LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14698, 1 September 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Contributions from Wanganui to ■ the Auckland Jubilee Institute for the blind last year amounted to <£4l 12s. Dr. Elizabeth Gunn is at present carrying out the work of medical inspection at the various schools in the district. Airs C/ E. Alackay 'received a letter from Mrs A- Crawford, hou. secretary of the Wellington branch of the Countess of Liverpool Fund, stating that 103 skins, to be worked into waistcoats for the soldiers, had been sent from Wellington. The writer added that.it was difficult to supply so many skins at once, but expressed pleasure at the ladies of Wanganui endeavouring to supply so many waistcoats. Says the Press:—'Tho war with Germany has brought to light many of til j dependence of local industries either wholly or in part upon German manufacture. A curious instance is that connected with the supply of cane for basket-making, au industry which is' pursued to some extent iu the Dominion. Hitherto supplies have been grown in Java and sent to Germany for treatment and dressing, but of course that source is cut off. It may he necessary now to revert to willows tor matting 1 askets, in which case the plantations laid down by the S>uth Waimakariri River Board will rt last find a profitable market. The f,lipwing extract from a German newspaper has been sent to a lady in Timaru, reports the Herald:—“ The Central Espionage Bureau in New Zealand reports that on open revolt is, in progress. Political po>ver being dominated by women, the King-has been denounced, ind a number of rival queens have been proclaimed by the. natives. Collisions between the supporters of the various queens pre getting more fierce and frequent every day, and as one.bas alreadv been enwnod in Wellington; ,• it is certain that tho two islands will become separate iStatcs.. The Government is quite helpless, because the whole milirtarv force has b<-eu sent to au unknown destinaliem.” ■ , ,

At Pahiatua yesterday a * young man v named George-Ampa/Cjirran was lined £lO or :twor monthe 'lofi;stealing -an art .union book in connection wi hj the* Pahiatua patriotic carnival. The evidence) showed' that he sold several tickets. The Justices considered the public, should be protected against exploitation of patriotic funds. j It is an extremely uncommon thing for a .vessel cf the size of the B.M.S. .Tainui , to leave these shores without a large quantity. of butter and cheese in her colds lor thc 'Home market, but (says the * P;st) when the Tainui sailed from Welmgton' last Tiiursuay afternoon ter London she had ;no cheese aboard, and only , w., boxes of; butter for the Loudon show. ! Daring the year ended June 30, 1913, 'tW imports; of butter into, the United Kingdom decreased by 4-10.877e.wt. as compared with the previous year. Hie decrcaso being equal to 10.4 per cent., while f«Sr ■ the same period the imports of chegso in- ' creased, by 245,254cwt,, equal to 10.4 per cent. The decrease in butter was comparatively large, and, was due to the., shortage cf shipment* from, Russia 290,387cwt., Sweden 180,052cwt., and Denmark 1?.3,523cwt. The Danish and Swedish butter was probably taken, by Germany. ! it is understood (says the Dominion) that another fall in the price of flour is,, imminent. The Canadian harvest' of wheat is said to have been a very good one, and it is stated that in about two months from ndw it will be possible to land flour in New Zealand frera Vancouver at a price considerably belcw the present selling price—Xls per ton f.o.b. in the south. Preparations are also being mads in New South Wales to handle

a 60,000,000 bushel crop, which should also help to bring the price of flour down to a reasonable figure. While labour conditions in Auckland are considered, under the circumstances, to be satisfactory, it is evident that there is a good deal cf unemployment among casual workers. For instance, on Wednesday eft mi'on last week, the Auckland Mar was published at 3.45, and ; amongst the advertisements appeared the announcement that a local firm wanted 50 men to, work at Westfield. Within an hour 70 men had presented themselves, and before tho office closed at 5 o’clock, a notice was posted that all the vacancies had been filled. A letter received in Auckland from an officer of the headquarters staff of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, written from Gallipoli 'on July 7th, contains a paragraph which will be of interest to many anxious relatives of men reported wounded and missing. “If your brother is a' wounded prisoner, you may (Teat assured that ho is being properly looked after by the Turks, as we have overwhelming evidence that they are looking after their wounded prisoners' well, in spite of the. fact that they have 60,000 of their own wounded,',’ This is borne out by an extract from the.letter of another officer recently invalided home,’ after being wounded in a heavy engage-

