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Waipawa Mail, Volume XXIX, Issue 5701, 15 April 1911, Page 2

Some Taranaki stock-dealers went as far south as Oamaru looking for the snips in oattle that were reported to be obtainable thereabouts through thw drought. The bess line they were offered was £4 10s a head for very ordiunry aged dairy oows. They left them. In definite and unmeasured terms Charles Sohwab, the Amerioan steel magnate, has impressed French statesmen aud financiers with the certainty of war taking place between the United Stateß and Japan. Mr Sohwab emphasises also the assuranoe that the contest will be short, but deoieive. As there will bo no mail delivery on Easter Monday, the Post Offioe will reopen from 7 p.m to 8 p.m, this eveu ing, when correspondence may be obtained. Telegrams may be sent and received between 9 am, on Monday, otherwise the offioe will be closed all day. Outward mails close at 8 a.m. A young man met with a peouliar acoideut at Beaoonsfield on Saturday (says the Feilding Star). He was helping to rope up an old boar whioh had beeu used for the greasy pig competition, when the animal turned and ripped his leg above the knee, making a long, deep wound. The victim suffered great pain, and the wound caused muoh loss of blood.

Eaters of pork may derive Borne satisfaction from the faot that praotioally all oaroaßes are now closely inspected before being allowed to go into human consumption. Pork going iuto baoon factories is also inspected for disease, and rejeoted if unsuitable. Formerly there was no inspection of pork except for export. A wealthy man of plebiean origin onoe married a “ penniless lass with a long pedigree ” The lady used to remind him continually of her noble descent, till one day he lost bis patience, and said to her : “ My dear, tho only difference I can see between us is this: you know that your ancestors wore scoundrels, while I only suspect that mine were !” After suffering great hardships on Sunday Island, in the Kennadeo Group, the Bell lamily, the only inhabitants, have been brought to New Zealand. About April, 1910, a waterspout damaged the crops aud houses, and the privations endured by the family since than have been vary severe. Yesterday tha Marine Department received a telegram from Captain Hooper, of the Araokura, from Tryphana, Groat Barrier, stating that he had brought the family off. Somewhere about ninety thousand aores of native land in the vioinity of East Cape are now being surveyed. Considerabla sums, it is said, have been advanced to the natives by various individuals in anticipation of proper leases. Many “options” have been secured, and there is some doubt as to whether suoh “options” will prove of any value to tho several ppeoulators.

A vote has been taken in Saskatchewan on local option. Tno results are generally unfavourable to the prohibitionists. Altogether 159 liquor licenses were involved, but only 27 of these will bo extinguished, In only odg fifth of the contests were the prohibitionists successful This is the first serious reverse that local option has sustained in many years in any of the Canadian provinoes.

A case was heard at Hawera, in whioh an accused was charged with leaving a dray with four horses attaobed standing in the street, with no one in charge, and with the wheels unchained. The accused oould not be found, and the horses were taken to a stable, where they were claimed the following day. It was stated that the defendant, while leaving his horses uncared for, was drinking A fine of 40s with oosts was imposed. The Sydney Municipal Council has just imported a tar spraying machine which, it is claimed, will revolutionise the layiug on of tar on the streets. The workiug pressure of the maohine is 761 b, and one gallon of tar will spray 5£ square yards of road, ejecting the tar at a force of 1501 b to the square inch. New road surfaces when sprayed by this maohiue and rolled are said to be like asphalt, and to possess a certain amount of resilience, whioh is beneficial to all kinds of traffic, and also to the road itself. In a letter to The Post Mr J. O’Dea writes on the subject of earthquake risks. Ho recalls that as long ago as 1906 he wrote on the subject of earth-quake-proof and fire-proof oonstruotion. He emphasises that the steel frame construction did not prove to be earth-quake-proof in the San Francisco disaster. It was only the reinforced concrete erections that stood the test. The writer urged that Dr MacLaren’s warning should reoeive oorious consideration. He suggests that the Architects’ Association should take the matter in hand so as to educate the public. A potato grower down South maintains that tho potato grub pest is best controlled by cultural methods, the same methods also checking Irish blight. If the potatoes are well moulded up to a fine point so that there are no hollows near tho stalk, the grub will be kept away. He also stated that tho potatoop, when dug, should not be allowed to lie on the ground over night, for the moths come out during the evening and lay their eggs on the potatoes, priuoipally on the eyeß, and then the infection takes place But if the dug potatoes are bagged in daylight, and those in the soil protected by moulded up earth, then the pest can be controlled.

From reports received monthly by the Labour Department from the Sedgwick boys and their employers, the experiment, in the vast majority of cases, appears to have been eminently satisfactory. The boys are making good progress and seem to be contented. Only in about four instances out of the fifty is there trouble, and, it is understood, this is likely to be surmounted As the youDg colonists become more proficient in their knowledge of farming, it is expected that their employers will raise their wages correspondingly, so that a boy will not be employed at less than his market value in labour. It is only in this direction that trouble is likely in the future.