LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 9, 21 December 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The fir,-1 meet lag of tiie newlyeom-' it a; cii Wairoa Hospital lh uni was In Id ;• e-terday. , A mi in 1 >er i.f "chooi teachers from j ash m:-. sclim D left Hastings by the I exoress train this morning on holiida'v liciit. I . ; Jim ordlll.ar;, mad tram this mornling "tis erowd"d with holiday mak--1 ers when it left Hastings. The relief i mail train was not so wll patrouis■ed. ; The rainfall in Damtevirke district j has d-.iie ti great, deal of good to Ipa Mures and crops. The recent fall ■lias also reached Takapau which was I very dry.

The Wairoa < uuiity Connell liavr :-<•]<■• ted the design <.•!' Messrs C. Till.- aid. Natusch and Sons for their now Council ( Lambers which arc to be erected in conrrrtc. The council called for competitive designs.

During the recent fire- in the Ilangoroa district Mr. F. Goodall, a roadman on the AVaikarem oana road, near Mr. Hardwick Smith's property, suffered a severe loss. sa;.the “Gisborne Tinies. ’ He was employed clearing logs off the road, which iiad Let n brought down by

ihe tiro and gale, a mile or so beyond his whare. Fearing that the tire was coining near his whare. he rode liar-k, only to find the building in flames. Besides losing his stores and pt t-onal pn perty. a substantial sum of money was burned.

The Xapier Railway Vv orkshops closed for th'- Christmas holidays this .:itern«on. Mr. E. A. Laurie, the foreman, made a short speech ami wished the men a .herry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Mr. \V. H. Cook. Town Chnk. Hastings, has received an opinion from Mr. T. F. Martin. -Municipal •Solicd'ir. stating tliat the property owned by the Fire Board on which a dwelling (now let) stands is liable to lie rated.

At a meeting of Sir William Russell's friends held in St. Matthew's Schoolroom. Hastings, yesterday afternoon, a committee was appointed to draw up an illuminated address, which is to be presented to him al a social to be held about the middle of January.

At a meeting of shareholders of the Hastings Starr-Bowkett Building Society Leki on Wednesday evening ar: appropriation of EMO by ballot in No. 1 issue went to grout) No. is. The sale of E5OO iti the No. 2 issue realised £l6 on EIOO. El-t per cent, on £;»0, and ElO on the remaining Eloo.

Aftir being baulked by the weather no fewer than four times the Pahiatua Lawn Tennis Club succeeded in having the courts officially opened last Saturday. There was a good attendance of players and friends, and the courts were in very good condition considering the recent spell of wet weather.

The ordination service held in St. Matthew’s Church, Hastings, this morning, was attended by a good number of parishoners. Bishop Averill conducted the services and was assisted by Revs. Brocklehiirsl ami 'L’U’tiii. Rev-;. Munro and (.'oilier were ordained as priests and Mr. N. Robertshaw as deacon.

11l the ('lull Dash of the ?->:ipier Swimming Chib vvhir'i was sw um off in tiie Napier Municipal Baths last evening the following .were rhe place,: C. Neal Ist. A. Russell 2nd. K. Stevenson 3rd. Time, 22 2-ssees. For second place in the first race A. Ru'-scll and B. King were equal, second. On swimming off A. Russell won.

The frequent showers during the past s‘x weeks have hampered shearing operr.i tons in the Oxford district, Cr.nti rbury. and lui'-e not had thmr compmsating influences on the land, on account of the frequent nor‘-wr-ste'-s. The turnip fly has been very active, and a considerable area has lied to be resown. Nat withstand ing this, everything looks prosperous. Crops generally are good, and there is an abundance of grass, a fair amount being shut of’ for hay. winch is in great contrast to tiie experiences of the last few years.

To illustrate the way in which the broken weather lias interfered with shearing, the case ot a large ritnholdcr in the Clinton district may be cited. Ln the past live weeks only 350 of his sheep Fave been shorn, a tally which, tinder good conditions, could be put through in a day. The mere expense d “tuckering” the shrarrrs in their long stretch of cnfcrecd idleness is no light matter. The iinpropitic.ns weather is reflected in the catalogues to be submitted at the wool sale, the total number of bales being considerably below the average- for the December sale.

