The Advocate. [Established 1888.] [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER AND GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1910. PASTOR RIES' ADDRESS.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 61, 14 March 1910, Page 4

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

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1910. PASTOR RIES' ADDRESS.

CIRCULATES IN Dannevirke Mangatoro Tamaki Ngapaeruru Mangahe Webor Ti Tree Point Waione Wimbledon Herbertville Akitio Horoeka Oringi Kiritaki Maharahara Woodville Umuiaoroa Matamau Piripiri Makotuku Ormondville Norsewood Takapau Whetukura Awariki Otanga ' Kumeroa Rangitane Raumati Rua Roa S. Norsewood Tiratu Tipapakuku Mangapuaka Mangatuna Makaretu

The address delivered by Pastor Ries on Saturday evening may not have contributed much practical information on the subject of Hospital and Charitable Aid administration, but it certainly served several other equally useful purposes. The fact is there is not much to be said either on the practical or academical side of t'he subject, for there are no "burning questions" before the electors at the present juncture. Hospital and Charitable Aid matters are proceeding with remarkable smoothness, and seeing there are no questions of principle to be settled, the main business of tlie burgesses on Wednesday will be to elect two 'level headed men to the board who will so manage its business as to keep its affairs in their present satisfactory groove. Pastor Ries' meeting will, however, serve to impress upon the electors the fact that a new duty has been cast upon them, and the need there is for their discharging that duty. Apathy and lack of interest may possibly induce many to stay within doors under the impression that because there is no vital question at stake there is no need to record their votes. But it should be remembered that some matter of stirring interest may arise' at any moment, and it is important that the right men should be there to deal with it when it does 1 arise. That was the first point made by the Pastor. "Vote for whom you like, but don't fail to vote." "Elect the best men, whoever you believe them to be," was the advice given to those present, and if that advice is followed we have no fear of the result, for the men with the claim upon, the people are Pastor Ries and Mr Bickford. The second point made by the Pastor was that although there is no matter of principle at stake, the people have so large a financial interest in the administration of the board that they cannot well afford to allow the election- to go by default. The figures quoted in connection with charitable aid show the magnitude of the operations, and it is obviously in

the interest of the ratepayers that the men who manage the financial affairs of the board should be men of experience, based on years of previous service. Both the gentlemen already mentioned' have this qualification in a larger measure than either of the' other candidates, and it is mainly on this ground that we are supporting them. Then, finally, the meeting held by Pastor Ilies serves to' demonstrate that in election matters, as in all others, the Pastor is a fighter. So far as he could, in the limited time between now and the election, lie has met the people, and given his opponents an opportunity of publiciv combating Ills candidature. If they have not done so, it may be presumed that either he has no opponents, or that their objections are of a purely personal nature, and will not stand public discussion. This may or may not matter, but what does matter is that in the settlement of details at the inception of 1 the board this end of the district will require the services of men who- have just the fighting qualities of the Pastor ; men who cian make up their minds and stick to it—men of definite opinions, men who can he found because we know where they are. There is no doaibt about Pastor Ilies taking a stand if one has to be taken, and we know that in his loyalty to Dannevirke he will not do anything detrimental to the interests of the district. On the other hand he is offering his services because he believes he is capable of rendering the district good and useful service, and measured by the standard of experience, capacity to deal with public questions, and a willingness to devote the requisite time to them, we have no hesitation in saying that Pastor Ries should be chosen to represent Dannevirke on the new Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. [Since the above was written, we learn that one o>f the candidates, Mr J. T. Wilson, has retired from the contest.]

On page 2: "About sheep"' ; the alleged ragging case; Weber Farmers' Union. Page 3: "A builder of Empire." Page 6: A leaseholders' conference; Salvation Army—Colonel Knight's visit; and 1 general. Page 7 : In remote Scotland; wit and humor. The Ormondville Telephone Exchange was opened to-day. The quarterly statutory meeting of the Dannevirke Fire Board will be held on Monday next, 21st inst., at 7.30 p.m. Sir Joseph Ward and Lord Kitchener made the journey from Rotorua to Napier in motor-cars, and it is understood that the journey was a very rough one, owing to bad roads and swollen streams. In one case, it took six horses to draw the FieldMarshal's car out of a river bed. A marked fall in the barometer this morning was followed by. a. 'heavy northerly wind, with light rain, and as we go to press the weather conditions are becoming worse.

Ratepayers in the Dannevirke County should note that the clerk is now busy making out summonses for overdue rates, and that the ten pea' cent, is always 'added in such cases.

The foundation-stone of the children's and women's surgical ward at the Christcliurch Hospital was laid on Tuesday by Mr R. Heaton Rhodes, M.P., in the absence of Mrs Rhodes, through indisposition. On Saturday night Mr J. T. Wilson retired from the contest for vacancies on the Hospital Board. This will leave Pastor Ries and Messrs Bickford .and Wratt to go to the poll.

A Maori tennis tournament is to be held at the end of this month in Palmorston, when a valuable trophy, presented by Mr Marumaru, of Raiigitikei, will be competed for by teams composed entirely of natives from Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, Motuiti, Ohau, Manakau, Aorangi, Parewianui and Onepuhi. The Palmerston Club's courts are to be used for this most interesting tournament. Abraham and 1 Williams, Ltd., report on their Pongaroa sale of lltli instant as follows : —Sheep did not come forward up to advertised numbers, but the yarding of cattle was large. Sheep were represented by aged ewes and small lambs, which did not meet much enquiry. Most classes of cattle sold well, especially steers. We quote: Aged ewes 3s 7d to 4s 2d, forward conditioned ewes 5s 9d' to 6s 4d, lambs 4s to os, Lincoln rams 25 s to £2 2s, forward bullocks £5 7s, 2% asnd 3-year steers £4 12s to £4 13s, empty oows £3 2s to £3 12s, cows and calves £3 19s, weaner steers 355, mixed weaners 28s 6d.

