LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 278, 26 November 1919, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

*A weloqme home social to Private E. H. Neas will be held in the Hillersdon Hall ion Friday next. A cordial invitation is extended to all returned soldiers.

Owing to the impossibility of securing transport, Mr Allan Wilkie has been compelled to cut out Blenheim and Nelson vfrom the itinerary of his dramatic company.

Mr Laing-Meason, civil engineer, is at present engaged! in taking levels in Picton, in connection with tlhe report which he is to submit to the. Borough Council on a drainage scheme for the outer area.

The Wellington Education Board lias decided' that the "breaking-up" day for all the. State schools shall bo Tuesday, December 16th. This will enable many of tjhe schools to be utilised as. poHing-botxths for election day, the!:next day. .- ■'~- ■ ■ ...

Well-wishers of the 10th Mounted Regimental Band are reminded of the meeting to be held at the Operatic Society's rooms this evening to discuss with the committee the question of the raising of funds to enable the Band to participate in the Dunedin contest next March.

One of the questions asked Mr D. J. O^Brien, the Liberal candidate for Bulter' at his Westporti meeting was the following: ' 'If elected, would you be in favor of restoring political rights to conscientious objectors?" The candidate, amid .applause, replied "Yes, if you "will bring back my dead mates from France."

In connection with the welcomehome to Major-General Sir Edward Cliaytor on Friday evening, the 10th M.R. Band, A Squadron of the 10th Mounted Regiment, D Company of the 12th Regiment, the College Cadets and No. 20 Company Senior Cadets will parade at the Drill Shed on Friday evening to take part in the reception. The College Cadets will furnish the guard of honor.

Tlio jury yesterday brought in a verdicii of, not guilty in till© case of Charles Albert Sasse, charged with manslaughter. A report of the judge's summing-up appears on page 3 to-day. Other reading-matter on ■the" insidi© pages includes "Increased Production," " 'Black' Beer,',' "Our Etabiies," "Asiatics in Canada," "Theatre Gossip." and "Another War?"

Building operations in Blenheim are being seriously hampered owing to the, shortage of timber caused.by lack of shipping. A gentleman interested in the building trade informed an Express representative this morning that a million feet of timber were necessary for immediate requirements. There was plenty available on the; West Coast—the Hokitika wharf, for instance, was blocked with timber awaiting shipment—but there were no boats available to bring it to Marlborough.

To-day at 9 a.m.•■■• the prevailing wind was a north-westerly j.fair breeze . Cloudy skies were general. Thermometer readings were: Axickland 57, Wellington 60, Blenheim 65, Christehurch 53, and Dimedin 52. Th-j highest temperature was 65 at Blenheim. On the average tSie- sea was_ moderate. and! the tides were good. The sea. off Cape Palliser and Stephens Island was moderate, while that off Cape Campbell was rough. Tlio soa at the Wairau Bar was smooth and the tide was giood.

Speaking at v presentation of war medals at Inveroargill, .the Hon. J. A: Hanan condemned the practice of telegraphing through the Dominion the news that some young man, charged with some offence, was a returned soldier. This reference or association was absolutely uncalled for and unwarranted. Colonel Mac Donald said he, too,. strongly disapproved of what Mr Hanan had mentioned. There had. been little acts of commission or omission on the part of some unfortunate soldiers, but let them minimise those as much as possible and keep uppermost in their minds only the great things that these lads had done.

An inquest was. held at Wellington into the death of Thomas Whitley, a metal worker's assistant, who died as the result of falling through an open hatchway in the 'tween decks of the steamer Kia Ora on Friday last, his skull being fractured. The Coroner, in returning a verdict of accidental death, said it had been shown plainly that the hatchway over which the deceased fell was not sufficiently lighted., Mr O'Regan, for the relatives of the deceased, pointed out that it was no part of the deceased's duty to attend to the lighting of the hold. The regulations distinctly provided- that when a hatchway was left open it should be properly lit. This regulation had not been complied with. The Ooroner said the attention of the Harbor Board would certainly be called to that fact.

