LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

| A n;ol> of about eighty 'lie bullocks left, Oimra on Tuf-sdav morning for Wnitara.via Waitaanga and Kotnre. The Advocate reports' .mit thev "ere purchased about the disiiiet for Bortlnvioi* and Co.'s frcczh,!? orks. Messrs. Roberts and Son are the successful tenders for the erection of new Warehouse premises at New Plymouth lor .1. H. Cock anil Co., merchants. The new building will oe constructed of concrete, with ,1 compressed br/clc front, and will lie erected on th- site immediately opposite MV. Newton King's warehouse in Currie. Street. Children of soldiers are eoii.jr to be pi von a memorable Christmas treat next .Saturday. The Mayoress (Mrs. C. IT. Burgess) is the originator of a kindly scheme whereby soldiers' children wil'l be the recipients of little Christmas gifts. There will he a mini hi r of big bags, anil each child will be given a lucky "dip." This inteie.'ting little ceremony will take place on the steps of the Soldiers' Club at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

A particularly 1110.111 theft is reported from Okato. The ladies uf tli" district have been holding regular -cwwig meetings in the hull, where the garments they have made have also been stored. Quite recently some despicable person or persons gained access to the hall, went through the articles of clothing, and quite a number of the more i.xpensive ones have been stolen. Complaints have been made to the police, ai d it is to be hoped they will spare 110 effort in endelivering to trace the culprit. Shopkeepers report that the range of British toys and fancj goods on sale at this Christmas .season is much wider than it was a year ago (states our Wellington correspondent). I'he British manufacturers, supported by the Imperial Board of Trade, are making a determined bid for the position once occupied by the Germans in the toy market, and, despite the utilisation of much of their plant for the production of munitions, they are making a very good show. Japanese toys ami fancy goods are largely represented in the Wellington shops also. It appear.-: that France has little energy to spare for competing for such trade at the piesint time. In the Magistrate's Court, Hawera, yesterday morning, two informations were presented against Kr:>est Harold Holhulay, alias Lieut, Langhrrst, (1) that he did, on or about D-":cmber 14, at Okaiawa, commit an indecent assault upon a female of tender years; and (-2) did steal ;Cfl us. the moneys of Henry Alexander Bryant. After bearing the evidence 011 the first charge, flu accused pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court. Wellirj/t*n for sentence. The charge of thelt was then gone on with. Henry Alexander Bryant, farm laborer, employed b,- Mr. Riddle, Okaiawa, deposed that accn-ed came to stay with him 011 Wednesday last, and on the same evening and witness' family went to spend the evening with a neighbor. On the j'riday witness cashed a cheque for til 3 Cs, and, after transacting his business, put £0 Cs in the pocket of the coat he was wearing. Accused was with witness when he cashed the cheque When witness arrived home he hung the coat up behind the kitchen door. Witness and the family went out to spend the evening on the Friday; he notd that the 'accused was wearing the coat in which witness had placed the monet, but witness did not give any thought about the money then. On the following morning 'Witness went to the pqcket to get the money, and found it was gone. Later witness and Constable ITadlcr interviewed the accused, who denied taking the money. When the constable bad left accused said to W'lness: ''Do you think I would take vuu money after doing me such a good turn?" Witness replied: ''Certainly 7 do, as you were the only one in the house." Subsequently accused admittei taking the money, and oll'ered to double it if witness would let him off. Wi.en accused -first came to the house he told witness that he had 110 money. Accused, win luul nothing to say, pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court, Wellington, lo'r sentence. —Star The demand for well-bred station cattle seems to be a long way greater than the supply. That is provtA by the high prices ruling at the present time lor yearling steers, viz., :ClO to Cli 10s. ' At most of the large cattle fairs ..eld during the past two months, lines of cattle showing breedin" and any signs of quality were' particularly noticeable by their absence. Surely, then, the most' profitable cattle farming today should be breeding. We have noticed good lines of well-fared cows and heifers selling at anything from £l3 to £l3, and as the demand for hoof is bound to keep up for a considerable time on account of the ge-wra! shortage throughout the world, allowing, on the average, each heifer in seven year-: to have seven calves, taking into consideration the losses at calving-time, etc, and other risks, what a handsome profit is still returned to the grazier. Wo have heard of one settler in the Wairarapa district being offered bv a reputable firm £7 a lioad for all bis steer calves at weamng-time fo. a period of four years. The war has caused such a shortage of beet tli ■oughont. the world that it will take years and years to build up the deplenished herds aoain, and local farmers, in fact fanners throughout the Dominion, wiP do well to pay particular attention to tins most important branch of farming At 'labiatua, on Thursday next, tne Wairarapa Farmers' Co-operative Association have an exceptionally good yaiding of welltired female cattle. Refer to advertisement. The sale start punctually at It. 'JO. GIGANTIC CONSPIRACY. _ a gigantic conspiracy of Coughs and tVldsagaicst you. Foil it with Dr SheldoK's Ne-.v Discovery for Coughs and Colds. Vri.v., 1/0 and 3/-. Obtainable

Householders whose. I'tibbisli is removed by the borough should note an advertisement referring to the holidays. Tt is intended to do Monday's work- on .Saturday afternoon, while during the whole week the work will be performed early in the day.

