LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 13, 15 July 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"Owing to., the substantially better price" obtainable by shipping butter to England, factories decline to sell for New Zealand requirements unless they receive at least id per pound increase, and the majority require an increase of 2d or more." This was the message sent out by a-city butter packing house to customers, intimating that a rise in price would have to be made as from to-day. It is always pleasing to record instances of honesty on the part, of Departmental officials. An enthusiastic racegoer on Saturday handed tojthe tic-ket-box official at Lambton a fitfe-pound note in mistake for a pound note, receiving change for the single note only. He discovered his mistake later in the day, and yesterday applied to the station officials, though doubtful if he could obtain any refund owing to the rush of business 'and the difficulty of identity. His correct change was handed to him intact, and the thankful owner wended liis way enthusiastic in his praise of the honesty of the officials with whom he dealt.

It pays to wield, the axe and saw these days, and. it would appear that the man of-brawn and muscle is coming into his own (says the Tuatapere Guardian, Southland). Locally, in pre-war . days, a first-class bushman could be procured for 11s or 12s at the outside. As high as 265. 8d a day is now being paid for good men, some of the leading bushmen's pay amounting ,to £25 a month. Post-splitters are simply coining, money,, making from 25s to 30s daily at this work. Even at these high rates a great scarcity of labour exists, and men are hard to procure who have a knowledge of bushcraft.

The large amount of work performed by His Excellency the Governor-General for the Dominion branch of the Red Cross Society, of which he is president, was referred to by MrJ J. H. Guwson, in speaking at the opening of. the soldiers' workroom at the military annexe, at Auckland. Only those similarly engaged, said Mr, Gunson, knew the amount of work His Excellency accomplished in this direction, and the extent of his interest in the returned soldiers. The new workroom stood as practical testimony to this, and also demonstrated, what could be done to help convalescent men. Not only would various handicrafts be taught there, but carpentenng, leather work, and other ueeful trades.

Auckland publicans have taken advantage of the law'which makes provision for new adjustments of hotel rents in proportion to the reduction of takings, as the result of early closing. Application was made to the Auckland City Council last week by,the Campbell-Ehrenfeid Co.. .Ltd., for .a refund of rates on the Star Hotel (Albert-street) in proportion to it ß reduction of the rent from £22 to £13 per week. Hancock and Co., Ltd., made a similar application in respect to the following hotels of which the rents had n-, UC, e«' thu?:— Alexandra Hotel, £9 to £4 10s; Rob Roy Hotel, £12 to £9; Aurora Hotel, £10 to £4; Royal Hotel, £30 to £20 10s; City Hotel, £9 to £3; Gleeson's Hotel, £8 to £5; Albion Hotel, £14 to £9. The council reduced the rates proportionately. :, ■

Mr. Harold Richardson, clerk of the Rangitikei County Council, some time ago forwarded, .among other things, a tin of sheep's tongues to his son, who is away at the. front. The ship carrying the parcel was sunk, and it was naturally concluded' that the little gift went down with the ship. " ttot so, however, says the Wanganui Chronicle. It was carried by ocean current's, and eventually washed up on the coast of Ireland. '- The address ,6n the bag was 'quite distinct when found, and the parcel was forwarded to- its destination which it eventually reached. , It is needless to say. that the gift was. appreciated more than ever after its sl6w passage to the Irish coast, and' thence to Prance. The bag. was returned to Mr.-Richard-son by his son as a keepsake.

"All honour to France and its glorious people fo_r the way it has resisted, and is still resisting the autocratic power of Germany," writes "Loyal" to The Post. "For them as for Belgians it is a vital matter of remaining free or becoming enslaved. But for goodness sake, don't let us forget that we owe more thanks to Viscount Grey, for his prompt" declaration of war, when it became impossible to stop the Germans from violating Belgian neutrality. If it had not been for the first batch of English, Tommies, France would have been crushed in less than no time, notwithstanding all her noble efforts, and England would have shared the same fate.' In fact, even we in New Zealand would* have had to face the beastly invaders,-the cussed blackguard. No use blinking the matter. What are we doing for viscount Grey? Ho is the man whom we cannot honour enough." . . ■

