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Otago Witness, Issue 3244, 17 May 1916, Page 5

A Press Association message states that the Governor and Countess of Liverpool, accompanied by Mr Hamilton (private secretary) and Mr H. Helmore, A.D.C., left Wellington on the 9th inst. for Rotorua, where they intend to remain until May 30, on which date they will leave for Wellington, arriving there next morning. • A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that a curious point arose before the Conciliation Council, which was considering a request for increased pay. Objection was taken by the Fish Trade Union to Mr Adam Nixon appearing as assessor for the employees, on the ground that lie is president of the Australasian Federated Seamen's Union. Mr Nixon said he felt it his duty, as representing 1700 seamen who were fighting for their country, to call a halt on the subject of the increased cost of living to their dependents. The commissioner (Mr Giles) ruled that, Mr Nixon being employed jjy trawler employees, they were justified in sending him to represent them, and at his suggestion the Fish Trade Union waived the objection. An indication of the great shortage of coal in various countries is given by a cablegram published on the Bth inst. The message stated that the British Government had requested the miners to confer on considering how to increase the coal output in view of the Allies' demands, and that the output had decreased to 29,000,000 tons during the 17 months of the war owing to enlistments. The large number of miners who have enlisted in New Zealand has also had the effect of seriously decreasing the output of coal, and it is stated that the stocks required for the Now Zealand railways have become so depleted that the Government has requisitioned a transport to bring over a cargo of Newcastle coal. As previously stated by us, it i 3 rather surprising to learn that there are) so many miners out of work at Newcastle, and that the Federal authorities, in order to relieve unemployment, have placed orders for 100,000 tons. The 20 men employed on dredge 222 have resigned their positions, and on the 6th inst. removed their kits from the vessel. The action taken by the men was decided on, it is understood, by reason of the fact that their demand for an increase of wages was refused by the board. The men's first application for increased wages came before the board last November, and despite the fact that they were aware that a sub-com-mitteo of the board was to meet on the sth inst. to consider the whole question of wages, and that they were advised not to act hastily, they decided to leave the dredge. The men hope, it is said, to securo positions on transports, where the wages rulo high, and the officers who have been thrown out of work by the men's action will probably have to look to the same avenuo for fresh employment The men, however, have unwittingly relieved the board from an unpleasant predicament. There is no urgent need at the present time for the dredge to be engaged on dredging operations, and, in the interests of economy,

the desirability of putting her out of commission had been discussed by some of the members. The men have new solved the problem which was facing the board. Moreover, it is said that the sub-committee which met on the sth inst., decided to recommend the board to Grant a bonus to all its employees who were in receipt of £3 per week and under. A recent Palmerston visitor to Rotorua camo in contact with a returned soldier at the convalescent homo there, who is charged with a rather sorrowful duty. He has in his possession two metal discs belonging to two brothers who fell at Gallipoli, and when he recovers sufficiently he intends to deliver the discs to the mother of the two soldiers. The convalescent in question said he had written to the mother, but refused to send the discs through the post lest anything should happen to them. " I have carried them this far, and they shall not leave me until I personally hand them to the safe keeping of the mother of the boys from whom I took them. This is the story. We were in the thickest part of the firing line, the brothers on cither side of mo, when suddenly my comrade to the left fell back exclaiming, ' It's all up,' and it was, for he died in three minutes, having been shot through the heart. There he lay for hours in the muddy trench, and when night came on, under cover of the darkness, his own brother and I dug a rude grave and laid him to rest. Sad to relate, the sun was scarcely over our heads the next morning when the brother on the right of me fell at my feet, and in a few minutes joined his brother, who had preceded him by less than 24 hours." The Derwent potato, for which North Otago was at one time famous, has almost disappeared (says.the Oamaru Mail). At times a tuber of the variety is to bo obtained, but it is a poor apology for the mealy, full-flavoured sort that was so abundant during the years 1864 to 1385. The late Mr Hassal, of Cave Valley, brought them early into prominence, and they were distributed over Otago as the Cavo "Valley flour-balls. Their cultivation was taken up by the croppers of Kjikanui and Totara, and great crops of fine tubers were produced. Fortunes were made by many of these potato kings. Tho quality began ■to deteriorate, probably by a careless selection of seed, planting