LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 858, 21 April 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The iirst white oauary on record was exhibited at the Jubilee National C?age Bird Show, at the Crystal Palace, London, recently. At a meeting of the Otago Education Board last night. Dr. J. R. Don. late Rector of the Waitaki Boys High School, was appointed inspector in succession to Mr Fitzgerald, who retired last month. ; It is stated that the owners of a liner recently, delayed in the Waitara roadstead receive £1000 for demurage, representing (says the Wanganui Herald), ten days at £100 a day % The new director of the Agricultural College at Lincoln, IVl'r R. E. Alexander, is at present agriculturist at the Albert Agricultural College at (ilasnevin, Dublin. He is to leave for New Zealand this month by' one of the steamers of the New Zealand Shipping Company. On vhat :fe considered reliable autlmrity, the Otago Daily Times is informed that a phase of the Government's retrenchment scheme is that all officers over 60 years of age who have been employed for 40 years iv the public service- are -'to be . retired. '. _■ iPLau.ghlin, who, ft cable message told utron Monday, had been arrested at Brisbane on charges ofmurder in Johannesburg, was sentenced, some ton years a^o, in Now Zealand, to tour years' imprisonment for . having in. his possession house-breaking implementoi

It is stated that new buildiiMS are being erected every week at Hamil- , ton , Waikato, and as soon as the foundations are put in the houses are let, while it is no uncommon thing for a family to enter a house before the grates are in. The town is said to x>e progressing daily. ' Speaking at the smoke concert about the founding of the Masterton A. and P. Association, Mr W. H. Beethain declared that it was a political movement originating with ' Mr R\ S. Hawkins, who declared that "they would have a show if they hung skins on trestles and called them sheep!" i The College-street School Coinuutte© at a special meeting last night, appointed Mr T. D. O. McKenzie, at present relieving teacher at Forere, as second assistant master. There were four applications. Mr McKenzie was assistant master at Waverley, and was for some time under the Taranaki Board. i In"' connection with the valuations of the borough recently made by the Government Valuation Department, and the effort being made to get a reduction, it is pointed out that the efforts made towards getting a reduction two years ago resulted in the sum of £3024 being taken off the total by the Court, and considerably over £7000 privately by the Department, making a total or close on £11,000. As a result of a conference between the' Manawatu Rugby Union and the Reserves Committee of the Palmerston Borough Council, Mr J. Stubbs secretary of the Union, waited on the Council last night and stated that the Union had agreed to donate £5 5s towards the cost of rolling and laying out the sporfo ground for football. The Borough Council: accepted the offer. The Chinaman is beginning to make hie presence felt at Ohakune. Throe Chinese were originally in business there, and a reinforcement of eight came last week. Some of the new arrivals at once set to work prospecting for vegetable garden sites, and one of them showed his confidence in the future of the little town by leasing a small shop and paying two years' rent (£104) in advance. A member of Canterbury School Committees' Association got scornful the other evening about the "microbe scare" connected with the handing on of free school books-. He described! the scare as a "quibble" which was not raised in regard to the promiscuous circulation of books in public and school libraries. However, he assured €he timid that there would be no handing on of school books. Tf children had not changed from what they used to be, there would be no books to hand on after twelve months. } A case was heard in the city before Dr. A. McArthur, S.M., in his jurisdiction under the Industrial and 'Arbitration Court, in which the Wellington United Furniture Trades Industrial Union of Workers sited William E. Pegdon, cabinetmaker, of Palmerston North. The plaintiff union, through its solicitor, Mr T. M. Wilford, claimed to recover the sinn of £1 as penalty for a breach of the Wellington United Furniture Trades award, dated March 28, 1906. Mr Wilford pointed out that defendant had committed a breach of the award, in that he had paid his employees their wages fortnightly instead of weekly, as provided in the award. No defence was filed. His Worship gave judgment for plaintiff for £1, the amount of the penalty asked for. There is every probability (says the Post's correspondent) of the Masterton A. and P. Association being unable to hold its next show on the new Solway grounds, owing to inability to finance the project. Some eighteen months ago the association could have disposed of its wtf grounds, which are situated in the 'Heart of Master ton, «tv a very satisfactory price, but in deference to the •wish of the Mayor, delayed the sale until a poll of the ratepayers had been taken to ascertain if a loan would be sanctioned to purchase the property for recreation grounds. The ratepayers, however, rejected the proposal. The association is now saddled with the upkeep of both grounds, and_ as it would require a very considerable expenditure to put the new^site in order for the show, the committee is in favour of holding the present grounds for next show. Says the Standard : The Feilding Chamber of Commerce is entering a timely protest against the Government valuations which are considered to liave passed the limit of reason and justice. High valuations for revenue-producing purposes, fulfil an important function, but the result is to bring about fictitious values and harass the settler whose everincreasing taxation is proving a load which is already almost too heavy to bear. We quite believe, however, that" owners of land themselves are not altogether blameless in the matter. During the last few years land values by exchange of properties and other methods have become abnormally high. While money was easy to obtain and markets were on an upgrade, no inconvenience was felt, but since the depression has set in many holders of high-priced land have been faced with difficulties of a serious kind, and in some instances they have been forced to quit at a considerable loss to themselves. Before the ordinary business was taken at the Technical School Committee meeting last night, Mr E. Gfoodbehere (Chairman) referred to the sad loss to the Committee and the town by the death of Mr A. G. Carty. The Chairman said it could truthfully be said of Mr Carty that whatsoever his hand found to do, he did it with all his might. He referred to the wholehearted support, in time, energy, and generosity shown by Mi' Carty, and proposed the following motion: "That this Committee desires to njace on record its appreciation of the valued services rendered by the late Mr Carty as a member of the Feilding Technical School Committee; and to express its sincere regret at his untimely death ; and. a letter be forwarded to his widow expressing these sentiments." The motion was seconded by Ttfr W. Reid, and carried by the members rising in their places. Miss Vlorenca young, who is atpresent disporting herself as "The Merry Widow" in Wellington, and; who for so long has placed & bril- , liant part in the -Royal Comic Opera Co., in adopting the stage gave the lead to the greater number of her family. .Her sister, now Mrs Geo. 'Tallis, (one of the members of the J. C. Williamson firm) earned a prominent 'position in pantomime and on the lyric stage before she retired, and another sister, Gladys,- is; appearing with the Royal Comics. Her eldest brother, Mr>'Fred. Young is assistant stage .managejr -of the Royal Comic Opera Company, of which he hasibeen: 'a member for twenty. ,years, aiid Eis son, a youtlf, t>f 19, is on the staff at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne. Mr GsorgeVXoung, who was with the Pollard Opera Co. for a number of years, is a 'member of the "Jack and. Jill" Pantomime Co., as is also his wife. Miss Lena Encson another recruit from the .Pollard ranks. How very important small things may be to some men (writes the New York correspondent of the Lyttelton limes) was shown, the other day, when a local accident insurance company paid a good round sum to a j man who cracked his fingernail onlvt a tiny fraction of an inch. The man v was Ignace Paderewski, the Polish' pianist, and the injury was serious ' enough to him to ca.use him to a-ban-don two important concert engagements. Paderewski carries £1000 insurance on each of eight fingers and two thumbs, in addition to a very heavy set of accident andi death policies. He was engaged in a concert at Carnegie -"Sail in this city, when he suddenly caught sight of the splitting fingernail, a serious thing to i him. He 'gave no inkling of the disaster to his audience, but continued througli his long programme with- hit l-'a.ooiy.t. dash and %pJofnT>> *ddmg nine encores to the entertainment. At its end his managers were cancelling ensuing dates, aiid a skilled doctor was hurrying in an automobile to the pianist's hotel to anoint and rub and patch -and pare and bandage that precious fovefing&r.

