LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 115, 20 May 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Helping Hand Shop reminds contributors at Happy "Valky, Wjkanuaka ' and Atawhai that then donaSons will be called for on Wednesday afternoon. Gifts from the f \\ocd amII b« collected on Thursday morning.

Very few applications have been Received bx- the Labour Departmnt lately from "tenante desirou, of Proceeding Z 'have their rent fixe, in with the provisions of the War l.egi* Intion Amendment Act- It is stood that one ingenious laudloid lia* devised a form of agreement with h * tenants which might he thought to be a. successful evasion of the provisions of the/ Act. but, notwithstanding tins agreement, the department is prepared to consider any application where it can be clearly shown: that the increase in rent is not justified.

The matter of the production of iuel alcohol in New Zealand was referred to L a.letter from the Hon. A. M. Myers, .Minister for. Customs, read at a meetin o- of the Industrial Association at Auckland. There would be unnecessary embargo upon the distillation of fuel alcohol, Mr Myers stated, provided such distillation took place m sufficient quantity to warrant proper supervision, nor (airy difficulty about crrantins licenses for" stills for the recovery of alcohol in large quantities for commercial purposes. At the same time it mifrht be mentioned that Dr. Maclaurin, Dominion analyst, who Had made investigations, had reported that it was doubtful whether alcohol could be economically produced in New Zealand. Various experiments were at present being made with flax refuse, wood, sawdust, waste fruits, and ot.ier materials, and it depended upon the success of these "experiments whether the manufacture of fuel alcohol, would be proceeded with.

.\t-.nrdin" tc the Minister for Ag. ; - cii : . ( urc. the New Zealand wheat jios-pti.-ts are pion'- ing, and the nece.s-ilv of inmoitins? may not "become \ery pr.>ssinsi. ' "Threshing is still on" said the Minister, "and all t-'-e returns cii-e not vet in, consequent 1 v. in order tf> 'arrive promptly at a •fiiMl •c.M.inmte of the position in rega-v to lioal supplies, I have instruct e-t thi'. Hoard of Trade to take a <-en ~ii- of the whole of the non-threrfivl wheat from al; farms immediate:.-.. When {his is complete we can go :n-o the cM.«!=lion as to whether it is necessary to import, and, if so, to \vhn\> extent. Tin to the present the returns show an average of' something over 25 bushels to the acre, which, compared with previous seasons, may be regarded a: a fair return. If p\'-v estimate of the acreage sown is. :'om. ised T bclif-ve 4'hnt the final thvr.w>" returns will disclose that the. yield ws'l he r.r-irly sufficient for our rcqui-o-nients..''

Advice hag been received by the New Zealand Shipping 'Company that the Comptroller of Shipping in London has increased the rates"of passage money in all classes for United Kingdom, as follows :—First class £4O, second class £3O third class £l6.

"t have often been accused of running a matrimonial agency in the service, buf I can only say that the orders of the Director of Medical Service are that I shall not interfere in any way with 'Cupid." said MSss. Macdonnld, matron-in-chief of the Canadian Nursing Service recently.

"Under the decision of the Judge ot the Central Appeal Court at Ottawa alt, the end of March, disallowing the appeal of bank clerks for exemption from military service on the ground of special occupation, 200 bank clerks will be called' to the. colours.

Surgeo n Graeme-Anderson, R.N., stated at the British Medical_ Society i'i March that an aviator's Hie consist eu of spells of idleness punctuated with moments of fnTense fear. Most men smoked a great deal, and there were a few _teetotallers. He had seen on e man under the influence of drink do some wonderful "stuntfc," but his passenger was violently sick. "Nips in 'the air were not desirable, as the action of alcohol was intensified in the higher air.

The Waterside Accidents Commission commences its sittings in Wellington on "Wednesday next. During the two days' sittings of the Commission in Auckland no fewer than 36 witnesses ■were heard.

A lieutenant, giving evidence before the First Wellington Military Service Board on Friday, stated that he was able to send £5 more per month home t> his wifo as a. sergeant major than he .could do as an officer. Tilery was no separation allowance for officers' children.

The farmers of the Auckland provincial district have contributed over £IOOO towards the relief of sufferers in the recent King Country ■binsli fires. In acknowledging the receipt of amounts, the secretary 31 the Relief •Committee states that the executive's donation was the finest that had been received from any separate organisation.

A Timaru Press massage states that the Defence Department being unable to find a place for him as an officer, Lieutenant R. S- -• Hopkins, who has been group officer there for some time left to go into camp as a pi'ivate. He was to have gone as a lieutenant of the Fifth Reinforcements, but severe illness prevented him. Being~young and single, and as the married men are going to camp, he thought it his duty to get there, and therefore enlisted. His relatives live at Christchurch.

