LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3352, 3 December 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Next year is leap yoaia For the first time'i.n 200 years the 29111 of February will fall on a Sunday. Messrs Collinson and Gifford have just“ completed another, large purchase of ladicsg’ cottdn vests, worth 3/11, Whiéh they are, sevllinggat 1/11.

‘ XVelling’con astronomers, interviewed by the Post, pooh-poohed the idea that E there will be any special disturbances on -the earth through s-un spots on De‘eember 17. One of them describes Dr. !Port'a’s predictions as “piffle.”

The Manawatu. Farm,*e‘-rs’ Union passed the following remit on Saturday: “That the s_vé?.‘('*.'nl of land valuation be altered. and that every man value his own lannd, with the pnoviso that the Government. by -V giving six months ’notice, can purchase any farm at the owners’ value.”

The Deutsche Tagezeitung states that the big German steel works of the Bohler Co. have been purchased by an American company. The paper adds that the new proprietors have a]:-eady ‘instituted ra “10-hours’ day, wflthg twagcus ‘graduated gaccording to output. Workinen unwilling -to accept ‘rhese terms will be disniissed as from October 1. There is no doubt that a considerable number of German businesses will find their,“ way into American hands.

We have gone through “tribulation at the front and at home, said Mr R. Aldrick, secretary to ‘the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association last week, but the cause of our worst troubles since our return is profiteering. Unless we can compel whatever Government goes into power to deal with this question we should go out of business... At the front We did not enjoy -the work of digging a comfortable dug-out. for on officer,‘ and we don't like doing very much the same thing now that we are home. Loud applause greeted these remarks.

When rainbow trout were first liberated in Lake Alexandrina (Mackenzie Country) it was predicted that some day they would make an ang;ler’s paradise of that region (says the Ashbur ton Guardian). After waiting patiently for some years that day has apparently arrived. A local angler who went up to the lake last week to ‘try his luck returned to town with a has ket -of ma-gnificent rainbow . trout, which he caught. in an hour and a-half. There were nine of the fish, their respective weigh-ts being as follow:——13. 9-1-, 8, Sn}, 8,8, 8,6, and 5-I-lbs.

Whiio speaking "of the cost of livi ing in “New Zealand, Sir Joseph Ward mentioned at \Vaikiwi when he was in" Paris a small chicken cost 25/, sugar f:onl_2/6 to 3/ per 11), and they could not *a.lways_ get it: and mutfiton 3/ :1 lb. when there was any. The cos? of living had risen from 320 to 370 per cent to o.rdina~;y ‘Families since ‘the war broke Ouf. In an hotel Where board and lodgings eou_ldi‘haVe been obtained for 10/ a day before the war, they could not get :1. bedroom for less than 30/ for a single night, aparf ftio-n1 food. The cost of living in New Zealand was less than it was in England, Canada. and Soll"th‘Afl‘ic'a, and also a. little lower than Australia.

A contradiction ’is {given by the Board of Trade to thestatcment» that New Zealand timbers can be purelrasecl in Australia at prices lower than ‘those ruling for the same classes of timber in New Zealand. So far as New Zealand prices are concerned, these are controlled by the Board of Trade by agreement with sva\vxlli'L;grs, and Australian lists in the possession of the Board show that prices are considerably lower in New Zealand for all classes of New Zealand timbers. The misconception has p_rob'ably arisen owing ‘to the fact i'llat Australian lists in some cases quote prices. at per 1001:”: lineal, wherezxs the same classes of timber in New Zealand price lists would be quoted at lOGft super.

Six new postage stamps, commemorating the victory ‘of the Allies and the coming of peace will be issued by the New Ze:lla.ud Pest and Telegraph Depal"tmollt‘ shortly. The heblf-penny sfamp is green, and represen'ts a recumbent lion, upon which is sitting :1 i’igure. emblematic of p'é'a.r-.e_. while the penny is ‘:1. carmine, with thgsame ‘two figures standing. The lid stamp is a light brown, and has the tatooed head of a. ‘Maori on the right half and fern fronds on the left. On the 3d stamp, which is a dark brown, the lion again ‘a.pp€‘.[ll‘S in a recumbent attitude, but this time the female figure is absent, and fhe rays of ‘the risilig sun are in the ‘background. The 6d «stamp *is rose lake in colour, and has a device repl'esenting the Angel of Peace with oll'fsprezld Wings. 011 the 1/ stamp, which is orange, is the King’s head, flanked by heads of lions, with Ma-31-i e:ll'villgS in the top corner. All the new sfamps are double the size of the presml’r issue. _

.10._MA1‘NE.—Gove1-nor Carl E. Millikenby C. E.‘ Owen. Prohivbition .since January 1, 1851, Estimated population, 1917-——777,340. “At Governor Milliken’s I'oquo.s't I am replying to your letter. In the gpastfenforcement was lax, nullification of the law became a system. so that conditions in some sections differed -littzle from conditions nnder Licelxsc, but recently Prohibition has been ‘enforced throughout the State and even in the judgment of business men there has been a new demonstration of the value of Pl-ohibition_”‘ ' ~ ' V ' ’ ‘

The rotul'ned soldiers of Mouwhango are holding a Social and Dance in the

Z\loa,whango Hall this evening, the proceeds from which are to be devoted :6 augmenting the funds for the erection of a Returned Soldiers’ Club at Tai~ ha;p(e_

The Right Rev. T. H. Sprott, Bishop of Wellington will visit Taihape this .week_ On Friday evening at 8 o’clock he will hold a confirmation service, for which there are eighteen candidates. On Saturday afternoon the Bishop will lay the foundation stone of St. Margal'et’s Parish School. The ceremony will commence at 3 ofclock, and the public. are cordially invited to be present. \

Following on the boisterous weather of the past few da.ys heavy rain set in last night, with ‘a, sharp frost this morning, which did considerable damage to gardens. Our country correspondents telephone us that the weather has been even worse in the outlying districts. Two inches of snow fell at Rangewaea, with a heavy hailstorm; at Tangiwai the "snow fell to a. depth of 3; inches; while more or less snow fell in various places in the hinterland.

Details are available of the method by which a remarkable photograph of the wrecked Laurentice was taken at the bottom of the Atlantic off the Donegal coast. The camera. was enclosed in 3. water-tight iron ‘tank tested to stand pressure 20 fa-thoms deep in v.'z:ter, and fitited with a vessel’s portglass. A diver then took it down and electric bulbs were lowered from the ;‘\.dlniral-ty salvage steamer Ito pro-"—;->kT.‘:,»\ light for the picture. After ex‘ posure of all hour and a-half it was found that an admirable photogmph bf the wreck had been obtained. The experiment is regarded as a unique instance ofnsuccessful deep sea photography_

A ‘sensational attempt was frustrated last: month by the German police to smuggle £1,000,000 and securities over the Swiss frontier. The owner of the money is supposed to be a lady who formerly -occupied La. very prominent position _,in Germany; and recently thought of going to live in Switzerland with her children. The twenty million. marks represents only a part of her very considerable fortune. The securi-. »ties wereentrusted to a. Swiss family, mo Inember\s of which undertook to convey the valuable under the super\'_isioll of a gentleman well known to the publie. The pursuit of the.Bel-lin-Basle express tool'€"plaoe in three aero~ planes. One. of them. eonfaining high ofiicials of the Berlin police, developed engine trouble‘-V over Madgeburg, but the ofiicial entered another aeroplane, and resumed his journey to Nuremberg, where the arrest “took place;