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Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16462, 14 June 1919, Page 2

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution in favour of a universal half-holiday on Saturday.—Press Association.

Messrs. Sargood, Son and Ewen have purchased a controlling interest in the Onelmnga Woollen Mills, which will be conducted under the present management, with a new board of directors. — Press Association.

A largo number of Jersey breeders from different parts of the North Island, who have been visiting Npw Plymouth this week in connection with the annual meeting in connection with the annual meeting of the New Zealand Jersey Breeders’ Association, motored out to Mr. H. B. Lepper’s farm at Lepperton at the conclusion of Mr. J. H. Street’s sale on Friday afternoon and inspected Mr. Lepper’s herd. Mr. Lepper is an old admirer of the Jersey, and lie has built up an exceptionally fine herd, animals full of quality and great producers. Needless to say his visitors were particularly pleased with the cattle, as also with the farm. Visitors to the Show ! will do well to also pay a visit to the New Zealand Clothing Factory’s splendid show of Clothing and Footwear at their wellknown store, where they will find the best value obtainable in all classes of Men’s and Boys’ Clothing. Special attention is also drawn to their enlarged Boot Department, where you can see the finest show of footwear for men, women and children.* Ladies 1 Do not wear out your beautiful summer clothes on the old-fashion-ed washboard. Let “No Rubbing” Laundry Help and the pure “Golden Rule” Soap do the work. All stores.

If the Huns had won the War, one of their aims was to impose their guttural language on an unwilling world. To show from what an awful calamity we have escaped it has been noted that the German name for a tank is the single word, schutzengrabenvernichtungsautomobil. That was probably what our tanks looked like to them Curing the first attack. _

Official advice has been received that an additional 2635 troops, 354 women, and 94 ‘'children have left the United Kingdom for New Zealand ports. The Kilgoma left' the United Kingdom at the beginning of June, and is due at Wellington about July 15 with a draft which comprises 758 troops, 154 women and 31 children. The Chnpra is due at Lyttelton about July 22 with a draft which comprises 732 troops. The Marama left the United Kingdom on June 9, and is duo in New Zealand about July 17 with a draft which comprises 693 troops and nurses, and the Ruapehu is duo at Wellington about July 17 with a draft which comprises 452 troops, 200 women, and 63 child-, ren.

The Auckland Star says:—“The Meat Trust is so powerful that it is doubtful whether any action by private interests could check its operations. What a huge concern it is is probably not realised by the average New Zealander. Its combined sales in 1917 totalled £425,499,000 which is more than thirteen times the value of all the exports of New Zealand—wool, dairy produce, etc., as well as meat—in the same vear. Supposing the trust made a profit of 5 per cent, on these sales, a very conservative estimate, its total profit would be over £21,000,000, which is more than the whole revenue of the New Zealand Government for the year 1917-18. These figures indicate the size and power of the enemy that has got a footing in New, Zealand, and show how hopeless it would be for the producers of New Zealand to try to fight the trust in an open market without backing by the State.” ,

A motor-car in an auction room is perhaps hardly comparable to a bull in a china shop, but there were points of resemblance in an incident which occurred in one of the auction rooms in the city the other day (says the, Auckland Star). A, little two-seater car was being driven from the street into the room. Apparently the brakes refused to act, or else the driver pressed the wrong lever, and the car, instead of coming to a stop, continued straight ahead. There were a number of articles in its way, such as washstands, chairs, small tables, fenders, and other things. These it commenced to take in its stride, as it were, and a casual visitor to the room was compelled to take a flying leap over several tables to avoid being mixed in the, debris. The weight of accumulated articles in front of tile car and the facbthat the driverthrow it out of gear finally brought it to a standstill in the midst of a pile of well-assorted articles, while a laundry iron was dangling gracefully from the under-carriage. The Hon. W. H. Triggs, writing from Newport News, Virginia, says that passengers intending .to go 'to England by the Panama Canal will be well advised to get their British' passports vised by the American Consul before leaving New Zealand. “When the Ruapehu arrived at this port only half a dozen,of her passengers were at first allowed ashore, as the local authorities were unable to pass any whose passport had not been countersigned by the American Consul.. Captain M'Kellar and the local agents of the New Zealand Shipping Company at once made energetic efforts to get the other passengers released, hut it was not until some 48 hours elapsed before the necessary authority arrived from Washington. Unless, therefore, an official intimation roaches New Zealand that the restrictions have been removed I would strongly advise all passengers coming by the Panama route to got an American Vise on their British passports before leaving the Dominion.”

