THE COLONIST. THURSDAY, APRIL 20,0 1916. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 14157, 20 April 1916, Page 4

THE COLONIST. THURSDAY, APRIL 20,0 1916. NEWS OF THE DAY.

The-Nelson newspapers will not bo issued on Good Friday and Easter Monday, the proprietors having decided to omit .."publication on the latter day in order that the employees, whose participation in public holidays is usually limited to Good Friday and a couple of days at Christmas, may this year have a more extended Easter vacation. Important war news received during the holidays will bo posted as usual. •

The annual meeting of the Nelson Licensing Committee will be held on Monday, June sth"

Open all day To-day until 9 p.m., closing all day Saturday and Monday. —Trathen and Co.*

At the Drillshed on Monday evening a match was fired between the Infantry Section of the National Reserve, and a team 'representing the Nelson Senior Cadets. The Cadets shot well, and won by. 16 points.

, On Good -Friday «t 11 a.m. the ministers of the non-Anglican churches will hold a united service in the Baptist Church, Bridge street. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper will be observed. An offertory will be taken up on behalf of the Territorial Camp Tent Fund.

At the annual meeting of Ghrist Church parish last evening, tho vieai 1 mentioned that had the Bishop of Nelson seen him one week later he would have been with the Army in France, as he was offered % chaplaincy by the Chaplain-General a feav days later.

Entries for the Nelson Horticultural Society's autumn show, to be held on Wednesday and Thursday of nokt weejc, will be received at Messrs Hounsell and Co.'s to-day, at Mr. Bolton's shop from 7 to 9 on Saturday evening; ixnd by post reaching the secretary on Monday next.

The championships won by Mr F. W. Fairoy, of kelson, at tho Sydney Royal Show were for tho best bullock in "all classes and for- the heaviest bullock on tho ground. Tho baist that won these honours for Mr Fairey was o shorthorn, purchased by him from' Messrs Newman Bros., of Nelson, amd bred ir. this district. It also won the first prize for the best Shorthorn class. There were large entries from all parts of Australia and competition was keen., The, Shorthorn heifer exhibited by Mr Fairey, -which' won the first prize in its class, was bred by Mr W. Mytton, oi'.Ngatimoti. ,The present is the sixth year that Mr,', Fairey, has exhibited cafctl© at the Sydney Royal Show. The first year he was defeated, but not discouraged, and each year since has seen his name figuring in the championships —the brace scored on Tuesday making his sixth-—a record Mr Fairoy should be proud of. Apart from tho success of his enterprise Mr _ Fairey says the winning of a championship against all comers directs attention to Nelson and is a splendid advertisement for the district. At the Sheep Show to be held at Sydney in June next. Mr Fairey intends exhibiting a pen of wethers bred by Mr George Hailes, of Takaka.

At a sitting of the Magistrate's Court at Motueka, on Monday, before Mr. J. S. Evans, S.M.. Harold Stanley Le Vans Slatter, aged 17 years, was charged with the theft of a motor bicycle, of the value of £30, the property of Frederick Henry Talbot. Evidence was given by F. Jl. Talbot and Constable Pidgeon. The accused pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court, Wellington, for sentence.—"Star.'.'

A meeting of ladies was hold at tho Diocesan Library yesterday afternoon to make arrangements for the coming Home Mission Festival. Representatives were present from a good many country districts, as well aA from city congregations. The Bishop of Nelson, who presided, reviewed the work of tho Home Mission Fund during the past j year. It waa decided to hold tho next Diocesan Festival, in aid of the fund ir-iiunod, on Wednesday, Juno 7th, in the Drill Hall, the use of which for the occasion has been granted by tho military authorities. After discussion it whs'resolved, in view of the present condition of \v:U", that the toa should be .somewhat plainer. -The. tea, as usual, will be fcllowed by a public; mooting. Mrs Melhuish was again _ap pointed secretary, and Mr A. E. Hedges treasurer. An executive committee was appointed to carry out the details.

