LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume L, Issue 8909, 25 October 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

' Judge -Ward will retire on a p«.<nsH of £600 per annum as from April ~^M Acceptances -for events at the WaveiH races close with the Secretary at 8 pi to-morrow. H " Owing to continuous rain infer ferH with plouglfiiig and sowing the gram crH in "North Canterbury cover a limited aH .this season as compared with previfl years. ~~ -.-'_- H . A sheep was captured in the bushH Hick's Bay- recently with three yeH growth of wool on its back. It was shH .and slaughtered, the carcase turnr%.^H scale at 1301b. H . _The_ ratepayers of Carterton have 1 ried .a poll for a loan of £6000 for H establishment of gasworks. Employees of the Cafe Martin. ?H York, numbering about 400, have tH notified that 'they., wilt receive a bonu^H £25 on marriage, and half that amouniH the birth of each child. At' Ctiristchurch Show this weekH novelty is a fencing competition, in fl nection with which a special prize of £^| /has. been .offered 'for the best all-ro^B stock fence, 50 yards long, to be erectec^B the show ground. •■ H The Ashburton A. and P. Ass^ua^H -have decided not to have the cattle aded at their coming show. They hH also resolved to allow exhibitors to K-H their exhibits as being "for Kile." labels to be affixed after the judpni^M those particular classes is complett>d.^B Pumping operations .at -Moturoa lH are proceeding satisfactorily day and n^M (say the Taranaki N«ws). The quan^B of, oil issuing with the water is inipß ingr. Mr Pair will measure up the qi^| tity-of-oil stored at the end of the w^| and in the meantime (he calculates ."present yield _at over lien barrels for^B hours. On Monday the manager <^J "mated th<T amount "of oil obtained as H result of 64 hours' pumping at 1000 H lons. : ;- H Expressions of .regret were general \v^| it was made- known in town this mon^H tliat Mr Hugh McLeod! had died duH the night. Mr McLeod: took ill aboo^J week ago, and was removed to the hosj^H 'on Tuesday. He was suffering intern^B and' an operation was performed, but H patient passed away about midnight. H ceased had been in business iif Hawer^H a draper.for" several years. He was <^M jovial disposition, and had become \^H popular amongst his acquaintances. P^| to coining to. Hawera he was a Boro^B Councillor at Balclutha, where he was iflj well known. Deceased was a son of Hugh' McLeod, of Wellington, andll -brother of -Mr Finlay McLeod, iUso^H Wellington. He was 50 years of The funeral takes place to-morrow n^M noon. ' " - A remarkable' operation was perfor^H recently abroad. The skins ta-ui f^M forty-one frogs were grafted on the a^H and shoulders of a female who had trir^H and fallen"! while carrying hot water, was scalded. The graftin^H .the frogs' skins was completed withi^B few hours, and several-hours later it IJ _ reported that" union had set in, and healing of the woman is now only a q^fl tion of time. - A number of third-class passengers, > arrived from London by the steamer mara, have complained to the Wellin^B newspapers, about the i accommodation service on board the^ vessel. They n^f complaints of overcrowding and baa f^l Captain Scotland states that there wa^H overcrowding, and that when it. was f<^H that some of the provisions were bad, food was~~ substituted. The disaffec^B ,was caused by malcontents, who waH saloon accommodation at steerage rs^l Dr Guinness, the medical officer. confi^M the captain's statement. .Mr Gray, who is now. inspecting Hawera School, recently lectured Waverley and Pahnereton North bc^H .large audiences. "In 'dealing with AineH to-morrow evening he will give his 6onal impressions of the population <\^M tion and . the negro, character of Americans, their wonderful system of j^M cation, America's problems, and Aixeri^H President. Mr Gray recently enjoyed privilege" of an interview with Presk^H Roosevelt. - • Mr Clayton, of the veterinary divi^B of .the Agricultural Department, han^H rompleted .the' work of testing the '■J|^H ing herd and-" young cattle on the eminent experimental, farm at Were^H and he reports thatr_out of 308 anii^H only two reacted. _The Department eiders the result, moat satisfactory. -the request of the Education Dep^H ment, ' instructions have been given I (he : tuberculin~test is -to be appliec^H the . cattle belonging to the Ijidus^H School at Levin.

