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North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 30938, 23 July 1917, Page 4

A Wellington Press Association message fays that on Saturday Messrs Bing, Harris amf Co. received advice from Mr Wolf Harris to pay out oil his behalf Ihe sum of £IOOO for the relief of soldiers' dependants in New Zealand. The money will lie equally distributed between the four centres. Mr Harris has made two contributions previously of a like amount fcrjhe purpose named.

A meeting of the committee of the Oamaru Chess' Club was held on Saturday evening in the Athenieum chessrcom. Mr H. P. S. Faniillon presided. Several new members were elected! It was unanimously decided' that the names cf two members, Messrs ;F. Arnold and K. Familton, who were away with the Expeditionary Forces, be retained on"the club's roll as active mem : bors. After consideration it was agreed to institute a Gambit tourney and eliminate the championship tourney. A letter was received from the Dunedin Ciicjs Club enquiring if the Oamaru idlib was prepared in sell any of llici:' docks;, ami the secretary was Instructed to reply in,the negative. , A proposal tii pi-dfiirc several more sets of chessmen \\',\* carried, and the mailer was lef: will) ille sei.-I'otarv to secure Ihe

A nieeting of the honorary members c.'' I lie Omiiarii Volunteer Fire ■Brigade w.is held at the Brigade sifltipn on Saturday evening to arrange about giving a social evening to the active members of the brigade, Mr Westplial occupied the chair, and said ho w.ts certain that the honorary members of the brigade fully appreciated iho friendly feeling that had always been expended to them in the past, There had, In fact, been a bond oi 1 brotherhood' between the active and the honorary members which had been bountifully shown at I lie various social functions bold by,the brigade, Mr J. .Edie' nroved' that a social evening be held in the Burlington tea-rooms, The motion wan seconded by Mr Veitch and carried unanimously,.'. Mr Qrahani proposed Aikenhead seconded, ami it was carried, that the -social be held on Thursday, the 2nd August, The following gentlemen were elecret] as members of a committee for carrying out the necessary details:—Messrs Hodgson, Graham, Edie, Ajkpiilienrt, CrQrn. bie, Reid, and Westphal.

The King George's Tail Committee met ,iu the Borough Council chambers on Saturday evening* when there-were present Messrs C. IT. Swinard (in the chair), ,1, .Rodman, ,).'S. Burns, W. D, Burns, and A. Ai'ken, hoy. secretary. The curator of the Public Gardens, Mr J. G. Mackenzie, was. also present! Mr James Rodman was appointed chairman, vice Mr G. L. Grciifcll/ retired. -In returning thanks.for bis ele'eiion, Mr Redman expressed a hope that pleasant relations.would exist amongst the members of the committee, and that ..the i park wbiild benefit as 4 result of iheir united efforts. The secretary reported, having received a cheque for £lO from; the ,To%ii- Clerk, being, a grant from the Council-. .'After discussion it was. decided to have soire seating accomhiodntioii; prp'yidpijf on the terraces at ilie park. 'The ltfa+for oMjnprnvljig \\\9 playing area, was left in the hands, of Mr -Mackenzie. -A request from the North Otago Rugby Football' Sub-union that a convenience be erected on I hepark ground was'referred to. the chairman : and. Messes'vjUtkeii .g)id Mackenzie,,with-' power to. act. The.Council's' rcpreientnti.ve,? undertook' .to, attend to a suggestion for the; improvement of the approaches to : the park-gatesi .:

A new papoi; entitled The Indian Set tier, lias made iN apnea 1,41114'»' I l '']') ill "' is publifchul J'ioiii tin 1 ollue nl Hit' I'jjl Tillies. Jt has tweiity-tno pages, and is piinted in three languages —English, Hindu, nwMJidu-aud its leading nitielc notifies that it is devoted to "the Indian Clause in Fiji." r "On the Doggdi Bank Hie «ea pci ticic jields a gieatei haiyest than am acie of land," sai'd the Be v. II Johnson in tho com so of 1113 lectme at Auck land one evening on the rrfinc swcepei 3, of the Noith Sea, In substantiation of ( his contention Mi Johnson snid that the tish yielded an annual income of £lO,000,000. The estimated area of the Dogger Bank was 11,000 square miles.

The Hon. 1 )}. Wi Russell was invited to the Trotting Conference in Wellingtpn,"aiul told that the conference desired, to'hear him on a subject which held a grievance for it: The bother see-pied to be about whether, in reducing 09 days' trotting by ft third, the Government "should cut off, 19 days or 20 days. "If this is all I have been called down for,'' said Mr Russell; "I will be very glad to go back to my work. I,thought'that perhaps you'.had called me down to thank me for securing a one-third reduction in trotting, and thus'saving you from suffering a reduction by one-half."

■The Featherston camp hospitals are still'almost empty, one of the rotunda wards being quite empty. The isolation ward, built for the treatment of cerebrospinal meningitis, has two patients, each being in a one-bod room with- detached sun verandah. This ward has just been completed, while the building of the new infectious disease ward will be finished very scon. At the racecourse hospital, which is used for patients from Tanherenikau camp, there are sixteen patients, out of .a total of pver 1700 men in earn]). The recent\wet weather made ■■Tiuiliereniknn somewhat 'muddy, but the health of the. troops was not affected.

