He is reported, however, to have done so at Stockholm. He offered no cheerful information regarding the situation in Russia.
A sufficient explanation of his retirement from the diplomatic office which he held is furnished in the incompatibility of his retention of his post as representative of a Government which felt it necessary to refuse to recognise Bolshevik authority in the control of Russia's affairs.
We may take it that Sir George Buchanan's experience of Bolshevism was trying and unpleasant.
Mosgiel reserve
Before the Taieri Amateur Turf Club finally closed down, it was decided to apply the funds in hand to the purchase of a piece of land as a reserve for the people of Mosgiel.
The following is the motion which was passed in July, 1912: - ''That the balance of the surplus assets be applied in the purchasing of a piece of land in a central position in Mosgiel and in laying out the same as a garden, with paths, seating accommodation, and band rotunda; such land so laid out to be handed over to the borough of Mosgiel to be kept for all time as a reserve for the citizens of Mosgiel.''
Offers of sites having recently been secured, a meeting of old members, held this week in Mosgiel selected an acre on Forester's estate fronting Church Street and Gordon Road.
No family left
A very sad story concerning the return of a soldier has been told to the Eltham paper. He arrived recently, and was surprised and disappointed at there being no friends or relatives to meet him.
On the way up to Wanganui in the train he learned that during his absence his father and mother had both died, also a brother, and that the home had now changed hands.
Eastern tales
Canon Parfit, of Jerusalem, who described himself as ''Vicar of Mesopotamia and Rural Dean of the Garden of Eden'', told a few Eastern tales in London recently.
He said that when he first saw his ''charge'' the scenery did not impress him. The people were poverty-stricken, and begged for ''bakeesh'', the children were ''brilliantly clad in olive oil and the sweetest of smiles''.
A soldier said the heat was so intense that the population were feeding their fowls on ice cream to prevent them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
- ODT, 17.1.1918.
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