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Otago Witness, Issue 3277, 3 January 1917, Page 3

A Press Association cable message from Sydney states that the intcr-State shipping companies are continuing to eliminate return tickets, thus maintaining the 20 per cent, increase in fares enforced during the coal strike.

The returns of th 9 traffio at the Dunedin railway station during the Christmas holidays, excluding the 26th ult.. show that a great many people availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by the holidays to go out of town. No fewer than 29 vehicles were attached to a train with two. engines which went to Invercargill on Saturday, 23rd ult. The figures supplied by Mr Green (chief clerk in the booking office) aro as follow:—The outgoing returns from the Dunedin station on Saturday and Monday numbered 8096, as compared with 7122 for the corresponding days of last year. For the last four years there has been an increase in the number of pp<W~ travelling at Christmas, as is shown by tha following figures:—l9l3, 7103 j 1914, iT74> 1915, 7122; 1916, 8095. The >booking!i on Saturday constituted a record for Christ mas Eve, they numbering 4418, as against :"'.67a for last year. War has added another Sltato enterprise for New Zealand —dealing with pigs. Tha industry is based on the "leavings'" of Trentham camp. During a period extending beyond two years, private owners of pigi had the benefit of tho overflow from tha tables of Trentham, but now the Government has the advantage. The new enterprise had a small beginning at tho Remount Department, where a few pigs were fattened at a profit. Tho new pig farm at Trentham has about 700 inmates, and about 200 weanlings aro at Wallaceville, prepar* ing for promotion to Trentham. The waste of Featherston camp will bo probably turned to similar profitable account in tha! near future.

"There is no attempt and no desire on tho part of the Government to interfere with freedom of speech," 6aid tho Hon, James Allen (Acting 1 Prime Minister) in Auckland, in referring to the stringent regulations defining sedition which have recently been gazetted. "If attempts e.ro made, however," added the Minister, "to create opposition to tho carrying out of (ha law now in force, tho person or persons concerned will get into difficulties. Any breach of the law or an attempt to cres.te trouble will not bo tolerated during a tirao like the present." Wo understand (say 3 the Manaia Witness) that in the will of the late Mr Daniel Hughes, thcro are only two bequests, ono to his granddaughter, at present at school at Wanganui, of £SOO, and the other of his gold watch to his eldest son, Mr 1). J. Hughes. With these exceptions there ia an equal distribution of the property. Should, however, any difficulty arise in its division between any two of the beneilciaries, both having a preference for the same property, the will stipulates thai they must "toss for it"—a rough and method characteristic of the sporting instincts of the lata Mr Hughes.

Twenty iniles away from the eyes of Wellington, tho Remount Department has continued its important work at tho Upper Hutt (says the New Zealand Times). A recent shipment of 450 horses gave pleasant ovidenoe of New Zealand's resource* -hi horseflesh, and the ability of tho depot ti;> make the best of tho material provided by the Stock Department's buyers. Faif and wide the purchasers ranged, in both islands, and they secured horses which, m tho opinion of experts, can advertise New Zealand well overseas. Captain Tiliey, who is in charge of tho depot, has been warmly praised by tho authorities for the car<j taken by himself and his staff in havinjf tho horses well prepared for the long; voyage.

Sixty-threo charges of permitting treat* ing, nfi'ccting 12 hotels, were set down for hearing at tho Magistrate's Court at Thame* last v.-eek. Sergeant Crcan stated that the police had Introduced a special censtabia into tho disn-ic.s who adopted tho rolo of a Canterbury farmer, and ho had stayed in the town for about a week ostensibly with the intention of purchasing a farm at Hauraki Plains, and had gona around making acquaintances and treating them at the different hotels for tho purpose of testing who-lh3i V not the publicans were observing the wrr anti-shouting regulations. The evidence Cf the constable was to the effect that in nearly all tho cases the pub» licans and barmen allowed him to treat the others without any hesitation. In al

cases where convictions were secured against licensees or bar attendants a fine of £5 each was recorded with costs. The defendants concerned in participating in the shouts were each fined £1 and costs, with the exception of a young man named Clarence Hawke, who had pleaded guilty and given the polico no trouble. A conviction in this case was recorded, costs 7s to bo paid. The magistrate said he had made the fines light because of the constable having practically been a party to the offences, but he warned hotclkeepers that in any future breaches ho would recommend the licensing bench to cancel the licenses of those concerned.

