LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 May 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Eighty-thousand. German prisoners, the result of the combined offensives of the Somir.e and the Ancre t are shown in the Graphic at" the Empire to-night. The matron of the hospital wishes to acknowledge fruit for the soldiers from Sirs. Eraser, fruit for the nurses from Mrs. V. Elliott, and melons from the hospital from Mr. G. R. Hill. • Further donations received for the, Rouninnia-n Fund are: Mrs. J. Paul, £2 2s; Mr. Thomas Avery, £-2; sale of rafia basket, £1; sale of badges, Oko-to, Ioj; sale of badges, 2s (id; mart sale and donation, os 3d; total £133 Ob 3d. Children attending the matinee at either Everybody's or the Empire Theatres this v.*.', see 'Charlie Chaplin in his latest comedy, ''The Pawnbroker." This laughable' picture recently broke all records for attendance at the new Strand Theatre in Auckland.

To-day will be "surprise b,ag day" at the Mart. Every purchaser of a shilling bag. can depend upon receiving full value for his or her investment, while the lucky ones will receive something much better, a 10s, banknote, a piece of jewellery, or some other article worth anytiiing from five shillings to a pound. The members of the New Plymouth Carpenters' and Joiners' lUnion were addressed on Thursday evening by Mr. A. Gray, technical director, on the question of apprentices attending the Technical College, and at the conclusion of his address was accorded the sympathetic support of the unioiv and appreciation of his efforts on behalf of "the bays who are learning a trade. The Wellington Racing Club's hospital ward at Trentham was formally opened yesterday in the presence of a largo gathering of soldiers and invited .guests. The building contains three 8iTjed wards, each 38 feet by 24 feet, a 1-bcd ward, duty room, bath-room,,and lavatories. The hospital is'on approved i lines, and cost £HSOO, of which the club (contributed £IOOO-. The visitors were entertained at luncheon by the Racing I Club. '

.Tacko is not in receipt of an enormous salary for his work, though he certainly deserves it, for were he. anything but an animal he would be a movie matinee idol with a bank balance running into thousands. His performance in "The Dumb Genius' is a thrill from start to finish, and something mere man could not hope to imitate. He appears at the Empire matinee to-day and finally tonight. On Thursday night residents of Oaonui paid a visit to the residence of Mr, H. F. Field, Arawhata Road, for the purpose offarewelling his son, Private Clifford Field, who has volunteered for active service and leaves for camp next week. A very enjoyable musical evening was spent arid, during an interval, 'Mr.. R. McFie, on behalf of those present, presented Private Field with a fountain pen, at'the same tinWj giving expression to the wishes of all regarding his future welfare. Private Field and his father both feelingly responded. - \ Mokau land investments have proved to the brim an overflowing measure of disappointment to those having interests therein in the past. ;■ The_ notorious litigation in- connection with tuie Jones estate is well known and it >s honed the present proprietors, .\vho have spent large sums of money in improvements, will have a good result for their enterprise. Another property up the river belonged to. the late Mr. Arthur Owen, and an' option oVer it was obtained by Mr. W. T. Jennings and Mr. (f. M. Morran, who proposed working the coal, lime, and timber on the property. Failure attended the attempt, and the property passed into the hands of Sir Alfred Cadman, Hon. W. C. Smith, Mr. Allan Maguire, W. D. Berry, and Mr. Owen. All these have crossed the, bar, and there are now only two shareholders left in the Cadman syndicate. It is a drawback to the district that this land is not secured for close settlement,, as it is very suitable for the burpbse, most of the land being good ano\level.

The children of New Plymouth are promised a happv time next we«k. A visit is to be paid by the Rev E. 'Pnlgtave'Davy, of Auckland Superintendent of the' New Zealand Children's Mission, which is non-i.?ctar;an The meetings will be held from Tuesday to Fri, day in the WhiteW' Hall at 7 o'clock. A preliminary mectiiip for Sunday i-chw-I 'workers, and all friends who are interested, will take pluoe ■ or. Monday, at 7.30 in the Whiteley Hall. With reference to |he sale of land in the estate of the late Arthur Gibbs, by Mr. Newton King, on June, 11, there has been an alteration in tbi particulars to which attention is drawn. The New Zealand L,mn and Mercantile draw attention to their sale in T.):cir Stratford, yards on Tuesday, 2fuh instant Full particulars will bo found on page 8 of this issue. The tale starts at 11.50 a.m. ■ N , For Chronic Chest' Complaints, Wood's Great Peppermint Cure, 1/6, 2/C,

For refusing to supply meals to two cartors from Lyttulton ut half-past nine o'clock ut night Daniel Stevens, licensee of the Murine Hotel, Sumner, Was fined 40s mid costs.

The youngest soMicrlwlio has so far com;! undo)', the notice of the Claims Hoard of tlu; Auckland 'Patriotic Association did so at its meeting on Monday, v., the person of a lad of 17. Ho enlisted at the ago of 11 in the Main Body of the Expeditionary Force. Ho wore two •j'.iid stripes, signifying that he was twice wounded.

