SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 50

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

♦ CFSOM OUB OWK COBB.ESPON'.XNT.) INVERCARGILL, November 13.There is still a. good inquiry for oats | coming in from the North Island market, but, as ;eported last week, there are not any available for immediate shipment, and in consequence no sales have bene effected. The North Island market has been inquiring for B grade, and sales have been made on the basis of Is 8d f.0.b., 6.i. Very few oats are offering-from the country, and any lines* coming forward are readily disposed j of at fully up to last week's quotations, j A grade Gartons selling at equal to Is 7£d, > B grade Gartons Is 6d, A grade sparrow- > bills Is 6d, and B grade sparrowbills 16 5d j to Is s£d, on trucks at country stations. There is not likely to be much business of any consequence vow until the new crop is available. There .s vor.v little doing in ryegrass. though merchants have made some sales to go to London. I understand that the prices are low, but in most caes merchants aro \ anxious to cloar out any surplus stocks they have on hand. ; Chaff is exceedingly duil, and except for • a few prime Hne6, which aTe making £2 5s ' on trucks at country stations, no busine&s is passing. . There has been an inquiry for potatoes ( from the North Island, but owing to the ■ lateness of the season no_ business can be done here. ( The ehtep sales being held are bringing I forth very small entries, and in most cases holders are going to wait until after shear- , ing before disposing of their stock. Out- i side of a few b'nes of hoggets, which have ! been placed at last week's quotations, no i business is doing. Owing to re«>orts from ] the north, and. also to cable reports from ' London, farmers expect good prices for their wool, and I understand that in several cases station cHps have been sold at close on Is per 1b for fleece wool. Beef is firm, and prices are equal to 25s per 1001b. There are still a good number going to the local vrorks for freezing, and it ie understood that sales have been made I to the London market for November shipment. Good forward-conditioned cattle arc still strongly inquired for, and are selling at from £5 10s to £7. Well-bred young ■ sorts are readily placed at from £2 10s to ; £4 100. Buyers from as far north as Blenheim are inquiring for young steers and i

