LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 1428, 28 February 1911, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The HaJcomho School is to make its annual outing to Wanganui on Saturday, March 11. A bowling club has been formed at Gonville (Wanganui), with Mr W. T. Benefield as President .and Mr 1* • Bourne as Secretary. Mrs M'Naught, who suffered iniury from burns when her house was on fire at Wellington on Saturdaynight is progressing very well, and is out of any danger. There was a fair attendance last night at the first practice of Gaul s cantata, "Joan of Arc,"by the Choral Society, under Mr H. Temple White s baton. The work was found to he melodious and easily read, with gome swing and martial chorus and some beautiful settings in the minor key. The life of a country rmblican may be a good deal of beer—it is certainly not all skittles, A licensee in the Masterton district states, according to the Wairarapa Age, that in one week recently he had to supply over a thousand swaggers with free meals. A trio of sailors who came along demanded grog and accommodation at point of a repeating rifle, which he keeps loaded, and the" production of this had a subduing effect upon the thirsty-salts.--'-'' • - ■•"

The new convent at Wanganui will practically cost something near £20,----000 before it is completed.

A settler on the Awakino-Te Kuiti Road—Mr White—has about two acres of land tinder hops, which are now ripening.

The King of Tonga, who is at present on a visit to the Dominion, will probably spend several weeks in Auckland. Archdeacon Crossley, who has just been elected to the Anglican Bishopric of Auckland, is expected to arrive in New Zealand from Melbourne in about three months' time. The vacancy caused on tlie Racing Commission by Mr G. P. Donnelly's resignation through ill-health will be filled by the appointment of a successor to be made by Cabinet this week. In the meantime, the Commission as making all its preliminary arrangements preparatory to meeting m the i various centres.

It was intended that the Premier and the Hon. Dr Findlay should leave Wellington on Friday for Auckland en route to England, but owing to the extreme pressure of work their departure has been postponed until Saturday's Main Trunk express. They will therefore pass through Feildmg at 4.10 next Saturday afternoon.

A very large number of people are picking blackberries this year, and sending them in tins to the Wellington market. Every clay about 20 kerosene tins arrive. Every tin contains 301b of the wild fruit. The price obtained at the auctions is 2Jd to 2-Jd per lb, which is equal 5s 7Ad to 6s 3d per tin. One woman's cheques have amounted to £6 a week.

What is considered-to be a remarkable performance took place in connection with the death of Mr D. McLachlan, who was killed at Waiapu recently by falling off a dray. After tlie driver fell, the horses continued on, and succeeded in reaching borne, a distance of four miles, without mishap, the sharp corners and steep hills being safely negotiated.

The list of services in connection with tho Rev. A. H. Colville's return visit to Feilding is published in another column. Besides the usual Sunday services, at which Mr Colville will preside, there will be a service on Ash Wednesday and an address to communicants on Friday evening. A service for men only will be held in St. John's Church on Sunday afternoon at 3.30 o'clock.

At a committee meeting of the Napier Borough Council yesterday, it was decided to instruct the Hon. W. Pitt, of Melbourne (who was in attendance), to draw up plans and spefications for a municipal theatre. Alternative tenders are to be called for a theatre, and whole municipal buildings respectively. Mr Pitt advised that the theatre would cost £18,000 to £20,000, and would be capable of seating 1500 persons. The loan provided for the expenditure of £25,000 for theatre and municipal buildings combined.

The Rev. W. J- Spence, the new president of the Methodist Conference, is one of the most widely-known ministers of the Church in New Zealand, his labours having extended over thirty-one years. He was born at a small town about fourteen miles from Belfast, and in 1879 was transferred from the Irish Conference to the New Zealand Conferenco, arriving in Lyttelton in September of that year! Mr Spence was first appointed as a probationer to Northern Wairoa, and afterwards to Auckland. During his ministry in New Zealand lie has had pastoral charge of circuits at Auckland, Napier, Oamaru, and Dunedin, and during the past two years he has been stationed at Palmerston, and is superintendent of that district. An exciting incident occurred on the railway line near Owharoa (writes the Auckland Stare Waihi correspondent). A little child of Mr Skinner (foreman of the railway surface works) toddled on to the rails when playing about. The express suddenly approached through a cutting, and was almost on the child before the driver noticed her. He immediately applied the brakes, which action probably prevented a fatality, but the child was struck by the cow-catcher. The train was pulled up quickly, and the child was found lying at the side of the line, with her feet towards the rails; but, with tho exception of a slight scratch, it was practically uninjured. The mother the whole occurrence. The cutting hid the child from the driver's view, and his prompt action is much commended.

