LOCAL AND GENERAL

Northland Age, Volume 14, Issue 44, 12 July 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The at’eution of all our readers is especially called to the splendid pro gramme to bi staged next month b the “Juvenile Costume Comedy Company” in every centre in the County. Proceeds entirely in aid of the Navy League Fund. See advertisement on page 7. A rather remarkable deal in sheep ha; been made in the Masterton district. A settler purchased a line of over 1,000 at a clearing sale at 26/- per head. Thes: were sold three times on the road withi i a week, the last buyer paying 35/- pe head for them. All our readers will be pleased to learn that Rifleman Arthur J. Berghan of Oruru has been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field at the Battle o Messines. Rifleman Berghan is a son o Mrs Pepi of Orouaiti and was for several years previous to his departure in charge of Mr P. Lambly’s farm at Oruru. Good luck to him. On reading in the “Rotorua Chronicle” that it was intended to apply the provisions of the Military Service Act to all Maoris, Kiwi Amohau, a leading chief of the Arawas, sent the following telegram to the Hon. Sir James Allen, Minister of Defence:—“Congratulations, Arawas believe in one law for Pakehas and Maoris in the defence of the Empire. Tena koutou.” There were 106,536 acres of land opened for settlement by the Crown Lands Department during June. Most of the sections are in the Auckland Lands District, where the areas range from 73 acres to 1468 acres, and the rentals are low. There are also a few sections situated in Hawke’s Bay’ Wellington, Canterbun, Otago, and Southland Land’s District:. In nearly all cases the land is described as suitable for discharged soldiers. The death of Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Bedlington, who was bom at Paihia, Bay of Islands, nearly ninety years ago, has just occurred at Whangarei. Mrs Bedlington was the oldest New Zealand-borr, having been born on October 15, iß2fk She was the eldest of twelve children of the late Mr Gilbert Mair, who was one of the earliest Bay of Islands settlers, and who settled permanently in Whangarei near the end of 1842. Having the distinction of being the first white child born in the Bay of Islands settlement, and probably in the whole of the Dominion, Mrs Bedlington was able to call up many a personal reminiscences of the very early days when New Zealand first became a colony of the Empire. When a young girl of eleven years she was present at the landing of Captain Hobson, the first Governor of New Zealand, and she was with her parents to witness the signing of the famous Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Mrs Bedlington also carried a distinct recollection of the arrival in the Northern settlement of Bishop Selwyn, the first missionary bishop in this country,

The ladies of Kaitaia by their sale of ■ work, produce etc., in the Library last I week, raised the sum of £ls lOs, Cook Bros,, arc having a very satisfactory whaling season at their WhanF gamunni Station this year. Skating in the Kaitaia Agricultural Hall every Tuesday and Friday evening 7 30. p. m. A charge of 6d, a head will be made. Mr Early of Early Bros., Wellington, is installiug Wizard Lightning plants in the Post Office and Bank of New Zealand Kaitaia. The usual morning service at Kaitaia Church will on Sunday morning next take the form of a Memorial Service to the late Constable Scfton. The Pacific Cable Board has notified that owing to congestion of traffic deferred and week end rates to America and Canada arc suspended—Deferred and E. F. M. traffic to United Kingdom accepted as usual. A Postcard received by the Editor I from our one and only Charlie Fryer reports that sport as well and in good fettle at Codford Camp, England, although by now he has probably introduced himself to Mr Bosche. The Postal Authorities advise that commencing with the installments due on Ist August. Old age, widows and war pensions, may be paid on any date from the 23rd, of the month preceding the due date both days inclussive. The work of construction of the new saleyards for the Farmers, Co-op., is proceeding at the top of the Police Station Hill, Kaitaia, as the earth is being cleared away down to the sandstone, mud should fc not be a trouble which should be appreciated by stock owners. dizzy limit —The Secretary for the Navy League Art Union recently ived with an application for tickets Pawn ticket for a pound on a Duneden W Pawnshop for a gold wristlet watch which K had been pledged last month, we are glad to see “Uncle” is assisting the cause. Messrs E. Saunders, F. Holder, L. Bell, D. Lewis and E. J. Samuel, members of the special Kaitaia wheat growers Committee met on Monday and it was resolved that, owing to the exceptionally unfavourable climatic conditions and the fact that the urgent need for wheat supplies was not so pressing owing to supplies obtained from Australia, the proposed extensive wheat growing operations need not be proceeded with. The “Wairarapa Age,” in illustrating the profits to be obtained from dairying, t ' quotes one or two striking returns. A farmer in the Forty Mile Bush, on a property of sixty-four acres, ran fifty-five cows. His milk cheque for the season just closed amounted to £l,lOO or about £2O per cow. Another farmer at Nireaha ran twenty cows on Forty-eight acres and his milk cheque was £440. A busi- * ness man in Carterton kept five cows on ten acres of land, and doing the milking himself night and morning, his return from the cheese factory was £lO3. * The whole of the butter exported in a normal way from New Zealand in a year weighs between 15,000 and 16,000 tons. Last year over 50 ships left New Zealand carrying refrigerated cargo. Thus, says Mr William Goodfellow, managing director of the Waikato Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd, the whole butter output of the Dominion could be sent in a couple of ships. The storage at the present time is - 260,000 boxes. For inland consumption we shall require 60,000 boxes, leaving n 200,000 boxes, or 5000 tons available for export and requiring little over half a ship to carry it. At the present time there is £10,000,000 worth of refrigerated * stores in New Zealand awaiting shipment. X Motor spirit is already sufficiently dear in New Zealand, but we are threatened with alarming developments due to the military activity of the United States. It is asserted that the entrance oftheU.S. into the war will lead to heavy additional demands upon the already depleted pet- € roleum supplies. The requirements of the U. s. Government will be very great, as large numbers of motor boats for coast defence and submarine chasing arc being put into commission. A scarcity of % skilled labor is also looked for in the United States, as at least ioo.ooo highly trained mechanics will be required in connection with the war service; 3000 aeroplanes are to be put into service as soon as possible, and 15,000 mechanics will be required to look after them. There will also be 40,000 motor waggons for transport purposes, besides many thousands of touring cars which will have to be attended to when the American army fakes the field. ,

