LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 11981, 26 September 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The building trade is reported to bo very brisk in Eltham at present. Marton gasworks showed a profit of JE64 9s 8d during the month of August. Whangarei believes in being up-to-date. Its latest acquisition is a Young Women's Bachelor Club. It is announced that the law providing for old-age pensions in France conies into force in January of next year. It is calculated that the cost will be some 23,000,000 francs per annum. The one hundred and fiftieth newcomer to this world at the St. Helens Maternity Hospital (Dunedin) has made its appearance. The hospital was opened on September 30th laet year by the late Mr Seddon. The New York Evening Post estimates that the value of the debris left by the great fire of San Francisco, brick and scrap metal included, is about four millions sterling. The weight is given at 600,000 tona, which would require for its removal a train of 40,000 trucks, extending for about 600 miles. A large number of visitors arrived in town to-day from both North and South to attend the Wanganui J.C. race meeting, which takes place to-morrow and Friday. Ac the weather gives every indication of being beautifully fine the gathering should be a record success. " The other day at the Cafe Napolitain, a favourite haunt of journalists and men of letters, French nnd foreign," says the Paris correspondent of the Daily Mail, • I sat beside three tourists— ah Austrian, a Bulgarian, and an Italian— who, Jgjjwant ol each other's native tongue, talked in Esperanto. To me it was a revelation, in the Bense that hearing or awmj a thing is so much more conclusive and impressive than reading about it." The collie dog is noted for its faithfulness, but an animal at the Waimate ploughing match showed more than ordinary devotion. Its master was a competitor in the hunter's competition, and mounted on his steed, rode over three flights of hurdles. In close pursuit followed the. dog, and leaping in true hunting fashion*flew every obstacle in great style. An ordinary dog, cays the North Otago Times, would have rested while its owner exerted the other animal for fame and glory, or if it had to follow its master would have • troted round the hurdles, or else crawUd through between the battens. According to the Health Officer thisj* how Auckland gets its household water supply : — The junction of Karangahape, Ponsonby, Newtown and Great North. Roads is a very busy centre, and much traffic passes to and fro. At one corner is the reservoir, from which the greater part of the city is supplied. Galvanised iron roofing exists over each chamber of the reservoir. The roofs are low and readily collect the dust and desicated street sweepings wafter up from the street: When natures rain falls, by the ingenuity of man the spouting has been so arranged that all the watery " extracts " from the filth collected on the roof passes into the drinking water of the citizens. One would have thought that, as there was no denying the facts, the Council would have at once ordered aft effective remedy, but not so. My report was received with jocisity and gibes, and much valuable time was lost in obtaining analyses which at the most could only 1 prove that what was admitted passed into the water was actually there,

