LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

j Farmers are experiencing' a good deal; of trouble in harvesting thfcir hay. The | crops are heavy and. good, but the continued broken weather mates "drying out" particularly difficult. ' "The Boat-Waiters" is.th® but) appropriate name adopted by sjevcral companies of tlieatrical folk 'Who, finding! themselves stranded in Wellington owing to the shipping difficulty, h£vo banded together "to keep the pot boiling," In view of the heavy losses amongst stock sustianed by farmers last winter it ia expected that greater provision will be made for winter feeding / this year. The hay and ensilage crops ar4 good, and most farmers are cultivating [mora turnips, mangolds and carrots 1 than has usually been the case. We ero promised a long aiitumn this year. The Taranaki Maoris fyavo taken stock of the prolific flowering (if the cabbage trees, and the lateness of {the bloom of the pohutakawas—infallible* signs to them of a very late winter. L<|t us hope their prediction will be verified.! "NAZOL" for Influenza and Cktarrh.

It is estimated by the New ' / *"" ( T- ) " Locomotive Engineers' Journa jsSS about 1000 engineers, firemen, ani...Criers have resigned from the New Zealand railway service since 1914. The rising generation of Palmerston had a lesson in old-world courtesy on Monday (says the local Standard). When General Pau was introduced to the ladies he followed the French custom of bowing over their hands, which he kissed.

The Mayor of Hawera has sent the following telegram to the Minister of Education regarding the question of disestablishment of the District High School: '"Public indignation meeting being held strenuously protesting at delay in disestablishing District High School and granting request of people of Hawera and district for a technical high school. Reply cause of delay." A well-known settler in the Waverley district met with a somewhat heavy loss iast week, in a peculiar manner. It appears that a mob of fat wethers were left near a crossing over a slight hollow, whilst the musterer went to head off some stragglers. On his return he found that the mob had rubied the crossing, with the result that a block had occurred, the hollow, to his dismay, being filled with the bodies of some 150 sheep which had been smothered. —Chronicle.

The children in Wellington who we»» left orphans by the influenza epidemic are no longer charges of the State. A lady from the country made inquiribr. with the intention of adopting a chilu, but was informed that all the children who had come into the hands of the authorities as orphans were now in the homes of kindly people, and being treated as their own. It was also stated that many more children could have been placed in the care of couples wishing to adopt them. A telegraphic blunder of a startling kind caused anxienty to a Dnucdin family recently. Two brothers, one of them" named John, are with the New Zealand Forces, and the parents received ■a cablecn-am from the other brother containing" the words "John killed." Base Records had not announced the apparent casualty, and know nothing of it. A cablegram of inquiry was dispatched to London, and after some delay the family learned that the original message had read "John sailed." Carelessness or bad, writing had been responsible for the dismaying statement.

Dr. Se'igfrisd, om of f'O members of the French Misßion. told a Mar.a.vutu Standard reporter that as far aj sition was concerned, the Government management of Rotoiaa was a perfect eye-opener to them, and in this respect it compared more than favorably with any of the first-ckws tourist rcsorto in t'uo Old Country. The parly were olio much struck with the thermal attractions at Rotorua, .Waiolapu, and Wairakei. T::o wondora to be found in t.his Hmall area would be hard to beat in any part of the world, and the arr*;.genienti made for the convenience of sightseers were very good indeed.

Mr. S. 0. Smith, M.P., recently wrote to the Minister of Finance in reference to the question of removing restrictions on building operations imposed by the war regulations. Yesterday ho received a reply from the Secretary to the Treasury stating that the matter had already been considered on more than one occasion by the Government. It had not been deemed advisable to remove the restrictions just at present, but if there was any instance in which hardship was being inflicted under the regulations, he desired to receive notification as the Minister was prepared to interpret the regulations with as little inconvenience to the public j as possible. The present lias been a remarkably good season for potato growing. Almost every house has its kitchen garden, and all round is h&rd (discussion upon the excellent yield of the various kinds of tubers. Little or no blight has been in evidence, and the crops are consequently clean. Some very fme specimens have been on view at Mr. Newton King's office during the paßt few days. At Webster Bros.' mart some exceptionally developed kinds are on view, notably "Robin Adairs," "Sutton's 26," "Gold Coin," and "Up-to-date." One specimen ("Sutton's 26") turns the scale at two ounces short of 21b.

Inquiries have been made recently by a number of persons interested in patients in the Public Hospital as to whether ordinary visiting hours have yet been resumed, and on mentioning the [matter at the office of the Hospital Board, a Daily News representative was informed that up to the present the re : strictions made during the height of the epidemic have not yet been relaxed. It is well known, of course, that there are still a number of influenza patients in the hospital, and that several cases of a somewhat serious nature have only a week or so ago been admitted from the Opunake district. The medical superintendent may be relied upon to lift the embargo on visiting as soon as he is sntisfled that it would not endanger the health of the community to do so. In the meantime those concerned should exercise patience, knowing that they are denied the privilge of visiting at the institution only in the interests of the general public. In a despatch recording the work of the New Zealanders beyond the Hindenburg line in the early part of October, Captain .Malcolm Boss, the official correspondent, says: Two somewhat unusual incident's •that occurred during the day (October 15) are worth recording. In the advance two of the South Islanders were wounded. One of them was so badly hit that he could not even crawl away. A German, taking pity on him, got him down into 'one of the dug-outs in the line, and left on tho dug-out a label both in German and in English: "Do not bomb this dugout, there ia a wounded English officer in it" Later in the day this officer was found and rescued. The other incident, however, does not redound to the credit of our opponents. A Christchnrch corporal was lying wounded on the field, and some of the enemy coming upon him wanted to kill him. He was quite defenceless, but fortunately one of our Pioneers arrived on the scene and interfered so successfully that his life was saved.

Brigadier-General Stewart, «£ the Hew Zealand Rifle Brigade, asked Colonel Lfrcsoy, who iiad bees in charge when a number of our rcen vrcro associated with the Grenadier Guardo, how they compared with tho Gtarda "Well," was tho reply, "the Guards are tea best fighters in the world—they will hold an to a difficult S tuition until the Inst man in tilled. The few Zealand®? will not da that, but he will do better. If he is ia a hole like that he will do something to extricate himself and gain hia objective, and if there ia any locpholo of escape from a possible disaster ho will not miss it" NORTH BRITISH BELTING is staunch and lasting. t means economy to users of machinery. Instal it in your works. Gall on Hayward Bros. Ltd., Cbriatchurch, or-write them for details and awice* 23