LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8144, 16 December 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

- » The Kaponga Band is giving an openair concert at Kaponga on Sunday in aid of Hawera Hospital. A Timaru auctioneer, speaking of the wool market, said he did not think the present high prices for crossbred would continue for any great length of time, as when prices became too high people looked around for something to use in place of a product which had become too expensive. Already some manufacturers at Home were using mohair to mix with the wool. It is reported that one of the causes of the present advance in the price of wool is a grub or moth that is working havoc among the flocks of the Argentine. It is •aid that the insect, while not affecting the flesh of the sheep in any way, feeds on the wool and simply cuts the fleece to pieces. The Railway Department have issued a circular notifying a reduction in the cost of travelling tickets all over the lines for six weeks from £8 to £7, for North Island lines for four weeks from £5 to £4, and for South Island lines for four weeks from £6 to £5. An. extension beyond these periods can be obtained at the rate of 30s weekly. At Wanganui on Thursday the Governor had a busy time. At 10 in the morning his Excellency distributed prizes at the ' Girls' Schools, at 10.30 he officiated at the , Infants' School, at 11.15 reviewed cadets, at 2.50 distributed prizes at the Girls' College, at 3.30 inspected the Catholic . Schools, and in the evening . attended a • schools' entertainment. j By instructions from the provincial pre- ' sident of the Farmers' Union, the secretary wrote to Professor Kirk, asking if there was any danger of the spread of the potato disease, and the following wire was sent in reply: "There is danger. See Wellington Times of Ist inst. Law officers now decide power does exist prevent distribution of diseased iubers. Action being taken." It was rumored at Home that the Hon. W. P. Reeves would sail for the colony in September of next year, timing his arrival to fit in with the starting of the general election fray. It is understood that Mr Reeves would contest a safe Canterbury seat, and that he would subsequently coalesce with Sir Joseph Ward in reconstructing the present Ministry, the pair holding a dual leadership, as in the case of Messrs Reid and McLean when the Watson Federal Government was overthrown a few months ago. In his speech to Balclutha farmers, Mr A. J. McGurdy, the organiser of the Farmers' Union, was particularly severe on the co-operative s>ystem of constructing Government works as carried out in some districts in the North Island. At Mataroa, he said, there was a chief inspector with two assistants, an engineer and two assistants, and a paymaster, and on pay day eight men lined up! It took seven men to see that eight laborers earned their wages! In Taihape Mr McCurdy averred he had seen a dozen men, road inspectors, walking about drawing their 10s a day, and not a road in the district. The settlers were paying for road loading, and there was not a road available. —Free Press. Mr John Duthie, M.H.R., plays an important part in the Seddon-Taylor libel case, and it would appear that the reasor of this is that some one gave* away a re mark he made at the breakfast table ir the Wellington club. The morning aftei Mr Tayler's speech Messrs Duthie, Mallei (of the Bank of New Zealand), Mr Bethunc (of the Bank of Australasia), and Mr Wes ton (solicitor), were breakfasting, and thi question came up as to whom Mr Taylo: had referred. . Mr Duthie, it seems, ii reply to an expression of doubt, said Tay lor had given him to understand that hi referred to Captain Seddon. Mr Duthie' remark waß carried to the Premier. Onl; the three persons referred to heard the re mark, and Mr Duthie was about to explaii which of them had already denied navinj carried the remark to the Premier whei the presiding Judge shut down on th interesting disclosures by saying "This i not evidence." The opening run of the coach service t the Dawson'B Falls mountain house, initi ated by the Hawera Chamber of Com merce, was very successful. There wer about 30 townsmen, principally those en gaged in business, in the party, and th whole affair passed off in happy circuni stances. A slight shower was experience' during the walk to the mountain house but did not cause any discomfort, am otherwise the climatic conditions wer favorable to the outing. At the house o: Wednesday evening there was a thorough ly enjoyable social gathering. On Thun day morning the first coach load returne but half the party remained behind an spent until after 12 o'clock in viewing th beautiful scenery in the .different localities Eight of the party had a delightful clim among the snow on Fantham's peak, an were rewarded 'with magnificent views About 2 o'clock the