SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 52

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

' (Fsoic Ottb Own Cobresfondent.) INVERCARGILL, December 19. During .the week there have been several . inquiries for large quantities. of oats, one coming from the East being for 4200- tons — half B grade and half f.a.q. I understand that our merchants have quoted Is -8d for B.grade «nd Is. 7d for f.a.q., both^f.o.fc., «i. There Is still a. strong demand from the North Island, but -the slight increase in price by our local merchants prevents any large sales. Several imall lots have been sold to "Wellington at -Is TJd for JB grade and Is 6jd for i.a.q. "Western 'Australia is - also -taking lines of 300- to ' •£03 bags at these prices. As - merchants have been selling only f.a.q. and C grades during the 'last "two months, stocks -of these are running *low, and if^ih© above-mentioned or&er ' is placed- here ■ prices to farmers would advance ~a little; but- on' the prices quoted j values could not go up much more than id j por bushel (on trucks At wayside stations). ' There are still very-few oats offering from th© country, -and there is jnoi likely to be <»ny quantity available till early in. the year, when, farmers will Have time to take threslrinj mill* in. Bluff stores are beginning to look empty, Mid. it is estimated that there cannot be at present more than 50,000 sacks ,of all qualities; fend it is not expected by merchants that many ■oats will -be coming .in before the grass is ready for threshing, which will he early in February, unless & decided rise in price takes place, which would • warrant farmers going to the {rouble ofr threshing out earlier. - Prices to farmers _on Saturday *rere Is 3d for B grade and Is lid to Is 29" for f.a.q. or C grade. Anything tinder these qualities is 3iard to place except at very low prices. Several parcels of good B grade, or what would be termed low A. grade, have been selling about Gore as high' as Is 4Jd on trucks. These were being - jent to Port Chalmers for shipment to West of England. These prices are much above that local .merchants can give, as at the present time there is very little chance- of a steamer to Bluff to load either for Africa or West -of England unless a gtraiglrtr-out sale of a. fwrly large quantity could be made. Fowl wheat is xufing as high as 3s 2d f.0.b., «.i., and there is a good demand locally, 3s 3d to 3s 3£d Ijeing easily obtainable. The chaff market has advanced a little, no doubt in sympathy with .the Tiigh prices ruling in Dunedin. Several parcels of really prime "quality have changed /hands at £2 -10s to &% IStam 6d (on the trucks at wayside stations), through the bulk of the chaff offering is only medium quality, which can be quoted *t £2 5s to £2 7e 6d on trucks. There is not^ much doing in the local stock markets, and prices remain the same as last week. A splendid line of 500 two-tooth hoggets was sold on account of Merivale Station to -Messrs Begg Bros., North Hillend, JJalchrtha, the price, I understand, being 15a 6d. These were just off the shears. A few -lines of ewes with lambs have been .selling at 24s to 265, lambs given in, one very fine line of 60 ewes, with about 130 per cent, of lambs, bringing 29s 6d. Several lines "of Jamba, for jtahvexy early in February, have changed hands )tt from lls to 12s. Several northern buyers - Are now in. this district endeavouring to buy this class of sheep. Fat cattle are in good demand, and at last Wallacetown sale some extra, prime quality sold as high as £10 12s 6d, bub the average price for bullocks runs from. £9 10s to £10 ss. There is practically nothing doing in store cattle. Several farmers have been selling their wool privately, and, I understand, the average for good, even crossbred at -present is 9*d to lOd. Mr M'Neil, of the Waihopai School, who is .leaving for a 12 months' holiday -in the Home Country, was last week presented by his pupils with a well-appointed 'dressing-bag. » The Invercargill Swimming Club's tournament -was held at the .Corporation Baths on Tuesday evening, when a programme of nine' Events was got through. There was pood competition in most of the events, and the "orizes fell. to Ashley England (50yds). Senior Handi"pap; J. Findlay (50vds), Yauthst Handicap; Misß K. Miller (50yds). Ladies! Race.; A. "Giant fy&n), Boys under 14; Miss 'HT Miller, Girls' ndicap; J. M*Kay (80yds), -Senior" Handicap; Jl'Lean (20yds). Beginner*' RsSce for Boys; Gould, Egg-and-Snoon Race. A special meeting of the Southland Bowing Association was held on Wednesday evening to consider tie programme for the Bluff regatta, ■^hich, in some respects, is not in conformity with the rules of the New Zealand Association. After discussion, it was decided that a member Df the association should go to Bluff and interview the members of the Regatta Committee, *nd make every effort to get them to reconcile their .conditions with the rules of the association, otherwise the local association will be forced to decline to pass the programme. The Southland £ount? Council at last Tuak-

day's meeting decided to take legal action to compel the Winton Borough Council to pay its pioportion of the expenses of the Awarua Licensing Committee. At the same meeting au application was received from the Gore Cycling Club for permission to hold a motor cycle road race on the main road between Gore and Edcndale, the pace not to exceed 30 miles an hour, and the event to be held in the evening, when the roads would be fairly free from traffic. The council decided that it could not give the required permission, the holding of such a race constitating a breach of its own bylaws.

