SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 52

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

' (JTaom Our Ovh Coerespondent.) ! INVEKCARGILL, April 21. . | Owing to the bad weather we have been hay- ' ing during part of the last fortnight practically , no new oats are coming from the country, very : little threshing having be-en done. A large quantity of the" crop is still in the srtook, and ib would be safe to estimate that half of South- , laud's crop has still to be got m. There i 8" also a fair quantity still uncut, and it is not likely that much of this late stuff will be 1 utilised for oats. Very little business is being 1 done as merchants are not inclined to sell . " foiwttid, ' and their purchases from farmers are hardly worth mentioning. A few lines from the Eastern district were offering on. Saturday, and they brought prices equivalent to 23 (f.0.b.. Bluff;, practically Is BJd on trucks at country stations. At the present time sales cmno. ba made to bring this price as the best that can bo obtained from Auckland and the North Island market is Is 11U1 net. f.0.b., sacks in, for B gra.de 03-fc- •■■=. vrl '•'- - *»'■- <-' reason's B grade have been sold at Is 113. Th» recent bad weatuur i*.ii:t u^. \<_.ij - . ...,, against the cro;? m stook, aud unless we get a : spell of gcod drying weather immediately a large quantity or the gi-ain will be damaged. The qualily of the grain that has so far readied tfce U.uff flr.s been &cod, though, as most of :t has been, 'threshed out of the stook, it is rather soft, and would not do ior shipping to uny distance. The total quantity of new oats at present in Bluff would rot escsed SOW sicks. There are numerous inquiries for "" forward . delivery ' business,* but, as mentioned above," insrchants .ire net inclined to eta such business till- they got aoine :dea- of how the market-ia likely to rule. - There is nothing much doing in chaff. Old quality m mi present saleable *.t dE3 to £3 5s \ex store, Invercargill). Several lines of the new crop have been offering, but merchants are not inclined to touch it. Nominal prices can be quoted at £2 10s on trucks at country stations. There has been no new barley yet offering,, but during the next fortnight several lines from the Garston and Xokomai districts should be on the maiket. Growers are expecting good prices, and reckon on getting as Uigh as is on tiuclcs at country stations. Very little new wheat ia ahout, but any ■ lines available are readily placed at -3a to 3i 2d on trucks at country stations if fit for milling. Fowl wheat is sailing at 2s lOd to 2s lid on trucks, but very little of it is at present available. Deliveries of ryegrass have completely stopped, and no seed is now offering for sale. Italian has been in much better demand, and lias been selling t& the northern markets pretty freely at from 3s 3d to 3s 6d for dressed seed. Prices to farmers rule from 2s 4d to 2s 6d. Potatoes continue to maintain late values, and, if anything, are advancing in price. £8 on trucks "at country stations has been given very freely, and for white sorts, such as Up-to-dates. £6 10s has been paid, but farmers are inclined to ho7d rather than sell at these prices. The aheep market has improved considerably during the past fortnight. Prices for ewes have advanced fully 3s a head, and lambs have gone up obout the same. Twotooth ewes ar& now selling as high as ISs. and some very nice four-;v/oths "'etched £1 during the week. Store lamba are in good request, and prices rule from 10s 6d to 11s 6d. Fat limbs arc selling at 14s, and it is reported that some really prime lots have brought as high as 14s 6d. There is very little demand for cattle, the market being over-3upplied, and few buyers about. Only sorts for putting on turnips for' fattening are changing hands, acrl these are fetching from £5 IDs to JE6 10s. There is very little doing in flax, and, owing to the broken weather deliveries from the mills havn practically ceased. The best prices obtained during the week were £26 for " fair " anJ £-23 for "good fair, iTat very little business is being done owing to the small quantities available at the present time. Tow is quite unsaleable. April 23. Southland was favoured with splendid weather for the Easter holidays, and consequently the sports meetings were well attended, the crowd at Riverton