NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13730, 19 March 1915, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

At the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. G. M. Rout, J.P.", a first offender for drunkenness was convicted and discharged. ..'.''

Mr. J. E. Hounsell, treasurer of the Nelson Fire Brigade, has received an appreciative letter from Mr. H. R. Duncan, on behalf of Messrs. Dodwm and Son, thanking and complimenting the Brigade for their good work at the recent fire at. the Royal Hotel, and enclosing a cheque for £10

Within the past few days several robberies have occurred in different parts of the city. v lt is stated that two private houses have been entered and articles of jewellery stolen, while in another case, a valuable diamond bracelet, a tie pin, and ring were removed from a "bedroom in one of the city hotels. The robberies have been reported to the police.

A Flushing correspondent who had a conversation with three Belgian women from Charleroi states that they declared that the situation there is terrible. The prices of provisions have increased considerably, the cost of a bag of flour being now £5. Most of the inhabitants are living only on bread.

In our dressmaking department we have a highly efficient staff of workers ready to reproduce the newest designs in dresses, costumes, frocks, etc., with perfect accuracy at very moderate charges. A very large range of materials to choose from.—W. McKay and Son, Bridge Street.*

The Thermometer—At three o'clock this morning the thermometer outside this office registered 53 degrees.

In connection with the supply of food for poultry, Mr. T. A. H: Field, M.P., at the request of the Nelson Poultry Association, wrote to the Prime Minist ter conveying/ a suggestion that, in view .of the scarcity and high price of wheat, it might be possible to import maize from South Africa. Mr. Field yesterday received a letter from Mi. Massey, stating that he had cabled to the South African Government on the subject, but had not yet received a reply.

The freezing works project at Wairoa is meeting with good support. It is understood (says the correspondent of the Napier "Telegraph") that the works are to be on the Wakatu model and quite as extensive.

Mr Richard Martole, a prominent Welsh. Canadian of Vancouver, has sent over to England, at his own expense, twenty fully equipped recruits for the Welsh Army Corps.

Two Japanese gentlemen, Mr Ishikawa Sanshiro, a well-known literary man, and Mr Miya Shiro, an artist, who have just arrived in London from Brussels, declare that the Belgian capital is a city of beggars. Throughout the day the unhappy Belgians beg £rom door \<o door and seek assistance even in the streets from more fortunate passers-by, and at night the routine is much the same. Sometimes there is not even black bread to go round. Indeed, if the German occupation lasts a few months longer, famine will prevail.

So lai:ge a quantity of rotten ard over-ripe bananas was landed from the Union Steam Ship Company's &toauser Taviuni on the wharf at Aucklaad the other day that the loss m the consignment of 7000 cases will, it is es imated, amount to close upon i'2oot. It is explained that the Tavium'i uvage was protracted on account of the difficulty experienced in getting goo-1 coal.

In an address to the Women's Christian Temperance Union Convention at Christchurch yesterday, the president (Mrs Don) spoke of women and the war. Women, she said, had no responsibility for the war, for in no country had they been consulted. Women were doing all that was possib'o to assist the defenders of our Empire., and she hoped that, after the war women would have the rights of citizens conferred on them. Prohibition bad woa much territory in the United Sr.vas of America. Russia had forbidden the sale of vodka, and France the sale of absinthe.—Press Association.

The first Australian liner v- pass through the Suez Canal after the-Now Zealanders had received their baptisjr of fire in the engagement on the Oanal was the Mongolia, which went tnrough from Port Said to Suez the •ie«ct day. The booming of big guns was" hemd while the ship was waiting, and en tip passage through large numbers ox bodies of dead Turks were seen on the eastern bank. The New Zeak.-Hers lining a portion of the Canal were ip excellent spirits after the engagement, and gave the ship a hearty velcome. The general cry wais: "Have you pi t any cigarettes?"

At/ the Supreme Court sittings at Westport, the following case was heard : Thos. Young, miner, Granity (Mr. McDonald) v. George W. Martin (Mr. Hannan, with him Mr. Molony), an action for return of a promissory note or £200 damages. This case arose over a promissory note for £200, which the defendant and George Griffiths had endorsed for Foster, contractor for the Motueka Harbour Board. The note was renewed on three occasions, on the last occasion without Martin's endorsement, and the defendant refused to give up the endorsed note or endorse the new one. His Honour, after hearing evidence and legal argument, gave judgment for the plaintiff for £200 and costs.

Coulson Kernahan, the author, tells a good story of one of his experiences in the Territorials. He says there is no one with whom he has more sympathy than the sorely-tried drill instructor. One of these unfortunate men, he relates, was drilling a, hopeless recruit, and, at length, driven to desperation, he addressed him blandly thus "They told me before you came here that you were a fool." The recruit looked sullen. "But you ain't a fool more than I am." The pleased recruit smiled. "No! you ain't no fool, you're only the biggest bloomin' idiot, as ever was born."

At the Napier Magistrate's Court on Tuesday Mr S. E. M'Carthv delivered his reserved decision in the case of Patrick Lynch, Leslie Short, Victor Fuller* and Oliver Burke charged witdi gambling on a railway train.; The point raised on the.previous day was as to whether a railway carriage was a public place within the meaning of the Act; In giving his decision the Magistrate said: "Railway carriages are places where the public may assemble, and the public may reasonably be said to be in the. habit of assembling in a railway carriage, just as they do in a church, a concert room, a theatre, a racecourse, a sports ground or a public reserve. Fuller and Short were each fined £50, and Burke and Lynch each £30, and no time was allowed in which to pay the fines.