Mr J. R. Franklin, of Ti Tree Point, returned .firom the Trentham shooting meeting on Saturday. He reports that the weather for the greater part of the meeting Avas very bad, and quite upset the New South Wales team, who are not likely to repeat the experiment of attending the Trentham snooting competitions. Mr Franklin remarked that with an attendance of 600, as against the 200 of a few years back, the shooting had become much keener than formerly, but he naturally felt pleased that his brother, Mr F. C. Franklin—a member of the Weber Rifle Club—had secured the Rifle Club Match.

Mr Matthews gave another illustration of the effectiveness of the Minimax fire extinguisher as a fire fighter on Saturday evening on the vaoant section opposite the Post Office. A large number were present. There- were several large cases placed on top of each other, and before applying the torch Mr Matthews emptied half a case of benzine over the wood. Immediately the torch wias applied the mass became a fierce fire, and fanned by a capful of wind, the flames were borne outwards. It wais at once obviou's that the extinguisher would have a severe trial, because the lie at was too great to enable the operator to stand close to the fire. However, Mr Matthews pluokily stood as close as he dared in face of the fierce heat, and started the spray from the Minimax. The flames, however, had obtained such a strong hold that a: second extinguisher had to be used, and this proved effective, the fire being soon killed. Mr Matthews afterwards said that it was the strongest blaze lie had so far been called to deal with, and he was rewarded with a hearty round of applause on the successful termination of his work. All present were much impressed with the effectiveness of the extinguisher in dealing with a fire in its incipient stage. Messrs Bairraud and Abraham are the local agents for this valuable invention, and have already booked orders for twenty machines.

The monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce will be held this evening.

At the present time about 100 sacks :>f oysters are sent up every week from the Bluff by boat to Wellington.

It is understood that further modifications and alterations to the police regulations are contemplated at an early date.

A first-offending inebriate who had been in the cells since Saturday was this morning convicted and discharged by Mr W. Dobson, J.P. An opossum was caught in a rabbit trap in the Milton district last Saturday. This is the first reported case of the presence of opossums in the district.

The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, accompanied by his private secretary, passed through Dannevirke yesterday by motor-car, en route from Rotorua to Wellington. During a brief stay the party lunched at Andrews' Hotel.

Shipments of cheese from the Carterton railway station last Saturday totalled at least ten trucks, of whicli five trucks will take the Dalcfield factory output, three trucks Parkvale factory, three trucks Belvedere factory, three trucks Taratalii factory, and. one truck Longbush factory. By a.u important notice in another part of this issue, it will be seen that Mr Quing Ivee (as lie contemplates a visit shortly to his relations in China) lias determined to reduce his immense stock of groceries, crockery, etc., to quite half its present dimensions, and to do this he is prepared to sacrifice prices 'very largely. As this is a legitimate gale it behoves all householders to take full advantage of this unusual chance to roll up in large numbers.

There was a large attendance at St. John's Church last evening. The Vicar's sermon was based on the lessons of the life of St. Patrick. Miss New combe-Hall sang as an offertoriuim the soprano solo "Hie soft southern breeze," from Barnby's cantata "Rebekkah." Miss Hall was in fine voice, and favored the congregation with a most expressive and charming interpretation of this beautiful piece of music. The church was crowded for the occasion.

By an advertisement in another column it will be seen that an effort is being made to again secure a -meeting of the farmers in the Weber district for the purpose of establishing a branch of tllie Farmers' Union. Ther.e are several matters of importance pending in which every farmer has a- personal interest, notably a new shearers' award, and unless they are prepared to meet a.nd decide upon a course of action, their indifference may result in an award being given against them. A full attendance is therefore requested. . Constable M'Leod on Saturday brought in a -native from Takapau, on a charge of lunacy. The- man was most violent and caused considerable trouble at the police station, having to be handcuffed to and from the railway station. The unfortunate man was this morning examined by Drs Macallan, and Mackay, and committed to the Porirua mental hospital by Messrs Dobson and' Newett, J's.P. Sergeant Black has arranged with the railway authorities for a special compartment in which to convey the man, and also for the express to. stop at Porirua to allow of his being removed.

In the course of •an interview, Colonel Kniglit was asked by our representative whether anything further had been heard of the objections of the Island Bay residents to the Salvation Army opening a Prison Gate Brigade Home at the Bay. All he could say was that after an abortive conference, during which the objectors had nothing further to put forward, and no legitimate objections to the proposal, the Army had decided to go on with the work, but, added the Colonel, if the -people can show us any plausible reason why we should not establish the Home, then we are prepared to listen to and bide by the will of the majority of the people. During his address at the Salvation Army Hall yesterday, Staff-Capt. Orames illustrated a pleasing' incident that happened in Wales while he was attending- a Church Conference in a little town where the Hon. LlovdGeorge was living at the time. It appears Mr Lloyd-George had been appointed president of the conference, and in his opening remarks, said that he felt the high honor the people of England had conferred upon him in placing him in such an exalted position as the second Minister of the Cabinet; but he appreciated still more the honor conferred on him by being able to say that he belonged to a far higher Cabinet and served a greater King by being permitted to preside at a conference of the Church of God.