OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16965, 29 March 1917, Page 10

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

The Masterton Racing Club paid £1555 by way ol Government tax in connection with its recent meeting. 'New Brighton school children spent a busy flay in tho city parks on Saturday (says the (Jhristchurch Star), gathering acorns for sale in aid of the Red Cross hinds. It is understood that several of the dairy factories in South Taranaki are again going into butter-making this month. M'Gavin's "Huia" ale cannot be beaten for purity, brilliancy, lightness, and clearness. Suitable for family use. A superior and refreshing bevetuge. Stocked bv all notels...

Ihe daily average of persons receiving charitable aid in Sv ellington is 175 - whereas at this time of the year in 1916 it was 195, and in 1915 the number stood at 275. It was stated at tne meeting of tne Onetreo Hill Road Board on Friday -(fays the New Zealand Herald) that it was practically impossible to obtain capable-road men. The board resolved that, whenever possible, preference of employment should be given to returned soldiers.

"'lhcre niay come a, time —we hope thero won't—when we shall be very, very hard, pressed for men, and every industry will have to be combed out to its absolute bedrock."—Captain Baldwin, at a sitting /of tho lhird Wellington Military Service Board (says the Wellington Post). Waters' Chap Lotion is a guaranteed cure for rougn hands; Is and Is 6d,... ■ It may safely be computed (says tho Winton Record) that fully £10,000 will go out of tho Winton and immediate district in the shape of war-protit tax. One settler alono has been called on to part with over £1000. Several farmers complain bitterly of their assessment, and have appealed. ' Tho arrival of the firsc liner at New Plymouth was taken advantage of by tho -Red Cross Society. Barriers were erected on , tho' beach, and persons, in" order to gain admittance, were required to pay a shilling. By this means the sum of £70 .was added to the. fund. - ■

Employees iii theatres and other places of amusement are proposing to form an industrial union (says the Wellington Post). Preliminary meetings have already been held, and on Saturday night it was decided *i H lO u . mon should seek registration under Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Everything no»v is being Specialised. Our Specialty in Ladies' Costumes. Good Material, Careful Construction, and a Perfect Fit at Moderate Cost is our motto, beo our new reason's Worsteds, Serges, and Gaberdines; then entrust us with your order.—A. F. Cheyne.'and Co., Mpsgiel.... A survey party is ■ now engaged in subdividing for settlement by discharged soldiers an area of about 6000 acres of Crown land in tho Upper Opouri district, in the northern portion of Marlborough. the area is bush country that has been traversed bv the Marlborough Sawmilling Company, and u is suita-ble lor dairy iarming. A man named John Harper was cycling along Dee street on Monday morning, and, not noticing a horse and cart coming out of a right-oi-way, he ran into the horso and / was thrown lrom his cycle (says the Southland J.'imes). He sustained some severe cuts about the head, the hoofs of the horse apparently striking him. ' spirits are a good preservative. Soak all jam labels. Should be in every house.— Wm. Crossan, Waterloo Hotel, Oaversam.... lo illustrate the necessity of proper persons managing dairy farms .during the owners' absence, it 'was mentioned by onespeaker at Saturday's meeting at Pauiatua that a herd belonging to' him had been ruined by being milked once a day in the spring. Another instance of the same tiling is reported to have happened in the same district.

The cycle shop of Mr J. D. Campbell (Wyndham) was entered by burglars on, Saturday night, and a sum of money stolen l f rom a locked drawer (says the Wyndham ilerald). The manager left the shop on Saturday night about 10. He visited the premises on Sunday morning, and found that the back door had been forced by means of some sharp instrument used as a lever.

Speaking to a reporter, the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald (Minister of Agriculture) said a good many farmers had expressed the opinion that the agricultural tractor would not be of much use in New Zealand (says the Christchurch Press). He'knew of a far-, mer in the Blenheim district who had beeii using a tractor, and he asserted that with it and three men he could do as much work as ho did formerly with eight men and 24 horses.

. Marshall's Teething Powders are safe povvdere. They are free from opium, mercury, or any other poisonous matter; Is pacicets, at all grocers and Marshall's Pharmacy, 86 Princes street....

Mr H lan Simson, speaking at the" National Efficiency Board meeting at Napier the other day, stated that they had read, in the papers that agricultural shows were going to be stopped. The people who were concerned in the holding of shows were not' wasters. Yet the country tolerated racing, which was sucking its very life blood. We '■- should go on. with our shows and stop rac-*

A practical illustration of what can bo done in the way of weedb has boon successfully carried out on the- / sports area of Cook's Gardens, Wanganui (says th<?. Chronicle), where ribbed-grass and several noxious weeds were making an appearance on tho turf. Oil of tar was procured irom tho gasworks, and wherever it was applied the ribbed-grass and weeds were completely destroyed. A lad named Kiehard Nixon, aged 17, had rather an unfortunate experience on Sunday (says the New Zealand Tunes). Some window curtains catching fire, he. incautiously set-about suppressing the flames, witi» the result tnat Jus legs became entangled in the burning mass, and they were injured to an extent that rendered his removal to the .hospital necessary. He, however, succeeded in putting the fire out. Waters' Pharmacy removed to larger prerhisos, y<,. 14, nuxi, Herbert, Haynes.... The five Stewart Island men drawn in tho recent ballot have all been turned down, and it is a, peculiar circumstance at first blush that every man on the island who has been drawn in the ballot has so far met with similar deserts (says the Southland News). » On consideration of the circumstances,- however, it would appear that it points directly to the faqt that all the fit- men on the island went voluntarily to camp. Speaking generally, lambs in the Poverty Bay district are reported to be' somewhat below the average quality this season, owing to the continued wet weather. On the other hand, fat sheep are said to. be better than usual, and one man in a position to judge states that ho has never seen such' good sheep going through the works (safrs the' Poverty Bay Herald), it was entirely the nature of the season that had affected tho lambs, and it was predicted that the same ■ cause would have some effect on the next lambing season. ■AVe have been favoured (says the Oamaru Mail) with a number of further thrashing returns from several localities. The yield disclosed is 60 bushels of oats per acre obtained from 35 acres by Mr G. Dovey, at Kauroo Hill, but the rest of the yields of oats in the list arc from fair to poor. There is nothintr of note about the wheat returns, which range from 32 down to 12 bushels per acre. In the«Kauroo Hill .district the yields may be classed as fairly , ( good, tho range .baing from 24 to 32 bushels ■ per acre, while a crop of barley gave an average of 30 bushels per acre. Tho fragrance ot good coffee is gratifying and stimulating to the appetite. Coffeelovers can obtain from " Durie's," Octagon, Dunedin, not only good coffee, but tho world's best....

A newspaper found in the postal box of the local Defence Department on Saturday (says the Balcluthu Free Press) bore evidence of a curious mistake on the part of the post office officials both at Home ami in this country. It had been posted at Ross, in Scotland, and was addressed "Capt. Johnston, Fort Sanidab, Baluchistan.- ,, As Baluchistan is a wild region 'on the north-west frontier of India, the newspaper in coming to Balelutha was many thousands of miles out of its proper course. The defence people in repdsting added the laconic message, " Try India."