SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2511, 30 April 1902, Page 44

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(Ffeox Ora Own Comiespohdekt.) ESTVERCABGILL. April 28. During most of the past week the weather I continued wet, but as a. drying wind prevailed during, the intervals, gome progress was made fwith threshing operations. During the week Ithe oat market has been very much perturbed, formers not quite knowing what .to charge; J Sid, 4d, and in a. few instances even higher prices were obtained. Says the Wyndham Farmer: — "We saw a. straight-out written offer , made of 2s 6d a bushel, on trucks at Wyndham, for a line of fully 1000 bags extra prune milling cats (Dun and Hamilton varieties), buyer to tu-jply baga; but the grower, we believe, dcjcided not to accept this surely tempting offer, ' on view of a probable further rise. For prime Borta of sparrowbills and Sutherlaiidh, as high n3 2a 4Jd, on trucks, Wyndham or Edendaie. offering ; and a sale was effected by a local farmer at 2s 3\d 'or a very fair --aaip'e — and, very probably, other trading took placf- of which we bave no direct ken." No doubt theFe pnees were to <-cm:" p\i ■/. flue to the fact that April deliveries were hhmi for the boats now loading at the Bluff. Hoy - ever that may be, merchants maintain that such prices make oats quite unnayablp on . otiier markets, and they anticipate that as *oon ' as these boats go prices, will recede to 2s and ' Is id, although the farmers who have still to seil Will be very loth to accept less than their neighbours have received. The s»8. Dongola is expected to leave tomorrow, and also the Miguel de Larinanga at the end of the- week. The Dougola ia bound. . for South Africa direct, and the Miguel de J {jHxinanga goes to D\medii to take in a Jurtbw shipment oi 1500 tons of oat". Tin Star of Australia lay at Bluff for two days taking in frozen, meat, etc., a,nd sailed yesterday afte:noon. The Morayshire is expected in to-day to load mutton and wool. The port during the last week had quite a busy appearance, and "promises to be- quite as lively this week. The , Unnsual quantity of gram which has beon rushed down to the Bluff for the early dehven»s is blocking the traffic on the railway, and waa worrying the officials considerably at the Bluff Btation all last week, and larger quantities cf grain have had to be left at wayside 9tatior.s and stacked at Invereargill till a clearance was made at the port. This has caused gre2t in- . convenience to shinpers and railway people | rJike, and it is high time that the reclamation Bchemp which the Bluff Harbour Board and ths railwa7 authorities have m view is tiken in siand, for the Bluff station is far too small for , %hs requirements o-f rhe place. The Mataura Ensign reports that Mr T. liOgan, Otaunm, has just completed the thre=.hinj? of his "Waverley" crop, and the re°ult abstained is in every way rmjienlly satisfactory, before the crop was cut the yield was estimated , •■at 305 bushels per acre. The actual vn-ld has ; mow been proved at 101 bushels per acr» Re- , jjarcliiig tlie yield from another aspect, sbovs ( that from the first two bushels sown by Mr !Logan there have been producfid vi two seasons 3083 bushels. The sample of the grain, considering adverse weather pxoerienced during harvest, is exceptionally good, being plump 'nnd ft good colour. Latest tests just concluded n.t Home go to show thfe Waverley still upholds its reputation as being one of the hardiest and mo3t prolific oats in Scotland. The latest results, published m the Scottish Farmer, indicate that in the order of yield in bushels on an average of four years the Waverley comes out on tcp wih 69 22-40 th bu=hel« per ncre, the Tartar King coming second with C 6 20-40ths. There has been a fair amount of business in stock done during the week. Beginning witdi the Wallacetown sale on Tuesday, prices for fat cattle were very good indeed. In fact, it vas the best sale, from the farmers' point of view, held there for some time. Store cattle sold well, anything in the nature ot freezing bnJlocks b*ine keenly comneted for Frpramu

wethers were in small supply, and any offered were taken by the butchers at full prices ranging from I4s to Iss. There was a large entry of fat ewes, but exrept for the butchers' purchases at from 8s 6d to 12s competition was very dull. Several lots of nice level-looking lambs and fat ewes could have- been frozen to advantage, but nobody seemed to grasp the position quickly enough. Store wethers were keenly competed for at from 11s to 12s 6d. There was a large number of ewes forward, and those sold at , prices ranging from 3s 6d to 10s 6d, according j to their teeth. Several -small lota of lambs sold ' at from &s 6d to Bs, according to size. Present i indications point to a scarcity of turnip wethers this winter, and nobody seernsto know where they have gone to. Surplus stocks oi fat cattle, both cow and ox, aTe beiny bought j for export, so that present prices for. fat stock I