LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 21 February 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It has been decided by headquarters to abandon for the present the intention of forming a field troop of engineers in each centre. An engineer company, however, will be brought up to full establishment in eaclx district..

An adjourned meeting of creditors of the bankrupt estate of Mr R. Elliott will be held at the office of the Official Assignee, Customs Buildings, Customs Street, Auckland, on Friday next, at 11 a.m.

In mentioning the ladies and gentlemen who acted as judges at the Hukerenui Show a typographical error made it appear that Mrs Porter had been one of the personnel who assessed the entries in the cooking, dairy produce, and preserves Ihe name should have been Mr Porter, whose decisions were restricted to the dairy produce entries.

According to the latest returns o the Public Works Department ther are 5440 artisans and laborers employ ed on co-operative works in the Dom inion. Of these 232 are engaged or ihe railway extension to Kawkawa. 215 on the Kawakawa-Hokianga sec tion, and 339 on the North Auckland main trunk railway construction works. Limestone Island Wharf was the scene of a happy but a tired group of children on Saturday evening, when the launch Eva returned with the pupils of the Limestone Island school from Aubrey's Bay. A very pleasant day was passed at this pretty picnic resort in racing, bathing and quiet walks in the bush. Mr C. Smith, the teacher, was in charge.

On behalf of the matron of the Hospital, and the manager of the Cottage Home, the "Advocate" is requested to thank the members of the Presbyterian Church for the donations of fruit and vegetables received, which were contributed to the Harvest Festival held last Sunday. Mr Harker also wishes to thank Mr S. McMahon for vegetables supplied throughout the season.

While returning from school at Kamo last Thursday several of the scholars commenced fighting. Th; object of the attack of the majority of the boys was a 10-year-old lad named Frank Rumble. The unfortunate lad suffered most severely under the cruel bundling of his companions, and his face and body was greatly bruised and lacerated. Whether in continuation of their brutal treatment, or in repent-i-Tce of their former behavior, the boys intended to cleanse the begrimed face and body of their victim, it is hard to tay, but a number of them took Rumble and placed him bodily into a horso trough. Rumble, who has been physically weak from a very early age, took cold through the immersion, and fontracted pneumonia. He now lies in a critical condition at his home in Kamo, and his life is despaired of.

Reporting in its official journal upon the experiment, inaugurated by Mr Sedgwick, of bringing out boys from London and Liverpool to be trained in farming in this Dominion, the Labor Department states that even al this early stage the letters received from the farmers on the whole report ■very favorably upon the general appearance and willingness of the boys selected for them; but their adaptability for the life yet remains to be proved. The sympathetic co-operation ol the farmers concerned is highly commendable, and it rests mainly with ihe boys themselves to prove whether They have the necessary qualities to make the experiment successful. Twenty-two of the boys were sent to rdaees in the South Island, and iwenty-°ight to th« North island, and, although Inn" distances had to be foverpd by both steamer and rp.ilwa.v. c?c!inv'nsr in somo p.asps from two t" n»ra i; rinvo" (■••tivpib'nar. vbolo of th» Hnvs r of »"h°d +hMr rpsnertlvp r lo <?liiaHrmc; without hitch and without undue delay.

The Attorney-General with Mrs Finlay and son, left after lunch to-day for Waipu.

A man, charged with boarding a train whilst in motion, was fined 5s ond 7s costs, before Mr T. Scott-Smith, S.M., at the local Court this morning.

All the living; victims of the recent appalling fire at Ponsonby are reported to be progressing satisfactorily, except Mrs Porteous, whose condition is Kill serious.

The political fight has commenced in earnest, and Mr F. Mander, M.P., has decided to deliver a political address in reply to Dr. Findlay in the Theatre Royal on the evening of Wedjresday, March Ist,

"Butterfly Teas" already commanc a large sale in the North; but to fur-« ther introduce them to farmers and settlers Messrs Brown Barrett and Co have inserted an advertisement in the "Advocate" which should be read by all.

Operations will be commenced tomorrow in connection with the addi 7 tions to the Native school at Tekahiwai. The timber and necessary accessories were shipped to-day. Mr U Simmonds, builder for the Educatioi Department, is in charge of the work.

Interviewed yesterday, the Hon. R, McKenzie said it would not be long before the start of the Gisborne end of the East Coast main trunk railway, once the survey was completed. The first twenty miles from Gisborne U easy country. The Minister said-that he had not yet inspected the Napier end, but he hopes to do so early next month.

A rumor has been cast afloat that Dr. Findlay has definitely decided "to become a candidate for the Marsden electorate. The "Advocate" has been asked to state that, although the At-torney-General has been requested to rtand, he will not decide until- after hfe leturn from hisvisit to, England. Altogether Dr. Findlay has been asked to contest elections in five constituencies, and it is more than probable that he will be a candidate for a seat in the Lower House at the end of the year.

Acting under i»structions firom headquarters Mr Speedy, Noxious Weed Inspector, proceeded against a farmer this morning at the Court, for failing to clear his land of noxious weeds. The case had been brought more or less as a test case and to let the public know that the Department had forwarded instructions to proceed against all persons similarly culpable. As Mr Speedy did not press for a heavy fine, the farmer was merely fined the minimum 10s and costs, although he laid himself open to a fine nqt exceeding £20.

Mr A. Dobson will make his bow to the public of Whangarei to-night in,. the first concert promoted and organised by him. The programme will be contributed to very' largely by his pupils, and the Philharmonic Society, and several leading soloists of tne town will fill in the balance of the items. Mr Dobson is well known as an exceptionally talented musician, and the high calibre of his performance on the piano and organ has oiren been evidenced. If he is able to impart anything approaching a semblance of his knowledge and skill to Ills* pupils, jthey will be well repaid, and the patrons of to-night's concert should be treated to some very good music.

In answering the emphatic denunciations of the Government which*had been made by the leader pf the Opposition, Dr. Findlay, last evening, told his audience the completion of the story which Mr Massey had given to nis audience at one of the Northern towns. Mr Massey had told - a story about a friend of his who had gone for a trip to hell (the future home of oil lawyers and most politicians, added Dr. Findlay), and had discovered in the course of his ramblings in the hot regions a wall on which, a number of bodies were pegged up. On asking ihe caretaker why the bodies were thus preserved, the tourist was informed that they were too green to burn yet as they were those of persons formerly of New Zealand who had voted for the Ward administration. • Dr. Findlay assured his audience that Mr Massey had not completed the storyThe friend of Mr Massey thereupon asked where there were any more friends of the Opposition. "Oh," said the guide, "you have come to the wrong department. This is the fire department. Mr Massey's friends are in the rot department, where they can follow their dryrot policy to its ultimate end."