GENERAL ITEMS.

• 'Various stories have been told of soldiers' lives having 'been saved by bullets striking hard substances which have broken the force of the missiles. Tiie Otaki 'Mail reports that Private David Drewitt, of Paraparaumu, who was very badly wounded in the head and chest during the lighting" at Messines,. undoubtedly owes his 'life to a steel mirror, which he was wearing'in his breast pocket at the time he was wounded. The doctor who attended Private .Drewitt at Brockenhurst says that the mirror certainlv saved his life.

. It is often said that the New Zealand trains are not out for speed records, and au instance of this "is recorded by a well-known settler, who states that he was a passenger by the late train to Wanganui recently (states the Wanganui Chronicle). The whole outfit consisted of about 50 trucks and carriages, and was going at such a slow pace that tiie guard was able to get off and run along by the side of the train and release the Westinghouse brake by pulling the wire on the side of the carriage, and jump on again, as if the effort were the most natural thing in the world.

The Daily Telegraph's Milan correspondent sjivs that the general strike in Austria Hungary originated in a reduction of the bread ration. The Arbiter Zeitung denounced' the reduction, and at the same time declared that the privileged classes were tolerably well provided for, whereas millions were unable to get bread and the authorities did not care. This paper urged the workers of Vienna to demonstrate, and the' response exceeded expectations. Many railway and* State workers struck, and the populace joined in, and the shops in the central part of Vienna were' attacked 'by crowds demanding bread. The town council hastily met and sent a message to the Government protesting against the reduction of the bread ration. The strike extended to the munition works at Neustadt, which are entirely closed. Violent encounters occurred between the police and the strikers, but the authorities are afraid to employ the military. Many encounters took place at Cracow (Galicia), where the archbishop headed a procession to the Governor's palace.

'A conscientious objector, who had .scruples about tending wounded men appeared before the Second Canterbury Military Service Board the other morning. lie was Robert Owen Page, a student 'at 'Canterbury College. Accompanying the reservist's appeal was a letter from his parents, contending that military service was contrary to freedom of conscience. The Acting-Chair-man (Aft- H. J. Beswick), to Page: YoU don 't- come within the Act? Page: No, sir. 'Major Gressou: Are you prepared to do non-combatant service? Page: No, sir. Major Gressou:' Well, it's 110 use proceeding further with you. Page made some remarks to the board .which were inaudible at the press table, Major Gressou: Do you belong to any' church, body or sect? No. Aslccd if lie believed in helping the wounded, 'Page said: !Xo doubt helping the -wounded is part of the war, and I object to that. Mr Beswick: We all object to the war, but we've get to do our share. If you were attacked by someone wouldn't you defend yourself'? Page: I wouldn't kill him. The appeal was dismissed. A report from Vienna states that the Papal Uuneio there describes all Aus-tria-Hungary as being allanie with'open, opposition to Germany. President Wilson's .Message is understood to have created widespread demands for a democratic peace, and the spreading of industrial chaos is also a strong factor. The Kaiser is desperately striving to avert a crisis. Swiss telegrams from Austria sh'ow that. the. disorders arc most, serious. A marked' feature of the demonstrations is hostility to Germany. Demonstrators in Vienna and -Grata repeatedly cried: "".'Down wit:h (Prussian! (Militarism! Long live the 'Russian Revolution and Universal Peace!" Precautions have been adopted in Vienna .to keep the demonstrators a'wav from the vicinity of the German Embassy. A. giant cabbage of,tbo Blair"ri Phenomenal variety was sliowu hi a fruiterer "s shop aL Ashburtou recently. It had -a solid, perfectly-formed 'heart, and the width from the edges of the outside leaves was close on four feet. Its weight was just an ounce short of 291b.