A Press Association message from Wellington states that while a launch was making a trip from tho city to Day's Bay she broke down through engine trouble. She was sighted near Somes Island by a ferry steamer, and was towed to the city. The three occupants apparently suffered little ill-effect, though the rescue was timely, as a choppy sea was running, and tho little craft was considerably buffeted.

A legal test of historic interest, linked in sentiment with tho days when the Maori held indisputable sway in New Zealand, will be brought before Judge Wilson in Whangarei on January 6, at a sitting of tho Native Land Court for the Tokerau (North Auckland) district. The case aoncerns a long-standing claim by Natives to a river flat area at the extremity of Lower Cameron street, now forming part of the Whangarei harbour endowment. The claim is complicated by tho fact that a number of buildings, privately owned by Europeans, now stand on tho disputed territory. The Native claim, it is understood, will be based on the contention that tho area has constitued a canoe landing from timo immemorial, and that, as a consequence, the Natives cannot be dispossessed. Tho claim was put into court by interested Maoris before tho land was vested in the Harbour Board, and later, when tho board's Empowering Bill was beforo the House a petition from the objectors was sent to tho Minister of Marine and roferred by Parliament to tho Native Affairs Committee for report. Last session the appeal was revived, and Parliament referred it back to the Native Land Court. Many points of legal and constitutional interest are involved, and a keen fight is expected.

A Press Association message from London states that the New Year honours have been delayed, and will be issued during the first fortnight in January.

At the communion service at St. Matthew's Church on Christmas Day an offertory in aid of tho Belgian Fund resulted in over £33 being collected.

The Defence Minister stated last week that the Military Service Boards had no special directions from tho Government or from him as to how they should deal with applications for exemption. They were expected to deal with oases on their own responsibility, according to the evidence. Referring to tho granting of temporary exemptions to numbers of men, Mr Allen said that it was perhaps prudent for tho boards to bo a little more generous in this respect at the beginning of the scheme than would bo possible later. Now that the schemo is in operation, he said, tho men in Division I ought to know that they will be balloted for at any time, and it is their duty to have their affairs in order, and to bo in a position to go into camp at short notice.

A wireless message was received by the Union Company on December 28' stating that the mail steamer Waitai, wbich due in Wellington this week from San .Francisco, lias gone ashore at Rarotonga. The mishap occurred at midnight on the 25th ulb The vessel had arrived that Jay from Papeete, and was talcing in fruit, when the cable parted, with the result that she dragged her anchors and went on a reef. The passengers, mails, and ship's etores have been landed. Prompt arrangements were made for Bending assistance to the Maitai, and the company has chartered the Cholita, which left Tahiti on Wednesday night. 'The voyage to Rarotonga will probably occupy about two days and a-half. The Maitai left San Francisco on December 7, one day late, carrying 15 first-class, 14 second-class, and 14 third-class passengers, and 900 tons of cargo for Wellington. She may have landed or taken on passengers at Papeete, The Maitai' is an old vessel, having been constructed in 1892 at New-oastlc-on-Tyno by O. S. Swan and Hunter far Mr Jaa. Huddart. The vessel was then

