THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES AND THAMES VALLEY WARDEN.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3975, 21 March 1900, Page 2

THE BAY

me spirit or tne limes snail zeacn me speed. — Ing J«h, Act IT. Wednesday, March 21, lyoo. Tmnas have been moving somewhat more rapidly and satisfactorily at the seat oi war during the last fortnight and it seems evident that Lord Roberts has the i Free State now well in hand. It is now plainer than ever, as we have pointed out from the very first, that as far as the Free State is concerned it has been Steyn'e , war, not the people's ; he has > deserted his capital and is now ' being himself deserted by his men, who see that they have been de< - ceired both as to the chances oi ' the war and as to the losses thej > have suffered since it began After a lapse of almost half a cen j tury, the old folks amongst then ; see the British flag floating over head once more, their indepen \ dence having been recognised ii 1854 when the Boer Colony whicl founded the State was 18 yean old. That they will now quietlj acquiesce in the position of becom iog once more subjects of the British Empire we have little doubt. They have had their fil of unrest, wars and rumours oi wars and the intelligent amongsi them cannot but be fully persuaded that there are no possible conditions under which theii chances of peace, freedom and gooc government could be better thai under the British flag. The ole order has changed vastly since the parents of the present fighting men treked from Cape Colony into their present country ; th< choice was practically then trek o] fight ; now it is fight, or submi and be as well or better off thai they have been before. The ole purely pastoral South Africa has for ever passed away and furthe: treking into Native territory anc eimply seizing the land by force o: arms is also a thing of the bad ole times, and Britain, the policemai of the world, is now there to sei freedom and justice accorded alik< to white and black without dis tinction of nationality or colour The Transvaalers, however, havi still to be brought to reason by thi only argument their self chosei position admits of, viz, force ; thei appealed to the sword and as a nation they must perish by thi sword. In the ordinary accepta idon of .the words there can be fo: them no such thing as • terms o peace *; they may fight as long & they like and are able but the en< must be unconditional surrende when they have had enough. A present there is much ferociou talk of fighting to the death bu it is one thing for non-combatant to talk and another for the com batants to dp. and though we d< not think the war is by an; means over yet, we hardl; think Kruger will find hi men willing to carry resistance t< the point of virtual suicide. Thi hope of European intervention i daily vanishing with accelerates speed and if there be any Powe: or Powers" who contemplate moving in the matter they must mov< very soon or they will be too lat< to effect anything in South Africi and only succeed in raising i hornet's nest about their own ear; in Europe. With every day tha passes Britain is more ready fo; such a possible contingency ir Europe and the need for her vasi army in South Africa is becoming less. With every commando oJ Boers which lays down its arms with every gun and locomotive that is surrendered or captured Britain's task become? lighter and at the preseni rate of progress the Orange State will be disarmed and pacified in a few weeks, and though probably no British troops Will be with drawn for some time, except in case of serious emergency elsewhere, there will be an ever increasing body of war-seasoned troops available for despatch from the Cape to any part of the world We feel that we can confidently say now that there will be no intervention ; the discussion as to who should 4 bell the cat ' has been too prolonged and the timorous rodents . who would securely gnaw through the founda tions of the Empire, find the cat awake and alert and ready to pomice upon and destroy any venturesome enough to approach her.

IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER If you are subjects to colds or chill a specially good thing to keep in th bouse in Wolfe's Bohnappg. A world famed stimulant. The Town Clerk calls for tenders for the Borough carfing for one year ; particulars can be seen at the Borough Council Chambers. Mr J. Thomson proceeded to A.ucklftud on Saturday last, m route For Wellingtoo, where he intends to .press his claim to a pension for long service, upon the Goversaent. Mr E. Seddon, auctioneer, an uouneg« that his next Te Puke sale will take j^uce on Tuesday, April 3rd, for which 96 feaad of cattle have already been entered. | No less than 90 bales of flax w^re exported by tha as. Clansman on Saturday last, coming from thr Pc Puke mills cf Mr Dudson and Mr Contfts. ,Four tons of obeese, from the TaurangH and Te Pake factories, ware also shipped. Dr Cor, surgeon deuti>f, arrived here by the Clanstuaa on Saturday U£t and remaine bf?pe for one week, leaving for Auckland on Saturday ttternnon next. Dr Cox mey b^ --onsnlt««d at the Star Hotel till the latter date. On Saturday .last Mr T. Lochbend, Secretary of the local branch of the New Zealand Farmers Union, went to Auckland as a delegate to attend the first conference which opened on Monday in the Agricultural Association's rooms in that city. I;

