LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11636, 14 August 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Farmers' Union Mutual Insurance Association promises to commence ■ business under the happiest auspices. In Rahgitikei alone over ,£IOO,OOO worth .of 1 insurance has been, promised. The Palmerston district "-has not yet been canvassed, but it is known there are numerous farmers waiting to place their business with the Association as soon as it commences operations. — Standard.

A sad and fatal accident occurred" last week (writes the Kohukohu correspondent of the Auckland Herald). A young fellow named Hone Mete; of Mangamuka,^t a football match (a game in whioh' ho aU ways distinguished himself) in running, to collar an opponent, fell, pitching on tKe point of his shoulder. carried off the field, arid in a few minutes recovered to all appearances, but found he had lost the use of his limbd. ■ He was taken to the hospital, where 'lie died a few days subsequently from injury to the spine. <

"Jimmy" Hope, N]ew York's famous bank burglary had a. rare funeral the other day. The carriages were laden with floral tributes, and at the grave side orators lauded the deceased's virtues as a > parent' and a citizen. Since his retirement eleven years ago from the business of bank burgling Hope lias lived an exemplary life, spending his ill-gotton. gains in works of philanthropy, and it is even, said that he died respected by his natural' enemies— the police. Hope is said to have been the hero of 20 robberies from the eteel vaiilts of banks, 'and never once did the police lay hands' on him.

police lay nauus on mm. The following gentlemen have signified their willingness to judge the different classes at the Manawatu A. and P. Association's Spring Show: — Military competotion, Major Coleman; leaping and hunters, Messrs tTas. Chadwick and N. Banks; ■ thoroughbreds and saddle horses, Mr Jaa. Chadwick; ponies and .polo 'horses, Mr Norman Banks ; .horses and driring, Mr Alf. Reid; draughts, Mr Jas. Baxter; Heerford cattle, -Mr Bernard Chambers; Ayrshires, Mr A. McFarlane; Jerseys, Mr W. M. Tapp; English Leicester sheep, Mr H. T. Little; Border Leicesters, Mr J. McCrosbie; Romney ewes, Mr Albert Hunt; Romney rams, Mr, Alfred Matthews; Southdowos, Mr Henry. Pan* nett ; Shropshixes and Hampshires, Mr B. Seth Smith; pigs, Mr El C. d'Anvergne; poultry, Mr J. J. Casey; pigeons, Mr . J. F. Fitzgerald; dogs, Mr S. Johnson; .wool classes, Mr A. Wilson; manufacturing classes and fairness' butter, Mr >W. -^ylie; horticultural classes, Mr, H. C. Gibbons; home industries, Mr W/Wylie; art work and needlework, ■ also-, eMldr^n/s t -^needle-, work, Mrs F/. Hill ; ? pufclia school mapping and drawing, art. and technical* schoolwork, and photography^ -Mr A. D. .Eiley ; ' hemp classes, Department of Agriculture. "LINUM CATHAfmCUIT'piLLS'' of Mountain Fliue. Agreeably- Apwieaft, - Worthy of trifcL

There are now eighty persons in the -Benevolent Home in Wellington. Of that number twenty-five are women. A, Bachelors' Elopement Club, formed two years ago at Waterbury Connecticut, because of its founders' oelief that weddings were too prosaic, has been reduced to its last member. All his associates have eloped and married. A woman has been elected as local magistrate in the commune of Rank Herlien,Hungary, because the whole adult male population of the place had emigrated to America, and there was not one man left to fill the position. The corpse of a newly-born male child ' was recently discovered at the rear of a fireplace in Weston Street, Petersham, Sydney... The body of. a female child was ;a0&. 5 found' on vacant ground off Bourke % Stree't,;lfeedfern. Two more cases of child murder are reported from Melbourne. In onefease tHe. child was stranged, and in the pther suffocated. 4 . . /■ A retired Southland farmer, now living In. Timaru;- says -he can remember well h'o,w^ thirty- -years ago, rabbits were so fica'ree in Southland that farmers used to refrain from shooting them in the hope that^'if'let-aioiie for a' time, they would provide good sport. The sequel everybody knows, but th© rabbits are now being got well -in hand by reason of the fact that a number of people make a good living de- j stroying them. Aii application was filed tin' January 14th with Mr W. A. Hawkins, Clerk of Awards under the Arbitration Act,, for the extension'of the Wellington drivers' award to •country employers. THe employees' union has now withdrawn the application so far as employers resident at Masterton, Carterton, Pahintua, Dannev-iuke, and Woodville are concerned. The application to inolude Palmerston North? ?asnS Wanganui still continues. • At present the-award applies only- to Wellington- and- suburbs. — Times, ; ,,.-