known as the Miowera, and was employed in the New Zealand coastal and intercolonial service for somo months. She was afterwards placed in the Sydney-Brisbane-Van-couver mail service, in which she was employed for some time, and maintained a reputation for consistent passages. The New Zealand Shipping Company afterwards had an interest in the vessel, and some time later she was purchased by the Union Company, and renamed Maitai. She was subsequently employed in the old mail service between San Francisco and Auckland, and for the past 18 months has carried on the present mail service between San Francisco and Wellington in conjunction -with the Moana. A despatch from Tokio to the New York Evening Post states: The Associated Press learns that Japan has agreed not to make a part of her peace conference demands the right to hold permanently the South Sea Islands, which were wrested from Germany at the outbreak of the war. Several of these islands, which belong to the Caroline and Marianne groups, lie not far from the American island of Guam, the American terminus of the Pacific cable. It is understood that the United States has informally expressed a desire that these islands should not become the permanent property of the Japaneso Empire. Inasmuch as they were captured thi'ough the joint operations of the British and Japanese fleets, it is understood the United States first took up the question with Great Britain, and that a joint. (Suggestion was made by Great Britain and the United States that Japan should not insist upon the permanent maintenance of the islands. In view of Japan's promise to accede to the joint request, it is believed likely that at the peace conference Japan will seek compensation in some other direction, perhaps in the affirmation of her rights in the Chinese peninsula of Shantung, of which Kiauchau is the great naval base. The islands refcri-ed to are now administered by the Japanese Government. The methods adopted by the police in securing convictions in anti-shouting cases at the Thames were strongly criticised somo days ago by Mr Clendon, who appeared for the accused. Mr Clendon said that in nearly every case the offences had actually been committed by the police, and the others had been induced to take part in them by falso statements and misrepresentations. He also referred to tho fact that the police had interviewed the accused persons and had endeavoured to obtain statements from them. As these were tho first cases that had been heard in the district, ho asked his Worship to take a lenient view of the breaches of the regulations and impose nominal penalties. Sergeant Crean, for the police, stated that, with regard to the method adopted by the police, he would take all responsibility, as he had acted in the manner he considered the most effective to carry out the somewhat imperative instruction he had received from the department to see that the War Regulations were strictly enforced. Tho magistrate said that, while he was fully satisfied that it was necessary for the polico to act under disguise in a matter of this kind, he still thought that objections might be taken to the mode of operations in tho present case, and he had taken this into consideration in fixing the penalties, as the principal witness for tho prosecution was a party to the offences. He would point out, however, that the regulations were intended to bo strictly carried out, and must be observed in future, and that, although he had decided to impose light penalties on this occasion as first offences, he would impress on the defendants that for any future breaches of tho regulations the penalties would be much heavier.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald of December 19, the shipping problem, which has grown in intensity since the war started, may now be said to have been somewhat relieved by a scries of events that will have a most desirable effect as far as the Australian grower is concerned. There are now nearly 100 ships on their way to .Australia to shift the wheat harvest and the wool clip, the vessels being under commission by the British Government. There is already in Australia a large quantity of wheat—the balance left over from last season,—and, as the now wheat is now making its appearance, every available inch of shipping space will be heavily taxed. The partial failure of the Argentine crops, owing to excessive rains, together with the comparative shortage of wheat in America, has naturally diverted a considerable amount of tonnage under tho British Go-

vernment's control towards; Australia, Scarcity of tonnage last year was undoubtedly the most serious problem that faced the Australian Wheat Board, and, had it not been for the energetic action of the British authorities in purchasing 1 these two products, it is more than probable that its difficulties would have remained a disturbing, factor in the whole of the industries of Australia. In this connection the Commonwealth Government hr.s been relieved of all responsibility. The British Government, with its powers of requisition if necessary, has negotiated with .shipowners for transportation, and tho commonwealth's part in the contract is ended as soon as tho wheat is slung over the ship's side. The ships acquired by Mr Hughes six or seven months ago will prove a welcome addition in lightening tho burden which rural industries in Australia, by forco of circumstances, have patiently endured. Tho inordinate proportion of imports, as compared with exports, will be largely affected, and the balance should be well in tho commonwealth's favour this time 12 months hence. Britain's indebtedness to Australia for wheat alone will amount to some £28,000,000.

