LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 November 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Robert Horace 'Phillips, of Inglewood, who was arrested for desertion, living in an isolated spot, pleaded guilty at the court-martial at Palmerston N. and said: "Why I objected to go was purely because I had a conscientious objection to fighting." / ■

An Opunake resident lost a valuable diamond ring in her back yard recently, and after a good deal of anxious searching was unable to recover the lost treasure (states the Times). The owner then hit upon the novel plan of holding a small children's party and offering a prize to the little girl who was successful in finding the ring. The children entered into the treasure hunt with energy and pleasure, and one. of them was successful in recovering it, and the novel plan resulted very satisfactorily to all parties concerned. The Okato and Warea Dairy campanies have decided to obtain a motor waggon for the transport of their produce, and in order to house this the Okato Dairy Company is building a concrete motor garage on the roadside at its main factory. The garage is a commodious one, having a floor space of 50ft by 30ft., and a height of 12ft. If necessary, the company will be able to utilise it for the storage of cheese, it having a holding capacity equal to six months' output, sufficient to tide the factory over this season. It is built on the loop line principal, provision being made for the motor waggon to run right through the garage,

During a discussion at tho Harbor Board meeting yesterday afternon, Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., charged the Taranaki County Council with having the worst roads in the province, tho Main South road being the worst of them all. Mr. 0. E. Bellringer said that if Mr. Wilkinson would think back a littlo he would remember a stretch between the Stratford borough and the toll gate that was considerably worse than any Taranaki County road. Mr. Wilkinson said that on second thoughts tho County roads were not in nearly so dreadful a condition as the length of Devon street between tho White Hart Hotel and th.' flraiul Central. "That portion," said Mr. Wilkinson, "would not do credit to a mud village." "The Snarl" is a queer title for a fdm drama, and it will be generally misunderstood. The word "snarl" is here used in its rather out-of-the-way sense of "knot" or "entanglement," and in this sense tho title is perfect. The unravelling of the complicated tangle into which the characters of the play have got themselves half-way through looks to be an impossible' task, but, of course, the ingenuity of the scenario writer is not to be denied. The climax is a brillant one, and the routng of the forces of evil is dreadfully effective. Bessie BarrUeale stars in this picture, which will be screened at both sessions at Everybody's today.

Orders recently issued by the headquarters staff to group commanders of military districts to the effect that not more than forty balloted men arc to bo called up on any one day for examination by a Medical Board have been so framed with the object of allowing volunteers to be examined with the least possible delay. Were a larger number summoned, as has been generally done in the past, volunteers would have to wait till the men called up had been dealt with, probably till the end of the Board's sitting. By the new arrangement, however, a fairly wide margin of time is allowed, and men coming forward will not be so delayed. Volunteers need give no notice to the authorities of the date they intend to present themselves for examination, but will bo attended to as they appear. Members of Class A or B of the Second Division or youths of 19 will be accepted. Second Division men must produce registration cards, and youths will be required to present certificates of oirth and written permission from their parents to enlist. The pWns of the proposed new bandroom are at present on view in Messrs White and Sons' window. The plans of the building, which is to be. of concrete, were passed by the Borough Council and a site obtained in Leach street some time ago, and had it not been foivthe continued appeals to the public for vari- v ous war funds, tho building would probably have been erected during the past .year. The present bandroom, which is little more than a shed, is not at all suitable, and other circumstances have arisen which make the position acute and an early start imperative. At the last annual meeting of citizens a proposal was made that the necessary money should be raised by means of debentures, but owing to the raising of the Liberty Loan, nothing further has been done in that direction. The proceeds from Simday's concert at Solo Bros.' gardens, "Aotea," are to form the nucleus of the fund, and the carnival to be held in Pukekura Park at Clirißtmas time and other functions which may be arranged are expected to bring in a substantial amount, and there is every prospect that enough people interested in the welfarp of the band will take up debentures ti> enable the erection of the building to be started early next year.

