LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 9 October 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A Maori statutory first offender (drunkenness) was . fined ss, one amount of ins baii -noney, by Mr W. xt. ilasoicien, ib.ivi., this ■ morning. Four medical men who have been imported from England by the Friendly societies of \Veilington, arrived at Auckland by- the lonic, and reached neUington on Thursday. They will take up their work at once. Mr R. Masters, chairman of the Education Board, ha? been iniormed by the Jliducation Department that a grant of £'6zo has been made towards

T,'ie erection of a school at Pukengahu inland from Ngaere.- .

In our Opunake correspondent's last notes some capital letters and punctuation marks were misplaced m printing the casualty list. The list should have read: Uiea oi wounds, W. Peters; dangerously lli from wounds, J. Sievwrignt, wounded, A. Ward and Sid. Hicicev. ,

The tar sprayer ordered from Home by the Hawera County Council some timo ago is expected to be shipped this month, and should arrive in the Dominion about the end of November.

This will enable the Council to expedite the work of tarring the roads. • A refresher camp of instruction for officeis and N.C.O.'s will be held at

Palmerston North this week. Sergt.Major Hill, of the local Defence Oince, left for the camp this morning to act as one of the instructors.

At St. Mary's. Church on Wednesday afternoon, at 3 p.m., the foundation stone of the new Sunday School will be laid by the Yen. Archdeacon of Waitotara. At four o'clock there will be a social gathering of parishioners and friends in the schoolroom to meet the Archdeacon and Mrs Reeve, and in the evening at 7.30 the dedication of the Cassell Memorial Reredos in the church.

Having be.en invited by the V.M.C.A., to proceed to the front to help their ■■ work there, Professor Bedford applied to the Otago University Council for extended leave till the end of March, 1917. Exception was taken," by Mr Stephens and other members, on the grour.^ that the Workers' Educational Association lectures and organising work for next year's classes would suffer. By a majority,, the Council declined t)i\ Bedford's request. '.." ■ I In commenting upon the? Dominion girt scheme for soldiers at the front the Auckland Star says: ' 'Not only does the gift scheme mean that the soldier's who have not the good fortune to be regularly supplied with comforts by thenfriends will have their lives brigiitened, but it is a reminder to those who look beyond the gift to th e sentiment attaching to it that the sense of communal obligation at home has not been blunted by long months of war." At a meeting, of the Wellington Trades and Labor Council it was statact that New Zealand at the present time .had scarcely any efficient apprenticeship. For one reason or another the training was not undertaken by employers in the old way, and the change was not in the interests of the rising generation.. It was decided that representations be made to the Government on the subject with the. object, of securing for boys the opportunities for technical education, which .they do not seem to be able to obtain under apprenticeship. The accumulation of, wealth is not the purpose of the Harbor Board (observes the Wanganui Herald), but rather the spending of any ' surplus, money for the improvement of the port. Both the general and the loan account show a considerable credit, and the Board has £26,000 on fixed deposit, a fact which caused the chairman (Mr J. B. Murray) to remark-, "We are becoming quite a wealthy body, but I would rather the work went on and some of the money was spent "

The Auckland Education Boiird has decided to send to the Education De-

partment .another protest—the fourth from the board—against the anomaly by wilieh a married teacher who joins

the Expeditionary Forces as^ an ■officereceives from tTie. Department an'allowance amounting. Q $}& difference between his niilifary pay afiu' oils arid-a quarter times h«5 salary, as a teacher, .ivhile a teacher who. enlists as a private or non-commissioned officer re-

ceives n,o allowance at all from the Dement. A letter was received from

the Departi.«mt stating that it had been decided to make an allowance to married teachers with the Forces who were granted commissions after enlisting and before leaving the Dominion. This allowance would be the same as in the case of the married teachers who joined as officers, and would b.e paid from the date of the granting of the commission.

Most people will approve of a new Royal decision with regard to the decoration known as the Military Cross (states the London correspondent of the Wellington Post). . While most winners of distinctions (e.g., the V.C., D.5.0., D.C.M., etc.) were supposed to use the letters after their names,' for some reason or other this was not permitted with the Military Cross, and there was therefore no method of showing that an officer bore this honor. It .is now ordained • that the Military Cross is to be worn immediately after all Orders, and before all decorations and medals (except only the Victoria Cross, and that although it will not confer any individual precedence, the recipient will be entitled to the letters M.C. after his name.' 'It is further ordained that bars may -be given to holders of both the D.S.O. and the Military Cross for performing subsequent acts which would have entitled them to the medal if they did aot already possess it. . "

Lieutenant-Colonel 'Mclnness, the new chief secretary of the Salvation Army an this Dominion, states that just prior to leaving the Old Country in July last he visited various hospitals for the purpose of giving a word oi cheer to New Zealand soldiers, and at the same time enquired as to whether he could be of service to them when he reached these shores. Mrs Mclrines had also been a weekly visitor to nine of the hospitals, where the wounded New Zealandeis a,nd Australians arrived from time to time. On on© occasion she was touched with the following incident:— A young man, about twentsy-four years of age, was looking very pale and worn. Mrs Mclnnes approached his bedside, and asked him in what way he had been hurt. He was strangely moved by this kind enquiry, and endeavored to speak, but failed; anxious, however, to show the visitor what had tiappened to him tie threw back the bedclothes and held up to view two stumps. As she stooped bo kiss one of the stumps a tear fell ipon it. She thereupon thanked the roung man for the heroic nght 1-e had 3ut up and the great sacrifice .ie had nade in the defence of the wonen and ;hiidreri of the Empire. He L-eemeri encouraged by this remark, and swallowing the lumn that was in his throat, he replied: :Eh, ma'am, do you think there are many peoole that will look at it like that?" ' [ . , Everybody's praising "'No Rubbing Laundry Help" because it washes all clothes clean without rubbing or injury to hands or fabrics. Is carton does seven weeks' washing. Wholesale agents, Burgess, Fraser and Co. —Advt

A Masterton telegram states that Mrs May Dorah Marshall, aged firty, died on Saturday, morning after taking poison.

