LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 12 January 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

At a combined meeting of .coal importers', and merchants, held at Christchurch to.consider the recent'increases in cost and freight of imported coal, and the price to be charged to the public, it was decided to fix the retail price at 50? per ton, practically 10s per ton increase on late prices. The value of the cheese exported from the port of>Patea for the twelve months ending November 30th. last was £1,083,726. For the twelve months ending November 30th. of the previous year the value was £1,000,698 the increase during the last year thus representing a sum of £77,025.

A settler in the Pukekobe district. Auckland, has had five acres of pota> toes hnve yielded ten tons to the sere, and been sold at £lO a ton on the ground. The same settler has two acres of onions, the return from which is expected to prove equal to that of the potatoes. - Owing to the continued dry weather, "In. grass in many parts of the Ashburton County has become dned up. to a dangerous degree, states the Ashbjirton correspondent of the Lyttolton Times, and a match thrown down carelessly would cause a serious flrn It is reported that there have been grass fires on the Mount Somers line, and at Lagmhor some peaty land has been Lurninv for some- davs.

"Don't you think your mother would be woman enough to stand the shock of parting from you when she knows you are going to do your duty to your country?" was the question put to an appellant by the Wellington Military Service Board. The appellant had no particular answer to make, and he wasreminded that many u loving mother had had io make the great sacrifice of parting with her son. A clever surgical feat ]>&s been performed at a Manchester Fed Cross Hospital on a private in the King's Own Lancaster Regiment. Wi"".'*t in action the man had a portion of his jaw shot way In order to restore Mm as nearly as possible to his normal condition, ft piece of rib, about three inches long, has been cut away and grafted on "40 what remained of the jaw The patient was staled to be ".doing very well."

Private C. S. Keliy, writing from Brockenhurst Hospital, England, towards the end of November, says that ! after having been ten weeks in bed, the wound in his leg was not improving, so i tin operation was necessary to remove a piece of metal, and this was accomplished successfully. I'rivate Kelly mentions that he had seen Bill Husc, who lived ct Midhirst, and is now in the artillery He too, had been wounded—buried by a rhell explosion and hurt internally—but. was then walking about again, though far from being fully recovered. —Stratford Post.

To serve others is to live. The.life of improvement is the improvement of life. The Modern Tailors, Limited are making clothes for -public service. Suits and costumes that will lit well and last longer. Their system is organised to eliminate waste, ensure the best of materials, guarantee the best of work from well-paid employees, under comfortable working conditions,. Every inventor—every scientist—every worker—every manufacturer—every merchant—every person who does his woi\k on the basis of service is living. Every inventor who improves conditions—every discovery that ameliorates suffering or reveals the plan of the ages—every worker who makes a better job, and forgets his pay in love of the work—every manufacturer* who forgets the profits in love of the workers and his Aeuhu to serve—, every merchant oi shopkeeper who distributes goods on the basis of truth and justice—every person who inspires men and' women to believe and understand (and believe and act on them themselves) principles laid down by the Founder of Christianity—is serving humanity, improving life, and'hastening the coming of a more happy, joyous ar.d harmonious life. LOOK TO YOUR (PLUMBING. You know whas happens in a bouse in Which the plumbing is in poor condition —everybody in the house is liable to contract typhoid or some other fever. The digestive organs perform the same function in the human body as the plumbing does for the house, and they should be kept in first-class condition all the time. If you have any trouble with your digestion take Chamberlain's Tablets, for the stomach and liver, and you arte certain to git quick wlief. Sold "erywhera,

At a well-attended meeting of Fitzroy residents, held last evening, when Mr. J. Kibby presided, it was decided to resuscitate the Fitzroy Beach Improvement Committee. In addition to the old members of the committee who still reside in the district, the following were elected: Messrs .E Armitage, .T. W. Braysha*, J. Harvey, W. J. Walker, R Jenkins, and R. Day. It was resolved to meet again on January 15, and every fortnight thereafter, A sub-committee was appointed to inquire into the tenure of the Harbor Board leases on the fore-' shore, and to make arrangements for the erection of warning board • on the beach. The question of forming u life-saving club was left to a future meeting. Putting the clock forward an hour :n Australia has had a pleasurable result for a section of the community who "burn, the midnight oil." One noticeable effect is that "Waka" says "Good-night" to the various telegraphic centres an hour sooner tha'i lias been the ease in the past, and the "last cable" is handed in to the morning newspaper offices correspondingly earlier. There are pressmen .and telegraphists who aie unanimously of the opinion that daylight saving ha a much to recommend it.

