Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1908. THE TERRITORIAL- ARMY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13726, 15 August 1908, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1908. TH E TE R R ITOR IAL- ARMY.

The results of the first-encamp-meh| of the new TerrHj^mi, rorces in England must lie ver^Miscourgging and disappointing to Air. Haldane, the Secretary for. War. Ten days tfg[aj;ne ifables informed us that the 1 »srWgth of the battalions of .the London force enca^nped on Salisbury* P/ain averaged only 388 oi^t of an/establishment oi 1009, whil^ A cable received yesterday stated that during the second A weeVs training the! numbers dwindled until some battalions were mere skeletons

and others were fifty per cent, below the strength of last week. The new force comprises a very important Vlement in Jtfr. Haldane's attempt to solve the, problem of a national army without compulsory military service. The strength of the Regular Army lias been reduced by some 22,000 men, the Militia' force has been done away with, and the Volunteers have been disbanded and the Territorial Force substituted. Recruiting for the new force .commenced in April last, and 300,000 j men was the strength aimed at. Mr. Haldane gave himself two years from March 31st before it was reasonable to expect that the force should be complete, but by the end of June well over half the required number had enlisted, and he hoped to reach the full number earlier than two years. So far everything seemed satisfactory, but enlistment is of little use unless it is followed up by systematic training, and here, at the first encampment, we find less than

two-fifths of the men going into camp and half of those leaving when the first week's training was 6ver. The newspapers commend the fine material, but deplore the smallness of the numbers. Apparently it is the pick of the old Volunteer force which has remained loyal. That, however, is only a surmise. At any rate there must be some fault in the system which caused men to be slow in enlisting, and, having enlisted, to fail to follow up the prescribed'

duties. A writer in the Daily Mail

attributes the poor recruiting to the action of those who continue, to preach in season .antl. out of season the doctrine of compulsory service, whether it is under the guise of conscription pure and simple, whether it be compulsory military service, or'com^ifeory military training. ' of the highest patriotic motives, they inculcate into their audiences the duty of every able-bodied man so to train himseji; aa to be fit i to take his place in the ranks of the military forces of the land, Tvhether.it be Regular or Territorial. They urge' that a 4aw;.sh,all be promulgated compelling every man at a certain age to .undergo some form of military training. And in this, thfe writer quoted thinks, * lies the danger. The voluntary system is being decried by the advocates of universal military service, and tens of thousands of fine young fellows are being urged upt to join the Territorial Army, but to wait until a law compels everyone to do so. Whether the recruiting was actually hindered in this way may or may not be, hut at remains to be explained why the pick of the old ■> Volunteers who did join have "gone cold*' on %\ie new system by absenting themselves from the encampment altogether or only remaining a ( week there. Unless a satisfactory, explanation can be j giyen» and the* cjnis6 be' removed, j it would, probably, .be better- to revert to the old 3ystem, which was more popular and yielded better results.* The only other alternative is compulsory training, and tliht, Ye feel sure, will not be popular* The writer in .the Daily Mail says that " the one thing to make the continuous system'perfect, the; establishment? of more drill halls, more instructors, more rifle, ranges. There is not the slightest doubt! that, with the imutipucajtion qf these and the grant of certain legitimate privileges, such- as the Territorial Medal and some £6rm 6i- old-age pension^, the Territorial Army ere long will be filled with the manhood of the country and firmly established for all time in the hearts of our people," In the meantime the situation is somewhat Bierl6\Jß, for it means that every tlay the present condition of things continues the nation is becoming les,s efficient from a military point of Tiew. ./