Many men are anxious to-day about having shorter hours (writes the Melbourne Argus). They would like to out down the working day to six hours, to four hours, to nothing ht all. They seem to think that the shorter the working time tl\e nearer we get to perfection. Probably, however, if thp law of health, in mind and body were fully known,'we should find that, just as there is a maximum time beyond which it is bad to work, so there is a minimum time beyond which a"man must work or ho will become unhealthy. Also, it is being assumed without thought and without examination that all men in all occupations should work about the same number of hours per day. Yet if a man be writing a book on a difficult subject the creative effort of that work will exhaust him more in four hours than if ho worked in his garden all day long. So this demand, for equality of working time is also merely another fallacy. But the most important fallacy of all is the assumption that the welfare of men depends chiefly on the length of the leisure time they may have; whereas the truth is that their welfare depends not on length of leisure, but on the way in which the leisure is employed. This is one of the most iraportan tproblems before the workers of the world to-day. If some miracle were to happen in Nature whereby as a consequence all men had endless leisure, then, we are afraid, as human nature is constituted, mankind on the whole would become degenerate and would die out., For men have not yet learned how to use their leisure, and consequently, it is their working habit during their working time that really helps them most; their leisure is o£t<ui a time of mere waste and decay. How to employ their leisure, then, becomes an urgent question. '

~ The East End Cominittee has decided that the whole of tdie proceeds of the long-night dance to be held in the pavilion next Friday are to go to the fund being, raised for Mrs. Elliott and family. Overcoats! Overcoats, at The Melbourne: Splendid heavy tweed coats, double-breasted and belted, 69s 6d, and 89s 6d; also a few single-breasted Coats, splendid quality, old stock, 85s; gaberdine raincoats, famous “Ocean” brandy cravenctted, 955; limited-supply.* High explosives have struck our prices, so call in and take advantage of the exceptional values we are now offering in all classes of children’s footwear. Girls’ chrome one-bar shoes, 9s 6d, ,10s 6d, 11s 6d and- 13s 6d; girls’ stout chrome button hoots, 18s 9d and 14s 9d. —Regal Shoe Store.* Some conversations are very interesting, even when overheard in the street. For instance, two motorists met yesterday: “Hullo, Gus! Where are you going with that bag of old tubes-? Are you buying old rubber now?” “No, Jack. I have given up buying, and although these tubes look pretty rough and well torn about (some even have pieces missing) I am taking them to Bob. Whale, opposite The Melbourne, to have them repaired, and when he is finished with them I’ll guarantee they are as good as new. Take the tip, old boy, from one who knows, and always have your tyres repaired by R. Whale, Devon Street.” —Advt.

In the list of awards at the poultry show published on Friday, the name of H. Plumb, who wot second prize in the utility cockerel class of White Leghorns was inadvertently omitted).

The Minister of Defence presented war honours —three Distinguished Conduct Medals and six Military Medals — in the present of a large crowd at Hamilton on Friday.—Press Association. During the past month 186 cattle, 23* calves, 610 sheep, 99 lambs and 178 pigs Were'’ slaughtered for local consumption at the New Plymouth Abattoirs. These figures show an increase of 33 cattle, 10 calves. 141 sheep, 80 lambs, and 84 pigs. The revenue for the month amounted to £162 8s lid, and, increase of £lO 9s 6d. The last of the cowboys may now place his spurs and Stetson in cold .storage (says a Vancouver paper). An' aviator has been engaged on J. P. Morgan’s Montana ranch, whose duties are to patrol the property under the direction of the manager. Wireless communication will be maintained with headquarters.

Dogs about the streets are a source of danger and annoyance to motorists and shopkeepers alike, and Mr. R. Day, borough inspector, suggests that, the council adopt a by-law allowing him to impound every dog not under the control of some responsible person. At the present time he can only deal with unregistered dogs.

