Local and General.

Gisborne Times, Volume L, Issue 5071, 14 January 1919, Page 4

Local and General.

“The people of England have long been asleep. When they wake they will be hungry.”—Sir Harry Vane, on the scaffold, centuries ago.

The mails which left New Zealand for the United Kingdom on November id arrived at London on December 28.

The influenza is now practically wiped out at Wairoa, (states a tress Association telegram, there being only one or two isolated mild cases.

The Mayor. Mr W. Of. Sherratt stated yesterday that though he hau been approached bv several men in regard to obtaining his sent' to stand for the Gisborne seat at the next election, he would not stand against the present member.

The office of the hi aval Adviser is in receipt of information tfiat fortyfour New Zealand naval ratings, latelv of H.M.S. Doris, left Colombo on January 10 for Melbourne, rom which port they will be returned to New Zealand by the first opportunity, states a Press Association me sage from Wellington.

While the officials of the Court were solemnly arguing yesterday morning whether the liquid produced was beer, -it was suggested that the prosecution had to prove that it was beer. Just at that moment a cork flew out of ajar and went almost as high as the ceiling before descending. The Court smiled.

“I have seen on my visits to gaol men who should be respectable citizens instead of broken men ve U? man's hand is against them and their lives are spoilt,” said Mr. J. te. Barton, S.M., at the Gisborne Magistrate’s Court yesterday when waining several boys who were charged with theft, to mend their ways.

It was suggested by Sir James Carroll to a Times reporter yesterday that the Land Purchase Boa F“ -sfnould enlist the assistance of the members for the districts they passed through and others m ° tlements for soldiers. % means suitable land might come u . notice of the Board winch might not otherwise he brought before them.

A second offender for drunkenness named Anau Paihau, of fai ed to appear to answer the charg at the Magistrate’s Court before Mr. J S Barton, S.M., yesterday. Constable Fischer stated that lie arrested the accused in Gladstone B ° ac l 7.30 p.m. on Saturday night. A hne of £1 and 2s costs was imposed, witn the alternative of four days imprisonment.

Speaking to a Gisborne Times T&porter yeßterday, Sir James Carroll referred to the absolute necessity for an organised connection between T borne and Rotorua. He said that the advantages that would be timed from the openmg-up of tins route in the manner minted would be enormous and would be a great benefit to Gisborn e as well as otnei places.

Arjoc. Barnes, florist, Peel street, who has been suffering from.a severe for some weeks. lias so covered as be able to resume busines and now attends daily Lei s i°PAll floral and decorative work, m eluding wreaths and bo.uq.uets., ior which g she enjoys so good a reputatm-. will now be done by her and customers are assured of hei best attention.*

Among the various means adopted to economise paper during the stringSIT BWeUington business man received a cover that had done duty twice— from Scarborou°k to London (where it was %Ze3 along tho top fold) . Lbndon to New Zealand. .I he means used for the second fastening was a paper band right round the original envelope. ,

Air R Williamson, who has been working as a Home Missionary on the Ealst Coast from lologa -to Hxks Bay, under the direction of «ie Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, has been transferred to Morere Tokomaru Bay,.his. former headquarters, with the districts around there whl he visited periodically by the Rev. J. Aitken. of. Gisborne, or his assistant. The committee of the Tokomaru B y congregation lias bought a site and when conditions are again normal, a church will he erect-ed. Meanwhile, they are altering the building formerly used as a manse in order to use it for a time as a meeting plae e and to hold service in when required.

A French journal states that it has been found that flies have a great objection to the color blue, and it buildings infested with flies are washed with a blue instead of a white wash, flies will desert the. .place. In support of this the following instance is reported: A farmer had 1 1 0 cows housed in different shedsj they Were pestered with flies, hut lie observed that in one shed, the Avails of which were a blue tint, the cows were not worried. He therefore added •), bins color to the dim e with Avluch lie washed, the buildings, and from uha-t flies have deserted the place. The following formula is used by him for the \vasu:To 20 gallons of Avater aud J-om of slacked iime and 11 of ultramarine. The washing is done tivice during the summer. Gambling is a NeAV Zealand characterstic, and it seems to have become an even Avorse fetish in the army m France. vrliere, although strictly for-, bidden, it is tolerated “under the , rose” as an illegitimate practice,, and j not so undesirable a pastime as might ! become prevalent is too severe measures " r ei'e adopted to suppress it. Near Staples base camp “two-up’ and ciwji and anchor schools existed where soldiers, mostly Australans and New Zealanders-, wer e known. to risk thousands of francs in one turn of the peniiies, Avliile in .London, on the day of the police strike, a large number of Australians and Neiv Zealanders were playing that game in the Trafalgar Square—-the centre of London ‘bustraffic. Strange .to • say, another game which has become,popular amongst a section of the forces, especially Avith officers, who had proverbially to spend many a lonely hour in their dug-outs, was “Patience.”

