LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 7872, 6 January 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

1 ■» 1 Mr G. H. Sowden, who had Buch a tragic experience in the yaoht-Kia Ora> was lata fourth officer of the Tyser 1 steamer Niwaru. J In connection with, the recent large .seizure of uncustomed tobacco and other goods, F. Hurstwaite, a Sydney ' shipping provider, has been fined £100 for smiuffglmg and £500 for having smuggled goods in his possession. Two additional veterinarians are to ibe broug'nt out from England bjr the Agricultural Department. They will be attached to the -head office in Wellington, but will b© ready to visit any part of the colony where tiheir services mjay be ratfuired. Losses from cargo brooching are apparently not confined to merchants in j the cities. A large drapery firm in 1 Palmorston informed a representative of the MJamawp-tu Times ttoat hardly a consigniment comes to hand without several of the; cases having been tampered with and goodis extracted. Losses in this way represent & considerable s,um in a year. it is gravely reported that to win a wager a lad named Nikolaus Uagano, living at Temesvar, in Hungary, consumed ten pairs of large sausages, 2£lb of bacon, and 111b of bread. He won his bet, but died immediately afterwards. The postmortem examination showed that the heart had burst in consequence of the pressure of the over-distended stomach. Miss Margaret Cox-Taylor, a young Australian journalist, will visit the colony early in the new year for the purpose of "writing up" some of our scenic resorts, etc. Miss Taylor is a contributor to London Punch as well as to Australian journala. Current intelligence (says the Aicting Produce Commissioner, London, in his last report) seems to point to the. fact that the condition of the River Plate nueat trade is at present not so healthy or strong as is commonly supposed, The exports of Plate mutton this year have not shown th© ratio of expansion which was expected. Comparative soarcity of freezing sheep in the local markets and (for the Argentine^ ah' normally 1 high prices for such stock, 1 haye been reported for some I#me past, While prices for mutton ott this side have not been commensurate amd heavy Ipfcses are being made. Latest estimates from 1 Argentina place flocks of t'trat country at conarderatoile lower fig? ure than those hitherto cpmjnonly accepted, and indicate that sourzei of supplies for freezing sheep ami lambs especially is being restricted by the spread of dairying 1 and cropping. Altogether there docs not appear to be a very e^rly prospect of the Britisih market being entirely swamped wi^h River Plate mutton. In the toourse ( of a report from London darted 26th November the ActingProduce Commissioner says : The meat market continues depressed all round. For some time it ' was hoped that the dullness was nothing more than the usual aqiuiet aut|umm trade, but that period has passed and winter has .■arrived without any comanens|arat)e, imI provement taking place in, the demand. As with the provision jnjarfcets, weatiber and a gpod deal of slackness of general trade i» yhis country have been important factors in %he sisua>tip!n. It should be bflrnp in mind, however, that during the ten months of this year ending with October, th© market •has been required tp absorb nearly a million more frozen sheep and Jamflbs than in the corresponding period of last year. OF this increase New Zealand is responsible for about three-uuarters of a million carcases and the River Plate for the remainder. There miust also bp a4ded a certain amount of United State?, frozen mutton. In frozen beef the New Zealand shipments have decreased by 72,000 quarters, and the Plate increased by 44,000 quarters. Further particulars of the trap accident m the Petane river, near Napier, by which three young women were drowned on Saturday, show that the party consisted of Misses Elizabeth Coker, Alice Coker, Elizabeth Christy, Madelit.o Christy, Alice. Connor, Elizabeth Connor Flannigan, Messrs W. H. Connor, #. boldsnuth, and James McEnery, the lastnamed being the driver. When the trap capsized in the swollen river, the two Misses Connor -clung to their brother, as also did Miss Elizabeth Coker and Miss tlannigan. Mr Connor struggled for th* bank and clutched at a willow branch' which broke. The water swept him .ri until he reached another willow, bufc by that time his sister Elizabeth had relaxed ncr grip and had disappeared Her body was subsequently found about a hundred yards down stream. Mr Goldsmith managed to get safely to the bank with Miss Christy, but the two other girls were carried away and drowned. The driver of the express, McEnery, had some difficulty in getting clear of the horses, one wWww W wL W S? drowned - The body of Miss Mizabeth Connor was taken to her mothers residence on Barrack Hill Her sister Alice was taken home suffering from shock and bruises, but will probably lecover her usual health in the course of a few days. In ad probability (says the Hawke's feay HeraldfMfes Elizabeth Cor, nor s body would not have been so speedily recovered but for the action of a black retriever dog belonging to her family. The animal got Eold of her skirts, and brought the body to the bank. Miss -Connor was twenty-eight years of age. Mss CoKcr was aged seventeen, daughter of Mr Alfred Coker, of Port Ahuriri, and Miss MKdeline Christy was a daughter of Mr JoMn Christy, cab proprietor. Sir Donald Bdber^son who is visiting Roborua '(says'a correspondent of > the N.Z. Times)" is 'delighted with his stay in the thermal' district, and says, that he can, conceive of no other leouiitry possessing- so many valued attractions as New Zealand. Be thinks that nothing could be more dehff.htful for ti^e leisured classes in tine Motherland than, to come out here and spend the winte* months, where the I chmiate is so chatming, and where ■fee attractions are igo varied and numerous. Ihe Governmenf Tourisi bepartmentf, he says, is admirable, and supplies an excellent means for Information to the tourists who visit the wonderful country. Under the able administration of Sir Joseph Wa v rd, SKndgter in charge, and. Mr T. E. Donme, that excellent and capable Superintendent of Tourwb and Health Eosorts. Sir Donald looks to it to still further the. tourist traffic, and thus draw thousands more to this wonderland. $[ c fc as teen undergoing a course of Aix massage d^V* * s •hr%*'^ congers' some of the apphances used superior to those muse at Harrogafc. { Wiih to the balneology, he insiders the Government was fortunate in ob(tai«rnir his services, and that N» w ZsaFe/ad will be more fortunate skill if v ; a able to retain them. Sir Dtoala .£ «? opinion feat New ZfeaW & a wonder . ful colo-ny m regard to its* poKey of Government,' as well as } its s^io wonders. Regarding hotel accommodation he finds it very comforU/ble, and colters the charges. m<^ reA.Xttbfe, taking mto account)* the relative v*due of money. He thinks , an effort should he made ' to induce some of jth© Imrliners wfho m»k e Australia -t<hfei r terminus, to oqrhfl avfir fo. &ew*ZWland' thus making tte voy^ m mt{ mtuoh more comfortable. • 4 * 4wy " TENNIBM TENNIS 11 \ F. J. Wrigley-haa now opened Ms new season's stock of tennis goods. Splendia selection of Slazenger's and Foiestera racquets, including E.G.M., Special. Demon, Benshaw, etc. Slazenger'a U9QJ balls, nets, poles, lawn markers. A goWi stock of lawn mowers (ball bearing arW plain)' in all sizes A full stock of *k tennis requisifcss. Inspection iimted.-~£*f J Wrigley.— Advt. . fl ;