GENERAL NEWS

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 11 September 1917, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS

Excellent stories from the hospitals and trenches are to be found in "Happy, Though Wounded." The book of the 3rd London Hospital. Here is a sample:—A young officer, being tried for drunkenness, calls his servant. "Did you see me when I came home on that night?" he asked. "I did." "Was I drunk or sober?"~ "You was sober." "Are you quite sure?" asked a member of the court. "Yes, sir, he was perfectly sober and left orders to be called early." A pause. Then the president of the court chipped in. "Did he assign any reason for wishing to be called early?" he inquired. "Yes, sir, lie said he was to be Queen of the May."

A Masterton business man informed an Age reporter that the tea merchants have put their, heads together and have increased the price -to retailers by 4d per lb. which has to be passed on to the consumers. I have been notified, he said, by two leading tea merchants that they are altering their blends, and Will now have only two kinds. The tea that was originally sold at Is lOd. per lb., will now be 2s 2d. and the 2s tea will now be 2s 4d per lb. These are facts, and it is a crying shame that the Government will allow the people to be imposed on in this fashion. Unless something is done,' concluded the business man, "to stop the blood-stucking that is going on Government wiK bo faced with grave trouble from the masses in the near future.

The chairman of a Military Board had to leave for Wellington in a small white cap, because his own "tile" had been appropriated by someone else. When h e reached Wellington all the shops were shut, consequently he could not get a new headpiece until Monday. Later, when calling upon the Mayor of a town in the country he found his hat had been taken in mistake by that gentleman, who was quite astonished to have pointed out to him the initials of the owner written inside the lining. "Where is my own hat?'" asked his Worship. The reply was a crushing one: "If your sanitary inspector is attending to his duties it has gone through the destructor by this time."

A return was laid on the table of the House of Representatives on Friday, showing the number of men who, having passed tiie Medical Board, have entered camp in New Zealand as members of various reinforcements and who have been afterwards discharged from camp as unfit tor service. The return shows the total number from the 22nd Reinforcements to the 35th Reinforcements as 815. The 26th Reinforcements contained the largest number of such rejects, namely, 195; the 27ths was next, with 153 f the 28th next, with 136; and the 29ths with IW. The rejects in the remaining reinforcements were smaller numbers, under 79.

The Rangitikci County is now probably one of the richest counties in the North Island, if not the largest. When the new adjustment of boundaries takes place between Wanganui and Eangitikci Counties, the value of the latter county should be approximately about £7,000,000. One feature of the Rangitikei Council's operations is that of economy, the cost of reading being reduced considerably by an abundance of good metal and gravel in various parts of the County.

"Have the prices for wheat promised by the Government been gazetted yet; and, if not, will they be gazetted at once?" asked Mr W. Nosworthy, M.P., of the ivlinTster of Agr:culture in Parliament. The Hon. W. D. S MacDonald replied that the "Gazette" notice had been sent onto the Government Printer that morning, and it would probably be gazetted that afternoon. (Hear, hear). The notice included the price of whea\ and the regulations controlling wheat for next seasen.

He had received a letter from a branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, stated Mr G. W. Forbes, M.P. for Hurunui } in Parliament, asking whether the regulations in connection with the accommodation' to be provided for agricultural labourers bad been gazetted yet, and if they could get a copy of the same. Mr Massey said that he could not give an answer at the moment. Having been away from the country for ten months ho was somewhat out of touch with the Department of Labour, and he must ask the hon. member to put a question on the Order-Paper with regard to the matter.