Messrs Mnrtagh and' Street have withdrawn their application asking for permission to erect boiling down works at the New Plymouth abattoirs. Owing" .to the indisposition of District Judge Haselden, the sitting of the District Court which was to have been held in New Plymouth yesterday has been postponed till next Friday. The Hon. R. McNab told a Timaru reporter that so far as he was able to judge, the Socialists could not hope to win more than nve seats in New Zealand, and with that as their maximum he could not see the force of the argument advanced by some people that the Government ana Opposition should coalesce ' in order to combat the Socialists. -, ■ • r , • The number of men engaged on Government co-operative works at the date of the latest report published in the Labour Department's Journal was 5744. Of 3211 onrailway works, 207 were on the Stratford-Ongarue line, 7 on the Mount Efijmont line, and 955 on the Main Trunk line. There were 2533 men on road works, including 206 I in Taranaki district. Mr. E. F. Hemingway, treasurer of the Roberts (Stratford) relief fund has been notified that Mfr. T. Roberts' -application for' admission to the Jubilee Institute for the blind has been, approved by the trustees of that institution. The accommodation, however, being' fully occupied at the present time, Mr. Roberts cannot be received immediately. * There was a large attendance at the fortnightly Band of Hope gathering in Whiteley Hall last night. Mr.W. Coad in a short address impressed upon his hearers the necessity of building up character. He gave instances of how drink had kept men in the back ground who would otherwise have been in front. A.n interesting programme was gone through, including the following items "Take it while you are young, boys," Mr, Campbell; song, Gideon; recitation, Mr Marett; violvn duet, Misses Johnson and Chattertqn, song, Miss Johnson. A humorous.dialogue "Mrs Goodwoman's Dilemma" terminated the gathering. Subscriptions amounting to £4 7s lOd have been received by the secretary of the Education Board (Mr P. S. Whitcombe) from schools in the district in response to the Canadian Government's appeal for pennies from school children to add to the funds for the purchase of the famous battlefield of Quebec, the Plains of Abraham, as an Imperial memorial. The individual amounts are as follows (given in* the order in which they were received) : — Waihi School Is 3d, Kohuratahi 9d, Huiroa 2d, Tarurutangi 2s 7d,' Lower Mangorei Is 4d, Lincoln 2s 9d, Kaimata 2s 9d, Bungarehu 3s, Waiongona 2s 6d, Huiakama 2s 9d, Kahui 2s, Salisbury 2s 3d, Puniho Is lid, Raupuka Is sd, Douglas Is, Lincoln 2s 6d, Egmont Village 4s, Whangamomtma 10dT Cardiff 3s 2d, Uruti 3b, Wait -End 10s 6d, Lower Mangorei^s.FUaroy jfaJd, Stagey 2s Id, Upper Kent SITWmS '2s, Bell Blpck. Is 6d, Awatuna 2s 6d, Mahoe Is Id,' Tongaporutu Id, Pukearuhe lid, Ratapiko Is lid; Oaonut 4s 6d, Mangahume 2s sd, Frankley 4s 4d, Puriiwhakau sd, . Inglewopd,#l 4d* . . .. i

Last year the Indian railways earned £31,512,466 and paid 5.77 per cent, on the capital value. The frosts ntnf -experienced at Masterton are without precedent. Recent records are 15, 10, 12, and 11' degrees below freezing point. The dry weather has materially improved the condition of the district.— Press telegram. A native of Rata is showing his white brothers what he can do in the way^ of fruit-growing! He has planted 300 trees, most of them three years old, and has decided to plant 100 acres more this season. The New Plymouth Club has been presented by one of its members with an oil painting of Pnritutu and the neighbouring beach, by, 3Vlr H. W. Kirkwood. The eltib is also indebted to Mr J. W. Wilsori fdr some steel engravings, and to Miss Hanna for a feet of chessmen and a cushion. I Since heavy fines have had ' apparently^ ,iio-! effect in decreasing the use of oliscehe language in the .public" hear ing, Mr "W. P. James, S.M., Wellington, has adopted a more severe fojan of punishment.' A young man^' Ernest Hall, charged with an offence <tf, this kind pn Thursday, Ayas sent to j*aol for fourteen days without the option of a fine. • \ , : ' %'% ' Puno, the native who had twice disobeyed summonses to appear on a charge of using obscene language jn a railway carriage, was arrested on warrant this morning and brought before Mr H. S. Fittfierbert, S.M. His Worship lectured severely, adding that if women had been in the .carriage he would have inflicted a heavy penalty. Accused was convicted and fined £3 and costs, £1 13s 6d, with tpe, alternative of fourteen days' imprisonment. Sheep are beginning to die in* fairly large numbers in the snow-covered area (says the Mount Ida Chronicle). Even whej-e they have been fed. regularly some die — fat' ones in some instances. Evidently the frost lulls them. A farmer informs us that he killed one that was dying t and on skinning it found that the tissue between the flesh and skin was quite stiff arid evidently frozen. On the larger runs it has been impossible to get all stock out. Major Logan has still 0(K) ewes snofw-covered. tn Scotland last month for several