LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 27 September 1915, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

The secretary reported to the meeting of the general, committee of the e£ mont A. and P. Association on Saturday that up to the present he had secured,,, £250 in special prizes, without the town having been touched. The'Footwear Regulation Amending Bill provides that Inspectors of Factories shall act as - inspectors of footwear under the Act of 1918. Provision is also made that legal proceedings under the Act may be taken summarily only before a magistrate.

At a special meeting of the Hawera branch of the Veterans' Association on- Saturday, a resolution was carried approving of the proposal to form a unit of the National Reserve, but before committing the branch to anything definite further information is to be obtained. It was suggested by one member that being attached to the Reserve would destroy the identity of the Veterans. This view was not, however, .entertained by others; but to be perfectly sure the Wellington vicepresident is being asked to furnish full particulars.

Fifty-four new members were elected at the meeting of the general committee of the Egmont A. and P. Association on SaturdajFafternoon. The President and the canvassing committee were congratulated upon this very satisfactory result. During the past two or three months 130 new members had been enrolled, and if they could reach the 1000 mark there would not be much need to worry about; ithe bank overdraft. A member: That willstillbe with us. (Laughter).

. Mr H- J. Gladstone, a cousin of the late W. E. Gladstone (who made the name, famous throughout the world) died at Orari the other day. He was bom in Liverpool in 1826, and was' educated there. In 1854 he landed at Lyttelton from the Aslimere, and with tne late Mr Watson, who was at that time Resident Magistrate at Akaroa, as partner, purchased a. run in what is now known as the Mackenzie Couh^ try. Ten years late Mr Gladstone sold his interest in the run, and purchased a farrii of 600 acres at Orari, which he retained and resided upon till the time of his death.

Those who had sufficient forethought about 30 years ago to plant trees on the:r holdings now recognise that the timber for feneing and building is a most. valuable asset (says the Ashburton Guardian). The common pinus insignis, which is, probably the most rapid growing tree of the species planted, was at one time considered useful for shelter purposes only but ot late it has Jbeen sawn up into building timber by portable sawmilling plants, and if well painted when erected it can be brought into effective use for stables, granaries, barns, and other outbuildings on the farm. In one part of the district just now a large dwell-ing-house is being erected almost entirely of pinus insignis timber grown on tne farm.

Candour is the keynote of the Mercantile Gazette in its comments upon the action taken by Chambers of Commerce to han.per as much as possible the influx of German and Austrian goods to New Zealand after the war. "Probably nine-tenths of the members who compose our Chambers of Commerce handle German goods (the Gazette remarks), and the other tenth have consistently bought German goods. The same conditions, the same considerations that have induced New Zealand traders to handle Gern.an and Austrian goods in the past, will operate when peace is restored, and the chief of these considerations is cheapness." It is shown how Germans in cheapness and quality have undersold ''British' manufacturers supplying this market, and the writer says that "unless barred by legislation, German goods will come into New Zealand as freely after the war as they did before, and those who are loudest in their protestations of patriotism will be the first to assist the Germans by buying their goods."

I People here will be interested in the ! following extract from a letter written by Major Mathew Holmes, New Zealand Medical Corps, from Anzac, at the beginning of August: "You cannot imagine the delight a small parcel of eatables would be here, biscuits, cake, chocolate, etc.; but everything is looted on the way, and the only things that arrive are socks, etc., for tne men, none of which are wanted. There are bales of socks and clothes on the beach to be had for the asking; but food, except bully beef and biscuit, would be a godsend. Reading matter is non est, and we expect the hospital ships, etc., have oceans of it. . By great good luck I found one man had a book on surgery. I nearly shouted at the sight of it, and have to-day consumed ninety pages of it. I never enjoyed anything so much." Further on in his letter, the major writes: "Occasionally other food than bully beef appears from the unknown, but most insides can only now digest the bully beef, and suffer from any fancy diet. . . From what we can hear, the fighting in France is a much more luxurious affair than it is here, with their open lines of communication and the various gifts and literature they manage to get."

The earthquakes which occurred on the East Coast of New Zealand between September and November, 1914, aindi were felt in many other t>arts of New Zealand, w'ere the subject of an address delivered by Mr G. Hogben v C.M.G., tlie well-known seismologist, at a meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society (says the Post). In the course of an interesting address, he referred to the fact that that was the first occasion on whidh he had noticed a- tiltimg movement of the earth towards the east. Since October, 1899, there had been steady tilting movements towards the west, and New Zealand had been gradually tilting in that direction, the change was, therefore, remarkable. Referring to the fact that before the earthquakes in question occurred there had been movements of the earth in an easterly direction, Mr Hogben said it had been suggested that it might be possible to prophesy earthquakes. That was only possible to a certain extent. When easterly movements accumulated, they knew that there must be some considerable movement going cm, and they might anticipate that they would reach their climax in an earthquake in. that region, bu,t they could not say absolutely when it would come. They could not give warning that an earthquake would occur on a definite date; all they could say was that it was possible, perhaps probable, but it woxild be very wrong to alarm people, and it would be better not to prophesy.

