LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taihape Daily Times, 1 June 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. J. A. Holder’s son Private J W. Holder who was wounded in the shoulder sometime ago in France, is expected to arrive home in Taihape in about a fortnight.

A muscular Eussian named Barnard Kromen, a man with a bad record, ran amok in Pahiatua, and smashed the windows of several business premises. Damage totalling £SO was done. In one instance t a plate-glass window, valued at £34, was broken. Kromen was fined £4O, in default 12 months' imprisonment.

There will be a special holiday programme shown at Everybody’s on Monday night.

A farmer named John Judd, of Tokomaru, was convicted at the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court on Thursday of harbouring defaulting reservists, and was fined £2O.

A special invitation is extended to all to attend the Methodist Church on Sunday evening. The Rev. Hocking will occupy the pulpit, and special anthems will be sung by the choir, Mrs. Durand being the soloist.

The Government of this country is too lenient with shirkers . They are given the alternative of two or three years’ gaol or two or three years’ fighting. They choose the gaol. If the punishment were adequate, there “would be fewer shirkers. Mr Kenrick, S.M.

“Food is very scarce” writes a nurse on active service from London, “and we can have no cakes now. We are allowed 2ozs of tea per week, no sugar, but how grateful we are to receive lovely New Zealand butter and jam. Eggs are 6d each, meat is scarce but still we don’t growl, as many are far worse off than we are.”

“The Government has two duties regarding the settlement of soldiers on the land,” stated the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture, at the Farmers’ Conference at Masterton. “The first is to provide land for those returned men who want it; the second is not to put any man on the land unless he has a reasonable chance of making a financial success of the undertaking.’ ’

One of the returned men from the front, who arrived in Oamaru, the other day, tells the story of a New Zealand gunner, who had just arrived at his sector in France, shaken hands with those who would be his mates, and turned to proceed to his quarters when a shell came over and he found himself badly wounded —so badly, indeed—that after hospital treatment, he was sent back to New Zealand. He has done his bit, but it did not take him long to do it. Such are the misfortunes of war.

The Argils states that a few nights ago in Eltham a foreigner made certain remarks that were displeasing to his hearers. It was not long before he was partially undressed,, and then treated to a liberal coating of tar. On Thursday night there was another incident. A man who is not a foreigner said that the- Germans would win, and he hoped they would win soon. He was quickly seized by the throat, amjl onty the interference of a bystander prevented him from being ’ knocked through the window. ;

Earmors in jiawke V Bay ’ "are complaining of depredations of rooks among their flocks. The rooks have acquired the. habit of attacking not only lambs but full grown sheep, and the losses in home parts of the district arc becoming serious. The birds attack the flocks not only in the daytime, but also during moonlight nights, and one-farmer near Earndon has lost scores nightly. The rooks attack the throats of the sheep, and numbers can be seen in the paddocks with open wounds. One was seen with its head completely severed with the exception of the spinal column. The birds also eat the flesh right down the middle of the back, rendering the skin quite useless.

An ingenious descriptive title has been discovered in England for The Church xirmy. It is “Charmy.” This constitutes an admirable appellation, attractive to the eye and suggestive to the mind of something particularly inviting. This name was first applied to the new Church Army Club Restaurant, facing Marble Arch, London. It has been pointed out that it could be advantageously used in connection with the Church Army’s War Work Campaign in New Zealand. Indeed, It is thought that the term is likely to come into general use here. Certainly “Charmy” could be adopted with decided convenience. Similar nicknames in other relations have proved most serviceable.

With commonable enterprise the management of Taihape Motors Ltd., has secured a very fine film depicting the manufacture of the world-famous Dodge cars. This film has only been shown once in New Zealand, and from a private screening wo have witnessed it is undoubtedly one of best industrial pictures wo have seen. It is easy after seeing the minute care displayed in its manufacture, to understand the super-excellence of the Dodge motorcars. The film shows the making of the car from the raw material to the finished product, now familiar to most of us. There are views of the factories, covering a narea of 77 acres; and the army of employees numbering 13,000. This film will be shown at Everybody’s to-night and apart from all other considerations, is one of the most interesting pictures wo have seen. Incidentally it might be mentioned that this gigantic organisation is now engaged in “win the war work ”