The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, JULY 8, 1918. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ohinemuri Gazette, Issue 3941, 8 July 1918, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette. MONDAY, JULY 8, 1918. LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Commander-in-Chief in Ireland has prohibited meetings and processions in public places throughout the whole of Ireland.

Lance-Corporal Theo. Spy who has been on final leave returns to camp this afternoon.

A bugler named Lloyd was killed at Trentham on Friday. He mounted one of the camp horses, which bolted, and Lloyd, while endeavouring to dismount by throwing one foot over the horse's neck, fell on his own head. Death was instantaneous.

A final reminder is given of the public meeting, convened by the Second Division League, which is to be held in the Central Theatre to-night. The chair will be taken by His Worship the Mayor, Mr W. J. Toweus. An address on Second Division League matters will be given by the member, for the district, Mr H. Poland, and Mr W. Marshall will give details of the recent conference and ministerial replies to deputations, and other matters of interest to Second Division reservists. A large audience is looked forward to.

At a meeting of the local executive of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic and War Relief Association on Saturday evening last a number of applications for relief were dealt with and a grant made in nearly every case. Two cases were referred to the districts in which the returned soldier had enlisted, and another case was deferred for further information.,

Just before the closing hour on Saturday at Messrs Le Manquais L?mb and Go's mill Private Joe Pinder who is up on final leave was presented by his fellow workmen with a soldier's safety razor, Mr C. Mettam, foreman, who made the presentation referred to the many sterling qualities of "Joe" as a workmate and one and all wished him a safe return to Paerca.

The question of granting Dr. Walshe leave of absence, in order to take up military duty, has been in suspense pending the obtaining of a suitable locum tenens. Dr. Waishe wrote to the Hospital Board at its meeting last week recommending the acceptance of Dr. Jas. Ritchie. That gentleman, he explained, held very high qualifications, and had been senior surgeon at Stockport Hospital, an institution with 150 beds. He was at present filling a temporary appointment at Waipukarau, Hawke's Bay but would be able to take up duty in Thames on August 1. Dr. Frengley, Inspector-General of Hospitals, also wrote recommending Dr. Ritchie for the position. It was decided to accent Dr. Ritchie's services.

"The working classes in New Zealand, in common with the people almost as a whole, are doing their bit. New Zealand will not tolerate pacifists while matters stand as they do;" remarked Sir Robert Anderson, Chairman of the Defence Expenditure Commission, on his return to Sydney.' "New Zealand's one aim is the prosecution cf the war. To that everything else is subordinate. This is reflected in the administration. While New Zealand has spent forty million pounds by way of war expenditure there has not been a single case of fraud or embezzlement or suchlike arising out of that huge expenditure. As a Commission, we looked for evidence of any such things, but found nothing. That is the temper of the people generally. It is understood that the surplus of production in New Zealand over consumption during the war period is something like forty million pounds, so at that rate the war will finance itself. New Zealand has a large sum invested in British war loans. New Zealand was activities are certainly inspiring, and I came away tremendously impressed with all that is being done there."

A big function in support of the Queen of the Valley, Mrs 1 Sid. Bax, is to be held. Mr Mcd hurst's char-a-banc will leave the stables at 5.30 o'clock this afternoon.

A canvasser for patriotic funds,\ writing to the Christchurch Press, says : A friend has told me that, on the whole, it is better to go collecting in a town than in the country ; events "are possibly more varied. One day, while in a train, she requested a subscription from an elderly man, who declined on the ground that he had already given ; "but." he continued, indicating a lady at the other end of the car, "my wife has not, you can ask her for something," and accordingly the request was repeated. "Here is half-a-crown for you," replied the lady, "but I have never seen that man before." Back went this energetic collector to the man. "That lady is not your wife, and you must give me ten shillings for telling me such a story," and it is to be said for him that he gave her the ten shilling promptly; and within a month the lady and he were married. Perhaps he had that happy ending in view all the time, really, but certanily he took a curious way to it

Amongst the donations received by the Red Cross Appeal on Thursday night last was an amount of £100 from the Paeroa District War Relief Association. "The dirtiest hole in New Zealand, bar none," was' Chaplain T. F. Taylor's description cf Trentham Camp at Wellington last week. "It is the wettest place in New Zealand, and the coldest place ever invented," he added.

For the period ending June 29, 1918 last the Waihi-Paeroa Gold Extraction Company, Ltd., treated 11,800 tons of tailings for a return of £2900. The company has now treated 904,000 tons of tailings for returns totalling £273,061. The total dividends paid to date amount to £18,750.

A very unusual circumstance happened at Manaia last week in connection \vith the intended send-off to recruits. The members of the Patriotic Society detailed for the purpose were present, and there was a good attendance of the general public, but the recruits in whose honour the assemblage had been called together were conspicuous by their absence.

Says the Dunedin Star : Many attempts were made at the D. J. C. races to pass off little blue 10s notes for £1 notes at the totalisator windows. The trick was the same in nearly every case —to plant the small notes in the middle of a wad of big ones--and its fate was .the same every time. It did not " come off" once. After about 50 experiences of this sort, the clerks got to know the explanations by heart, and mentally recited the useless form in advance of the tenderer. The strange feature is that so many persons should have mistaken Mr James and his staff for simpletons.

which should economise the labour connected with the delivery of ■ telegrams. It is a plafi which has been in force in England for some years, and has worked well. We refer to the practice of telephoning, without extra chai'ge, the contents of a telegram to the addressee in all cases where the latter is on the list of telephone subscribers. The telegram itself then delivered by post like a letter, so that a perfect check is provided against mistakes in telephoning, which, with ordinary care, ought not to happen. One woman clerk may in this way do the work at present performed by several telegraph messengers, and the addressees would get their telegrams more quickly than if these were delivered by hand. It is true that already arrangements can be made by subscribers for the telephoning of telegrams, but this involves the payment of a fee, and not many people, we fancy, incur the expense. Seeing that the plan would lessen the work of the Telegraph Office, one would think the Department ought to bs glad to adopt it.

According to the German mind pity is akin to weakness in war. That is why they have so often taken, advantage of Britain's humanity. The Hun slaughters from the air and on the sea and on land. It is all done as a definite policy to save defeat. Here is the gospel of frightfulness as reiterated the other day by a Berlin paper, the Deutsche Tageszeitung: "More than 400 mercantile ships have been stolen from us by England. Our answer should be that for every German shijD at least one English town should be reduced to ruins by our airmen. Far better were it for us if England, France and Russia should call us barbarians than that they should bestow on us their pity when we are beaten. Softness and sentimentality are stupidities in wa" time."

A curious and striking story was told to a Southland Times reporter last week. Two years ago a youth employed in the shop of a well-known Invercargill grocer made up his mind to go to the war. He was only 18 years cf age, but was well grown, and managed to pass the doctors and join in the Expeditionary Force. In due course he went to the front, was wounded, invalided to New Zealand and discharged. On the Wednesday morning the ballot list had an unusual interest for him, for he read his own name in it amongst the youths of the First Division, automatically called up on reaching the age of 20 years. There was perhaps nothing striking in that. The Government Statistician could hardly be expected to know that this lad of 20 years had two years' service to his discharge from the army. An incident the next morning, however, was still more interesting. The lad's mother received a telegram from the Defence Department reporting with regret that her son had died of wounds on June 6. In the afternoon the mother received her own letters written to her son while he was at the front. Across,the envelopes was stamped the word "deceased." Despite all this official evidence that her soldier son was dead, the mother accepted his bodily presence and his broad smile as clear proof that he was very much alive.