LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 262, 15 April 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The biggest advertisement does not always contain the brightest idea. But in many eases it is a bright idea to have a big advertisement. Farmers will be well supplied with freezing works on this coast shortly. New works are to be built at Feildin'g, Kakariki and Taihape, two of the nui.i- . ber to be co-operative concerns. I An example, for offenders who drive ■ motor vehicles at breakneck spctd through the borough was made at the Kltliam Magistrate's Court yesterday 1 morning, when John Vernon Bidmesid . wis fined 40s and costs 7s. Five generations of one family—giv.it- • great-grandmother, great-grandmother, 1 grandmother, and the two younger gea- . orations—were present at an old people's ~ service at the Hawera Methodist Chmdi recently. ■ c. Tl J (i Vo K cltown Church of England Sunday School building is now free of debt, the teachers of St. Mary's School having voted the sum required from s their funds for the extinguishing of the ) debt. > The Patriotic Committee will meet in :' the Mayor's room at B.SO this evening f when Mr. J. ITislop, Under-Secretary of , .Internal Affairs, will be 'present to disr cuss matters in connection with the Bcl- ' gian Belief Fund. , A Sydney cablegram B avs that much disappointment is expressed that (Mr - Massey is unable to accept what is coni sidered to be an excellent opportunity , to discuss tire questions of mutual iiit tercst at the Premiers' conference next month. \ The annual meeting of St. Mary's Sunc day School was held on Tuesday evening, there being a large attendance of e teachers. It was shown that the Sunt day School was in a nourishing eondi- ,, tion. An executive committee was ap- , pointed to control Sunday School affairs, and a social committee appointed. j A new issue of stamps is being prepared for circulation. There are eleven '; values—halfpenny, three-halfpence, twot pence, twopence-halfpenny, threepence, • fourpenee, fourpence-halfp'cnuy, sixpence, j seyenpcnce-halfpenny, nincpence, and one shilling. The .-design for each stamp is ' a head of his Majesty the King. The ? design of the penny stamp has not been - altered. • Stratford is much exercised because r of the likelihood of there being no may--1" oral contest this year. As a general rule , the mayoral chair in the progressive borough of central Taranakf is well MUght after, and the elections are fceen- - ly contested, ofttimes with as much t vigor as a Parliamentary contest. At ,_ present the only candidate is Mr. J. W. " Boon, a well-known resident and a use- ' ful member of the Borough Council. Mr. W. James, manager of Mr. Newton King's Holstein farm at Bell Block, rei turned last night from Australia. Mr. , James took the now famous bull King , Payne Segis II to the Royal Agricultural Show and secured with him a first prize and reserve championship. The judge t is reported to have stated subsequently , that King Fayne S'egis II was the. fincs't t dairy bull of the Holstein breed that he had ever seen. . f The Prime Minister recently said that exports from New Zealand during the financial year ended March 31 last had - been abnormally large. They had r amounted in value to over twenty-seven , millions sterling, nearlyi four millions more than for the preceding vear. ' "There is no doubt," he said, "that this '. accounts for the .prosperity which the , country is enjoying, and the fact that money is probably more plentiful in , New Zealand just now than in am- other of the Dominions of the Empire." Several members of the Stratford Football Club have mentioned to us that ' there was no adverse criticism of the » Taranaki Rugby Union at the club's . meeting on Monday night, though the f published reports stated to the contrary. ' The general tenor of the remarks, ac- ! cording to these informants, was any--1 thing but adverse to the Union, hut , .expressed dissatisfaction that so many old members of tTTe management com- ' mittee cling like limpets to office, in- - stead of encouraging fresh blood. A certain sum is contributed from St. ■ Mary's parish every year to the Melan--1 esian Mission, and the Sunday School , teachers have undertaken to be respon- [ sible for the increasing of this amount ; to £IOO a year, which sum will pay ' the stipend of a missionary. By so do- ; ing they will have the right to name a . clergyman, who will nominally be at- . tached to the parish. In all probability the Rev. F. A. Crawshaw, who is shortly returning to Norfolk Island, will be nominated as their curate on foreign service. The Waitara freezing works are practically full just now. A boat is due in a few days, and will clear enough of • the stock of frozen meat to provide, a I further week's work. There is no word , yet of another vessel due in the course of the next week or two, and farmers ' and graziers with fat stock ready for I killing and export are none too pleased. ; No stock, it is understood, is being accepted for freezing and export on own- ' ers' account. The Imperial Government 1 is despatching "three, ships from Engi hand to pick up frozen meat, and the first of these is about one week out. At a meeting of the committee of the Employers' Association held yesterday, it ivas decided to call a general meeting of employers and tradesmen to be held in the Council Chambers on Monday next at 8 p.m. to consider whether any action shall be taken concerning the forthcoming .poll to decide upon what day of the week the weekly half'holiday shall be held. Employers appear to be very divided upon the question, and should largely avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by the Employers' Assoiation for individuals to put forward their opinions. The Caldwell gun, which the British War Office and naval experts are now experimenting with, stands on a light steel tripod, and has two barrels encased in a water-jacket. The mechanism is so arranged that both barrels can be fired at once if necessary, and it is so completely under control'that it can be regulated to fire from 1 to 1000 shots « minute. The cartridges are on discs, and this system of disc-feeding allows the gun to he fired at any angle. If one disc jams, the other disc on the second j barrel can he used until the jam is rec- , tificd. It is so light that it can be s handled by one man, and the disc can , be placed in position in two seconds. A single-barrelled gun is light enough for an aeroplane. Its chief virtue, however, lies in the simplicity of its mechanism, which consists of 84 pieces, as against t 1100 in the Maxim. The gun attendant does not need a kit of tools to take it q to pieces; an ordinary cartridge serves e the purpose. Mr. Caldwell worked for a five years on the invention, the last three years being spent in perfecting-the mechanism. Mr. Caldwell is a Richmond " . (Melbourne! engineer. t n

