SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2668, 3 May 1905, Page 48

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

(From Ora Oto* Correspondent.)

INVERCARGILL, May 1

During the past week a large quantity of oats has been offering from the country, and for anything equal to B grade Is sid on trucks has been the common price, though in some cases as high as Is 6d has been paid for oats with handy railage to the Bluff. A few nice lines of Waverleys, Newmarkets, and. Gartons have ohang-ed hands- ai Is €d on -trucks at Eclendale. The greater part of these Jiave^ been set apaart for seed purposes, or perhaps to go to London in a few months' time. There is no export business being done, though a few lines are selling to the North Island' at Is 9d for B grade and la BJd for O. North Island buyers generally, however, are not inclined to pay anything like Is 9d f.o.b. Though very few sales are being made, a good deal of speculative buying is being done, as it is expected that cheap freights to London — probably 15s — will be ruling within the next month ox two. If the freight does come down to this> figure the greater part of .the oats now in store will bo shipped Home. Western Australiaai merchants have been making inquiries, but so far no business is reported, though merchants quoted on the basis of la 9<fc for B grade. A large quantity of oats are coming to Bluff, and many of our farmers are storing in the expectation of higher prices ''in the> spring. In view of the -going on it is not expected that prices will go bade, nor is it supposed that there is any chono© of their going higher for some months to come.

The- chaff market is a good deal easier, and new crop is selling a.t £2 5s to" £2 7s 6d on trucks at country stations. lh.er» is a good demand from Auckland, and it is expected that the next steamer for that inaxket, which loads ai Bluff this week, will take a large quantity.

The wheat market has taken a. sudden drop, and the prices during the week have ranged from 2s 9d to 2s lOd on the trucks at wayside stations. This is a- drop of quit© 3d per bushel compared to last week, and is due to a big drop in flour, which is now quoted at £9 per ton. Farmers who came into town on Saturday with wheat to sell wesre not inclined to quit at th© ab«ve prices, and will hold for a while to see if the market improves. Fowl wheat can be quoted at 2s 4d to~ 2s 6d on the trucks.

Very little linseed is offering, and merchants are not inclined to offer more than 6s on trucks at country sidings, while the faainers want 7s. and even 7e Ud.

Owing to the holidays very little has 'been doing in th© stock markets, but aJI classes of sheep continue to hold up in price. There are a number of buyers about for fat lambs, and' sales are reported at as high as 17s foi" th© best. Two large lines, totalling about 2500 young and store lambs, changed hands during the week at 15s 9d. The cattle market remains unchanged, no business of any description being done. The work of constructing the Arcade from Esk street to Tay street has been begun, and the building in Esk street formerly occupied by Messrs Briscoe and Co. is now being ptilled down. The brick building for Messrs Smith and Lang, next Raesides, has its walls up, aoid a start has been made on Messrs Double Bros-, new premises on the other side of the A.M.P. Building. Mr R. W. Jones, formerly a bicycle salesman here, who went Home some time ago with a knife-cleaner which he had invented, has returned to the colony as representative of a great English motor manufacturing firm, and is spending a few days in Invercargill.

I am pleased to be able^ to report that Sergeant Bow den, of the loca.l Police Force, i? making a good, lecovery from the apoplectic seizure -which attacked him over a week ago, and is now abfe to leave his bed. Wright, S<tephenson, and Co. report having sold', on behalf of th© proprietors of the Castlerock Estate, t.he following sections of land : — Section 4 and part of section 11 (containing 502 acres), to Mr T. L. Barnhill, of Castlerock; section 10 and part of section 11 (containing 386 acres), to Mr Robert Watson, Castlerock ; part of section 45 (containing approximately 1000 acres) to Messrs Graham and Hornsey, Timaru ; section 49 (containing about 3G5 acres), to Mr D. Trevathan, of Seacliff. There now only remains unsold on this estate about 4536 acres. Sale negotiations for some of these sections are now proceedings, and the auctioneers hope to report further sales at an early date. Tb.e s.eat]isx on Eastei Monclaj was esecsd-

ingly unpleasant, cold rain falling for most of the day. This liad its effect on all outdoor functions, -which were poorly attended. Notwithstanding this the Axemen's Carnival resulted in a gate for the two days of £223. The attendance at the Municipal Band Fair still continues good, and the hidden treasure searches amount" to a fever. Immediately the