, t Mr Jobfe McFarla**, Mayor of Tapanui (Otago), ditfd suddenly yesterday afternoon, pTOsamably from ■heart disease. A young child of Mr J. A. Gjllies, whilst sleeping with ite parents in Tapanui (vtago), w« bitten on the cheek by either a rat or weasel last week. The child's cries aroused the parents, but the search for the Intruder was unsuccessful. Mr David McKee Wright, well known in religious and literary circles, writes to the Star from Nelson contradicting a report he hears has been circulated in Feilding to the effect that the Saturday half-holiday had' proved a success in Nelson, and had given general satisfaction. New Zealand is dead at present, so far as music is concerned, says Ernest Toy, the. well-known Australian violinist. Naturally this is Ernest's opinion, for he was turned down. He ! and his manager came over to make a tour of New Zealand, and Bad to deturn owing to lack of encouragement. ! Although it -was expected at this time of year that there would be one or two cases of infectious disease to report, such has proved to be not the case. The Health Inspector informs us that after a large gathering, such as a race meeting, it is usual to find a few cases of disease, as the people are liable to bring the germs from outside places-, and infect others, but nothing of the kind appears to have taken place this year. | Arch Druid l Bro. Furness presided ab the fortnightly meeting of the Druids' Lodge, held last evening. District President Brother Page paid tho Lodge a visit, accompanied by several members of the Oroua Lodjge. After the business had been dealt with, the Lodge went into harmony, and an enjoyable evening was spent in an impromptu euchre tournament, in which the visitors and local members joined. Bros. Patterson, Dummer, Garrett, and Groombridge assisted in the musical programme. Votes of thanks were accorded Bro. Page and the visitors, who came from the Palmerston, Napier, and Auckland' Lodges. I Wellington has yet another newspaper, the Weekly Herald, "a Lahour newspaper,'* owned by tho Trades and Labour Printing and Publishing Society, and edited by the Hon. John Rigg, M.L.C. The paper is printed on broad-sheet and broad-gauge lines, which must be a distinct advantage to the advertiser. We would rather see four columns to the page, instead of three. It is illustrated, it appeals to women and advertisers, leans more to fiction than to fact, is critical and satirical, —and what more can the Labourite or the working man want for his penny ? I >. Messrs Dwan Bros, have received a cablegram from London, on behalf of an English company, offering to purchase the rights of Falvey's patent reversing turbine. Mr Falvcy, of Wellington, the inventor of the reversible turbine, which was patented in that city somo time ago, tfas sent Home to London at the end of last year to conduct experiments and trials in regard to the working of the turbine. The syndicate which was formed in Wellington some time ago to handle the patent has accepted the English company's offer, and a cablegram was sent to London last week to that effect. The local syndicate has sold on terms that .it retains part interest in the patent in, : conjunction with' the English com- ' pany. I In the ranges afc th© back of Huntly the settllers for some time past had considerable trouble with a wild bull, which has played havoc with fences, and acted the rogue generally. Several attempts were made by sportsmen to bag; the bovine, but the luck to bring down the animal was reserved "for Mr W. J, Ralph, one of the Taupiri : Coal Mine directors. Mr Ralph found his quarry in the Tamukahu hills, and at a distance of 400 yards managed to bring the bull down with a shot through the heart. The ani- ; mal weighed! 10 cwt., and its hide alone turned the scale at lOOlbs. Mr Ralph has had the head stuffed and mounted, and it makes a particularly fine trophy. The Scandia Street (Palmerston) tramway is now complete, the stone breaker fixed in position, and the 1 Engineer reported 1 to the Borough ' Council last night that he proposed ,to commence crushing to-day. The 1 question of horse-power v. locomotive traction for the tram, was discussed at length. The Mayor reported that ! a small locomotive could be obtained • for about £250, and the four horses, ( which would be necessary, would cost £120, including harness. The Engineer said the engine would do 50 per cent, more haulage than the horses. The Engineer was instruct- ' ed to obtain estimates from various : importers and elsewhere, of the cost of an engine, within 7 days, and that meanwhile horses be 'hired. With regard to the ever-increas-ing proWlem of domestic help, a woman writing