Yesterday the cutter Lee, Capt. ODowd, arrived from Auckland with a cargo, of bricks for Mr J. W. Gray. When nearing the Mount her crew observed a small boat drifting about, picked her up and brought her into port. She turned out to be the property of the Rev. W. Goodyear. On Saturday night some of the Natives of the Judea settlement 1 observed a man carrying his shoes and prowling about the kianga. Next morning no less than 6 dogs, 9 cats and 19 fowls were found to have been poisoned. The police W9re communicated with and are making investigations. A splendid late peach of the Salway variety has been shown us by Capt. Tovey-Tennent, gathered from a Maori seedling tree which has> attained rapidly to a great size and is bearing most abundantly. The samples of the fruit shown us average about half a pound each and are equal in appearance to the best we have seen. A lady who can well claim to be one of the oldest inhabitants hereabouts ia MrsDawson, of Opotiki, who is at present on a visit to her daughter, Mrs Harry Vickery. Mrs Dawson was one of the very few white women here at the time the Grate Fa engagement was fought find can well remember hearing the cannonading on that disastrous occasion. A reward of £5 is offered by Mr D. Asher for such evidence as will lead to the conviotion of the person who poisoned his dog* ' Bob,' upon which he set a very high value. There have been serious depredations by dogs among sheep in the neighbourhood of the town lately but this is no excuse for promiscuous poisoning and disregard of the law in the matter and such, especially within the Borough is a most serious offence, deserving of heavy punishment. A striking instance of the suitability of the Papainoa Settlement for the raising of live stock has just been brought before our notice. A settler there purchased a number of young stock fifteen months ago at twenty-one shillings per head. At a recent sale the same atock brought three pounds four shillings per head. This, even taking into consideration the improved prices ruling, is quite a record in that line and proves wnat the land will when laid down in grass. On the Court being emptied yesterday at the luncheon adjournment more than one among the audience who had been listening to the evidence in the case of Field v. La Roche was heard enquiring what the mysterious £10 left here by the Premier for expenditure, when on his political tour before the election, was intended to be used for and whence it came, whether from the Right Hon. R. J. S's private pockei or from the ' secret service fund ' oi ' contingencies,' and, last but not least, who were the happy recipients of the windfall. ' The position of Mafeking is now one about which the keenest interest centres and as day by day the condition of the garrison becomes more serious the movements of the relieving columns are watched with greater and gteater interest. Should the town be happily relieved it has been arranged that if possible, immediately on receipt of the news, the following special signal will be displayed ot the Redoubt flagstaff, viz., the Union Jack at the masthead witb the tricolour, (red, white and blue] immediately underneath. On the other hand, should news arrive thai the town has been captured or forced to surrender, the Jack will be flown at half-mast and the tricolour at the yard-arm. On Saturday afternoon Miss Bessie Clarke, the younger daughter of Mr 0. A. Clarke, was united in the bonds of holy matrimony to Mr Henry Henderson, of Auckland. Owing to not being able to get about 3ince his late accident Mr Clarke *as granted special leave by the Bishop to have the ceremony performed privately at his residence, in Elizabeth Street, by the Rev. Chas. Jordan, Incumbent of the Parish. The happy couple left for Auckland by the Clansman. Mr Henderson is a member of the firm of Henderson and Co., boot manufacturers, who have the contract from the Government for providing boots for the Auckland members of the contingent. • Mr E. Clifton, Government Stock Inspector at Auckland, accompanied by Mr Clayton, Veterinary Surgeon, arrived rather unexpectedly on Saturday to inspect horses offered for th^ Contingent going to South Airica. Some twenty animals were offered, only twelve of which passed. Mr Clifton was very disappointed at the class of mounts that were offered out it was however pointed out to dim that no publicity was given to the fact that horses were wanted and that practically only one or two at most knew of' it, and consequently settlers and others in the district had no chance. Mr Clifton stated that the Government was quite prepared co_ give £18 or £20 for suitable animals and if this had been publiclj known in time there is no doubt a much better class and more of them would have been provided. The need of some further contributions to the Gate Pa Memorial Church funds to enable necessary furniture of a simple kins to be provided is now pressing on the Building Committee whose wish is to enable the Church to be opened, if possible free of debt, or with at any rate as small a debt as possible on it. The building itself will swallow up the whole of the present funds and some £10 more and Capt. Kerr, as Chairman of the Committee, is now issuing an appeal to 'the public of Auckland, through th*j Herald, for further help towards the purchase of the furniture. Large contributions are not asked for, as in a work of this sort it is hoped that the sympathies of large numbers wi!l be enlisted, particularly of men who themselves fought alongside of those whom the church is intended to keep lin remembrance, or of othera who j had friends or relatives engaged in ! the war. Thft New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agtsncy Co., Ltd., report: — Horsas j — Rather more than usual numbers were yarded at the Durham Yards on Fridny and those of a pro-id stamp were eagerly «ousbt after. Heavy draughts sold from £22 to £32 10/-; medium draughts. £15 to) £18 17/6; hacks and light harness borses, £5 15/- to £14 : a roadster. £il 10/- { spring cart, £12; spring c»rt, horse and barms*, £26 10/-. The hurdle raoer Glenitrni hrnn»ht 24 eruinPßS. Cuttle: — At tb« Newmarket Yards on Tuesday, dairy and store stock were yarded in larger numbers than usual and considering the continued dry weather, broueht fair values. Beef was yarded in full

