The Advocate. [Established 1888.] [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER AND GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1910. NOTES.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 60, 12 March 1910, Page 4

The Advocate. [Established 1888.] [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER AND GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1910. NOTES.

CIRCULATES IN Dannevirke Mangatoro Tamaki Ngapaeruru Mangahe Weber Ti Tree Point Waione Wimbledon Herbertviile Akitio Horoeka Oringi Kiritaki Maharahara Woodville Umutaoroa Matamau Piripiri Makotuko Ormondville Norsewood Takapau Whetukura Awariki Otanga Kumeroa Kangitane Raumati Rua Roa' S. Norsewood Tiratu Tipapakuku Mangapuaka Mangatuna Makaretu

The fact that the British Naral estimates for the coming year will absorb nearly fifty-one millions is calculated to impress even the most thoughtless person with the enormous burden John Bull has to carry to enable him to maintain his supremacy at sea. And no release from this harassing load is apparently possible. Apart from considerations inspired by a fear of the German menace, these estimates .have been framed, so Mr M'Kenna, the First Lord of the Admiralty, asserts, "m order to pi-eserve our standard of naval power." Thus, it is not intended to take any notice of uerman professions of friendliness. Great Britain is determined to he prepared for any contingency. This is the spirit that has been ever present during the last hundred years, and it is the only one that will give a measure of safety. Some of the lesser lights of the party would no doubt have preferred to have seen some modification of the naval proposals, but it is satisfactory to know that the "Little Englanders" have been overruled, and that the programme, is one which will commend itself to the country. The necessity for this huge expenditure is, of course, regrettable, but any other course would have been siiicidal. It should be a source of satisfaction to those who live in these overseas dominions that they are now taking a small share in meeting the cost of naval requirements.

The Crown tenants of Hawke's Bay are now being gently wooed for their suffrages by two candidates. If they are wisely advised they will unquestionably support Mr A. C. B. Munro, of Hatuma. The present vacancy has boon caused by the absence of thenformer representative from the meetings of the board, and with singular modesty this gentleman is again, a candidate for their votes. Mr Lane may plead that he retired to assert a principle. The answer to that is that his first duty was + o his constituents, and that should have prompted him

to have attended the meetings of the board and so carried out the trust reposed in .him. For several months, while Mr Lane has been allowing the seat to become vacant by course of law, the tenants have been without representation, and now Mr Lane calmly asks the tenants to again elect him to the position. Mr Lane has taken up a most peculiar idea of his responsibilities. He has created more than one "scene" at meetings of the board by his hostile attitude to the chair, and we venture to assert that no person with an adequate sense of proportion would have felt constrained to adopt the peculiar tactics Mr Lane considered necessary in dealing with the Commissioner and his fellow members. It appears to us that in view of these circumstances the tenants are not likely to re-elect Mr Lane as their representative. MiLane has practically asked for a vote of confidence, and we shall be surprised if he receives it.

The tenants should have no cause to regret their action if they give their votes to the other candidate, Mr Munro. This gentleman has been engaged in practical farming all his life. He is a Crown tenant himself, and has a full knowledge of and sympathy with any legitimate grievances from which the lessees may suffer. He has a wide experience of the working of local bodies, and may in every respect be considered a man who will worthily fill the position. He will prove a sturdy advocate for the redress of all wrongs which may be brought under his notice, and any representations he. may make will not suffer by reason of any arbitrary attitude he may assume. In a quiet, firm, but unobtrusive way Mr Munro may be relied upon to exert his best abilities in carrying out any trust the tenants may place in his hands, and if they are disposed to study their best interests, they will undoubtedly record their votes in favor of Mr Munro.

The visit of Mr Andrew Black's concert company was an important event, so far- as the musical interests of Dannevirke are concerned, and the paucity of the patronage accorded to this fine singer and his fellow artists was a matter for extreme regret. Apart from the high reputation Mr Black holds as a vocalist, to hear such a cultured singer was in itself an educational experience of great value, and it .might reasonably have been thought that all musically-dis-posed people would have been present. But unfortunately they were not. Various excuses of more or less importance may be offered, but the fact remains that the patronage extended was most discouraging, and not at all calculated to induce Mr Black to repeat the experiment.

On page 2-...Church column. Page 3: Poetry; and a 'mother's love. Page 6 : Borough Coimcil. Page 7 : Mastertom acceptances, and a short story. The monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce will take place on Monday evening. By the payment of nates the borough overdraft has been, within the past week, reduced to £2927 2s. The Minister for Railways, following up the promise previously made, has wired Mr Hornblow that on and after April 1 the Auckland-Welling-ton through express Avill include Mangaweka as a stopping place. Following the improvement in the butter market, the Elthani Dairy Company has 'decided to pay another penny per lb for butter-fat supplied in October, November, and December. The previous, payment was lOd for October and November and 9fd for December.

A reminder is given of an exhibition of the Mindmax fire -extinguisher on the % r acant section near the Post Office this evening at 7.30. As the extinguisher is a most effective means of fire fighting shopkeepers and householders should make a point of attending the demonstration. >» The sugar industry in New South Wales and Fiji is practically in the hands of the Colonial Sugar Company. In Queensland there are cooperative refineries, but the Sugar Company is again dominant. The withdrawal of colored labor led largely to the conversion of sugar lands to dairying in New South Wales but in Queensland it encouraged the cutting up of the plantations into small patches worked by whites, who get the bonus. There are also many Chinese sugar farmers, and in some instances it is said that Chinese farmers employ white labor so as to get the bonus.