days continuous daylight was experienced, and there j was a braw saying of oil and gas. People wore able to read newspapers out of doors until long after midnight. , In JSurns's country and ' in the lovely Highlands beautiful sunsets flooded the braes, moors, '-glens, and streams with marvellous light effects, . The -phenomenon was witnessed in Germany also, and an astronomer sajid, $hat . it r was probably, connected with important changes on the surface of the sun. , All over the. United Kingdam magnificent streamers of, changing coloured lights attracted wondering eyes.' ' . , A large and representative gathering assembled in the Town Hall last evening to make arrangements for this year's Hospital Ball. Those present formed themselves into a committee, and elected Mr J. C. Jforey, "jun., chairmata. , Mr. A. Humphries was elected secretary.' The ball will be held in the Theatre Royal on Thursday, September 10 — the evening - of. the -Hunt Club's meeting. Admission fees were fixed as follows : — Ladies 2s 6d, gentlemen 3s 6d, double tickets ss. Tickets are to be circulated -almost immediately.. The net returns from the ball will, as usual, be given to the Hospital Board for improvements to the institution. , It ip not so much for the city worker as for the casual rural labourer that workmen's homes are required, said Mr J. W. Foreman, president of the National Dairy Association, to a Wellington Times representative. 'In Taranaki he said, capable men for casual work — on roads and on farms — are; in great demand, and cannot be obtained. if small allotments were^ set aside by the State in thickly-settled rural districts, Mr Foreman expressed himself as confident thatr men would h& found more willing to take up work in the coutnry. This, necessary provision for the farm worker would be an effective means of relieving \th© congestion of the cities and solve the most vexed problem in country districts. The idea was actually in operation jn the old provincial days; and the casual country workman thus provided with "three acres and a cow" was subsequently numbered in maqy cases among the best settlers in the province. A curious story prophesying the .coming of a Japanese-American war is told in a booklet recently published at Leipzig, Germany, tindfcr the title " Bansiai," by an author who conceals his Identity. The prophetic vision is after this manner: The American fleet is jop. its homewjtrrd; voyage when the <&dlbs are cut td 'Manila. ' This is explained by a steamer which arrives with a Hongkong newspaper describing how a typhoon hajs interrupted teletraphic communication., k Not till two ays later do the American garrison* dis* cover that war. has broken out, and simultaneously the American monitor Monadnock is blown up by a Japanese tramp. The Philippines are blockaded and San Francisco is seised by an army of 100,000 Japanese, who "issue mysteriously from various shops." 1 A fearful financial panic in the United States follows, and yellow men are generally massacred when they show themselves. The American Fleet while manoeuvring it attacked by a Japanese force, 'which sinks every ship. Admiral Sperry going down last with his flagship ; Finally, the Americans dissemble a great army and expel the Japanese/ England is represented as treacherously aiding Japan, while the final victory of the .United States is declared to be due to German officers. Remarkable testimony to the genius for government of the British race^ is the fact that among the twenty-five men who have been Presidents of the United States since the Revolution, all but two were of English, Scottish, or Scottish-Irish blood. The £wo exceptions are President Roosevelt and President Van Buren. (who held office in the- period- 1887*41), both being of Dutch r origin. , Nineteen out of the twenty-five were lawyers. Four were teachers and one a ' tailor before they became lawyers. Both Presidents John 7 son and Phiumore were tailors in early life; the army contributed three; President Washington was first a surveyor and then a planter; and President Lincoln commenced life as a farm hand, afterwards becoming a lawyer. It is a curious fact that' although there are nearly eleven million Roman Catholics and one .and three-quarter million. Jews in the ' United States, neither religion has ever been represented at the White House. Eight Presidents were Episoopalians, six were Presbyterians*, and four were Methodists. . Of the Reformed Putch. Church, there were two members, and of Congregationalists two. One was a Unitarian, one was a member of the "Disciples, 11 and' one an unsectariah Christian. Although one President lived to the age oi ninety, and two passed the age of eighty, they are not, on the whole, long-lived men.

