SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 51

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES

(Faou Oub Own Correspondent.) IXTJERCARGILL, October 23. During tho week there has been a slightly better tone in the wheat market, inquiry having conic in from the United Kingdom, thoug-h, so far as can be learned, no actual sales have been effected. The market has improved slightly in value, and prices are now ruling at Is s£d on trucks at country stations for B grade. It is practically impossible at the present time to secure spac& in tho Home-going steamers, as the shipping firms are getting- raady for the wool reason. The rough weather has retarded somswhat the later sowing of next season's oats, but those sown earlier in the year are looking exceedingly well all over th« | district. From present appearances it is 1 anticipated that about the same crop as usual will bq &own in Southland this year. i There is a large quantity of ohaff offering afc present, but oui-iide of what is neees- ; oiiy for local requirements no business is , passing at present. Quotations rulo at £2 to £2 5s on trucks at country stations for | first-class quality. ' Potatoes are practically at a standstill, no business of any kind passing at present, nor is there likely to be anything doing in the near future. i Merchants are sending out large quantities of ryegrass for sowing down, but apart from this, very little business is doing. , A few northen merchants have been inquar1 ing. and during the cast week several odd hn.es have been sold. There is praotfcallv nothing offering from the .country, and it i* not anticipated that much will 'bo saved this yoar, as, owing to the healthy outlook for all classes -of stock, farmers are feeding tne grafs rather than saving it. During th- week ther& has been very Jilt'© busings* passing in stcck. this beincr chiefly due to jh-e fact that lambing is ironoral and the d'oundanca of feed making holders fairly indoperdent, as in nearly every case they will now b3b 3 in a position to carry over till aftor shearing. Farmers are exceedingly pleased with reference to tno reports that have been coming in from the mutton, lamb, and wool markets, and I the ourlcok for the coming season is ox- : o-cdingly Lnght. In mest cases there has been a large percentage of lambs this year considerably over 100 per cent, being registered in ordinary farmers' flecks. Last week's quotations for all classes of ■sheep stand good. A few wethers are still selling at up to 22s for butchers' sorts and from 18s to 19s 6d for freezing. Ewe hq^goti ard quoted at up to 16s 6d. and mi\vd se\os 15s to 16s. No ewes ar^Bhanging hands but a fair quotation would be from 21s to 22s 6d for two, four, and sixtooth ewes (with lamb.-, given in). j The beef market is exceedingly firm, and several largo lines have bean purchased for freezing purposes. These are going through j the. local works, and are making holders firm in their idea of values. Present values , rule at 23s per 1001b. Good forward-condi-tioned cattle (to finish off on grass) are selling at up to £7 10s. Gocd classes of younger cattle are keenly inquired for, and are c, 3 ]lii,nr at fully up to last week's quotations, two and three-year-olds being specially inquired for at from £3 15s to 3C/T 15s. The demand for fibre has remained firm during the week, and inquiries from London, America, and Australia arc still coming in for " spot" and " forward" par/>o!s. The London markets, however, are behind the others, and there has been as much as 40s per ton difference between London buyers and American. This margin, however, has beon practically recovered by London buyers, who are now buying stocks at up to market prices. Large salfs have been matte to America for shipment up to as far as April. In view of tho very low state of present stocks the position soems to be a fairly strong ons. Valuer are^ unaltered from last week's quotations, wilh the exception of a slight increase in tho price of tow, which is somewhat difficult to procure owing to millers neglecting it for the more payable fibre. There has be-on a f.mall inquiry for -'spot" parcels of tow during tho week without, however, resulting in _ business, holders remaining very fiim owing to the increase of 10s p?r ton in freight which will come about at the beginning of next month on all classes of fibre for shipment. London stocks of New Zealand hemp at the beginning of September j totalled 197 tons. The cfr"es" factories in Southland have all be^n holding their meetings during tho pa-t foitnight, but very few, if any. ha\e sold outright, the- prices offered not being con -i.I(M--p(l satisfactory. It. i? probab'e that the bulk of the cheese manufactured tlii3 year will bo tupped direct to London on factorir-.,' account. Tho latest cablegrams fiom London point Io a weaker market tuoro. bid it U to be hoped that before llio local artk-Ie reaches London prices will ha\e nnprovid, as dairy-farmers this -iodr hair }_,'^n expecting to get big money fci the r buttci-fat. October 25. The Micrfs of th-? recent tramway poll ha> had the effect of Mirrinji up interest in municipal matters generally, and the que'-t.on of the vaiLoun powers to be used ior the Hams haj» been coming in for di-.cu-.Mon. It v&£ hoped that this queslioii would be solved by the town engineer's lepoit on the Wyndham supply, bat In- l eport Ikis bson adveree, and it i-* row rpahs-ed that there is no chance of a Miffii lent current of elecliical power | fion tlier^ The Waiau and the Wai- ! l.uiiiihui hrve been mentioned a.-, .-ourees <f pom pi . but they are both too far off to pdimt of their being taken up at pre--■l'.t, „'.d more attention is now being Liven to the alternative of sjettina; a pioductr gn.- plant to oenentte electi icily at th" local yp^woiks, where there ip always a !^o^(] to(k of coke which rould be utili.-jd in t.liis connection. The late town engineer (Mr Sliaip) has expressed the opinion th.it the petrol system in use in some of ihe small town* on the Continent wculd be moid suitable for Invercargill, becau 1-*1 -* of the greatly reduced cost of installation, but it i.s objected to petrol that the would militate against the f=uccesrt of the trams. However, now that electricity from a river is practically out of court, the petrol system will be care-

