LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume L, Issue 9002, 26 January 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ As showing what can, be done by growing early potatoes -at the recent prices (says an exchange) a suburban resident oi Gisborne has cleared over '£50 from half an «x>re of tubers:' ' ■ 'By the last boat/ the ■' Tongariro, the Riverdale Company despatched 750 cases of cheese. The advance aJone on this was £2048, which is a record for the ccmpany. The supply of milk at the various factories is now steadily declining.- It has Kept up remarkably well; at Riverdale the supply at present is '700 gallons in excess of this time last year. The. splendid quality of the band instruments manufactured l>y John. Hawkes and ( Son has secured for them the warmest appreciation of 'bandsmen and the. standing .of the. bands which, f have equipped with these. models since' their introduction td the colony a few years ago speaks eloquently- of the 1 success they have achieved. The Dresden:- Piano Company •ire sole New Zealand agents. '• • In. connection with the sensational thunderstorm at Archill. =Aixcklanji,j t it is now , stated, that a woman t and two 'girls who >v«re. in Jhe house were ttiiowu on the floor -by the shock,: and in another house iiear>by a man was. pitched' off.; a rchair *on< which he- was. sitting. •In a^hird-houfce a, .woman had a knife in. her hand j when the "lightning ran up the knife' and blackened her face, but no serious 'injuries re suited. ■ ■ ' .; „ ". ■"'The boy- King, who accidentally<in play ■shot another boy dead witiij a! .revolver at .Auckland, was^add.redsed as follows by thto Coroner: "The jury are satisfied ''that the 'shooting was' ath •'accident,' but ybu'iwill go 'down -to thec 1 grave ;\witib/ the,- knowledge that this .boy!s iblood ; is pp^you. - on ly -way'.,l.!jcan' sugge^t-lfo^ yjpu to ato^e for .you have doW is** to caiution • other "pfeopfcs'"and ! particularly-^boys,- against us'ipg firearms! .You-iSee the awful result of fit/ Take • every opportunity to prevent other, people making the. same slip as yourself." ,' ' . ( l , '^.J *' ! '__' '.. Speaking, at Dunedinf 'the-, othfer night ..Sir Robert; Stout said' that; at the '"cap* ping"' ceremonies -■the-?- behaviour of the undergraduates .' of :. Auckland.-w as ,all that ■could be;:des.ixed,Hbut. ri^iei^me could. not ,be iaid,.of . th&,o£rtex .cenrags. Considering the attitude of many ' sfcudenits ' and • graduates- towarflsi'-fcliis -ceremony/, the . Senate -Will' now> be' called j on'to,?deter.<Tune- whe'»Aher.'Ot not^tJienpubUc function should be ©ontimaed. vl . These "capping" ceremonies cost a. 'considerable sum, which, might be ljetter-'- utilised l iri endowing' at' least two junior' scholarships. & .•rl- ■ .

A" fatal accident was* narrowly averted at Halcombe on- Tuesday.' As .'the/evening •taain was, approaching t;he .main. ..street crossing, a buggy <£>ntaining a Maori man. and /woman endeavored' to 'cross' the line, <hoV* Weeding *th» .engine's, The •WeStinghouse -"brakes f-^©.re^if -^©.re^i applied, s at '^emergency,' buk,fth^ F bn.ggy/ ( would un.doubtedlv have b£en iim |(jyer had not the horse shM "off-front thfc "ipjiroaicihin'g train, the engine' assistihg^hinv tot get clear by giving'-bin a gentle piisb/Hbefore it came • to- a standstills. The.. occupants , of . the buggy did not appeal? to fully, realise their ' marvellous, escape. On. finding their progress 'barred by "the pulled-xip train, they •'coolly turned round aad.tumed off-4-o try their • luck 'at another crossing further down the line.— ilanawafu Times. > 1 members of tli!* .'Federal , Tobacco Commission. ,'bave badsstQi!.lM<(en.-,to; some weird, criticisms of jl^e ,oolonial pigajr (says .a Sydney paper): ; Iri t Adelaide one witness said two of 'them would Mil an elephant. Another witness maWated how; /when he ijyaSf employed in a f factory, he, was, asked ,by -the Government ecspert *t9 make some .cigars , out o^, colonial Ijeaf, for submission to Mr Sydney Smith, "who wasOilinister 1 for Agriculture at the time. Besignedly, because he saw the hopelessness of doing himself justice, he set to work and fashioned a "weed." Ihe. expert asked him to smoke it, but he declined, explaining that he had & wife and four children, but as the .expeiivwas. a Civil servant, with full pension rights, it would be less of a hardship if he took the risk # The expert wasted a bots of matches on the cigar, arid then gave up any further attempt to keep it alight.

A very unusual "just.' cause and impediment" interfered with' the solemnisation of a wedding at North Sydney^ during the recent festive season,, and has -led to much disarrangement of well laid" plans. The bridegroom was a" passenger by a steamer from Queensland, timed to arrive shortly before the day. fixed for. the; ceremony, and which did arrive., Bufc< the. passengers were, unfortunately, detained by quarantine arrangements, and are still detained. The wedding day came and went, and the parties most concerned. passed as much of it as was posible exchanging compliments of the season by telephone. And the days that have passed since then have been as colorless as that day, while the wedding cake grows stale and friendly guests from a distance . have . had to return without assisting at the still deiayed function. The disappointed bridegfoom has not as yet .tmtteft indignant letters to the daily press, though his expressions in private are reported to have been most interesting.