Writing of the. fall of Ngatapa, in which the rebel Te Kooti’s followers were defeated, Mr Frank Nuby, who participated in the action,- says in the Auckland Star:—“lt is just 50 years since Ngatapa fell after a siege lasting seven days and nights. Our troops were under command of ColWhitmore, and we underwent some severe hardships and fighting. There were four New Zealand Crosses won, the recipients being Major Ropata, chief of the Ngatiporou tribe of friendlies; Captain Pfe.ece, native contingent; and Ben Biddle and Solomon Black,- both of No. 1 Division, A-C.. force. The severity of the engagement can he judged from, the fact that the Napier papers, in the account of the fight,' mentioned that the whole force, from the officer, commanding- down to the diminutive boy bugler, Walter Delaney; well deserved the thanks of country’ ”

Sir George Reid’s will has been proved at £8340 gross and £7/13 net 'personalty, states ■ a London .cable message.

To a Times report/.*} yesterday, tho Mayor Mr W. G. Sherratt), said that as far as he could gather the Bay cf Plenty was now' clear of the ’flu.

Work is proceeding apace in connection with the electoral rolls. It appears from the forms that have been applied for and other indications that both parties are taking tlio keenest interest in the licensing contest.

On Thursday Mr. G. R. Miller will offer for sale by public auction at 262 Stout Street, the whole of Mr. A. A. Green’s household furniture and effects. The sale will commence at 1.30 p.m. sharp. Particulars are advertised.

Whilst on his recent visit to the Bay of Plenty, the Mayor (Mr W. G. Sherratt), ‘ found that the- influenza epidemic had been responsible for much delay on the part of the Maoris in the planting of their crops. Shearing in that district, was, however, pretty well over.

The present influenza pandemic recalls the fact that 27 years ago today the disease was raging at its height in Britain, and among the victims on Jan. 14-, 1892. was the elder brother of the present King, the Duke of Clarence, who died from double pneumonia following influenza, at the age of twenty-eight years.

The Wairoa Harbor Board, at the monthly meeting, says a Press Association telegram. passed . a stronglvworded' motion condemning the Government for not starting the AY aiJcaremoana hydro-electric works simultaneously with the other North Island schemes’, as promised by several Ministers at Napier and Wairoa

During his visit to Gisborne to-day a number of deputations will wait: on Sir Francis Bell,- Attorney-General, Minister of Immigration, and Commissioner of State Forestry, Railway -improvements and aTtenal road communication, as well as other district matters, will be dealt with, whilst grazing run holders will wait upon the Minister regarding recent legislation.

The third w'ool valuation in Gisborne this season has concluded, and the valuers left for South bv the Asahura on Sunday night. the valuers were Messrs H T Mills (supervisor), Tartakover, E. Mills. Clark, and Chill. The next valuation will commence in Gisborne on Jan. 2-tn, and this will clear the bul<t of the wool from this district.

Yesterday, states a Press Association telegram, the approved of a further grant of. £oo,0l)U for the New Zealand Hostel in Eondon conducted by Mr Nolan. . It has been the custom to grant this sum annually for this hostel and as there are still" New Zealanders in London to whom the hostel 'will be useful, the Government is continuing the gram another year.

A plucky action was performed by Mr E. Dunn, acting secretary of tne Waterside Workers Union 0 n Sunday evening. About 7 o’clock a boy named Bert Wallis,, employed on the Tuatea was observed by a ladv to trip and fall into the river Mr Dunn j-nmped into the .water fully clothed and seized the lad. Both got into dirficulties and were rescued in an exhausted condition by some of the crew of the Tuatea and bystanders.

. ‘Tn a fight with a tiger you do not stop to stroke his head,” declared Sir Hall Caine, in referring to Germany s request- for an armistice. ‘"We feel like the Highland minister,’ 5 he added. “who called on a dying parishioner "who had. lived an evil life, and said: 'Donald I see jou are busv dying, so I won’t detain you.’ If the old Germanv is dying, let it die. And something will go wrong with tne funeral if the .Kaiser is not present, playing th e principal part.”