" Buzzer" photos are available a. rush is made for the supposed hiding place, and as many a a 200 persons, mostly provided with spades and 'ig-hts, have been congregated at one spot at about 11 p.m. rooting and tearing and making a small pandemonium. Occasionally the treasure is so well hidden that no one can find it, and it of course reverts to the Fair Funds. One of the most striking attractions of tlie fair is the flower march, groups of five young ladies, each dressed to represent roses, lilies, pansies, chrysanthemums, poppies, cornflowers, sunflowers, carnations, Scotch thistles, daffodils, daisies, and rosebuds, who go through a number of evolutions tinder the guidance of Mr J. V. Hanna. The effect is most charming, the representations being extremely flowerlike, anid tihe movements most graceful.

At last meeting of the Wallace County Council a motion, was passed affirming' the desirability of removing the county from the jurisdiction of the Southland Hospitals and Charitable Aid Board. The idea is that th© county contributes more than it gets back, and oculd better provide for its own hospital and charitable needs than the existing body ia doing.

Up to the 22nd ult. 103,234 sacks of grain, ©tc, -had this season been railed over th© Southland section of railways. Since then, and up to the evening of Friday last, 19,697 more sacks have been handled, making a total of 122,931.

On the whole the fishing geason just closed has been disappointing', the' rivers 1 having been very low -for most of the year. During the Easter ho n idays, however, the Oreti was in good order for fly, and there is one successful outing to record. Messrs "Ek Russell and T. Broad camped at Thomson's Crossing during the hol'days, and took 128 and 137 trout respectively. Among jthem ther© were many fish of lib a-nd 151b, a. fair number of 2-poundears, on© of 3ilb (caught by Mr Russell), and on© of 10|lb (landed by Mr Broad). These gentlemen have camped about the same place at Easter for several years past, and have always been successful, but this is their record catch.

The band contest is to be held in the Queen's Park on Wednesday. Bands from Ba^lutha, Got©, Nightcaps, Winto-p, Wyndham, Orepuki, Bluff, and Riverton will compete for prizes totalling £100.

The annual meeting of the Southland branch of the Navy League was held on Friday evening. When the other business had been disposed of an enjoyable entertainment was given. At a meeting of the Southland Railway League, held last week, it was decided to call a public meeting to consider the claims of Southland to railway expansion. The Grand Lodge, 1.0. G.T., has been sitting here during the past week, representatives, from all parts of the colony being present. At Friday's sitting the following resolution was passed : — " That this Grand Lodge, being a body of total abstainers, who recognise no difference in cr*ed, desire to express their great pleasure at the visit of tifoe R«v. Father Hays to Now Zealand, to congratulate him on the magnificent results "attending his advocacy of total abstinence the wide world over, and pray tha-t God's Wessirfg may abundantly rest upon his labours in ths colony." At a social held in the evening a gold albert and pendant were presented to Bro. D. C. Cameron in recognition of his 30 years' servioe. The next session of tlie Grand Lodge will be held in Christchurch at Easter, 1907.

The mayoral elections throughout Southland have resuHed in the return of Mr W. B. Scandrett for Invercargil'l by 1095 votes to Mr R. B. M'Kay's 308 J- Mr Guy Whealler for Bluff, by 167 votes tc Dr Torranee's 148; D. L. Poppelwell for Gore, by 350 votes to Mr A. A. Macpoton's 342. Mr J. A. Mitchell was again elected fcr East Invercargill, and Mi C. D. Moore for Winton. The following is the result of the election »f councilloirs for Invercargill : John Stead, 1050 ; W. A. Ott, 1043 ; J. F. Lillicrap, 991;- D. Eoche^, 938; J. Allan, 934; R. Cleave, 912; A. Bain, 862; S. M. M'Donald, 843; J. Walker. 840; W. Stead, 832; G. Froggatt, 810; "W. Martin, 787. The unsuccessful candidates polled: F. G. Stone, 752; J. Hatch, 726; E. Bastings, 658; I. Petrie, 473;— informal, 30.