too often in the same ground, too little cultivation, and tho prevalence of the fat-hen, which robbed tho potatoes of their nourisliment. These, followed by the blights of various kinds, have completed the downfall of the Derwent. Occasionally a seedling has appeared with the true Derwent character. Mr Roxby, of Oamaru, discovered in his garden a batch of seedling potatoes which had resulted from tho self-growing of a vagrant potato plum. He selected and planted out seven whole potatoes in November. These were cleanly cultivated, and grew well, and in April were dug, the produce being 207 potatoes, weighing 681 b. The potatoes have been examined by potato-growers and exports, and pronounced to be the true Derwent type. To enable returned disabled soldiers of fairly good education to fit themselves for the teaching profession, the Education Department has decided to admit soldiers to training colleges (says the Wellington Post),. One of the conditions laid down is that the student must bo the holder of an intermediate certificate or a higher certificate, or must produce evidence of the completion of at least two years' satisfactory work in a secondary school, or its equivalent. In dismissing the matter on tho 3rd inst., the chairman of the Auckland Education Board (Mr G. J. Garland) said that this condition would so far limit the' choice of students that very few would come forward. If it was insisted upon they might as well "close tho book," because only about 1 per cent, of those desiring employment could fulfil the condition. The board appointed a committee to draw up a letter to the department Twenty-three applications were received for the lease of a pastoral run of 19,750 acres, situated on the western shore of Lake Hawca, about 48 miles from Cromwell. Four of the applications were from soldiers on active service beyond New Zealand. Soldiers' applications are given preference in the same degree as landless applicants who have children dependent on them, and who have within tho preceding two years applied for land at least twice unsuccessfully. The preference conditions reduced the number which went to the ballot to 19. The ballot was held on the 10th inst., at the close of the examination, and tho successful applicant was Mr John S. Woods, hotelkeeper, of Omarama. At a recent meeting of the Port Chalmers Patriotic Association (Mr M'Lachlan in the chair) a vote of sympathy with the loyal Irish, in consequence of the painful position they found themselves in over tho action of tho few miscreants who caused tho recent rising in Ireland, was carried unanimously. A deputation from the Wellington Acclimatisation Society waited on the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. G. W. Russell) the other day and asked for some protection for opossums. Mr W. H. Field, M.P., said that opossum skins were worth from 10s 6d to £1 each, and from one district in Otago 80,000 skins had been taken. In a piece of bush which he had preserved, at some expense, some unauthorised persons had secured 80 skins a month. His own experience was that opossums would never bo a menace like rabbits. The deputation asked that opossums should be protected at once, except in some such fruit areas as might be determined by tho Minister after consultation with tho head of the orchards' division of the Department of Agriculture. The

deputation also asked for some regulation ■of tho method of killing, so as to ensure more humane methods being employed. After hearing other members of the deputation tho Minister said he would ascertain tho law on the subject, so as to see what were his powers, and he would then consider how far ho would be justified in exercising those powers to protect opossums. Ho expressed considerable doubt as to whether opossums might not yet be found to bo a serious pest, and he was inclined to exercise some caution in protecting them for that reason. If ho were satisfied that they were not a pest, and that they could be protected without injury to orchardists and farmers, ho would do his best to stop the inhuman and promiscuous destruction that was now proceeding. Tho quarterly criminal sittings of the Supreme Court were brought to a conclusion on the 10th inst. William DonaldBon was charged with forging and uttering. The defence was that, owing to epileptic fits, accused was not mentally capable of understanding the difference between right and wrong, but the jury, at the expiration of half an hour's retirement, found him guilty, and he was sentenced to three years' detention for reformative treatment. Pastoralists in the Cromwell district have experienced an ideal autumn season (says our local correspondent). Since tho period of dry weather broke, early in April, the rainfall has been much above the average, and the result is that pastoral country is in good order. Already several snowstorms have swept over the high country, and some fairly hard frosts, also, have prevailed. Several storms were experienced last week, the heaviest being on the 6th inst., when there was a heavy rainfall in all parts of the district, A Balclutha paper reports that a trial survey is being made of a railway lino from Lovell's Flat or Crichton, through Hillcnd, to Tuapeka Mouth. There is an engineering difficulty about the bridge if the line is begun as a branch from Balolutha, and it is to avoid that