THE Bay of Plenty Times AND THAMES VALLEY WARDEN.

Bay of Plenty Times, 28 August 1893, Page 2

THE Bay of Plenty Times AND THAMES VALLEY WARDEN.

'The Spirit of the Time* shall teach me speed. —Ing Job, Act if. Moitoay, August 28, 1893. It gives us great satisfaction to be able t«> announce that instructions have been issued to the local Government surveyor, Mr Baber to inspect the Papamoa block and select and by off 400 acres of the best of the Government portion for the purpose of an experimental farm. As soon as this has been done, the section willbe handed over to the Agricultural Department which will then proceed to prepare the land for the purpose of experiments connected with the sheep mortality which has in past years proved so disastrous to our settlers. For some reasons, set forth in a recent article, we should have preferred thai this experiment should have been tried on land previously broken in and occupied, but it has been considered best by the Agricultural Department that the farm should be established on virgin land, and thus all taint ol previous disease avoided. It will oi ; course be a great advantage to the district to have such an establishment in its midst, and as initiating the settlement of the Papamoa block, the choice is a wise and useful one, as it will doubtless prove an incentive to further occupation of land there by some of the numerous selectors who are now daily exploiting our district. The internal arrangements of the farm have not yet been divulged but we may reasonably expect that they will be of a useful and substantial nature The appointment of the manager and his assistants will of course be a somewhat difficult task, the formei especially so, as" it is above all things necessary for him to have three qualifications, viz., thorough practical e^ perience of sheep, the latest and mosl complete scientific and chemical knowledge both of sheep and land, and thirdly he must be a man entirely free from all prejudices or preconceived notions on the subject of his investigations, This is the vital point of the whole experiment as without these qualifications, there is but a proba* bility that the farm will be any practical value, we trust therefore that the Department will give tc these points its closest attention and strive to find a manager possessing as much as possible of all three qualifications mentioned above, and then we have good reason to hope that our sheep farmers may have cause to rejoice at the success of theii application for the establishment oi the experimental farm.

The N.S.S. Co's Moa has now taken np the running recently performed by the a.s. Kanieri and last week called off Opotiki and landed a number of passengers from the East Coast. Larrikinism, or rather ruffianism has broken out in Dunedin. On Wednesday last a man named Sanderson was set upon in the streets by a gang of roughs and knocked down and kicked severely before he was rescued by passers-by. Latterly we have often heard complaints that people could not get chimney's built 01 repaired or other bricklayer's workß done, but this need no longer be the case as Mr T. Blick having now severed his connection with the sulphur works, is open to take work ii town or country. His name is well known up and down the coast for faithful work and his experience in every branch of his trade sucb as chimneys, baiters' ovens, concrete sheep dips, foundations, bridge work, etc., render* him capable of giving satisfaction in any oi these classes of work, and above all, hit terms are reasonable. By the s-s. Clansman on Saturday, Mi Jenkins and family of ten arrived to tak( possession of the farm recently purchased*)! 4he Welcome Bay property. It has seldom been our, lot to witness tw( football matches in whicji everything passec off so- smoothly and such universal gooc temper prevailed ; the more credit is due foi this to the Whitianga teams as they wen playing in each case such disastrous games yet they never for a moment cavilled at th( decisions of the referee or at the action oi the local teams. Some of the local players might take a lesson to heart from the visitor's when they find themselves fighting hbpelesslj against superior forces and take their disasters with equanimity, good temper and last bui not least, silence. The Commissioner of Crown Lands signifies that lot 15, section 2, of the township oi Opotiki will be submitted for lease at Tau ranga on October 4th at the Land Office. On Saturday night the Australian Dramatic Company made its second appearance befow the public in Tauranga and fully sustained the reputation earned at the previous week's performance. ' The Mexican Tigress ' was the main feature of the evening and the parts were all well filled. The partof the ' Tigress, 1 Satanella Tinkle, being admirably filled by Miss Helen Fergus, and the audience testified its enjoyment of the piece by frequent bursts of laughter and applause. The latter portion of the evening was devoted to a concert in which Miss Fergus, Messrs Parker, Watts and Riley took part, the latter in particular scoring two vociferous encores ; Mr Watts, ' The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo ' was also recalled for his capital rendering of that song. Mr Parker's * Arab's Farewell ' and ' Mona ' were both much appreciated and Miss Fergus scored a decided success with her artistic rendering of ' Can I forget.' The audience was the largest sepn in the hall for a long time and seemed thoroughly satisfied with the evening's performance. Another change for the worse' seems imminent in the weather. ' : Mr Baber, Government Surveyor, left for the Papamoa block at an early hour this morning, to commence selecting the site for the experimental farm. The Whitianga football teams departed, amid much cheering, on Saturday night at eleven o'clock by the s.s. Waiotahi. Despite the lateness of the hour a number of friends were down to bid them goodbye, and the general opinion was that their visit had been one of the pleasantest in the annals of football in Tauranga. Pjr Thursday next tho Australian Dramatic Company announces another monster programme for their entertainment, which is to commence with the classical comedy, Stella and Festus, introducing the famous closet i scene from Hamlet, and will conclude with a grand concert. On Saturday another performance is to be given which will commence with the famous one act comedy, ' A Kiss in bheDark.' The Wellington AecKmatisation Society intends to liberate red deer on the mountain ranges in the Wainui and West Coast districts, and to obtain, if possible, a further shipment of the black Tasmanian opossum for Wainui and Orongorongo bills. *•

