LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Bruce Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 21, 8 March 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho 'Pa 11 Mall Gazette' states in its issue of January 6 that 110 lower than 5000 persons had been taken to tho Dominion within tho previous six months and applications were still being made in great numbers. Every ship going to tho Dominion was lull of emigrants, and extra accommodation had been provided for a long time past. "There is room for plenty more emigrants," said an official at the Government offices on the morning of the issue in question. "All kinds of general and farm laborers and domestic servants are required. Places will be found for them as for the others who are now writing Home grateful letters about assistance received. The year's figures will be a record."

At one of the many weddings in Wellington on Tuesday (says the 'Post') — there was an epidemic of marriages, probably owing to its being the last day before Lent —an unrehearsed incident gave variety to the ceremony. One of the trio of tiny bridesmaids found the service wearisome. No one was attending to her, and she proceeded to amuse herself by turning a somersault. The genial cleric, over the festive board later, declared it almost made him lose his gravity to see one of the bridesmaids turning head over heels (luring the ceremony. He hastened to add that it was one of the younger ones!

Several ladies with their collectingboxes stopped three men in New Plymouth on Saturday (says the 'Taranaki Herald') and solicited their sympathy on behalf of the hospital. The men subscribed and then offered to give a further Is each provided one of the ledies smoked a cigarette. Led away by her enthusiasm on behalf of so laudable an object, the collector agreed, the cigarette was lighted and she commenced to smoke it. Then tho men, seeing her determination and no doubt feeling ashamed of themselves for the bargain they had made, expressed themselves as being satisfied and contributed the promised amount.

As showing the exceptionally large area under white crops in the Ashburton county this season (says the 'Guardian') and the unusually heavy yields, recorded and anticipated, it is stated that tlie threshing machine owners expect nearly double the tallies made for the two preceding seasons. Last year the average tally of each of the threshing machines in this county was less than 40,000 bushels. Writing a few days ago, an Ormondville correspondent of llie Dannevirke 'Tress' says: A few days ago an .Englishman landed in "God's Own Country" and was hot and thirsty in search of wealth. The day after landing he was invited tu have a drink witn a friendly-looking colonial who goodnaturedly informed him that he had a .spare farm of 60 acres with a nice fourroomed liou.se on it, situated between the prosperous towns of Ormondville and Norsewood, and all he wanted for this nice little farm was £l2O. Before parting the Englishman had agreed to ouy, and on the wily colonial'?.; suggestion handed him los as a "binuer." Yesterday the Englishman was found by an Ormondville gentleman on the Non.ewood road looking for his little farm.

Speaking to a representative of the 'Wvndham Farmer,' Mr William Norman, ol : Surrey, England, a retired farmer who is paying a visit to his nephew (Air Norman E. Leighton, of Clenham), spoke of the lack of' information in England concerning New Zealand farming conditions. "Your Government," he said, "should invite a party of farmers to come out as the guests of the State and see your country. They would then see tho conditions for themselves, and the farmers at Home would believe what they said. You know an audience is inclined to regard with suspicion anything that a paid lecturer .says. The visiting farmers should be elected by the farmers in various parts of Britain and come out as their representatives. I have made thi.s suggestion in Australia, and it was well received there. The system of labor appears to be to farmers here just as great a (rur.se as landlordism is to the tenant farmers at Home. I suppose, however, the labor difficulty will settle itself under the law of supply and demand. You set us a good example in New Zealand with your co-operative businesses. We have at Home co-opera-tive associations for the purchase ol goods, but you are showing us how to co-operate to sell the farm produce —which is lar more important. You are doing it well, and J shall make this known at Home.

"I would suggest that as we are supplied with vegetables by Chinese," said a Socialist leader who joined the deputation which waited on Sir Joseph Ward regarding the unemployed in Auckland the other day, "the State should start vegetable farms. You have already proposed prison t labor vegetable gardens, so why not give the unemployed the same chance. The prisoners at Mount Eden are supplying municipal bodies with quarry metal and other prisoners are planting trees. The unemployed would be glad to take on the work the prisoners are doing, and it seems to be coming to this: that a man will have to go to gaol to get honest work. If Ministers of the Crown would put their heads together," he added 'imidst laughter, "and take the advice of some solid-headed Socialist the difficulties would soon be over."

Recently a warning was given to the effect thai; care should ho taken to wash or wipe apples before eating them lest they should still have on them a little of the arsenate of lead from the spraying operations. This caution .should now he extended to the eating of all other fruit. A child at AVaimate recently became seriously ill after eating plums, and this was attributed to poison which the fruit had retained from .spraying.

It is not generally known what good money can be made at stone-breaking. One man employed by the Eltham County drew for last month's work a cheque for £2B at 3s 6d per yard. This means that 160 yards were broken. The Hawera 'Star's' Kaponga correspondent is informed that this same man has drawn the sum of £35 for one month's work, all for stone-breaking oxcept about £4, which was for picking up and breaking road metal.

A Maori had an exhibition of a sow and litter at the Horowhenua Show the other day. He was of a strong sporting turn of mind, for lie thought more of the speed at which they could travel than of their condition. They certainly had no superfluous flesh on them, which no doubt accounted for the fact that ho brought tho sow and ten of her litter of thirteen the four miles to the show in three-quarters of an hour!

North-east Valley is in ii happy position of having no overdraft, which is the first time such a thing has happened since the formation of the borough over thirty years ago. The Valley is said to be the only borough in Otago that has no overdraft, with the exception, possibly, of Naosby. The vallev lias a credit of £!)0.

If, says IMr Hanan M.P., there is one public service of utility that ought to be in the hands of the people it is lighting. it is something like thirty-six years since iiivercurgill constructed gasworks. r ihey we!re the lirst municipal body in -New Zealand to undertake their own lighting. The awful example of Dunediivs gas mismanagement, which was then in the hands of a private company, was responsible for the step taken. An Act of 'Parliament was introduced to Onable the borough to borrow XV(1,000. There were sixty-nine cions'umers in the lirst year, and now there are 1,700.

Some interesting statements ill regard to Siberia were made to a Wellington press representative by Mr Theodore Harper, who arrived from Sydney by the Ulimaroa. Mr Harper is a New Zealander and an old student of Christ's College. After receiving a course of instruction in mining engineering at Thames and Hauraki he leit New Zealand to travel and ultimately reached Siberia. There he represents a mining engineering firm and after a short holiday in New Zealand lie intends to return to his work. Ot course agriculture and mining are the chief industries of the country, lie said, but the former is chiefly in the hands of the Danes, who export a quantity of "Danish" butter to the London market, while mining is yet in its infancy. People are just waking up to the possibilities of the large mineral deposits .and beginning to work them in modern fashion. When the Siberian railway is improved—and the Russian Government is now alivo to the need for this—a great advancement should take place. Many people arc under the impression that to live in Siberia one must be constantly attired in Arctic costume to meet the extremes of cold which arc experienced, but Mr Harper says that the Siberian winter is no worse than the English, for the people there, prepare for it.