LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 28 September 1918, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The stock entry at Kamo yesterday was well up to expectations, and prices realised were about 15s per head above Whangarei sale on the previous day.

The Mayor (Mr J. S. Dent) was present on the railway station this morning' at the departure of the boat-train to say farewell to asniatf number of "final leave" men. , There was no formal ceremony, but his Worship gave each man a cordial hand-shake and a few words of-ch.eeiv

News from Oamaru records. Jii. peculiar accident. -A report like": a heavy gun was heard,"'arid a large

dab of concrete went, up into the air !o half the height of a telegraph pole. One of the telephone workers, it transpired, had been, using a'blowlamp in a concrete well, and the flames ignited gas in the -telephone ••able container, which acted as a rain to an accumulation .of gas in a closed well. The operator of tha ■low lamp lost no time in "getting out of the well, which assuredly saved •im from severe burns. -

An ex-Southern farmer who is now carrying on operations in the Northern' Wairoa district, in relating his experiences in the "Weekly News," says: "Some years ago I asked your office where I could find good, cheap land for settlement and was advised to try the north of Auckland. Well, I'm here, and very well pleased with the place, but the people starve their! stock in winter instead of growing feed for them. When I was down South recently and told folks that no one grew food for winter in our valley they could hardly credit me. But it does not pay. It is not farming, and stock do not get the change of food that would tone them up and make them more productive."

A few weeks ago the largest steamer ever built for the French mercantile marine was launched from the Chantieres de France at Dunkirk, says a correspondent of the "Pall Mall Gazette." The vessel is nearly 450 ft. long, displaces 19,000 tons, and will carry 12,000 tons of cargo. The Germans, who knew all about this ship, have been doing their best for more than three years to destroy her on the stocks by bombs, long-range guns, and shellfire from destroyers at sea. But their malicious design was baffled by the determination of the French workers, who have brought the job to a successful conclusion in the I face of every conceivable difficulty I and danger.

Our chaplains on land and at sea, thousands of them have made a real mark, and failures have been few and far between. One very youthful chaplain felt he was making a sad mess of comforting the dying and exhorting the living, and his worst fears were realised when the CO. sent for him. 'Padre, if you'll excuse me saying so, you're a d d rotten chaplain; the men will never follow you to heaven." "I rather felt that, sir," stammered the flummoxed padre. "But I'll tell you what," continued the C.O. "You'd make ? blinking fine company officer, and then the men would follow you to hell." So the padre went home, joined an 0.T.C., and in six months went over the top a combatant officer.

Speaking of the great increase inland values in New Zealand, and the effect on the cost of living, Mr Atmore (Radical candidate for Wellington Central) said that the increase was created by public expenditure and the growth of population. They put a railway, for example, through the land of a man who owned 100,000 acres, and put up its value by £1 to 30/ per acre. That practically meant £100,000 to £150,000 put into his account, and he wanted 5 per cent, out of the people on that increased value. He raised the price of his produce accordingly, and up went the cost of living. They should levy a heavy tax on the increased values, and so break up land monopoly, increase production, and reduce prices.

Some little time ago the Whangarei Chamber of Commerce wrote to the Minister of Lands in regard to the delay caused by the methods adopted in acquiring land for soldier settlements. It was pointed out that the three-months option prior to purchase required by the Government militat ed against the acquisition of desirable properties, insomuch that if a man had a good proposition to offer be would be kept hanging about for three months while the Cover" ment officials made up their mind To overcome this it was suggeste that possibly the local committees o' the Efficiency Board might render as sistance in guiding the authorities ■> to the value of the places offered. Tl Minister, however, finds objection * such a proposal and snvs that it is -

cognised as essential that nurch-" 1 should be controlled entirely by '

of the Land Purchase Bo

The chairman of the Farm;'"reezing Co. (Mr S. J. Ambury) h something to say about the extensic of the New Zealand meat contra/ for 12 months after the war, whe addressing the annual meeting o Thursday. It did not, he said, re

(pure much wisdom to recognise thi advantage it would be to have good steady prices for 12 months aft? the cessation of the war. Probab' at that period the cold stores won" be full of produce belonging to th Imperial Government, and all sue' produce would, no doubt, have firs claim on the available shipping sppee The Government was not likely U lose control of the shipping until al its own requirements had been met and that would take considerable time. The fact that the Imperial Government would advance 75 per cent, of the value of the meat six weeks after it was received into the works would make a material difference to the producers in regard to finance, and was a strong argument in favour of the proposed extension of the contract.