to a Wellington contem- | porary, saySt 'To begin with, ladies : have no difficulty whatever in gettingdomestic help. Kind, thoughtful, courteous women will always command loving and faithful service. The two reasons why girls desert domestic work a>re the treatment received from mistresses L and the monotony and sordidness ot the usual surroundings of the domestic help. Self-re-specting and' refined girls will übually prefer to half starve themselves on what they can earn in factories and offices to having their finer feelings trampled on a dozen times a day. Man s inhumanity to man pales into insignificance beside woman's inhumanity to woman." The Sydney papers are wrath at the following description of Sydney An an article in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph a well known English Wper: "Sydney, like most other large colonial cities, is a very cosmo. pohtan glace, and has a population m which the white man is outnumbered by swarms of aliens— Jews, Chinese, Japanese. Arabians, Negroes, etc. The Cliinese and Japanese are, for the most -part, wealthy and respectable citizens, and are the proprietors of several firmly-estab-lished businesses in the city, their 'occupations ranging from large bank-ing-houses to laundries and market gardens. The Jews, on the other .'hand — who, it should be stated, in no way resemble the high c&Bte Hebrews one meets rin England — are chiefly engaged in the peddling trade, and. several are frequently to be seen roaming around the docks for the purpose of selling trashy wares to the easily-deluded sailors.'' Judging by the amount of skimploughing going on this, season (says the Ashburton Guardian), farmers of tho Ashburton County intend to sow a .large area in cereals during the "coihing winter and spring. The uncertain tone of the sheep market hud the downward tendency of the Homo meat market are no doubt to some extent causing farmers to direct J their attention to grain growing. On account of the fertility of the soil and the favourable conditions, the farmers of Canterbury are particularly fortunate in being able to pursue almost any branch of agriculture with a measure of assured •success. In.,;.inost of the provinces in New ZealandV' farmers are obliged, as a result of climate and other 'conditions, to pursue one -particular "branch of farming,; whether the markets for their products are favourable or. otherwise ; but this is not the case in Canterbury. At yesterday's sitting of the Railway Appeal Board, at Wellington, two appeals were heard, One hy i/H. J. Seaton, against his reduction "from No. 1 train examiner, to No. 2 grade, his appeal being based on the ground ffiat it was not fair to reduce Bis status, as his work had not "Been unsatisfactory; and another by Lawrence Barclay, a goods clerk in. the Wellington office, oh the ground 'that he had hem superoeded by a^ clerk in a lower grade. In theJUfl case., the Department contendeJ^^H the appellant was not .eKjtf^^^H enough to be placed i*^^^^^^H grade,, anil U the aecoadJfl^^^^^l ■clay withdrew bis apjj^^^^^^H had been shown that b^^^^^^^H of record work, wh^^^^^^^^^H clerk had special <^^^^^^^^^M that direction and h^^^^^^^^^H ed accordingly^- -Xfl^^^^^^^^H the. hwrnnik. 41i9, CNjU^^^^^^^H ed the \& ftca&l^^^^^^H Act. ■ "V^^^^^^^H

Mr J. A. M*ttaa«n was in Feijdiug to-day making arrangements for the production of the Burns-John-sou fight pictures here next Wednesday evening. The members of the Kairanga County Council were taken over their county to-day by Mr Benson, of Feilding, in hi» Sideley car, for the purpose of inspecting the roads throughout the county. Land is still keeping up in value in the Waikato (says the Te Aroha Mail). A 140-aore farm ab Tahahere, three miles from Hamilton, changed hands recently at £37 10s an acre. It is very probable that there will be only two candidates for the Mayoralty after all. A report is abroad that Mr E. Gobdbehere has decided not to contest the seat. Mr S. W. Fitzherbert's nomination was handed to the Town Clerk to-day, signed by Messrs W. A. Sandilands and G. Saywell. V The Keesing Challenge Cup, recently won at Wanganui, by the Feilding bowlers, has been . placed on view in Mr H. F. Worsf old's window. It is seen to be a valuable trophy. The silver cup is mounted on a case made of New Zealand woods, with a bowl on each side of the cup, and a jack on each corner of the case. •On the centre panel on the front of the case is a silver plate, bearing the inscription, "1909. Won by Feilding Bowling Club." On the cup is an inscription stating that the trophy Las been presented by Mr C. Keesing for competition amongst Bowling Clubs in the Wanganui district.