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Waipawa Mail, Volume XXIX, Issue 5401, 13 April 1909, Page 2

An article entitled “ The Voloanio Oentro,” mil be found on the first page. Agricultural Affaire appear on the fourth page.

The return of emigration to and immigration from the Domioion during the month of February shows : —Arrivals, 4141; departures, 2878. The figures for February, 1908, were Arrivals 4567; departures 2966.

A married woman named Ada Quoi wag aommitted for trial in Auokland on a charge of stealing £4 13a from Loui Lousiok, a blind organ-grinder, during the absence of tbe complainant font hie lodging while eiok in the hoapital. The Rev B. J. James, who was appointed at tbe recent Methodist Conference to succeed the Rev 6. Frost in the Waipawa circuit, will* oommence his ministry in the district on Sunday next, when he will preach in the Waipawa Methodist Churoh at 7 p.m. In all it is calculated that 300,000 aores of Maori land will ultimately be opened for settlement in the Hot Lakes distriot. The first block of 4000 acres, between Rotorua and Te Ngae, will be opened next month, and a block of 11,000 aores, between Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, will be leased for milling purposes.

“ Is it humane,” asks a correspondent of a Masterton paper “to carry fowls head down P A day or two ago a man passed me riding on a bicycle and oarrying three or four fowls head down. I wonder how he would feel were he oarried in the same way p In my opioion it is shooking cruelty to the unfortunate birds.

Mr Townley, of Reidston, has taken a fieeoe from a six-year-old hermit merino sheep which measured twenty inohes in length. There was not a break in the wool, notwithstanding the snow storms and rough weather it had been subjected to. A ssoond staple, measuring nineteen inohes in length, is now on view in an Oamaru shop window. Giving evidence in the oase of' the dairy employees before the Arbitration Court, Mr Beattie, of Woodville, said : “The dairy farmer is not os well off now as ten years ago. The price of land has been based on the fictitious price of produce. In spite of the higher prices ruling for butter fat, the farmers require more financial assistance than in tbe past.” The Lyttelton Times reports that a resident of Christohurcb, who has recently visited the Weka Pass, near Waikari, states that tbe rook ■ paintings which existed there, and which attracted very wide attention, have almost completely disappeared. There are hardly any signs of them, and the traces left oan be deciphered only with difficulty, and by those who know where to look for them. It is not certain whether the paintings have been destroyed by the elements or by vandals. A bricklayer who recently went from

New Zealand to Queensland in response to the statement that work was available there, writes to the secretary of the Wellington Employers’ Association, stating he is well satisfied. He and several others from New Zealand immediately obtained work which will last at least six months. Owing, however, to tbe daily arrival of brioklayers in Queensland from other States the writer considers it would not be advisable for others to leave New Zealand for Queensland in search of work. One of the Nimrod’s craw spoke rather resentfully to a Christchurch pressman of the fact that a number of cases, which had been put on board for tbe use of tbe ship’s party, were found when opened in the comfortless olimate of the South to contain only religious tracts. “ Why, we had enough tracts to paper the South Pole with! They were thrown about all over the ship for weeks, and we were nearly going to give an armful or two of them to tbe people at Half-Moon Bay. It’s all right being religious, but tracts don’t make you feal any more oheerful when the ioe is hanging from your whiskers,” he protested A slackening of demands for men has followed the brief improvement experienced at the Trades Hall last week, and the official report is “ Nothing doing ” “ It's the poorest summer we’ve had for years,” was the comment of one trades union secretary. Another one agreed that things were bad just now, “ but he had hopes that they would improve when the Government had manufactured its annual surplus, and begun to spend money again.” The Labour Department, on the contrary, reports that there have been fewer unemployed callers than there were a week ago. Our Napier correspondent writes

The weather for the holidays has been of a very mixed quality. Perfectly fine on Friday and Saturday, it gave promise of continuing so for some time. Unfortunately for holiday-makers, however, a bad break occurred on Sunday afternoon, and for about six hours the rain simply teamed down. On Monday morning the outlook was none too bright, keeping at home many who intended making the trip to the Waipukurau races. Towards noon, however, the sky cleared, and the afternoon was beautifully fine. There were no local attractions except private picnics.