LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On Thursday, in a military aeroplane, Captain Isitt mad? a New Zealand altitude record of 21,000 feet. The previous record did not exceed 10,000 feet. A cable says the Sydney restaurants are increasing the price of meals from Monday, owing to the advance in the cost of commodities. A notice appears in the Gazette consenting to the following local bodies raising the loans stated:—Eltham Borough Council, £10,000; Taranaki County Council, £1150; Awakino County Council, £750. The Department of Agriculture has received the following cable from the Director of Quarantine at Melbourne: "Importation of potatoes for food under modified conditions is no longer permitted. Please inform all exporters and shippers."—Press Association. St. Andrew's Day—November 30—falls to-morrow, but, in accordance with a notification recently gazetted by the Public Service Commissioner, all Government offices will celebrate the day by closing on Monday. A holiday" will also be observed by the banks and insurance offices, the Court, and the law offices.

The New Zealand Insurance Company are building on the Devon street section recently acquired by them near the A.M.P. building, a three-storey modern fire-proof office building of reinforced concrete. Provision is to be made for a fourth storey. A modern electric elevator is to be installed. Mr. T. H. Bates is preparing plans for the company, and tenders for the building will be called for at an early date. In connection with the award of the New Zealand Service Medal and the New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal it has been approved that active service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force shall count double time from date of embarkation from New Zealand to date of disembarkation on return, or to date of the signing of peace (June 28, 1919J, whichever is the earlier. Service With the New Zealand Expeditionary Force subsequent to the signing of peace will reckon as ordinary time only. A cable message to the Australian papers, under date of London, November 3, says: Women are increasingly strong in their disinclination to leave the employment they secured during the war. The bank girls have formed a guild to combat the male clerks' "Out with the women" campaign. The guild states that it does not wish to keep discharged soldiers unemployed, but believes that there is room for all. Only the men's jealousy and' fear that able women will win the best positions is the cause of the campaign. "This dollar drop is going to give Britain a great chance," said a prominent business man to a Wellington Times reporter. Just fancy wflat a drop of i dollars 70 to 3 dollars 99£. It means that £1 now equals 15s lOd in money, and as this naturally hits up the importer he is sure to turn his eye towards Great Britain to supply, if possible, what he was getting cheaper in America. Will he get it? I question very much whether ho will. The Americans have got very busy in the oversea markets, and have secured a firm footing. Of course, if no substantial improvement takes place it will all be in Britain's favor." Among other things the epidemic revealed a terrible state of things regarding the housing of the people In some of the houses, where the children of the people were born, he did not believe the Governor would house his dogs. The epidemic also revealed that private medical services were inadequate and brought into relief the need for a otate medical service, and such a service was an important plank in the Labor party's programme. The party wanted a State medical service with the whole country divided up into districts. Above all, vested interests in sickness ought to be done away with. It was not the doctor's businesb to keep Wellington well He said nothing against the doctors, but the doctors were in the business for profit when they should be in it for service, because the people wanted doctors.—Mr. P. Fraser, Labor candidate for Wellington Central. The supporters of the Holland partyare still telling the electors that the Ryan Government reduced the cost of foodstuffs, particularly of meat, in Queensland. The simple truth is that meat, which has always been cheap in Queensland, shows a greater rise in that State during the war than in any other Government, moreover, showed itself to be neither honest nor sportsmanlike in dealing with meat. It commandeered meat from the farmers at less than the market rates for sale in the State shops and at the same time took the full price far meat sold off the State farms. Anticipating the Commonwealth Government's commandeer of the surplus, meat stocks on behalf of the Imperial Government, the Queensland Government commandeered the whole of the meat supplies held by the meat freezing companies at 3%d per lb, and when the call came for the surplus meat for the Imperial Government, it actually charged the Commonwealth Government, acting for the Imperial Supplies Department, 4%<1 per lb. It thus made a profit of l%d on every pound of meat it supplied for Imperial purposes. And beyond this it further charged the Commonwealth Government £19,000 odd for storage, not a penny of which was passed on to or charged by the companies from whom it commandeered its stocks. The fact is set forth in the report of the Queensland Legislative Council Select Committee on State Enterprises, and is also referred to by the Queensland Au-ditor-General in his report upon the same enterprises. The business methods of the Queensland Government may appeal to t\e Labor extremists, but they look shabby and discreditable to most people. During the Melbourne's great salvage sale of Roberts' stock the following additional bargains will be offered: Men's striped flannelette pyjamaß 9s lid, men's and youths' bathing v's Is, men's Irish lawn handkerchiefs Is, men's summer singlets 2s 6d, men's light natural singlets 3s 6d, men's trunk drawers 3s Cd, men's heavy Shirley President braces 4s 6d. Ladies, why go on using obsolete methods of washing clothes when by the use of "Fairy Wonder" Cleanser you can get better results at half the cost of fuel, time and labor and without rubbing the life out of the fabrics? "Fairy Wonder" Dry Soap quickly dissolves dirt without rubbing, makes the clothes snow-white, and leaves the hands beautifully soft and smooth. Guaranteed not to injure the finest fabrics. Try it. All grocers stock it. A profitable butchery business is advertised for sale on page 1 by Messrs W. Hi and A. McGarry, Eltham