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Otago Witness, Issue 3251, 5 July 1916, Page 48

Mr Glover asked the Minister of Defence in the House on the 24th nit. what, in the event of a soldier going away without making an allotment to his mother, though she possesses a letter saying that he had made the allotment to her, could be clone for the mother until such time as a letter could be sent and replied to? What provision would bo made for tho mother? The Hon. J. Allen said that the allotments were paid exactly as the men deeired. They were paid regularly every month. The department went upon tho evidence as far as it had it. If the evidence showed that the soldier intended his mother to have an allotment tho department gave it. In some cases where the soldier had not left a letter, and the mother was dependent upon him and destitute, they had power to allot to her, under an authority signed by the man before ho left. Ho knew of many cases like that. As soon as the Clntha River Board's boat Clutha has had the necessary pumping gear put aboard she will make a start with the formation of a. roadway, for the Land Board, between Manuka Island and the mainland. This contract was promised to the River Board some three years ago, and it has now been decided to commence operations. The gravel from the river will be pumped into a cavity made by driving two rows of heavy piles, faced with wire netting, into the bed of the river. There is now enough work awaiting tho suction plant to keep it steadily engaged for some time. An unusual letter was received by the Board of Governors of the Auckland Grammar School at its meeting- on the 28th ult., when a lady whose son is now on active service, but who, prior to enlisting, was in the service of the board, wrote to the effect that she did not now require the half-pay allotted by the board. In explanation the lady stated that her son had just been promoted, and that the pay he would receive in future was more than his civilian salary. Members of the board expressed pleasure at the spirit shown, and it was decided to thank the, writer for her action. Mr J. S. Alexander, head of tho merchandise branch of Messrs Burn, Philp and Co., who is visiting Wellington, when seen by a representative of _ tho Post .?aid that business in the commonwealth was very prosperous just now. Good prices were obtained for the huge wheat crop, although tho difficulty of finding freight for it was a serious problem at the moment. The coming- crop, too, promised to be very heavy. The scarcity of tonnage was having a marked influence on Australian trade, in that, for want of sufficient cargo space outwards from the United Kingdom, imports wero oil a reduced scale. This had had tho effect of stimulating local consumption of locally-made goods of a character identical with thosa imported. In referring to shipping arrangements between Australia and New Zealand, Mr Alexander "aid tho present time was not propitious for considering the increase of- intercolonial shipping facilities. The difficulty now was to meet the needs of existing trad::.-;. Embarking on new shipping enterprises could not for the moment be undertaken. After working the confidence game in various parts of tho world for over 30'years Charles Mansfield, alias Georgo Maekay, alias Charles M'Cay, and alias Charles M'Cay Lawrence, was arrested on tho night of March 10 in a flat in a residential house in Sydney by Detective Matthews, Plainclothes Constable iSheehy, Traffic-constable Gillies, and Constable Shields. lie was s< ntenced to three years' imprisonment by •Judge Docker for swindling, but last week appealed against the sentence. 'i he conviction wars upheld, and Mansfield, the leader of one of the cleverest gangs of confidence

men and curd-sharpers who have operated in Australia, is now at Long Bay Prison to complete the sentence imposed on him. The arrest of this -windier (says the Sydney Sun) is one of the best efforts of the police for some years. He is about 50 years ol age, and was born in New Zealand. litis a dentist by profession, and was in business for a lew years in Auckland, but subsequently travelled the country towns of the dominion, extracting teeth at nominal rates. He, however, became clever in the art of extracting money by the means of

card tricks and other doubtful schemes, and he deserted the legitimate moans of livelihood for the illegitimate, and became a crook. He is regarded by the detectives as being the cleverest card trickster in Australia to-day, and for the telling of a story to bring about a confidence game his equal is not here. Ho and a gang of tricksters arrived in Sydney from America early last January. They were all born on this side of the globe, but have been constantly travelling in other parts since they left in 1397.

