LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tliere were 2000 passengers carried 01 tiie temporary tram service in Xew Ply moiitli on Tuesday, tlie revenue beiuj j-11 8s Gd.

_ Apparently an excellent market for irozen fish haa been discovered in Australia. It was ascertained at Wellington last week that nearly all the freezing accommodation on inter-island boats had been booked ahead for its export. A li«use-t«-house canvass for esipty tfiedicine bottles has been started in !r,w!, 011 ', Uis 1,0 P cd to S( ' ollre "t least (!uO,OOO bottles, which will be sold to doctors, chemists, hospitals and various aims, and the proceeds devoted to the purchase of one or more motor ambulances to be sent to the front, . In consequence of the large increase in population that has taken place in r eatlierston recently the demand for odgmgs and houses cannot be met, and tents have been resorted to by some of the new arrivals. Several families aie living in this way in the Domain, and m various parts of the township. Dr. Newman, in the course of an address at Invercargill, stated that there Had been instances of men who consulted private doctors first and then, Knowing that they were certain to be rejected as "medically unfit," m a de ap . plication for enlistment, so that they boys' illcUlded in th e of "good Everywhere in Belgium Germans are miying or commandeering goods and & « J tl ,"' y st ' ml t0 Gel™nyule the food sent by America just >.oops llu» lu'lgians from starving, tlie Unmans buy at their own prices food iioducei by the Belgians themselves, '-specially are they keen on acquiring »V+T' i. u hnm ,VRs °»-tlerto sell a realjy fine horse for £'>o Loafh t ° pan wi th tlle valuab , e a]li ; , tlle Belgian tried subterfuge, nr'o-tf-stmg that the horse was unsuitable lor imhtary purposes, as it suffered from de ective eyesight. "In lhat case we . g' ve y° u only £B," said the German wiyer, and the horse changed hands at that price. Those who think that the V.C. has been rather lavishly distributed in the present war may be reminded that 111 crosses were awarded for acts of gallantry in the Crimea, while from the ndian Mutiny emerged, no fewer than 82 wearers. In the whole of the intervening years to 1914, in spite of the many little wars, only 224 more VC's were bestowed ,th e Boer war accounting for 78 of these. Up to January last operations on sea and land in the great war have resulted in 150 crosses I being awarded, of which the Navy lias earned 13 not a very formidable total i during 18 months of fighting witli ' lorces compared with which the armies , of the Crimea or the Indian Mutiny were insignificant.

ihe woman at home during these tunes of war is a heroine," said Mr, D McLaren at a recruiting rally at Palmerslon on Saturday evening. He said that he had attended a patriotic conference at. Wellington recently, and he had moved in the direction of asking the Government to face the situation in a more generous spirit and make larger provision for the family of the married man who went to the front. The woman who undertook the responsibilities of maintaining a family while her Imsband was away fighting was a soldier and a brave one at that Her position would be emphasised all the more when it was remembered that she had to do this on oa per day, which was all her husband could allow her from his pay. Mr. McLaren said the country should be ashamed to allow her to do'it, a statement which the gathering fullv endorsed, judging by the applause which followed,

"They told -me when I came here," ;aid one of the German soldiers, "that the English were pig-dogs; but I have round out that it is not so. I have found out that the English are gentlemen." That is one of the incidents (says Mr. Francis Gribble in the Standard) on which the historian of the futiire may base the statement that in a certain moral and purely pacific sense, England conquered Germany at Ruhleben. What, impressed the German soldiers most was, I think, the fact that when one of the non-commissioned offiwho had been considerate in his dealing with prisoners, volunteered for the front, the men in the barracks, instead of expressing the wish that he might soon meet his fate, turned out and gave him three British cheers. The Germans are not by nature sportsmen; but that unexpected revelation of British sportsmanship evidently made some of them wish they were,

A verv little known and interesting fact is that Germany can send small war craft of shallow draught from Antwerp to the Black Sea under their own, power without once venturing into "blue water." Some years ago Messrs Parrow, Ltd., of Glasgow, completed two small monitors for Boumania, and tjiese two vessels steamed across Europe to their destination. They first went to Antwerp and then up the Rhine to Mayencc. After this they proceeded by tanals to the upper reaches of the Daii- ! "be, down which they steamed to Galatz a Roumanian town about 50 miles from the mouth of the Danube, in the Black Sea. Although Serbia (Joes not possess an inch of seaboard, it is quite possible that the German Navy assisted Mackensen in his attack on Belgrade. The official German reports of the fighting made mention of several types of war vessels which have formed part of the Austrian Danube flotillas.

