LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 233, 1 October 1912, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

A social in aid of funds for the annual school fete will be- held at Koromiko on Friday evening.

.A social is to be tendered at Renwick on Friday evening to the contractors for the Wairau bridge and their employees.

The vital statistics for last month are as follows •. In Blenheim, 3 marriages, 3 death, 11 births; outside Blenheim, 2 marriages, 3 deaths, and 6 births.

The net Customs returns for last month amounted t0'£1495 15s"9d, as compared with £1221 10s od for the same month last year. The beer duty received was £90, a similar amount being; received for September last .year.

'' At the winding-up meeting of .the Festival of Empire Sports Commititee held last night at Wellington it was decided to hand over the credit balance of £33 5s Id to the Olympic Games Committee. The local committee was then formally dissolved.

The Dunedin railway v officials have received instructions to lay in immediately as large supplies of..coal: as possible, in view of any emergency arising through the coal mines closing down if a general' strike is ordered.

The Havelock Co-operative Dairy Company have placed their season's output of -cheese with Messrs Brag Brothers, of London. The price is 6£d minimum, with the benefit of any rise in the market. This is slightly better than last year,.states our Havelock correspondent.

The Presbyterian concert given at the Seddon Town Hall last evening by Blenheim performers resulted in the funds of the Seddon Church being enhanced to the extent of several pounds The concert will be repeatS «* to-morrow night In tho Oddfellows' Hall. A drag will leave Blenheim at 6 o'clock.

Tlie honorary\ members' concert tb ba Rivon by the 10th Regimental Band in the Town Hall on Thursday should possess special interest from the fact that it will be the band's last appearance before its departure for the Duntdin contest. - The music to b«> rendered in Dunedin will be a feature of the programme.

In connection with the amalgamation poll, to, take place on the 16th inst., the polling-places for the voters of the Wairau Harbor Board district (the electors of the Borough of Blenheim and the ratepayers of the Omaka Koad district) wall be in the Borough Council Chambers, the Oddfellows' Hall, Renwick, and the Redwoodtown oundaj'-school.

The ladies of Auckland, headed by the Mayor**** (Mrs C. J. Parr), am displaying considerable enthusiasm in the project which has for its aim the collection of funds to provide trophies tor the encouragement of shootiri"■amongst the Senior Cadets of tho Dominion (states the Auckland Herald) <; Committees ,are bo;n<> formed in the various suburbs to" canvass tor f-unds.

Mr G. W. Deller, of Carterton, lia'd a pony valued at £25 killed by lightning the other day. A small right whale was caught on Friday last by the Love' party (says the P'icton Press). The Peranos also captured another humpback whale early in the week. Another right whale is reported to have been caught this morning by E. Berg's party. Again the prize was undersized. A Greymouth correspondent states that the Mayoress has written to Mrs Godley, in reply to the latter's appeal on behalf oi: the Senior Cadets, stat-ij ing that plenty of trophies and money , prizes will be available for the Senior Cadets as soon as they learn how to conduct themselves as soldiers, and not as spoilt school boys. At present it may be explained that the boys are ' aping the ways of some of their elders, anl are out on strike. "Canterbury is the only part of the i world wherts* piecework is carried on in the threshing fieid," -said a i workers' assessor at the Conciliation Council at Christchurch. He strongly condemned the system, and said that in other places the work was all paid by the hour, and the system worked admirably. Now a man might go on working for sevenpence halfpenny an hour under the piecework system—• that was not enough for a married man. A Wellington message says that the annual report of the Dominion Rowing Association shows a credit balance of £67 7s lid and the balance of assets over liabilities at £61 17s Id: The number of affiliated clubs is 55, with a membership of 2921. A legal opinion as to the professionalism of boatbuilders was obtained, to the effect that a boat-builder was not a professional unless he sold boats to a rowing club, as he would then be deriving pecuniary profit from the funds of the club. A Wellington telegram says that the Ruahine brought to New Zealand two Clydesdale stallions purchased in Britain by Kenneth Mclntosh, of Kaiapoi. One of these Clydesdales js a two-year-old, which is described by the newspaper Scottish Farmer as one of the best stallions ever exported from Britain. T;he other 'horse.-is Revolution, a three-year-old, which secured second prize at the English Royal Show at Doncastcr last' July. Both were landed fti excellent condition.

