LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXiX, Issue 7729, 24 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a mooting of the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church session last evening, it was decided to extend an invitation to the leaders of the Young Men's and Young Women's Bible Class Unions m connection with the church, to hold the next annual Summer School m Ashburton, during the last week of the present year. Messrs H. M. Jones and John Williams, representing the Ashburton and Willowby circuits respectively, left by this afternoon's express to attend the Methodist Church Conference. A special train of forty-ono trucks brought 3000 lambs to Itakaia for Mr A. Holmes, on Saturday morning. Last year the Ashburton Ilugby Union paid sums amounting to about £14, as part payment of the medical expenses of injured players. A number of claims have been sent m to the Union by injured players for consideration, also, of the loss of time occasioned through accidents, but it is understood that the Union cannot recognise claims made m this direction. On Monday evening Mr Win. Nosworthy, M.P., was presented with an enlarged framed photograph of his election committee. Last year Mr M. Stitt presented a sum of £1 to the Hampstead School Cadet corps, to bo offered m prizes for the encouragement ol' shooting. The prizes have bcou won by Colour-Ser-geant K. Rollitt and Sergeant L. Thompson, who jectired the highest number of points m the matches hfcld m connection with the firing for tho Bullock Shield. At a social meeting m the Church of Christ last evening, Miss Neill, who is about to leave Ashburton for the Old Country, was presented by the congregation with a handsomely bound Bible m recognition of the interest she has taken during the past two years as teacher m the Bible school. Refreshments were handed round during the evening. Tho farmers i:i certain districts m Otago complain rather bitterly of the manner m which they are treated by members of a disreputable class .of town loafers, who occasionally make a journey into the country. These gentry, according to tho Otago Daily Times, will turn up at a farm during a wet day, and will ask for employment, if the farmer wants a man for harvesting, as many do at present, he engages the stranger, and provides him with food and lodging during the time the weather remains bad. Then, when a day suitable for work comes, the new hand jislc^ the amount of his wages. " Ono shilling an hour," says the farmer, and tho man promptly protests that it is not sufficient; he wants Is 3d or Is Gd an hour. If he docs not get- it he marches off. leaving the farmer^ think over tho fact that he has had decidedly the worst of the transaction. A number of these cases are reported. J

At a meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board on Tuesday Mr T. E, Taylor gave notice of motion—"That this Heard urges the Government to abolish the present aritiqitatod method of nominating members of _ Harbour Boards possessed by fcai'ioils local bodies and give the parliamentary electors of the dominion the power to appoint all members of the Harbour! Boards of tho dominion." Mr Moore gave notice of motion—" That a return bo prepared showing'the tonnage for each year for the last ten years.of the varioiu classes of goods on which wharfage has been paid, reducing timber and wood to tons, and including tho number of live stock/ At the Supreme Court at Wellington on Tuesday, before Mr Justice Cooper and a special, jury of twelve, the hearing was concluded of a case m which Daisy Cook, a young woman, claimed £501 from Herbert Pearson Rftwson, dentist, of Wellington, for bodily injuries alleged. to nave been inflicted upon her during the Course of an operation for the extraction of a number of teeth. Mr C. P.. Skerrett, K.C., with him Mr E. P. Biinriy, appeared for defendant, who denied ail the allegations made by plaintiff. Plaintiff by her statement of claim alleged that defendant so negligently and so unskilfully treated her that a tooth was allowed by defendant to fall into plaintiff's lung whereby she suffered injury to her health and much pain and had been put to expense for medical attendance. Tlie jury by eleven to one found m favour of the defendant, but considered that the pjaintiff was perfectly bona fide m bringing the action and decided to make her a present of their jurors' fees. A Press Association telegram states that m the comparative statement issued by the Registrar-General, Auckland, while admittedly far and away the largest city m the dominion, is credited with a population of only 73,000. These figures do not take into account many purely residential suburbs, nor do they include some of the outlaying areas which can properly be classed as part of a greater Auckland. The District Health Officer (Dr Purely) has recently compiled some interesting statictic-3. and shows the population of Greater Auckland at 100,604. Recently a warning was given to the effect that care should be taken to wash or wipe apples before eatin<' them, lest they should still have on them a little of the arsenato of lead from the spraying operations. This caution should now be extended to the eating of all other fruit, A child at Waimate recently became seriously ill after eating plums, and this was attributed to p-oieon which the fruit had retained from spraying. The thirty-seventh annual conference of the Methodist Church of New Zealand will open its sessions on Thursday