In the course of his annual _ report the rector stated; —The Boys’ J&ectorv and the Girls’ Hostel are both flourishing institutions, the average number in residence during the year being 60 boys and 26 girls. The iiealtn of the boarders, apart from an epidemic of influenza at" the rectory during the middle term, has been very good. The grounds at- both houses are becoming, as the result of steady effort, more attractive each year.'

“He is in the habit of going to the pictures, and the ideas these boys get through these visits is very much apt to make them do such deeds,” said counsel-ou behalf of two young boys who were charged with theft in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday before Mr. J. S. Barton. S.M. The Magistrate said pictures in themselves were good, hut too much pictures and too much attendance at pictures showed a lack of discipline whilst the class of pictures sometimes shown was bad. He made an order prohibiting the boys from attending pictures and from being out after eighto’clock for a period of six months.

The offering of two blocks of 319 and 99 acres in the Waikohu Estate, at Messrs Williams and Kettle’s land sale on the 4th February, .is an opportunity that will be welcomed by those on the look-out for desirable properties within easy distance of town, ou a good road and in the much favored Waimata Despite the fact tnat properties Tu th e locality have been changing hands at substantial figures, the executors in this instance are fixing extremely reasonable upsets in order that a sale will be assured. Plans will be obtainable in a day or so, and the very favorable terms are set out in this issue.*

The fire brigade received o call at--9.30 yesterday morning to Messi's G. Aickiii and Son’s timber yard in Carnarvon street. It was found that a fir e . had broken out among the shavings in a room near the boiler, but, owing to tlie prompt action of the brigade, no damage was done. The manager. Air M. G. Walker, stated that the shavings room had been shut up siuc e the installation of an electric motor. The conditions in all three fires which have occurred n local timber mills during the past - fortnight were the same and it is believed that combustion took place in the shavings, which in vesterdayls outbreak filled the room. Smoke - was seen issuing from the room in question several minutes before.

A party of settlers in the Gilgandra . district, Neiv South Wales, alarmed by the approach of fire through a patch of bush, went to investigate, hue man on horseback and tho rest in a buggy. They ivent through the bush for some distance and then, suddenly, met th'e fire -approaching in one solid, roaring mass of flame. Tho man on horseback yelled to the otlions to folloAV him. ancr dashed at the fire, breaking through in on© place Avhere the Avail was thin. The others tried to folloAV, hut their horse would not face it, and they turned and set off at a mad gallop oA r er the rough track, headed for the paddocks from A\ J hich they had come. It was a fearful race. The bellowing, licking tire travelled as fast as they. The flames seemed to be »n both sides of them, and over their heads. The fire gained, and cut them off from a gateway AA’hich they AA’oro ana abvire fence broke their further progress. Fortunately, they had- wire-cutters with them, and they hurled them.-, selves at the fence, 0411! cut a waythrough, dragged the buggy through, and galloped for tke edge of the bush. . They got out With only ’ seconds .to . •spare. "When atlast they both ttieu And hors© fell: down,

Monday, washing day, appears to have lost some of its unpleasantness to the New Plymouth housewife. An enterprising laundry firm in ' that town has instituted the “bag wash,” whereby the family weekly washing is collected and returned in due time washed, dried and aired, for the wonderfully moderate charge of 2s 6d.

“I called at a farm the other day,” a man was telling, his friend, “and said to the woman who came to the door, ‘ls your husband at home ?’ ‘Yes,’ she replied: .‘he’s down in the sty feeding the pigs.’ I said, ‘Shall I have much trouble in finding him?’ ‘No,’ she replied, ‘lie’s the only one with side whiskers.’”

Prince Adalbert, third son of the Kaiser, occasionally joined "in ' the drunken revels which’ U-boat officers held in the wine cellars of the chateau of M. Catulle at Bruges. This chateau was the headquarters of the pirates for more than three years. In the cellars they frequently ate their meals off a donkey’s back.

In' the House of Commons, Mr. Kellaway, in moving the second reading of the Ministry of Munitions Bill, explained that its main object was to make ..it clear that the powers given to the Minister for War Production might be used for the reverse process of getting back rapidly to peace production. Mr. Herbert Samuel welcomed the Bill, and suggested that the title should be “Swords into' Ploughshares (Conversion) Bill.” “Like a frightened debauchee who on his deathbed sends for the priest and the lawyer, the Hapsburgs endeavored to avert imminent disaster from their throne and system by the promise of tardy repentance and reform. But few law-courts will accept as valid a will signed under such circumstances, and even the last comforts of the Church \ will scarcely avail one who has already fallen into raging delirium.”—The New Europe.