second coach left fo home, and reached Hawera shortly be fore 6 o'clock. A detailed report wi! appear later. Axemen and sawyers from various part of the colony are now assembling in E tham in anticipation of taking part in th great championship carnival to be hel there on 26th and 27th December. La: Saturday Messrs Buckingham and Mil ch6ll. the Southland representatives, ai rived j on Monday, G. McCauley, t Rotorua, put in his appearance, and othe axemen of less repute have arrived dail since then. To-night the Commonwealt team of world's champions, comprisin Messrs Gus Blanc, Terry brothers, J Deegan, C. D. Furlong, G. A. Goold, an C. W. Casey and C. Hutton. the locs men, who have' just won the world' championship sawing honors, will pa: through Hawera by the express trair The team will be accorded a receptjo on arrival at El tham, and will' afterward he entertained at a dinner given in thei honor. About seven years ago (writes a con tributor to the Melbourne Argus), a ma; named Polo was putting up a fence o the side of the Laanecoorie to Swan Hi' road, and when sinking a post hole h saw a speck of gold. He said nothin to anyone on the subject, but cut a nic in the post to locate the find, and the: unconcernedly proceeded with his wort Several years after, when another rusl broke out, Polo mentioned his early dis coyery. AH the fence posts in th neighborhood were immediately ea ammed, and the nicked one discovers by a party, who pegged out a clair 250 ft square, sunk a hole near the post and have since taken out about' 500oz The rush was appropriately named "Th Nick of Time." Ground was pegge< out in all directions, and arrangement to work were made with the landowner who as a consequence has reaped : golden harvest since 1903. The gutte was soon picked up, trending aw*' north, and claim after claim bottoms on gold. A claim 60ft square yielde< over lOOoz, a four-men's claim returnei 500oz, and as much as 20oz to the disl were obtained in part of the lead.Ihe special correspondent of the Pos in Christchiirch says the opening ad dress by Dr Findlay at the Seddon Taylor libel action was an eloquent am brilliantly-phrased effort. His peroratiot was an appeal to the jury to say whethei defendant comes to Court "purely am sincerely aiming at the cqnviction ant >randing of a base coward, or whethei he comes with hatred in his heart ant bitterness on his tongue to feed fat -. malignant grudge." Still, it cannot b< said that the personality of the accom plished advocate attracted as much <n terest as did that of the brilliant lay mail who came to conduct his own cas?, The experiment is sufficiently bold tt excite surprise; and Mr Taylor has aid other grounds for drawing the public eye ; firstly, the mere fact that he is Mr Tiw lor; secondly, that no "one knows how much he may or may not have up hi" sleeve. Talk about Mr Taylor in Chrst church, and Christchurch shakes its hea«l and looks reticent. There were few en counters in the first day's proceedings, but the Bench and 'the* Bar as constituted are not likely to be weak in repartee. Alert, quick-eyed, sharp in utterance, Mr Taylor appeared to handl his case with perfect confidence. To-morrow Messrs Whittaker, Whittaker and Co. will sell, under instructions from the mortgagee, contents of a sixroomed house, without reserve, at 12.30 p.m.; and at 2 p.m. will sell all the splendid gigs, harness, buggies, phaeton, etc., etc. The following new books have been received at the Public Library : "The Food of the Gods" (H. G. Wells), "The Love of Miss Anne (Crockett), "The Betrayal" (Oppenheim), "Traffics and Discoveries" (Kipling), "The Brethren" (R. Haggard), "The Truants" (Mason), "The O'Ruddy" (S. Crane and R. Barr), "Beatrice of Venice" (Pemberton), "Sea Puritans" Bullen), "The Apprentice" (M. S. Rawson), "What Ought She to do" (F. Warden), "Sir Roger's Heir" (F. F. Moore), "The Coining Conquest of England" (Nieman), "Honorier's Patchwork" (Cinonjrnous), "The Abbess of Vlaye" (8. Weyman), "Capricious- Caroline' 1 ' (E. M. Albtnesi), "Aunt Hildah" (Cooke and MacRowan), "Whosoever Shall Offend? (Crawford). Holloway's Pills. Good Spirits. Ever/one has frequently experienced sudden personal changes from gaiety to gloou. The wind- and weather oftentimes receive the blame .when a faulty digestion is alone the cause of the depression. Holloway's Pills caa be honestly recommended for regulating a disordered stomach and improving digestion. They entirely remove the sense of fulness and oppression after eating. They dear the furred tongue, .and act as a wholesome stimulant to- the liver and a gentle aperient to the bowels. They healthfully rouse both body, and mind. Holloway's Pills are the best antidotes for wan€ of appetite, nausea, flatulency, heartburn, languor, depression, and that apathy so characteristic of chronic derangement of the diges,--t|on,—-Advt.

