SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 51

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

(FBOir Ouk Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, December 14. There is practically no oat export from tho Bluff at present, and no oats are* offering from the country. The prices offered to farmers at present are from 3s Id to 3s 2d on trucks at country stations for B gTade, but as far as I can learn merchants have not been making any sales, so it is difficult to say what their true value is. Merchants have^ practically no stocks of their own, and what still remains in Bluff stores is sold for forward delivery. The growing crop ia looking exceedingly well, and farmers are well pleased with the prospect and the probability that fair prices will be obtained. Taking Southland, all over, there does not?" appear to be as large a quantity of oats sown as last season, but given a continuance of the present fine growing weather and' * dry harvest the yield should be considerably better. Chaff is quoted at £5 on trucks at country^ stations, for prime quality, but the business passing is very small, 'being confined to local requirements. Potatoes are still unsaleable. There is practically no business doing in the sheep market, and there is not likely] to be any till after the shearing is over— probably well on into January. There is » good inquiry from the north for all classes for forward delivery, but no great number are changing hands. Lambs for delivery in' the middle of February hate been selling at 12s to 12s 6d, hoggets (off the shears) 13s 6d< to 14s 6d, and special lines of ewe hoggets off the shears 16s fid to 38s. Beef is quoted on the basis of 25s per hundred pounds, but there are not many bullocks of prime quality offering, and these available are held in firm hands, holders expecting to get better values immediately) after the new year opens. Best bullocks are being quoted as high as £12, ordinarw butchers- bullocks £& 10s to £10, and forwarcl conditioned are m request at from £6 to £7. Younger' cattle are also inquired for, chiefly, from the north, and when any breeding is shown they are selling freely at £2 to £4,-' according to age. Shearing is now very general, and the bulb of the Southland sheep should be shorn bin New Year. Farmers who have not y«t •horn are not in any hurry to do so, owing to the> abandonment of the first tale, as a retultl of the short supply of wool. The splendid rains we have been having have done a vast amount of good all over Southland, and the early turnips and other crops are looking particularly well. The fibre market has been very quiet during the week, with " very' little inquiry from the English market aud none at all from America. The latter market is quits, closed to New Zealand at the present? . moment, owing to the financial crisis, and' London is transacting any business that is) being done. • Prices have not improved daringf the week, and there has been a continuance, of the drag in the market that has lasted foe; the last two months. Merchants are offering' prices which millers will not accept. The Matatua, loading at Bluff next week* will take away a lot of fibre on consignment to the London market, and it is to be hoped that things will improv« before she reaches ■her destination. Tow has suffered * still further, decline, and there seems to be no desire on the part of merchants to buy anything more than, for immediate needs. ( December 16. v " The foundation stone of the Gore Hospital, entitled 1 the Seddon jdemorial Hospital, in memory of the late Premier, was. formally laid by the Minister of Lands lastfMonday afternoon in the presence of the, chairman of the Southland Hospital andf Charitable kid Board, the Mayor and some/ councillors of Invercargill, members of othe* public bodies throughout Southland, the chairman and members of the Gore committee, and a good attendance of the public There has been an agitation at Gore for soma considerable time past to have a local hospital, it being realised that |n cßses of sickness and accident the chances of recovery, were reduced by the delay in getting sufferers to Invercargill, and some time ago it was agreed by the- authorities that a hospital! might be built jn Gore if residents of the town and district subscribed £1000 toward*, the cost. On this decision being arrived «t,j £1025 was soon forthcoming, «nd a oontractij was let tc Mr O. Kelly for the erection of, the building. Mr Kelly's contract price waau £3)20, but by the time the' institution is, furnished and properly equipped, the total; cost will be about £5000. The Government!, subsidy of 24s in the £ on the amount coY lected locally will bring the sum up to £22554' and the balance will be raised by a tevy o» the local bodies, supplemented by government subsidy. 1 In introducing the Hon. the Minister fort' Lands, Mr Bain, chairman of the Southland! Charitable Aid Board, traced the history of' the board's building operations during thq l»8t ten years, which is, briefly, that theji have expended £16,000 on Lome Farm, office* in Tav street, fever hospital at K«w, and Gore Hospital, and that so far from adding) to the burden on the ratepayers, the rate. is now twopence as against threepence before/ these operations began ten years ago. In* the course of his address, the Minister foi Lands said that he hyl been at one time! one of those who thought that too maajf hospitals were being built, but he was now satisfied that one should be built in eactf centre, provided the people of the district were prepared to put their hands in their pockets and pay a fair proportion of ths' cost. In the evening a banquet was held atf Mrs Paterson's rooms, when appropriated toasts were proposed andl honoured, and) speeches made by a good number of representative men. In the oourse of his address Mr M'Nab spoke on two features of the Government's Land Bill which he thought were not sufficiently known, one feature being) a provision that in all future sales of Crown lands one-third of the quantity of land submitted would be reserved at ballot for married men with families, the other being that every purchaser of Grown lands In future will require to make a declaration that tha land about to be acquired does not, with that) already held, exceed in extent 640 acre* of first-class land — in the case of second-class' land, 8000 acres, and in the case of thirdclass land, 6000 acres. j Mr M'Nab had a pretty busy week irt! Southland, as. besides quite a number of deputations, he attended the Invercargillli show and » banquet at Otautau, at which latter he gave an important speech on defence and the Government Land Policy ort Thursday, and the distribution of prizes atf .the Middle School and the High Schools, and the laying of the memorial stone at St. Paul's Sunday School on Friday. Hie Minister of Lands left for the north by Saturday morning's express. The Premier had also a busy week if Southland, ' his visit being cut short by the, catastrophe through which the Government Buildings in Wellington were destroyed. Sir', Joseph bad a great reception on his arrival!! here on Tuesday afternoonf the Mayor and' councillors, and a considerable number of representative men, and also a very large orowd, of townspeople assembling, at the railway, station to bid him welcome after nearly » yeajftl absents. Usm Southland. It is under- '