Thursday's Gazette declares.,the reservation of several areas of land, under the Scenery Preservation Act of "1903, in various land districts of the colony. These areas,, which have been recommended by the Commissioners appointed, to consider the desirableness of " reserving such lands as possess scenic or histdfife^iflterest, or en which, .there are -thermal springs, include 109 acres in the Auckland land district, 123 acres in Hawke's Bay, and 1688 acres in Otago. ■

The Little" Hiver (Akaroa) Road Board held a trial of its new metal carting plant recently.- The. day was wet, but >neverthe-_ less steam "was got up and the elevators set to work. " The first truck of six cubic yards was filled in eighteen minutes, and the second truck in thirteen minutes. It was found that the speed of th© elevators was not, sufficient' to fill " the ' trucks in "from fiy^to'ei&tit^ minutes' each, but thiß will be remedied' 'by an alteration of the driving wneel'.', - The \ metal was taken to th© road and -Spread automatically "by the trucks. The, Board "consider 'the trial most satisfactory, but decided to ' discontinue the wprk.,,qwing-to the saturated state of the roads',,; .N ,- V ' "/-A- strange* loss of memory case is reported from JTass (New South Wales). A few days ago a well-dressed man approached a constable, and asked the officer to be good enough to tell »him where he was. Informed that he was in Yass. the man said he had not the slightest idea of how he came "to >be there,, and that -he-had never heard the name of Yass before. He had, he explained, lost his memory, and wished to be taken charge of until the recollection of past events came -back -to him. Subsequently the man informed a magistrate that the last thing he remembered was walking down • Broadway, New York, in 1902. - He could not tell how he came to be .in Australia, and he had no recol. lection of what" had transpired since he left New York. Discussing .the peace prospects, the military correspondent of London Times says: — It is only fair that -we should endeavour to place ourselves in the position of the "bitter enders" in Russia and regard the question of peace from their point of view. Peace, it is acknowledged on all - sides, is ardently desired by both combatants, but it must" be peace on terms acceptable to both.' Russia lias lost many good occasions for securnig a not unsatisfactory peace. She might have profited by the resistance of Port Arthur while the Army of Manchuria was still holding up its head'; she might- have profited by the anxiety created by the menace of the Baltic fleet. She has no card' of re-entry left in the hand of her diplomacy, which has now a difficult and a losing game to play. Moreover Japanese terms must necessarily harden every day with fresh triumphs and fresh sacrifices; more and more will they be less easy to 'admit. There is a chance that Russia may, 'even at this late hour, return to her traditional policy, refuse to make" peace or give' guarantees, withdraw her armies towards the interior, and leave Japan to do her worst* . • ' "A notable;sale of scoured wool (says the Sydney Morning Herald} has been effected by 'Dalgetty^and, Co., Ltd., and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Gbmp'any.', Ltd., of a parcel of two hundred bales on behalf of th© Sydney Meat Preserving Company, Ltd. The line realised 22d for superfine combing, 23d for extra sujxrfine combing, a^|, , 25d for special superfine combing.'. f ,'w,dpl was from sheep j;urchased at the "ilomebueh fat stock saleyards. It was treated by F. W. Hughes and Co.; Botany,.' £nd the top figure' is the highest price realised in the Sydney market for skin '■jvool since the booni year of 1899-1900. The prices are strong evidence not only of the firmness of the wool market," but of th© 'pitch of excellence reached in the methods of treat-ment-of skin 1 wool." Skin wool, it may be mentioned; ii? wool removed -from the skins of sheep that have been killed for mutton., and not wool shorn from live- sheep.

SPECIAL BARGAINS FOR MEN.