difficulty that the alternative route is being looked over by the surveyors. Of course, a trial survey does not commit tho Government to anything, but the Hillend people are rejoicing and the Balclutha folk are beginning to murmur. Tho Wellington correspondent of tho Lyttelton Times learns that Mr Percy Morgan, director of the Geological Survey, has been appointed Under-secretary of Mines, thus placing the department in a position independent of the Public Works Department, -with which it was merged. Mr MacDonald (Minister of Mines) states that it is desirable that the head of the department should have special knowledge of mining. Mr Morgan has special qualifications, and his acceptance of the appointment will not interfere to any great extent with the geological survey work. New South Wales lias had satisfactory experience of the dual positions being held by one officer. There seems to bo a boom in mining prospecting, particularly in South Westland quarts and alluvial claims. During tho hearing of a civil ca o ni tho Ovvaka Magistrate's Court on the 10th inst. a morri urui-iual position was presented to me magistrate (Mr 11. A. Young), tile face transpiring that a firm of Dunedin solicitors was representing both plaintiff and defendant. Tho magistrate manifested considerable surprise at such a peculiar occurrence, and it was some time before he was convinced that a mistake had not been made. Tho Sydney Shipping List is responsible for the following important statement: Disobedience of British Admiralty orders is now reported to havo been the cause of the blowing up of the P. and O. liner Maloja, with great loss of life. It appeal's that, after tho Maloja left London, on February 26, and stopped at the Downs to discharge the Thames pilot and take on tho regular Channel pilot, a naval vessel camo alongside and bade her anchor until further orders. No reason for this order was given, and the vessel, it is said, disregarded it, and proceeded on her course. Off Dover she en-' countered a drifting mine. Nearly 200 peoplo perished in the catastrophe which ensued. The Cunard liner Pannonia. which |pft London at nearly tho same time, obeyed in-

structions, and was anchored at the Downs for two days before she received word that she could safely proceed to New York. Many instance have occurred during the past season in which apple trees have borne a second crop of fruit, but in the case of bl'tck currants such an occurrence is somewhat rare. On the 7th inst., at Owaka, a weil-kr.own resident enjoyed black currant pie for dinner, the fruit, which was tjio result of a second crop, having fully ripened and being of good flavour. At tho time of picking the second crop, the bushes were quite denuded of leaves. Tho Winter Show of the Dunedin Horticultural Society was brought to a successful close in the Art Gallery Hall on tho 11th, the attendance for the second day being very large. Among striking biooms sent in for exhibition only wero two fine Japanese chrysanthemums- forwarded by Mr J. H. Kingsland, of Invercorgill, and collarette dahlias grown by Mr J. P. Johnson. It should be eaid that the first prize for six novelties was awarded to Mr E. A. Hamel; Mr Trevena, who was credited with the win, did not compete in that section. The efforts of the ladies, who, with Mrs E. A. Hamel at their head, organised a. stall to assist Mis Stewart Holmes's fund for providing comforts for our invalided soldiers in Heliopolis, met with a great deal of success, and somo £ls was raised. As the timo approached for closing many of tho exhibitors donated their entries, and these ■were put up to action for the good of the cause. A narrow escape from accident occurred at the Balclutha Freezing Works on the 10th instant. Robt. Angus, about 21 yuais oi ugi.', hat! out rabbit snooting ■with a rifle and called into the freezing works, whero ho was shown round the premises. He was walking along a passage in company with Mr Simpson (who i 3 in charge of the erection of the new machinery plant) when the rifle went off. The bullet passed through tho knee of Mr Simpson's trousers, and Mr Sutherland (a resident of North Balclutha), who at that moment came out of the office, received it in the calf of the leg. Mr Sutherland was wearing leggings and the bullet pierced the leather on the one side, and passing right through the fleshy part of the leg, lodged in his underpiants on the other eide. The sufferer, who was attended to by Dr Stenhouse, is making satisfactory progress, but will be confined to his bed for a few days. A Press Association telegram from Wellington states that the population of the dominion on March 31 was estimated at 1,162,646. The excess of emigration (including members of the Expeditionary Forces) over immigration during the March quarter was 6726. The arrivals during April from oversea numbered 1684, and the departures 2592, as compared with 1702 and 2458 respectively in April, 1915. Some judgc3 of the Supreme Court have booorao tired, evidently, of administering warnings to the public generally in the matter of cashing cheques for strangers when the cheques bore the signatures of people they did not know. At the conclusion of a forgery case in the Supreme Court at Christchurch on the 9th (reports tho Press), Mr Justice Sim declined to make an order for a sum of money found on the prisoner, to be paid over to the person