NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 15040, 7 April 1919, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Motueka Borough Council has decided to donate £25 towards the cost of the peace celebrations at Motueka.

A poll of ratepayers was taken at Taumarunui this week for loans amounting to £51,000 for electric lighting, technical school, main road construction, road-making plant and other improvements, but all were rejected owing largely to the movements for the freehold tenure.

Owing to the present fluctuation of trade it has-been decided to postpone the big^ industrial exhibition to be held in Christchurch until the end of next year

At the last meeting of the New Plymouth Repatriation Committee the secretary reported that he had been interviewed by a soldier's wife who had her house sold over her Eead. He showc-d her that under the War Regulations she could meantime remain in the house whether it was sold or not. This sne is doing, and the purchaser Is now cooling his heels until he can find her. another home.

The Christehurch "Sun" states that the Court of Bishops which sat in Dunedin recently to hear the appeal of the Yen. C. H. Gosset from Bishop Julius's decision on the charges of breaches of ecclesiastical laws which were laid against the Rev. C. E. Perry, of St. Michael's, Ohristchurch, has decided to defer its decision until it has an opportunity to confer again when the General Synod is sitting in Napier, about the end of this month.

Oue of the effects of the shortage of timber in England, due to military needs, has been the use of a much inferior class of wood for packing-cases for overseas consignments of drapery. The head of a well-known Auckland firm mentioned to a reporter that it had suffered considerable loss by damage to goods thus packed, through mildew and dampness from the sap in the timber brought out by'the heat of the holds! Jhe principal goods -which had been damaged were hosiery and woollenknitted wear.

« ™ f<F igllts ago (says an exchange) a^clog. It. was assumed that some prowling canine had. received this SSdS 8 aT? 6 haQds °fa holder This was not the case hiw wV,bIV U"i c mi^^er S ta?ding bl tween a dog and a motor-car. The dot Em^n"? **♦ °f j*6 went ove? him and at the same time one of the car's tyres blew out. The dog got in from the car without much damaffand 3^f yffi;^ ****** -hat kind

vThe Westmoreland, carrying the first draft of the Maori-Pioneer .Battalion, arrived on Saturday, and was given a typical Maori welcome by representatives of all tribes,' says a Press wire from Auckland. John Thompson, a well-known resident of Killinchy, was tiirown out of a • trap on Saturday ,< and killed instantaneously.—Press Association. i A most successful concert organised by Mr H. J. Harris was held at the iiappy Valley Schoolroom on Saturday night in aid of the Macnamara relief nind, when the sum of £11 4s was realised. A party of Nelson ladies and gentlemen made the journey out, and an en-1 ]oynbl6 evening resulted. Songs wecei given by Misses Cass, StapjK and Oldershaw, Messrs Woodward, Harris, We'bley, and Crawford-Watson. Miss Dayman played the accompaniments. During the evening a quarter of mutton &nd a pair of fowls were auctioned by Mr Harris, realising a good sum.

The White Star steamship Cufic, which' arrived at Auckland on Tuesday, carries a complete armament for use against seen in these waters. In addition to a hostile attack. She also carries two gune a type of which have not yet been seen m these waters. In addition to a in- g? n on the POOP-deck, she has two 110 m bomb-throwers on the port and! starboard aft. These guns are in charge ot a trained man, and their purpose is o^i 3StKO?, submarines. They fire a r^™ "> and the S^ns nave a range of 1500 yards., When firing at a sub-! marine the object is not to hit the sub-: marine but to drop the bomb about one hundred yards off the craft, and the concussion of the explosion under water is, sufficient to destroy the attacking vessel. The-gun has an elevation of 40 degrees, and a degression of 20 degrees,! and is fired on the same principle as the; ordinary gun, with the exception that 1 the charge is placed in the breech above the shell, and the shell is ignited through a touch-hole in the breach. I

A Masterton soldier, writing of his experience in the trek through Belgium to German soil, states that at Tamines i he and a mate were billeted with a lady whose husband was one of 360 citizens of the town who were taken by the Ger- i mans in 1914, for attempting to defend their homes against the invading Huns ' and callously shot. AH who were not killed outright were finished off with the "bayonet. "We were," he said, "shown a roll of honour of the martyred citizens of Tammines. This lady had her only child, a girl of sixteen, taken by the Huns. She told us: she saw little children shot and bayoneted. She said the sights were simply awful." j

Wednesday only! Sale specials for one clay only. "Star" Pattern Handmade Lace, edging 2£in., insertion 2in., All Is 2d yard, Wednesday only.—Auckland Clothing and Drapery Co.*

The booze business wants boys. Have you got one to spare? Of course you haven't. Vote for the Boys Thursday, April 10th.*

Grave fears are being entertained by stockmen that the spread of cattle tick jn North Auckland and other parts is likely to become a serious menace to the southern districts. Mr Lysnar, of Gisborne, who recently toured the north of Auckland, is the authority for stating that the area of the menace is extending rapidly, and the Poverty Bay Subprovincial Executive recently passed a resolution urging that a dip, be erected at Opotiki as a protective measure for the East Coast.