LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume xxix, Issue 7265, 12 August 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Supporters of no license in the new belwyn electorate are invited to meet in the Metaphy S i ca 2 Hall, Gloucseter btreet, Ghnstchurch. on Wednesday at 11 a.m. J) The Rev. Frank Dunnage, vicar of Methven, has accepted the living of Halswell, which has been offered to him by the Bishop of Christchurdi. Mr Macßeth, Chief Postmaster at Christchurch, will retire on 30th Sep-' tember on a pension of £333 per annum, A large number of applications have been received for forty thousand acres of Crown land on the Maruia Plains, Nelson province. Only three or four sections have been left, and it is expected that these will be applied for in a few days. The applicants come from all parts of the colony, especially Southland, Otago and Canterbury. The member for Clutha can see no good in the Government. "The State is treating the farmer just exactly as the cannibal treats his captive," he said. " It is good to the farmer because it fools sure that all that is 'put into him will bo got out again later.'-' His Honour, District Judge Haselden remarked at Palmcrston North, on Tuesday, that he was pleased to see I men trying to get along in the world, but he deplored the system of getting I cows, farms, etc., in their wives' names, ! which meant that the creditors were being deprived of money that was going into the pocket of both the debtor and his wife, | To cure rheumatism, gout, sciatica, and lumbago the excess poisonous uric acid must be removed. RHEUMO will quickly and permanently do this. All chemists and stores, 2s 6d and 4s Gd per hot tie, Just try it, 2

I Captain Edwin telegraphs as fol- ■' lows: Easterly strong winds; glass ! fall.

The Domain weather station registered 5 points of rain yesterday morning.

There will be no sale at the Ashburton yards to-morrow.

The felling of the trees in the Domain, authorised by the Board, has been proceeded with, and the Board s offer of the wood for the cutting has been taken advantage of by several workmen.-

An old age pensioner named John Campbell, aged 80, died at 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon at the residence of Mr Shearer, five miles from the Hinds. The deceased was a single man, and has a brother in Oamaru. An inquest was held before Mr W. H. Rule, Acting-Coroner. The jury returned a verdict that death had resulted from heart disease.

The nursing class in connection with the St. John Ambulance Association concluded its session on Monday last, when the examination was held by Vr Hunter. The following candidates were successful: Misses Askin, Ferriman, Hosken, F. M. McLauchlan, Muirhead, Ormandy, Purchase, A. Watson and N. Watson. Dr Hunter reports that Nos. 6 and 8 showed exceptional knowledge of their work, and Nos. 10, 14 and 15 were also very good.

The brethren of the Ashburton Masonic Lodge, 1811, E.G., are reminded that the ordinary monthly meeting of the Lodge will-be held to-night.

The members of the Pipe Band, and Council of the" Scottish Society met in the Oddfellows' Hall on Saturday evening to bid farewell to Mr W. Pearson, who is leaving the district. After ample justice had been done to the supper, a small'toast list was gone through, and Mr Chas. Reid, on behalf of the members, presented Mr Pearson with a gold albert. Songs were sung by Messrs Stewart, Pearson, Aitcheson and Lane, and Mr W. McDonald played a cornet solo. The gathering was brought to a close by singing "Auld Lang Syne."

The business people of Timaru have signed a requisition to the Government asking for the completion of telephone communication between Christchurch and Timaru. There is a gap of only a, few miles to fill, between Hinds and Orari.

Mr F. B. Turner, who has been accountant at the Ashburton branch of the Bank of New South Wales for seven years, has received notice of his promotion to a similar position at the Chrtstchurch branch. While in Ashburton, Mr Turner has taken an active interest in poultry breeding, and has been a member of the Ashburton Society. Mr Turner was also f> menl her of the Ashburton Public Library Committee.

According to an Ashburton resident, who has been on a visit to ,Oamaru, the outlook for the farmers in that district is exceedingly gloomy. Owing to the dearth of feed, sheep and cattle are suffering much hardship, and the mortality among the flocks is heavy.

The welcome rain last Saturday, which was so pleasing to the farmers, interfered very little with the attendance at Strango's Agency Sale, Burnett street. This great annual sale is now looked upon as a county event, and the concessions offered are taken advantage of by,prudent' shoppers from every corner of the county. This is the third week of the sale, and further reductions and fresh bargains will make Strange's Agency the attraction of Ashburton. 8 133

Owing to a disagreement with the teacher, the whole of the members of the Tuapeka West School Committee have tendered their resignations.

It is rumoured that a prosecution may briug before the Dunedin Police Court a question as to whether a recent consignment of feed for Central Otago was really and in good faith within the terms of the Government offer to rail produce free to districts where the animals were in want through the drought. A certain firm is alleged to have forwarded two tons of merchandise for ordinary business purposes.

Over £200 has been subscribed towards the rain-producing experiments f at Oamaru, and operations will be started directly the experts arrive Th e llov. D. C. Bates, head of the Meteorological Department, will superI intend the experiments

The rain which fell on Saturday appears to have been general throughout Canterbury, and will be warmly welcomod by the farming community. The grass and growing crops will be much benefited, and the preparation of the land for: the sparing sowing of grain will be much assisted by the moisture, the farmer's chief concern, however, is the drvness of the sub-soil, which has not received a thorough soaking for over 32 months. .