On Wednesday a concert and .play is ' to be given at Manaia by the pupils of Manaia Convent School. Wednesday was speech-day at Wanga- 1 nui Collegiate. School, and praee were die- i tributed oy^'ius Excellency the Governor. I F. B. Bamford, son of Mr Q. Gamford, of Hawera, figured prominently in the prize-list. He was first in classics, mathe- j matics, arithmetic and algebra, French, ] and Latin. ( There are now 3047 men engaged on co-operative works in New Zealand. Of i tnese, 1902 are on railway construction, and 114 on public works under the Public Works Department, and 1031 are j engaged by the Eoads Department. A rather curious case was ventilated \ at the Magistrate's Court in Timaru on Wednesday last, when a man and his wife sued a relative for £1000 damages, \ for having forcibly entered their house , and used high words towards the plain1 liffs for having allowed his (defendant's) , wife to indulge her weakness for drink [ ' while staying with them. His Worship ! [ awarded 5s damages. ' The 1031 co-operative laborers who are ' now engaged by the Roads Department 5 are distributed as follows : — Auckland 152, 1 Te Kuiti 111, Botorua 79, Hawke's Bay 110, Taranaki 160, Wanganui 193, Welr lington 66, Marlborough 31, Nelson 45, I Westland 14, Canterbury 36, Otago 12, b ' Southland 22. 8 ! A new departure is being taken this ' ' Christmas in connection with railway arrangements. This will be found set out !in advertisement in this issue. It will . be seen that arrangements provide for an ' extra through train to be run daily for several days, and that a special through train is to be run on Sunday, 25th, and Sunday, Ist January. : According to the Wairarapa Standard, a young man in that district who put in I ! a week at "spud-picking" some time back ; took in lieu of wages a ton of potatoes. At that time the price was about £2 a ' ton. He didn't trouble about calling for them until he heard the price of tubers ' I was rapidly rising. He has recently .; quitted them at over £9. • The Otaki Mail says that on Sunday i last Mr Tom Farata, of Waikane, again E roved his skill as an angler by breaking is previous record of 39 fish for one v day, landing no less than 42 trout, weighing 46£lbs, with march brown and black gnat. Fish are very plentiful in the Waikanae river this season. Tom has now a total of 319, all taken from the Waikanae. When the Ministerial party drove up to the Huiakama Dairy Factory on Wednesday (says the Stratford Post) a number of settlers were to be seen digging a milk waggon out of the all-devouring mud on the road, in which it had sunk up to the axles. Mr Hall-Jones humorously referred to the matter in his subsequent speech, and intimated, amid laughter, that he would not institute proceedings on his return for wilfully damaging a State road. In the course of conversation with residents afterwards he was "dared" to return over an especially bad road. Instructions were immediately issued to the driver, in spite of strenuous opposition from the remainder of the party. All went well for about fifty yards, when the trap commenced to sink visibly. Not to be i beaten, the Hon. Hall-Jones mustered his 1 forces, but a push behind only served to imbed the conveyance still more immov- ' ably. After some delay the driver sue- , ceeded in turning, and on their reappear- ; ance at the factory the party was greeted [ with ironical cheers. The Minister wisely ' decided to stick to the "de'il he knew \ for the remainder of the journey. r A very pretty wedding (the Eltham Art gus reports) was celebrated at St. Luke's . Church, Te Roti, on Wednesday after5 noon, when Mr J. L. Campbell, of Eltham, 3 was married to Miss Janet White, daughr ter of Mr and Mrs Reuben WhiCe, of Te . Roti. The bride, who was attended by i her sister as bridesmaid, looked charming r in a very pretty