LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 155, 28 December 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

During the last few days a whole family of sharemilkers on the old Te Aroha Road, about a, mile from I'acroa, including an ' assistant workman, contracted the epidemic. They were milking about 100 cows. The Mayor of Waihi (Mr. Donaldson), has been successful in reaching a satisfactory decision with the Minister of Pensions regarding the -speedy granting of the pensions to women in Waihi who lost their husbands through the epidemic. The Minister has intimated that the Magistrate will hear claims at Hamilton without the applicants attending, instead of waiting for the next sitting of the Court at Waihi, which does not take place for some time. A well-known Rakaia resident was returning home in the train from Christchurch with a fair-sized fish, about an eight-pounder, perhaps a present from sotn« kind Isaac Walton. It-was excessively hot, and his friends (states a correspondent in the Press) persuaded him to keep-the fish cool by hanging it out of a window by a string. It was a brilliant idea, but, alas, at one station some parson unknown got a bend on the line with a stronger cord, so that when the train moved on a quick tug changed the ownevship of the eight-pounder. Now the subject of fish is taboo in that quarter. The advantages of being an all-round athlete were demonstrated by B. B. Wood in the representative cricket between Wellington and Canterbury in Christchurch on Christmas Day, says the. Lyttelton Times. He was fielding near the boundary, when a ball sailed over his Lead. He tried to catch it, but as it was out of reach he sprinted for the bourdary. The ball got there first with t-b-j fieldsman in full cry, and with too much' way on to stop at the row N of seats. The spectators opened up to avoid a collision, and the fieldsman cleared the back of the seat in.a bound, recovering the ball and hurdling the seat on the return journey. On the subject for continuation classes for persons between the ages of fifteen and seventeen for instruction in physiology, first aid, home hygiene, and home nursing, Mr. T S. Forsyth, chairman of the Wellington Education Board. 1 had a discussion-yesterday with the Minister for Education (the Hon. J. A. Hanan). Provision ■> has been made in the Education Estimates for paying, capitation grants, for such courses of instruction. Mr. Forsyth is bringing the subject matter before his board with a view to considering the establishment of such classes In Wellington. Among those who returned to New Zealand on duty furlough this week was Major Thomas Farr, D.5.0., M.C., of Waverley, who left New Zealand with the-Main Body as a second-lieutenant in "command of a section of the Third Battery. For distinguished service on Gailipoii he was awarded the Military Cross, and, , when the re-organisation took place after the evacuation of the Peninsula, he 'was given command of the Thirteenth Battery. He won his D.S.O. in the taking of Bapaume, when his battery did excellent work. Major Farr is one of the very few Main Body officers who have been through all the campaigns without once having . been evacuated from nis unit for sickness, or on account of wounds. The announcement that the Ballanc: Dairy Company, once regardecl' ; as,,pne of the mo3t successful dairy institutions in the North Island, has gone into liquidation, will be received with regret by those who have watched the progress and developments in the Forty. Mile Bush (says the_ Wairarapa Age). It wa~s early in the 'nineties that a number of Masterton residents took up a block of densely-wooded land in the ■vicinity of Pahiatua. on the lease with right of purchase tenure. The settlement was named after the late Hon." John Ballance, one time Premier of the Dominion. It was not long before the dairy industry was established, and this formed the nucleus, not only of the Ballance Dairy Company, but ;of the development of small settlement land the prosperity of the town and district. Land which was taken up with a right of purchase at £1 per acre, is now valued at £30 and £40 per acre. The Ballance Dairy Company has been largely responsible for this accretion in values. Mr. Hugh. J. Ward, a director of J. C Williamson, Ltd., in a letter to % Wellington friend dealing ' with the epidemic looks on the eminently sensible, if not exactly the bright side of the matter, for in the course, of the letter he says;—" You have had a terrible time in New Zealand. At present we are making a great battle to' keep it out of this country—if they succeed it will be a great achievement. It will be a long time before wo really know if they have been successful. If it breaks through there is only one thing to do, that is, to be real citizens .and close up every place in which crowds congest. I know, for my own part, I will- be the first if necessary to suggest this being done. I