LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14697, 31 August 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A short, sharp shock of earthquak 3 was felt here at 7,40 o’clock last evening. A London cable states that there arc 1121 jmuni lists cf Britain and the overlay Dominions serving with, the colours. Tho San Francisco mail which left Wanganui on 23rd J Uly arrived at San Francisco on the 13th inst.; two days la c, and London on the 28th inst., five days late. ' . A young fellow was before Mr W. Kerr, S.M.y.at the Magistrate’s Court this morning on a charge of being drunk while in charge of a horse. .He admitted the offence, and was fined 10s. j The fall in the prices of poultry feed (says a .Christchurch report) has done much to stimulate hatching; and breeding : birds are-in great demand. Egg prices have fallen to usual spring values. A cable froin Sydney states that Jeff Smith’s case against the Stadium resulted in a verdict for the defendant, tn his ■ fight with D’Arcy, Smith - w aa alleged to have struck a foul blow, and was - disqualified, and hi a share of the stake 'vyas withheld. A Sydney cable states that Mr. Sprout, managing agent of the Oceanic Steamship Co;, has received cabled advices that , starting, with the Sonoma from Sydney on December 15th, there will be a tri-weekly nail, passenger and freight service to-1 London, via Pagopago, Honolulu and San Trancisco. I The value of the dairy produce, in- ! eluding by-products, from the Pahiatua ' district during the past season is estimated at over A' 151,000.. The total value of (he wool, sheep, cattle, calves, and pigs . railed-from Pahiatua, Mangataiaoka and'j Hukanui for the. 1914-15 season amounted j ; to £244,101, as against £220,832 for the, ! previous year. - , j . The u final episode in - the cases arising ! out of tho Tiot at Heinold’s shop in tbe ! AyenUtt ln May last, took place at thei • Supreme Court this morning, when the Grand Jury returned ho bill'in tlie cases against T. MbLeah, J. King, A. Hall,{and R. Harrison, who had been committed for trial on charge of unlawful assembly and riot. Tha accused were/accordingly, dis- . charged. Sitting jn his civil jurisdiction at the Magistrate’s Court this morning,, Mr W. Kerr, S.M., gave Judgment for the plain- | tiff by default in each of the following undefended cases:—Chronicle -Company, Ltd. v. Searle and Jackson, £ls 13s 6d; J. A. Franklin ,v. Euhu Hirioha, A 24 3a; V. Smith v. 0. A. Gow, Ifis; E.. Thompson and Co. v. (5. W.. Crutchley, £9 2s ’ lid; J. A. Franklin v. E. Johnston, .£2B 7s Ud. .., | There were a number of applications for ■ exemption from service on the com-, m6n jury at the Supreme Court at the Sujiremo Court this morning. One' applicant set forth as an excuse that bfe was >ver'6o years,cf age; another that he was an officer :in the Territorials, and acoordu f to the regulations of the Military Forces officers are exempt from service. Others applied fpr exemptions owing to business reasons. One grand juryman vho did not answer to his name was fined' ’os,>iniless-sufficient cause was shown for , his absence. Mr Edward Pye, a well-known Perth : business man, who has just returned from a. trip to the United , States and Canada, , says that the workshops of the Canadian , Pacific Railway .Company alone are turn- ; ing. but morn shell cases than the whole of the. British manufacturers. , In addition, contracts for hundreds of thousands of shell cases have been placed with other firms. Popular opinion when lie was in the United States was that the Americans were doing more for tjie Allies through the supply cf munitions than' they could hone to accomplish by actual : participation in the war. An idea of the spirit with which tbe German advance is regarded in Russia, is given by a- letter received in Auckland from an English lady who has resided in Russia for about ten years. She is gover-ness-in the family of one of the very high officials in Petrograd. and writing to her ; sister she says that the Russians are pre- i paring Petrograd to withstand a siege, I and are perfectly confident of being able to beat off the Germans. They are daily receiving from Japan enormous quantities of ammunition and huge guns, larger than any tlie Germans can possibly take for the > siegp. . I Speaking' the other day to a wounded ; Russian officer at Portsmouth (says Albert Dorrington), he told me that seven-eighths of the wounds received in Galicia were from shells fired from the Austrian big • calibre guns. Bullets played no part whatever. The rifle is the infantryman's tov.. The infantryman does not fight. I When the. big guns have finished the fighting, he occupies-the trenches which have been won. The effect of the Skoda 17-inch howitzers, -known as the “Piloßnera.” is worso than the Krupp “Fat Berthas.’’ The Skoda shell weighs . 2800 Ills (1- ton' 5 cwt.) Their usual' cu.rve is near miles high, and in soft ground they penetrate 20 feet before exploding. The explosion occurs two seconds after the impact. The “Pilseners” shell kills everyone within 150 yards, and kills many who are farther off. The mere pressure of; the gas breaks in the partitions and roofs of bomb-proof shelters. Scores of men who escape metal fragments, Stones, and showers of earth are killed, lacerated, or blinded by the pressure of the gas. “There are thousands and thousands of pounds’ worth of ijrou and steel'lying about New Zealand in largo quantities and absolutely wasted.” These were the words of a man who has had many years’ experience in a largo iron and steel fundrv,in Scotland.. -The speaker, chatting with a Daily Times reporter in Dunedin on the vital subject of munitions, added “I have not long in this country, but from what I have’seen there are abandoned ploughs and other instruments , on almost every farm. A lot of the metal j is pure steel and iron, which can bb put to remarkably go'd use, how that the Mother Country is in sore heed of mn- i nltio’ia. Good iron is worth over JEI -lOs per ton-, and steel is worth, at the very Fad. £4 per ton. Tliere are irrnwrrk) and foqudriss here and in other colonies which could be quickly converted, by get-i ting the proper riant, for, profitable and patriotic sorv’ce.” The inforhiant stated Mint he hod -h»ard 'that the question of-riieU-eaao manufec'ure was being considered bv ironworks . preprieters in . somo parts cf the Dominion.

I A'Napier -wire states that the Napier City Council has decided, to: issue Tree tram- passes : to- all returned soldiers.; '. The Committee of the Aotea Conval- , cscent Home would like to remind donors ■ that all donations must be sent to the Secretary (Miss,, Cummins), at- .the “Herald” office by Wednesday; ■ The office will be open from 9 till 5 p-’clock, % “B” (No. 2) company of the Wanganui branch of the National Reserve will hold an officers’ class of instruction-to-morrow 'night (Wednesday), at 7.30, at the Victoria Avenue School Hall. All members who cannot attend Saturday parades are requested to attend. There will bo a full parade of the company at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, at the Drill Hall, ' A Wellington wire states- that during the past three months, the amount of mail matter despatched, from New Zealand to our troops at the front lias shown a steady increase. On June 4th, .93 bags of mails and 106 registered articles were sent forward, while on August 26th,' the ’ j figures were 261 and 341 respectively. I Ine increase throughout that period was remarkably steady. Similarly, the number of parcels forwarded has shown air, increase, the first mail in June taking - 243 parcels, weighing 597 lbs., while the last mail m August took 2433 parcels, weighing 6822 lbs. Never in the history ; of the Dominion has the mail despatch been so heavy. ■ A high tribute to the, efficiency of This training of the Nciy Zealand reinforcement,drafts is paid by Colonel W. 0. Braithwaite, General Staff Officer, N.Z. Expeditionary Force, and late. Chief of tho General Staff in New Zealand In a letter to an officer in Wellington Tie states: “lou people arq .doing ,wonders i.i New Zealand in keeping-your end up, and I can assure you • that your efforts are well rewarded when you see bow easily the reinforcements' tumble into their places in the firing line without I any preliminary preparation. Every man I cn arrival hero goes into the firing line at once, so he needs to have, a certain j amount of preliminary training.” j The incidents connected with the death ' Lieut. J. H. Allen are described in a letter received by the- Hon. J. Allen (dmister of Defence) from an officer of high rank. The mixed, fore? with ,j tlie’: Essex Regiment was associated got into ' j ft position on June 6tli owing to the centre having got too far forward, j Some of the troops were bombed out of the advanced trench, and Lieut. Allen ! fnf another officer acted “most gallantly 111 attempting to check the retreat. They succeeded, but had to expose themselves freely, and the plucky act cost Lieut Allen his life. “I am- pleased to be able to tell you that your son died rtolng a very gallant act which entailed almost certain death,” writes the officer. „„ ? do , 08 h f dld required a cool head and a brave heart.” Thfcrmation, has just been received tronii.