General News

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 3141, 13 February 1900, Page 1

General News

! Several farmers in the Fatea district have had to out theigv oats on the green side on account of the' appearance of tnV dreaded caterpillar. ThejJEfessiau. tty iias caused so much mis* chief i^^§^B^'^ne^r : jlvanknL : that portions of paddocks of wheat are being ploughed in, to be replaced wi% turnips, as the wheatVoold dot be w«rth cutting. ;' . Most of the rivers around Mount Egmonfc are extraordinarily low just now— lower, in fact, than they have ever been known. Con' siderable inconvenience is, on that account, being felt where they are used as power for driving machinery. . The phenomenally dry season is telling very severely upon orchards, gardens, and pastures in the Thames district. The creameries in the Waikato are only receiving . about half the average quantity of milk. The crops are ■ being [gathered, and the quality is of the best. Tue 14ft Yatiht Spray 'capsized off the bulks, Wellingfcpa, in, a squall oo S»barday. She had six ■ ! me : n <> 6tf boara^M. and H. Whittem, three brothers Thane, and B. Taplin. Three were rescued, indluding. Taplin, and three are said to have been drowned, but the facts are not at present certainly known. Even the Maoris are afflicted with the war epidemio. An -aged Native was arreßted recently" on-« Charge of iitoaliogfo' Mtim'df money. It is alleged that the accused was anxious to go td the Transvaal, -and with money said fojhaVebeen cdrifiacatfet ordered a < captain's uniform. (The stern hand of the law, however, was too quickly put in motion,^anll 4hh military*inolined Maori was not given an opportunity of airing Mb regimentals. ■ ' Mr O'Regan, ex-M.H.R., was entertained in the^Plig^saeJ^heatre, a^eof^ oa Fxiday night, fchd presented with a purse of sovereigns by his supporters. In the course of a lengthy Bpeech, he said there was appar« f ently not the slightest intention on the part of the Government , tcr >bpfeh the crushing taxation on food and clothing throagnthe customs. He was therefore better pleased to be out of politics for the present. This is the fourth presentation made to Mr O'Regan since his defeat. At a meeting of shareholders of the Christ-church-^eftt Company, the balance-sheet: and profit and Ids! atJcount were adopted." A total of J&10.447 8s 6d was written off for renewals and replacements. The profit and loss account shows a profit of £13,428 12s Id, the balance from the previous year being £11,187 3s Id. A dividend at the rate of 9 per cent, per annum was declared, leaving £16,298 Os lOd to be carried forward. Mr Albert Kaye was elected director. The company put through 1,050,247 head of Btock for the year. The following is from the Christchurch * Press.' " Two of the Imperial scouts were out on a kopje several miles from camp, watching for Boers, when, by his bat, they took an approaching horseman for the enemy, and were on the point of shooting him, when another horseman joined the first, and they fortunately recognised in the new comer a New Zealander. Trooper M'Kegg was the individual, who, while patrolling, was nearly mistaken for a Boer, but, as all our men have pulled the rim of their hats down all round (Boer fashion) as a protection against sunstroke, they are liable to be mistaken for our enemy by other corpß." A peculiar shooting accident is reported from Ormond •ille. A young woman living with some friends named Morten son sought to frighten the head of the house as he was coming home, and to that end took up a small gun and pointed it at him. It appears that she did not know that the piece was loaded, and when she pulled the trigger was surprised to hear the gun go off. The fair shQOtist must have " drawn a good bead " on her object, as the ballet with which the_ gun was charged entered Mortenson's left arm He was driven immediately to Dannevirke, where the bullet was extracted by Dr Macallan, and the sufferer is now doing as well as can be expected. Interesting particulars are to hand regarding the advances made in the im portar.t colonial industry of cycle buitding. The Anglo-Ntw Zealand Cycle Company is one of the companies which seems to have tackled the building trade in real earnest and their productiou, the " Anglo Special," proves that cycles can be built in the Colonies equal to any imported both as to material used and external finish. The "Anglo Special" has only been on the market for two years but the trade has grown with such strides that the company find difficulty in coping with their orders. The advantage of buying this cycle is that every rider can have a bicycle built absolutely to fiit him, and we are told by experts that it is just as important to have a well fitting bicycle as a well fitting coat. The agents for the " Anglo Special" in our district are Mr H. Ransonie, qf Milton, and Mr F. T. Poole, of Kaitangata, and both report) very satisfactory business,— fAdvfc,/ ,

The case of Wolfe, sentenced to death for the murder offefaTrtiilflren, craw before the Cabinet yeßterday. The ' Inangahua Herald ' is inforjtne4 that Mr Guinness, member lor Grey,%fll mfcroauoe nexbßesßiott »*Bill providingifor:* course of military drill for all male pupils in public schools of the Colony, instruction in which will be compulsory, and in the future appointment of teachers a necessary qualification must be competency to instruct the scholars in military drill. Returns prepared by the Registar-General show that during last year 18,506 persons arrived in the colony, and 16,619 departed, leaving a net gain to the colony by immigration of 1387. With the exception 'of the years 1895-96 this ia the lowest) gain for the past eight years. Jn- 1891 the departures exceeded the arrivals by 3198 ; but in the two subsequent years the excess of arrivals over departures was more than fifteen thousand persons. .The total gain by immigration to tile J coloky since 1891 totals 27,325— a population almost, equal to that of the city of Auckland at the census of 1891. A Pietermaritfcburg cortespondent of a Cape paper writes .—There is a remarkable case here in hospital of a plucky little •Gordon'—a private; A bullet wetit through his leg above the knee, a second penetrated the same leg just above the ißrst', and a third went through his right side. With these wounds he kept on charging well in front, shouting to his comrades, " Come on, boys !" He then got a fourth bullet in the head and, this dropped him. It however, escaped his brain, but'robbed Jam of consc^usnes|. He is now continually shouting, " Come on boys !" The, doctor in charge of him give 8 thopes of bis irecovery. f \ 1 There would seem (says the ''New Zealand Times ") to be a plethora,of unemployed in the teachirig prof essidns, : sbi< >a large number of teachers are ambitions to improve their "present status. The. Welling* foh Education • Board J has h* recelVeK; the following applications for each of the vao&foils ?in (She urfdermenticto^d; fiOhools. For the head mastership of the Islantl Bay School, salary £200, there are 51 applicants j head teacher at Magaone, salary £100, 16 ; assistant at Johnsonville, salary £80, 20; 'assistant M Mount Cook Boys', salary £100, 9 ; teaoher at Mangaraata, salary £90, 8 ; pupil teacher at Carterton, £20, 11 ; do at Tongaroa, £20, 2. An assistant guard on the up-express from Wellington, had a very rough experience s couple of days ago (reports the •Post'). He just missed the train at the Summit through having been delayed a few moments in the performance of some duties, but being a young and zealous officer and knowing that inconvenience would be caused by hia absence, he determined to, if possible, catch up to the express which travels at a slow pace down to Cross's Creek. With this object in view he started of at great rate to run down the Rimutaka incline— a very rough running traok, including several tunnels en route. Ultimately he caught the train at Cross's Creek but was much fatigued after his three miles' run. The performance was regarded with astonishment by his fellow officials, for though the train does not descend at a very fast pace, the distance was long and dangerous for fast running. The exhausted official, however, went on with his duties, but felt the effects severely next day-