think the war has taught us much Philosophy and decency of intention regarding others is the lesson I am sure, many of us have learned, and all businesses should recognise this a.nd cheerfully lose, if they can save one person being infected with this terrible disease." Serjeant T. E. Luff, of Aramoho, Wanganui, has been awarded the Military Medal for .gallantry on the field of action. A long period of active service has been served by Sergeant Luff. He was barely twenty when he enlisted in' the early days of the war, and celebrated his 20th birthday in camp, He left with | the sth Reinforcements, and saw service i on the Peninsula, where he was woundI cd. .Joining up again, he went "over the top" at the-Battle of the Somme. when lie ■ was again wounded. He was afterwards appointed bayonet -instructor at Sling v Camp, and served iii this capacity from June, 1917, to September, I 1913, when he again left for France. It was in subsequent fighting that he performed the services which won for him the Military Medal. While in England he took a keen interest in athletics, and was successful in winning the Southern Counties' Cross-Country Association's five-mile, 1000 yards, and half-ruile races. Ho was also a member of the victorious Wellington Regimental team. Letter-writing in the days of our grandfathers was a luxury in which', poor folk could not indulge. But even ■ of late yeaa's huge sums have been ex- - pended in sending a single message A | few year* afto a pa>cka,go measuring 26in i by 12in, and made o£ finely-woven linen, ' arrived at an Austrian bank from Bus- 1 ; sia. It bore no fewer than IS2 ten- j rouble- stamps, about £168 worth It i contained papers of great value, and i this whs the sender's idea of insuring ; it. Tlie package arrived safely enough, < but tho sender was apparently unaware i that for a few pounds he amid have < sent the letter to its destination in 1 charge of a trusty special messenger, I and got a receipt for its safe delivery. < The most costly private telegram ever i sent is said to lie the one in which King l Victor of Italy informed the Duke of < Abruzzi cf hia father's death. Quite .' lately a wire from London to Argentina," s containing fewer words than a column < of The Tunes, cams to £1500 at ICs Sd ■ ■■i word. Three thousand two hundred i pounds is the highest sum ever paid foi ] a single -wire. It was the cost of a mos- f *a.<'e sent to Australia, by t.lic late lien i m!?<n' Him ton. Ulo ehajnpiou of Imperial ' peony postage.

"Mr Alex. M'Farlane, who was for eighteen years chairman of directors of 'Jie Callance Dairy Company (Pahiatim), wasi fie recipient of a presentation from the shareholder? on the occasion of tho company going into liquidation. A motor-cycle ridden by A. C. Danks, with a passenger named Burton in the side-car, crashed into a train on the Cladelanda crossing yesterday morning. Danks was badly injured about the feet and body, and was taken to the hospital. The passenger miraculously escaped serious injury The New Zealand Herald states that tho news of the union of the Southern Slavs with Serbia and the formation of the n«w Government under the Premiership of M. N Pa»ich, and Ministers selected from Croa.tia.ns, Slovenes, and Serbian representatives was received with great enthusiasm by the Jugoslavs in Auckland. The following cablegram was despatched to the new Premier:—'We are exceedingly joyful to hear the glad news of the formation of our united Government. We are must happy for our national liberty, and eagerly wait in the hope that our great Allies will now officially recognise our struggle and our united Government. Long live our King Peter and Prince Regent Alexander, the liberators of our race. Kindly express to our King our most humble devotion and full confidence in our new Government." The American vessel Oakland, which was arrested at Lyttelfcon pending the production of a bond on account of a claim for damages, has been released, and will be allowed to sail immediately for Apia, where she will load copra for America. The bond is for £4250, a sum sued for by Wright, Stephenson, and Co and W. H. Simms and Son, Christchurch, on account of alleged damage to a cargo of motor oil brought by the vessel from America to Lyttelton. The action will be heard in the ViceAdmiralty Court in Christchurch, but as some of the evidence will be taken in San Francisco it may bs towards the end of next year before the case is heard The evidence of Captain E. Weridt, master of the vessel, has been taken on commission, in order not to detain the vessel unnecessarily . , An Act of Parliament passed in the reign of King Charles 11. was made use of by the defendant in a case in the District Court in Sydney recently. Ernest Bailey, a carpenter, of Parisstreet, Balgowlah, claimed £12 2s 4d from Doris Selfe, a married woman, living in the same street as the plaintiff, and among other grounds in the defence it was set out, "That