The largest estate' of. a deceased person on which probate duty-was paid during the past month is that of the late Mr John Plimmer, of Wellington— £3s.934. Other estates (of .€IOO arid over) certified to by the Secretary for" Stamps, are as follows :T-Auckland-rEbenezer Baker, £1420; ' Thomas Stephenson, £2111. £2111 ; William ' Lamb, . £2045. Welling! ton— William Toogobcf,- £4958; James ,Mathieson,' £7134 j. ' James , Ainsworth, £1890;.-, Thomas Johnson,, £1037 ; Michael Keating; £2755; Charles H. Zabell, £1839. Canterbury— Mary, Jane Holmes, £1179; George Dawson,'< £3051; 'Ann" Thompson, £2363; Emily^W,. •Adandv:i£4293; fohn Nash, £1338f E^a^etlt .Griersoin^ £5261. Qtago—Johii Ewing, "£ll6o},J)avxd Guthrie Shepherd; - £81p3r J&w Sheehan ;£3o97;i>WiHw,m iEanibp4B4o6o?-i Eanibp4B4o6o?- i >Henry ; ;^4623L;. AmaDk^iiUM^sioni; )#43U;, Jane-.BeU fern, ,&0$ ; ; ;EJjzabeth WKffiamTffi%Mne, f £3lo2:^ Gi<a»rn£-John &#&, j^Q|6^s ,%; 3^irffiiKiT«l»kdbi,"i£l29B. Anthony ■ ' .\ 1 •■

The mail train- was twenty minutes late this morning owing to a slight mishap to the enoine .at, Midhirst. ,

The Raverdale Company paid out £2385 ior the December milk, which was considerably in excess of any previous amount.

Mr Deem, Stock Inspector, will be at Messrs Gillies, Fantham and Nalder's yards on the" Glover road to inoculate calves on Monday. Those owning calves in town should take this opportunity of having their animals attended to Mr Deem will be at Messrs Xolan, Tonks and Co.'s yards at a later date, so that there is no need for people on xhe South road to attend tomoirow.

Mr Allwopd Cooper, State Commissioner of Horticulture of California, has .advised the Government Biologist in regard periments made relative to the natural •enemy of • the codlin moth, that in the orchards ,-where the parasite- was distributed wonderful .progress has been made in decreasing tlie ravages of the moth, and in another season it is hoped to prevent much of the serious loss that now takes place. Preparations haVe been made for propagating a sufficient number of , the parasites to supply growers, .and arrangements will then \<e made to supply them to foreign countries as well should the experiments Of next season prove really successful ,! % Xo doubt," says Mr Kirk, "when the efficacy of the parasites has •been thoroughly proved, the New. Zealand Government will get seme for this colony, but at present the matter is still in its experimental stage." At eleven o'clock last night members of the South Canterbury Battalion Band set out for a little relaxation after the. strain of the contest, and filled the streets with music and discord. , They visited the hotels occupied by their various competing fellows, and cheered each in turn very heartily. After {jlaving a march instruments vrould ..break out into Salvation Army music ,jand an amusing din was created. There 'was nothing approaching disorder; it >was merely boisterous fun. How they -managed to keep oil their feet at. all after the strain of the contest- and the exertions, they put : .forth so late at night is a marvel. ' They all appeared to be. thoroughly fagged end, but still they played on as good-bumoredly as ever. A few minutes before midnight they did the ■spiral march at •the..intersection of High and Princes' streets, and when the clock struck ."l 2 "Auld Lang Syne" was played. But this did not end the proceedings, "as the mirth broke out- again, and tired music floated across the early morning air. A couple of stump speeches, very cleverly given' by a * Wanganui bandsman, served to vary the performance,, and. altogether the "night-out" was- one of the merriest that the spectators had enjoyed for a long time.

The . Ashburton Guardian, =says: — The most familiar phase^bf whaeh the 'narraijOT of '.'dreams dwells is in relation^ to horseracing, but -&'' dream 'story* which strays from that track of mind meandering was brought under the notice of Sergeant Fouhy, of the local police force, the other day, by a w'ell-ltnown" citizen/' He states that, whien away' from town -recently pn business, his wife went to. Orari to spejid a holiday with some friends. While there she had" a dream, in which she saw a theft committed from her home. The •washhouste 1 window* was) broken and^a man's arm thrust through,-. with the result that a washingt wringer - was abstracted. So vivid was the impression that she -related the incidents of Tier dream to the people of the house next morning, and immediately on her to her home in Ashburfon the lady repaired to the washhouse, where she' found that a. large stone had been rolled under the window, which. had been broekn, and. as the dream revealed, the wringer -had been -taken. "And your wife says it, was a man's ,arm? queried the sergeant. "Yes." replied the husband, "but she now thinks it a pity she did not see his fare." And the sergeant, from the point of view of clues, thought so too. > - v