LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 25 May 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

On account of the great strides made in street illumination within recent years, £16,000 worth of arc lamps, many of them brand new, have been declared obsolete by the civic authorities in Sydney, and an order has been made out for their sale.

The well-known mining expert, Mr H. H. Adams, has (says the Post) developed a device which he thinks will successfully combat torpedo attacks. The invention has been forwarded to the Minister of Defence, who, it is understood, has sent the details on to the British naval authorities.

The coal-miners of the Auckland district have been faithful to their undertaking to abandon the "go-slow" policy (says the Herald). The manage^ rnents of both the Taupiri Mines, Ltd., and the Pukemiro Collieries, Ltd., report that work in their mines is now going on under normal conditions, and the output per miner is again equal to that of the days before the "go-slow" infection was contracted.

The Efficiency Board is sitting in Wellington at present, and it is understood that the hearing of evidence in the liquor enquiry, which the board has been making, will be completed next week. The board will probably present its report to the Government very soon after the evidence is complete. The Efficiency Board reported to the Government on the horse-racing question a month ago, at the conclusion of the last meeting of the board (says the Dominion).

A man who came before the Medical Board recently was not keen on going to~ the front (says the Manawatu Standard). With the object of being rejected he pretended that one leg was stiff, making it shorter than the other. To his great astonishment and disgust he was passed as fit, the discerning medical officer remarking, with a smile, that the ground was very uneven in France, and the short leg would be no drawback. The short leg "stunt" will now be at a discount.

It is not often that a man appears on the same day in the dual characters of a successful candidate at the declaration of a poll and defendant in a Police Court prosecution. That experience befell Mr Edwards, the re-cently-elected member for■ Adelaide in the Legislative Assembly. Mr Edwards, as licensee of the Duke of Brunswick Hotel, was charged with being the licensee of premises out of which a person was seen proceeding at 11.45 p.m. on April 10. He was convicted and fined.

The son of Mr J. O'Grady, M.P. for Leeds, chairman of the General Federation of Trade Unions, who Was severely wounded some months ago, has (says the Central News) provided another instance of the marvels of surgery during the present war. It was necessary to take one of his arms off, and the surgeon responsible for the operation cut some bone out of the amputated limb, put the arm on again, sewed the tendons together, and now the arm is so well that the patient can use it and is able to l;ft a cup of tea slowly to his mouth. The difference between the two arms is that the injured one is about 2£in shorter than the other.

The founding of an Empire Farm in Canada is put forward by the Empire Resources Development Committee in illustration of their scheme for reducing the National Debt. They point out that 200,000,000 acres purchased from the Dominion Government at £1 an acre, and sold again 20 years later, after development, at £20 an acre, would redeem the whole of the National Debt of £4,000,000,000, and at the same time attract to Canada a great arniy of taxpayers who would be an enormous asset. If only £10, or even £5, per acre were obtained/the scheme still holds great possibilities which would simultaneously enhance the credit of the Empire and the strength and wealth of Canada. When is a land agent not a land f£ en ™ !i- his <luesti?" cropped up in the Wellington Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. A. M. Howitt, of Kilbirnie, was charged with acting as a land agent without a license. It was disclosed in the evidence that defendant was acting as agent for Mr Jiasson, who had given him power as agent for the sale of his land. It was admitted that neither Howitt nor Easson were land agents, but that ii,asson was the owner of the land being sold by Howitt as agent. It was contended by Inspector Marsack that, as notices respecting houses to let and land for sale were exhibited by Howitt m his window, it was a prima facie ease against him. Howitt, for whom Mr M. Van htaveren appeared, stated that he had not received a penny of commission on the land sold "The Magistrate (Mr L. G. Reid, S.M.) said it was plain that, under the circumstances, the information must fafl.

;Be a man and sign on," was the brief but telling remark which accompanied a white feather which reached a certain young man of military age not many weeks back. However, a few days ago the same young man, who, be it said, was in no sense of the word a "shirker," as some person would evidently have had others believe, received another registered parcel and on opening it he found the following note, which tells its own story and demonstrates the foolishness of some people: "'A man at last,' thought I when I came across your name in the 'Call to Arms' list, and I felt that at last I had taught another 'shirker' his duty. Since then I have met several people who know you, and they have told me that you had, to their knowledge, enlisted'five or six times. This I have since learned to be true, as I have a friend in the Recruiting Office. I now feel very much ashamed of myself for having sent you that white feather, and hope that it did not worry you. Ido not suppose | that it would, as you have an enviable reputation for being unconcerned by 'what people say,' so my friends tell me. In order to express mv regret in some practical way, I send a small token, which I trust you will find use for in your new sphere of activity. Begging forgiveness, and wishing you 'Kia Ora' and a safe return to New Zealand." Accompanying the note was a tobacco pouch. Needless to add, the young man concerned is totally unaware of the identity of the person who has had the courage to acknowledge her mistake (says the New Zealand Times). "I know my remedy."—Shakespeare. Those who are suffering from a cough or cold have a splendid remedy in Baxter's Lung Preserver. It will assist to throw off bronchial complaints as nothing else will. It heals the sore throat, relieves • 'tickling" and coughing, and promotes the health of the bronchial passage, and lungs. This is the preparation everyone needs. You cannot afford to take the risk of having a bad cold, but you can afford 1/10 for a big bottle of Baxter's Lung Preserver, which will help to keep you well. Get a bottle to-day

At Blenheim on Friday and Saturday last, George Gray, the champion cueist, gave two exhibitions of billiards. His best breaks were 264, 186 and 178.

