LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Farmers in South Taranalci are taking advantage of the tino weather and haymaking is now in full swing. Some splendid crops of hay are being saved this year, the wet season having been beneficial in promoting heavy growth. The Secretary of the Postal Department advises that the censorship on all wireless messages to and from all ships arid ehoro stations is suspended as from' Monday. This does not apply to men-of-war, for whieh all wireless messages must pass through the Naval Department at Wellington-

In expressing appreciation of the work of the Citizens' Committee in connection with the recent Band Carnival, Mr. E. -Solo said last night that the cost of the building complete was £?75 and the section cost a further £SO. The only mortgage remaining on the property at present was a sum of £'2oo.

Electors who desire to exercise the franchise in connection with the forthcoming poll on the prohibition issue, winch is fixed to be taken on April 3,0 next, should ensure that their names are on the electoral roll. The main roll is now closed, hut application for enrolment on the supplementfify roll may he received by the registrar up to 35 (lays prior to the date of the poll—March 5. During the holidays several visitors to New Plymouth who are interested in hand matters, have made a point of inspecting the new bandroom, and the opinions . expressed respecting it have been of a very complimentary character. Amongst those who have seen the building was the bandmaster and one of the members of the Nelson Band, and though they Jiave recently erected a new room for themselves they were loud in their praise of the superiority of the local room. Stratford and Hawcra visitors have spoken almost enviously of the provision mado by the 'New Plymouth citizens for their band. The number of visitors to New Plymouth has been quite up to that of previous years, notwithstanding the weather, which has been the most unseasonable experienced for over ten years. Christmas in New Plymouth has generally been favored with ideal weather, and not a littio of the popularity the town enjoys as a seaside resort is dua to this condition. Yesterday the wea thcr took a tur.i for the ibcttcr, and consequently thavo wa3 a large number of people at the seaside. Whilst many visitors have ieft, without having til# opportunity of indulging in sea bathing to any extent, there are stil! qujte a number of visitors in the town. A collision occurred on the South itoad, in the vicinity of Belt Koad, at about 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon between a motor-cycle, on which two young men were riding, and a boy .■in ..•ime, who was riding a pushIbike. A tram, coming into town, had topped at Belt Iloau, and the boy on the push-bike passed the ear, going in the direction of tho breakwater. He continued his journey, riding between the train rails. The motor-cycle, on whieh were Messrs V. Pepperell and C. Rawlinson, of Carrington Road, was coming into town, and when about 100 yards froin tho stopping-place, crossed to the right-hand side of tho road, with the evident intention of passing tho tram on that side. It is stated that the cyclist then tried to get right over to his left-hand side of the road, when the collision occurred. Pepperell and Hume were taken to the Hospital, the former said to bs suffering from shock and the latter from a compound fracture of the j jaw On inquiry last night at the Hospital. it was reported that the extent of Pepperell's injuries had not been ascertained, and he was still in a somewhat dazed condition. Hume was as well as could bo expected, and his jaw will Ibe operated upon this morning. During the three years that Mr. E. Wooldridge has had the contract lor carrying the mails between New Plymouth .and Opunake, tho district has been particularly well served, both as regards the conveyance of passengers, mails, and parcels, Mr. Wooldridge having put on modern and commodious cars in cliargo of courteous and capable drivers who have maintained their timetable with commeniTable regularity. As the traffic demanded it, Mr. Wooldridge has added to his plant, which now ranks as one of the Ibest-equipped in the Dominion, and, in order to house it, he has recently had erected a commodious concrete garage in a central position in Brougham Street, where also aro provided waiting rooms for ladies and offices where parcels may be left. Tho building is absolutely fireproof. There is also the necessary equipment, for the use of the mechanic who constantly overhauls tho cars so as to ensure that they are in perfect running order. A concrete benzine store has also been built, so as to be detached from the main building. Settlers along the coast will be pleased to hear that Mr. Wooldridge has been successful in securing the mail contract for the next three years.

A Xew Zealand medical officer at the front, writing under date October 27 to his parents in Wellington, says:— "We are now in a town where several civilians were liberated from the German beast. The horrors these people have seen and experienced—every brutality, every crime! It is all too terrible. The faces of the women will haunt me till I die. And the children! I wish a few Ni.vr Zealand shirkers could he here for a few hours. The Germans are no better than they were in the early days. They are , still unrepentant, systematic devils. You can't imagine what the German occupation of Wellington would have ueen like. We can " The writer goes on to tell of how American gifts of food for civilians were stolen bv the Germans and supplied to their officers, the people for whom they were intended being fed on Mack, sour bread. "Young girls" (he writes) "were forced to wait on officers' messes; men and women were forced to dig trenches in shelled areas; women and girls were taken away by night and sent no one knew whither except their captors. A French gendarme who returned to his home found his wife and children dead in a cellar They had been violated and then murdered. This is absolutely true!" The officer tells, too, <>f how bitter is the French hatred of the Germans,

aroused as it has been by their unparalleled crimes against humanity and their studied barbarism.

Summer bargains at the Melbourne, Limited:—lsland hats, all sizes. Is 8d; men's fine cotton' singlets, 2s 3d; men's pure wool cashmere socks. 3s fld; boys' crash slimmer suits,' 8s 7d; boys' and youths' panamas, Ss fid; men's extra fine "Tilde panamas, neat shape, 19s fld; ladies' panamas, lis fid, 15s fid and 15a fld.

