LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 53, 2 March 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"Imports/of motor vehicles into New Zealand during January totalled 707, or practically 2S per day, including Sundays," remarks the Trade Review, and : "This is war time economy, and freight space is -scarce." Nelson ladies are greatly pleased with the quality of GO-LDEN IRTJIjE Soap and NO RUBBING- Laundry Help—an excellent combination for washing all clothes clean.— Levin and Co., ltd. Wholesale Agents fo~ No-Rubbing and Golden Rule Brands.

In. a reference to State farms, the Minister of Agriculture stated when he was in Hamilton a few days ago that, despite many difficulties, work was proceeding satisfactorily. The chief obstacle was the scarcity of experts. About 100 officers had gone to the front, others would soon be called up. It was practically impossible to get suitable men, either in the Dominion or from outside, at present. But, on the whole, the work was well maintained, and the farming community was well satisfied.

With frenzied elocution the Russian leaders flock, and start a revolution each day at 9 o'clock. Bewhiskered' men and grizzled assume th e higli command ; by sunset they have fizziied; by twilight they are fanned. A government is started that, holds out promise rich ,• in half a day its carted out to the dumpovitch. On e liberator chases another to his lair; no -mortal can keep cases on all that's doing there. We read the stories hazy, of what is going od, and say, "Those boobs arc crapy, they're nuts, so help us John !" But let us not b e hurried in handing" out rebukes, for criticisms flurried are often worse than flukes. The Russians wudly screeching from despot's rule set tree, ar e reaching, blindly reaching, for all the boons that be. lake men' who have teen hidden for black years underground l , and who at last are bidden into the light, unbound, they're startled and they're frightened by such a stunt as that-; of age-lohg baixlens lightened, they know not what they're at. Thp despot long 1 has bossed her. and Russia must obey; now faker and imp ostoi- must have their little day; but some day they'll be strandedi, an<? nations will declare, "Se e where olcs Russia's landed l —she's right side up with care!"— Walt Mason..- in American paper. /

A plea of guilty %va,s put forward in the Wellington Magistrate's 'Court yesterday by Arthur Horace Tuckwell, who was charged with failing to enrol in the First Division, created under the Military Service Act,. says the Post. The position, as stated by Inspector Marsack, was that defendant was not a married man, but had' lived for some years with a woman as her husband. In order to save that woman's reputation he had enrolled in the Second Division. Mr H. F. O'Leary admitted the facte, but stated that there were some palliating circumstances. Tuckwell had enlisted three times, ' and in January, 1917, he was finally turned down as unfit. Defendant did not wait for the police to discover his offence, but had. volunteered the information. His Worship ('Mr S. E. McCarthy, S.M.) stated that he was quite *■ satisfied that defenda.nt waa not a military shirker. Defendant's conduct was not cowardly, but' rather meritorious. Defendant would be convicted and discharged.

"The true basis of life, the very essence of life, is struggle," said Profes- : sor Macmillan Brown .at Christchurch on Saturday night, "and if you cea.se to struggle you may as well die. I have voyaged much among primitive peoples, anH have seen this point emphasised time and again. Whenever war, the only occupation of the men, ceases, they die off. I have seen this last winter in the Marquesas, where a population of half a million at the beginning of last century has dwindled down to 25Q0, chiefly because they have ceased their usual ocupation. The men loafed, there : was no more struggle, they were dying '.off rapdily." ' ■

When a motion for the discharge, of a bankrupt came ibefore his Honour Mr Justice Chapman, at: the, Chris-tchurch Supremo 3ourt, the other day, says the Press, it w-a s opposed by Mr Eowe, on behalf .if one creditor. Mr Gresson, for the bankrupt, explained that, the bankrupt had .paid a dividnd of 2s Id in the £, and was; about to faring the dividend- up to about 10s. As far back as 1915 he had applied for his discharge, but the motion was not granted' bn account of opposition by the same creditor, who was now ■ objecting, and who insisted that he should be paid hi? full 20s in the £. Eis Honour pointed' out that 'h e could make no order which directly or indirectly would result in one creditor receiving more than another. The fact that the discharge had been hung up fnr three years was, of course, all to the benefit of the creditors, and, moreover, it was not often that a debtor was found who wouldi pay 10s in th e The order for discharge would be made.

As an instance of the overcrowded state of schools. Mr C. T. Aschman stated to the Workers' Educational Association at Christchurch on Saturday night that in one case the sixth standard Consisted of 86 children with only one teacher and a first ye,ar ' pupil-teacher, while the fourcli standard numbered one hundred, with one teacher and a pupil-tec-cher. "You cannot teach children in bulk like that," Mr Aschman said, "and if the people knew of the overcrowding of our schools and the ghastly unhygienic state of some of them they would rise in wrath and rend the Government, National or anything else, <hat would not vote the money to remedy that state of affairs."