A view emphatically opposed to Nmv Zealand raising internally loans for financing its share of the cost of the war was expressed at Auckland by Mr Harold Beauchamp, chairman of the Bank of Now Zealand. "I am of opinion that it would be inadvisable to raiso a lari;e loan for war purposes in the Dominion," declared Mr. Beauchamp, "and I think we should confine our efforts for the pi'esent'to the raising of moderate sums for the carrying on of public works and avail ourselves of the offer marie, to us in the early part of the. war by the Imperial Government to nrovide necessary funds for the carrying on of our share cf the war."

■ The mails which left New Zealand on March 2nd arrived in London on the 16th inst.

The Telegraph Ctfice jidvises that the telegraph service with Canton and all places in Kwangtung and Chekiang has been suspended.

A suggestion that New Zealand should establish an efficient air ne?t for defence pui-poses, emanates from the Hon. H. F. Wigram, M.L.C., of Chn si church.

Mention -was made at the Wellington "War Relief Association that some soldiers' wives were showing extravagance in housekeeping when. provided with relief. ■

Almost^ the whole of the .South Alncan Expeditionary Force is now in J-asii -Africa (says a Natal•-paper),; and there is much cause for satisfaction in the thought that already it? has enabled the; General in Command thereto relieve the pressure which has been so splendidly met by the British forces, who.have kept the flag-flying there tor so long against superior numbers. Ihe Expedition numbers 10,000 men, ■end-preparations are bei?tg made not only to repair wastage, . fbut to organise an additional- Mounted brigade to be .commanded by Brigadier- ■ General Brits, who will be remembered as the captor of Do Wet!

There has been published m several i\cw Zealand papers an account of a supposed case of leprosy contracted by tiie wife of a. Victorian soldier through wearing a sc ar f that her husband'had sent her from Egypt. .•; The Chief Quarantine Officer for South Australia says, however, that he has made inquiwes from the quarantine headquartern in Melbourne, and has received a reply that nothing is known of -tho matter.-■''-A case of leprosy must, according to law, be at once reported by the medical man attending the patient, so it is presumed, in the absence of such notification., that there is no foundation for tho story.

A correspondent of an Auckland paper calls attention to some prices that the' Holensville fishermen get at present.' They receive for flounder an average of about Ls 4d per dozen (for good fish) j for schnapper they must put four of the largest on (averaging about 91b each) for 2s; sometimes less". For mullet the fishermen find no market, with the exception of a few dozen at ls and less per dozen.

After months of weary waiting and loss of profits, the prices'of poultry foods have fallen (says the Christcimrch "Sun"). Pollard, bran, wheat, and oats are back to normal rates, and air who can. stock up at-present, prices cannot fail to do good 'business this coming winter. The price of marked eggs will keep up, while the demand for stock and eggs for hatching should ■be. very'great. Those poultrymen who have-kept their birds through tha trying time deserve some reward, and this year should enable them to catch up on last year's losses. ■•-.

The Whangarei "Advocate" of April 12th has the following:—"This morning," Mr W. M. Fraser, county engineer, showed us a bloom of the yellow flowering rata. Mr Fraser says that som.3 botanical authorities hold that .this. variety of rata is extinct. He thinks that the tree from which this bloom waß plucked at Maungatapero is the only one known in the North. Mr Fraser intends to have the tree protected if possible."

Ladies' Warm Winter Coats 23s 6d, 27s 6d, 37s 6d.. 49s 6d, 70s, etc., at Trathen's, where the good coats are. 1*

"Evidence of what can be- done in furtherance or the Recruiting Board's scheme when the task is taken in hand by an band of enthusiastic workers is afforded by the Ashley County Recruiting Committee,'of which Professor F. W. Haslam is the lion, secretary and organiser," said the Prime Minister in Wellington a few days ago. "The committee carefully checked its own roll in conjunction with the rolls of tho adjacent local bodies, with the result that it has added to the original roll supplied by tho Recruiting Board from the National Register nearly as many names as were- on it, in addition to transferring to their proper rolls the r.ames'of men that appeared in error on the Ashley County roll. The Ashley Committee then completed its very excellent work by having its amended find amplified roll reprinted for the use. of the canvassers who arc making personal appeals."

