SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 52

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, March 5,

During the week a fairly large number of samples of the new season's oats have beer offering on the market, but no business has resulted. Merchants have been offering from Is 5d to Is 6d on country sidings, some distance away from the port, and up to Is 7d for short railages. No " forward" business has been done, though northern merchants have been inquiring very freely for supplies for delivery extending over the next three or four months. They are offering Is lOd to ls_lo£d (f.0.b., s.i.) on an average railage. This runs out at Is 6d to Is (sacks extra). The samples offering so far have been very bright in colour. A good quantity has been threshed out of stook, and this is in perfect condition. Given another week of fine weather a very large quantity of oats should be on the market, and no doubt next week will see considerably more business being done. The; chaff market is very dull, and outside of local requirements nothing is passing. Prices rule from £2 to £2 5s on trucks at country stations. A fair quantity of wheat is threshed, and supplies are now offering on the market, sales having been effected at from 3s 6d to 3s 9d on trucks at country stations. The quality offering so far has been very good. There is still a fair quantity in stook, but it should be got in in splendid condition.

Ryegrass has been offering very _ freely during the) week, and a large quantity has been purchased. Buyers have been scouring all over Southland, endeavouring to purchase .it on the farm. Prices rule at Is 9d to 2s for 221 bto 241 h seed, but heavier weights have ruled from 2s 3d to 2s 6d. The above prices are for perennial seed, but Italian is selling at from 2s lOd to 3s Id. Farmers complain that the grass is not threshing out anything like up to their expectations, a large quantity having been shaken out before cutting. The sheep market is firm, and during the week prices have slightly hardened for all classes, but particularly for rape lambs, which are selling at from 9s 6d to 10s. Practically all holders are asking the latter price.

Fat lambs are now worth 12s 3d to 13s, and butchers' wethers are commanding 13s 6d to 15s, with freezing wethers at from 12a 3d to 13s.

All classes of young ewes have been meeting with a ready sale, two-tooths selling at from 13s 6d to 14s 6d, and four-tooths from 14s to 15s 6d. Ewes (guaranteed sound-mouthed) are quoted at from 10s to 12s.

The cattle market is quiet, and very little business is passing. Sales are confined to local requirements on the basis of 20s to 21s per 1001 b.

No great number of store cattle have been offering. Forward bullocks -Are still selling at from £5 10s to £6 10s. Younger cattle are placed, in the lots .that are coming forward, at from £2 to £3 for two to three-year-olds, and £3 10s to £4 10s for three to four-year-olds. Recent rains have been very beneficial to green crops, and no doubt the winter turnips _ will be fully as good as last year. The rains came just a little late for the rapa crops, but the early turnips and grass benefited considerably. The fibre market has experienced another seivere drop during the week, and prices have receded to about £l9 per ton on trucks for fair grade fibre. Cables to hand from. London and other sources give no explanation of the sudden drop, but iust state that the market is very sick. The stocks in London are not by any means heavy, and I can only conclude that large shipments of Manila are arriving and depressing the English market. Local millers view the position with grave, concern, and several spoken to during the week express the intention of finishing at once rather than risk the uncertainty of the markets at this time* of the year.

The inquiry for tow still continues strong, but owing to the shortage of deliveries from millers very little actual business can be completed. This is no doubt the chief causa of the firmness of the price of th : s article. March 7. The business of the Supreme Court at the sittings held in Invercargill this week was extremely light, there being only two criminal cases. Lantsbery, till recently Town Clerk of North Invercargill, charged with embezzlement, was sentenced to one year's imprisonment with hard labour, and Ernest Newton, charged with arson at Riverton, was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment with hard labour. The Rev. Father Lynch, before leaving Invercargill for Gore this week, was entertained at a farewell social and presented with an illuminated address and a purse of sovereigns. Captain Johhanssen of the oyster boat Ariel was drowned on Wednesday, a few miles from the Bluff, when engaged with other members of the crew in hauling the oyster dredge, heavily weighted, on board. Johhanssen had on his heavy sea boots and sank quickly, and although every effort was made to rescue him, or recover the body, nothing effective could be done. A young man named William Taylor, a shunter at the Invercargill Railway Station, Was On the same morning killed through having his head crushed between two trucks. An ingltest was held, when

a verdict of accidental death was*returned, At the inquest, one witness, —a fellow shunter—deposed that the deceased was wearing an overcoat, and that the danger had been remarked upon in a half jesting way. The Southland flower show, held on Wednesday and Thursday, was a great success both in point of the number of exhibits and of the quality of the flowers shown. The sweet peas were simply magnificent, as were also the pot plants. There was a good show of fruit, but not so many exhibits as one would have expected in such a favourable year. The syndicate, consisting of well known Invercargill business men and two equally well known engineers who recently bought the wreck of the Waikare, are very confident that they will be able to make a good thing of it. In the meantime, the services of an expert diver will be secured, and it will soon be known whether the raising of the boat is within the possibilities.