The last lecture of the series'on "Singing" was given by Mr John Tait |in the Academy of Music last night. The rooms were comfortably filled with an appreciative audience. The lecturer dealt with his subject from a historical point of view, a.nd while stating that there were singing schools in Egypt in very early times the earliest authentic mention of music is. found in the Pentateuch, and ho name to tie conclusion that no reliable information is given of earlier date than 1000 years 8.0. Interesting accounts of song schools in different parts of Christendom were given, and the requirements of entrants to the choir-schools of the Romans were quoted. They are as follows The singer's body had to be strongly built and well-proportioned, the chest broad, the lungs sound and strong, the neck muscular, the palate well-arched, the tongue well-shaDed, and the lips not too thick. The soft palate and the epiglossis were not to be long, and the teeth had to be complete. The voice had to be rich, powerful, of a metallic ring, agreeable in tone, uniform, and of a large compass, j Having fulfilled these conditions, the would-be chorister had to submit to from six to eight years' training ! Reference was made to some modern song schools, and a suggestion thrown out that something of this nature would not be out bf place in Nelson. Illustrations were rendered by the following :—Misses Hobbs, Jean Martin,, L.A.8., and Stapp, and Mr E. E. Fleming.

The monthly- meeting of the W.C.T.TJ. will be held in the Rechabite Hall on Tuesday next, at 3 o'clock.

Harvest thanksgiving services "will "be held at Trinity 'Presbyterian Church tomorrow. Special music will be rendered by the choir, and the church will be suitably decorated for the occasion. The gifts offered will be given to the hospital and other philanthropic institutions. The Rev. G-. H. Gibb will conduct both services.

There will be harvest thanksgiving services at the Nelson Baptist Church to-morrow, with special anthems by the choir.

The date of Messrs Bisley Bros, and Co.'a sale at Hope on account of Messrs Berkett and Stagg has been altered to Monday, the 4th inst.

A Press reporter was informed the other dayi on good' authority that the coming session of Parliament, which was ■ provisionally arranged to open on April 9th, will now commence on April 4th.

"I understand you are to be married shortly," said. Mr Justice Chapman when admitting a young man in the Christchurch Supreme 'Court, says the rress, to a term of probation. "Understand that that is not the reason I am admitting you to probation, instead of sentencing you to a term of imprisonment. I certainly decline to take the responsibility of recommending you as a husband' just now. If the young lady is foolish enough to have you at present that is her affair. At th e end ox your term, of probation there might be some sens© in it."

A worthy) old son of the soil, Mr W. Liddicoat, of Mangaweka, called in at the New Zealand Times office the other day and displayed, with pardonable pride, the portrait of himself, wife and' six soldier sons in khaki. All the sons, says the Times, have been at the front, and two returned with honourable wounds. In addition to the six fighting sons who look stalwart and intelligent, Mr and Mr& Liddicoat have three other sons at hom e and four girls This is a record no Cabinet Minister can equal, but the old man is oiot looking - for a seat in Parliament, "Yior expecting a Distinguished Conduct- Medal. He deserves -well of his country all th e same, and the example he has set should inspire others to keep the cradle full and provide plenty of defenders for these fortunate isles. 3 " "When a medical certificate was handed up to Mr Bishop, S.M. at the Appeal ■Board' held at Ashburton, states the Guardian, he remarked that appellant was suffering from something l , but owing to the bad writing he could not discover what it wa?. Counsel suggested that it was something in connection with the appendix. Mr Bishop said 1 no doubt that wa.<= bad e nough. but hardly as bad l as the writing, aAd he wished the doctors \M>nld write so that the board, could read their certificates.

Good prices ruled at the fruit market yesterday, says Wednesday's N.Z. Herald. Bon Chretien:' pears were plentiful, selling at from 4s 6d to 6s per case, and good quality peaches realised 2s 6d to 4s 6d. Owing to the prevalence of brown rot, the growers are picking their peaches .green, with the result that- prices are irot a3 good as if the fruit were riper. -Cooking apples and midtseason dessert were plentiful. Scarlet Pearmains and Spys are just coming in. Special quality tomatoes sold at 3s to 3s 6d ,ordinary quality going at 2s to 3s. The supply of passion fruit is very heavy, best grade fruit selling at 2s 6d per case. Lemons yesterday reached very high prices, cured fruit realising from 27s 6d to 25s per bushel case. 'Grapes sold' at from 4s 6d to 5s 6d. Oranges were scarce. A fresh shipment of bananas is expected shortly-

