LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17464, 8 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The main roll for th© Liquor Referendum Poll, which will be. held i i April next, closed <m Monday, and the supplementary roll is now open. Ei'ery opportunity is being given elecotors to see if they are enrolled and if there is failure on their part they w 'J only have themselves <to blame wihea the day of .the poll arrives. Electors who have not already enrolled should take the earliest opportunity of doing so.

A meeting of the Patriotic Association will be held this afternoon at 3.0 o'olo/ck.

A man named Joseph Allen Smith was charged at th c Magistrate's Court yesterday before Mr Wyvern Wilson S.M., with the theft at Bulls of £19 in money, the property of George Alfred Fleming. The accused was remanded t.o January 13.

At the Magistrate's Court, at Christchurch, John Joseph Smith, a fireman, was sentenced to one monlth's imprisonment for the theh- of a hat from the cargo of the steamer Kent. The polic3 stated that a large quantity of carg > had been stolen, the articles missing in one case alone being valued at owr £50.

A land and estate agent carrying on business "i a large "way Dunedin, stated the utfier day thait there had l>een a regular demand during the year for modern houses, especially from five to seven rooms. 'This had been largely dueeto the high cost of building material, and to the fact, that it had been extremely difficult to obtain suitable houses to rent. A great many people had been forced to buy houses, simply because they could not get them to rent. Tli© demand for vacant sections ha«l been very limited on account of the t-xccssivo cost of building.

Regarding the recent epidemic, a Christchurch paper says: "If the Health Department knows now definitely what this deadly sickness is, let us have the name quite candidly. In the Sydney papers latest to hand it is announced very emphatically that the complaint has been finally diagnosed as epidemic pneumonia in its pandemic form. It is- asserted that this term has now been adopted not only by the Australian and American quarantine "services, but also by the Department of Health in New Zealand.

At Bosoombe, in the Couth of England (writes Mr Fred Pirani one of N.Z. Press delegates to the Old Country), I visited one of the Y.M.C-.i. homes for soldiers, of which Mr BlaiT has charge, and was agreeably surprised to find two Wanganui ladies— Misses Spurdle and Murch—actively at work here- They were in good heal'n but had a very trying time, owing ;o the difficulty of getting help during th^ influenza epidemic. On all sides I heard high opinions of 'their good worlr and their kindness to our soldiers, and 1 am sure that Wanganui folk will be delighted to know of their success Boscombe is the training d?pot of the N.Z. Engineers, and I was-.privileg-ed to be shown over the place by Colonel Barclay and Lieut. Eric Fraser, who studied law at Feilding.

It costs money to be an aviator in New Zealand. A prospectus received from one of the Dominion's aviation schools, states that the fee for an aviation course is £100, plus the cost, of board, which in, the , past, has averaged 21s per week. The prifces for passenger flights are, £5 for ten minutes flight and £2 10s for every additional five minutes. Crosscountry flights are arranged at the rate of £30 per hour, with an extra £5 for every landing outside the school's aerodrome. Aeroplanes will only be hired to certified pilots, the terms being two-seater machines £15 per hour, £100 deposit; single-seater £12 per hour, £50 deposit. The deposit "must be paid before making a flight, and is by way of security against accidental damage, the amount being refunded if no damage is done.

I The vote on the Estimates % f or kinematographg was referred to by the Hon. J. A. Hanan during his stay in Dunedin this week. He said he would like to do something to help the introduction of the klnema into some of our schools, and he had taken the initial vote with a view to giving a small subsidy "where the kinematograph was installed by a school commit r©e. It was.pointed out to the Minister that the Mornington School Commrt-.eo purposed installing a machine early in the year in place of the magic lantern secured last year, but ** was faced with the problem of getting suitable films for instructional purposes. The Minister said he appreciated the enterprise of the committee mentioned, and he. had under consideration a (scheme whereby a. supply of educational films would be made available for rise in fichoo's where the kiriemaitograph was installed. -

The presence of "fire fiends" in Invercargill is now generally, accepted, and any doubt that existed has been largely decreased by a recent incident (says Southland Times.) When walking m the streets one night recently a youth, who is a member of th© local fire brigade, heard a man remark to two othevs that they might expect a fire in Fortnstrect. He did no,t attach much import, ance to the occurrence at the time, but next day ho mentioned it to ,a senior member "of the> brigade The pair decided to visit Forth-s'treet i n search of empty residences, and found only one. On entering the grounds they discov■ered tl;at in one corner of the residence there was an aperture caused by the wood having rotted. They measured the distance from the fire-plug Ito the house, nnd, as they explained it, "had every-f thing ready." N*?xt morning a call came from the house. The fire had started from the corner in wMch was the hole.

