LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The attendance at the Municipal Baths tor the month of November numbered 19, and the receipts amounted to £l'la fid. Forty-seven patients from the JKawaroa Park convalescent hospital also used the baths. The new connections to the electric supply mains in the Borough of New Plymouth for the month of November numbered 5, and one addition was mads to existing installations. Threi new applications were received during tne month. Replying to Mr. 0. A. Wilkinson in the House of on Tuesday, the Minister for Defence (Sir James Allen) said that nurses would receive 28 days' leave on demobilisation in the flame way as other ranks of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. Leave was given to the nurses in England now as milch as possible. The staff had been strengthened to allow of thisfollowing is the, record of sheep and cattle slaughtered for local consumption At the New Plymouth abattoir during the month of November:—Cattle 153, calves 5, sheep 583, lambs 103, pigs 5, tripes cleaned 14*2-, being an increase ol 7!) sheep and 15 lambs and a decrease of 5 cattle, 15 calves, 09 pigs, and 9 tripea, compared with the corresponding month of last year. The total receipts wer* £llß 10s lid, or £2 3s above those for last November. Compassionate allowances have been made as under by Parliament;—-£«MW each to the widows of the H! J t 0. Okey, M.P., E. Fletcher, M.P., A. H- "Stevenson (of the Munitions and Supplies Office); £4OO to the family of the late A. E. Hir.drearsh, M.P.'j £416 to the widow oil the late C, Parala, M.P-; £025 t9 the widow and family of the lata Judge Wilson, of the Native Land Court: £3OO to the Widow of the late Hon. iJeehan, M-L.C. Wairarapa people are up in arms against the proposal to use the leather ■ Camp as a lock hospital. It ia asserted that a batch of diseased men from Dunedin got out of hand and overran the train, using all the conveniencesUrgent representations are to ba made to the Government. On the other hand, the Health Department lias demanded the return of the quarantine stations, nnd Teatherston is the only plane tha Opfence authorities have at their disposal.—Press Assoc. The New Plymouth borough engineer, in his report to the council for last month, status that the amount of work put through was not so great as usual on secount of the epidemic, many of the staff being laid up, and other® taken off for other work 'Referring to publ' 1 " health matters, the engineer states that 15 men were engaged ic cleaning out and rtiwifecting Ea3t End. Kawaroa, and fvgiunotu pavilions on behalf of the PubIk; Hen Ith Committee A word of praise is dna to'those responsible for the cleanliness crt the conveniences at Kavaroa Ti, viv> a pleasure to 2nd them in an absolutely clean and tidy condition am' ke;it in thorough, repair The economy of -buying tailor-made clothes is well illustrated by comparing tiie length of time they wear &3 against ordinary ready-made or chart suits. If you have had a tailor-made suit —and frhn hsu not?—von just divide ths number of months into the cost, and i'fe how it works out' take vonr ready-made or "lmrt. suit, and work that out also ?fr» which is the cheaper, leaving fit. style, and appearance out of the question altogether. A taiior-madi* suit made from an English worsted or Scotch tweivl, ciit l>y an artist and sewn by a ' crewman. is always the cheaper in the | en-l, end eeonomv (the elimination of j wast'O i-> what the Modern Tailors are | drlvlnf »t, in their new advertisement in j to-dnr's l«»ue.

