NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9632, 12 April 1917, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Incalculable good has resulted from the rainfall during the past two days. Tho showers have been pretty general throughout the country surrounding Wellington, and agricultural operations have benefited considerably. To tho market and suburban amateur gardeners the preliminary soaking showers, followed by good downpours, have come in the nick of time. If the drought had continued much longer tho losses in regard to crops generally would have been irreparable. For tho twenty-four hours previous to 9 a.m. yesterday tho rainfall gauge at the Pipitca Point Observatory recorded 129 points; the Foxton gauge registered 170 points. On tho average in the Wellington district there was a fall of about 1 i inches. At Wainui the fall up to 9 a.m. yesterday was an inch, but at Karori there was an inch and a half. The reservoirs in connection with tho city water supply have begun to show some results from the rainfall, and it is hoped that during the next few days there will be further showers.

Owing to the Easter law vacation there have been no sittings of the Supreme Court this week. The Appeal Court will resume the hearing of cases on Monday next. A deputation from the Timber Workers’ Union, which has been bolding its conference in Wellington, is to wait upon Sir James Allen (Acting-Premier and Minister for Defence) tins afternoon.

“When the train service is cut down by fifty per cent., will tho gentleman who receives £3OOO a year accept half his salary in consequence?” was a question put by Mr Piper to the chairman of a “protest” meeting at Petono last evening.

At a meeting called at Petoiio last night for the purpose of protesting against the stopping of a number oi trains after May Ist, Mr George London said New Zealand was a long/way from the heart' of the military situation, and be believed in keeping the flag flying and carrying on the business of the country, which was a factor in helping to win the war. “The borough authorities show more consideration by sending the owner of a property notice to cut overhanging trees than is the case with the Telegraph Department,’’ said Mr L. G. Reid, S-M.j at Lower Hutt Court yesterday during the hearing of a case. “The department employees are not gardeners, and they have the cut overhanging trees without giving notice, and there is no redress.” The fact that a boy thriteen years of ago had only passed tho first standard and had only been to school lor about twelve months, drew from Mr L. G. Reid, S.M., at the Lower Huti Court yesterday, the remark'that there was something wrong somewhere- It was astonishing, he. said,, that in a district like Hutt that such a state of things could exist, and the truant inspector should institute inquiries. “Do you claim that you know- »y----thing about the growing of quick hedges?” asked counsel of an expert witness at Lower Hutt Court _ yesterday. “Certainly I do,” replied the witness. “I served by time in one of the principal gardens in England, and On one property where I was employed I was engaged oh one of tho finest hawthorn hedges in-England. It was thirty foot high, and twelve feet across at the top.” • " '••

lii giving evidence at tli© Hutt Court yesterday in a case in yhioh a ratepayer sued tile council for damages alleged to have been done to his hedge through,' the borough employees cutting it in an improper manner, a witness sounded a note of praise in favour of motor-cars. The witness is an expert gardener of high standing in ' the district, and he informed the'bench that the dust created by motor-oars when travelling along the streets of the borough was a remedy in keeping down the parasites that attack hedges. By this means, he said, the live hedges facing the main thoroughfares were kept clean.

A respected citizen of Berlin is about to be put into the dock, for surreptitiously turning his private bathroom into a slaughterhouse. In a desperate attempt to supply : his family with ham, pork, and fats, he smuggled a pig into his flat, with the intention of butchering it in the bath. When the pig began to squeal the amateur butcher lost his nerve, and, abandoning his sanguinary business, ran helterskelter .from the house, shrieking with fright. Forgetting, however, to lock the pig 'ia, the animal ambled into the street, where it was promptly seized by the police and ‘confiscated.” The would-be butcher will be prosecuted for seeking unlawfully to possess himself of meat. 1

Speaking at Westport recently, Mr J. A. Frostick (National Efficiency Board Commissioner) said that there was a splendid opening for the papermaking industry on the West Coast. Newspaper had risen 300 per cent, since the war, and there were millions of cords of timber going to waste. He was speaking with a knowledge of the subject, and he would' say that if the paper-making industry were established there, newspaper proprietors would be able to buy all the paper they required at prices comparable to those obtaining under the more favourable conditions existing before the war. There would be good wages for the employees, and a good profit to those who put their money into the industry. In New Zealand' 50 tons of newspaper were used per day. • A citizen of the picturesque suburb known as Lower Hutt. ig'- the owner of a hedge which, he values for its beauty rather than fbr its utility. The Hutt Council, however, regarded - it "as somewhat of a nuisance, by reason of its height and the large shade it threw on the adjacent road. The citizen was requested by the council to trim the hedge, which he did, employing a gardener to do the work. The council was not satisfied with what had been done, and sent men armed wtih slash hooks to cut the hedge to a size consistent with utilitarian ideas. _ The citizen resented this, and sued the council. He introduced into his evidence a sentiment of the “Woodman, spare that tree” variety, and said he was a lover of Nature. Evidence on his behalf was to the effect that the hedge had been slashed about, and time alone could repair the damage. The hedge had taken twenty years to reach its pristine height. Mr L. G. Reid S.M., who heard the case, -went and looked at the hedge, and gave it as his opinion that it was not a firstclass one. Evidently this was not meant as a reflection on the council’s work, because the magistrate said the council was entitled to do the work in its own way, and found for the local body. The’ citizen’s sentiment for Nature affected his pocket to the extent of L-l is*