who had cashed tho forged cheque. His Honoi said that the way hotelkcepcrs cashed cheques for people they did not know, signed by people, they did not know, was amazing. In this case, two hotclkoepers had cashed cheques for tho prisoner, whom they did not know; nor did they know the person whoso signature was on the cheepjes. "In those circumstances," added his Honor, "they deserve to lose their money, and I decline to make the order." A problem that has baffled scientists lias apparently been solved by two Auckland inventor.",, Messrs W. Overend (metallurgist) and H. Grinlinton (says the Star). This relates to the soldering of aluminium, either to itself or any other metal or alloy. The inventors placed their discovery in the hands of a company, and they wero commissioned to proceed to London in order to Geek rrioro expert assistance. Mr Grinlinton has just returned with the reassuring intelligence that not only have they secured an uhnost indisputable patent, but were; accorded a most cordial reception by London's leading ecieotifio and com-

mercial men. The War Office requested an interview with the patentees, with the result that a demonstration was demanded and successfully carried out at the Royal Woolwich Arsenal, the demonstration proving of such satisfaction that the Government immediately commandeered the letters patent, and assured the patentees that, provided the report on teste was satisfactory, the Imperial Government would take over the ■whole of the discovery. Mr Ovcrend, who is remaining in England, has been commandeered by the War Office to fully instruct an expert of the National Physical Research Laboratory in the art of soldering aluminium under the new process. Lord Shaughncssy has announced the most comprehensive scheme yet devised to solve the problem of what to do with tho returned Canadian soldiers at tho close of tho war, as well as British soldiers, who, it is expected, will go in large numbers to Canada during tho period of reorganisation which will follow the conclusion of hostilities. The Canadian Pacific Railway has decided to establish in Western Canada colonies known as the Returned Veterans' Colonies, where ex-soldiers who wish to go farming can obtain improved farms on terms which will easily enable them to become landowners. These colonies will be given distinctive names, probably reminiscent of the War. Each will contain a sufficient number of families to ensure social, school, and church facilities, while teaching in farming will bo established in each colony, with a competent instructor to help military settlers to make the best use of their land. This plan, according to Lord iShaughncssy, is being entered into on a largo scale with men who have already returned to Canada. It is expected that it will involve the preparation of about 1000 farms in Western Canada next spring. It is likely that similar efforts will bo made to establish settlements in Northern Quebec and other unsettled districts in Canada, especially along tho lines of the Canadian, Northern, and National Trans-continental Railways. The increase in the levies made by the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board is causing some concern to members of tho contributing local bodies (says the New Zealand Herald). When addressing the ratepayers of the One-tree Hill road district at tho annual meeting the other night, the Chairman (Mr H. B. Morton) said the board's contribution towards the total levy in 1914 was £492. Last year tho Hospital Board had asked , for £790, an increase on tho previous year of £298. Intimation had been made recently that tho Hospital Board intended increasing the total levy this year by another £2OOO. Towards this amount the One-tree Hill Board would have to contribute £2OO, bringing its hospital expenditure up to nearly £IOOO. The transfer of the Now Zealand troops to the West front renders necessary revised arrangements for the despatch of comforts to the men from the dominion. His Excellency the Governor is taking steps to obtain the requisite information, which will be made public as soon as possible, though some little time is bound to elapse owing to the difficulties of arranging for transit and ascertaining the quantities which will Do required. Owing to steel, which formerly cost £8 or £9 a ton, having risen to £27 or £3O per ton, landed in New Zealand, tho Minister of Public Works stated in the House of Representatives on the 12th, in reply to Mr Webb, that he had been compelled to suspend the erection of those bridges which required the use of steel. In view of the probability of compulsory legislation, an improvement in the National Register has (according to the Dominion) received further consideration by the Government. Under the National Register Act of last year it was provided that any person who wilfully neglected to forward his register card was liable to a minimum fin? of £5. and a maximum of £IOO, or six months' imprisonment, at the discretion of the magistrate. The Government Statistical Department has sworn informations against a very large number of persons in a!! parts of the dominion who it has reason to believe have brought themselves within the penal provisions of the Act. The Minister : of Internal Affairs states that the authori- j ties will in the more flagrant cases insti- ! tuto proceedings, but in all cases where a !