The slight epidemic of diphtheria which has been prevalent in Auckland shows a, tendency to decrease, only three cases having been reported in the city and two in the suburbs since Monday, says the New Zealand Herald of Thursday. The majority of the cases reported have been of a mild nature. It is still necessary 2 however, for the public .to be on guard against the ' disease. Where cases of sore throats occur, particularly in households in which diphtheria has been present, no time should be lost in making use of a. gargle, for which a solution of permanganate of potash is recommended. If the inflammation is' severe or continues without improvement, the authorities strongly urge that the family doctor, should be consulted. There have, been cases of people waiting several days before seeking medical advice, and this- may be dangerous, for if the case is one of diphtheria, infection will have been carried by the patient from the earliest stages of the disease. '

Mr. L. Birks, Government Electrical Engineer, does not anticipate any fresh trouble at Lake Coleridge on account of the renewed bad weather. He stated on Thursday, says the Lyttelton Times, that he could- give an assurance that last week's experience would not be repeated, because he had made arrangements to anticipate another snowstorm of the; same dimensions. So long as there is communication with the lake, there is no danger of the current failing. As' a matter of fact, the stoppage last week was due not so much to breaks on the lines as to the impossibility of getting to the lake by road. If there had been connection of that character, the citizens would not have known that anything had gone wrong with the system, as the breaks would have been quickly repaired, and a sufficient quantity of current would have come along without interruption. Vehicular traffic with the lake now has been established along the north line of wire, and along the south line, where vehicles cannot go, there are horse tracks. In other countries, the trouble Canterbury recently experienced as a novelty is a frequent occurrence, and plans are laid to deal with it. Similar plans now are being Md in Christchurch. . ■ ■','"'

The frozen'meat industry is one of the most important and'-profitable. in New Zealand at the present time. It is> interesting^ therefore, to recall that as. Mr. M. A. Eliott writes in the Journal of Science and Technology, probably no other industry of its size has had more ups and downs. In 1893 the bottom dropped out of the market for lamb, and prices came down to 3d per lb in London ; in the following year mutton had a slump, 2^d per lb being quoted;; and in 1897 another serious crisis in the trade occurred, In fact,, tho wholade-: cade 1890-1900 was. one of struggle and trial in the frozen meat trade. Problems came up for settlement, and/; damaged cargoes were a most serious question. In 1895 20 per cent, of the cargoes from New Zealand. ■ were in a. j more or less damaged condition. As an ] example of its ignorant prejudice that for some time existed against frozen meat, the Director of Contracts for the War Office in 1893 said : "We find tho beef suffers from freezing, and the soldiers do not care»for it." How far this opinion was wide of the mark is exemplified by the fact that the whole of the British and French armies- engaged in tho great war. are now fed on frozen meat, and tho men relish it.

The fire' brigade received a call yS terday at 12.15' p.m. to a dwelling liuus-i in Willis-street where a chimney had caught fire. The outbreak • was suppressed before any damage was done.

A resident of Duhedin who has >. made a practice for some time past of sending parcels of flour to a relative in Dundee, has received word by -mail that one of these parcels, which arrived in Scotland several weeks ago, was "a perfect Godsend, as the bakers in Dundee had been on strike for some days, and no bread was procurable from them. ■

- Reference to the price* of cement was made by Mr. J. A. Young, M.P. for Waikato, at the annual dinner of-the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, He stated that it had .been pointed out to him that the price of cement had been increased 50 per cent, recently, and that users of cement in the North Island were unable to buy in the South Island and vice versa. Mr. Young added that he had telegraphed to the Board of Trade suggesting,that the matter should be investigated, with.a view to protecting the community. ,: . °

