Local and General.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4846, 18 April 1918, Page 4

Local and General.

The Otago Education' Board has nominated its chairman. Mr. D. ,T. Fleming, for a seat on the General Council of Education. The Eitham Countv Council recently decided not to pay men for wet weather, and the dray men struck yesterday. There is no prospect cf a settlement. \ At the request of His Worship the Mayor, Mr. W. ■G. Sherratt, to-day (Thursday) will be observed as a whole holiday, in order that the residents of town and district may devote the whole of their attention to the work of raising money for the Red Triangle fund.

In connection with the Winter Fair, the executive asks all ladies who have promised cakes or donations for the cake stall to kindly leave them at the Red Cross shop to-day (Thursday) from between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., or at the Garrison Hall on Friday or Saturday. Contributions to the stall will be gratefully received.

A Union Jack, which in itself A a very beautiful hag, but whicn has also historic associations, is to figure prominently in connection with The local Y.M.C-.A. Triangle Fund. It measures IS feet by S feet and forms part of the hag which was flown from the dome of St. Pauls Cathedral. Loudon, on the occasion of the coronation of His Majesty King George. On Friday it will he- hoisted above tlie Tt.S.A. dug out in Peel street. Mr J. W. Bright has kindly consented to auction it at Miller's corner, at 11.30 o’clock on Saturdav morning.

The war is steadily draining the supply of men, every industry and occupation in this Dominion m,.i»- or less feeling the pinch. As iesi’dt of this strain, the Bank of Xew Zealand authorities have deckled to close their branch at Tologa Bay. During the past year the ban t has bad to close branches in various parts of the Dominion. The Tologa branch will close on May 6, when all balances will be transferred to ' Gisborne. The bank hopes that as soon as conditions after peace lias been signed will permit to open all branches closed on account of the shortage of men.

Backbloclc settlements which are not kept regularly posted with the events happening on the other side of the world sometimes receive instead some highly colored and startling rumors as to the war. This matter was. brought under the notice of the Postmaster-General in the Hons- of Representatives by Mr Vernon Reed, member for the Bay of Islands. He asked if people in such districts could not he regularly supplied with telegraphed summaries of war new >. Sir Joseph Ward promised to look into the matter. Such information as the Government- had was wired all over the country, but the fuller cables were the property of the daily press, who paid for the same.

Indefinite delay will take place on all cable traffic 'via Eastern and to messages between and via the United . Kingdom, and/the public is urged to \ use the cables on business of urgent importance only. In order to relieve pressure on accomrnddation in Dunedin hospital the Red Cross executive has acquired a residence and grounds at Montecillo, which it is proposed to equip and maintain as a convalescent home for wounded and soldiers permanently discharged from hospital. The Cabinet has approved of the scheme, and it will he under the guidance of the Defence Department.

The City Fathers yesterday made a tour of the Borough inspecting the various roads, as a preliminary to the consideration of the estimate* for the ensuring year. They inspected proposed sites for the tramway shelters at Roebuck and Lytton qjk/js. In the evening the Council r,™ in committee when it is understood the estimates for the year were thoroughly gone info.

During tlie last few months men’s fin.l boys’ shirts of eveiy description bhie advanced in price very seriOuslv. Messrs. C. liosie and Co. •anticipated this an/1 secured big supplies at practically old prices. Tii.if firm are now showing a magnificent assortment of winter and summer shirts— working shirts, neglig. shirts, -tennis shirts—in fact, a very big variety of all kinds of skirt,-: for men and boys, in _ some cares at less than wholesale prices.*

"I notice that the public Seem to be paying about twice as much for New Zealand produce as .lie producer himself receives,” stated Mr C. J. Talbot (M.P. for Ternuka) in ihsj? House of Representatives/ "For in—' stance, we are receiving 10s -y hag for potatoes, but I find that rn / landlady here is paying from 19s to 50. a bag. We get os' 8d a bushel for fowl wheat, but the people pav Ss. 9s and 10s a bushel for it;_ and the wheat-grower is only receiving half for his wheat that the consumer pays for it in the shape of bread-' A few days ago, while two men were ploughing at Puroa, they unearthed a skeleton, supposed to have been a native. Alongside iit was found a piece of quartz and a white crystal. On the quartz being broken gold was found to be running freeiv through it. The skeleton was in a" good state of preservation, though ip must have been buried tor many "years. As there has never been a discovery of go id-bearing quartz in the Waikato, it is surmised that the man obtained the stone on some goldfield and retained it about his person.

The “tin hats” worn by our soldiers in France are practically an unknown quantity in New Zealand and the average person’s experience of them is confined to an occasional glimpse at the movies of soldiers wearing them. The helmet .s estimated to have saved thousands of lives and to have been the most valuable invention of the war- During the Red Triangle festivities in Gisborne a returned'soldier will display a helmet which has been brought bac-k from the front and the curious may examine it and place it on their heads on payment of a- small fee. which will go towards the fund? A start was made bv the co uractor, Air Nic-01, in the preliminary work of constructing the deflecting, groynes in the river. Worn was commenced on the excavation of the foundation for B groyne, to be erected on the Haiti side opposite the Harbour Board’s office. This groyne will extend for 120 feet into the river at right angles to the wharf and will then run for. 190 feet down stream. In addition to the excavation work, for which purpose the old Priestman dredge of the Harbour Board is being used, a str. t was made with the construction of some or the fascines buttresses for vs.* in the work.

speaking at Wellington on •‘Chemistry in Relation to Industry. ’ Professor Easterfield commented upon the- popular ignorance as to the deh-nit-iou of a chemist. He as a chemist could be prosecuted if he placed tlie word "chemist” om his door-plate because he was not a pharmaceutist or apothecary according to the Act. But "chemists, according to the _ Act, could not become members of the three leading British chemical societies. The popular impression of a chemist, was one who made up prescriptions. whereas the scientific chemist- was one who analysed compounds and made a number of the modern discoveries.

- Prices realised at the West-field fatstock sales last week were, equal to the rates that have ruled for some weeks. Choice ox beef sold at £2 12s per 1001 b. other quality beef realising from £2 to £2 11s per 100ib. Sheep sold at- prices equal to recent quotations, good wethers fetching from £1 13s 6d to £1 IPs 3d. ewes £1 9s 6d to £1 17s 3d. and lambs IPs to £1 12s. Calves sold well at prices 'equal to last- week’s figures, _ru liners realisng from £4 15s to is od and heavy vealers from £3 17s 6d to £5. Pigs were in fair demand, choppers and lieavv baconers realising from £4 10s to £6 17s, and smaller baconers from £3 15s to £4 9s,

Mr W. Acton-Adams lias a long letter in tiff London Morning Postof February 5, contrasting British and German methods of colonisation, giving numerous instances of t-’.e former's treatment of the Maori and of the Maori appreciation of British methods. Mr Adams says: ‘‘Vo always treated t-hq Maori as our.-equals in every wav. They have fully reciprocated this feeling, and eager volunteered, and. in fact, insisted on joining the Empire troops in this war, and many of them nave laden both in France and Gallipoli. Let the world say which nation lias treated its natives and captives best an * which should be entrusted with the government of them.”