LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 6204, 26 February 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Weather Forecast. —Captain Edwin wired today as follows : — Moderate to strong winds from westward; gla3B fall.

The Grain SsASON.~-Large deliveries of grain were buing made into the Ashburton stores to-d.ty.

Personal—Mr Andrew Thompson, mine manager for the Mount Sorours Coal Ooj, has resigned his position, and accepted another under Mr James Gibson, at his lime works, Inch Valley. Mr-Thompson is a miner of long experience, and ha^ done some good practical work for the Coal Company.—Mr V. H. Baxter, chief seerotary in New Zealand for the Australian Widowa' Fund, passed through Ashburton last evening on his way to Wellington. —Mr John MoLachlan, M.H.R., left by the 11 o'clock train this morning for the north.

The Weather and the Chops—While the weather up the Ashburfcon Gorge has been very dry, and suitable for station operations, it has been anything but propifciouß for harvest work in the districts immediately under the hills. In the Staveley and Springbnrn districts frequent rains have interfered with the getting in of the crops, and harvesting generally is in a backward condition.

Vandalism. — Last night two gardens facing Wills Street, were visited by come person or persons, who took away with them, as souvenirs of their visit, some of the choicest flowers. These are not isolated cases, as other depredations of this description have been reported at intervals during the past week. The Public Library has also come in for a share of attention, the newspaper file 3in the public reading room haying been mutilated during the past week. The bringing to justice of the perpetrators ot" these petty thefts is undoubtedly a matter of difficulty, but some effort should be made to ensure the discontinuance of annoyances of this kind.

Oub Genial Member.—Our genial member, Mr McLaohlan, who accompanied the party to Mount Somers yesterday, was in one of bis happy moods. He is an able ranoonteur, and from the time the drag left Ashburton till its return, he kept the company in a merry mood with stories piquaot and gay, sallies of wit and humour, and experiences of public men and himself in Wellington and elsewhere, The beauty of the whole thing was that he laughed as heartily as his hearers at his own jokes, even though in some cases they told againßt himself.

Trap Accident—As Mr E. Undrili, accompanied by a young lady, whs driving along the North West Belt in a trap yesterday afternoon, the horse bolted, throwing the occupants of the vehicle out on to the road. They escaped, luckily, with very trifling injuries. The horse continued his career as far as the railway, where it was stopped, having in the meantime badly damaged the- trap, which belonged to Mr Undrili.

They Died Together.— There was a good deal of romance about the lives of two old people, Mr and Mrs John Kilmiater, who died at Wellington yesterday morning. In the early part of the last century these t .vo were playmates and sweethearts, and eeventy-four years ago last Christmas Day they ware married, .('hroughout their long married life they were noted for their affection for each other, and their great desire in the closing years of their lives was that they might die together, and be interred side by side on the same day. Mrs Kilmister, who was in her ninety-fifth year, and who was conscious almost to the close, passed away at 2 o'clock yesterday morning, and her husband, who was two years her senior, died without knowing of his wife's decease at 9.15 a.m.

A Maori Doctor—The name of Peter Henry Buck appeared among the list of medical students who were entitled to the degree of Bachelor of Medicine. In reading the list to the Senate the other morning, Professor Scott said that : Mr Buck was a Maori, and the first of his raca to obtnin the New Zealand degree! He ndded that Mr Buck intended to assume his Maori name and practice a.mqnghis owa people"

DrsTßici' TgST Cfcliw Match S3.—-Mr E. H. James, New Zealand manager of the Dunlop Tyre Company states that his company intend to promote te3fc races in the; principal districts of the colony, and riders putting up the fastest time in the various races were to have their expenses pai4 to oompete iv the Timaru to ChrisfcchurGh road race, The League of Wheelmen has agreed to support the p opo3ition in gvery possible way.

Haevestins jn Of4cp. : — Harvesting work is now general throughout Otago, ana judging by the uniformly heavy crops there should be a very high average yield. Much of the erain is in stack, and in one or two places farmers are threshing from tha sfcook. The wheat crops from Palmer3ton, and also in the Milton district are exceptionally good, while from Hawea l^latlthe reports state that the yipld ia wheaw and oats is th« 3 heaviest ever known. .The flat is one great harvest field, 4n^ the grain is in superb condition.

Police Ofpicer R.ejnbta'fed. — Twelve months ago Sergeant Griffiths, of Dunedin, was, writes a Wellington correspondent, disrated by Commissioner Tunbridge for contravening the police regulations, and was transferred to Rakaia, where he had charge of the local police station. It is understood that Mr Dinnie, the present Commissioner of Police, has reviewed the circumstances which led to Sergeant Griffiths?s reduction in rank, with the result tha.t he is convinced that the punishment already suffered bj that officer ]i ag suiftciently met the offence, which, by the way, was not a particularly heinous one. Sergeant Griffiths will cqnsequently be r<33tored to his former rank, q,nd removed to another part of the cqlony.

"New Laid" Eggs.—Mr Hyde, Government poultry expert, when lecturing at Timaru, told rather a good story $bont ."newly laid" eggs. The nighjb befqre leaving I^unedin he said he had ordered pwp eggs for his breakfa?jl; the following morning,, he having to l.eaye bj an early fcrain. On flpanfag the. first egg he found if to be bad; an 4qn cracking thTe shell qf the §e.Gond a cJ^.ick|Bij's head "'poppe/I up. tyr Hyde says fre intends tq order no mqre Qgga at that hotel. " Dunedisj, • hg remarked, by the way, "seams to be badly served with eggs."