Mr Surrey, of Inglewood, has been appointed manager oi Awatima Dairy Factory. Mr John Newland, of Inglewood, died on Tuesday. He leaves a large family, of which Miss Newland, librarian at Hawcra library, is a member. Among recent callers at the Agent-Gen-eral's office in London wa6 Mr George Glenn. A large seal measuring some Bft in length was found in a dying condition on the beach at Waikari, Canterbury. It had one end of a piece of galvanised wire twisted tightly round its neck; "and how it came to be thus cannot be yet ascertained. - 1 Several Otago dredgemen who left New Zealand a few months back for- Malay Peninsula, under engagement to a dredg-

ing company there, are returning to.this~ colony. In a letter "one of the men advises any on© anticipating going to Malay, to remain in New Zealand. ~

At a school in the Forty Mile Bush die-

trict during the Trafalgar Day celebrations the other day a boy was reprimanded-by a teacher for not saluting the British flag. Whereat the boy spiritedly replied that lie didn't see why he should "as he didn't belong to this country.'

A large wool clip., from 30,000 sheep in the Gisborne district, which used to sell for s£d, and last year realised B^d in the colony, was the other day sold in Wellington for cash for lOd. If such prices are maintained, i the benefit to New Zealand wfll be enormous. This is the first large sale of the season. During the past few evenings (says the

Sydney Telegraph of Saturday week) the St George district has been, visited by millions of moths, which "have invaded private dwellings to such an extent as to cause considerable discomfort to -the in=.

mates. Those persons -wKo use kerosene lamps have suffered the most, as the insects with their usual- persistency make for the light, and, getting inside thVglobe in large numbers, soon put the lamp -out. In dwellings where naked ga6 is used- the floor is strewn with thousands-jof injured insects. The -moths" are large and of a dark color. They were first noticed after the storm on Wednesday afternoon, and have continued- to increase ~in numbers since. A -similar visitation occurred-eome 25 years ago, when the moths were swept away by the high winds in n~-\vesterly-i direction, and when passing over- the ] western, railway line "caused a lot of trouble by putting-out, the- various station lamps, and signaL lights, kerosene being principally used in thosedays for lighting purposes. ~ -

An extreme case of thrill, occurring in Rhondda Valley,- Wales, Has -had to be adjusted by a Bench, of Magistrates. , It may have seemed, at the first blush, | that, ' after £240 had been .saved "by a man and his wife in six years, from an income of £1 5s 6d a week,' they had mutually found the strain severe -and parted. But since February the wife had been trying to live without so much as a share of the 10s 2d, which was .their weekly outlay ; and the utmost, care had not enabled her to do it. She sued her husband for maintenance. ._ It was he, after all, who had .tired of. their siniplo life together ; she had been Iquite content with it ; and as he how complains that he was starved, this husband may be taken to admit the stern, impeachment. " The admission is no defence, however,- against a charge of wife desertion ; and the Bench - not only made an order upon him t'o_pay her 6s a week, on which, no doubt, she may continue saving, but directed .£l2B to be invested as joint estate, of hers ami his. If in those strenuous years the wife did nob eat her cake, it is-fair that slie should have it. .What else did these mi- " happy mortals marry for?

If it is true (says the Waitara Mail)ahat the 300 carcases of beeJ, chiJ.ed, not frozen, sent Home by Messrs Borthwick and Jions at the end of last season, turned out all right and realised 4£d lb, it is good news for the graziers and farmers of Taranaki. The BurnsidejAVorks in-Otago, it ' will be remembered, forwarded 500 carcases Home and. were- disappointed with the news that the meat on arrival was not fit for the market, though- a Temarkable fact was that two or three carcases- kept in the Works under chilled conditions, and for the- time usually occupied jn_ the jvoyage, were cut down and proved remarkably good eating. The "inference seems to be that there was something defective about tlie Burnside shipment. -Anyhow, the steamer bearing the- special cargo from the~Waitara works, eeems to have-got over the trouble all right, that-js_if the_ report is correct, and-we- 6uppose~Messrs "Bonhwick's will jtell_U6 about" it. .in their owngrod time. __

