GENERAL NEWS.

■ The auction announcements of Jones; McCrostie Co., Ltd., H. G. Livingstone aiid Co., W. E. Simes and Co., Tonks, Norton and Co., Ltd., Farmers® Saleyards,. Craddock's Agency (Joy., Ltd., National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand, Ltd., New -Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd.j P. S. Nicliolls and Co., Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd., George Andersoii and Co., Charles Clark, and H. B. Sorensen will be iound on page 13 of this issue. ;, * •'

A special meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce will be held at 7.30 ,to-night. Nothing, in the way of exceptionally good Heads has been reported in the Wairarapa this season, although deer are understood to be fairly plentiful. One good v twelve-pointer, however, is reported from the llimutakas, where deer are more plentiful than for some years. Several Wairarapa sportsmen have recently returned from the Otago district, where several good heads were obtained.

"In spite of the great production and consumption of margarine, there is a keen demand for butter, because the public are very tired of margarine," writes an English friend to a Taranaki settler. "It was thought at one time that people, having been introduced to margarine, would continue its use, but that js not going to be the case., There is, therefore, a very considerable future still for New Zealand butter in the British market., The existing shortage of butter at Home will continue for some time."

A number of letters from the correspondence of Illr J. R. Godley haveibeen sent to the Canterbury Museum by LorA Ivilbracken,, son of Mr Godley, the Tetters being additions to the Godley manuscripts . presented to the Museum some, years ago. • Other additions include letters from - Mr Glad-, stone, Mr E. G. Wakefield, Lord Lyttelton, and others interested in tho early settlement of the Canterbury province. In order that they may be available to students ? under supervision, the letters will be indexed.

Teaching history by reconstruction has been undertaken during this week at Te Awamutu. A number of school children, both European and Maori, were taken to Orakau Pa, and the his- • toric fight, in which Rewi Maniapoto hurled his defiance at the pakeha, was re-enacted by them in nil detail. One ihcident, however, marred the realism of the scene. The Maori defenders were making their escape, leaving their dead behind them, while the attackers were charging down on the pa. Whether overcome by the excitement of the moment or daunted bvthe fierce aspect of the attackers, the '(dead" suddenly rose and ran with the swiftest of the escaping warriors.

The delegates attending, the annual meeting of the South Island Motor Union, to be held in' this city tomorrow evening are to b© taken for a tour round the vicinity of the city_ tomorrow afternoon by local motorists. They 'will be taken through Habwell to Tai Tanu (where they will be the guests of Mr and Mrs It. Macartney at afternoon tea) and then to Yaldhurst. The idea is to show the visiting delegatgs. the work done by the Canterbury Automobile Association in • the matter of erecting sign-posts, and also to see the way in which connexion between North Canterbury and the Main South road is effected without entering the city. Some fresh light on the reputation "of the New Zealand soldier abroad was displayed in reminiscences of his English tour voiced by the Rev. C. P. Askew at the annual reunion dinner of the war veterans at Wellington on Saturday night. Sir Owen Seaman, editor of London "Punch,"- on being thanked by the speaker for a donation to the memorial chapel, said it was a pleasure show appreciation of the magnificent reputation the New Zealanders, of all the colonial troops, had earned, on and off tile field. The famous war correspondent, Sir Philip Gibbs, offered his personal testimony to the New Zealanders.' soldierly efficiency and manly bearing, in two special articles, which had materially advanced the cause of "the memorial chapel in Wellington*

It is doubtful if the latest scheme of the Trades and Labour Council will evoke a very hearty response from its admirers (writes our Sydney correspondent under date of 21st inst.). By way of killing two birds with one stonehelping Russia and'relieving unemployment —it is proposed to send some skilled artisans from here, and with this in view the Soviet representative here wns interviewed. He confessed that Russia was "no paradise," but added that all classes of skilled workers were wanted. An endeavour is being made to arrange for a party to go at an early date. Professor Goode, of Manchester University, who went to Russia as a special representative of the ".Manchester Guardian" has delivered a number of lectures on Bolshevism recently, > and has had a great deal to say in j laudation of its ideals, but many of ■' his critics in tho Press pointed out'thac what ■ little he has -said of the actual conditions that he .observed has not • shown them to be such as any sane i person would wish to reproduce in Australia. I

All the Canterbury rivers were reported clear or iishable yesterday.

