COUNTRY NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 203, 26 August 1909, Page 6

COUNTRY NEWS.

WA3T4P. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) . WAIHIj Wednesday. There was a large' attendance- at the gymnasium last night. Members are making excellent progress in the various es under the supervision of instructor McWilliams. The gymnasium will affiliate iv a few days with the Auckland centre of the New Zealand Boxing Association, and, when preliminary steps have been taken in this direction, the local Association wiil be permitted to give public demonstrations of boxing. It is quite likely that the New Zealand Association will allocate one of the championships of the colony to be decided here. NORTHERN WAIROA. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) DARGAVILL.E, Wednesday. Mr. Spragg was the only legal nominal tioa received to-ilny for the election of a councilor to fil! the vacancy caused by tha resignation of Mr. Marriuer, and he has been elected. The nomination of anothec candidate. Mr. Deli, was not signed bj , himself, and, therefore, could not be accepted. ; ' ; The Governor has recommended 'that the general election for pargaviUe borough be fiisd £or September 20. 3lr. Edwin Harding left Dargavllle'this morning for Auckland, en route to Hawke's. Eay, where he proposes obtaining fresh bicod from an ira~roTed sheep Hock. At Cp Borough Couucll meetini; last night Sir. Bryden hud eoine severe things to say of the mannsr in which valuations were made. He said that valuations were ofuu compiled without the vaiusr ever iroins near some cf the properties. The MhyCjr, in. the course of discussion, upheld ■ theprefeiV system, and he gave notice that i. he woiid r?.ove st the vtxt meeting of the Council, "That the Va.uer-General be in- 1 formed of the Council's approval of the present syst«tr. of valuation." The CouncU passed a by-lnw, «»der "The Municipal Corporations A.«t of ISOS,". person; shall expectorate on aar. ftiotcath within tb« borougb," the by-law to come into force on the 29th' September. The creek at Mongoanl has at last been cleared, and ft is stated that the creek has never can-led so much timber before, it bav'UK taken tbree weeks to effect a clearing, thus constituting a record. The laet : fresh in Mangakahia was, unfortunately, too big, a very large number of logs having been washed upon the bank five and six chains away from tbo creek. They are now high and dry, and will require working into the stream. CAMBRIDGE. CAMBRIDGE, this a«J. Last evening the monthly meeting of Alpha Masoniq Lodge was held in the Masonic Hall, in Alpha-street, which has tust been considerably enlarged and improved; and now it Is one of the most up-ro-rtare in th~ i.riivi->'-» ''He ;•■ i 12ft by 23, with a raised dais at the eastern j ?nd; the walls ha.ye been insulated with j pumice, so no. sound can be heard outside; ;] t has also be?n well ventilated. The build- ; nc has been lengthened some 24ft, and that j idmits of a large refectory, and all the ] jecessary adjuncts, such as layartory, room . 'or preparing candidates, etc. On the 21st , >f next month there will be a re-opening , fi-.nrr'i-". ai whvh i* '■ '■■•■■ •■'■ ' ■'■■« ■• t'i-:, provinci.il officers will be present, and all . the brethren belonging to the. neighbouring • lodges will be invited. This lodge is now , n a very prosperous condition, and numbers ' i upward of 50. The W.M., Bro. Tudehope, hj hjis Itop" lonkinc , '"-ofi' ll .- .i* t pi , *>« w.'f•are f>f the lodge during the «lteratlon«, and it his snggestlon several improvements . have been made that will tie much aPBM-; i ,-lated. - ■ ' ' ' " \, The .\shburton "Guardian" jstatee:—; : ; Mr. L. Stoddart, of Willowby, "took the. < ■'Gua.rdian," office on Saturday a "yelTow '•! globe mangold which bears so close a resemblance io a human head and face ( that hardly a feature is wanting, and the ! :patour of the face is almost; jperfeift.. ] Altogether the head is as well denned"as j. that of a well-preserved Egyptian mum- j my. One particular feature-of the freak j is that ■the skull portion of bhe head j fqnns the base of the root of the man- i and Mr. Stoddart states that when the man dug the mangold up "he wa.% startled to see at his feet so exact, a likeness to a "human face. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher, M.P., of Wellington, was a visitor at the noon call of the Auckland Stock Exchange to-day. In introducing the visitor, the chairman (Mr. G. A. Buttle) expressed his .pleasure at Mr. Fieher being present, and remarked that the stronger the light thrown on their proceedings the better it would be to show then- bona fides. He believed that Mr. Fisher would learn something as i result of his visit. Mr. Fisher, in reply, said he appreciated very highly the honour of being present at a call. They had been led to believe that "for ways that are dark, and tricks that are vain, the heathen Chinese"—and. the share- , broker—"are peculiar." Hβ thought- it . would be of advantage if there was some- ■ body in the House who knew about their business, and would know how ta look after their interests. There is all sorts of agricultural land in the country that belongs to the Crown, but it is not every tenant who has a section the surface of which 'is suitable for manufacturing bricks. But the Auckland Land Board has such a> tenant, for at this morning's meeting of the Board an application was, received from the tenant for permission to use the surface of the selection for the making of bricks. Even the Board passed through various phases of emotion, but the Commissioner rescued order from the threatened chaos by expressing the decided conviction that if this-tenant of the Board used the surface portion ;of the selection for making bricks, the ground generally wouldn't be greatly improved thereby for agricultural purposes. This fact appealed to the whole Board, but one member came to the rescue with a venture that the tenant, unless she were going in for brick production on a colossal >cal«, could not want to use very much of the iurfaoe. and accordingly th« matter was left for «w nnju to »B»rt bjob. _ i _^^^ iak ,_ ■