next, m Wesley Church, Wellington. This year there are twelve candidates for tlie ministry with ages ranging from twenty-two to forty-six years. According to the agenda there are still three of last year's candidates ■waiting to be received into the college for training. During the year two ministers have died, the Rev J. Law and Rev J. W. Worboys. The Rev W. C. Olliver, Rev D. McNicoll, Rev S. J. Garlick, and Rev T. E. Thomas, M.A., are asking to be made supernumeraries. In consequence of the damp and muggy weather that was experienced a week or two back, there is a good deal of smut m the cereal crops, wheat being particularly refected, while traces more or less distinct have been found m oats and barley. In most instances the smut is not pronounced, but m others it is really bad. On Saturday we saw a sample from what looked Jike an excellent crop on the sea co°ast, which was as bad as anything that had been seen m this district for many years, the whole of the grain being more black than any other colour. Farmers also say that threshing results arc good deal below expectations, m some cases falling fully ten bushels an acre below estimates. Altogether the harvest seems certain of proving disappointing, oats being the only cereal that will realise anticipations, says the North Otago Tmes. Fruit-growing as a commercial undertaking is developing on more satisfactory lines m Hawke's Bay than m probably any other district m the- diminion, says a Hawke's Bay paper. This is m iarge measure due to the fact that it lias been taken up by men ready to conduct it on up-to-date methods, and that growers have followed the advice of State experts as to the principles on which orchards should be planted and conducted and orchard pests controlled. Speaking of the development m Hawke's Bay, Mr Boucher, North Island pomologist, informed the writer that there are now 1330 acres m commercial orchards, and 150 acres under small fruits—a total of 1780 acres. This does not take into account the considerable area under vines. New orchards planted last year represent an area of 200 acres, while 350 acres have come into bearing this season. A leaflet circulated by the RegistrarGeneral shows that the population of New Zealand made a larger increase, numerically and centesimally, m 1908 than for some years previously. The white population increased 103,000 m tlie past five years. The excess of births over deaths, 14,679 m 1904, was 16,897 last year. The increase by excess of arrivals over departures by sea was irregular over the five years, being successively, m thousands, 10.3, 9.3, 12.8, 5.7, and 14.2. The percentage increase varied with the latter numbers. In 1907 it was 2.28; last year 3.36. The Press Association's Cairo correspondent writes:—The Dustoor (Constitution), one of the Nationalist organs, says: " Th& principal policy of the Nationalist party is to fight the British occupation, which has stolen, all the Egyptians' rights. Any other authority which sides with the occupation under the Egyptian sky should be reregarded by the Nationalists as no authority, because it derives its strength from the occupying Power. Therefore the Nationalist party should \ not divide its forces, but should unite jj against these new enemies. We wish the Khedive had sided with us, but he did not, and we. should not ask him why, nor deal with his political relations with the occupation. All we have to do is to devote our attention to our formidable rival, the British occupation—as every evil comes from it." "There is one branch of Oddfellowship which has been sadly neglected, and to which I wish to call your serious attention, with the object of inspiring, or rather enlisting, your interest," said the Provincial G.M. at the annual district recefcing of M.U. Oddfellows at Mastorlon recently. " I look forward to a great revival m this direction; that is our juvenile lodges. Negligence and lack of interest have been the causes to a £reat extent for allowing such a splendid adjunct to the various lodges to dwindle away almost to extinction, for we have now only onoi juvenile lodge to our credit m this dis-j trict, and that one m such a deplorable state numerically that at the beginning of last year serious thought was given to its secession ; but the better policy prevailed, and a new lease of life was given, and it now shows every indication of flourishing. Now auxiliaries of this kind an- required, and should be established wherever possible, for they would then not only be grand recruiting grounds for our adult lodges, but would imbue a knowledge and taste for Oddfellowship m the younger generation, which is most desirable." It is reported (states a Press Association telegram) that tho recent differences between the Government and tlie Petone Railway Workshops' employees m respect to appointments has been settled. A deputation from the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, upon waiting on the Minister of Railways, is reported to have been in-' formed that m future all promotions would be made according to the applicant's length of service. An ituxmipetent man, however, as has always been the case, might be passed over, and preference given to a more thorough workman, with, perhaps, not quite such length of service. In regard to a certain Manawatu employee's appointment, concerning which an indignation meeting was recently held m the Petone Workshops, the deputation was given to understand that the appointment was only temporary.

