THE LAND BALLOT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10702, 27 February 1911, Page 4

THE LAND BALLOT.

All day Saturday the Courthouse had been a centre of interest to hundreds of people —seekers , after land.. ;P,atientlyj they had awaited while, somelthree.hiei-! dred' applicants had been taken, singly;; before the Land Board and examined.r In the evening the interest had not' visibly lessened, though over a hundred applicants had been rejected. Eight o clock was the hour fixed for taking the ballot; and some time before the clock chimed for eight all available space in the Court-room was filled by a crowd of eager applicants and their friends. .'

The. members of the Land Board pre--sent .were Messrs- -Wilruot (Commis-, siotier),-D. .Barron, G. Livingstone, J. A. Macpherson, and J. C. Anderson. Mr Cullen (Receiver of Land R-evenue) and ; Mr H. .Mackintosh (local..agent); were also present. Superintending at' the : ballot-box was Mr ;R. A. Johnson; (chief, clerk Lands., Office),, assisted by MrKirton (applicants' representative); and Messrs M'Donald and Torrance (of the Land Office).

The first allotment to be balloted for was in/fche Otamatakau and Mount Buster -SiD., small grazing run-No. 243 c, of ,17j300 acres, "together with section 2a; ; : block 3, 219 .acres. 2 roods'-.-30 perches. The 59 original applicants had been brought down to 30. The luckynumber was 20, Mrs Catherine J. Trotter, of Hyde, a niece of Mrs J. Macpherson, of Totara. Next on the list was .small grazing run block 6 of 23, 6182 acres, Kurow' and Otamatakau. Fifteen numbers from:29 applicants, were put into the ballot box, and' tho fifteenth, representing Mr Percy Heckler (Waikouaiti) was 1 drawn. Mr Heckler is a son of one of the earliest settlers, who came to the colonies in the "fifties." The Commissioner announced "Percy Heckler, successful" when the lucky candidate's deposit had -been paid, and then the work of telling 213 members for the, third allotment commenced. The run was in the. Kakanui S.D.. No. 134b, containing 3840.acres, and it was evidently considered the most desirable, for no fewer than 369 persons had applied for it. By rejections this number had been brought down to 213. At last the marbles had all been placed in the box. There was a buzz denoting excitement as the chief clerk gave the ballot-box an extra turn and an extra, shake, then, as the box was handed to the Commissioner, absolute quiet showed an excitement as intense as during any gamble. Anybody who had had a pin to drop, and had dropped it, would have been heard and probably called to order for rowdiness. But no'pin fell, and last the, seeming ages of stillness while tlie Commissioner drew a. marble from the box were broken bv Ids,voice: "Number seven, Robert ■' Alexander Mathieson." Robert Alexander Matliieson s representative came forward .to" fulfil the conditions, the announcement "Robert Alexander Mathieson, successful," was made amidst applause and tho ballot was finished. Mr Matheson is a son of a well-to-do farmer and runholder at Shingly Creek near Palmerston.

The agents for the respective successful applicants are: Dalgetv and Co., Wright. Stephenson, and Co!', and the National Mortgage and Agencv Company. Ltd.