Government. The Imperial Government Supply Department, Wellington, recently informed the directors of a company in Chrisrchurch which is working scheelitc deposits in the South, that the Imperial Government is willing to continue taking the whole of the company's output till August, 1917, provided that it contains not less than G 5 percent of tungstic acid, at 55s per, unit. A similar communication has been received, probably,, by other companies engaged in the mining of scheelite. The tungstic acid obtained from scheelite is largely used for the purpose of hardening and toughening steel —hence the importance of this product to the Imperial authorities.