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Evening Post, Volume xciv, Issue 73, 24 September 1917, Page 2

The Methodist Central Mission servic« in Everybody's Theatre was crowded last night to hear an address by the Rev. H. Elliott on "The Debt of the Empire to the Bible." A rapid survey of English history was used to contrast the .England of five hundred years ago with the Empire of to-da>y. The spread of education and the influence of the Reformation: brought a new life and spirit to the people. Fyom the day when the English became " the people ■ of a book " —the Bible—dated the growth of the Empire and the formation of the national characteristics. The address was followed throughout with great interest. The superintendent, tho Rev. Knowles Smith, conducted the service, and the Silver Band contributed several selections. A unique suggestion comes from Dunedin. Says the Star : There has for some time been a. growing feeling among the retailers of the city, particularly the drapers, that it would' be greatly to their advantage to' adopt the practice in vogue in the wholesale warehouses and many other business places, of closing their premises for the lunch hour. Under the present conditions, for two hours of the day there is a complete disorganisation of business in the reta-il establishments owing to half the staff being absent for lunch, and by closing for an hour the--staff would be maintained at full strength throughout the hours of business. . Already about a dozen of the principal drapery firms have- expressed themselves as being strongly in favour of the alteration, and an effort is to be made to bring the other retail trades into line. The advantages to the larger establish-* ments will be so r-eadily apparent that there is a reasonable' prospect of the practice of closing at midday becoming fairly general. The buying public soon adapt themselves to altered conditions, and although at the outset some little inconvenience may be cansed to cnfi^ tomers, the few who shop during the midday hours will speedily become accustomed to the change. Lieut. P. F. Heartley-Reed, a son of Mr. Frank Reed, Chief Inspector of Mines, has received the Military Medal for work in the operations round Bullecourt in May last. Lieut. Reed; who is in the Australian Forces, displayed great gallantry in leading a bombing party down 200 yards of enemy trench, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans, and sending back valuable information regarding communication trenches, of which Headquarters had been ignorant. At the outbreak of war Lieut. Reed joined as a private, but has been promoted to Ist Lieut, of the 12th Battalion, A.I.F. He ie.now recovering from his wounds and is the guest of Earl Da-rnley. How do the New Zealand flying pupils compare with those at Home? In an address, delivered at Cliristchurch, Mr. C. M. Hill, instructor at the Canterbury Aviation School, stated that the pupils so far had been rather better, and although he expected that tho first might bo regarded as the most enthusiastic, there were many thousands of boys ill New Zealand who would be just as keen and enthusiastic when their tnrn came. He hoped to be kept pretty busy. A lot of nonsense got into the papew, aboutrisks, but an aviator had lees risk than an infantrymafo. There were especial opportunities for training in New. Zealand, for the pupils got actual practice in building and engine construction. The course was shorter, because there were fewer pupils to each instructor. At Home he had up to thirty pupils under him, and sometimes he forgot their names, apart from their progress individually. They were kept from four to six months, finding their own board and lodging, a matter of from £2 to £3 a week, while at Sockburn the pupils got lodging, firing and lighting free, and had to find only their board, a matter of from 18s to 18s 6d a week. Parents who were dubious about flying need have no fear, and a •course of training opened the door to a .fine career. In all parts of the country the lambs are appearing in goodly quantities (writes the South Island correspondent of the Farmers' Union Advocate). It is a, regrettable fact, however, that so many of them lost their lives in the storms that have prevailed during this month. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, were lost during the recent cold and heavy ] rains. In some flocks the losses ranged from 5 to 10 per cent. In the bigger mobs the losses were the -greater, us they could not receive the individual attention that the animals were given on the smaller mobs. I know of instances where, in spile of the bitterness of the weather, no lambs at all were lost because of the personal attention that could be given k> each lamb as itarrived. In other cases where this wus impossible tho losses were heavy. When it is remembered that each lamb that dies can be put down at a pound a head at least, it will be seen how serious such a loss as we have recently sustained 1 is. Luckily the lambing in the higher country has not commenced yet, or the matter would have been much more serious.