LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 80, 28 December 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

There will bo a total eclipse of the moon (visible throughout New Zeaand) to-day. The moon will enter the penumbra at 6.23 p.m., and onter the shadow proper at'7.3o p.m. 'The total eclipse will begin at 6.23, reaching the middle at 9.16. and the total eclipse will end at 9.25. The moon will leave the shadow at 10.57, and the penumbra at 0.9 a.m. on December 29.

Present indications, states a Press Association telegram from Chnstclmrcli, point to a scarcity of labour for harvesting. . Already 2s. 6d. an hour is being paid to men for grassseeding, and 2s. an hour for general harvest work.

"The only thing dairy companies in this district do not seem to ask for IS a picture film company," observed Mr. Justice Edwards at the Supremo Court, New Plymouth, on Saturday morning. The remark was made in connection with an application from a dairy company to extend its functions m certain directions. Mr. L H Johnstone, who apnea red in support of the application, said a picture show seemed a most lucrative source of income. No doubt dairy companies would apnly for one in due course. Pictures could beshown while the suppliers wore waiting to discharge their milk in the mornings. —"Taranaki Herald."

About half-past, three-on Christmas morning the premises of Frankland and Hurt, butchers, opposite vtlie laumarunui railway station, were entered and the ofiirft safe (Mown open l;y nn explosive. About £275 worth of jewellery was stolon. It was the property of' William Wallp", jeweller/wjin had lodsod & llwrc for wfnWnine over the holidays. Fortunately. Franldand and Hart , ? cash tnWnjrs, riinmnp into rmily £300, were lodged e sewWUβ s-iFn was moved two yards before the ohargo was inserted, that more thim one/ wax oonrornod m tlie robnerv,' IV sound of the exnK sinn was hoard by the railway staff, who thought it w»s a -nnshnt ■ Tnsnw--ter Sheehoiv, of Hamilton, mid 1-hrlo.M noli™ authorities, have the matter-in hand. . , . The weather on the Coast, states a Press Association message from }- revmonVis beautiful for the holidays. Tradespeople report, record linsinew. the racing carnival has opened at Beeftw, and extends over, nine (lavs; The absence of a-train service is greatly felt. , ~ "What will be the procedure alter the Military Court of Inquiry Ms finished its sitting at Auckland? asUed a reporter of Sir James Allen. Minister of Defence, "The OmrtwiH report the facts," said Sir James, end they will be sent on by the Minister of Defenco to His Excellency! the governor. Cabinet wilt then advise His Excellency what action to take.

A story of how ho came to enlist was told by tho petitioner in a Native divorce case at Gisborne last week.' He said:' "I wont to see my undo at Tokomaru Bay. We both got drunk. He said to me, 'What about enlisting? I said, 'What about my wife and child?' He said, 'I am married, with two children, too, but we can fix that up at Auckland.' We hopped on ( the boat and found ourselves in camp.

Mr. A. Donald Patterson, of Siimner, Christchurch, who went Home about a vear ago to place his now carburation system on the market, has had a remarkable success (states the Christchurch "Press"), and a cable nicssago just received says: "New patents erantod, but as they are considered ot national importance they will not be published until after the war. I havo now full authority to manufacture, and, in addition to the Admiralty work, 1 havo orders to fit Government agrimotors." Mr. Patterson's Maxwell, with his new system, would run on kerosene just as well as on _ petrol. Most heavy oils can be vappunsed, awl the invention should revolutionise the internal combustion engine.

As indicative of the treatment New Zealand soldiers are receiving in the prison camps in Germany may bo quoted a passage from a letter received by a Christchnrcb lady, whoso son left with an early reinforcement, and has been a prisoner for almost two years, fhe writer states (says the "Press ):— "Dear Mother,—l am vastly different (the lad's name is omitted; from tho son you used to .know. At the present time I would easily qualify as a feather-weight jockey." At the time of his departure from New Zealand he weighed the better part of list, and turned the scales at about ,tlie same weight at the time of bis capture by the Germans.