The censorship on naval articles, photographs, etc., lifts been removed.— Preu Assoc. A Nelson message sava that when all the schools were Closed by the health authorities, the Nelson College boardera, instead of Being returned to the 1 ? honipg in various parts of the Jfoith and South Islands, were oamped some miles out of town with completely satisfactory results, not a single boy being attacked by the disease. The hoarders hare now returned to their Homes.—Press .tWsoc. In his report for tho month of November, the New Plymouth Borough electrical and tramways manager statrs that this tram service operated for only 14 days, on account of , the epidemic. Th? total mileage run was 7352 mill's, passengers carried 33,029, and fares co'lected £365 12s Bd. He estimated this total loss to thfi Department would amount to from £7oo' to SSCft. The summer time-table was prepared and would be put into operation about the end oDecember, if traffic conditions warranted it. Strict attention was Btill being paid to the- matter of disinfecting the cars. Each car, in action to the Usual washing out every night with' disinfectant, was also specially treated at jeaat once each day. The German army did not escape influenza. During one stage of its offensive the disease became extraordinarily widespread, Thus,-one company of the 61st Kegiment was so prostrated that it had to be relieved. Two whole battalions of the 232 nd Kegiment were so reduced that tlieyhad to Be witndrawn from the line; one company of tiie 68th [Reserve Kegiment shrank to a fighting Strength of 42 men instead of 120; one company of the 1174 th Kegiment' was similarly reduced to 17 men, the whole of the 187 th Diviaion had to be taken oat of the line it had ceased to t>e effective; and Another division, the 119 th, could not be relieved because the relieving troops werslncapaHe cf-com-ing in. ■ *

The strain Upon' the medical men of the town and also ttpon the Hospital staff is still very great, and it is euggosied that the public may help to relieve it if, when they wish to cail in a doctor, they will notify him early in 'fte morning,if possible, before be has left on -his morning founds,. instead, of later in" the day. By this means & doetor may often i» saved the trouble and time occupied la ewering the same ground twice in the day, if he know? whon arranging his rounds in the morning all the ha is expected ,to make in each locality. At the Hospital it wotald relieve the strain' on the sta3 somewhat if for a little' while only urgent cases were sent there. ; In the course of his report for the month of November, the borough inspector ('Mr. >B. Day), after referring to the epidemic of influenza, and his association with the, district: health inspector foi, the time being, says he looked into all sanitary matters reported by the committee in New Plymouth, but generally they werd matters outeide the control of a sanitary inspector. -With regard to the country, too much had been oaid of the dirty condition in Maori houses. "I h&va been irt Maori -bouses from Parihales to Uruti, 1 and, with : only four or five exceptions, which were particularly dirty, the cleanliness of the wh&res would shame many of the pafeeha houses I have seen to the country. In 10 pakeha houses, generally farm places, the conditions are as bad as found in the slums of a city." """" " In connection with the steps being taken in ths Egmont County to stamp out the epidemic, there was some doubt at the meetiiig of the council yesterday as to the defraying of the cost of the necessary motor-cars. The chairman of the County Council accordingly telegraphed the Minister of Public Health, stating that it was absolutely necessary that block captains should have motor-' cars to visit most roads; also that nurses be moved and patients brought to hospital, an'd asking if these charges would be paid by the Government, providing, of course, that the charges were reasonable. The Minister pf Public Health replied that it was impossible for him to decide whether the expenditure on motor cars for the purposes stated would bo justi-1 fled, and, in' ariy case, it was necessary that a very close wateh should be maintained on expenditure for hire of motorcars. The hospital board for the district would be required to certify to all claims payable by the Government in conation with the epidemic. The board should be consulted as to whether it would certify to the claims as reasonable and justifiable. If charges, are' mado in Egmont County, then that district will be the only one in Taranaki that failed to produce men with public spirit and humanitarian instincts to lend cars free of cost. The outlook for the freezing industry in the Wairarapa and in other parts of the Dominion is not as bright as it should 1m (states ths Age), In all probability- tlia, Imperial purchase will be extended-for the .coming year, but that is not all that i 3 required. Most of the freezing works have at present heavy stocks; and ■ are - awaiting shipping to provide the space necessary for the ensuing year's operations. So far as tne Waingawa works are concerned, the difficulty in regard to space is not acute, as the storage capacity has been largely increased. Shearing operations have, however, been seriously retarded by the broken weather and influenza epidemic, and the quantity of stock forthcoming is not so large as in former years. A'matter which affects the Waihgawa works, in common with other works in the Dominion, is that of labor, which is almost unobtainable, it is understood that the slaughtermen are demanding higher wages. A conference of freezing works representatives is to be held in Wellington tlris week, at which some important developments are expected. The sain of furniture on account of Mr. Hona'ißw, Stratford, advertised to be bold yesterday by Mr- T. Lamason, has been postponed, and will be -ifld on Tuesday next, December 17. \ silk shirt is a very aeccptab'c Christmas present. The Melbourne, Ltd, have'these in tussore, while and cream Fuji Japanese silk, at the following prices:—-Tussore silk, 18s 6d; white silk, 19f. Odj Fuji silk, J9» 6d. The silk is the** shirts is all first quality and good weight, tussore IB momrae. A noticeable ieaturi of Everybody's Thoatre last night was Uto current; ot fi-osh' air circulating through the build ing, despite the big audience In attend am'o. It cost the company a lot Of money to build an up-to.date theatre but tiie public can appreciate tlio advan tag? of a well-ventilated building when sitting in Everybody's The re-opening programme submitted last, evening was excellent in fverv way, and will show again finally to-night. Wribster Eros, announce a bale of strawberries at 11 o'clock this morning,. &nd other fruit at 2 p m.