races being unusually good, and that at the Axemen's Carnival— though not quite so large as was expected — was very satisfactory. It would, no doubt, have been better, but that our farmers were making the most of every minute to get their crops threshed or 'safely into stack. The weather continued good, until Thursday eveniag, when rain commenced to fall, and continued for abort 30 hours without stopping, putting all the rivers up and making harvesting work irnposible. j Messrs Ros3 and Glendining have just completed large additions to their warehouse ! in Esk sheet, and the Hardware Company iiavo extended their premises back towards Leven street. Mr Gordon Brown is also extending his shop back towards Leven | street. Tho plasterers are at work on tho New Zealand Express Company's building , on the corner of Don and Kelvin streets, ar-d the Technical School in Tay street is equally well foiward. The building trade in Invercargill has been very busy for along time past, but when these buildings and | the Girls' High School are completed there • is likely to be a dulness in this trade, as the building of residential places is not so brisk aa formerly. The cleath at Orepuki is announced of .llr J. Nugent Wood, one of the firtt wardens on the Otago goldfield3. After giving up magisterial work Mr Wcod took to farming at Wendonside, but for some time past had I been living with his son, who is a livery stable-kseper at Orepuki. J Mrs Hawkes, a resident or WaTJacetown, died very suddenly last week. She was taken ill in the street, and had to be removed; to a private hospital, where she died soon after. Mr George Eeeves has disposed of his Otama dairy factory to Mi S. Dumbleton, formerly manager at Mataura. Mr Dumbleton takes possession at the close of the> current season. — Southland Times. The Southland district of the New Zealand Presbyterian Young Women's Bible Class Union was represented at the recent conference at Duned.in by 16 delegates, who express themselves as greatly pleased with the outing, which urr^uded a garden party iv the grounds of First Church. A Christian Endeavour Convention was held here during Easter, and was largely attended. Ihe two clays' meeting of the Riverion Racing Club on Saturday and Monday last resulted in over £6000 going through th« totalisator. There were no big dividends. As tho outcome of a moating held in tl V M.C A. Rooms at Easter, a committee waa appointed to endeavour to create a centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association m Invercargill During the steeplechase at Riverton last Monday a jockey named Frank M'Grath was seriously injured through his horse falling and" rolling on him. '^i '^ friends of Mr D. D. Steadman in tha

{Wanton* district and elsewhere will be pleased to know that he lias been appointed head master of the Waikaia District School, an appointment which is quite an advance in the profession for Mr Steadman. The Invercargill competitions, carried on in connection with Leet Street Methodist Church last yeaT, were such a succces that it has been decided to. form a permanent Competitions Society. The Mayor, Mr Scanclrett, has been elected president, Mr J. E. Taylor secretary, and.. Mr J. Crosby Smith treasurer, and our local musicians are supporting the project most heartily. A man named M'lntosh, a passenger by the "Wairaahaka train on Monday, fell from •the carriage platform, and' was so seriously injured that he had to be taken to thehospital, where it was found chat he was Buffering -front concussion of the brain and other injuries. We (Wyndham Farmer) hear on good authority that a movement is afcot to establish & co-operative dairy factory in Dacre district, •which lies to the north of Woodlands and Morton Mains. This is» another practical testimony to ths virtue of close settlement. The Associated Churches of Christ held their annual conference st the Bowmont Street Chape) en Friday and Saturday last, ■when representatives from all over New Zealand were present. Captain Sundstrum ■was elected president for the year, and Mr C. Kippenberger secretary. Mr James M'Kercher, who is about to take a- ,trip fo the Old Country, was on Tuesday entertained by the Woodlands "branch > of- the Farmers' Union at a farewell "banquet, and presented with, a travelling , ipg - and. a case -of pipes, Mra M'Kercher , being at