LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 26 September 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A London cable states that the owners have presented Stonehenge to the nation. The British Red Cross hae spent £1,460,000 for the purchase and ■upkeep of motors; four hospital trains i running in Franc© each carrying 450 j wounded, have cost the society over £60,000 to build and run. The returning officer far the, Taranaki electorate was advised yesterday morning by telegraph that the writ for the by-election had been issued. The roll therefore closed automatically at 6 p.m. yesterday. The date of the election will not be known until the writ is received by to-night's mail. Lecturing in Wellington recently on Gallipoli at a meeting of early settlers, Colonel Hughes paid a graoeiul tribute to the work of the late Colonel Malone, who commanded the Wellington Battalion. He referred to the gallant work of the late Colonel Malone, who he regarded as an ideal soldier and a

brave man. The New Zealand Brigade lost a splendid commander when Colonel Malone was killed. Most encouraging reports concerning the quality of the pig-iron produced at the Moturoa works during the last run | have been received from Auckland, the iron proving eminently suitable for mixing with scrap (says the .Taranaki Herald). Samples of iron calt in one of the foundries in Auckland from one part Taranaki pig to three ? parts scrap show splendid quality. A number of orders for iron have been received from various foundries, including two of the principal foundries in Dunedin. An idea of the losses due to submarines can be obtained from the following statement in the Scientific American: If we take ac our standard unit the fabricated ship, which has a gross tonnage of 5500, wit* a. length of 343 feet, we shall' find that the submarine sinkings for the 18 months ending June 30 would make, a line of wrecks 100 miles' lonjr with a space of but a dozen feet between \ the stern of one wreck and the nose of' the one bahind it. .

An accident of a rather unusual nature occurred on Saturday in the lunch hour (says the Christchuroh Press). A woman was driving a spring cart near the Victoria street bridge/ when the horse suddenly got out of control, and, swerving sharply to one side, ran on to the footpath. The cart struck a telegraph pole, which became firmly jammed between the body of the cart and its left wheel. The occupants of the vehicle were considerably shaken, and the horse, when it was got clear, could hardly stand. The cart was eventually wrenched free from the pole and was apparently but little damaged. The increasing ravages of hawk® in and around Mercer are causing farmers considerable anxiety (says the Auckland Star). The bird has entered on a new phase of destruction so far as its habits in the district go by pouncing down on lambs and killing them, first denuding them of their eyes. They have even been bold enough to tackle grown cast sheep, and one settler has seen turkeys seeking safety with the hawk in pursuit. Traps have been set and several caught, while others have been «hot, but it h.as failed to intimidate the birds so as to make any appreciable difference in their operations. , The Taranaki Land Board in committee yesterday dealt with thirteen I applications from discharged soldiers for financial assistance-to put them into possession, of various farming sections and also town dwellings in the case of city workers. The various apphcants appeared', and were examined by the board as to their standing and capabilities.' The Commissioner of Crown Lands brought before the board a full statement of defaulting Crown tenants in the matter of rent. Though the position was regarded as fairly satisfactory on the whole, the board decided in some cases to demand paymenVof the overdue rent within one month, and in a few cases one month's grace was given as a final concession betore placing the collection of debt in the Crown Solicitor^ hands.—Herald. A dairyman driving into Nelson on W ' recߣ t ™ornil»g: found a young woman on the Wakapuaka road in a state of collapse, (says the Colonist). She was clad in her night attire, and was wear; ing a raincoat and boots. When found T* w -*s ,una£ le to speak. Hay.ing been identified, she was taken to relative© but as there was no change in her condition, and as she was unconscious of what was happening around her. she was later in the day removed to the hospital. It was stated that the youne lady was a member of a boating party ou * ™ tip harbor on Sunday week which had some difficulty in--getting back to the shore, and it is believed tnat this had some effect on her mental condition. ■ The Wellington War BeKef Association j (says a Press Assn. telegram) passed the following .resolution • That owing to the increasing number of applications for loans from returned eoldiera desirous, of settling on the land and the obvious difficulty of aiding apl phoants desirous o£ financial aasiefence to establish themselves in other walks °* ltf<?.. the <p*eeutive endorses the Apphcaiaons' Committee's recommendation that no more loans of a like nature be granted, at least until such time* as a. general scheme is evolved enabling something like uniform treatment to be accorded all classes of appl^ cants, and that a deputation present and explain this- decision to the ActinePnme Minister. Mr J. V Walls, B.Sc, head of the science and mathematics departments oi Wellington Technical College, has be* n appointed temporary Assistant Inspector of Technical Schools It is Werstood that the engagement is till the end of this year. The publication or the appointment gave an impression that it was connected with the new scheme for the reorganisation or the system of technical education under a new superintendent. A question by the Wellington Post brought a reply that the new appointment had nothing to do with a . projected reorganisation. The question of the engagement of a superintendent was being discussed by the education authorities with the Public Service Commissioner.