Corporal Frederick C. Urwin son of Mr Frank Urwin of Hohoura is reported wounded in action. The proportion of men passed as fit at the recent Medical Examination in this County was very low. Photos demonstrating the working of the Agrimotor ploughing in Wilkinson’s Paddock can be seen at Nortliwoods—a good selection. As a result of the local special effort on behalf of the Y. M. C. A. Funds the Secretary of the Patriotic Committee at Kaitaia has forwarded a cheque for £159 7s. 6d. to Auckland this week. Mr F. W. Goodhue has been appointed a member of the Bay of Islands Licensing Bench in place of Mr G. 'Wilkinson, resigned. Mr Goodhue took his scat at the Licensing Committee meeting on Wednesday. A largely attended public meeting was held at Kaikohe last Thursday night to consider the Alien question. A petition was drawn up amongst other things asking the Government to conscript the enemy Aliens in the country for Military or civil service, Judging from recent casualty list the Maori Contingents have been in a hot corner lately we regret to learn that Sergeant J. Manuel son of Manuera Waata has been killed in action. The following have also been wounded P. Ratimena (Waihopo) R. A. Subritzky (Awanui) At last week’s stock sales in the North (Mangawhare) competion was quite keen, and prices a distinct advance on those of the last few sales. The rise indeed was quite unexpected. Some outside buyers were operating and this no doubt affect the barometer. On Friday, July 27, a Basket Social will be held at Victoria Valley in Trigg’s Hall in aid jointly of the Y.M.C.A. Trench Fund and the Mangonui Hospital. Dancing at 8 p.m. Music by Mr Carl Christensen. Secretary Mr H. H. Thompson. Everything lovely. Cause speaks for itself. Look out for advertisement next week. The Hokianga Chamber of Commerce willineet this week to consult the National Efficiency Trustees in regard to (1) Procuring land in Hokianga for returned soldiers: (2) The conditions of hardship and the production of primary products in connection with calling up the Second Division: (3) The propriation of naturalised enemy Aliens securing land, and other business. Owing to misleading reports among a few an impression may exist that Mr Frank Donaldson appealed using his trade as an excuse. This is quite contrary to fact, although blacksmiths can ill be spared in this district. Mr Donaldson definitely refused to appeal and it was decided in the public interest to appeal for him the resolution was carried at a public meeting in Kaitaia at which the riding member Mr Holder presided. The Ford farm tractors, which have been working experimentally in England, have attracted much attention, both from farmers and motorists. The machine is extremely simple in construction, the engine being of the usual Ford type, with cylinders 102 x 127 mm., developing about 25 h. p. The chief departure from Ford practice is in the transmission, which is by means of a plate clutch, spur gears, and a worm drive. The tractor is eight feet long by 4ft 6in high, and has a wheel base of sft 6 ins. It drags behind it a two-furrow plough, and in the experiments made at the Old Trafford Park, Manchester, it proved itself capable of ploughing eight acres of heavy land in 24 hours. Against this a pair of horses, on the same land, could only plough one acre in the course of a working day. The final classification of the Second Division of the reserve was notified in the foimofa “Gazette Extroardinary” last week. The division is divided into six classes, according to the number of children, as previously announced, with the important addition of the phrase “for the time being.” In other words, provision is made for altering the classification of a reservist in accordance with any increase in the number of his children or depletion by death. The “Gazette” also defines the position of a reservist in relation to illegitimate children, and directs that any reservist who has lost a son as a result of service in the naval or military forces during the present war shall have that son counted as if he were still living. A further “Gazette Extraordinary” issued at the same time makes it compulsory for Second Division reservists to notify any change in their family. The object of this is to enable the Government statistician to determine the classes to which the reservists belong for the time being.