Baaing Square Fence—Mr Faulkner, of Messrs Faulkner and Son, contractors, came up from Dunodin on Wednesday evening to confer with members of the Ashburfcon beautifying Association Fence Committae, in reg ird tq fchejr tender for the construction of a fence for Baring Square Eist # meeting tyeing arranged for that purpose yesterday when the following detail wppe arranged; Tk,e fencp, which will be gft^in higl), wi|l stand on. a concrete base, Tj.j.9 icon. pqrtiqn wil| include a main bar and smaller dog b^r»-, the bottom pin^l3 being niled by filagree wort, every panel having an ornamental centre. A heavy top is to surmount all posts and palisades. There will be two pairs of gate posts, the thickness being 12ic. x I2in. instead of 6in. x 6in.,as originally proposed. The price his been fixed at-fiiS'l. The fence will undoubtedly add greatly to the appearance of the Square.

Saturday's Suppr/EMENT.—The quota of fiction supplied with this weeli's supplement will be found ,to be 'fully np' to phe standard of preceding numbers. '* Tta^' Capitulation of Mi- tjulpfii,t>oiv'' " A Ba'^ investment," "Elvira and iier Love 'iMfr&g^y and "The Elusive Ten Dollar Bill," form a quartette of short stories which should appeal to all tastee. The Far Eastern crisis is not neglected, articles being included on '•'Russia's Great Financier" (a sketch of M. de Witte's career), "Queer Vladivostok" and " Russia and Japan," the latter giving views fvorn various standpoints of the rigKts and 'wrongs ok' $& pro tent struggle. ." The Wild Ariimal * is a dissertation of a'," Zoo " direefcori whji >,h apparently f/pludts tlie positions of fchiropodist <o elephants 'ap/J deritist 'to °alligators, iH addition to surgical s'eryic^'. -'.'To Eaise up the City of Galveston " relates how the City of Galveston is to be raised to 17ft above its present level, in consequence of tidal inundations. " Life in an Oriental Kargtji " is told by an English lady who was for 6Cti*»o years an inmate of a Persian seraglio. "At a Spanish Bulji Fight," "An American Submarine," and •' Dr Ijowie and the Reports" explain themselves', while a dozsii 'ftr'fjo minor articles are'also incla'ded Jn yy^iat/ Js u'ttcioab^d^y one of the brightest and most &6gi?tn|" B^ple^ts we Save ever issued

The Band CowriwT.-The Kaikorai Band (Dunedin) passed through Ashburtou by this morning's train, en route foi Paperston North, the scene of the Bund Congest. Ihe Kaiorains favoured Ashburton with a releotfon, durinjf their quarter of an hour a stay hare, which was emphatically not up to contest pitch j Another Exp«t CositNG.-Mr D. D. Hyde, Government Poultry Expert, states that the work of his department has grown so much that the Government has decided to eecure another poultry expert who will arrive shortly from England, and will give practical lessons showing how to make poultry farming pay. He will be at the, call oe anyone desiring information relative to poultry. Supporting' Mb T. E. TAYLOR.-At a well attended meeting of the Christchurch Operative Bootmakers' Society on Wednesday evenino- the following motion was carried:—"That this Union entirely disagrees with the motion carried by the Canterbury Trades and Labour Council, in which it protests against the stand taken by Mr T. E. Taylor, M.H.K., on the land question, and, further, strongly opposes thit part of the Council's suggestion wherein it asks that Mr Taylor's name should be deleted from the list of those who, from the public platform of the colony are to advocate land reform."

Kosewili, Settlement.—At a special meeting of the Land Board held in Chnstchutoh yesterday, matters in connection with applications for the Rosewill settlement were considered. It was resolved that all sections in the schedule of " ordinary farms " be deemed, for the purposes of clause 12 of "the instructions to applicants " in the. sale pamphlets, to be first clas^ land, excepting sections 83 and 85, which are deemed to be second class land. The Board also decided to restrict applications for the homestead section, No. 77, to married men with families, on account of the extensive and valuable buildings on the section. The ballot for seotions opened for application on Wednesday, resulted a3 follows:—Alfred Charles Prichard, cash tenure, section 36659, near Oxford, 9a lr 24p; Fredorick George Cleeve, cash tenure, section 36663, near Darfield, 10a 3r.

Cycling.—A twelve mile cycling road race, promoted by the Christchurch Cycling and Motor Club, took place yesterday afternoon., Forty six competitors started the resultbeins? as follows:—V. Ritchie, 3min, 1; C. Anderson, 6 mm, 2 ; V. Leathern 6min, 3 ; F. Potter, 6 mm, 4. Ritchie won by sewral lengths, the other three being separated by short intervals. Ritchie's actual riding time was 26min 10 4 sth sec, but it is understood a protest will be lodged against his receiving the first prize, on the ground that he was paced for some distance by a motor bicycle; A set of Dualop tyres, presented by the Dunlop Tyre Company, for the fastest time, was won by J. Arnst (scr), the winner of the Melbourne-Warnambool road race, who easily broke the former record by R. Cooke, of 29min 0 4-5.. sec. Arnst was heartily applauded on the accomplishment of his feat by the large crowd which witnessed the start and finish of the race'