NOTES.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXIV, Issue 26, 20 April 1912, Page 4

NOTES.

♦ as there anybody to grieve at the 14-year-old lad's exit from life? Or did the poor desolate soul grow faint at the dreary prospect of life and seek in the darkness and silence of death a refuge from the cold cruel world? Think of a poor soul groAving into adolescence when the world should look bright, seeking the grave and hastening thither of his own volition! As Thackeray said of another "sad .seem-: "It is too terrible for tears!" And this haunting picture of the friendless lad living among officials, lonely—is more than'we can contemplate unmoved.

Home! The magic of it! The humblest den, the poorest fare, brightened and sweetened with natural affection, is ten thousand times better than the official home, or the refuge. Are not some magistrates a little too eager to commit lads to these "homes" ?

Can anything in journalism more ghoulish be conceived than the manufacture of those items of "news" which purported to came from the Titanic? The public have this time sounded the lowest depth of -the lowest journalism.

New-chum legislators have a pleasant interval before the session, in which to follow their respective bents with £3OO n year coming in. One can study scenery and resources, another may devote his attention to the Statute Book, a third may study political economy, incidentally preparing a speech or two. The billet of M.pr is decidedly a "rosy one"!

The Government never made a more judicious appointment than when they put Join. Ciillen JHo ,the .Conimissioiiorsliip of Police. A policeman of lifelong experience, who has been through all the grades of the force, owes everything to. merit, nothing to patronage. Throughout his career in New Zealand, the new Commissioner has kept himself singularly free from intimacies and influences, has been a, model of self-restraint and reticence, and has all along borne the : very highest personal character. No stricter disciplinarian, no more discerning chief, has ever served in this Dominion, and. we believe from many years' acquaintance with Mr. Cullen, that lie will make an ideal head of the Department. *s?■•■'"■ f ■ ..' ■''"•'•■ ■'- '■■'■' - -' •■

Page 2: City of the Rnahines; Aral) Amazon; chips from inaaiy blocks. Page 3: Serial. Page 6: Remarkable .play; new spelling. Page 7: Motor fatality. Mr F. M. B. Fisher, M.P. was a passenger by the express to-day for Wellington. The football season will commence on Wednesday next with a match between the Dannevirke and Woodvillo senior teams at Woodvillo. The annual meeting of the Southern Hawko's Bay Motor Cycle Club will be held next week. The membership of the club is now over 30. The Featherston Town Board the other day received a letter addressed "To the Mayor 'and Aldermen of Featherston ." The Bad in office, Wellington, advises that the Victoria, Moana, Maheno. Athenio and Tofua. will probably be within wireless range to-night. H.M.S. Encounter, on arrival at Napier yesterday, was berthed at the breakwater, this being the first occasion of a warship lying at the wharf here. Providing the weather is favorable, the Municipal Band will play a programme ol music, und'.'i' the conductorsliip of Mr Savage, at the hospital to-morrow afternoon, commencing at 2.30. The National Court, sitting at "Wellington, absolved the captain of the steamer Himitangi in connection with her recent stranding at the Chathams, and returned his certificate. . v According to the Liverpool Journal ol Commerce, there has been a reniarkabie development in .shipping ■'Jw.ve the advent of oil fuel. It con.<ists of contracts- that were let during the latter part of. February for the building of no lew than 21 oil-tankers of large dimensions These ships can be adapted either to coal or oil. The whole of the contracts have .been placed with shipbuilding yards on the north-east coast of England. "The only thing that stands in the way of .successful development of the cotton-growing industry in Australia," said the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture the other day. "is a cotton-picking machine that will take the place of cheap lla.bor in other parts of the world. We are carefully watching the progress reports on a cotton machine now 'in use in another place, and if it is successful we will import one for experimental purposes.'' The "conscientious objections" of some young men to registration under the Defence Act cannot be very deep-seated in .some cases. One youth was recently brought -before the Christc-h.ilrch Court and was fined for refusing to register or take the oath. It became necessary to trace him for the collection of the fine, and, after making enquiries the police discovered that he had joined the Navy! It is * stated that the amount of the fine was paid by the naval authorities, who will doubtless debit it against his pay. Miss Joan Sinclair, an American girl, was left £12,000 a year ago. Unfortunately for herself the money was not "tied up'' in amy Avay, and the girl, quite unused to having or handling big sums of money, imagined that her fortune was practically inexhaustible. She squandered it oti dress, giving immense orders for

frocks at all the most expensive sometimes buying as many as twenty dresses at a time. At the end of the twelve months every penny was gone, and she has nothing to show for it hut rows and vows of boxes containing dresses, which s.he is unable to sell again for anything like the sums sihe paid for them. The Ambulance Van left the railway stables at about 6.30 yesterday morning,- for Pongaroa, and arrived

