TOWN EDITION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11128, 30 July 1907, Page 3

TOWN EDITION

The 'dates appointed for the annual Hospital social are Thursday and Friday, September 19th and 20th. Mr Alfred M. DeCosta, formerly of Gisborne, was married on Tuesday last at. Wellington to Miss Ethel D. lienjamin, the lady barrister o& Dunedin. A discovery.; of some importance has been made m respect to the effect ol blue clay on iron. pipes. Recently some gas piping m GroSveuor 6treet, South Dunedin, was dug out and it was found that the organic matter m the blue clay hadj destroyed the fibre of the. iron to such an extent that, the iron could be. cut with an ordinary pocket-knife. Some of the pipes had been completely eaten thiough. The colonies of Great Britain (says an American paper) have taken to calling. themselves ••nations." Prior to the ConTtution of the Imperial Conference of tlie States which make up the British _mpire, Sir Wilfrid Laurier made a'statement m wliich he said that Canada was getting along so very well that there was really nothing which she liad to ask for at 6uch a meeting. And m the course of his remarks he took occasion to use the word "nations" as we have indicated. It is a kind of terminology which the Mother Country will never again protest against. England needs the goodwill of these nations more than they need England. And it appears that it is Mr Kipling, more than any other one man, who lws^made the English people of England realise that fact. After the business had been transacted by the Loyal Gisborne Lodge, of Oddfellows hist night a social meeting was held, at which songs were sung; 'by . Bros. McGibbon, Schwabe, Kershaw, and Chisholm * a flute solo was contributed by Bro. 'Sharland, and a recitation 'by Bro. Sim. On behalf of tlie Lodge, Bro. Ambridge took the opportunity of presenting an afternoon tea service to Mrs Schwabe, m recognition of her kindness m acting as accompanist at social meetings m connection with the Lodge. In conveying the thanks of the Lodge, Bro. Ambridge expressed the hope that they would long be favored with such kindly service. Bro. Schwabe replied on .behalf of liis wife, for whom cUeers were given. Alter the N.G., Bro.. McPherson, liad been thanked, the proceedings were brought to a close with th© singing of "Auld Lang Syne." ln referring to the state of the wheat market, the Utago Daily Times says that it is witliin the limits of sound reasoning to assume, that the upward course of the market from now to the end of the veai- will be characterised by fairly frequent bursts of excitement, followed by periods of comparative quiet ; every upward move, however, establishing, tue market at a higher permanent level than I before. The average purchaser, disregarding past experience, almost always waits for the excitement to begin before he rushes m to buy, consequently he pays top prices. The shrewd speculator, on the contrary, selects the periods of quietude as the opportunity to add to his holdings; thus; when the excitement begins, he is ready to take his profit. This will probably explain the transactions^, which have tak<=_ place m the north during the past few days. It may, therefore, be anticipated that another rise m London is not far olf. Because of the number of fires there lately, the insurance companies propose to raise the rates at Geraldine. A public meeting to protest was held last week. In the discussion it was pointed out by speakers that the Underwriters' proposal would take Geraldine back to the tariff it was under before the introduction of the high-pressure water -system and up-to-date fire appliances. Recently also the Borough Council had added a second reservoir, largely increasing the pressure of water and the supply. The Pobce Department had appointed a permanent night watchman m the town, and the fire scare had died out. A table prepared by the captain of the fire brigade showed that the insurance companies, comparatively speaking had lost veiy little m spite ef the laise number of fires, and that some of the principal losses they had made had doubtless W_ legitimate fires, having no connection with the supposed fire-raiser. A resolution was carried appointing a committee lo draft a letter to the Underwriters protesting against their action. One tradesman suggested tthatt t in the event of the Underwriters taking the action proposed, the Government Fire Insurance Department be approached to take over Geraldine risks. Another speaker said he believed that the GoverniiK-nt were now working hand m hand with the insurance companies.