LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taihape Daily Times, 21 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A record shipment of butter and cheese, valued at £1,000,000 is to be taken from Auckland by two steamers, the Durham and the Ayrshire, which are expected to commence loading this week.

In Tattersall's No. 1 consultation on the November Handicap, run at Rosehill, on November 30, the first prize of £4500 was won by the Archestcr syndicate, care of E. Burke, Opera House, Auckland.

A baby brown bear arrived at Wellington on Saturday from San Francisco by tbe steamer Annette Rolph, consigned to tho Wellington Zoo. "Teddy," as tbe men ~o~r t board call him, lived rather a high life, so to speak, with the result that he has almost outgrown his cage. He was endeavouring to look happy yesterday with barely room enough to change his mind.

Second Lieutenant Joseph. Lee, the Dundee man who became the balladist of the Bkek Watch and published noteworthy ver.se in the reviews, was, when the- mail left, in a prison camp in Germany. A repatriated medical officer from the same camp reported that Lee was the "one redeeming feature of the place," his genial disposition helping to keep everybody else in tho best of spirits, It was Lee's battalion of the Black Watch that produced one of" the best slogans of the. war. That was at Loos, when there was a tremendous smashing-up. As the men valiantly charged against great odds there was heard the call of an officer, "On the ball,Dundee!"

Owing to the holiday the evening parade to-morrow night of D. Company, 7th W.W.C. Regiment, as well as ;the (half day parade 'on Thursday have been cancelled. The hospital ship Marama, with Returning Draft No. 20G is expected to reach Auckland* about the 27th, and the Malta with Draft No. 208 should reach Wellington about the same date.

Messrs. Dalgety and Co. have been instructed by Mr H. H. Venables, of Utiku, to sell the whole of his stock, farm implements and furniture at Utiku on Monday, January 27th. Full particulars will be found in advertisement on page 8.

Charles J. Reed, head postal messenger of the Frankton mail room, w r as killed yesterday afternoon. He is a married man with three children. The unfortunate man was walking along the line in the station yard, when he was struck by a shunting engine, and thrown on to the central track, where he was carried under a tender about a chain and a-half. He was cut to pieces, and quite dead when extricated.

A question of salary was raised at the annual conference of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. in Christchurch. The secretary of the Institute mentioned that after paying office expenses he had about 15s a week for his services. "While I would be deeply grieved to sever my connection with the institute," he remarked, "I could earn £± a day as stoker on the Maori." The institute approved of in immediate Increase in the secretary's remuneration.

Regulations were gazetted on Monday night making provision for the lodging and hearing of appeals by persons whose names are included in tho military .'defaulters' list to pe published under the Expeditionary Force Amendment Act of last session which will deprive them of their civil rights for 10 years. The regulations provide that the appeal must be lodged upon proper form within three months of the" name being gazetted.

A large purchase of native land for general settlement is announced by the Hon. W. H. Hemes, 50,000 acres having been acquired near Tokaanu on Lake Taupo, on the Waiouru Road. The land is not first-class, but it is capable of good use. The Government anticipates further acquisitions', making a total of 120.000 acres in this district, titles to which were recently ascertained by Native Land Purchase Officers. The Government is also making purchases in Urewera County.

A man was brought to Wellington from Lyttelton on Sunday by" the Maori to be charged with bigamy alleged to have been committed in London. The trial will be unique on account of it being the first occasion on which the test will be applied to New Zealand legislation controlling the acts of persons committing offences in other countries. There is an Act on the New Zealand statute book which specially deals with bigamy alleged to have been committed abroad, which exists only in the Dominion legislation.

The interesting fact has come to light that since the announcement of the armistice two lodgments of gold have been deposited with one of the local banks, says the Poverty Bay Herald. In one case the accumulation of sovereigns was of quite a substantial amount, and from what can be ascertained the "hoard" had been secreted in the chimney of the owner's house for safe keeping. In the second case the "pile" of gold was of similar amount, and had been kept in the proverbial stocking.

At !?.30 on ""Saturday evening a train collided with a motor car on a level crossing at Hunterville. The car wa badly smashed, and its occupant, Mr. David Morrison, a well-known farmer in the' Hunterville district, received severe internal inguriefe. It appears that the train was running behind time, which is believed to have been a contributory cause of the accident, as Mr Morrison, was evidently under the impression that the line was clear when he proceeded to cross the rails.