The clergy, churchwardens, and congregation of St. Mark's Church, Oamberwell, hay© subscribed for an officer's sword for the church organist, Mr Leonard Nicholas, who volunteered for the army as a "ranker,", but has now been promoted to a commission as a lieutenant.

A Milton stock owner, whose journeyings during the present season have extended over a large portion of Southland, Otago, and Canterbury districts, informs the Bruce "Herald" that the best crops are to be seen on Tokomairiro Plain, and he is more than ever firmly convinced that that district is particularly favoured for the growing of grain crops.

A resolution passed by delegates representing 15 women's societies cooperating in England on the Joint Food Supply Committee has been sent to the Board of Agriculture, Education, and Trade, condemning the proposed employment of children on farm work, and recommending that facilities be given for the employment of women on the landj with allowances for travelling and lodging.

A wonderful example of the accuracy of survey work is reported in the case of the recent survey of a railway route from Te Roti round the mountain to Moturoa, in Taranaki. Working from the Te Roti end, forty miles from New Plymouth, the levels were, of course, taken all along the route, and when Moturoa was reached, the discrepancy between the survey level and the railway at the point of junction was found to be only three-quarters of an inch.

An ostentatious member of a. certain county council, whose father is well known as a retired omnibus driver, was one day displaying a large seal lie usually wears, representing St. George and the' Dragon, and, while several bystanders were expressing their admiration of it, its owner remarked, in solemn tones: "Aw—one of my ancestors is—aw—supposed to have killed the dragon—aw—don't j-ou know!" "Dear me," inquired one of his hearers, who knew something about him, "did he run over it?"

In .some places in England inhabitants who ai© anxious to know how to act in case of invasion have been told to apply for instructions to the chairmen of their Paris! • Councils. One nervous individual die •■■_), and received from the- chairman, v, > is a bit of a wag, a sealed envolc. ', "only to be opened in case of t .id.'" Curiosity overcoming his nervt the applicant was unable to resist . ■ making the seal when he reached horn* :id found inside the envelope a sheet . paper bearing the words "What to < .f the Germans invade England: P. i the bounders back into the sea!"

About May we may reasonably hope, not that the war will be beginning, but that it will be beginning to develop conclusively. By that date many things will, and some things may, have happened. For one thing the Allies in the West will have asserted a comfortable superiority in numbers and gunnery, and will be able to press forward with rapidity on their pre-arranged plan without being held up by a morass of mud. In the same way the Russians will be able to feed and supply over the hard ground those larger forces in the East that they are now compelled, tlirough lack of railway communications and the hopelessness of wheeled transport, to hold in reserve.—Exchange.

A little town boasts a church whose pastor, besides being an eloquent preacher, is a man of stalwart proportions. A revival was started, and at one of t;he evening meetings the services were disturbed by two young men who audibly scoffed at everything they saw or heard. Finally, the pastor remonstrated with them on their behaviour, and asked thorn why the\ had attended the meeting. "We came to see rniraoles performed," imprudently replied one of the rascals. Leaving the nulpit and walking quietly down the aisle, the minister .seized one after the other by the collar, and as the> disappeared out of the door, remarked: "\Ve don't pori'orm miracles here, but we do cast out devils."

A Manchester j-.0-.vspa-per reports^ an interesting speech delivered by Lieutenant- General Sir Harry MacKinnon at a dinner in Manchester. General MacKinnon related a story told to him by v relative whose company in the trendies was much troubled by a sniper who was located with great difficulty. He was shot finally, and when his body was reached an order was found on him deputing him to snip-i British officers. He had in his book particulars showing that he had killed no fewer than 50 officers, and documents found on him indicated that it was a rale of the German War Office to give a reward for each officer killed when the claim had l>oen scrutinised and allowed. The sniper was required to state the exact position where the officer was killed, and give particulars about his regiment, and so on. No claim was allowed until it had l)een tested by reference to the casualty lists in British newspapers, and in the case of this particular sniper only 25 claims were allowed, for each of which he had received a reward of 50 marks (£2 10s). '

The Commanding Officer took up a position with the object of determining for himself just how the soldiers behave towards sontrieß, and whether the troops seriously recognise the position sis regards pickets. Presently the tramp of approaching footsteps Was heard. "Halt! Who goes there?" demanded the officer. 'Soots Greys!" came the clear reply. "Pass on Scots Greys!" ordered the officer. More footsteps, "Halt! Who goes there?" "Grenadier Guards," answered a respectful voice. "Pass on, Grenadier Guards!" Then in the darkness, the steps of some more soldiers. "Halt. Who goes there?" exclaimed the officer. "Mind your own business!" came the reply. "Pass on, Canadians!" ordered the officer. —"London Opinion."

Dr Lasker, the famous chess champion, has been studying the"* present" position of the armies in the West in the light of chess stategy, and lias arrived at the comforting conclusion that, the Germans have no occasion to bo dissatisfied with the course of events., Recalling the chess maxim that "nothing is more difficult than to win a game that is won," he adopts the view; that this is the task now confronting the Kaiser's forces. "If he has so far attacked, now he restricts himself toi defence, newly orders his fighting forces, and leaves it to his opponent to make desperate attacks." As to the ultimate result, "system and method will finally triumph, just as at chess."

"LADIES":—Why is the delicious "MILITARY PICKLE" a great appetiser, and sales enormous? Buy a bottle to-day and supply the answer.