LOCAL & GENERAL.

Western Star, 26 March 1920, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The next Thornbury stock sale will be held on Wednesday, 31st inst. Mr H. J. Walden notifies that his dental rooms will.ba closed from 30th March to 7th April.

There is ©very possibility of a revival of trade with. Argentina in stud stock and fruit. The United States has rejected the Treaty because it tried 1 to read it through dollar spectacles. The annual meeting of the Riverton Football Club will take place in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening nest, 30th inst., at eight o’cock. Dairying land near Grey town and Fielding, two North Island towns, brought over £IOO per acre at auction. The wanton destruction of military clothing by the Defence Department, has been denied by the Minister in charge. --..Last year thirteen, schools received instruction in woodwork and cookery at the Riverton Manual and Technical School.

A wave of crime appears to be sweeping over the Dominion. Another burglary is reported from Taumanmui.

Complaints received regarding profiteering iat Auckland are being .enquired into by a tribunal appointed by the Board of Trade. The Minister of Agriculture has appealed! to agriculturist® to grow more wheat to make the Dominion independent of outside supplies. Trade with an enemy country is not permitted, yet it is stated that German goods are arriving in the Dominion by way of America. When the parliamentary party was at Fiji the firemen struck because one of their number, who had molested a Japanese offender had been bailed out. Sixty-five thousand acres of Grown land in various parts of the Dominion, are'now open for selection. Particulars are given in the Crown Lands Guide. Mr W. Smith, of the Wairio coal mine proprietary, who resided in Riverton, has removed to Timarui, but business will require frequent visits to the district. The secretary of the Riverton District Brass Band has received word that the appointment of the band as the 7th Regimental Military Band has been confirmed, and that Oapt. Weir will come out nest week to attest the members and issue uniforms.

Anthrax, erysipelas, and tetanus have been declared by special order to be infectious diseases within the, meaning of the Public Heath Act. They require to be reported to the authorities in all cases.

Mr Joseph Hunter, bootmaker, has removed to the more commodious premises next door to his old shop, where there are better facilities for showing his stock. The Maryland, the largest supcrDreadnought in the United States Navy, has been launched at Newport News. She is of 32,600 tons displacement and has eight 16-inch guns. - Arrangements are being made for the concentration of all school children in Invercargill on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales to that town, and country pupils will be provided with a free luncheon. On 31st December, 1919, there were 12,072 children on the rolls of the Southland schools —6208 boys and 6794 girls. The average attendance for the year was 10,577, which constitutes a record for the district. In his ■ report te the Education Board, the Truant Officer states that during last year lie sent out 404 notices to defaulters, issued 101 summonses, and secured 101 convictions, the amount of fines inflicted being £22. _ The inquest on Mrs Mary E. Webby, whose body was found in a side street in Palmerston North, revealed a shocking death. It is thought possible that the wound! was self inflicted, but no trace has been found of the instrument with which tire deed was done. The heavy rains experienced here during the past few days elide not extend to 'any great distance inland, where only light showers were experienced, which freshened up crops, but was not enough to soak the parched land. There are 190 schools in operation in the SoutTitand Education district. During the year new schools were opened at Port Craig, Sandhills, Northope, Raymond’s Gulp (re-opened), Lillburn (re-opened), and Dunearn, formerly Avondtale. In students’ circles it is openly stated that a candidate for the Matriculation examination, not take French, obtained! sufficient marks in that subject toi obtain a Matriculation pass. We have heard of such a thing before.

An important conference of representatives of the Fanciers’ Union, A. and P. Associations, Shccpowuers’ Union, Freezing Companies and Dairy Associations will be held at Wellington some time after Easter to discuss the questions of rozeu meat and shipping. Tobacco has been rising in ‘price, and so has the profit of the British American Tobacco Company. Last year the net profits amounted to 3,770,0U7, and dividends totalling 30 per cent, for the year were paid. No wonder the shares have risen from £1 to £7 13s Od. Tim Public Works Department lias decided to give a bonus of one shilling a. day to casual employees in receipt of from twelve to fourteen: shillings a day. The majority of the men received twelve shillings a day, and the bonus means they will now obtain thirteen shillings. Of the 351 adult primary teachers in the service of the Southland; Board, 226 hold certificates, 14 hold licenses to teach, while 101 are nneertificated. At tht) end lof 1918 there were in the service 3-14 adult teachers, of whom 214 were certificated, while the number of nneertificated was 119. The Wallace Hospital and Charitable Aid Board has a farm of fifty acres at Otaitai Bush, adjacent to the railway station, where it is proposed to locate the Old People’s Home. On Tuesday several members of the Board inspected the property with a view to effecting necessary improvements which include draining, planting, and fencing. These works will bo put in hand at an early date-.

To-morrow the Electric Power Board unanimously urges all ratepayex’s to vote for the loan proposal. Residents should now b© quite conversant with the great proposal, and prepared to give a unanimous vote in its favour. The town Council Chambers is the local polling office. ■ Wives of ratepayers are not entitled to ia{ vote, only if they are ratepayers in their own right.

A Wellington message states that Kathleen Elenore Morton, aged 22 years, who was arrested in Sydney on a charge of the theft of £343, the property of the Young Women’s Christian Association, pleaded guilty,, and was remanded to the Supreme Court for sentence. Accused was employed as office secretary, had. charge of the books, and did the banking for the Association.

Discussing things in general with 'a Main Body soldier, the subject of German pre-war penetration was mentioned, when the soldier recalled a camp he had attended in Central Otago as a member of the Territorials. It was three years before the' war, and after the war broke out, he had always thought the camp cooks who were German were nothing tout spies. Probably lie was right. “ Come inside,” ha said, “ and I’ll show you their photos.” They had been photographed standing near the ovens. The production of this photo led him to show another. It was a picture of platoon No. 5 of the Bth Southland Regiment taken in Dunedin. There were fifty men in the platoon. “I was among them,” he said, “and wo all took part in the landing, at Gallipoli.” Then, he. ran his finger over the photograph, touching each of those who had been killed. Just about half Imli mnde the supreme sacrifice, while most o'f the rest had been wounded, some very seriously. “As for myself,” ho remarked, “ I escaped with a wound in the finger, and on another occasion I had • my knapsack shot away by a machine gun bullet —a xxaufiioiw. call. Such is the fortune of wax-,” he coxxfiluded philosophically. Oiur selection of Overcoats is large and the prices very reasonable. We have all sizes froxxx 90/- to 210/-. Yon need a Muffler, too. We have them in Grey, Brown, and 1 Heather, 6/11 to 10/6. Men’s Sweater coats in Grey, Brown or Heather, 25/6 to 37/6. Warm Shirts for winter wear, 8/9, 9/6, 10/6 to 15/6. Men’s and Boy’s Flannel Uxxders, 8/6 to 15/-. Boy’s Wool Undershirts and Pants, 8/3 to 10/6. Mexx’s Roslyn Underwear, heavy or light-weights, ixx Underpants, from 9/6 to 18/6. Undershirts froxxxi 7/11 to 17/6. Call and inspect our Clothing Department for special x'a toe-week sxxips, 5 per cexxt, discount for cash. H. and J. SMITH, Progressive Stores, Tay street, Invercargill and Gore.— (Advt.)