NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14766, 8 May 1918, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

j-ne Bishop of Nelson yesterday paid a visit to the Territorial camp at Tapawera, and received an excellent report of the behaviour of the men from Canon Dart, who is in camp as chaplain.

Mr E. TJ. Just, the recently-appoint-ed organising secretary of. the New Zealand Educational institute, is expected to arrive in Nelson, to-day, and during his stay he hopes'to meet the teachers of the district, and also possibly hold a public meeting, when he Aviil deal with educational topics.

An appropriation meeting of the "Nelson People's Terminating Building Society was held last night, 'me member successful in the baliot was Mr James Robertson, the holder of five shares, entitling him to a loan of £500 free of interest. i*

Henry William Reynolds, of Christchurch, has been convicted and bound over to good behaviour for publishing seditious statements. He had also broken a promise not to exhibit seditious matter in his window, and he was required to refrain from" this practice.

Another increase in the retail prices of.imported bottled spirits, wines and beers has been fixed by the Wellington licensed victuallers, and has beeu brought into operation.

. The cage beacon on Oke Rock, at the entrance to Pelorus Sound, has Been carried away by the exceptionally rough weather experienced in the Sound lately The beacon will be replaced as soon as possible. .

Some of the boys of the Burnham Industrial School, which is to be closed, are still in the institution, but they are being drafted to reformatory institutions in other parts of the Dominion, and soon all will have gone.

A meeting of the ladies of the Cathedral and All Saints' congregations will be held. at the Bishop's Library, Nile street, this afternoon, to make arrangements, for the forthcoming Home Mission Fund Festival. The Bishop will address the meeting.

John Gust-ay Blinn, a German prisoner on Somes Island, for thefts committed ivhile he was receiving treatment at the Wellington Hospital, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

Ihe meeting of representatives ofdairy companies from all parts of the Dominion, to be held at Wellington on. ; the 9th inst., is for the purpose of dis- < cussing the sale of butter during the coming season, and to afterwards lay their proposals before Ministers. ■ The charge of alleged indecent exposure on the part of a town resident Avas heard yesterday afternoon by Messrs W. Wallace Snodgrass and J. [Clegg, Justices, Senior-Sergeant Barrett prosecuting and Mr J. P. Hayes defending. The accused elected to be dealt with summarily. The Court was cleared and all witnesses ordered from Court. The Bench during the taking of evidence visited the scene of the alleged offence. After hearing the evidence of both sides the Bench dismissed the case. As the case for the prosecution broke down and the circumstances were such that a mistaken idea could quite easily be formed by the young children, who were the principal witnesses for the prosecution, of a perfectly innocent action it would in our opinion be a hardship to the accused if his name was published with so grave a charge attached thereto. We abstain from giving : that publicity. ■ It is notified in the Gazette that, in! accordance with the wisli of His Majesty the King, His Majesty's Birth-1 day will be observed this year on the' actual date, June 3. His Majesty de-; sires that in the matter of ceremonial observance the precedeut of last year i should be strictly followed in ail respects—namely, flags should be flown, but no dinners, reviews, salutes, or1 other celebration should take place. The remarkable suitability of the Auckland province for fruit culture is! being conclusively demonstrated at the iNational Apple Show (declares the; Star"). While there are certain varieties of apples and pears which can • be grown to perfection in Auckland asj yell as the majority of the stone fruits ' it is probably in citrus culture that; *"*„■. greatest development will take place. Oranges of a quality rivalling that of imported fruit can be grown in very many parts, and lemons thrive everywhere. There is a great future before lemon production, in this part of: the Dominion, when growers are told! how to cure this fruits-information they have asked for in vain for many years. J

Irofessor-E. C. Pickering, Director ot the Harvard College Observatory announces the discovery by Wolf of Heidelberg of a new star in the constellation Monoceros. Its position for 1918 is R.A. 7h. 22m. 475., declination bdeg 30min. 34sec. south. Its photographic magnitude on discovery, m February, .was B*. Search made on Harvard • College Observatory plates snow the nova on Ist, January as 5 4 magnitude, on 4th February '■ as B*9 mag. and on 17th February as 9.0 mag. 11ns is^the first bright nova discovered since 1912. The nova is slightly to tho east and near the middle of the line joining binus and Procyon. Dr W W Campbell, Director of the Lick Observatory has telegraphed to Harvard that the spectrum by Moore and Paddock has reached nebular stage consisting of extremely bright bands of hydrogen, nebulium, moderately strong absorption near centres :& green bands" y'-J 8 P rol?able that the nova will be difficult to observe with New Zealand telescopes, and this once more shows the great need for a suitable telescope in New Zealand. *

