LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13499, 28 May 1907, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Invitations have been issued by the members of the Pacific Club who are or have been members of Parliament to the sur-' viving'members of the House of Representatives who have sal for any Auckland constituency since the year 1854; to a dinner, to be held on the 7th prox. Such a reunion before the coming session will con-1 stitute a unique occasion, and be of parti- j cular ' interest. Included in the list of guests will be:—Sir John L. Campbell (1856), Hon. Sir G. M. 6'Rorke (1861),! Hon. W. Kelly (1871), H. H. Liisk (1876),' W. L. Rees (1876), J. Wallis (1877), R. ! Hobbs (1878), Hon. S. T. - George (1879), Hon. B. Hams (1879), T. Peacock (1882), W. F. Buckland (1884), E. Lake (1884), Hon. T. Thompson (1884), L. M. Grace (1885), F. Lawrv (1887), R. Monk (1887), R. Thompson (1887), Hon. J. Bryce (1890), R. M. Houston (1891), J. Palmer (1891), Hon. J. McGowan (1893), C. Button (1894), F. W. Lang (1894), J. Bollard (1897), W. H. Berries (1897), J. J. Holland (1897), W. J. j Napier (1900), J. H. Witheford (1900), F. E. Baume (1903), H. J. Greenslade (1906), R. Poland (1906).

At a meeting of the Paeroa branch, of: the Fanners' Union, on Saturday, the following motion was passed: "That, representations be made to the Government that it will be prejudicial to the interests of the dairying industry if any attempt is made to introduce legislation interfering with the hours and wages in connection with the industry." It was decided to send copies of the resolution ? to the neighbouring unions. " .

The Union Company's steamer • Miowera left for Sydney last evening with a number of passengers, and a quantity of general cargo. Included in the shipments from Auckland were seven boxes of gold (65670z), valued at £27,220, "shipped by the National Bank of New Zealand to the Commercial Bank, Sydney' and lines of timber, hides, meats, etc., for various Australian ports. ':. The New Zealand Dairy Association also shipped: by the. steamer 400 boxes of butter, consigned to Durban, South Africa.'.. ; :V .• '. ;

There was a simp passage , between His Honor Mr. Justice Sims and, Mr. A. L. Herdman, at the Arbitration Court sitting at Wellington yesterday. The inspector of awards (Mr. Aldridge) was examining a witness, when Hr. Herdman, counsel fori respondents, interjected, Are you an apprentice?" His Honor sharply intimated that the examination of a witness must not be interrupted in this way. Counsel would have an opportunity of putting his questions at the proper time. Mr. Herdman rose and expressed his surprise that a perfectly Justifiable question should have been received in this way. His Honor: "There are well-known rules for examination, Mr. Herdman." Counsel: "Any- j other judge that I have had the honour of i appearing before has never attempted to interfere with me when I have asked a question like that!" His Honor did not reply. ; T .'.'■•'./.■- - _~ . .■';: >■' A very large area of, bush country is expected to be cleared this season (writes our Te Kuiti correspondent), and contracts have already been let in Mairoa, Waitomo, j Aria, and Mangaotaki districts. Some difficulty is being experienced in procuring I the necessary labour, the men having a preference for work on the railway and roads. ■', The chopping season only lasts a few months during the winter, and al:though good cheques can be made by competent .men, many are satisfied with more permanent labour at rather . less wages.

■::■:■■.-■...".'■',• :■————. -JHffljjgr..;,. .Trout are already .winning i a '«» , « streams leading from th« take, ami am .' those malting up the streams arsVn-1 lovely specimens (says* the -Hot £2" Chronicle). For quite a mile and *.* of the Utuhina, fish varying J„ 6 j 2e -Q ' | olb to 51b may .be seen in large number; An enthusiastic angler, who has recent been out at Tarawera Lake/ inform, 5 that a considerable number of fine fin'' - their endeavour to get up the #Z* there, have become stranded' and di,d B * - this means, he says, a very large nmd of really good fish will bo lost ' arc taken to improve the stream, or J. vent the fish getting into it at all Pr what Arc have been told, it imperative that no time should bo kJH! effecting some improvement in order ? minimise the loss of fish. w