heifers, but no clee<_nt-siz>sd mobs can be obtained in -Southland. I understand that a local buyer has an order on hand for 300 head of two and three-year-old steers and heifere £or a northern firm, and is having great difficulty in securing them. There_is still a strong demand for " fair " and " good fair ' qual'ty fibre. London buyers are evidently more anxious to share in our production than was the case a month or six weeks ago, and I<ondon prices ore now ranging on a par with those offered by America and Australia. Although several cablegrams have come to hand from various sources during the week offering business, I have no information of any sales actually completed, a good number of the millers now working having sold their outputs for several months to come. I understand that several plants that have been lying idle for the best part of two years are now teing overhauled with a view to commencing operations in some of i the remoter parrs of Southland, and in1 dications point to a very large autout- oE . fibre from Southland mills this season. If the present prices hold for a few months, I anticipate that we will more than recover our lost position in the fibre markef, and the employment of such a large cumber of hands as are necesary in connection with the flax milling industry should go a long way towards dissipating the cloud of depression which has been hanging over these parts for several months. Tow is in strong demand, and small parcels are finding their way to Australia and to manufacturers in the Dominion. A very considerable quantity is now being used by upholsterers, and this by-product «eems to be establishing itseif on a more satisfactory basis eacfT year. November 14. ! The Southland County Council at its last meeting decided to approach the ; -Minister of Public Works for an amendj meat to the Public Works Act. There are throughout the county a number of •• places adjacent to towns and boroughs where land has been subdivided or is ! held to be subdivided for residential sites. j It is the general experience that a fair percentage of the people engaged at work j in the towns and townships endeavour to secure areas of from a quarter-acre to an acre outside the town boundaries (and in the county) on which to build homes, and that where such occurs a .small suburb arises within a few years in the county area, and then come aigitations for drainj age, footpaths, and other semi-urban con- . venienoas which the County Council can- - not supply by means of the rates raised on a rural basis. The growth of these I urban settlements frequently imposes un- . fair burdens on the county before such ! settlements have arrived at a stage that ( makes - the creation -of a special rating ' area , advisable. Under the present law holders of lar-ge areas within a town or borough boundary are compelled at the discretion of the local authority to form roads and footpaths, and put broken metal or gravel on these when cutting the area up for sale. What the Southland County asks is that a clause be in- ■ serted in the x Public Works "Act giving the local authority similar discretion to compel owners to put metal or gravel on the roads or footpaths they have now by law to " form " when cubtirtg up for residential purposes any land within two ; miles of the boundary of any town or 'borough. The council is also circularising all the counties for co-operation in this movement. The Invercargill Borough Council has already another electric power supply scheme in hand. The town engineer, with ; others, made a pr o«t>ec ting trip to the | Waiau and Lnke Hauroko, where he found that to make use of the Hauroko waters in even the most economical and modified form would run into a cast approximating a million pounds. Be extended his investigations to Lake Monowai and the Monowai River, which is fed directly from the lake and runs straight to the Waiau River. Here he found, near the junction of the Monowai with the Waiau, a place where the conditions lend themselves to the economic generation of electrical energy. Here he J estimates there is 16,000 horse-power j available on the spot — or, allowing far all possible contingent loss in transmission, 14,000 horse-power in Invwcargill. There are, too, splendid possibilities of future expamsion, by which this horsepower could be quadrupled. The engineer states that the scheme would be an exception&llv economical one, there being no costly dam to construct, while there are no engineering difficulties in the way. The Borough Council has made' a commencement with the pre>Hmin-ary steps leading up to having; an exhaustive report made by a consulting engineer. November 15. The Gi-eatei Invercargill Association has put m a strenuous week. Opening at Gladstone on Monday night, they have conducted their campaign at A venal, North Invercargill, and East Invercargill also. At Gladstone there was a good attendance of electors, and very little opposition shown, a requisition asking the Council to have a poll taken being numerously signed. The attendance at A venal was also satisfactory, and here also very little opposition \ras shown, the principal objectoi being the -nr.st to si^n the requi>ition. At North Invercargill the attendance was very good, and more opposition was /shown heie than at any A the other centres, and a long series of question^ put to members, of the executive at the close of the meeting. These questions wert all fully answered, if not to the satisfaction of the questioner, certainly to the satisfaction of the audience generally ; and here also a requisition was largely signed. At East Invercargill, the only declared opponent of amalgamation was the chairman (Mr W. Baird), who is mayor of the borough, but his objections were easily tunned by the chairman of the executive into additional arguments in favour of amalgamation. During the week th& secretary of the Greater Invercargill Association has got additional •names on the various requisitions, in every case sufficient to tecure the necessary poll, and no doubt when the petitions aTe presented to the councils the polls will be arranged, and it is anticipated that

they will all be taken, simultaneously on the Bth December. There are still two meetings to be held, one at South Invercargill on Tuesday evening and another in the Town. Hall, Invercargill, on Wednesday evening. Although there is a good deal of opposition to amalgamation at -South Invercargill, and an association has_ been formed which is strenuously anti-amalgamation, the Greatei Invercargill Association are not without hope of carrying the proposal here. The preponderance of voting power is in the North Ward, /and tie North Ward is known to be in favour of amalgamation almost to a man.

The principal objections to amalgamation appear to be the termination of the separate existence of the- various suburban boroughs, and 1 therefore the termination of the official existence of a good many councillors, mayors, and town clerks, who cannot all .hope to reappear in connection with the combined borough proposed. The other objection is to increased rates, either as an immediate result of amalgamation or as an equivalent for benefits to be received in the shape of water, gas, and drainage. Most of the people in the suburbs are sensible enough to recognise that a good water supply and up-to-date drainage jare essential to health, and- are prepared" to pay even double if need be, but in each of the' suburbs there are a number of ratepayers who regard thase" conveniences as unnecessary,,- and will not have them if they are to cost them even one penny extra, and it is these latter who may imperil the polls, as they, are for the most part old residents whoe» opinions have weight with tlhe unthinking. Aa a result of the success of the tramway poll, a number of former opponents of amalgamation have turned eight round, holding that since the trams will run to all the suburbs, residents there should have a voice in their management, and can only do so by amalgamating and electing councillors from their districts. One- of the questions that has been brought into prominence in the latest speeches is that of whether the ri©w borough should be what- is called an undivided borough, or l a borough divided into wards ; and on the whole, the undivided borough proposal seems to meet with greatest support, even from suburban people, as they realise that as the years go by the voting wall come more and more into the hands of residents in the outskirts, the tramways making the suburbs more popular, and present residential areas becoming the sites of shops, offices, and warehouses.