Word has been received by Mr O'Callaghan, of Timaru, from his son, Captain O'Callaghan, who sailed in charge of the 13th Reinforcements, that everyone on the transport was well, and that he had been in communication with the sister transport conveying tho other half of the 18ths, which also reported that everything was all right.

Speaking at the Napier Municipal TheatrG last week, when kits were presented to tho Napier recruits in the 24th Reinforcements, the Mayor of Napier (Mr J. Vigor Brown, M.P.) said it was incumbent on all to make personal sacrifices to help to win tho war. "What harm would it do us," ho asked, "to have two meatless days in the week? Even the butchers would not object, because they all say they are losing money. If we had two meatless days here, the same as they have in England, onefourth of the meat we now consume would be saved, and that could bo sent to the army. I hope tho Government will oruer that wo have two meatless days in tho week, and I do not care if it says we should have two drinklcss days, too." Mr J. Rawstorn, of 'J'imnru, had a somewhat unpleasant experience while on a visit to Queenstown. On Tuesday (Boxing Day) he and his wife went to Ellin Bay, and, having walked for several miles along tho Greenstone road towards tho falls, Mrs Fvawstorn halted, and her husband, leaving his hat and coat with her, walked further along, intending to reach tho falls. Ho had not arrived by the time the steamer left, and Mrs Rawstorn returned to Quecnstown, 11 men remaining behind to search for him. At the wife's request, Constable Rowo engaged a motor launch and went to Elfin Bay, where he relieved the search party. Mr Roy Elliott and he continued tho search, and at 2 a.m. on Wednesday found the missing man, who had miles off tho track, and provided him with refreshments. Constable Rowe and Mr Rawstorn returned to Quecnstown that morning with Mrs Rawstorn and another search party, which had arrived by another steamer, the missing man being none the worse for his adventure.

A man who had been guilty of a despicable practice at two high-class boardinghouses in Auckland was arrested on the south express at the Auckland railway station on Friday night. The man had stayed for two days in each of the boardinghouses, his room being adjacent to the ladies' bathroom, and after his departure it was discovered that holes had been bored through the walls of tho bathroom to enable peeping to bo carried on. He was a commercial traveller named Frederick William Johnson, aged 30 years, and a married man, and in his luggage were found the tools with which he bored the holes. When brought before Mr E. O. Cutten, S.M., on Saturday morning., on a charge of mischief, he pleaded "Guilty/' and was fined £2 and ordered to pay £4 damages According to the arrangements made in connection with the issue of the No.v Zealand war loan, the sale of certificates would cease at the end of the year. The Acting Minister of Finance, the Hon. Arthur M. Myers, states (says the New Zealand Herald), that it has been decided to extend the time. The length of the extended period will bo announced later. We are informed by Mr A. Moritzson that the Jttipponvale orchards are looking remarkably .well, and are very clean in all respects, that the apples and stone fruits have made splendid growth, and that, owing to the good rains of last winter, the two-year-old orchards have not up to the present required irrigating. The treatment of tjjfe soil in this semi-arid district in itselfquires a considerable amount of skill\and judgment, and it is pleasing.to see Hfre settlers already realising tho great advantages of proper cultivation. The tomat-O. plants on several of the orchard farms are looking very well; the fruit is setting nicely and beginning to ripen. The works at Kawarau Gorge are beginning to assume shape. A good deal of solid work has been put in by the contractors; the workmen, under Foreman J. Robertson, have made satisfactory headway; tho excavations, for the power house are completed, and the concrete work for draft tubes and the excavations for anchorages for river crossings-, are

alio completed. The uprising main is now being placed in position, having been connected with the main distributing channel and taken down as far as thcKawarau road.. In the new year the work of erecting- the power house will bo put in hand. Ttjli

and the setting up of the machinery, most of which is now upon the site, will be done by day labour.