"I know nothing about it," said Mr J. A. Nash, Mayor of Palmers ton. North, in the Magistrate's Court when charged with .'attempting to cross ihe railway line Avhen the line was not clear. Defendant admitted that he might have committed.a breach, but unthinkingly. He did not recollect the allegod breach, but he would plead guilty. He had crossed the railway line many times daily, and when the trains were in tho enclosure. Possibly the breach referred to might have been ou one of those occasions. . "Yes, we aro getting very strict, you know," observed the Magistrate in fining his "Worship 5s and coses 2kV The Chief Magistrate leiV tho Court amidst- smiles,

There is a serious shortage of supplies m the.cycle trade at present, and some parts are practically unobtainable. Altogether, the situation is serious for those engaged in the trade, and some of the smaller men are facing the prospect of haying to close their doors unless supplios can be obtained. Those engaged in tho trade point out that, rims, which could previously be purchased at 3s to,3s 7d a pair, now cost ss, and cannot be got at that. Pedals, which were previously sold at. Is 8d a pair, iio\v cost 3s Cd. Chains have' increase J in price from 2s to 4s 9d and 5s oacli. These are wholesale, prices. Cycle spokes cannot bo got at all. A consignment of 20 gross, which was delivered to a wholesale house recently, vras sold out in a few minutes. Another consignment of two gross of red reflectors, which, came to hand one morning, was f>old out before lunch time. There is no great scarcity in tyres, but the price has increased about 10 per cent. owing to the increase in freight r&tes. Brakes are unprocurable, nnd Brooks'.? saddles and Blnemell's celluloid goods, such as pumps, mudguards, etc., arc off the market. Lamps and bells have gone up 20 per cent.

-■ Mr Sidney Kidman, "tho Australian cattle king" in a letter to Mr 'F- W. Fairey, of Nelson, mentions that it had been his intention, to visit New Zealand, but -unforeseen things had turned up which altered his arrangements. In, the course of his letter, he says :~ "We are having a very bad time on several of my stations. \Ve are experiencing the worst season 1 have ever known in man/ parts of Australia, and many people are quite out of water and their stock arc dying. I have lost over j 20,000 battle during the last twelve months." Ho also mentions that he sold 11,000 bullocks to the Australian Meat Company last year and they were delivered in three months. About 500 of • thorn« averaged ■,8931b5, and .another mdb weighed 8751b5, which will, give an idea, of what cattle are like in ■Queensland tmd other parts of Australia.

"You,have samples of misrepresentation, unparalleled in their, mendacity," said Mr M. J.Kirwan, M.L,A ; , at an election meeting at Brisbane recently. "One particular, newspaper/ he continued, "reminds me of a rather good story. Three small •boys* were coming, home from school in Brisbane during the- great strike. On their way, they found a fox terrier pup, which one of them carried along. At last the home of one of the boys \va_s. reached, and the question naturally arose, who should., take the "pup ?: The- boys decided.that the one who told the biggest lie 'shouldtake the dog. The first boy told ,a .pretty tall yarn and this was.' capped by, another." At this ■ .stage a mjnister of religion arrived, and was shocked to learn that a lying competition /was Jn'progress. 'Why,' he said, 'when I was your ago, I never told a lie.' vWifch tliat quickness of thought common to Aiistrahtm boys, one of them broke in with, 'Here, pass him llip pup.']' (Laughter.) "I know," said Mr Kirwan, ''Who would get the pup among the newspapers. (Laughter.) There would be no hesitation in passing ■*">.'j — —■ii —*j»