LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 3 August 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

c A Wellington press message states it :s expected' the dining cars will be taken -off the Main Trunk and New Plymouth expresses as from Monday next. The ltarawa has been further delayed' at Onehunga, and will leave there today (Friday) for the Breakwater. She returns to Onehunga on Saturday, leaving the Breakwater after fne arrival of the mail train. The Minister for Customs states tha^t 1 the amount of Customs revenue collected in July was £305,663, and the excise beer duty £13,726. The figures c for July, 1916, were £325,500 and £13,490. Concrete roads are the roads of the future, says Mr Godfrey Magnus, who i has returned to Wellington from the United States. There such roads are being laid down in all parts of the country, to meet the demands of the . ever-growing motor traffic. H e had ; the great pleasure of travelling over ; the 500-mile concrete road that joins ; San Francisco to Los Angeles. "It is ; perfect travelling at last," says Mr > Magnus. "The action of the car \<* so • smooth that you could imagine you were . travelling on. silk." The conference of the Moderate Ireague (says a Press Association message) has issued a manifesto affirming that conditions in New Zealand do not justify the restriction of hours on the grounds advanced of military necessity, national efficiency, or economy, and a<lvocating that the opening hour of licensed bars be 10 a.m., closing at 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., and re-opening until 10 p.m. The manifesto also states that m order to conserve the unity of the Dominion at this time of national effort, no licensing issues should be again submitted to the people until at least 12 months after the declaration of peace. At a meeting of Marist Brothers old boys jit Auckland it was resolved: "That this meeting of Catholic men respectfully protest against the conscription of religious Brothers, and records its solemn determination to prevent, by all constitutional means, their being taken away from their essential and legitimate occupation, namely, the religious and secular education of the Catholic youth; also that this meeting of Catholic men extends its sympathy to individual members of religious orders who, as local citizens, have been placed in a false position by the operation of the Military Service Act."—Press Association. The businesslike methods adopted by the New Zealand Government for the requisitioning of foodstuffs and other commodities, stand out in striking contrast to the extravagant and ill-man-aged system wkich prevails in the Commonwealth," says the Melbourne Age. "In two years the New Zealand Department dealt with commodities— frozen meat, oheese, wool, scheelite, sheep skins and hides —on Imperial Government account, valued at £27, 731,525. In connection with this enormous turnover the salaries, expenses, rent, stationery and ether incidental charges amounted to only £6361. The sale by the Commonwealth Government to the Imperial Government of 3,000,000 tons of wheat mulcted the Australian j Wheat Board in a sum of £75.000 for agents' commission al©ne. If the New Zealand Department is aile to carry on without the assistance of expensive agencies, there is no reason why the Commonwealth could not do likewise. Avoid coughs and coMs this winter — take NAZOL regularly. Put seme drops on sugar—and inhale. Penetrating and germ-killing. Start -using NAZOL to-day.—Advt. A Wellington correspondent writes: A large number of entries have been received in the Desert Gold Tea Comptition. The coupons are now being counted, and results will be announced as early as possible.—Advi.

The proposed increased Customs ! duties on spirits is Is per gallon, on sparkling wines 6s per gallon, cigars, cigarettes, and snuft 5s per lb, on tea 3ci per lb. A hospital progress report is&ued on "Wednesday, included the following:— Seriously ill, J. H. Leeman (New jflymouth;. Kwported as severe case. J. Sullivan (Stratford). Not reported as severe cases, L. N. Johnston (Taranaki). A. S. Nichols (Hawera), A..G. Shearer| (New Plymouth) D. A. Steer (Stratford). To-morrow (Saturday) the proceeds of the Dardanelles stall will be devoted to Salvation Army war work. Gitts of produce, cakes, flowers, etc., will be welcomed, and may be left at i Blair and Seliar's, High street. An interesting sidelight on the cost of living at Home was furnished by an j advertisement by the Junior Army and Navy_Stores in London, which appeared in a JLondon pape r in May last, received recently by a resident of Christchurch. Some of the prices quoted were as foilows (all at per lb) : —Rump steaks 2s, mutton chops Is lOd, lamb cutlets I's Bd, beef sausages Is, pork sausages Is od, sweetbreads Is 3d, sheep's kidneys Is 3d, ox tongues 4s 6d each, new-laid eggs (this in May) 2s 6d tier dozen. Another paper quotes a reduction in the price of cheese to Is 4d ocr lb. For a woman to take off her hat in a picture xheatre is .generally considered polite, but there are evidently- exceptions to the rule. At a certain theatre in Timaru (says the Post) one woman asked another in front of her if sho would kindly remove her hat. This request, however, was refused, and the two began to quarrel. The wordy war was brought to a sudden close by the woman with the hat oa trning round with the intention of hitting her opponent, but, however, in her anger she struck the wrong person and the scene closed with no definite decision being arrived at. Years or patient pnGeavour dv the Victorian farmer have resulted in the production of a sort of super-onion, which is making "the name.of the State famous abroad. A feature of the debate on supply in the Victorian Legislative Assembly was praise showered on the Victorian onion. Mr Elmslie informed the House that in Am/erica there was a great demand for these onions at £70 per ton. A trader had told him that he would take hundreds of loads of Australian onions if he could get them, and he. was cominV to Australia to see if he could secure" supplies. The Department of Agriculture, Mr Elmeslie urged, should endeavour to develop this trade, and it would be necessary to eliminate the "multitude of middlemen," as growers received £3 to £5 per ton ;tor Minions wl>eh tjhiey brought £70 per ton in America.

Many merchants, said Sir Joseph Ward in the Financial Statement, have been interviewed to ascertain as nearly as possible the stocks of goods on hand and the orders expected during the present financial year. It is found that in most lines stocks are heavy as compared with this time last year, in many cases quite 50' per cent greater, but 35 per cent is a fair average.- This is the case with soft goods, china, fancy goods, tobacco, and cigars. ; The retail shops are also overstocked, and consequently the wholesale stocks will be slow to clear. Almost every 1 wholesale merchant visited stated that i orders to go forward, and already sent ■ j forward, would be very much less than I during the past year.

At a meeting, Mr D. C. Bates, Dominion Meteorologist, referred in an informal talk to the climate and weather of New Zealand. The speaker said Ifchat the climate dealt with the average conditions , over long periods, while weather dealt with conditions from day to day. The climate of a country remained constant, no matter what people might say to the contrary. There might be Variations m cycles of years, but the climate was regarded as unchangeable. When the Aew Zealand troops were sent to Gallipoh, he had been asked to supply a report to the Government on the winter conditions on the peninsula. He had been able to do so mainly as a result of a study of German works on the subject. The Germans paid great attention to meteorology, and Aettje^s received by the speaker from German savants dealt with quite live noints of the Dominion's weather conditions.

On the question of glaring headlights (says the annual report of the c\ Zealand Automobile Union) most of the town authorities have prepared or are preparing by-laws prohibiting their use, and it has come to the knowledge of the secretary of this union that some country authorities are seeking to limit the use of headlights in country districts also. It is generally considered that from three to five hundred feet ahead is a sufficiently safe range for a beam of light when travelling on country roads. In the case however, of two cars meeting neither one can properly see the, other in the glare of each other's light, and it would seem that some arrangement must be made by which this difficult can be overcome. Ihe general practice throughout America is to permit the country districts the use of as powerful headlights as motorists desire, relying on the almost universal custom of switching down on to ike "dimmer" light ™* two ££? s aPProach close to one another. This would appear to be an excellent practice, and one to be strongly recommended to the members of the affiliated associations.