New potatoes have been on sale m Auckland, but big supplies are not yet expected. The boat train to-day carried an exceptional number of passengers. The.-station platform was crowded and : the ticket box, as usual, holding up .a weary procession. ;' The concert company which visited klripaka-'last night in aid of the Commercial hospital effort, met; With a warm welcome and the entertainment proved in every way successful." • ."Amongst the men of the Chinese labour companies now in France "there exists a clannishness that shows -ltsulf in many curious ways. According to our ideas, perhaps one of the most remarkable is their attitude towards money matters. A number of them will be in a shop examining the various goods. One, wishing to buy-an article, and finding that perhaps he has not enough money, | will calmly help himself from the purse of his neighbour, who looks upon this quite as a matter of course and raises no objection. If the public of Whangarei needs further proof that a proper stock route is necessary in this town the events of the last few days should be convincing. Sales took place at both ends of the town on both Thursday and Friday and as a result of the large entries the main streets have been thronged "with thronged with herds of cattle going to and from the Whangarei and Kamo sale yards. Not only have the thoroughfares been dangerous for pedestrians, but the condition of the streets has been made most objectionable.

The questions put to Mr C. W. j Tanner at his election meeting in I Wellington the other night were many and varied. One questioner wished to know if the candidate would introduce into Parliament, if elected, a measure for the suppression of wowserism. Wowserism, said the questioner, was becoming a very active element in the country, and if not subdued it would be impossible shortly for any clean-living man to stay !r. the Dominion. "If you elect me," shouted back Mr Tanner, in reply, ! "it will be the greatest knock wowserism has ever had." (Great enthusiasm.)

The opening of a proper road to the Whangarei High School has for some time occupied the attention of the board of Governors. A lane at present provides one route of communication, but the problem is, how can this be legally widened to serve the purpose of the Board. The Railway Department declines to give land from the permanent way area to make the widening possible and the Board itself is doubtful of its power to dedicate land on the other side for road purposes or pay compensation to private owners for land taken from their ownership. Nothing definite has been arrived at, but the Borough Council is to be asked to promote legislation enabling the construction of the road on a 33ft. basis. It remains to be seen what attitude the Borough will assume.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Farmers' Freezing Company in Auckland on Thursday Mr S. J. Ambury made an emphatic protest against stagnation of public works. It was, he said, hopeless to look for an adequate increase in our primary pioducts unless we had good'arterial roads and railways. The greatest handicap to production from the land was bad roads and the lack of railways. This handicap had been acutely felt in the Auckland district, and if the country was to remain prosperous a vigorous public works policy would have to be undertaken. ' We needed a national highway from Auckland to the North Cape, and from Auckland to Wellington. The inauguration of a national policy of roading was absolutely essential in order to promote settlement and increase production. Another important matter that required the attention of the Government was the connection of the North Auckland railway with Whangarei. There was- still about 30 miles of the line unfinished, and no excuse could be made for delaying the completion of this important work.

The annual conference of the Otago Branch V.M.C.A. was held in Dunedin on Saturday and Sunday last. On Saturday evening Mr E. C. Brownell, notional general secretary of the V.M.C.A., gave a lecture on 'America's Work for Men.' The lecture was illustrated with some 120 coloured slides. Mr H. K. Wilkinson presided, and said that the lecturer had had a wide experience in V.M.C.A. work in North America. He believed that as a result of his lecture in Timaru there would be a V.M.C.A. formed there at no distant date. Mr Brownell said that many people were labouring under a misapprehension as to the foundation of the V.M.C.A. The association was established by George Williams on June G, 1844, in and was carried to America in 1851 by an Irish sea captain. The lecturer showed slides illustrating the work in North America, India, Great Britain, and China. He also exhibited a number of slides illustrative of the work in the military camps. He stated that a modern V.M.C.A. building in America cost from £200,000 to £250,000. In one building in North America the membership was over 9000, and over one million men and boys entered it last year. The various training centres for training employed officers were well illustrated. In North America £20,000,000 was now invested in buildings, and the membership reached nearly one million.