A big Native gathering, or " hui," was held last week at "King" To Rata's pa at Waahi, near Iluntly, and several hundred Maoris had arrived to take part, in it. An immense quantity of provisions had been accumulated for the accompanying feast, and the " korero " was expected to last until the supply of food was exhausted, which would probably be in a couple of days. It is understood that among the numerous subjects for discussion were recruiting amongst Natives, and the removal of the Native Land Court sittings from Ngaruawahia to Iluntly, which is considered a more convenient place. Though nothing definite is stated as to the main purpose of the "hui," it is understood that recruiting was considered the most important question of the day. Sergeant A. W. Reynolds, of No. 3 Machine Gun Company, N.Z. Rifle Brigade, writing to his father, Mr A. C. Reynolds, of Hokitika, from ''somewhere in France," on April 18, says: "We arc living in billets, and find it bitterly cold after Egypt. We had snow coming through on the train. The Bosches (as the French call them) were hero some time ago and killed the women and children who stayed in their homes. The woman who lived in the house next doorwas among them. Our landlady—a poor woman of the peasant, class—told mo how these Uhlans cut off the hands and feet of these poor people. They used to carry the hands in- their pockets as evidence of their valour. ' They were not in this district long, as.the British came up and drove them off. They had possession of the railway station here, but, as they were only an advance party, they had to retire when our troops arrived. In the above you have first-hand knowledge of the atrocities the Germans were charged with committing. You can see for yourself that these things arc not exaggerated." Skilled machinists in America, according to Mr Luke Manor, a glass-making expert, of Pittsburg, arc earning between £2 and £3 a day. lie instanced the famous Wcstir.ghouse Company, which employs 27,000 workmen, 60 per cent, of whom are engaged in shell-making for the Allies, lie said that the Westinghouso Company had so systematised its plant that ono. skilled machinist could attend to 10 automatic machines without neglecting any part of his work. That meant that he was able to attend to the cutting of 10 shell cases at the ono time, and his wages 'wore, in consequence, considerably increased. In other countries the rule was: One machine, on" man. There is some comment in tho South Taranaki district ever tho steady increase of Swiss families. It is felt that those aliens are acquiring land while Britishers are going to the front. It is pointed out that when the Military Service Bill becomes law tho Swiss will not. bo affected, as the law applies to British subjects only, and the aliens consequently will have greater freedom and opportunity to establish themselves firmly. It is asserted: that these people hold festivities on the receipt of an enemy victory. While it is admitted there are some really good citizens among the Swiss, it is asserted that there are others who have been indiscreet in their behaviour. The committee in charge of the arrangements for refitting the Antarctic ship Aurora is doing all within its power to expedito the work so that tho vessel may leave on her trip south. A large number of men were engaged on the 3rd in the repair work, and the operations generally are watched with much interest by the public. Tho vessel io likely to be in the dock for a week or so. Captain Stonhouse, in reply to an inquiry, stated that no further information was to hand regarding the expedition. Some delay is, of course, necessitated in the transmission of advices from Home. "Tho hearts of many fathers and mothers | sink within them," remarked Chaplain-cap-itain D. C Hcrron, " when their boys go away and they think that within seven or eight months they may be in the firing lino,, but all of us do not realise that the biggest battle that many a man will ever be called upon to fight will be ; during the first 10 days of camp life. A S man's attitude dining those few days will \ often determine the whole of his earthly | career. Broadly spaking, there are three classes, of people—those who morally are j definitely on the up grade; those who are I just as obviously on the down grade, and ; between (lie.se two the great host that j might be termed neutral. Once in camp a ' man quickly realises that there arc no J neutrals tin re, and that that very large ] class, must be reabsorbed either among j those who are going up or going down. A ! man is compelled to make his decision ! either to buckle on his harness and fight as ' he never fought before or to drift with

the stream." Captain Herron, who is a chaplain of the Presbyterian Church, is visiting jJuncdin just, now from Trentham in order to secure urgently needed additional accommodation and comforts, for the men. He is appealing especially to Presbyterians, of whom there are on an average 1200 in Trentham camp alone Without being unduly optimistic, it appears that the Borough of Balclutha is within reasonable distance of acquiring a clean, -wholesome eupply of pure water. The present water supply has long been a source of tribulation to the residents, and recently thJ3 has been exercising the minds of the council. Mr Stewart (engineer, Dunedin) visited Balclutha on the 30th at tho invitation of the Borough Council, and reported th ? result of his investigations. He is convinced that by boring on a ridge of elevated land in the vicinity of the railway station, a plentiful supply of pure water can be obtained at a small cost in comparison with tho great benefit to be derived. Tho council will discuss Mr Stewart's proposals at a special mooting em Wednesday night. A letter from the Government to the Wellington Education Board on the 27th informed the board that no salary would bo allowed ox-students of the Teachers' Training College for the month of January. The chairman of the board (lion J. G. W. Aitkcn) said the position was that the students loft the college in December, and could not get an appointment till February, so that they wore without pay during January, after their serving two years at tho training establishment. "This is hardly fair," Mr Aitkcn added, "and I think we should make further representations to the Government." The board agreed, and tho Government will again be approached. In accordance with tho recommendation of the District Health Officer, Dr Sydney Smith, as made in a report on diphtheria to the Hawko's Bay Education Board, it has been decided to close the Napier Main, Napier West, Hastings West, Hastings Main, Havelock North, and the two Napier Catholic Schools for a period of three weeks (says the Herald). The important and comprehensive report made by Dr Smith on the outbreak in tho district is as follows: —"An inquiry into the outbreak of diphtheria in this district has enabled me definitely to eliminate such means of conveyance as milk and other foodstuffs, water, drainage, etc., and has shown that schools are playing the major part in spreading the epidemic as the following figures will show: —Total number of cases of diphtheria in tho Hawke's Bay district during the current year, 245. Cases actually attending school arc as follows:—Napier School, 30 cases; Hastings School, 61 cases; Norsewood School, 22 cases; Danncvirke School, 7 cases; nine other schools, 20 cases; —total, 110 cases. This is a very large percentage, and it has also been found that a considerable number of cases have occurred in children under school age living in houses in contact with school children. The relative figures arc as follow:—Napier, out of 56 cases notified, 30 were attending school. Hastings, out of 63 cases, 61 were school children. In Norsewood the school accounted for 22 out of 32, and in Danncvirke 7 out of 12. The epidemic has shown a gradual rise since tho beginning of January although tho total number of weekly cases has not been great.