TOWN EDITION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13990, 12 May 1916, Page 6

TOWN EDITION.

A syndicate has been formed, with a capital of £300,000, U> purchase land (•(..-ntiguoii* i<> tno r.iui an^a. railway. ; These lands will be subdivided and sold m eonveir'i'iit farming properties. — ( ihiut'iuuri • • alette. Mr C. -I King, of Napier, who has Leen a pri-oivi 1 of wai m ({ormany foi over 20 months, is at present m London, where he intends offering his services U; (Ik? military author ties. Ft is Mr King's intention to return to New Zealand directly the war is owr. Tlio visit'ng of boarding-houses was comm.au ted upon in ' Christchurch recently as -me of the most unpleasant tasks wh • • any recruiting sergeant could be ' '^ci upon to undertake. One speaker (■• 1 that lie did not .know whether not the landlades were afraid of ' ing Iheir boarders if they enlisted, » t invariably he was told vi th-se est i shments that '.'the boarders were < ;t." In one such instance neighbour, had vouched for the fa^t that live' or six young men resided there, and were at the time inside the boarding house. A weil-known resident of Te Awamutu named Ernest Moeller, a naturalised German, was arrested on Wednesday by Constables Doyle and Woodley, on the instructions of the military authorities .(reports the Auckland Herald). Moeller is described as an accountant and a music teacher. He is an educated man, and was naturalised two years ago. Moeller is a trained soldier, and held a commission m tha German army. Prior to taking up his residence m Te Awamutu, some 10 years he H-ius one. the tit-? masters employed at St.- John's College, Auckland. Mr F. L. Prime, one of Auckland's best known citizens, is dead, at the age of 91. His wife, -who was of the same age as himself, died a few weeks ago. Mr Prime was a native of Cambridgeshire and arrived m Auckland from England m 1855. For some years he carried on a grocery business m Auckland, and afterwards he was a land and estate agent m that city. ' He was a former Mayor of Auckland, and also a member of the City Council, of the Auckland Provincial. Council, atid of the Auckland Education Board. By his death the 1 Methodist Church has lost one of its strongest adherents. The mte Mr Prime was an uncle of Mr H. Prime, of Gisborne. Dr Leonard Boor, of Nelson, formerly medical superintendent of Nelson Hospital, celebrated his ninety-first birthday on Tuesday, and received many congratulations (says the Colonist). Despite his great age he is still bright and cheerful, and maintains his interest m current affairs. His recollection of bygone years is clear, and he is fond of recalling the days of his youth m Wiltshire, when stage coaches were running, and the days of his prime m Wellington, when, calls on his professional skill toot 'him for many a long ride m the Hutt and ' other districts m the neighborhood of the capital of New Zealand, which he knew when it was m its beginning. The work of the Wellington Town Hall Recruiting Committee is hot without its humorous side at times. A stalwart who wished to enlist last week did not taJce kindly to the idea of having his teeth examined. "I have splendid teeth. They are m perfect order, ' he said. To demonstrate this he seized a chair-back m his, teeth and, holding the chair thus, proceeded to walk round with it. Captain Barclay said that he had not intended to cast any doubt upon the soundness of the applicant's teeth, but explained that the examination was necessary, as no recruit could bo accepted at the camp without a dentist's certificate that Iris teeth were up to the campaigning standard. Up till last week the record chest measurement among recruits examined by Dr de Lautour at Wellington , Town Hall was held by a Russian, who though only sft B^in m height and 12st 61b m weight had an expanded chest measurement of 42£ in —the . biggest "tape" out pf over 1 800. recruits examined. This. record, however ', was eclipsed a. day or two ago by a native of the Isle, of Man, who has been brought up from boyhood m Canterbury. He was sft lOin m height, 13 stone /m weight, and stretched the tape to 43§ inches when his chest was expanded. Dr de Lautour referred to this record as "getting the ashes back," though he states that several Russians whom he has examined have all been splendidlvbuilt. ■ At the Anglican Synod at Christchurch, Archdeacon MoeMurray moved to the effect that Synod learned with regret that Bishop Williams is unable, through infirmity ofbody, to be present at this session of Synod. The mover ieferred to the fact that Bishop. / Williams had grown to man's estate when Bishop Selwyn arrived m New Zealand, and that Bishop Williams' life was contemporaneous with the rise and extension of Christianity m New Zealand. Bishop Williams was to-day the most venerable and picturesque figure m the Church of New Zealand., Mr J. B. Fielder seconded the motion, and said that the Church owed a deep debt of gratitude for his services to it*. Bishop Averill endorsed the remarks of mover and seconder, and said that Bishop Williams had showed his willingness to help him (the speaker) when he succeeded to the bishopric. The motion was carried with applause. The price of petrol has approximately doubled m the United States within the last 12 months, and the matter has been considered of so much national importance that the United' States Government recently called for a special report from the Depaa*tment of the Interior upon the subject. This report has now beah made, and it is interesting to note that, whilst it shows that both the domestic use and the export of petrol has very greatly increased and— what is of more importance still — that "the production of the. oil from which it Is derived appears to have reached its maximum," the opinion is expressed that "the strong refining and transportation companies are m a position to make the consumer pay high prices for their product." In other words, it appears all too evident from this Government report that the time has now epme when the great oil trusts hold the world of consumers, and especially the automobile world, m the hollows of their hands, and can squeeze them to their hearts' content^ A problem that has baffled scientists has apparently been . solved by two) Auckland inventors, Messi-s W. Overend (metallurgist) and H. Grinlintbn, reports the Star. This relates to the soldering of aluminium, either to itself or any other metal or .alloy. The inventors placed their discovery m the hands of a company, and they were commissioned to proceed to London m order to seek more expert assistance. Mr Grinlinton has just returned with the reassuring intelligence that not only have tfiey secured an almost indisputable patent, but were accorded a most cordial reception by scientific and commercial 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 tests was satisfactory, the Imperial Government would take over the whole of the discovery. Mr Overend, who is remaining m England.' has been commandeered by the War Office to fully instruct an expert of the National Physical Research Laboratory m the . art of soldering aluminium under the new process. '