t t -•.-,.- - _ _ •■ •"* Captain Drewette;' - of the 'Monowai, has • gone *to Melbourne m connection with the litigation-o ver• the explosion of acid on his I vessel at Auckland. Cap-' tain G. ; S. . Do'orly, late >of tlie sunken steamer' Aparima, is now acting master of the Monowai, •' ■■'>„.' Some months ago Mr. Loisel^ of Waihau, imported through the* auspices of, the East Coast-Acclimatisation Society,' a number of laughing jackasses* {daceto gigas).* A notification m •the*' Gazette 7 brings them under -the provisions of the Animals' Protection Act. . '• ,; * One speaker at the -recent Poultry Conference, commenting on:; the shortage of. feed m his district, stated that [chickens were dying of starvation -and had to" be' sent; to; the /auction s rooms, * .^Another" delegate stated that he had done well at poultry-keeping, and had made, enough to keep him if he died to-morrow.'. Lieutenant Godfrey Kol'asvrorth, M.C4 who is attached to one of the British artillery corps,' has been wounded \in France and taken to London. • He is ason of Mr. Charles Holdsworth, -of the Union - Steam Ship Company, and- ,was. acting : manager at Gisborne . during Mr: Preston's absence some time ago. Another aeroplane story-, has been proved to be a myth, i The .Hon. T. A. -.Wilford, - Minister- in-charge \of the Police Department, ., stated to'a, Christchurch Press 'reporter %. that the Commissioner of Police had reported to him that he had made all : inquiries of tho parties Avho were supposed- to have seen an/aeroplane flying over the Tauranga district, * and notion© of them had even heard of the report. *'A remarkable case of a returned soldier has, been .brought under the notice of a Herald . representative. Al laboring man who ( went-to.,.the war from this district, returned -'recently, having been discharged » under most nnusual circumstances. The third finger of his left hand,' through some defect of .the musole, was stiff,' and .would -not straighten out more than an inoh or two. Whilst m camp m England it was pointed out to him that" the finger was useless, and he had better have it removed. Tho Gisbornite consented to the operation, and imagine -his dismay when his hand was first dressed after the operation, to find the second or middle finger (a perfectly sound member) had been taken off by mistake. Tlie gentleman who. vouches for ' the absolute accuracy -,of the; story, added that the man, how back m Gisborne and discharged, was contemplating going into the hospital to | have tho useless- finger , removed^;

'"'on*s'" , ' , l*'' YV. D. I'Vur liat? lii*t*ii ap pointed police gaoler at Port Awanui. The annual meeting of the Rugby Union will be held this evening at. 8 o'clock, m Findlay's rooms. The launch Iranui, from Tolaga Bay, arrived m Gisborne shortly after midday yesterday, to -undergo overhaul. She had a good trip down. Good work is being done to the scow Rangi, at present on the slip for repairs, andi it is expected she will be taken off on Wednesday morning and proceed to Auckland. , Major P. H. Buck (Te Rangihiroa), D.5.0., has now been transferred from the Pioneer Battalion at the front to the N.Z. Medical Corps. He will still remain m the field;. The residents'. .-.'of Manutuke intend holding a social J next week to welcome all European andi -'native soldiers returned from the* frbpt. A permit having been t granted) for raising funds for the Y.M'.C.A. the proceeds will be devoted for that purpose; 7, cycling just opposite the Mangapapa. school last evening, Miss Elsie Jonesj wag* run into .by a motor cyclist. Fortunately," the young lady did not suffer serjous, ■injuries; .She was attended to by' Dr.. Scott, and, admitted to the public hospital, where she is progressing satisfactorily. y. A quiet wedding took place at Mr. John Wilson's residence, Childers road, on. Saturday afternoon, the contracting parties being Miss Annie Tucker, of Gisborne, and Mr. Joseph Martin. The bride was attired m white, and wore the customary wreath and veil. She was attended by two little girls as bridesmaids. Mr. Wilson acted as best man. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J. Aitken. The guests were entertained, at a wedding breakfast.'' ' An^ inquest,,, into, t the> circumstances surrounding the. t death. of iFredk. Charles Dette, who waVjdrowned ■whilst attempting, to fori- th§4river* near Whatatutu, was held at 'Whatatutu on • Saturday afternoon. 