Mr J. 0. Shorland, who is a candidate for election to the City Council, will give his opening address to tho electors at the Masonic Hall, Bcrhampore, to-night (Thursday). At tho invitation of J- C. Williamson. Ltd., a large number of returned soldiers will witness to-morrow_ evening’s performance of “Seven Keys to Baldpato.”

A former “Lyttelton Times’’ reporter ivrites from tho “somewhere'’ that if the people of New Zealand know the kind of cigarettes that arc supplied to soldiers they would cease to continue contributions to tobacco funds, as hundreds of packets are thrown away as lifeless.

At 5 o’clock yesterday morning tho Fire Brigade was called to an outbreak in a small outhouse to the roar of Mrs Montague’s boardinghouse, in Willis street, near tho Albert Hotel. The outhouse was destroyed. Another fire was caused by tho explosion of a Primus stove in the enamelling oven at the Colonial Tinware Company’s works in Allen street. Very little damage was done.

Tho “Daunevirko Evening News” said a big black cow and a little one were illegally browsing in Denmark street. The next night tho little one got in the “Evening Nows’’ man s rden, and was much bigger when found in the morning roclining on the lawn. No wonder; for within its “cud room were new potatoes, cabbages, r ronen beans, lettuce, and a few choice flower tops. Tho cow had got even with the “Nows” man without taking him to court.

At a largo and representative /meeting to-night, states a Press Association message from Westport, it was resolved to form a Westport Protestant Association and to send a request that tho Acting-Prime Minister or the Minister for Mines visit Westport immediately and confer with the minors on strike, as tho association was strongly of tho opinion that tho miners were ill-advis-ed in their recent action. Tho association believed a large section ol miners were ready to return to work. Judging from iho following clipping from the Routine Orders from Fcatherston Camp ,th e military authorities arc making duo allowance for any religious'scruples soldiers might have : —“Officers commanding units will note that all observers of the Seventh Day Adventists’ laith are to be given .leave every week from Friday nights till Saturday nights, and that their services arc invariably utilised for Sunday fatigues and duties, thus relieving other men of Sunday work.”

Tli© progress statement issued by tho Discharged Soldiers’ Information Bureau shows that on April 4th tho number of men on the register was 7568- Of these 6357 have been disposed of as under: —Men who have work to return to, and men who have roenlisted or returned to military duty, etc., 2728; placed in employment, 1440; men who have signed “assistance not required,” 1438; left New Zealand or cannot ascertain address, 154; men’ who have not responded to repeated communications, and men who have accepted work the department found for them but failed to start work, 597. Of tho remainder 386 are convalescing, not ready for employment, and not yet discharged by the military authorities;; 119, four of whom desire work in Wellington, are on the employment wanted register. The new Gorman hate campaign is apparently to include a special series of attacks on Lord Northcliffo. Tho “Cologne Gazette” opened it by featuring a special attack made by R. L. Orchello (whoso real name is Hermann Sohcfiauer) in the “Continental Times,”- who described Lord Northcliffo as “one of the greatest criminals of tho human race,” and ns chiefly responsible for all the misery of tho war owing to Jiis “dark and shameful work.” “The Times,” the “Daily, Mail,” and other journals are described as .“a terrible battle-row of papers. Whose, efforts have throttled the sound common sonso of tho British people.” Lord Northcliffe is asked if he does not hear “the threatening murmur of the coming storm which may annihilate you ?” Tho “Cologne Gazette” adds: “Wo coujd wish that this damning verdict, passed by an" ‘American’ upon Northcliffo, might be echoed by tie entire neutral press.”

An agreement come to between the Marine Radio Telegraphists’ Institute of Australasia and the Amalgamated Wireless Association and others, provides for the payment of wages to wireless operators, who are required to hold first-class certificates of efficiency, i( they arc members -of the union, at rates per month as follow: —First year, £9 a month; second year, £10; third year, £11; fourth year, £l3; fifth year, £l4; sixth year, £ls; seventh year, £l6; eighth and subseauent years, £l6 a month. Subscriptions to bo paid at £1 per month over the rate they would receive for sendee on the above scale. Every operator, excepting when on leave, to have meals and proper living accommodation provided on respondents’ vessels, or to bo allowed, when temporarily asTiore, 5s a day for a home port, or 7s 6d per day at any other port. When permanently on shore an extra allowance is to. bo given of £43 per annum. Thirty-eight days’ leave of absence on full pay to be allowed annually. Ordinary duty to bo eight hours in every twenty-four.

