LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mataura Ensign, 3 May 1919, Page 7

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Wanganui message says that a, young man named L. Perrett met with a painful accident on Wednesday. He was working in a motor garage, and a. piece of steel flew up and struck him in the eye. The injury was such that the ey© had to be removed on the following day.

Speakihg in Christchurch, Dr. Chos.van (District Health Officer) said he* would, like to warn people a gain sc rhe tendency they had to box themselves up as soon as cold weather approaches. “With the slightest breath of cold air, sum! the doctor, "up go all windows and. fre© ventilation is shut put. ’ By doing this people rendered themselves mure liable to catch diseases, which would be the more readily disseminated.

From our files of -10 years ago (stales the ‘Clntha Leader’): “A schoolmaster, who probably speaks with the bitterness begotten ol blighted hopes, writes thus to a northern paper: ‘I would give tho following advice to applicants lor employment, under the various Education Boards of the colony; Be an Episcopalian in* Nelson, a .Presbyterian m Otago, a Wesleyan in Canterbury, ami sit. on a rail in Wellington ; ami it will not matter if yon tie an ass in oil. ’

Mr R. .W. Dai)ton, British Trade Commissioner for Now Zealand, in the course of an interview at -Wolverhampton said that a feature of the New Zealand market was that America ns supplied attractive showcards with their goods, thus constituting a. factor worthy of being taken into serious consideration.' By far the greater proportion of the hardware trade in New Zealand was British; yet the goods shown in shop windows were largely American, simply because the articles were more attractive in appearance. Tho New Zealand market generally had grown very prosperous since the war, and a great increase in the buying power of the country might he -expected during tho next couple ol years.

• A curious domestic complication was related to a. ‘Post’ reporter by a 'Southern member of Parliament. A married man With a wife and one child enlisted and went to the front, leaving his wife an. allotment. Their relations had not been very friendly, and after the man had gone the wife contracted a liaison with another man, and a child wo? horn. Later, during the influenza, epi ; 'domic, the father ol the second child died, and she applied for relief from the Ideal committee, which refused the ■application, contending that her husband ought 10 provide her with support. Just as affairs had reached this stage the soldier-husband rallied that he had cut off his wife’s allotment on the ground that she was dead, and the woman was therefore lett without auv means of subsistence. I* urthev impjtr.ei showed that the man hail married another woman in England, in the alleged belief that his wife had died. 'I Ik Eenfc position is that the New Zee wife and family are being'provided for, and the soldier-husband is, if possible, to lie charged with bigamy.

' \Ve should all remember that we hjvvo got to train in the 1 future," said Colonel C. H. Weston, D.8.0., while proposing the toast ofr“The Navy and Army” at the Auzao tea in New Plymouth on.Friday (states the ‘Taranaki Herald’). Our improvised army bad been a.good army,, hut it was not the best army, and there was no doubt that when it was compared with the conscripted armies of France and Germany the comparison at times was a little obvious. If we had to lace wars in the future —and it was a little optinuslic .to*say there would never he more wars ; -rirp must tie trained up to the knocklef. The speaker-, said, it ,was his firm Relief that this epuptry and alf parts ifio British Empire should have conscription: hut, though he said this he ■did not think we should ever, bo a militarist nation. u T am sure the only way to lie ready is lo have a conscript armv and nut boys into camp for 12 or months consecutively. This not only makes soldiers of them, hut men, and lias this advantage, that it provides a hoarding-school for the poor man’s sort.” Those who could afford to send their sons to a hoarding-school knew what advantages it gave, and at such a camp the conditions would be similar.

“Ft. has comp to my knowledge that 1.2,0 iX) British brides have departed •with their Australian husbands to ihe Antipodes, assisted hy grants from the Australian Government. What is, however, of greater significance is the tart that .%0.000 applications have been itnado to the Australian Government for Assistance to- emigrate from this country. The British. Government is considering how hosi to stop this outflow,’ isays ,a correspondent, in an English exchange. ‘‘l have repeatedly pointed ■‘ out in the press during the last four years that emigration on a large stale would take place after demobilisation unless we had a' large measure ol divorce law reform. I have ample evidence that the men who have fought through rhe war have no intention oi - returning io pre-war conditions in mar- " riage. The resentment is growing daily ■ .ns . (hey find themselves being driven Mont of the country; hundreds of suffer- : ers write to us that they are making " arrangements to ger out and intend t< . settle where there are ‘saner laws.’ L must not lie forgotten that these men will leave behind them wives ndio will ;not ho free to marry again under the existing law. The figures stated are the more alarming as they cover Aus- ■ trail a. only.”