At the ballot for appropriations conducted by the Invercargill Starr-Bowkett Society last week, £500 in Group 1 fell to Cluster 280, held by five shareholders, and the appropriation in Group 2 to No. 34, held by one shareholder. The Invercargill Musical Union, with the assistance of members of the town choirs, rendered tihe oratorios "The Creation" and "The Messiah" on Thursday and Friday evenings to very large audiences, and their rendering of these well-known oratorios was such as to elicit universal praise from those who were fortunate enough to hear them. The soloists were Mrs Hogg (soprano), Miss Wilson, Dunedin (contralto) ; Messrs Cookson and E. B. M'Kay (tenors), and Mr J. E. Taylor (bass). At the close of Thursday's performance Mr T. M. Macdonald, on behalf of the performers, presented Mr Gray, the union's conductor, with a. cigar case, cigarette case, match box, and cigarette .holder, all in silver, and paid a handsome tribute to the enthusiasm and ability which have marked Mr Garay's very successful musical career in Invercargill. In the course of his speech Mr Macdonald mentioned that a most tempting offer had recently reached Mr Gray from a northern town, but he had declined it. greatly to- the relief of his Southland pupils, friends, and admirers. In replying, Mr Gray said that he had; always enjoyed the_work in whioh he was engaged, and when the suggestion to whioh Mr Macdonald referred reached him, he considered the matter, but found himself absolutely unable to break the happy associations of the last 20 years. The second' annual dinner of the Southland Returned Troopers' Association was held in Ashley's Hall on Tuesday evening, and was attended by about 70 members. Among other matters referred to in the after-dinner speeches was the action of the British Government in importing Chinamen to South Africa, to _Lhe hurt o± the sons of the Empire, anfl the fact referred to by Trooper Wyse, of the Third Bushmen of N.S.W., that on the other side the returned trooper appearing in uniform in the streets nowadays ran a great danger of beings insulted as "One of -the men who fought for 1 the Chows." An endeavour is at present being made in Invercargill to form a company to provide a motor bus servica. The project is in the hands of Mr Richard Allen, and has a good chance of success.

Mr P. L. Campbell, teller in the Gore branch of the Bank of New South Wales, has received notice of his transfer to Invercargill. — Southland News.

The bazaar at- Winton to provide funds to erect a local "drill hall was re-opened by Sir Joseph Ward .on Tuesday evening, and although all the articles were not sold, a pretty general clearance was made, and a sum ap-proaching-£2OO will be the result. In moving the - adoption of the annual .report of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon, the vice-president (Mr W. I>. Hunt) made a- most interesting and encouraging speech.. The colony, he said, was in a most prosperous state, the year about ■to close having been one of the most successful in its 'history. The xise in the price of wool, and especially crossbred, fox which this part of the colony is noted, amounted to about" 35. per centl,- and although {here had been a falling off in .quantity in the export of meat, it was almost offset by the rise in price. .another speaker, Mr Dunlop, mentioned that ' Southland's output of flax for this year would amount to 5200 tons, worth about £130,000. The following officers were elected: — President, Mr W. D. Hunt; vicepresident, Mr J. A. Mitchell; committeeMessrs I. W. Raymond, E. E. Hammond, G. W. Nicol, R. Dunlop and J. C. Callender; auditor, Mr D. Slrang. At the breaking-up ceremony at the Southland High Schools on "Wednesday evening,, Sir Joseph Ward announced that plans and specifications for a girls' school to cost about £6000 had been sent to Wellington, and Jie hoped soon to' sea the work put in hand. The gold medal for dux of the school, presented by the Old Boys' Association, was won by Miss A. M. Palmer.