7 'Ai ter evidence had been given by; several witnesses, a verdict was returnedVto- the effect that the deceased met^,. his .death \by drowning, caused by his horse falling when entering the rivejf. They deceased was married, but had no children. The takings at the' Red Cross shop on Saturday totalled £253 3s 6d, of which £115 la 3d was donated:, £41 12s 6d was the proceeds of socials, and two slieep sold brought m £2 2s. With the sum of £375 cabled to-day, the amount cabled Home by the Victoria . League since June, 1916, totals £11,050. The list of ; helpers included the following m addition to those given on Saturday: Mesdames Hutchinson and Mitchell ; Misses Ferguson. Mitchell -and 1 Craill, and Mr. Mitchell. ■ The operation of the Gisborne 7 railway idt the t four- weekly period ending March 2nd resulted m a total earning of £2884, the expenditure., being £1721. The revenue shows ah .increase of £464 upon that of the corresponding period last year, whilst th© expenditure, donbt- ; less as the result of the flood, increased by £555. The traffic returns show that a, total pf 6861 passengers were carried for the>*month, together with 1167 tons timber, 2118 tons coal and shingle, 1367 tons goods, and 24,361 sheep. As tlie outcome of the .native lahcl purt chase that h|ye been m profi gress iir<the Waiapu for.&ome time;past;--a number of smaJlblocksi comprising ap; , proximately 3893 acres,. .have now been proclaimed Crown land,.', and will be passed over to the Lands Department for settlement. The..., largest ... blocks are Ngawhakatutu No. 1, 643 acres, Ngamoe.lEl, 568 acres; and Ngamoe lAI, 523 acres. Other subdivisions acquired affect, the following blocks : Waitekaha, Tokaroa, Whareponga, Waitangi, Mat-a--rau, Manutahi, and Mangaharei blocks. According to the last issue of the Journal of Public Health, 16 cases of infectious disease were notified m the Cook Hospital district during February, as compared with 19 m the previous month. The cases reported included diptheria 12, scarlet fever 1^ enteric fever 2, and tuberculosis 1. There were only 4 cases (enteric) m the Waiapu district. Diphtheria and scarlet fever are still - prevalent m some of the outside districts, 84 cases of infectious diseases being notified during February m North Canterbury, 61 m Auckland, and 60 m Otago. ' The first annual meeting of the shareholders of the Gisborne Farmers' Co-op. Co., Ltd., was continued. in Redstone's Hall on Saturday afternoon, when a resolution was carried increasing the number of directors to eleven (the maximum number. In addition to the retiring directors (Messrs; A. A., Fraser, V. C. R. Mitford, and ,F. Read), ■, Messrs.: T. Sherratt,', F. Griffiths, r and^ D. >J. Parker contested the election, with the result that 'Messrs. Fraser'..Read,,["Mitford, and Parker were elected. Messrs. Graham and Dobson ? were re-elected auditors. , i *At the second annual meeting of the Senior Cadet : fomjfetitians Committee, held m the Garrison Hall, the following representatives of the town companies were present: Sergt. -Majors Pittar and Sceates, and Sergts. Murray; Gambrill, Lipsett, Lloyd, Markie, and McLaughlin. Sergt. -Major A: C. Skeates was voted to the chair. . The election of officers for 1918 resulted \as follows : Patrons. — Majors Turnbull and *-Beere, Captains Ormond, Kane and Foote, Lients. [Little, McLerpon, Edmondson and Bedford, the Rev. H. Packe, and Messrs. W. G. Sherratt, D. J.. Barry, and G. 5 B» Oman; 3udges, Major Turnbull •*- and V Lieuts. Moltzen and -Mitchell; organiser, Lieut. Bedford ; secretary and treasurer, Sergt. L. J. Lipsett. The competitions will^be held this, year , on Thursday, evening, May 9, m the Garrison Hall. A detailed list of the subjects of competition, .comprising squad, ■- rifle, and physical drills, was submitted and adopted.. Rules governing competitions [jvere framed, « Before Mr. W.*AJ Barton,. S.M., two first offenders for drunkenness were fined! Bs, .with 2s costs, and. 10s, with 2s costs, respectively, m default, 48 (hours' imprisonment. Margaret Lange, alfas Allen, .was charged with : being an idle and disorderly person -with insufficient i lawful * visible means .'* of support, and pleaded guilty. Sgt. Clarkson said that m ; consequence of . a complaint from the owner -of the 'building >a. constable arrested! the accused, who was sleeping m an empty house m the far end of 1 the town ? - ? The \ynfortunate woman had been reduced' to the sad "condition by < drinking, for which she had been con--victed some seven years ago. The accuslid' asked for a chance, and his Worship said that as she had hot previously been before the court ohkrged with vagrancy, he would give her ; a chance, and would- issue a , prohibition order, by her consent. On the charge bf ..vagrancy she was ordered to coriie up for sentence when called upon. > Considerable excitement was caused on the main Ormond* 'road last evening by a bullock, * which by some means or other bad become separated from a mob,*. and was. -holding up the traffic near White's' bridge.