Senior-Inspector Morton at Yv'ednesdays meeting of the Taranaki Education Board anuounced that a special examination for proficiency certificates ior ex-pupils and others "will be held at two or more centres of the district during the month of July.

The Southland Times says: The sideshow men report very " satisfactory business at the A. and P. Show; m fact, one or two candid showmen admit that they have done really well. This is an era of unionism, and as exemplifying the fact, one of the showmen stated to a reporter than an Australasian side-showmen's union was now being formed, with headquarters in Sydney, and would shortly be launched. This is surely the last word in unionism.

Statistics' regarding the harvest were made available by the South Australian Wheat Harvest Board last week (says the Sydney Morning Herald). They show that to date for this season 40,169,000 bushels of wheat have been delivered to local millers and shipping agents. This is more than 10,000,000 bushels in excess of the total for the previous season, and after allowing for seed retained by farmers and for small quantities that have still to be delivered, it points to the fact that the last harvest was between 43,000,000 and 45,000,000 bushels, and easily the largest quantity of wheat ever gathered in South Australia in a single season. It represents about £9,000,000, on the basis of the price realised for wheat sold last year to the Imperial Government. ;

Mr Selwyn Joyce, a New Zealander who has returned from America to enlist for military service, says that ever since the war commenced every American, man or woman, with the exception'of the "hyphenated" variety, has been heart and soul with the Allies — especially with France and America's next-door neighbor—Canada. It is well known, of course, that thousands of keen, alert, young Americans are serving with the Canadian army in France. Mr Joyce has fought with the Americans against the Mexicans, and his opinion of the American army is therefore of special interest. "I can assure you," he said, "that there are no better, more efficiently equipped, or better trained soldiers in the world than the American Regulars. They are only a handful, of course, but, reinforced by the National Guard and by tie large number of young men who have enlisted since the break with Germany, they will make a splendid showing if it is decided to send an expeditionary force to Europe."

Plans for sending an Australian delegation to London have been abandoned. All arrangements had been concluded for the Prime Minister (Mr W. M. Hughes), Sir John Forrest, and Sir William Irvine to represent Australia at the Imperial Conference in London, when the obstructive tactics of the Caucus party in the Senate made the trip impossible. Discussing the matter after the recent elections, Mr Hughes said that as the conference had concluded its labors there was therefore no apparent use in going to England. "I have no doubt, however," he said, "that there will be another Imperial Conference at the close of the war, or perhaps in several months' time. What I propose to do at present is to direct all my efforts towards the work for which "the National Government was returned, namely, to the winning of the war, the consideration of post-war problems, and the development of Australia's resources. There are very great problems in front of us, and towards the solving of these we shall have to direct all our energies."

An Comunn Gaidhealach is the name of the organisation constituted |by a band of Highlanders who, in Scotland, are making strenuous efforts to keep alive and even extend the use of the Gaelic language. And this takes some doing. At a recent meeting, Professor Watson pointed out the difficulties under which they labored since they received no assistance from the State, while in Wales and Ireland the national language had recognition in all the schools. The dearth of ministers for Gaelic-speaking charges w:as set forth by Mr H. F. Campbell, Aberdeen. At the present time there is practically not a single available man to fill the sixteen Gaelic-speaking vacant charges in the Church of Scotland. In the four universities there were only seven students who would within the next four years possibly become qualified to fill those charges. JNo man on the roll of probationers of the United Free Church was qualified to fill a Gaelic-speaking charge. "Perfect Philanthropy" is described in the Adelaide Observer as the care of war orphans, specially by those who nave lost their own dear ones. A mother, whose only son was killed in France, and who left all his property to her, as a lasting "in memoriam" to her boy, has adopted two orphaned -trench lads, and will settle the estate on them, and educate and provide for them suitably. Merton Hall, a large college for girls in Melbourne, has adopted a baby girl, a war orphan, lne baptismal ceremony was performed in the presence of several hundred rapturous mothers-by-adoDtion It is said that "Mary Merton," as she was named, was the" calmest girl in the assemblage. It is now the duty of the , girls to keep Mary Merton in clothes made by their own hands, and later her education will be arranged and provided by them, and later again her vocation in life will be chosen. This apoears to be a fine lesson in responsibility for girls. Services of a special nature will be held next Sunday in the Manaia Methodist Circuit Churches, the occasion being Whitsunday, which is to be celebrated as a special "Come to Church" day. The services will be bright and hearty, and the singing for the day from Alexander's hymn book. Everybody welcome. These at the Melbourne, Ltd.—Mosgiel dark grey knitted socks, 1/6 pair; striped grandrill working shirts, 3/6; Horrockses' pyjamas, 8/6 and 9/6: merino singlets, 1/11 and 2/11; pants! to match, 2/6 and 3/11; warm knitted pants, 4/6; brown cotton singlets, strong and warm, 2/6; pants to match, 2/11; colonial all-wool knitted pants, g/6; blue blnnkets, single bed size, 166 pair — AdTt. '