. I numbers and met a ready sale at improved rates. Oxen sold at from 17/- to 19/- per JOOlbs, and in a few cases £1 was reached ; cows, 15/- to 17/- , steers brought from £5 to £8 12/6, (no extra heavy weights yarded) ; cows, £3 10/- to £7 7/6. The quality of the beef throughout was good, more especially the fat cows, many of them being fit for the show ring. Dairy cows sold at from £4 5/- to £7 10/-. Stores :— Grown steers, £4 4/- to £4 14/-, the 60 , advertised averaging £4 7/- ; two to three year old steers, £2 5/- to £3 2/6 , calves, 14/- to 26/-. Sheep :— The Newmarket Yards were well filled on Tuesday and advanced in prices. We quote wethers from 9/9 to 14/9; ewes, 8/6 to 13/-; mixed ewes and wethers, 9/- to 12/9 ; fat lambs in' average numbers were required and sold at from 7/6 to 12/9. Pigs : — Scarce ; porkers sold at from 19/- to 24/- ; weaners, 8/- to 12/6. At our weekly auction sales on Tuesday the cataldgue consisted of 617 hides, 740 sheepskins, 12 packages of tallow, 21 bales and 27 bags of wool. Competition all round was active. Hides : — Picked ox, to 7£d ; stout, 3d to s£d ; light and medium, 4jd to 4fd ; cow, 4§ to 4|d, heavy, 4£d ; calf, od to s£d ; kip, 4d to 4£d ; stags, 3d to 3|d. Sheepskins : — Sound salted best, 2/to 2/10, small and dry, 1/3 to 1/9 ; lambs, salted, 1/9 to 2/9, dry, 1/3 to 2/3. Wool:— x B, sjd to 6Jd; Merino, 6|d to 7jd; pieces, 3d to 4d per Ib. Tallow : — Best rendered, 19/6 to 21/3 ; seconds, 16/- to 18/---per cwt. Horse hair : — Best tail, 1/3 to 1/5 perlb. Tails:— 2/3 perdoz. As the Harbour authorities are refusing to receive any hides or skins in an uusound condition, it behoves our clients to see that their goods are thoroughly salted before shipping. . Maize: — Shipments received this week ware very small and a greater portion was taken to store for higher prices, the balance being placed with Sydney, leaving nothing for local consumption, but in spite of this the market remained the same as last week, viz., 2/4 on wharf, the reason being that a lot of southern fowl wheat is now being consumed at lower rates. Oats : — B grade are firm at 2/6 ex store. Potatoes : — Kidneys are weak on account of the good qualities arriving from the South ; Derwents are worth £3 10/---at rail. Chaff :— ls selling at £2 10/---to £2 12/6 at rail.