At a meeting of the Omata Road Board this afternoon? -is)jhe- resolution passed at the previous* meeting to strike a general rate of id in the £ was eon-^ firmed. '? Owing to the recent rise in the r>rice t$ meat by* 2d and 3d per lb, and the increase in the £rice of butter to 2s 20 a. H), the restaurant-keepers in «are raising their prices and abandon* iftg the "ticket" system. r In America they have two^fibrms; of polygamy — one synchronous, which they «&lled Mormonism, and the :otJier successive, which they called re-marriage after divorce. — The Bis&op of -Übsircy, •aS.A. jj „,A number of people-^rere unable to Ijtain admittance to a concert at a hamijtf near FeildiftjgJth'e other night owiug to the hall bcin|*';too small. They stood Hutside and, wonderful to relate, passed llreir money through the window in gj-ateful payment for the entertainment they had go disadvantageously enjoyed. During the year 1907 the value of 387 neprjsentative securities on London Stock Exchange depreciated from £3,842,000,000 to £3,500,167,000, oi; an average of nearly nine per cent. During the first six months of this year the same securities' rose 'in tbe.ajggre,-] gate to £3,599,400,000, -or nearly three . per cent. , . : , T i Two cyclists^-a lady and & gentle^, man— tried to ruffle thf plabidity of Devon Street this morning by -riding into each other at the Bank, of Ne^ v Zealand corner. They succeedecj ln^ strewing the road with themselves and their bicycles without doing any iujuTy. Devon Street smiled and resumed it§ occupation of sunning itself against verandah posts. [ The Bishop of Massachusetts, speaking at the Pan-Anglican Congress on the mission of the, Cfiurph to Cliristendom, said he was ivbt rond of too much conventionality. "A few prayers. ■where the people are,", said ne, "is better than the whole Service, from 'Dearly beloved' omsar&i, where !he people' won't go." Hl,Saddle-bagH I , Saddle-bag men were needed. r; -' „ -A New Zealand correspondent whites to the Scotsman thu,si "What usually Strikes a Home man first on arriving in. New Zealand is the colossal conceit of the average young Maorilander, together with his appalling ignorance of anything ontside. his own immediate circle. 'N*ew Zealand satied Empire in the Boer war' is a|» article of faith here, and the belief that this country stands between • Britain and starvation is equally accepted." fhe incident which occurrfd at the 'football majfeeh,-at Masterton between the British "team and Wairara pa-Bush representatives — the- removal of a spectator named J. Kennedy ~fr,om a seat in the gratiidstand by SergeA-nt Milleris not to pass without. recourse* to law. Mr Kennedy has issued a writ agaiust the sergeant claiming £200 and costs for alleged assault by dragging him out* of Isis' seat with great personal violence in the .presence of thousands of people, thereby causing him personal injury and defamation of character. The case comes on. for hearing, on the 21st instant at Masterton. The New Zealand Rugby Union hajs decided to defend the action, Sergeant Miller having acted at the request of the Wairarapa Union, which is under the'jurisdiction of the New Zealand Union. A vigorous condemnation of Sir Joseph Ward's debt acconiuhition policy is contained in ;a letter to tlie Christchurch -Press written by J. L. Drunimond, of Rakaia. He says: "Sir Joseph Ward is probably right when he, assumes that there~is no limit -to human' gullibility or credulity, but I doubt whether he is right in assuming there can be no limit to the extent that New Zealand could or should borrow. On March 31 the public debt of New Zealand was £64,179,040^-an increase of £2,274,857 during the year. And this is somewhere -about the annual rate of progression. What a farce it is j;o show a paper surplus in face Of this 'fact; Sir Joseph Ward may be a 'financial j wizard,' as the member for Ashburton dubbed him: ahd he may tell us that the public ideht is really less than it was; also, that taxation is less—^that we don't understand finance and should have faith and leave it all to him, and so long as miners are