LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 4 June 1915, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

There are 31 fire insurance companies operating in Gisborne.

Captain McLaglen, who is claimed to be the world's jiu-jitsu champion, has arrived in Christehurch to instruct the police force in the art of jiu-jitsu.

In the Bay of Islands electorate Sir Joseph Ward has already delivered eighteen addresses, and expects to deliver another eighteen before the polling.

_At the meeting of the representatives of local bodies to deal with the small-bird nuisance at Levin, Mr T Wlurk, director of orchards, said that, placing everything on a low basis, no less than £4,400,000 was lost per annum in the Dominion through the damage done by small birds

One young fellow who volunteered tor the front got a big disappointment **, Dannevirke when .Presenting himself for medical examination. It was discovered that he had been a Territoral shirker, and was told to stand nW 7h ha •r? W t0 st<ayinS here and doing the military service which he nad been side-stepping.

Now that the motor-carried machine pait m the European war, it is interesting to note that the first motor Maxim gun was used in 1889. It was introduced by Major Lisle, then commanding the Middlesex Cyclists' Corps lhe gun was mounted on a light carnage fitted with Dunlop-tyred wheels, and was drawn by a 2f h.p. De Dion

Mr J. W Duffill, architect, let a cont w°£ Wednesday afternoon to Mr i on S f°r considerable additions to the Central Hotel. The new portion will comprise an auction mart and two shops on the ground floor, and seventeen bedrooms, two sitting-rooms and a bath room on the first floor. The x?Jn™ ct pnce was between £3500 and X-40LKJ.

,\The Maiutia. ladies' sewing committee for-the; Hospital Ship are sending a box' of goods away on. Tuesday. All contributions should be left at the Manaia Town Hall not later than Monday evening. At a meeting of the vestry of St. Mary's this week, it was decided that the memorial to (the late Archdeacon Cassell should take the form of a carved reredos for the church j and iv was resolved to appeal to parishioners for the necessary funds, and also to i give church people throughout the archdeaconry an opportunity ot assisting. At the annual meeting of shareholders of the Hawera Electric _ Lighting Co. on Wednesday, the Chairman remarked that the consumption of current was. now almost up to the limit of power, and that in the near future | the company would probably have to ! consider the installation of more efficient turbines at the power station. The Weekly Times of April 23 says: "Miss Lidster, daughter of Chief Inspector Lidster, of the Great Western Railway, Pontypool, began duty on Monday morning as stationmaster of : Treedyrhiw Halt, on the joint Great Western and Rhymney Railway, near ' Merthyr. She is, the first woman to act in scuh a capacity; in South Wales. i Another woman is being appointed to take charge of Trelewis Junction. The predecessors of both women have joined the Army." An epidemic of scarlet fever and influenza is raging in Greymouth, and hardly a house is without its victim. So acute has the position become at tb« hospital that it has been closed to &U visitors except in urgent cases specified by the medical superintendent. The authorities are taking active steps to j combat-.-.the spread of the disease, but despite the warnings, of the press; the I people are most careless. At tne Cobclan ! School on one day there were 113 ab- ; Bentees out of a roll number of 263. all due to the epi Jaime. i At a special meeting of the Dunedin ; Liedertafel it was unanimously decided , that the hamfe "Liedertafel" should be 'deleted and that the title should be ali-./ tereflto- the Male Cfooir'^ in the meantime/" ThW secretary was in--1! structed to communicate with other: rou--1 j sical societies in the dominion, and also ► I in Victoria and New South Wales with the object of endeavoring to fix on a ! general title which might be used by all male choirs. The society has used the 1 name Liedertafel for the past 29 years; i in fact, ever since its inception (says > the Ota'go Daily Times' In a letter to the Minister of De- . fence. Mr E. S. Wilson, secretary of the Otago Patriotic and Recruiting ) , Committee, Dunedin, drew attention to 1 the fact: that in most cf the reports . of the Gallipoli fighting the New Zeaj land troops are included in the word Australasians, . and suggesting that steps be taken to give^due credit to ' New Zealanders. Mr Allen handed the - letter to the manager of the Press Assort ciation, Mr W. HcAtack, who has rei plied that he will communicate with Australia and see what can be done to ' distinguish bebween the two bodies— r New Zealanders and Australians. f The Masterton Age says: "We have i information at our disposal which leads us to suppose that naturalised Ger- ' mans in New Zealand are regularly " transmitting money to the enemy. The 7 money is sent to relatives, or agents, 1 in the United States, from whence it x is forwarded on to Germany. Some , t of these naturalised Germans pretend * loyalty to Britain, and even subscribe . to the local relief funds. While they _ may consider they are justified in helping their relatives in Germany, ' and in keeping them from starvation, s they are probably not aware that t shey - are committing a very serious offence . in transmitting money, either directly or indirectly. The authorities in ' New Zealand should censor every comB munication with a neutral country, so t that the practice we have referred to i may not be continued." 5 1 S 0 f 1 t 1 a 1 7 fc 1