The quantity of rain that^fell during' last month- was greatly in excess of records • during September for several years. On 16 days 3.74 inches fell, and the following figures, supplied by Dr Innes, indicate.' the increase : September,, 1908, 1.58 inches ;' 1909, 1.63 inches; 1910, .55 inches; 1911, 2.25 inches. For the quarter ended yesterday 10.20 inches fell on 36 days, while figures for tthe same quarters other years are as follows:— 19U8, 7.21 inches on 26 days; 1909 v 9.35 inches on 42 days; 1910, 9.72 inches on 37 days; 1911, 11.76 inches on 34 days. At an informal meeting of the WairaU Harbor Board last night arrangements were made for. the holding of a poll of electors on the question of amalgamation; witli the Lower Wairau and Spring Creek River Boards. The referendum will be conducted separar tely from, but , simultaneously with, tlfe polls being conducted by the other two . local' bodies concerned. A proposal to deliver addresses at various centres of the district explanatory of the amalgamation scheme was agreed to. An itinerary was arranged which, will include Blenheim, Renwicktown, Upper- Spring Creek, Marlboroughtown, and Grovetown. .

v A deputation waited on the Prime Minister yesterday in reference to the question of working up trade in the exportation of stock, and to point out the present difficulties in the mat-, ter of importation. The deputation explained the difficulties experienced in bringing stock from. Engla nd to ' New Zealand, and in exporting stud , animals from the Dominion- to the South American and Falkland Islands, i owing to the 'excessive .freight charges, it was stated that several j wealthy owners of ranches in' South j America would shortly arrive in New I Zealand in search of stock, and it was i suggested that a. conference might be .! arranged .with a vioiy to obtaining j better term? from shipping companies. The Prime Minister promised j to go carefully into the matter, and ' to inquire whether the desired conference could be arranged.

The'annual meeting of the Mar]-1 borough Cricket Association was held on Saturday evening, the president CMr L. Griffiths) being in the'chair. A satisfactory report and balancewere recoived and adopted. The following officers were elected : —Patron, Mr J. Duncan; president, Mr L. Griffiths; delegate to 'New' Zealand Cricket Council, Mr W. Bottrell; auditor, Mr R. Wand en ; secretary and treasurer, Mr A. J. Fisher; vicepresident to New Zealand Cricket Council, Df Walker. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr W. Bottrell for his past services as delegate. It was decided to enter for the Hawke Cup competition. Permission was granted the Wairau Cricket Club to play the Melbourne Cricket Club on the occasion of its visit about Christmas. A sub-committee was set u^ to consider tho advisability of adoptng the iporccmtage system oF counting, and the secretary was1 instructed to write to the Nelson, Wairarapa, and Wellington associations' with reefrence to "rep." matches. Entr'es for the senior and.junior competition close on October 11th.

Two sandwich men, clothed in the orthodox prison clothes, stalked the main streets of Wellington Saturday (says The Dominion) bearing adver-tisement-boards with a reference to the Waihi miners, who preferred gaol to entering into a bond to keep the peace. The sight these men presented, instead of gaining sympathy with the misled' miners, only succeeded in creating disgust for the methods pursued by the Federation of Labor. "The regulation prison dress is a State uniform for those who have been condemned for an offence against the laws of the country," said avisitor from Australia, "and a private individual has no more light to wear it in the streets than .you or I have to wear a constable's uniform. I wonder, that the police or the Mayor does not interfere I"

Various speculation are rife as to when the session will conclude (says the N.Z. Times). One quidnunc estimated that the session would be over on Friday, October 25th§ but such \ speculations are not to be taken too .seriously. "We have a certain amount lof work which must be done," remarked the Prime Minister to a reporter, "and it will depend upon the progress made as to when the session | will end." The Land Bill would hay* |to'lbe put through this session. No accurate forecast of the date of prorogation, can therefore be made until a. quantity of the work is dis- ■ posed of. Neither side, it is\ under- , stqd, has any desire to prolong the session.