At the annual meeting of the New Plymouth Agricultural Society on Saturday a satisfactory report was presented and an optimistic feeling prevailed. It was generally conceded that the Society has taken a new lease of life. Mr J. S. Connett was re-elected president. The Government has come to the decision (says the Dominion) that the local price of butter must not be raised. The ISoard of Trade has prepared details for a scheme by which a supply of butter can be conserved for th.c local market, but this scheme has not yet been made

available for publication. The Red Cross art union winners

were as follows: First, satin eider-T-.nvn quilt, No. 28, Mr H. Kelpe, Hawera; second, pen-painted cushion, No. 912, Mr F. O'Connor, Hawera; third, poker work stool, No. 532, Mr S. J. Crosby, Normanby; fourth, table cloth, No. 1218, Mr Gf. Morrison, Normanby: fifth, cushion. No. 713 Mr

Davis, Midhirst; sixth, tea cosy No 542, Mr C. B. Arnold, Nolantown. The New Zealand Paper Company, which has it« headquarters in Christchurch; and has large leases of timber

m Westland, sent a quantity of timbei to Europe, where it was manufactured into paper, some rolls of which, have beeu received in Christchurch

■ A new port m Foveaux Strait will shortly be opened at Mussel Beach (states tlie Bluff Press), where an Australian firm proposes to expend

£25,000. A township of 25 houses "ill be built, and also a wharf. Ihe syndicate owns two steamers, and will "take a hand in the timber industry. The country round about Mussel Beach is heavily timbered, and forms one cf the finest stretches of natural, uncut forest in New Zealand. The Hump (3000 ft) is beautifully, wooded with silver I:iron, and the beautiful little-known Lakes Houroto, Poteritiri, and Monowai lie

inland. Messrs Powdrell, Marx, Murdoch ana ±<orsyth went to Wellington this luoriaiiig in connection with matters concerning the cheese export. They are to meet the Minister to-morrow (Tuesday) morning, by arrangement made last week, tor a conference between representatives of butter and cheese producers throughout the Dcmmicn and Board of Trade representatives. The purport of the conference is to discuss proposals concerning and regulating the local price of butter, and also the Government proposals regarding the export of butter and cheese. Before the Arbitration Court at Timaru, the General Laborers', Builders', eonci-.eters',^Harbor Board's, and Borough pounca's Employees' dispute was •heard, and wages were fixed at Is 4£d per hour. This is the highest rate yet fixed .in the dominion--for this class"of. labor, and • represents an increase from 9s 4d per day. to-Us per day. At the recent sittings of the Court in Christchurch the rat». of wages for painters was fixed at Is 4-J-d per hour. At a sittirig of the Court at Timaru the wages of employees engaged in wool/ grain, and seed sheds were fixed at Is 4d'per-homy,and of casual laborers.in coal and timber yards at Is 2jd per hour. Speaking of hh appointment as a chaplain to the Expeditionary Force at Onehunga (says tlis Auckland Star), the Rev. D. D. Scott said that he I had no qualms of conscience whatever about a minister of the Go^oel going into the trenches and using "the bayonet. Being a Scotsman, he was naturally a ng"lit3r. (Laughter.) Indeed, there was aot, in his opinion, a more honorable course than "to be in the trenches , fighting — not slaughtering men; but wrong principles. He was : proud to know that some of the finest and bravest young men of the Church .were now in the fighting line, and-he , would willingly stand in with them

The fact that no census of the cattle : m the dominion, has been taken since 1911 was commented upon by the chairman (Mr S. J. Ajmbury) !at"the annual meeting of shareholders in the Auckland ■manners' Freezing Company (says the New Zealand Herald). He stated that in the year named there was only a very moderate increase in- the number', of "eatile'ov«r'"ihe"''pHvibu§^c6'fisu§r"F-n'i? years ago the number of cattle killed by the company was 898 head. For the year ended June 30, 1916, the number killed was 4/,864. Did not the shareholders think1 that they, as farmers and graziers, would be justified in requesting th.c Government to have an annual census of the cattle taken at'the same time and by the same enumerators as those who took the sheep census, so that freezing companies, in particular would have data to guide them in making provision for dealing with the fat stock when.it was ready for the market? Shareholders did not discuss the question at the meeting.

A meeting of various local bodies and dairy companies in the Stratford district was held .at Stratford on Saturday afternoon to further the project of establishing a model dairy farm at Stratford. Mr E. Jackson, of the A. and P. Association, said it was suggested that the farm should have an area of about 150 acres, 100 acres of which to be used for dairying purposes, where the milk could be weighed, tested, and proper records kept of the various breeds, and the balance .of 50 acres used for experimental purposes, where farmers and their sons could visit and see the various experiments carried out, and also see the results from the use of different manures. The Minister of Agriculture had expressed himself in sympathy with the object, The experimental farm at Moumahaki was too far away to be of any practical use. The present proposal was to lease a farm, and they had a property in viewj just adjoining the borough, and it could be: leased on very easy terms. He felt sure that if the farm was managed by a board of experienced, farmers, and run on proper scientific lines, it would pay. The Government- was prepared to subsidise their efforts to the extent of £400 per annum. ,