Local and General.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 5696, 27 June 1902, Page 2

Local and General.

Wkathee Report.—Captain Edwin foreoasts :—Moderate to strong southeast to I south and south-west winds j glass rise ; frost tonight. Thk Permibks' Conference.—The ConI ference of Colonial Premiers to be held m I London opens next week. State Medical Bureau. —Sir J. G. Ward I has promised the Worker's Political Com- ! mittee Dunedin that he will favourably ; consider the establishment of a State medical bureau to provide medical attendance '■■ by day or night m urgent cases. i Coursino. —The second meeting of the | South Island Coursing Club commenced yesterday on the Oamaru Plurnpton. There were forty-four dogs m all, five being from Ashburton. Two rounds were got through, and the following Ashburton dogs remained mat their conclusion:— Wildfire, Eiot, and Barney O'Hea. The weather was fine, and the attendance very good. Masonic Installation.—ln the report of the Masonic installation of the Ashburton Lodge, published yesterday, several names of officers were inadvertently omitted. The complete list is as follows: —W.M., Bro. B. Nordon; LP.M., Bro. Thos. Skraa; S.W., Bro. J. Pipe; J.W., Bro. T. E. Clayton ; Treasurer—Bro. J. W. Hardley, P.M; Secretary—Bro. T. M.Jones, P.M; S.D, Bro. J. W. Timmins ; J.D, Bro. J. V. ; de Beer ; Chaplain—Bro. W. Brock, P.M; j Organist—Bro. H. A. Gates; I.G, Bro. E. | F. Lewis ; D.C, Bro. Q-. W. Andrews; Ste- j wards —Bros. E. J, Righton arid W. G. Hil- j lier; Tyler—Bro. J. Rumsey. The Australian DBOUGHT—The following appeared m the " North Queensland Herald" (Townsville) on June 7th :—Mr Backblox, who came m last week, for a bath, reports things still pretty dry out m his part. As a proof of the long continuance of the drought he says that when passing through Backtrack township the other day, there was quite a panic among the younger children, when a shower of rain fell. None of those, under three years old, had even seen the phenomenon before, #Qd were terror-stricken, thinking something serious had gone wrong up above. Tiheiy parents, however, explained the strange QGCjkr^esjce, told them it was called rain, amd that i),&i o*9 they were born it used to happen q*iiie .often, when the ground was all covered wijbfe what w#s called grass, on which cattle and aeries used to feed. I American Flour—Some comqlaints have been made concerning the weight of the American bags, and when tested they do jpop scale the full 501 b, but average about 39,ra,e going as low as 491 b. The probable explanation £s that the bags being thin and the flour extremely finj^ the shortage is m consequence of the frec(ue# handling I caused by shiping and fcr&»spipjnejt#. 'A number of the storekeepers m X)un^ edin have for some time back been purchasing their flour from an outside miller, who jhas selling at under association rates, ft is' -now #BRS>rted that this miller has joined the asso,qLa&Qj^ and hence these storekeepers, sooner ;thas $$f #ssqpiation pates, are giving ; the America^ flow '$. kf yu, fMe musit necessarily lessen the local )wuUvif osit-jppt, swhich has been .exceptionally small for tfee last few w,eeks, .and they view with apprehinsiou further iplipfinps ,o$ 1 foreign flour f bjwofce New Yetms

A Day ov Note.—The 25th June, when the news of the King's sudden illness reached this town, was the anniversary of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall to Ashburton. } Me Seddon m England.—Mr Seddon i visited the House of Commons on Wednes- J day, and was introduced to many members. Dorcas Society. —In our advertising columns Mrs Rudolph JMedlander thanks those who so liberally responded to her appeal for funds for the Dorcas Society. The response on this occasion has been a very liberal one, a gratifying testimony that the public appreciate the good work of the society. Mrs Friedlander and the ladies associated with her devote a considerable amount of time m assisting the needy, and ib is certainly pleasing to find their eif orts appreciated by a ready response. What Was Found m a Bag.—Some months ago Mr W. Page, who is one of the staff of the Ashburton branch of the N.Z. Farmers' Co-op., placed a note m a bag of oata that was going to South Africa, addressed to the trooper tfho might open the bag. He has just received a letter from ' Trooper Arthur Eoacoe, of the South African Constabulary, acknowledging the finding of the note. Trooper Roscoe writes from Buffalo Hook, Transvaal, under date May 7. He says: " Being a New Zealauder myself, I write you. 1 have been m this country a little over six months. I have been m several engagements, and have been fortunate m coming out without a scratch. I was born m Timaru, and lived for about six years m Temuka, but my home previous to coming to South Africa was m Napier. My parents are now living m Wellington.*' Agricultural Lecturers.—There was an interesting discussion at the Agricultural Conference at Dunedin yesterday on the subject of technical education, introduced by Mr J. Studholme, who moved that the Government should be asked to attach to j the Agricultural Department a staff of j qualified agricultural lecturers, to be i located m the various farming districts, to j give a course of lectures at country schools i to children m the daytime and adults m the evening, to initiate and supervise ' agricultural experiments on various farms and to assist farmers m the improvement of their methods of their agriculture by advice. After a speech by Dr Truby King it was decided to precede the motion with the following :—"That the Government be urged to arrange for the simple practical teaching of the elements of natural science, particularly as bearing on agriculture and horticulture, as an essential and necessary part of primary education," The motion J was then carried. ■ Heavy Telegbafh Wobk.—ln addition to the large increase of the press cablegrams consequent upon the King's illness, the cable messages sent by Mr Seddon to Sir Joseph Ward on the same fsubject are being forwarded to all members of Parliaments, Mayors, chairmen of local bodies, ministers of religion, and all newspapers, although the majority of the latter receive the latest information as to the condition of the King through the Press Association. The strain on the telegraph department must be altogether unprecedented. If the Premier's cablegrams were repeated to all post offices connected with the telegraph, it would save much public inconvenience and avoid the duplicating of much of the news, which is now going on, and which is very confusing. ' New Zealand Flock Book—A meeting of the North and South Island Councils of the New Zealand Flock Book was held yesterday at Dunedin, when there were present—Messrs P. Pattullo (Otago), H. V. Fulton andiC. W. Reid (Otago), R. Reid and D McLaren (Canterbury), W. C. Buchanan, G. W. Wheeler, J. G. Wilson, and Jas. Stuckey, (Wellington), and M. Murphy (Secretary). It was resolved that inbred halfbred sheep be admitted to the Flock Book m the form of an appendix. It was decided that the form of the annual returns remain as at present, and that the date of the returns be altered from May 31st to December 31st previous. ; The Government Blood Stock.—-Mr J. A. Gilruth, m explaining his position when commissioned to purchase stud horses m England, to the Agricultural Cenference Dunedin, said that the Government asked him to go Home and bring out horses suitable for remounts. He could not get any advice from anyone before he left, and he did not pretend that he himself knew what was wanted. He went to the War Office j and got the information, and then hunted through Britain, to find suitable animals. He did not expect, when the War Office told ; him the kind of horsea that were wanted, that the people of the colony would like them but his instructions were to get horses for breeding remounts, and he carried them out. It would have been easy to buy horses people would have been pleased with, but he preferred to carry out his instructions. Celluloid Mudguards.—Messrs Oates^ Lowry and Co have now opened their stock of Celludoid mudguards, and Eieman's candle lamps. Cyclists should inspect these goods, as quite a run on guards has taken place, owing no doubt to the recent wet weather.