A large measure of success has been obtained by the Salvation Army in connection with it? Christmas appeal for tiie lSelgians. and already the sum of t-1000 lias been raised in New Zealand. A number of subscript ions from carious districts have not yet been received by headquarters.

The attestation ot compulsoril.v-en-listed recruits for the No. S (Taranaki) Croup is proceeding at flawer.i Major K. P. Cox, officer commanding the group Major C. I-fentjvaml Lieutenant C M. Crutch, area officers, and group 11011coininissioners, are engaged in comic, ctiou with the work. ,

The Ngamotu Seaside Committee arc in a most enviable position this year. The tea kiosk and bathing pavilion will he available for their great fete day on New Year's Day, and will be fliueh appreciated by the patrons of this popular foreshore. The Picnic Committee arc making strenuous efforts to eclipse ali previous pienirs, particularly the enjoyment of the juvenile section of the community.

''When Parliament meets I am going to have a good many words to ta.y about the contrast between the quick re-build-ing of "the Canadian House of Parliament and the slow re-building of our Her.se of Parliament, and ns to (lie New Zealand railways as compared with American railways; also as to the methods of advertising our tourist, resorts and the methods adopted in America."— Dr. Thaeker, M.l'., who has just returned fioin a visit to America. The Mayor of Palincrston has received a card bearing greetings from Mr. H. N. Watson, formerly of Hokowhitu, 1 ut who volunteered for service with the French Red Cross, and has been on active service foi a. considerable, time. Mr. Watson is driving a. motor ambulance on the Verdun frjont. and the card received by the Mayor has a photo of the ear and its driver. The former hears the inscription: "A rrii't from New Plymouth, Taianaki, New Zealand."

"Anybody who says lie want:' to go back to France to bo shelled is a liar," said Major Clifton, at the soldiers' reunion in Masterton on Thursday cveniiii!. The Major pointed out that while 'there were "Teat hardships on the (ialli--1o 1 i peninsula, in the. way of food and j water, that enterprise was a picnic compared with France. They knew the : names of the {inns on thr Peninsula, but in France there were so many guns that their names could scarcely be remembered. The shelling was awful. ,T, hc Umpire Theatre lias been closed since last Saturday to allow a small army of workmen to complete the ext<, sive alterations which the contractors have been engaged for some weeks past. Tie dress circle has been completely reloaded and reseated with the same comfortable seats as "Everybody's,a new stairway has been completed, and the ventilation brought right up to date. It is the intention of the management to q.on the theatre to the public again tomorrow night with a first class programme. As completed The Kmpire is compact and.cosy and iu architecture and cimfort will be second only to the new Even-body's Theatre.

Tli? method employed by the Salvation Army in distributing relief to distressed Belgians was, described by Colonel J. Innes, Oliief Secretary of the Salvation Army in New Zealand, to a Xews reporter yesterday. The money was collected and sent direct to Ceneral Bramwell Booth, at headquarters in T-ondon, said Colonel lnnes. The Army had its agents in Holland, Sweden, and 'Belgium, and the money- was despatched to, these agents, and was at once devoted to the use of those for whose assistance it was raised. The machinery of the Salvation Army was sue!) that not a shilling of the coilc-cted money was spent in administrative expenses. A shilling collected in Xew Zealand pave a shilling's worth of relief to some distressed Belgian.Ask nine out of ten people and they will be unable to give you any informalior with regard to the history of Christmas Day. Fov your own information turn to "Morey's advertisetneni) in this issue—it is informative and contains tome timely gift goods suggestions as -vill. Turn to it now!

Sensible Christmas gifts tor men are ties, .jocks, handkerchiefs 'or braces. 7 hern is no risk in jiving as these goods arc always acceptable. The Melbourne. Ltd., is showing a fine range of smart new ties at Is tid and is (id; also plain at d fancy cashmere socks, Is to 2s Od-, Iraces Is fid to lis fid and a large variety of Irish lawn a:id linen handkerchiefs at "Id, 3d, !)d, ls_3d and Is Od.

The term ''"official" has been applied to so many khidß of war films in the jiast that the general public now pays lu.t scant attention to it. There have been few really important official war films and perlmps uone occurs more readily to mind than ''Britain Prepared," the picture which caused such a sensation in Xc.v Plymouth some time back. By a secret London mail there arrived what is claimed to be the most realistic representation of the present hostilities in France that has ever been seen ill the 1) minion—The Battle of the Romme. 'this, as is well known, was the opening

of the great offensive commenced by the Allies on tlu. morning of July 1. The opening of the attack on the \illnge of Mametz is pictured in a remarkable series of scenes that could only have been secured at great personal r: k to the man with the cameya. These lilms were taken by the British War Off ce and the Secretary for War, Mr. l.loyd George, instructed as follows: "tve that this picture which is in itself an epic of self-sacrifice and gallantry, reaches every one." Many hundreds of copies of the. films were immediately nht'.vn all over Kngland and over forty of London's largest cinemas screened t. em simultaneously to crowded and excited audiences. The. film will be screened at Everybody's to-niglit and the following two nights with special matinees on Thursday and Friday.