Nominations for .the extraordinary vacancy in the representation of the Cashmere riding of tho Heathcote County Council close to-morrow. For one councillor to represent the new Mount Pleasant riding the nominations close on May 3rd. On the recommendation of the College Committee the Board of Governors of Canterbury College yesterday decided to purchase "Warditigton," Papanui road, for a Girls' High School hostel, subject to the approval of the Finance Committee to the expenditure of £6500 for its purchase. During the hearing of a tenancy case in the Magistrate's Court at Dunedin yesterday, counsel suggested the reason why houses were being offered to rent, was that in the present 'state of financial stringency, people could not sell, and. were forced to consider the idea of letting, but their ideas as regards rent were still very big. Next Sunday will mark the inauguration, under the Heathcote County Council, of the toll gate on the Summit road, situated near the Sign of the Kiwi. It is stated that this will be the first occasion that a toll gate has been in operation in the South Island. For foot passengers over fifteen years of age the charge will be one penny; for horse and rider, or for bicycle and rider, threepence; for vehicle drawn by horso or horses, and for motor-cycle (with or without side-chair) sixpence; and for each motor-car one shilling. The esteem in which the late Rev. T. McDonald was held was demonstrated by tho large congregation at a memorial service held in St. Peter's Presbyterian Church, on Sunday evening. The Revs. W. Tanner and D. D. Rodger conducted the service. Mr Rodger, in his address, referred to the many excellent qualities possessed by the "iate minister, and to the many friends he had made during his many years' ministry at St.' Peter's. Solos were sung by 'Messrs Saunderson and T. Charters, and the anthem, "Crossing the Bar," was given by the choir, under Mr W. E. Bennett.

A peculiar accident happened on the Slain Trunk railway on lYlonday night (telegraphs our Wellington correspondent). A horse broke away the yards at Raurimu, and, getting on to the railway, followed the line into one of the tunnels on the spiral. A mixed passenger and goods south-bound train proceeding ahead of the Auckland to Wellington express, ran over tfte horse in the tunnel, but got through without accident. The express was delayed at Raurimu until some railway employees cleared the tunnel of the remains of the animal, and was an hour late on reaching the top of the spiral at Waimarino. Tho lost time way made uo later, and the express reached Wellington on time. Regarding tlie Christchurch jimnicipal housing scheme, Mr J. A. Flesher. replying to a. question at the Choral Hall last night, said that the average cost of each, of the houses in Huxley street was £I2OO. The money for their erection was borrowed from the Government at a loty rate of interest, and the loan had to be repaid. It was proposed to sell the houses on thte lowest possible terms, and. the total cost per annum would not amount to' £B4, of which amount practically one-half represented redemption. Th'is was, Mr Flesher added, a totally different thing from tho,, statement made by one Labour candidate that those who took the houses would be called upon to pay £2 a week as rent.

It is not generally known, but it is a proved fact,' that the ' stamen or yellow centre of the arum lily is. deadly poison, remarks the "Golden Bay Times." Parents who are in the habit of growing the lily are warned not to allow their children to eat the yellow centre. 'Children are in the habit of picking out this yellow substance and depositing it in the mouth. It has a rather sweet taste, and once" they; have tasted it they generally go fbr more. Recently Kenneth Lewis Spilsbury, the infant son'of Mr and Mrs John Spilsbury, Onewhero, succumbed as a result of poisoning. The little fellow, and his sister, aged about three years, ate the stamen of the atum lily. The children became ill, with the result that the boy, aged about twentytwo months,'died. ' The lean time through which the London clufrs are passing just now is instanced by a fact which was brought to my notice (says the London correspondent of the Dunedin "Star"). There aro forty clubs in London to wnich the description of Ijeing "lirst class" might properly and accurately be applied. Before the war nearly every one of the number had a waiting list. To-day only six of them can boast this distinction. The falling off in membership and the disappearance of the waiting list is not entirely due to economy, though many ipen who belonged to several clubs are now contenting themselves with membership of one, or perhaps two. Many clubs, however hare recently increased their membership as the only alternative that presented itself to the unpopular expedient of an increase in subscription fees. Before the war they refused to take more than a thousand members on their books. Now they take twelve to fifteen hundred. The result is that the smoking, rooms are a little more crowded, waiting lists have disappeared, "and no club can afford, to be quite so exclusive as it used to be. J