At the "Eqonomic half-yearly stocktaking Sale. Hundreds. of keen buyers have saved money' at this "great^sale; .are you among the number? If nSt, Jwhy not? Don't you want to "Say©?" :T ' As, a matter of common justice to yourself, you should attend .this sale.' Just think -the matter over,- study these bargains, and then decide. Men's Naval Serge Trousers, all sizes, former price 7s 6d, sale price now 4s lid. Men's -all-wool Tweed -Trousers; all sizes; former price, 8s 6d; sale price;, now 5s lid. Boys' K.B. Trousers ; t# usual price, 5s lid; sale price, now 3s lid.'" Bjoys' Saddle •" Tweed ' Trousers ; usual price, 7s 6d; sale price,' now;ss lid. '"Men's all-wool Tweed -Suitis, all sizes; usual- price, 27s 6d; 'sale price, now 17s 6d- . i *-'_,''' 'Men ? s Heavy. warm Svorking Shirts; usual price, 4s; 9d; sale-price, how 2s lid. Men's Tennis Shirts; usual price, '4s 6d; sale price, now 2s lid; . MeT!*3 Lambswool- Undershirts and_ Underpants^, .usual; price, 4s 6d; sale price, . Men/s. "all-wpol Sox, ribbed and plain, 2 Mirs.^fpr Is '6d. . \ Jften's ."Cashmere Sox, 2 pairs for Is 6d. Men's Merino Sox,' 2, pairs fprjls^ „.,Vr" Men's Ties, new patWns, former" price. Is and Is 6d; sale price, now all at 6d. Boys' Jerseys, usual price, 2s lid "and 3s lid; sale price, now lv 6d and 2s 3d: Make no mistake,, for. real-g enuine -bargains there's no place like the "Economic.'-' George ! and Kersley.

Central Otago is enjoying the "best' winter it has experienced for forty years. Auckland and its suburbs consume nearly .£BO,OOO worth of locally-grown fresh fruits yearly. The timber industry in Southland is brisk at present, and the mills are running full time. Mr Freed stated in his evidence at the Coal Commission inquiry at Westport last week that it took 4cwt more Seddonville coal to travel 100 miles with a goods train than Denniston coal. Large quantities of blue cod are being brought from Preservation and Dusky Sounds weekly and shipped to Melbourne the Riverton Star). The fish obtained are larger than those caught in the Straits, some turning the scale at 71b. John Alexander Dowie has decided to make a vigorous effort to drive sin from Paris, and he is now engaged in gathering from the faithful Zion City legions a host which will invade the French capital. The invasion will begin as soon as Dowie raises .£40,000 and enlists 3000 men. In the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, on Friday, a witness said he had identified certain ducks as belonging to him. "How did you identify them?" asked counsel for the defence. "By the ear-mark." "And where was the ear-mark?" pursued counsel. "On the wing," replied witness. The Duchess of Westminster's baby son is heir to an income of .£7OO a day, or .£255,000 a year. His title during his father's" lifetime is Earl Grosvenor — taken -from his family name, — and if he survives his father he will inherit 30,000 acres, including 600 acres of the most valuable land in the West End of London. It is reported (says an exchange) that a direct steamship line between Germany and New Zealand is on the point of beinj established with the object of avoiding the transhipment in the port of London of the immense quantities of butter, cheese, and meat exported from New Zealand to Germany. The Hawera Star says if the whole question of the administration of the Waimarino block, of the Wanganui River service, of the hardships the settlers are suffering under, of the disabilities they have to struggle against, were made the subject of inquiry by an independent commission the result would be such as would astonish the colony.

The largest motor-car ever ordered .in Australia is to be supplied to Mr Askin Mr Foster's intention to run the big car Victoria. It is to be a Talbot, of 50 horsepower, and the manufacturers claim that it will fun up ttv 64o v 64 miles an hour. It is Mr oster's intention to run the b\g car in connection with the Melbourne, to Sydney reliability contest in November next.

Found staggering 'about in a country road near Bradford, Yorkshire, on June 20, John, Arthur Goodliffe, a cycle engineer, who said he had taken some sulphuric acidi When taken to the infirmary the doctor found he had also swallowed buttons, stones, pins, safety-pins, a haircurler, screws, and needles. Goodliffe, who was recently discharged from an asylum, was committed! for trial on a charge of attempting suicide.