the claim of the plaintiff is (inter alia) for work and labour done on Sundays in the exercise of his ordinary calling, and that all amounts charged for as for work and labour done on Sundays are illegal and prohibited by statute, to wit, Sunday Observance Act, 1677, 29 Carolns 2, c 7, and the claim of the plaintiff to the extent of such work and labour done on Sundays bad in law." After hearing*evidence, Judge, Backhouse found the point fatal, and gave a verdict for the defendant. So glowing have been the reports of the success of prohibition in Canadaand America that numbers 'of Australians have wondered what really wa3 the amount of sly grog-selling and illicit liquor traffic which it produced in those countries. , Most Prohibition lecturers have been' silent on the point, reports a Melbourne paper, but Mr. S, Maugher, in the course of an address at the Temperance Hall recently, said that although Prohibition was an, unqualified success, there undoubtedly was an undue amount of illicit traffic indulged in. Beer was smuggled into Toronto in motor cars and in trusses of fray, and.even.under, the ladies' petticoais. He quoted an instance of a lady who entered the city in a car. When searched she was found to have a string of bottles of champagne tied round her body. She was imprisoned, and, in addition, was fined £100. In the course of his 6peech of welcome at Auckland to Lieutenant Bassett,'V.C, who returned on Christmas Eve, the Hon. A. M. Myers stated that New Zealand had won no fewer than 15 Victoria Crosses, of which four had been gained by soldiers of the , Auckland Military District, seven by Wellington, and two each by Canterbury and Otago. The King had referred to the fact that the greatest number of Victoria. Crosses iir proportion to the number of troops had been gained by Australia and New Zealand. Their hero guest was one of the men who had distinguished themselves among all the heroes- who had taken part in that campaign. Lieutenant Bassett had won that which was priceless ■ The president .of. Jhe Auckland Grammar School Old Boys' Asso-J ciation, in presenting Lieutenant Bassetf with a handsome illuminated address on behalf of the old boys of the school, referred to the fact that 1500 old boys of the Grammar School had taken part in the war, and of this total many had fought at Gallipoli. In war the Germans have shown that they are utterly without. scruple; even in peace it would seem they have done serious mischief in Australia. To the Germans (says an Australian exchange) is attributed the presence of-the arch enemy of the landholder, the stinkwort. It is not generally known that this noxious weed was first, planted by Germans at Bright, according to official records, for alleged medicinal purposes. Dysentery was the only stated ailment upon which the wort was supposed to have a curative effect. But records disclose no cure of any kind. On the other hand, tha weed has become an intolerable nuisance ■ and a growing menace It has crept V>ver what were previously choice pastoral and agricultural areas, has stunted natural growths, and reduced the potentialities of --the country in a marked degree. 'It has laid the foundation to bad temper and bad crops, and now so serious have its ravages become that a prominent institution loaning money on landed assets has closed its doors to applicants where lands may bo affected by the pest. Surely the Government should speed on measures to minimise this threatened national danger. Chinese predominate yamongst the buyers who collect daily at the Fruit Markets in Wellington. Sales commence each day at about 9 o'clock, but some tin*) previous to that prospective, buyers straggle into the rooms and proceed to inspect the goods that are soon to be offered. ■ Here they sample green peas,' there they handle, with the practised care of a connoisseur, a bunch of spring onions, kick a bag. of cabbages somewhere else—how tho quality of a cabbage can be judged by a kick, remains a mystery—and generally do quite, as they please with the produce to be sold. Together they discuss the quality of a swede turnip, and finally, when the inspection is completed, they squat around ;i,nd talk. Inevitably the pipe is produced, filled, and is soon alight. If not a pipe, then a cigarette. Little whiffs of smoke develop into a cloud; the cloud becomes thicker and thicker, and finally tho smell of tlic smoke overcomes the odour of the onions near-by. There are some people who are unable to smoke unless they spit, and quite a. number of this species frequent the sales-room. It is a case of smoking and spitting, smoking and spitting, until the auctioneer mounts his platform and begins his work. In full view of all, there is a notice, printed in red : "City Council Bylaw. Danger (this in large, letters) Smoking and. spitting prohibited. Offenders liable to prosecution." The word "liaMe" indicates infinite cars in the wording of the notice.

