LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 6205, 27 February 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Cable Nowa will ha found .on the first page and Commercial News the Timaru, Christchurch, and Ashhurton grain market reports) on the fourth page of this issue. Weatheb Forecast.—Captain Edwin wired to day as follows : — Moderate to strong \>inds from between north-west and north and west; #?#ss fall. Angling.—Mr Charles Walker of Greenstreet, and Mr G> Clark, of Lyndon, had a very successful evening's sport with rod and line on the Ashburton river last night. Their catch totalled thirfcy-fiye trout, many of theuj ot' vevj fair sijse. Farewell SEij;vtG)j:3,-=-Thß services at j the Primitive Methodist Church' to-morrow-' will be in the natureof firewall services, being the last occasions on which, the Pastor, the Rev. K. Eaine, will officiate, .i Mr Raine will preach at both 11. a.m. arid G3O p.m. A farewell social will be held in' the church on Wednesday next, when a j very large attendance is expected.' • High School Girls' Picnic—-The girl sc'no,'£.rs attending the Ashburton High School depsxtsd this morning on a picnic journey to PuddiiiS Ri}\ } near Alford. Two drags—one from ClaricJge'e and ( <?ne from Newman's stables—aonveyed the party, and the weather conditions being almost perfect, it is expected that a very pleasant day's outing will be enjoyed. SpE^KifK Society.—The Hibernian district meeting a£ '/-'jaiaru after deviating the matter all yefcter^i'y. rejected a motion to shift the registered office from i.iicj:land to Wellington. The meeting also rafused I to redu jo aicii \ay as proposed by Timaru. A; number of motions were withdrawn. MayfieiiD Frssb?tebia.n Anniversary —The a^-lyenary services of the May field Presbyterian CLut'eh will take place on Sunday, when the Rev. G. B. Inglis will officiate at boi'h morning arid ev.^nin^ services exchanging pulpits with tho B.ev. ' Ham, who will couduct the services afc the Ashburton Presbyterian. Church. A tea and concert will T,e he^d in .connection with tka aisnivcraary d.urin.g ( the coming week, the proceeds oi i<7h?ch |v^ll be added to the church fund. Company Pbomotbr-s.—At a laeetiE^ of \ a mining company in Dunedin, at which a ! motion for voluntary winding up was carried, one of the shareholders delivered himsglf thusly :—He fully believed in universal salvatipn,, but, if there was a warmer place than another plaae Jbh^f is supposed to be very wan.n, he fuljiy believed that gold uaining company promoters, directors, and secretaries would be sent there.'

Poultry Keeping.—Mr D. D. Hyde, the Government Poultry expert, is visiting Ashburton on Wednesday,, and will delivar an address in the Tempter Hall, at 8 o'clook, the same evening, oa " Practical Poultry Keeping."

Property Sai.b.— Theeestion on Carter's Terrace, the property of Mr Scaly, comprising ono and ;i half acres of land, with dwelling hou>»n thoreon, wna offered at auction by Mr D. Thomas in the Arcade to-day, and was passed iv at £7Z>).

Tust Cycliß K.A.CK3.— Mr K. Nordon, secretary of tho League of New Zealand Wheelmen, has received intimation by cable that ft stries of test cycle races will be held in Sydney on March IGsh foe the purpose of selecting a repfejuntive to compete at the Naw Zealand championship meeting, to be held in Christchuroh on March 26fch.

Valuation of Rrseeves. — The Mayor (Mr H. Davis), the Town Clerk, (i[r H. H. Fooks), and the Borough valuer (Mr V.. Makeig) this morning visited the Charitable Aid Board reserve, permission to close the road on which was given by the Stipendiary Magistrate at Friday's sitting of the Magistrate's Court. The purpose of this morning's visit was the valuation of the reserve.

Picnic. —The annual picnic of the Fairfield Freezing Works Employees and Ashburton Butchers will be held at Victoria Park, Temuka, on Monday, March 7th. The train is timed to leave Fairfield at 8 a.m., and will stop at Ashburton and Tinwald, and will leave Teinuka on the return journey at 6 p.m. The Ashburton Brass Band will be in attendance, and hot water and milk will be supplied. The price of the tickets is 3s 3d for adults and Is for children.

Adding Length op Days.—lf, says an exchange, two persona rise, ona at six, the, other ab seven, in the morning, both going to bed at the same time, aud all other things being equal, the earlier riser adds to the length of each year 365 hours, or 24J days; or in course of 50 years,3syrsj besides being'in better health of body, and presumably wiser in mind. If we reokon the value of time as for every hour redeemed from bed each day at sixpence, it would amount in the course of fifty years to .£156 55., without any interest or compound interest.

Refobji 1 Movements.—Mr H. G. Ell, M.H.E., is in town with the object of organising a meeting for the purpose of demonstrating the use and v*lue of the Referendum as a practical reform. He proposes to deliver an address on the leading political questions now agitating public opinion, and ascertaining the views of his audience upon them, by the use of specially printed Eefereudum voting pap9rs. The voting papers will be distributed at the meeting, and a referendum vote taken. Several residents have the organising pi the meeting in hand, and it will be held at an early date. The experiment is arousing a good deal of interest in Christchurch, where several Referendum votes have been

taken

The Baring Square Fence. —Although Messrs Faulkner and Sons' tender has been accepted for the erection of the fence around the Baring Square E*st gardens, and the work will be put in hand at once, it will, we understand, be nearly six weeks before the contractors will get to work on the ground itself, as the fence has to be prepared, and it would be unwise to be-jin the erection of the concrete base until the H'onwork is ready for placing. The designs show that the new fenGe is at once chaste and handsome in appearance and will add greatly to the appearance of the gardens when completed.

Peripatetic Thieves.—The Magistrate's Court at Waimate was occupied all day on Thursday and part of yesterday with cases against Charles Hollamby and Alexauder Brown, who were charged with stealing horses, harness, gig, oats, and other articles from various settlers as far north as Pareora, near Timaru, and south to Papakaio, beyond Tiim.ru, eighteen separate thefts in all, Accused sold the horses and some harness iv Timaru and Oamaru. Moat of the other harness and gig were found at Hollamby's house. The gig had been re painted and the shafts changed. Accused were found guilty aud sentenced to term 3 of from fourteen days to six months' imprisonment for different offences, the sentences to be conenrrent. In three cases appused were remanded to the Supreme Court for sentence. The thefts took place wi|;bin the last three months.

VALEDici-oay.— On. Wednesday evening a pleasant social gathering was held in Flemington school to bid farewell to Mr and Mrs Pearson. They are leaving for Farnside, where Mr Pearson has been appointed headmaster. Mr Taylor, chairman of the School Committee, presided and saoke of the goodwill and esteem with which Mr Pearson was regarded by both parents aad scholars. They were sorry to lose him, but were pleased that he was going to a higher position. From his work in Flemington it was only to be expected and they most heartily wished that he would advance still higher in his profession. The Rev. J. G. Paterson than, in the name of the committee aud friends, presented Mr Pearson with a handsome rug and Gladstone bag, with inscription on it. Mr Pearson suitably replied. Mr Wm. Anderderson also spoke of the friendly relations botween Mr Pearson and the people of the district, and of their regret at his departure.