GENERAL NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1012, 14 November 1917, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS.

Apparently ourbova fighting '" « ,e J ",•. ii ~,,0„i-< i hrennir words, «n«" "'■ Ho speaks cnoci nit, . . (Vl|l . heartily, appreciated. -\< ■■ ~ , al mander-in-U.ici .spare hn »• ' ,- done prodigious-journews. mtwit, p ,£ inU.O knowledge. IbatlhOTiejl^iiec^ nised and appreciated, Like it a«u, men. i \ process statelet up to O c fc#l formation Department. '1 ho tal prober of men on the register of tie U« I'• ,l! " , f 11.960. Of these, 9109 have been disposed ot as follows: Men who have work to "lu to. and have re-enlisted or returned to militarv duty, etc., 4055; ...en placed i.. » , u , nt; 198 2; hum. bave "assistance not required, ii-M > ICIV '\, . Zealand, or cannot ascertain address, wo, men who have not responded to rei •. «i communications, and men who have accepted work the Department found for them, but failed to start work, 796. lucre are !£<< cases al, present under action; and W/'l eases arc not reauv for action. Ihe latt. :m----eludc men who returned to New Zealand by reont transports, men convalescing, not ready for employment, and men not yet discharged by military authorities. Then- has just come to light a little romance of the war, tinged with sadness of "what might have been," concerning a young Scotchwoman and a New Zealand soldier who has mad.; the great sacrifice (savs the Glasgow Herald). A Perth soldier at the front who had found a chum in the lonely colonial, and shared parcels from home with him, wrote to his wife suggesting that she might occasionally send something to the Now Zcalander. On receiving' the request she mentioned the matter to a friend, a young unmarried woman, who at once cheerfully volunteered to supply the colonial with parcels. lho friendless Anzac, in the correspondence that followed, expressed the hope that when the war was over he would have the pleasure of meeting his benefactor in fccotlaud. Hut this was noi to he. The voting woman has he.!!, officially informed thai the colonial soldier has died of wounds, and thai he has rewarded the kindness ol the friend he was fated never to meet Inleaving her iJ2OOO. Tho areas which were badly flooded chir-! in<r the autumn and wintci in ine South are stili in an unlit condition to do mucii wiiii l-iai-- the- South Island correspond; cat of the Farmers' Union Advocate), and the loss to the farmer! in these localities : s „ o j,„r id be very considerable. . Dairy herds have been reduced and cropping lias boon restricted in numbers of eases. Un ihe Taieri the losses were probably felt worst. Cattle calves, sheep and produce ol all son- were lost. It is only lately that the full extent of ibe damage has been made apparent. Paddocks of roots and stacks ot „'...;„ ~,,.,,. u ,ined. Son.- of the farms are ctil! tindn water, and team work is impossible in numbers of cases. In some eases ,ii o C ows have become little better than wreck: of I heir former selves, and have depreciated from 50 to 75 per cent As . a consequence the deliveries to the dairy factories have suffered very much, borne of the land which has been under water for a iong time will have to be regrassed. as the pasture will bo quite killed. There have been many women in receipt of allowances From several soldiers who have i?onc to the front. In one <,i the militarv departments (says the Wellington special of the klthnm Argus) there are stories of one woman who was in receipt of allowances Irom thirteen soldiers. For girls and women in obtain from four or live soldiers has been quite common. There were many cases in which-married women were receiving allowances from several soldiers.'" 1 An official tells me that the scandals were so rank thai the Defence Department stepped in and prevented women and girls Irom drawing a portion of the pay of soldiers that they were not related to. If this be correct, and I believe it "is. it will tighten up the purse of many young women who for some time past have, been revelling in luxuries that they had hitherto never dreamed of. A draper said to me, ' I am afraid this is going to reduce the sale of fur coats, in which we have been doing a roaring trade." When a Chinaman dies in a foreign land the first thought of Ids compatriots'is to have his body conveyed back to China, from soil alone his spirit can ascend to the Happy Land. It is one of the principal cares of the Celestial's existence to save up sufficient to return to his own land, or, failing that, to take his body back after his death if that event should occur abroad. The Chinaman Willie Fong Keong. who died at the Napier Hospital last week from the result, of an accident, was no exception to the usual rule regarding burial, and his body has been embalmed and placed in a lead shell for the voyage. The casket was shipped away by the steamer leaving Napier for Auckland on Saturday, and will be forwarded from New Zealand to Sydney, and thence to Hong Kouk, at the earliest possible date. ' The total cost of Willie's voyage hack to China is said to be in the vicinity of £l5O. The uncommon method of hearing simultaneously evidence at a coroner's inquest and evidence on indictable charges connected with the death of the deceased was (says the New Zealand Herald) adopted at the Police Court on Saturday. The death of a young girl resulted in certaiu criminal charges bring made against a nuts,' and a. young man. and as the evidence produced by 'the police was practically identical in respect to the inquest and lho indictable charges, it was taken l>v two magistrates sitting together, Mr I'] C. Omen acted as coroner, and Mr V. V. I'ra/er heard the crimina? charges. A considerable saving of time was thereby effected. The attitude of the Government in regard (o war service by aliens in the Dominion was referred to by the Minister lor l)e----fenee. Sii James Allen, al Auckland, on Satuuiav. lie said the Government would be very glad to do all it could to a-d.-i aliens to get lo the iron; if they were naturalised. Those who were no; naturalised, but were loyal to the Allies' cause, although ii might no) be possible to place with the New Zealand Forces, the Government would be glad to help to reach the from and light with I heir own people. The Minister had a private conference on Saturday evening with the Jugoslavs of Auckland and district, and tht matter;, discussed will be laid before the ('abinei. Cases of infantih.' paralysis in the northern pari of the Auckland province have been notified recently to the Auckland public health authorities, and Dr. .J. T. .Hughes, district health officer, spent all hist week in visiting the infected localities, which are chiefly in the Otamatea County. It is stated (reporis the New Zealand Herald) that the cases reported have often followed a somewhat unusual form. In some the onset has been marked by the patient suffering from malaise, or a general feeling of not being well, also from headache and pains in the neck and back, with gastro-intestinal disorders. In some cases the-e symptoms have rapidly passed, leaving the child weak, hut with no paralysis. • Actual paralysis has not been one of the chief symptoms.