LOCAL AND GENERAL

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4592, 18 May 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

THE TERRITORIALS. The misapprehension with regard to the obligation of Territorials to drill, alter they are' 21 years old, was dispelled by Colonel St. J. jßeere in an address to the sth Wellington Regiment. When a member of the Territorial force had reached 21 he might be transferred to the Reserve, providing he was efficient. Lieutenant Armstrong explained that there was nothing definite as to what constituted an efficient Territorial, but the stall' would consider each case, and those who Were thought efficient would bo notified after (he commencement of the new military year. THE PRINTING INDUSTRY.^ Speaking at the annual dinner of tho London Master, Printers’ Association, Mr James MacLehose (president of the Federation of Master Printers of Great Britain and Ireland) said that printing had transferred the work and the opportunities of the scholar and of every individual in the country. They were perhaps apt to think that because there were great libraries in the old days, and literature and philosophy nourished so luxuriantly, every citizen was a scholar or a poet. But it was not so. The inspiration and relaxation of literature were confined to a narrow circle, and although there were great libraries, access to them was difficult. Today the humblest scholar, however abstruse his subjects, could feci that there wa s an open door to a great library awaiting him.- That change was duo to the printing industry. HENDURANCE TEST. Three hens —a White Leghorn, a Black Orpington, and a Minorca—belonging to a Mastefton resident, recently underwent an endurance test, and two of them emerged to prove that though three meals a day may be necessary to stimulate a hen’s egg-laying instincts, a bird can sustain life for a considerable period on the memories of past crop-filling repasts (says the Wnirarnpa Age). The hen in question were missed just before Easter, and it was surmised that they had proved the centre attraction of an illicit Eastertide dinner. However, 15 days later they were discovered underneath a gin-case in the fowlhouse. Apparently they had been standing on the edge of the box, which turned over, imprisoning them. The edge of the box fell on the Minorca, and she was dead, but not offensively so. The other two recovered after a few days’ careful feeding.

A STICK THAT’ STICKS. A Wellington resident, who was on a visit .to Masterton recently, lost a walking stick which was very much valued for its sentimental associations. It was found by a local business man and forwarded on to the owner in Wellington. The latter, in writing a letter of appreciation, for finding and forwarding the stick to him, stated: “1 bought the stick in 1911 and had it with me on board tho various ships I served in throughout the Great War, taking part in most of the naval engagements, including the battle of Jutland. Whilst serving on H.M.S. Speedy in the beginning of the war we were blown up by an enemy torpedo, in September, 1914, being the first naval ship to be sunk. As the ship sank my stick was washed out of the cabin, the whole of my effects being lost except my stick, so you can imagine my affection for the stick.” THE GERMAN VIEWPOINT. An attempt to discover the trend of thought in Germany has been made by an Englishman who has contributed three letters to the Round Tabic, ills strongest impression was the bitterness of feeling against France. He quotes a doctor, the son of a general, as saying: “We do not hate them because of tho indemnity imposed in ps. We know we have lost and that if wo had won the war we should have made all of you pay. It is be cause we know that the French are determined to break up Germany. The Englishman continues that (lie people are convinced that tho French militarists mean to throttle their country. What they, or the party in control, seem to the Germans to be out for is to make sure that the day will never come, though otherwise, it would as surely ns the sun will rise to-morrow, when Germany’s intrinsic advantages will once more bring her to the. fore.

Tt is expected that 8500 delegates from every province in the United States and Canada will attend the International Sunday School Convention at Kansas City, Mo., to he held ITom June 21 to 27. In consequence of the alarming increase in the number of robberies from bank and other messengers carrying large sums ol money in New York City, permission has been granted to the Title Guarantee and Trust Company, a large banking house, to instal a revolver range on the premises, in which the staff can he trained in revolver shooting. 1 do not think that there is any doubt that educated people possess a far wider range of humour than the uneducated class—Professor Stephen Leacock. At tho present time a good deal of prospecting lor gold and other minerals is being carried out in this district (says the YVestern Star, Otago). Prospectors aro working in South Riverton in search of platinum, a party of miners are also carrying out work in the Longwood ranges with tho hope of locating a reef there, while alluvial mining is going on at, Big River and Wilson River. In some cases excellent results have been obtained. “It was when a remit was received in Palmerston It.S.A. from Ekctahuna, that, we realised that such a place existed,” said Mr B. J. Jacobs at the R.S.A. conference. The representative of the Eketahuna branch immediately replied: “And wo had never heard of you before we sent it. (Laughter).

Women in China never kiss, and when a Chinese woman wishes# to show her affection she gently touches the hand of her beloved. Residences running from £7OO to £IOOO are reported as having recently fallon in price by £SO to £IOO in Invercargill. A family in a Southern town has names which, taken separately, have nothing humorous about them, but taken together have a curious effect. The surname is Downe, and the family are Stan Downe, Bob Downe, Ben Downe, and Ida Downe. According to the spokesman for a Tenants’ League in Chicago, at least 10,000 families there will make this summer an effective protest against high rents by quitting the apartments they now occupy and coming out in reserves around the city.

Mr Morrison in his report at the Farmers’ Conference in - YVangailui advocated a tax on bachelors. A member: Why not- tax the old maids as well as the' bacholors P

The average worth of the sovereign at the end of: the March quarter, expressed in terms of food commodities it could purchase, was 13s IOJd as compared with 20s in July, 1914. Twelve months ago a sovereign was worth only 11s old. The master tailors at Dunedin have decided to reduce the cost of clothing to the extent of the amount of the wage reduction as contained in the pronouncement of the Arbitration Court. Says the Auckland Star: This is a true story. It happened the other day in an Auckland car. A woman was “strap-hanging” beside a seated couple who were conversing. The man noticed her and gave her his seat. When she had sat down she said m friendly fashion to tho woman beside her: “I’m sorry to have separated you from your friend.” There- was a pause. “He is your friend, ismt lie?” “No,” was the reply, ‘lies my husband.”

The following remit from the Levin branch was thrown out by the provincial conference of the Farmers Union at YVanganui: “That this conference vigorously protests against the expenditure of a large sum of public money on tlie deviation of the railway line at Palmerston North,