St. Mary's Needlework Guild is lidding its annual sale of work as usual on the last Thursday in November, and this year's sale promises to be exceptionally attractive. No one can question the extreme need of a new parish hall and Sunday School room., and it .is for the building fund that the St. Mary's Guild has worked steadily for the past five years investing from year to year the money raised at their annual sale so that Hie erection of a new building may become possible in the near future. The ladies of the Guild make a special feature of providing artistic and yet inexpensive and useful articles suitable for Christmas gifts, and there will be a plentiful supply of dainty handkerchiefs and work bags, scented coat bangers, lavender sachets, pincushions, needle books, raffia baskets and teapot stands, guest towels and other articles too numerous to mention. The babies' stall will be stocked with hand-worked Magyar dresses, crocket bonnets and under garments. Promises of garden, produce, home-made cookery and sweets have been so generous that patrons will have every facility for securing wholesome edibles. The Guild ladies will be very grateful to all parishoners and friends 'who will by contributing to any of the stalls help to make this year's sale a big financial success and so help forward the building of the new Sunday School.

A meeting of Territorials, Senior Cadets and returned soldiers was held in the Coronation Hall last night, to consider ways and means of raising funds for comforts for Taranaki men at the front, There was a large attendance, Lieutenant A. H. Johnstone presiding The following general committee was set up: Major Shepherd (chairman), Colonel P. T. Bellringer, Captain Moyes, Lieuts. F. N. Whitcorabe, P. J. H. White, Arnold, Howorth and Clark, and Sergeant W. P. Okcy. Q.M. Sole was appointed hon. secretary, and Mr. U George assistant secretary. Mr. J. H. Fowler is to be invited to act as treasurer, and the Citizen's Band to give what help they can. It was decided that a concert should be held on Friday, December 14, and a "Day" on the following day. A further meeting will be held on Tuesday next, at 7.30 p.m., in the Soldiers' Club, to consider the election of sub-committees to go further into the arrangements. Olga Petrova will appear at the Empire matinee this afternoon and for the last time to-night in the Metro wonderplay, "The Soul of a Magdalen," a play ,of the strong type with a powerful moral lesson underlying the story, showing the importance of a woman being true to herself.

Ex steamers "Eemuera" and "Rimutaka" the Melbourne, Ltd., are opening the following goods: Advance and S.S.S. drill, saddle trousers, ladies' underwear and skirts, ladies' llama hose, tape both blocked and in bunches, bathing <saps, white lisle hose, black silk ankle hose, cream viyella | socks, navy aerge "shorts," Shetland merino shirts and pants and white calico.

Mr. A. De Bavay, the eminent analytical chemist of Melbourne, testified, at the Supreme Court of Victoria that SANDER'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT compares with other eucalyptus products like well-refined and matured brandy compares with raw spirit. By insisting on the GENUINE SANDER EXTRACT you will get tje advantage of quality and will be safe from harmSANDER'S EXTRACT.

"Education is the only road to future peace, to future prosperity, and to future •power."—Professor Hunter, at the meeting of the Central Chamber of Commerce in Wellington.

It is a little known fact that there is sullicicnt wire behind the switchboard alone at the Wellington Telephone Exchange to reach from Wellington to Sydney and back— a, distance of 2500 miles—or more than one-sixth the distance between Wellington and London. A man with a long beard, matted hair down to his shoulders, and his clothes in tatters, \va% apprehended by the police near Mangamahu and taken into custody. He was drawn in the Eighth Ballot, but from that time he had apparently lived a sort of "wild man of the woods" existence, with the result that he had got into a very dilapidated state. The reservist will b> duly handed over to the Military authorities. A Masterton resident who has just returned from the South Island states that potatoes are being sold at An 6d per sack in Oamaru. The Age says there iB something radically wrong when the price paid in Masterton is His per sack. The matter is one that should be investigated by the Board of Trade. The Government will surely not permit potatoes to go to >vaste in the South island while they are in keen demand in the North.

Smelting was continued yesterday at jloturoa very satisfactorily. borne trouble was experienced in guiding the stream molten metal into the moulds, but that difficulty will be overcome as the workmen gain more experience. Mr. Frank Reed, the Government Inspecting Engineer of Mines, who paid a visit to the wo.'ks yesterday morning, stated that the results were the best that have been attained in iron smelting hitherto in New Zealand, but regretted that owing to regulations he could not make a more definite statement for publication. At Thursday's meeting of the Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers' Union, in the course of a discussion with reference to the exemption of shearers, Mr. E. Maxwell mentioned that there were a number of men who were posing as shearers who had probably only shorn for a week or so in the year, and on that score they desired exemption from military service. People who naturally required shearers did not feel justified in being a party to an appeal on fcehalf of these men, who were really not shearers, whilst there were men engaged in essential industries—farm workers and dairy factory workers—all the year round who were unable to secure exemption.—Star.