VM^ fi fewer stow, fceld .eatly in :tnis\ month, including a iffw special Bubecriptions;ytotalled about £130.. The Wounded Soldiers' * und benefits to the extent of a little over £40. The President reported to the A. and P. Association on Saturday afternoon that the caretaker had made a start with the preparaory work on the grounds for the annual show. It was hoped to be able to do the whole of the work without the aid of outside labor and thereby save a good deal of expense.

Mr J. Blair mentioned at the meeting of the general committee of the Egmont A. and P. Association on Saturday that the farmers' class of instruction which had been recently inaugurated, was now in full swing, and good would be sure to come of it. The Minister for Education Avould shortly be visiting the district with the o'^ect of seeing this and the older classes in the district at work. "I never hear of the prosperity of the company," said Mr John Allen at tho annual meeting of the Auckland Farmers^ Freezing Company, "without thinking of the time wnen we sat on the corn-sacks and discussed the formation of a co-operative concern to protect the interests of the farmers. We had no chairs then as we have today, and we were only laughed at for our pains." By way of indicating that "he laughs best who laughs last," Mr Allen (says the Auckland Star) added that every original member of the company had been repaid his capital over and over again. The Post says that in the course of pa stirring speech on the National Registration Bill Mr Isitt offered his services to the Prime Minister for Slaifcform work for recruiting. : With a ash of humor Mr Isitt added: "If the Massey lion went round with the Isitt lamb the people would think that the maiehnium had arrived!?? ..-(Laughter.) He would fight the Premier on the land question when *the war was over as bitterly as ever, "but while the war is on," he declared fervently, ' we are simply two men who love our Empire, two fathers j who have sent our sons to the" front, and for whom we offer our" common prayer." (Hear, hear.) ' A young and very determined New Zealander, eight years of age, reported to his parents the other day (says the Chnstchurch Press) that he had visited the C.D.C. Recruiting Office, and after gravely executing a military salute had asked to be enrolled. 'He gave the information that he had a brother and a cousm at the front- "killing Turks," and he wanted to go, and if he could do nothing else, he would carry bread to those in the fighting line He left the office with the 'idea firmly fixed in his mind that he had been accepted, and that he would in due course, receive a gun, or a sword, or a revolver. "To run out of the house when an earthquake, occurs is the worst thine you can possibly do," said Mr G Ho", ben lecturing before the Wellington Philosophi-al Society. "Stay in the house keep in the doorway, or under the table but don't run out of the house. The chief danger occurs to people running rut of the house. Even if the house comes down, you are pretty safe under the table, and if you loot at records of earthquakes and buildings destroyed you will see doorways standing everywhere. People standing in doorways would have been safe, even m destructive earthquakes. In any case it is most dangerous to run out of the building." The supreme prayer of my heart is not to be learned or "good," but to t rad'? nt- ! desire to radiate health, cheerfulness, sincerity, calm courage and good will. I wish to be simple, honest, natural, frank, clean in mind and clean m body, unaffected—readv to say, "I do not know," if so it be to meet all men on an absolute equality "7T*? ««» any obstacle and meet every I difficulty unafraid and unabashed 11 wish others to live their lives, too up to +heir highest, fullest and best.' To that end I pray that I may never meddle, dictate, interfere, give advice that is not wanted, nor assist when my services are not needed. If I can help people I'll do it by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if I can uplift or inspire, let it be by example, inference and suggestion, rather I than by injunction and dictation. That I is to say, I desire to be radiani^to radiate life.—Elbert Hubbard. It is Vf-ry hard to convince anyone that simplicity is one of the most expensive or luxuries, and that one of the reasons for what appears to be unnecessary oomplicationa and elaboration is that they hide the want of quality in the fundamental thing on which they are imposed. If it is so difficult to get good,, simple food in perfection, it is quite as difficult to get good, simple turmture and good simple clothes. We i ? ow that is mucn harder to tell whether a dress is well cut when it is much trimmed and ornamented, and harder stili to detect good design and proportion in a piece of furniture when it is overladen with carving. The person who tries to get the good, simple thing, even if it be only well-made tea, n rightly-boiled egg, and perfect toast may be rowing against the stream: but she is uoing the good work of keeping alive a tradition which in our hurried existence is in danger of dyinsj. Straw boaters for men and "girls are now opened. We have the latest high crown hats, also wide brims, children's man-o-war hats, silk and tussore Peter £an hats, men's Panama hats, boys' Panama hats. Call and see the ladies' w^iite felt hats, the latest, at the New Zfealand Clothing Factory, Hawera — Advt.