Cleopatra’s Needle is the only public monument in London which was struck by a German bomb. Numberless people to whom this is news are now visiting the Victoria Embankment to survey the extent of the damage. It is very slight indeed. The plinth and the steps, and the supporting sphinxes have suffered, but the obelisk itself is merely scratched, and stands as erect as it ever did at Alexandria in the days when ’ Augustus Caesar reigned.

A voluble person who could not be prevented from talking, appeared- in the witness-box at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Monday. He was defending a claim for maintenance brought by his wife and was accused of buying a graphophone for another woman. “If it can be proved that 1 purchased an instrument of the description mentioned,” he said, “I will be content to go to jail for-the rest of my days.” Mr. Frazer, S.M., said the defendant was a sufficient graphophone to have in any house. “Any man who says it is not necessary for the nation to be prepared in the future should be put into a mental hospital,” said Brigadier-General G. S. Richardson at the Auckland Orphans’ Club on Saturday evening. The general was discussing the lessons taught by the war, and he said that, nationally, the chief lesson was to be prepared. If Great Britain wished to maintain her present place among . the democracies of the world, and to retain the Empire which the mem of New Zealand had helped to defend, "he must be prepared. If the Empire'had been in a state ohpreparedness.probably the late war would not have been prevented, but the struggle at the commencement might not have been so markedly onesided.

“Do you know,” said a man in trade to a Dominion reporter on Monday, “that yoit would.-Cave great difficulty in buying 20 pairs of blankets in Wellington to-day, and that you might not lie able to buy a travelling'rug at all ?” The statement was such that inquiries were set afoot at once. A reporter ventured 1 into several shops in search of blankets and • rugs, but without success. At last be found a single rug, in a great emporium that as a rule stocks hundreds, and was so delighted that he was about to purchase it, forgetting for the moment that he did not really want the article at all. As-a result of his inquiries,. however, he ascertained that Wellington—indeed New Zealand—is a bare market as far as woollen manufactures of the kind mentioned as concerned. The mills are turning out blankets as fast as they can, but they cannot cope with the demand. Mr. Albert Goldie, accredited representative of the Lbs Angelos Board of Harbour Commissioners and the Los Angelos Chamber of Commerce, explained to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday last that with the idea of introducing relations between Southern California and Australia and New Zealand, Los Angelos —rated as the tenth city in the United States in point of populationhad' built a modern harbour, capable of accommodating large ships, and was now seeking a fair share oi- the trade of the Pacific, particularly,with the countries in the South Seas. Los- Angelos was 500 miles nearer to New Zealand than was San. Francisco, was a day nearer by railway to the Eastern States, and was the best point on the coast for tourists to land. He mentioned that a Los Angelos steamship company, which ■already had ships, supplied by tho United States Shipping Board, trading to the Orient, was prepared to put steamers on the Australian and New Zea - land run provided there was sufficient inducement in the way of cargoes both ways. The Union Steamship Company of New Zealand had been approached by tlie '’Los Angelos Chamber of Commerce with a view to having Lbs Angelos made a port of call for their cargo steamers trading to San Francisco, but so far nothing was known of the company’s intentions in this respect. Many men are anxious to-day about haying shorter hours (.writes the Melbourne Argus). They would, like to cut down the working day to six hours, to four hours, to nothing at all. They seem to think that the shorter the working time the nearer we get to perfection. Probably, however, if the laws of health in mind and body were fully known, we should find that, just as there is a maximum time beyond which it is hard to work, so there is a minimum time beyond which a man must work or he will become unhealthy. Also, it is being assumed without thought and without examination that aP men,in all occupations should work about’ the same “number of hours per clay. Yet if a man be writing a book on' a difficult subject the creative effort of that work will exhaust him more in four hours than if he worked in his garden -all day long. So this demand for equality of working time is also merely another fallacy. But the most important fallacy of all. is the assumption that the welfare of men depends chiefly on the length of the leisure time thev may have; whereas the truth is that their welfare depends not on length of leisure, but on the v way in which the leisure is employed. This is one of the most important problems before the workers of the world to-day. If some miracle were to happen in Nature whereby as a consequence all men had endless leisure, then, we are afraid, as human nature is constituted, mankind on the whole would' become degenerate ancj, would die out. For men have noi yet learned how to use their - leisure, and consequently, it is their working habit during their working time that really helps them most; their leisure is often a time of* mere waste and decay. How to employ their leisure, then, becomes an urgent question. '

Following out a decision of a recant meeting, the Wanganui Horticultural Society has organised a sweet pea competition, which will be open to scholars attending the schools in the Wanganui district.

