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Otago Daily Times, Issue 17533, 27 January 1919, Page 4

So far as immunity from accidents is concerned the city tramway service has a comparatively good record, and tho more or less serious "smash" which occurred in front of the old Post Office yesterday must be regarded as unusual. Oar 44- left the shed to take up its schedule running, and when it reached the slope towards High street at 1.39 p.m., Motorman William Paine was unable to obtain any response from the magnetic or ordinary brakes, and tho car, .which had gained considerably in, momentum, crashed into a stationary car which it partially telescoped. Oar 44- ttos badly damaged. There were no passengers in the cars. Motorman Paino received some nasty cute about the hands and face. He was conveyed to the Hospital, but it is anticipated that he will be ablo to leave the institution to-day.

Tfeo Dunedin Highland Pipe Band played at St. Qair yesterday afternoon. There was a very large number of visitors, and the collection toward the tnriform fund ■was fairly good. The band was in splendid form, and the programme rendered included "The Atbole Highlanders," "The Boatio Rows," "Home, Sweet Home," ".Scots' Wha Hae," "Loclriel's March," "Heroes of Vittoria," "Waes Me For Prince Cbariia."

'-Otero -was a marked Imperial significance about tiio recent tour through Britain and .franco by tho group of New Zealand Press rcprtsentativea. in effect, if not iu so many words, tho Imperial Government said to thee© representatives of tbo New ZeaJand Press: "Paas to and fro through our country and through our war areas; every door is open to you j form your own impressions of what tho nation of which, your dominion forms a valued part is doing in this great war for freedom; then return to your own peoplo and tell them, thus helping to 'K ccp „ lh ° flamo of Empire burning steadily." In. response to numerous requests, tho chairman of the delegation will narrate at Bums Hall tliis evening something of tho story of this intensely interesting tour, in tho course of which ho had tho privilege of observing two nations, Britain and France, at tho summit of those stupendous efforts, both at homo and on tho battlefields, which culminated in tho irrevocable defeat of a Prussianism which menaced the freedom of tho world. A series of interesting lantern slides will illustrate the story, which will be presented in popular form. The proceeds will go to assist the work of the St. John Ambulance.

Great anxiety as to tho whereabouts of Mr A. J. Thompson is at present felt by his and friends. Ho left his homo in the North End a week ago, and has not been heard of since. Ho had a similar lapso of memory a year ago, but he had apparently quite recovered. The police would be glad of any clue that would lead to his discovery. In appearance ho is of medium stature, and fair complexion, and when ho left home was wearing a dark suit, fawn coloured overcoat, and soft grey felt hat. The following resolution was passed at a meeting of the Otago branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants yesterday . afternoon:—" While wo.approve of the demands of tho Engine-drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association to secure allowance for night work and improved service conditions, wo agree with, the action of the Minister in delaying the consideration of the schedule for permanent increases until tho three societies have been consulted. Wo aro strongly convinced that tho members of tho train-running staff of tho traffic department and other sections of the service have a claim to as high a rate of pay and improved conditions asked for by the locomotive men."

"A special meeting of the Dunedin certificated licensed drainers was held in the Trades ■ Hall on Friday last. A statement of olaims was_ drawn up for presentation to the local bodies and the various employers concerned. It was agreed that a report of all the business of the union be in, future supplied to the local papers. The secretary was instructed to forward the following resolution to the Dunedin Drainage and Sewerage Board:—"That this union protests against the conservative and selfish action of the board in hiring out its employees to private contractors to do household connection works, knowing full well that there are plenty of certificated drainers to bo had, independent of their employees, to do such nature of work." Three assessors were appointed to meet the employers in connection with a new award in February. At .the opening of the Otago Art Society's annual exhibition in the Art Gallery Hall to-morrow evening, .Mr R. Hawcridge will deliver a short address on "Art and Ite Influence," after which visitors will have an opportunity of inspecting the large collection of pictures which adorn the walls of the society's gallery. Nearly every artist of note in the dominion is represented. T£ere is also on view a number of paintings by Joseph Walinski, A. Dattils Rubbo, J. M. Atild, M. Woodhouse, and other well-known Australian artists. In the crafts'jseotion is to be seen a very fine display'of handpainted china. Part of the south wall of the water-colour room is devoted to an exhibition of photographs, the work of members of the Dunedin Photographic Society. The exhibition should be a' source of instruction and pleasure to all lovers .of art. One-half of the gross proceeds from the sale of art union tickets, which also give admission to the gallery, is to -be handed over to the Otago Women's Patriotic Fund. The New Zealander, which has been published fortnightly in London during the war with the object of giving an epitome of New Zealand news to troops from the dominion on active service, understands that Colonel H. Stewart, D.5.0., M.C., of the Canterbury Regiment, has been asked to write the popular history of the doings of the Expeditionary Fore© in France.

Before a large attendance yesterday afternoon at the Botanic Gardens, the St. Kilda Municipal Band, under Mr G. B. Laidlaw, played a programme of varied music, which met with general acceptance, and the rendering of which evoked complimentary remarks regarding the high state of efficiency attained by the band.