“Lowther Street C'ongregationa 1 Church, Carlisle, proposes to erect a tablet outside the building a uhich it is suggested that the following inscription should be placed:—‘The mother of President Woodrow Wilson was born at Carlisle. Her father, the Rev. Thomas Woodrow, was mini ister of this church from February, 1820, to June, 1835.’ Besides his ministry at the Independent Church, Mr. Woodrow (President Wilson’s grandfather) was the head of a ‘gentleman’s boarding academy,’ ” says the Christian World.

Writes Captain Ross (New Zealand official war correspondent): At one stage of the final advance a drunken Hun of the 402nd Regiment was found sniping with uncertain aim at our fellows. He was taken prisoner and marched to Headquarters, where he persisted in singing Hunnish songs to the Battalion Commander. The latter booted him off. but he continued his musical efforts, which were comical in the extreme in such a situation, apparently with a view to, impressing the Adjutant. The _ Adjutant pushed! him off to Brigade Headquarters. By the time he had arrived there he had become coherent, and the Intelligence Department got quite a lot of useful information out of him.

“The arrival of the German light ■cruiser Konigsberg qff Rosytli to arrange with. Admiral Beatty for the surrender or internment of the German Fleet was unprecedented in the annals of naval war, ’’says the Times. “There have, of course., been many instances'in which admirals and captains have surrendered their swords on their quarter-decks in a lost battle. But the only event in naval 'history comparable with this is the surrender of the Danish Fleet to Britain in 1807. Nor can these two eases really be compared, for in the latter instance Copenhagen was under bombardment by a superior force on the land side and blockaded to seaward.”

Little stories of General Pau are becoming public property that all go to show the wonderful way he has of doing gracious graceful things, the kind of acts that come only from a kindly heart, says an Australian Writer. At a function during his stay in Melbourne he was seated next a clergyman, who made excuses to the guest of honour for having to leave early, on the plea that he had to perform a wedding ceremony. On hearing this interesting piece of news the great soldier took from beside his plate an exquisite bunch of lily of tlie valley that bad been placed there, gave it to the clergyman, and asked him to present it to the bride with his best wishes for her future happiness.

Writing from Kqingaroa Prison to Mr. R. Semple, M.P., Mr. P. 'C. VVebfc, states in a letter (published m the Maoriland Worker)“ ‘The flames of revolution broke loose, sweeping through Russia, Austria, the Balkan States, eventually finding expresion in Germany. Who will dare say it will remain there Those of us who have studied the psychology of revolutions know that once started one never knows where /they will end. I am firmly of opinion that France and Italy will soon follow, perhaps not in the same way as the rest of Europe. Can England escape I think not. If wise counsels prevail, the social revolution will take a political form. If the British Government makes the same mess of their endeavour to govern Britain as our ‘wise heads’ are doing here, who can say what will happen?’’

Deeply interested, 250 Australian soldiers’ wives and nanjces gathered round Dr. Marion Phillips, Lady Mitchell, Mrs. Claude M’Donald, and Mrs. B. R. Wise, at Australia House on December 22, to obtain first-hand particulars of domestic life in their new homeland. All of them seem to come from good homes. They are bright young, and comely, and many of tnem are very useful. A few of the wives brought babiesDr. Phillips pictured the happy homes with verandahs and gardens, the freedom from the British grinding struggle for existance, the better food, the cheerier surroundings for children, the healthier and easier bringing up of children, owing to the outdoor life. The speakers advised the women about clothing, the care of babies, and the voyage to Australia.

Aditionai facts concerning. die pi • gress of the demobilisation of .Tow Zealand troops were given by Mr. A. Harris, whe.i speaking at a thanksgiving social at Takapuna on Monday. Mr Harris who said his information came from a thoroughly reliable source, stated that six ships carrying -wounded men had left England in December’ while -an- j other five were leaving during the present month. These eleven ships would bring about. 10,00(1) men, or practically all the sick and wounded, exclusive of the cot cases. It was estimated that there would be 50,000 troops in England and France, and 4000 in Egypt. In addition there were abofit 3000 wives and dependants, and another 3000 civilian workers and members of the British military and naval forces. There'were also the personnel of the Young Men’s Christian Association,' the New Zealand War Contingent Association, and the New Zealand Red Cross. If peace should be signed in March, it was estimated that it would take practically twelve months to bring all the combatants and non-combat-ants hack to New Zealand.