OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1910, 2 September 1921, Page 4

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

Mr Statham believes the future belongs to his party; certainly his programme belongs -to the distant future. Until his party grows up and learns to face facts as they are it can scarcely hope to be a factor in the national life or even to discharge its self-im-posed task of protecting the great middle class from Conservatism on the one hand and (Socialism on the other. Indeed, the great middle class appears to be threatened with a superfluity of admirers, If Mr Statham persists in his intention of contesting 65 seats at next election he will but split tho middle-class vote and risk presenting -a few seats to the Official Labour Party for which he professes ho love. —Auckland “Herald.”

If the Hon. E. P. Lee had desired to give' pfnnt to the allegation that the Government’s fingers have been bitten over its existing Avar contract, and that it is faced Avith the prospect of a loss on stocks in hand, he could hardly have bettered his statement published this morning. The Minister, Avith a lack ol logic rather remarkable in a member of the legal profession, says that people Avho can afford to do so should lay in a stock of sugar noAA', and that those Avho fail to do so ' ‘ will not deserve sympathy if they arc short again Avhen the season comes along.” The Minister appears to regard it as something reprehensible that householders should buy their sugar as they need it, but surely that suggests that Government, control is expected to engender uncertainty, rather than the certainty which has always been its principal recommendation. It would seem that the Chairman of the Board of Trade did something which he should not haA’O done id promising cheaper sugar in November, but the cat is out of the bag now, and the Minister's efforts to put it hack again are not likely to be successful. —“Lyttelton Times.”

Fresh eggs are being retailed at Carterton. at 1/4 per dozen. For failing to send his stock returns to the Agricultural. Department, Thomas Bhrtlett was fined £5 and costs at Feilding yesterday.

John Harold Kane, solicitor, of Gisborne, was found guilty, on his second trial, of forgery. .Sentence was deferred until to-day. A Press Association message states that the Gisborne railway station was broken into on Wednesday night, and several pounds in cash were abstracted. The first and only test match between the New .South Wales Rugby team and the New Zealand ropresehtatives is to be played at Christchurch to-morrow.

At Mangorci last week a miscreant set fire to a haystack containing about seven or eight tons of hay belonging to Mr John Hale. Tho stack was completely destroyed. The retail price of cheese in Masterton is still firm at 1/6 per pound, and it is not expected to fall until tho now season’s make comes on the market,’that is in about two mouths' time. Palmerston North grocers anticipate that a rise of probably twopence per pound in the retail price of nutter will take place in the course of a day or two, or as soon as the present stocks are exhausted. A farmer named James McConnon was fined £lO and costs at Feilding yesterday for putting water into milk which he was selling to a milk vendor. Tho vendor (Alfred Mai) was fined £2 and costs.

The “Stratford Post” says that tho Stratford mountain house, on the road to Dawson Palls, is unfortunately now a hostelry only in name. Visitors to the scene state that vandalism has just about put the finishing touches on tho place as an abode.

The next annual conference of the Municipal Associations bf New Zealand will be held during the early part of the session of Parliament. The venue of the meeting has not yet been decided upon, but when this has been done, the date will be fixed. The noted South African (Springboks) footballers were, in Palmerston North for several hours yesterday. They arrived by the south-bound express in the morning, and departed in the afternoon for Napier, where they will meet the Hawke’s Bay representatives to-morrow.

Mr A. J. Graham, J.P., presided at a sitting of the Police Court in Palmerston North yesterday morning. Two first offending inebriates were ’ each fined 10/-, the amount of their bail. Another first offender, who appeared in Court, was fined only 5/-, tho an* ount of Jus bail.

In reporting to yesterday’s meeting of the Palmerston North River Board on the condition of Fitzroy Bond in the Manawatu River, Mr d. B. Hughes (engineer) stated that from surveys made he had ascertained that the total amount of land lost, since February,, the date of * the previous surveys, amounted to li acres, and the mean width of the lost land was 40 feet. Erosion had taken place for a length of 34 chains of river frontage, scouring away the upper end of the present stop-bank.