back at the Dannevirke Hospital at about 9.30 last night, bringing in a patient named Sherroud, who had met with a serious accident, owing

to the top of a burning tree falling upon him and breaking his shoulder. He was knocked down, and falling across a stump, his thigh was also badly broken. The unfortunate man bore the trying journey of about 4o miles with great 'Fortitude. Owing to the broken limbs becoming displaced during the journey, it was found necessary to reset them this morning. The van- (with a change of horses at Weberl, covered a dist:)nee of about 90 miles durthe day. The. London correspondent of a Birmingham journal sends the following on destitution in Berlin :—"The extraordinary epidemic at one of the largest of Merlin's nigb-t shelters for the homeless has opened Londoners' eyes considerably to the conditions of poverty 'prevailing in a city that is always held up as a model for the rest of the world to follow. Reports show that over '-1000 people are housed nightly in the Frohelstraus.se shelter alone; during last year the total number of vagrants housed in the Berlin shelters reached a million. These figures are enormous, far beyond anything that can be quoted 'about London. ;\.n,yone who has lived in (!ermany knows, of course, that the prosperity of her_ cities is only superficial, and thi.it poverty is carefully kept hidden away and restricted under a. system of the closest police suporvision ; but few -pen.pUe. 1 i'ancv. would ever have believed that it had reached such a. condition .a.s to justify the fijiures given above.''

A quick polish, hut not a slippery one, is given by Taii-01. Exceptionally good for liiKVleunts and floorcloths. In tins: liquid Ms, paste (Id. A Little Box—A Little Price—A Lot of Comfort. Miraculous Corn Salve; Is per box, all stores. ■TVi.n-OI is the ideal polisher for Leather goods, linoleums, floorcloths, and furniture. ]t is easy to apply and polishes with the minimum of labor. In tins: liquid Is, paste 6(1. The German Imperial Chancellor is studying the question of taxing eats in connection with the defence burdens. This is the limit. Everything that can be taxed is taxed in' Germany for the upkeep of the Army, but now conies the N>avy. which is' more expensive, hence the cat tax. If Germany were getting value it avouM not be.so bad, but who oa,ii, make sure of that? However, of this we, are certain, that those who drink Crescent Blend Tea get full value for their money. They get a good tea, practically the best tea on the market. A WATCH is a most suitable article for a Xmas Gift. I have them from 10s up, all guaranteed 2 years. A cheaper line at 6s 6d guaranteed 1 year.—S. Armstrong,' "Tie Treasure House," Hastings. 'Phone 437.* If you want satisfaction deal with S. Armstrong, "The Treasure House," Hastings, the leading Ha wire's Bay Jeweller, who carries nothing but the very best in Jewellery and Silverware. The latest Xmas Stocks now on disolav. ' Box 46, Hastings; 'fibooe 497.*'

Tli© great price-slashing sale at the D.C.A. is in full' swing. Numbers of people expressed surprise yesterday at the genuine reductions that have ■ been made on all furniture and linoleums. Investigate the prices at once, and you will be astounded at the marvellous value offered.* Mr Perry, a-member of the Legislative Assembly of jNcmv South Wales, was recently brought back to the House and admonished by the Speaker, whereupon he sought redrew- a.tlaw, claiming £IOOO damages for assault. The Supreme Court held that the Speaker had no ipower to deal with a member when once he had l'e-ft> the House. The Speaker appealed to the High Court, which unanimously dismissed bis appeal. Sir Henry Lucy recollects a startling Biblical commentary by a young il-ady aged seven, daughter of a ■wellknown member of the House of Commons. She and her sister, aged 11, were listening to the reading of the 20th chapter of Exodus, wherein it is written, "I the Lord thy' God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children unto the third,and .fourth, generation of them that hate Me." "I am very terry to hear that," said the youngster, a note of profound disappointment in her voice. "I have always understood He had no faults.'' The changed programme at the Picture Theatre this evening, comprises the splendid star drama "In the days of '49," and the exciting cowboy drama "'Was he a Coward!-'" The star comedy "The ient," is one of the most amusing ""*" things ever produced in film, for the caste includes some theatrical stars of high reputation, as comedians. The Australian Gazette has a fine repertoire, Wellington wharves, Davis ~Cup competition, etc. ~ Out? ol the most splendid scenics ever nroduoed, "British North Borneo." conducts 'the spectators, to one of the earth's beauty soots. Besides these conspicuous pieces there are two attractive dramas "Jim Crow" and "Voice of a violin," The Professor's Ward (comodv), "His Best Girl's Little Brother" (farce). Scenes in China is another splendid ~ scenic. This is a rich and varied bill and should attract even moro than the usual Staurday evening audience.