NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 151035, 29 July 1919, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Iho Telegraph Department advises that the steamers Maori, Mararoa, Pateena, Briton, Paloona, and Port Victor were within wireless range yesterday. The secretary ,of the Education Board reported at yesterday's meeting that great difficulty was being experienced in securing competent teachers for the lower positions and back-block districts. A young Maori named Turoa Kimiona was convicted at Auckland and fined fcl7 for assaulting a woman named Fenna Vuganovich by striking her on the-head with a beer bottle. The Irouble arose through accused trying to leave a Serbian eating house without paving ior his meal. . H *

The Imperial Government has presented the Union Government of South' Africa with railway material to the' value of £500,000 for national service rendered. ' . i ' The Wanganui Education Board has. decided to urge the Government to provide an appropriate JPeace momento for the school children. At Auckland last week an old man named Henry Beer was convicted and fined £5. for selling locally manufactured grapewine withput a license. There seems to be a contest between the Hastings Magistrate and "scorching", motorists. Another big batch had to pay fines of £5 each and costs one day last week. Probably the motorists will be the first to get tired. One man who had also been convicted of drunkenness fared thus: For being drunk while in charge of a motor car, £3 with 7s costs; for driving at a dangerous speed, £3 with £3 12s""2d-costs; for exceeding the1 speed limit, £5 with 7s costs. ! Miss Rosina Buckinan, whose won-' derful singing aroused such enthusiasm at the opening of the Beecham opera season ,at. Drury Lane, related the following topical and amusing story at a reception meeting (states an English1 exchange). "There are sounds sweeter even than music just now," said Miss Buckman, her eyes twinkling. Then, seeing she had arrested the. attention of her hearers, she went on, demurely: "Circumstances, you see, alter cases. For instance,. I heard of a young man who, when his wife was performing one day recently upon the piano with exquisite taste and skill, burst into the ' room unceremoniously and held up his hands in mute expostulation. 'Mary,' , he cried, as she looked up in surprise, I 'why on earth don't you stop playing for a bit? Great Scott, where is your bump of appreciation ? Don't you want to listen to tne sound of our half ton of coal rattling down into the cellar?' " The coloured dress suit for men has positively arrived. "After four years' uegloct," says a leading London tailor, "the dress suit is coming into its own again. And we aro receiving inquiries tor coloured dress suits. Several such orders have already been executed. From what I can see the dark-blue dress suit is going to be very popular. The suit is made of dark-blue cloth, the coat lapels being covered with black silk as or old, and black silk is also used to cover the buttons. A stripe, in black silk braid, is carried down the outside of the trousers leg, and the general effect of the suit is very smart. Other shades for which a demand is expected are dark purple and dark chocolate brown. Whether the new taste will go as far as crimson, sky blue or orange yellow, i cannot say, but, anyhow, evening parties of the future look like being brighter." & Isolation in the far-away Pacific does not always mean deprivation of the comforts of modern life, as a recent letter from that outpost of Empire, the Ifi a j .. ?* Nauru > sfaws (says the Adelaide Advertiser"). It is the richest island in the world, though a threehours' walk -will take a pedestrian right round it. The highest point is but 200rt above sea-level, and the vegetation is extremely luxuriant. The mainstay of the island is the mining of phosphates, the basis of that valuable manure superphosphate. In this connection one of the greatest engineering enterprises of the world has been born. Out in the lonely Pacific, the island contains all the latest devices in the engineering world. The settlement is lighted by electricity, and served by a complete sewerage plant, themachinery of which supplies the residents with ice daily. It is, in fact, -i miniature modern town In every way, with practically allan up-to-date city's advantages except perhaps places,* of amusement such as theatres and picture shows. It seems to have been forgotten that Tom Walsh, the Melbourne Bolshevik secretary of the Seamen's Union, who has had fines aggregating, "£3OO imposed tupon him this week for inciting to strikes, won notoriety some two or three years ago by marrying another international trouble-maker, Adela Pankhurst, of the Shrieking Sisterhood that led the hosts of window-smashers in London before the rail war began. Adela's elder sister had to bolt from England, taking refuge' in France. Adela came over to Australia, and as the result of her agitation in Melbourne she was sent to gaol. Much about the same time, Tom Walsh was also imprisoned for sedition. A fellow feeling made them so wondrous kind to each other that they married. Mrs Walsh is kept at home with a handful of Walsh junior, but there is no sign of settling down on the part of Tom Walsh, who seems to be more of an irreconcilable than ever. —"Feilding Star." A receut cablegram announced that Enver Pasha and Talaat Bey, Turkish leaders during the war, had been sentenced to death. Discussing this matter .the other day, Mr Justice Chapman said the fact thatthey had been so sen~.fenced in their absence did not mean 3 much. "They are probably stowed s away in some neutral country, safe for the present." he said. "In any case, » the sentence is not so deadly as it looks. t By Turkish law, as under most systems > save our own, a criminal who does not _ appear on nis trial may be condemned in .absentia. This has really very little efl feet. Under that system there is a 1 period of limitation for every crime, and j if a man is not arrested within that period he cannot be tried. Limitation « for criminal prosecution is, save in a ' very few eases, unknown to English law. 5 When a man has been condemned in his f absence, under Turkish law, his subsequent arrest annuls the judgment so i passed ; its value is that it has the effect i of stopping the running of limitation. . and that is the real reason wh y the . courts are asked to pronounce it."

