Untitled

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXI, Issue 3267, 20 May 1895, Page 2

Russia seems determined to make something out of the recent war and having got Japan to abandon the Liaotung peninsula now wants the cession of Qnelpert, an island off Southern Corea. * . . .The French are in a fair way to provoke a quarrel in Africa having again raided British territory and looted settlements Chinese soldiers have broken out jn revolt at Shangaikwan Congresses &?6 the fashion nowadays, the latest suggested js a commercial one between Chambers of Qonimerep in London and tbp Gplo. njles . . . , jftqre reyeffttjons have come out |n qQnnfiqfcion with the Tichborne case, which seems tP be interminable. . . .Three big fires are reported, two acres of buildings destroyed in London, a town in Rursiaand the Chilian Parliamentary buildings .... Newfound-* land does not want Canada for a stepmother and seems to prefer coming back

to England as a Crown Colony . . Japan has her hands full in Formosa where apre- ( tender has been elected kingand followers i are flocking to him .... China does not i approve of Europeans handling her customs as security for her loan, and the j Great Powers object to an American syndicate having railway concessions in return for lending the money.

Moloney and Mansei's horsepower machine and combine went down to Te Puke on Friday for threshing and corn shelling purposes. Mr Gardiner's machinery is at present in town awaiting a favourable opportunity to proceed to Te/Puna. The quantity of fruit that has come in from Te Puke during the past season has been a great \increase on any previous jyear, many of the orchards having now come to niatur|ty. Apples have been gathered in great abundance and of excellent quality and as yet almost entirely free from moth. It is a pity however that owing to the low price of the fresh fruit, tons have been allowed to rot on the ground, none having as yet had the enterprise to start a drying and preserving factory. There are still two parties prospecting the hills at the back of Te Puke, four men in all being thus employed, but they have not as yet been able to report any-thing-sw^sational. The first two loads of this season's maize were brought into town on Friday. There is a somewhat more hopeful outlook than there was some few months ago owing to the unusually good quality of the wheat crop in the South and the rise inpricetherein, fowl wheat, etc., being almost unobtainable and thus there is an extra demand for other grain for feeding purposes. A Land Court, the first ever held there, is to sit at Te Puke in McDowell's hall at an early date as soon as the business at Opotiki has been disposed of. The much needed work of cutting the willows bordering the Long Swamp has been recently taken in hand and now that the sun and wind can once more have free play the road should keep in good order during the winter, as in spite of the reoent frequent rains, it is in excellent travelling condition. lhe following tenders were reoeived on Saturday for the erection of a house for Mr Hardy :— J, Conway, £223 ,J. C. Adams, £211 ; T. Allely, £198 16s ; J. B. Chappell, £192 10s; T, Mandeno, (aoce>pted)*£l92, The following prioea were realised at the produoe sale on Saturday i —Fowls, Is Id ; butter, 6d to 8d ; eggs, Is 4d to j Is 8d ; bacon, 6dlb ; pears, l£d ; apples, Id to 2d j walnuts, 3d ; tomatoes, £d to Id ; onions, £d to Id ; cheese, 4£d lb ; cauliflower plants, 6d for 50 ; cabbage plants, 6d for 50 ; potatoes, 4s sack . lemons, 2£d to 4£d doz ; celery, 3d bunch ; carrots, Id ; parsnips, 2d ; lettuce, 4d for 3. Amongst an unusually fine display of fruit, mostly grown in this district* in Mr Asher' s shop on Saturday, were some grapes from Te Puke, which for size and flavour were eqdal to anything we have seen in this Colony. The grapes were one of the black varieties, and not only were the bunches of a large size, but each grape was as big as a walnut. Already fully 80 applications for Licensed Holdings, Special Claims, Machine Sites, Water Races, etc., have been made at the Warden's Office, Coromandel, for the sitting of the Court on the 28th inst. Amongst these are three applications for land for dynamo machines, and it is said that a company is being formed to erect electrical appliances for supplying motive power for mining purposes in the Coromandel County. On Saturday last Mr McGruer, of the Crown *nine, Karangahake paid a visit to the scene of the recent prospecting operations in the hills between Tauranga and Te Puke and speaks very hopefully of what he saw there considering the indications very favourable for gold. Money will be wanted however to properly prospect the field and if local people really wish to see a goldfield opened here and to have a say in the matter theinselveg, they should be up and doing. On Friday a pfcrty of 10 unemployed were despatched l|y the Labour Bureau in Auckland to Rofiorua en rorde for the Taumata Blocks! half way between Rotor ua| and Tauiranga, where they will be employed making tracks through the block frfrm the main road in order to allow intending purchasers and settlers to have full access to the interior of the blocks when they are opened for selection as it is expected they will be very shortly. '*" On Saturday morning early, in response to a telegram from Auckland* Mr Maxwell despatched a conveyance loaded with various provisions for the use of the working party at Taumata, mentioned in another paragraph. The trip was an all day one, as the blocks are situated between the Half Way House and Mangare w a and extend on both sides of the road. A .residence site with five acres of ground, second to none for view and position on the shores of this harbour, is advertised for sale by Mr R. C. Jordan. Persons wishing to visit any of the blocks of land recently opened for settlement or about to be opened should apply to Mr R. C. Jordan, licensed surveyor, who advertises that he is prepared to give information and show parties over the land. In connection with the County Council election on Saturday we may mention that Messrs Chas. A. Pratt and W. Neville Ley are Mr Elliot's nominators and . M Messrß.wJ. King and P. Asser the gatnefor Mr Gardiner Mr Thomas S. Duncanson, ' Novelty Store, Strand, announces thaftMie has been appointed sole agent in/Tauranga for Mr J. Howden, the well-known watchmaker and jeweller, Q/ueen Street, Auckland. He will forward watches, clocks and jewellery to Mr Howden for repairs free of cbargje and they will cost the owners the same sum as if they had been left with Mr Howden personally. The Returning Officer for the County of Tauranga gives notice that Messrs William. Elliot and George Gardiner have been nominated for the vacant seat in the Council caused by the derth of the late Cr J. Brown. The election takes place on Saturday. Qn Saturday Mr S. Hardy purchased the house lately occupied by the late Mrs Hendy, for £'6. The house has to he removed within a month, and Mr Hardy intends to have it thoroughly fixed up and re-erected ou bis new property in Fourth Avenue.

Mr W. E. Thomas, surgeon-dentist (by exam) will arrive here to-morrow , and may be consulted at the Star Hotel until Saturday next, when he proceeds to Te Puke, and will attend to patients there on Monday. Mr Thomas finds that his other engagements will not permit of monthly visits to Tauranga, and has decided to make them quarterly, but will ! stay as long as necessary each time. The strange fish recently found here and f orwarded by Mr Moss to the Auckland Museum has been carefully examined by Mr Cheeseman and he pronounces it to be an unknown variety of the Tetrodon genus, usually called Globe fish, having a curious power of inflating their abdomen to an enormous extent and floating thus on the surface of the water. There is only one species at present known to inhabit New Zealand waters but the specimen now on hand does not belong to it.