Local and General.

Thames Star, Volume XXXXI, Issue 10455, 2 November 1904, Page 4

Local and General.

—+ — •Kuranui shares are in demand at Is 2d. Yesterday there were sales of Ellipses at 6d and) 6§dCNlew Moanataiari shares Were yesterday exchanged at 2e 4d. There were sales of Victorias at Bd, and at the close there ■were buyers at 7£dMr H. Stone k making satisfactory progress with the constr.uctioni of the slip at ShortlandThere Were 439,G7-£ males and 392,831 females in Niew Zealand in 1903, a; total of 832,505 people. Boring; operations, which were susspended for a, time on the, No. 2 bore hole on the public's ground, have been, resumed. Several .hundred sheep were landed at Thames yesterday from, scows coining fromi Whaugarei. The sheep were consigned to Mr Wi- Deeble. Before that Melbourne Cup was run some large wagers were taken about Acrasia, (the wiener), and the owners must have'won thousands: of pounds. | Expected that the Moanataiari clean up will be completed this weekBelieved toi be a. highly payable return, but not so high as the optimists declare. Aj line of fat wethers (100) was sold at Havelock (MarlboroUgh Sounds) a few days ago- at .£1 per head', though the sheep were not at all heavyWhitebait arei very plentiful in the Bui lei' River. Fishers say they have not seen, themi so numerous before. Some of the! flshei's are making .£5 and ov.er .per weekPetroleum! boring operations are being followed 1 with keen, interest at Moturoa- The depth reached isi now about 1750ft1, and the manager is very sanguine that oil will ,be obtained .viery shortly. Another of the locomotives constructed by Messrs A,- and G. Price., of Thames 1, to> the order of the Railway Department, has been shipped on board of the scow N'garu for Napier. Tlie vessel sailed yesterday. Canterbury College is taking steps to find out the cost tol its school of engineering to complete the course in mining engineering, so that students may qualify for certificates' required ■for iposiitiilons as mine manager's) in the .colony- Canterbury is evidently determined to intercept the mining school if it doeisi leave Otago;. Last Saturday Rev. Father Brodie, of Waihi, received word that his brother, Mr Patrick Brodie, of A,uitkland, was suffering 1 from, a severe attack of juneumonia., and that his condition was very critical. Father Brodie proceeded to town- During his ablsence his place will be taken by one of the Auckland priests!Mr Jaques, the Government canning expert, in company with! Mr Thornton, the well-known lo'cnl fruiterer, ipaid a. visit to several of the Thames orchards yesterday- He expresses himself as much impressed with the possibilities of the district as a producer of canning fruits, but says that more .attention should, be paid to the trees- | One of the Selwym (Canterbury) t County Council's, employees hau applied to the Coumcil to 1 insure his Iholrse against ■nocddientlsi. He is engaged iipon water race work, and frequently has to use liisi horses in the Waimakairiri river, where strong ciuirrentis and quicksands endanger. The Council has decided to make enquiries with a view to granting the application. | 'Ala the outcome of an address on agrioultur'e at Haw era, £40 was col- ■ looted, which! 'Carries a Government grant of £ for £. The money is being devloted to (a) the establishment of agricultural science scholarships tenable at the District High School, Hawera,, and 1 (b) to the establishment of classes in practical dairying and. agriculture' for farmers when their work on the farms iss slack. A Military Court of Inquiry was opened at the Auckland Drill Hall yesterday to investigate certain charges to' be preferred! against a volunteer officer- Lieutenant-Colonel iHolgate, commanding the No 1 Regiment! Auckland Mounted Rifles will be the 'chairman of the. Court, and will have rssociated witb him. as mien libers Captains Hutton (Native Rifiesi) and Bar tie tt (Native Rifles). The inquiry is being held in camera,Senator Higgs, speaking at Bairnsdale (Victoria), «aid that under the rule of the Labctir party he hoped to see Australia become v. gieat and important country that "would provide an asylum; for all the people in other parts of the world who could not make a living in their own country, or who were oppressed and down trodden."' Within the next two years, he- said, the -people of Australia, would be asked to declare for 'socialism or anti-socialism-' The Christchureh Amateur Atheletlci Associationl are inviting A. Slmiibb, England's! 'champion miler, to visit the colonies early in the year. Shriibb' holds the world's record for two, three, and four milesl for 1903 on an English track, and his visit should conduce to* great interest being takeni in these matters over here. Duffy, of Aimerica, who is also- invited, holds the world's, championship for the 100 yards dash run in America;- fie is also a good 120 yards hurdlerA friend showed the Timaiii Herald! a letter received by him by the lasti English' mail from a cousin at Home, which contains -a, 'passage that will be read with interest by many people. It is asi follows: — ■'Young Hector Macdonald and his mother are staying near 1 here (Ulleswater), and we see a good! deal of them. He is a. fine boy and is going to bo an engineer, not a soldier, like his father- I) suppose the late Sir Hector was very well known, even with you-" 'Speaking at Wellington against Bible reading in. schools, the HonMr Hislop said it was noticeable that the movement to-day ■was supported by persons who were alien to our institutions, who 1 were "imported articles.,'' and had not broadened their views sufiiaiently to become assimilated to our conditions- In Auckland it was an imported Anglican bishop:; in Wellington it Was imported clerics', ,