There has been a notable decrease in the number of police cases, coming before the magistrates in Wellington re-' , cently (says the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily dimes). There was only one case yesterday, and on being questioned by a newspaper man, Mr S. E. 'M'Garthy, S.jVT., _gave_ it, as his opinion that the reduction in the -number of cases of drunkenness: and offences arising out of indulgence in liquor would continue to decrease as the months went by. Qtoe of. the factors in the reduction, to which the magistrate did not refer,' was the stern treatment which he had given as magistrate to men and women, particularly women, who are a nuisance in the community. There is no . doubt that the town has been cleaned up in a wonderful way, and that early closing has made for quietness and general good conduct in the later hours of the evening. The law is being broken systematically and regularly by some licensees, but as this has to be done-surreptitious-ly, men who are even, "partly intoxicated- are' not encouraged to take liquor. It is a rare thing to see a drunken man abroad after dark. Onehears very little .nowadays of the hardships of t'li« new law on the customers of hotels. It used to be said that the soldiers would give no end of trouble, if they were not allowed to have their drinks when they came to Wellington on their weekly visits, but they seem to have accustomed themselves to early closing as easily as other people.

A resourceful solicitor tried a little logic on Mr W. A. Barton, S.M., *&t the Magistrate's Court, Gisboriie, last week, which to a layman seemed absolutely sound and' unanswerable, but apparently not very sound from a legal point of view, or, at any rate, did not 'achieve its purpose (says the-Times)A man was being charged with assisting a prohibited man to consume liquor, but the evidence only showed that the accused was seen in the act of handling a bottle containing whisky from which, presumably, he was about to take a drink. How could it be, said, Mr • Burnard asked ,that a man jwho was about to take a drink himself was assisting another to drink. On the other hand was he not, by drinking the liquor himself, making it impossible for the other- man to drink it. "You suggest, said the 'Magistrate, that defendant acted as though he would say to his companion: "JTow you are a prohibited' man. You can't drink this, so I'll drink it myself. ' He refused to accept such an interpretation of the man's conduct.

Signs of war weariness may be. detected in New Zealand, according- to Mr A. R. Atkinson, who delivered a lecture at Wellington the other evening, says Th e Post. He did not refer to the young men or to the soldiers, but to the non-combatant element. The political truca had-, apparently, been forgotten, and, instead of a display of National unity, they had' that Vhateful, hideous spectacle" in Wellington North —an 'utter disgrace to the city and to th R Dominion as- a whole. The campaign had developed into a class war, and everything tended to make harder the tasks of those who -were mainly engaged in winning the bigger war. And' that opposition came from those who claimed to be of higher intellectual power than their fellows. It was plain, at any rate, that New Zealand had' failed- to -learn the great lesson of National unity which had "been brought home to other countries.

Following on the recent explosion on' •board the s.s. Huia. the superintendent of the Wellington "Fire Brigade has written to the Wellington Harbour Board suggesting more careful handling of benzine on the various wharves. The chairman of the board._ at. Wedinesday night's meeting, ipointed out thaA such an accident as that- referred' in. boinsr on board' a vessel, wt outside the control of the 'board, At +he same tiire he deprecated the careless rr> <wn«r vn which ibfw-vne "s wHh other cargo and' handled) on the "barf. T+- was decided T>v the board 1 that it? cffioprs should- furnish a report/ as to whether or no a-nv fetter arrarnrpments -mrM than exist „t. \nrPßf>"f- for +bp lis"4lin?) of. benr.me and similar com'bus'ililes.

The series of addresses on Belief will' be continued m the biicnMethodUt Church to-morrow night by Mr Sr.idfien.

A concert will he held in the Tapawera Hall on Monday;, March . 4th, in aid 1 of the Y.M.C.A. War Work Fund, when a varied programme wilK be> given by the Nelson Concert Party, including items by Miss Flo Gow, Miss Hanby x Messrs E. H. Short, George Busih, F.~ Mc'Cabe, and M'. H. Williams.

A reservist who appeared before the' First Military Service Board at Auckland stated that he was the only-.single one of eight sons. Altogether Ms parents _ had_ 16 children, 13 of whoin were still alive. Appellant's solicitor was in possession of a table showing the family record. The first child was born in 1859, when the mother was 19 years of age, and the 16th child was born 'in 1888. The father died at the age of 78,' and the mother is etill alive at the age of 77. Many of the grandsons are at the war.

In pursuance of the policy previously announced, the Defence authorities have fixed 25th March a« the last day upon which emplovei's and others may lodge applications for leave for members of the 37th Reinforcements, says the Post. After that date only urgent applications, which were unforseen, wlil be considered. The final .dates 'up to which leave may be requested for members of later Reinforcements have; beetr fixed as follows : —3Bth Reinforcements 2nd April; 39tli Reinforcements, 20th May; 40th Reinforcements, 'L7th June.

