LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15992, 8 December 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Fit man tie cable slates that the British Davis Cup team has arrived. Mackcnscn had a most enthusiastic reception. There was much _ speech ifyir<r and flower-throwing. Ho is regarded as" a second Hinder.burg by hero worshippers. He was accompanied by ralkenhavn and I/mwitz. Now that the Parliamentary writs have, boon issued, there arc no members of Parliament, and this condition will exist until the. genera elections will entitle the chosen of the people to use the magic prefix M.i . On Tuesday, the 16th inst., a cirm reception will be accorded to icncra H asset 1, who is visiting Wanganui t" distribute the prizes at the Collegiate School. The functions will be held at midday, at the Veterans' Steps m Maria Place. It is announced that new potatoes, which have been selling at 4d, od, and 6d per pound, are now down to 11s per cwt. wholesale. As the result of frosts in some parts of the district there has been a rush of new potatoes into the* Wellington market. Admiral Percy Scott, speaking in London, supported Ixnd Fisher’s theory that big battleships are doomed. Aeroplanes have revolutionised future naval warfare with their speed of 150 miles an. hour compared with a battleship’s 50 knots.

A London cable states that the German flag was seen on the Thames for the first time since the ■war, being flown by a merchantman unloading cargo at London wharf.

The Felton bequest purchased for Australia Turner’s famous picture, '‘Walton Bridges/’ painted in 1810. It was formerly bold at Christmas for ' about <£sooo.

k Switzerland haa decided to ask all belligerents to repatriate all war prisoners before Christmas. The Vatican accepted Switzerland’s invitation to send a similar note to ex-belligerents. * Six new postage stamps, commemorating the victory of the Allies and the coming of peace, will be issued by the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department shortly.

As a result of negotiations, the transAustralian railway will resume traffic immediately, pending a conference to settle the details of the settlement. The employees are being r©-instated. The Gonville Volunteer Fire Brigade received a call at 12 a.m. yesterday morning to a grass fire which was raging in Alma Road. Only the prompt arrival of the Brigade saved what might have caused serious damage. In the House of Commons, Sir Auckland Gedd.es stated that a number of collieries, owing to financial difficulties, were unable to continue to supply household coal at the reduced prices. Steps had been taken to finance them, and they had been instructed to resume normal working. The Sisters of St. Mary’s Convent, Ingestre Street, wish to thank all those who helped to make their garden fete the success it proved to be. They thank in a special manner the conductor and members of the Garrison Band, who so kindly gave np their free afternoon to add to the enjoyment of the fete. At the meeting of the Waitotara County Council to-day, on the motion of the chairman, the Council expressed its appreciation of the work carried out by Cr. D. Ross as chairman of the Council during his term of office. Members spoke appreciatively of Cr, Ross’s services, and the motion was carried unanimously. A point of law regarding the taming out of tenants was stated by Mr Massey in conversation with a reporter at Christchurch on Thursday. He said that Magistrates were empowered to refuse to nako an order for the ejectment of a tenant in any case where undue hardship would be caused to him. The y South Wales branch of the British Medical Association resolved to ask the Federal Government to deport all doctors interned during the war as alien enemies, also to remove their names and the names of all those registered in virtue of German or Austrian qualification not resident or practising in New South Wales, from the medical register. As a result of the settlement of the bntchers’ strike, all shops will be working as usual in Auckland to-day. The slaughter yards have been filled with stock, and it is expected that fresh meat Will be available on Tuesday. The agreement provides for wages as provided in the Wellington award. The men have been assured by the employers that there jvill be no victimisation. A band of educated middle-aged women is being organised by the London Women’s Industrial Council to carry on household work—in middleclass homes where the mother is ill. They are not intended to replace trained nurses, but to help by looking after the house, the children, the invalid’s food, the shopping, and the mending. Home helps will be supplied only

to families in which there is a definite

. case of sickness, and they will not be sent to families who cannot afford to pay a living wage. The Lyttelton Times blames the extreme Labour section for the break-up of Mr Massey's meeting. Editorially the paper says: “It is not Liberalism that refuses an opponent a hearing; it is not Liberalism that nuts an affront upon the head of the Government such as was put upon Mr Massey last night. 'Die disgraceful demonstration was the work of those wild folk whose comrades in 'Wellington have caused them to bo known as the interruption party. We sympathise with Mr Massey, and .assure him that the interrupters totally misrepresent the temper of Christchurch people as a whole. Die responsibility for the trouble unquestionably rests ■with the small extreme Labour section.” The aeroplane of the future will probably he built entirely of non-combustible material. Important advances in this direction have already been made by British engineers who have produced wing frames of “duralumin” and of steel. At the British Science Products Exhibition of 1919 several complete wings of duralumin” were shown. These were generally arranged with flanged spars connected by lattice bracing. Steel wings were also exhibited, built up of thin strips of high tensile steel electrically welded. One type of steel spar is claimed to be 10 ]kt cent. lighter and 30 per cent, stronger than the corresponding wooden spar. Composite wood and steel wings are also shown by various British makers. Allmetal construction is not only fire-resist-ing, but is claimed to be more durable, reliable, and resistant to atmospheric changes. At present the main drawback is its higher cost, but British makers are looking forward to reducing this handicap by improving manufacturing methods. A recent cable message stated that Mormon agents were busy in Britain, especially in the north, luring girls to Utah. Twelve hundred girls were awaiting embarkation. The scarcity of husbands was said to hare given the opportunity to the Mormon elders, uiany of whom had arrived since the armistice. Die strongest warnings were being published that though the Mormons said that polygamy had ceased, converts were compelled to take an oath of secrecy and allegiance. Mr C. B. Robbins, of 21 Ramsden Street, Clifton Hill, in the course of a letter, .said that the following had been published all over the United States, and on May 29, 3911. in the Liverpool Express, by Mr Y. S., Peet, a nonMormon;—“l have come here to offer 1000 dollars for each and every case proved of girls being sent to” Utah for the purpose of becoming polygamous wives.” The money was deposited at 295, Edge Lane, Liverpool, Mr Robbins added, and is still waiting to be claimed. In 1911 an investigation was made in the House of Commons. Mr Winston Churchill’s statement, which appeared in the official Parliamentary Debates, March 6, 1911, was —“I have at present no official inforL mation showing that ydung girls are I being induced'to emigrate to Utah.”