Hop growers in the Nelson district will be interested in a reference to the hop trade in the annual report of the High Commissioner.' The report says: ''The year 1912 opened with good -trade in hops, and with prices steadily advancing. The exceptional summer experienced last year, while ■restricting the of the English crop, had a very beneficial effect on the quality. - There has, therefore,been a keen demand amongst brewers to secure parcels, %nd stocks in, "growers' hands have been reduced to a very small compass. At the: close of the official year English hops were selling at £13 per cwt., California» fetching about £12, or about 60 per cent, above the rates ruling;;twelv« months previously. There is every prospect of good bußiness at higk; prices should New Zealand growers decide to make shipments to the English .market during the present season."

No cold is "NAZOL" proof.—Advt. "We have come to the conclusion that there is nothing so illogical in the world as man/ remarked Miss McNeil, general secretary of thY Y.W.C.A., to a Ciiristchurch reporter, in discussing incidents in connection with the building fund campaign. "One man /efiisea to contribute because his wife could Tiot secure a cook, though she had telephoned the association several times for one. We can hardly see what bearing that has upon, the association, as ■we don't manufacture girls. Then there was a-man who said that he thought'the parents should take the responsibility, and' that the work should be done in th« homes. He would not do anything to relieve the parents of their responsibilities. The fact that the parents do not look after the girls is a very obyioiijs one in many eases, and the association has to look after them. we ai-o not dealing with ideal conditions. There was also a man who had no patience with the association for looking after immigrant girls, as he considered, that the Government should do that., The collectors have had a large experience of tho men who cannot make up their mice!' . oven in the ca.se of the sixth call. The 'heads, of several firms ha to boon out everr time, though we have called numbers ol times. We can hardly understand t fiow the business can conduct itself. As a whole the work is very interesting and positively exciting."

A correspondent writes as follows to the editor of the Wellington Post •' — iV^ t |at:. great institution,' the House of Parliament, last night and was surprised to see the rows of i empty seats on the Liberal side of the House. Where are these absent members? And what are they doing that they should neglect their Parliamentary duties at such a' time as this when all their united efforts are required m order to strengthen their own party ? It seems to me that i there should be some way of letting | each electorate know - how diligently I or .otherwise a member attends to his ; Parliamentary duties by occupying his j seat and taking an active and intellij sent interest in the debates before j *he L House. Qn making inquiries I j nnd that numbers of members. Southern ones particularly, have.paid -v more than one- visit to their homes during this session, to say nothing of other little jaunts into the countryWhat would become of the work of Parliament if all did likewise and why should they be allowed to do what all . cannot do? To my mind it evidences a verr poor spirit, that of making' the willing horse shoulder the burden, and the proper course for these men to take is to attend to their duties or resign." /

HOW TO KEEP WELL. If people would take less food, ami drink more water, there would li<* loss rheumatism, gout, eczema, and •jienralgia. The most frequent cause-of thesr, deranpements r's'an excess of nutritiv*' materinls, the bipod' being sur-clwi-ged1 with 'salts. To effect a euro, step the caus<». Drink more water, and o;vt less meat and concentrated foods. This shut*. off tho supply of urates in the blood. JEJv*mi better tlnn r>J«un wntet* is W-w-Rongoa Natural Mineral Water. Wai-1 lon goa is not only :i deh'srhtfuT' beverage, but a reliable solvent of uri« acid.