An ingenious method of coin fraudulence was discovered the other day at the Waihi National Bank. A half-sovereign amongst a number of similar gold pieces was detected by its lightness, and on subjecting it to a test it was found that the coin weighed half the weight of the genuine coin. The faces, after removing a portion of the gold, had been sweated together, the process having practically no effect on the appearance of the coin.

While fossicking at Canada Reef on Saturday week last (says the Milton Mirror), Mr Charles Johnson unearthed an iron "bottle", containing 60lb of quicksilver. He put it through the retort, and gold to the value of £3 was obtained, while the sale of- the quicksilver returned him .£6. This kind of find, Mr Johnson says, he would like to gejb more often. How the bottle came to be in the gully, and how long it had been buried, are only matters for conjecture. The oldest inhabitant hazards the opinion that it must have been there for at least 35 years.

Last Thursday's Gazette contains a quarterly statement of the receipts and expenditure of the Consolidated Fund made up to June 30th last. From this docuemnt it appears that the balance at the beginning of the quarter was <£1,278,05 a, and the total receipts stand at 2",202,843. Theordinary • and territorial revenue was .£1,441,807. The expenditure side shows d£944,503* 1 for permanent appropriations, and .£782,220 for annual appropriations, which, with ,£476,119 3s respresented by the credit balance at th© end of the quarter, and cash in Ik: public account, advances in the hands of officers of th© Government, and investment account, etc., makes the sum of .£2,202,843. The Public Works Account shows that there was a balance to credit at the commencement of the quarter of .£833,041, and at June 30th there was a balance remaining of .£679,956 10s Id.-

At a meeting of the Farmers' Union Mutual Insurance Association held at Palmerston on Thursday, it was decided that the name of the society should be the Wellington Farmers' Union Mutual Fire Insurance Association, and that the office be at Palmerston North. The following directors were appointed: — Messrs J» G. Wilson (Bulls), W. J. Birch (Marton), J. C. Cooper (Mauriceville), -H. J. Richards (Te Horo), Captain Hewitt (Palmerston), R. Neilson (Wanganui), and W. Perry (Masterton). After transacting routine business the meeting adjourned till next Wednesday, whea further details will be arranged. It is expected the office will be open for business in a couple of weeks' time. Mr Brindley, manager of the State Fir© Insurance Association, has been invited to attend next Wednesday's meeting.

, A week or two ago the head of a. red deer, shot at Te Awaiti by Mr Bunny, was exhibited in Wellington, and attracted considerable attention, being pronounced by sportsmen as the finest specimen secured in the North Isalnd. This had led to some comparisons being made between the trophies that fall to the stalkers' rifle in the North, and those obtained in the South Island. In comparison it is (says the Christchurch Press's Wellington" correspondent) claimed by Southern sportsmen that deer shot in the Lake Country of Otago have yielded finer heads than the one shot by Mi* Bunny. One well-known stalker says that, for imprcssiveness and number of points, the Te Awaiti head eclipses anything yet obtained in the country, but for length of horn and symmetry several heads have been secured in the South that are a distinct improvement upon it. Mr Bunny's head shows 37 inches length in the horn, and there are heads in the South having a length of 46 inches.

Owing to the death of Mr Sam Woon's mother, the school concert at Wangaehu, which was to have been held this evening, has been postponed to a date, which will be notified in due course.

The edible rat of the mountain tops was only one of quite a list of strange dishes affected by the ancient Maoris. Mr A. Hamilton stated at Wellington that the grub found under white pine logs was also a delicacy, and shark and dog-fish fotind an honoured place on the native menu. — Times.

Four hundred and fourteen Christchurch shopkeepers, of all classes of trade, have, according to a letter received by the New Zealand- Shop-keepers' Association of Wellington, on. Friday, signed a recommendation for the repeal of clause 3 of the Shops and Offices Act. Ninety per cent, of the shopkeepers in that city are stated to be anxious that the clause should be repealed.

There are now 140 Masonic lodges under the Grand Lodge of New -Zealand, with a total membership of -between seven and eight thousand. The invested funds amount to .£9OOO, and the assets exceed £} 1,000. Over jfilOOO were disbursed in benevolence during last year; and a number of annuitants arc maintained, the amounts of antfuity varying from to .£25, according to circumstances.