- From this point all passers-by were*, assailed. Two ladies wer© N 'driving towards town a gig, when the bulllock launched an attack ; both were thrown out, 'and the vehicle overturned and. deposited in' the ditch. [ The frightened' liorse, now freed from the vehicle,; bolted*, m the direction of Waiohika, About* thi*,. time Mr. F. deLautour arrived m his' car and picked up-fthe ladies,-' neither of whom was : injured,- although . suffering from shock. He* then set out m chase of the horse, which finished up at Makauri at the residence of the son-in-law ol the lady who was driving the gig. Among other attacks made by the bullock was that upon a taxi-car driven by Mr. Wallace, resulting m a dented mud guard over the rear left wheel. Needless to stat3 the driver on the return journey showed a fair turn of .speed to eliminate the risk of again meeting the outlaw. The animal's career was .ultimately terminated by a bullet from Mr. F. deLautour's gun,* after all possible expedients had been tried to remove tiie danger. The police have no,t yet ascertained who is the owner of-the animal. Rings, Bracelets, Brooches, and Gold Chains re-modelled m new designs at prices to auit.—Gordon, Jev*rel",es, opp. ' BankN.?.*

"■V.hilsf, iv .swimming- on the WaikanaO beach yesterday a young man had 10a stolen from his pockets. Recently another bather had 35s stolen from hia clothes. The No. 11 Military Medical Board will arrive m Gisborne* to-morrow by the Arahura m order to conduct examinations. About 57 men have been called up, and! the Board will commence exam* inations at the Garrison Hall immediately on arrival. Messrs F. S. Malcolm and Co. re« port on produce markets as follows: — Twenty gobblers brought 10s to 12s 6d, hens 4s to 6s. medium roosters 2s to 2s 6d, hens 2s to 2s 6d, ducks 2s 3d *o 3s. Eggs 23 8d; butter l s 3d; potatoes (which are very scarce) 2£d a pound; onions 10s per cental bag; small vegetables. Is 6d dozen bundles ; cabbage lsr to 3s per dozen. Mr. J. A. Nicol has put up a good record m the matter of obtaining material for public works. He signed a contract with ;-•' the Harbor Board on March 14th for the groyne works m the river. It was previously thought that it would be necessary to use piles more easily obtainable, , but not suitable for the work. Mr. Nicol has now landed 170 turpentine piles within foujV weeks' of their being cabled for. There -were large congregations at Holy Trinity Church at the morning and evening services yesterday. The Rev. Mr. Packe conducted Matins, and the Bishop of Waiapu preached. In the evening His Lordship the Bishop conducted a Confirmation service, the i vicar presenting' 28 candidates for the sacred rite. The Bishop delivered* an impressive address to the candidates and com gregation on the subject of faith. A football match was played on the** Victoria Domain . on Saturday,- between Kaiti-City and a *fceam representing Sol* diers-Old Boys. There was only a fair * attendance of spectators. The game was' -exciting at times, and was v ,wott>by Kaiti-City by 14 points to nil* '.[For 'the victors, tries were made by Muldbon, Fisken, and Williamson, while Corbett converted one of the tries with a find; kick. Mr. Heron gave satisfaction- asjl referee. ■ y A .meeting of the Matawai Settlers' • Association was held m the hall' on" Saturday evening last. There >*was . a well attended meeting, Mr R. J. Fleming presiding. A fair amount of , businesswas done hi connection with road mat- : ters. Mr J. B. Clark, representative.**.^ the Waikohu County Council/ was present. Mr. Clark was nominated by the Association for a Beaton the Council, andi is proving himself worthy of the confidence placed 1 m him. Following upon, the Association's meeting, there was a meeting of the Matawai branch' of the. Farmers' Union, Mr H. E; Burgess presiding. A considerable amount of . correspondence was received from the ; executive m. Gisborne, yr lnch ..proved! interesting . to the members presenty- A. social will, fee held m thei Matawai /Hall on Tuesday evening next, to farewell Mr and Mrs Charles Loane, who' ara . leaving the district. 1 A question having been raised as tor/ - the disposal of the V.M.C. A. fund on--1 the closing down of the rooms m Gisv \ borne several years ago,, a Herald feprev sentative obtained a statement on the subject to-day from Mr. J. Peaclirvtine : of the j trustees. It appearsf tliat '$£. & fneral meeting <m March 20)1908, k&ben ... e.'ide^^^h^tov.clf&e the; roomaV was arrived) )at, V it was resolved that** the proceeds y.of the sale of all the propertyshould be; invested m the names of three trustees, Messrs J.C. Aickin, Chas. Goldsmith and J\ Peach, they money to be held 1 -until such time as itwas decided, m conjunction with the V.M.C.A. authorities for New. Zealand; to resuscitate the movement m GisborrieThe money ha 3 been invested through Messrs. Kirk, Burnard' and Sievwright, and now amounts to approximately £1190, which, it is pointed out, will form a valuable "nest egg" when it is[ decided! to re-establish a local Red Triangle institution. v