Le Roy's famous oily canvae coats are stocked by all the Melbourne Ltd branches at the following prices: Shoulder-lined riding coats, 55/-; three-quarter-lined riding'coats, 59/6; boys' coats, 33/6 to 49/6. —Advt.

There is a reason why you should collect Radium polish tins (boot or floor polish)—they are worth 6d per doz., and any grocer will be glad to buy them from you, providing the tins are in good order. Start saving them today.—Advt. PROFITABLE PATjfiNTS.

filach day you ar«i nvougnt into contract with scores of inventions which hare made fortunes for the discoverers. Perhaps you have an idea that vrlU by: ig you fame. Why not patent it at once, otherwise someone else max drop on the same idea and protect it. Consult vs —our long experience and wide connection enable us to advise you accurately. Henry Hughes. Ltd.. Patent Attorneys. Featherston Screst Wellington .—-Advt.

A. peculiar suicide has been*reported *^r x orthani police (West Aus-t-lb n Au Sust 10 a man named Jlrastoterson disappeared from his farm carrying a gun. The police search resulted in his charred remains bemg discovered in the bush 30 miles ""K^ j Enst<>ferson had apparently collected a pile of dead wood set fire Zl' v- ' sitting on top of "the pile, shot him.selh __Tt& metal residue of the burnt gun was found in the fire

Illustrating German fakes of British trade marks, a Dutchman, Dr Nederbraght who has recently travelled through Rhenish Westphalia, says that the Germans interned in Holland are using in carpenters' shops chisels sent Sheffield » This statement bears out reports which has been long current in Holland that one German method of attempting to recover trade will be the sending through neutral countries of apparently English goods

A controversy is raging in Germany as to the real life purpose of the stinging nettle. Whereas the farmers consider it as fodder for cattle, and people of an adventurous turn of mind regard it as a vegetable, a decree of the Ministry of War has forbidden its use for such purposes, and has determined that it is to be used solely as a substitute for cotton. A variety of fairly satisfactory fabrics have been spun from nettle fibres. The price for nettles has been fixed at 15s per cwt.

The London correspondent of the Christchurch Press states that, to meet a growing demand in the N.Z.E.F., the Wills Department ha* been broadened to cover the whole of the matter of giving legal advice to soldiers on active service. Soldiers requirting advice or assistance on questions of law—^«uch as powers of attorney, wills., divorce, valuation of property, and ao forth—are to apply to the officer in. charge of the Department, Captain C. A. L. Treadwell, Wellington Regiment^

Sir Charles W Takefield, Master of the Gardeners' Company, grew eloquent and alliterative in praise of the garden allotment when presenting to the Lord Mayor of London, at the head of a deputation, a basket of English-grown vegetables and fruit. In these days of trial, he remarked, the possession of an allotment was an almost certain test of good citizenship. He saw more1 beauty in a potato than in a pansy, more loveliness in the leek than in the lily, more honor in cultivating the humble cabbage than in causing the cultured carnation to further displays of prider » . An official despatch, from Prance quoting Switzerland reports, said that' despite the efforts of the civil and military authorities in Germany to suppress revolutionary pamphlets -fihe circulation of such propaganda, is Increasing:. The. despatch, said: "Many thousands of copieeN of anonymous loose sheets have been distributed throughout thfe Empire, which contain articles honoring Prince Lichnbwsky'a repudiation and the letter <£ Dr Muchlon to Bethm&nn-Hollweg." Another pamphlet, which was anonymously distributed among the masses by people who the police did not .succeed in catohing., deserves mention. It 6s devoted to the orime Germany committed against neutral Belgium. An amazing instance of one narrow escape from a "Big Bertha" shell took place an a-.little Paris street, where a shell entered the window of a small cafe and plunged through the floor of the front cash desk into the cellar below, where it exploded. The cellar extended out over the roadway, and the full force of the explosion passed in that direction, finding the line of least resistance at ihe point where a single paving stone formed both the -surface of the sidewalk and the roof of the cellar. A man-was standing facing the road smoking a cigarette on the edee of the sidewalk, when the. paving-stone blew up" behind him and carried him as though on a chair across the road and let him hang on the railing of a second-floor balcony. The stone dropped back on the road and the man remained suspended for a moment until the tenant of the room pulled him inside. He was unconscious from shock but on being examined at the hospital' was found otherwise uninjured. Whereas under British, law for a man to die without leaving a will may amount to a domestic calamity, under if rench law the really serious regulation of succession is effected by the law °f, intestacy. A deceased's estate is divided up among his heirs and if the property be small and the heirs numerous, a piece of land may be divided up into such small strips,that a single-furrow plough will take away one man's piece of land and double another's. This information was contained m an interesting lecture delivered by Professor Harrison Moore recently on French law. In the Napoleonic code, he said, men of thirty and women of thirty-five must seek parental consent to marry. Failing that consent the marriage could be annulled, and ™wf done over and over again. In 1896, however, the parental consent was limited to men of twenty-fire and women of twenty-one. Family objections were a much bigger matter in .trance than in England. French law recognised divorce by mutual consent on the ground of incompatibility of temper, and when a marriage was annulled the combined estates of the par- i ties concerned "were partitioned in equal shares.

