SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 52

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

(Faoir Otra Own Coesespokdent.) INVERCARGILL, October 1. The directors of the Southland A. and P. Association decided to-day to contribute I £5 annually for five years towards the establishment of a veterinary scholarship to enable New Zealand youths to study, veterinary science under Professor Gilruth at Melbourne University, the students to return to the Dominion When qualified. At the monthly meeting of the directors of the Southland A. and P. Association to-day an offer received from the Border Leicester Society at Home of a gold medal for competition at the summer show was accepted. The medal is to be competed I for .for three years, to be held each year by the exhibitor gaining most points, and ' to become the property of the exhibitor | with the highest aggregate at the end of ' the three years. j Th(e Woodlands Branch of the Farmers' Urion, at its last meet-ing, passed the , following resolution: — "That this meeting ' i disapproves of the action of the Union ' I Executive in taking steps to alter the ! ! system of rating on unimproved value to ' i that of rating on the capital value." | j The suitability of the names provided ! for the stations on the R.iversdale-Switzers ' railway line has been further considered | by the Railway Department, and it has ■ now been decided to adopt Switzers as j the name of the tenninad station instead 'of Waikaia. The siding w hich it was intended to call Keith is to be named Wai-pai-u. At this morning's meeting of the Southland Education Board the following ap- I pointment-s were approved : — Mr James White, temporary sole teacher at South ' Wynidham ; Mi?s Eva H. Gunn. mistress I at Woodlands ; Miss Irene Ham, tern- ' j porary pupil teacher at Tisbury. Mrs Murch was recommended to the depart- | ! menit for appointment to the position of sewing mi&k-ess at Waimaihaka. I October 2. 1 There is practically nothing doing by 1 local merchants in oatc, either buying or selling. A few Hives have been offering ] from the country, but farmers do not seem j inclined to take the prices ruling, and in j most cae.ss thope who havo oats to sell ! aro busy putting in their new crop. Prices, nominally, rule at Is 4d to Is 5d for B grade, with 3d more for A grad<\ , on trucks, at country stations. There is nothing doing oifher with th<» Home j market or tha North Island, and though j there are inquiries, the inquirers do not j seem inclined to pay anything like present • values. j Chaff is decidedly dull at from £2 to j £2 2s 6d for prime qiiality, and none of th« local merchants aro disposed to buy. | I Pora.tces are practically unsaleable at 1 present, and though se\eral growers are I offering, buyers are not operating. I Ryegrass is still selling fairly frcelv. and I nominal values rule from 2-s to 2i 6d for heavy seed from the mill, but most of the sted is now in merchants' hands, and has already been cleaned. I The market rontinuos vr-ry firm, and prices for all classes of stores aTe well _ maintained : indeed, values a.re. if nnvlhinp, slightly batter than those ruling last week, fiood hoggets are in most request, and the=e have been selling at up tc 15s 6J for ew* hoggets and from 12s 6d +■0 13s 6d for mixed sexes. There is a, M>!endid move in the wether markot, and i'<?*f sheep are- keenly souerht after, both l -y freezing buyers an-d butcher*. It is r> clroned that over 30,000 have been pur- < hased— the bulk for freezing — during the last month. Freezing *<heep are quoted at 16s 6d to 17s 6d, and butchers' sheep from 18s to 21s. Thore are no <;wps ohaujrinif hands, as lambing is fairly general all over Southland. As far as ca.n be gathered there is a pood percentage as the result of the lambing, a.nd the weather has bf«n all that coiild K» dp^iivd. Beef is stiH quoted at 22s 6d to 23s 6d per 1001b, and good forward conditioned bullocks are in request at up to £7. All olassoa of younpr cattle aro keenly inquired for, but are off-ering only in very small linos. Present values for 2 and 3-year-olds rule from £4 10s to £5 10s and for yearling to 2-year-olds from £2 to £3 10s. There has not been quite so much inquiry for fibre during the week. Prices have been fully maintained, and I attribute this to the fact that very few parcels have been offering, owing to the millers holding very firm in anticipation of a further early rise. Thi«, of course, may come, but I do not see any prosepct of it, as it must be taken into consideration that freights