“Would there be any objection to training a one-armed man to be a noxious weeds inspector?” was a question asked by a limbless returned soldier at Wednesday evening’s meeting of the limbless soldiers in Wellington. General Richardson said he thought it was a capital suggestion, and he would put it before the Ministerial Board.

“The building trade,” says Mr. R. Day, inspector for the Borough of New Plymouth, in his monthly report, “continues to be busy, but the shortage of labour is holding things back, not only on the work, but in the supply of material. For the month permits to the value of £16,500 have been issued and fees amounting to £55 17s 6d have been collected. These permits coyer all classes of work, concrete buildings, new residences, alterations and additions to existing buildings, and, what is also satisfactory,, the general repair of buildings which have been allowed to go back during the past few years.”

A. special meeting of the social committee of the East End Bathing Reserve Committee wasneld on Friday night, when it was unanimously decided that the proceeds of the next long-night dance, to be held in the / pavilion on Friday night, June 20, be handed over to the funds of the widow and family of the late Mr. Elliott. Mrs. George and family have kindly offered in their usual generous way to supply the music,- while everything will be done by the committee towards this deserving case. The committee undoubtedly will be rewarded with a large attendance. The usual prices of admission will be charged, viz., men 2s, ladies Is.

A block of land, consisting of 33 or 35 residential sections, has been purchased at Miramar by .the Wellington Gas Company. The land is on a hill slope, with Ira Street on the west side, and facing the Miramar Council offices on the south. The purchase has bean made with the object, in an _ experimental way, of providing dwellings for employees of the Gas Company at the Miramar works. The locality commands a fine view across the Straits in a south-westerly direction and all over the -Miramar flat to the west. The site has also the great advantage to gasworks employees of being quite near to their work. Developments will not, however, be proceeded with nntil conditions become a little more favourable for, building operations. The Waimato West County Council has passed a resolution protesting against the Taranaki County’s proposed vehicle tax as unreasonable and unwarranted. The chairman, who was authorised to attend the conference on July 7, remarked that apparently the Taranaki County Council did not want the public to go over their roads: It was surely enough to have toll-gates without imposing such penalties on the travelling public. ' These new by-laws were barbarous, and emphasised the necessity of' some comprehensive Government action. Counties had to realise that the present modes of/traffic demanded changed conditions of road construction, but it was never intended that any county would endeavour to impose such unreasonably dijastio taxes on residents in adjoining counties! Thf Manaia Town Board has also passed f resolution of protest and appointed delegates to the conference.

America’s innate love lor the un« canny has had another exemplification in an extraordinary instance staged in New York, the home of the genus ol that class. A 60,000Mollar bull, known as “Financial Sensation”’ with a pedigree dating back nearly 50 years, dined as guest of honour at a luncheon in the fashionable exclusive Waldorf Astoria "Hotel, the unique incident, being arranged by the promoters of the Milk and Dairy Exposition that had been held in New York. Turn hundred humans cheered when the animal, robed in an orajige blanket on which his name'was embroidered, wos brought in and led, snorting .and pawing the floor, to a table upon which rested a giganti silver platter containing bran, mash This he ate with the etiquette to be ex pected of a high-bred bovine. After consuming a side dish of bay, and quaffing a pail of water* he bellowed hifl ■approval of the menu. Tales of the sensational wages earned by rabbiters in Southland are coming to hand (says the Invercargill correspondent of the Otago Daily Times). Two men in the Birch wood district are making from £4 to £5 a day. The catches in these cases average 150 per day. and the supply does not seem to be diminishing. Rabbits have multiplied rapidly in the province during the past year or two owing to the scarcity of labour, so that those engaged now i have a rich harvest. Skins of good quality are worth 9d on an average, and it is understood that a rise of 25 per cent, will take place before the season closes. However, the rabbiters have to.work hard for their money,., and tho present weather conditions are anything but conducive to comfortable life. In many cases also they have to provide their own means of sending th« rabbits to the market, and farmers have been known to ask bonuses.