"1 have had a very interesting tour in the South Island," remarked Sir Joseph Ward last night, "and have met large numbers of people not only at the places whore I have spoken, but at different points en route. There has been marked enthusiasm at the centres visited, and the cordiality of the people in their farewells has naturally been very gratifying to me. The South, in this respect, has repeated what was done in the North on the occasion of my last visit. There were everywhere evident' signs of prosperity, and this, I am glad to say, is general throughout the Dominion. This is not based upon anything in the nature of a boom, but is the outcome ot a splendid revival of trade. I found the people everywhere in great heart, and tho improved conditions have given a great stimulus to commence generally."

Several representative natives of the Ngakihawa tribe assembled ax, the manse, Manunui, north of 'Auckland, on Friday last, to express regret and sympathy at tlie death of Dr. Agatha Monfries, who was much beloved of the Maoris. Pelie te Whetu te Huia Kotuku, on behalf of the party, stated that with sad hearts they had come to convey tlieir sympathy. Maoris could not forget. They had tlieir own way of remembering. He would say of the deceased: "Thou hast gone to thy reward—gone, gone; but thou art present in our thoughts, which are uncontrolled save by ourselves. Go! Let thy journey be bright, and love follow thee, and prosper the flight of thy canoe to the presence of the Eternal, where there is no more pain, when pain and sickness are ended, and in thy bliss eat thou thy kumara of peace. May God bless you and keep you! unto Himself."

Saturday's storm was responsible for a rise in the Hutt river of seven feet above the ordinary summer level. No damage, however, is reported on this account. Along the sea front at Petoiie a considerable quantity of debris was washed U P> an 4 °? 6 P r tlY 0 washouts of a minor nature occurred on the Hutt Park railway line, In the residential portion of Petone slight damage was done paths and the crown of the road in some places through large accumulations of surface water consequent upon the channel-ways and culverts becoming blocked. Much was occasioned in the northern end of the borough by reason of the overflow of Percy's creek. The roads in the vicinity were under several inches of water for a distance of several chains in places, and the gardens of numerous residences received a liberal deposit of silt. lii two instances it is said that the water entered residences of two citizens. In the height of the gale the big tent of the Seventh Day Adventists? Camp was partially blown in,' while the organ was slightly damaged with water: At the railway the subway connecting the north ancL south platforms was flooded for several hours.

Regarding the interview in yesterday's iSTAE concerning' his travel impressions, the Rev. J. A- McKenzie writes: There is just one point on which I should like to throw a little light. I think anyone reading the article might reasonably suppose that I sympathise with the ill-treatment or negroes. If I remember rightly, I expressly disclaimed any such thing. \Yhat I meant to convey was that the outsider lias no idea of tho enormous difficulty of the colour question, that it is a question for the Americans themselves to settle, -and that, like al other great questions, it has practical difficulties which are not known to those who, at a distance, would settle the whole'thing on abstract groivpds. As regards the inequality of the rsices —to say that they are equal is JTist fco say that all the centuries of civilisation and Christianity which have made tho Anglo-Saxon race what it is count lor nothing. Just as our race has had to climb slowly from barbarism to its present condition, so it must be with all others. What the African races, may be in the future wo do not know. In tho sense in which we use-the word in ordinary conversation, they are not to-day the equals of the whites.

The monthly meeting of the Library Committee will be held on Tuesday of next 'week, March 7, at 7.30 p.m.

Donations to the funds for technical education in this district have been received as follows by the Wanganui Education Board during the past month: Feilding Borough Council £15, Feilding Agricultural and Pastoral Association £5 ss, Manawatu County Council £10.

Enquiries made at the Masterton Hospital b" the Age elicited the fact that the boy, Reginald Gardner, one of the victims of last week's domestic tragedy, showed a slight improvement, but the girl, Beryl, was still lying unconscious and in a crtical state.