The sheep sale at Moa Flat on Friday was a great success, the whole- of th© sheep (about 20,000) changing hands at satisfactory prioes ranging from 12s 4d for wether lambs to 23s 9d for six-tooth ewes.

The first e/uchre party of the season given by the combined Shamirock, Rose*, and Thistle and St. George Lodges of Oddfellows eventuated in Ashley's Hall on Thursday night, when aJI the available tables were filled. Play started at 8.15, and continued to 10.30; then refreshmients were handed round, and dancing was indulged in till 2in the morning-. Handsome prizes were given to the three highest scorers of both sexes, and if the committee provide such substantial prizes for the remaining contests the cempetition will undoubtedly grow keener. Th© ivenasement has decided not to give any

" booby " prizes this year, so there will be no hanging back on this account.

Those Volunteers who took pa*t in the Easter mancevivres near Dunedin speak in glowing terms of the campaign, and although some of the weather was not up to their liking, they say that they would now have been very sorry to have missed the oamp. The practical work was entered into with commendable enthusiasm, and, where theory only held sway once, practical tactics and duties have now left their in.pression, with much beneficial effect on moat of those who took part. Lieaitenant-colone-1 Henderson, who was injured early in the camp, was much missed by the attacking^force. His well-known ability in handling large bodies of men gave tfrcse under him the utmost confidence in him. His injured arm is mending favourably. Tlie troops also speak well of the treatment they received' at the hands of the residents of the district.

At the last meeting cf the Riversdale Odd Ifellows Bro. Smaill, of thait lodge, wag presented with a P.G-.M.'s jewel by the- members on his attaining to the rank of Provincial Grand Master of Southland. The district officers were also present, and spoke ru complmientoiy language of Bro. SxnaiU's 1 ability, as pioved by the way lie had fathered his local lodge. Flaxmills ir. various centres are closing down for the winter months.

Mr W. F. Bennett, vho was recently transferred from the Railways Goods Department hero io Queenstown, has now been promoted to Mataura.

The cricket competition among the- Invercargil) schools was brought to a cl-o-se just before Easter. The South School, which includes in its eleven some particiilarly capable lads, finished up in splendid style, compiling the large score of 265 against the combination representing th© High School. Only lads under 15 years of age oould compete. Of this large total, syne lad, Hiddlestone, made somewhere about 160 runs, while Denny Lee, who has already made a name for himself in the juvenile football world, ably assisted with 63. The handsome clock, the trophy presented by en unkrto\ra doacy, therefore bseomes ifee

property of the South School for the first yeaA Ihis competition, if properly looked after, ought tc result in a great improvement to Southland cticket later on.

I notice by a northern exchange that Tom Lock, of G-ore, having sold his business, is expected to settle in Dunedin or somewhere farther up. I rather think expectations are hardly likely to be realised, as he has a tempting offer before him just now that may keep him in the go-ahead little town of Gore. This will be good news to .Southland bowlers, as Lock has on several occasions lately shown that he is one of the most capable players; in the southern part of the colony, and they would regret losing his services. Gore, by the way, has a specially strong contingent - of bowlers for the size of the town, and a Southland team picked from Gore, Southland, and North End could provide, say, four rinks that would give any province a fair go. From what I can gather I think it is safe to predict that there will be no further contests for a specially big prize in the bo-sriing world. It is believed that moderate trophies, say, £16 first prize, will be quite sufficient to induce the bowling talent of the clubs farther north to take part, in the Invercargill tournaments, and the players down her© seem to be satisfied that ths large bait is not required.