The New Zealander who travels from his own homeland has a natural pride in New Zealand, but this at times receives some sad gars. Mr F. C. Daniell, of Hamilton, who recently toured by motor some 5000 miles through the United States, had painted in large letters across the wind-screen, “New Zealand,” and while standing outside the Capitol Buildings of one of the States, a Yankee had a good look at the name, and then said: “Excuse me, stranger, but tell me, for I cannot remember what part of California is New Zealand?” Later on, while Mr Daniell was waiting at a garage getting some repairs - done, the manager stated that “they had one of your fellows working here.” Of course Mr Daniell said, “What part?” “Oh, from Sydney.” A lively meeting of the Eeturned Soldiers' Association took place in Wellington on Wednesday evening. Mr A. B. Sievwright was called upon by resolution to give reasons for his statements regarding the proceedings at the district conference at Palmerston North, and his insinuation that a small clique was running the Association. Mr Sievwright made a lengthy statement, which was frequently interrupted. Eventually the following resolution was carried, by 28 votes to 16:—“That this meeting, after hearing Mr Sievwright, expresses its profound dissatisfaction at the fact that he has not seen fit, when challenged, to justify the statements he asserted as hard facts; and further, that when challenged to do so,-he has .failed to name the members of the clique which ho alleged existed, and has indicated that the matters which he referred to by way of innuendo are really libellous if brought.into the open.”

The Eev. Y. G. Bryan King writes as follows to a Dunedin paper:—“ln view of the deplorable murder of a constable in Timaru, it seems to mo that the time has come when the public should demand that the members of the police force should be armed with something more effective than a baton. The fact that officialdom refuses to allow the police to carry arms, except while on special duty, helps to embolden men of the criminal class, who themselves are usually provided with death-dealing weapons. Had the constable been properly equipped for self-defence he would probably be alive now, and would not have had to stand as a helpless target before his murderer. When the Government sent our soldiers forth to wage war against our foreign foes, they saw that they were properly armed 5 but the police are expected to protect themselves, and us, from murderers and criminals of the lowest type with bits of wood and bare fists. I hope that something will be immediately done to give a greater measure of protection to the splendid body of men to whom we look to safeguard our peace and safety. "

New washable doe-skin Gloves t for i idles are attractively priced at The 'tore for Value. 2-button 16/6, ringed gauntlet. 25/6; elastic 22/6. — The C. M. Koss Co., Ltd. Kindly mention ihe “TIMES” when corrajsjiondix' o, advartlsA K «-

A Hindu was fined 40/- and costs at Auckland on Wednesday for working' a broken-kneed horse.

Twenty-two bodies have been recovered in connection with the E3B disaster at Hull, states a London cable.

It is rumoured that char-a-banc services between Palmerston and Foxton and Palmerston and Feilding are to be inaugurated shortly. A conference of public bodies is to be held at Dunedin to-day, to consider the question of finding employment for married men out of work. The Commissioner of Police has of* fered a reward of £230 for information which will lead to the arrest of the person, or persons, who murdered Constable James Dorgan at Timaru on the morning of August 27th. Some idea of the effect of the drought in England is furnished by a letter to a Dunedin resident. The correspondent states that at Brentford, in Essex, they arc selling water at 2Jd per pail, and in London it is turned off for several hours a day. A strange marine visitor to the Waihopai River, Invercargill, on Saturday was a sea lion, who disported himself to the delight of hundreds of spectators. There must have been close on 300 adults on the bank (says tho “Southland Times’'), not to count innumerable small boys, when a shot rang out from a service rifle carried by a man who said he was J. W. Lyons, and the sea lion's minutes of life were numbered.

An interesting point to motorists was determined in a case in the Magistrate’s Court at Waihi, in which a taxidriver sought to recover £25 damages caused through a mounted man. riding into plaintiff's car. The defence raised was that immediately the car came round a corner the glare from the dazzling headlights prevented the defendant from seeing anything, and that his horse got out of hand and collided with the car. The Magistrate (Mr Salmon) held that plaintiff's failure to dim his headlights was negligence on his part, and gave judgment against plaintiff.