digging millions of ounces of gold out of the earth, New Zealand should borrow. To ordinary mortals who. believe in payyig their way honestfy, it looks uncommonly like the straight road to ruin and bankruptcy." "Why, he's a pulling machine!" was : the rather appropriate remark dropped by a spectator .who witnessed the sculling match on the Parramatta river on Saturday week 'between Richard Arnst, of New Zealand, and Harry Pearce, the ex-champion of i Australia, for a stake of £100 (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph). Arnst's methodical performance over the championship course^ of 3 miles 330 yards, ana the comparative* ! ly easy fashion in which he oeat liis man, certainly .opened' the eyes of not j a few, and his style possibly justified the observation mentioned. The result of the race was another exemplification of the fact that however excellent a \ qualification is science, it' isi not every- j thing when pitted against physical ; strength. Pearce rowed a game, plucky battle, using all his skill as a water- j man and rower of experience, but Jhe went down before the sheer physical force of his opponent, who is a mere novice in the art. Beach, the referee, said after the race : — "Pearce pulled a great race^ and I am satisfied no man in Australia but Arnst could lower bjs I colours. Within a few months Arnst will be the champion of the world." j "Navvy" writes as follows from Seddon'to the Marlborough Express: "The blood-curdling tale in reference to the Broken River co-operative workers attracted my attention. I was somewhat shocked, on the spur of the moment, but on closer investigation the situation works put somewhat as follows: — A lot of men are out of work and pennilesff; tlWy;are given work which will return them 8s per day for reasonable exertion; they are also taken to the scone of their labours, and stores are advanced them, also tools and tents. Theyuire found in a house until such time as they can ©itch their tents. Evidently, they have fires, for there are, complaints about the smoke. There are also complaints about the snow brought in on the boots of the men, but this cans hardly- be --charged to the Labour Department officials. Welt, all I can say "is that" the men who could manufacture ft 'tafcf of Woe' out of the above materials iwotild be very little use in a navvies'* ~camp. T?he great majority of the navvij6s~ working for th© Public Works Department are 1 not treated as liberally as the Broken River men, for th£y««haye v to get to their work as best they^-oan, and also erect their own] tents* Evidently a good many . men aii«*a«it*ing*top soft,, .and will soon expeot the Government tQ send liospital nurses and valets about witn them. The% writer has a considerable experience of the noble occupation of navyy r ing in other countries, and can safely say that nowhere is the navvy treated with more consideration than by the New Zealand Government." , <

r-Ort^Sriaing at Auckland" l*s£ Sunday] afternoon some of the American sailor* maW eager enquiry for, "plug stops and the open bar. They were smneland legislation closed down botn^tob£co and liquor trades on thejfebbath Day Such deprivations didn't come within their reckoning. T.hei* on Stmday night, attracted by music and Sng in weli-lighted buildings, .groups, of ?he visitors went to the Wand presented coins in payment ot thenecessary ticket for admission.. They were horrified to discover reh^ous servicefc were in progress and that they wcr! standing at tne doors of churches. More money is paid, for water in a sincrfo day than i* paid $or liquor, in a week, though few pxirchasers are aware of the quantity ot water^ they pay for. A 101b Turkey,. for »n^e is but three pounds sohcls and seven pounds water, and there « six pounds of watejjn ten pounds of pork, while the pefeentage of water in beef or mutton V|sout the same. Salmonaaml maolSMi are but half water, though jtherfish contain a greater proportion if fluids. Sixty-five per cent, ofc an. eo-o- is water, and there is about ,Vot&r oF"vater to the lib of biitter. Vegetables run from 40 to 80 per cent, of -water and even dried peas contain a femall percentage. Taken at an a*er•fge 55 per cent, of aft. expenditures for food is paid for water. On Wednesday last, at Longlands, near Hastings, sixteen men took part in a ploughing match, and the prize f6r the best performance was won by a Maori named Tiwi. , The pakeha strove against his brown brother, and was beaten. It is a sweet revenge for the native. Long ago the' pakeha tried to conquer the Maori with the sword ; to-day the MaorF vanquishes, the.