LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15182, 29 March 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The/ Matron of the »v anganui Hospital desires to acknowledge with thanks the following donations: Sweets; Miss Stevenson; records, Mr Mackay; oldlinen, magazines, Mr Warren; fruit and flowers, children of the Central Infants’ School; fruit for soldiers, the Patriotic Society. One person amongst the small crowd whi&i had gathered round two boys who had been thrown off an unlighted bicycle in the Avenue flast evening, drew attention to the blinding l lights- of ‘the town and approaching motor cars' in Avenue. Drivers of vehicles complain that it is almost impossible to see ahybnw, approaching- when ’ facing , the town'" lights, . It has been ]cnown for pedestrians to bump into/.others when proceeding Homewards simply because, the giare of the lights ahead blind them. for the time being.

An unprecedented sensation (says the West Coast Times) was experienced recently by. the holders of ordinary shares in the Westport-Sthckton Coal i Company■.when they received a dividend of & per cent An ’their;.hbldinga--the first 'eihee the formation of thfc, company. ' ' A 100 yards swimming race took place at the Municipal 'Baths last/ evening. The competitors were V. Reid (ab.), E. Forlong (pc.), F. Boulton, (oseos), McLaren (9secs), and E. Crotty (9sec). A very dose contest resulted -in Crotty catching the judge’s eye first, with v. Reid' close - up, second, Boulton a good third, and Forlong fourth. The finish between the last three was very exciting- ' ;i "

An illustration is supplied by the. Briteh and Foreign Bible Society of the manner in which Hie costs of- its usual work have .increased as the result of the war. On three or four items alone the charges have been augmented bv £24,000 for the year. The English editions of the JBible require to-day an additional expenditure of £BOO for pointing as compared to tire period before the war. Binding involves an extra £6OOO. Freight charges mean: an. additional £2OOO to £3OOO, and the loss on foreign exchange now means a debit to the society of £7OOO. -Thege alb, however, only some of the principal items, and the Society is poorer also in other respects. The committee hope to raise further subscriptions to meet the increasing expenditure. “My client wants a divorce as quickly as-she can possibly get it,” stated counsel at a Chamber sitting of the Supreme Court at Wellington on Friday. “She wants to marry a soldier, and she is afraid that he will be sent away before the proceedings are completed.” A smile Went round the court, and in view of the fact that the case cannot be heard before the May sessions, the client’s chance of success was not regarded very favourably. A fowlhouse in Purnell Street was completely destroyed by fire during the early hours of- this morning. It appears that the owner was burning brown paper in the structure for the purpose of removing infection, and after her work Was completed'she inspected the ashes, which appeared to be safe. At 1 a.m. to-day, however, the‘alarm was given and had - it not been for the prompt action of the Brigade, other damage might have been done. A returned Australian soldier tells the following story: H<? and several others were in a theatre one day. In a„seat in front was a broad-shouldered Australian in khaki. They recognised him at a pal. “Bow about it. Nugget,:' said one of the soldiers, laying his hand On the shoulder of the Anaao in front, “Nugget” turned'round, and,'*to their dismay, they saw the crown of a general on his shoulder. “Beg -pardon, sir/’ they said; “but we thought you .were one of ourselves,” “Well 1 , damn it all, aren’t IP” said the general. “Come out and have a drink.”

An indication that the Allies have an abundant store of shells and amm-u----jjifion is contained in a cablegram, received by a jeweller in - Auckland from a, large firm of manufacturing jewellers in' London. It'ls well kfiown that the services of working jewellers-Were pequisitioned by the Imperial authorities for work in munition shops, and: the message states’ that the Government has now released a great many workers, and the London firm in question, having, again secured the services of their em-', ployees, is now able to fulfill orders for the jewellery trade.

“Last week I received a cablegram from Melbourne asking me to go oVer there and conduct an anti-conscription lecturing tour during the Federal election,"said Mr H. Holland, editor of the Mooriland Worker, te| a Post reporter the other day, "1 applied for a permit on Thursday, and on Saturday I was notified over the telephone that it was granted. On Monday I received sT communication from the Minister regretting that the application could not be granted, and stating that I would not be permitted to leave New Zealand during the currency of the war.” The Rev. D. Jamieson, Anglican minister at Oamfau, ,'is reported to ‘have said at a send-off to recruits this week;: He had three sons at the front, as well as nephews, and he did nUi want to hire a hearse. Love and brightness instilled into the men helped them to fight. God’s sun shone for all. It was not justifiable 'to stop sport if it deprived men of their living. The sportsmen of New Zeala id were not leaking in supporting the soldiers. He wished to be delivered from the Kaiser, the'devil; and the wowsers. We should look upon national pastimes with as kindly an eye as King Edward. No dependence could be placed on those who condemned sport. The sportsmen would be foremost in welcoming the men back.

