POLITICS AND PETROL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143674, 19 December 1911, Page 2

POLITICS AND PETROL.

A lot of nonsense is being spoken and written on tho subject of the employment of motor cars in taking electors to the polls. Speaking at a trine when be was no doubt smarting under a senso of defeat on Thursday night, Sir Joseph Ward-complained that largo landed,proprietors were üblo to pusu their lorty or fifty motor cars iuto an electorate in order to-crush tho poor man out of. political life. It was. a question, ho said,, : whether this should not bo looked upon' las being,practically a system of bribery, and ho (ltd not believe people ought to be subjected to tho sort of thing which 'had been going,on in Wellington. Then, the Lyttelton Times says the experience) of tho two ballots has shown conclusively that a well-organised motor car service can'confer a great advantage on a particular candidate, and conversely that a man who is unable to convey his supporters to the polling booths is handicapped severely iu an election contest. Our contemporary goes so far as to state that tho hiring of motor ears should bo prohibited, and that tho now Parliament should make an effort to prevent tho. motor car being made a decisive factor iu tho Dominion’s political contests. Somo allowance may bo mi)do for the fact that Sir Joseph Ward’s party was beaten at tho polls, and that the Lyttelton Times was supporting tho hcaton side. Nevertheless a little reflection on thoir part ought surely to convince them of the- absurdity of thoir arguments and complaints. To begin with, motor cars were used in some electorates more freely on behalf of the Government candidate than of the Opposition. In others they were need in-, discriminately (in tho first ballot) by tho license and no-liccnso parties to bring voters to tho poll irrespective of their political creed. Tho effect of their use in this electorate was to get the polling over in good time, for after fivoi o’clock, though it was tho heaviest poll ever known hero, there were, only stragglers to bo brought in. And we do not believe that tho oars favoured one side more than another to any appreciable extent. In city constituencies like Wellington and Christchurch it is scarcely conceivable that they can influence a result appreciably. Very fow voters ,an reside more than a mile at the outside from a booth, and as everyone has a half-holiday, or at any rate ample time off to vote, it must bo pure indifference rather than lack of means of conveyance which prevents an elector from recording a vote. Then an elector who gives his voto to tho party which offers him a free motor ride—well, that’s a poor sort of support to depend upon, and no political party which went into power on tho - strength of that could possibly remain in office long. No, if motor oars are improper or unfair, so arc horses and traps, and every other means of conveying voters to tho polls. To nullify any advantage which may ho gained from their use, at any rate in city electorates, the obvious course is to multiply the polling booths, have one at every street corner—and then a great number of voters would rather goto the most central booths.

In the Magistrate’s Court to-day, before Mr. H. S. Fitzherbert, S.M., u first offending inebriate was convicted and discharged. Accused bad boon arrested bv Constable Jigan when in charge of a horse and trap, but bis Worship d: ritlod to deal leniently with him on account of the good character given him by the police. A fierce westerly gale raged in Auckland on Monday, abating towards evening. Trees were uprooted and iron blown from roofs, and fotuies levelled to tbo earth. Several brick walls collapsed, plate-glass windowy in shops wore smashed, and serious damage was done to orchards. Tbo f rvico was, disorganised, and many ya-mts in the harbour went ashore. Instances of cans being overturned by gusts of wind wore by no means singular. There is no hod-carrying in Japan. The native builders have a method of transporting mortar which makes it seem more like play than work—to the onlooker. Tbo mortar is mixed in a pile in the .street. One man makes this up into balls of about Gib, weight, which he tosses to a man who stands on a ladder midway between the root and the ground. Tins man deftly catches tbo ball and then tosses it up to a man who stands on the roof. Sam M'Vea, the dusky boxer now visiting Sydney, is the possessor of a robust ainging voice, and ho was down to render a song at the Nellie Stewart Carnival which took place at the Stadium on Tuesday, December 19, in aid of tbo Sydney Hospital Centenary Fund. A humorous part of the affair, however, was that Sam Langford, who is regarded as a fairly good pianoforte player, played M‘Vea’s accompaniment. .So the I’.vo mot on different terms six days before their contest. .Plants arc given warm baths, according to a Herman method (says Science Sittings) 3)y placing slats across the pots, and then inverting over the heated water, so that the tops are submerged, the mots and earth remaining dry. The effects are extraordinary. One side of a double-branched syringa received a bath at 9.3 degrees Fahr. about the middle of November, and was in full bloom at Christmas, the. other branch remaining bare. Pussy-willows showed even more striking results. Alter half of a forked twig had boon given a hot bath, the lower end was placed in water of ordinary temperature for about nine days, when the-sido that.' bad bad the bath was covered with catkins, the other half being unchanged.

