LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 5873, 27 January 1903, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Heading matter will be found on the first and fourth., pages to-day. Weather Forecast. —Captnin Kennedy wires : —Winds moderate between west and south-west and south; barometer rise; sea moderate on coast; tides increasingj-showeis may be expected m southern part. Accident Insurance.—Members of. the ■ Farmers' Union are notified that farmers' risks will only be accepted ut os per cent up to Saturday, the 31st inst., after which 10s per cent will be charged by all offices. Threshing Prices.—A special general meeting of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, Ashburton branch, will be held m ' the A. and P. Association's rooms, on Saturday next, at 2.30 p.m., to consider the threshing prices for the ensuing season. Owners of threshing machines are invited to attend. PERSONAr..?—Miss Kibty Bell has accepted a position m Miss Miller's Ureamer Houaa School, Dunedin, as supervisor of music and teacher of physical culture. She will leave Ashburton about the end of this week. Hampstead School Excursion.— The Hampstead and Ashburton ironworkers excursion to Timaru will take place on Thursday, March 12th. The fares will be—for adults 3s, for senior scholars 2s 6d, and for children Is 3d. Further particulars will be advertised later on. Imported Flour.--Reuent advices from Wellington state that a parcel of 300 tons of Adelaide flour has recently been received at Wellington m addition to snpplies of American and Canadian. Owing to the difficulty, of obtaining supplies of New Zealand flour, the imported article is regarded with more favour than heretofore. Post and Telegraph EEVENUE.—The postal and telegraphic revenue for the quarter, ended December 1 last, totalled £ 133,343, as against £123,732 for the corresponding period m 1901. The postal revenue was .£63,058, as compared with £59,469 the previous year, and the telegraph revenue was £70,290, compared with £64,263 for the corresponding period of 1901. Lauriston.—Our correspondent writes : —Lauriston once more feels herself m the van of civilisation. She is now connected by the telephone with the main line of telegraph. This supplies a long felt want, 'and the people of the district are well pleased, and feel satisfied that m cases of illness aid can be quickly summoued or other urgent business attended to. Mr Alex. Drummond gained distinction as the sender of the first wire. This he sent to Mr Murdoch, of Eakaia, congratulating him on the installation, which he had worked for when m the district. The Licensing Elections.—The members of the present Licensing Committee for Timaru have formally announced their intention to allow themselves to be nominated for the re-eleotion, but only on certain conditions. They say "m view of the recent Local Option Foil, and as we consider that it is our duty to give effect to the expression of opinion manifested then, we consent upon the condition that we give the system of ten o'clock closing a fair trial. For the same reasons we shall consider it necessary to visit any serious Breach of the Licensing Act with change of Licensee, aud generally to see that tho Trade be conducted with scrupulous care." Moke Scenic Beauties.—Mr Pringle, the Government photographer, who is travelling on behalf of the Tourist Department, has just come up to Hokitika from the South of Westland, having crossed the mountains from the Hermitage, Mount Cook. He speaks m glowing terms, of the scenic wonder?, and describes the beauties of the mountain bush, lake and river scenery, which is yery fine, and uuequalled m tho colony. He inspected superior to those of H&nmer. Ho intends returning and spending a further two months .m the district m the interest of the Tourist Department. Fiat Lux. —It has often been wondered why a light, or at least a morn powerful one than thnt whioh is now m use, is not placed outside the main entrance to the Oddfellows' Hall. When a large audience emerges from the hall into the semi-darkness, there is nri.t enough room for people to use the footpath, so that the roadvyay has to be made use of. Last evening, after the performance of the Stevenson Company, Mr R. -Cullen, senr., was m the act of stepping from the footpath to the road when he misjudged his distance m vacating the footpath, and slipped down. Mr Cullen, who is not quite so nimble as m days of yore, when he ranked as one of our oast stepdancers, had to b.e assisted on fey his. foot again, and luckily escaped injury. Stevenson's Roya& Entertainers.—At the Oddfellows' Hall last evening an entertainment was given by the Stevenson's Royal F-ntertainers to a fairly good house. An exceedingly attractive programme was gone through, consisting of a number of still and animated pictures, including a series of scenes representing Mrs Henry Woods' weU-Jcjjown drama, " East Lynne." The views were shown by b\i@ aj4 of a limelight apparatus, and the comical pictures elicited much applause from the audience. The concluding portions of the entertainment represented scenes afc a fiie m London. The pictures were very realistic and the entertaiument, generally speaking, was both iufcepegting 1 aud instructive. U. A..O.D.—The fortnightly meeting of the Star of Ashburton Lodge of DruTds was held last evening. Tjaere was a fajr attendance of members. Bro. I). Stock, A.D., opening the Lodge m 4ue %Qrva> An appeal from a Dunedin Lodge on behalf of a Brother who was m poor ciroumstances, was met by a sum being voted out of the Lodge funds. A Bum was also voted out of the Lodge's Benevolent Fund to assist a member who is seriously ill. A letter of condolence ! was ordered to be sent to the widow and family of the lafce Brp. B. Carter. One candidate was initialed injbq the Oifdej?, and two proposed for membership. After'transacting gome important business, harmony was indulged m, php Lodge being closed at the usual hour fey th# A.D,. Thb Flqijr Mjllers' Association. — The deadlock between Kevy Zealand Flour Millers' Association and the _ Otago millars still continues, and neither side shows any signs of yielding. The association quotes flour at <£12 per ton, whilst the millers m and around, Dunedin refuse to sail under £13. This dispute is regarded as likely to seriously imperil the future of the association so far as the Duuedin millers are concerned. The action taken by the bakers will do a great dWl'fcQ decide the matter as m a few days they will be purchasing their February supplies of flour. If they are content to pay JH3,per ton for their flour things will probably remain as they are. If. on the other hand, the bakers are desirous of lowerjngthe price of bread from 7£d to 7d, and. insist upon faaving their flour" at £\2 per ton, then the association may' be com.pelled to pass \>y the Bunedin mi|.lers and bring down Oamaru flour with which to ftll the orders. L In which case the association, so far as the Dunedin millers are concerned, would N probably cease to be.—" Otago Time?. i

St Patrick's Sports Association.—The , Committee of the Patrick's Sport 3 Asso- > (nation have come to a compromise with the auctioneers of Ashburton, who have decided to change their day of sale to Monday, 16th of March, instead of Tuesday, March 17th, (St Patrick's Day) on which day the sports will be held. ! Telegrams.—The amount received for ; telegrams at the four principal centres dur- ! ing the quarter elided Dec. 31 was as follows — Wellington, £8313 ; Auckland, .£6716 ; Christchurch, .£470 I ; Dunedin, £4494. Masonic Movement. —The movement of the Freemasons of New Zealand to establish a fund for the benefit of aged and infirm members, instituted by the Grand Master (Mr H, J. Williams) to commemorate the Coronation of the King, met with much success last year. Donations to the amount of .£IOOO were received. Post Office Savings Banks. — The amount of deposits m the Post Office Savings Banks during the quarter ended December 31 was £1,195,366, as compared with J61,118,330, for the corresponding period of 1901. The withdrawals totalled £1,128,064, against £1,061,269 for the same period of the previous year.