LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14746, 27 October 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A London cable states that the Cm"-’ has ordered the destruction < f the done meats found in the premises of the lime pendent Labour Party iu London. The Coachwcrkers' Federation Conte’--ence opened at Wellington yesterday. Mr C. Tsraelsou (Canterbury) was eleetel pre-iideut, and Mr S. Pentecost (Cant r bury) secretary to the conference. Residents of Castlcdiff will lie interested to hear that the gift of handkerchiefs and other articles sent to tire boys at tlu front has been received and was nun hj appreciated. Tho fact was mentioned a I the patriotic meeting yesterday by Mr J. H. Burnet. Summonses issued ou behalf of the relatives of three Chinese who lost their lives by gas-poisoning in Tinakori Road, Wellington, have been discontinued. It is understood that the case has hem settled cut of Court by the payment t a sum agreed upon between the parties. Acting on the request, from the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church of New /eadand. Professor Hewitson, master of Knox College, left Dunedin to-day en route to Canton as a deputy to the Canton villages mission. ' He expects to bo absent five months. The Wellington Education Bi aid yesterday adopted a resolution protesting against the inclusion of Man Impugn aud Nelson in the Wellingt" i Education .District. Mr A. W. Hogg said this addition would be a hugs, b nadir, and ttie chairman (Hon. J. n. W. Ait'cen) explained that Parliament ha 1 over-ruled tho Commission’s report. In connection with the National W: Census, the Postal Department requ.s'.i that in order to make a check on the collection of schedules persons in fie Wanganui letter carriers delivery wb > have had forms left at their place < f residence are not to pest them. They wiT lie called for. The collectors, who s'-i.rK the work of collecting on Tuesday, 2u I November, null record tho number received from each householder. Nurse Stewart, of Masterton, writex from tire Egyptian Army Hospital, Can--. a.s follows:—“We have a number <P Maoris in. and we make such a fuss i f them, and never fail to tell them how proud we are of them. They have done excellent work. We axe getting a giw , many of the new gifts sent here, and the hoys are enjoying Wanganui home-mad-! jam just now. We also opened a giriS case of knitted shoes and slippers, wlite'i ara duly appreciated.

All tlu French troops who have be‘'n six months at the front have been grant el short leave. A circular ha.s been issue! fixing the order in which leave of absence may "be granted. First on the list come the men who have wen the Cross of War or th-> Legion of Honour. Next in order came the men who have taken any pris.-n er-i. lifter these fathers cf five, fciu, three, cr two children. Then co-»« “married nun’’ simplv, end tillers of th ' soil, and last of all single men. Acco.ding to Mr Knibbs, the Comun r wealth Statistician, the, population of Australia showed an increase cf 68,89 1 during 1914, as compared with 139,7 i() i 1013. with 1 <U.632 in I°l2, aud wi*’143,624 iu 1911. Australia shipped off some few tens of thousands to the w;r. but the contraction in the increase we ■ largely due to a rt puage of inimigntii ". Tn 1911 the net immigration was 69,3(i(i, in 1912 it was 83,741, and in 1913 it v-:■ ; 54,775, while last year there w-u a net exodus, including troops, of 17,370. As showing tho high rates of frei" 1 '; at present ruling throughout tho woi-H the case of the Norwegian four-mast I barque Songdal may be mentioned. TV' vessel left Newcastle last week for lauiq" ' (Chili) with a cargo of 2973 tons of c*-1 at 24s nor ton, which works out at .i’356 ! for an average passage of about 40 do v - After dischargin'* at tb© Chilian port. t v * vessel will load a full cargo of nit*'-' ■ for South Africa at 50s per ton, which works out at 417432. The total for tin round trip will be JEII.OIB. which show that the wind-iammer u still capable of paying a handsome dividend. The Temps Dedcagateh correspondent says that since tho day when a British submarine destroyed a portion of the l alata bridge by exploding a. torpedo beneath the centre of it a veritable panic has reigned in tho capital. The spcctoo of submarine haunts the population, epeciallv the superstitions Mussulman', who call the submarines mi invention (T the devil. Each time Enver Pasha and the Ministers-cross tho bridge g - ing to tho Sublime Porte, where all tho Ministers are located, special sendee submarines guard the waters on either side. Thanks to the Allies’ submarines tVTurks no longer foci at home even in their capital.

The numt er cf sheep in the Dominion this year is estimated to be "24,901,420, Us compared with 2t,798,*63 for 1914-.

In < rdcr to make up the complement of medical officers required for the reinforcement drafts un to June next, Dr. Valiutine, Director of Military Hospitals, anticipates that at least 70 doctors will be wanted. Developments at present un!or s en may necessitate a rail upon the profc.-si .n for KK) of its members by that time.

