LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 April 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A wireless from the Corinthic states: "Arrive Lyttelton Monday afternoon; health of all on board good-" Fencing wire should be very plentiful at Auckland just now, says the Herald. Of the WOO tons of cargo from St. Johns di&charged there by the Cufic last week, about 700 tons consisted of plain and barbed wire.

At a meeting of the New Plymouth Returned Soldiers' Association on Wednesday night a resolution was passed expressing regret at the growing tendency of the public to make Anzac Day a day of pleasure gatherings instead of a sacred anniversary. Thoughtfulness for the two horses which he rode at the front is shown in the will of Captain R. P. Bullivant, M.C., of the County of London Yeomanry, which was proved recently. He left estate valued at £122,890. He directs the executors to endeavor to purchase from the Government his two chargers, Mike and Joe, and, if successful, to liana them over to his friend and brother-officer, Arthur Macdougall, or to make such other arrangements so that they may have a comfortable home-

Cardiff is losing no time in erecting a peace memorial for the district, arrangements being already well in hand. The memorial will take the form of an obelisk with four marble slabs for inscriptions for the fallen and those who represented the district at the war, the number altogether being nearly fifty. The Acting Prime Minister (Sir James Allen) forwarded two designs in Concrete and cobble-stones, and it was decided to select the former. The memorial will be erected at the junction cif the Cardiff, Opunake and CJimie roads. Handsome of design, and imposing in prospective, being twelve feet high surrounded by ornamental concrete and iron fence* The woTk will be put in hand almost immediately.—Post. When, travelling between Palmerston North and Wanganui on Saturday an Ekham Argus representative came across a family who had for some time unsuccessfully been endeavoring to go on the land. Their capital was £750, and this sum had thus far been insufficient to enable them to secure a large enough area of land to support seven persons. The reporter was shown a letter from the Minister of Lands, in which he expressed regret that the laws did not allow him to give assistance in the direction of settling them on the land- This family has information from Canada showing that facilities are givin there for aiding settlers such as these. A private effort is now being made to induce this family to settle in Taranaki. The Dominion "cannot afford to lose seven Souls or £750.

The annual meeting of the New Plymouth Coursing Club was held on Wednesday evening, when there was a go<*« attendance. The chair was occupied by Mr. Haskell. The following officers were elected for the ensuin'g year: President, Mr. W. Emeny; vice-presidents, Messrs. E. Whittle, Arnold George, A. Lock, D. Murphy, J. Hawkins, S. Eidgley, E. Meredith, and F- Fox; committee: Messrs. A. Haskell, R. Gardiner, P. Haskell, G. Martin, F. Doughty, E. Eliot, and F Scrivener; secretary, Mr. 0. Bruce; auditor, Mr. G. Richardson. The secretary reported that the club had a credit balance of about £8 to start the season. It was decided to apply to the New Zealand Coursing Association for permission to hold a coursing meeting on June 3.

One of the minor tragedies of war is described in a letter received by an Auckland resident from a New Zealand soldier in Palestine. The writer says: "I was sent out with a party with 600 poor old horses, who, being unfit for further service, had to be destroyed, 300 having been shot the previous day. It seemed awfully sad to think that the poor old faithful creatures, after suffering from thirst, hunger,,.and fatigue, and carrying heavy loads for hundreds of miles, should have to end their days by being shot down by the very people they had so faithfully served. Thank God, they had not intelligence to realise what seemed like man's ingratitude! Some of the poor old beggars had landed here with the Main Body, and if there is a Heaven for animals they have earned their peace in it! ' After all, it was the most merciful end, for it is far better for them to be dead than to fall into the hands of some of these people, either here or in Egypt, who are the cruellest people I have ever seen with animals. Better dead than to lead a life of misery at the hands of some gharry driver in Cairo, to be thrashed, starved, and worked to death! But how nice it would have been to have been able to turn them all out on some boundless prairie to live out the rest of their lives in peace and comfort, when one could say, with perfect truth, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servants.' Of course, one has to harden one's heart to these sort of things in warfare, but I can tell you it made some of us rather miserable for some time."

Many now furs will adorn many pretty necks and shoulders this winter. For now that the war is over hunters and trappers arc transferring from France to the 'Far North, where a plentiful supply of fur-hearing animals have accumulated- Call, see Morey's display. Read their advertisement in this issue! The Melbourne, Ltd., have opened out fresh stocks of men's white mercerised shirts, both with bands and collars. All shirtings have become extremely dear, but the following prices are well under market value. Hbrrockses' shirts 5s 6d, 8s Cd, 9s 6d and 10s 6d. For the first time at the Kawaroa Park Picnic on Easter Monday, the new game of Ringing the Bull. Don't miss this day or you will regret it, the fun will be fast and furious.

A Press telegram from Wellington (itates that the Kaikoura, from Egypt, with 1112 troops aboard, arrived at 8 yesterday morning, and is to berth at 7.30. 'his morning.