An amusing sidelight on the life of our soldiers ■ m Egypt was thrown by Mr. D. N. Mac Diarmid in the course of an address at Dunedin on mission problems in the Sudan. According to the universal custom in Mohammedan countries, where the woman Is reduced to the level of a beast of burden, Mr. Mac Diarmid said it was a very common sight to see an Egyptian family moving with the man lolling at ease on a donkey, while his wife and little children toiled behind staggering under prodigious loads. Our . soldiers somehow never became accustomed’ to this sight, and it always seemed to annoy them. They usually took in hand to teach tho fellaheen proper Christian manners hy making the man dismount, relieve the woman of her load, and give her the seat on the donkey. This became such a habit that the little native caravans got into the habit of always dodging along a side path when they saw our soldiers approaching. Says tho Auckland Star: When th« public is told on good authority that there is not more than half-a-crown’s worth of wool in a yard of cloth, and that on a costume which was sold for ten guineas the wage'cost, of the girl Workers was only' seven and tenpenco, it wants to know how the balance is made up, and where it goes to. Profits made at Home are the business of the British Government; though we have a right to claim freedom of trade so'that wool dealers and manufacturers there shall not grow rich at our expense. JJnt profits in New Zealand are our business, and when the Board of Trade has finish, ed with coal and timber, or whatever is engaging its very unobstrusive attention just now, it might well look into the price of clothing as it is affected hy local factors. There has been an inquiry —the report has not yet been released — into the various items in the price of coal; why should not a similar light b* thrown on tho cost of clothing?

Th® white population of New Zealand at th© end of March was estimated at 1,124,630. If the Maoris and the residents of the dependent Pacihc Islands were added the total was 1,187,203. A largely attended meeting on Friday night unanimously decided on the formation of an Eltham Racing Club. The present membership is over 220 .Otncers were elected, and a suitable course is under consideration. —Press Association. Members of the Employers* Association are reminded of th© weekly luncheon, which will bs held at Messrs. May and Arrowsmith’s on Monday, at 1 o’clock, when the question of the proposed County by-law dealing with the licensing of motors will be considered. The .sale of the Otaraia station, Wai : rarapa, is recorded in the Taranaki Herald of June 16, 1869. .The estate comprised 5000 acres and it was sold with all improvements for £8000; 1600 mixed merino sheep went at iourpence a head, 250 mixed cattle at 24s per head, and 20 horses at 40s per head.

An English manufacturing company announces that it is preparing to put on the market an automobile that can bo retailed for between £oo and £6O- - any wood will be used in the construction of the car, the principal material being a new substance which is described as “a kind of concrete, light, hut strong and durable, produced from waste material such as slag, clinkers, and sawdust, and covered with a metal solution.” Though there are only four girls at the Kansas State Agricultural. College who are fitting themselves to be tanners, they have the distinction of making grades ■ which are consideiably above those made by the average hoy enrolled in agricultural courses. Two of them, Miss Clare Higgins and Miss Blanche French, who graduate from the animal husbandry' department this spring, intend to manage beef production farms next year.

Mr. F. J. Reakes, manager of the Abattoirs, suggests in his monthly report to the Borough Council, that a notice board be placed at the store corner at Pitzroy directing strangers as to the main : road. He said that frequently people came to the abattoir thinking they were on the road to Ay aitara or Inglewood. He had questioned several, and they had informed him they had carried out the directions given them, to keep straight on. At a recent test of the Isaac Pitman Shorthand Writers’ Association (states Pitman’s Journal), Mr. Herman J. Stitch, an American Court reporter, wrote under most rigorous rules at the rate of 300 words a minute for five consecutive minutes, and then presented a transcript that, with only two immaterial errors, almost reached perfection, the percentage of accuracy being 99.9. Mr. Stitch’s performance is described as the finest in the history of shorthand.

