NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13825, 21 July 1915, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Lady Liverpool Committee has decided t,j hold the making of rabbitskin jackets in abeyance pending the preparation of the skins by Mr Greenslade.

In the name of the Prophet—crackers ! A School Committee recently had before it a testimonial which spoke of the success which an applicant for a vacant ttachership had achieved in organising enteitaiuments, including fireworks displays.

Mr W. Gee. the Chief Postmaster, was advised yesterday that owing to a flood at Flat Creek, the motor car could not get through, consequently ■ there was no mail from Blenhe.ini last night.

Mr James Hunt, Mayor of Richmond,'has "donated a pedigree Jersey bull calf, to be dispowxl of in aid of the Sick and Mounded Soldiers' Fund. Messrs Newman Bros, have also generously given a, rubber-tyred landau to be included in tho list of art Union prizes.

Mr W. S. Snodgrass secretary of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers' Gala Day, has interviewed the stationmaster-in-charge-at Nelson en the matter of train .arrangements for Produce Fairday next Saturday, and for Gala Day on' the first Monday in August. Mr Young "promised to delay the departure of thS 4.30 train next Saturday till 5 o'clock, and on Gala Day said he would a vran<*e for a train to leave Glenhope for Nelson at 6.30 a.m., arriving in Nelson at 10 o'clock. The 4.30 up train will leave as usual, but if sufficient inducement offers a special train will run as far as Wakefield, leaving Nelson at 5.30 p.m.

Some comment has been made regarding the alleged stopping of tho pension of a widow whose son is fighting'at the Dardanelles, because she v; receiving a portion of her son's payInquiries, however, show that there was no suoh stoppage. The pensioner, on receiving her son's pay, did not) think that she was entitled to draw the widow's pension also, and she clia not call ,t>.collect- 'it for two months. As there was .a-danger of tlie~pension s Uapsing, an official-.called.upon hei and the woman explained why she had not collected Jher pension. It was'-then pointed out to her that the. receipt other son's my did not deprive her. ot her ri"ht to the widow's pension, and, the misapprehension being removed, tho pensioner is now drawing tho pension.

The.despised farthing has come into a sudden demand in London, small shopkeepers of all sorts requiring that coin. This Is due to a rise in the price of matches, which put an end to the custom of giving away a bos in lieu of a farthing change.

The, small streamer Awaroa, which was at one time engaged in th© Nel-son-Bay h;ade, was sunk" last week by a collision in the Yarra river, Melbourne. Last January the Awaroa was sold by the Wellington Harbour Ferries Company to a Melbourne firm, and was being used in Port PhOlip as a passenger and cargo •carrier.

At the Magistrate's Court, yesterday, Messrs. H. J. Harris and 'H. R. Duncan, Justices, presiding, a first oifender for drunkenness was convicted and discharged. Judgment for plaintiff by default was given in the following civil cases:—Nelson branch Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners v. A. E. Moore, claim for £1 6s Id, costs ss; Bisley Bros, and Co. v. A. Durrant, £1 8s 4d, costs ss; same v. F. A. Edwards, £18 15s, costs £1 10s 6d; Johanson and Co. v. Evvy Hadfield, £4 17s 6d, costs £1" 15s: William Lock v. J. J. Pa-out, £9, costs Bs. A large nuir.ber of cases were either adjourned or struck out.

T]ier c arrived in Nelson" yesterday morning two nursing sisters of the Order of Our Lady of Compassion, who have corns here for-the purpose of collecting m this district for their hospitals m Wellington and Auckland. Ine order maintains in Wellington three establishments. At the one in Buckle street, containing between 60 and 70 beds, adult incurables of all denominations are nursed and kept. The sisters also maintain a creche for the care of infants during the day, whilst their, mothers are out at. work. The children are fed and looked after until their mothers return in the evening. The third establishment in Wellington is a hospital for incurable ■children at Island Bay, where there are at present one hundred and sixty inmates. Some fivo years ago, a branch ■ hospital was established at Mount Eden, Auckland where the order is doing the same good work for aged and infant incurables. Mother Mary Joseph Aubert, the founder of the' "homes, is at present in Home on i business connected with the order. !"She was in the Italian capital during the recent earthquakes, and offered her services to nurse the victims of the [ disaster. The visiting sisters called I upon the Mayor (Mr C. J. Hurley) yesIterday morning, and he gaye a donai tion of a guinea towards their object.