TKo-gh camp has been occuf'it'd for over a year as a military training ground, and has had an adult male p p lit on averaging considerab’y above that of many towns in New Zealand, it has not produced a newspaper until the Camp Ccurier made its appearance at the end of last week. The new sheet is de■scri ed as "a pn r ely camp devoted to the interests cf the military township."

M. I’ichon, in the Petit Journal, in referring to his visit to the British force*, says:—-‘‘lt must be said, in face of the suferb organisation and tho intensity of effort which has surpassed anything that could possibly have been imagined, that, no other country than Great Britain could have been capable of achieving in so short a time anything like the same result. Lord Kitchener has spoken iu tho House of Lords of a spectacle which would astonish tho world. Those who Save looked for tho meaning of these bold words will see it to-day." M. de I.anessan, formerly Minister of Marino, writing in the Petit I'arision, says; "Events have clearly shown that Von Tirpitz and the Lmperor William have grossly deceived themselves in thinking that they could replace battleship squadrons by submarines, while events nave also demonstrated that the German fleet has suffered disaster each time it exposed its battleships to the fleets of Great Britain, Franca or Eussia.”

Engineers in E tgland are scrious'y discu ;tiug the ps» hility that the Lusitania may raised from the ocean bed, says the Washington Times. She lies at a depth of ;k;o to too feet, on a bottom that is supposed to be hard enough to have prevented her tecorning packed in mud and grown iuto the sea’s floor. This is in many oases the greatest difficulty abut raising a ship. The Lusitania and her cargo are estimated to weigh about. 40,000 tons, which is a greater weight than his ever been dragged up from the sea's bottom. Moreover, the deptli at which sin lies is, perhaps, 100 ft greater than a”y at which divers have ever succos fully operated. Hut it is suggested that greater power and bigger appliances might cope with the greater weight, while there have been recent improvements in dicing paraphernalia which might make the work possible, des’ i'p the great dentil. Us"eeiilly is it claimed that a spherical diving machine has been perfected, in which men could go to much greater deaths aM still wo-.k, using artificial light to guide them.

Although the expenditure incurred by New Zealand on the display at the Panama Exhibition will ho nearer .£20,000 than the ilo.OO) originally voted, Mr Mark Cihen, cf Dunedin, who has just returned from America, considers that tin taxpayer has no reason to grumble, seeing how far ahead we were of Australia, who lias spent twice the amount we had. “The featur- of the Now Zealand pavilion,’’ said Mr Cohen to an Auckland interviewer, ‘ was unquestionably the fine display of our woollens. Tlies excited general admiration, and when the time came for selling tlov called forth spirited bidding. Under t' e capable guidance of Mr K. Clifton, a good allowing was made cf Hie principal products of this Dominion, and, being in the main building, close to the fine d snlay of the United States Government, our pavilion attracted the alt'oit'on cf thousands who otherwds? might never have seen it. That New Zealand should have gained 478 awards, inclusive of no le»< than 14 grand priirs. s'-eaks for i<sdf ” Mr Cohen remarked t’-at credit should also be given to Messrs M. o’Bri n n (who will see to the filial disposal of the exhibits), A. Macohevson twho returned by the Niagara!, and B. Twin-, ning (who has had charge cf tbo musical instrument section!.

A journalist wth (he Austinlian forces g ; ve< mi insight into the absnrduesa of m Htavy methods in the following:—lt was a groat pity the people of Sydney never saw the “Fighting Sixth" ride through the metropolis, fn Egypt they were reckoned the best-mo'"»ted regiment, that ever left Australia. The limelight has been turned right on to subseciiirnt vo’nnteen. Other contingents - firri, third, ant fourth—bathed in the smiles of tiio multitude. Special trains were i”n. tint the eountrv folk should se« them. But our brigade, the 2nd Light Horse Brivnd». comprising the sth, <UH, and 7th L.H. Regiments were hun L ed off like thieves in the night. In deadly secrecy we s'rnek pomp; in the dawn hnrii wo stealthily dunk through the city street", We’ were all aboard the trempor l s befere Sydney was well awake. The papers were not, allowed to publish a lum about our departure. So the country folk eam» to see their sens and brothers offtoo late. The whole city knew it too le‘e. Every Orman spy in Australia knew it—cniv. When we arrived at Aden a logger on tlm gangway of the transport told us to a man the 'constitution ef the second fnvf*o ibo number of fchip*. and our nation. So cleverly had the censon concealed cur mcvementil