At a meeting of the Christchurch City Council on Monday night the ferry service came up for discussion through the receipt of a letter from the Hon. T. M- Wilford, stating that the inspector of seamen had special instructions and the Marino Department was doing everything possible to get men for the stokehold of the Maori. After discussion, during which various reasons were advanced for the preference of firemen for the Mararoa over the Maori, the following motion was carried: “That the letter be received, and this council is of opinion that the time has arrived when the Government shonld acquire the necessary steamers to conduct the ferry service. Mr. Havelock Wilson, speaking at Portsmouth recently on some of the causes of the industrial unrest, said in his opinion there was no real industrial unrest in the country. It was true there had been many idiotic strikes of late, and there were a number of men with Bolshevist views among the trade union leaders who, rightly or wrongly, had come to the conclusion that there must be class war to do away with the .capitalist jystem and place, everything in the hands of the State. They wanted control of the mines and the railways, hut this would mean the worst possible condition for miners and railway workers. There was one calling he hoped the Bolshevists would not meddle with —the ships, the men of vfhich could well look after themselves without Bolshevist interference.

The appointment of a bacteriologist for service with the Government Dairy Division was urged at the North Auckland Dairy Conference by Mr. T. Bassett, representing the Northern Wairoa Dairy Company, who said that his comEany, in the course of experiments in y products, had to send a sample to America for a report. The conference agreed that an industry producing foodstuffs to the value of £8,000,000 annually warranted the appointment of a bacteriologist, especially as greater attention was being given to the question of public health. It was essential that dairy factory managers should have the advantage of all the scientific knowledge which could be placed at their disposal. The conference approved the proposal, and it was decided to send the resolution to the National Dairy Association for consideration at the forthcoming conference at Palmerston North.

One of the Otago soldiers who fought at the Somme in 1916 revisited the district at the end of last August, and to his astonishment found uncommonly fine crops of grain being reaped at Fleurs and Pozieres, from ground that had been so tom by shellfire and covered with battle litter as to be apparently destroyed for agriculture. Heavy rains the previous winter had run the shell craters together, and a light ploughing was the only necessary preparation after picking up the iron and steel from the surface. Many shells lie buried in these fields, some to a depth of 60 ft. They are located with a magnet, and will stay there, quite harmless, even if they have not exploded, for the life of a shell in a dry store is estimated at only five years, and when in earth to which damp has access .the charges will gradually decompose and pass into the air. That, at any rate, is the belief of the French farmers.

The claims and Record Office of the Ministry of Labour at Kew, which is now dealing with millions of forms in connection with unemployment pay, has electrically driven accounting and tabulating machinery. Figures are transferred to special cards by holes punched in certain positions and the cards are sorted by machines into groups. These groups then pass through a machine which prints the details from each card on rolls of paper, at the same time accumulating the figures and producing a total at any given point. An alphabetical index consisting of loose-leaf registers of all insured workers contains 10,000,000 names, of which thousands are identical. There are 6000 John Smiths, 2000 John Browns, 2000 William Browns, 1300 William Jones, 1000 John Macdonalds, and 1000 William Davies. Out-of-work pay amounted approximately on March 21 to £12,000,000.

For up-to-date printing call at the Herald Office.

In connection with the sale of p©diere© Jerseys at Bell Block on Friday, details of which are published in this issue, Mr. R. F. Cornwall, who purchased four of the animals, was acting on behalf of Colonel O. H. Weston.

The State Forest Department ha.s advised Mr. Veitch, M.P., that it is impossible at present to undertake the reclamation of sand dunes, except in places where the area is suitable for commercial tree-planting.’ Between the Rangitikei and Manawatu rivers a large area of sand dunes is suitable for afforestation and for this negotiations are proceeding to obtain control, with the view of their reclamation by this method.—Press Assn.

Owners of horses and cattle in and around the borough arte finding it somewhat difficult just now to keep them going, and there is a growing tendency to make use of the long paddock.” The borough inspector, Mr. R. Day, in his monthly report, mentions this matter, and says: Owing to the shortness of feed, it is necessary to give more attention to the question of wandering stock with the result that 32 have been “gathered in” with fees amounting to £5 4s. A concert is being arranged for the benefit of Mrs. AV. Elliott. and family and will take place in tb© Good Tomplar Hall on June 27. The committee for which Mr. Ambury will act as treasurer has already received promises of assistance from a number of wellknown local artiste, so that a splendid concert is assured. The object is a very worthy one, and the building, it is hoped, will be crowded to overflowing.