The Chelmsford will leave Tauranga for Auckland about 1 o'clock to-morrow afternoon. The Domain Reserve is set apart for th« football match with Takapuna on Saturday next. At the usual weekly meeting of the ' Mutual,' on Thursday evening last over 23 persons were in attendance, notwitstanding counter attractions. Mrs E. O. Stewart occupied the chair. The literary business consisted of a paper on the ' Life of the late poet» Tennyson,' by Mr J. B. ChappeU. The writer gave a most interesting and instructive paper, dealing chiefly with the late poet s birth, family, education, first poetical line, life at Trinity College, poetical writings for the papers and the different magazines, dramatic compositions, marriage, and a briei account of his poetical works. By way of illustrations, Mr J. Wright recited, In the Children's Hospital;' Eevf W. A. Sinclair read a portion of ' The Passing of Arthur ; } Mrs Chappellread * Lady Clara Verede Vere ; and the writer brought his paper to a close by reading the ' Defence of Lucknow. The following then took part in the discussion upon the merits of the paper, viz. ? Messrs I Duffus, Stewart, Revs. W. A. Sinclair and C. Jordan, and Mrs Stewart. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Chappellfor his mterestmg paper, to which he briefly replied. The programme for next Thursday will consist of a paper on 'Australian Ballads,' by Mr C. F. Potter. An error appeared in our last as to the date of the departure of the outwards San Franoisoo mail ; the date should have been Tuesday, September sth. By thes.s. Waiotahion Saturday night, Mr Andy Haua departed for Auckland to join the representative football team to play against Taranaki. The Thespian Dramatic Company hope to be able to open this week and have fixed upon Saturday nights for their weekly performances of music and the drama. Entertainments of a purely dramatic character will be given occasionally on some night earlier in the week. The takings at the Football Club's benefit performance amounted to .£l4 17s 6d^ and expenses came to £o 18s 6d thus leaving a credit balance of £$ Us. The gate money on Saturday last amounted to £9 2s, this money will be devoted to defraying the cost of entertaining visiting teams and paying theii expenses on the trip. There was general surprise and expressions of admiration were universal on Saturday night when the drop scene went up, at the pretty and artistic stage arrangements and scenery ; the two scenes presented on Saturday night were both ahead of anything to which Tauranga audiences have been accustomed, and reflect great credit on the stage manager, Mr Dunbar. The improvements in the Hall and the excellence of the performances well merit the liberal support of the public. The Football Management Committee tender thanks to those who aided bo materially to make the concert on Thursday last such a suooess. It is stated by a Masterton paper that Joe Bernard} an absoonder from the Wairarapa district', escaped in the last 'Frisco mail boat disguised as a woman, Iti» is oar opinion that the newspapers ol New Zealand are beginning to play it very low down on the public, inasmuch as several are doing the fortune-telling business from handwriting, photos, etc., free gratis and for nothing, when the reply is published, but where a private chart is required the sum of half-a-crown is charged. The Waipawa Mail runs the business straight out from the office, but. others disclaim any connection with the private reading, though this must be taken with a grain of salt when we see that the payment notice appears both before and after the items which are given free. J. Tonson Garlick has just issued the most complete Illustrated Furnishing Book Catalogue that has been published in the colony. It will prove especially convenient for country settlers, storekeepers and others about to furnish. Illustrations are given of hall, drawing, dining and bedroom, furniture. Young people about to marry will find it a great assistance in making up their list and estimating cost of furnishing. It also shows how a 3 roomed house can be furnished for ,£l7 10s ; four rooms for £3& ; five rooms for .£BO ; and six rooms for .£l5O. Full particulars of bedding, iron bedsteads and general furnishing goods. You will not do better than furnish from J. Tonsok Gablick, Queen St., Auckland.