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North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13966, 24 August 1917, Page 4

The Chief Postmaster states that for the convenience of the public in transacting War Loan business or making withdrawals from Savings Bank for investment in the"Loan, all money-order ofiicea will be open in the evening froiii 7 to S'.lil) on Fridays, Mil and 31st instant, and Saturdays, L'uth instant, ami Ist proximo.

Amongst the 552 soldiers returning from the war who arrived at Auckland on there appear the names of William Henry Dennison (Ililder-l-iorp.c), Thos, Dobson (Island Cliff), Frederick Martyn (Oamaru), and William Mason Sutherland (Bennvore), The rov.'hern -men were expected to leave Ar.fkhml on Wodnesdny night..

While Dnctor-pyeiing cn Tueailay in the viei'ijy of puntroon, Mr Qhns, Taylor, of ire local branch of the New Zealand Loan ami Mercantile Agency Coirp.ir.y, had'a somewhat disagreeable experience. While'climbing n hill the jyliinlc; of the nuehine, which kad'be' come • overheated, ..caught fire and threatened. the \ destruction of, the machine. Mr Taylor, however, was afflo to mother the lianiej.with his overcoat before ~';c flvc reached the petrol tank, 'ca tLat.o'uly glight damage resulted.

An electlijnMo fill the extraordinary ■vacancy on the Waitfilfi.: County Couiieilr caused; )v the (.loath ifr li; ; T, Ontf, .who, wasjniGiiibor for l the 'Krikauui "riding, will be 1 held at the County Council Chamber on Friday, September- 7th, Noniinati'ona of candidates close a; noon on Friday, August 31st. Nomina; lion formil may be obtained from the county clerk,' ■

The following sales on behalf of' North Otiigo clients were made at the Burnside yards on Wednesday: Wrigi.:, Stephenson, and Co. sold:'On account of'-'A. Alexander ' (Lome), fat biillockj at £l7 7s'(id, 3 at £l7 2s Gd, 1 .at £1(1,1 fat heifer at £l7 2s (hi; account If. Jackson (Lome), 1 l fat at £1.5 2s Gd, 1 ,at £l3, 2 at £l3 12s Gd, 2 al £l3 2s Gd, 1 at.£l.", 1 at £l2 2s Gd, 2 fat heifers at £ll L's Gd, Donald ficiri and C.Oj sold: Account A. .T, McLean (Glo;j----,:avy), 1 store cow at £l,'! liis, 1 £!)' lGs, 1 at £8 2s Gd, 1 steer ;:t £l4 10s.

An inquest was held on Tuesday on the body of Nicholas Simins, an old man, aged about seventy years, who was found dead in a cottage in Uamaru streei on Tuesday morning, Deceased, jvlio had been failing'for'some time past, was last 1 seen alive on Sunday, when a neighbour took him in come dinner, She called again on Tuesday, and found him lying dead- in the' kitchen, After hearing the evidence of Dr liargreaves the jury returned a verdict of death frnm\natural causes.

In his speech] at the annual meeting of the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company at Cliristeluirch on Wednesday, Mr J, A. Frostiek said that the pressure of a mighty economic force would soon be felt in I his country; there must be no idleness, no-drones. The land should be utilised to its fullest capacity in order that the national financial obligations might be met. If eft'orls in production were relaxed it meant, after the war, unspeakable hardship for the masses and a heavy burden of taxation; and just in proportions the drain of men and money continued for war purposes, by so much must their efforts increase in order that they might, by their industry, create values in every form of primary and secondary production, sufficient to enable the country to meet its obligation's without reducing the standard of living. These great questions were, for the people to deal with, and they' should determine that a policy of- "drift" should not be permitted in the country.

The days of romance are not yet j dead (says the Suva correspondent of th.e Auckland Sjtar). There recently came out of tli'e darkness a boat lo ! Rolumah. It bore three men. and- the I 1 I natives 1 here wjere fishing at night j when they were hailed, dropped their flares in the water, and made hastily for the mainland. The men in the boat, were Captain Frarer, W. $. liver, and Charles Sherman. Seventy days before they had set sail from San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, in a ontboat of 12 tons burthen, to lind an island in the Pacific, ;■ a thousand miles ajvayj'. wlierc they had' bWii" told pp'ji'lorsf after extracting the pearl, . had left groat heaps of pearl shell, since rendered valuable by Ihe increased demand. The adventurers had hoped to return to America in two months, Instead, lliey found themselves off an unknown reef in a leaky boat, each of them worn out with talcing turns at the pump. For days thev had been living on beans, macaroni, and split peas, after a voyage during which they

struck perpetual rough wea'ther and never sighted another sail. They decided to abandon the boat, and launched the small rowing boat. They managed to find an opening in flip reef and landed in safety. They are now in Suva, ami will proceed lo Pago Pago (Samoa) whence they hope to continue their voyage back to America.