fully considered before it is finally rejected. TII3 passing- of the poll has had the further result of converting a nuniber of citizens to the proposals of the Greater Invercargill Association, and this associa-i tion is now arranging a series of meetings in the various centres to place their j views before the ratepayers, and intend thereafter to apply for a poll oaa tbe question, and are hopeful of bringing about amalgamation. Things are looking up generally fn Southland. This will bs a record year for milk supply to various factories.,Lamb, wool and mutton are it high prices. The lambing has bseni extremely I successful ; the flaxnrills are reopening ;{ and the timber trade has revived to ai surprising extent. Retail business in Invercargill has also slightly improved, and there is a quickening of the land market. A very 'large quantity of land, however, is already being advertised, and it is jusfc possible that there will be somewhat of a glut. However, it will be nearly' two years before the trams are actually in fuli operation, by which time probably all the sections now offering will be absorbed. The annual prize giving for the Presbyterian Sunday Schools was held in. First Church on Friday eveniug, when, besides 1 a fair attendance of town scholars and • parents, there wei'e a number of country, i visitors interested ir the scholars. Some of the&e visitors, however, were suffering ; a disappointment, in that the eountrx " prizes had been sent out to the various Sunday schools throughout the district. The Invercargill Corporation's proposal to reclaim a large area of the upper 'end of the Estuary having bean approved by, the government, it is expected that an early start will T» made, and there can bs no question that this will be a very; valuable aisset to the town when the reI clamation is finished. ' j Mr Smith, manager of the Bank of New I Zealand, Invercargill, left'laet Monday for | a six-weeks' holiday in Australia, and is being relieved by Mr Hindmaxsh, from Oamaru. Miss M. L. Brungot, mistress of tho | Woodlands 'School, was last week preI s-ented by the school children and some | of their parents with a handsome gold: \ bracelet, the presentation being made by I Mr Linklater, the chairman of the school I committee. Mr Gibb, at one time schoolmaster at Tuturau, and more recently bee expert in the service of the Agricultural Department, has returned to the Wyndham district to go into the bee business on his own account, and has bought a small block of land at Menzie's Ferry, where he will have his apiary, and from which, •he will supervise a number of different apiaries which he intends to establish. * The Trafalgar Day celebrations in lavexcargill consisted of a parade of. the High School Cadets and the public school cadets on the Queen's Park on Wednes- | day afternoon. The turnout totalled 396 lof all ranks. On Thursday (Trafalgar . Day) the local branch of the Navy League . celebrated the occasion by an. entertain** ( ment in Ashley's Hall, when a most in- . teresting address was given by the Rev. P. W. Fairclough, of Dunedin, dealing •uith the growth of the Biiti=h Navy and its pnesent position. A case of interest to parents of school children wa.s heard at Gore on Thursday, when the &oh.Golimstie&s at Oharlton was charged with p.-saulting ojie of the pupils , for refusing to .-.weep out the school, wKich i refusal was in consequence of the child's i father's order that he should not do the sweeping. Somewhat to the astonishment of the plaintiff, the magistrate dis- ' t mi.-sed th.3 ca^e on the grounds that the c-iutliority of the sehoolm.istr.esss within tlie school must be upheld. At the Magistrate's Court af Gore, last | week, Mr Thomas Splatt was proceeded I against by the N.ew Zealand Dental AsI sociation for having carried on business 1 as a dentist at Gore while not registered i under the: Dentists' Act of 1908. Evidence 1 was given to th° effect that defendant was ' not a registered dentist or a medical pracj titioner, and that a sign displayed by j him on his premises gave the impression : that he wes tM qualified. The defence was - ' that Mr Splatt, having carried on business ' for many years, was by tire Act of 1908 i entitled to continue hi* business, and that although he controlled tho financial pai't of the busiii€t-«, he employed qualified men - for the operations. The magistrate (Mr I Kendrivk) reserved his decision. A little girl named Fo!ey met her death in a most unusual fa-hior in Don street, * on Thui»day. It appears that the child, who \\a.-> about nine years of a.ge, was | playina about the hou.-e with three other little children, and m the course of the play tried to tcramble into the hou«s by an "open window, standing on a bucket to reach it. Th? sash, whidh wa& propped I up by a .-tide, 'had no weights, and fell on the child." neck, the child no doubt having knocked out ttie stick, and the other "children being unable to lift tiha .-n=h, + h3 ch'ld wa- strangled to death. The Kenningtoii Dairy Factory was formally opened on Wednesday afternoon-, when there \va- a larg° attendance of suppliers and local le-idents. The total cost of th" biiildinar.- and plant is about £1500, Mid it n c o s-ituated on th-a northern sid-e of the Wnihopti fond-re as to serve dairy farmers fiom both s ; des of the district. Mi KenJrick, who ha.s b°-en stipendiary m?<j;i-tral" at Gors for some time past, wa?, on Weclne=d?.y la-t, farewelled by. Ibe members <-i the legal profession at Goie. the ppokc-men 'being Mes^TS Henderson pud Bowler. Mr KencVick goes to Uiwer-a, in the TaTaaiaki district. Twenty-eight tlioui?and sheepskins are undergoing the alum-ecvating and air-dry-ing process at O'ean Beach Freezing; Works. This rniethcd of cubing is not' generally in vogue, but is being adopted? in the present instance to fulfil a United States order, where 5 per cent, tantamount, to 3.i per skin, is allowed as rebate duty on sheepskins bearing the original ■wool. — Bluff Press. I understand that the Rev. A. Mitchell, the popular pastor of St. Paul's Methodiati

Church, is under instructions to remove to Kaiapoi in March next.