man fails through ignorance a further opportunity will be given. Those who obtain a National Register card from the post office and fill it in forthwith will not be proceeded against. Those who fail to talco advantage of this final opportunity to carry out their obligations will be prosecuted. The City Fire Brigade received a call at 20 minutes past 8 on the 12th to the Karitanc Home at Anderson Bay, but, fortunately, when it arrived there the fire had been extinguished. The fire broke out in a lean-to attached to the laundry, a stove pipe leading from the laundry through the lean-to igniting the wood of tho roof. Providentially, a nurse happened to be working in the laundry, and quickly gave the alarm, and the nurses, with the aid of the chemical apparatus kept in the building, got the outbreak under, and Mr Robert Lee completed the work by tearing off the roof and pouring on water. A heavy gale of wind was blowing at Anderson Bay on the 12th, and it is considered that, although the laundry and lean-to are detached from the main building, which is of wood, nothing could have saved the home had the fire not been discovered as quickly as it was. A number of nurses were detailed to mako arrangements to remove the babies, of which there were 17 in the home, should the flames have spread, but, as stated, this was happily not found necessary. The Oamaru Mail reports that, during Mr E. P. Lee's absence from New Zealand, Mr J. Ar.stoy, member for Waitaki, will attend to the requirements of the northern portion of the Oamaru electorate, and Mr C. E. Statham, member for Dunedin Central, will look after the southern portion. The persistent and carping criticism directed from one particular quarter against those of alien origin was rebuked by Mr Jennings in the House of Representatives on the 12th inst. "Most of you," he said, "know what my sons have done—two have been killed in the war, —and what I myself am prepared to do, but I desire to deprecate these attacks upon men born of German parents in this country who have proved their loyalty, anel associated themselves with our nation's life. Those men are entitled to our respect, and not to our calumny." A retired farmer in comfortable circumstances named Alfred Tobin Mitchell, 45 years of age, who was on a visit to the Morrinsville district in company with a young woman, was arrested on the Bth on a charge of having made a false declaration to the Registrar of Marriages in Auckland for the purpose of obtaining a marriage certificate (says the Auckland StarJ. The accused was brought before Mr F. V. Frazer, S.M., on the 9th inst., and remanded for one week. Chief Detective M'Mahon mentioned that the prisoner would be charged with having committed bigamy. On the subject of the amount of bail, Mr M'Mahon remarked that the man's first and real wife had a family of five children ; consequently the matter was one which should bo seriously viewed. Bail was fixed at one surety of £2OO, or two of £IOO each. The circumstances alleged by the police were that accused, who had been living with his wife and family at Oraitei road, Auckland, met a young woman through the medium of a matrimonial agency, went through the form of marriage with her at the Auckland registry office, on May 4, taking the name of Henry Ernest M'Donald. and proceeded on n honeymoon trip to the Morrinsville .iatrict, where he was arrested. " This is the most extraordinary case I have ever come across in my experience," stated Mr W. A. Barton, S.M., at the Police Court at Gisborne, when an application was made for the cancellation of an order which was made against the defendant, by consent, in an affiliation case. Mr F. \V. Nolan, who made the application, said that according to h : s instructions it I was impossible that defendant could have j been tho father of the child. This was j quite clear from what he had since learned from defendant and complainant's mother. I His Won.hip made the comment given above and said it was a particularly peculiar case, seeing that defendant had admitted the allegation, and hud consented to an order

declaring him the putative father. The application was granted, and an application for sureties was withdrawn. A correspondent writes to the Christchurch Press concerning the Cheviot small grazing runs, as follows: —"The Cheviot 21 years' lease grazing runs, according to the Act, were to be balloted for at the end of the 21 years, and full valuation granted lessees for the improvements. So far, part of one of these runs has been put up only. I understand some of the present tenants have been granted a further extension of 20 years at a nominal rental. Is this fair to the general public, and to Uioso who sold their goodwills?'' Attention is drawn to the latest issuo of the New Zealand Surveyor to one remarkably dry area in Central Ota go, where