LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 6396, 27 September 1916, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Mr Sunditrum'a next visit will be on Thursday when he may be consulted from 12 noon to 3 p.m. A meeting or narcissi growers will b.. held in the Council Chamber an Thursday night to discuss tho question of assisting the Duncdin Women's l'atiiotic Association iu connection with thfir Patriotic Fbwer Day to bo held early in Octobor. The postago rato for parcels to members of the Expeditionary Force have been roduced as follows—Up to 31bs Is, to 71bs 2s, to lllbs 3s. From tho Ist October money can be remitted to the luited Kingdom through the Post Offioe I y means of money order telegrams. For some neeks past the Ground Committee of the Bowling Club have been devoting a good deal of time to getting tho green in condition for an early opening of tho season. Ac a result of their labour the groon is looking splendid and promises well for the season. Messrs J. Forbes and A. McCorkindale (returnod Anzacs) aro organising a military dance to bo held in tho Town Hall on tho 18th October, the net proceeds from which it is proposod to hand over to the Patriotic Committee for tho benefit of "our boys" at the front. Tli" 'la.* o has be"', fixed to allow of the Hi'.!' ;'W"ditig >h>j T-triioriiil Camp ic l.tve-'r-tH- iljm *■..>]. b'iug present and .iu onjuy ;., break in the ifiwk's truining. The two-year-old child Charles Min»gue died in the Wellington Hospital on Wednesday from tho effects of scalds (says tho Post). He was admitted to the institution suffering from injuries received through pulling a kettle of water over himself. It liuo becu decided by the North t'anterbury Acclimatisation Society i says the Cbristclntnii Sun) that free fishing licenses for the season shall be granted to returned soldiers who have not, been discharged from the forces, provided that the aplications aro received through the Citizen' Defence Corps. A witness giving evidence iu a court, case at Napier on Monday for drunkenness, was asked by tho Magistrate : '' When is a man drunk !'' Witness; " When a man has to get down on the ground and hang on to the gruss to save himself from falling."

The munv friends of Air Kobert Wood "f Beaumont will rryrr to learn thru his health, is in a critical condition. On Thursday afternoon last ho left his liomostoad to visit a portion of bis run. After proceeding some distance on his journey ho felt tho premonitory symp. loms of a stroke and dismounted and ]>'t his horse go in the hope that it would roach his homo and so mutely • onvoy the intelligence to the family ilial aomothing was wrong. Unfortunately a man passing along tho road found tho horßo and lied him up to tho fenco, "thinking no donbt the rider was not far uway. On Mr Wood failing to ireturn to his homo betweon 0 and ti o'clock the family became mxious and u search was instituted with the result that Mr Wood was only found in a turnip paddock about 2 a.m. on Friday morning. Ho suffered somowhat from tho exposure but, fortunately tho effects of the stroke are gradually passing

Mr A. E. J. Blakeley's next professional visit will bo on Thursday, sth October.

Miss Buth Potts, second daughter of Mr N. 0. Potts, has been appointed to a position in the local branch of the Bank of New Zealand.

A rather unique and prolitablo experience bef el Mr il. Morrison, of Taihape, daring this lambing season. Eleven of his ewea had three lambs each all hale and hearty.

The Department of Agriculture has issued instructions to its officers to take special notice of any returned soldiers who have taken up the task of making a living on the land. Should any of these men appear to bo in difficulties the various experts of the Department are requested to give them special facilities for gaining knowledge, and also to give any advice that is asked for. The weather during the past week has been simply ideal and as a consequence form work throughout the district has been pushed forward, lindfr the genial rays of the sua the grass has made marked progress and generally speaking the country hereabouts is looking at its best: On most of the farms lambing is well advanced and the little strangers who made their appearance during the past week have got a good start. Throughout the town garden work i 3 being pushed on and in most gardens tho narcissi is in full bloom. On the Kesorvoir Hill there are at present a number of nice clumps, but it will be a week or ten days yet before the hill will be at its best.