At Roslyn Presbyterian Church, Highgate, last evening, the Pvev. W. Gray Dixon preached from the story of Abizak, Ist ■Kings , chapter xiv, with special reference to the death of Prince John. At the end of the service, the organist, Mr Thomas Ritchie, played "The Dead March in SauL" The spectacle of an army of rabbits invading Victoria from New South Wales moved the rabbit inspector at Corryong to send telegraphic advice of the fact to departmental headquarters on January 7. The point of attack (reports the Age) was the bridge over the Murray at Jinjellio. The bridge, however, was too narrow to accommodate the hordes, and the little animals took to the river, which is now running low, and swam to the Victorian side. The inspector asked whether action on the New South Wales side could not be enforced, so as to stem the advance. The department took the view that, in the circumstances, international codes of warfare should be abandoned, so the inspector was instructed, to use every practical means of giving a check, including the employment of traps on the principle of the corral, such as is used in the capture of elephants, but on a necessarily smaller scale. By the time the department received its telegram and the inspector received his reply, the greater part of the New South Waks'rabbit population had, of course, crossed the border. The Minister of Lands sent a telegram to the New South Wales Government, asking whether united action for the destruction of rabbits on both side of the river at the one time could not be made. If lihe tone of the Corryong inspector's telegram may be taken as an indication of the extent of the drift from the neighbouring State (comments the newspaper), there will be no need to carry out a campaign against bunny on the New South Wales side.

The failure of the Queensland sugar, crop has been -much greater than was at- first supposed, and, in order to make good the shortage, which amounts to about 40,000 tona, the Government has made arrangements for purchasing a sufficient quantity outsido Australia, One shipment -will come (from Mauritius, and' the .balance from Java. The disastrous cyclone .in Queensland about a year ago affected the crop very considerably, the assumption being that the high winds injured the root systems. Severe frosts in the winter added to the damage, and, in addition, there has been a great reduction in the density of the cane. Whereas in previous years 84 tons of cane has yielded one ton of sugar at the same places this year 13 to 14 tons of cane has yielded only one ton of sugar -

A return furnished by the Minister of Lands shows that up to January 20 1919 approximately £2,113,865 has been expended by the Government for the benefit of discharged soldiers on the land. Included in this amount are the following items .-—About £1,230,284, representing e purchase money of private estates; £805,731, as advances authorised to assist 1266 discharged; soldiers in the purchase of private, rural, and town lands, and for improvement and stocking of their holdings; and £79,850, being the approximate amount involved in purchases by the Government of private holdings on behalf of discharged soldiers.

An American trade circular recently received in New Zealand states:—"The committee appointed to investigate the unsatisfactory aircraft production daring the first year of the war has just made a report. It finds -that doplorablo conditions, due to incompetence, extravagance, vand neglect, existed at that time, but only "in one instance was flagrant dishonesty indicated, and a is recommended in that case. Facts and figures recently Published have shown that aircraft production is at last on a satisfactory basis, and if the war should go on there is every reason to think that the record of America's achievements in the air will bo equal to that of any branch of the service."

Can a charge of bigamy bo laid against a person in New Zealand in respect of aa offence committed in England (asks tho New Zealand Times of Monday). This interesting legal point is- being raised in conw°i 10n T 1 ** 1 a «*«med soldier named Y\ alter Lauder, who was brought up from Lyttelton by the Maori to be charged with bigamy alleged to have been committed in England. Lauder had a wife ln.Now Zealand when he joined the forces, and it is alleged that ho went through a form of marriage with another woman at Codford in October, 1917. Laud er waa brought before Mr F. V. Frazer S.M., at the Magistrate's Court, and' on tho application of Acting Sub-inspector Emerson, was remanded to appear on 27th January. Bail was allowed in the sum of £50, or two sureties of £25 each. The trial will be unusual on account of it'bein" tho first occasion on which tho test will bo applied to New Zealand legislation controlling the acts .of persons committing offences in other ! countries. There is an Apt on tho New Zealand Statute Book which specially deals with bigamy alleged to have been committed abroad. An ,; eloquent testimony to the manner in -which prisoners of -war were treated by tho British is contained in the following extract from the diary of a. German prisoner who was captured in Palestine on July 14: "After being fired at in front by the British and in tho rear by the Turks, wo wero captured on July 14 by Australians. They wero a splendid lot of fellows, and treated us very well. The average Englishman on this front is a thoroughly decent chap, and the treatment is excellent. We had very heavy losses, * and I should imagine that the Asia Corps had practically ceased to exist. I was surprised at our good treatment. I shall never believe any more newspaper yarns about the bad way in which the British treat then: prisoners of war. I must say that I am beginning to appreciate the British more from day to day; they are all thorough gentlemen. We are getting moro food than we can eat, and the only thing lacking is tobacco." So long as there are Germans left who will pay £22 for a gallon of' wine, that country is evidently not yet in the last throes of starvation. That is the price at which a cask of Eltviller Taubersberg was sold at the recent auctions of Rhine wines of the 1917 vintage. The total results, too, of the wine auction for all Germany show that the people are spending remarkably large sums for wine. The spring auctions, covering mostly -wines of tta 1917 vintage, brought in a total of 13,200,000 dollars, reckoning at the normal rate of exchange. The significance of this sum becomes evident when it is stated that the larger vintages for the year before the wax never brought moro than 3,200,000 .dollars. It da a noteworthy picture, saya the_ New York - Tribune. Germany, staggering to its fall in a military and political sense, yet the armies of war profiteers are falling over each other to buy luxurious wines.