Tho province of Alberta, in Canada, has ventured upon _ a scheme: of free and universal hospital seryice of the most complete nature, states the "New Zealand.Journal of Health," which in its turn quotes from the "'Hospital World," Toronto. The foundation of this scheme is laid by an Act' under which the province, had begun the construction of municipally controlled hospitals on such a scale'that, when completed, no resident' of that large province will be more than 35' miles from a good hospital, where he shall have absolutely . free accommodation and nursing service for himself and family. Instead of coming > within the category of charity' institutions, service at these hospitals, tho cost of construction and maintenance, conduct, standards—all will be analagous to that of the free public schools. In effect, this be termed a provincial system of sicKness and accident insurance in which taxpayers pay the premiums and "cash in" on tike benefits whenever afflicted. Five of the, hospitals are already complete and in active service, two are rapidly noaring completion, plans have been drawn in six more districts, and surveys aro being made all over the province.

That there is danger in pipe-smoking when it is allied to defective teeth was suggested in a report presented to the Wellington Hospital board by Mr G. Bender, dental burgeon at tiie hospital. "During the years I have been at the hospital," said Mr Bender, "many cases of carcinoma (cancer) of the tongue have passed through the department, either for prophylactictreatment prior to operation, or the patient has sought .advice on the abnormal condition of the mouth. It is of interest to note that all the cases r have seen have been males heavy smokers of tobacco through a nine ancl with septic teeth. The pipe is much lauded as the least injurious method of smoking tobacco, yet I have not seen a case of carcinoma of the tongue where the patient was a cigarette or ci<*ar smoker; nor have I seen a case of this affliction in an endentuous mouth. I would not infer that the pipe is a direct source of irritation as in cancer of the Hp but the nicotine formed from this method of smoking, in conjunction-with broken-down .septic teeth, seem to be' prime factors in the cause of tin.-? terrible disease. My limited observations lead me to sound a warning to all heavy pipe-smokers with their own natural teeth and of cancer age to seek the services of their dentist periodically, and have their mouths kept in a thoroughly sanitary state."

Mr J. McCombs, M.P.,.has arranged with the Tariff Commission which is sitting in tho Government Buildings, Cathedral square, to hear evidence from representatives of bands asking for .remission of Customs duties on musical instruments imported by bonds. Ludence in this connexion will bo taken at 12.15 p.m. to-mprrow. At the conclusion of last night's meeting of the Sumner Borough Council the Mavor entertained the councillors at an* informal gathering. lhe Mayor referred to the two years which had passed, and stated that the Council woro o-oing out of office, and Igua ing a credTt balance to their successors. A toast 'list was gone through, with musical honours.

It would seem now as if the proposed Commission of Enquiry into Mr H E. Holland's charges in Parliament last 'session regarding the shipment of damaged frozen meat will be further delaved in its work, owing to the departure of its chairman, the Hon. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, for England (telegraphs our Wellington correspondent). Possibly under the circumstances . it may not be necessary at this late period to proceed with the enquiry.

In a statement made yesterday tho Mayor of "Wellington (Mr J. P. Luke, M.P.), said tho total revenue of the City . Council for the year under all heads was £1,078,425, compared with £833,683 last war. The expenditure was £1,100,496, against £9O-3,363 last yoiYr. Mr Luke remarked that considering the difficult period that had been passed through, the excess of expenditure over income was not at all large. It had impossible to obtain money by loan, and the Council had to work on its ordinary finance. Recent additions to the Canterbury Museum include two live frogs from Stephen Island, Cook Strait. The animals, which appear to be quite healthy, are of the colour of dirty gold. Tho first specimens were discovered on the island a few years ago, up to which time it was believed that the only native frog of New Zealand was a species discovered in the Coromandel district, and named Liopelma Hochstetteri, after Dr. F. von Hochstetter, who visited New Zealand in the Austrian frigate Novara, 62 years ngo. The species < which has just come' to hand lias been named Liopelma Hamilton i, after Mr H. Hamilton, of the •staff of the Dominion Museum. The new arrivals are larger than the Coromandel frogs. First a sniff —then a sneeze—neglect it, and probably you will be plagued with a cough and cold all the winter. Banish all risk by taking "Stop-It," the successful remedy, at once. Is 9d, 3s. and os Cd. All chemists and stores, Loasby and Co., chemists (opp. Ballantyne's). 6 As a clothes saver and dirt ejector we recommend "No Rubbing" Laundry Help every time. Christchurcli grocers. 5042