Mr J. D- Foster, a returned soldier and a member of tlie Y.M.O.A. Gymnasium, yesterday made an nttemptto swim-theharbnitr. Ho left Day's Bay at 11.30, heading for Pipitoa WbaiS. Tho temperature of the water (44 degrees) proved too low, and at 1.15 m. Foster gave lip the enterprise. He had then swum three miles. Sot™ time in February, when the water will be warm, he hopes to repeat the venture with better success. The writing desk upon which President Wilson does his, correspondence has an interesting oripn. It is vnjAe of oak from the British ship Resolus, which many years ago was rescued in tho Arctic Ocean, thoroughly rebuilt hv the U.S.A. Government, and sent to England. The British Government took out some of the nnk in the nmin.nl framework of the ship nnd W » siiperl) desk niado of it. It was sent to the Amwican Government as a; souvenir, nnd (says the "Dnily Chroninle ) it hns lwen'uspfl sine hv all the Presidents of tho United States. Every CHKVHOT.KT Motor-cur enjoys the public good-will in n broad <va,v. Tin's proves Hiey have nerfor.ned their tasks with the 'unqualified approval of the vorM—R plenMm; pro.'noct to welcome the new CHKVIIOT.KT model "Four>;in?tv." now offered l>y the DOMINION MOTOR VEHICLES, LTD., 05 Courtouay Phico.-Advt.

Tho fourteenth annual Presbyterian Bible Class Summer Conference was opened on Wednesday at St. Paul's Church, Napier. A public welcome was extended to tho delogates by the B«v. Mr Asher for the local committee, the Mayor (Mr. H. T. Hill) and the Rev.. Mr Richards, for tho Ministers' Association. Notwithstanding difficulties of transit and expenses of travelling, the registrations to dato number 500, L parU of the Donumon Tho defoliates are located in schools lent by the Education authorities. Prominent Presbyterian ministers and Bilile class leaders are conducting the mcetinga.Press Association.

Possibly the youngest pensioner from the "British Army is a boy at prosent engaged at a Portsmouth brewery works. Although not yet 16 years of ace he has served , a year as a band boy in the Dorset Regiment, and was discharged with a ruptured lung and a pension of 6s. a weelc. ' A petition, signed by 2000 residents of Gisborne, has been forwarded to .the Minister of Justice (the Hon. T. M. Wilford), requesting that the iinos or £50 each and costs be remitted that were imposed upon J. W. Stock ey, of Gisborne, barman, and TJ. Nicholas, of Gisborne, barman, by Mr. W. A. Barton, Stipendiary Magistrate, in iesnect of offences against the War Regulations, prohibiting treating, alleg to havo occurred on November R. Ino petition is based upon the following Grounds: (1) That are .excessive in amount and are neither m harmony with the practice of the Magistrates in the larger centres nor in proportion to the nature of the offence; k) both the men were first offenders. Tγ. a letter to the Minister, enclosing the petition, the assistant secretary of the Hotel Workers' Union .(Mr. F, appeals for a remission of the fines, and sets out reasons at length for the request. At a sitting of the Arbitration Court in Christohurch, during the hearing ot the hotel employees' case, the Hon. .1. liarr sounded the knel of_the male waiter (says the "Press"). He. showed how with possibly one exception, the male waiter was rapidly becoming «- tinot in the firsUlass hotels m Chmtchurch, and ho prophesied.that. wh«n the two or three existing waiters ceased | work" the female waitress would reign supreme. "Probably a r great improvement," remarked Mr. Justice Stnngei, Sg. "I do not deny that Your HonouV'saidMr. Barr. ."Ibehevo that the female waitress is -perfectly efficient and Rives every satisfaction. The "Marlborough Express" states that a reservist who appeared before the Military Service Board at Blenheim represented that he had failed in Ill's efforts to make satisfactory arrangements for the disposition of the worker's 'dwelling he held .under the State system. Mr. C. H. Mills .said that the Department had been approached, hut difficulties had been placed m the waj. It seemed to be no easy thing to rent or sell a worker's dwelling to someone else Tho chairman.of the board expressed surprise, and said that uuSoubtedly no obstacles of this, kind should be presented to a man going to the front. If such bad been the case strong representations should he mute to the Minister in- charge of the Ue- . ■ ■ • While proceeding in a motor-car from Raetihi to the power-house then! the other day, the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon W. F. Massey) told a good story against himself. "There.was one occasion when in.England," he rtid, "when I was asked to go. up in an aeroplane.' Of course, I accepted w.tl pleasure, and stepped into the place set aside for passengers. The airman started off, but it was some time before the blessed machine would leave he ground. However, we got up and had a good fly, and descended safely After some hesitation, the pilot approached me and said, 'Sir, wotW you mind telling me your weieht? I "replied, 'Seventeen stono. , Geel he said 'no wonder the old bus took such a long time to go up!" / ;