The Wellington police have received information that a man Edward Morrison, about 53 years, accidentally shot himself at Whiteman's Valley while pig-hunting.

An Auckland firm of wholesale chemists has received the following cable message from their suppliers in Sydney: "The New Zealand Government have instructed steamship companies not to accept any cargo except foodstuffs." This will be a serious matter for the trade, as large quantities of chemicals and patent medicines especially reach Auckland after being transhipped at Sydney.

The director of a large New Zealand firm, who has been interviewed by the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, expresses grave anxiety about the future of British trade in New Zealand. New Zealand, he says* does not want to trade with America or Japan for cutlery, but British manufacturers must try to meet them;Rates in Sheffield are much higher than in other markets. The ordinary single-blade pocket-knife, sold before the war in New Zealand at a shilling, cannot now be sold under 4s, German scissors can be quoted at a quarter or a fifth of the British prices. Of course, New Zealand does not wish to buy from Germany, "but the German manufacturer would probably find a way by sending unfinished knives to Switzerland, Belgium, and Sweden, whence they will be exported finished to New Zealand and other countries."

A London correspondent in announcing that the Widnes election1, in which Mr F. M. B. Fisher, the Coalition Unionist, was opposed, by Mr Arthur Henderson, the Labor candidate, resulted in a victory for Mr Henderson by 14,404 to 10,417 votes, says the constituency had been a Unionist one since its creation about 30 years ago, and at the last general election Colonel Hall Walker, who has recently 'been elevated to the peerage, had a majority of 3694. Out of seven by-elections held since the new Parliament was elected, the Coalition has lost five to Liberals arid Labor. Addressing his constituents after the announcement, Mr Fisher said the Government was largely responsible for the result. Had they chosen, with the information at their disposal, they could have blown the gentleman up the road right outside. They lacked the courage and determination to put up a fight for their own cause. To return a man like Henderson showed, to his mind, a weakening of the fibre of the country.

The census cards in connection with the sowings of crop throughout the Dominica should now be in the hands of the Government Statistician; and it is to be hoped that they will soon be available (writes "Agricola" in the Farmers' Union Advocate). It is a foregone conclusion that .they will disclose a considei'able reduction in the area sown this year. The weather is partly to blame for this, and the fact- that wheat is not now looked upon as a paying proposition. One knows some farmers who have not got an acre in this year—men who usually have considerable areas under cereals. There is not much use in talking of compulsion in the matter of growing wheat. The only remedy for the problem is to depend upon Australia for. our supplies, or to so help the industry that farmers will be sure of some profit from the industry. If compulsion were made the policy, the North Island would have to come under any regulations that may be decided upon. The area of wheat there is a very small one indeed, though there are areas that are well adapted to that branch of faming. In the southern end of this inland thore are also districts that could grow: wheat quite as easily as North Otago and. Canterbury. They 'would have to be brought in. If ail did their duty, it would mean.very little for each individual. But the brunt of the work at present falls on certain portions of the South Island.

When speaking of the immense possibilities of an- defence in the caso of future attacks from the sea, Sir Joseph. Wf/rd, in his speech at) Bluff let drop si remark about "a certain Jborab that the public knew litftle ; about," which piqued the curiosity of his ' auditors. ~ Later, he let them in a. little to the mystery, explaining that he had his information ffrom one of t3ie highest military authorities in the Old Land. A few months before the end of the war one of the enemy Powers discovered a poison which had such a pen-eating effect that, if half a. dtozen two-pound l.ombs were dropped over, say, Trafalgar Square, and there wore 10.000 people sheltering in the tubes., they would all be dead in a vei-y shoi"t tdme, although tJie bombs did not touch them. The British authorities had been advised of the discovery fairly early, and at once set about getting a sample But the Germans, before a bomb was secured, became possessed of the idea that the British Jiad attained their end. But according to Sir Joseph Ward's inforaiaitt, saved the position, for tlie Teutons were afraid of repriials with their own medicine over Berlin < As battleships, airships, and all. manner of fighting machines in tho future would probably bo armed with this deadly Nveapon, stated the narrator, some idea cold bo gained of the intensified deadliness of another conflict.