In the rydney Morning Herald the writer of Housekeeping Notes gives a list of prices which is interesting to compare with our own. In most things Sydney has the advantage. "Butter continues to grow scarcer and scarcer. It does not require a very active imagiation to foresee a day when it will be unprocurable. Its price is Is 4d alb. Eggs are 2s 2d. Roasting fowls, 3s 9d, and the fowl of uncertain age, but large and excellent for boiling, for 2s 9d. The best bananas are 9d or Is a dozen, small ones 8d and 6d. Good fating apples from 9d to Is 6d a dozen. Rhubarb is plentiful and. good at 3d arid 4d a bunch. Tomatoes are 3d and 6d a dozen, and passion fruit can be obtained at 2d a dozen." Fish appears to be about the'same price as we pay here, but cQrtainly the Sydney housekeeper has the advantage, as our prices are uniformly more expensive.

The results of the investigations by the Commonwealth statistician (Mr G. H. Knibbsi as to vacations in prices of food and groceries have bee?i made available for the month of April. The aggregate result for the 30 towns covered by the investigation shows that prices were 13.2 per cent higher in April than in July last. The increase since the outbreak of war is greatest in Queensland (21.3 per cent), followed by Victoria (16.3), South Australia (14.5), Tasmania (14.1), and Western Australia (10.3), the increase being least in New South Wales (8.6 per cent). The result of this is, of course, to reduce the relative cost of food and groceries in Sydney compared with other towns. Thus, in July the cost in Sydney was 4 per cent greater than in Melbourne, but in April £he cost was greater in Melbourne than in Sydney by 2-£ per cent.

The annual meeting of shareholders of the Hawera County Electric Light Co. was held on Wednesday afternoon, Mr E. Payne/ chairman cf directors, presiding over a fair attendance. The report and balance-sheet disclosed a very satisfactory year's operations, a s;ross profit of' £2477 7s 4d having been made. Out of this provision had K^en nncle for depreciation (£843 5s 2d), and bad debts reserve had been increased by £100; also £200 had been transferred from appropriation account to capital account—thus absorbing c «?«« 2d, and leaving a net balance °f£}334 2s 2d ( . to which must be added balance of appropriation account, £818 3s 2d carried forward from last year, making a total of £2152 5s 4rl to be with. It was decided to nay a dividend of 7 per cent on the ordinary shares (£963 11 s>; 7 per cent on preference shares (£53 4s); and carry the sum of £500 to reserve, making this account to stand at £2000. Ihis absorbed in all £1516 15s, leaving a balance of £635 10s 4d to be carried forward. The results show steady expansion, the increase in revenue from light and power and the number of consumers having increased considerably. The retiring directors, Messrs Hunger and Tait, were reelected, ami Mr H. A. Lennon was reelected auditor. A bonus of £50 was voted to the chairman and an extra £5 5s to the auditor.

While speaking at the opening of the Waikato Winter Bhow on Tuesday, the Premier (the Right Hon. W. Jb\. Massey) referred (says the Auckland Star) •to the great shortage of freezing space in the Auckland province; which, he said, was becoming a very serious matter to the producers. It was a fact, he understood, that in the whole province there was only sufficient storage for 75,000 carcases. At least four times 'as much was urgently needed. He was not finding fault with the producers, nor with the energy of the men who established the present works, but it was the duty of the leading eettlerß, business men and producers to look to' the future and to provide for the cxi- J gencies coming, which, in fact, were almost here. He, therefore, urged them to immediately set to work and provide accommodation for at least 300,000 carcases. This \ would not be necessary, perhaps, were sufficient ships available to carry away their produce when ready, but lie was sorry to say the outlook pointed to the war lasting a considerable time, and the scarcity of ships was, therefore, likely to continue. He hoped, therefore, that the responsible people, in the Auckland province would heed his remarks and see to it that the necessary storage space was provided.

The women of Canada are taking up arms (writes the Wellington Post San Francisco correspondent). In Vancouver a regiment of women in 6mart khaki uniforms, officered and disciplined and undergoing drill and training, is one of the sights to be seen any day. There have been rumors of a German raid on Vancouver, and, while it is recognised that such an eventuality is not at all probable, and scarcely possible, still the women of the city i have decided to prepare themselves for the defence of themselves and their tomes in emergecny. The instigator of the movement is the Hon. Ella ScarlettSynge, M.D., who for the past few years has been practising medicine in Vancouver. , Dr Scarlett-Synge is the daughter of the lats Lord Abinger. The corps has been in existence but a few weeks, and already has about 500 women in its ranks. A headquarter* ha> be.en established, where a recruiting officer is kep^ answering enquiries and enrclling new volunteers. Every evening ac Vancouver Women's Volunteer Reserve may be seen drilling, this part of the day being chosen because many of the members are working women, who pass their days in schoolrooms, offices and stores. The real object of the formation of the corps is that, in the event of trouble, the women will be able to relieve the men in such routine work as signalling, despatch-riding telegraphing, motor car driving, and camp cooking, thus enabling their brothers and husbands to serve on the firjng line. But there are many crack shots and £ood riders in the corps.