TOWN EDITION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10139, 27 August 1904, Page 3

TOWN EDITION

The pony stallion Tarn o' Shanter was put up at auction at Messrs Williams and Kettle's horse bazaar this afternoon, and was passed m at £15. The Timaru Borough Council is being proceeded against for failing to register the municipal abattoir as a factory. The matter come before the local magistrate on Monday, and was adjourned for a week.

Two . "irreconcilable" Boer prisoners of war remain on the island of Ceylon. They declare they will never take the oath of allegiance to Britain, and would rather die abroad! than return, to their native land under British rule. ' Up till recently they were able to procure luxuries by allowances from a fund administered by the Dutch Consul at Colombo, but these have now been disallowed.

The Postal Department advises thai arrangements have been made for the Vancouver mail steamers to call at Fanning Island. The first despatch will be by the Moana, from Sydhey, on October 31st, and subsequent despatches once m every eight weeks, until further notice. There may also be occasional opportunities for the despatch of mails by the Pacific Board's cable steamer Iris, from Auckland.

It is a coincidence, says a contemporary, that General Stoessel, the sturdy Cossack who has so long defended Port Arthur . against the Japanese assaults, was the officer commanding the East Siberian Rifle Brigade at the battle of Peitsang m the Avar conducted by the allies m 1900. He was deputed to support tlie Japanese attack on that occasion, and lie frequently co-operated with the people who are now fighting m his entrenchments.

Mail advices respecting the American fruit crop slate that a heavy yield was expected. Georgia lias the largest crop of peaches on record. California has a good yield 1 , although short on the favorite lemon clings so extensively used by canners. Maryland and Delaware^ — which States «row the finest peaches — have a large crop. New England has a fair crop where apples are packed for export. Tlie pack of pears was expected to go ahead of last year, or above three million cases .of two dozen tins each.

The Knight- Jeffries combination which. we may hope by and bye to see m Gisborne, lias enjoyed a most prosperous season m Adelaide, m fact, it was a financial record for a dramatic company. It is of interest to know 'that it was the old pieces, "The Sign of the Cross," and "The Royal Divorce" that proved' the greatest attractions. The company open m Perth to-day m "Monsieur Beaucairc," and will afterwards visit Tasmania, and New Zealand.

The Lands 'report declares that the end of the timber supply of New Zealand is within measurable distance, and measures it- at 70 years. This does not include the timber on freehold or Maori lauds outside of Auckland, Wellington, and Westland. Still, 70 years, with a supply of 20,465,---370,000 ft of ' timber of all kinds— kauri, rimu, kahikatea, totara, matai, birches, and miscellaneous— seems near enough Kauri, by the way, is given tlie shiort shift of eight years, and as the last estimate was 20, this is disquieting. TheD why not boom the Department of For estry? It is a small thing ,but m half a dozen years it shows a value of about £81,000 for on expenditure of £55,000. Develop, a system with such a beginning and m 70 years much may be don© towards meeting the dearth of timber at the end of that pea-iod. As for the kauri if something is not done with plantations of kauri this splendid tree, which is special to New Zealand, will m eight years be as extinct as the moa. — Exchange.

The. death of S.in George Dibbs has revived many good stories of that picturesque politician. IDne story relates how he saved a bank. At the time of the Australiani bonk smashes of 1893 some thoughtless fools, or scoundrels, m tlie community worked' up a scare against tlie Conianissioners' Savings Bank, and there was a wild rush of working-class depositors to get heir money out. Tlie street was full with them. That the bank would have to stop payment seemed certain, whom big, burly Dibbs fought his way into tlie building. Under tlie circuinstaiices (says a Bulletin writer, who tells the story) Sir Henry Parkee would have stayed 'm, liis office and called for six reports and written a- weighty minute Mr Reid would liave prepared a fine electioneering speech, to denounce the infamy of the Savings Bank trustees m letting the bank dowm and' would have stumped the country on it. Dibbs jostled' liis way down to the bank, and m. the Board room faced a. group of officials paralysed with fright. 'TJrimg me a sheet of paper;" he said. Such was the- confusion that it took a wliile to get even that, and Dibbs swore his tine, healthy Australian sweare. Tlie papers brought, the Premier scrawled out a, proclamation that the Government guaranteed every penny of depositors.' money in' the Sayings Bank. "Stick that outside," he said, waiting neither for Cabinet meetings nor his Excellency the Rubber Stamp. The proclamation was posted and the bank *uv«L The Governor was not waited for.