Remains of the great bird that ate horses in prehistoric times— tnoamtryma —are said to have been found in the Big Horn Basin by the explorers of the American Museum of Natural History. The small eobippus, which was struggling to evolve when this monster land bird was alive, had a hard time of it. The diatryma had no teeth, but it had a beak calculated to cut through sheet-steel.. It had a head larger than •that of any other bird known. It was twenty inches in length. The jaws wore like ponderous shears. There have been birds taller than the diatryma. but their heads were small and their necks slim and long. The neck of the diatryma was thick and short, like that of the dodo familiar to all who know their “Alice in 'Wonder, land-” The diatryma was seven feet in height. The extinct tnoa of New . Zealand was fifteen reet tall, measured along its tapering neck. The modern ostrich often attains the height of seven feet- and more, but its neck also is long and its head small. The diatryma was more like that extinct South American bird, the phororhachos, which was probably taller, hut not so powerful. All these big birds had small wings. The diatryma Lad only rudimentary flappers, yet its legs wer® so powerful that it could cover enormous distances. Its toes wore big enough to enable it to get a firm grip on the earth. When the little eohippus started to run the great bird easily overtook it.

Donnelly’s Hair Restorer.—A real tonic Cures dandruff, stops hair falling. Chemists, stores, hairdressers. 2a 6d. Donnelly’s, 65, Vivian street. •

On the night of Anzac Day, April 25 th. the Wellington City Council are entertaining tlio returned soldiers in the concert chamber at the Town Mall. As tbo local elections are being held that day, it will bo impossible!' to give effect to tbo general desire to have a larger function, on account of tbo big hall being engaged for polling purposes.

There were twenty-five applicants for employment to the Government Labour Bureau last week, and of these twenty-four wore placed. Nineteen were labourers and five hotel workersIn the returns from other centres it is interesting to note that eight farm hands applied for employment during the week in Dunedin and one in Christchurch. Not one wa s placed. In connection with the Anzac Day celebrations, the Mayor (Mr J. I'Luke) has made arrangements for a united religious service to bo held in the large chain her at the Town Hall on the afternoon of Monday, the -I™ inst. Among those who will take pal in the service will be the Bov. A.,* • Johnson, M.A., ol St. b’aul s i r°Cathedral. and the Rev..Dr Gibb, of St. John's Presbyterian Church. William Walsh, four years of ago, who was knocked down by a motor cycle in Vivian street on Tuesday evening, receiving injuries to th« knees which necessitated his removal to the Children’s Hospital, was reported last night to bo doing very well. Iho boy was Maying with some other children on -ho footpath, and stopped mto the road just as the motor-cycle was passIng.

\t the rush hour last evening a trarncar off the lino at the corner ot Lambton quay and Willis street blocked the outward-bound service for neaiiv 20 .minutes, with the result that some 16 cars were held up m a long line down Lambton quay and four oi nve more in Customhouse quay. When onoo the trarncar regained the metals, the block was quickly dispersed, though it took the cars a lung time to catch up the ordinary running. Tho southern contingent of the returned soldiers recently landed in Auckland—22 lor Canterbury, 4d for Wellington, and 28 for Otago—arrived in Wellington by the Main 'l’runk express yesterday afternoon. The Mayor (Mr J. P. Luke! extended to them a. hearty welcome on their arrival at Thorndon station, and two special traancars conveyed them to the R°' turned Soldiers’ Club, whore they were entertained bv His Worship and Mr Fox, of tho Soldiers’ Club. Tho heavy downpour. ..last night resulted in a washout at the approaches to the temporary bridge structure at the head of Ngnhnurangn Gorge, .thereby making the road impassable to all traffic. The old wooden bridge has been dismantled for the purpose oi erecting a concrete structure. Inis should have been well on tho way towards completion, but delay in delivering supplies of material has practically necessitated stoppage of work for nearlv a fortnight. The Makara County Council is. making every effort to reopen the road for traffic, hut tins will necessitate some time owing to tho largo quantity of loose material that has fallen into the now works. It is hoped to have the defect repaired by Friday at the latest. Miss Beatrice Holloway, the leading lady of J. C. Williamson’s Company, playing at tho present time at the Opera House, has presented to the Wellington Koturned Soldiers’ Club a large Union Jack, which will be signed by all the returned soldiers in the Wellington district, The flag in the course of a few days will be on view at Messrs Kirkcaldie and Stains establishment. On Wednesday, tho 18th inst., Mr Greig and members of his farcical comedy company will give an afternoon at tho Opera House, to which tho public are cordially invited. The programme will consist of musical items by tho artists of tho company, and Mr Greig and Miss Beatrice Holloway will bo honorary auctioneers to sell the autographed Union Jack and also seats and boxes for the arranged Anzac Night gathering. Afternoon tea will bo provided. Tho proceeds are in aid of the Wellington returned soldiers’ institutions.