The annual report of the Awahuri Dairy Company for th© year ending the 30th of June shows the Company to be in a sound financial position. The average price paid for butter-fat during the year was B|d per lb. The sum of .£135 0s 3d was written off for the plant and buildings, leaving a net profit of .£99 4s Id. A dividend of 6 per cent, is recommended to b© paid. The amount paid for butter-fat was .£7017 9e Id. -

There is a tiger scar© at Kalimna (Vie). Numbers of wild animals have been found lying dead in the scrub, apparently killed by having their necks bitten, and it is surmised that the strange beast is finding more food than it requires, and is killing for pleasure. There are proposals on foot for large organised hunting parties to go through the bush and drive the beast out. Parents are keeping their children away from, school.

The teams of Canadian, Transvaal and New Zealand volunteers, who (says a London paper) are in this country to take part in the Bisley prize competitions, gave a striking exhibition of their 6kill with the rifle at Staines, where they took part by invitation in the contests of the South London Rifle Club. The conditions were seven rounds at 200, 500, and 600 yards, King'a tarkets and:' marking. The list was headed by Private J. Franklin (New Zealand) and Staff Seregant Crowe (Canada) with the remarkably good aggregates of 102 each (out of a possible 105). Sergeant Drummond, with the fine score of 99, was fifth.

Lately a couple of Hawera settlers have been through the country lying between the Wanganui river and the Main. -Trunk line of railway, and they give quite a deplorable account of the waste of timber which has occurred and still is going on in connection with settlement, or so-called settlement, on the Waimarino Block. They speak not from hearsay, but from what they have actually 6eeu, with their own eyes and heard with their own ears during a journey mostly on foot through the land, and th© story they have to tell ia simply on© of scandalous waste of immense quantities of the most valuable timber in the colony.

Th© following extract from an English letter just to hand will probably (writes "Manufacturer," in the Napier Telegraph) to some extent explain the reason why skilled labour cannot be induced to com© to Australia: — "What are you up to in your country ? Testing th© .sight, of every Englishman who arrives, and if he is not colour blind like your esteemed selves you chuck him overboard. You are sons of the free with a vengeance — too free. Perhaps it would be as well to tell you that these labour incidents are making a very bad impression here. On all hands one hears a warning against emigration to Australia, and even things Australian are getting a weak name. It is a pity the socialists cannot see they are ruining their own case. Efforts to pioneer an industry are apparently blocked on. every hand."

Miss Agness Jeannette Russell, of Dunfennline, Scotland, has unexpectedly in. herited ,£97,000. Alexander Russell, an old man, apparently poverty-stricken, who took a cheap room in Brooklyn in October of last year, was recently found dead in bed. The police, on taking charge of two trunks which were, so far as were known, all Russell possessed, found enclosed giltedged securities worth ,£BO,OOO, and a bank book showing deposits of .£17,000. There was also a will, appointing Mr D. B. Blair, of Dunfermline, executor, with orders to hand over all the estate of Miss Agness Jeannette Russell, the old man's sister.

A curious divorce case is likely to come into the Paris Courts shortly. In ' 1889 a struggling young clerk; who is now a wealthy Parisian merchant, married a young woman of great beauty. A 'few months after the -marriage she eloped with another man, but in April last she reappeared and begged her husband's forgiveness. Subsequent inquiries have shown that the woman whom the merchant has taken, for his penitent wife is in reality her younger sister, who bears a striking resemblance to her, and who, acting on the suggestion of her elder sister, posed as the wife because she knew the merchant had acquired wealth. The merchant, however, has grown so fond of the "imposter" that he intends seeking a divorce from his real' wife in order that he may marry her sister.

When the Crofters Commission was sitting there were 109 deer forests in Scot-, land, and they covered an area of 1,975,00* acres; now, says the Dundee Advertiser, there are 150 deer forests, and they* occupy an area that cannot be. less, and that may ba considerably more, than- 5,000,000 acres.In other words, from one-seventh to one-" sixth of Scotland belongs to the red deer. Each season the yield of stags may fairly be estimated at 4500, and, as each stag is valued on the rental for about ,£3O, it follows that, on a letting valuation, the forests represent not less — and indirectly they represent a great deal more — than .£135,000 per annum". Across Sutherland and Caithness, from., sea to sea, the red deer can wander at will, and his domain from north to south extends to close upon 150 miles, and is "steadily increasing all the time."