CANTERBURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2505, 26 March 1902, Page 26

CANTERBURY.

Sir Francis Pakenham. British Minister to Norway and Sweden, who arrived in Chrntchurch by the Warrimoo on Friday, was interviewed by a reporter. Questioned as, to the extent of Continental calumnies upon the British. Sir Francis said: "They seem to be merely popular. Tl-ey extend to fiweden and Norway, a« well as Germany, but the court, the army, and the navy in »11 these countries keep silent. The slanders are so absurd that I do not believe the tigher classes believe them for a moment, ut they hardly like to go against the fcreat majority of their countrymen, therefore they say nothing at all." Sir Francis, who is a eon of the second Earl of Longlord, entered the diplomatic service in 1852 »nd has -filled important posts in various parts of the world. He was Minister Resilient at Santiago in 1878. and Kmoy Extraordinary arid Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic and Paraguay in 1885. He is accompanied by Lady Pakennam and Misi Pakenham.

\ phearfr named Richardson, alias Schofield, alias Robertson, was before the Timaiu pourt charged with stealing a cheque for £17 ss, at .Tunee. New South Wales, the Viropeitv of the Australian Workers' Union. y\ccu=ed was arrested a few miles out of Timaru on a wan ant issued in New South .Wales m 1901. Accused admitted being the jinn wanted, and was remanded till next \veek. pending the arrival of the warrant Vnd a constable whe saw it signed.

A New Zealander who hn- gone to the 'Argentine and has taken up land tlici o. *vritmß to a fuend m OlirNu !>urc li. '[irak.s gnthu.=iastically of this colony's rival m the Home markets. "We are doing fairly well /lere," he say?, "and have great piomiseb Df a brilliant future. Two-thirds of nur Estancia have been ler to Italian colom.-t-, wlu> put it in wheat for tlnee years, then return it to us in alfalfa (lucerne), which means that the land has doubled in \alue, jind in the meantime we get up to 12 per pent, of their crops for rent Tin- is a good business, and, with the price of wool and "Jnutton so low, pays us better than plough - Ing and sowing 1 alfalfa our-clve-. It i« pretty hot here for December. January, and February; in fact, tin* shade temperature at mid-day is seldom under 90 Fahrenheit, urd remains at about that until evening. It is often over 100. The system here is to get up at daybreak (+.30 a.m.), get through most of the work in the morning, 'some in at 11.30 to lunch and have west a until 3 p.m.. then out again until 7 In harvest and shearing time ' siesta,' of course, has to be dispensed with. This is the only way of gettine through with the woik. From the numVor of Now Zealand' rs and "-"nj'iuli u-iiQ ccme here ficm Ncv Zi aland

looking for land, I should say that half the population of New Zealand will soon | be over here."