A Bite has been selected at Bottle Lako by the Christchurch City. Council's Reserves Committee for the purpose of planting lucerne ss&l as an experiment. The council's head: gardener has Ijocii authorised to have the ground cleared of all vegetable matter and fenced ready for planting next season. The Department of Agricul'ui'e will superintend the sowing of the seed. . jWith reference to the shortage of bronze coin in Australia (mentioned in a. paragraph published in The Post yesterday) it is expected (says the Age^ that early in the new year the position will be relieved by the arrival of- supplies from India. The Common; wealth Treasury officials have received from tihe Ilndian authorities a. reply, to their cable messages dealing i with the matter. This reply ..stated 'ttat £5000 worth 'of. pennies and £3000 worth of halfpennies had been shipped from Calcutta for Australia. The consignment is expected to arrive here about 9th January, and the Treasury anticipates that this replenishment will at once remedy the existing shortage. To prevent Victoria being " flooded with goods, the country oi origin of which is not clearly known," .was the Premier's description "given in the Legislative Assembly recently of a Bill on the notice paper. Mr. Lawson expressed his anxiety to see the Bill passed before closing the session. Mr Solly was apprehensive that the Bill would be rejected by the Legislative Council. " People carrying on these frauds,", he said,. " are associated with members of ' another place.' Some of them, in fact, are in the Legislative Council." Opposition members of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Solly added, were prepared to give the Government every assistance with its effort to prevent .frauds in commercial life. -The Premier explained that the Bill was designed to put a stop to the use of false trade descriptions. It was a year ago fast' Thursday that , the German prisoners of war who escaped from the internment camp on Motuihi Island on the evening of 13th December were brought back to Auckland. The party, which comprised Lieu-tenant-Commander Count Felix yon Luckner, of See-adler fame, Lieutenant Carl T. Rircheiss, hiß navigating lieutenant, and nine other Germans, captured the scow Moa on the morning of Sunday, 16th December, and set sail for the Kermadec Islands. On the same day the Pacific. Cable Board's steamer Iris was despatched from Auckland by Colonel G W. S. Patterson, 0.C.D., to search for the Germans. The Germans were sighted on 21st December off Curtis Island, one of. the Kermadecs, about" 600 miles north-east of Auckland, and after a determined chase 1 of one and a-half hours the Iris fired a shot across the bows of the 1 Moa, which instantly hove-to. The Germans made no resistance, and were removed to the Iris; On arrival in Auckland the Germans were temporarily sent to the Mount Eden gaol. The number of shipping arrivals «t the Port of Auckland was'considerably affected by the .outbreak of, hostilities, and showed a "marked decrease each year the war continued. The net tonnage of arrivals—including oversea, intercolonial, and coastal shipping—in 1913, was 1,938,050. tons. In 1914—the year the war commenced—it was 1,970,808 tons, aii increase of 32,758 tons. . T)ir following year (reports , New Zealand Herald), when shipping was requisitioned for war purposes, the arrivals dropped to 4,810,832 tons, a decrease" of 159,976 tons. In 1916 'the arrivals. > fell off by 57,289 tons, compared with the previous year,-'and in 3917 they decreased a further ,235,965 tons.. For the, eleven months of this year the arrivals totalled 1,160,681 tons, -«o.; that, if. the .monthly average is maintained for December the total for the year will be 1.266.197 tons, a decrease on last year of 248,381 tons. On the assumption that the 1914 figures would have been maintained but for the war, the total decrease during the four years has been over 1,427,682 tons. Notification that a -refund of. extra war risk premiums will be made to ■every soldier returning from active service has been made, by the local branch of a well-known insurance company, states the New Zealand Herd'd. This company imposed an extra .preta ium of £10 per cent, annually jn tli« policies of soldiers on active service taken out during the war. The refund will not be retrospective as regards claims already paid, nor will any refund be made where the Government h.-s paid the premiums - No notificatioi. of any similar refund has 'oeen ma-fa by other companies, although all war-low! ing ceased on 11th November, with the signing of the armistice. ■ The extra premium imposed by other .companies was from £5 to £7. 10s. In tbe_.iiajority of cases, no additional premiums have" been charged on policies tik«n out before the war. The manager of tho Auckland branch of another company mentioned this week that his company had paid cut £2.500,000 on the lives l of soldiers, having received only £100, 000 in premiums. ' With reference to the hookworm disease in Australia, it appears from, a statement made a few days, ago in the Federal House of Representatives by the Minister for Home aud Territories, in reply to Mr' Finlayaon (Q.), that with a [ view to finding a remedy the- subject has been fully discussed by the representative of the Rockefeller Foundation of l.the United States, with representatives of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, the Commonwealth Quarantine^Bepartment, and the Minister himself As a result of recommendations made by him, the Government had decided to accept the ! offer of. co-operation by the Rockefeller Foundation, and to provide a, sum of £35,000, conditional on the Queensland Government providing a similar sum, the Rockefeller Foundation having agreed to find £30,000, over a. period of five years. It was proposed that the work should l>o carried on in close co-operation with the 'Institute of Tropical Medicine; that j Queensland should be divided into four districts, each with a staff of twe medical and four lay assistants; and that after the work of eradication in Queensland had been well advanced arrangements should be made with other States to con--1 duct surveys of areas likely to be affected, and, if" necessary, to carry out extermination measures there. The Commonwealth Government was now only awaiting the concurrence of the Queensland Government in order to commence active operations. • -