THE COLONIST. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1919. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 14957, 3 January 1919, Page 4

THE COLONIST. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1919. NEWS OF THE DAY.

A prohibition order against a local resident .was issued by Mr. J. .S. Evans, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

A man named Rjphard Patrick Welsh pleaded not guilty to a charge "of drunkenness- at the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. After hearing the evidence of the arresting constable, the Magistrate (Mr: J. S. Evans) convicted defendant, who had been before the court on a similar charge the previous day, and fined him £1, in default 4S hours' imprisonment. •

A small'steamer, having a red funnel with black top, which was reported ashore on Farewell Spit on Saturday floated off with the Hood tide.

A representative meeting of the re-! tail drapers and clothiers was held on' luesday morning, when it was unanimously decided to hold the weekly halfholiday on Saturday instead of Wednes-! day, and also to abolish the late night ! lhe change takes effect on Saturday ! January 11th. The movement is in keeping with steps taken in other parts ol the Dominion for the consolidation oi shopping hours. Over ten years ago a wealthy visitor became interested in the work of ' a Christchurch lady, whose. paintings are well known. The visitor tried unsuccessfully to induce the artist to «o Home to continue her studies, and has now; snown that.his interest was genuine bvl a bequest. & J \

Merchants of the Baltic Exchange, London have rejected with disgust a proposal telegraphed from the Hamburg firm of Neumann, one of the largest grain importers, of Germany, S g4 ?i to reopen the old «&: Fvoh'^l was posted in the from 3' bracketed with extracts •"?£ T?iL?,ei?na? Pl' ess ' Published in . he limes" m January, 1917. These included an article by Henry Net 3iW the W glorifying tL Sish sM P fr^ UthleSS .t^PetWng of

A heavy fall.of snow at this season or the year is an unpleasant novelty, but at Nokomai, near Kingston, on Saturday week, such an unwelcome visitation was experienced, says the Otago Daily Times." Very heavy flakes fell and in four hours there was a tall of five and a-half inches: All manner of fruit trees, heavily laden with fruit, were broken down and crops ™!«nrf grx^' r ere also fattened to the ground. Next morning there was i keen frost, followed !v nSsumme?

oflhlo Vie+i °f U l6 S- ignal service rendereel to the Empire by Australian soldiers of the termination o]" $S3ft es and of the approach of the Christ, mas season, Mr. Mahony (NSW> suggested in the Federal House of Representatives that the Government should exercise its clemency and grant a free pardon to soldiers of the A I F wh o have been imprisoned, and that all fines and penalties imposed on such men should bo remitted. The ActingIrime Minister replied that the offence of desertion was a most serious one and, pending the period of -demobilisation, it could not be lightfy regarded by the authorities of the Defence Department. After peace had been declared the: Government would give consideration to the claims for clemency for those soldiers who were undergoing punishment for beina. absfmL? ffUt leaVGi and other similar offences while on active service. .

. A glance at the records of the oriemal Anzaes. who have survived over lour years of war and are now return-' i? g ™ Australia, reveals the fact (says the Melbourne ."Age") that the great majority of the men followed outdoor occupations in. the days before they donned the khaki of the A.I.F Looking casually over the lists, it is noticed tnat one man was a seaman, another a carpenter, a third a labourer, a iourth a stockman. Only occasionally does the occupation of clerk appear alongside the name of one of the re-' turning men. "Professional soldier" is the description given by one of the men of his pre-war occupation, while the next man describes himself as a cordial manufacturer. Piano, tuning is a trade which one of the Anzaes fo£ lowed before he went to the war, while i another, who now wears the Military1 Medal, was an acrobat before he en-1 listed. Publican, farmer, cook and storeman—four occupations picked out at random from the record of trades by which the Anzaes earned their living' up to the time the war broke out indicate the diverse nature of the surroundings in which the men lived prior to going into camp. It would seem that the repatriation authorities should! not experience much difficulty in placing the Anzaes in civil employment. .

