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North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13795, 3 February 1917, Page 4

The Tenth Regiment Band will give its next municipal concert in :h<< pi.blic gardens on Wednesday evening at 7.45. A programme oc moi-s than usual merit is promised for the occasion. The Borough Council 'last evening spent some time in considering - what action should be taken in order to overtake the office work, now much in arrears, without enforcing too great a strain on the town clerk. Several suggestions were made and eventually it was agreed that the clerk be given a free hand in engaging temporary assistance, At a special meeting of the Borough Council held last' evening the new bylaw relating to billiard saloon's was adopted, The by-law provided for a license fee of £1 Is, fixed the closing hour at 11 p.m. and excluded boys ujider 17- years of age from billiard saloons. It was decided to confirm, the bylaw at a meeting to be held 'one month from date, The story' of the faithful devotion of a sheep dog is related by a visitor from the Bay of Plenty district. Two years ago the owner of the animal left Whalcatane for the front, leaving it to be cared for by friends, Every day since, ; the faithful beast has gone to meet the Opotiki coach in a vain search for liis | absent master, The daily journey of the dog is a source of great interest i to the residents of the town and to visitors!" i 1 Councillor Ongley asked at the bor- ' ough council meeting last evening j whether the council had endeavoured j to help farmers during the harvesting I- season by offering to liberate any of 1 the staff who were willing to;go, harvesting. The.Mayor said lie-was pleased , the matter had been brought up, He had on his own responsibility granted the services of the man in charge of the road roller to a farmer who had i been unable to get' a- driver for his ( threshing mill, He had made it a condition that the council was to have the man back at any time they required his services. All the men understood that leave of absence could be obtained if I 'hey wished to go harvesting'. j The members of the Otago Medical 5 Board, Lieutenant-Colonel Christie and ; Lieutenant-Colonel Guthrie, with lieu- - tenant Moffat, attesting officer, and Cap- - tain Glendinning, dentist, arrived at t Oaninru yesterday morning and com- : meuced an examination of men for niiM- ; tary service at the Drill Hall about - 10.45 a.m. Thirty-two men were exI amined. No official 'information is ! available as to the number of men pass- '■ ed ns fit "but it is understood that .a large percentage reached'the required 1 standard. The board had completed its task by 4,.'i0 p.m, The members 1 of the board, with the officers attending ' them, leave Oamaru by the first express for Dunedin to-day and almost immediately proceed to Central Otago, The members of the Tenth Regiment Band assembled in Barrunrs tearooms last night to bid farewell to Sorscant Bale, who has enlisted for active, service, During the .evening Bandmaster Fox made a presentation to SorI Seant Dale of a pipe, wallet, and money ' belt. His "Worship the Mayor (Mr W, IT, Frith) and bandsmen an:l visitors spoke very enthusiastically of Sergeant Dale's work in connection with the band and complimented liim on hr; ae.tion, it being his second attempt'to join the colours. All hoped he would soon return to his old position of secretary and sergeant of the band. Sergeant Dale suitably replied. During Hie evening a lengthy toast list avus honoured, the various speakers. especially ex-bandsmen, beimr- in reminiscent mood, A number of musical 'items | fleie contributed, and i very enjoyable 1 gathering terminated' with the's-inging ' of "Auld Lang Syne" and- the , National Anthem. , What was said to be the first case . of its kind to be heard in Auckland , oail,e bef »'"e Mr F. V. Fraser, S.M.', in 1 the Police Court one , day last week, ; when Joseph Wlieeler,'inasfer of the - scow May, was charged, on the informa- ■ tion of the superintendent of mercantile marine,. Captain Fleming, with J trading in the Auckland.extended river i limits without hiving load lines marki ed on the sides of his vessel. . Captain Fleming said the offence was evidently regarded' as a serious one, as the inaximum penalty was £IOO, He pointed out that before, the section was ineluded in the Act scows frequently ' came into port deeply-laden, and the | lives of the crews were endangered, Captain Fleming said lie did not press for a , heavy penalty, as defendant had ; only been in the vessel, a short while and might not. have aware of the • section.. .Defendant'wasvfined:-£2. and 7s Costs., " ' .