Ploughing by dynamite is being earned on extensively in the United States. The famous Dupont Company—one of Scwab’s enterprises, which last year showed a profit of twenty millions sterImg—who are the biggest manufactnrers of explosives in the world,—have' invented a system which enables the farmer to till virgin land by means of specially prepared low-power dynamite cartridges, which are placed at ihtervals of ten yards. The dynamite makes a regular furrow, similar to that made by a plough, and the depth can be graded as required. The, explosion is so delicate that farm hands who are drilling the hole for the second cartridge are not injured by the explosion If they are 10 yards back i 1 Stumps of Vtrees ar© readily removed, and daring peace time tbe scheme is recommended for the construction of bunkers and undulating greens on golf courses. Low-grade cartridges are also now ; used for breaking up boilers, whether embedded in brickwork -or not, which have hitherto had to be broken up by hand with great trouble and expense. : L . '

The danger of riding a bicycle without a light was illustrated in the Avenue at >bont 9 o’clock last evening. A youth was riding a bicycle down Ingestre Street and sitting upon the cross-bar was another youth; There was no light on the vehicle, and as they camet down the slight rise past "the T.M.C.A. "into the 'Avenue the machine gained' speed. The two' youths were skylarking, and did not take the trouble to ring‘the bell -s they approached'-the comer. Coming up the Avenue, from the direction of St. John's Hill wqs an elderly man Vising a bicycle carrying a light. Fortunately he was riding slowly, but a collision was inevitable, and both machines came together. The result, was that the two boys came to the ground and their bkyde'wae damaged. Other than a few bruises they were not hurt. It was purely their own fault. Had they had a light on the bicycle and had the bell been sounded it u quite pooible the accident would not have [ happened; There are a great number of cases in Wanganui of, people riding bicycles without lights and on the footpaths, and it is about time the police took action and made a tew examples of the wrong doers. V

* I J ' '‘l iv « Five young graduates of University,'- U.S.A.,* expect to profit of'£2o 000 by purchasing * ',| aged pleasure yacht and* refittifig < *| converting it into a transatlantic 1 freighter ror the.Allies.- . - “The mail/’-a soldier writes' fftfit Kut-el-Amara, “ia like water to one dying of thirst. A long overdue 'mail capses a kind of disease and ipaltim , a'mdngst us. It is the- psychological .ffktfy -■ ; ior,. which military folk are Wginmagl /. to, realise dimly/’ - ‘> - From, an English solicitor of standing - to a Palmerston friend: “I have.recent-, lv had Noel at home. He had 4 most escape. A shell lafijWt, between bis legs and he was blown, up into the top of a tree,- but beyond shock,, was uninjured.” ‘j The Broken Hill express was tw»: hours late .in arriving at Broken Hfll > recently, having been delayed on tlw ■South' Australian line by graspb<q>ppr«*. One train which left Broken Hill ' for South-Australia had to return after travelling a few miles, finding the taftriß , : blocked bytbe peefc. , , < *' i ‘He Tagebl&tt (Berlin) learns that . the Pod Department has mode several thousand tons of a new ,sort of m®rm*-;r lade consisting of apples,, potatoes, «w|. turnips. The price is Is per 2 1-&lb, and it will be distributed to the whole population as well os the army and nevy. Germany has made enough to last, till June.

