LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7726, 20 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A movement, which had its origin m the Auckland province, is on foot to present Mr "W. F. Massey, M.P., Leader of the Opposition, witji a national testimonial, m recognition of his Jong and patriotic services to the dominion. it has been thought by the central ex eeutive that outside the ranks of Mr M;;.v.:y's supporters and friends, there -nay be many who would be glad to contribute to such an object, and the co-operation of all such is invited. A fund called the Ma/sjey Rational Testimonial Fund has been started, and subscriptions of Is antl upwards will be accepted. The Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister of Railways and Marine, accompanied by Mias M'illnr, Messrs T, H. Davey, iU.l\, G. Witty, M.i\, -and F, D. Thomson (private secretary), travelled to Duneclin by yesterday morning's express, i'he Minister was entertained by his constituents yesterday evening, and will remain m the south for about a fortnight, returning to "Wellington on March 5. In the course of an interview with a representative of this paper, Mr Millar outlined his policy, and declared that ha( intended to make the railways pay their own interest— ±k per cent, as against the 3 per cent, that the Premier says they are now paying. He foreshadowed a loan for special railway equipments, and said that the carriage of goods over the Ilimutaka incline' is to be minimised by the greater use of the Manawatu Jine. The general tone of hie. remarks m regard to passenger fares went to show that increases will take place, say, m about, twelve months' time; and, generally, a less philanthropic policy is to be pursued by the Railway Department, the staff of which is also to work harder. At a meeting of master bakers at : Dunedin,. the question of introducing j the cash coupon system was discussed, ! and m view of its reported success elsewhere, the system was unanimously approved. The date of inaugurating the system m Dunedin will bo decided at a future meeting. Threshing and stacking are m full swing throughout the liakaia district, whilst towards the beach the harvest is practically over. The eon tractor for the police quarters at liakaia is making good progress with the work, and expects to finish about tlio end of this month. \(!w potatoes arc now very plentiful m Tiinnru, and the price has come down accordingly. A week or two ago £4 10s pr>r ton was obtainable, but today any .quantity can be bought at £3' \)nr to^ ;s:iya the Herald. All the Canterbury rivers wore reported to be clear this morning."

A meeting of the combined Borough and Hampstead School Committees was held last evening for the purpose of electing a representative on the Technical (lassos Association. Mr John McLeod, headmaster of the Hampstead school, was elected by a majority of one vote. The Dunedin Borough Council last night selected for the poet of librarian to the public library Mr S. Mellows, assistant at the Dunedin Athenaeum. There were over 100 applicants. Returns just completed show that there was an increase of 186 during January m the total strength of the New Zealand Defence Forces, which now number 20,400 of all ranks. -V Press Association telegram from Auckland states that Sir John Logan Campbell has presented for annual rifle shooting competitions among the infantry battalions and mounted infantry'regiments of the dominion a handsome challenge- shield. The conditions are not yet fully decided, but it is understood that the shield will be competed for at the New Zealand Defence l?inV Association's meeting at Tivntham. Harvest 1.:-.:k!s are already arriving ! m 'Ashburton from the country disitricts. which shows that the ingatherI ing of the grain on a number of farms has boon completed. At the- instance- of tho Mayor (Mr IT. Davk) a subscript ion list has been opened m .-Uhbnrion. for funds to reward Mrs iiaiinen for her conspicuous bravery m < rmncelioii with the Pengain disaster. The list is m the poosession of Mr V. M'akeig. The sum of £409 15s has been paid to the suppliers of milk at the Staveley Creamery for the month of January. This amount is double that paid for the same period last year. It shows •that the dairying industry, _ although commenced m a small way, is rapidly extending, and is being viewed with increasing favour by those who reside m the district m which the creamery has been established. The annual {reuei-al meeting of the New Zealand Advertising Agents' Association was held m Christchurch yesterday. Mr Clia-;. Haines was again elected president. The transactions of the* year wore fully discussed, and various matters of moment to the profession satisfactorily dealt with. It was again decided that, a delegate from the. Association should be present at the Newspaper Proprietors' Association meeting, which this year is being held at Wanganui, and the president was deputed to attend. Mr Robert Kennedy, Ashburton representative of Messrs Mr. ude and Harman,' solicitors, Christchurch, was yesterday admitted a barrister of the "Supreme Court of New Zealand, by Mr Justice Denniston, on the motion of Mr Harman. A contract has been let to Messrs Hobbs and Harper, of Christchurch, for asphalting the footpaths m thf main street of P.akaia. The work will be put m hand at once. Local bakers, who have tried a roiy ture of this season's flour with the old article, state that they have, so far. nothing to complain of.