)h>-s of a kg is essential to a job with n Chicago linn. All hut two of iis IOJ employees in the factory aim in tin* branch offices wear one or iwo artificial kgs. The institution inanuariilicial lower limbs, ami the employees leave their work to show the newly-iiilrd patients how well they can walk, run. and jump with the artificial vehicle. Makers doubt if there ever was such a tiling as a ’“cork lee" —in which cork entered in any considerable extent into the making of the limb. Some of them claim that tk* name was derived from one Cork, who niudo artificial lees early in the last century in New York. in the present <lay they are manufactured from English willow, covered with a thin parchment or enamel, or of wood and leather. A cow story story, which has the merit of being vouelied lor. comes u-f Iroin tho Avenue Uoail. A workman who was laying on water about a week or so ago left his waistcoat and lunchbag on the ground, and in the waisicoai was a nickel watch. A cow was di*?eovered devouring portions of the waistcoat, and had also commenced upon the lunch-bag. which was with difficulty returned. Tho waistcoat and watch had disappeared and there was nothing to bt> done except to await events. The cow “lay low and said nothing.” Yesterday tho watch was discovered none tho worse for wear except that tho acids of the cow’s .stomach had worn off a littloof the outer cover(ing of the meiid. It was iouml that tlio watch had continued marking time .till it had run down. The* watch continues to keep pood time, and-apparent-ly is, like Jonah, none tho worse for its incarceration. Since September 9 there has been in effect in Now* York a law which.permits tho destruction of any commercial sign ■or advertisement on a highway. It authorises tho destruction “by anyone” ■of such signs and advertisements “within tho limits of a public highwajJ’ Taking advantage of tho law*, a squad of autornobiliaUi, representing tho Automobile Club -of America, has been touring tbo State, armed with axes and ; hatchets, destroying thousands of advertising signs which have disfigured the country roads. On fences, rocks, -and trees throughout the State tho wandering advertiser had erected thc&o defacing signs, and tho law was the remit of a general protest by autornobilists and others. Of course, the law does not apply to coses where owners of land near cities, or elsewhere, have sold tho privilege of erecting advertisement signs, but it is made a crime to paint or erect any advertisement on private property without tho written consent of tho owner, although private persons aro not authorised to destroy ‘such signs on private property. Already, it is reported, the appearance of tho country highways of New York has been greatly improved by reason of tho activity of tho sign-destroyers, Mr. R. A. Arnold, tho Clerk of tho Legislative Assembly of New South “Wales, was a passenger by tho Ostcrloy. which reached Sydney last week. Ho has, been to England alter an absence of thirty years. “What impressed mo most?” he repeated after a reporters question. “Why, tlie wonderful con- . dition of the English roads. 1 was driving along a Melbourne street the other day and I remarked to my companion, ‘Tho worst'English lane would be a better road than this.* In every narrow lano in England you .sec steam rollers at work rolling down the road to absolute smoothness. Tho roadways in London are so smooth—owing to tho motor traffic—that yon can almost see reflections in them. Yes, they are safe. No slime or dirt; no_ ruts or holes. It is a pleasure to drive over them. 1 took an especial interest in the traffic problem. In London tho traffic is marvellously managed. I have conic to the conclusion that it is not a question of widening tho streets to meet tho traffic contingencies, it is merely a question of regulating tho traffic itself. You can see motor ’buses travelling in opposite directions along lanes that yon would not think one car could got along. The traffic in London streets is daily increasing, and the traffic manager’s staff increases at the same ratio—and always with tho same result—comparative ftccdora from accident and expeditious transit- There are innumerable refuge islands, and the policeman of London is nob only a capable man but lie is a considerate one.” The Melbourne’s tailor-made suits aro made of the very best indigo coatings, Venetians, cheviots and worsteds, ana aro identical with fabrics for which custom tailors charge five and six guineas. Every suit is cut in the very latest style, and every four out of five men can obtain a perfect fit. Prices, 39s 6d to 655.*