M.A.P. gives the following examples of Mr Lloyd-George's powers of repartee:—"l am here—" he remarked once at a political meeting, but before he had time to finish the sentence, a noisy interrupter had chimed in, "And so am I." But the retort was quick as it was overwhelming, "Yes—but you are not all there!" "What do our opponents really want?" he enquired in a recent speech: In the momentary pause that followed the question there came a voice h,usky from the effects of alcohol, "What 1 want is a change of Government." "No, no," was the ready reply, "wliat you really want is a change of drink." The fact that the business men of Dannevirke have not lost confidence in the town has been frequently demonstrated of late by the purchases of property in High-street which it has been our pleasure to record from time to time. Messrs Hannah and Co.. were the first of those in search of good positions, and they were followed a few weeks ago by the Bank of New South Wales, who purchased the corner section opposite the post office. Only as many days since the purchase by Messrs Armstrong and Morison of their site was announced, and now to-dav we are hi a position to state that Messrs M'Dowell and Power have shown commendable enterprise by completing the purchase of their hue business premises in High-street from Mrs Northcote, of Wellington. The position and promises, the latter being quite new, are amongst _ the very choicest in the commercial portion of the town, and although the price represents a. fair sum we are sure that the purchasers have effected a profitable transaction to them. The sale was effected through Mr H. Tilsley.

At the court this morning V-» men named Peter Peterson and Jeremiah Cronin were convicted and discharged for drunkenness. W. S. Robertson, of Stratford, has deposited £25 with the sporting editor of the New Zealand Times for a wrestling match with Joe Gardiner.

v At the service at St. John's Church to-morrow evening Miss NewcombHall will sing "The soft southern breeze" (Rebecca) as a.n offertorium. Blight is stated to have made its appearance in one or two of the potato crops in the Masterton district, although it is not yet present to any serious extent.

We regret to learn that Mr Christison, a settler at Omataroa, on Mr F. Knight's property, who has been in bad health, for some months, died in the hospital this morning. He leaves a wife and eight children. Professor Ostwald, winner of the Nobel prize for chemistry, says that nearly all great men of science spring from the middle classes. They very rarely spring from the working classes..

Violin playing and hockey were stated by Dr. Alfred H. Tubby, a surgeon at Westminster Hospital, in a recent lecture, as iiekly to cause curvature of the spine amongst girls. He says these facts are being recognised by the more intelligent mistresses and teachers, and in some schools hockey is taken out of th ecurriculum, and so is violin-piaj'ing. The alms-boxes which stand in the porch at St. Michael's Church, Christchurch, were broken open by some person recently. Fortunately they had been cleared of their contents just previously, and the intruder had to go away empty-handed. So far as can be ascertained, the contents of the church were not disturbed.

Dr Truby King, in a, lecture at Dunedin last week, stated that fifty per cent, of the children of South Dunedin, known as "The Flat," suffered from adenoids, which were very often the precursor of consumption. He stated that one of the great causes of the disease was the use of the comforter, and the improper feeding of children.' Messrs Barmaid and Abraham, Ltd., the local shipping agents, report having booked the following passengers:—Mr and Mrs Riddell and Miss B. S. Speedy, per Mongolia, for London, returning via Vaaiconver and Australia; Mr A. M. Ross, to Lon-don,'-via. Morea, returning via Australia (P. and O. Company); Mr and Mrs Stainton and three children, per Devon, for London (Federal Houider line); Mr H. M'Mullien,.for London, per Rimutaka (N.Z.S. Company). Speaking to an Auckland Herald reporter on Monday, the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) stated that money had become-much more plentiful, and branches of industry and commerce were feeling the benefit. With regard to the State Guaranteed Advances Act, application had, lie said, already been made for loans totalling £750,000 by various local bodies. The necessary money was available, and provided that the securities offered were satisfactory, the applications would be granted. Three applications under the Land Finance Settlement Bill had been made to date. On the subject of native land settlement, Sir Joseph remarked that negotiations for the purchase of blocks in various parts of the North Island were now well in hand.

It has been a unique Christmas and New Year for the Maoris now performing at the New York Hippodrome (writes the New York correspondent of the New Zealaaid Herald), and if some of their Rotorua friends could only see them going to or 'from the Hippodrome at night they would be astonished. The weather is cold—it was eight degrees above zero the other night—and the Maoris are dressing for the cold just as the people of New York are, and they appreciate the value of furs. Two or three of them have gone in for fur-lined coats, and two of the men have bought some wonderful headgear, a<nd are known as Peary and Dr Cook among the stage hands. They wear tremendous fur caps which come down over their ears and defy the cold, and a third man has purchased a remarka.ble woollen contrivance, which not only covers his head and ears, but goes right down under his collar, and leaves no opening save a hole for his nose to come out of. Then tihere are the ear-muffs—little velvet pockets for the ear,s which you carry in your pocket and bring out as occasion requires. They are something of a curiosity, but are a distinct boon, and are largely used here.