the annual rainfall is under 20in. The area in question lies, roughly, midway between Oamaru and Queenstown, and contains about 2750 square miles, or 1,760,000 acres. The Surveyor says it is very remarkable that, while along the West Coast of the South Island, for a distance of over 300 miles, there exists a belt, about 40 miles wide, where the annual rainfall is over 100 inches; on the other side of the backbone range, not more than a hundred lhiles distant, there is a large area where the annual rainfall is under 20 inches. Since she returned from her memorable cruise round the Antarctic Polar Circle, the American magnetic survey yacht Carnegie has been thoroughly overhauled fore and aft, preparatory to undertaking her departure from Lyttelton for her home port, New York. On the 9th instant (says tho Christchurch Press) she was towed into the stream by the tug Lyttelton to anchor until daybreak on tho 10th, when she was to proceed to sea. and cruise off the beach at New Brighton to ''swing ship" for magnetic observations, as was done by the Galilee in the same locality in 1908. It is anticipated that she will get away from Lyttelton finally about the beginning of next week. Her scientific work will be continued daily until she reaches New York, where, according to her itinerary, she is due early in 1917. Mr H. F. Johnston, of the scientific staff, will come ashore prior to tho Carnegie's departure and will proceed to Washington, His successor. Mr Bradley Jones, arrived at Lyttelton from the States some weeks ago. To give some idea of the vast immensities of space, Mr Clement Wragge stated in a lecture at Auckland on the 6th that, while LguD, travelling at tne rate oi Ibo.OUO miles a second, takes minutes to tiavel tho 93 millions oi miies from the sun to tho earth, it takes 41g years to travel to the earth from the outside pointer star of the Southern Cross, which is tho next nearest the sun. From some suns, he added, light takes thousands of years to reach the earth, and astronomers know that there are suns so far away that their light has not yet reached the earth. If there was a railway line from the earth to the outer point of the Southern Cross, said Mr Wragge, at Id per 100 miles, a railway ticket there would cost 700 millions sterling—tho amount of the British debt before the war—and 200 millions more; and, at 60 miles an hour, it would take tho traveller 41 millions of years to get there. He wished, for the sake of the human race, that, the Kaiser would take an excursion ticket to that star, and when he got there stop there. it is understood that the present position as regards the Green Island toil is that some of tiie drivers of vehicles are still paying tho toll, while others are going through without payment. It is quite ptoe-able tnat an appeal will be entered against the magistrate's decision in the case which was brought by the Borough Council against Mr M. Stevenson, and which the council lost. A Christchurch Press. Association message states that a depiutation trom tne Acclimatisation Society waited on the Hon. G. W. Russell and protested strongly against tho proposal to net trout in the lakes for public consumption. The Minister said no action would be taken at present. He was getting a report on all the lakes from an expert. In any case, only surplus fish would be taken. Our Wellington correspondent informs us that the negotiations in regard to the price of sugar, which were mentioned by tho Prime Minister in the House on the 12th inst. have not yet been completed, but Mr Massey states that he does not anticipate that there will be any increase until at least tho end of the present year. Any process likely to reduce the cost of gold production is worthy of serious consideration at any time, and especially so at tile present juncture. The old flotation method of concentration comes within tiiis category, and the Thames School of Mines is setting up a special committee to consider the practicability of erecting a plant to demonstrate the process and include it in the curriculum. Although very little is known about this modern method of goldsaving (says the Thames Star), it has come into general use on the principal American mining fields, and is being applied in many places in Australia. Although the principle of ore concentration by oil flotation has been known for about 30 years, it has attracted serious attention from practical mill managers only during recent years. It, has rapidly come into favour during the past 12 months or so, and has displaced cyanide in many instances. The cost of installation is largely in favour of flotation, while the expense of converting a cyanide plant to use the more modern method is comparatively small. Oil flotation is especially suitable for sulphide or complex ores, and in some cases it has been responsible for increasing the extraction from 55 to 65 per cent, to 93 per cent.; another important point is