The weather at Timaru continues wet, with frequent heavy showers. About 2J indies of rain has fallen during the last three days, and will be beneficial to farmers. The heavy hail has done damage in some localities. One of tho drawbacks to direct importation: A local bootmaker informed a Herald reporter on Monday that out of a case of 42 pairs of boots imported from England no less than 37 pairs had been pillaged! Ecclesiastical Home is convinced today that Cardinal llainjldli is Pope Pius X.’s choice to succeed tho latter upon tho Papal throne. It is from long private audiences with tho Pope granted to tho cardinal immediately af/er his return from his recent vacation in Switzerland that clerical circles drew their conclusions.

A Paris cable in the Sydney Sun, dated December 8, says the feeling that prevails against Germany is being plainly revealed in ono way and another. A Bill has been introduced in the Chamber of Deputies limiting the number of German waiters that may be engaged in restaurants, and all employment agencies that have been favouring Gorman applicants have been closed by the police. Among the stories told of Sir Hubert Hart is one relating to the estate of iCilmoriarl.r, which had been given to one of his ancestors for service at the Battle of the Boyne Uv King William. His ancestors left the place so burdened with debt that it had to Ire sold. Hearing the story, Robert Hart, a little boy then—used to say, ‘‘When Pin a man I’ll buy back Kilmoriarty—and I’ll gel tho title, too." He did buy back Kilmoriarty when it came on the marker years afterwards, and gained a knighthood, a Grand Gross, and a baronetcy.