The peculiar case of a, man who can neither feel pain, cold, nor heat, has no sense of taste or smell, does not know » what fatigue means, and is apparently any emotions, affections, *or dislikes is described by Captain E. D Roberts, R.AJMO., in tie JUmcet. He ia a_ Breton sailor who enlisted in the Canadian army, and was treated for mumps in the military hospital at Aldershot. "His body," says Captain Roberts, "is plentifully strewn with the scars of wounds and burns which he has inflicted on himself either for bets or to astonish the onlookers. I have myself seen him. on more than one occasion hold a burning match against the sldn of his arm for 10 or 15 seconds, and . then unconcernedly pick off the charred epidermis." Blbws on the head with a poker, the .plunging of the fingers into hot water, the placing of highly-seasoned substances in his mouth produced no effect, and were not even realised by Jhe man as happening when he had his eyes closed. The man, who is described as welldeveloped, highly good-natured, mentally sound, and above the average in intelligence, dates his complete immunity from an attack of yellow fever at the age of 17. In some parts of America a novel means of overcoming the gate nuisance on big estates or ranches is adopted. The nuisance of frequent stops to open and close gates, and the certainty that trouble would be caused by rareleso tourists who would not bother to close them, are usually, avoided by borrowing the idea of the cattle guard from the railroad. A shallow pit is dug between two fence posts, and over this at right angles to the road are' ,laid posts or planks close enough to accommodate the wheels of a car, but not tie feet of wandering cattle. There is no gate; the road is always open far the motorist. But cattle drift up and sniff at this modern contrivance and turn away, too wary of the_ ditch beneath to venture over. It ia a simple idea and apparently effective. Many Masterton people were much in* terested in a liquor case which, came before thj Magistrate's Court last week. The main. point was whether a publican-, was allowed' to supply three bottles of beer to one person (without an order) for'consumption in a no-license district. The police quoted a ruling of the Chief Justice thai, certain sections of the. Act. of 1914 were ' more stringent than those of ihe 1908 Act, and that it was imperative that an order should be given for any quantity of suph liquor. Counsel for the defendant, submitted that Sir Robert Stout had overlooked the fact that the whole of the section of this Act applied to camera and agents, and not to purchasers. The obvious purpose of the section was to prevent indiscriminate slygrogging. Counsel held, and he had the opinion of Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C., to back up his contention, that section 8 of the Act did not apply generally, and entitled a person to take a gallon of beer and a quart of spirits into a no-license district in any ono day without supplying an order. The magistrate reserved hia decision.

" With every Tivish to cot out that territJa middleman' and his so-called excessive profits, I claim that the trouble lies in the mode of doing business and the cure lies with the consumers themselves " (says a writer in / the Farmers' Union Advocate). "Let them follow the example set them by the farmers, only in their case they must reverse the order. They must establish the big store fitted to supply all their wants. It must be owned and managed by themselves. The experience gained will core many of tho ills complained of now. When this lesjon in co-operation ia well learnt they will be encouraged to become producers on their own account, and as they advance and their operations cover mora departments in tho industrial world we shall hear less and less talk about the 'bloated capitalist' and his oppression o*. the working men. When the time cozras that our city'workers-' have established themselves on the lines indicated above they will be in & position to trade fairly with the farmers' organisations either as buyers of produce or sellers of the productß of their labour, and the transactions which should swell to gigantio dimens : ons wonld tend towards mutual benefit, and in the nature of things bring about a better understanding." JNo cases were set down for decision at the City Police Court on Saturday.

Another smashing Barley performance, N Palmerston North, yesterday. Won N.7L , championship, third in 8 miles, first in It miles, second 8-mile open; also fastest time. W. Stuart Wilson, Dunedin.—Advt. Lkm Sewing Cotton.—2oo vards, blaclc and white, numbers 24 to 60; 3s 6d 4ozen, post free anywhere.—Mbllisons Ltd.—Mvfc. Xmas cheer for thrifty housewivA J N<j Rubbing" Laundry Help now uUsuowbl? from all stores at Is per packu*. containing sufficient for seven weekly family washings.—J. Rattray and Sons (Limited), wholesale agents for "No Rubbinje."—Advt! Like real good Whisky? Then try Wat" son's No. 10. Lovely mellow flavour — Advt Electric Incandescent Lamps, Drawn Wire, Metallic Filament, Philips Manufacture, 16, 25, 32, and 50 candlo-power. Price, 3a each. Special terms for quantity orders.— Tumbull and Jones (Ltd.), Electrio Engineers.—Advt. A. E. J. Blakeiey. dentist, Bank of An* tralasin, corner of Bond and Rattray street! (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 18S&Advt. /' Eyestrain!—Consult Mr Peter G hi* D.B 0.A., F. 1.0. (London), consular* £&