A Wairarapa < 'Daily 7 Times""reporter was unformed by a Wellington oKeS man that the majority of .shopkeepers in Wellington were Allowing tfieir stocks to become depleted, and iust carrying along on bare necessities, 3 as tit was expected that the next few weeks would see many lines come down in , price. ' Scapa Flow, to which the surrendered German warships have been taken is a land-locked naval base in the Orkneys, measuring ten miles by eight lying between the southern island of the group and Pomona, the chief island of the Orkneys. Scapa Flow was some years ago made headquarters of ona of the divisions of the Home fleet, with headquarters in the town of Scapa, at the head of Scapa Bay a • great indentation in the coast 'of Pomona. Kirkwall, the chief town of the Orkneys, is on the northern coast of the island, opposite Scapa, and on another bay which, .with Scapa Bay, here narrows the main and two lesser approaches to Scapa Bay, and it is to the area between these that the name Scapa Flow belongs, a reference of course, to the flow of the tide through the area. mi i • -. _

The suggestion made by the Hon. G. W. Russell that the Government may take over the control of certain articles in common use, has been described in Christchurch as "fantastical nonsense." This is well and good {remarks the "Wairarapa Age");, so far as the exploiter is concerned. But it is necessary, at times, in order that the interests of the public shall he conserved, that threats of Government intervention shall be holden out. The worst of these Ministerial utterances is that few people regard them seriously, and the profiteer continues his practices without the slightest fear of the consequences. If the Government wishes to show its sincerity, let it start upon the shipping^, and not upon tobacco and petrol.

Sir James Allen is reported to have stated in Dunedin that the question of . the women's right to sit in Parliament would undoubtedly be brought up ao-ain .nest session. He had voted against it on the previous occasion, but he did not intend to vote against it again The fact is (says the "Wairarapa Age ) that the Ministry has arrogated 1f 0 .«self the whole right to initiate legislation other than that of a Durely local character, and private members of Parliament are merely automata and ciphers. Sir James Allen, and his colleagues were probably annoyed that the amendment to the Legislative iUnracil Act, giving women the right to sit in Parliament, should have been proposed by a Labour member. This did not justify them, however, in vot- ; ing against the adoption of a principle jWith which they were agreed. And private members were certainly not conserving their own rights and privileges when they permitted Ministers jto flout the expressed will of Parlia- ; ment.

An account of an expedition by Australian destroyers up the River *Sepjk, m New Guinea, has just been released by the Australian Navy Department. The expedition took place in the very early days of the war, and was commanded by Commander C. Cumberledge. It was undertaken partly for survey purposes, although the primary objeot was to round up any German forces that might have escaped into the jungle.; With the assistance of native guides a shore party succeeded in tracking down and capturing a German officer.: They then proceeded in small vessels into only partly surveyed waters. Landings we're effe'cfecl along .the river, and several native villages were visited. The party found the natives very distrustful at first, but soon established friendly relations with them-. At one village which was visited by the expedition it was observed that the natives nearly all wore armlets constructed of the threaded vertebrae of a human being. The people apparently had never seen a white man, and the members of the expedition had a somewhat uneasy feeling when the natives crowded round them and touch-! Ed them on the arms and face with evident interest, not unmixed with curiosity. The villagers all carried Jong spears and bows and arrows, but they did not attempt-to use their weapons. In fact, they became quite friendly in- time, and parted on the best of terms with the visiting expedition.

Dr. Seigfried, of the French mission, in discussing with the New South Wales Chamber of Manufacturers recently the position of trade between France and Australia, said that the mission was prepared to recommend to ! the French Government the necessity for establishing a bureau in Sydney, where buyers could inspect samples and be put in touch with French manufacturers. This, he said, would be' done- immediately. . They would also recommend to the French people the necessity for sending direct representatives of the various firms, who could quote prices and take direct orders. The question of shipping was receiving their careful consideration.

A party of motorists travelling to Kumara the other day had a peculiar experience. When nearing Harley's farm they ran into a swarm of bees, which .seemed to take/a special liking to the'-'^bonnet of-the car, and a race then ensued between.the;bees and £he car, the occupants taking:good care to muffle themselves up: Eventually the car outwitted its pursuers, and not till then did the" passengers dare to peep from their hurriedly provided cover and brush off whatever bees had settled. \

A- "mere man" who walked into a Wellington post office the other day to send a telegram away (says an exchange), had to1 wait quite a long time before he was attended to because two of the giils behind the counter were engaged in an interesting discussion as to whether they should send out nnd purchase a shilling's worth of loose chocolates or a box of Cadbury's. What the "mere man" said to nimself about, the telegraph department employing girls, is not really fit for publication. ■ In the course of his speech of welcome at Auckland to Lieutenant Bassett, V.C., who returned on Christmas Eve, the Hon. A. M. Myers stated that New Zealand had won no fewer than 15 Victoria Crosses, of which four had been gained by soldiers of the Auckland Military District, seven by Wellington, and two each by Canterbury and Otago. The King had referred to the fact that the greatest number of Victoria Crosses in proportion to the number of troops had been gained by Australia and New Zealand. Their hero guest was one of the men who had distinguished themselves among all the heroes who had taken part in that campaign. Lieutenant Bassett had won that which was priceless.