'.'Labour troubles are affecting J the jst of goods iVgry seriduslyy^^rites ;#; ]eW' ; York|firm- to. an■ Auckland client," and' although wages now paid are the ighcst of any in the' history of'the; wintry, yet labour is still unsatisfied,; nd demanding more pay with I 'shorter ours. Both of these tend to increase lie cost, of goods produced. Our Conrcss is now-in session, and the very mportant question 'of railroad labour rid pay will ..be actively diseu3sed,'and t'is earnestly hoped that some definite olntion can be reached that will enbio the country to proceed on a setled plan without the constant disturbnice'of industry,".■''■' , The ordina'ry meeting of the City Council was held last, evening (says he Hobart Mercury of January !3rd), but Alderman Bettriir.at once novcd that after tenders had been ipened the council should adjourn to he exhibition of New Zealand scenery it the Strand Theatre, remarking that he aldermen all desired to be present, md if they wenf.after .the pictures lad commenced the public would see i body of good-looking but ill-dressed men making their way to the front seats, and aldermen would not make a jood impression. It would, be only polite to their Excellencies the Govnors of South Australia and Tasmania, who were to be present, if the Council lttended'before 8 o'clock, He moved that the standing'orders be suspended so that lie could propose the adjournment, Aldehman Anott seconded the motion, which was agreed to, Toronto women have been raising money for Bed Cross work by a system' atised junk-collecting business (says t Canadian paper), Women from at parts of the' city bring together whatever they can find of old paper, bottleo, rags, rubber, and all the materials that are summed up by the word "junk."Of course, all the children were enlisted in the work. Every house, every long-unmolested attic, vacant lots, and a thousand other places yield up their quota of junk. A place became, necessary to store it in. The City of Toronto's Harbour Commission offered a warehouse) and here a dozen women are almost constantly engaged sorting and packing the collected matter. In the first month from this new and as'yet not fully learned business, the women cleared 1619 dollars, and figures to date show that they have started a business which now looks likely to return 25,000 dollars a year without the investment of a cent of capital, and which requires only organisation and hard work. The Minister for Defence, Hon. Jas. Allen, remarked to a New Zealand Herald representative that an improvement had recently been noted in the voluntary recruiting all over the Dominion. "I fhink it is wonderful how the people in New Zealand have taken the results of.the ballot," said Mr;Allen;'"l am very proud of them and of the way ■in which they have gone, and are going into camp, No difference is made between them and others, and no difference ought to be made. They are all the same type of. men. The only thing is that circumstances have prevented them from volunteering at an earlier period in the war. As far as I can hear they are just as good as those who have gone before, and are going to 'play the game' in just the same way, Generally speaking, there are, of course, a few who endeavour to create difficulties and trouble. There are always a few who will seize the most inopportune moment for creating trouble, but on the whole the spirit of the country is excellent." In no branch of the New South Wales railway service has more rapid progress been made in recent years than in that of signalling, and the consequence is that to-day the equipment in this respect ranks with the most up-to-date in the world (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph). At an industrial and models exhibition last week an example was shown of electrically-operated points and signals, by which the operator is able to locate the position of a train merely by looking at ail electric diagram of the network of rails in the •signal box, Perhaps the most novel feature, however, was' the 'Hieam light" signal, a form recently introduced in the United States, The lights are so designed as to give the required signal by both day and night, and the driver, therefore, lias'before him a signal of exactly the same form and colour in both daylight and darkness, and his view of the signal consequently is quite independent of any defect in colour sense, Sergeant P. H, N. Preeth, of the Seventeenth Reinforcements, who enlisted from Palmerston North, has. put .up the best score of any member of an Empire reinforcement during test shooting concluded in England (reports the Manawatu Times). .His score was lafi out of 170 over seven different vanges, In the first test (10 shots in 30 seconds at 200 yards) he secured a possible, In the five shots deliberate at the same range he also got a possible; and followed this lip with a'possible at the snap-shooting, hitting five out of five figures exposed for four seconds at a time. In the highest test (loading ahdfirinng 15 shots in lots of five, the loading done from the pouch, in one minute) he got 12 bull's eyes, two inners and one outer—a total of 41 out of 45 points. This test is known as the "mad minute," ami is shot from 300 yards, For this performance Sergeant Preetlr received special men--tion in routine orders. He has also been kept behind to assist in the training at a school of musketry somewhere in England.