At the invitation of Mr Robert Brookland, a number of Timaru sportsmen spent a. day with the gun on his iarm at Rangitata last week. They killed 144 hares, as the result of a drive m a 500-acre paddock.

The member for Asliburton always casts his eye round the House in search of an illustration when he is- making a statement, and occasionally manages to make the House laugh. "These men are not prohibitionists and they are not drunkards," he remarked during a debate. "They are something like my friend Mr Gray—neither one thing nor the other."

The House of Representatives has been moving through the usual sessional work very smoothly during the past week, writes our Parliamentary reporter. The condition of affairs was summed up by Mr Massey, the leader of the Opposition, when he said, in reply to a remark by our correspondent, that things were very quiet: "Yes; we are all waiting for the Land Bills, and the Taxation Bill, and the Tariff Bill. When we get these the band will begin to play." There are 10,000 trees growing in the streets of Melbourne and suburbs. At the annual meeting of the Feilding Athletic Club it was decided to prepare a programme with £150 as prize money, exclusive of trophies, for the j sports on Boxing Day. Owing to the wet weather on Saturday, •■ the military manoeuvres which were to have taken place on the Cashmere Hills, Christchurch, were postponed.

The Webb national memorial appeal from the Mayor of Wanganui met with a short shrift at the Rangiora Borough Council meeting on Friday evening. The Mayor read the circular, the Councillors smiled, and a motion to place it on the table was promptly carried, one Councillor remarking that.. if anyone in the town felt moved to subscribe he would find the list on the table.

"In some of the small post offices," said the Premier, "we are paying two or three times as much for every letter or article delivered as we receive. That is done for the convenience of the public, -but we cannot afford to place a burden on the' whole postal system by paying high salarjes in these small offices."

Nearly half a million pounds' worth of property in and about Wellington belonging to the Rhodes estate will shortly be sold at auction. Under the will of the late Hon. W. B. Rhodes, the trustees were not empowered to sell any part of the estate. An Act of Parliament was, however, obtained to enable them to dispose of whatever properties they deemed advisable, and it has now been decided by them and Mrs S. A. Rhodes to offer for sale at auction the whole of the properties vested in them under the will. The sale will bo one of the most important held in any part of the colony, and is expected to occupy three or four days.

A- good rain fell throughout South Canterbury on Saturday early in the morning. Turnips are fairly plentiful in parts of .the district, and it is said that on the Rangitata there is a more than ■sufficient' supply. One crop (for which £3 an aero wag gssked in April) was fed off at a payment of 2d per week per sheep, and at this rate it realised only about 16s an acre. . A fair amount of crop has been put in throughout the district, but, owing to the drought, some of the winter wheat has failed to germinate, and in some cases the grain, though three months in the ground, is as hard as the day it was pu^; in.

Splendid warm rains have been falling throughout the Taranaki province.

The value of the exports for the quarter ended June 30 from Taranaki, including New Plymouth, Waitara and Fatea, was £351,074, as compared with £243,584 in the corresponding quarter last year. Of the increase New Plymouth accounted for £67,624.

The land popularly known as the Mokau-Jones estate was submitted for sale by public auction at New Plymouth on Saturday by Mr Newton King. There was a large attendance. There was only one bid, that of Mill. Kemp Walsh, one of the mortgagees, and the property was knocked down to him at £19,500.

The weather at Mount Somers has completely changed during "the last week, say's our correspondent. Instead of the hard frosts which have prevailed for the last month or two, the district has now plentiful showers of rain. The temperature has been high, and a good deal of snow has disappeared from the mountains.

According to the official returns, the quantity of wheat stacked at New South Wales country railway stations and Darling harbour on July 13 was 538,776 bags, as against 65,000' at the same date last year. The quantities at stations named were: Temora 61,682, Lockhart 34,876, Corowa 3302, Germanton 13,000, Old Junee 10,000, Coolamon 40,649, Ganmain 12,917, Matong 7530, and Berrigan 36,304. At Darling harbour Island 67,745 bags were stored.

Our . Mount Somers correspondentwrites: The ladies of Mount Somers held their annual ball in McClymont's Hall oh Thursday, evening, and there was a large attendance. Dancing was commenced at 8 o'clock, and kept up with spirit until the early hours of the morning: Messrs D. Syme (violin) and T. Green (piano) supplied music of good quality, and were ably assisted at times by Mr J. Price and others. Tlho duties of M.C. were carried out by Mr A. Jago, and the refreshments were presided over by Mrs Fergus. The committee, with Miss Hitchell as secretary, are to be congratulated on the success of Hie undertaking.

It is noticeable thnt the Ashburton county reserves nor."* the railway line, a few miles south of Ashburton, have been planted much too close together. The trees, which are larch, are good, but their utility will be interfered with by the closeness of the planting. .They should have been much wider apart, and "nurses" planted among them as supports. After they serve their purpose, nurse trees form a valuable commodity in themselves.