shou'd be well maintained throughout the winter. I Owing partly to the removal of his sods to , town. Mr George Gilebrist (for about a quarter of a century a resident of Otantau) has decided to take up his abode in Invercargill. On Friday Mr and Mrs Gilchria* were entertained" at a social m the Town Hall, and were mad.c tha recipients of a number of presents. On_ behalf of personal friends and members of the ±- > re=byterian Church, the Rev. A. M'Donald presented a handsome inkstand to Mr Gilehrist and a pair of silver candlesticks to Mrs Gilchrist, and in doing so bore testimony to the eateeni m which the recipients were generally held. On behalf of the Town- Board, of which Mr Gil- ! Christ has been the clerk* since its inception, Mr 1 Swap presented Mr. Gilchrist with a baro- ; meter. He said that their late town clerk had j been aifaithful servant siiicethe inception of the board. He had been always courteous anci attentive to his duties, and. further, had helped in every public and patriotic cause. The board were exreedmgiy sorry- that he was leaving, and trusted he would have every success in his new home. Messrs W. Satmders and D. MacPherson, members of the board, supplemented Mr Swap's remarks. Mr Gilchrist feelingly replied, thanking the donors for the valuable presentations- made to Mrs Gilchrist and himself. He would never forget the kindness of his Otautau friends. The enjoyment of tlie company wasenhanced by selections from a string band, under the leadership of Mr M'Laren, and by eongs \from Mrs Fisher, Mrs Cupples. and Messrs M'liaren and A. Mackenzie. .Notwithstanding that his recent visit to Southland was intended to be one of leisure and social intercourse with his friends rather than cf business, the Acting-Premier did not escape the inevitable deputation. The Mayor, town olerk, and councillors waited on him on the morninp after his arrival and endeavoured to serure a. refund to the corporation of £400 — half the cost of the abattoir railway siding. Sir Joseph said tftvi if the Railway Department | were makfn° rpgrilai-use of the siding that might be a, <pound (or making- a refund; but he would have to go thoroughly into the matter before making a definite rep'y. An endeavour was also niEd's to :<.: b telephone for the abattoirs. Tbe <-! v -»T cfvi - ;C?0. !snd annual of <>"' - '-'I to *be tro heavy, and the deputa- • !».v ij« s t to et'KKt fioai Sir Joseph j • - i. t .> o' :i (oi.e? ->)cn. but the Postmaster- ] j-.i •'.: tit <l j.ol ape hi 1 - way to meet their : i<-V fij the c!»dcnvou» to get free puson j .' ihour for tiie bnildiug oi bridges across Pum i Creel., tiity did not get much encouragement, Pir Jti'eph promising to lay the mattei before the Minister of Justice, but adding that it waa a ini^lpke to suppose, as had been stated, that fvt » nv.iS(\i labour was freely given in othen parts of rhe colony. Hp thought, as a matter of principle, that generally prifeon labour should j be paid for. a« the granting of free labour might ! be carried vo extreme I*.1 *. The public also had to support the prison?, and were entitled to the relief afforded by the money which the prisoners would earn. The Acting-Premier al r o attended a speciu4 meeting of the Bluff Haibour Board .held in Invereargill. The chairman explained that the meeting had been called to take advantage of the presence of Sir Joseph to discuss the matter of the proposed harbour improvements, and particularly in relation to tho difficulty in getting tbc jlanne department to adopt the plan suggested by the board. A conversation"! di 1--cupsion folloivecl, and Sir Josuph thouebt that the DerirlmenL would objer-t, roost'iy to t c aLutincni at the eastern end of the reclamation wall, which would probably interfere with tho natural flow of the water by causing an abruot deflection. Olhei members agreed with this, and thought lliat t" o w.ill had been carried cut too far at both o"■ It w.ia resolved to send tho clmirrca 1"» - •'"» <nt;»ieei to Wc-llinpton in cc^'cl- >-. • f l<l l irntmerta' engineer and ■-or.it? 'i- iO iSiß!idui!» :ii to what Ihe Dn-iJii tiner, b.> Lkcly to f.ll l ill \i"h C t "iVcdui Sir Joseph a-=«>>it'd t<t ;'. c cer°moiy r>[ -/ '•ting the Union .lack .n .ii:;wi, where he nddiested the childien, arc! on 111" miido evening was entertained at a b?j]qurt at the Club Hotel, BkiS, by ihe Mjyor ur.d councilors ot Canvnbelltown. In resro dm? to the toast of "Our Guest," Sir Joseph exore-jsrd tbe great pleasure it ga»-e him to meet so many old friends arcv»nd the social board, and said that hs much regretted ho fould not pay more frequent vi-its to Southland. He congratulated the Mayor and councillors on tihe progress of the ba-<mih and «=aid .tl«at he was votv pleased to fi^cl th"« woio determined to keep abreast of the times by introducing electric lighting ,iud a. h'trh prc--sure water sunply. In their li<irbmr I'lev bad the natural outlet for the vnst ov\an .'y o* produce which was gTown ill Southland, and they should see to it (jhat the trade