A startling theory was piit forward at an inquest in England as to the cause of an explosion which resulted in the death of four men. Major Cooper-Key, explosive expert, expressed the opinion that one of the men

had accumulated electricity in his body, and not having earthed himself, a spark passed through a dangerous commodity and so caused it to explode. It was an exceptional accident, which could have been prevented by the insertion of a metal stud in the worker's rubber overshoe. A regulation to this effect wo'ild probably bo made .;n future. '

A telegram was received from the Minister of Defence yesterday as follows : —' :Ilave received reply from Alexandria that Sergeant Ingram is reported wounded and missing. Am mating further inquiry." As already stated, private ad\ rices have T>een received that Sergeant Ingram died from wounds received in action The official intimation received some time ago stated that he had been woilnded, but not that he was missing.

Deserving of general patronage—No 10 Watson's Whisky.*

Samoa has made a considerable contribution towards the New Zealand Hospital Ship Fund, a sum of over £350 having be<;n collected and forwarded by the Tofua, which arrived at Auckland on Monday. A carnival was held in Apia on iho 10th inst., a procession in the morning being followed by a cricket match bevween learns representing the military i-jid the civil community. There was also native dancing and other sports. On the previous evening a successful concert organised by the garrison forces was held. The sale of seats for the entertainment by auction earlier, in the weefe contributed about £270 to the amount raised altogether.

A coronial inquiry into the circumstances .surrounding tho death of Henrich Tru, a seaman from the harouentine Liiuibtol, who met with fatal minries at the Wanganui railway station by being run over by a locomotive attached to a train, was held by Mr W. Kerr, S.M. The Coroner returned a verdict c.i accidental death, and added that there was no evidence to show that the driver of the train was m any wav to blame. The deceased, who joined *the i'.indstol at Sydney on June 15th, was Rightly under the influence of liquor at the time of the fatality.

Certain facts, which were communicated to a "Southland Times" reporter recently, servo to illustrate how much fiependa on whothcr the building trades are brisk or slack. The average observer, if asked toy. estimate how many people were being sustained by the wages oaid out during the building of a house, would probably place the total at a dozen or IS; but such.an estimate would be wide of the mark. In the case of a dwelling now in course of erection in a suburb of Invercargill there are five men employed, but between them they have 40 dependents, 35 of whom are children. The job is thus affording sustenance for 45 people.

At the Maryborough Poultry Association's show last week, Nelson exhibitors figured prominently in the prize list, as follows:—Leghorns (American standard), single comb, white- cock,' W. Laird 2, hen .1; cockerel, F. Plum 1 and 2, G. Falconbridge 3; pultet, G. Falcoivbridge 1 and special. 2 and v.h.c.; Ancona, cock, P. Berthelson I, hen 1 and 2, pullet 1; Plymouth Rocks, T. Tutbury, barred cock, 1, hen 2, cockerel 1, pullet 1. Pigeons: Working homers, G. H. King, adult blue cock 1 and 3. hen 2, blue or black chequer cock, adult, 1, hen '), silved dun cock 1, any other colour hen, adult, 1. In canaries, J. A. Stringer swept the board in Yorkshires, securing seven firsts and one special. In Norwich (non-colour fed) E. B. Martin first in yellows and huffs, and J. A. Stringer'first in yellow (heavily variegated), and buff (tightly variegated).. Tn Norwich, colour fed, J. A. Stringer scored two "firsts, also first for pair of white canaries. E. B. Martin obtained first, and special and second in the selling classes (open) fcr pairs. Specials for most points were awarded to G. - Falconbridge, Leghorns (Amerir can standard); ,G. H. King (working homers); and J. A." Stringer, canaries (Yorkshire and Norwich).