Tho following (says the London Eimcri is an extract from a letter just received from Brussels, describing the way in which Independence Day (July 21st) was observed there: “On July 21st I was advised to attend High Mass at St. Guduh■ s. Tiiere was a crowded congregation. The Papal Nuncio, whom, bv the way, most of tho people mistook for the Cardinal, officiated, and at the close of the Mass, which was followed bv the playing of tho first two lines of the Brahaneonne by the organ, the congregation suddenly gave vent to a delirium of enthusiasm. Women wept, men swung their hats round high over their heads, and there was a loud and prolonged shout of ‘Vive le Roi! Vive la Belgique !’ The same scene was witnessed at the end of each st-anwi, and at the close the people were all singing. It annears that the same thing happened in all the churches of the city and also in tho country districts round about Brussels. All day long the city was in a state of excitement and feverish animation. Flowers were carried to the Place dea Martyre: all the business establishments, from the cafes down to the smallest shops in the working-class districts, were clos'd without exception. In the superior residential rants of the city all the shutters were up as a sign of mourning. I cannot imagine it nesKihl“ to conceive of a more dignified demonstration of unshaken loyalty and the confidence as to the future felt throughout tb» great city. At about 0 o’clock in th» afternoon, the Governor caused notices to be posted nr ordering the closing ef. the cafes Bid not a single cafe had been open all day. Everywhere people are- discussing how tong the status quo may last, and they are waiting patiently.”

In the latest list of men accepted for service at the front, published in laaft •evening’s issue, the name N. B. B. Ball should have read N. V. H. Paul, steward, Wanganui Club. In view of the display of work in eon* necticn with t|m Militaiy Hospital (iuild next week, it is m-cessaiy that all outstanding work and kaiitiug six nld oe returned without delay. I. i .mi,ml lei .era and all gifts for the ease u ■■ a. i.qi.iula now. Iho telephone ’iionis i. 'i.ii. ,n the rooms, will lind Mrs Mils. .1 . i.,,iary) at interval*, and each evening ims t<eek. The Aus ra.iau Navy Minister las announced that the nego.iati. us which had been proceeding witn a byoncy i,,„i n,v the salvage ami Pouting ol u.e l e.inan cruiser Kindeu. ashore at Cn , LL d, liud lieen I cokea off, and toe N.uy i»w partment would undertake the work i - If. it is iutjnd-d to despatch a gunl> at, with all the necesary equipment, and earning divers and engineeis, u> the Cocos within the next lorlnigut. Ii i( is po.aible to refloat the KmdOii, it will las none, and the vessel brought haek to Australia. In any event, the salvage work will be carried out by the Com nuns alt Ii C'padifiou.

A presentation of a piece of plate has been made by the Admiralty to Mis Triton, a Stockport lady, and her two maids for their services to the British squadron on the day of the naval battle ifl the Falkland Isles. Mrs Felton is the daughter of Mr Fred Dun**, of Stockport, and Hub wife <if Mr H. S. Felton, who is the manager of a large sit ecu farm in the Falkland Isles, residing at Fitzroy, East Falkland Islands. Mrs Fclt< n i’ecoived information when the British squadron was outside Manley Harlmur that a portion of the Gorman (Let had come in sight, and she immediately sent her servants to the top of a ridee to look out. They came back, and sail that they had seen two transports and a cruiser. Mrs Felton thereupon informed tho s authorities, and the information was im- * mediately transmitted to Admiral Sturdea. The Geneva, correspondent of the Telegraaf, writing on August 211 lasi, state* that before the opening of the Reichstag the German Chancellor bad an iui|>ortant secret conference with Ministers, political leaders, snd other influential is-rsms, with the object of explaining to them the situation, and urging them to display a judicious calm. Herr Bassermann and Admiral von Tirpitz wore absent from the proceedings, which were of a lively nature. The Minister of Finance explained that the new internal loan would absolutely exhaust' Germany's financial resources, and that the increase, alter the issue of the war lean, of Exchequer bi l.i by the Eeiehbank would result in complete 1 aokruptcy. It was therefore neceosny to prepare fur an honourable peace. The (Tiaicellcr pointed out that various difficulties with which they had to contend were pressing, and he advised those who were present to use their influence to re Ist any bellicose inclinations in the Rich-tag, and in the country generally, as well as any policy cf expansion, and carefully to prepare terms of peace which might be acceptable to the Quadruple Enten’e. The report cf Dr. Dernburg m to tho feeling which i.s being displayed in the United Stales caused a profound impression on the company present. General von Moltke declared that he fully agr-ed with the Chancellor, and added that only those who were not well in touch with tha situation could hope for the of Ru» ia being completely defeated, lu spite of these authoritative statements, the cenference did not rare to adopt a rslution advising the Reichstag to display calm and moderation, whereupon tha rhauc-'loi- declared that if a majority of ' the Reichstag should adopt an irreconeitable and chauvinistic, altitude he would te ign. a* he refused to participate in tha responsibility for Germany’s fate.