A public meeting was held in the Council I Chambers on Tuesday evening to discuss the very unsatisfactory progress of railway extension in Southland. One of the'speakers, Mr I Paape, made the statement that the sawmilling industry in Southland supports about 500 families, representing about 2000 individuals. Many mills were closing down through being cut out, and' unless the railways -were pushed on to open new bush, many of these would be bound to suffer. Speakrng of the disposition of the Government to confine what little they did to the Caitlins end, he said that, from observation and consultation with experts, he was satisfied that the bush that would be tapped by the Te Tua railway was twice as valuable as the bush in the Catlins district.

Messrs Hall, Stout, and Lil'licrap, solicitors for the_Sutton .family, have received a. cable informing them that Dowie's application for a new trial of tile famous will case has been refused.

At the first meeting of the new Hospital Trust last week, Mr John M'Queen moved — "That the trust put on record its appreciation of the very great services rendered to the Hospital by the late chairman, Mr R. Allen, and Messrs C. Stead and J. A. Mitchell, late members of the trust." These gentlemen, to his knowledge, had devoted a great amount of time to the institution, and had discharged their duties with a great deal of ability. The new chairman would have his work cut out if he wished to give the same care to the Hospital as the late chairman.

The Southland summer show is now an event of the past- The weather for the frrst day was none of the best Co 7 d showers falling during the afternoon made the ground sloppy and the work of judging disagreeable. On the second day ihe weather was perfect, for although the sun was bright a alight breeze kept the air cool, the only disagreeable element being the mud, which was occasioned by the rain on the previous day. The crowd on the second day is estimated to have numbered close on 13,000 people, and during the afternoon Sir Joseph Ward was 'present, and was the guest of the sooiety at lunch, after which his health was drunk with musical honours. Tne show was a splendid exhibition of what Southland is capable of prodtifing. In number of entries the total exceeded last year's by 92, sheep, horaea, produce, and dogs all showing increased entries, while cattle and pig-* were lower than la 9+ year. Although perhaps not appealing to everybody, still the most casual observer must have noticed that the class which attracted moat attention was the draught horses. While the stallions were in the ring -the subdued excitement was intense as to which horse would gain pride of place ; and when the judge placed Shepherd King first out of five the cheering burst forth. The placing must reflect creditably on Southland as a whole, the winner being bred in the district, while he had opposed to him. besides local horses two imported ones. TJbA championship for be3t tyjoe of Clydesdale

weni to Mr W. Blackie's mare Princess Beatrice. In the working draughts, thoroughbred, carriage and roadster classes there was strong competition and excellent quality. In catvle Ayrshire? held pride of place, and Mr RaiUrin pretty well swept the board, in this class. Shorthorns ware iairly well represented, but Herefords, Polled Angus, and Jerseys were not very strong; while the competition in crossbreds was very keen. In sheep, Border Lc-icesters held pride of place numerically, numbering more than any two other classes. There was not a single specimen of the merino shown. In the fat sheep classes there were good entries. The specimens brought forward in the dogs' and pigs' classes are also woithy of mention. The dairy produce shed was thronged with people, showing the interest taken in this important department, and the judge's task was no light one, he having in some classes 23 exhibits. There was a splendid display of machinery, manufacturers and agents sparing no pains to make their wares attractive. Mi M'Nab's farm motor was on exhibition, bill farmers generally expressed the opinion that they would like to see it working. The buck-jumping was a source of attraction for the crowd, and the exhibition of riding on the whole was very jfood, although the, horses seemed to be quieter than is usually the case with unbroken ones. Driving competitions and stockmen's competitions (the latter in which the competitor had to ride at the gallop, and with the stockwhip endea-voar to cut bottles off the heads of stakes placed in the ground at stated intervals) were also very attractive. The takings at the gate amounted to £501 0s 6d, being £91 6s more than last year. Last Tuesday a commission appointed by the High Court of the Commonwealth to inquire into the alleged evasion of duty on frozen fish imported into the Commonwealth from the Bluff commenced its sittings, and continues to take evidence at the Bluff. Mr W. S. Riddell, S.M., awarded John Muir, oi Fortification Station, near Fortxose, £1 damages against H. Hands for injury to his ewes through defendant going throiigh his property with dogs, Hands had been in the habit of going pig-hunting on the property, and although he had been •warned to desist took no notice.