rtood'that on Sir Joseph's return from Wellington he will enjoy, the quiet of a holiday risxt to Stewart Island. A case of considerable interest to 'Southland people, especially those of the Gore and Waimea Plains district, came before his Sonor Justice Williams at the Supreme Court on Thursday last, when Mr M. Can, manager of the Southland Farmers' Co-operative Association, sued Me James White, of Biversdaie, for £550 for alleged libel. Mi Solomon, of Dunedin (with Mr W. MacaJister, of Invercaxgill) appeared for Carr, and Mr W. C. MacGregoi, of Dunedin (with, Mr X R. Bowler, of Gore), appeared for White. The juiy brought in a verdict of me farthing damages, which does not carry coats. The ceremony of laying the dedication • stone of the new Sunday School for St. Paul's Presbyterian Church was performed on Friday afternoon by the Hon. Robert M'Nab, Minister for Lands, in the presence of a large gathering of the officers of the church andl members of the congregation. The Sunday School is a two-storied brick building with a number -of rooms, to admit of' the classes being taken separately. The total cost is £1500. £800 of which has already been promised, and the balance is expected to be raised by a sale of work now in course- of preparation. At a conference between Sir Joseph Ward and Mi Walter Henderson, proprietors of the Invercargill tramways, and representatives of the various boroughs concerned, and of the County Council, Sir Joseph definitely promised that the work of installing the new tramways would be commenced within nine months from the Ist of January, 1908, and also that a line of buses would be run during the time occupied in the construction of theline from tb«- p ost - Office" to WailriwL It is understood that tenders for part of the work will be at once invited. At last practice of St. Paul's Presbyterian Choir, the conductor (Mr W. J. Ferguson) was presented with a handsome afternoon tea service in anticipation of his matriige. Sir Joseph Ward and the Hon. R. M r Nab were entertained at lunch by the' directors of- the Southland A. and -P. Association on Wednesday last. In the course of his speech. Sir Joseph expressed the opinion that there were too man> shows held in the district, and that an effort should be made to concentrate all their efforts in Invercargill, so as to make the Metropolitan show greater than any other in New Zealand, a result that he was satisfied could be achieved by combined effort, and he was sure that such a show would attract far more northern farmers than even the present one did, with the result that the many and great advantages of Southland would be more widely advertised, to the benefit of all concerned. The attendance at the Invercargill show on People's Day did not come up to that of last year, the figures being— l9o6, MOO; 1907. 1200. It is generally thought, however, that -had the rain kept off last year's Tecord would have been beaten," as the attendance of country folk was larger than ever, the town being "but meagrely represented. The gate receipts amounted to £486; /The first sale of the land recently acquired 'by the Otatara Land Proprietary Co. was conducted by Mr T. Kennedy-MacDonald on Tuesday night last in the Victoria Hall. There was a very large attendance of the public, and a fair number of sections were sold at prices ranging from £35 to -£6O per acre. It is understood that since then a good many more have been sold by private treaty. A 'special general meeting of members of the Southland Bowling Club was held last week to discuss the question of whether alcoholic liquors should be allowed on the green, when the motion to prohibit it was lost by 19 votes .to 18. ' Owing to lack of encouragement the first proposed wool sale has begn abandoned. At the presentation of prizes to the pupils of the Girls' and Boys' High Schools on Friday night the speeches were all of a v«ry high order, sspeciallv those of the Hon. R M'Nab and Messrs R. J. Gilmour and J. Fisher. Mr M'Nab emphasised the fact that it is not the so-called genius who wins in th« Jone run, but the clear-he*ded, sensible person with an infinite capacity for taking pains. Mr Fisher and Mr Gilmour pointed out that it is not always those who are roost successful at school who are most successful s in after life, many of the world's most useful workers having been veritable dunces at school. The Dux of the Girls' High School for this year is Miss Gwen. Hoddinott. For Dux of the Boys' High School Matthew Alexander and Kinnear George Fraser tied," and ~ each received a gold medaL Mr Gordon Brown, the well-known bookseller of Invercargill. returned from a five months' trip to the Home Country by a *ecent steamer. Although, on business bent, Mr Brown had a seven weeks' holiday in Scotland, and conies back greatly improved m ifr Harry Southern, of the District Railway Engineer's staff, who is being transferred to the head of£c« in Wellington, was on Saturday afterrcon presented with a dressing-case, a. silver-mounted engraved walking-stick, and a handsome ornamental clock, by the mem-bers-of the Railway Rowing Club, of which lie has been « valued member for the last three years. Mr Southern leaves for Wellington to-day (Monday). The event of the past week has undoubtedly biton the forty-first annual summer show, held 5y the Southland A. and P. Society in Queen's Park .on Tuesday and Wednesday. ■Unfortunately, the weather was rather unfavourable, especially *i Wednesday, People s Day, when rain fell steadily, although not hsavily. and ronrred to some extent a. holiday outing that had been looked forward to with considerable intere^. The attendance, however, was very satisfactory. A pleasant feature of this year's show was the number of northern breeders who were represented, showing that they recognise the Southland Show to be one of the foremost in the Dominion.