MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Waikato Times, Volume 86, Issue 13082, 17 January 1916, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Pigs are one of the best paying aide lines on the farm at present. One farmer stated on Tuesday that twelve pigs returned him over £4O. He shook his head in an attitude meaning "That's alright, isn't it."— Opunake Times.

A remarkable instance of railroad building where no traffic was to be obtained is fourd in Scotland, in the Paisley and Barrhead line. It was authorised by Parliament in 1897, and was Rally completed. From the day of its completion to the present not a single train has ever ran over that line.

The son of a Belgian refugee, who is only 13 years old, acted as interpreter at Westminster Coroner's Court recently. The boy interpreted the evidence from Flemish into English. He explained, in answer to the Coroner, that he had only been in England for nine months, and bad picked it up since he had been there.

An extraordinary recruiting blunder was described at a meeting of the Newcastle, England. Chamber of Commerce by the secretary, Mr Shaw, who stated that he had attended a meeting of gentlemen, all or most of whom were over the recruiting age addressed by the Earl of Derby. Lord Derby informed them that they must not be surprised if any of then received a copy of his invitation now being circulated throughout the country to join the army, because by some chance Earl Kitchener himself had been the recipient of such a document.

a "It is the duty of fathers and mothers to give their sons for the defence of their country," said Mr L. M. Isitt, M.P., at Leeston recently. "I have two sons, one who has gone and one who is going. I would sooner see them lying stark and dead on the battlefield than walking the streets as shirkers. If parents prevent their sons going to the front, these lads will for life bear the brand of shame of the shirker. Parents in this hour of trial must cultivate the heroic spirt. Better a dozen deaths than to become subservient to the Germans."

A soldier from Timaru returned by the Maheno with an attenuated leg and shrunken form, caused by an attack of anthrax Hie case is a singular one, and he is supposed to have contracted this dread disease from contact with the mules which were used for transport purposes. When he went into hospital his case was considered hopeless.—most anthrax cases result fatally—but he has managed to pull through, and he is in hopes that in course of time his shrunken limb will gradually assume normal dimensions. At any rate, his demeanour is eminently suggestive of the popular "Tommy" query: "Are we down hearted'.'" In his case the reply is unequivocally: "No; certainly not."

Dr. Martin in his book "A Surgeon in Khaki," pays a high tribute to the German soldier—as a soldier:—"The German, in spite of what is often said to the contrary, is a brave and determined man with the bayonet. The German discipline is undoubted. It is a part of the peo'ple. It is the fibre of the nation. Discipline, subjection to authority, has not to be taught to people; it is absorbed into their very being. The discipline of mind and body as we understand it is not the discipline of the German, for his is an obedience to authority only —a 'go' when ordered to 'go,' a 'come' when ordered to 'come.' But it is also a 'die' when ordered to face certain death. Men with whom this discipline is a message may not make saints or pleasant companions, but to meet sturdy foes and stubborn fighters." Mr A. C, Benson, in an article in the Church Family Newspaper, holds that this is not a time for panic or despondency. "I believe trrat circumstances point indisputably to the fact that Germany is not making any real progress, but is struggling like a great fish caught in a net, and making desperate efforts to escape. The real danger is that anxiety and faintheartedness may lead Europe to desire at any cost a cessation of the hideous carnage and loss, and this, I believe, is the game which Germany is now playing. She has no longer hopes to dictate her terms to Europe. The most she hopes for is to get terms which may allow her to recuperate her shattered fortunes, and to begin preparing for like struggle in the future. It cannot be in the near future, for her population and her wealth alike ■ have suffered too heavily for that." The reasons which prompt men to enlist are not always those which they speak of when yarning to their fellow soldiers about the war, and what led them into it. As a Punch joke baa it, speaking through the mouth of a recruiting sergeant. "This 'ere's the British Army and there's no bloomin' patriotism 'ere." So the reason given by one soldier may be taken with a grain of salt though it is worth recording nevertheless. A number of men had stated their reasons for going—moat cf them were quite casual ones—then a quiet chap said: "Well I'm going because 1 want a fruit farm. Ido not see any chance of getting one if I stay here. If 1 go and come back safely there's a good chance of getting one." No one spoke for a moment. Then a soldiei said: "You're a far-sighted bloke all right." Dr. A- E. Shepley has, Bince war bttue out, been specialising in the louse that attacks soldiers in the field. It is not the head louse nor the body one. but one that clusters along the seams of woollen garments. When he wants to feed he clutches the shirt with two bind legs, poshes bis snout into the host's ski, draws until be is full, and returns to sleep again. It spends its day on the looi generally, and regains the host when the latter retires to rest. The way to escape is to ehange the clothing as often as possible, remembering that after clothes have been discarded for a week the lice usually die of starvation. Discarded clothes should be burnt, buried or put under water. For destroying lice the most efficient agents are petrol paraffin, turpentine, xylol, or benzine. Lice in garments can be tilled by heal, underelothes may be scalded, and the seams of coats be exposed to the steam from' a , kettle, or a heated flatiron employed.