\M*any good stories of [he ruses emfdoyod in deceiving the enemy are told >y returned soldiers. At the time a vigilant censor prohibited their eireuTation, hnt to-day they afford good rending. One such yarn js vouched for by amember of the draft that reached New Zealand from Egypt last week. It seems that for some time before launching the attack which resulted in the annihilation of the Turkish army in Raiesidne, General - Allenhy steadily withdrew mounted men from his right flank and concentrated them in the area Inwards the coast. Tr was essential that the enemy should he keip in ignorance iof what was going on if possible. Encamped on the hills above .Jericho, he could look down on the British !in<*s citi the plain.by the Dead Sea, and the problem was to convince him that rto movement was in progress. The hoary old ruse of the wooden hor.-w that led to trite fall of Troy was revived to deceive t he Turk. "When a regiment, moved tb» limse lines were filled with wooden Tftg’seft and just before the attack u;rlaunched, on the right flank was litil. more than lines of dummy animats. •With a- nucleus force to lend an air oi {activity to a practically descried camp mnd to light fires at night to keep up the. impression of a hip; body of i, root>s. The secret seems to have been kept, for no attack was made, and when Alfenhy made his great offensive in tin* fcoa-st sector .Johnny Turk bolted up tin* f'ig'ht hank of the Jordan without waiting t<* wonder why his rear was not pressed by the great: body of mounted men he was convinced that he had been jvatehing through his glasses for weeks, “Thu jßrothers Inseparable-—Foresight Health.”—Stands. Just a LHIe foresight would save a Jot of sickness, trouble and expense. Take this period of the year, for infttaufti. Temperature is most inconsistent. That means coughs, colds and sore throats—unless foresight is used l,v having the greatest of all remedies Baxter’s Long Preserver—handy. This staunch trie,ml has been doing good «>r 50 years. Ho y«« see it is tried and totted. Get Baxter’s to-day. Bottle 2s &L- *

I “One of the most noted oxporfs of 'Australia and New Zealand has been Tweet singers to make music in rhe. Old World—Melba, Orossloy, Aladame fttra;Jia, Rosina Bnckmann, Nora Dargel and a crowd of others (says the ‘British Australasian’). In future it seoras they can stay at homo —if they want to —- ami still delight the concert halls ol Europe. Dr. Lee Forrest, the wireless telephone expert and inventor, declares that in a few months, hy means of the radio-telephone, it tv ill he possible for the. human voice to be heard f2,000 miles away. Nor will it ho necessary to keep a’ telephone receiver to one’s ear to hear it, for the sound ran be amplified to any desired degree, so as m fie heard throughout a large auditorium.’’

The suggestion that the observance of Anza-c Day should be transferred to ;gt Cfow’s’ Ba.v, April J>3, . wa* mentioned by Bishop Avorill at. tn© memorial service in tin* Auckland Domain. He said no doubt the suggestion had be m made in the best interests ot Anzav Day, but be thought it- would be bettor co transfer the observance of Sr. George's Hay to Anzac Day and thus maintain rhe day of days which was enshrined in the affections and sympathy of all New Zealanders. Returned soldiers, parents and wives off fallen soldiers ami citizens had the ..right, to make such a request and demand that \nz.u- Day should be observed as a day of ' national commemoration, thanksgiving and inspiration. Bishop Aveiiil r s remarks were greeted withloud applause b\ the returned soldiers present.

T'ne importance of tariff reform was impressed upon the Parliamentary Industries Committee hy Mr ft. •». ri;irImtt, president of the Auckland Industrips Association, lasi avcok. \\ uness made it clear he was not advocatiiifr a, general or extensive increase in dirty, but only such an adjustment as would foster the establishment and development of the Dominion’s secondary industries and operate against the import of foreign-marie goods winch might possibly, threaten these industries. lln development of hydro-electric power am afforestation were also very important matters for Government considers!tun Other points mentioned by the wirnCs were control of shipping,' prohihition ; .ol die export of timber, and conservation of raw'material. Witness strongly supported the -*establishmeni ot a larii Board and a Department nr Board o' Industries, consisting of experts. Win could thoroughly _ investigate no© schemes and industries, many of which might he very important.