At a meeting of members of the Southland Farmers' Co-opf|rative Association, held in Invercargill on Saturday week, there was a Large attendance. The meeting was for the purpose of considering a proposal to issue 5000 6 por cent, preference shares. The proposal was strongly supported by Mr Hugh Smith (chairman of directors), and Messrs John M'Queen. W. Milligan (Dfpton), K. Finlayson, H. Buxton, A. F. Blatch, Geo. Chilton, and John Dickson, and others, and was carried practically with unanimity, "a number of -the shareholders present afterwards committing themselves to the taking up of shares. The charge of assault preferred against Jolin Friend and H. T. Leydon, rangers, by John Rask . came before Mr Cruickshank, S.M., on Wednesday last, and was dismissed, Mr Cruickshaaik holding that unl'&r the circumstances the display of arms was justifiable. -The charge of netting; trout preferred by the Acclimatisation Society against John and Edward Bask was, however, regarded as proven, and defendant© were each fined £2 and £1 8s costs.

At Thursday's meeting ol the Invercarvill Borough Council the question of tramway routes was very fully discussed, and it was at last decided to adhere to the original proposal, which was that tlhe trams should run down Cbnon street. A proposal that the trams should be managed by a. joint committee of management was earned, a counter proposal to create a Tramway Board being put and lost. There is a very general opinion that management by a committee of delegates from the various councils will prove unworkable, and this is »nc more argument in favour of amalgamation. , At Thursday's meeting of the Invercargill Borough Council a motion was carried to the effect " that this Council is of opinion that the time has arrived whes universal military training should be adopted by the Dominion.'' A maa named Roderick Morrison was found dead in a ditch at Otatara on the morning of Wednesday last, a horse he was riding having apparently missed its footing and fallen back into the ditch in such a way that the horse's hoof caught Mormon under the chin and broke his nsck. An : nquest was held and a verdict of accidental death returned. Tlie growth of grass in Southland this year is so luxuriant that the milk production is far greater than during the early pajrt of any former season in the history of the dairy factories. All the factories in Southland -rre taking in largely increased quantities, and even if the prices for cheese should not turn out j so good as last yeaT, the increased quan- I tity of milk cold by suppliers will more ; than offset the reduction in prices paid ' to them for butter-fat. |

The angling competition, h?ld on the Rew River on Wednesday under the auspices of the Southland Anglers' Society, was not a great success, the biggest bag of trout (11, caught by Mr IF. Hoffman) totaling ilig'htly under 141b. The Rev. F. Hales, "minister of the Invercargill Baptist Church, was welcomed on hiis return from tb© Baptist Convention at Wellington by a social in Ashley's Hall on Wednesday evening. The Mayor (Mr Lonquet) presided, and there was a large attendance, not only of members of the congregation, but of the general public. The social wound up with a supper, of -n'hich about 250 persons partook, ' the social being a meet successful one from every point of view. The Hibernian Band (the youngest of

our local bands) lias just published its balance sheet, from which if appears that its revenue for the year was £255. and the expenditure only £224, a very satisfactory outcome. The band is in a verygood position, being practically free of debt and owning assets worth over £300. Mrs Aylin, who has conducted the Railway Hotel at Dipton for many years pastf and made 't an outstanding example of what a well-conducted hotel should be, , has recently sold out, and is leaving the district after eighteen years' residence. Before leaving, the residents of Dipton, took steps to show their appreciation of Mrs Aylin's worth by presenting to her an illuminated address setting out the; appreciation of the lesidenfe of the recipient's many excellent qualities. The • presentation was, maoVby Mr N. M'Curdy, and was acknowledged by Mr W. H* Whittaker on behalf of Mrs Aylrn.' The bone mil] and works in connection with the Ocean Beach Freezing Works were turned down early an Tuesday, morning. . The building and contents wer» - insured, but both the ownei of the build> ing and the firm of Messrs J. G,\ Ward and Company will suffer to some extent.-' Mr and Mrs E. B. M'Kay returned -. to InvercargiLJ on Monday last after a^ nine-months' visit to Britain and the" Continent. • '_' •