that it produces a. cleaner concentrate, besides being of higher grade. In some cases flotation has effected a saving of one-half of the cost as compared -with cyanide. An Overland five-seatcr motor car, owned by Messrs Fahey and Kirby, of Milton, was completely destroyed by fire in the Tuapeka West district on the 12th inst., owing to the engine baok-firing and igniting the petrol. The car was insured, but the owners are considerable losers. The Milton Borough Council is in somewhat of a quandary regarding supplies of carbide for the municipal acetylene gas lighting. Although 25 tons are on order from Dunedin, shipments are being delayed, and no supplies are afloat. The council's indent agents' reserve supplies from Canada were aboard the Matatua, which sank in New Brunswick Harbour. It is understood that no supplies of carbide will be available until the latter end of August, and the council's stock will be exhausted at the end of June. In consequence, the street lighting has been suspended this winter, and private consumers are being requested to be economical. Evidence of the increased cost of road metal in a comparatively few years was given at the annual meeting of the Civil Engineers' Society by Mr B. B. Couston, consulting engineer of the.Taieri County Council. Ten years ago, Mr Couston said, he bought metal, hand-broken, and delivered on the road, for 4s per cubic yard. At present they had up-to-date crushing x>!ant, a railway siding to that plant, and cheap railway fares. Yet they could, deliver that same metal only at 7s or 8s per cubic yard. There was something radically wrong, and, of course, the' answer was the increase in the price of labour, and also the increased cost of the methods under which they were working their quarries, which were now subjected to Government inspection. "Quite right, too," interjected Mv A. J. Paterson (Wellington). A Wellington Press Association message reports that the explosion of a cylinder on tho steamer Niwar.i resulted in a seaman named Davis receiving injuries that led to his admission to the hospital. Passengers arriving at Sydney from the Marshall Islands state that the islands are still held by the Japanese, who are carrying on extensive trading operations in copra and other products among the islands. Two small inter-island steamers are employed, as well as a couple of auxiliary craft, and shipments of copra and other produce are sent away by the monthly steamer, a vessel of 4000 tons capacity, running direct to Japan. Mr Wilkinson (Egmont) has given notice to ask the. Minister of Agriculture whether he has had his attention drawn to the difficulties of dairy companies in retaining expert labour necessary to the carrying-on oi. this important industry, owing to the indiscriminate enlistment of skilled men; and whether he will take steps to ensure that sufficient experts are retained in the dominion to provide each factory with one or two experts, as the case may be. A petition presented to the House of Representatives on the 10th by the Prime Minister contained tho names oi' rao Mayor of the city, councillors, and some 15,000 citizens of Auckland. It prayed for the introduction of regulations to check the practice of "shouting" or ''treating" in connection with the liquor trade of the dominion during tho war period. Up till last week the record chest measurement among the recruits examined by Dr Delatour at the Wellington Town Hall was held by a Russian, who though only sft Biin in height and 12st 61b in weight had an expanded chest measurement of 42gin—the biggest "tape" out of over GOO recruits examined. This record, however, was eclipsed a day or two ago (says the Dominion) by a native of the Isle of Man, who has been brought up from boyhood in Canterbury. He was sft lOin in height, 13 stone in weight, and stretched the tape to 43i inches when his chest was expanded. Dt Delatour referred to this record as " getting the ashes, back," though he stales that tho several Russians whom he has examined have all been splendidly-built men. An interesting comparison between the relative fitness of boys and young men for military service is furnished in tho quarterly return for training in the Australian Military Forces, issued last week, by tho authorities at the Victorian headquarters. Among tho Junior Cadets who are examined the percentage of fit is no less than 98.2—<v very high percentage; a few years