i The Minister for Railways yesterday informed one of our reporters that an interlocking and signalling system would bo, installed m the Ashburton railway yard. He could, however, give no indication as to wjien. tji^ work won lit be undertaken, At Metkven on. Thursday a man named Harry Earnshaw was arrested on warrant by Constable P. Moore, on J a charge of wife desertion at Masterton. Accused will be formally charged at Methven, ami remanded to Mastsrton. TV, accomplished company which is known under the styjp of Maskelyne and Devant's Mysteries, will'appear m the Oddfellows' Hall, Ashburton, on Wednesday evening, The marvels whir! 1. tjn/fiMU lias invented, and still vsirierf, include ghost appearances and illusions which at various times have been the means of swaying popular opinion when sham spiritualists were gaining dangerous power. The illusions arc interspersed with performances by .Mr Barclay Gammon, one of the chief musical lr.onologuists of the day; by Gintaro, well termed a "Japanese CiiHjiK'valli," and Mr Owen Clark )( a brilliant young London conjuror. The box plan is at H. M, Jones's. The. Otago Daily Times, states that interest .m the coming Licensing Committee elections promises to bo particularly keen, The elections will take place on March 9. The Temperance party has already made its announcements m the matter of candidates to be put forward for both the Dttucdiii licensing district and tl.o licensing district of Dunedin South, but the Licensed Victuallers' Association has not yet done anything m the matter. The elections will be conducted on practically the same lines as the licensing ppl|. ' |n Dujtedjn Central there w|H bo aljout SUfe) pui^ons eligible to vote, including about thirty additions, and m Dunedin West 1],144 persons, including sixtoon additions, while on the Dunedin North roll there are about twenty-one additions, and the roll number will stand at about 8631, The following list contains the. names of successful local candidates for Class D of the teachers' certificate examinations held m January. Teachers' certificates will be issued to such of these as have produced satisfactory evidence of ago, have passed the special medical examination presoiubud, a],d harp fulfilled the necessary- conditions as to length of service a,nd efficiency' m teaching: Misses Ada May ' Clothier, Grace. Helena Mtikeig, Florence Ethel Smith, Maudo H. Squire, Mr It. D. Johnston, agent for " Talbot" cars, has just delivered to Dr Handcock, of Ashburton, one of the JS Tew Model "French Talbot" Cars. Thi.s is the same make of car that put up that remarkable performance m the Reliability Trial by jmijaing 149 flutles on 6s 9d worth of pptr'ol. 'The a'ljoye cars 6ecnred first, second, and third priisee. In regard to the interview m Frir day night's Guardian under the headIng of " Crops and Conditions," it should be mentioned that the object ! of the article is to prove to fanners that, m a season like the present, it it mistaken economy to thresh grain from the stook. In the words of the gentleman interviewed, it was of no consequence to him whether the whole of the grain wag improperly harvested, for those who would bo the real losers were the farmers themselves. Speaking on behalf of a number of grain merchants he said: ''Wo have thoroughly made up our minds regarding the purchase of stook-threshed grain. Farmers have been spoken to personally on the matter, and reports of our intentions have been published m the papers, so that they cannot plead ignorance on the question." Messrs Richards' Entertainers will appear m the Oddfellows' Hall on Friday and Saturday next, 26th and 27th instant, when popular prices—3s, 2s and Is—will be charged. The work carried on m connection with the Ashburton Technical Classes came m for very favourable criticism at a meeting of the Borough and Hanipstead School Committees last evening. Surprise was affected by several of those present that the pupils attending at least two or three classes should be so limited m number, more particularly as the subjects taiHit would prove of great value to the boys and girls m the future. Qn the suggestion of Mr Ferriman, # who has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the classes since their inception, it was decided that those present should endeavour to promote a greater interest m the working of the classes, and that they should attend these from time to time, with a view to tho enrolment of new pupils, and to festering a deeper interest m the subjects 1 aught, and m the methods adopted of teaching. ■ At a special meeting of the Hanipstead School Committee last evening, Miss It. Kenna, out of three applicants, was appointed assistant mistress at the Hampstead. school,