LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Waikato Independent, Volume XXX, Issue 2307, 6 March 1930, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr Alfred James Skinner has been elected to the Morrinsville Borough Council, in place of Rev. Wilkes,' who recently resigned from the council.

The Hamilton Horticultural Society’s annual autumn flower show will take place on Tuesday next, as advertised. Entries close on Monday at noon. As the season has been a good one for flowers, a splendid display is expected. Cambridge flower growers are expected to be well to the fore as usual.

On Friday night last the five-roomed residence of Mr A. Jamieson, Tc Poi (son of Mr and Mrs Jamieson, of Cambridge) was totally destroyed by fire, Mr and Mrs Jamieson and family were in Matamata at the time, and on their return at a late hour found the house in flames. The building was insured for £3OO, and the contents for £.IOO.

Under his will the late Sir Thomas Mackenzie has bequeathed to the Otago Museum a number of articles in his Maori collection, including bone and greenstone mores, and also several of his decorations, namely, the Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George, the Knight Commandership of St. Michael and St. George, the Belgian Order of Grand Officer of the Crown and others.

At the annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute of Town Clerks, at Invercargill, the chairman, referring to the Urban Farm Lands „Eating Bill, said he had circularised all town clerks regarding the matter and out of S 5 replies received 84 had objected to the measure. He expressed the opinion that the Government would not go on with the bill in face of such strong objection.

The honey crop for the Auckland Province will not be one-half of the usual quantity this season, and will probably be little over one-third. The excessively wet weather experienced during the months of December and January, the chief gathering periods of the be.es’ year, while inducing fairly good growth, prevented the bees from collecting- the nectar. Reports revived by the Government apiarist instructor, Mr G. V. Westbrookc, show that the srop over the whole, of the Dominion is less than usual, except in Otago and parts of Canterbury, where an average amount appears to be forthcoming.

The new water tower to be built on the site of the old reservoir at Hamilton, according to the scheme approved at a poll of ratepayers will soon be taking shape. Borough workmen have completed the under-foundations, and the contractors, Messrs McFadden and Son, of Wellington, have arrived at the job, and are busy erecting sheds preparatory to the arrival from England of the first consignment of steel which is expected on March 10. "When the tower and other approved works are completed, Hamilton will be ensured of an adequate suply of clean water, with, pressuro enough to satisfy all fire-fighting needs.

An effort is being made by.Eatana to initiate a movement to bind the Maori people by making a pledge to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi, writes the Te Araroa correspondent of the Poverty Bay Herald. Emissaries are everywhere securing signatures. One of the matters dealt with at the Waimate hui, held recently, was in respect of the Treaty of Waitangi; In the agenda paper for the hui to be held at Wai-a-Matatini shortly is the treaty, when its clauses will be explained. Other matters which will be discussed are farming among the Maoris, the liquor traffic, consumption, consolida tion of land interests, matters affecting the welfare of the Maori race today, and what can be done to help the Bishop of Aotearoa.

The February rainfall at Morrinsvillc totalled 2.71 in., compared with ,29in. for February, 1929. Fishing at Taupo has greatly improved both in regard to condition and numbers caught. Dr Pinfold and Messrs E. Eggleston and Gordon Hovcy, of Hamilton, in a few hours’ fishing from the launch “Tamati,” caught 18 fish, all taken on the fly. There was an incident at the Cambridge Show yesterday which fortunately ended with a good laugh and no injury to anyone. When the sixty odd yearlings were being grouped for photographic purposes, two young animals broke away from their attendants and in a moment there was a mild stampede, cattle and spectators scattering in all directions. The president and the member for the district were observed making a fast sprint towards the protection of a motor car. ,