LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 889, 13 September 1879, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

If anything can give confidence to New Zealand growers of wheat, it is the demand there is for it m the English market, and the excellent prices it realises, formerly New Zealand grown wheat used to be quoted from four to five shillings per quarter below Adelaide. Now, such is the estimate it is held m, that Adelaide wheat is only quoted one shilling a quarter, or three half-pence per bushel lower than Adelaide. Messrs. J. &. A. Davis, of Makaraka store Eoseland, notify that Thursday, the 18th inst, being a Jewish holiday, their store will be closed for business. The Rev. Father Chastagnon notifies that he will arrive m Gisborne to-morrow (Sunday) morning, m time for mass at 11 o'clock. The heavy frosts of the last two nights and mornings are said to have very much injured the early-set potato crops. We regret to hear this, because the farmers have had so many serious drawbacks during the past season, that it ia sufficient to dishearten them. There will be a great breadth of^naize put m this season whicll farmers have now come to consider is by far the safest if not the most profitable crop. We would remind our readers of the Rowing Club concert is to be held t his eveniug, m the Masonic Hall. An early attendance will be necessary m order secure seats. Mr. Roberb Cooper has been served with a summons, " for that be did on the fifth September, 1879, use provoking and insulting language of and concerning one William Lee Bees, of Gisborne, m tlie presence of the said William Lee Rees, for for the purpose of provocation and annoyance, to wit ' Rees is a b scoundrel ; Reea has robbed Doull of twelve hundred pounds,' and other expressions of a like character, which tended to provoke a breach of the peace, and the said William Lee Rees ; that you be bound over to keep the peace." The summons will be heard on Monday, and is likely to create considerable interest. The Gisborne Football Team appears to have had a very warm welcome m Napier. A half -holiday ' was proclaimed for the occasion of the match. There • were a large number of people on the ground. Our boys were cheered to the echo. A banquet was given them m the evening. Two members of Parliament were present ; but the great event was the beating given to the Napier team which proved they were out of form, or that our athletes were a good deal too many for them. The team will arrive by the Rotorua to-morrow morning, and no doubt will receive a hearty welcome from their Gisborne comrades. Mr. E. ff. Ward, juur., has given public notice, through our columns, that any stock depastured within the late Captain Read's ring-fence at the Hapua, without his consent, will be impounded. Mr. J. Cooper, brother of Robert Cooper, has purchased the fine stallion " Mnroro," from Mr. H. Redwood, Blenheim. Maroro will stand this season at Poverty Bay,

We understand that Mr. Thomson, Inspector of Police m the Auckland district, will be appointed Resident Magistrate for Gisborne. Mr. G. N. Brassey, brother of Mr. Brassey, solicitor, of this town, is a candidate for the same appointment. We have been interviewed by Mr. W. Teat (late Robjohn and Teat). Mr. Teat brings us a copy of onr Herald, and placing it prominently before us, asks what we think of it? We tell him we think a good deal of it, and are m full trust that he does the same. Approaching close to us, he, m a half whisper m our ear, says " how about butter ? We told him that butter at two-and-four has long been beyond the most sanguine expectations of our day dreams. " Well," he says," it comes to this; you have stated m the paper now before you that there ia not a pound of good butter m Gisborne. That is an assertion which is calculated to excite me to commit a breach of the peace ; for I would have you to understand that I receive eighty pounds of fresh butter brought to my store every week from one of the best dairies m the Bay, and the quality can't 'be beaten for a fiver. Now, you just explain this fact to the puplic with an apology for your assertion." We say, " Oh, yes, certainly ; with great pleasure ;" and now having said as much, it strikes us very forcibly that we have been beguiled into giving Mr. Teat an advertisement about his butter, free of charge, We think we shall be alive to this sorb of thing another time. During Sir George Grey's recent visit to Christchurch the Mayor spoke to him about a clock imported some 15 years ago, at a cost of over £700, by the Government, since which time the greater portion of it had been lying buried m some dark chamber of the old provincial buildings. It was pointed out to the Premier that there was no public clock m the eastern part of the city, and its erection m that quarter •would be a great boon to the citizens. Sir George Grey promised to consult his colleagues m the matter, and later on, the Mayor received the following telegram from Invercargill : — "lf the clock you mention is at Christchurch, it can be handed over to the Corporation, to be erected wherever the Corporation thinks proper." A Dunedin paper reports a somewhat sensatioual incident which occurred m Princes street, a portion (4ft square) of the asphalt pavemeut m front of Mr. West's music shop having suddenly collapsed and disclosed an excavation fully 301:6. deep, This was bratticed on all sides and appeared to have beeu originally used as or built f or the purposes of a well. Subsequently it had apparently been boarded over and the footpath forinud over it, and the boarding gradually rooted away until none of it was left to sustain tiie weight of the pavement. New Zealand bids fair to be one of the largest grain-growing countries m the world. In the year 1877-78 no less than 11,265,000 bushels of wheat and oats were grown ; whilst the yield during the 1848-78 had increased to 14,247,000 brushes. Victoria, with more than double the population, produced only 8,062,000 bushels. The yield during the past year was 26 bushels of wheat, and 31.6 bushels of oats per acre ; while the respective yields m Victoria were only 12.3 and 19.3 bushels per acre. These few ligures will show the wonderful capacity of our soil, as compared with the grain-growing capacity of the Australian Colonies.