LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1745, 16 August 1905, Page 42

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Marlborough Education Board has received notification that sums amounting to £9OO have been granted for technical education purposes at Blenheim.

At the meeting of the committee of the Masterton A. and P. Association on Saturday, it was decided to appoint a committee to make arrangements by which owners of entires might have them examined, in accordance with the resolution passed at the Agricultural Conference at Wellington.

There is every prospect of something being done to improve the desolate appearance of the Petone. beach. The Petone Borough Council has instructed its engineer to report on the cost of planting the foreshore with suitable trees; and several Councillors last night intimated their willingness to give seats to place along the beach. Mr A. H. Vile, a member of the Wellington Education Board, has advised the" secretary (Mr G. L. Stewart) that arrangements have been made to house the children attending the Hukanui School —destroyed by fire last week—in the local hall. The children are being given holidays this week, to allow of arrangements being made for re-open-ing in the hall on Monday next. The furniture for the lower classes was saved, but the rest was destroyed. For displa3 r ing rabbits for sale in his fish shop last Wednesday afternoon during the hours his shop was required by law to be closed for the sale of such goods, William Hurcorab was proceeded against by the Inspector of Factories. He pleaded as an excuse that lie lived some miles away from the shop, and was not aware of the breach being committed. His boys had told him that they had seen a notice in a paper saying rabbits could be sold under the definition of “fishmonger.” The rabbits were only hanging out for about twenty minutes. Dr McArthur fined defendant 10s, with costs (7s). At the annual meeting of the Eltham Co-operative Dairy. Company on Saturday, the report showed that 633 tons of butter were manufactured last year, the suppliers receiving an average payment of 9<Vd P er lb °f butter-fat. The butter sales realised £564)00, the milk suppliers receiving £48,898. The company now has ten creameries in operation. It is estimated that this season there will be an increase of £SOOO in the suppliers’ cheques. The four principal factories doing business in the Eltliam district realised over £150,000 by sa.es, and paid to farmers between £120,000 and £130,000. This season’s estimates anticipate at least a 10 per cent, increase The company on Saturday refused an offer of 9fd per lb for its butter output from September to April (inclusive) for the next three years.

There are 4560 persons at present employed on Government co-operative works—27ll by the Public Works Department (including 1226 on the North Island Main Trunk railway) and 1849 by the Department of Roads. The number of persons assisted by the Department of Labour during July was 554, with 689 persons dependent upon them. Three hundred and seventysix were sent to Government works and 178 to private employment. Of the total number assisted 263 came from the North Island, 227 from the South Island, 21 from Australia, and 29 from Great Britain.

At the Masterton Court on Monday, before Mr W. P. James, S.M., a Chinaman named Uen Gen was fined 10s, costs 7s, for supplying cigarettes to a hoy under fifteen years of age. The boy was charged with smoking, and was convicted and discharged. The same Chinaman was also charged with keeping his shop open after the hours fixed by law. The defendant, who carries on business as a grocer and fruiterer, divided his shop by a wooden partition, one part being closed and the other kept open. The Magistrate held that the two compartments were one shop within the meaning of the act, and imposed a fine of Is and costs (7s).

A land transaction of some magnitude has been negotiated during the past few days by Messrs William H. Turnbull and Co., namely, the sale of the picturesque Lowry Bay estate, across the harbour. The portion sold comprises about 370 acres, and the price paid is between £35,000 and £40,000. It has been purchased by a Wellington syndicate from Mr H. D. Bell. A portion of the Bay proper is to be reserved for members of„the syndicate, who propose to build some fine seaside residences thereon. The land at Point Howard, a little nearer the Hutt, will be subdivided and roaded at once, and will be placed on the market during the coming spring. One of the first improvements to be put in hand will be the erection of a substantial wharf, which-will enable the Bay to be served regularly.