LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taihape Daily Times, 2 September 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

. |:’_.l‘Ehq,::vl,i,e?eil7th ,<st’_;‘l,3:{;_'H. ‘W. c_learv_. Ro111«§L:Ii.|C§1t1101ic of 'A'u'cl«rlan'cl. cont'inues to improve, and -he was able to take a short walk last week. A Sydneycable 'states that the Hon. W. M. Hughes ismak-ing a triumphal procession homewards. He. is being given an enthusiastic reception at various towns en route from Fremantle. . 0 Thieves have bored 3. hole in 'the wall of the Anitchko-E Palace, Petrograd, the former residence of Alexander 111., entered and stole articles valued at 10,000,000 roubles (nomin-ally £1,000,000). The British steamer Ravenstone, which was torpedoed and sunk three times during the War by German submarines, and -which sank three Üboats herself, arrived in New York recently on her first voyagesince last raisfid and repaired. The Ravenstone was a mark for torpedoes, because she was a munitions carrier: All told, she was attacked 28 times, and on one busy day was attacked three times.

An incident illustrating the rapacity of shags was related in a letter from the director of Victoria Zoological and Aeclimatisation Soeiety. “We saw one of these birds,” he wrote, “in our botanical gardens swallowing 811 991 about 2ft long, but it had great diffiCult)’ in keeping the fish down, as apparently whe-n it got well down into its crop, the eel would give two or three wriggles, and come up again, and so it went on for about half an 110111‘, when the eel became exhausted, and stopped where the bird put him.”

VA peculiar and distressful accidei/It occurred a fe‘W’da,ys ago in a workshop near Oamaru. An emPloYe° was bending over to shut~off'tho POW" when the end of a. shaft making many revolutions a minute became entangled with his overalls ‘and -rapidly “wound him up,” tourniquetting him .-3 severely about the middle that -his illternal organs were forced ‘up into his chest,-and the blood in his bod)’ Was so forced into his head that his eyes became suffused with if.‘ Apparently no ill-effects are impel:l_dillg" though even after the lapse of a'.few days the eyes are still heavily 'bloodshot_ T

Reports fl*om']Sla.nito'bz,l state thmt -a gold claim has been struck near Copper Lake. A six feet Wide vein has :1 4-inch streak of quartz and. gold; showing. -The determined volume is 50 per cent. of gold. Thousands are rushing t 9 Copper Lake.

The Very Rev. Binefield, s.M., has celebrated the -diamond jubilee of his ord‘in§a.tion -to ’ the priesthood. This rare event, unique in this country, was fittingly observed at Mount St_ Maryfs, Greenmeadows, where he was the re. cipient of a cable conveying congratulations and the Apostolic blessing of his Holiness Pope Benedict XV.

The rush‘ for .sleepers on the express was shown ‘by the queue waiting outside the booking ofiice at Auckland on Friday. Over fifty were standing patientiy waiting their t"lrn to boo}; a. sleeper. The cause of this was that in order to give a. fair all round chance booking for the next train could not be done until Saturday morning.

‘At the meeting of the «Wanganui Eduv cation_Board last Wednesday, _MessrS J obliii and’ Pilkington reported in favour of re-openihg the Tiriraukawa school, and acquiring a section on the Whaka Road, and applying for a ‘grant for -a new building. The report was agreed to. _ Authority was given to the Hihitahi Committee to postpone the school holidays. ~

The Prime Minister (Mr Ma-soy), as president of the .B’o.al'.d of Trade, has directed the Board that where it has knowledge of 'pro'fiteering to pro~‘.('-, cute, under last year ’§ sitatute, providing £2OO penalty on individuals and £IOOO in the case of companies found guilty of this oifence. The Board is to actively "pursue inquiries with at View to ascertaining where prolil€:er»ing has occurred, ‘ ‘ *

The ‘Austrians are not~losing any time in attempting to secure bulsincss in New Zealand._, I. The head’ ofwE].ll Auckland firm lgas just received bv -mail from._Vienna a,.cil;c‘ul‘a,r: Qhfferinlg ta supply a gl~ind‘ir,:lgf__‘gna:cll‘in‘e. A A"n'lo'nth ago a stamp collectqr_iu_tl;§g city also received by ’nlafl from. Vienna an up-to-date.:cataloguo; quoting stamps for salcpincludingztlatc ~war i_ssueAs. A !t is :q.uite- eevident that peaceful _.penetl"at_ion«.is. .to_follow_ on open hostility.

