LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Marlborough Express, Volume LI, Issue 156, 4 July 1917, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

A cablegram from Sydney states that interruptions of the telegraph lines are causing considerable delay in thj^ transmission of war,, news.

Miss Frances Morrison, of Blenheim, wiH be o*e of the soloists at the NelSQn Harmonic Society's'. performafte^ of Mendelssohn's "Athalie" to-morl'Ow evening.

The whole of the counties of the South Island, including^ Stewart Island and the Chatham. Islands, have been constituted pne> recruiting district (No. 7) for tW purpose of recruiting reservists of the Native race under the Military., Service Act.

All Territorials and Senior Cadets art' instructed to hold ■'themselves' ■' in readiness to parade; at twenty-foui* hours' notice, to test the Efficiency of mobilising aiTaugertients.: . All ranks wiil carry o^ie ratipn': ■: Members of ■the 10th M,R. wilt parade nidunted

Rain was threatening in most parts or ihe: Dominibii at nine;o?clock this morning; Locally,, showers—which were not goherally kelcomed—fell last night, .and to-day. . Rough seas were. running at Stephen's IsfandL and Cape Palliser; and Cape'Campbell reported a "'consvJei'n-ble" sea. .■■■■..-

The Lyttelton Harbor 'Board to-day resolved to increase Ibhe salaries of the harbormaster, pilots, masters, and engineers 10 per cent. A. similar increase was granted to?all employees receiving £160 or less than that. All who last year received a 10 per ce.ht. bonus will now have, the amount added permanently to their .wages.

Tlie Imperial Supplies' Department paid out to June 3rd for • meat £1 > 739,003 v cheese £3,748,ip3'- wool £4,i 113,945, freezing companies slipe wool £1,014.414, scheelite, £75,969, sheepskins- £193,785. hides £202,892 e o--uo iness ;€136>303!;: a total of L66,b( t ,814. The average net value Pe_r bale of greasy wool purchased Vas £22 5s lOd for the Dominion. The ir.ghest average value was Wellirig■ton -£23 13s 9dJ and the lowest Southland, £19 2s 2|d v

Mr T. E. Briil, of Brooklyn, Wellington, has received a communicatiOl\ lF om Sir Thomas-Mackenzie, High Commissioner, London, informing him that his son, Private F. A. Brill, of N.Z.E.F., has'been-awarded by his Majesty the King the Military Medal for gallantry in tlie field.' Mr ii * s®nr-'-' was of the old Armed Constabulary, and went through the Maori War, Serving under .Qolonel Wliitmore in the East and West Coasts campaign.

Mr \. W. M. Boiiiir, of Hofcitika. has succeeded m passing- the medical test, and leaves fpr camp with the August draft from the' West Coast. JVo brothers, Merle ■< -.amd Hugh, made the supreme sacrifice at Gallipoli. Of the remaining brothers, Horace lias been reported as badly wounded in,the latest fighting, while Lorraine was rejected as . medically unfat.- Evidently, this patriotic family Have inherited tlie military spirit troiii their father, the late Lieut.Colonel Bonar, M.L.C. (says a Hokitika paper). .. • : .

Mr R, MrCallum, M:P., writes to the Editor from Wellington pointing out, with reference to the Mayor's suggestion that the- limit of --New "Zealand's contribution. to y tlio fighting forces of the Empire should be fixed at 100,000 men, that lie was careful to add that, much as we would all like the limit kept do\vn to Mie number named, or, as he would prefer, to 80,000. •■ we must remember that if, »y boyond our fair fighting strength for a short time, a speedier victory and consequent saving of lives might be ensured, that was sound policy, and we must be guided by thoio having, the best knowledge or tho situation. r His own feeling was that the tij'ne had come when everyone .physicrtHy. fit should be prepared to fight whenever called upon. Cany on! yoii will do voiir work move cheerfully and successfully if you drink an occasional cup of Desert Gold, the queen of teas. De^ iNMous, refreshing, stimulating, wholesome. _ Order ta-day.-Advt. NAZOL is not a mixture or syrup —but a breathable remedy. Tackles coughs and colds by direct'action. No

A correspondent of a Christchurch paper expresses the opinion that the married men in New Zealand should not be called upon to fight until the First Division men of Australia and Canada are exhausted.

A Masterton soldier, writing from England, says that a number of German prisoners were put on to sow potatoes. When an examination was made it was found that the wily Fritz had cut out all the eyes from the seed potatoes, so that they could not possibly sprout. The Anzacs wanted to square matters with Fritz for his treachery, but the Germans were placed under a guard of British Tommies.

An inquiry was held by Mr F. O rß. Loughnan, Coroner, yestei-day, into the death of a female infant, the child of William Bothwell, Gi-ove Road. The baby was born on June sth, and died last Monday night. The mother in evidence stated that the child was delicate, and on Monday afternoon gave some cause for anxiety. But she did not think it necessary to call in. a doctor. She retired to bed at 6.30 p m. with the baby, and, waking up at 8 p.m., found the child dead. It had been partly breast-fed, and she gave it some sugar and water. The eldest daughter said that as far as she could see the baby was properly looked after; Dr. J. F. Bennett stated that the child suffered from marasmus; there were signs of mal-nutrition,-but not of overlaying or siiffocation. There was no indication of; direct- neglect on the part of the ■ mother,, but" if medical assistance had beciv■ ■■summoned by the moiher or thos« surrounding the child the health of the, infant might have been re>steTed. Tha mother was not in a condition to nurse, the child, which died of wasting. The Coroner returned a verdict that death ' was due to natural causes. * , *-.-'.