The fires in the Tarewa district Last week destroyed a large area of grass cn the property of Mr/ A. Ilicli.’irilson (says the "Herald”). Not many sheep were lost, but the destruction of grass made it necessary to immediately dispose cf a large quantity of stock. Shortly before the fire broke out a big load of timber for bnilding'purposes was delivered, the driver jocularly remarking that he iiad brought a load of “firewood.” Within a few hours tlie timber had been induced to ashes, and the men were hard at work trying to save the build-'rigs. The fire ian across eount;y with astonishing rapidity, and would probably have swept down to tiie coast line haft not the wind changed. Mr. Joblin also had a large ti'-r'ii of grass destroyed.

The installa'iion of the municipal electric light and jmwer scheme is proceeding steadily in Gisborne, and within the next month the erection of the copper cables throughout the streets should be commenced. Tim insulators, the non-an ival of which has been partly responsible for the delay, will come to hand shortly. Substantial electric light poles may now be seen in many of the thoroughfares throughout tiie town. Advice has also been received of the switf bboard, als > delayed in shipment. and its erection, which will iiitai! si considerable amount oi work at the power house, will be Tiro. r eded with. The interior of the

power house is assuming a more ship shape appearance, although a good, deal of work remains to lie di’iir. Good progress is being made with ihe erection of the Diesel engines.

('apt tiiii Cockcroft presided at a met ting held in tlie Gai risen Hall last night, when it was decided, on the motion of Mr. A. ('. Ching. t<> ioriti a i]i’!», to be called the “Napier Defence Rille ( Lib." and io make tipplii'atioii to the Government for enrolment under the regu-

lations as soon as the neecsasry 30 members Lad been secured. The signature to the application before tlie meeting numbereil 22. anil it was stand that no <lifiieulty would be experienced in obtaining the additional names required. The ap-

pointment of a president was dMcrred. The following oilier office bearers wore elected : —Secretary, (pro |r-ni). Mix A. J. Ching ; treasur'r. Mr. J. R. Shirley: committee. .Messrs J-. 11. James, (I. Thornton. F. Kennedy and E. W. Storkey. It was decided that Mr. J. H. Cole .man sh mid be asked to accept the p><>s- - of palioii of i i;o chdi. and a ucicmmniltee was apimim -‘d to wai. •,;> various gentlemen vith a view p. their election as vice-presidents. After various matters <f detail in cnnni'i'tion with the rules of the vlub Lad licrn discussed, he annual subscription for active members was fixed ar 7 6, and tlie meeting adjourned till next Wednesday e\ tiling.

We acknowledge with thanks a Christmas hamper from the Napier Bre we ry Company.

The Commissioner of Crown Lauds (Mr. C. R. Pollen) and the Secretary left this morning to inspect the Tangoio settlement.

Before Mr. AV. Sutt<m, J.P.. at the Napier Magistrate’s Court t ins morning. a firs-1 offender for drunkenness was convicted and fined in -. in default 2-1 hours’ imprisonment. Waghorne Street. Port Ahuriri, has always been in a very bad state lyit the shingle which has recently been laid has made it considerably worse.

In tiie absence of the chairman of the County Council, the tenders for the approach to the Esk river bridge were considered by Mr. Clark and the County Engineer. Mr. John Johnson, of Grc-enmeadows. forwarded tiie lowest tender, the amount being £l-15 16 S. and it was accordingly accepted.

One of the cuiidTions connected with the building of the Coronation Hall at Petane was that if £550 were spent on it before the 31st December tiie Government subsidy cf £1 for £l would be granted. The sum of £250 is now obtainable, as the condition has been complied with.

An electioneering enthusiast who throw an egg at Waverley on election night missed liis aim and hit a lady on the back. The lady’s busband, a well known Waverley gentleman, was not far away and he gave the culprit chase, catching him in one of the back streets, and there administered such a thrashing to him that if he recovers bv next election lie will Lie luekv.

Referring to the cat market, in the south a Dunedin exchange says that though practically no business is being transacted in the oat market the position is perhaps of more than usual interest at this time c-f the year. Tt is “in between” the old harvest and the new. The great question is : When will the new crop be harvestedlf it is an “old fashioned ’’ harvest, somewhere about Easter, holders of last season’s oats will do well. But if the crop is ripe in January it is proliable that they will be left with stocks of oats on their hands, purchased at a higher price than the new season’s oats are likely to open at. Everything depends on the weather. Continued wet and cold weather will mean a late harvest and will suit holders ; warmth and absence of much rain will not.