NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13458, 2 July 1912, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Mr J. H. Thorpe, of tho GovernmentOrchard Department, will meet fruitgrowers at Mr Herrick's orchard, Upper MoutcTe, on Friday next, at 1.30 p.m.,-to discuss pruning, spraying, etc.

At the last election of the School Committee it was decided to obtain a referendum of parents on the question of school holidays. Acting on this recommendation the committee has now issued voting papers to all parent;; to express their wishes in a "yos" or "no" vote.

Mark Twain satirised the French duel effectively, but he is almost outdone by the, sober report of a duel between two Parisian (dramatic critics^ in which the person most seriously injured was one of the seconds, who accidentally got in the way of the clumsy swordsmen!

Yesterday afternoon Mr Cullen, Collector of Customs, received the following wire- from the Secretary of Marine:. "Advise masters of vessels that a portion of the Kotuku wreck has broken away, and carried round into the river channel, Greymouth, about 50 feet from end of north tip-head."

It should be possible to inaugurate a scheme whereby the Immigration Department could work in conjunction with 'Somei of the larger institutions for boys in Britain, and by acquiring a farm for training purposes could secure! a steady stream of young farm hands for- New Zealand.—Manawatu "Standard,' 3

The Ministry is composed of zealous reformers—the real reformers, not visionaries-—iand, as the country is ..ripe for Radicalism, we anticipate a successful career for the men who,.new as they are to office, hay© displayed a aptitude for their official work/ A few years of such enthusiasm would revolutionise tho public departments of NewZealand, and the country will not be slow to realise this.—Southland 'News.'

Vacancies have been caused on the Education Board by the retirement by. tho cffluxion of time of Messrs Wl Lock (east ward), L. D. Easton (middle ward), and G; B. Shepherd (west ward). Mr. W. Lock, who completes his twentieth year as a member of the Board, has been re-elected unopposed, also Mt L. D. Easton. For the west ward Mr Shepherd will be opposed by Mr. R. Patterson, of W_estport, and Mr. F. B. Stallard, of Collingwood.

The approximate value of the Star of Canada, now piled upon the reef at Gisborne, is from £120,000 to £150,000, while the cargo probably represents another £100,000.

Mr. A. L. Herdman has given notice to ask the Minister of Justice whether the fine of £100 which the- Wellington Tramways Union was ordered to pay in connection with the recent tramway strike has been collected.

On a charge of over-crowding sheep in railway trucks, a Waipawa farmer was fined £2, and costs 425. Fourteen out of the-120 sheep in the truck were suffocated.

Mr. Cuddle, Chief Dairy Commissioner, says the special feature oi! the Taranaki Winter Show was the level quality of the butter. This he attributes to tho fact that pasteurisation has now become so general in Taranaki.

Whitebait were said to have been seen in the Ngaruroro River on Saturday last (says the Hawke's Bay "Tribune"). According to an old Maori legend, and one that is still in favour with the Maoris, the appearance of these fish so early"in the year is the sign of an early spring.

Over 80 leading British manufacturers, representing' a capital of over £50,000,000, and including textile, engineering, and chemical trades, proceed to Canada to ascertain what opportunities are there for the extension in British made goods and for the creation of branch industries.

It's really time to ftet up when the "Autocrat' 5 alarm rings. It never makes a mistake, and will wake the soundest sleeper. —Louis Kerr, 109, Trafalgar street.*

For Chronic chest complaints, Wood's Grea" Peppermint Cure, 1b 6d, 2s 6d.