With regard to the tournament just caneluded there^'seems to ho a general consensus of opinion that no more sociable gathering has been held here sinoe these tourneys were inaugurated. The local bowlers 1 laid themselves out to give their northern brethren a thoroughly good time to make up for the bad weather, and, judging from .results, they arost thoroughly succeeded. Not a little of the success of the meeting is due to the ( admirable tact and unfailing courtesy of Preai- ' dent Findlay — indeed, he may be coneideired. to have constituted himself a second secretary, and it was by this means that Mr Ham, was eiabled to take paxt in the games, .and as things have turned out it would have been a great pity had he been denied the opportunity of doing so. "The North End and Gore teams previous to playing off the big final agreed to make the first and second prizes £4/0 and £20, instead of £50 and £10. The whole prize money — trophies to that value of course — is divided as under: — G-ore, £40; North End, £33; Southland, £10; Kaituna, £6; St. Kilda, £6; Taieri, £6; and Caledonian, £2.

For lively times a, oertain Southland boroughcouncil, which shall be nameless, takes ths cake. At a recent meeting a scene took place which will long be remembered' by the luoky spectators. It seems tnat the Mayor had ocoasion to call one of the councillors to order, when the only reporter present — the owner of the local organ — interrupted. He was immediately challenged by the Mayor, who remarked that it was jiot the first time he had offended in lake manner. The paper man retorted with the words, "You're a 1 .'" Tho Mayor ordered him to withdraw the words or leave the table, and on his refusing to do so, the Mayor proceeded to eject the knight of scissors and paste, who, with great gallantry, siezed the large table lamp, and kept the enemy at bay. During the scuffle the light was put out, but darkness only prevailed for a short time, and when there was once more light, the membeT of the fourth estate was seen prone in a corner. The Mayor immediately grabbed him, and dragging him to the door, fired him out — a most ignominious exit. The council then proceeded to business, and the Mayor was summoned the following day to answer foo. damage done, and most of, tlie cotiiici'lors were subpoenaed as witnesses ; but wihen the court sat the case was found to be withdrawn, much to the disappointment of the expectant audience.

The number c£ passengers carried by the electric trani service during the Easter holidays was as follows: — Saturday, 34,900; Sunday, 19,822; Monday, 39,561. Last Easter the electric system was partlyopened. The figures then were: — Saturday, 27,352 on the eleotric care, 11,289 horse ; Sunday, 13.785 electric, 5033 horse ; Monday, 23.106 electric, 9002 horse. The totals for the three days compare thus: — This year, 94,283; last year, 89,567.

As a result of the reduction of 10s per ton in the price of flour the -MasteT Bakers' Association has reduced the price of the* 41b loaf from 6£d to 6d.

Mr C. C. Graham, S.M.. presided over a very short sitting of the Magistrate's Court on Thursday morning, and gave judgment for plaintiff in the case of Jessie Thompson, again Elizabeth Sutherland, of Milford Sound. The claim was £38 10s, balance due for wages, and judgment was given by default, with costs £3 Is.

In the presence of a meeting representative of all classes in the community, and also representative of the Province of Otago at laTge, and amidst considerable enthusiasm, the Otago League, for the promotion of the interests of the people of Otago, was formed on Friday evening. The speeches were all thoroughly to the point, and were much appreciated by those present, the speakers all receiving most hearty receptions. At the conclusion of the meeting a very good number of those present paid membership subscriptions, about £19 10s being received in cash and promises. Mr P. Barr (of Barr, Leary, and Co.), Stock Exchange Buildings, will receive further town subscriptions from those desirous of joining the league, and country subscriptions may be forwarded to Mr E. D'Esterre, honorary secretary of the league, at this office.

The Lyttelton Times says it is probable that in about a fortnight's time the Premier will visit Dunedin for the purpose of delivering a political address. He may afterwards speak in Christchurch.

Four new constables arrived in town on Friday from the training depot, Wellingt. ton, and will take the places rendered vacant by the dismissal of the men who recently got into trouble.

Alfred Fahey Isteed was brought before Messrs Todd and Falconer, J.P.s, at Tapanui, on Thursday, on a charge of attempted rape. After hearing the evidence the justices directed that an information, charging common assault, should be laid against accused, and on this charge fined him 40a and costs (£3 6s). They also bound him over to keep the peace for 12 months in hia own and his father's recognisance of £50 each. The original information they dismissed, considering the circumstances weri? such that the case should not be sent t& the Supreme Court. Tke jyae for assaul* was paid*