INTERPROVINCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 149, 23 December 1908, Page 3

INTERPROVINCIAL.

Sorrow tarries with the borough councillors of Palmerston North, and a pho. tographer is blameworthy. For some while back, according to the local Times, the councillors have been vainly trying to meet in daylight, and have themselves photographed for the benefit of posterity. Last Friday afternoon the whole council came together ; the picture v;as taken, and. there were mutual congratulations. But the fates were still unkind. After the picture was taken, it was found that the councillors were mixed up with a team of stalwart footballers, for the photograph of which the plate had previously b&sn used. The consequence was that the Mayor appeared to be attired in the nether garments of a footballer, while the youthful face of a knight of the leather gazed oub on an awe-struck world above the respectably clad figure of Councillor Hayclon. Needless to say, another sitting will be required. The Nelson Colonist reports a case heard before Mr. Eyre Kenny at Motueka, which incidentally throws some like on the incidence of festivities in that district. A publican was charged under sections 190 and 195 of "The Licensing Act, 1908," with having sold liquor in prohibited hours and at an unauthorised place. Sergeant Dougan stated that in September last the Riwaka Football Club held a picnic on a Sunday, and ordered from defendant 10 gallons of beer, biX bottles of stout, and some lemonade. The liquor was ordered on a Saturday, and on Sunday was delivered. This circumstance led to the prosecution. He quoted authorities to show that it was illegal to deliver liquor on a Sunday, although such liquor was ordered and paid beforehand. The magistrate upheld this contention, and inflicted a fine of 10s and costs. The second charge, which arose out of the same sale, was withdrawn. / The Rev. G. K. Stowell, of Waipawa, has accepted a call from the Presbyterians of Wairarapa South. The general manager of the Auckland electric tramways reported to last meeting of the City Council that a contract had been arranged with an Auckland firm for the construction of five new tram-cars, designs for which were i-e-cently passed by the council, and that the work is proceeding. A buyer of fat sheep and lambs who has just returned from a visit to the Motu Valley, informs the Poverty Bay Herald that, in his opinion, the Matawai district is one of the most suitable in Poverty Bay for the rearing of fat lambs. The tropical rains in the spring and summer cause a continual growth of [ rich, young feed, which makes the district more suitable for fattening young sheep Quickly, and he- strongly recommends the farmers to go in for fattening l&mbs, instead of keeping dry sheep. As the railway will be within a short distance in another year, a rich harvest could be obtained by those who followed his advice and kept to fattening lambs only. Over 300 men are now employed on the Gisborne-Motu railway. With a view to limiting the number of tables, the Mayor of ULsborne proposes that the local Borough Council should charge a license fee oi £5 a year for every public billiard table in the town. At present an annual fee is charged for each saloon, irrespective of the number of tables on the premises. The usual excellence of the crop of cocksfoot in the Methven district, says the Ashburton paper, may be guessed at from the fact that the right to harvest cocksfoot growing on the roads under the control of the Mount Hutb Road Board was sold in twenty lots, by pubJic auction, on Thursday, and realised £165. It would appear that the Timaru Harbour Board does not lose very much over accident insurance During) the past ten years the board has paid away £2000 in premiums and has received back £1400 by way of compensation for accidents. The Cheviot correspondent of the Lyttelton Times reports that during the last few days caterpillars have made their appearance in the district. Mr. C. Barnes has five acres of Italian ryegrass which was expected to yield from sixty to seventy bushels an acre but the seed has been completely ruined by the caterpillars. The contractors for a new ferro-con-crete bridge over the Opihi, on the Temuka-Timaru-road, have begun to plaoo their material on the ground. A shed for cement has been erected, and the iron piles, each aboufc 40ft long, and weighing 19cwt, arc being taken by traction engine from Timaru. It will be after the New Year before work is in full swing. A new courthouse in brick is to be erected in Cambridge at a cost of £1100. The salary of Mr. Hilton, secretary of the Marlborough Education Board, formerly of the Wellington Education Board's staff— has been increased to £225 per annum. The Thames Borough Council is borrowing £3000 from the Government for" the purpose of establishing municipal abattoirs.