COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10117, 28 April 1896, Page 6

COUNTRY NEWS.

[from OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.] Hamilton, Monday. There was a full sale of cattle at the Borough Yards on Thursday. Beef was in fair demand, and sold at a slight advance on previous prices, and dairy cows, if of good quality and near profit, found a ready sale, but store cattle were dull of sale and many were passed. Pigs, especially hogs, fit for bacon oaring, were jn - good supply, and prices ranged fully 2s' a head in advance of previous rates. A draft of horses from the Auckland Tram Company, were well competed for. The following were the prices obtained for stock:— Weaned calves, 10s to 153; dairy cows, near profit, £4 to £5 103; spring cai vers, £3 to £3155; Shorthorn bulls, £2 7s Cd to £3 10s; fat steers, £5 8s to £5 17s; fat cows, £4 5s to £ss; fat heifers, £2 10s; empty cows, a large number were yarded, and realised from £2 to £3 7s ; two year old steers, poor, £2; good, £2155; eight months old heifers, 18s to 225: ditto steers, £2; fat ewes, 63 6d to 7s 3d; fat lambs, 6s lid to 7s 3d ; store ewes, 3s 4d to 4s 6d. . • There was a large attendance at the funeral of the late Mr. John Parr on Saturday morning, which took, place at noon. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev, J. J. Mather. Mr. Parr was an old resident of the borough,- and formerly held the office of mayor and sat for several terms in the Borough Council, but for the last few years had been incapacitated from taking an active part in public life through a painful and lingering illness. He leaves a family of three sons and a wife, who have the sincere sympathy of the people of Hamilton in their bereavement. , , » The services at the Wesleyan Church, yesterday, were undertaken by the Rev. F. B. Oldham, formerly of Mew Britain, and the collections devoted, to the Brunner Relief Fund. ' * : Messrs. E. Allen and M. Dillon have been returned unopposed as members of the Pukekura Road Roard, and Messrs. Clow and E. C. Shepherd for the Newcastle Board. ',"': Ohaupo, Monday. Mr. W. J. Hunter will offer for sale, at the Ohaupo Yards, on Wednesday, the 29th in-itant, a special line of 100 well-bred Shorthorn bullocks, beef and nearly beef, the property of Mr. E. B. Walker, of Moanavale, and also 700 Lincoln two-tooth • wethers. Both sheep and cattle have been born and bred on the Moanavale estate, and are of very choice quality. - \- ' . . Ngaruawahia, Monday. The Newcastle Road Board have received and dealt with the' following tenders for road works:—No. 1 contract: Maimer's road, Charles E. Pope, 2s 8d per chain; F. Perkins, Is 8d; ; J. H. Charleston, Is 6d; .T. P. Magner, iunr., Is 6d ; A. Alexander, Is s.jd; W. Bycroft (accepted), .Is 3d. No. 2 contract, clearing Salmon's Hill: E. 3xelby, 9d per chair A. Alexander, 2s 3d; J. H. Charleston, 2s ; H. J. Scott, Is (accepted), jjv $ /•.'-. "Ji; '.'. '•'.'■■' '/'.; % Cambridge, Monday. ?* Very largely attended services, both morning and evening, in connection with the anniversary of St. Paul's Wesleyan Church, Cambridge, were held yesterday, being conducted by the Rev.- L. Hudson. Miss Day, of Otahuhu, sang at both- services, assisted by the Auckland visitors who came up on the previous day to assist at the Chrysanthemum Show. ~ ',-.•'.,.. w..-,; -,:•'•.-.. -•:. '%.-"-,. ;

