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North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13936, 19 July 1917, Page 4

A Press Association message ? r om Wellington states that Herbert Eaton Hadcliffe, chief clerk of the Mines Department, was yesterday committed for trial at the Supreme Court on several charges of forgery and theft of Government moiicvß,

The local draft of reservists for the Thirty-second Reinforcements will leave Oamai'u next Tuesday. This month the entertaining is .in the hands of the County Council, who will provide luncheon in the Drill Hall at 12.30 p.m. The riitfriiij,' will lie in charge of Mrs Harvey, proprietress of the Northern Hotel.! The usual'arrangements will be observed for the occasion,

It is stated that up to date the petitions presented to the JToiife of Representatives in favour of six o'clock closing represent some 100,000 signatures, as against 100,000 contained in the petition of last vear.

-• An luvcrcargill resident who recently paid a visit to a military camp where a new draff or recruits'we're being shown "how to walk and where to place their feet,'' came away convinced that there is nothing like soldiering as a means of levelling up the social classes of the community. In one of the cookhouses he was surprised to find a well-known university professor and a graduate busily removing the overcoats from a pile of potatoes and onions, while the officer -who presently came along was, in civilian.life largely, concerned with the cut of the clothes of the male sealion or" the community. '

The committee of the Oamaru Egg Circle met last night, when a report ra received on the result of the recent .conference of the executive of tho Now Zealand Poultry Association in Wellington from the president,'Mr Wni, Christie, who had attended the conference as a member of the executive. .An.'inter-view-had been held with the Minister of .Agricultpe-rgsjecting.the mattgr of the importation of egg pulp, when it was requested that stppo K taken to- prohibit'the importation,, It was resolvofl to thank Mr E. P;'Lee, M,P,,;fprhis .assistance,'and also the Minister in view ofrhis seeming disposition to assist egg producers in the matter. ;"

M■^~»^^«■«^^v»l*»»l^»»^»««»'^'^«^*'"'' s ' ti^ '^*"^ , *^ Attention is direktod to the'very lino Huowing niadh by llio National ftfulual Life -Assiiiaiicu' Coiiipuu), as dlsilor.!!<l by advertisement in our columns, This company has always been a favourite with tho public, and the figures pub lished show that confidence is not mis placed. •

Special attention is called to Hio picture locturejo bo given in Hay ward's Theatre at eight o'clock this evening by Rev Frank 01ilrieve,.honoraiy secietaiy for the South Island, of the Mission to 'Mr Oldrieve lms had considerable experience as a lecturer, and an entertaining 'and instructive treat is in store for those who henrJiim, . For some timo Mr OJdrieve had charge, of. the Lnbotliu -Leper Asylum, which isrnow under the care of- the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, so;is able to speak from actual experience, of missiou work among the lepers. In addition to a fine series of Indian pictures, Mr Oldrieve will show special Leper Mission pictures illustrating the beneficent effects of the mission on this sorely afflicted and usually neglected class'in India and other places, His' Worship the Mayor will occupy the chair. Admission to the lecture is free, and a collection will, be taken in aid of the" Leper Mission, I

Mr Veiteh, member for Wahganui, on Friday advised the Prime Minister to drop his old Tory principles and adopt good sound Radical ones, and thus provide a more popular finish to his career. The Hon. Mr Massey replied: "I don't exactly know what, a Tory is. I was at a gathering of politicians in London when the same question came up. One man declared a Tory is just a Liberal who has turned-sour." (Loud laughter.) Mr Massey, returning later to the subject, declared that his political career was 'only just commencing, so that he would have plenty of time during the next twenty years to provide a popular finish to his career, as had been suggested.

"It is proposed to establish another sanatorium for consumptive soldiers in the northern part of the South Island," the Minister of Public Health informed a reporter the other day. Air Russell added that the late Air Duncan Rutherford made an offer to the Government of a property in North Canterbury, which had been previously examined. It was to be an absolute gift from Air Rutherford' for a consumptive sanatorium for soldiers, but Air Rutherford's lamented death had broken the arrangements contemplated. Ij was, however, intended .to pursue inquiries with the view of obtaining a suitable site for a consumptive sanatorium for soldiers not already accommodated in the local hospitals.

The submarine Deutschland was built because the Krupp interests were short of steei alloys needed for making munitions, and could only obtain in America,, according to the Tribune copyright specinl. Krupps would have had to stop manufacturing nickel steel if the Deutschland had not been built. Plans for the boat were submitted by one of the J&rupp. draughtsmen-, twoyears before, but were'not used until the desperate need of nickel'forced Germany, to try the only possible method of getting supplies. Germany was also finding it difficult to obtain reports from her secret agents in America, and the crew was composed partly of discharged naval intelligence officers, instructed to,collect and bring back information regarding public opinion, preparedness plans, etc., in America. Krupps have four more of these big merchant submarines, and now that there is war with America they may be loaned or sold to the German navy, either for supply boats or to operate offensively off the Americ.au or African coasts,

In the Gazette lists of military deserters recently published, Hie name of Lieutenant H. H. Godfrey, by an error on the part of the Defence authorities, appeared amongst the defaulters. Lieutenant Godfrey's father, Mr AV. R. Godfrey, of Walrmia, Ekeiahuna. wrote to the Defence Minister (Sir James Allen) about the matter, and has since received the following reply:—"l have received your letter of July 6ih with reference to the publication of the name of vow son, Lieutenant H. H. Godfrey, in the Gazette lists under Section ]?, of the Military Service Act. 1 have made enquiries, and find that the publication was duo to an error on the part "of the Defence authorities.- I wish to express

to you my. very sincere regret at the pain and annoyance that you have been caused. I would like to asstire you that Ihe very greatest care is taken to avoid mistakes of this kind, but it seems impossible- to prevent some errors in dealing with the,many thousands of names involved. . I have given instructions that this mistake is to be corrected.in the next issue of the Gazette (Signed) J. Allen," ( ' .

