THE WEATHER.

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 2873, 17 February 1916, Page 2

THE WEATHER.

THE KILN T?o-o .VJI a.m.: sets (i.ol p.m. TflF MOON UKc... .'>.l>o p.m.; sds 2..VJ a.m. I,AST XICHT'S nF.I'OHTS. Summary. In the northern and sciiitlif.Tiimost districts unsettled and sf|iially conditions biive jirevailed L the I'd'iyt. of disturbances -which have been located in the north and south of the Dominion. The central area of New Zealand has experienced more favourable weather, mviiiu: to the neutralisinir of feet of the two storms. Strong southerly winds have predominated in . the North Island, while variable die ■; odious liavn been reported io the.' South, and "ale;; about Fovau\ ' : Strait. I l''orecasr. i'resont imlieatioiif. arc for southerly uiuds. strong to gale, and changable and .'.bowers weather } !-enrrallv.'The baroincler is unsteady, but i.- dii.- Id rire rs-erywhere shortly. TO-DAYS J'-()K.r:CAST. , Tlie indie.itiorio arc- for (ioirthcrly wind.:, to f.alo, at tiuieo, also for .jleci.A-icardishirbances. The weather will probably prove equally and changeable, with scattered showers, i XJio baroniett-r lias -a rieing tendency.

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Forty of tho employees of the Wellington Gas Company volunteered for active military service, and two (.Messrs Pony and Faulkner) lost tiheur lives. Tlio annual oonferoii.ee of lire br.i{iadesmen of tho Dominion; will he oponed on Monday iK'xt at WestporL, It U> oxpected that th«re will he an attoiiida.uco of 150 delegates, including officials. S There- is in Wellington just now the tramp etoamer from Mow York. Tho Talawa was formerly the llainlnirg-ownwl ateamer Wotan, built in 1907 by William Doxford and Sons, of Sunderland, and seized .shorliy after"tho outbreak of Jiot,t<liities by the British authorities. It will doubtless be a relief to many who have been anxious concerning the reporU'd lack of work in for tho volimiteiT sisters to lind that one of the number. Mss Wilson, from WVUiugton, Jias written ehe-erlully. ISIIO lias found luisiiital work.

Japan is a keen competitor with Hollaoid this year in flowering bnll> trade. Australian importers, finding a difficulty in obtaining-definite dales of .shipments from Ihe Netherlands, have felt themselves bound lo place business with Japan.

It, i» claimed for Dairymaid of P-ne-'hurst, a. Guernsey cow owned by \\ . W. Marsh, of Black Hawk, lowa, U.8.A., that she i.s earnitig .WOO a year Sho is a world's champion, and "has a record of 17,'2551bs of niiJk an< 'JHUCIbs of bvitte-r-i'at a year—-and tin. calf -she brings each year holp.s I , ' make up that 11200.

Says an American journal: Amerien bids'fair to do without potash in her euniniereia.l f<-rtili.scr.s m IUiK). 'he war inlluence has boosted potash prices from around Ihe £12 per lon mark to £50 per ton for muriate and ,C 25 per ton for sulphate of pol-ash, without much potash in sight even al these, prices. The July .imports Ibis year of .sulphate of potash were l< times less than, in 1911, and 13 tunes less of muriate of potash.

Another pionoisr of the Otago au<l Westlnud gold fields, Mr Maurice Doobin. has just died at Rotorua. He was Ik'|-ii. in Tinporavy 7(5 years ago, and wont to Victoria when IB years of a.<r,\ H<. ciiiiio lo New Zealand in 18037 attracted by the gold field rush in Otago. When gold was discovered at Wes-flaud Mr Doolan tramped from Otago to Hokitika. He Kirb.sof)uentl.v look 1 !i<>'first pack-horses from Hokitika. to Grow "and was for some time gold buyer for the Bank of New Zealand, and in that position narrowly escaped the SuLlivau-Burgoks gang of bushrangers in 1806.

The) Wide- World Magazine lias consistently refrained from touching the war in'any of its .stranger-than-fietioii I uarratiivcs. "The Sunken Subriifirine," whicb lias pride of place ni the. Jaitiuary .issue, is not a war record. H is the remarkable experience of fbo commander and crew ol the U.S.A. "Diver" mil of which f/ieuf. Breen rescued hi.s men by shooting them (through the iorpodo lube! Olher narratives: "The Fetish Man's Downfall," "Down Hie Amazon." "Two Givl.s fun a Ranch," "Co>i eei-ning Camwlfi," "A South VnnTw Piracy." "The Secret Post Office.' and '"Building a TraiiscoriMncnlai Telephone Line." .