Mr Robin Hood, the architect for Messrs Hayward's Lyceum Theatre, is pushing the work of preparing tie plans along. The front elevation will be of the same height as Hastie s Hotel, so that tUe building will cany an imposing appearance.

The Committee on Circuits at the Methodist Conference recommended the subdivision of the Auckland Synod, but in view of the possible union with the Primitive Methodists involving the readjustment of districts, the ! conference decided that it was inexpedient to alter the existing districts.

''It has been said by Bishop Jiulius," said the Hon. (i. Fowlds at the citizenship meeting in Christchurch, "that wealth and prosperity will undermine anything' under heaven, and the only thing that gives us any hope of heaven is the fact that you connot take any of your wealth and luxurious habits with you." A strong contingent of riflemen from Feilding will compete at the Trentham meeting, which opens on Friday. Sergt. Fisher, Rifleman Harford, and Vol. George Downer left by the Main Trunk train to-day, intending to have some practice on the Bisley ranges before the competitions begin. Captain Barltrop, Sergt. Jones, Vols. Mayhew, Matthews, Belk, Kennedy, and Osborne leave on Thursday,

Dr. Clark, an ex-member of the British House of Commons, had a good word to say for the climate of wew Zealand, after a tour. Ifefore leaving lor Sydney he stated that he considered that the climate of the North island was the best he had experienced ill his many journeys to various parts of the world. He had no reason to change his opinion after his third visit during the past thirty years.

Sergeant Bowden, of Feilding, was the victim of an assault in Ridgway Street, Wanganui, at about 10 o'clock last night. Says the Chronicle: A fracas occurred between some bushmen, and, in endeavouring to separate the combatants, the sergeant, who was in plain clothes, "but. had disclosed his identity, was himself attacked and received injuries. Mem-

bers of the local police force were quickly on the scene. Prosecutions will follow.

Intending passengers to Wellington from Johnsonville by the late train on Saturday night had an uapleasant time. The slip which occurred near Ngaio suspended all traffic, and the down train remained all night at Johnsonville, where the passengers put in a bad night in the carriages. Mr Lough, stationmaster at Johnsonville, did his best for the passengers,

but the experience was far from pleasant. Several houses at Johnsonville were flooded, in some cases the water rising to a height of four feet. Some small slips took place in the Ngahauranga Gorge, and one bridge close to Ngahauranga was completely washed away.

The Fiji Times says: "We understand that revenue returns for 1910 are highly satisfactory. The duty paid at each port shows a very substantial increase over the figures for 1909. The increase for Suva is about £8500, for Levuka £9600, for Lautoka £5900, or a total increase of about £24,000 for the three ports. We understand that only a small proportion of this increase is to be ascribed to the new tariff, so that we can only accept the figures as further evidence of tlie steadily increasing trade and commerce of the colony. The figures for Levuka are extraordinary, representing an advance of nearly 50 per cent over 1909."

The general utility of the fingerprint branch of the Police Department (says the Post) is being manifested almost daily, and recently there have been two signal instances in which its value has been fully demonstrated. It is only a few weeks ago that a man unknown was drowned at Petone, No one knew who he was, and in the certificate of death his name was to be left blank. The Fin-ger-print Department took a record, and discovered his identity from records in its books. Only a few days ago a "swagger" was run over by a train—also near Petone. He also was unknown. No one knew him by name, but the Finger-print Department took a record from the dead hand, and his identity was established beyond dispute. Mr T. E. Taylor, says the Auckland Star, has already declared that he intends to throw in hie lot wholly or partially with the Labour Party in New Zealand politics, his reasons being, to use his own words, that he hopes more from the new and active force of Labour than from the "palsied hands of the two parties." A Star representative met him in Auckland on Wednesday morning, and asked him to discuss politics and his own position in the party struggles of the future, but Mr Taylor haa nothing to say. "I don't want to say anything on the subject—not for publication, at any rate," he said. "I have no authority to speak for the party, and I am not sure that I should be wise to speak on my own account. There are so many sectional strifes'and jarring interests just now. The little differences are all slowly working themselves out, and the party is becoming slowly united into the nucleus of a powerful organisation. I hope the internal troubles will all be settled, and i prefer to refrain _ from saying anything which may disturb the peace afresh." In thus learning that silence is golden Mr Taylor has | become as wise as a Minister without j portfolio. |