The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1917. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3853, 3 December 1917, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1917. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr P. C. Webb has been re-elected, unopposed, for the Grey seat.

There is advertised for sale doors, windows, corrugated iron, etc., in good condition.

Mr W. M. Cullen has a notice appearing in our advertising columns in which he denies having any connection either with the Central Theatre or the running of the pictures.

The Farmers' Auctioneering Company w'l! hold their Ngatea stock sale on Thursday next, December 6, when Sf;o head of cattle are offered for disposal. The usual Hikutaia sale LEkvK p)ase on 'Monday next.

Mr Geo. Buchanan for sa!« in this issue several young pedigree Jersey bulls at reasonable prices. Tho animals will' be on exhibition at tltt Show on Wednesday.

Following on the lines of the Auckland Patriotic Societies it was decided on Saturday night, at the meeting: of the Paeroa District War Relief Association, that affter the collection of the November contributions has been completed there will be no collections for the months of December and January.

We understand that on Wednesday next at the show the ladies' commitj tee of the Paeroa District War Relief Association will have a general store and also a soft drinks marquee. Donations of anything that is saleable will be gladly received at the store. A petition has been lodged by Mr War?e and others against the election <rf Cr. McCormick for Totara riding at the recent Thames County Council election. A number of irregularities are alleged. The petition has been set down for hearing before the Stipendiary Magistrate on December 13.

The "Morning Post" states that the Czar's daughter Tatiana, who was reported to have escaped from Tobolsk and journeyed to America via Japan, really journeyed to Moscow and Archangel disguised in male clothes and short hair. She is now in England, awaiting embarkation to America for a lecturing tour.

At the meeting of the Auckland Education Board last week -the Finance Committee recommended that the public schools should be opened for three .and a- half hours only in February, the schools to open, ait the discretion of their committees, at 8.30 or 9 a.m. during the month. Another recommendation was that the side school at Mackaytown be closed. The recommendations were adopted.

Consequent upon the closing of the hotels at 6 p.m., it has been decided to hold "soldiers' jollies" atjthe Wellington Town Hall every Saturday night, in order to provide amusement for the men on week-end leave from camp. These will be varied in charac-L.-i-, and will be free. Everything will bo free-and-easy, the men being- alloy/ed t;o smoke. The entertainment should be a boon to the soldiers on

leave,

Discussing the rise in wages of surfacemen at the Raglan County Council meeting last week, Mr Civil stated that when he told! the men that the ■wages v/ere 10s 6d or 10s 8d a day they laughed, stating they could get movp elsewhere. It was not so much the amount, but 11s "sounded bettor." "It is . astonishing hew so>on they get used to the sound," interjected Cr. Seavill, amidst laughter. "Wes," said another councillor, "they will soon conclude that 'twelve shillings' sounds better still."

Writing from one of the big base camps in France, a Wellington soldier says: "One can scarcely imagine that the vast tented! space of country is populated with men who are out to kill or be killed. Whatever may be said of the British Army, its morale has certainly not deteriorated, and anyone feeling pessimistic as to the result of the war would do well to visit the camp, where nothing is to be found but, optimism of the first water. The work here is hard and the hours long, but everything that can be done to make the soldier's lot bearable is done by the authorities. There is much more give and take between the officers and men than in the training camps of England, and everyone seems satisfied that everything that can be done for him is being dJone."

A contributor to the London Daily News, of September 14, in describing his impressions of the crowds in the streets of London, writes: "But there was one type that began to merge more distinct, more definite, than any other. It was the New Zealander. I was struck alike by the constancy of that type and b"y its attractiveness. It seemed to me the pick of the basket. The neat, trim figure, rather on the short side, the aquiline nose, firm mouth, small chin, wide-set eyes, full of intelligence, were such unvarying characters of the New Zealander that! I began to get excited. Here, I thought, is the most thoroughly and unvaryingly English ty;.c I *vav ft s*en, and it comes from the remotest habitable spot on the globe. If ever the war ends, and I have £200 to spare £which is extrftmelv unlikely) I'll spend it not on that pea~l, wonderful though it is. but on a visit tb the land that is •rai°i«{r these clean-limbed 1, civilised, pall ant-f^atured young Englishmen on the other side of the world."

The Northern Steamship Co., Ltd., gives notice that from December 1 an increase in freight ot 10 per cent, on existing rates will operate.

Two young ladies- with previous experience in drapery, are advertised for by Messrs W. M. Cullen and Co., drapers.

Mr H. Gaughan, of Karangahape Road, Auckland, has a notice in today's issue that will interest smokers.

A notice appears from the ladies' committee of the War Relief Association notifying that afternoon tea will be held on the show-grounds on Wednesday, commencing at 12.30. Contributions of cakes will be thankfully received.

At a meeting of the Paeroa District War Relief Association on Saturday night two handsome donations were reported. One of £20 from the employees of the Waihi-Faeroa Gold Extraction Company, and one of £5 from Mrs and Miss Keller, for the Red Cross.

It will be seen by a new announcement from 'Mr C. Scott on our second page that he has been appointed agent for the "Buick" and "Ford" motor-cars. The price of the 5-seater Ford car is mentioned £192, while the 2-seater is £182. These prices should attract those thinking of securing a car for the summer.

Amongst a number of cards received by the Paeroa District War Relief Association from the front thanking the War Relief workers for the parcels sent, is one signed M. Douglas, in which he writes: Your parcel received and contents much appreciated. The socks were just what I wanted. Kind regards to Mr and Mrs G. Buchanan, Mr and Mrs J. Thomas, 'Mr and Mrs Stock, Mr and Mrs A. White, Mrs and Mrs Alexander and family, Mr and Mrs Eielder, and Mr and Mrs W. Morrison, *

A Dunedin soldier writes as follows from "Somewhere in France," under date August 21: Well, this is no Sunday school picnic out here, though one gets that impression on landing in France at first—brass bands, picture shows, etc. When you have been up the line once you are disillusioned. I have seen all I want to see in the war department. I dk> not know what some of the Christian people would think of it. Little kids like the Corpie (his little nephew) blown to pieces, and others wounded. Just the other day civilian women were gassed, young and old. One does not mind so much about soldiers, but when it comes to the Women and children it makes one think."

Recently a man who was wandering aimlessly about at Palinerston was taken into custody by the local constable, the reason being that he was supposed: to have written a letter in which he stated that it was his desire to poison all people over 50 years of age. He is a man about sft. 6%in. in height, well dressedl, and apparently, judging from his handwriting and composition, of good education. The remarkable point about this person is that he arrived! in Sydney about six months ago from Vancouver, and then came on to Auckland, from which place he went to Wellington, and thence to Lyttelton and Palmerston, but he has no recollection of having been in Sydney or any of the other places. His eyesight is defective, and he has almost lost his speech; in fact, his speech is most incoherent. Among the few articles in his possession are some documents which indicate that he lelft home in Vancouver for Sydney on a health recruiting trip. He stayed at a house in Gleramore Road, Sydney. His father is supposed to be a builder in Vancouver, and a resident in one of the suburbs of that town. Pending inquiries this person has been placed in a mental hospital. In a letter in the hands of the police tihe unfortunate man says that if he could only get some laudanium he would be all right, and he asked the constable at Palmerston to give him an order to procure some from a local chemist.