.Largely as th© result of a movement inaugurated by Mr. E. Newman, M.l*. for Rangitikei, New' Zealand sheep-own, ers decided to devote the extra profits accruing from the sale of surplus wool m London to a fund for the benefit of dependants of members of tho naval ana mercantile marine. The latest •outcome is "the receipt of the following cable messages by the treasurer of the fund (Mr. T." R. 'Lees) .—"Edinburgh, December 28, 1918. —Rear-Admiral Lionel Halsey, on behalf of the naval and mercantile seamen serving on warships, trawlers, and defensively armed merchant vessels, (sends to Now Zealand sheep-own, ors hearty thanks for their generous proposals." "London, December 26, •jcjig,—Havc-lock Wilson, on behalf '>f tho executive committee of the seamen's union tenders to New Zealand sheepowners warm appreciation of their offer to help the dependants of British ,'veamen who have been wounded or hare lost their lives in defence of the Empire."

At the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Joseph Allen Smith was charg. Ed with the theft at Bulls, on December 30ih, of the sum'of £19 In money, tlie property of George Alfred Fleming. A remand was granted until 13th January by Mr Wyvern Wi'son, S.M.

iur. xiiLuuium .taoit, ecmor ox tile '"■New York independent," who arnvtu at .Liverpool towards the end of iYiarcii, writes t-xius ot our boys m his journal ot iJUcii November, "We l'ouud a regiment oi' JNeiv Zealand t>oys waiting to b« Uikeii to their camp. What a mag. njficent stit of teliows they were—lan, lithe, bronzed, and each with a red. banaed sombrero hat which looked very much like the on© our American boys love go well, but which hay© now had to be discarded for the more unbecoming caps. I have since seen the llnglisn, Canadian, Australian, Souch Aixic_ an, Italian, French, Belgian, Russian, Portuguese and American armies in mst and in action, and I have no hesitation in saying that the New Zealand boys are tho nnest appearing troops of all."

I Major Wilfred R. Snow, of the Roy hi | Air Jb oree, who arrived in Sydney a le-.v days a&o, said to an interviewer: So far as commercial Hying is concerned, .-he technteai probles have all been solved. We have made more progress in four years of war 'than we might have made m a century of peace. Machines in rea. sonably good weather conditions can make fights of 500 miles comfortably. It is, therefore, I think, simply a question of £ s. d. —will it pay? I thin*: aeroplanes \yill first be used regularly as mail carriers, but they muslt soon become very numerous. When I was first in England everyone stared at an aeroplane—watched it ouit of sight. Now they arc as common as motor cars. Th© organisation of the British aeroplane building business has been wonderful, and the end of the war should make thousands of machines available, with aviators and mechanics."

While he has not, as yet, received any news that -would confirm the Chicago I "Tribune's" statement, cabled last, week, in respect to reduced freights on American vessels, Mr. A. W. Bennett, manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, has accepted the news as being probably correct, says a Christcnureh paper. He was influenced in arriving at this decisidh in. view of the fact, it-hat reeenit movements in regard to shipping arrangements had pointed to the fa-ct that the United States and Grea-t Britain did not intend to compete with, each other in freights. A reduction of 25 per cent, was announced in the British rates a few weeks ago. Sir J. •/. Kinsey, chairman" of the Oversea Ship, ping Committee, is also inclined to the same belief. He .gave it as his view that the second reduction of 25 per cent, tnontioned in the cablegram would take place, and accordingly the British raieg would bo reduced 50 per cent, on both American and British vessels. The working of the respective vessels, taking everything into consideration, cost; about the same.

One of the most interesting and remarkable New Zealand plants now in bloom is the kaikomako, of which an excellent specimen may be seen in Mr. Wm. Park's grounds in College Street/ Up to about six feet from the ground it bears fine rounded I brownish leaves, and hence to the top the foliage is a brilliant dark green of quite a different shape and texture. Among these upper green leaves appear the white blooms. Another curiosity of the New Zealand bush is the horoeka, or lancewood, the interest in which is increased by the fact that Charles Darwin drew attention to it as an instance of-evo-lution in the life of a single plant. When young it bears drooping prickly leaves several feet.long, but when it rises beyond the necessity for radiation, and lifts its stem above the* surrounding trees and out o.f the reach of browsing animals, its leaves shorten up to an inch in length, and quite lose their protective spikes.