Mr John Feldwick, for many years one of the proprietors of the Southland Daily News, left last Tuesday on a longprojected visit to the Home country. Miss Agnes Dickie, -who has been mistress of the Wyndham school for the last four or five years, was last Monday presented with a silver salver and afternoon tea set on the eve of her marriage. At last Tuesday's meeting of the Southland Presbytery a gra,nt of £SOO was made to First Church Deacon's Court in aid of the expenses of the new church, which is expected to amount to about £13,000. The Technical Classes for the winter commence early next month, the staff of teachers being practically the same as in former years, the allocation being as follows :—Architectural drawing, W. A. M'Caw and J. J. Gough; building construction, J. J. Gough; cookery, Mrs G. A. Turner; carpentry, A. Ayling; chem istry, J. Williams, B.Sc. ; dressmaking, Miss M'Lachlan; machine construction, Jas Dunbar; magnetism and electricity, J. Williams, B.Sc. ; plumbing, Joseph Anchor, E.P.C.; photography, E. Brownlie; woodcarving, Walter Robinson; wool classing, to be arranged; millinery, to be arranged; veterinary science, Sabine, M.R.C.V.S. ; arithmetic (first and second years), Jas Hain; senior bookkeeping. Jas Hunter; junior bookkeeping, J. Campbell; English (first and second years), W. G. Mehaffey; elocution, A. F. Bateman; French, J. P. Darkin, B.A. ; mathematics, J. Pow; Standards V and VI arithmetic, A. Greig; shorthand, J. Hunter; typewriting, J. Jaquiery. The Rev. G. P. Hunt, who has been Primitive Methodist minister at Bluff for the last five years, was entereained at a farewell social on Tuesday evening last, when he was presented with a purse of sovereigns from the congregation and a gold sovereign case frqjn the choir. The gold watch offered by LieutenantColonel Bell of Waikato in an essay competition among the primary schools of the Dominion, on the subject of "Patriotism," has been won by Miss Ida L. Ross of W-aimatuku. The presentation was made at the Southland Girls' High School, of which Miss Ross is a pupil, on Thursday afternoon, when a number of members of the Education Board were present. The presentation was made by Mr John M'Gibbon, chairman of the board. During the sittings or the Supreme Court, Judge Williams was approached by members of the Bar present and congratulated on having that day completed the thirty-fifth of his occupancy of the Judicial Bench of New Zealand. Judge Williams is now 73 years of age, and is one of the oldest judges in the British Empire. Dr J. M. Mehaffey, eldest son of Mr W. G. Mehaffey, of the Middle School, Invercargill, who recently completed his medical studies in London, is about to settle down in Southland, and is now negotiating for the purchase of a practice at Orepuki. The Winton Bowling Green was opened on Wednesday afternoon, a large number of Invercargill bowlers honouring the occasion with their presence. The proceedings were opened by Mrs C. D. Moore, the Mayor's wife, playing the first bowl, and a very pleasant game followed. Mr W. A. Ott, who has been in the service of Messrs Henderson and Co. for' twelve years, occupmg the position of accountant for some time past, is leaving the firm to start in business for himself as a public accountant. Before leaving last week, he was presented by the firm and the employees with a handsome gold watch, suitably inscribed. Mr Ott is likely to be the next Mayor of Invercargill, as he has strong claims on the position, and, so far, no one has come forward to oppose him. If one may judge by the. number of collectors, the Hospital Saturday collection ought to be an enormous success this year, as at every turn, and half way along every block, one or two, or more young ladies may be met with who are most assiduous in their attempts to extract the nimble threepenny or even the humble nennv from the passer-by. The following appointments have been made by the Southland Education Board : ■ —Springhilk : Ada Eggleton. sole teacher. W T yndham : Margaret F. Dale, relieving mistress till a permanent appointment can be made. Kennington: Jessie J. Nicoll, relieving mistress till a permanent annointment can, be made. Rimu: M. J. Leith, relieving- assistant till a nermanent appointment can be made. Winton: James A. Henry, relieving first assistant till a permanent appointment can be made. Makarewa: Gladys Dunlop, temporary pupil teacher till a permanent appointment can be made. The following names were recommended to the department for appointment as sewing mistress :—(1) Ota-ma : Mrs Favell. 12) Wendonside : Miss K. Farringdon. Quarry Hills—Waikawa, Valley: Robert C. Barker, temporary sole teacher. Bluff : John Miller, temporary fourth assist ant till a permanent appointment can be made. Haldane: That Mrs Lofldell be recommended to the department for appointment as sewing mistress. Waihopai:

] Thomas Baird a,nd Evelyn Gray, pupil ' teachers (third- year),