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Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14648, 28 February 1918, Page 2

During the past week (says the ''Herald) Napier has seen some great arguments concerning political and sectarian questions. The Jiev. Howard Elliott addressed a packed ax-dience at the Theatre Eoyal and another audience assembled to hear Mr Parry in contradiction of the suggestion that the Catholics had amalgamated with the Labour Party. The topic has been on nearly .er/erybody'-s tongue for -/lays. After a lengthy discussion in-Hastings street on merits of the controversy one Svell-known citizen was heard to remark "These religious arguments make one miserable. I'm an atheist, thank God."

' >s&-'*3&s At the conference of civil engineers at Wellington, Mr. G. T. Murray, A.M.1.C.E., read tome notes on the patent "Lightning Crasher and Pulveriser," a machine that is established at Devonport. Auckland, for the pulverising and transforming into manure of the ""refuse of the place. At present the machine was treating tlie refuse of a population of 9000 (1760 houses), actually between six and seven tons a weok. After beinj; put through the pulveriser the stuff "was sold readily at 7s 6d per ton. The points that commended the machine were: (1) Its low capital cost (£1000); (2) smail annual maintenance charge v£ls for- every 1000 tons treated); (3) can be worked by one labourer; (4) absence of offonsivo smells; (5) smail area of plant; (6) value of product for mnaure, wliich on analysis showed that in nitrogens, phosphates and potash it was superior to good farmyard manure. Mr Murray stated that the cost of working tho rnachme ran out at Is 5d per ton. Tins and paper had to be removed from the rubbish before it was admitted to the pulveriser.

A great irrigation scheme is Hearing completion in the litiverina district of IS ew South Wales (says the Mcl bourne Age.") In another twelve months or so the whole of the flow cf the Murrumbridgee.river .will be harnessed and made available for the purnoso of intonso culture. The great" Burinjuck dam has already piled up the Murrumbidgee waters into an immense inland sea; miles of irrigation channels Wo conducting them on to fruitful soils, and in their- wake (all within the "past tew years) prosperous townships of irrigation settlers ha^e heen dotted over the countryside. But the Burinjuck dam is hardly finished. There is yet a deal of masonry and upper reinforced concrete to lay in place, and it is expected that eighteen months will eJapso before it will be able to deal, as plannod with the whole of the Murrumbrulgee catchment. When \t does, the vast inland sea it is forming will carry a stupendous amount of water —rou"lily, 33,000,000,000 cubic feet or" a greater yolume than it contained in Sydney harbour.

i'he unique position that has arisen at -Home in connection with the food rationing scheme has hardly .yet been realised m New Zealand, where there are still ample stock-s to carry on. A Wellington resident has received from .us relatives at Home a card which sets uut the restrictions being placed on all menus. Tho regulations uro;e a more oxtensivo use of fresh vegetables and rriut, and in particular ci: potatoes, jvhicn are, it is explained., not rationed. .Observance- of the-prescribed rations a-rthout privation is enabled owing to! the success of the potato crop hut wastage mast not be practised. One of the terms of the scheme is the es;ciiange of bread and meat, which atiows any person to take iialf a pound of meat over and above his ration in exchange for half a pound of bread, to be deducted from his broad ration. Economy m regard to the consumption of milk and, cheese' is advised and it is pointed out that theso foods should be reserved for persons for whom they are indispensable. In particular, the "need ror economy is stressed in the use of ihc staple foods—bread, flour and other cereals, meat, butter, margarine, lard., and sugar. > *> . >

Consenting on the Oci-i iurneJ the Dunedh: "Star" say. .-"it S not surpnsing that the people cf Cantorbury ana tho Coast have at last umtea wiun promising cnllmsiasm to urge the Government to complete tliu Utira tunnel without further exoonsive (loiay. • he completion' of the Midlaivl jvu.hvay would incur. a great deal more than provincial advantages; it would mean a national service of considerable ■imj:orta7ico The question cf i transport warrants tho speedingup ~ the-Department's dawdling efforts lon the work of cor.s traction." Tlie real ■ Jv-oafcncM of the Public Works srstem a /Paland w tte absolute impo--?nco.of- tap private member of Parliament, and the absolute rottenness of nolrtica, conditions m matters of this *md. The first sod of the Midland Ka hvay, wa, turned 31 yearn n C o, and a IViimstenal aoclavatibn. was then made that it woUd be ficished in .ten rears, wonder the people of Canterbury and Westland are. disgusted at tlie de"lay over the work, and'at t!:e deplorable va&te of public money. It is to be honed that the Canterbury agitation y.-'!i palyamse a hopeless Government iMo the practice of a policy of real national eftciency and economy in re-' s^ect to essential public Works "