ment at Quinn’s Post;—“lf taken prisoner, and sick or wounded, he will be well cared for, and if unharmed will be treated with consideration,.’ The office** of the enemy, in the great majority of cases, are treating their prisoners with the same consideration that wo extend to our:;;” , ■ v i ‘ The Wanganui Mala Choir (late Liedertafel- ‘Society) are very disappointed .at the , poor reception'they received at Marion last evening. They were asked if, they would give a concert at Marion in aid of the Patriotic Funds, and consented to to so. The date was fixed .for last evening, the arrangements, other than- the items for the programme, naturally being left with Marton. The choir mustered in force, 45 members and other helpers making tho journey. An excellent programme was presented, including some of the Choir’s best numbers, while Miss Price contributed artistic violin solos, and songs and ducts were expressively sung by Miss Paton, Miss K. Wood. Mr Hoar, and Mr and Mrs Sperling. The audience numbered less than a hundred, and it now transpires that the Jconhcrt was organised in support of one cf the candidates for the Queen of the Carnival contest now proceeding in the Rahgitikei, and supporters of other candidates were conspicuous by their absence. It is much to bo re-retted -that local rivalry prevented Marton from extending to the Wanganui Male Choir the courtesy .and support it deserved. A meet successful bazaar in aid of the Belgian Fund waa held at ; Waitotara on Friday. There were six-stalls. No. 1, fancy stall,, was presided oVep. by Mrs G. Pearce, Misses Handley and Adair: No. 2, plain stall, Mesdames Laird, Grove, Armstrong, and G. S. Simpson, and Miss Sle.ght; ivo. 3, produce, Mesdames Alexander, Adair, Handley, and E. Parsons; No. 4, sweets,' Mtsa Pearce; No. 5., Christmast-tree, Mrs Breen and Alias Grove; ’ No. ~6, bran tub, Mrs H. Moorey. Tile tea-room was conducted by Mesdames Mathews, Wickett, Curry, and the Misses Gray, Morse, aild itigley. A “fortune-telling'’ show was conducted by Mrs Mountier, and proved a source of attraction to old and young. Valuable gifts were received as dona tic ns, and which helped materially to swell the receipts, as follows,:—A prize sheep (weight 184,b) by Miss K. Treadwell, Upper F\aitotara; lamb, Mr J. Verry; pig, Mrs E. Parscn<; prize goat, Ghas. Vincent; besides turkeys and prize fowls. The bazaar proved a thorough success in every way, and it is anticipated that some S2OO will he realised, and probably more. Aa the outcome of the steady advance which has been taking-place ill the markets of India and Ceylon, - the prices of the lower grades of tea tvero advanced by 2d per lb some time ago •by the Wellington blendarnj, and (similar action has Just been, decided uponi 'by the Auckland firms in the trade. Tile N.Z. Herald, referring to, tha inorcaseti, says*:—“ The p.silion of the market' Mity be Teaiised from the fact that at .reccht sales in Calcutta and Colombo teas were sold at from 2d to 3d per lb above The average for the whd» of last year. It is stated that tea will prdbably be increasingly scarce during the next year or two, owing to the additions to the ranks of consumers 'brought about by changed social conditions arising out of the war. Russia i< reported to be buying freely in all th-- Eastern .tea markets, and it is evident t’ ’ll the Imperial prohibition in regard to, vodka will materially increase the cousimption of tea in that Vast country. Itqo.ries from the military authorities in London are again m circulation, and th y point to heavy orders. Tho French' Government has also nut out an, inquiry fo l ' one million pounds of'tea. Whether it ■- in euded to issue tea as a ration to-F.en-h troops is not yet known. This quantity would he quite insignificant if, England ■ or Russia were concerned;,- but: t’*e French are not hejivy* I|caw drinkers, and I'm quantity, is very large for tliat country." ,