A new list of suburban and country properties appears in this Issue. See i from page— iR. A. targe's' advertise'ment, • - ,

I A New Plymouth rasidaut, who has been on a visit to the South Island, states that in Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago Christmas business was considerably affected by the epidemic and th» weather Conversing with shopkeepers, lie found that they had taken less ol' what they had the previous year. As far as he could gee. Taranaki towns had made a quicker recover? commercially than any of the southern place.-!. Says the Wairarap;i Age:—Four working men from the country districts left Ma&terton for Palmerstoii two dny.-f before Christmas with over £3OO between them, They returned l!:e other day with hardly sufficient money to purchase a meal. The Auskland .Star states thr.t the pohutukawas (Christmas trtes) arc only now coming into bloom at Takapuna and at other points along the coast, from two to three weeks later than •usual. The low temperature of October and November were probably the cause of this late efflorescence.

Captain Gilbert Mair, a former Judge of the Native Land Court, and Mr J. Cowan, are now engaged in writing the history of the Xew Zealand wars irom 18-15 to IST 1. They have visited a number of places of historic interest in the neighbourhood of Tauranga, and are now at Kotormi.

"We are officially informed," says the British-Australasian, "that the Imperial Government had anticipated Air Massey's request that Anzac troops should garrison Gallipoli, and tbat such troops, most probably, are already occupying the forts. We also understand that the' Australian and New Zealand authorities on this side had, with commendable foresight, made arrangements for immediate action, after 'peace with Turkey, in tending the graves of our dead on Gallipoli." Writing on war-needs for oil and the search for new fields, a London correspondent says: Among new fields, work is being pushed rapidly in Egypt and Venezuela, and growing outputs are coming from Trinidad. Apart from the boring proceeding in England, additional money has been found by a company working in Cyprus, while great concessions have been granted in British Guiana and Costa Itica.. The British Government, I am told, is doing all it can to stimulate discoveries in new lands and greater production from proved fields, and has been remarkably successful. A useful industry has been established in Eltham. It is the conversion of lambs' stomachs (veils)) into rennet. The stomachs are received from the Patea fijeezing works. They are blown up like bladders, tied up at both ends, and then hung up on wire to dry It is said that New Zealand sends away £75,000 per annum for calves' rennets —or what are reputed to be calves' rennets —and that this money can be retained within the Dominion by using lambs' stomachs. About I*4 million stomachs would be, it is estimated, sufficient for tjio Dominion's requirements, and as there are between fivo and six million lam'bs slaughtered annually, it will be seen that there is no likelihood of any deficiency in sup. plies.—Argus The question of the maintenance of main arterial roads cropped up during a deputation to Sir William Fraser in Chriatcliurcli. Referring to it, Sir William said that, in respect of the subject matter of the deputation—the Sehvyn traffic bridge—it wap a side issue and had nothing to do with the bridge. The whole question would have to be taken up by Pariament and put on a proper basis. "You cannot," the Minister continued, "make a uniform rule in respect of maintenance of that kind; if you do, it is bound to be inequitable. It will ihavc to be tackled, and tackled in the new Local Government Bill that the Parliament, now that the war is practically over, will have to tako up with I other important questions that have J been hung up owing to the war." Ever since the first batch of men returned to New Zealand from the front, tliev were granted three weeks' fj'ee pass on the railways, and it was compulsory that 'they must be in uniform while availing themselves of the privilege- A new order came into force on January 6, providing that the returned soldier is to bo granted four weelcs' privilege leave on full pay and is also to b« presented with an order which, on being presented to a group officer within a certain time, will entitle the soldier to receive a free railway pas* available for four weeks. If advantage is taken of this during.the period of the privilege leave, the uniform must be Worn. It the privilege leave has expired, tho soldier must travel in mufti This latter concession will appeal to many returned men as much a,s the extra week'* frcn railway ticket.

Commandant (Colonel) d'Andre, adjutant and aide-de-camp to General Pan, has had a very adventurous career. He is the eon of a naval 'officer who visited Australia many years ago, and his grandfather was a distinguished cavalry officer under the Second Empire. In 1900 Commandant d'Andre was deputed by the French Government to assist in the training and reorginisation of the Peruvian Army, and remained in Peru till 1911, becoming in due course director of military training there. He took part in the tot operations against the Germans in 1914, and fought in the battle of the Marne and at Senlis. In September of the some year he had command of the troops which retook St. Souplet, and had the leading part in the capture of a number of machineguns. For this he was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor. Alterwards he was taken prisoner and spent two years in Germany after which he was repatriated through Switzerland. He 'has been wounded. Fifteeen mem- ! bers of hio family, including his only brother, have fallen in the war. The Commandant has seen New Zealand troops in action, and has the highest opinion of their qualities. He says that his own observations confirms all that has been written about the good relations ibetween the New Zealandera aiul their French comrades-in-arms.

The presence of the "lire fiends" in Invercargill is now generally accepted, and any doubt that existed has been largely decreased by a recent incident (saye Sonthland Times). When walking in the streets one night recently a youth, who is a member of the local fire brigade, heard a man remark to others that they might expect a fire in Forth street. He did not attach milch importance to the occurrence at the timj, but next day he mentioned it to a senior member of the brigade. The pair decided to visit Forth street in search of empty residences, and found only one. Oil entering the ground they discovered thai, in one corner of the residence there was an aperture caused by the wood having rotted. They measured the distance from the fire-plug to the house, and, as they explained it, "had everything ready," Next morning a call came from the house. The fire had started from the taanftj* jgrieh was the hate.