A Press Association telegram from Wellington states that, speaking on Friday of the Imperial Conference, the Hon. J. Allen (Acting Prime Minister) said there was no doubt that Mr Massey would attendee conference and remain in England until it was concluded. Questioned as to the prospects of an early session of Parliament in New Zealand, the Minister said: "At the present moment there is no intention of calling Parliament together until Mr Massey comes back."

Private advice was received in Dunedin last week of an unfortunat drowning fatality at Kelso. It appears that the two victims and several companions were wandering down the riverside from the township. When below the swing bridge a girl named Moyle, 16 years of age, on holiday from Invercargill, suggested having a bathe, and she was accompanied into the water by Miss Maggie Shaw, a young woman of Kelso. It is stated that the

■visitor was trying to see how long she could remain under water, and the river being very treacherous at the spot, she must have slid into deep water, dragging Miss Shaw •with her. The place is l»'y a* mile from the township, and assistance was not immediately procurable, so that when the bodies ■were recovered some distance down stream half an hour later, it was too late, though every effort was made to restore animation.

Speaking at Darfield last week (says a Press Association messa-go from Christchurch), the Hon. G. W. Russell, referring to tho Imperial Conference, said that" personally ho felt that no peace would be satisfactory to the dominion which did not include the extinction of the German fleet. Their Ministers and representatives in England should make this one of their strongest points, for if they did not, New Zealand! could reconcile herself to the expenditure of two or three millions annually in preparing for the next war with Germany and her fleet.

The heavy formation work in the construction of the Clyde-Cromwell railway is practically completed. The bridge at Nine Mile Crook is now in hand, and the rails are laid to this point. When tho bridge has been completed the remainder of the work will be fairly free from difficulty. It is anticipated at Cromwell that the last four miles to complete the rail will bo pushed on a» expeditiously as possible in order to make the line revenue-producing.

Attention has recently been drawn in New Zealand to the possibility of utilising seaweed for rnanurial purposes, and inquiry has been made whether light work for returned soldiers oould be found in collecting and burning seaweed. Before anything definite could be said for such a scheme (writes Mr B. C. Aston in the Journal of Agriculture) it is desirable that information regarding tho available supply of seaweed andilho botanical and chemical composition of it should bo obtained, but it is not likely, even if the utilisation of seaweed were proved to be profitable, that tho work would be "light" or suitable for returned soldiers.

in a letter to a friend in Australia, a chaplain attached to the Miners' Battalion gives some details of the accident which recently befell Professor David. "I cannot olose without a word regarding Professor T. W. Edgoworth David," lie' said. "Our grand old man has been injured, as perhaps you are aware, and is now in 'blighty' getting well again. The windlass of a well gave way and let him down 60ft. The wonder is he is alivo. The doctor bound him in a bucket, ar.d then he was hoisted up. Bur, ho made them stop winding so that ho could take some notes of tho geological formations. To use his own words, he went down so quickly ho had no time to take any notes, ar,d therefore had to do it on the way up. This is characteristic of the man. Ho is a wonder at his age, with the strength of a giant, and tho spirit of a Von." Becent researches into the uses of potash in agriculture ore reviewed by Mr B. C. ILrton, chemist to tho Agricultural Department, In the last issue of the Journal of fcriculturo. In the course of the article Br Aston saya that tho well-known fern Hug such a pest in New Zealand, it is of

interest to note that Professor Berry, F.1.C., of the West of Scotland Agricultural College, has found the ash to be surprisingly rich in potash, although apparently very variable in composition. He states that 10 acres of fully-stocked bracken land is found to produce one ton of ash, which may contain as much as 20 per cent, of potash. In New Zealand, where fern may-grow to a height of 10ft to 12ft, it seems possible that the yield of ash per acre may be considerably larger, and on a rich potash soil, such as the pumice lands of the North Island, this fern might prove a more feasible source of potash than seaweed, while the removal of a pest would be an additional reason for work in this direction.