at the end of this month will be increased by 10s per ton, which will arsorb praoticallv all of the shippraV working profit. The inquiry from London and Australia is chiefly for high point "fair" ot "good fair," and parcels offering are finding rcadv sale at satisfactory prices. As Australia's demand is pretty well satisfied, however, and as thoy have been ' our best customers during these last few months, I am inclined to think that prices might ease a little instead of goinp- up. London advice* roport the demand for Manila as rathor quiet owing to tho large 1 receipts, but America still continues to buy very largo quantities, which keeps prices < up much better than wouVi ihp case in ordinary seasons The bountiful harvpste in the Unitr-d Staiw and Canada are ' of course responsib'o for thr lmg« consumption of Manila, and havo no <loubt been • equally responsive for th& improved de- ; mand for New Zealand hr>mp. Tow has ' improved somewhat in price, anrl inquiries J coming indicate an improvement of 10s ' to 15s for prompt shipment. i < October 4. I j The trout-fishing season opened on Fri- ' day under favourable conditions. The ! smallest streams were in first-class trim, though there was a suspicion of snow- • water in the Oreti. A strong nor'-wester : prevailed all day, whicii greatly improved < the chances of minnovr and worm fishing. and some very fair baskets sre reported I from both the Eastern and Western dis- 1 trirts The biggest trout reported so far < turned the >cale at 61b. and quite a num- 1 bei of fish of l^lb and 21b have already

! been taken. There is a considerable increase in the number of anglers this year, more youths having taken up this favourite sport than in former years. Mr James M'Call, fifth son of Mi and | Mrs Hugh M-CaJJ, of " Clover Meadows," Seaward Downs, has been appointed manager of Waitohi Co-operative Cheese Factory, situated at Tuamarina, Marlborough. — Southland Times. Mr Joseph Hobson. who will be remem- : ' bered as town traveller for Messrs Butterworth Bros., Invercargill, and who has I till recently been manage! of Messrs W | Lewis and Company's business at Wyndj ham, is opening up for himself in Mataura. Before leaving Wyndham, Mr Hobson was I the recipient of a presentation from his gymnastic class, and another from Messrs Lewis and Co.'s Wyndham employees. The prospects of the Invarcargill trams steadily improve. It is safe to say that j in both town and suburbs the majority j of the ratepayers are in favour of them, ! though in town a small body of opponents to the scheme are organising a vigorous opposition. To the. proposal to build trams there is practically no opposition in the ■ suburb-:, but the question of routes to South Invercargill is yet very far from a ' satisfactory settlement! ( Miss Eileen Mehaffey, daughter of Mr I W. G. Mehaffey, of the Middle School, j and the possessor of a fine contralto voice, i secured second place in the contralto solo . at the Dunedin Competitions, being only • ore point behind the winner. Miss Mehaffey is a valued member of the choir of First Church, Invercargill. The fund for the relief of young Ferguson, which has been got up by the Sawmill Workers' Union, now totals £76, and more is still expected to come in. Tlie Southland branch of the Pipers' and Dancers' Association of New Zealand held a meeting last week at which a resolution i was adopted to abstain from competing at j any sports where bagpipe music and highland dancing were not under the xmtrol of ' the Pipers' and Dancers' Association of j New Zealand. The resolution has been largely signed and represents practically all the pipers dancers of Southland. | At Friday's meeting of the Southland Education Board the following appointments were confirmed: — Mr James White, temporary sole teacher at South Wyndham ; Miss Eva PI. Gunn, mistress at Woodlands ; and Miss Trene Ham, temporary pupil teacher at Tisbury. Mrs Murch was recommended to the Department for appointment to the position of sewing mistress at Waimahaka. The annual social of the Woodlands Presbyterian Church was held in the public hall on Wednesday evening, when an enjoyable programme of choir music, solos, and recitations was submitted. During the evening the choirmaster (Mr Linklater) was presented with a purse of sovereigns and a silver teapot m recognition of his sea-vices as conductor during many years. Mr Frank Glasgow, teller in the Bank of New Zealand here, and one of the most popular of our footballers, is under orders to proceed to Timaru. Ihe Wright's Bush Dairy Factory