LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ We have to acknowledge receipt from Arnold George of a calendar for 191G containing views of the principal cities of Belgium.

Hon. G. N T . Russell announces that Putei'da convalescent camp will be opened by the Governor on January 12. Col°>iel Newall lias been appointed commandant.—Press Association. A pannevirke message says that a recruiting shop which lias been opened since Christmas Eve by two returned soldiers lias so far enrolled 26 men for active service, most of whom have passed' the medical test.

A cable message recently reported the arrival of a New Zealand hospital ship at Albany. The l'rime Minister stated that the ship.is the, Malieno, which is due to arrive at Auckland 011 her return from the Mediterraneon on Friday or Saturday. According to the official list, 317 wounded and sick soldiers are returning by the steamer. The cable message stated that 38 are cot cases.

From the point of view of the police the holiday season in Xew Plymouth has been particularly quiet, the absence of crime being more noticeable than during any previous Christmas. Cases of drunkenness were much fewer than usual, and there was a complete absence of "pickpockets" from the races, though one undesirable character who went to the course was politely requested to spend his time elsewhere. No cases of theft have been reported, and the crowds in town were very orderly. Two visitors to Taranaki, accompanied by guide Upjohn, scaled Mount Egmont on Tuesday, and reached the top. The atmosphere wag very cold, owing to the fall of snow that had taken place (a rather remarkable incident at this time of the year), and on the way down the mountaineers suffered considerably from frostbite on liand3 and feet. They were treated for such by the guide, and the hostelry was afterwards reached a minimum of discomfort. The Rarawa did not arrive at New Plymouth from Onehunga until nearly ono o'clock yesterday afternoon. The Rarawa left the wharf at Onehunga about five o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, but on reaching the Manukau Heads the weather was so rough that : tlie steamer anchored. Shortly after midnight the sea moderated, and the Rarawa crossed the bar, meeting with fair weather on the trip to New Plymouth. The Rarawa brought about ninety passengers.

The mountain liouse has been full of visitors during the Christmas holidays, and the accommodation is still fully taxed. The tourists are finding heaps of attractions, and although the weather has been rather cold they have revelled in the bracing climate and scenic deur of "old Taranaki." The track to the mountain house was made very heavy by the recent rains, but it has dried up rapidly. A large number of visitors wended their way to Hell's Falls, and were enchanted with the attractions to 'be.viewed en route.

A considerable portion of the Swiss army was sent home from the Swiss frontier on November 13, as it appeared that the Government was convinced no danger of territorisil violations by the belligerents now existed. The expense of maintaining upwards of 200,000 men under arms has been a trying burden. The Government lias been kept in a state of constant anxiety mouth after month by what was believed to be contrustworthy information concerning designs against Switzerland by pne or another of the, belligerents, all of which turned out to be inaccurate. However, ample forces will be retained at strategic points. The day's pleasure at the Ngaere Gardens on Monday was somewhat marred by the sinking of the row boat on the lake, says the Inglewood Record. Three young ijjen, who were accompanied by two girls, were rowing around the lake, and were warned by Mr. Truelove to keep away from the vicinity of the chute, but they failed to take the necessary precaution. At the psychological moment when a trolley was entering the water, the. boat was rowed in front of the chute, and cut in two, sinking immediately. The three "heroes" realising the plight of their companions, lost no time in rescuing '—themselves! Luckily for the girls the depth of water was not great, and they were able to rescue themselves without much difficulty. There is no doubt that Trentham camp would be able to make men of these fellows.

What appears to have, been an attempt to cause damage to a big oversea steamer occurred in Sydney harbor on a recent Saturday night. On Sunday morning it was discovered that the hawser connecting the steamer Clan JJacarthur with the wharf had been cut about half-way through, apparently with a knife. The attempt to cause the steamer to break away must have been made between late 011 Saturday night anl early on Sunday "morning. The cut in the hawser was a clean one, and had apparently been made with a knife held by someone standing on the edge of the wharf, as the hawser was partly severed at the spot just clear of the pile. "Saturday night was very squally," said Captain Simpson, when referring to the incident, "and, with a hawser which has been cut through about half-way, the least thing would have caused the vessel to break away. If this had happened with a big steamer like the Clan Macarthur, it is difficult to say what the result would have been."

Another interesting sidelight on German methods is supplied by a correspondent in Holland of the London Times, who says that on the long frontier of Holland towards Belgium there has been endless trouble about horses. The Germans have wanted horses, and the Netherlands Government has been extremely anvious to prevent their getting them from Holland. But the way In which horses disappear has been astonishing "At country fairs, or wherever they could," says the correspondent, "the innocent Dutch farmers living close to ttie frontier were continually buying horses, and, as surely as a farmer bought a new horse and took it home, so surely would it be stolen that night# or a few nights afterwards. How the mysterious thieves got into barns and outhouses—even, it la said, into .cottages, Where the newlybought animals were temporarily stabled in living-rooms—was never explained. But the more their horses were stolen, the more prosperous did the innocent farmers grow. Xow, all the horses are to be photographed. No farmer or vil-, ;jager is permitted to buy a new horse to replace one that has died, and' ;|he dead horse must be shown to the military authorities, who identify it h.v Its photograph. If this precaution were jot taken, dead horses might be brought Heroes the frontier and living beasts Ijnore useful for military purposes fought in exchange. So the authorities ipsist that the dead horse produced shall |e the animal which formerly stood for ftt nortralW