• Su 1" 6 ""? noticeable a marked pause in toe wholesale grocery and some wiv o^tn^uting trades (says the Wellington Post). Stocks of all goods that can still be imported in. any quantity are reported a® fully equal to requirements of both wholesale and retail houses and for the moment there +1 & 4. 1■ I? i6Ome cases {t * Pr°bable a * j . gh Pricefi are now being reflected m reduced, consumption of many lines that formerly moved freely, and which were in rather keen request when fears of absolutely cessation of supplies were not unjustifiable I Jsut whatever the cause, local trade is rather dull. Certain restrictions and regulations governing distribution of some commodities, too. are said to Jiave some share of the blame for the present quietness. It is not unlikely that there is a. feeling that the war 10* last vei-y much longer, and with.. the coming of peace will come a tall in freights and prices—temporary, at least. In these circumstances it tits only natural that there should U a reluctance to make commitments well ahead while prices are at their present levei, arid freights, exchange and other burdens that imported good* have to bear are in the ascendancy.

Not a mmute should be lost when a child shows symptoms of croup. Chamberlain's Cough Remedy, given as soon as the child becomes hoarse, or even after the croupy cough appears, will prevent the attack- Sold everywhere. —Advt.

Silk sport coats in all new self shafies at 755; imitation silk soort coats, all shades, at 455; distinctive all-wool "Petone and Ka'iapoi" costumes, in exclusive styles" for spring, at moderate prices', at J. C. Gillett's, the Busy Draper, Hawera.—Advt.

A distinguishing attriuute of '""Perfection" whisky is that it can be taken neat, it. is fo mild and mellow. This mildness and mellowness is the result of kerpinor "Perfection" in the wood for a long period before it is bottled for export. At all hotels. Avoid imi-tations.—-Advt

A Washington cablegram reports the death at St. Paul (Canada) of the Archbaahop <rf Ireland.

Mrs Colin McLaren (Miss Cissy O Keefe), of Toko, will be amongst the performers at the Hordette of Savages' performance to-night.

At a meeting at Patea (the Press reports) to consider the education ques- ■°, n only one person was present outside those professionally interested.

A* Waitara the other day a settler was nned for failing to send his boy to school full time. He pleaded that the child was absent only on Wednesday afternoons, when he had to go to a music lesson. The Bench decided that this was not a valid defence and suggested that music day should be changed to Saturday.

I have seen all the harbors of France, the United States, and England, but I have seen nothing to equal Sydney harbor." Thus spoke General i'au, after a launch trip on the Premier to view the wharfage and loading facilities of the port (says the Sydney Morning Herald). What struck the members of the Mission most of all was the depths of the berths in Sydney as compared with the French ports. At Marseilles the depth is 29ft 6in, at Boulogne 32ft, and at Sydney up to 60ft. ±he Sydney harbor water frontage extends 188 miles, and there is 65,000 feet of wharfage.

Ihe position as regards the wholesale price of bacon and tile supply available for Taranaki were explained to a laranaki Herald reporter by Mr Arthur Morton., chairman of the inglewood Bacon Company. Referring tc a published paragraph, Mr Morton .aid that the price ot bacon was not fixed at Is dd ifl Wellington and la 3d in laranaki, but each of the factories wm compelled to sell at the price at which it was selling m December, 1917 As a matter of tact the omy bacon company in Taranaki—the .inglewood .baconi «jompany—was at that tune selling oaoon (rous) on tine Wellington market at the same price, as in Taranaki (Is 2d per lp), so tjuax; there was no question oi ita obtaining increased prices in the VVeJiinguon market j it was simply Buppiying vveliiuguon to maintam a. connection oi long standing. The ixigLewood (Jomijany ceased w> supply Vveiungton m jyiaroh, ly±B. Since then it haa not sent any baoon to Wellington because tne dii-eocors realised that vner c was going to De a shortage tor. the local mau-ii«t, owing to th Q non-prociuction ot pigs nj many of the farmers. At the saiua tiuw the inglewood isacon Company cut oit its connection with the AucKland market, which had been supplied ever since toe company eam c into oxistenoe, this step also being taken to retain as far ua possible sufficient bacon to keep the locai markets supplied. .Unfortunately, Ma- Moru>n says the supply of pjgs was not sutricielit, and to this cauc>e was due the considerable shortage of bacon in Taranaki at the present time. Mr Morton pointed out that though there is at J&tham a branch of the N.Z. JJarmers' bacon Company (which was formeriy run by the South Tlaranaki Bacon- Company ] this company has altogether ceased kuiuig pigs in Taranaki and its works at ±iit!ham are entirely devoted to killing cattle. The. paragraph referred to stated that a company had forwarded pigs to -Wellington for curing. This company at Eltham had probably done that, owing entirely to the change of the bacon factory to a slaughtering [ place for cattle and a frozen meat store.