■Speaking to an Evening Mail representative this morning, Mr R. P. Hudson, member for Motueka, who has-just< returned from a tour of the outlying portions of the electorate, said in refer* ence to the needs of settlers in the back-blocks) that he came across an'instance/ of where a man had carried calves oil" to his section, fully ..believing that when they were bullocks they would at least be able to walk off the place. But no. This settler now has„tho bullocks, but he cannot move .them, for it would be madness to drive them! off. so rough and broken is the ground that has to be traversed. Let the p'eople think what such conditions mean, /before any rash conclusions are arrived .at concern - ing the needs of the settlers, 'said .Mr Hudson. " • -W",-''-.

"Trust the people" i& a great old democratic principle of which a good deal has been heard of late, but the Legislature has enacted that the people are not to be trusted in the matter, of dtink on election- day, says the N.Z. Times. Therefore : the hotels m the'cdtistituency of Wellington * North, •weite closed at noon. If -all-Hh© hotels of the city had been closed" .the -situation would not have toeen ;;so - diirious, hut the anomaly was' presented l of all l th» licensed houses .from Thoradon to Guba street shutting "diown at nion ■whi'lethe bars at.,-the;, other end of the city remained open. " On on©, sid e of "'Cubb street a drink could not be obtained; so that it became the peculiar privilege of certain licensees to do a roaringtrade in- the afternoon'at the expense of their brother publicans. The (position was of course, absurd, and wds the subject of much comment yesterday. JVlany people who are not in--tlia habit of studying Acts of Parliament were takea by surprise in the matter, but on hearing -how matters stoodi at noon there were regular -processions: of thirsty souls from the centre of. • tli<> city to the outskirts. - . '

■ln various parts- of Central-.Australia where fresh, water is ' difficult- to' find; by boring, nature has made provision for the storage of large quantities-,of rainwater in rock recesses'" and easily) accessible -water holes at the foot, of outcrops of stone. -Tihese natural a;e??Fr •?oira .are i the sources of supply for and beast' in j otherwise waterless 'oelts, days r the -South Australian Register. ;In the settled districts good j use is .apade of the granite, outcrops which serve as catchments for th e rock basin.- and' nearly all >tihe rainwater that falls , o'-> many of the larger rock surfaces as directed into artificial tanks. The method is to construct a -huge - concrete tank within a reasonable distance of the outcrop by digging until the granite bottom, is struck and then building four walls'. : A small concrete ledgd is put round the lower portion of the outcrop to divert the whole of the water falls on the rock into the tank. It. i» a simple and an effective method, of savins the fluid-. On the > Minnipa -.line one of these tanks is capable of holdir-3 two million- 'gallons.. '

An eride&vour is being made by the Hotel Workers' Union to obtain an interview with" the Hon. T. M. "Wilford relative to the Union's request that the maximum fine for Sunday trading should .be from £1 to. £IOO, says the Post. Mr "Wilford has ; promised consideration of the eugrgestpd amendment of this law,, but he thinks-sib probable that only urgent matters : arising out of the war will be dealt with at'.the cominu; short session .of : Parliament. ' The public Questions _ Committee of the "Wellington Presbyterian Church has agreed to act with the union in_the matter, on the ground of the religious contention and also on the labour contention. put forward by the ur^ion.

At the Military Service Appeal Bpayd , at Ashburton, says the Guardian, a^,military .man \stated that according to, the evidence of some country reservists it was remarkable how busy epme of them were in their anxiety-io gain exemption to keep up the country's productiveness, .> and yet after their appeals had boon dealt with they could afford to waste an hour or two in the Court.listening to how the other appellants fared. A policeman suggested that thiit was only a mere trifle, and the military siiOuld see some of the men- "who had boon ( granted exemption spinning about Ashburton in their motor cars two .or three times a week, instead of working faithfully on their, farms. : The military ' man admitted that no doubt such was the case, and stated tho,t police eyid6nce would be very helpful on many occasions to the board in order to clear up a doubt aa to whether an appellant should, be granted exemption.

• On Wednesday and Thursday, March 6th and 7th respectively the mail car will leave Blenheim at 6 a.m., due at Nelson 11.30 "a.m., also the car for Motueka will leave' Nelson at 7 a.m. and Riwaka at 7.45 a.m. Mail for Motueka will close at 6.l\> a.m. on both days. . .. : i . •

The very latest styles in Easter and Winter Costumes,from smartest materials, are now being made in our workrooms. If you "have not placed your order, do so at once.—W. McKay and Son, Ltd., Nelson.* •