‘ "E‘ea'rful“of being last‘ in "the rush for land or hous‘es'provided by Govern'rl*..ent' assistance, re-turned soldiers arcoreziting such a demand that prices are becoming ruinous. This phais-3 of repatriation was explained by Mr Me-. Callum, who asked the Hon. Mr Guthrie whether those who postpone negotiations for a year or two will be prejudiced. Mr Guthrie ‘assured the questioner that there was no limit of time within which soldiers should exercise their rights of aeqiiiring 121211 or dwelling unless. Parliament inngosed one in the future_ »

In mentioning the butter-fat price .equaliS'ati‘on I fund, the Industries Comnli4,ttee_'o'f Parliament says: “The allowgtncpe _o:_f '.3d per pound between the Phlficde I)€}.ld.H't(}'_tllO prod'ueer~and that e_herr'ge'd to ‘the Leo.-r'lsunler.is too great, and a.4l')Aetter'systteln' of ,distribution should be arl'an'ged.' Some retailers are now selling butter at 1/7 per pound, or 1d below the sehfiduled rate. The committee is of opinion that the ‘Government is bound to "see that the; retail price of his important articles of diet is kept within .rea.s"on-able limits, and that any reduction in the price paid to the producer should be made a. charge on the Consolidated Fund.”

What we owe to the doctors and nurses in the war is little known (says the London correspondent of 21 contemporary). In all previous wars disease destroyed far more than the fighting. In the Boer War the proportion was 6 to 1. Among the Japanese in their war with Russia, it was 2% to 1. But in the British Army 21 the late war only -one man has been lost by disease to 15 killed in battle. The causes of this wonderful change are anti-typhoid inoculations and other similar precautions, the skill of the surgeons and nurses in splendidly organised hospitals, and the admirable way in which the soldiers have been fed.

Last Saturday was the nrst anniversa'ry~. of the battle which finally cleared Bapaume from the grip of the Hun. a. battle in which the New Zaalanders, and especially the Aucklanders, diutinguished themselves_ The battles for Bapaumc had been’ in progress for over a week, and an encircling movement was carried forward With great clan and bravry. The enemy held out strongly in Bancourt, eastward of the town, and the Second Auckland Br‘igade Was brought up to clear the position. They 'workcd through to Haplincourt, but were compelled to retire to Mancourt in order to conform to the general battle position’. Here they held on .in the face of heavy shelling and determined counter-attack, with their flank exposed, until the Wellingtons came yup and captured the ground on their left, the enemy thus being compelled to retire from the whole of his Bapaume positions to the H'ulde_nburg line . The Aucklanders lost a hundredkilled outright, and had?l4o other casualties. V “ - ' ‘

TA meeting of all those interested in forming a Taihape branch‘ of the New Zealand La.bour,Part.y will be held in the‘ Three Stars Theafre on Friday evening next, at 8 o.’clock.

The Returned Soldiers’ Committee of the ‘local Ba-triotic ‘Society spent £lB2 during the pas} month. Twenltynine local s"6ldiers’ cases were dealt with, and 14 for other kindred societies.

The prizes uallo-tted by popular vote ' at the children’s dance on Friday night resulted in’ Miss M. Fookes gaining I first prize for girls, her costume representing “Ny9.ll’s Remedies,” and I Buster Spooner as “Maori Chief” I secured premier place in the boys’ class.

We have been requested to ask all those ladies who have so gefierously promised !to provide provisions for the supper in conneetiqn with -the Fire Brigade ball, which is to be held on Thursday, to have”‘"the articles they are contributing all ready on Thursday morning, at 10 o’clock, when a car will call to take delivery. .. 3

The report of the plain and fancy dress ball held at Utiku on Friday night and which appeared in our Monday's issue, was contributed by our Ohutu correspondent, and not byvour Utiku correspondent, as the heading to the report might suggest. (‘Our Own” al;O‘hutu Went to the ball as our representative, and his account of the function was a particularly good one, and does him infinite credit,

A submarine tunnel under the Shimonoseki Strait in Japan is to be started this year, and it is "planned to complete it in 1928. The authority for the announcement is the chief of the construction bureau of the Japanese Government railways. It is estimated that the tunnel will cost ‘£2,000,000. Two years will‘ be deifqted to studying the geological formation of the strait bed and draftingvthe general plan oi‘. work in prel)’ar‘a‘tioil_,for. the tunneling_ Japan w_i_l_l_ send engineers to the United States and .LE3”lfrc3f§e' to study the tunneling achie€r'ements" of the West. Thgeelength of_ the tunnel will be seven miles,"-oir .whieh"_o'né-'iln'ile will ‘be com151;cte.1_$?":under"s<é:a._" " i’