A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that Mr W. E. Hackett, solicitor, who was fined £5 by Mr Dyer. S.M., on February 9 for contempt of Court, m declining to sit clown m Court when requested by the Magistrate to do so, was arrested by the police on Tuesday afternoon tor not having paid the fine. Mr Hacptt was taken to Mount Eden Gaol, where he was examined for any distinguishing marks, and had his weight and height taken, besides being required to deliver up the contents of Ins pockets. At this stage a telephone message was received stating that the Auckland Law Institute would pay the fine. Ihe fine was paid, dud Mr Hackett was released It is Understood that the Auckland branch of the Law Society is investigating the matter, I In his annual report, to the Lyttelton Harbour Board on Tuesday, the secretary Mr C. Hood Williams, stated that the port's shipping returns showed that the number of foreign and colonial outward bound vessels during 1903 had been 1664 vessels, and their tonnage 2,080,845 tons, or a total increase of seventy-oilo vessels ana 169 378 toils as compared with the year 1907. It was interesting to note that the tonnage of vessels entering the port during the past ten years had more than doubled, having m creased 124 per cent during that period, and had increased 250 per cent during the past twenty years. The following is, the vessels' tonnage inwards! 1888, 602,687 tons; 1893, 743,499; 1898, 932,671 tons; 1903, 1,622,213; 1903, 2,079,736. The value of imports at Lyttelton for the year 1908 was £2,602,428 or a decrease of £38,078 on 1907. The value of the exports was £2,072,884 or a decrease of £763,855 upon that of 1907. Last year the imports exceeded the exports m value by £529,544, whereas m 1907 the exports* exceeded the imports m value by £196,233. An angler of long standing m Ashburton states that the present season has been very unfavourable for fishing, and full baskets have been limited m number. Fish are said to be very numerous, but it is difficult to induce them to take the ordinary lures. In connection with the borough lighting, it may be said that the period of "the contract for lighting the streets commqnees on March Ist. The contract entered into by the Gas Company is for five years, and as the specifications provide that the lamps shall be lighted only during a stated period, the Borough Council is therefore, responsible for the town being enveloped m darkness on evenings outside the lighting season, only m so far as it has, as a partj to the contract, not provided for a more'comprehensive scheme *f lighting. In former years, however, the chairman of the Lighting Committee had authority to light the streets on special occasions independently of. the contract, and on very dark, or wet evenings he exercised his authority. Mr T. O'Carroll, "at the meeting of the Hampstead Town Board last eveningj brought up the question of lighting .Hampstead at night. The town district is very large, and an entirely satisfactory lighting system would be costly. The_.Board, however, appears to think that there is no reason why something should not be done, and appointed a committee to consider the position and report on the best ways and means for accomplishing this object. A few lamps m the principal streets would be of great advantage, and the Town Board will probably have tho hearty approval of the ratepayers m what it proposes to do. This morning the Rakaia river was reported to be fishable, and the Upper and Lower Ashburton, and the Rangitata clear. On Tuesday morning a man complained to the police at Christchurch that ho had bceir robbed of £37 on Moorhouse Avenue the previous evening, and m the evening Detectives MeLeod, J. Kennedy, and H. P. Kennedy arrested two men who were allaged to have committed the robbery. A Wakanui farmer is of- opinion that the greater portion of the land m the Ashburton County, more particularly Wakanui, will never produce the heavy grain yields it did years ago. Between 15 and 20 years ago yields ranging up to 50 and 60 bushels of wheat per acre were common, but of late years the general return per acre has been a.J>out 30 bushels. This (he says) is mainly due to overcropping, which m turn has induced the growth of noxious weeds to such an extent that crops are now more or less choked through the presence of weeds m the early part of the season. To insure an average crop of late years it has been very necessary to thoroughly cultivate tho soil with a view to eradicating weeds, and this extra work is costly. A lnrge area of the agricultural land m t.he county has (m his opinion) been reduced at least £6 per acre m value, through overcronning, and through being overrun with noxious weeds. Headvocates a full course of cultivation— the more tho better, —<•) varied rotation of crops, roots alternating with cereals, and treating the soil to an occasional < supply of manure. A Wellington paper noints out that while 170.000 bales of wool were offered for sale m the dominion last season, the number offered this season has been 220.000, an increase of 50.000 bales. This means that just about half the New Zealand clip has been offered for sale on local markets during the current season.