LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXi, Issue 6051, 26 August 1903, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Weather Forecast.-—Captain Edwin wired to-day:—Strong winds to gale from between wesfc and sojith-west and south,-; glass .rise 5 weather ,<joMer, ' Tin; Inward Mails—An English mail arrived by the express from the south last night. The Frisco mail is expected to arrive by to-morrow's express from the north. The Member job Ashburton. —Mr McLachlan is inquiring as to the numerical strength of the police force in the Ashburton district, basing his question on a paragraph frem the Ashburton Guardian. A Clue.—lt is reported that part of the, large sum of money mi?sed by an Ashburtoa farmer, who was purchasing land at Cusfc, has been traced to the Post Office Savings Bank, One of the <£IO notes was received yesterday by th.« Rangiora police in.a way which may, perhaps, leg,d to an explanation of the loss. Is This a Record ?—We have been i informed by a farmer in the Wheatstohe ■ district that a crossbred ewe belonging to ' him has given birth to no less than five lambs by a Shropshire ram. The progeny are healthy, and g\v& promise of developing into fine sheep with care. One of thp lambs has been taken away, to be haudfed ■ until ifc gets stronger, Draught $CAREs.-<,~Mr H. Cranfield has [purchased two fine fillie3 frou? the south, and they #rpivel by train ye3.te.rday.^ora.ing. They are fino stamps of mares. One is a five ye#r old, by horso, out of a Strathnjore J#ave.; t!m other is, rising four ye&rs, by Heapt ,of (/air, dam! Blossom. The pair, we Jean?, ,will v>o offered by public auction sibortjy b.y Mr David Thomas. The Ashburton Cricket Club.—The Committee meetings of thß Ashburton Ci'icket Club will bo held every alternate Monday, commencing on 7th September. The Comuiifct.ew fc.Uis season is unusually stroa?, and some of tihe " Ke«r blood " introdueei are keen and avdißnfc 1 >i'!>vlsuiGn.. Judging from the enthusiastic nieeting'tHfe > other evening, and the number of new m^Hibers who have joined, we cm safely predict a s«.aao^ jj^icb will totally eclipse its predecessqra. Mejio F9R Tradesmen.—All .tradesm^ni I ij^t^p^ted in cricket are reminded that a me©tin(? pUI be held at Cla'ridge's room's this evening, i?k k 6'oloQk, to consider the advisablene3s of forming £ Club. In the matches played Jaßt'yfiajf/Garp^tep v Painters, it was evident that njg,ny .qi those who participated were not new to the bat ftnd ball; in fact some players gave psrcellent accounts of themselves. For this r£aso9. IP IS a pity to allow this cricketing j !talen.tiu #10 fer^dea ]bo lie dormani-. It is' to be hopeql tbe're w-i^l .b& a^aege attendance to-aigb,t, and that a cluT) will be jtoruie^. /"1HB? MWtf ??,O#l?B'fe ' ""■ !

Scarlatina at Elgin.—-Scarlatina ha 3 made its appearance in the Elgin distriot. So far two families have been visited by the complaint, and the School Committee has deemed it advisable to close the school for an indefinite period.

Telephone Extension. —The Commissioner of Telegraphs informed Sir W. J. Steward that he is willing to open a telephone bureau at Otaio, if the postmaster there will hou=ie the instrument and aob as telephonist.

The Government Land Valuer.—At the present time Mr Andrew Allan, Government land valuer, is engaged revaluing lands in the -Temuka Road District, Temuka Borough, Mount Peel Road District, Rangitata, Longbeach, Coldstream and Anama districts. Mr Allan is being assisted in the work by Mr Stowell, of St. Andrews.

Municipal Improvements.—The Tiraara Borough Council will shortly submit two loan proposals to the ratepayers—one to borrow .£6OOO for permanent street improvemßnts,~and the other to borrow £2500 for the Caroline Bay scheme.

Judicial Appointments.—lt is rumoured that Judge Cooper is likely to succeed Judge Connolly as Supreme Court Judge, and that either Mr Sim, of Dunedin, or Mr Stringer, of Christchureh, will sucoeed Judge Cooper.

The Advantages of Thrift. — " Some of the best men I have had at Lincoln College," said the Director yesterday, "were those young.men who were paying their way at the College from savings they had made from their wages while working on their father's farms, or from some small capital that had been left to them."

Privileges to Students. —During the course of . hia address yesterday at the Kiosk, Professor Lowrie, speaking on the subject of refunds made to'students for fares iv travelling from other parts of the colony to get to Lincoln College, said that c£ls was refunded to those students during the three years they were at the College. Those students were therefore boarded for £28 6s 8d per year.

A New Threshing Plant.—With characteristic enterprise, Mr Win. A. Lamb, well Known throughout the county, recently ordered an up-to-date " Foden " threshing plant, with all the latest improvements attached.- The michine will, in all probability, be in Ashburton at Show time. Mr Lamb intends to engage in threshing operations in Ashburton and surrounding districts, and is certain to meet with merited and general support.

Licensed Boarding Houses. —The Gore Borough Conncil propose to adopt by-laws directing that boarding houses having accommodation for six or more lodgers, shall be licensed for purposes of inspection by the Borough's officials and the police, that billiard saloonß shall be open only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m., and that no persons under sixteen shall be permitted to enter them.