Vice-Admiral Sir Kogcr Keyes asked a friend of his who lived in Berlin before the war to tell him his best German "story.',' This was it:—A certain young Englishman wSSi motoring through Prussia with his own car, a year or "two before the war, unaware that the middle portal of the Brandenburg Gate (in Unter den Linden, Berlin) was reserved for the exclusive use of the Kaiser, the young fellow joyfully" rode through it, only to be held on the other side by a policeman. "You are fined two hundred marks for using the Kaiser's driveway,""lie Said. The Englishman took a fresh tug at his cigar, reached for his wallet, handed tho •policeman four hundred marks, 2§l started to drive away. "I said two hundred, not tour," explained the policeman. "Yes," retorted the motorist, "but I'm, coming back." Sickness and vomiting from a disordered stomach may be relieved by taking SHABLAND'S FLUID MAGNESIA. , 2

The '.suitability pf pinus insignus for butter Boxes is being tested by experiments carried out by Mr H. €r. Kiiigsiaiul, of Nelson, He has forwarded to the Agricultural Department three boxes of butter, which have been stored at the freezing works, Stoke. The butter will be kept for three months, and the conditions then reported on by the Dairy Division.

The transport Ruahinc arrived ifi Auckland yesterday afternoon with Draft 205, containing about 550 officers, men and nurses. A special train was arranged for southern men, who marched straight from the steamer to the railway station. Tha "train passed througk Taihape tbis morning and quite a large crowd was en -the platform to greet the'returncu men. Among those who returned by this draft were: Lieutenant A, C. Nat-ban, Taihape; B. Gascogne, Taihape, R. J. Linton. Ohingaiti; C. R. Sinnctt. ffiarioi and E. H. J. Swenson and M. Swenson, Taihape.

A point as to whether small dances for which a charge is made for admission are subject to the amusement tax. has been""exercising the minds of some dancing enthusiasts in Auckland. In order to clear the matter up an inquiry was made of the chief of the amusement tax section of the Stamp Office, 111 Wellington. A reply has now been received to effect that if an entertainment is a dance simply it is exempt from taxation. The intimation is added that if it should happen that different persons should sing a song or two at a dance that would not cause the exemption tc be forfeited.

A woman, looking at a clock; was the cause of flj; aruiirjsirt to 'three persons in the East India Dock-road, one of them, Robert Parsons White', of Bromley, being killed. —At the inquest it was stated that a woman, crossing the road, stood a few seconds and looked at a clock. A vehicle came along and knocked her down. White, the driver, Jumped off and -n-as also knocekd down, the wheel going over his head. Another man riding with bin; jumped from the other side and tried to stop the horse. He was run over and severely injured. The woman said that in looking at the clock she did not notice the vehicle coming.—A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned.

Notice is given in the Gazette that income tax and special war tax will be payable on February 5, and additionl tax will accrue if the tax is not paid on or before February 2b'. The liability to p:>y is not suspended by any objection. The demands for taxpayers other than those indicated below will be posted from the office of the Commissioner of Taxes about January 29. The commissioner adds that owing to the serious interference with the work of the Department caused by the influenza epidemic a delay of some days will take place in fcne issue of the demands upon individuals whose surnames commence with the letters C, D. H, I. J, K, Me, N. O. P. T. W. In these cases a new date will be fixed and shown on the demands. Additional tax will accrue 21 days hereafter.

When the 4.45 p.nCtfain was leaving Palmerston North for Dannevirke one day last week a woman made a desperate attempt to commit suicide. About 200 yards past the Empire Hotel crossing the driver saw a man, woman, and child proceeding along Main Street. As the train approached them the woman rushed from the footpath, and threw herself on the rails. The driver immediately applied the brakes, bringing the train to a dead stop quite close to the prostrate woman. At this juncture the man appeared on the scene, and pulled the woman from the rails. The trio left in great haste, making their escape before the train officials could ascertain who they were. The whole incident was sudden and mysterious, and so far the identity of Lhe people has not been established. The sudden application of (brakes broke some couplings, and there was ! a slight delay before the train could I resume its journey. !

J So long as there are Germans left who will pay £22 for a gallon of wine, that country is evidently not in the last throes of starvation. That is the ; price at which a cask of Eltviller Tau- ; bersbek was sold at the recent auctions of Rhine wines of the 2917 vintage. The total results, too, or -thG wine auctions for all Germany show that the people are spending remarkably large sums for wlb~e. The sprfflg auctions, covering mostly wines of the 1917 vintage, brought in a total of 13,2G0,00e dollars, reckoning at the normal rate of exchange. The significance of 'this sum becomes evident whea it is stated that the larger vintages for the years before the war never'Brought more than 3.200.000 dollars. It is - a noteworthy picture, fflays the "New York Tribune," Germany staggering to its fall in a military and political sense, yet the armies of war profiteers are falling over each other fo buy luxurious wines.