Vftliorfcage of female labor in factories was a. subject mentioned at a meeting ■d the Wellington Industrial Association. “If wo are going to have lac tones we must have boy and girl kibor, i t marked the president/Mr H. Main land). Mr Mainland said that he mn been informed by factory-owners that ; good deal ol the trouble was due to tin fact that girls sometimes had to «»v. up factory work on account ol medico advice, or at least had to take pro longed spells off duty. The cnmliiion in some factories were* not of the host perhaps, and only just complied wit 1 thq requirements of the 1 aw. To male matters thoroughly satisfactory i might bo advisable for some places t ho rebuilt; but, that, of course, wouh mean the expenditure of money wide) some people might not he able to a! ford. In order Io ' provide, assistantin such cases it might bo necessary t< start an industrial bank, or somethin) of the sort, so that manufacturer; might bo enabled to go in for up-lo date premises. At all events, the jnvr nil© labor difficulty, ('specially that o girlSj could only he met by making lie conditions as attractive as possible.

An experience in the lives ol Captai l T, A. Wilson, commander of the transport. Bhamo, which arrived at Aueklam the ■other day, and of bis brother Lieu tenant d'. TI. Wilson, M.C., am M.M. with bar, of the New Zeal.au Expeditionary Force, is probably as ui .isnal as it i*s romantic. Bom in Dm cdiii. Captain Wilson joined the mci can tile marine as a youth, and in l^i l ' he left the Dominion before the mast In the - years that have elapsed sine then he gradually won promotion, tint! he obtained his master’s certificate am was given command of some lnrg< liners. During that time, he did ‘no visit the Dominion, neither did lie sc his brothers. younger brother Lieutenant *l. H. Wilson, lefc th< Dominion with the Fifth Kciaforeemen as a private, and alter service in Chilli poll and in France was nominated to a commission and withdrawn to Cam bridge, England, for training. Know ing the name of the steamship compan; by width his brother was employed. Ik made inquiries as to the ship he wa commanding, Tims, alter a lapse c IKJ years, he mot his, brother. Wit' the cessation of hostilities the two hro titers decided to try to return to tin Dominion together. Captain AVilsm succeeded in obtaining a transfer to tin Bhamo as commander, and the military authorities agreed to allow Lieutenan Wilson to travel by the same steamer

A fine record of war services attache ll to the New Zealand Tunnelling Corps, the remaining members of which arrived in Auckland by the lonic last week. The corp* let'jj Auckland on December 20, 10) o, under the corn mam' of Lit iiLeiian t-t’olonel .1. E, Dnigan. ft was fitted out at Falmouth, turd war the first, New Zealand unit in France It relieved the French on the Vimy Ridge, and wars engaged in active mining operations there for two years. With the approach of the Camhrai offensive a party was detailed I’m special duty. The corps was responsihh for the underground system at Arms, which involved the formation of com munieation trenches leading to the German front line. Special mention et this work was made in a. dispatch InSir Douglas Haig, The fact that ovet 00,000 men were accommodated underground in canvas and dugouts, before the battle started, gives some idea of the magnitude of the work. The underground trenches to the German lines carried a -lin watermain and a 2ft irailway. The operations were the means of preventing heavy casualties, when the enemy barrage came down oe the opening of the attack on April 7. 1017. 'Till' commander of the corps. Colonel Dnigan, teas admitted to the D.S.O. in recognition of the valuable services rendered. The same distinction was conferred on Captain H. Vickerman, who look command when Colonel Dnigan left. The D.S.O. was also con ferred on Captain 0. E. G. Richards, the medical officer of ilu* unit, who did excelled |, work during tin* offensive. Military Cros-es were tiwardcd to Can lain U. If, Dahly and Captain G Campbell. (o addllion, a large nun her of non-commissioned officers and men nl' the unit, were recipients of tin Di-l.iogiiinhed Conduct, Medal and the Military Medal. After the Messme.olfensive active mining operations on the Western front ceased owing to tin eoiifcinnal (hietimlion of the line, an-d the .Tunnelling Corps was engaged in construei ing dugouts, roads am' bridges. In the British offensive of DM the unit eompleted a bridge over the Mon-; Canal, which rceeived tin high appreciation of rite Commander-in-Chief. For good work here the Tunnelling Corps was specially mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig’s dispatch, and lhe D.S.O. was conferred on Captain Dudley Holmes. The unit did not wortwith the New Zealand Division, hut operated all the time it was in Franc' with the Third Army, It has a uniotte record, for its rate of work Wits novel beaten hy a British Tunnelling Company, and a remarkable fact- was (hat although tin* unit was continually ai work from the time it lauded in Frattei until the armistice was signed, the casualties were extraordinarily few. For Bronchial Coughs, take Woods’ Great Fwpetmiat onrf <t