has just been completed, and is likely to be a great success, as 50 cows are guaranteed ■an-d th-e plant is a "^ei-y good one. Mr George Dickson, of Tuturau. ha^ been appointed cheesemaker for the season. It is announced that the collections for the V.M.C.A. Building Fund, to 30th September, total £2000, and as further considerable amounts are expected shortly, the directors are now seriously looking for a suitable site, with a view to commencing building before long. The annual exhibition of work in connection with the Invercargill Technical School was held in the Technical School building on Wednesday afternoon and evening, when there was a large attendance of the public. The classes represented were the carpentery class, which had a very fine display ; the plumbing class, wood-carving, photography, drawing, building construction, freehand drawing, oil and water colour painting, cookery, and metal work, etc. R.\al Bush Dairy Factory was formally opened on Wednesday afternoon. The plant consists of two 800-gallon vats, two cheese presses, and the other appliances necessary. The factory commences with 400 gallons daily, which is expected to very soon run up to 800 gallons. Mr and Mrs Wilson, who have been farming at Oporo for many years past, and have now shifted to North Invercargill, were last week waited upon by a number of their former neighbours and presented with a handsome silver tea set •n recognition of the esteem in which they are held in the Western District. The Invercargill Daffodil Show, held last Wednesday afternoon and evening in the Victoria Hall was a splendid testimony to the suitability of the Southland climate for growing spring flowers. The show is tupposed to have been, in point of variety and quality of the flowers, the best held in Invercargill. A man named Ottery, in the employment of Mr John Graham, jun., at Titiroa. co seriously injured his foot through the slipping of his axe while bush-felling on Mr Graham's farm, that he had to be brought to the Southland Hospital. The injury is .sufficiently serious to necessitate his remaining there for some week-; to cane. A young man named James Watt had his foot cut off by a bullai-t train irar the Clyde street station on Monday afternoon last. It i.s probable that Watt, who was walking along.-id-e the rails, stumoled over something just at the moment when the front of ths engine wa.s abreast of him. and threw his foot in front of the second wheel. The Southland Rugby Union held its sports meeting at Eastend on Wednesday afternoon, when a long programme of events was got off, the items including a 100 yards. 220 yards. ' and a relay race for school boys. The 100 yards was won by S. Richards, the 220' yards by L. Christie, and the relay race by the Marist Brothers' team. A 100 yards race in heats was won by Nichol, and the Footballers'

100 yards by H. S. Hamilton,; while the Hockey Players' Handicap, of 135 yards, was won by P Uren, who also won the quarter-mile. The Southland Caledonian Society have arranged a good programme for their sports meeting at New Year, the total prizes for which (in cash and txxjphies) will amount to about £250. In tha course of a discussion on the matter of introducing agricultural Tnstruction into the Southland Schools at the meeting of the Southland Education Board la,st week. Mr Duncan Gilchrisf 1 said that more horses were killed by the giving of medicine than by refraining from giving it, the medicine being poured down th© windpipe instead of into the stomach. At this meeting a motion was passed approving of agricultural instruction in schools, and asking committees and teachers to give such instruction as may be practicable without trenching on the ordinary syllabus. A man named David Niven, a very old resident of Southland, was found dead alongside a race at which he had been working. It is understood that the cause of death was heart disease. A man named George Wishart was charged at the Police Court, Wyndham, last week, with shooting at his wife, and was l'emanded for a week. Mr P. Thompson, who has been foreman for the New Zealand Express Company, Inv-ercargill, for some years past, and has left for the purpose of starting in business for himself, was entertained at a farewell social last week and presented with a suitably inscribed travelling bag. At a. meeting of the Invercargill StarrBowkett Society held last week a free ballot in Group 1 fell to Cluster 227, and in a second ballot in the same group, Cluster 234 was successful. In Group 2, the free loan fell to Cluster B. 53/ J