Sergeant Frank Perkins, Otago's sprint.champion, has been distinguishing himself on the athletic field in France. In : a letter to Mr E. Rosevoar, president of the Dunedin Centre of the N.Z.A.A.,; he says: championship meeting was held in France on Anzac. Day. The events 'were between six Australian Divisions and the New Zealand Division, each division being allowed only one competitor. I was selected to represent New Zealand, so I immediately went into training, with A. E. Thompson, the West Coast boxer, as trainer. The day was beautifully fine, and I am pleased to say I ran up to my old form, winning the 100 yds and 220 yds. I was a member of the New Zealand .'relay,,-team, and we won this event in fine style. Jack . Hewitt, ~of Caversham, was also, a member of the relay team, and snowed a good turn of: speed. Australia was represented by so.ne firio runners, but they do not Hnish-.hke their New Zealand cousins. Among the-judges were our old friend Lieutenant 'Bob' Mitchell and Lieutenant Cook, the hurdler, of Christchurch. In a football match which followed the Dominion' team beat Australia by 30 points to nil Thus the New Zealand boys had a great day." ~

A nornble story of a. child, aged three and a half, whose toes fell off in 'consequence of parental neglect, was told to the Warminster Magistrate (England) on April 13, when a man na-led'George Cole and his wife were charged. Another cliild, aged-fifteen■ months, was concerned in the charge of neglect. A police constable said that on visiting1 the house, which was on the Wiltshire Downs, he discovered a lamentable state of affairs. Tha elder child's toes were black and shrivelled and rotten. The mother herseh was practically naked,, wearing, only a.man's costt and.a heavy pair of old boots ivith no attire of any. other description. The children had been; removed to Wilton Workliouse. where the elder child's toes, tell off. This was occasioned, so medical evidence declared, by frost bite, and the boy must have suffered agonising pain. The man was said to be earning £cod money, but was spending a large amount on cakes, chocolates, and other dainties, which his wire and he consumed. When the children's clothes got too dirty to wear the wife burnt them. 'The prisoners were each given three niontns' hard labor, the chairman stating that it was the worst case that had ever been before the Bench

In these times of labor shortage, which all classes of trade and the tarminc- community are feeling acutely, any scheme whereby one pair of hands can accomplish the work of two or more is an important factor in the efficiency question of the nation. Hence it behoyes grocers, bakers, and others having delivery duties to perform .to adopt-the quickest and most 'Iftcient way.' This is by motor de.hrrry. rans,' Farmers and others having heavier cartage will also be looking round for more efficient handling methods, ,-md here Parker's Central Garage would lik« to announce that they will soon be in a position to quote quite the most economical and quickest transport vehicles, viz., the Smith-Porm-a-Truck, which will oost £140, and will do the work of two teams,,will travel at from 12 to 17 miles per hour, carry one ton and trail two more on a trailer, climb any hill m the district and go about 15 miles on one gallon of benzine. The first vehicle is due to arrive in h few weeks and will be demonstrated to those interested.—Advt;.

The Prime Minister stated on Monday that he would not conimit the Government to bring down a measure providing for - a referendum on the subject 7,0 6 o'clock loosing. His experience was that anything in the way of referendum legislation was not not at all satisfactory.

-'You know that our boys are fighting in Palestine and Mesopotamia " remarked Mr T. M. Wilford, M.P. in the course of a war lecture in Wellington on Monday night, "but perhaps you do not know that there are eight 'tanks' in Palestine, and that the No. 1 'tank' is named ' Kia jiV (APPlause-) The lecturer added that the tanks were sent for the new attack upon Gaza, which was a very difficult place to take.

Some misconception appears to exist regarding the reasons for closing down-voluntary enlistment for Second Division Reservists. This is principally .due to dividing the Second Division into, classes. If the opportunity of voluntary ) enlistment remains open for all such classes it would mean, under ,the present systom, that men of th;e earlier classes, such as Class A X4en without children), would be able to enlist For later dates, than those fixe^l for the calling up of the particular jienominations to which they belong., •.; In other words, this would result ;in men in the earlier classes being able to defeat the classification by gojng into camp with the later classes of men with more children. V Another principal reason is that the men of each Claris are estimated as being only sufficient to -provide for two ballots.

- The reason li. A., White did not contest the general -election, of Councillors, lie stood lor the Hospital Board.—Advt. # '■'■-.

'■■> Mothers 1 Save fnoney °y getting NAZO'L-^-the best remedy for coughs and: colds, j, doses 'for Is 6d-—-more, than three doses a penny.— Advt, .I'-.' ' ■■•■■•„.•;■," '■:<. ■::'•'■'■''■ ■■;■■■■'!-■ '..

Silent,, up-tordate '~.!' wpodcutiiiig plant. Orders left Grosling and Sons, J. Michalanney, or ,N. W. Gosling, Dillon's Point Road; attention.—Advt.,,-.,,,' i

interest attaclies to the following clipping froiri 'the- Sydney Morning Herald: "The Federal Prime Minister intends to introduce a short Bill into Parliament at an early, date: to amend the Public' Service Act , with the object of removing the age limitation for returned soldiers desirous of en~ tering the' clerical division of the service. Under the present .Act' the maximum age of candidates for the clerical'division is fixed at 25 years. It is proposed to permit any member of the Expeditionary Forces with a satisfactory record to submit himself at the examinations for candidates if heis not past the age of 51. On the suggestion of the Acting-Public Service Commissioner (Mr Edwards), Mr Hughes lias approved of the amendment of the Act being anticipated/ AH iuture examinations will,- therefore, be opißn to returned soldiers under the age of 51.