THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, April 16, 1910. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12770, 16 April 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, April 16, 1910. NEWS OF THE DAY.

„ It is reported that Messrs Gould and Dunnett, owners of. the Sherwood Downs Estate of 10,000 acres, have offered that property, which is situated near Fairlie," to, jfche Government for closer.. settlement .purposes. The' late, gale' th^t swept oyer.the North' Island removed an' historical, mark frbmv Maiingatavlari, .ob_seryes the "Auckland" Star." ' Forty-six years ago the MaoriS;Who..were^bea'tcn at Orakau made their way.,tb Mstfingakawa, and the next day, after the memqr^ble battles, they planted a willow;' tree v h<Hi ;ye'ry.far. fj(om-Tihe Hprah6ra'.rajgidsyin'Msur^^ of their defeat. The';tre^ had a struggle for ;-" existence for „ sbnie years, but eyentjially .. it; greW into a gnarled veteraii, with a twisted trunk. By a strange coincidence tlie gale levelled the tree on the. fo-rty-tsixth anniversary of its planting j anit the Maoris now say that with it must: p» a ß away all recollections . *X)f ; .^ihe troublous times and bitter memories 'of Orakau. A movement is on foot to form a beautifying society . .for . Wanganui. One of the objects in view is the construction of a prdmenado along the eastern bank of the river between the town and the railway hri-go, a dis--tance of two miles. , . • With regard to a general scheme for linking up New Zealand and Auilralia with wireless .telegraphy, rHe ."- habitants of Kawhia have formed jtl-e---opinion that their township possesses special advantages for such a purpose. The Hon. W. 4 W. McCardle, M.L.C., has-writtcn to the Postmasterj-Ger.eral pointing -out the ••■relative, pcsiliors of Kawhia and Sydney. The necessary electrical power could, it is stated; be easUy developed" from-two strains in the neighbouriiood. A- new : sheep disease is troubling farmers- in Rangitikei. The sheep affected rears on its hind legs, andthen appears to try tb scratch its eyes out with its feet, death generally following speedily. Sheep'i iowners^ :.also note that an unusually Qargo number of sheep are affected, with blindness this year. At Ross (Westland) the other day a party of two in an. alluvial claim washed up for a return of £50, as a result' of three weeks' work. A half share in the same claim was disposed of recently.for £150. .Thirty-four horses, draughts- and halWraughts, werb shipped to Sydney last week by ' Messrs Hoult and .Son, Feilding. This makes a total of 133 horses that Messrs Hoult and Son have shipped to Australia. "A West Coast journal states that an^epidemic of chicken pox is going rouhd -Reef ton. * - . - A record .price./;for New Zealand sheep has been offered to Mr Eyiest Short j of Parorangi, near .Feilding. iir Charles Cave, on behalf '.of' Mr W. Akers, of. London, has offered Mr 6hort ■ £800 ' each, for , tlhe two. best -rams that he '(Mr Short) is taking^ to the Argentine International Exposition at Buenos Aires. .Mr Short has deferred accepting s 'or rejecting. tho offer until he has consulted >ith Mr E. J. R-ddi-ford. ;The price w the highest ovei; offered for New Zealand bred sheep. Persia— commonly .:. believed to bo sunk in barharismj and to be a stranger' to enlightenment— has : taught a lesson to .some of.- those, who .belong do the higher -civilisation (says the "Wangariui Herald"). She had a. chance theother;day to pawn .herself, cir part of herself >,.to Britain and Russia, lliat isviio say, there^was- 1 talk of a, loan frpm-the. two. countries named. New Zealand" would '^probably have jumped at:i>ae7; chancej ?r.Persia reflected, and rerriemleredi : that ... she> haA. a^ lot of State jewels, ; worth about; thrcjequarters of asinillion-T-becaußethere-are many people in "cirilised" countries who retain the barbaric, fondness for personal. ornament, . and are wiling to i>ay "for the same. So Persia decided to raise the money she required by •selling her jewels, which were net good to her except to. keep in a glass case.' That is to say, she decided to do without luxuries, rather than keep ifchem and borrow money to supply her pother wants. An idea arises that New"Zeajand could . have .done . without la certain amount of borrowing by foregoing certain luxuries, the palatial railway station- atr-Dunedin, for in-, stance of the £20,000 carriage drive at Government Hbuse^ or the .Mapourika?s trip.jto, the^ lslands. Also, judging frornr Canada's:, experience, she could-,do;without;any. r further.borrowr ing at all, and Establish a sinking fund to wipe out her debt without a farth^ ing of cost, by adop.ting the .banking system which the Big Dominion finds bucH a payable proposition. New Zealand could do a lot of things if she followed Persia's example of keeping out of pawn. A;6erio-comic little scene was enacted in the Boulevard Voltaire on February 37th, wrote the Paris correspon.deit'bi.the. "Daily Express," when a respectable looking old man suddenly sank on- to a bench and murmured .that he could go no further, and-that this wiftS the end. A number of persons hastened to his assistance, and it glass of brandy; was fetched . and poured down his throat. The cordial appeared tb have ft wonderful, effect, for in a very few. minutes the old man had regained ma strength, and _was able to resume ;his. way- with a light fobtstep. But he had not, gone -very far before a man who had supported him in his arms peroeiyed that his watch and purse werev missing. The old man was; arrested and escorted to the police.- station, where he produced; the "stolen objects and made, a full confession;; 'He said his, name was-Edo.-iiard Bovin, and iri;h|p time he had ■Veen a successful Ijurglar. Bttt now, unfortunately, he had "grown oldj and Mb infirmitieß preyenied.;. him from breaking into houses and climbing ladders.'; He had, therefpijer adopted the more suitable although: Jess lucrative professioriof; "grandf*lih«r^a" fainting IK ' ■■■■_:'■''■, '-VB ::; ■■'■■•' '

Th« welV knoirny.finn of Mrs Ansttoei is spj^daVreductions for those wiio^ar^ in town- a^fter- the hop picking, and all ari'ijmted and ndvisad to call vi and »^p the fine displays in every .deparfinent, and - if y»u; fli«nld «■>" t»^pr^hase, you'll finil tkiie Ndnetions^re well worth yth\fa-^Jmi9im,tt&Wffli opon.-eTery arfciok T *Btt Jr&ifi. : fM«|C store^beißß tboroiignly wlikbto: ■%*? ' > and sorniei in atylel- Go^jl^anyway-andj liobk^BWUßiM--- ■.■'• 'iir-i^r' - ; :#'' ; '■'"■'■