.-'..' - ,}j: > >/ Huntly,- Monday. - .."■ The monthly meeting of the Huntly Road Board was held last Saturday, all the mambers being present. The following correspondence was dealt withßequest for a polling booth at Matahura Gorge, ' trorri - R. D. Matehett 5 letter ' received., ; Geraghty and Co. wrote re contract No. 5, ntill unfinished. The .engineer's report on me was also read. Clerk : instructed to give ;■ the contractors three days' notice of the Board's intention to take the; work of their hands and com" plnte < it at , their (the contractors) cost, as provided in terms of S specification, the engineer to be advised of the action of the Board. An extension of time was granted to Messrs. Pettigrew and Co. in which to complete their . contract. ;% A circular was■ received from the Land and Income Tax Department containing explicit instructions all f to the proper ' pro ceedings tcbe taken by. local bodies in levying a rate. -The Hon. ,A,. .T. Cadman wrote stating-, that application {or grant of £35 tor

road-making at Kimihia had been ianmiu to the Minister of Lands. Mi'.BBS a member of the Board, was authorised fc draw up specification of work to be done or road leading to Mr. K. Jones' section nart cost of same to be paid out of thirds' and balance by Mr. Jones. Complaints were re ported t of delay..in completing formation ■work' between Ohmewai and Ranririn Contractor attended, and stated he woold finish in about a fortnight, Account* amounting to £29 6s lid were passed for payment. As the retiring members, Messrs L. B. Harris and P. Hubbard, were the ocly ratepayers nominated for election, there will not be any contest in May, for their seats on the Board, these gentlemen retaining their position, ... Mr. Thomas Skellou, miner, employed in the Taupiri; Reserve Company's mine, at Kimihia, has been appointed one of the Commissioners, to inquire into and report upon the probable causes which ied up to the late mining disaster at Brunnerton. The Commissioners, who will probably consist of Sir J. Hector, Judge Ward, and Mr. Skellon, will sit at Brunnerton, to take evidence. Paeeoa, Monday. Messrs. H. 0. Wick and G. W. NicholJ have been appointed Justices of the Peace. ; A new hotel, for which a transfer from Rotorua was recently granted by the Bay of Plenty Licensing Bench, is to be built in the lower township, opposite Mr. Russell's store, tenders for the erection of which have been received as follow :—Moore and O'Hara £2000; Fairweather, £2213; Small, £2235 •' Steele and Co., , 95; Ross, £2297; Handcock. £2348 ; Graiidison, £2376 : McFarlnne £2390; Morris, £2398; J. Price, £2439'• Ferguson. £2797; McCallum, £2980. The tender of Messrs. Moore and O'Hara was accepted. -. # Owing to the impassable state of the roads in the Waitekauri township and the vicinity, a public meeting was held at Ryan's Hotel, when it was resolved to petition the County Council, asking that bndy to take immediate steps to make the roads and tracks passable. For some considerable time past the ladies connected • with the St. Paul's Anglican Church, .Paeroa, hare worked most untiringly preparing for an exhibition in aid of the enlargement fund of the church. This exhibition took placa on Thursday and Friday, and was undoubtedly an unqualified success. The total amount realised was £75, and alter deducting expenses, it is expected that then will be £60 uett.

Rotorua, Mond&y. The local Board of Health have now formulated a set of bye-laws which will bt submitted to the Crown Law Officers foi revision, after which wo hope to see them gazetted and stringently enforced. It has also been decided to have the Milk and Dairies' Act applied to the district, Unless something is done to put the place in a proper sanitary condition before next season we cannot look for a continuation of the tourist traffic.