did rot drop away from the natural port. In older to retain it. every inducement <-hould be held out to the larger stcarncis to come tiiTP W.th one cf the be=t equipped ports m the co'onv, in which tbe largest sic.miers could bo accommodated, he considered it to be the du*y of the Harboui Bcurd to leduce the fee 3 charged to such ve uar> lb to the lowest possible figure. They had a big oppoait on to fight in Uunedin, j where thousand- of pounds were being expended in order to allow of the 'arger steamers petting up to Dunedin, where th°y could be loaded directly from tho railway line and thu^ a good deal oi the produce which by right, i should pome to the BhifF vas likely to be diverted to that port It therefore behoved 'he p?opie of the Buff. by every means in their power, to conserve the interests of their own 1 port, and, by doing so, they would b" working for the triumph of Southland <rpnerally | At last meeting of the Bluff Harbotir Board a letter was received from the Department of Agriculture statins; that the quantity of hemp exported from the Bluff was insufficient to justify arrangements being made for storage and grading there at present. Southland sustains a heavy ]c& by the death of Mr Robert Gilmour, proprietor of *he Southland Times. Mr GiLmour had been engnged :.i lournalism in Southland for ovpt 30 \ears, and both through his paper (the Southland Time 0 ) an das a member of various puVic Ivclks Ins hi'l much to do with the develoome:it of the prov,"(« He wns associated with the Southland Hosoital from it« =tart, and was its last pre= o^nt while it was supported by -oluntary contributions. He took a larpe and leading f-hare ii the movement to v.'huh the present Athei,:"',m ov.-e= its exist-nr™. b^in^ <he ( hosen spokesman of the pto=p ■■"<.-. vp and opt'mi'-tic section o' sub-<o ibers who favoured n larpe c chprr.e i» pr^lf^nce to a sna" one. He was a vigi'a-H member of the o'd Rai'way Leaeue, of the Chamber of Commerc nf the Southland A and P A*-ociation. ar.rl of other minor bodies. A3 an enthusiastic Scotchman ha iv^h a.

member ?.nd president of che Caledonian Society and of the Burns Club. He was a member of the Southland Acclimatisation Society and a deacon of St. Paul's Church, and frequently occupied the bench at the local court as a J.P. His funeral oa Sunday was very largely attended, and at St. Paul's — the church with which he has been associated for over 20 years— a special "In Mernoriam " service was "held. At the annual meeting of the Invercargill branch of the Farmers' Union on Saturday it was resolved, inter alia — "That stock agents and produce firms be asked to discontinue sending agents into the country districts to canvass for farm requisites, the commission given to those agents to be allowed to those who order pv the office." From Otautau branch — " That the wages for ordinary harvesters and threshing hands be 9d per hour and found ; threshing rates Oats ss, wheat ss." — From Heddon Bush branch — " That the Government pass legislation compelling settlers to poison ; that no action be taken re establishing co-operative flourmill." — From Thornburv branch — " That thp Government pass legislation compelling county and borough councils and other local bqdies to poison srnaU birds."' Magistrate M'Carthy had rathei a curious trespass case before him the other day, when. J. M'Kay sued F. Murdoch (Clifton) to recover £1 for the trespass of a dog on his property, and £1 expenses incurred in having- the animal removed from under plaiintifPs house. Tiie case for plaintiff was that the dog, which was only three months old, had strayed fronr the owner's olace, and took up ._ts quarters under plaintiffs house, where it occasionally engaged in barking and wHining to the annoyance of the inmates. Persuasion had been regorled to without avail, and two boys, one 10 and the ether five years of age, wtre empioyed for close on four hours as part of an organised plan of operations to induce the pup to return to its kenneL Tlie magistrate reseived his decision. The current issue of the Gazette notifies the appointment of the following volunteer offi-cers-—Robert MJNab to be captain and Richard "Wilson lieutenant .of the Murihifcu M.R., and William. Jones to be lieutenant of the Cbl-ac Bay Rifles. These three officers were the only ones out of those who underwent examination in December last who passed. The Imperial Volunteer Officers' decoration has been awarded to Major J. J^. Hawkins, which is granted to volunteer officers having a. total efficient rank and commissioned service of not less than 20 years. The "Wmton Presbyterian Congregation have decided to call Rev. 3. M\ Simpson, of Papanui road Church, Christchurch. The A-panma Dairy Factory, Wyadham, has sold its April-May output of cheese at 5Jd per lb on trucks a-t Riverton. Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co. report that they sold by auction Mr Allen C»rmichael's Otatau farm, of 201 acres, at £i per acre, to Mr Michael Concaiuion, of Makarewa.