Jhe Fame time presented with a uressirig-case. On the previous evening the School Committee presented Mr M'Kercher ■with a handsome easy chair. Mr W. H. Clark, the popular dominie of the Lumsden School, wa3 married at Dunedin on Easter Monday to Miss Mattie Kyle, a number of Mr Clark's fellow-teachers from Southland bein«j present at the ceremony. _ Mr W. B. Seandrett has been re-elected Mayor of Invercargill in the third time, this time unopposed. Mr Eobert Galbraith was returned unopposed for .East Invercargill. and •the lion. H. Feldwick for A venal, but there will be a contest for the South Invercargill niayorai chair, as there are three candidates — " Messrs W. Martin, G. Holloway, and G. K. Hinton. The fifth annual carnival of the Axemen's Society of Southland was held in the Queen's Paifc O3i Easter Saturday ar.d Monday, andpassed off successfully- Splendid entries had baen received, and all the different competitions, comprising chopping, sawing, running, md cycling, were keenly contested by large fields. The presence of O'Rourke and his mate from the West Coast was a powerful attraction, both in the sawing and chopping events. J. M'Cann, the Spar Bush champion, was alsc in great form, his win in the Champion Chop (2ft logs) being a meritorioas one. O'ltourke also competed in this event, but did no i' finish. Kelly's win in the £'10 Chop was rather unexpected. Carson and M'lntosh put ■up a world's record in sawing 2ft logs in the record time of 24 seconds, cutting out some seconds ahead of their opponents. The ama'eur running events put on the programme on londay well deserved a. placo, the running standing out in strong contrast to that of Saturday's professionals. Trie gate takings for the.iwo Saya amounted to £215. The principal ■orize-winners were: — Chopping and sawing, M. Ryan, North Invercargill, £20; Tom Kelly, West Coast, #20 10s; J. M'Cann, Gorge jroad, £17 and champion gold medal: E Waldron, Makarewa. £7; Carson and M'lnlosh, £10 10s and champion sawing medals; J. A.*Healey '£i; B. Campbell. £&; C. "O'Ecurke. West Coast. £6 10s"; CMsholni Bros., £8. Cycling: J. Summers, £11; H. Harvey, £8; C. F. Smith. £i; A. P. Fleming, £3. Running: J. Cuiry, £10- M. Forde, £5; W. H. Mason, £4. The Awarua Bifies held their annual meeting on Thursday night in the Caledonian Kestaurani. whon there was a large attendance of members of this popular company. Reports showed that the company was in a good position financially and also as to roembarehip. and future prospects look bright. Shooting matches during the year havo been well attended, the champion pTizo this year falling to Private H. Bain, the prize being a haudsoine clock donated by Hallenstein Bros, and Mr G. A. Whealler has been eleoted unopposed as Mayor of Bluff. Despite the bad season in Southland this year it is evident that some parts of the country are well ndanted to growing vegetables,as evidenced by the collection to be seen •in I/ennie and Sons' window, grown by J. Tierney, of Woodlands, and consisting of all the favourite kitchen varieties of vegetables, •which are all giown to perfection. Mat (era educational are causing a good deal of discussion down here, the bone of contention on the present occasion being the headina.etersh.ip of the Winton D.H. School. It «eem<? that tfie Winton Committee in deciding to indicate a preference for No. 2 of the board's nominees over the one placed first on the list, failed to ratify such decision in the usual formal manner, and vi consequence the secretary •was left a comparatively free hand as to his communication to the board. So it is alleged ; but a.= the matter is being incurred into we «hall hear more of it later. Meanwhile Mr Hutchin-Eon, of Waikaia. one of the l*>si teachers in the board's service, hns got the daiuty moreel. and* means to enjoy it. The flood in the Otautau district last week proved worse than wr.s expected. Both the Otautau Creek and the Jacob's River rose suddenly, flooding much of the low-lyiug country, and doing a good deal of damage to the grain in stook. The water was about a foot deep in ihe township, and a warfi-out occurred on the railway line near Rinsway, and prevented the running of the Saturday morning train. In consequence of the absence from town of the Spturday's "contingent of farmers two important sales of farm pioperties Tfere postponed. •