The celebrated early potato, Noro'ton Beauty, which., the Normanby Horticultural Society has just, imported from Messra Thorburn and Co, -New York, is now available on application to the=-secre-tary at Normanby, but. as the supply is limited those desirous of securing seed should, apply at once. Messrs Thorburn "6 description of the tuber is as_Jollows : — "It is the earliest- potato e_ver grown; being sixteen days earlier than any other, Bort. It is fully as productive as any main crop ot late sort. JThis combination of extreme earlines6, productiveness, acd keeping qualities has~rever before been attained. It is- handsome in appearance and more uniform-iii-size and shape' than any other variety. The tubers mature" simultaneously, a factSvhich. combined with its extreme earliness, practically does away with danger from bjight or disease or bugs. Its__toble quality is superb, and it keeps longer^ ban any other 6crt, early or late. It "is -the best allround potato -in existence.' Mr E. A. Coy, the highest American - a utho.rit.y-. on potatoes, says of the'Noroton Beauty : 'I have watched it in all stages; <sf~growth, and tested it frequently on the table, and I know that I am not mistaken in thinking it the most valuable- potato ever -introduced.' " _ " __ Complaints" " are made in Palmerßton North ot a depression in everything except building. A correspondent of the Manawatu Times attributes it_kt- over-specula-tion in land anoVgeneral-exfcrayagance iniiving. He says, among other things : --1 think very few will deny but that we are living at a very extravagant" rate—not on what we have; but what we have in prospect : not on last month's salary, but on next month's. Yes," and on next year s in many cases. -—It is not. so much 1 a- matter of what I can aiford,>it that-I a.m quite as well able to do it_as Mrs Black or Mrs Blue. If^Mrs Brown, can afford to live jn such a house and in such aTstyle. why _ cannot I? Prepared to- go about- day by. day with an intolerable burden, surrounded by spectres in the shape ""of time-pay-ment collectors; and paying'so much-per cent, more for these goods, (that are not my own till they are paid for m-lull), all that I may keep pace with the times, and fatten the speculators. So then there is n.3 alternative than-that "there must be depression until-the times setjm.— or are forced upon us— of -living within our means and being" satisfied with frugality instead o ( extravagance. There are a lotof other, little maggots that might be dealt with, all bearing on the important question ; but perhaps some other croaker may -have a wordto say on the subject. In. the meantime I must hurry up and try and -get some of the bad anddoubtful debts in as I expect the time payment man round tomorrow.

The death is announced in London of Mr Robert Jasper Martin, who was known throughout the English-speaking world as the writer of those highly popular ditties "Ballyhooly," "KillaToe," "Mulvaney's Dog," and otheT humorous Irish songs, which have found places in the programmes or music halls and smoking concerts all over the world during the past 20 years.

At auction at Hastings, 1285 acres of the Maraekakaho estate were disposed of at an average price of £9 5s per acre. The whole of Mr G. P. Donnelly's Ngatarawa estate was offered, but only 721 acres were sold at an average price of £12 15s per acre.

The decreasing birthrate again : Though the population of Timaru has increased considerably during the last dozen years the number of pupils in the day schools Ikis gone down. In 1892 (.vlarch quarter) there were 1415 children on the rolls of the three town primary schools ; this year (June, quarter) there were only 1321. And tne Catholic parish schools have also decreased- in the same period.

- The officia.l records of the callings followed by the immigrants ex Kumara, from London.' show' that an undue proportion of tradesmen and unskilled laborers figure on the. list. _ There -were only seventeen farmers, and these with their families totalled only 35' souls out of a total of 213 immigrants .Jby the steamer.

- A .correspondent or a London journal raises aTrenionstrance against the system of "tipping"' in private houses prevalent in 1 lie highlands. "I have just returned," he \vrite6, "from enjoying the hospitality of a iriend at a shooting party at his place in Scotland. His hospitality cosf~mc- sonic two guineas a day, in addition to what it cost him. I would rather be a- 'paying guest' in a hotel than in a friend's house. It is more comfortable and more self-respecting. 11 Two guineas a day" in tips is just a trifle high.

- A most, interesting find was made by -two Maoris.' Peri and Niko, while digging a " drain through the swamp about ten chains to the ..eastward of the site of the 'Gate Pa, -Tauranga (says the Bay of Plenty Times). Embedded in the mud they-discoveml a. waist belt and two cartridge .pourhes, such as were used by the Maoris at the Gate Pa fight, and in the pouches -were eighteen bullets. The belt and pouches, which are in good state of preservation, will probably have been lost by somelol Rawiri Puhiraki's men during their -retirement from the pn. under cover of the night succeeding on the disastrous attack oh the pa by the British troops.

