LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 255, 7 April 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is understood tlint out of the ftOO men wlio returned from Samoa, only 100 have re-enfisted.

Mr. Bruce Stewart, manager for Professor U TVrajjgii, went north by the Rarawa lust night to arrange for a tour of the North Auokland district.

New Zealand cement Is in demand. A steamer recently took from fiolden Bay a carge of 1400 tons. The barque Ba left Whangarei on December 22nd with 1700 tons.

A six-roomed house at Upland Road, Tarurutangi, owned and occupied by Mr. A. K. Collins, was totally destroyed by fire yesterday morning, together with all its contents.

The New Plymouth Citizens' Band will visit Uremii on Sunday altcrnoon, and give an open-air concert in the Uremii Domain. A collection will be taken up in aid of the Belgian Belief Fund.

A large bipliuie can only carry a weight of some 1501b, with its aviator, and though seven or eight bombs of i'tlb weight can do some damage, they arc not very effective against fortifications (ind big ships.

From present appearances, there seems every probability that Mr. J. W. Boon will have a walk-over for the Mayoralty of Stratford, the nominations for wh'wh close on the 22nd instant.—Post.

A Southern paper states that owing to the loss in membership brought nbout by an attempt to inflict fines for non-attendance, several lodges have under consideration the question of doing luvay with fines.

The depth of Lake Wakatipu has frequently been a subject of speculation. According to one who is occupied on the lake daily (says the Southland Times) soundings taken recently recorded a depth of 2100 ft. "being plumbed.

Eels in the streams round about Da:inevirke have been accounting for ilie loss of a number of trout during the present season. To minimise the loss of fish, the .Acclimatisation Society have decided to offen a bounty for eels caught In the Dannevirke district.

Dr Graliame Bell, the inventor of the telephone, and a former assistant, with whom he carried out his first successful experiments at Boston, whey they spoKe from different floors of a boardinghouse, are no\y both over the age of £>'.) years.

A Hawcra firmer brought to the Star office part of a fleece, in which the grass could be seen growing among the wool. The oecuiTence is not 1 singular, but does not often happen. Apparently the damp, muggy weather some days ago caused the growth, which was amongst the wool taken from the sheep's neck.

Extract from a German soldier's /liary:—December 20th: Arrival of gilts from home. Eating all day. December B7th: Same as usual. Orchestral performance at 1 o'clock with two bells .md a mouth organ, three bottles, a plate with coins, and a drawer. Artillery fluol that makes the ground tremble.

''Yes, I. do go to the races," stated ii woman at the Auckland Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning last, asking for maintainance from her brothers and sisters, and on being accuwl of wasting what she had been alrea ly given. "It's the only place here tint a woman can go alone," she explained.

There seems to be some confusion in the minds of somo employers locallv as to whether an apprentice should be paid the time spent in .military camps While, undergoing annual training. Under the provisions of the Defence Act, employers are not compelled to pay r>pprentices for the time spent in camp, us the State pays them for that time.

Enquiries have been made of the Do fence authorities as to whether civilians are eligible for commissions in the reinforcements drafts Li the "New Zealand expeditionary force. The authorities have decided that at present there is no prospect of commissions being granted to civilians. Should the latter wish to register as non-commissioned office's they are at liberty to do so. If accepted and sunt to Trentham, there is a possibility that they may obtain commissions there.

The effect of the war upon the living of a naturalised German in the Stratford district is having a serious effect from his point of view. For some yeai'i? he had invested some thousands in Germany, and his family were depend-r.it on the interest therefrom, but immediately the war broke out all communication with the Fatherland ceased, ami he has had neither, letter nor mon-jy since. The position is now so despor.ate that lie is thinking of apnlvin" for the old age pension. "

"I had an interesting experience the other night," an Auckland member o? the Divisional Signal Service writes from Zcitoun camp. "One of the boys who has made many friends in Cairo took me with him to a dancing-class in town. To begin with, nobody waited to be introduced, as one's mere presj.iee was supposed to bo a sufficient guarantee of respectability. All the girls were French, Italian or Greek, and «ie sffort to. keep up a conversation was excellent mental exercise. Having sorted out a prospective partner, one rushed up and asked: 'Voulez-vous lady was willing, she says: 'Mais oni, merci, monsieur,' and one fired ahead! If she had a partner, and perhaps sometimes when she had not, she said, 'etigagee,' and one had to try again. My principal amusement that evening \v.n a young Roumanian merchant, who was very interested in the wool trade of Xow Zealand, and who had me thinking very hard how to tell him all I wanted to about it. The people here, particularly those who do not speak much English, are very curious about New Zealand and all that pertains to it."

The chairman of the American Navy ■League has been telling the National •Lihoifil Club that tin; Austrian and fi-jf-man element in America being as strong '•is it is, it is wonderful that there should have been so little fuss in America over liritain s policy regarding neutral shipl«ng. The number of German and Austrian voters in America is not known, but it is very large. Tn Greater New \ ork there are supposed to be a million (.ermans in hirth or in sympathies. A recent estimate put the number of Germans (including Austrians) in the whole country, at twenty millions. Lately, (In- more violent of the German element have threatened to organise the Gorman vote for electoral purposes, and there is no doubt that unless this action forced the non-Germans into combination, the Germans could exercise tremendous influences. Their threat is for the present directed against the Democrats, because the Democrats are in office. H is easy to know, however, that the Republicans. so far from wishing to take advantage of the situation by discovering reasons for an entente with the German faction, are patriotically denouncing that faction .as anti-Ameri-can.

Writing from Egypt, a New (Plymouth trooper says that sorao platoons of Taranaki troops were under firo during the Turks' attack on Suez. At first some of the hoys did not relish the experience, but the strangeness soon disappeared, and they were ready to take and more ready to givo punishmont to the enemy.

The death occurred at Ingle wood yesterday of Mr. John Duflill, an old and esteemed resident of that' town. He leaves a widow and a family of six—namely, Messrs. Charles Duflill, Walter Duflill (Ilawcra), J. A. Duflill (llawera), Reorge Duffill (now with the troops at the front), and Mesdames E. W. Henderson (Inglewood) and T. Phillips (Taurangi).

A successful parent at the. baby show in the gymkhana yesterday is mighty amused at a record which he holds in these competitions, says the Post. Out of five entries, made at different times, he has gained three firsts and two second prizes. He is an Englishman, and of small stature, and all the credit he ungrudgingly gives to the mother, who is a native of Taranaki.

iAn Auckland telegram states that two very old-established brewing firms. Campbell and s Klircnfried and the Creat Northern BreWery, have amalgamated under the title of the Lion Brewery, Limited. The new directorate includes Messrs. ,A. M. Myers, Ml 5 .. (Philip Luckic and A. S. Bankart. The firm of Campbell and Ehrenfried was established by Sir John Logan Campbell as far back as 1840.

A Taranaki resident who recently visited the camp at Trcntham states that the men in training are aTiout as fine a body as could be gathered together anywhere in the world. Biglimbed and virile, they are the very men New Zealand needs to break in the hack county and assist in the developing of the country. As fighters they should exed. About the officers, our informant was quite enthusiastic. They arc a fine lot, and doing magnificent work. s\ew Zealand need never be. afraid of the doings of her sons on the field of battle; her honor and interests are safe in their hands. That is the judgment of our informant.