-London that, the British - Government, have placed orders for 2000 tons of snbuhte, as a high explosive in the manufacture of -shells, hand grenades, and mines; ' It is stated that after .exhaustive, tests sajulite has been acknowledged by -;. Ie War Office to be the .best nitrate--ammonia -exploaivq known. It is, moreover interesting! to ncte that a company | -under the name of Sabnlite, N.Z., Ltd.—is manufacturing sabulite at- Auckland, it-having purchased the New rights. The factory, which-is situated at ■ ■V\ aikumetc. is>icapable , 'jf'.turning cut large quantities weekly. There is, indeed, a possibility of some of the 2000 tops ordered by the British Government being mgde and supplied Irbm New’Zealand. Three large companies are al«o manufacturing sabnlite in ,British Oolumb:a,: United States of America, and Australia. ; ■ During the hearing of the drapery diaputo at the Arbitratipn Court in -Wei -. : lingtoii, Mr M. J. Reardon, representing the workers, put in official figures Iron) the Customs Department comparing the imports for the first seven months.of,the ; present year. These figures show a,: decrease in the imports rf apparel ’ of 41219,053, poual, on the basis of a population of 1,000,000, to a decrease of 4a per head. In boots and shoes a- decrease of k 15,486 was shown, or 3id per jiead. But since May the figures showed an increase totalling 4118,620. In carpets, carpeting, and such like, the decrease was . .£30,250, or 7d per head. Drapery' showed a decrease of £51,865, or Is per head; ha s and cans a decrease cf £19,068, or 4}d per head, but since May an increase totalling about £3720; hosiery, a decrease of £15,104, or 3d per head, but since May an increase totalling abgut £50(0,0. Millinery showed a decrease cf or 3d per head; canvas, a decrease of i £11,024, or 2Jd per head, but since May j an increase of £4450. On the other hand, cotton goods showed an increase , of £57,610, or Is Id per head; linen, an inorr-aso of £77; silks, an increase of £15,518, or 3d per head; and woollens an increase of £70,011, or Is 3d per head. Arthur Humble, a Fremantle lad, who ! was an experienced locomotive fitter, left his home a few mouths ago for Newcastle-on-Tyne for the purpose of helping as a munition woiker. He recently wrote ■ to his parents, giving the experiences of bimseii and a cmim nicknamed “Dago” whom he tcok with him. Ho says: “\Ye v I have made a good ■ show at work, and therefore get the best work in the shop. The men there drop their tools sometimes when we are hopping into it. We are the only two in- the whole shop who work with but’- sleeves rolled up, and they cannot make it out. There was a bit of a scene one qarly morning. One of the Potters made a remark about ns, Dagp went up and asked this man whether he meant it, and the man replied ‘Yes.’ Then Dago asked him to put up his hands, -and to, the surprise cf all the men Dago knocked' -hint right out. Since then the other men have been as nice as pie to us. It is funny to hear them asking us if wo came from the wilds of Australia. We reply,-‘Yes, wo did, whers they eat one another.’ Now they will do anything for us and will go right out. of their way to do anything for ns. Wo were not satisfied, with .the money i we were getting, so wo decided to leave and go to the Clyde workshops. To, our surprise, the manager of the shop would not accept our resignations. He told us ho did not want to lose us, and that our jobs were good in war or any other time. He told ns that he had heard splendid' reports about us, and he had .heard , about the little affair’with one of the I men. Ho told us to hit a lot more if they said anythin?. Sb we stayed. After that a : foreman from a submarine yard i came to us-and offered us -a- job; but a* we were getting the beat fitting in the shop' we decided to- stay.”