i A meeting of the Lady .Liverpool Committee will be held h> the Mayor's room to-morrow afternoon A special meeting of the Nelson Hockey Association will be held in Opie's rooms (upstairs) this evening. ; It was stated at the annual meetingl of the Stoke Fruitgrowers' Association that there was a considerable improvement in the handling of fruit on the steamers. Orders had been given for. the use of trays instead of slings, and; the watersiders had exercised greater care in the actual handling. '. . . ! An interesting list of coming events ■ under the auspices of the Motueka j branch of the. Returned Soldiers' Asso-i ciation is advertised. On Monday,! August 4th.'the annual ball will be held; at Motueka. A complimentary bali to' friends of the returned soldier in the Takaka-Collingwood district will be held at Takaka on Friday, the Bth. In the Institute, Takaka, on)- Tuesday, the 26th, the R.S.A. "Digger Minstrels" Company will give an entertainment; and next day, Wednesday, August 27th, also at Takaka, there will be an R.S.A. ' football match, Motueka v. TakakaCollingwood, to be followed by a dinner and a public dance. The following are the officers of the Stoke Fruitgrowers' Association for the ensuing year-.—President, Mr A. Gilbert (re-elected) ; vice-president, Mr H. ' Pickup; secretary, Mr F. Hart (reelected) ; treasurer, Mr F. H. Every • committee, Messrs J. Sufcton, F. J. Hall' A r £; AUP°rt» and J. Biggar; auditor' \ ,Mr T. Scott (re-elected), j ! I ; A lengthy discussion took place at a| ; meeting of the Auckland Farmers'1 ( Union in committee regarding the organisation of the union generally. It was asserted that there was an urgent need of more direct political action, and that the present trend was in the direction of class politics as opposed to party politics. Speakers urged that candidates should be put forward definitely, ■pledged to the interests of the union, ; and that until this was done little or no • progress would be made. Labour had j recognised that only by working together and getting representatives into , Parliament could any object foe achieved bimilarly, if the Farmers' Union were to attain any of its objects it was absolutely essential that the body should be re- ! presented in Parliament. i A travelling Medical Board has been appointed to journey over New Zealand to classify and '"board" discharged and undischarged soldiers, in accordance with instructions laid down by BrigadierG ren£ rai- D; McGavin, Director-General ot Medical Services. The constitution or the board will be:—Colonel J M Christie C.B.E. (president), and Lieut.Colonel E. E. Porritt. • During the hearing of a charge of theft against a man and a woman at the Wellington Magistrate's Court the other day, one of the witnesses, a claims clerk in a shipping company, said that on the' Port Lyttelton a great deal of pilfering must have occurred, because the claims the company met on shipments was equal to 9s per ton, and the company had paid out the sum of £900. He said it was his worst experience for many years. i "New Zealanders made splendid fighters in the air," said Colonel Bettington, in his lecture on "Aviation" at Wellington last week, "and they did marvel- , lously good work. I mention the names •■ I B*"andon;:and Park, amongst others. j Ihe New Zealander is left a good deal to his own resources when he is young, and ,he generally is a much better man in the air than the average Londoner. He learns to think and to act; quickly in his ordinary life, so that when he becomes an aerial fighter he has more^initiative and more general capacity than the others. Tlie. same remark applies to all the other colonial fighters—they were splendid men.'? • Dee and Sons' quality Boots and bhoes making headway. Quality footwear is our watchword, and should be yours. Big selection smart styles unbeaten prices. Our expert boot doctor on the premises.* These are times when parents should look for Boys' quality Clothing. Dee and Sons building strong on quality clothing. Compare our prices, and dont forget quality comes first with ■ us.~ Our Tailored Box Suits are nearin" some tailor-mades. Our prices save you £2 if you watch your buying. Big ' i°A S OOw fr°m ' no tr™We got well httecL We are suit experts.—Dee and oons.""