At the reque-t of flic Jlon; TV, A. licl•(Premier of /New-South- Vvalea), tio Prinft' .Minister- ilpiMr Vf. Hanagan, the'Valuer-General'for Now Zealand,''paying,-a-visit to Australia to. assist the New South Wales Government in drawing up a Valuation-Bill,. OA somewhat similar lines to that in-Force' in New t j Zealand. Mr Flanagan leaves lor hydra y on Thursday, i The “rally room” which has, been provided for tlio men in camp here has become popular with the soldiers off duty, and ,the room is well filled each evening. Last night Mrs Sedgewick and Mr U. Clupham entertained the ram to a number of v. cal items, and before 1 the men departed hearty cheers were given for Mrs Mackay and' the ladies who were assisting her in the conduct of the “rally room.” i For the month of ..August,, the „, vital ; IstatistjcsiTor WarigamiPwcfe:} .Births 48, deaths 21, marriages 10. The total for the period last year the figures were slightly less and were as under; Births 45, cleaths2l jnarjage^-10. . The total for the eight months of 1915, as compared, with},; the totals for the same period in 1914, arc nlign-.y lower except in regard to marri- ! ages in which there is a majority of one in favour of this year. The figures for,, . the periods, with those for 1914 in parenthesis are as follows: Births 5961 (446,) deaths 145 (161,) manages 148, (147.) Nearly one hundred San Francisco men of 2Q years'of age, natives of the Netherlands, have left for. their fatherland in a batch in response to a call to the colours. The order was received on July 31, and the men hurriedly assembled and entrained for home. The Netherlands Consul

General at San Francisco stated that since 1 the beginning of the war the Netherlands had been keeping an army • of 450,0CR) mobilised. Holland, bo said, was determined to maintain its neutrality, but ! the hurried order for the men of the : 1915 class was construed in other channels lo mean that the Netherlands was tiring cf Germany’s submarine' warfare, for Holland has recently been a singularly heavy sufferer in the loss of vessels via the i. Kaiser’s submarine route. "Here we are, looking out on the bcau--1 tiful Aegean Sea with six steam trawlers 1 and eight destroyers for our daily companions,” wrote the late ' Colonel (((Arthur Banchop from Gallipoli recently.' “The i latter have to be constantly on the move v (tpr fear of submarines) night and day. They help us wonderfully, and come in to 5 within' 600 yards of gs to ask where wo , want .the shells placed; We can’t decide ‘ whether they own us, or vice‘versa; good ■ spirit on both sides. > I had a trip in ' the 1 Fincher, destroyer, the pther,}}day td‘ I Hellos, and saw their show'there/’' 1 was not impressed a bit. ; They have yet to 1 seize -Achi Baba, and there/ is another ■ 1 problem after, before ■ they dominate tho ' Narrows. I saw the plains'of IToy .across. 1 on the Asiatic shore, from where -they } were pelting us with a i.7in. gun.'} T pre- • fer our wicket up here—in spite of the wary sniper, who ceaseth ■ not day or

ingot, "icsterqay ueneraiiiirawooacapio into, our camp with his , chief of. staff (Andrew ■ Skean), who was at Camberlcy. Andrew; told me he had called ,the ridge (up which we will trip off on a fino mission some mornihg) Bauchop. ridge on the map- It will figure (I think) in New Zealand as a historical .locality. Up through the Cyclades, into‘these Grecian Islands, witji all the glapmir of Homer's Odyssey,., the reality, is far more' beautiful. The countryside is cohered poppies and,flowers of all sorts : and colours.. The thyme crushes under our'fcht."