A pathetic incident occurred in Masterton on the morning, of- Christmas Day A man about eighty years of deleft the Old Men's Home at Sol1, . in d trudged to town to endeavour to « hie wife ana have Chrirtmas dinner with her. He; knew .that 1 aged help-mate resided with a stout ladv but that was all the lmowledgo of her whereabouts that he possessed. He called in at several houses,_and isked "Is my wife here?" After n 2r of disappointments, Sergamt Miller was rung up, and he « g succeeded in oringmg husband and v. Uβ together. It was a happy meeting. The anuual triangular troutrfishin« competition between lour-nieu teams or asrs representing the nvercargill, Mataura and Wyndham Clubs respectively, took place on; Wednesday, Dαcember 19, on the Oreti lUver, under Meal conditions. The Wtch. resulted £ a mn forthe Wyndhamites (Strang, Udy, Gregory and. MitchcU), who e total of fish was 43 waghine 231b. 12oz. Invercargill (Tapper, MKaj, Wilson, G.i: Strang) lay eecond with 37 fish weighing 171b. lteiaaid taura. (Adam, M'Gowan, D. UmOY. Allison) third, 33 fish, 171b. llo». Strang (Wyndhani) landed the heaviest fish, 21b. loz. . The number of bankruptcies in tho Christchurch district this year shows a largo increase, as compared with the ' y"ars of 1916 and 1916. . Nearly a record was established last week, when seven petitions-in bankruptcy wore filed. The figures for the past three years relating to the number of bankuptcies in Christchurch and district are as follow:—1915, 23; 1916, lo; 1917, 33. The manager of tho toys' department in one.of the largest shops in Sydney, remarked last week that fully 2o per cent..of the articles in - stock were Australian, the industry having gone ahead wonderfully during the last twelve months. "It is a singular fact he continued, "that in spite of the supposed shortage of money, the expenditure on toys does not seem to diminish. Last year, when it was feared there would be a great falling off, there-was actually a 20 per cent, improvement on the trade, of the previous year, and already this year we are ahead of last year. The tastes of children have undergone a great change since 1914. In that year the demand for everything siiggestivo of war, such as guns, pistols, ships of war, soldiers, swordl, flags, and other things, was extraordinary. We could have sold many more of these articles than were available, but this year tlie children, like their parents, appear to be tired of war and war toys. I should say Germany has lost her toj trade, because articles of a better class than she supplied arc now coming from England. America, Japan, and France. The industry has gone aliead wonderfully in England, _ and everything turned out there, is more stihstantial than the German stuff was. Japan, too, is doing wmnrknMy el. but the Japanese cannot hide their identity. There is always some little feature which .hows the article ™s made in Japan. ,, ; In presiding at . the ceremonv in connection with the uanarn North School break-up, Mr. James Mitchell m»iMtnin«l n word which i> protrablv without cqnr, m he Don mon Uson-ps Uio "North Otngn Time,"). For 30 years Mr. Mitchell lias been associated with tho North School Committee as member, secretarv and chairman. This year's function cn.nnl«t«l 30 W consecutive viUi the crlministration or the nffnirs of Oamaru North School. "NO RUI3IUNG" Laundry IMp. Is. "GOLDJ3N BULB" Soap, Is. 3d. "GOLDKN RULE" Candles, Is. Ideal for family nso. ' J Thawlev and Son, Upper Cuba Street—Advt.

The 1918 military boot will be an imV provement on tho previous pattern, though there were no complaints thii year. It has been found that as tho soldier has to do a great deal of kneeling tho boot too wears out, and loses its shape, especially in wet weather. Pads of leather were used to keep up tho shape of tho too, but tho wet softened them, and now the leather is being reinforced with a small piece of metal, so that tho boot will remain in good shapo under tho worst conditions. Canvas shoes for rest timo and ship wear have been discarded in fay. our of comfortable leather shoes, which keep their shape and appearance longer, and are thoreforo better value to the State, which has so many thousands to keep in footwear.

in a letter written recently, by Mr. T. F. Cheosemau, F.L.S., F.Z.S., to the president of the New Zealand Forestry League, concerning the growth of New Zoaland trees and forestry generally, Mr. Cheosenian eays: "The ideas that many people entertain respecting the growth of the New Zealand trees are most extraordinary, and have no foundation of fact. The common belief seems to bo that the trees of this country havo a rate of growth much slower than that of most exotics. Why should our trees behave in a different manner from those of other countries? The very idea is most improbable, especially when it is considered that there are obviously.no reasons basal on climate or soil. In reality the average growth of, Aew Zealand trees, taking them as a whole, is quite equal to the average growth of exotic trees, taking them also as. a whole The kauri arid pohutdkawa grow faster than the oak and many other northern hemisphere trees, while the totnra and tanekaha grow quite as fast That a few exotics can be found* like pinus insignis and some ouealypte, that have a faster rate does not really affect the argument. A young lion, about nine months old,, escaped from tbe Onehunga Zoo at about 4 p.m. on .Tuesday. It entered an adjoining paddock,..whew two cows and a calf were grazing. One of the cows chased the lion, which took refuge in a hedge, where it was found about two hours later by a search party. A returned soldier, who was with the party, lassoed the beast, which up to the moment ofycapture had been tamo enough, but when'caught snowed faght. The lion was taken back to its. cage.