The Wanganui “Herald” is responsible for the following:—One of tho visiting primary school footballers, who evidently had a good, or bad, time at the dinner last evening, was heard to remark to a comrade on his way to the train this morning: “By , do you remember those eggs last night I i was as sick as after i got home.” Eggs are usually appreciated by athletes in training, but will evidently be discounted by this boy in future, and the probabilities are, in later years, when he is reminded of his lour to Wanganui, he will reply, “Yes, that is where 1 had an over-dose of eggs!”

Lately several letters posted at tho Louth Hiiieud Post Office, Southland, have disappeared, while "others have been picked up on the road. Tho other day a resident posted a letter in the post office box, and shortly afterwards discovered the letter on tho roadway. The whole thing appeared mysterious, and the aperture for receiving letters was temporarily closed, and no letters disappeared. is was subsequently observed that starlings entered the receiving box, and u in now surmised that the birds lifted tho letters, presumably to make room for nesting or to “feather” their nests elsewhere.

The Dunedin “Star” says:—;One ofthe ameliorating influences in the present hnanctal stringency is tuat steamers are ready to take any cargo and carry it expeditiously. A manufacturing centre like Dunedin finds in the outlet thus afforded a great help in keeping the works going. The Abbotsford Tileries, for example, is able to operate full handed and at full time, many orders coming from the north as well as the south. The minimum output now is 100,000 finished tiles per month. Sometimes it goes up to 110,000. Other works of a somewhat similar nature in New Zealand are at Temuka and.Taumarunui. The great advantage Abbotsford possesses is in having the fight clay actually on the site, it requiring simply to bo fed in without the expense of trucking. Some of tne immigrants arriving from the Jklother Country are not finding New Zealand the land flowing with milk and honey that they had imagined. There is in Palmerston North one pathetic case of a man who is stranded with a wife and two children. Lured by the attractive picture of life in New Zealand,, as painted by the emigration agents, he gave up a position at a fairly good wage, and came’ out to find, instead of the cheap living and plentiful work ho expected, a. congested labour market and a cost of living not much lower than that he • had left behind. Having canvassed the town in a vain search for work, and come to the end of his resources, he has been afforded shelter by a local resident, His quest for emj)loymout has not been rendered more pleasant by. the cold, and in some cases abustre, reception he has been given.

A curious story, which sheds a remarkable light on certain aspects of present-day German mentality, reaches me from Berlin (says a writer in the London “Daily Telegraph"). It would appear that a little while bade a German scientist discovered what promised to be an'effective cure for the tropical form of sleeping sickness (otherwise known as beri-beri), and for the bovine diseases caused by the sting of the tse-tse fly. Upon learning of this discovery, informal overtures were made by certain authorised persons of Allied nationality with a view of securing the benefits of tips discovery for their own colonies. jffieir requests, however, were met, in one instance, with the extraordinary retort that there was no reason why “poor" Germany, who had been deprived of all her colonics, should help enrich those who had taken them! On the matter* however, being carried through diplomatic channels to the highest quarters at Berlin, a tentative agreement was at once arrived at with the German Government. By virtue of this agreement experiments Wiih the new remedy are to taKfc place very shortly in a British tropical colony.

; A social fixture which is being oaserly looked forward to by terpsichoreans is the Dannevirke and district R.S.A. Annual Ball which is to take place on Wednesday next. Kindly mention the “TIMES” when corresponding with advertisers.

Snow foil in Canterbury on Monday and Tuesday last.

Steps are being taken to form a clerks r guild in Wellington. The new Methodist Orphanage at Masterton is shortly to be opened. Apples appear to be scarce in Palmerston North at the present time. The best varieties are being retailed at Sd per lb, A heavy frost in Levin on Thursday morning is reported to have done much damage to young plants and early vegetables. At the sitting of the Supremo Court at Masterton next week, M. MOley, of Pahiatua, is claiming £2OO from E. O’Sullivan, and another, for libel.