A shocking tragedy took place at Crookston on Wednesday, when a farm labourer named W. F. Johnstone, employed by Mr P. Sim, committed suicide. In the early morning he went to an unoccupied hut on an adjacent farm, and apparently fastened a piece of fencing wire round his neck. Before committing the deed lie set tire to -he hut, and when Mr Sim went to investigate the walls were falling in. The body was much burned. An inquest was held, and a verdict of suicide whilst temporarily insane was returned. It appears tho man had previously been sin inmate of a mental hospital, but he had only been in the district for v few months, and there was no thought "f his contemplating suicide. An idea of the vastness uf the dairying industry in the Edendale district may be gathered from the following figures taken from' the published balance sheet of the Edendale Dairy Factory Co. which comprises three factories—Edendale (the principal). Mcnzics Ferry, and Brydone :—Paid for milk—Edendale, £32,257 19s 3d ; Brydone, £10,748 Us 3d ; Henries Ferry, £16,790 10s';—total, £59,802 9s <3d. The total salaries and wages paid amounted to £2,923 0s Bd, and other items brought the total expenditure up to £68,060 13s B<L The total receipts for whey, butter, and cheese amounted to £68,306 13s 7d, leaving a balance on tie year's working of £245 19s lid.

The builder builded a house of brick, Twas as sound as sound could be. Bnt the builder himself was out of repair, And a ragged cough coughed he. " Tia a wooden suit 111 be wearing soon," B , Said he, and his face was dour; I Bat he beat the old Reaper in just two hours.

A Southland publican will shortly be charged under the War Regulations Act with having permitted treating on his licensed premises, and two customers will also bo required to answer charges under the same Act.

Dr. E. K. Edie, who will shortly be relinquishing charge of the Lake County Hospital, has been appointed medis&l superintendent of Kumara. Hospital. Dr. Edie will take op bis new appointment on November 1. "

A regulation under the Local Bodies Loans Act is gazetted. It provides that any loan granted by the State to any local body may be for 41 yers, the principal and interest to be payibls by half-yearly instalments. The rate specified in the schedule is 4§ per cent.

A soldier who will leave Timeru shortly for the front met a comrade escorting a lady friend to the pictures one night last week and suggested that he had a prior right to the honour (states the Herald). This was strenuously denied by the " man in eharge," and primitive methods of settling the dispute were resorted to, with the result that the soldier was struck over the heart so severely as to render him unconscious, and he was unable to rise for some time. The lady, however, rendered first aid, a doctor wib called in, and finally no one was mueh the worse for the duel. The assailant is said to have carried off the lady triumphantly to the pictures.

Instances of cows having been in milk for periods covering several years in sucession are not uncommon, but a wdlknown resident of Stirling owns a cow which must surely have established a record (says the Free Press). This animal, which is of the Holstein breed and has only had one ealf, is now being milked for the eleventh year in succession without interruption, and is at present in the pink of condition and is just coming on to the flush of her milk.

The following is an extract; itom. a letter written '' somewhere in France. •'' to a relative in Christchurch:—'' Your nows regarding the Conscription Bill was good, but I do not think that married men with families should be sent to the firing line. They should be given jobs such as those in the Medical Corps, AB.Cn, and ordnance work, where they would stand a better chance and occupy the positions at present held by mirried men without any ties. I was looking through an Auckland weekly paper, in which I saw luried and ridiculous descriptions of the doings of the Anzacs in France. I could not help laughing. There was a great tale of the fights in the open. I wish such stories were true; it would be much more to our liking to meet Fritz in the open than to crouch down in trenches and be shattered by his artillery. Of course, our artillery causes Fritz to copy our tactics. As the Tommy said when asked what the Germans did during a bombardment,' They are ducking and divin' same as us.' The Germans have made a few raids on us in retaliation for our activity in this respect, but I think we are well ahead on points so far. Jimmy Parr, Jim ny Carroll/and a few other MJ.'s !nd a brief glance at our trenches, or ri (.art of them, and you will doubtless have read abogt it before tait Hatha* you"