"I am well and happy as it is possible to be in the surroundings we are in," writes Dr Martin, of Palmerston No'.ih, in a letter to his brother, from the firing line. "The figliting has been of a truly awful nature. It is at times nothing less than bloody murder. Modern figliting is simply a shambles. There is death in the air, death in the trenches, death in the open. The Angel of IXm'.li not only is rapidly marking out his victims, but he is continually flapping his wings, and we who are not marked out know that he is about, and has not made up his list complete." Referring to the victim of the ui!rirtnnate railway accident at Bunny - thorpe last week the Dnnedin Star says: —The many friends of Miss Bv.i.vl lire naturally greatly distressed at the news of her death. She was the second youngest daughter of Mr A. C. Broad, of the Otago Brush Cmpany, residing in Cosy Dell road, and had been for » number of years a highly esteemed and trusted member of the stall of the New Zealand Shipping Company, her puition being that of typiste in the Dur.e[Tin office. She was an active member of the Cosy Dell Lawn Tennis Club, and look a keen interest in other pastiuns, notably hockey. She was also a member of the Young Women's Branch of the W.C.T.U. One of her brothers, Mr Lio'itird Broad, is a member of the Niw Zealand Reinforcements, and is at present in camp at Trentha?';At the inquest at Ohakune on the body of the late Mr. Rockel, who died while mountain-climbing at Ruapeliu, a verdict was arrived at that death resulted from exhaustion, and was accelerated by ■ injuries to the head, accidentally rc- \ ceived in bis descent over frozen sno.v. A rider was added to the effect that 'he descent in question wan taken agaiurt ' the. expressed advice of the leader of the party, and that the jury desires that recognition of the attention bestowed upon deceased by his companions at all stages of the journey be placed on record. The late Mr Rockel bad been in charge of Makotuku school for the past, year, or thereabout. He was a son of the late Mr J. M. Rockel, at one time sub-editor of the New Zealand Times, and brother of Mr Rockel, of the NV.v - Plymouth High School. His loss is i mourned by a widow and three young - children.

Germany is one of tlic nations outside the British Empire which, vm'ler tlio Rhodes Scholarships scheme,, is entitled to send students to Oxford aivl Cambridge. At present, it is hardly necessary. to state the scheme is inoperative as far as Germany is concerned, and at the next meeting of the M -.1bourne University Council the following motion, by Dr. keeper, will be considered: "That the council is of the opinion that until the time arrives when it may be desirable to encourage the competition of German students for the Khodes Scholarships, the scholarships at present set aside for the benefit of Genially might, with great advantage to the Empire, be 'thrown open to candidates from the Overseas Dominions." Contingent upon this motion being adopted, Dr Loeper will move:—"That the other Universities of Australia be consulted on the question, and that in the event of their being willing to cooperate, arrangements be made for bringing the matter under the notice of the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth." It is well known to all who travel the seas that sailors look upon the seagull with superstition. Woe betide the unfortunate landsman or civilian who on a voyage at sea amuses himself by shooting at the gulls. The old sea legend is that the souls of drowned mariners and ancient shellbacks who die at sea pass in the gulls and follow lh(> ships in their voyages. Whether the modern seaman believes that or not his superstitious regard 'or the gull mint be strengthened by something that has just happened. The Rector of Saxby, the Eev W. M. L. Evans, has received a letter from an A,B. on board one of Admiral Jellicoe's big battleships, in which he says:— "Me and my shipmates have been very much struck by what you say about birds. ' I v.'Ul just give you an incident that happened with us in the North Sea. We hue always a lot of seagulls following us about, and after meals they 'pipe down.'. That is, they go to sleep. I was at a twelve-pounder gun after dinner, all our poultry having forty winks as usual, when I was startled to see them all fircling round an object which proved to be the periscope of a German submarine. I can assure you that if it had not been for the seagulls we should probably all have gone to Davy Jones' locker." ' In view of the mystery surrounding the supposed death of Dr McNab in the firing line, and the reports that he is alive and held a captive by the Garmans, the following extract from a letter written by Dr Martin, of PalmtrBton North, to his brother, Mr Elks Martin, of Te Kuiti, is of interest:--Dr McNab, brother of Mr McNab, a:;Minister of Lands, and an old University friend of mine, came out as doctor to the London Scottish. The 'L.S.' stormed t\e village of Messines and drove the Germans out with the bayonet. The Germans, in turn, drove the Scottish out with the cold steel. McNab was dressing some wounded, and he was bayoneted in five places. He is now dead, poor fellow." Dr Martin adds: "One brigade, four weeks ago, consisting of three regiments, each regiment with its own doctor, went into action at Vailly-on-Aisnc. Two of the doctors were killed outrigh*. The third man, Rankin, had his leg shattered. It was amputated, and he died that night. Fancy three dectors in three regiments being killed in one day. Mais e'est la guerre. Cheer, oh! I had a big business at Betluiiic, Took charge of a field hospital, and was operating day and night to the tune of the Devil's orchestra (the German and British artillery.) I was through tli? battles of the Marne, of the Aisne, at I La Bassee, and at Yures-Mcssines. We ' are all anxious for the war to be over, ' and are all fed up, but we must see it out. The German must be crushed, , and crushed badly." The programme to be screened at the Theatre Royal next Saturday afternoon and evening is advertised in our amuse- i ment columns. . j Tenders for the erection of the new ' municipal buildings at Stratford will be invited in a few days. The plans ' provide for a most up-to-date block, * which should be not onlv useful but « revenue-producing. 1