A correspondent writes to The 'rimes that it was recent!,v accc?s".ry to l:iy a railway in connection with the Kent collieries from a junction with the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway at Shepherds Well to the new Tilmanstono Colliery, a distance of some three miles. The lino, which is of standard gauge ana passes over land belonging to seven or eight different owners, was constructed, the junction put in, rolling stock, and several extensive sidings provided within nine weeks. The contractor was .Mr. William Rigby, and the engineer Mr. H. F. Stephens, of Tonbridge. Recently an ingenious tost war* carried out to determine how quickly a nicte.sage' could bo sent round the world. The Sew York Times wrote a message of nine words, addressed to itself, and dispatched it westwards. The message completely girdled the northern hemisphere. travelling through Honolulu to .Manila, thence to Hong Kong. Singapore, and Bombay. from which point it sped onwards to Sue/., thence to Gibraltar. touched Fayal, and finally rearrived at Now York, a distance o: 28.081 miles. No attempt was made to clear the line for its transmission in the hope of establishing n record, but the imvaiige was sent under ordinary commercial conditions. Tim message passed through sjxt'vn relay ftlatious. and sixteen and a-haJf minutes after it left .V-w York it ro-cn that city, thus travelling at an average speed exceeding 17'*) miles per minute. A meeting was held at on Saturday last to consider the question of the formation of a co-operative bnMiu->.s among the fanners. Twentyfive persons attended. Mr. Buckeridge. the convener, thought it would Ito a good idea to make a canvass of the district to ascertain what support the project was likely to receive. He considered the concern should •operate only in South Taranaki, and to do this £LVSO.CtX) capital would be required. In a few years lie hoped they ought to lie able to increase their capital and extend their field. do work the whole of Taranaki they would want a capital of 1H,000.000, and he did not thonk it would be advisable to consider the wider scheme. The Chairman, Mr. C. Tarrant, said ho thought the time had arrived to have something of the kind proposed in South Taranaki, and lie would move that a committee be appointed to canvass the district mid to report at a future meeting as to the support, that would be accorded the venture. Mr. Willi*! seconded the motion, which was carried. The Sydney Sun sa\s; "politicians have been responsible lor more paradoxes than Bernard Shaw ever evolved in his most brilliant moments, and more coiuradictionr. than are to be found in the whole of ihn works of W. S. Gilbert. In the past they have given us freetrade that Isn’t free and protection that doesn’t protect; they have drawn up a multiplicity of land laws, any one of which may bo found to cancel some other one,' am] a huge moss of mining laws which do much the same. It has been left to the Federal Government to present Australia with a magnificent scheme of completely compulsory service. in which every lad has absolute freedom to train or not, us he pleases. The ancient liberator of the people, who proclaimed that everybody was to be free, and that those who refused to accept the reform would be Hogged until they did, has found in Senator Pearce a gentleman who has reversed his iron rule with magnificent toleration. Military training is to be compulsory for all Australian lads. There is uo escape. The whole nation is to ho taught the art of bearing arms, but if anybody prefers to absent himself I)\> is at full liberty to do so.” Writing under date December 6, Mr. ,J, R. Scott, secretary of the South Island Dairy Association, remarks that the Vancouver and San Francisco trade in butter is growing fast, and will be of greater importance to New Zealand butter factories in the future; so much so that Li is worth the consideration of butter factories now whether in the future they should put all /heir eggs in one basket by tying themselves up to sell or consign the whole of their season’s output to Loudon. Probably it would ho well to reserve a part of those outputs for Vancouver, San Francisco, or South African buyers. The following figures show how rapidly the Vancouver-San Francisco trade in butter is developing, and much more might have gone . . . if it had boon available. Australian butter goes in large lines to all these imfrkets, but New Zealand is preferred. Both San Francisco and Vancouver have behind them a vast population of very well-to-do consumers, who like the best of everything and are able and willing to pay for it. IVc may probably be sending choose also to these markets ere many years, but not just yet. The shipments of butter to San Francisco and Vancouver from New Zealand have been ;—October, 821 boxes; November. 6578 boxes; and over 7000 boxes arc already booked for tho December steamers with buyers unsatisfied. Almost every variety of dainty accessories for table and bedroom in linen rroods are now showing at White and Sons’. Duchcsso sets, tray and supper cloths, table centres, brush and comb bags, nightdress cases, and doyleye, are stocked in plain, hemstitched, embroidered, and lace work. The. hemstitched tray cloths at 6d and Is have quite taken customers by. storm.*

It is noteworthy, says the Christchurch Press, that probably for the first time in the history of the New Zealand Parliament the now House will contain a father and son. Mr. H. F. Bollard, the member for the new constituency of Raglan, is the son of Mr. John Bollard, the burly member for Eden, whose physical resemblance to the lato Mr. Seddon gave rise on several occasions during the lifetime of tho latter to amusing misunderstandings and mistakes. Heredity is also seen in the reappearance in the list of members of the name of Bell. Mr. AV. H. D. 8011, the “colt” of the Reform Party in Wellington, is the son of Mr. H. D. Bell, K.C., formerly one of tiro members for Wellington City, and a lawyer of tire highest standing, and grandson of the late Sir F. Dillon Bell, who was a member of throe of the early Ministries, and subsequently Agent-General for a number of years. These young members are not the first cases of sons following in their father’s political footsteps. The first instance of that nature was supplied by Mr. T. R. V. Seddon. But Mr. Bell is the first to take his place in Parliament as the successor of his father and grandfather. That edible crabs are a home-loving community was brought to the notice of the Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee at their half-yearly meeting at King’s Lynn recently. Several hundred crate were captured, and after being labelled wore returned to the sea at various points along the east coast. Over 400 have been re-taken and returned to the Fishery Inspector The investigations show that crabs keep to their own locality, and that it taken a distance away it is their instinct to return to their birthplace and feeding ground. A number of crabs .brought from Yorkshire and liberated off the Lincolnshire coast as far south as Skegness walked home to Yorkshire again, and in doing so they had to travel distances ranging from 45 to 85 miles, and had to cross the Humber. Not one of the Yorkshire crabs has been retaken south of its place of liberation, and of these that did not return to their old haunts nearly every one was recaptured at a spot which showed that they had travelled a considerable distance towards home. Two crabs, a male and a female, originally taken in the same trap off the Yorkshire coast, were returned to the sea at different points off tho Lincolnshire coast. Nine months later both were retaken, again in the same trap, and no tho ground from which they were at first* taken.