Brigadier-General Aiulcraun returned to Melbourne last.-week after acting for sojne time as commandant of the •Australian administrative headquarters in London, "One tiling that struck me especially oil returning/' General Anderson said in an interview, "wa3 the ''fact- that Australia still scorns reareely 'to realise what the war means, Tn Britain all -the. people seem to realise that this is a life and death and that tlic position is serious, . They knew that they are fighting for exist® ence. They know, too, that Australiaand'New Zealand are being bitterly" fought for on the plains of Flanders. I can ray to you that there is no doubt at al] about that. A certain official at the War Office told me only recently that we in Australia need not, live in any fool's paradise with regard to that. They have obtained special knowledge of these things.". In this connection General Anderson was strongly critical with regard to (lie censorship, "I am afraid the'true facts of the nvir don't reach the Australian public," he remarked, "I ascribe that to li-s censor f.ystoni, which is wise enough in the individual case, but is apt to be bad in the .aggregate result. Cerra.'n items arc cut out for fear that they may be useful to the enemy, and the result is that only reassuring views ar."- published, and the bad news is cloaked " General Anderson laid emphasis ;i|on the fact that the-difficult task hefcre the Allies was much more fully iv':Lsed in Britain. Dealing with the Australian troopa in particular, he said that 1 here were some 40,000 troops on Palisbury Plain when lie' loft, but tlio ni.jiibcr would gradually be reduced 23 the reinforcements were needed, A new infantry division was in pours? of formation. For' the whole administrative work some GOOOmen were allowed; ;mt the work was. carried on with SuOVI was surprised to find that tliere was an idea here," lio said, "tlia; ;|:c r.dministrative headquarters at Tlors-fony Hoad were-staffed with A '*l.vs nu nmen fit fov the trenches. That i; not so, We have always, use.l.l! class men •—men convalescing from wounds or sickness—and girls. There is a periodica! medical inspection, and, as tlio men become fit again, llicy nrc .removed, and others take their places,"

• I- V The examinatior of thf students, olf First Aidiiiffleiv the;, St, .John litiVco, As.spohave takfeli course oHeetures given by-Dr. B, S. Orbell, and which were concluded a couple of weeks ago, commenced laji night, when oral and pract ifftl testa were submitted. A good proportion, of those wlio had-attended the classes presented themselves for' examlnntio'i, and a good knowledge of the principles of first aid was displayed. Dr Lid Jell, of Herbert, was tiie examiner. To-night the written section of the examination, wlfich will complete the test, will be taken at ,nr. Middle -School at seven o'clock. . That women in New Zealand ate taking up what has hitherto been exclusively men's work was further exemplified by an application received by the Petone Technical School Board from, a lady residing at PtfrnparaumuJ who do-' sired to receive instruction iipvool-class ; ing, She stated that two .other ladies in the same district would also become members of the class. The secretary was instructed to inform' the prospective student that the board would be willing to form a ladies' class if eig'.;t students were forthcoming,

- The Federal military autiiwit'.e? have made ava'.'aole the ■ full text of tho agreement iw-iflv atinc'. b; Or-rniany regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, The punishment inflicted upon prisoners atreiupting to as a mult of the agreement, be to fourteen days' special confinemeiyt for a simple offence, of two montlis:/' confinement if aggravnted?by an offence against property. It has also been provided that all combatant prisoners, undergoing punishment for such offences shall be released to ordinary captivity at lea.it by August 1. No further reprisals are to take place, except on four weeks, notice, and the execution of all sentences for offences committed by combatants or civilians between the date of capture and August 1 are to stSnd over until the conclusion of peace, ' The qualification on medical ground?, both for repatriation and internment in a neutral country of combatant prisoners is to be made mora lenient, and the more severely wounded or seriously ill ftmong the prisoners in Switzerland are to be sent baelt to their own eountries. In addition, arrangements are to be made to select for internment in Holland 7500 sick and wounded of all ranks, both German and British, irrespective of the officers' and N.C.O.'s who, as previously announced, are to be interned by the Dutch Government,

Lieutenant J, C. Whitney, Private W. C. Whitney and Lieutenant A, J. Marshall are being- brought back lo j New Zealand from the'front by the New Zealand Government, Their services are required on 1 lie manufacture of ..'lo,'! Mark VII nnimmunilioii, which is a sharp-pointed instead of the round-painted bullets, now in use -.here. It was found impossible to obtain mechanical or expert knowledge from England, as the British Government would not allow ammunition expe'xts or mechanics to leave England w#r any circumstances whatever. To meet ,the the- three trained? iu'(fehniii£s,'/.nmv on their way hack to Xew Zealand, and who were at the British front in France until March last, were recalled to England ami sent to Woolwich for a course of instruction in the manufacture of ] Mark V IT. ~'10:! ammunition, with pointed bullet. The manufacture of this ammunition cannot be commenced in Xew Zealand until these experts arrive in Auckland. Lieutenant J. C. r.iul Private W. C, Whitney for the first- six weeks of the war worked a3 lioor managers in an, ammunition maim- . factory at Leeds on Government contracts, They then enlisted in London with the tiOQ Xew Zealand Volunteer., and were dispatched at once to Egypt, where they were transferred to various units, Lieutenant Whitney to the Honourable Artillery Corps . and 'Private Whitney to (lie Army Service 'Corps. After the evacuation of Gallipoli l;olh were sent to the British front in France, Lieutenant J. C. Whitney to the Royal Field Artillery and Private Whitney to the Army Service Corp3. The former also served in the R.F.A. at the Dardanelles, For twelve months previous to; the war Lieutenant Whitney underwent training at AVoolwieli in the manufacture of .brass; enpro-nickej,- cordite, and the latest, work of-military ammunition. At that time a totally new cartridge, .270, was being experimented 'O'n at Woolwich,. but the war stopped any further development.