LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8177, 18 March 1905, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On page 4 to-day there appears the weekly budget of commercial news and a rhyme "Xorman-bay, an Impression," by "Dc Rougemont." '

The monthly meeting of th: llawera County Council is being held to-day

A social will be held in the Otakeho Hall on Tuesday, March 21.

The secretary of the Normanby show states that the points prizes and the result of the guessing competition will be announced on Monday. A meeting of creditors in the estate of George Cockerton, of Normanby, will be held on Monday, 27th inst.

An Auckland telegram says that owing to continuous dry weather a meeting of the executive of the United Dairymen's Association resolved to raise the retail price of milk to 3Jd per quart.

At the Ashburton Magistrate's Court, on Friday, Samuel Alexander, who was recently convicted of sly-grog selling and fined £50, was sent to gaol for two months for failing to pay the fine.

Mr Ferguson, Inspector of Factories at Auckland, says that employers and employees arc satisfied with the working of the* labor laws. The Otago Trade and Labor Council, however, is dissatisfied with the attitude taken up by the President of the Arbitration Court, Mr Justice Chapman, stating that he is nullifying tbe aims of the Arbitration Act.

Mr J. Garnett, of Hawera, writes to say that he was awarded first and second prizes for Indian Runner ducks at the Norman by show. In the prize list it was stated that the .award was made to Mr Goodacre.

New Zealand imports £210,000 worth of fruit a year. The premier, in a speech at Whangarei last week, said that such a reproach must be removed from a country which is especially adapted for the growth of fruit.

It is rumored that just about the time of the Hawera burglaries a couple of portnianeaux were stolen from one of the Normanby Hotels. As the Hawera burglars were at that time under arrest it would appear that other thieves were in the district.

It transpires that there are other charges to be heard against the burglars, Black and Boulton. Probably before returning to Hawera to be charged with the burglary at the Rev. Porter's house they will appear on a New Plymouth charge. There will also bo another charge froni Wanganui.

Our Okaiawa correspondent writes : — As a visitor to the Normanbr show, 1 think it is a matter for regret that year by year the tendency increases for exhibitors of pot pjants t.o. substjtutc foliage for flowering plants. Beautiful as tne former arc, I dpn't think they a,r.e to be compared to the exhibits of tlue old-tini.c shows, when collections of pot plants werp a blaze of bloom. Of rjjvfst} Ido not advocate all flbwerin" plants, but, JLo secure perfection, £ judicious mixture. When the first shipment of frozen eggs arrived in England from Australia, thpir extreme hardness astonished the brokers. One man calling at a broker's office, was amazed to see him taking aim at the wall with an egg. "What the devil are you at!" But the broker let drive, the only result being a slight dent in the wall, Tbe thing explained, the man took a couple of the eggs, put them in his pocket, and left to startle his wife. Arriving home ho waited till the family was assembled for dinner, and then banged an egg at the new dado. But the entile auickly faded from his face. The egg had tawed.

_ The steamer Rimutaka, which lcf^ Wcltington for London on Thursday, took the following dairy produce: — From Auckland — 5868 boxes and 404 kegs butter (167 tons), 313 caseß chppse (21 tons). From New Plymouth--10,860 boxes butter (272 tons), 320 cases cherso. From Patea — 7278 boxes butter (182 torn), 30 cases cheese. From Wellington — 9037 boxes butter (226 tons), 1689 cases cheese (total for last mentioned three ports 145 tons). From Lvttelton— 2l23 boxes butter (53 tons), 171 cases cheese (11 tons). From Oamaru-~750 boxes butter (19 tons). From Dunedin— B6s boxes butter (22 tons), 449 cases cheese (29 tons). Total shipment — 37,186 packages butter (941 tons) and 2972 cases, cheese 1206 to^is). . " ; . , - The national concert and dance held at the Theatre Royal on St. Patrick's night, though not very largely attended, wenVoff pleasantly, and the items, both vocal and" instrumental, were well rendered. A "short programme was arranged /jo »jfc- tp'rpermit of the^dance commencing ;*»-rly. Mrs W. A. Quin and Miss 6. opened with' a patriotic' otertttft. '^e^tear Jtttle Shamrock was suM by Mr Jk M^A^uw;wfth good effect. Miss of tn^^pji^l«r};Aon^Killarnev, and Dr B?own waf^Micd vlo neat advantage in v '"ihe MioMrel wy.'" Mr Hooker was in ing commenced a^atoj^nalOpft *$&*'' lasting -till ne^ ' n^?«^tJ^^^^j "f . jdfflL for sale for ftpoir cash. •» '»'*' AHra. il| EN9BUBBt''' ll * l iSM^stVsn " v \

Mr Knibbs, one of the New South Wales i Education Commissioners who toured Eng- 1 land and America, in conversation with Mr Bevan Brown, headmaster of the Christchurch Boys' High School, said there are two main theories of physical culture iin operation. One is the slow, intense, concentrated, conscious effort, as seen > in the Sandow system, and the other consists of free, spontaneous movement, and is the d methoa suggested by the natural disposi- tl tion of children to run about and shout, si The latter is now finding most favor in g German schools, and, in fact, agility, and 5 quickness are regarded as greatly superior c to mere strength. The Sandow method a chiefly develops muscle, and it is now b thought that it is not muscle that needs t developing so much as the vital functions, j and particularly the nervous system. Mr ] Knibbs considered, as the results of his i experience, that a combination of two t methods was about tho best system. i From onquiries made in different parts • of the country, the Ashburton Guardian ] has ascertained that, despite the decrease ' in breeding ewes, the total number of lambs this season is fully as largo as that j recorded for the previous year. A number of farmers in the early part of the ] season intimated their intention of keeping a number of ewe lambs for future breeding purposes; but the present value of lambs appears to be too great a temptation for farmers. When the high price of sound-mouthed breeding ewes is taken into consideration, one would almost think that a farmer in need of replenishing his stock would fare better by keeping his lambs. It is understood that lambs are maturing splendidly this season, \ taking the district as a whole, and exI port Imyers are at- present busily engag- ' ed purchasing lambs for their respective ; freezing companies. The ruling price for lamb, according to the markets, is from \ 5Jd to sid per lb. ' | Addressing the Methodist Conference, ' Mr Burton expressed his regret that even ■ amongst Churchmen there was ignorance c of the great field and great need for missionary work that existed amongst the I Indian coolies in Fiji. It was an mcreasc ing population; when the speaker went t there three years ago there were 18,000 o coolies in the islands; there had since been an increasp of several thousands, and soon there would be a population of 25,000 c. or 30,000. Mr Burton incidentally refera red to the Fijian race — a race that was r dying rapidly, notwithstanding the efforts H of the Government to remedy tne cause. Practically all the a ijians were Christians : l " speaking as one who was almost an outr- sider, Mr Burton could say that in the II Methodist missionary work among the I'ijians thero had been a magnificent ie triumph for tne Gospel. Unfortunately, ?s though, the coolie was teaching the Fijian ?s the coolie's vices ; and in Suva particularly tho Fijian was now gambling terribly as a y result of the Indian's example. For the protection of the Church's Fijian converts, apart from tho broader and oetter reason that me Indian should be saved for his own sake, there was urgent need that the Church should do its very best to aid the >y coolie missions.