A rotico appears in this issue regarding Richmond contributions for the Produce Fair. ;

Citizens of Richmond are' requested by the. Mayor (Mr James Hunti) to observe a whole Holiday on Saturday, the 24th inst (Produce Fair Day),.

Claiming .to bo the largest hotel in Europe, ibo Regent Palace Hotel, London, which contains 1,028 bedrooms, and has cost .£600,000, has been opened. It is under the same management as the Strand Palace Hotel, and incorporates all the features which have made that hotel so popular.

Mr Duncan Rutherford is issuing an npoeal to sportsmen for 10,000 hares for the hospitals which are dealing with the wounded soldiers at Homo (says the Christchurch "Press"). Arrangements have been. made with the freezing companies to send away thirty crates (360 hares) by each ship sailing for England.

One of the wounded who returned to New Zealand by the Willochra declares that the French are using Turpenite as an explosive at the Dardanelles. He bases the assumption on the fact that when his company were about to enter a Turkish trench, during a charge, the Turks in the trench were in attitudes of defence. Some one cried out, ''Bog in, boys, these fellows are alive," and it was not until the trench was entered that the Turks were found to be dead.

A youth named F. Anderson applied at th© Magistrate's Court at Palmerston North the other day to be exempted frtfm military service on conscientious grounds. In reply to Mr. J. W, Poynton, -S.M., the applicant saic he emte understood the nature of his application. Mr. .Poynton: "If you had a sister and she was being illtreated by the Germans, would.you get a stick and defend her?" Applicant: "No, I would do nothing." Mr. Poynton: "Then you don't deserve to have a sister; your application is refused."

The question of gambling was raised at the meeting of the Wanganui Presbytery at Mart™. recently (says an exchange), and it was resolved: "That this Presbytery views with alarm the widespread tendency to raise funds for the relief of wounded soldiers by means that involve gambling. It deplores the spirit of sacrifice being taken out of the living when our soldiers are- making the supreme sacrifice. It also deplores the spirit of frivolity, which is an outrage on the feelings of the bereaved. It calls upon the loyal members to contribute directly to the patriotic funds and to discontinue all questionable means of raising money."

That there are women living in Wellington who have a distinct -leaning towards the Kaiser wag brought home to two young women recently (says the "New Zealand Times"). While .journeying in tho tram-car., tho young ladies were discussing the Kaiser in uncomplimentary terms. A middleaged woman was sitting opposite them, and heard the conversation. On alighting the woman passed the young ladies some distance from the tram terminus, and turning round suddenly, slapped both in the face, remarking at the same time, "Take that from the Kaiser!"

Writing of the-New Zealand Howitzer Battery, Mr Malcolm Ross, official war correspondent with the New Zealand Forces, says: —Once the New Zealanders ascertained the position of some Turkish snipers in "the fisherman's hut —a position they could not reach. Word was, however, sent by Major Loach, via the Signal Corps and the beach wireless, to the warships, and one of the latter soon opened lire and cut a few holes in the landscape; but it was the New Zealand howitzer battery—by this time landed and well dug in—that from & range of about 4000 yards, sent the fisherman's hut into the air in a cloud of dust. They lobbed a shell right into it.

Tales of restitution "after many years" are always interesting as indicative that common honesty is still extant. A Christchnreh resident has had, recently, an instance of payment long overdue being made. He was astonished to receive a letter from London conveying a cheque for two pounds, and the explanation that it was the recipient's share of a debt 'owed by the sender to his farther. The Christchurch man's father died- thirty years ago, and the debt had been forgotten. Other members of the family had got their share of the.payment of this longstanding debt.

An extra.o*(iki»ary occurrence happened in a, private house in Christchurch one night last week, indicating the vagaries of fire-. One of the children of the family, it ia supposed, set ablaze a toilet cover over a chest of drawers, which was against a plastered wall. On the top of the chest were a number of miscellaneous toilet articles, more or less inflammable. The fire burned completely round the fringe of the toilet cover, including the portion at the back, the plaster wall being slightly scorched. Beyond this no damage was done, despite' the fact that _ the two windows in the room were wide open. It was nat till the following morning that the fact that there had been a fire was discovered.