POST-WAR MISCELLANY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17631, 22 May 1919, Page 6

POST-WAR MISCELLANY

(Fbom Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, March 21. It seems that oversea soldiers are efeill being fleeced by shopkeepers because it is the general impression Ui.it these men have more money than they know how to spend. The "sharks" make it their special study to get all they can out of the colonists in khaki. A recent instance on record is that of a sergeant-major "who thought he would like to have a stick which was on sale at a tobacconist's. "I asked the price," he said, "and was told it was 12s 6d. That seemed a bit stiff, so I went out, and after an interval my wife went in. To her the price was 7e 6d. So I -waited until next morning, and then a young , girl friend made inquiry, and the shopkeeper said the price was 5s 6d. It is that sort of thing that is occurring everywhere, and it is creating a feeling of bitterness that sbo-uld never exist between us and the Old Country."' One can hardly imagine that the stick had deteriorated during the night to the extent of 7a.

KEEN DEMAND FOR WAR HORSES.

Since the armistice 62,500 surplus army horses have been sold in the United Kingdom, at an average price of £33 4s. In the same period 1478 moles have made an average price of £17 ss. The highest average was reached in Scotland—£4l Us 7d. Other commands in which, the demands have been keen are Northern. £38 14s 9d; London, £36 14s 4d; Western, £34 13s lidEastern, £32 7s 10d. Prices have been lowest in Ireland and the (Aldershot Command. Prices have steadily risen since selling began, probably because only sound, hard, and useful working horses have been brought from France, and the Director of Remounts does not think that anything like the number in the original estimate will be brought from Franco for sale in' England. The demand at home cannot be sudphed. ■ L EXPERIMENTING WITH SUGAR BEET. West of Scotland Agricultural College has been making trials with sugar beet in Ayrshire, and on the whole the results have not proved unsatisfactory, but they leave something still to be established with regard to the weight of the crop. In Ayrshire the percentage of sugar in the root was 15.7. and the average purity of the ju;ce 87.3, but it is pointed out that still further trials are necessary in order to establish the crop-producing power of the beet, as there is a tendency to "bolt , / under the conditions of soil and climate prevailing in the West of Scotland. It is thought tnattne crop would not in average years be ripe and ready to lift before November -Liberal manuring—particularly with phospnatio and potash manures—is essential, bnt too large a percentage of the nitrogenous element delayed the ripening, which is not an advantage m a climate naturally backward Involving the use of so much labour —on tne Continent especially cheap labour was a consideration, which was duly app-e ciated—it will be necessary here to reconsider the whole question in the light of the large advances that have been made in the payment of farm labour and also in the prospect of supply. .

FOOO MINISTRY'S PROFIT _ Awarding to the Earl of Crawford, speaking in tho House of Lords, the accoWts of the Ministry of .Food for the year ended 1918 owe a a Lrpluf of i.1c.3,363 after debiting all expenses of administration This surplus had been cax"r.ufo^^ d M a reserve. The total sales ° d^ hl S.ihe period amounted to £45,564,611, and the stocks held at that date stood in tlie books at £20,974,116 Administrative expenses amounted, to :&1,24G,375, or approximately 2 per cent, of the total transactions, including stocks purchased. The expenses included £549,883 for the expenses of rationing, if these were excluded as abnormal, the administration expenses would only be a fraction over 1 per cent.

A RISE FKOM THE RANKS.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Iu 1893 Mr H. D. Morgan was an ordinary constable, at the lowest rate of pay— 24s per week. Now he is a Chief • Constable in the Metropolitan Police Force, and the pay of a man in his position varies from £600 to £1000 a year. Prom being an inspector at Woolwich Arsenal, and then in charge at Pembroke Dockyard, he was transferred to Rosyth, when it became an important naval dockyard. Mr Morgan comes of a family with police traditions, his father and two uncles having attained the rank of detective-inspector in the Metropolitan Police. GROWING LIBERTY OF GIRLS.

Or Flori Murray, of the Endell Strees Military Hospital, had often heard it said that during the last 20 to 25 years the physique of women had improved* but she says this was only a class improvement, and there had not been a general improvement until the last few years, when women had been able to draw a wage which allowed them to feed themselves decently. In the ranks of tho Q.M.A.A.C. there are robust and really healthy girls, but these are usually found to be girls of a higher class, while the average of those from the villages and the towns bear signs of bad housing and under-feeding. Every effort must be made to deliver from the city restaurant the hundreds of thousands of girls whose crying need is proper food at good prices. What is wanted is a hostel where there is liberty with discipline, and where there is a strong esprit de corps. Nothing is so much needed in iLondon as a suitable hostel for girls between 16 and 30—a respectable, honest place, where they could lodge with safety. STORING FROZEN FISH.

In the stimrner of 1918 a large quantity of fish was put into cold storage in Newfoundland. It is now in England, and is tallced about as "fresh" at Billingsgate Market Despite a full market of locally-landed fish, the Newfoundland chilled has realised per lb in the market—a price almost equal to that paid for oodfish caught in home waters and landed fresh from the trawlers— viz., 7£d per lb. What is probably the largest cold storage plant on Newfoundland has been put up, and its canaeity is something like 200.0001b of fish per day. Almost every variety has been prepared for market in this manner, including cod, haddock, turbot, halibut, salmon, flat fish, and eels. There seem to bo infinite Possibilities for fnture expansion of the trade. MISTRESS AND MAID. We axe hearing a. great deal just now about the intentions of those in authority to bring about better conditions for those employed in domestic service. The Minister of Labour has drawn up a scheme for the improvement of the training and wages the scheme to bo operative through local' employment exchanges. Full details have not yet been disclosed, but meanwhile, at a joint conference of mistrosses and maids, held in Kent, the mistresses decided upon the _ following recommendations:—The formation of a recognised union to deal with domestic service as an honourable employment. ' Maids to bo allowed one half-day and evomnpc por week, with one half-day on Suuda-y, a full day a month, and an annual holiday. Maids to be allowed to use the bath room once a week, and be given two hours daily in which they shall not be cal.ed upon to do any work. Where maids sleep in they shall not be sent out at night. Maids to be allowed half an hour for breakfast, ono hour for dinner, and half an hour for tea.