The management of the Taranaki Amusements, Ltd, wish to intimate to patrons that the World's Film Corporation's magnificent picture "Money" now being screened at the Theatre Royal is entirely different to the production of the same name that was screened at th« Theatre Royal some months ago} The indigent folk of New Plymouth were not overlooked during the festive season, a committee of Whiteley Church members, with Mr. P; Stainton ; as principal, donating# hampers to'., them len Christmas Eve and providing for' the children as well. The thooghtfuiness and ki. Jiiess were much appreeUtcd by the recipients. In writing to a friend in Taranaki, Miss B. E. Baughan, the well-known aouthoress, states with reference to hqr' recent return from Califoiniai "i m mpre than glad and thankful to be back again in tlie cleanest,: kindliest, and most beautiful country I have ever known. New Zealand for everl'' Following ia the statement of account! of the Central School Carnival held at New Plymouth:—Receipts: Gates, £llO 6s; tea, etc., £44 4s sd; auction sale, £26 10s; sale of programmes, £8 0s M; stalls, Christmas tree,'etc., £54 0«2d; sideshows and guessing, £lB 7a fld; donations, 12s Sd— £262 10s 7d. Expenditure: Rent of ground, £l6; advertising, £8; ,T. Avery's account, £6; Christmas ' ' tree, lollies and ice cream, £lO 16$ 2d; expenses of tea stalls, £5 165.2 d; carting, £3 7s; Paul (soft drinks), £2; printing tickets, £1 4s; T. Avery (printing), 12s 6d; labor and sundries, £2 4s Od; payment te Patriotic Committee, £200; Omata Sewing Guild, £6 10» £262 10s 7d., , . . . The inmates of the Old People 1 # Homo spent an enjoyable afternoon.yesterday when they were taken out for a motor trip to Lepperton and Waitara and entertained to afternoon tea at Pi)k«kura Park. The cars were lent by local 1 residents and the tea was provided anil dispensed ,by a party of Whiteley . Church ladies, who had flagged the ' neighborhood of the tea rooms and gone- . to a good deal of trouble to ensure the success of the affair. Selections from a gramaphone, lent and operated by Mr. W. Nicol, enlivened the proceedings. At ' the conclusion, the Rev. A. B. Chappell returned thanks to those who had or-. •' ganised the afternoon's outing, specially !, mentioning the work of Mr. P. Stain-' 1 ton, the moving.spirit, and thanking the motor-car owners for their kindliest, ' and, at his instance, the old people gave three hearty cheers for their. entertainers. The cars were lent by Mi«i Putt, Messrs T. C. List, G. Fooices, W," G. Reid, and N. T. Maunder. A brawn Irish terrier dog with a history is at present filling in his quaran- . tine period at Quail Island (Lyttelton harbor). . He was owned by the lat*. •*: Captain Anthony Wilding, and was in • the trenches at his master's side when the gallant tennis champion met bis death. His dog weaned injury,. "Samson" was named after the famous English ,' aviator and daring armored motor-car. hero, Commander C. R. Samson. For , a long time after Captain Wilding's death the dog was kept at the St. Paul . Aerodrome, Dunkirk, the base of. th* Royal Naval Air Service.' Subsequently. ihe "flew" by aeroplane from Dunkirk to England with Commander Chilcote, and was thence shipped to Captain Wilding*!' parents in Christchurch by the Remuera, , arriving at Lyttelton some days ago. On the terrier's collar is inscribed bis 1 name and the words: "No. 2 Squadron * Armored Motor-car." The feeling amongst returned "soldiers * regarding "shirkers" (says an exchange) • was illustrated by an incident that of-' / curred in Dunedin the other day. principal characters in the incident were a returned soldier, who is recovering from two serious wounds, and atyoung man about twenty-five years of age, ap* . parently eligible for service. The soldier had entered a shop, and, while making ' a purchase, was accosted by his acquaintance, who commenced to talkabout the war. The former, however, showed no inclination to discuss the, topic with the first speaker, and broadly' hinted as much. The apparently eligible young man pursued the conversation by asking the soldier when he was going back to the front. This exu- - perated the man in khaki, who replied:'. - "Well, look here, if it's not an imperii-' , net question, when are you going to en- <„ 1 listr ' "The army has received strong re}n« forcemeats," says a despatch by bit ' John French, a copy of which has teen 1received in Australia, "and every rein* . forcement has had its quota of field artillery. In addition, numerous batteriesof heavy guns and howitzers havi? been ■■ added to the strength of the ::' <! tillery. The arrival of these reinforce* ments in the field has tested the capa* 1 1 '> city o! the artillery aB a whole to ex- , pand to meet the requirements of the - army, and to maintain the high level ' of efficiency that has characterised this arm throughout the campaign. 'Oi enemy had hoped, not perhaps without '\j reason, that it would be impossible (or '! ' us), starting from such small beginnings) ~ to build up an efficient artillery to provide for tlie very large expansion of the <\ army. If he entertained such hopes, ' he has now good reason to know tliai , they have not been justified by the result. It was necessary to move'ft gull . of the 135 th Battery, Royal' Field Ar« , tillery, into the front line to destroy ■ an enemy saphead. To reach its pom ' tion the gun had to he taken,over ft,, ; high canal embankment, rafted over th« canal under fire, pulled up a bank with '■ > a slope of nearly Is degrees, and. then 1 ' dragged over three trenchas aiid»a sky*.. line to its position 70 yards from th»-<"<-German lines. This was carried oiit !, without loss. This incident is ilf minor importance in itself, but I quote it as ' an example of the daily difficulties 1 > which officers and men in the trench# are constantly called upon to overcome, ■ and of the spirit oi initiative and resource wllk'h is so marked a featOl*amongst them," ,<* ,