A very pleasant social evening was held in the Soldiers' Club last night, under the auspices of the New 'Plymouth Gnneril laborers' Union, Mr A.'Cathio, president of the union, being in the chair, and there being present a large and representative attendance of the various workers' unions of the town. The following toasts were honored: The King, New Plymouth General Laborers' Union, Kindred Unions, The Ladies, Comrades at the Front. Our Fallen Comrades, The British Army and Navy, The Press, and The Chairman. During the evening the following musical programme was rendered: Recitations by Messrs (J. Goldsworthy, Key, G. Richardson and H. Far>mcr, songs' by Messrs G. Mclsaacs, G. Wadman, J. Johnstone, J. Parsons, H. Farmer, \V. Key and H. Wood. Mr. E. Golding acted as accompanist. Generous fare was provided, and the musical programme was bright and varied, the evening being altogether enjoyable. The question of the shortage of labor on farms cropped up at Thursday's meeting of the Taranaki executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. The president (Mr. R. Dunn) said that'so far as the ordinary labor on farms was concerned he thought the farmers would manage to get through this year all right; they would also be able to milk the cows in the coming year; but it was the providing.of the food for the cattle where the trouble was going to bo experienced. He was of the opinion that a number of the herds would be reduced next season, so that the cows could be brought up on the grass alone. Mr. E. Maxwell differed from the president, because he knew that there were numbers of farmers who were not going to get through the season successfully. The conditions on some of, the.farms he had seen were getting very deplorable, and lie knew that on many of the farms blackberry, etc, was spreading because the farmers had not the time or the labor to keep the place clear. The president replied that he Was referring to the farms in his own district—on the plains; he intended to qualify his remarks by stating that he was speaking of highly improved country. It was on these farms that they would be able to get through satisfactorily, provided they were left with the minimum to work the farms with.—Star.

Jersey breeders and those in want of Jersey cattle should not fail to attend the sale by Newton King at his Stratford yards, on Tuesday next, the 20th inst., of Mr. J. D. Healy's pedigree Jersey cattle. The cows are young, at profit, and have all been bred by the vendor. A perusal of the catalogue will show, by their pedigrees, they contain some of the foremost blood of the breed in the Dominion, daughters and grand-daughters of the imported bull "Molina's General," a son of the great "Noble of Oaklands," who sold for £3OOO, from dams the daughters and grand-daughters of the splendid cow "Grannie's Frolic" that sold for 140 guineas at auction. What better combination of breeding could one have?

The management of the Empire Theatre anticipate full houses on Monday and Tuesday next, when the famous film of "The Manxman" will be shown. Accommodation is provided for all the Manx people in Taranaki. Some of them will have old memories awakened and others the opportunity of witnessing the most realistic representation of the land and customs of their forefathers.

Chaplain the Rev, H. L. Blamires, who has recently returned to the Dominion after three years' active service in Egypt, Gallipoli and France will be the preacher at Whiteley Church morning and evening to-morrow. "Religion in the Trenches" will be his subject in the evening. The Taranaki Producers' Freezing Works Company, Ltd., notify that men are wanted at the works on Monday morning for loading cheese and butter, commencing at 1 a.m. TEA CUP READER. I beg your pardon, ladies, but the strain has been heavy. If only you used the fashionable ARCADIA TEAS, which show much clearer signs, the result would be infinitely better for you and consequently better for me. The suggestion was adopted. HEAVY DRINKER FOR YEARS.

"Although a heavy drinker for years, my husband is now off the drink, thanks to 'Drinko.' It is wonderful stuff." So writes a grateful wife. Drinko can be given secretly in liquid or food. Write for free booklet, in sealed envelope, giving full details. State if Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Lady Manager, Drinko Proprietary, 212J Lambton Chambers, Welling.ton,-