LAND VALUES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume 18, Issue 13892, 18 February 1909, Page 4

LAND VALUES.

Notwithstanding . " the prevailing "tightness of the chest" tKere is considerable activity in the land market in connection with property in the vicinity of New Plymouth. Only two or three weeks ago the Paritutu township was bought, sub-divided, and sold again in remarkably quick time, and builders are already at work there. Then the Dartmoor property has received some attention, as much as £170 being given for a quarter-acre section. Last night -the sale of the Fitzroy Exten- j sion property by Messrs. Nolan and Co. elicited good bidding and several sections were . sold at auction at prices ranging up to £140 fora, quarter-acre, while there are several would-be purchasers negotiating privately for other sections in the estate; These facts indicate a strong feeling of confidence in the future of the town and suburbs bnd, of the port, a confidence % which w£ believe to be fully warranted. Possibly the owners of the various properties in the market will not agree that it is just as well that money is not too easy-; otherwise there are indications that speculation would be carried to ah extreme and values become unduly inflated. It is, however, a very good sign to find that both our own people and others from outside share in the belief that the town must make good pro- J gress in the near future as the result I of harbour extension. The x district ' served and to be served by the port is one of the richest and most fertile in the Dominion, and the fact that settlers are coming 1 here from all parts of New Zealand and purchasing rural properties at substantial values is evidence that the outstanding merits of Taranaki are becoming 'more and more recbgnised. A deep-sea harbour at Moturoa must perforce draw trade from an increasingly wide area, and so help 1 to build up the town, in which new industries may be expected to spring up.

A Native named Manuka was bruised, rather badly about the body by a fail of earth whilst employed by the Taranaki County Council on the Oakura deviation on Monday. Many changes have been witnessed during the last few weeks in the staffs of the various schools in the Taranaki Education Board's district. Since January 12 last the Board have 'made 58, appointments and temporary appointments. Three Australians are at present in New Zealand engaged on a walking tour of 25,000 miles. After walking 1000 miles two of these gentlemen havo arrived at Palmerston North. They were to leave Palmerston to-day for Napier, from whence they proceed northwards. The sheep at present pasturing on the Western Park have been worried by dogs. The Park Committee is loth to lay poison on the ground, but this, the Chairman informs us, will be necessary if the nuisance continues. Residents in the vicinity of the Park are asked to keep their dogs tied up whilst the sheep are there. With reference to the Taranaki County Council's application for a loan of £800 to reconstruct the reinforced concrete bridge over the Mangamawhote River on the Mountain Road, the Treasury has notified that it is now available for expenditure and that such portion as might be-^required will be paid upon application being made. A special meeting of the Women's Christian Temperance Union was arranged for February 17 as a memorial to the late Frances Willard. About 45 ladies were present and four joined the Society. It was resolved that an invitation be sent from the New Plymouth branch for the annual convention "to meet here next year. A good programme of music was given ; also a paper on Miss Wijlard's life, touching | more especially on her great organising ability. After she became the leader for the Women's Christian Temperance Union she, advised that- missionaries should be sent from the States all over the world to organise and then affiliate the unions with the mother union in- , America.