In the Magistrate's Court yestwdaT morning, before Mr A. Crocke, S.M., John Griffey, VVailara, who had been remanded for medical treatment, pleaded guilty to a charge of helpless drunkenness at Waitara. He, was convicted and discharged and ordered to pay £3 3s medical expenses, in default It day®' imprisonment. Fourteen days were allowed in which to pay the amount. A Pohangina family is the proud possessor of a coijkatoo Which accompanies the men to their daily work of whatever kind, bushfelling, ploughing, sheep* work, or •on horseback. He travels many miles a day with them on a shoulder Or on the wing, and when they take their lunch he invariably shares it. At Wellington last week a presentation of a couple of complete set of "The Laws of England" (Hakbury), easy and study chairs, and other articles were .made to Mr Justice Herdman from the members of the police force. The pre*, sentation was decided upon towards the' end of last January t when it became definitely. known that he .was about to re* sign the portfolio of Attorney-General and Minister; in Charged Police. At the presentation this week the Hon. T, M. wilford, Minister of Justice, presided, After , the. Commissioner if P<m lice aid other officers present had spoken of the high esteem and regasd ia which Mr Justice Herdman' waa held, of his strong peraona#ty, and of tin good work h. 6 had done for" the organs sat ion and welfare of ijis th#r Son. Mr Wilford made the presentation on behalf of the Butoaribers; and eind that the testimony paid that day by the officers of the force to the recipient of the presentation was an eloquent testimony to the high esteem in which be was held, while the valuable gifts they had provided.were strong proof of the regard In which he waa held by the suppliers of. ffce force, in general, Mr Justice Herdman replied in statable terms.

"It 19 most interesting and paffcatiS to see the readiness of the natives td da whatever we told them," said a St. «toib» Ambulance worker who returned to Auckland the other day, after two weeks of fighting the epidemic at Tfchnna settlement, near MorrinstHle. '*One of the men who had. been, ill afterwards came to us, and asked if there waa any Way of keeping sioknesa away from, the homes, also if we could tell them tip right way to fee 4 cWldren, We told them to let the freafc air into their houses, and what to buy for the cMldren, and next day the local storekeeper told us that instead of i>uyingbiscoita> tinned, meat, and tea .as { Usltal, several' of the natives had bought rolled oats, and other good food for children. One baby of 18 months who died had bees regularly fed on canned meat and tea. The natives were quite amenable to instruction, and I think if advice wen given simply to them on most essential points, they would be most ready to aocej*t it" f" .■ . ■ . Scapa IFlow, to which thei surrender* ed Gerinan warships have been taken, is a bad-locked naval, base, in the' Orkneys, measuring ten mil&by 'eight, ly* Sng between thewutheraisland ofthe group and Pomona, the chief island of the Orkneya. Satya Flow w some years ago made the headquarters of one of the dividoiisof the Home Fleet, with headquarters in the town of Scapa, at the head of Scapa Bay, a great indentation -in the coast .of Pomona. Kirkwall, the chief town of the Orkneys, is On the northern coast of the island, opi posite Scapa, and on another bay which, with Scapa Bay here narrows thte mam and two lesser approaches to Scapa Bay, and it is to. the area between these that the name Scapa Flow belongs, a reference, , of course to the flow of the .tide through the area., A leading sheep farmer stated to a fiawera Star representative that the position in regard to shearers for this season's wool' is serious. Sheep farmers in this district have always depended largely on the Maoris, ana unfortunately they are not now available in any number. The epidemic, too, has been responsible for a lot of trouble, ruirholder in tho Wanganui hinterlahd, who has 40,000 sheep to shear, had 25 men at work in his sheds when the influenza attacked them. Pour died, and most) of the others were seriously aifected. WhereaS shearing is mostly, finished about Christmas, many farmers have not started. 'Pie shearers, said our informant, are not in sight. What wool has come in was shorn before the epidemic came. The position ho emphasises as very serious. -It .is difficult to say when the shearing will be completed. . The Empire Theatre had a successful re-opening last evening, and the programme submitted met with ■ ths hearty approval of the audience. The Jeaturo was a Mutual production* "The Bride's Silence," starring Gail Katie and th* supports included the final epispde of "A Lass of the Lumberlands." The same programme will be repeated to-night-The Hew Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd, draw 'attention to the sale they are hording in fheir Koliuratabi yards oji Monday, the 18th December,. at. .1 p.m. ,Tull particulars will b» fouud on page 8 of this issue.