On Friday, Mr W. J. Love, manager of the Dmiedin milling firm of A. Steven and Co., forwarded a letter to the Hon. W. D. 8. Mac Donald, Minister of Agriculture,.'in which he protested j against an alleged statement by the Minister that the Dunediii millers wore quite satisfied with the \mm they were I called upon to pay for the recent shipment of Australian wheat. On Monday Mr Love received the following urgent telegram from Mr MacDouakU-' "Just received your letter. Tho report is not quite coract. It is truo that I have letters in my possession from millers stating that they are satisfied with the samplo and prices, It is also true that the of Trade has a letter Jrom all the milling companies who purchased wheat ex the Kauri, expressing their appreciation and the satisfactory and businesslike manner in which Mr Ferrior delivered the wheat, It'is also true that the manager of a very large Dunedin milling company expressed satisfaction, with tho quality of, the -wheat. I did not state that the price was satisfactory to all concerned. Wb4t I said was that; the bulk of the' shipment' was satisfactory in regard to quality, but millers, would have liked the prices a little-lower.'' '• -'./ •■■■'■■ • r: ! '^^V.A

"T'never luiew a Now Zealand soldier ttliom I ilnl not consider I'ljiiaJ ty-toji Uciiniiii.," fli:ipl(A-^i;i« il ' r ; , J i,l ''" > gin in the course of nil address'at St. Sopulclmre's parish hall, Auckland. "At ike' Battle of the Somme I was engaged at a dressing station just behind the front line trench, over' which the men leaped to the attack. We sniv them go aver, and wo did not have to wait long before wounded and prisoners commeuc-' ed to come in. I raw one New Zealand soldiei bring in eight Geiinnn prisoners, and. all he had in the way of weapons was.'ii pair of scissors. 1 '

' Port Chalmers had a steam-whistling experience on Sunday morning which recalled, the relief of Mafeking, Steam lyhistling i 3 not unknown in the• Port even where the Harbour ©card by-laws are administered to quieteiUnoisy steamers." On'.Sunday morning the whistling ivrs prolonged to an unusual * extent, with about one-minute intervals,, Quiet folks wondered whether it meant the fall of Constantinople, while" others thought it announced "a Wnipori breakdown. When the real cause of it was known,, however, people, said, thej;, ill not mind oven more annoyanoeon-the samp score, for the whistles were announcing that returned soldiers were approaching, ami at the same,, time the whistling was utilised to call out the Women's Patriotic Committee to prepare tea for waiting relatives.

"It may bo some comfort• to s relatives of men killed in action to know that, without, exception, the mortal remains of their loved ones are laid in their last, resting-place with reverent hands, and the burial service js read by one or another of the chaplains," said CltLyL ■ lain-Major Hawkins, in the coursed an address at St, Sepulchre's (Auckland) parish hall. "The work is in the hands of a huge organisation known as the Graves Commission, and a regular procedure is followed in every case. The body is brought to the dressing station, where the man's pay-book and personal papers are removed and particulars'of his name, unit and religion are pinned 3u the clothing. The body is then taken to a place set apart as a morgue, and from there fo the cemetery. These ceme-. teries are beautifully kept. The day after the burial a cross is erected over the grave, bearing the soldier's name and unit, Two copies of all essential particulars regarding the dead soldier are made, one being sent to the Graves Commission, and the other to the Army Headquarters."

At the battle of the Somme, said Chaplain-Captain Burgin, speaking at Auckland, everything was done to the minute, The battle started by one gun firing, and in ten seconds every gun was playing a hail of fire on the German trenches. Then the barrage and the men went over the parapets, Inside the hour the first wounded began to arrive at the speaker's dressing sta- '■ Hon, where he gave them tea and bovril. .During twenty days he was undressed only twice, and during that time he did nor think Colonel Murray undressed'at" all. The ]]ov. Air Bmgin paid a high tribute to the work done by Colonel Murray, ami also touched on the attitude of the German wounded and firWMftfa. After'attorning* toIVS •' of our wounded he approached a German officer who was standing by looking terribly depressed, and offered him a drink, but the haughty hate with Which the chaplain's officer was spumed had to be seen to to be believed. There was only one,thing the German officer detested—that was to be placed in the same enclosure with his men, whereas, the English officer lived with his. men.

. The question of allowing physically fit men between the ages of forty-five and fifty years to enlist for active ser-

vice abroad is engaging the attention of the authorities in Australia. A re-

commendation to that effect was recently made by the State recruiting officers, and, following on a conference with the Director-General of Recruiting (Mr Mackimiou, M.L.A.), a caWq message was sent by the Minister of Defence to the War Office, London, asking whether such niou would be acceptable. Senator Pearce said a fewdays ago that in Great Britain men ove-r forty years of age were not accepted for active service, although men aged fifty years'were enlisted for home service. In Australia the age limit was 43 years. In Australian military circles theproposal is not viewed with favor. Officers who have been in France and Gallipoli say that the experience gained there showed that men over forty-iivo years of age, although apparently'in perfect physical condition, could not stand the hardships and privations, and were more liable to suffer from rheumatism in the wet trenches than were the younger men. Many elderly soldiers who had passed the medical test with ease had left Australia, but in the majority of eases a few. weeks in tin! firing Una rendered them unlit for further service, ami they had to be invalided home, at great expense. This view is endorsed by the medical authorities, who, if con-. : sul'ted, will probably report against t!*B proposal.