*pa,keha with the ploughshare. It is a little incident (remarks the Post), but it is one of those little things which pointrtQ greatness. Jt is an event Which does more thjin a week of speeches to convince the European ; tnat . Iho Maori is not effete. 'During the Maori Congress it was often forcibly mentioned that the natives could mako a living on the soil if they had a re*- „ sonable opportunity,, and Tiwrs sueeeas drives the lesson home,. ;> The patrol parties from the American warships in Auckland were by no means . figure heads, writes an Auckland correspondent. They carried very for-nudable-loqking ;batons, and any oostreperous sailor who received one tap irom one of jbhose batons was not likely to want another. The patrol men wen* - everywhere — into* theatres, hotel bars and side streets— watching for any disturbance, and where anything in the nature of a riotous, behaviour , occurred the patrol was on the spot in less time than it would take to call for them. Out from one • BidjP-ftreet came six rather merry "Jaekies." They had evidently known 4chera to find a "*Man- ' hattan cocktail " or twd, and # the patrol pounced on them.. "Fall m." ordered the chief, of the patrol. The. ' habit of discipline is very strong* an&^ merry as, they were the sailors automatically obeyed. "March" came the next order, and the little group was safely taken to^ the launch and senfc, on board. "Allen Raine" (Mrs. Benyon Pttddieombe), the Welsh novelist who sprang into fame so suddenly a few years ago, has died in her fifty-eighth •year. "Allen Raine " discovered her talent as a novelist late in life,- and as the direct outebme of the sbrrowß of her private life. 4 For nearly ten j'ears after her marriage to Mr. Benyon Puddicombe, of Winchmore Hall, ' Mi- „ dlesex, she Was bedridden. She was eventually restor&T to health, but her happiness lasted -'only 'a few^years'yfor about fifteen years ago her husband became incurably afflicted, and the burden of keeping the home together fell on the wife. She always Jttkd a tasted, for writing, and when poverty #ame, determined to make use of it. Her first novel,' " YnysoT&r,', 1 Von the fiction prize at the national Eisteddfod . Even, then success did not come 'all at imcc. It was not until 1897, when she published "A Welsh Singer/ that she leapt into fame, and since .then every book has had a large circulation. £he services at Queen Stree^ primitive Methodist Church to-morrow will be conducted , by Roy j.JS, JPrake, of Wangai^ui (Home Mission. Denatation). At Fitzroy Rev. H. Whi^e will preach in the morning anti£ Mr Hl Boon ib the evening. — Adyt. W.C.T.U. — A specia) meeting of the Women's Christian Temperance Union will be held on Tuesday next, August 18, at 3 p.m., in the Baptist Church, when Miss Hughes will give an 1 address to women. Cordial invitation to all.-r Advt. , v Baptismal service in the Baptist Church to-morrow evening. Subjects: . 7 p.m., "The Question of Questions" ;■ 11 a.m., "The Need of New Zealand." Preacher, Rev. John Laird. Mr Stephens commences his mission next SunJay — Advt. , The services at Whiteley Church tomorrow will be conducted^ by the Rev. T. G. Brooke, and <he 'subjects %itt T>e — Morning, "John's Vision j>f ,JHeaven," and evening, "Christ's. Vmwf of Earth." Strangers' are cordially invited. — Advt. Members of the Equitable Building Society of New Plymouth (First and Second Groups) are notified £hat subscriptions will be. due and npsyable on 3%>nday at the Secretary's Office, Carrie Street, from 9 a.m. to .12.30, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.