A start is likely to lie made nt ail early date with the erection of the Wellington Mont Export Company's new freezing: works at Kakariki, near Marton. It i s estimated that during the season the works will employ about 200 men. The storage rooms have a capacity of holding 200 000 careases. The refrigerating machinery will be on the ammoniea compression system, and approximately equal to 300 tons of refrigerating every twenty-four hours. The plant will be driven by economical steam engines. A large electrical generating plant in duplicate will provide i the power for pumping, lighting and motor power generally required at the works. An extensive water supply system will be installed, which will be taken from a well sunk on the river-bed. The water will lie electrically pumped when required to different parts of the works . The buildings are so designed that any further extension of the works to a capacity of 6000 sheep a day can lie made with practically no inconvenience. Arrangements am now complete for the, screening in New Plymouth of the anxiously-awaited films of the JohnsonWilard fight. The Theatre Royal has been secured for two nights, viz,, Friday and Saturday, 7th and Bth April. The picture, which is over 6000 ft in length, >hows the entire 26 rounds in detail.

To-morrow (March 31st), i 9 the 75th anniversary of the Taranaki province. Rumors have been current in Wellington during the last day or two, says a Press Association message, that the 9th Reinforcements bad suffered seriously in France. The Premier states that no news whatever is to hand to suggest anything of the kind. °

His Excellency the Governor reviewed . the Eleventh Reinforcements at Tren- . tham yesterday. The men made a good i impression by their fine bearing.—Press Association. , A Pahiatua telegram says that the ! Kohinui Co-operative Company's new cheese factory, and also its contents, ! were totally destroyed by Arc yesterday morning. The insurance was £IOOO. The settlers are heavy losers. The annual general meeting of the Taranaki section of the New Zealand Public Service Association will' bo held at the Courthouse, New Plymouth, on April 10, at 8 p.m. A ftception to Mr. Newton King and a farewell to Messrs. Matthews and will be held at the Inglewood Town Hall to-morrow evening. The function will take the form of a smoke concert. Mr., Archie McNcilage, who suffered the loss of a" leg after undergoing an operation in the Masterton Hospital to enable him to qualify for enlistment, was presented with a purse of 300 sovereigns by the settlers of the district at a garden party held at Carterton. The Petone Woollen Mills dispute is unchanged. The Conciliation Commissioner, Mr. Hally, is endeavouring to arrange for a further conference of the parties on the basis that delegates approach the subject without reference to previous negotiations.—Press Association. • The Railway Patriotic Committee are working a grand art union in aid of the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. Their efforts in recent patriotic concerts are well known and the public should give this latest a good run. Tickets at Is (eight prizes) is a good proposition. Prizes will be on view at Dingle's next SaturAfter a verdict of not guilty had been returned at the Supreme Court in Masterton, in a ease in which three soldiers in uniform were charged with stealing liquor, his Honor, Mr. Justic Chapman, in discharging the accused, said he considered it highly objectionable that accused persons should appear in the dock in the King's uniform. His Honor did ' not know what was the proper authority, 1 but he hoped that notice would be taken of his remarks and civilian clothes supplied to men who were put into the dock. A pleasant social evening was spent at the Central Fire Brigade Station last night, when the members of the brigade met to farewell Private G. Beu, a mem- !' er ,°f 'he brigade, who has joined the i welfth Reinforcements, and is now on , final leave. Superintendent Bellringer i presided, A short toast list was gone through. Superintendent Bellringer, in - an appropriate speech, presented the ! guest of the evening with a wristlet . watch. Foreman Ford, Station-keeper Doughty and Mr. Burrowes l also spoke. Private Beu suitably acknowledged the ■ gift. A lengthy programme of vocal 1 find instrumental items was contributed, ' and every item was appreciated. Some idea of its calibre may be gleamed from ] the fact that the following contributed, 1 in no case less than three items: Fire- < man Moon, Messrs. Saunders, Herd, Burroughs, Woods, Lovell, Keys, Howlett, Vale, Gadd, and Farmer. j Forms of application will be received' i from Mr. D. McAllum, P.O. Box 82, New i Plymouth, for a limited number of shares m the proposed Iron Sand Company in Taranaki.—Advt. ;

The Langham Private Hotel, Wyndham Street, Auckland, extends every home, comfort to visitors. It ig most conveniently situated.

Belgian ticking made in England at Is 8d per yard, 58 inches wide, is the latest bargain at the Melbourne, Ltd. This material is very scarce just now, and customers are advised to make their purchases early. ''There will be no more shirkers after seeing this grand picture," were the words of a prominent local townsman yesterday afternoon, after witnessing a pviyate screening of the patriotic feature film, "How We Beat the Emden," which is to be shown to-night at the Theatre Royal,