A big record m the manufacture of cheese and, payment for. butter-fat for ™ Past season has been put up- by the Te iHoro Co-operative Cheese Factory. Up to the end of May 295 tons I oi cheese has been made, and £22 616 : had been paid out to suppliers, to I which amount must be added the June and July, outputs. These figures, it is contended,, show what can be. accomplished; under tb.6 co-operative system, and. this, too, in a district that, was a tew years ago given up almost exclusively to grazing sheep. ! A serious accident occurred last week to Mr. Arthur Heighway, agent at Puke, kohe, Auckland, for Messrs. Wright/ Stephenson, and Co. As he. was' out rabbit shooting in that district he received a charge of shot in his left foot through the accidental discharge of his gun. _ The foot was badly injured, and the. big toe has been amputated in'a private hospital in Auckland. It is hoped that the foot may be saved. Mr. Heighway, who is a son-in-law of Mr. J. B. Armit, of Wellington, was at different times on the literary, staffs of the Otago Daily Times, Christchurch and New Zealand Times, retiring from journalism on account of a nervous breakdown.

.The cutting off of supplies of glass jars formerly obtained from England and the Continent has, since the outbreak of -war, added considerably to the difficulties of local jam-making and fruit-preserving firms'. It has, however, also raised the industry to a very . important standing in Australia, and, according to information given by the director- of a wellknown local firm of jam manufa, i .irers, Sydney and -Melbourne firms are nowsupplying glass jars for" the'■■entire. Australian and New Zealand trade (states ' the.New. Zealand Herald). The first of the new supplies came to hand last month, and now that the industry has been so securely established in Australia, no' further shortage is anticipated. The Australian-made goods are considered to be of good quality, and, although higher in price, compare, favourably with prewar importations.

. A week's supply of .newspapers and mails, arrived at Hanmer Springs on Wednesday morning by a three horse '• team, supplied by Mr v D. Manson, of St. Helens, who has also been instrumental in carting meat' and other necessaries to the Queen Mary Hospital. Even in the old coaching days (states the correspondent of the Lyttelton Times) the drivers always found a means of delivering malls, which is claimed to -prove conclusively that the storm was the worst ever experienced at Hanmer Springs. Messrs. W. T. Bush and G. | Lucas set out on Wednesday morning ! in an attempt to get over Jack's Pass;,. but it was anticipated that they would , have to-return, as the-snow must be very heavy there. The inmates and . staff of the Queen Mary Hospital have j been of great assistance in clearing '. tracks. Captain Clifton has secured flour from a neighbouring station, so that the men in the hospital should not go shbrt of bread. :

After serving for some time in th» '• Royal Navy, and attaining: the rank of engineer sub-lieutenant, Mr. Charles W. Taylor—second son of Mr. ■E. T. Taylor, of Kilbirnie—has been transferred to tha Royal Flying Corps. In a recent examination he gained 999 marks out of a possible 1060,Voming out fourth on the list. Eight hundred and fifty i is considered a first-class pass. In a subsequent examination he came out top of his section—gaming 100 per cent, in marks. In. a letter to his relatives describing his first' feelings when flying, he says :—"Just, imagine yourself, going up with a roar, and then sailing along in the,air. The sensation is absolutely 'it.' Everything .looks: so small down below, and you wonder if you can ever get back safely; and then when you do, you wish you were starting off on: a fresh flight." Flight-Lieutenant,Taylor, who "is 25 years of age, was born at Kilbirnie, and was educated at,the local school, where he gained a scholarship, which took him to the Technical School. He was apprenticed to Messrs. D. Robertson ana Co., Phoenix Foundry, Wellington, and afterwards entered the service ,oi the New Zealand; Shipping Company— going Home as of one of its vessels. , Returning to New^ Zealand, he became one of the engineers ■of the Tutanekai, under the late Mr. John M'Pherson. Going back to the Old Country, he joined the Royal Navy, with the rank of sub-lieutenant engineer, subsequently entering the aerial service.

The E«v. E. Palgrave Davy, Superintendent of the New Zealand Children's Mission, has left for Auckland, but contemplates returning to. Wellington in_ a. fortnight to conduct further united fissions for young people. :'" . . ! The management of the Congregational Church, Cambridge-terrace, has recently.' ; installed a system of warming the building by the use of, gas steam radiators. It was put into operation for, the'first time yesterday, and was greatly appreciated.