Presbyterian Literary and Debating Society.—There waa not such a large

attendance as usual at this Society's meeting in the church last evening, but a very interesting evening was spent by £those present. The programme consisted of the reading of a journal, edited by Mr James Parlane. and consisting of contr.butions — original and o'henvise—in prose aud poetry by'various members. All the articles were interesting and resulted in a good discussion in which soveral member?, b'>th ladies' and gentlemen, took part. At tho close votes of thanks were tendered to the editor and to Mr Cutler, who occupied the chair. Next week essays on " Christian Heroes " are invited from the members. Forest Plantations.—The total area of land planted ..with forest trees under the State Forests Act of 1835, arid earlier' Acts, is 8,343 acres. The cost of planting was £59,076, and the estimated value of the plantations ia £02;205, gome 368 acres have been destroyed by fire. The work

h<s bee"n:largely done by. private iudiyidivils find the return is only approximate. The Chief Forester has under his immediate control 1438 acres, costing i>)7,692 to plant, valued at £57,470.. It is proposed to expend £28,009 on the work this year. A Well-Eabned Promotion. —We learn th:it Mr A. Hunnibell, who has been associated with the Elgin public school as heidmaster for a period extending over

twelve years, with creditable success to himself and the scholars, has accepted a similar position at EyretoHj Nopth Canterbury. The Kyretoa school is much larger rlnn that of Elgin, and Mr Hutinib"H's friends, while regretting his departure fvoiu the district, will no doubt l<wn with pleisure of his appointment to a moie iuorative position.

An Ingenious Eeaud, — There are a

number of spurious half-sovereigns iv circulation iv Wellington (says the "New Zealand Times.") The fraud is one of the cleverest yet knVwjj in. New Zealand, and shows the master- ha|s .<?? ? PFffi^sed coiner. It consists of a *enufne bale sovoiy*:? and a sixpence sliced iv half, the head part of tne sixpence be|og u?ejded'intothe ? "afc of aro^' half of the gold cola' vjee versa, and then finished' off with giJJb oyej? tii? silver side. As one half of such a spurious coin is gold, detscfc£on of the fraud is very difficult. Ltq uo b Traffic KEpoHJpv-rrl Pruss Association message states that the Auck, land Prohibition u«s»gue bas passed resolutions urging the Goveenmsgt to apply Section 33 of the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act, and make it illegal to send liquor into the King Country, as also that the Maori Councils be given further power to.deal'with the liquor question in their districts, aad protesting against the proposal to require a majority pf those enrolled, instead of a majority of ,the vpteß recorded to make-Local Option polls effective. Gy-VNASTic Clup. The first practice of the second quarter',of Jtlia abo.v^e Club took place last night at tfco '/ fiosjr/' when a fair number of new members were enrolled. We understand that the number is not yet sufficient to enable the Club to be carried on successfully, and would therefore advice all intending members (ladies or gentlemen) to hand in their names by Friday or Saturday fit the latest to the director (Mr Jewiss)', wWwJ}lfe> in attendance at the Gymnasium between jho Jjojijr^ o|! 12 and 1 p.m., and 4 and 5 p.m., daily ; nlso Tuesdays aad Fridays from 6.30 fco 10 p.m., and Thursdays from fi 15 to 8 p.m. tfull particulars can also be obtained from Mr D. G. Taylor (Milner and Thompson), who will also taktt applications for membership.

Old Agb PENswus.-^n atfig? ,to verify the statements of 1 old age penstdfibies. as to : their earnings, forms are strat'to .the persona from whom they state tint they havo ear&ed money, asUng the employers to _ fill in the amo^&c i-ij.-y have paid the pansion.ers during the Pa>fc twelve months. These, in many ca^ys, ',ive not returned to the j pension office, and delays in granting renewals result. Under Section 3, of the Old Age Pensions Act Amendment Act, ;; I' 01, every pe-'sou cot£ojit3 an offence, and ,' is liaWe'to a p;^na,lty not exGGaciins? .£lO, | who refuses to ' answar any question concerciag an apw';ican,t fjr a pension or renewal »>«£ £o fiWby tho D/aputy Regis-

Piau-sosrA^—Miss M&ca^drew, m^ty-on of the H wpifcal, returned to Ashburfcon yesterday after a short holiday, much benefited by her trip.—We are pleased to learn thafc Captain Colaman. is making rapid progress towards recovery.—The London correspondent of the " Press" says —Miss Ida Herring, of Ashburton, was W feiidon for a day or two sight-seemg 1 duHii^ tJ?e *'&$ ? f the French President. Sia'je hep »*«*s six, weeks ago Miss Herring has bsau staying; i;if;h relatives and fi.imds in Yorkshire,; and+i^ JLqvr gone to Uesds. She purposes ; making a slt&^M&i' stay, and: has' no 'intehtioh' of 'returning t,9 New; Zealand until' some""fcim4' 'next year I.—Miss j Myra jpickinsou (Obristchurch) has-been j myinfj a round of vi?lfc3 among relatives at; Bol&h awd ' Briffcol, 'and is now at 'Wey-; raouth, She putpbsftS leading for j Capetown some time in August and in all I probability will make a lengthened sfciy in ( Africa; indeed, if tho climate there suits i her she muy decide to remain there altogether. Miss Dickinson was in London for ! a-few da,yG recently sight-seeing with Miss