WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1916, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

(DEFENCE ARRANGEMENTS. (From Our Own Correspondent).', Wellington, September 14. ' The operation of the Military .Service Act will render necessary some extensive re-arrangements of the head-quarters and district stall's, and the necessary appointments and transfers will be announced within the next few days. The changes involve a considerable number oi officers. UNSOUND TEETH. Very few indeed of the men \v]io go into camp with the New Zealand Reinforcement? have complete sets of sound teeth. The majority of the recruits neei. dental attention, and the dental staff has grown in strength and importance during the last twehe months. An effort has been made to secure some data concerning the men whose teetli were sound when they entered camp, and it has been noticed that nearly all these men were country-bred and 'had lived simply in theii youthful days. A considerable proportion of them came from Scotland, and it is an interesting fact that the majority of these sound-mouth-ed men have mentioned fist as an important article of their dietA SUBSTITUTE FOR KEXN'EI. The experiment that has been made by the Dairy Division of the Agricultural Department in the use of pepsin as'a substitute for rennet in the manufacture of t'heese, is not complete. The cheese was made at the Kaupokomii factory, in South Taranaki, and it appears to be of excellent quality. ■ The men engaged in its manufacture state that to all appearances tile pepsin did its work most effectively. But the officers of the Dairy Division will not ho ready to give their verdict until the cheese is .at least partially matured, since the question of quality is all-important. New Zealand cannot afford to export inferior cheese even when there is a troublesome shortage of .rennet. There appears to be an impression in some quarters that if the use of pepsin in the cheese factories is justified by experience, the continued supply of rennet will be of no particular importance. This view neglects the fact that pepsin itself is an article that ennnoi; lie secured in unlimited quantities. .New Zealand druggists have little information on the point, their importations of pepsin having been very smail. The article, regarded as a wonderful boon by some harassed dyspeptics, is a by-product of the Chicago meat-works, where defunct pigs ai-e robbed of their digestive juices in the interests of mankind

RECRUITING

No one who has been brought into closo contact with the Defence authorities will suspect them of not knowing their own mind. Mr. James Allen,, with all his faults of manner, which -are no more than skin deep, is a strong man with a set purpose always before him, and the higher officers of his department understand what they are about. But for some uu=erutable reason they are. disinclined to let the public know exactly how recruiting is progressing, and by their reticence are creating a certain amount of doubt and uneasiness. One day it is announced that a reinforcement is 500 or COO below its quota, and the next that plenty of men are available and can easily he brought into'''camp. These conflicting statements have given rise to a notion among many people that the practical application of compulsory service is at hand, and that within a, week or two conscripts, -peihaps not easily distinguished'-from volunteers, will bi! seen marching through the street-; of Wellington. The truth seems to be that there are plenty of men in sight, men. that is, who have enlisted, but that a large proportion of them are not immediately available. Volunteers have had the option of saying when they will go into camp, and though long-dated expressions of loyalty are no longer accepted, the authorities are really in need of men ready to begin their training at once. The time appears to be at hand when the military zeal of the laggards will have to be stimulated.

FILM C-EXISOTWHIP. The proprietors of the picture shows are awaiting with a certain amount of nervousness the inauguration of the picture censorship. The manager who has his star film censored drastically after its arrival in Xew Zealand will be in an awkward situation, and the decision of the Government to entrust the duty of censorship to a single salaried officer has set showmen wondering what the tastes of the censor may be. Regulations can 'be interpreted oniy in terms of personal opinion in such a matter, the picture men argue, and Mr. Jolifl'e has yet to show what his notions are. Does lie object to cowboy pictures'; Is he going to set his face against the genial highwayman? Will lie permit .policemen to be made ridiculous? Or will his notion of the unlit be limited to the sex play? The questions may interest patrons of the shows as well as proprietors.