The Auckland market is at present overstocked with maize, most of it being the new crop. Present indications do not point to any increase in price. Present weather indications are for moderate to strong southerly winds, ■with changeable and showery conditions. The glass is unsteady with a rising tendency. The total rainfall registered in Palmerston North for the seven months ending July 31st was 16.66 itches, compared with 23.31 inches during the same period last year. « It is somewhat of a coincidence that up till the end of July this year, rain fell on exactly the same number of days as in the first seven months of last year, namely, 77. According to the “Mercantile Gazette,” which writes-strongly against a State Bank and a Farmers’ Bank, “New Zealand farmers are mostly speculators, and most of the farms in New Zealand are for sale.”

A campaign is being opened by tbe Early Settlers’* Association for raising funds for the erection of a suitable memorial to the pioneer settlers of Port Nicholson, in the shape of an Early Settlers' Memorial Hall. At a meeting of suppliers to the Hamua dairy factory, the following resolution was carried unanimously: “That it be a, recommendation to tlie directors to sell on the monthly system or the whole output, as they think best.”

Under the scheme to effect economies in Government Departments, about 130 public servants left the service on Wednesday. Each member has been given three months’ salary in lieu oi three months’ notice, a procedure that will bo followed in future cases.*"

The Peilding Farmers’ Feezing Go has consignments unrealised that arc valued at £100,716 18/10. The ad vanccs made against consignments amount to £75,737 7/-. The paid-up capital of the company is £48,717 18/0, and the bank \ advances amount to £104,789 16/10. In thd Auokland-Manawatu “soccer” match at Palmerston North three important alterations had been* made in the Auckland team ns it appeared in the printed programme. Dacrc replaced Olanachan as right half. Corbett, of H.M.S. Philomel, was captain, and Seaman Batty replaced Williams on the left wing. A returned soldier named Smith, a single man, while riding a horse homo to Brunswick on Wednesday evening, mot with a serious accident and was taken tc the hospital. According to a relative who was accompanying him, the horse stumbled and Smith was thrown heavily and f rendered unconscious. Yesterday morning his condition had showp an improvement.

A suggestion was placed before the last meeting of the Board of Agriculture to have the Fencing Act amended to permit of the use of a lighter wire than is specified in the construction of a “sufficient” fence. The proposal received full consideration, but the Board recorded the, opinion that further lengthy tests of tne lighter wire are required to establish the claims made for it before any amendment is made in the Act. The Palmerston Xorth primary schools Rugby team returned from the Wanganui tournament yesterday, having come second in the contest. Wairarapa, the Vrinners, had two wins and a tie, and Manawatu two wins. During their stay, the boys were hospitably entertained, their excursions including ii visit to Castlecliff, and to Mr S. F. Moore’s Bushy Park estate. They -were also entertained at a dinner after tie final match.

Dealing with the financial stringency, the “Mercantile Gazette” says:— “There is only one way that the situation can. Tie met, and that is by thrift on the part of the Government. Drastic retrenchment free of any sentimental infiueaces must be the order of the day, and we hope, when Mr Massey returns in the course of a fe\. -eeks. he will realise the need for '"nmy and get to work in earnest. Government finance is the key to tho present situation.” The soldier settlers at Mangatiti and Waipapa are endeavouring to obtain a deviation of the Raetihi-Manganui-o-te-ao Eoiid. The Minister' for Public Works, replying to their representations, stated that the length of the suggested deviation was two and a half miles, and the cost was considered to bo in the vicinity of £3OOO. While recognising the desirability of the work, which would provide a level and shorter route, in view of the financial stringency, the expenditure of so largo a sum on'improving the existing access was not warranted.

P.G. B;ro. J. L. Walton, N.G., presided over last evening’s meeting of the Loyal Manawatu Lodge, M.U., 1.0.0. F. One new member was initiated. Ii; was decided to hold a concert on Friday, October 11th, and tho anniversary dance on Friday, October 28th, both functions to be in aid of the Children’s Christmas tree and entertainment fund. A fraternal visit will be paid to the Loyal Manchester Lodge, Feilding, on Wednesday, September 21st, and members willing to make the trip are requested to forward their names to the secretary.

In the dress section at Colljnson and Cunmnghame’s the new shades arc being well featured. Lemon, henna, saxe. rose, brown and fawn are outstanding and procurable in practically all materials. Patterns post free to any address if you cannot call. Spring opening musical programme this afternoon. Window displays to-night.