Particulars of a somewhat a ,kabl « coyery. from serious injury have beenv„t - lisucd (writes our Dunedin correspond*" V Master Richard Church, who ij °It inmate of Riverton Hospital for the , 8t » four years,- has been cured of t<rribte " ' juries received through his clothes cat h m Br* rhe cure has been . rftfgg one So severe were the injur*, 0 ft! child, who was five years old at; the tim of his entry to the hospital, that very li'n ' hope was held out of saving his life " v'" ly the whole of the head and shoulders w „" 1 badly burned, the top of the head and ear! being literally charred, the latter Calthto off shortly after his admission to the instit, iron. By the use of grafts, however, which were given by a number of friends, «f,o child is now completely healed, and he Mill be discharged in the course of a few days. The New South Wales Government ha* received a despatch from the Secretary J State for Colonics, in which he suggests th. adoption of a scheme by the' clonic, and protectorates of the British Empire, 0T which, it is claimed, improvement* ran b 8 effected in their veterinary departments Action has been taken by the Imperial Government with a view to solving inter, eating problems and at the same time to in! duce efforts to be made to organise research. Further particulars regarding the turnip, ■ rot in the Wairarapa (writes thq Wairarapa " representative of the New Zealand Times) show that the trouble commences with a few black spots, which later turn to a black, ' ish-white colour; then comes an unpleasant' odour, and. the turnips are absolutely useless. II In two weeks, stated Mr. Matthews, 80 pelcent of his crop of 300, acres wart destroyed. | The cost to Mr. Matthews may be gaged by the fact that the 300 acres carried 30 ton's of manure, that much' labour vras required to bring the area into -a productive state, and that finally Mr. Matthews expected to ' feed six or seven thousand sheep on the tur- : , nips for fully threo months. An important , point in connection with the whole outbreak is the blow it will deal, if not checked, to the: frozen meat industry, as regards sheep and ! lambs. Mr. H. R. Bunny, of Ahinruhe, put ' the position very plainly at th; Wairarapa P. and A. Society's meeting, when he said .. , that fanners would not be a ale to avail - - themselves of the industry, because the feeding of sheep for export was now recognised as a scientific business in which preparation of the ground and food were probably equally as important as breeding. If turnip-grow-ing Were stopped, said Mr. Bunny, the loss to the district would be most serious, and ho thought that the Department of Agriculture should find out a cure for the disease if possible.

Wanganui is making .efforts' to get the through trains from Wellington to New Ply. mouth/to run' down. the branch line from Aramoho to that town; The local Herald, in an editorial appeal, 'says it hopes the Chamber of Commerce will not rest, co%bJ until effect has been given to the frequently--1 expressed wishes of the people of Wanganui. The main argument adduced by the Department against bringing the trains into town was on the score of loss .of time involved, I but Mr. Palmer (president of the Cliambti) [ completely disposed of that objection by explaining that the time could easily be made lip on the road by doing away with the unneces-'.. saiy stays at several of the stations between Wangamii and New Plymouth, and if that | were not sufficient, what is there to prevent the train leaving New Plymouth ten minutes earlierat seven instead of ten minutes past :;;;-?:>;: seven? And the Game ■■ arguments that were cited /in connection with the northern express can be applied ,with equal ■ force to the southern trains.

The Wairarapa, according to the par* , i tcrton News, is faced; with a serious prob- - lem in the shingle trouble. The removal jof the bush is responsible, for .the washing down stream of large quantities of gravel, and the metal is filling and blocking all, of the local watercourses. ' In the case of the Waingawa river the bed is in places higher' than the surrounding country, and in other streams the diversion is due to the silting up of the old course.. It is estimated that the river beds are raised at the rate of an inch per year by the travelling shingle.

Patea headed the lists of ports again during April for the quantity of cheese 6X-| ported, 8382cwt, valued at £23,469, being sent away. The Bluff (Invercargill) comes - next with 6158cwt, valued at £17,862; then follow New Plymouth, 4229cwt, valued at, £11,839 Dnnedin and Port Chalmers 2960cwt, valued at £8444; Auckland . • 1609cwt, .valued at £4162; and .Wellington 1346cwt, valued at £3545. New Plymouth heads the list for butter, exporting 10,382cwt, valued at £51,207; Auckland comes second with 4767cwt, "valued at . £23,890 and Patea third, with 2591cwt, ; valued at £12,696. Wellington is fourth with 1598cwt," valued at £7671.

A Poverty Bay settler, who is on a visit to Southland, received a painful shock in an Invercargill fruiterer's shop the other day (says the News). '.;' He purchased lib of grapes., expecting to pay > about 6d for the parcel, but when the salesman said Is 6d his ihair fairly stood on end. "Why, just before I left home I auctioned 10 oases of grapes from my own vines at 7s 6d a case of 341b, or at just about 2£d a pound." "But," asked the writer, "were they equal to Invercargill hothouse grapes?" "Equal. Why they were far better grapes—as fine as any country could produce." Incidentally he mentioned that large quantities were sold by growers about the border of; Hawke's Bay and Auckland for 2Jd per lb to the winery. Asked why they were sot distributed over the colony, returning twice the amount to growers, as . well ;*» giving the public cheaper grapes, he answered,: " Freight is the killer." ,"

During a discussion at a recent meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board, the chairman mentioned that the Acting-Pre- . mier had promised him when in Timaru the other day that should the Government want any part of the foreshore at any time they „;. would be prepared to pay full commercial value for it. The following was the state of His Ma-" jesty's prison, Auckland, for the week endcd May 25:—On remand, 5 males; await- • ing trial, 12 males; penal servitude for W<V 3 -males; hard labour, 213 males, 19 **" ~.,;' j males; imprisonment, 2 males; default of .; j bail, 1 male; received during the week, 38 I males, 3 females ; discharged, 27 ■ males, o !females: total in prison, 236 males, 19 '-' . males. Two persona arrested on charges 9 drunkenness, and one on a charge otaa sault, occupied the police cells last MgOT- '■■-.. ■ .-'.. ■■•-■ . V"--' ! JL-..; : ;-: :, -:-'-::-;jf ■ ."-.'. ■ '■'■ ■■.'■'■"'.'■'■.■■'■•„■ :■■■■ ;■ -rtS'S ! '/;''ft3' '■■'■/' •■."■■■:'''■:.■.■;■ ;/v. : -. 'V;''',\V:X';. : ,.;:v';^wJ|||||J