During this week the Joll Dairy Company is paying out to its suppliers the line sum of £32,000. Of this amount £14,000 represents the payment for March milk, while £IB,OOO represents an additional payment of 3d per lb buttertat on the season's milk supplied from July 1 last to the end of March. This represents a pay-out so far of Is 7d per W butterfat for the whole season.

Mr. H. L. Spratt, Hawcra, writes: "In Thursday's iss'e you say I have resigned from the Taranaki War Relief Association owing to my severance with bodies ttat appointed me. That is a misstatement. Would you be good enough to cotrsct it? Why I resigned was because of so much work being otherwise done by me by the bodies that appointed me. If not corrected I feel wrong inferences may be deducted." House-hunting (says the Wellington Post) is still an unpopular pastime in Wellington. Contrary to expectation the position has not been relieved in any way by the closing of the camps. A five-roomed house at Berhampore was recently advertised as vacant. The owner received just on 200 applications from would-be tenants. He disappointed all by anouncing a day later that the place had been sold. The establishment of a Government clothing factory in Auckland was suggested to the Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen) on Saturday by Mr George George, a member of the Auckland Repatriation Board. Mr George said that the manufacture of Defence, police, and postal uniforms could be undertaken at such a factory, and that employment might thus be found for a considerable number of returned soldiers and other workers.

There was a fair attendance of ratepayers at the adjourned meeting held on Thursday for the purpose of forming a iratepayers' association. After some discussion it was resolved to form an association, and a provisional committee, consisting of Messrs. R. C. Hughes, J. 0. Nicholson, F. E. Wilson, J. McLeod, A. Ambury and R. Payne (secretary) was set up for the purpose of electing officers and transacting other business relating to the work of the association. It was also decided to interview certain citizens with a view to their accepting nomination for seats on the Borough Council

The benefit picture entertainment given, at Everybody's Theatre last night in aid of the funds for laying off a cricket ground on the New Plymouth racecourse, drew a large attendance. An additional attraction was given to the programme by the inclusion of Miss Bene Te Au and the Rev. N. H. Papakakura, both of whom are old favorites with New Plymouth audiences, and were given aplendid receptions. Miss Te Au sang Gounod's "0! Divine Redeemer" and a "Cradle Song" (Clustan), and was encored on each occasion, responding with "The Birth of ,Morn," "Down in the Forest," and "Unfearing." Mr. Papakakura sang Sullivan's "Lost Chord," and "Hold Thou My Hand." Together the two soloists sang the duet "The Day is Done." It is expected the benefit to the cricket fund will be over £2O.

Officers of the Returned Soldiers' Association are impressed with the importance of providing occupation for pensioned soldiers who may be unable to enter ordinary trades. The training that is prodded for the men in the hospitals and convalescent institutions does not seem to have produced particularly good results in the past, chiefly because the men did not become interested. "We have to tackle this problem," said one of the officials to our Wellington correspondent on Tuesday. "We are in danger of developing a class of military pensioners, -who will have scarcely enough to live upon, who will have idle weeks and years to fill and who will have perpetual grievances. That will be disastrous. We must get the men who can work to understand that they ought to work and we must put suitable work within their reach."

The victory" despatch of Sir Douglas Haig describes how the Germans were terrified by British dummy tanks. "Since the opening of our offensive on August 8. he writes, "tanks have been employed in. every battle, and the importance of the part played by them in breaking the resistance of the German infantry can scarcely be exaggerated. The whole scheme of the attack of August 8 was dependent upon tanks, and ever since I that date on numberless occasions the | success of our infantry has been power. | fully assisted or confirmed by their timely arrival. So great has been the effect produced upon the German infantry by the appearance of British tanks -that m more than one instance, when ior various reasons real tanks were not available in sufficient numbers, valuable results have been obtained by the use of dummy tanks painted on frames of wood and canvas."

A romantic episode in relation to the Uallipoh campaign is brought into special prominence in a dispatch received recently from the A.I.F. headquarters, by the Acting Minister of Defence in Australia. "After the Anzacs had established themselves upon Gallipoh," relates an English newspaper, "the fcecond Australian Brigade was removed to the southern portion of the peninsula to co-operate with British troops in the operations of early May. The brigade gained its objectives, but loßt heavily One of its soldiers found a photograph of a girl on a portion of the fought-over ground and the picture so impressed him that he lias retained it ever since. Coming over to England for his first leave in February last, he showed the photograph to a canteen worker, saying that though it seemed impossible that he should do so, he would like to meet the original of it. The lady said the picture greatly resembled a friend of hers, and ottered to arrange an introduction. The Australian is now married. The photograph was identified as one that had w\ g T in , by 1 the lad y !t de P ic ted to her husband, who was killed in the Galhpoli operations. But the widow is „ ot sacrificing the memory of her dead busband or discarding her weeds. The photograph was taken years ago, and it is the daughter of the original and the dead soldier that the Anzac will take back with him to Australia.

Those in search cf dairy farm bareain* should not fail to read the adv"fi in this issue> of some of the 300 dairy fnm. that Messrs. James and Gillma,( tie well-known Hawera land agents, have on their books for aale.