later the percentage has decreased somewhat, so that among tho Senior Cadets examined the percentage is 92—still high, however; a few years later, in the militia, taking the latest (1898) quota as an example, the percentage of fit drops to 79.7. On March 31 there were in training in Victoria 26,683 Senior Cadets, and 33,333 men registered in the militia forces, exclusive of tho latest (1898) quota, the registration for which numbers 6987. It would appear (says the Farmers' Union Advocate) that tho dairy industry is threatened by yet another invasion, in the form of artificial milk A Japanese chemist has just invented a process for turning into account tho Soya bean in the manufacture of a liquid said to have very similar properties to ordinary milk, and which, when it is condensed, will contain these properties for a long period. This is called "vegetable milk," and is thought to be specially adapted to hot countries. It is cheap, owing to the fact that the Soya bean is cultivated in large quantities in the East as food. The first part of the process consists of softening the beans in water, after which they are crushed and boiled. Tho liquid, which is boiled cut, bears a very close resemblance to milk, and an analysis of its chemical constituents is as follows:—Water, 92.5 percent. ; albuminoids. 3.2 per cent.; fat. 2.13 per cent.; sugar, 1.8 per cent.; ash, 4 per cent. To this liquid is added some sugar and phosphate of soda, after which it is concentrated by boiling- to such a degree as to resemble condensed milk. Vegetable milk is of a deeper colour than the natural commodity, and preserves some of the characteristic flavour of tho Soya bean. At a meeting on The Bth of the Waimairi County Council Mr R. W. Hawke stated that he had attended, as a representative of the council, the Small Bird Nuisance Conference. He said ho had been gravely disappointed at the result. "Instead of giving the county councils a lead," he said, "they sent us back to the councils to get a load." It was a waste of time. Something must bo done on tho matter of the small birds. The city local authorities had remained aloof, and yet they were as much interested as tho farmers. The city people were always crying for a cheap loaf, but when they realised, at the most moderate computation, that tho small birds cat at least a bushel per acre—in some cases 30 bushels per acre, —making, a loss, at the least, of 300,000 to 400,000 bushels in Canterbury alone, they should also realise that they should do their utmost to rid tho district of the small birds. Ghristehureh and the boroughs were a brccdmg-plaoe for the sparrow, and this tho local authorities should do their best to stop. Mr Hawke's remarks were cordially endorsed by the other members cf the council. There is evidence of the fact that when it rains at Mautotara there is nothing halfhearted about it. In March, for instance, nearly 2ft of rain—to be precise, 22.25 i fell there, and took only 18 days in which to do it. Tiie.se figures beat Otira, in the South Island, which recorded only 15.43iu for 17 wet days. March appears to have been a very moist month in the north. At Tikokino there were only nine line days, and in several places there were 20 wet cues. At Motu (East Coast) the rain must have danced to the earth en masse, for in five days over Win fell. In the South Island Portobello headed the list as regards wet days, recording 19 out of a possible 31; but the West Coast stations put up a good struggle for first place, two recording Ifj and three 17 wet days. In bulk, Otira led with 15.43 in, with Boss, 10.76 in, second. Rain appears to have been general in tho dominion in March. One of tho dominion's island possessions, Aitutaki, in tho Cook Group, need fear no drought. For the first three months of the year it reported nearly 4J,ft of rain. Eucalyptus as an economic timber, especially for posts, has a strong advocate in the Rev. J. H. Simmonrls, Principal of Wesley College, Auckland, In an article published in tho current number of tire Journal of Agriculture, ho points out that "all over New Zealand the question of obtaining an adequate supply of fencing posts and gate posts is becoming serious. In many districts the difficulty is already acute. The natural forests that have served so well and so long have for over half a century been steadily receding before the progress of settlement." He gives examples of the profitable use of tho macrocarpa, larch, and thorny acacia for posts, but pride of place to the cucalypt. "Within 20 years from to-day (he writes) hundreds of thousands of posts that are at present holding up our wires and gates will have fallen with do-

cay. Whence shall wo replace them? Within less than that period hundreds of new farms will bo broken in and many old ones subdivided. Whence shall wo obtain the posts for the necessary new fence-lines? The natural forests of Australia arc being used up as our own have been, and the best wo can hope for from them is to obtain for a limited number of years timber of receding quality at indefinitely advancing prices. The situation is grave, but, happily, there is a possible remedy." He stoutly advocates planting cuca'ypts.