NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 18, 4 May 1899, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

There are about 3<>Uo Dalmatians in Auckland province at the present time. Mr. J. R. Blur, Mayo' of the Empire City, has been re-elected ohairmaa ot the Wellington Education Bjurd, a position which he has has held for 17 years. total output of coalia thenCloiydurin-r last year was WM2 tons, compared with 840,712 tons in lo«J7, and 7U2,831 tons The Department of Mines states that there are now seventythree working dredges iv Otago and Southland ; four are under removal, and nine are standing, while fully thirty are building or projected— a total of about 116. h Mr. James Hunter, of the Ottujt* Daily Times has been appointed general manager of the Ac to Zealand Times. Mr. R. E. Banuister who formerly held the position, becomes a director of the A'ew ZeaI'ind limes Company. Says the Oamaru Mail :— The record yidd of oats in this district is reported from a s-in .11 p.uldock on the Ardgowan Estate at the top of Eden stree'. b-lon-ing to Mr. Ryan. From five acres t>lo bushels were threshed. The crop was so heavy that it had to be cut and bound by hand. It is reported that there is a dredging boom on the Kawarau and Cardrona rivers, near Arrow. Claims are beino- pegged off in all directions on account of the great success of the industry throughout the goldfields. Opinion is general that Cardrona will be a great field for dredging. Settlers are experiencing a remarkably good season in the Wellington district. Feed is plentiful, and the crops are lookin<* well. A prominent colonist who has lived nearly all his life in New Zealand thinks there never has been so good a year, and attributes it mostly to the expansion of the dairy industry. Mr. H. W. Nokthcroft, S.M. on the West Coast of tLe North Island, has been transferred to Wairarapa, to succeed Mr. Haselden who will replace Mr. Kenny in Wellington. It is believed the latter replaces Mr. Northcroft. Mr. Stratford, S.M. and warden in We&tland, will be transferred to Invercargill, and be succeeded by Mr. R. S. Hawkins, who is at present in charge of the Tokomairiro Tuapeka, and Lawrence districts. ' Mr. Austin Chamberlain stated in the House of Commons last week that the Imperial authorities were subsidising the Auckland Harbour Board to the extent of C2 ( .>.">o for 30 ye »rs tn condition that the Board constructed buildings for in ichinery. a deep water JKty, and '•heerh'}'-!. thti Admiralty to hive priori' v of the use of the Calliope dvi k and machinery i -r ttie ivp >ir of Wcir*hips. Tijk Pu-t and Telegraph revenue fur the quarter was £1 l'J,\)27> again«t Clol.ils.' la-t year. Po-t il note- were sold to the value of £.}!.n;;> and paid to the value of L.i.S,!i,s^ against £33,30G and £32,7.5ti tur the corresponding quarter last jear. The amount deposited in the Savings Bank during the quarter was £'.112 230 against CM1,112; withdrawals, £587,424 against £827, 823. "" ' There was a rush for sections in Karaka township, twenty miles from Gisborne, w hen li) 0 acres, the property of Mr. Wi Pere, M.H.R. was submitted to auction, and some of the land brought as high as £4,s per acre, the average being £20 2B2 B per acre. The sale marks a new era in Native land settlement in that district, for it is the intention of the trustees in Natives' eotates to bring a very large area into the market at an early date. Considerable discussion has arisen in Christchurcb. over the action of the Salvation Army in ignoring the mayor and asking Mr T. E. Taylor, M.H.R, to receive General Booth on behalf of the citizens. At their la?t meeting the City Council passed the following resolution :— ' That the Council regret the action of the Salvation Army in asking anyone but the Mayor of Christchuroh to welcome General Boo:h on behalf of the citizens, and consider such action will tend to alienate the sympathy of many friends of the Army. It is of interest to the people of this Colony to know that Lord Carrington has been experimenting in re-populating his rural estates by the process of splitting up holdings. His Lordship gives a summary of the results in an article in the Mneteenth Century, in which he says he his now hid over 30 years' experience of small holdings on his various properties, both clcse to and remote from towns, and he declares that they are a financial and social success alike on the clays of Buckinghamshire and the chalk of the southern portion of that country, on the ordinary soils of north Lincolnshire and on the fertile land of the fen country. His figures hive so direct a bearing on colonial aspirations towards village settlements that they deserve extended quotation. The funeral of Miss Catherine Butler, of Bald Hill Flat, whose^ sad death we reported in our last issue, took place on Wednesday of last « ci k, the cortege being the longest that had been seen in Alexandra for a longtime. A short halt was made at St. John's Church ( ays the Dunstan Times) where the Rev. Father Hunt conducted a solemn service in the presence of a large congregation. The long sad procession then returned its way to the cemetery', whtre the Rev. Father Hunt conducted the burial service in the presence of a large gathering of people.

We are in receipt of parcels of ÜBed postnge stamps for Rev. Father Kreymborgs mission from Miss Minnie Cain, Spec Gully ; Miss Kirkpatrick, Stratford ; ' Dunedinite,' Dunedin. It has been known for some time past (-ays the Taieri \Adcocatt-) that Mr. James Oughton's Janefield farm, North Taieri, has been under offer to the Government for settlement purposes. We now have it on tru best authority that an offer bas been made ti Mr. Oughton which he is prepared to accept. The farm consists of 1 50 acres, and will probably be cut up into small allotments of three and five acres, a larger allotment going with the homestead The land is of superior quality, and will cut up into ideal hones for working men. A LARGE number of friends assembled a*- thf Railway Station on Thursday morning (says the Southland Daily Xnrs) to wish a pleasant journey and safe return to the Hon. j! G. Ward, on his departure to England via Wellington and Sydney. The hon. gentleman's trip is undertaken in connection with matters relating to his bu-iness, and will be very expelitiou*, the arrangements he has made being such that he will be enabled to be bic* a^ain in the Colony not Hter than the end of August. When in Wellington Mr. Ward declined to be drawn on the object of his visit to London, but he states that it is unconnected with the Government, and is entirely in reference to private business. Speaking at the opening of the new wing of the technical school in Wellington, Mr. Samuel Brown said that the manufactories of the Colony, which the Industrial Association represented, employed about one-third of all the bread winners of New Zealand, and that there was sunk in plant, buildings, and land about £6,000,000 ; that about £2,000,000 was annually paid in wages, and that the product was about £10,000,000, This estimate had to be arrived at from 1890 figures, the latest available, It would, therefore, be seen, he added, that no portion of the community was more interested in the proper training of artisans than were the manufacturers, for the twofold reason that the better trained and skilled a workman the greater profit his employer could make, and he was better able to compete with outsiders. A vagrant dog that had crept unobserved into one of the Harbour Board offices ne^r the wharves at Oamaru (says the Xorth Otago Times') was locked in for the night. It almost accomplished the feat of eating a good coat, ate the covering off a sofa bolster, and scattered the feathers over the room, then tackled the door, and had almost eaten a panel out of it when it must have bethought itself that the quickest way out was to jump through the window. This it did. An inquest was held on the damages in the morning, when it was concluded that the place had been burglarised ; but on the question being asked if a burglar was likely to eat a coat, part of a door, or a sofa bolster, the conclusion was arrived at that no self- respecting man would ever think of breaking into a place where he could get nothing but these things to eat. The dog has not yet been found. He probably died of an overdose of coat, bolster and door.