j A foreign visitor to the National Apple khow at Auckland declared that tne fruit exhibited would compare more than favourably with fruit produced in any part of the world. He "was quite prepared to agree with the secretary of the itoj^l Horticultural Society of Great Britain that Nelson Stunners Wh?i "S c fiDf- St £ c had ever tasted- \\ nile the national, apple shows of this country mamly demonstrate the remarkable suitability of our soil and climate for the production of hi^h, quality _ fruit (says- the "Star"), they emphasise the fact that fruitgrowers; are doing little to convert the apple from an item of luxury into a common article of diet. They can produce the h-utt, but they still fail to realise the importance of standardising their produce, marketing it in an up-to-date nianner, and facilitating the purchase or it at a reasonable rate. There is no export trade at the present time, and tiere is »_ heavy production in moro^ than one .'district. Just the time "it would be thought to encourage increased consumption by givino- the public a ready means of obtaining the rniiL, in case and naif-case lots delivered at their Moors. May the present line* show of New Zealand iruit stimulate .growers to the adoption of improved ,-, marketing methods, and thereby build up the trade waiting at their own doors instead of looKiiio; alone toi the export trade to make their undertaking .profitable.

No jubilee plunger, degenerate, or! drunken "waster, ever squandered his' father's heritage like our legislators have allowed and even encouraged the destruction of this magnificent inheritance bequeathed to their care," said Mr J. Christie, when dealing with, the forestry question in his annual speech :at the Clutha Farmers'. Union meeting.

A drastic reduction in the output of paper used by the London "Times" s about to be enforced. The daily1 sale will be limited to 120,000 copies, and to make up for the serious loss of revenue the price will be restored to threepence, at which the "Times" was sold from 1861 to 1913, -when it was rer. Uce«;.v° two Pence. Those who require the limes" will be obliged to sign a rationing form, and no copies will be supplied to anyone who does not undertake to share the journal with at least ■one other reader. The London Sunday newspapers are all increasing their prices from Id to 2d, an increase which tue lelegraph" has just made, after 64 years at the smaller charge.

Some criticism of the policy of the Fruitgrowers' Federation v.as heard at tlxe conference at Auckland last week isays the "New Zealand Herald"). Mr R. P. Hudson, M.P. for JVlotueka, said tiiat instead of taking a wide outlook and preparing and developing foreign markets, the federation had devoted its energies to such matters as reducing the prices of materials. He strongly advocated the development of home and foreign markets. . Replying on behali ot the directors, Mr J. Longton, Canterbury, said that, such criticism was not waranted. As no shipping space was available, the federation's activities wove limited, but inquiries had been, made as to the creation of new markets' in j.r.din, J<iva and America, and it-was I in .1 position to advise exporters as j soon as snipping became available. "What is the definition of a fruitgrowers' association?" asked a delegate at the conference of the New' Zealand JJ ruitgrowers' Federation (says, the JSew Zealand Herald"). Some are trading concerns and seme merely debating societies." ■ The matter under . discussion was whether the delegates to the conference should be bona-fide growers and members of fruitgrowing associations. One representative of- a proprietary company declared that such .companies were dependent upon the growers. If growers were successful, jso were the companies; if not, the comj panics would not prosper. The proposal was rejected by the conference. The last ballot hit Woodville rather ; hard, as it caught the Mayor, town clerk, a bank official, a solicitor, and .many other prominent men. j I A lady who travelled to Australia on ' the ship bringing put two hundred and forty wives to our returned soldiers, tells this dramatic incident; says the '' Western Mail.'' There were two women on board, who, at first, were not 'at all sympathetic. But as they began ■ to-know each other they realised each Iliad the qualities which make for admiration and became friends. One day ; caatting intimately upon the deck, cacti j showed the other the photograph of her : husband. It was the same man. : An appellant before the Military beivice Board at Palmer ston iMorth began to tell the Board why . "in justice to himself" his appeal should be adjourned .sine die. "In justice to yourself!'.' isaid Mr'McLaren, one of ihe members |of the Board, "what about the justice to the 70,000 or 80,000 men who have already gone ? How do ym feel about thatr" Appellant: "I leave that to the Board." Mr McLaren: "Between 7000 and 8000 married men, many ot them with children, have gone. How about them ?" The appellant said that many of his neighbours had had their appeals adjourned sine die, but the Board declined to discuss this aspect of the matter.

Ho was a smart man -with a smart ™}f?.i ...tort the latter - was just a little bit too ■'communicative' with a'" isci'Thhour (says the "New ZeaJand'Tiriies"). Having got the cute advice of a- . re-kjiirco-'ul friend this man successfully "cii>ped" himself so as to delude the doctors on their first medical examination when lie went forward as a reservist. He appeared to have a dilated nearu or something of thai; kind and was put down as a Ci\ it was unfortunate that he confided to his wife for sJio gleefully related al! the circumstances to the neighbour. The latter communicated with the military authorities who hastily 'summonetl the astute "cold-footer" to a second medical examination, with the insult that he is now in camp. He professes to be an outraged individual who has not been fairly dealt with. Why, he indignantly asks, could ne not have been toid in the first instance that he was a fit man?