A New Zealand soldier, who has been awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre, has received the following characteristic letter from BrigadierGeneral Braithwaite:—"lt has given me intense pleasure and satisfaction to hear and see that you have received the honour of the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Your name, with seven others of the distinguished Second Brigade, was submitted, and I am delighted to think that men like yourselves have been so honoured. It is not given to everyone to receive these honours and decorations. Thousands, no doubt, deserve them, and only a few can get them. I,know of no one who deserves recognition, for work and duty nobly done more than yourself. Never thank 'me for it. Thanfe your God, who has inspired you with the spirit of 'duty' at all tim§s, and especially your mother, who has undoubtedly led you up to high ideals and put you on the 'main line.' I should like to congratulate her, just so much as yourself, and I only hope that, under God's providence, you may long be spared to enjoy the honour. Good .'luck to you!" ,

Australia's population (exclusive ■of full-blooded aboriginals) has passed the 5,000,000 point. This achievement, delayed by the outbreak of war, the departure of troops, and tin practical cessation of immigration, was, according to the Commonwealth Statistician, made in September last. Mr. Knibbs recalls that in 1800 the population of Australia (aboriginals not counted) was 5217, whilst a century later it reached 3,765,839. The Australian population attained its first million in 1858 (70 years after settlement was effected); its second million in [1877; its third in 1889; and its 'fourth in 1905. Thus, since the attainment of the first million in 1858, the average addition to the Australinn population has been one million every fifteen years. The decline of §964 and 56.6G3 respectively in 1915 and 1916 was followed by an increase of 59,986 in population in 1917. For the first nine months of this year the net increase has been •upwards of 66,000, and Mr. Knibbs is of opinion that with the resumption of normal conditions for immigration and the repatriation of troops from abroad Australia's population will reach 5,400.000 persons by the end of March, 1921, the next census.

In the latest figures showing American export of petrol, it is interesting to note that despite the scarcity of shipping, Australia received from the United States more petrol for the ten months ending April, 191S, than far the corresponding period in/1917, the actual figures being 6,839,215 gallons as against 6,123,220. It is surprising to note that for the 1918 term New Zealand succeeded in obtaining 6,008,459 gallons of petrol. As the Dominion only has about 7000 cars and 3000 motor-cycles, compared with more than six times that number in Australia, New Zealand has been well catered for in respect to automobile fuel supplies.

j The good roads movement is being | actively prosecuted in North Auckland. The Mangonui County, whichhas promoted a proposal to borrow £54,000 for the formation of about 3 6 miles of tar-sealed roads in the western portion of the county, has been notified that the loan will be available from the Public Trust Department. The money will be advanced at the rate of £9000 a year, the first annual instalment to Tje paid in November next. The loan, If approved by the ratepayers of the special rating area, will be liquidated in 36 years by the payment of 6 *4per cent, annually, which iacludes a sinking fund of 1 per cent.

Principal assigned causes of in-' sanity reviewed in the New Zealand mental hospitals report for 1917 include 129 heredity; 56 congenital; 58 prolonged mental strain, of which 39 were female patients; nine solitude, of whom eight were females; 76 alcoholism, of whom 64 were females; one dire to drug taking;--32 to venereal disease, of whom 30 were females; 42 to epilepsy; 22 to. illhealth; 108 causes unknown. The occupations contributing the highest number of male patients were labourers 137, farmers 48, soldiers 32, clerks and accountants 16, no occupation 38. Domestic duties .288, and housewives 33, were the occupations contributing the highest number of female patients.

Reports have been in circulation, (says the "Taranaki Daily News" of Tuesday last) that a second "wave" of the epidemic is. descending upon certain parts of Taranaki. This is not so. It has arisen lately in the Opunake district, which escaped lightly before, because it had not been effectively stamped out. The comparative immunity the district enjoyed before led no doubt to a relaxation of precautions and a weakening of the attacking forces. This is proved by the fact that in one house on the other side of the township there were no fewer than fourteen cases. A vigorous form of. inspection, etc., would Ijave prevented any such possibility. The district is suffering now because of Its overconfidence. .

The powerful German, hold on the sugar industry of the Hawaiian Islands has been crushed. The control of Hawaii's most important industry has been restored to its people. This is the effect of the announcement o,f A. Mitchell Palmer, Alien Property Custodian, that he had completed I**} Americanisation of the H. Hackfim/> Co., tne great German-owned corporation which for years has played so important a part in the sugar situation of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1917 plantations controlled by this German company produced 140,000 tons of cane sugar. Mr. Palmer Americanised this German concern by organising a new company, known as the American Factors (Ltd.), and selling the entire assets and business of the German. Hackfleld Co. to the American Cdmpany, . whose stockholders are all loyal American citizens, most of them residents of the Hawaiian Islands. As a result 640 American residents of Hawaii have become stockholders in the new corporation, which has a capitalisation of 7,500,000 dols., because the assets of the H. Hackfield Co. were Valued at that amount. The Amefieanisation of the H. Hackfield Co. is one of the most important and most interesting of the steps taken' by lie Alien Property Custodian to crush

for all time, the German control of America's most important industries. This concern was one of the important links in this control, and was the centre of pro-German, propaganda in the Pacific.