LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXiX, Issue 7730, 25 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The annual meeting of the New Zealand Master Printers' Federation was held at Wangainii on Tuesday evening, Oijjcprs for " tho ensuing year' were elected as follows: 'President, Mr W. G. Sommerville (Dunedin); vice-presi-dent, Mr AY. H. Wilson (Auckland) ; Council, Messrs Whitcombo (Christchurch). Stone (Dunedin), Smith (Invercargill), Ferguson (Wellington), Pirani (Feilding); secretary, Mr G. H. Reid (J)unedin). A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the retiring president, Mr P. Selig (Christchurch). The estate from which the sheep were recently stolen m the Manawatu district, anf}' for which Herbert Bergstroom was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, is owned by Mr A. J. JJalfour, formerly Premier of England. Mr F. Makeig, while returning home from Winder-mere on Tuesday evening, met with an accident at the Ashburton Post Oflice corner. It appears that the coach, on which he occupied a boxseat, collided with the guard-post at the intersection of Cameron street witli East street, and Mr Makeig was thrown heavily to the ground. Ho was picked up m an unconscious condition, and was conveyed home, where he was attended by Dr. Hunter. Besides receiving a' number of bruises on the face and forehead, Mr Makeig's clothes were considerably damaged. Yesterday he was confined to his bed, but hopes to be about again m a short time. From thirty-six acres of Garton. oats near Orari, seventy bushels to the acre have been threshed. One of the largest farmers on the Kakahu reports an'uveraßC yield of sixty bushels of oats, and this m spite of some damage done by caterpillars. This is the best I return ho has ever got m his long experience of farming m that district, Mr Jess Souths mill has been stookthroshing some Garton oats on Hunninsctou farm, and m eleven hours one day""' nearly 2400 bushels were put through, and on another day nearly 2700 bushels were threshed. These are big tallies for stook-threshing, says the Timaru Herald. it is stated that considerable busino<\s' has been done m new season's wheat iii the Temuka district, and that durii)"- the past month one buyer alone bus acquired 67,000 bushels at prices ran^in"- from 3s Gd to 3s 9d a bushel, according to variety and quality, at country stations, 5Jd being allowed tor sacks.

According to a Press Association tele- j gram from Dunedin the Flour Millers' Association has decided to reduce the jirico of flour by £1 per ton. It is understood that this stop has been taken partly to meet competition by Australian millers and parly because the increased quantity of new wheat now on oiler has enabled millers to' buy on slightly better terms. In regard to this, however, a Wellington message states: "The accuracy of the telegram from Dunedin, stating that the price flour had been reduced, is questioned here; and the. price is stated to be still £10 10s per ton. Those lovers of music who heard the young Russian instrumentalists, Leo, Jan and Mischel Cherniavski-, will be interested to know that on 'oieir return from the north they will give another recital m Ashburton, on March 15th. At the present time these remarkable boys are appearing m Auckland to crowded houses, as, m tact, they have been all through the country. Madame Marie Hooton (contralto) and Mr Percival Driver (baritone), are still the voc-iii^- of the company. At si meeting of the North Canterbury Charitable Aid Board yesterday, I Mr" Harper reported that the Ashburton Home was m good condition,' but the Board should pay a visit m con- j nection with the furnishing of the new portion. There were at present fewer ■inmates than for a long time past, a number of the old age pensioners having loft owing to the mild weather. Most of them would probably apply for re-admisnion shortly. Generally speaking, the Board did not encourage the admission of pensioners if it could avoid it. Experience had shown that matters did not go smoothly if the pensioners were mixed with the nonjensioners. In regard to the election of a licensing committee, the Ashburton No-li-cense Council is of opinion that to save unnecessary expense the Department should be asked to allow the Uuvunior to appoint a Licensing Comiiikcoi! under section 2 CJ of the Act to hold oince lor the throe months ending June 30th, and that the incensed Victuallers Association Execuwye should he written to intimating that, subject to the Association or otners representing the Traue agreeing to refrain from nominating a committee, the No-license party will likewise abstain from taking any action m the matter. Sales effected at the Addington market on "Wednesday, on acountjof Ashburton tanners, are as follows: l<at sheep—Wether.