An interesting souvenir of historical interest has been brought to Hie Dominion by the Prime Minister and Sir Joseph Ward, It is a sheet of Royal notepaper on which are inscribed the signatures of the King 'and Queen and other members of the Royal Household, and the signatures of British and oversea delegates to the Imperial War Conference, including the signatures of Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward. TJiese signatures were- written at the farewell luncheon given by the King and, Queen at Windsor at the conclusion of the business of the Imperial Conference. It is the intention of Mr J Massey, if Sir Joseph Ward consents, to present the souvenir to the Parliamentary Library.

The German machine gun eaptuned by Auckland soldiers during the battle of the Somme last year-is now an interesting feature of the.coleetion of guns in Albert Park, Auckland. The inscription which explains the history of the gun, says the "New Zealand Herald," has been wail with interest by mauy hundred people during the past few months. It would be an acceptable addition to the interest attaching to Hie gun plot if Hie histories of the large guna whicii have so, long been in the park also were inscribed on boards or tablets and placed alongside these relics of bygone battles. The collection includes guns that were used at Waterloo and in the Crimean and Waikat<? wars.

A real "comb out 1 ' is about to take place in Germany. The Wai Office has issued a remarkable appeal to women to save up their hair-combings in order that they may be worked up into useful industrial by-products! It is stilted that a good d.;al of the belting now. in use in German factories consists yi part of women's hair, which has been made to take the place of cotton, wool, and leather by Ingenious inventors of "substitutes." Speculators in curls and tresses are already collecting combings from women.in the rural regions, where the worth of "this now valuable commodity" is net appreciated. The Gov-ernment-controlled "Local Advertiser," after consulting the Rawstnffs Division of the. War Office, is authorised to warn German, women against handing over their cast off hair to itinerant collectors. The War Office intends shortly to establish official collecting bureaus which will reimburse women at the "market price" for such of their hair as they care to place at the Fatherland's disposal.

A Strange visitor to New Zealand has been sent to Mr E. J. Hayiies, taxidermist at Canterbury Museum, It is a glossy ibis. The ibis family is not represented in'' the native birds of this Dominion, and the arrival of this member of it .is a notable event in the country's natural history. Its visit is more surprising because it belongs to ail Old World.form of ibises, and not id. any of the several species that aro plentiful with' ow next-door neighbour, the Australian Commonwealth. It is a handsome, stately bird, with a long, slender slightly dceurved bill, and a plumage characterised by a distinct gloss. Some of its feathers are maroon 'or chestnut brown, with brilliant .grooh and purple relictions. Those on the head and neck .are reddish-brown and some of. the wing feathers are brownish black, tinged with purple. On the sides and breast and under-parts there are deep reddish-brovn colours. The eyes are I'hazol. The bird, which ranks in ornithological literature as Plegadis faclainellus, is only, an occasional visitor to the United' Kingdom, Its principal European haunts seem to be Slavonia and .the Valley of the Danube, but is found also in India and other parts of Asia, Northern and Southern Africa, and the Eastern Archipelago. The ' specimen in }\i Haynes's hands was obtained by Mr K. IF, Childs/ut Mailkijii, Wulniatc County, a few dny3 ago. About twelve years ago, another specimen was shot at the Washdyke, near Timaru, in the same part of South Canterbury. The head of the latter specimen is preserved in Canterbury Museum; These are the only records of the' glossy, ibis's -visit to Zeajfln.il.; For ■ Chronic Chest: Complaints,' •Wooda'i Great Peppermint'•.'. Cure,' 1/6,2/6. / /- * -- ..■

t A «'h » lU, I I ' lo f ' u ' AliuiH 1 - toi lij mill "Hiiiu ineirtLu|> oJ life House ol 'llopienuitiltivo tiiat lie fclioulcl discontinue comics sions m faies to llieatncal companies ami circus companies. The Mtmstei ie* plied as follows: "The pdtciico of giauting, at the convenience of Iho Railway Depaitment, first eta accoiilmoilation on pajment of the full fcedondclass Oidinarj taie to theatncal, conceit, and cucus companies has obtained on the New Zealand Railways fioni tlio earliest da; 3 So far as tlio New Zealand Baihujs are concerned, it leprosents the application of what is a world wide railway practice, being a concession in accommodation and not'on the ordinary rates, and as it mainly referred to people who; wore travelling for ft livelihood it was considered undesirable to suspend the regulation in the flrat case, but, the question of withdrawing the concession is now, under consideration." ' >

Aftorjcrvice at St. Luke's last evening a,.large part] of \ the congregation adjourned to the ciioir vestryywhen the Ven. Archdeacon Russell presented, Mr G. W, MeDouall with a silver-mounted leather wallet and an . electric torch from his fellow members of St. Luke's vestry, The Archdeacon spoke, in glowing terms of the invaluable work whiffli ;Mr .MeDouall, hqil done m secretaryl, to the' Wstrjy' niinager • & the Parish Magazine, and in many other ways, His going away would be a very heavy less to the parish, but.they all knew his great desire to go on active service, and they ' were glad for his sake that he had at last been able to'get. away to camp.; '■• He tho hearts of St." LukoV people by his unselfish service, and they all wished him earnest God-speed and a safe return, Mr L. E. Haines said that Mr MeDouall had proved himself a worthy sou of a a worthy father'. Amidst hearty *a'pplaufo Mr MeDouall thanked them for their gifts and appreciation,'-'and spoke of-the happiness it had'been for hjm to carry on his father's work. .Archdeacon Russell then presented Lieutenant Kibblowhite with an electric torch from his fellow-vestrymen, and expressed a hearty welcome on his return from England and their best wishes for; his second voyage. After Mr Haines had supplemented the Archdeacon's, remarks Lieutenant Kifibl'ewhite expressed his pleasure at the useful gift and the hearty welcome.