GENERAL NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14391, 5 January 1911, Page 5

GENERAL NEWS.

BIRTHS, MABRIACES, DEATHS. A. glance over ti"> recorfs Jg fte icgurtrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, for the Timaru district (Mr Alex. Montgomery), makes interestmg ieading7 and%nseloses the fact.tbat tins officiaihas never at any previous tune taken more money from these sources than during the month just endedThere were no fewer than 144 marriages for the year as compared wita 119 in 1909. The births for the year totalled 439 as compared with 443 m 1909, while the deaths numbered 157 as against 137 in 1909. During the • month of December just ended .there - were 22" marriages (a record for the district)-as compared with 11 in De- ~ cember of 1909. The births numbered 35-as against 38-for the corresponding month of 1909, while the deaths totalled 10 *■ against U in December • pfJL9O9. : ..;•

JSTRANCE THINGS. Strange -thinjp happen; at inquests (remarks the Collingwood "Argus: p-A. year or two ago at a local enquiry into a deathVwa noticed no less than three consecutive /yHaiiesses and two of the jurymen sign"their- names , "with a striking commentary on the efficacy of our modern educational system/ Atlast week's inquest into the drowning of the man Lee in the Aorere river, another "object lesson was". prbA vided in the shape of several witnesses who had to testify—one after the other —that owing to their inability to swim they were compeUd to stand: helpless . within 15 feet of a drowning man, un- ' able to assist a fellow creature in his last extremity; and the police eoid the number of such witnesses who could be . called as being present at the catastrophe could have been increased to half a dozen—ls feet cf the shore and six helpless men looking on at a poor, man. going to his last home. _ Surely the absolute necessity of making the art of swimming a compulsory subject in the.curriculum of our public schools was never more amply demonstrated.

TA'SMANIAN POTATOES. The following news concerning theTasmanian potato crop is of consider-able-interest to New Zealanderoi-rrThe ". Director' of Agriculture reports that, , although the.season has been an exceptionally good one for the growth of all- forms of plant life, the potato carops. according to reports he ha» received from his inspectors, are not showing ' any signs of fungus troubles. The Irish blight has not yet made its appearance -in any of the potato crops grown in commercial areas, although signs of it have been observed in private gardens. It is. probable, therefore, that' the sys- . tematic sprayingß and other precautions that have been taken against it have succeeded in stamping it out almost entirely in the areas where potatoes are grown "for profit. The selection of clean seed potatoes, with - the rejection of any that show the slightest cause'for suspicion, as well as fungicidal treatment- of those that are planted, must do: a great deal towards getting rid of the disease.

LAND FOR SELECTION. During January 77,373 acres will be opened throughout the Dominion. The following are details of the land to be opened in. the Auckland provincial district:—On Friday, January 13, tenders willclose for the lease for 14 years of areas in Tauhoa parish* totalling 51 acres: On. January" 20, 71* acres in Ngarpto parish will be sold" bv public auction at Hamilton, and on the same date. 163 town sections in Paeroa township will be offered at aeroa. On Monday, January. 23, there will be disposed of 370 acres at Whangape, 286 acres at Omapere, and a total of 656 .acres in tho Mangcnui,' Mang&wai, Pukeatua, and Waimana parisbss?. At Hotorua SB2 acres are available, and 26" at Kerikeri. In the Harataunga survey district 436 acres of secondclass land will be offered for renewable lease and at Waimana and Patetere 2751 acres under the same conditions. .A total of 1728 acres of second and third-class land is available in Haratunga, \\ aipu, Omapere, and surrounding parches. In the Hauraki. mining district- 3262 acres of oastora! land will be offered for lease, with right to renewal. On Tuesday, Jairuarv 31, ac phcations will close at Auckland and Thames for the lease with right of purchase of 33 sections of a total area of 5222 acres in the Hauraki Plains -