IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 93, 13 January 1908, Page 5

IN OTHER CENTRES.

(by TELEGRAM—SPECIAL CORREf.rONDENTS.)

, AUCKLAND January 10. The Butler .Tratfo., 1 Tho total quantity of butter in cold stora at' the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Company's works yesterday; and destined for oxport,, was 14,036 boxes, or just on 351 tons, tho approximate, value of which is £34,275. , Of this quantity 13,636 boxes, or 340 tons, go to London, for the! British market, 350 boxes to South Africa, and 50 boxes to tho ■ South Sea' Islands. - This is . only a 'slight advanco on tho previous fortnight's shipment, which totaljed 350 tons, an unusually largo consignment to South Africa being included in that/total. The shipment , for the fortnight ended January 12, 1907, totalled 13,211 boxes, on 330 tons, mado up of 12,764 boxes ;for. London, 400 boxes for • South Africa, and 47 boxes for . tho. South Sea' Islandsj' so that'the fortnight' just onded shows an increase over the corresponding period: of last year of over twenty tons, or in > money valuo an increase of about £1940. The chief grader, Mr. A. A. Thornton, reports that the quality of the butter coining through the grading stores is showing steady improvement. Trout. Fishing. i , • Anglers are promised a second Rotorua within much easier reach of the city—no further away than,. Lake Takapuna. The Acclimatisation- Society is endeavouring to properly stock this lake with rainbow trout, and, at yesterday's, meeting, the secretary stated that fish, were sometimes seen in the lake, but he had. not heard of. any being caught. It was a very fine lake for fish, and contained a considerable amount of food, for .trout.. Brown; trout had at ,srs't ; been tried at Takapuna, ■ but the- experiment' had not .succeeded. Rainbow, trout were then tried, and were doing well. Three very fine specimens were taken out of,tho lake for breeding 1 purposes. He saw no. reason why splendid fishing waters should not/be found at Takapuna by. keeping up a succession of yearlings, and,, indeed, . there should- bo. fair . fishing there by next year. A Tourist Boom.' Tho thermal wonderland of Auckland is at present experiencing.a tourist boom, and Rotorua township is practically crowded out, although in another few days thoi.gradual drifting back of those who went only. to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays should somewhat relieve tho congestion. Accommodation has been practically taxed to' its utmost capacity this season, . and it is evident that hotels and boarding houses are having the busiest rush since the Prince of. Wales went .to see .the geysers play and the Maoris dance. Rotorua, in; Fact, is becoming, tho Mecca for tourists who comesouth. of the line, and it bids fair to, draw.an enormous band of pilgrims annually from old world centres before it-is much older. There is" every; likelihood of. the present heavy traffic, keeping 'up for; some time, as the Government township on tho sulphur and pumice shores of the storied'lake is promising itself a leap year treat' in the form' of a carnival. Waikiti, after his long' sleep, has awakened to;new, vigour. Pohutu and To. Horu are giving good displays, and if only' the old giant Waimangu came to light again Rotorua would have reason to look forward to doubling its size. ■ In the words of a recent visitor: "It is tho delightful uncertainty that is the charm. You go to bed, and never know but there may be a new "VVaimangn or a new Tarawera to go and see next, morning." . ; v . ' _ January'll. That the Auckland district, with its manifold beauties, is rapidly becoming one pf the chief . tourist .resorts of the Dominion, has been well demonstrated .during the past holiday season. Ever since the middle, of last month, says iho "ITorald," the'majority of the local, hotels and boarding-houses fiave : been ;filled: to overflowing, and; though all kinds of. makeshifts have' beeii resorted to, hundreds;;pf.'"fisitpfs..have .had to' be turned away, to seek accommodation elsewhere. At ' one hotel so great has been the demand for ' accommodation that the licensee has been obliged to hire rooms in many of the neigh- i bouring boardinghouses 'to' put up his i guests. Notwithstanding this, he has, dur- ; ing the past month, been compelled to turn 1 away between 200 'and 300 people. At an-' 1 other hotel the licensee and his wife,, and even tho servants, have had to give up their 1 rooms to clamouring guests,' while at a third i numerous " shakedowns " have had to be. i provided. The %amc lack of accommodation also prevails in regard to many other hotels and boardinghouses. No fewer than 30 intending ' guests were turned away from one of the large boardinghouses on Sunday last. All the rooms at the leading establisfiments have been booked, for several : weeks ahead. It is expected that thero will continue to be a steady influx of visitors until after Easter, Rand Mining Costs. . \Yith . reference. to. the' recent. cablegram - stating that the cost, of working the mines on tho .Rand had been reduced by 2s. 6d. per ton (that is, to £1 per ton), apparently as a : result of the introduction of laboursaving appliances, a gentleman, well versed in South African affairs, gave a ■ pressman some idea of what this would mean. "If the Gordon drill has reduced tho cost by 2s. 6:1. per ton," he r,aid, " it will make an enormous difference to the companies. Up to October 31 last; 13,212,103 tons have been ' milled since January ('as compared '.with 1 11,000,000 for the same period'the previous i year), and allowing that 16,000,000 tons arc ; milled during the ensuing, year it will mean ■ that two; millions sterling more will be paid in dividends than before." ' Elingamite Treasure. \ Owing to the weather being unfavourable ; at the Three Kings for prosecuting the fur- < they search for the Elingamite, the steamer Claymore is sheltering" in Tom 'Bowling's Bay to await a change of weather. ' _ ' 7~~ ]

' DUNEDIN.

