Palmerston Doings.

Free Lance, Volume XVII, Issue 913, 11 January 1918, Page 17

Palmerston Doings.

Dbak CHRISXABELj— MRS and Miss West, who have.been staying with Mrs. L. Wall, at Kairanga, returned to the city early this week. * * * * . Dr. and Mrs. Whittaker, have returned from their holiday beside the sea. « «• # * Train load after train load of wounded soldiers have passed this way of late. Some have landed at Auckland and oome down the Main Trunk by rail, others have disembarked at Wellington, passing' through northward. Three cot cases came up to the Palmerston Hospital—Privates Ryman, of "Kairanga; Todd, of Feilding; and White, of Levin. It is impossible to arrange anything like a public welcome to these men returning, as they arrive in dribs and drabs by any old train, but the Mayor and members of the Patriotic Society have spent many long hours at the station during the week awaiting the arrival of troop and hospital trains, scheduled to arrive at one time, and usually getting in an hour or two later, owing to unavoidable delays en route. » ■» » 9 The swimming baths are a popular spot, but some still frequent the river. The Manawatu is not a very safe river for aquatic feats, and a. small boy found this out on Saturday. However,- a plucky woman, Mrs. Carter, dived in after him, fully clad, and fastened a rope to the boy, who was safely hauled ashore. Her clinging garments impeded her progress-, and she was unable to return, being carried down stream. Fortunately she managed to grasp a snag, to which she clung for; nearly an hour, when one of our policemen, a champion swimmer, rescued her, several previous attempts having failed. - * * * * The Ambulance Corps has returned to Awapuni,' and they are snugly tucked down in camp again. There is every prospect of the "revue" they staged before departing for their holidays being repeated in the Opera House shortly. - Last Friday "night, six send-offs were organised in different parts of the district, to bid good-bye to departing sol-, diers. The usual concert and _ dance was the basis of the entertainment, with supper thrown in. Presentations to the departing boys and little patriotic speeches were star items. * * * ■» One motor car going to Marton races on New Year's Day overturned and. the occupants were shaken up and bruised in various degrees. The car, so 'tis said, contained a case of whisky for — never mind whom. The first query of the driver when he regained •consciousness was "What happened to the whisky?" The ratio of importance. Talking of bottles, bring to mind this new regulation (or is it new interpretation of an old regulation?) in relation to the sale of cool drinks on Sunday. One is apt to get just as thirsty on Sunday as any other day, yet people who walk from city to suburb, or cycle from town to town are now unable to procure a cool, harmless drink of any kind. Verily, we live in an age of many madnesses. * * * * Town is quiet, weather is hot, wind is intermittent. One by one offices are opening and people are returning to their normal annual occupation, after

Mir. George Hunter, M.P. for Waipawa, who has proved his patriotism by the splendid gift of £30,000 worth of rich Hawke's Bay land for returned soldier settlements. — Bartlett <£• Andrew, photo.

a few days' —or weeks' respite. The lordly lawyer has still his shutter up, and urgent legal tangles can untie themselves—or wait. The former process is cheaper. The Appeal Board is again planted in our midst. It's a case of "Here come the ma-harried men." * * * * Mr. Vivian Walsh, the Auckland airman and inventor, stepped off in Palmefston on his way back from Napier aviation display. His seaplane got smashed against the wharf in a gale, owing to the tug refusing to do as it was told. How-" ever, 58 passengers went aloft, including some ancient dames, before she got winged. He remarked casually that the freight home was cheaper than when bringing her down—they rolled her up in a bundle. Nothing like taking things philosophically. •» ■» # " * Train loads of troops are passing through from Auckland and New Plymouth on their way back to camp after -their Christmas holidays. Cheerful and sunburnt, they are a splendid stamp of man. Train "loads of wounded are also passing through. What a difference. Your Friend, Awaptjni.