TJp to date New Zealand has turned out 21,701,419 tons of all classes of coal, last year's record being. 1,585,756 tons. What is undoubtedly a curiosity — an all white Mopawk, has been caught by Mr W. C. Watson, on his farm, Stuart Road, El•th»m. Mr Watson is having the bird stuffed to keep as a rare specimen, says the Argus. So far (says the Farmers' Advocate) £850 per annum has be«n guaranteed by the dairy companies towards the salary of a representative in England. Another £150 will be required before the scheme can be carried into effect. 0 A reward of £20 is to be offered by the Marton Borough Council for Sufficient evidence which may lead to the conviction of the person or persons who' committed the outrage at Marton Opera -House on the occasion of the recent ratepayers' meeting by throwing pepper .or other offensive . matter about the building. , Mr A. A. Qower, J.P., presided at the Police ' Court this morning. An elderly man named McAlley, was fined 10s, in default 48 hours' imprisonment, for drunkenness, this being his second offence within the past six months. A first offending inebriate was fined 5a and costs, in default • 24 hours. Mr 6. E. Mannering, manager of the Union. Bank of Australasia, New Plymouth, has been promoted to the managership of the BanVs Timaru branch. Mr Mannering opened the Bank's New Plymouth branch several years agoj TOe will be succeeded by Mr Glasgow, at present in charge of the Waiiuate (Canterbury) branch. There died at Hawera yesterday Mrs May M. Milne, beloved wife of Mr Wilfred Milne. The deceased lady, who was 83 yean of age, was well-known in this district before taking up her residence in Hawera about 20 years go. The funeral will leave the Hawera Station at noon on Friday for the Waverley cemetery. It is a pretty compliment to Queen Victoria Eugenic (says the Graphic) that her private apartments in the Royal Palace at Madrid have been furnished in English fashion, while the many wedding presents arranged in the rooms will further recall her old home and friends. Queen Maria Christina formerly occupied these rooms, but she has taken keen interest in refurnishing them for her daughter-in-law, and has now retired to another suite. "^General" Booth, speaking at Plymouth in July, discussed the future of the organisation. He said some people were anxious as to what would become of the Army after he was dead. He could not name the day when that interesting event was likely to happen, but he thought that arrangements had been made, legal and other, that were all that human ingenuity could devise, under the supervision of the highest legal talent the land produced, so that the announcement that Tang round the world, saying that the " General" was dead, would say, " Long live* the 'General,'" for another "General" would then step into his place. The subject of noxious weeds cropped up at a meeting of the Waimate (Canterbury) * Road Board" Mr. Wells 6aid that gorse was spreading, but ragwort was much worse. Just latterly he had had a very •harp lesson, and now he was quite satisfied that the inspectors were worth haying. There was a patch of the weed in the district which would very soon evict the farmer; ragwort was gaining ground, lar. McPhillips said that leaseholders had little interest in keeping the weeds down, and were satisfied if they beat the inspector. Th© Board should take strong measures. Mr. Wells: Ragwort is 9000 times worse than gOrse. Mr. McPhillips: I think it is "999,000 times worse. It' was resolved to insist on farmers abutting on the road keeping th© roads clear. A Tasmanian farmer visiting Victoria writes to th© Launceston Courier: — Of all the good land I came across over there none was better than that found in the Western district, that stretch~bf splendid ■oil which comprises Camperdown, Colac, and Warrnambool. This is without doubt some of the richest soil one has seen, but the price fairly makes one shudder. Only think of a poor farmer having to pay any price per acre from £50 to £100 ! Rent in the locality is, of course, exceedingly high, and how some of the people pay as much as £3 2s 6d per acre for grazing land, only is more than one can understand. Tet large numbers of cows are being milked on land rented at the prices named. The week before I was at Warrnambool a farm of 100 acres of agricultural land was sold at £100 per acre. While I have not seen better land, I fail to see how it is worth £100 per acre. v

In London last month Mr Haldane, Secretary of State for War, gave publicity to some tricks of the meat dealers when replying to a deputation from the Irish cattle trade, who desired to see the words "home-bred" restored in Army contract forms, instead of the new phrase "homekilled." The Secretary for War said his experts told him that a large proportion of meat sold, on the old contracts under Irish, English or Scottish names was really foreign meat, and a recognition of this fact in the terms of th© ne^v contract meant a saving of £50,000 per annum, which a Minister in his position could not disregard. He was confident that no War Minister bad ever been able to get homebred meat for th© Army since' the other variety was imported. He pointed out, however, ■ that at the various military, camps the military authorities were already ready to' buy sound British cattle if offered alive at suitable prices.

The following letter from Mrs Barnardo to the Bishop of Waiapu was read at the meeting of the Hawke's Bay Anglican Synod on Monday: — "Thank you so very much for your kind letter and for the resolution enclosed. I have had such a number of letters from all parts of New Zealand and I know that my dear husband's work was greatly beloved and helped in th© colony. Some years ago we had the pleasure of entertaining Sir William and Lady Fox, and I think they were a great help on their return to New Zealand in making my husband's work more widely known. Of course you know of the Barnardo Memorial Fund, and how we arc trying to raise £250,000. I expect the kind friends in your diocese have already commented to help and that * large sura will come fro.n the lands across the sea. My family have always been specially interested, in New Zealand. My father's eldest brother, Arthur Elmslie, was, as a- young man, shipwrecked, on the North Island, and then settled in New Zealand. He had immense influence over th© Maoris, and Sir William Fox told m© that at th© time of the great rebellion his influence went a Kreat way in quelling it. This is a matter of history."

