LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 31 July 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The bowling season was only closed down_Jast Thursday. It is estimated by a recognised authority that Australia had exported 305,000 sovereigns to Germany during the fortnight ended July 15. The Coronation pictures arrive.: in Wellington to-night, and will be shown in Hawera on Thursday and Friday. Hayward'sEnterprises, Ltd., will give two free matinees so as to aTl<Tw""of every child in Hawera seeing the great pageant. In many parts of the Wairarapa farmers have suffered severe loss through black scour among hoggets. One farmer states that this winter he has lost 400 out of 2000, while another had had 500 die out of 2000. The first-named said that a few seasons ago he had been a much heavier loser, 600 out of his flock of 1000 dying. "Who would go dairying in the winter?" asked Mr J. R. Scott when the high prices ruling in the butter market were mentioned to him. "There is no poorer-paid man in the Dominion than the men who supply milk to the town, and those who go in for dairying in the winter," he added. "They are on a par with washerwomen and clerks, who are also very much underpaid." Extraordinary laxity was exhibited in connection with the organisation of the recent Auckland loan poll. Although only? about 1,500 voters exercised the franchise, it was 10.30 p.m. before the results were in. Even then they were incomplete, because the returning officers at one booth went home to bed, and forgot to send in their returns. Such a thing is believed to be without precedent. Mr A. H. Cockayne, Government Biologist, in a communication to the Wairarapa Age, states that he has not received' reports of extensive damage by the grass grub in the Wairarapa district, though he is aware that the grub exists in this and in most other districts. In Canterbury, he states, many of the pastures have been absolutely destroyed, and will require to be re-sown. This will be a serious matter for farmers, as the price of grass seed is very high just now. Some idea of the magnitude of the New Zealand invasion of London this year may be obtained from the following figures of callers at the High Commissioner's Office. Up to and including June 15 of last year the names recorded in the book totalled 777, while for the corresponding period of this year the figures reach 1512. Taking the months separately, the numbers are: January, 1910, 35; this year,- 66; February, 1910, 50; this year, 81; March, 1910, 64; this year, 100; April, 1910, 160; this year, 220; May, 1910, 310; this year, 725. The first half of June, 1910, 158; this' year, 320. The Rev. H. Mahon, formerly minister of the Tabernacle in Dunedin, who is now in Pennsylvania, writes to a friend in Christchurch suggesting that there ought to be an excellent opening for. New Zealand woollen goods in the United States. He relates that when he was in Indiana he entered his New Zealand rugs in the woollen section of an exhibi- . tion, the competition in which had been advertised as "open to the whole world." | The rugs took first prize, and although' some of the local competitors entered a protest, the award had to stand. He has no doubt that if displays of New Zealand goods were made in the States a useful trade would result. Derisive laughter rang through St. James' Hall,- Auckland, when Professor Mills mentioned ministers' associations as desirable members of the New Zealand Federated Union that he was discussing. "But," said the Professor, when the laughter subsided, ' 'do not forget that who is not for us is against us! The members of these associations are men with civic duties and responsibilities, whose welfare depends upon the common weal; their votes and influence will be cast somewhere, and I for one am willing to include in this federation anyone who renders any useful service to the State for which his fellows are willing to pay, provided he subscribes to our platform." Just as to what would happen in the ministers' associations in the event of the "one big strike" the lecturer did not say. In 1909 the Government guaranteed Id per pound clear to all exporters of approved varieties of apples. Owing to the partial failure of the Nelson shipment they had to pay between £300 and £400. This year a partial guarantee was given, the Government guaranteeing a penny per 1b so long as the total payment did not exceed £325. In this connection the various fruitgrowers' associations in the Dominion are being circularised by the Moiitere Fruitgrowers' Association to impress upon the Minister for Agriculture the importance and urgency of granting a. full guarantee of Id per lb on all apples exported for at least one more season. It is felt that it is not too much to ask the Government to come to the assistance of the fruit export trade, which is just in its infancy, and which promises, with careful handling, to assume very large proportions in the not distant future. The fortnightly meeting of the U.A.O.D. will take place to-nrgtit. A euchre party and dance in aid of the Church Building Fund is to be held at Okaiawa on Friday next. Freeman R. Jackson and Co. will conduct a stock sale at the Waverley Yards on Friday next. The dairy herd tand sundries of Mr W. Kehely, Awatuna East, will be sold by Mr Newton Sing on Wednesday August 9. The opening of the Mokoia Hall will be commemorated on Wednesday, August 9, with a plain and fancy dress ball. The best place for Jewellery: Sargent's, High Street. See our charming assortment of silverware.—Advt. Do you want help oh washing day? Then purchase an O.K. washing machine from E. Dixon and Co. Nazol is more alive than ever, because the experience of not hundreds, but thousands has proved its absolute merit in relieving and curing nasal catarrh, colds in the head, coughs, sore throats, bronchitis, and influenza. Sold everywhere. Is 6d bottle of 60 doses. * Look at W. Bt. and A. McGarry's list of properties for sale. Ring up or write to the address, El£ham. •

A householder who weighed his but-: ter last week," says the New Zealand Times, discovered that one "pound' was only 13|0z., or 2£oz. short. He writes, suggesting that with butter at an unusually high price this is a serious imposition, and he asks what protection is officially afforded to the public. Apparently the only remedy is for the individual to proceed against the supplier Short-weight bread is a statutory ofrence, but short-weight butter does not come under the same Act. The short weight m this particular instance, says the correspondent, represents 2£d in value, an amount too small to be sued