COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10034, 22 January 1896, Page 6

COUNTRY NEWS.

[raOM OUR own CORRESPOND, 1 Hamilton, t„ J, I Mr. W. Booth met with a nasty • '■■ while cattle hunting at Pukete, on?"'' 1 1 last, his horse falling, throwing 'him , , S : : and rolling over him and crushing l ! - badly; no bones fortunately, how if " ''! i broken. He managed to drive into » ' *'" 8 on Saturday, but could only ee V 1 crutches. y Bet ab °»> 0 , 1 Both Mr. W. J. Hunter and McNl„ , 1 Co., announce the holding of their '"1 I sheep fairs, the former for the sth p a Ul ' ait ii 1 when he will offer 20,000 ewes w «i," ! »l f fat sheep. Messrs. McNicol and ?- et ' »nj I hold their annual sheen fair on w ,' »il * and Thursday, the 12th and 13th jgH, when a large number of sheen »>. I offered. v "111, The president of the Waikato F Club has received a letter from Mr stating that he was in daily expectatw ? ' M ' able to submit definite information fr" 1 Home correspondents as to th eiiu** inent of the sugar beet industry u * The date fixed for taking the c'ens,,, ,i, Colony, which was fixed for Monday th •''' of April, has been altered to Sun.Uv *• I 12th of April, Easter Sunday faiUne 3 sth April. D l m There was a slight shock of earthn,, i last night, at a quarter to eight o'clock ,- cient, however, to make the swinging i»I in two adjacent rooms swing heavily ll The meeting called for last err'nin* take steps for carrying out the Harm]/ aquatic sports, fell through for want of one being found to interest themselves it,'."'' matter. ' '•' The following tenders for the erection three additional rooms to Mr. R, \\ d '• bouse, were dealt with by Mr. T. H \\i»' -Thos. Evans, £107 (accepted); \v ' ; £111; Howard, £120; Lord, £153 if architect's estimate was £110. l! Tappiri, Tuesday The cricket match between the T»» • and Hamilton Clubs, which was t., h, been held at Hamilton to-morrow, \Vj' day, has at the request of the Taupirj r. „', been postponed. It will probiblv be held? the 29th iust. ' 4I

WHATAWHATA, Tuesday An extraordinary vacancy having o;cort ( i on the Newcastle Highway Board. throj the resignation of Mr. Corbett, notice ',!', been given that an election to fill it will & l place on Friday, the 31st inst., and uor»j. nations will be received by the returniti officer not later than the 2.5 th inst. "'

Kihikihi, Tuesday m Only 11,000 rabbit skins weie brouj. |ll forward by the natives last Wednesday/,! ||| against over 20,000 the preceding inoa'tj, £•■ Wheat harvest lias already commenced j« H this district, Mr. Kay, of Pateraugi, has in'.. Pi cut his crop, and it appears to be a || M « W& one, probably running to 40 bushels per»«' 11| and appears to be remarkably free from rust' I'fi which lias, however, made its appearance i, Wa some parts of the district. The continusl HI dropping of rain, however, is a, h_ IjSsj hindrance to the farmer day after day, «ty W one single exception during the last ten day, m there having been more or less rain, ftj §)§ cannot, however, have it all as we wbli, ||| what is bad for the harvest, is good for th ( Pi turnips and potatoes, and the grass nerei %M looked bo luxuriant as it does now. A lam Iff area of turnips is going in this season, M ff| upon this crop the farmer now mainly depend if for his winter food supply. The match between our cricket club an! |P an eleven of the Polo club, which was p|»y«| pi here on Thursday last, resulted in a win 0! m the cricket club by an innings and a leu |§ runs. B;'j

Cambridge, Tuesday. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt hen at fifteen minutes to eight last evening, '[lit vibrations continued for several seconds.

DARGAVILLE. I A correspondent writes as follow.! : -Con,[. siderable surprise has been felt here at the i paragraph that appeared in the last issue g";:. the Auckland Weekly News, uuder th« I heading of" Northern Wairoa." The obvionl 1 intention of your correspondent in writing» f was to depreciate the value of property" u | this township. The paragraph complained o: : f is as fallows:—" The ridiculously high prica '. fi asked for sections in the Dargaville township, § and the conditions imposed, are not likely tt | be accepted by buyers." Upon reading it, | made it my business to. inquire into tin f matter, and found that the rentals asked « | upset prices for business sites in the mail 1 thoroughfares of Dargaville, which is » | mittedly the most prosperous town of its »> & in the colony, are exceedingly low, rangir; f from 2s 6d per week to 5s per week fori I feet frontages, according to site; ull in some cases even lower rates h»n § been accepted. There are no condition I imposed as to the class of buildings to ii I erected, and no restrictions as to the biui-1 ness that may be engaged in; except that no 1 more hotels or publichouses will be allowed, I as the two fine hotels already here are con' I 1 sidered sufficient for many years to com I[j There is not an empty house that I know ci | at present in Dargaville, and there is i | continuous demand for more shops ani I cottages by persons who have not enoueh I capital to build for themselves. The de- , | posits in the Dargaville Post Office Saving '; Bank, and the money order business done % here as published in the Gazette, have i« I years past been more than double the | amount of those in any other country tour ? ; in New Zealand of the same size. IV cm:. I mous kauri forests of the Kaihu Vallev, ami | the almost inexhaustible gnmfields, ensure | profitable employment for at least a thousand I men for & generation to come, and the a- I tensive tract of splendid laud stretcbinj 1 from Kaihu to Hokianea, which is now l>tin> .' [ settled upon and roaded, gives an ampit $ guarantee of permanent prosperity to '■'\ I this town. The Wairoa river at Direivilli f< is over half-a-mile wide, and vessels of i | | thousand tons have been loaded at if |l wharves. The river is uavigahle for .1: jf miles above and for 40 miles below the town, 8 and county roads radiate from it in every i$ direction. The Kaihu Valley R lilivav,which f* is now doing a large and profitable trade, hit its principal terminus in Dargaville, and con- ] , nects it with the finest tract of Crown land: : ■ north of Auckland. Business here in if :£ branches is exceedingly brisk, indeed it hu ! ' been the best summer the, local tradespeop!s '' h ave had for many years. %