The railway traffic on show day -was very large 1400 travelling by the Orepuki line, 1200 on the Lumsden line, 500 from the Bluff, 1200 from Clinton, and 400 from Seaward Bush. Visitors to Invercargill during the show who had not taken the precaution to secure a bed beforehand had an anxious time, and many had to be content wii-h shakedowns, and even they were difficult to obtain. A" three-style wrestling match was held at the Bluff on Saturday night between R. J. Scott and Thos. Johneton ; a, local man. Johnston proved his superiority in collar-and-elbow by throwing Scott in the first and third holds, but Scott threw his man in catch-a.s-catch-can and Cumberland, and won the match. While the Invercargill show was in progress, one of the competitors, who was not pleased with the judge's award, threw his ticket oji the ground, and was making out of th& ring when ov-ertaken by the stewards, and mads to come back and take his award ticket ■with him. „,— -, -. At the Magistrate's Court last Wednesday Frank Woods was charged under the new Licensing Act with being in the Hibernian Hotel after closing hours, and, notwithstanding the explanation ihat he was not there to drink, but simply to chat with a friend, he was fined 10s and costs. At the TTigh Schools' break-up on Wednesday night special reference was made by the lector to ihe late David M'Laien, son of Mr N. A. M'Larenr Otautau. This lad died very sudpnly at the beginning of the year, and a sum of money which he had gathered m the P O Savings Bank was handed over to ithe school by Mr M'Laren as a M'Laren memorial piize. This 7«ir the prize was won by Master Cupples, who, strange to say, was ft next door neighbour of Mr M'Laren'a, and Mr Pearce referred to the late pupil as having a particularly brilliant brain. — Southland Times. I am given to understand that the Wallace A and P. Association will have a credit balance of £80 from the recent show. The Southland Frozen Meat Company is having a large fellmongering and •plant added to its establishment at Mataura. Steps are being taken by ths Committee of Management in Edendale parish to build a manse. The Presbytery has approved of plans and specifications of a building in brick, lne manse will consist of eight rooms, etc^ oi average size, and is estimated to cost £BdU. A "rant of £400 is expected from the Synod funds, and contributions to the Bunding Fund amounting te £SIO have been promised but £100 of this sum is conditional upon the buil^inc being in brick. The balance required, which would be the same in the case of a wooden house, should T>e easily raised wittim the next two years, as the district is a very fertile one aoid capable of much development through the enterprise of those families who have Tecently settled in the district. Fishing news is scarce, and although a good many anglers were out during the week, I hav3 not heard of any big baskets. In the New River Mr R M'Kenzie got six one evenins, but the fish were mostly small, and some were in very poor condition Another time the same angler accounted for four. Mr RKoacn sot five in the New River, and the fish were of fair ,size and quality. I hear on good authority that Mr H. Holt of Otautau, has landed no less than 370 speckled beauties already this season, taken mostly from the Jacob s River, the largest fish turning the scale at 51b. Matters in the bowling world are Likely to become * bit brisker— that is, if the weather will behave itself. The North End green i= to be opened next Wednesday, and the members connected therewith are earnestly hoping tor some sunshine during the next two days, as failing that they will have -to wait another week to get back to their own quarters. Up to the present a number of them have availed themselves of the invitation of the Southland Club to use the Southland green, but there are many who have preferred to wait till tneir own ground fit for play The North End representatives paid a visit to Gore aboiit a week ago to play a match with the local club six rinks aside. A most enjoyable game ended in *a victory for Gore by 11 points— l 29-118. Th<» North End players are making considerable progress, and the time has now Roue by when their opponents could take things easy. Their game against Gore was lost in tli3 first nine heads, when their deficiency stood at 27 points. Thereafter they began steadily to overhaul their antagonists, until, at the conclusion, they were so little behind that another head all round might have sufficed to turn the tables. I ani strongly of opinion that the Gore, Southland, and North End Clubs combined could provide, say. six rinks that would compare favourably with any northern combination; and as it is likely that pach of these clubs will have two finks entned for the big Easter event, when, no doubt, most, of th.-j great guns of Otago and Canterbury will pay us a visit. I hope that the rinks from those three clubs will thoroughly represent the strength of Southland generally. It is perfectly certain that if the rinks are weakened by ihe strongest players being distributed through a number of rinks in order to give everyone a show. Southland will go uncl^r. How well off youngsters are nowadfys in the matter of prizes! In Invercargill the idea seems to be that as many children as pos^siVe must take home a book, and therefore one finds on nttending n tvrize distribution a wonderful array Qf T/011-oound volumes, sat out

for inspection before the final processings of Hie year begin. From what I can gather, so large a sum a-s £75 must have been spent in prizes for the schools of Invercargill ■and suburbs, five of them having, I should think, an aveiage attendance of about 1700, or neaily a shilling a head.