Many schoolboys at Dannevirke and Napier who offered their services to help farmers during their Christmas and' New Year vacation have not had their servioes availed of in the way ex pected, and many of the youths have been put to a. good deal of ence in consequence (says the' News' J. On the face of.it, it. would, appear either as if there is plenty or labour available or else the boys are not want-

ed. • • . ■ ii - A fire was discovered in. a truck in the railway yard at New Hymouth ob Saturday night at ■ about 11.30. The wagon, which contained about a couple of dozen cases of benzine, packed at either end, with C oods in the middle, was found burning fiercely; The nro brigade was summoned, and did good work, though they were not able to save much of the contents of the truck. The pressure of water subdued the flames until an attempt was made by some members of tlio brigade to get into the wagon, in order to remove, if possible, some of the contents.. Die handling of the cases of benzine, however,- evidently caused some of the tins to leak, and the result was a sudden recrudescence, of flame. A few cases were saved, but practically, all the rest of the load was destroyed, the wagon being considerably damaged. JNo explanation could be given of the cause,of the outbreak. . Steady progress is bfiing made with the interior finishing of the new. i arliamentary Buildings. The plastering of the ceiling of the chamber to, be used by. the House of Representatives and of "the main lobby is practically complete, and a certain .amount of plastering'has been dope in some, or tlio passages and the rooms on the ground floor. -Labour is not plentiful, however, 'and it seems , certain now that the new buildings will not borady for "the use of members of Parliament when next they meet in -Wellington. ' Japanese goods have been plentiful in the local, shops this Christmas, but it does not appear that, they have given satisfaction. everywhere.. It.is a common complaint that theso goods,, while cleverly made and often smart in ap-. poarance, have riot the quality or the wear that will give satisfaction. Uβ are not going to handle Japanesei stuff in this shop next Christmas," said ono retailer yesterday. ."The Japanese .roods sell, but only ma few cases do they give satisfaction. People who are accustomed to European standards of quality will not readily, accommodate themselves to the Asiatic standard, and we are finding that the shortago of fancy goods tkt followed the outbreak of war is rapidly disappearin it The-British firms are ready to supply Jiow, and their quality is good." >..-■■'" . "Girl factory labour, upon whicn many local manufactures largely dc pond, has' been depleted by the demands for female clerical assistance writes the New Zealand correspondent of the London "Chamber of Commerce Journal." ■"Aβ all girls passing through'the. primary schools are af-forded-opportunities of free education in secondary schools, and tlieir educational attainments arp about even,, tlio Eirl who might elect-to work 13 1 a clothing or a pickle factory is generally held capablo of doing offico work, lhe State technical colleges supply the necessary tuition free, and private institutions of this kind, also provide for turning'-out' girl clerks. The Civil Service has absorbed a much larger number of girls than usual m order to replace young men on military service. The consequence has been a]««r e expansion of the soft goods trade, both wholesale and retail. Compensa 011 for shortage of particular lines is found in tho general-enhancement of prices an round. The girls spend an inordinato proportion of their earnings oil dress and personal adornment.

For sheer downright and malicious mitrnthfulness. it is impossible to beat the Boofao. The story told some ten or twelve weeks ago in the cables concerning m. fc™*w*TTclLZ actress now turns out to be of German origin. Writing from Potoograd, Mr. W G. Shepherd, a reliable American correspondent, says: "Incredible as it may seem, German so successful that mysterious stories to the effect that M. Kerensky became a morphine fiend owing to the result of an operation a year ago, nnd that ho divorced his wife and married, an actress, find credence. The marriage-was even announced in one papor. Both stories are absolutely untrue. Madame Keronsky is a tiny woman, very fair and thin, quiet and Bimplemannered, who was working very hard in.organising all sorts of help (withM. Kerensky's approval and co-oporation) for the poor political prisoners who were being brought back from Siberia. The obvious intention of tho story oirculatoß by German agents was by discrediting 'Kerensky to weaken the allefiance of his supporters, and to the extent to which it W(i3 successful in doing so it served the purpose of its fabricators. .