Ladies I Why pay 3 or 4gns for your New Hat? Why pay even 2gns, when it's quite possible to obtain the very latest ideas in hats at Armstrong's? Ladies are invited to inspect the many beautiful Millinery J\lodels nt 29s 6d, and also smart ready-to-wear straw and felt hats at 8s lid, at Armstrong's "Up-to-date Millinery Salons—both at Colombo and High streets. Don't postpone your visit. 5

Fanners needing ready cash will find it in their plantations. Here are our special prices for circular saws: 22in 70s, 24in 80s, 26in 9(te, 28in 100s, 30in 110s. Quality considered the cheapest in the Dominion. Ivorys, Ltd 21 Manchester street. 15382

Pilkington's motors run twice daily between Christchurch and Akaroa. 8

' Smokeless cartridges are being sold from 22s (3d per 100 by Hastie, Bull, and Pickering, 113 Cashel street. This firm is now authorised to sell twentytwo calibre rifle ammunition and shotgun ammunition, without a oolice permit. ■ 115442-1187

Hot-wat.er Bags: Fresh 'stocks just arrived for E. Cameron Smith, Royal Exchange Buildings, 96 Worcester street. All have spare washers. Prices from 7a. 5&337-1188 The best selection of materials for both artist and art student is at Gibbs' Art D,epot, _ 105 Cashel street, the shop which artistically frames pictures. G542&-5001

Furniture Removals.—Our big Leyland Motor Pantechnicon is now on the road. A whole houseful of furniture can be removed ,in one journey. We are booking orders for country removals. Quick despatch and low charges guaranteed. Apply A. J. White, Ltd., High street. W8959

Dairy farmers of North Canterbury are notified that Johnston and Son have been appointed solo agents for Rangiora for the famous Swedish Vega Separators. JSOOB-4619

Reduced prioes—lo per cent, off Drills, .Slag and Lime Sowers, Broadcasters, Tine and Disc Harrows, Trees, Diss Cultivators, Clay Grubbers. Our chilled castiron plough shares improved fin pattern, with solid socket, are practically unbreakable, even in stony land. Made to fit C, lINF, and It and G heads. P. and I>. Duncan, Ltd., Christchurch, , 82992 Who wants strong Cups A special line is offered without saucers, 7s 6d tho half-'dozen. Drayton's, Colombo street north. Plates equally right. 2 STUDEBAKER "FOUR" ROADSTER. ADAMS, LTD.'S SALE PRICE, £262 10s. , This powerful 2-3-scater Studebaker was taken from Mr I'. Y. Wales, of Dunedin, architect, in part payment for a new Studebaker "Special Sis." We allowed £262 10s on it, and offer it at the same price. This car made a non-stop run from Dunedin recently, and is in splendid condition. It carries same guarantee as given with new car, and we can confidently recommend it to any business firm with over large stocks that wants to send out travellers. Plenty of roofcu for samples. FORD ' 'FOUR*'' CYLINDER TOURING CAR. ADAMS, LTD.'S SALE PRICE, £l5O. • . This Ford car was taken in part payment for a Studebaker car, and we allowed the lflte ownrr £IOO. We spent # £lO in putting the car in running order, and our sale price is £l5O. A useful- car for a man with a family.

SILENT KNIGHT MINERVA "FOUlf'-CYLINDKR CAR. ADAMS, LTD.\S SALE PRICE, £450. Wb are exhibiting in our showrooms at Christchurch the-Minerva car which has been carefully used by Mr J. C. Oldridge, of Christchurch, and it looks almost equal tb new., We allowed Mr Oldridge' £450 on this beautiful car ivhen he purchased a Special "Six" Studcbaker. It is the most silent-run-ning car in the world, and the price of second-hand Minervas in London reaches as high as £IOOO. Adams, Ltd., Show ltooms. 152-154 High street. Garage, 219 Tuam street. 6 DEPENDABLE BICYCLE TYJRES. Saville and-Co., direct importers of highest quality bicycle tyres—British manufacture, 12 months' guarantee, 17» 6d. Michelin and Duiriop tyres also obtainable at Savillo's, near Theatra 63835—-463