costume of white silk, i wearing also the orthodox veil and carryi ing a shower bouquet. Mr Campbell was i attended by his brother Mr J. CampbelL The church was filled to its utmost capacity with the guests and friends of the bridal party, many indeed, were unable " to gain admittance. Miss Barrow offici- [ ated at the organ and as the bride enter- " ed the church the congregation Bang the ' hymn, "The Voice- that breathed o'er Eden." After the vow had been made j and received the hymn "How welcome was the call" was sung, and the Wedding | March was played after the ceremony was over. A large number of guests then ad- ' journed to the Te Roti Hall, where the wedding breakfast was held. The toast of the bride and bridegroom was proposed j by the Rev. J. L. A. Kayll, and respondj ed to by the bridegroom. Other toastß 3 were honored and speeches were ma.de by ' Mr White senr., and Mr Campbell, senr., ' and Mr J. Campbell. In the evening | a dance was held, all present thoroughly enjoying themselves. The popularity of • the bride and bridegroom was well evidenced by the number of handsome prej sents that were received. Mr and Mrs 1 jJ. L. Campbell left by the evening express en route for Rotorua where the i honeymoon will be spent. A New Zealander who has returned j- after a trip Home, informs the Bruce > Herald that while in San Francisco he ob6 served the employees at one of the tin- ■ ning factories busy at work canning green ■ peas, and working 16 hours a day, Sunf days included. They also worked that r number of hours during the fruit season. r As a matter of fact, there is practically 1 no Sunday observed in that part of the » world, the same remark being applicable j to St. Louis, where the only place which was closed on Sunday was the exhibition. 1 The manager of one of the largest facJ tories informed the visitor that the most 1 profitable article they canned was aspara- • gus, as it improved by canning. 1 A very strange thing took place in a , creek at Whangarei, on December 8 (says j the Auckland Weekly News). A horse belonging to a settler from Waikiekie, which had been left in charge of Mr J. i Taylor, was seen to try to get out of its j paddock. It eventually succeeded in doI ing so, and started for home, but was ■ turned back. It then at once ran down ; to the creek, near Mr Scon's wool works, : where it placed its head under the water. Every effort was made to get the animal out,, but it persisted in keeping its head in the creek until it was at length drowned. The animal was a valuable one and a great pet. There was plenty of water in the paddock where it was confined, and no reason can be ascribed for its strange conduct, excepting home sickness. The animal was not sick or in any pain. The price of land in London has increased by leaps and bounds. In the suburbs in recent times land in FitzJohn's avenue, Hampstead (according to a writer in the Sunday Strand) realised £9600 an acre, the agricultural value of which would probably not exceed £50 an acre, the balance of £9550 represent/ng the unearned increment. In the city and on central sites rents are at extraordinary figures. An outfitter in the Strand pays a rent of £800 a year, while a bootmaker in Cheapside pays £1200 a year for a ground floor shop and basement alone. The highest prices for the freehold of sites are, of course, to be found in the centre of the city, in the immediate neighborhood of the Bank of England, a price at the rate of over £3.250,000 an acre being attained — that is, £75 per square foot, or over 10s per square inch! From this centre the price diminishes in a receding tide, rising again in the Strand to a price of from £12 to £20 a square foot, or from £500,000 to £870,000 per acr «- In Bond street a still higher price 2»* £2r«/£ er S 9 uare fo °fc> or more than £1,500.000 per acre, has been reached.