The busy haunts of men are seldom sought as sanctuary oy game birds on the wing, but the unique cunence of a hen pheasant invrVnp: a i'itv offn e w-as reported at \ i'cklaud." The bird, which came from the tiait Hew intM the Royal Insurance Company's buildings in Queen strefei and swerved into the office of Mr G. B Osmond, by whom it was secured.

There are times whe u we tlush for our M.P.'s; and one j?f them was when a member. Aor the City of London rose in Iris piace and protested, against education as "wasting time on useless book learning," says an English writer. His experience in tho city, he said, was that "the man who took firsts at Oxford generally came out last, and ine man who could hardly write his own name generally came out, first." Few harder things have ever been said about the city.

The Hon. Sir James Allen (Minister of Defence and Acting-Prime Minister) appealed o n Friday to -well-meaning but iU-doing iriends of soldiers. undergoing hospital treatment, to refrain from supplying them -with driuk, which retards their recovery. fCbe Minister stated tliat, as fast as. possible, the Defence Department were providing hospital uniforms for soldiers patients so that they could be readily recognised as such, and thus be protected against the foolishness of such persons. The Hanmer patients were now all in hospital uniform. Neither the .Minister nor the Officer Commanding the District had power to close the hotels, but whe n a recent transport arrived in Auckland, the hotels were put out"of bounds. When the southern draft arrived in Wellington it was not considered necessary to put hotels out. of bounds, but in different circumstance*, with a larger number of men in question, the serving of liquor to soldiers in licensed houses might be forbidden. "If." added-.the Minister, "the men get too much, liquor at ports of call the situation -will have to be faced."

It may be thought that the many prosecutions under the Pure Food Act arf» uiiecessary, and that the law is unduly strained to secure a conviction in many cases. But judging from the stato of affairs that has been revealedby certain court proceedings at Manly, a select suburba lv watering-place near Sydney, it is necessary for the authorities to keep a tight hold of the foodquestion, or a policy of drift 'might' easily land the Dominion towns in a similar predicament. An Australian exchange has the following:—"ln the. case of a T pefso n named Grivas, trading as the 'Oceanic Restaurant, the evidence disclosed that in the kitchen the walls, .benches, ledges, and shelves were in a dirty, neglected condition, and the place was swarming with cockroaches. The w.c. and lavatories, which were in direct communication with the kitchen, -were also in a dirty condition. On the wall of the lavatory were four (hams, socks, hats, and dirtv wearing apparel, all hanging together. Immediately underneath was a quantity of foodstuffs, exposed to contamination. In the immediate vicinity ther a w as an ice-cream tub, used for freezing ice-cream, which was halffull of liquid matter, smelling most offensively, and firom which the inspector removed five dead rats, which were decomposed and without hair. Evidence in other som.ew.hat similar cases varied only in the matter of decree. The person responsible for th«* particular horror outlined above was fined £2O, or one mouth in gaol." Other defendants were fined from £lO up to £2O.

"When a British vessel is torpedoed', it does not mean the end l of the mail matter, as the following letter from the Now Zealand Base Army Post Office, Mount Pleasant, London, which has heen forwarded to a lady at Kaiapoi, dhows: —"I have to advise you that a parcel from New Zealand', addressed to you (Prhute 0-00001) has been received here, after being salved from a | torpedoed ship, with the contents, a cake, in such a state it was necessary to destroy it. A letter, which was,enclosed, is. forwarded, herewith. —Fred Holdsworth, .Major, Director Aa-mj Postal Service/' To another soldier on service intimation was sent that an empty tin, which was forwarded, had contained a little sugar, which had been dissolved by the sea water. the memoranda enclosed in the parcels in both cases were written in ink pencil, and reached th 6 senders hi a fairl} legible condition.

A fundamental truth seized on # by educationalists in all progressive cities is that co-education of the sexes is the right thing, says a writer in a Sydney paper. This applies even more so to physical culture. Physical training for our girls should be placed on the soundest possible basis, and at the present time bovs in the schools receive-late in the day' enough—much more attention than is given to girls. It is a self! evident fact that that which makes fo " higher development of the individual must"necessarily raise the standard of S™ community. Physical culture based upon scientific methods is most essential to girls, fitting them for then- work and theS functions of motherhood, and it lv, and with due. seriousness, it they would be of benefit.

■Rnvers of Blankets and Eider Quilts av?SSSed tosee the fine selection |nd bi* values now offering by W. McKay and Son, Ltd., Bridge-street.