The Industrial Registrar’s office has some queer clients, says a Sydney journal. The clerks, who arc popularly supposed to have a long time to do nothing in, are kept pretty busy answering the inquiries of people who want to know how much they are entitled to under the award, whether they can get slow workers’ permits on account of the fact that they do not like to work hard, and other questions about matters not in the jurisdiction oi the ollico at all. Occasionally individuals request a private interview with the Judge in reference to a matter of Is IJd overtime pay they have not received. Recently a young man strolled in, and, leaning against the counter, demanded to know jf he could obtain a copy of the •quarried couples’ award. 55 The clerk denied all knowledge oi any such award, hut the young man persisted that there must be one in existence. A sympathetic bystander suggested that ho should inquire at the oriico of i'ho registrar, oi births, marriages, and deaths; and another thought that the Divorce Court would be the best place to refer to. The young man wandered out of the office scratching his head. ‘’There miifit bo a married couples’ award, 55 he said; “ if there’s not, there ought to be.” Probably ho will now proceed to take steps for tho formation of a married couples’ union to secure the desired regulation. speaking at the Royal United Service imtitution recently,.on “The Probable Kftecls of Compulsory Military Training on Recruiting for the Regular Army.” Colonel A. J. A. Wright, 0.15., said ho was live years recruiting officer in Lancashire, and since then, us Briga-dier-General commanding No. 5 Regimental District, had the supervision cf recruiting in that area. As recruiting officer he kept a daily record far some six months ot the causes which induced youngsters to join tho Army. To every recruit who came before him for attestation lie put the following questions, amongst others: (1) Why do you want to enlist? If you could get work would you enlist? .Seventy per cent, of the replies to question 1 were: “Because J am out of work;” and the same percentage replied “No“ to question 2. Five per cent, enlisted from a love of soldiering, or a desire for adventure, and tr> see the world. Ten per cent, because of some unpleasantness with their parents or their young women. Many of these latter purchased thoir discharge before their depot training was concluded. Fifteen per cent, because they were only earning some 16s’ a week, wages with which the Army compared favourably; the remaining 70 per cent, because they were out of work and hungry, and had it not been for this compelling cause nothing would havo induced them to enlist. Yet oi these “conscripts of hunger” the majority made most excellent soldiers.

Lest the British public should become too enamoured of the radio,ss traction system, of which so much has been said and written durian; the last three months, its limitation-3 have boon pointed out in very clear terms by Mr. Robert Hammond, a prominent consulting engineer who has made a special study of the now form of locomotion. There is a field for it—not always permanent, however —in the suburban fringes of many cities, but he notes in comparing the ordinary electric tramway car with the trolley vehicle that sonic of the items included in the maintenance of the hitter are very considerable. One of these is the outlay on rubber tyres, which ho averages at 2d per car mile. The expenditure on electric power is about the same under the two systems, but that on wages rather tolls against the trolley car, which is also handicapped in the comparison by lower sliced and by having only half the amount of seating accommodation provided bv a tram car running on rails. Of course, the rallies* system a great advantage in respect of initial capital outlay. “Nevertheless.” Mr. Hammond adds, “that can bo casil.v exaggerated. If the traffic in a given district is sufficient to justify u rogu’ar service of cars of about every eight minutes, a e.v3tem of electric tramways is undoubtedly cheaper than cither railloss traction or motor omnibuses. But if the traffic obtainable in a district is still considerable, though not sufficient to support a service of cars of eight minutes, then the heavy capital exnenditurc on a tramway system would militate against its success, and trolley vehicles could bo more cheaply run. They cannot he worked as a commercial success unless there is sufficient traffic to justify a service more frequent than, at any rate, one of twentv minutes. In many* cases, too, even with that service a loss would result. n For the next ten days at The Kush wo are giving, as a Christmas box. an extra pair of trousers with every Prestwejl suit from 49s fid. We’ve a beautiful range of colourings in blues, browns, blacks and fashionable greys. Offer open for ten days only.*