LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 306, 4 June 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Since the opening of the 1005 term at the West End School £2l 10s has been collected in the school box towards the Belgian Fund, the Conntess of Liverpools 1' und, and the Hospital Ship Fund. At a meeting of the Railway Reserve fast evening it was decided to hold a concert on June IT in aid of a fund to be devoted to the assistance of New Zealanders permanently injured during the war and their dependents. Particulars will be advertised.

In our correspondent's report of the Urenui concert held on May 27, the names of the musicians for the dance were omitted. The music was supplied gratis by 'Miss Mary Fraser, of Uruti, and 'Miss Roche, of Wailii, played the extras. The excellence of the music was one of the features of the function.

A captain on the Suez, writing to a little girl at Barcoinba, Lewes, to acknowledge a gift of a scarf, concluded, his letter with: "I could tell you more, but this letter has t 0 pass a horrid old man called the censor." The censor wrote his own comment to the letter, "The censor is not as black as he's painted." The children of the West End School, under Mrs. Bowling's supervision, ha/vc provided the following articles for the hospital ship equipment: 2'/ 3 doz. towels, -V:i doz. small towels, 0 doz. rough towels, 9 doz. knitted wash cloths, 34 pieces of towelling, 1 whit.e muffler, 34 handkerchiefs, 15S pillow slips, 34 crochetted woollen strings, 2 quilts, 5 small sheets, and 8 pillows.

In a letter to the Mayor of Southport an officer of the 2nd Worecstcrshircs writes:—"ln the lighting at Neuve Chapelle there is no doubt the Germans deliberately shot wounded British soldiers on the ground. I have it on unimpeachable authority that one officer was lying wounded on 'German barbed wire, and that after the attack was over the Germans shot him again till lie fell off on to the ground, when they turned a machine gun on him. This is only one case out of hundreds that I have heard of in that attack."

Chanak-lvalesi, the straggling town near the "Narrows" of the Dardanelles, which figured frequently in the latest operations, means "Earthenware Castle" in Turkish, and is so called from a celebrated pottery on the Asiatic side of the straight. An agent from this pottery used to be always on the look-out for a wandering European, and hooked on to every passing boat, llis boatload of gaudy crockery was generally more remarkable for gilding and tawdry color than for taste. But the forms of the vessel were often graceful, even classical; and specimens of the tall" water - jugs he sells, or once sold, can be seen throughout the Levant, though seldom in London.

The Territorials, membere of thie Defence Rifle Club, and the High School cadets paraded at the Coronation Hall yesterday morning and proceeded to the Old Hospital Road for a field day. Tactical operations were carried out. The Territorials and Rifle Club carried out an attack 1 on the cadets, tile result being in favor of the school, A second attack in the afternoon was carried out by the Kifle Club and cadets against the Territorials, which again resulted in favor of the defenders. The whole force was •under the command of 'Major Bellringer, and, the weather being fine, a most enjoyable day was spent.

Recently Anatosio Chelotti, a newsvendor of Savona, Italy, celebrated the birth of his 31st child, on whom lie bestowed the name of Candido. Chelotti, who is just turned (10, remarked at the christening:—"At *2l years of age I married a girl of 1!), who made me an animal 'present of a male child for li) years running. Then she died. Before I was out of my -10 th year I married again, and my second wife added another dozen to the family. I have 19 sons living, all healthy and strong. The 20th fell ilighling in the Libyan desert with the words "Viva Savoia!" on his lips. Kight of my boys tire married and have married children of their own."

Says the Masterton Age:—We hare information at our disposal which le*<l» us to suppose that naturalised Germans in New Zealand are regularly transmitting money to the enemy. The money is sent to relatives, or agents, im the United States, from whence it i» forwarded on to Germany. Some of these naturalised Germans pretend loyalty ta Britain, and even subscribe to the local relief funds. While they may consider they are justified in helping their relatives in Germany, and in keeping them from starvation, they aro probably not aware tliat they arc committing ft very serious offence in transmitting money, either directly or indirectly. The authorities in New Zealand should censor every communication with a neutral country, so that the practice we haro referred to shall not bo continued.

"Respecting newspaper advertising, Sir W. Lover, writing in the Daily News, says:—There is no doubt that bold advertising is essential for the manufacturer. The man who spends nothing in advertising is not giving his business a fair chance. He must let the merits of his goods be known. . . Although it has to be remembered that the sine of the circulation of a paper is not everything, it is circulation plus influence that tells. A man is very often unconsciously influenced in favor of an advertisement by the standing of the paper in which he is reading it. That is a very important consideration for an advertiser to study. A paper that circulates among readers of a solid and thoughtful character gives more weight to the advertisements it carries than one which sells to a public of ft lighter habit of mind. The licensee of a Dunedin hotel found one day recently that there was on her shelves a bottle of stout that she could not uncork. Customers also tried and failed, and as all-comers wanted a pull someone struck the idea of charging 3d a pull, the money to go to the Belgians, the man who drew the cork to get the stout as his prize. The fun having started, other bottles, artfully plugged with wooden stoppers, were brought in, and the threepences multiplied, and then a guessing competition arose, the prize to be a bottle of whisky, the proceeds to be given to the wounded soldiers' fund. When the box was opened there was over £l3 for the Belgians. Then the winner of the whisky offered the bottle by auction. Pne .man bought it at 235, another at 10s, and a third at. ss. At last the whisky was given to be sold at Is a nip, and the fund was at last advice growing fast. "Makaire," in the Bulletin: Chanced to wander into a paddock attached to a Maori pa a day or two ago. A football matcH was in progress, and I stopped to watch. Football, billiards and horseracing aro jiart of a Maori's religion. The game proceeded, to the accompaniment of a medley of shrieks, groans, hoots and war-yells from the spectators, until the ball worked out at the side of the scrum. A big fellow, clad a bit different to the rest, appeared, seemingly from the clouds, grabbed the leather and bounded off with a good start. His fellow-players emitted a yell that sent a chill up my spine and gave chase. The whole of the spectators and about 54 dogs of various shapes and breeds insisted on joining in. But the man with the ball had reached the goal-posts, and there he grounded it. A try! But before he could arise the crowd "was on him', men pummelling, the wihines tearing his hair out, and the dogs conducting well-organised rushes at his unprotected legs. I spoke to a large and ponderous youth who stood by watching matters with ill-concealed amusement. "What's the matter?" I said, pointing to the dilapidated and dishevelled try-get-ter. "Oh, him," was the contemptuous retort, "he no good!" "But what's he done?" I persisted. "Done?" indignantly shouted llena.ro. "Why, he te tam referee!"

In an article in "Great Deeds of the Great War," Mr. H. E. Morgan raises a very questioning voice as to whether the women of Great Britain (and .by Great Britain the women of the whole"British Empire might be meant) are doing their share in regard to the war. "Have the •women of Great Britain (in other words, of the Empire) done their duty as nobly as the women of France?" he asks. "In France the "whole people are serious, grave, conscious of the peril and determined to obtain victory. Stories of heroism and self-sacrifice and devotion on the part of the French women are numerous. They have laid aside their frivolity, they have forgotten their disabilities, and they have vied with the men in their patriotism. I write with a profound belief in the ability of women to serve the nation, and with boundless admiration for the many who, with splendid self-sacrifice and heroism, have answered the nation's call," he goes on to say. '"But the large majority of our women arc still frivolous, indifferent and apparently unaware that there is any war at all." It docs not make palatable reading. That there should be any ground at all for such a judgment to bft pa-ssed is not pleasant to think of, after all these months of fighting that have drenched the soil of Europe with the blood of her best.