A ynutbtul-looking appellant, who appeared before the Military Service Board at Wellington stated 'hat he was only 17 years of age. The Board enquired as to what age he had entered on the National Register, and he replied, "20 years." Captain Walker: "Why did you r]o that':" Apellant:- "± wanted to go, and then I changed my m ; nd." Captain Walker: "Do you know yen can get into gaol for that? You have no right to make a false declaration look at the trouble it has put you to and everyone else, too " The Board had no option but to allow the appeal. A noticeable feature about* voluntary recruiting of late lias been the large number .of young men who have enlisted end whose ages are given at twenty years (says the Wellington Times) Inquiry from the local reciuitiug office as to the cause shows that the majority of these young men have just turned twenty and no sooner have they reached the age stipulated before they can enlist than they rush to the rccruilmg office to see if they can pass the necessary test Evidently'they do not cave to wait until their names are drawn in future ballots like so many of their seniors are doing.

In tlic harvest Reason a lndy of Paris whom I know, spending a holiday in Auvergne, met on a country road a group of German war prisoners returning to tlic'u camp from their day's work in" the fields (writes a London corespondent) They were accompanied by a French sentinel, a private of some reserve regiment Tlii:- private was, unfortunately, very drunk. It took two German prisoners, one on <cach side, to keep him on his legs and moving in the right direction. A third prisoner tenderly carried his loaded rifle, bayonet and all.

News has been received in Fiji (reports the Svdney Daily Tdrgwph's corespondent) that a Gormen trader at A™. Samoa, which is occupied by the nilitary forces of New Zealand, has been summarily dealt with by ( he local Court for flyin" the German fla>; The Gorman is the manager of a station owned by a British firm. He recently held a social ■fathering, which was attended b) many of his countrymen. As a insult or the convival meeting, he hoisted the German fla» at the flagstaff, and refused >to lake it down when requested. The military guard appeared on the scene, the fla" was hauled <lown ' n * ,d all * , mans concerned were arrontd. At subsequent Court proceedings the principal offender was sentenced to two wAk-s imprisonment. It is reported that the Administrator (Colonel 1.0,-an) expressed the opinion that if hid been m Germany and done likewise he would have been shot. As a result of this case the promisor of the German *«e searched, and a supply of arms and ammunition discovered. As long ago as December, 1015, it was ordered that all arms and ammunition were to be handed over to Ihe military' authorities. Mr. Will Hope, an artist-journalist well known in the colonial newspaper world, who went to the United States some years ago m order, to gain a wider e-speriencc in his profession, in the course of a chatty letter to a Wellington friend says: —"Yesterday was Thanks<»i\w Day in America. ' It was turkey here," and turkey there, and turkey everywhere. They just go crazy on turkey en that day. One even gets the odour of it in the bath tub. The event is a National Thanksgiving Day (instituted bv Woodrow . . As you fire aware, Woodrow Wilson put ;t over Charles Hughes for the Presidency. As Wellington said to Crecy at the hattl- of Waterloo—'lt was the damnpat nearest thing I ever saw.' The Republican party lost a bunch of. money in the contest California came like Royal Arms (a dark horse) and caught the judge's; decision for the Democrat. Some race Ever since Teddy Roosevelt lice been as quiet as an oyster. The high cost of printing materials is a serious" matter with the newspapers here. It threatens to eliminate 2000 daily papers. Nearly every paper has cut'down the size of their publications and doubled the price."