*: for A. D. Mcllraith (Rakaia),..6O at lls to 16s 8d; W. V. iVlagson (kakaia), 58 at 15s 3d;J. 0. N. Grigg (Longbeach), 139 at 14s 4d to 15s Ewes: P. C. Threlkeld (Methven), 64 at 10s 2d to 13s 7d; J. C. iN. Grigg (Longbeach), 52 at 10s lid to lls 4d. l'at lambs: W. F. Magson (Kakaia), 19 at 14s. Commander W. J. Gambier, m his breezy autobiography, " Linksm Aly Life 'on Land and bea," gives a very interesting impression of the famous Bishop Selwyn. The Bishop, he says, was " a man of most fascinating but dominating personality. I always think he was a^givat admiral or general thrown away. He was a born, leader of men, and m the lloman Empire _ he might have been a Marcus Aurehus, acclaimed Imperator by the army, and have been borne on their shields to don the purple at the C-apitol. As it was, his" incomparable energy and power of organisation fizzled out m starting missions."'ln this Mr Gambier seems not to. recognise the immediate and still continuing results of those missions. On- being nominated to fill a public position at a recent- meeting^ a wellknown public man expressed himself m the following terms: "I would much prefer that some other gentleman were appointed to the position. My hands are already full, and despite the fact that "oiie conscientiously endeavours to carry out public duties m an impartial ' and straightforward manner, it frequently occurs that that-.person is subjected' to unfavourable criticism at the' hands of people who are not manly enough to express their opinions on a public platform, but prefer- rather to hide theiridenty by writing vindictive letters iii the public Press above a nom-de-pliime. I have often wondered why a certain class of the community are so hasty' m their condemnation of the actions of public men, and the only feasible solution of the problem that I can advance is that they are prompted m their actions by a spirit of envy and malice, A largo number of men who serve on local bodies frequently neglect their own business m the interests of the ratepayers, yet despite this fact their actions are frequently publicly criticised by anonymous newspaper writers, who do not even attempt to first acquaint themselves with the facts of the question on which they write. These incidents at times have a tendency to make a man feel that he would like to wash his hands entirely of public affairs." When it was time for a train to etart from a small railway station m Andalusia, Spain, one day recently, the bell which gives the signal for departure could not be found. Half an hour later a man arrived on the platform, and handed the bell to the station master, explaining that, ho had' taken it away with Jiim > as he wa6 afraid of missing the train. The number of physicians m France has nearly doubled m 10 years. There are now "'20,000, and nearly 2000 are turned out every year by the medical schools. Foes have decreased alarmingly because of this competition, and because of the diminution of disease due to hygienic precautions. Tn some districts m Paris a franc is all that is paid for a doctor's call. When dealing wit.ll two eases of drunkenness at'the Ashburton Police Court this morning, Mr H. Davis, Justice of the Peace, said that drunkenness aud disorderly conduct on railway trains was evidently becoming an intolerable nuisance, as four cases of the kind had been brought before him of late-. There was a great deal of danger for any man under the influence of liquor to travel by rail, but when men Tbecame disorderly and riotous m a railway carriage to the annoyance of fellow travellers it was time the Court assisted the authorities to put a stop to such unseemly conduct. In two previous cases thai had been brought before him the offenders, were ■ charged only with drunkenness mid not disorderly conduct, and undor the circumstances he had been induced to deal leniently with the men; but the charges before, him that day were of a totally different character. He was determined to assist m putting a stop to drunkenness and bad conduct on trains and both the accused would b.e fined 20s, or m default 48 hours' imprisonment. On the arrival of the first _ express south m Ashburton this morning, the guard reported a man for drunkenness, and the police immediately took him into .custody. At the Ashburton Police. Court this morning, before Mr H. Davis, Justice of the "Peace, two men named .John Brown and Andrew McLaren, who were arrested on the train on Wednesday, wore convicted and fined 20s, or, in'default, 48 hours' imprisonment, fordrunkenness and disorderly conduct. Both men, who hvq strangers to the town, admitted the offence and pleaded j for leniency. In reply to a question by the Bench, Sergeant Fouhy stated that the guard had reported the men to the Police on the arrival of the train m Ashburton from Ohristchurch. There was no charge ngainst them for obscene language, The usual weekly session of the T. O. G. T., Star of the East Lodge No. G2 ,was held m the Orange Hall on Wednesday, when the chair was occupied by Bro. G. W. Andrews, P.C.T. There was an excellent attendance, and three members of the juvenile lodge were transferred to the adult lodge. After the usual business of the evening, the lodge was closed to enable nil to partake of refreshments supplied by the members. It was'reported that the lodge is bidding fair to become one of the strongest lodges m the South Island, as there are close on 70 financial members, at t]io present time.