, Kind friends from Bonny Glen Pbb#. byterian Church and fronf Fordell Presbyterian Church have each sent laafcjjfS donations of fruit and vegetables the Wanganui Orphanage , this week, The committee acknowledge these very * fine gifts with their best thanks, aac appreciate the kind thoughtfulness of the donors. | ■, - : . Mr D, McLaren, a member jjf the Appeal Board, stated at yesterday morning’s sittings at, Palmerston North that the 'present .was not a time for inde- '■ pendent fanners to go 1 into iwtirevKUk atid hand* their farms over to their sobs. Their knowledge was an asset to the country, and if they continued to carry oh farm work they would be able & Teleaee young and fit men, x The following paragraph, taken fiota “The Field” possibly- little light, upon the recent military orders restricting the marriages of nurses oh active service. “Hospital nurses/’ it says, ‘are marrying off at an farming rate,and it is worth while noticing that, the brides most in demand are hot .the amateurewho have taken to the ■ work in . the absence-of Social engagements, of exciting nature, but fully 'qoulified nurses.” An indighant denial of. a charge of , being idle and disorderly was-made by - a man in the Christchurch Police Court .> lari: week. Accused said that he had. never, been charged ’ With vagrqncy before. He was dogged about by (he police, and was always being put in, gaol, “I am in and out like a conoertiua/' he declared. “I have knocked off thieving. It is not < the. game wis ojaokedup tb be. I have not had ah Easter out for 16 years/' As the' Magistral, Mr J. G, L. Hewitt, nas so much work onhand, arrangements have had to bit made for two J.’sP. to hear a civil action arising out of tlm refit of a; shop in the Avenue. The ' case has already extended over two days this morning it was- adjourned again till next Tuesday. The Chief Magistrate (Mr C: E. Maokayl and Mr W. T. Bennefleld, J.P., are theipresid-, ing justices. The original claim was for £33 19s lOd, but to allow, the c*f© to be heard before Justices of the Peace, the amount has-beeh ieducedAAo £l9'' 19s lOd. Justices of the PeawYcaaaihjb - hear cases in Which -the claim is over £2O. •- ■ ■■ ■-„ ■-'■■■■ A mother’s letter, which wm laid' * fore the Military Service Board at Ckmei - gave evidence of, a spiritofsacriflqe highly commendable in these days ’ef ; numerous appeals on flimsy grounds. The writer-stated: “My eon has managed; our farm for five years. When he was jballpted I aiaked him to appeal for the hhrvest (work, and now that the harvest is over he . wishes to withdraw his appeal, and I have agreed. I do not know’how I Will manage without him. The risphneibilify. of whether he should go rests with the Board. 1 would only ask that if you decide it is his duty to go, you will allow him till the end of April to help with a press of work.” The Board had no hesitation" ih granting the time asked for.

In the case Lazarus Kaganski, of Wanganui, tailor, v. E. E. Horn blow, ; of ■ Dargaville, newspaper proprietor, ’ a claim for £l2 12a for goods supplied, judgment was given for plaintiff by consent in tbe Magistrate ViCourt, before Mr J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M. Costramounting to <£l 15s 6d were allowed. There was a counter-claim by Hornblbw for £25 16s Bd. It was alleged that KagansM bad given orders to have an advertisement inserted in the Settler for two years and seven months,, from April 13, 1913, to May 13, 1916, at the rate of £3 10s per quarter. Mr i Ciirrie_ appeared for plaintiff, and Mr for defendant. After hearing evidence, his that defendant had riot proved hie case, and he WM accordingly non-suited, with costa amounting to £2 2s. ■- An interesting case concerning Vthl*rent of a house in Swiss Avenue,' Qqßville, has been heard in the Magistrate's Court, before Mr J. G. L. .Hewitt, S.M. It was one in which.G. Bremner claimed the sum'of £35 from C. H. Burnett. Mr C. E. Mackay appeared for plain* tiff, and Mr T. Slipper for defendant. The statment of claim alleged (1) tha| • ' on or about November 17, 19K?, defendant agreed with plaintiff to let .'to thelatter a tymeov and paddock situated in Swiss Avenue,, Gonville, for ; a year from thht date at a weekly rental of £1 2s 6d, possession to be given a®! taken on November 127,, 1916, and . the plaintiff thereupon paid defendant £5 on account of rbnt. i (2.) The defendant: \ broke the said agreement, and in particular did not give plaintiff'poesewton and has not done so. Plaintiff claimed the return of the sum of £5 • and £3O damages. Lengthy evidence was heard v on both sides, and his Worship intimated that he would reserve his der ~ cision. ■ A resident of Onehunga whose income for 1916 was (says the Star) upjte r, £IOO, relates an amusing experience with the Income Tax Department. He . was astounded recently at receiving a Departmental notification that his f income for the year was £1039; Vf which £739 was taxable, and thc aotification- was accompanied by a demand fox £53 income tax. The resident promptly-returned the taxation pftjMjfc with a (fuggestwo that % tiTrtjjw offloen were suffering front mental d*rangoment. Ho has since received'.a " . formal acknowledgment of his claim lS>r" an "amended" rating, but a, rsooonmstidatioh to pay the £SB pending life usual inquiries. The .owner of- tfe Mr come Of )e» than £IOO is new - think. .. > ihg hoV< pleasant woulcLbe the spdhd. ing of an inoome of hdw gladly would he sign a cheque for £BB as, ihepoe tax-to experience noefe',; affluence. -