Some time ago when the Government was urged to take np the matter of drainage ii was stated that any steps in that direction must wait upon the levels of the town being ascertained. These have now been taken and the proper plans forwarded to the Board here, so that there are hopes that a competent engineer will siiortly be sent to report upon the matter. The Royal Humane Society of Australasia have forwarded the necessary forms to be filled up respecting the courageous act of young Giles in saving the life of a child at the fire at Maunder's boarding house, with a view to his obtaining some recognition at the hands of the society. The matter of the transfer of the Rotorua Hotel license to Paeroa cropped up at the meeting of the Town Board on Thursday last. It appears that some days ago Mr. Barron, of the Lands Department, telegraphed to Mr. Malfroy, to know if the house was closed, and if so why did he not report the matter? Mr. Malfroy was ignorant that the department required reports of that sort, and said so. The department next wanted to know if Mr. Morrison's lease gave permission to remove the buldiug, and when tiie term expired ? This was another poser, as it has been the habit of the department to send on such Iprsm with instructions to the Ibard to sign ami return at once, the members have barely time to peruse the same, much less to take a copy. Through this peculiar system Mr. W. Kelly, M.H.R., paid £20 per annum rent for the old Palace Hotel site for several years in place of £30. The lease could not be found, so they made a guiss at the rent. The level of the lake has risen considerably owing to the recent rains, and the temperature of the Print's Bath has in creased to the proper degree. Until the rain c?-me the lake whs six inches below any previous record. Through the destruction of the weir near the Ohau channel the outflow of water is increased, and until the weir is restored there will always be a difficulty with those baths affected by the lake level.

The removal of the license from Omaio to Waiotapu Valley having been granted by the Licensing Bench the building of the proposed hotel there will shortly be commenced. The promenade concerts in the Sanatorium grounds, given at intervals (luring the season, have been most successful. Six concerts have been given— two for charitable purposes, realising over £30 and the other four fcr local institutions, which benefitted to the extent of £20. The las!; took place on Friday night, was well attended, and was for the benefit of the library building fund. Mr. Walker, of the New Zealand Alliance, lectured on Prohibition in the schoolroom the other night. There were six persons present, inclusive of the lecturer, his chairman, and the doorkeeper.

AWITU. On Friday evening, the first of a series of three concerts was held in the Central school. The proceeds of these concerts are to bi devoted to three objects, viz.:—lst, To form the nucleus of a fund, to be called "The Awitu Mutual Improvement Library Fund;" 2nd, to assist the Onia Bay School; and, 3rd, to assist the funds of the Musical Society. Those present enjoyed a very pleasant evening. At the close Mr. Brine proposed, and Mr. W. F. Hammond seconded, "That a hearty vote of thanks be given to the promoters of the concert, and especially to Mies Gledhill for the help she has given and pains she has taken to make the thing a success." Most of the songs were rendered in good style. Miss Nellie Gledhill's "Little Alabama Coon" was the feature of the evening; while Mr. Walker's solo on the violin, "The Last Rose of Summer," was just about as near perfection as possible. The pieces by the band were very tastefully rendered, and received the applause they merited.—[Own Correspondent.]

WAIPU. The building trade is very brisk here at present, three new buildings being in course of erection. Mr. M. D. McLean is having a new shop and dwelling erected at the upper township. Mr. Russell is getting a new house put up to replace the house that was burned ; and a new lock-up is in course of construction at the police station. We managed for many years to get on very well without a constable or lock-up, but these necessary evils seem to be the accompaniment of progress and the advance of civilisation. Another dwelling-house is reported to have been burned on the 13th April at the Cove. The building was owned by Mr. D. Lang, and was at the time of the fire unoccupied. The place was uninsured, the building being very old and not of much value. Mr. Darrah, owner of the ketch Thistle, has announced his intention of building a large vessel to take the Thistle's place on this trade. The new vessel is to be supplied with an oil motor as auxiliary power, capable of giving a speed of seven miles an hour, and she is to have cabin accommodation for eight

passengers. This vessel, it is anticipated, will be able to make regular weekly trips according to time-table, and will in all respects have advantage over the vessel at present running. A meeting of the subscribers to our library lias been he'd with .the object of devising means to replenish the exchequer, and the secretary was instructed to arrange for the delivery of two lectures, on 3 of which has been already' promised by the Rev. W. McRae. The advisability of establishing a mutual improvement class was mooted, but the young men present did not appear to express themselves very anxious to take active part in the proposed opportunity for mental improvement.—[Own Correspondent.]