People are asked to remember thai every pound collected on Hospital Salurday and Sunday carries Ibe Government subsidy of twenty-four .shillings. In connection with Hospital Saturday and Sunday, collectors will have tickets to give people paying five shillings or over. The wearing of these tickets will prevent further molestation from collectors. The Clifton Rowing Club, according to our Waitara correspondent, will probably be sending their senior and junior fours' to compete at the Wanganui regatta on Thursday next. The Waitara Club will also be represented with a junior crew. In South Australia pjnus insignis is very largely used for making packing cases lor fruit, and it gives a great deal of satisfaction. In New Zealand the tree is very generally regarded as of little use except for shelter puiposes, but some day its merits for various purposes will be recognised. Hon. A. W. Hogg, the Minister for Labour, in acknowledging the Stratford County Council's invitation to 'the Prime Minister and himself to visit' the Stratford district during the recess, stated that it would give him much pleasure to avail himself of the invitation at such a time as might be arranged by Six Joseph Ward. A sale of work was opened in the West End Gymnasium Hall to-day by his Worship the Mayor, Mr. G. Tisch. The building has been tastefully decorated for the occasion and the stalls are filled with both useful and fancy articles. The proceeds are in aid of the Gymnasium and Western Park. The effort will be continued this evening. A reward of £100 has been offered v by the Government for. information (not given by the perpetrator) that will lead to the; arrest and conviction of the person or persons concerned in the death of J,. H. M'Cormack, the sailor whose dead body was found near His Majesty's Theatre, Wellington, on the morning of December 27. Nearly half of the 111 members of the Federal Parliament have informed the Minister for Honie Affairs that they will take part in a camp arranged to inspect the Yass-Canberra district. Mr Mahon will visit the district on j February 18 to fix the site for the camp. An estimate of the cost, prepared in the Department, says the Syd- j ney Daily Telegraph, is that the cost \ of the camp will be nothing nearwhau hotel and other expenses would come j to. I An intrepid sportsman returning i from a hunting expedition (writes the Daily Mail's correspondent at Nairobi, British East Africa), tells the following story: — "I saw a magnificent lion, and was on tKe point of firing when, with a terrible roar, he sprang at me/ Fortunately he misjudged my height, and jumped at least two feet over my head, and then rushed away into the bush. Early next morning I and my ""guide started to track him. After several hours we came noiselessly upon him. And there, in a clearing of the forest, I saw him practising low jumps I" A circular letter has been received by the Taranaki County | Council from the Auckland City Coiinoil directing attention to the provisions of section 25 of The Local Bodies Loans Amendment Act, 1908, and asking' for the Council's co-operation in endeavouring to vsecure the repeal of the section. The City Council is of opinion that the present method of payment to Commissioners for local investment yields much better results than the newly-enacted provision that the Public Trustee shall bo sdle Sinking Fund -Commissioner and shall invest the moneys of the sinking fund 1 in Government , securities only. v It has been decided to construct a new section of the Rhodesian Railway between Gwelo and Blinkwater, on the border^ of the Victoria district. This section, which has a total distance of fifty-two * miles, will tap a very rich agricultural country, and also traverse a mining district. Work on the section has already commenced, and it is expected that the whole line will be finished within the year. The capital necessary for the line has been promised by the Beit trustees out of the amount left by Mr Beit in his will for African railway construction. The new line will connect with the Cape to Cairo Railway at Buluwayo. A new scheme in New South Wales for despatching junior Customs officers abroad to study points in Customs, administration, and especially the methods for dealing with under-writing, is' to be inaugurated this year. Mr Tudor's idea is to despatch the first officer to London, and give him a run through the United Kingdom, and over the Continent. Next year an officer may be commissioned to the United States and Canada. Each officer will be away from six tof twelve months, and young men with special aptitude for that sort of work will be selected. The choice will be made from any branch in the State. Hwang Yung Liang, Chinese Consul for New Zealand, interviewed at Fremantle on the subject of Australian legislation for the restriction of Asiatics, said that the Chinese did not like i,t. He desired, however, to make investigations before expressing opinions. China was developing rapidly, and paying more attention to foreign affairs, as was evidenced by the institution of the Australian Consular service. Kwang Hang Sue,.Consul-General for Australia would shortly proceed to Melbourne to take up the duties of his office. Yung Liang was waited upon by the leading Chinese of *Perth and Premant^e, some of whom informed him that the Australian law was not so rigorously enforced against the Japanese as against the Chinese. The Pennsylvania railroad to-day (states a New York message of December 21 to a London contemporary), filed plans for building' the largest bridge in the world. It will connect the mainland,'of New York with Long Island, and, with its approaches, will be three miles long. The greatest span, over Hell Gate Channel, will be 1000 ft long. The bridge will be 140 ft over the water, permitting the passage of the tallest vessels. The entire structure, except the piers, for .the arch, will be of steel $ having an estimated weight ■of 80,000 tons. It will have four tracks, two for passenger trains and two for freight, and (is designed for live loads on ' each of the tracks of two 190-ton locomotives, followed by a uniform load of 5Q00"lb per lineal foot. The estimated cost is betw«ten £3,00Q,000 and £4,000,000.

This is nn extract from 'he monthly report of one of the Strattord County Council's foremen:— "All the roads ar*i in fair order witli the exception ot tlic Tutntawa Bridge, which requires new decking." { A number of remarkably interesting photographs of the tiro which occurred at Moturoa yesterday morning are on view in the' window of Mr. Braund, cabinetmaker, of Devon St. They were taken by Mr. L. Earp. Mr. G. Ti&ch desires to acknowledge a donation of half-a-dozen Morton Bay fig trees for* the Esplanade from Mr. Blackball, of Eltham." Seats have been donated by Mr. Cliff (two) and Mrs. S. Crocker (one). These have now" been placed in <£)osition. Collectors and others interested ip<^ Hospital Saturday and Sunday are notified that a meeting will be held on Frfday evening at 8 p.m. in the Hospital Board Office, \rhcn final arrangements will be made. The committee in charge hope 1 to have a very large attendance.