GENERAL NEWS.

Mataura Ensign, 28 January 1911, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

The result oi the ballot. for representatives to the Grand' Lodge of Oddfellows of New Zealand from Southland lodges in the return of Bros. J. McLauchlan (Wyndham), James Blatc-h fClifden) and Goo. T. Walker (Bluff). The Grand Lodge will meet in Palmerston North in March. Robbing a beehive would, one would have imagined, have been somewhat too hazardous a venture for even the most habitually dishonest human, but 'tis not so. From the 'Hawke's Bay Tribune' we learn that the local sneak thief does not confine his operations to poultry yards and fruit farms. Quite recently an apiary not far from Hastings was raided 011 different occasions, and the honey extracted from several of the hives. The culprit is certainly not a novice at the and goes about his wrong-doing-, m quite a systematic style. Pieces ot honeycomb have been found oil the roadside in the vicinity oi' the apiary, and it is alleged that in one instance a swarm of bees followed the thisf and settled on the gate at the entrance to his house. Speaking at New Plymouth'last evening the Prime Minister claimed that there had never been a Government which had done so much for the fanners as the Government which was at present in power in New Zealand. After dealing with the five million loan and finance generally he reminded the audience that every year the Government was asked to expend millions more than could possibly be found. He was quite against borrowing money that was not necessary and was always i''»r ke< ping the amount down. All along lie had been one to judge by results. For instance, there was this interesting tact in connection with the .State Advances Departments: that out of altogether £10,000,()()() lent only tf u or so at the I very most bad bad to be written off some particular account. And yet it was not so very long ago that he had j the greatest trouble to get the money : which was required to start these Departments. j At Friday's meeting of the Southland' j Education Board the Technical Committee reported that the Kducatiou Department had made grants of £lsl and £l:>7 for the equipment of the manual training centres at Invereargill and Gore respectively ; that the question of the advisableuess <:1 conducting col-i legiate classes at Gore during the pre-! sent year had been held over for fur-' ther consideration ; that the resolution inviting applications for the. positi m of art master be rescinded, and that Mr Dickson be offered the appointment as art instructor at a salary of £250 per annum ; aud that the Gore High School Board be advised that, if found to be practicable, the services of the art instructor at Invereargill would be available for giving instruction in art at Gore High School. The committee recommended (in the December report) that the sum of £25 be paid to the technical account as a subsidy towards the cost of collegiate classes (for training teachers) at Invereargill and Gore.

A favorite horse belonging to a resident of Cuba street, Palmerston, has a penchant for dantics of a somewhat mixed character, says the 'Manawatu Standard.' The other afternoon, for instance, he was tried with an apple, which he evidently relished, then a tried sole, hones and a!l_ then another apple, a couple of lettuces, followed by ;< sponge roll and a treacle pasty. After this little dessert he went back to his feed of chaff and oats. The same animal not long ago licked up a tempting morsel intended for a dog, on which "rough on rats" figured largely. The Minister for Agriculture (Hon. 'l'. Mackenzie) arrived in Dcnedin from the North by the second express 011 Friday night. In reply to a question by a reporter he said he had received an invitation to attend the lioval Show at Norwich, but owing to the work before him he could not sic his way to accept it. With reference to the quest ion of the admission of New Zealand frozen meat to Continenia! markets Mr Mackenzie said that he had been studying; very closely the whole question of the exportation of produce, especially frozen meat, to F.ng. land, America, Vancouver and the Continent for some time, and he hoped to be able to say something about he mutter before long. At the monthly meeting of the Geraldine County Council two applications were received from road hoards for further grants for the purchase of birds' heads and eggs. During the discussion Mr B. R. Macdonald said that caterpillars were very bad, and he wondered if farmers would blame the Council for killing off the birds. The chairman said that the pest was not nearly so bad as it was in the early days. He had seen armies of caterpillars crossing paddocks in the Mackenzie Country, sweeping everything before them. One member observed that the birds preferred grain to caterpillars.