. January 11. Mr. J. A. Burnside's plans for the new Wing to bo added to the Museum Buildings to lwuse tho valuable collection given to the city by Dr.Hocken have been finally passed, and tenders will bo called on them almost immediately. The building, in the first place, will be as nearly fireproof as possible, the roof timbers being almost the only woodwork about it. The. Union Company are preparing the M.irarna for the Vancouver trade, which she wdl enter in March. Her cargo-carrying equipment is being increased by, powerful refrigerating plant. The lower hold will lie insulated, and will be divided into compartments for .carrying frozen produce. The machinery is of the Hercules type, and is constructed with a view to afford an ample margin of power over that required. Messrs. Mitchell and King, of Wellington, are the contractors for the insulation. The effect of the drought last voar on the dairying industry is seen in the fact that payments for milk supplied to the Taieri and Peninsula Companies' local factory amounted to only a little over £27,000 for 1907, as compared with £47,000 for 1906. Advices from Germany report tho successful debut of Miss Paula Schcrek, daughter of Herr Benno Scherek, as a violinist. The Dresden critics write very favourably of the young lady. She will shortly rejoin her father in Melbourne.

NELSON.

• January 9. The weather since the beginning of the New Year lias been exceedingly hot, the parching wind of New Year's Day having given place to settled calm wcatlior. In the country districts llie harvest is in full swing, and many threshing mills are at work. The-standing crops are looking well, although in some drier localities the straw is shorter than might bo desired. Despite the frequent need of rain during the season, the farmers of the district have dono well, and the prices for most classes of produce have so far been very satisfactory. During the last day or two bush fires have. .

■ boon raging in tho Wakefield and other districts to tho south of tho Waimoas. The air has been thick with smoke, and at Wakefiold a picturosquo bush reserve closo to the township has beon damaged, if not whollv destroyed. At the monthly meeting of the Nelson Harbour Board the Engineer's report and tho sketch' plan attached showed that the i depth of water in (he new cut, according _ to soundings taken on December 23, varied from 15ft. to 34ft. The Harbourmaster's report showed that the bar at iho former i entrance was rapidly silting up, the niaxiocl- ln i ~ a ' ' OH ' water spring tides being ! -ft. 10m. In connection with, the wharfage I oxtension, the Chairman of the Hoard stated that the timber had-been ordered, and would ~{*l Nelson before March 31, in order to be within the current financial year. Since tho holidays tho town has been cs- ' coedmgly quiet, although there are still many ; visitors with us. Many families arc still camping in the Maitai Valley, and at other favourite rosorts. The season has specially 1 favoured campers, and many are : making a longer stay under canvas than in previous yoars. A roport from the Baton states that the hop kin and shed belonging to Mr. Edniowl bromoll wore destroyed by firo last Sunday. Mr Bromell is singularly unfortunate, as'a cottage on the samo property was destroyed a fow weeks ago. . On. the cottage thoro .ivas no insurance, but it is understood that the hop kiln was partly covered. . Sharks have boon unpleasantly in evidence . in the harbour .and at Taliuna lately. A few days ago a party bathing in the' surf at lahuna saw a largo ■ black fin ■ rise about thirty yards away.r AVhile.thcy wore watching it they suddenly became awaro that there was another within a fow feet. Several others were noticed, and tho bathers hastily retreated. Some time later they prepared to make a second attempt to bathe, believing that the sharks had left that part of the beach. The leader of' the party at the second attempt almost touched the tail of ii big fellow/ in vory shallow water,, and all thought of bathing was finally given up. It has usually boon supposed here that sharks avoid breaking surf, but such appears not to be the case. Tho sands at Taliuna are frequently crowded with children paddling at the edge of tho water, but no danger from •sharks has over before boon hinted at. A: little trouble has arisen out of a matter of precodonco between the two /local bands at the sports on New Year's Day. Much has been written and Gaid <>u tho question, but the sum total of it all is that- the Garrison Band acted particularly -woll in peculiar circumstances, and-that it has. not yet been shown that, .the Citizens, Band acted otherwise. There has been much boat over a trifling matter that mi?ht woll havo been forgotten. 1 "' .". Dr. Bell, of the Geological Survey, is at present'in Nolson. He is about to leavo for his camp at the Hoaphy. River in the northwest of tho Nelson Province.

HASTINGS.

'!■■'■ Hastings, January 10. At last night's meeting of tho Borough Council the question of the proposed division of the borough was discussed, and tho Mayor stated the grounds advanced by tho petitioners; in support of their prayer was that .they • had no community of interests with the borough, and that large loans wero liable to be raised ■ from' which their area derived no .benefit. Regarding the statement that tho Council refused to ..take over certain streets which claimed to be petitioners' real grievance, Councillor Smith said the' question of forming and metalling Ada and .Louie streets had been raised at every-Coun-cil of which ho had the honour to bo a mem 7 ber, but although* the; Council wero willing to take them.over and do the work, the town clerk said that the Auditor-General' would not pass the amount expended, and the members supporting, the expenditure would be personally liable. This was the reason tho matter had been hung up so long. Mr. Cunnold said that Mr: J. Beatson (then, a member of the Council), was;largelyiinte r ested in tho question, and' the 'Council told him they would -, undertake the work 1 provided " he would indemnify them against personal loss, but Mi\ Beatson refused to do so. Mr. Georgo said that every scrap. of correspondence relating to the,;subject'\had been' submitted to the. previous Council and thoroughly gone into. The Council offered to go three-quarters 'of the way if the people-interested met them quarter way, but they would' not do so. A resolution was passed: "That the action of the Mayor in causing a strongly-worded protest to be forwarded to tho Government again?/, tho proposed disruption be endorsed, and that the Minister for the Interior be written to informing him that tho Hastings Borough Council, representing over 4000 inhabitants, strongly protests against the severance of part of tho borOugh as proposed by a few burgesses." '