During the hearing of a case in the Arbitration" Court at Sydney the President laid it 'down that when the cost of production is increased the consumer has to pay The solicitor who represented the Employees' Union demurred. There would, he argued, be a reduction in the profits of the employers., or rather a more equitable, distribution of the profits among those who really earned them. Competition would- prevent the public being fleeced. - IJut this view did not commend itself to Judge Heydon. Employers, he pointed out~in effect, were not in business for their health, and it was inevitable that, sooner or later. . the public would have to pay. Xot always immediately, perhaps, but in the long run. When there was a chance of passing _on the extra cost at once there was generally an agreement between the employers. arid the err/ployed.

" Mr Palrljk Campbell, of Canterbury, has received a very interesting letter regarding~ Thibet, from his relative, Captain Jj'rcderick Campbell, of the 40th Pathans. He writes from Thelun, ander date of -August" 20th : — "Half my regiment is still in. "Thibet garrisoning posts there. I ' would jiot- have missed that expedition for-.anything, nor would willingly have -foregone the blizzard which caught is m. our march our of the country. One felt as though- in a fairyland at times, marching "along a torquoise-colored lake at an ele-vation-of 15,.000 ft. The Thibetans would make splendid soldiers; they are badly -armed; -but' very plucky. The people of the, country are a jolly good lot, and we all got .on well with them. Our prisoners were quite sorry when we released them. .The~monks are brutes. Their monu&terie* contain from 5000 to 10,000 monks, all lowr-sensual-looking brutes, except the ablK)ts and head ecclesiastics. I was much .struck-with the great resemblance that in some cases their kit had to that one sees in. pictures of the philabeg. They wear a gatehered-in-at-the-waist loose garment, which falls a little lower than the knee. -It appears kilted, and the upper part they pull over their shoulders as a plaid, or -they can put things in it and tie it round" them. In places they play a species of chanter, with a small reed — I could not make much out of it myself — for food a - man carries some meal, takes his soft cap off., mixes some meal with water in it, and eats it uncooked.

- mother of a family who went to Zion City some time ago has written a letter to friend in Wellington. The letter his been handed to the Post for publication. "I--am so disappointed in Zion," tly's •woman writes. "I no longer follow Dowie, but am resigning from the church. The -sorrow-and .the misery that I see here have nearly broken my heart. . . . The false--hoods that were told to induce us to come were shameful." Work plentiful, wages .higlrreducation free — all these stories, she says. .are untrue. She had just received an account of ten shillings for six weeks' schooling of two children. In tho absenceof work in \Zion. men had to go outside. Her husband, by hard work, earned £3 a week, of which Dowie took a tithe. "Food," she says, "is very dear; sugar, bread., and flour are twice the price they "are in Wellington, many other things are " much 'dearer, and house rent is just as dear r without conveniences. We have a -very little- house of four rooms for 8s a weekf_had' to buy stoves, copper, and tubs ; Aye have to go a long way for water, and, worst of all, we are eaten alive with bugs." - The monopoly system Keeps every- ' thing- at extravagant prices. "There are ahont-six shops to serve the city, and when they run short of provisions, as they often do, we "have to go without. For a whole r vreek we "could not get a bit of butter -for -our bread." Of the New Zealanders who accompanied them, "five have left the city and the church — they have been treated shamefully." Her husband, however, being still infatuated, she sees no present prospects of relief. As she has -ceased to go to meeting, there are only two old New -Zealand friends who call on her, and "it is like living in a graveyard." She thinks of the "beautiful home" in Wellington that she left, and unburdens .herself in 'the hope that her story may bVpublished, "for I do not want anyone else to be deceived as I have been." ~~" A. H. Moore invites tenders for the purchase of Mr Heenan's residential property at-Opunake. It is situate in the best residential part of the town, about, a stone's -throw from the public school and post office. Itris the snow place of the town, and evidences in a very striking manner what ~can be done by the judicious planting of shelter and trees. It is admirably adapted for a seaside residence for an inland Opnnake being acknowledged as _a -'health resort on this coast. As a charming house for a retired gentleman it could not be excelled. The Opunake branch railway will be constructed in due course, when prces will double. Investors would do well to buy at the present comparatively' low prices. With the railway there ~will follow a large influx of visitors and others, all tending to harden property.