White Island lias been most active for some days. At 2 a.m. the other morning vivid flashes of blue flames were observed issuing from the crater, the whole of the sea between the island and the mainland being illuminated. Several residents at Whakatane were awakened by the glare of light through their windows, and were rewarded by a "ood view oi Jhe display, which lasted for a considerable time. *

That the German effort to stir up sedition in India earlier in the war was fostered and assisted by the Germans in China was illustrated in an episode related by the Rev. W. Maw'son, a Presbyterian missionary, who lias worked in Canton for 13 years. He stated that on one occasion a shipment of li.nber which was* leaving Shanghai for Calcutta attracted suspicion. The timbers were split open, and found to be hollow, and to contain small arms,

Rays the London Times of March Hi: According to the British Trade Comni'ssioner in New Zealand, works are being erected at JJew Plymouth, in the North Island, by'a'recently-formed eonip.uiy, for producing iron'from the Taranaki iron satid. The first furnace to be installed can deal with 70 tons of the si nd weekly, but plane have been drawn up for the erection at a later date of another with a weekly capacity of 200 tons of the sand. Oil the basis of experiment and of actual practice, it is claimed that pig iron can be made at a cost not exceeding £3 a ton.

'A number of returned .soldiers took up sections in the-Pa pa kauri block, near Mahoeirai. and started dairying operations. They have had a fairly successful season, which- would have been greater had road access to some of the sections been provided.' The land is firstclass dairying land,, and with road access there is no reason to doubt the success of the settlement. The men brought the position under the notice of Mr. W. T. Jennings. M.P., who communicated the grievance to Sir H. F. T>. Bell, who is Acting-Minister of Lands. The Minister has replied'that the Public Works Department have been authorised to proceed with the roading of the block. A correspondent writes to the Christ-, church ' "Press" as follows:—f'Looking over an old 'Hansard' (Vol. 110). T came across a point jn debate on October 23, 1901, which I harid on to you for whatever interest"' it may possess. Mr. Herrics was speaking (on the Cook and Other Islands Bill), and he said (page 039): 'For instance, if we went to war with Oermany the first thing we would do, no doubt, would be to send an expedition to take Samoa.' Mr. Seddon: 'Xo, that would not be prudent.'" !

At the. Farmers' Union conference at Stratford last wepk, Mr. Maxwell said there was nothing more desirable than to see families living and working together in a tougenial manner, cspecialy so with.the home circle of the farmer. He knew, too, from long experience, that u man who was carving out a home for limself in the wilderness made his farm his savings bank, and he could only do this by putting all his surplus money into the place. It was only byudoing this that he could hope eventually to retire in comfort, and his family reap tie reward of their service. A member of a family with a fine record of military service asked the Auckland First Military Service Board on Monday to grant him leave until a brother returned from the front. The reservist William B. Ross, telegraph linesman, of Onehunga, said lie was one of seven sons. Four wcr& at the front, one had been rejected, one had just returned from the front, and appellant had also volunteered two years ago for active service with the engineers, but had not been called up. The board showed some surprise when appellant stated that his father had also just returned from the front. 'Appellant was granted leave until July 20,' in view of the- possible early return of a brother.

"Fifty-one" writes, to the Hawora Star anent a trip to Awakino:—l came across a little blackberry during 1 ! my journeyings, but what appears to trouble the settlers up north most is the bu9h fern. Wherever any timber lies on the ground the fern springs-up. and spreads rapidly.., In appearance it is much like tho ordinary fern, but, fortunately it is not deep-rooted. Then there is a plant known a§* the "ink weed," which is causing some anxiety, as it seems to be spreading. If this weed is, a menace, and the seed is carried from place to place by birds and in sheep's wool, then New Plymouth is smothered with it. So far as I could recognise the plant, it originally grown. in the flower garden, but having escaped from confinement is now having-a good old time on broad acres. \ ■ y The Auckland • "Star" states that, 1 provided there are enough ships available to clear the cool stores in Auckland pi the accumulated stocks qf butter, cheese, and meat by July, tho position, according to the opinion of some business men, will not be very serious; The reason for this is that the supply coming to hand is now about equal to the demand. From mw on till August, when the butter season opens, supplies, as usual, will fall «ff during tl\e winter months, For these reasons, provided boats can clear tho freezers by August, the position should'not be very serious, as far as primary products are concerned.

A curious case came before tlic Third Military Service Board at' Wellington, A member of the twenty-sixth Specialist Company at Featlierston, in applying for exemption, said that no was a voluntary recruit, married over eleven years ago, and with one .child ton years ( oI age. He entered camp last September, but on each ocw* 1 . 011 ( ' n which he was to have gone aw J».)' '•'' had been kept back on a do ct;ol ' s m " tificato. Now his wife's health; v.... breaking down by reason of his 'o«i:>'_ in cam]), and she objected to let bin. go. He added, in reply to a question that his' wife had not made (iny objection when he first told her he was going to enlist, but he was sure that mw she would .never agree to his returning to camp. The board decided to recommend leave of absence, for two months, appellant to endeavor in the interval to persuade his wife to allow him to serve bis country. '/

Some really fine neclcware is now being shown by Morey and Son. An announcement appears in the firm's, usual spaca,;