Just in time for the Wanganui Races. Messrs McGruer and Co.'* special made costumes are here. These will appeal to every lady with an eye to artistic style and general excellence of finiah. They are shown in pretty shades of grey, navy, black and white checks. Smart coats, Eton length, cpllarlesß, trimmed new silk triroirigs, skirts nicely pleated, 50s; new black and white check costume, small Bolero ' coat, pleated skirt — very natty, 27s 6d ; navy costume, Newmarket coat, folded col. lar and cuffs, skirs pleated and buttoned, very smart, 70s: othere in light shades of erey, sacque coats, good fit, 59s 6d. None of these costumes can be duplicated, therefor© we would urge th© importance of placing orders early. — Advt,

There were six old age pensioners alive on July Ist who were 96 years of age and over. One at Te Aro was aged 96, one 97, one at Havelock 102, one at Ashburton 103. and one at Waikanae 106. The three last mentioned are males. The News says that butter has fallen wholesale 2d pei lb, and retail Id per lb in Carter ton. This result has been brought about through pressure being put upon the National Dairy Association, it is alleged, which engineered a 3d rise some weeks ago to an accompaniment of vehement opposition from the metropolitan public. We are sometimes inclined to grumble at the high rents charged nowadays, says an Auckland paper, but 66 years ago the rent asked for a five-roomed house at Korarareka, which the authorities wanted for a poßt office, was £1 10s a week. And yet the average wage of a labourer in New Zealand in 1840 was about 3s a day, and thattof a skilled mechanic ss. A New York telegram published in the London press states that the interest on the bonds (2,050.000dol.) of the Oceanic Steamship Company (Spreckels' Line) of San Francisco, cannot be paid, and that an action of " preclusion" is expected. The principal creditor, it is added, is the firm of John D. Spreekels Bros., which holds 2,000,000d01. of the bonds. It is stated that the necessary money has been subscribed for th© establishment of a new morning newspaper in Wellington and that the company has been registered. The promoters consist of Wellington and Christchurch commercial men, including Mr John Duthie, and Mr G. G. Stead, and a leading plank in the new paper's platform will be the freehold tenure. The new paper will be independent politically. The weather reports from the principal districts, at 9 o'clock this morning, were very favourable, only one of the larger towns, Wellington, reporting overcast conditions. The barometer showed little movement, and registered 30.10 at Auckland, 30.25 at Wellington, 30.24 at Christchurch, and 30.23 at Invercargill, the locil reading being 80.18. The thermometer registered 56deg. at Auckland, 53 at New Plymouth,, Wanganui, and Wellington. 50 at Greymouth, 48 at Christchurch, 51 at Dunedin and 45 at Invercargill. A fully-grown wallaby has taken up its quarters on Mr Knight's farm, The Rocks, just above the Upper Port Chalmers Railway Station. The animal appears to be very active, and quite able to take care of itself. Mr Knight intends to protect it as far as possible, and as there is a patch of native bush on his farm the wallaby may take up its quarters there. Where it has come from is at present a mystery, for, so far as is known, no wallabies have been liberated near Port Chalmers. Mr Sidney Cook, of the Cook's Pictures Company, took some cinematographic views of Wanganui this afternoon, from the front of a motor car, which was driven through the principal streets. Mr Cook, who makes a specialty of getting his work out smartly, will show the film at the opening performance to-morrow evening. Another picture he proposes to take, which is sure to excite interest, will be the Jockey Club's lawn and grandstand, which will be taken to-morrow afternoon, just prior to the race for the Wanganu,i Guineas, and which he proposes to show the same evening, which will come up to the record he made with the pictures of the Stanbury-Towns sculling match, which were developed and shown to a Sydney audience 3£ hours after the race. Mr Cook, we understand, intends reproducing all New Zealand pictures taken by him in Australia, and they should certainly prove a great advertisement for the colony. Our Catholic fellow townsmen have for some time past had in contemplation the building of a church at Aramoho to meet the requirements of the residents in that locality, and on Sunday last the Very Rev. Dean Grogan announced to the congregation of St. Mary's that the plans for the new church had been complete. A meeting was held on Sunday evening, at which the plans were exhibited. Dean Grogan explained to the meeting that lie had certain funds iv hand, but more would be required before he could commence the work of building. In the first place, the site for the new church would have to be fenced, and money would be required for this purpose. A committee of ladies and gentlemen was accordingly formed to raise funds for the fencing. The committee met last night (Tuesday) in St. Mary's Hall, when it' was resolvea to hold a social and dance in the Drill Hall on Thursday, 18th October. The price of admission was fixed at 2s. Sub-committees were appointed, and it was resolved to meet again next Tuesday evening.