NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 26, 29 June 1899, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

Inc captain of the To Anau reports that he saw part of the captain s cabin of the Ohau floating about four miles north of Ca-tlepoiu!. Electric lighting is apparently not to be undertaken in Woodville just yet, ah the Borough Council has decided to purchase a — number of kerosene btreet lamps. • Among the applicants for an old age pension in the Bay of Islands ib a v» omaii named Mrs. Lcthcridge, who is said to have been the first white woman in New Zealand. She was born in 1816. It is> understood that the Government intend cutting up 150,000 acres of the Assets Company's land at Waikaro. It is expected that such action will give a great stimulus to settlement in the Waikato. A tuberculous bullock, destroyed a few days ago at the Longburn Works, was found to bo in a shocking state. lis lungs weighed (Ulb. In another condemned animal the liver weighed 1251 b, being a mass of tumors*. The extraordinary pros-p rity of Taranaki (says a local paper) during the last year or two is causing an influx of people from other parts of New Zealand to settle on the land there, and assist in the development of her resources. At the dinner of the Cheviot Settlers' Association it was stated that one settler was feeding I+oo sheap on 200 acres, and he had also threshed 5000 bushels of grain, while another had threshed 1012 bushels of barley from 12 acres. We have received a parcel of used postage stamps for Father Lightheart's mission Ircm Miss Nellie McCluskey, VVaipiata, and parcels for Father Kreymborg h from Miss Emily Murray, Horatio street, Christchurch, and Mr. M. Murray, Maharahara West. Mr. Green, who has been travelling through the Colony on behalf of the Commercial Museum at Philadelphia, has arranged to establish four cabinets in the colonies, containing full information re addresses and lines of business of leading manufacturers in the United States. Co-operation among farmers pays in the Wanganui district (says the Manawatu Times). In one company started five years ago a shareholder with £50 worth of shares has received £44 in bonuses and dividends, and another who has paid £25 for shares has had £22 returned in bonuses and dividends. A London cable states that the report and balance sheet of the National Bank of New Zealand shows an available balance of £45,1(51. A dividend of 6 per cent, is declared, with a bonus of 1 per cent £2500 is allocated as the nucleus of a staff pension fund, and £5101 carried forward. Tnr. Wellington City Council intend to proceed with a Bill this si smoii to enable them to borrow £33(5,000. Of this £100,000 is set down for the acquisition of the tramways; £120,000 for extension oi the water supply, £ I"). ooo for the purchase of electric bght work- . and 050,000 for building a town lull. Ir h reported that the building trade is very brisk in Ashbnrton. The starting of the freezing wo? k*- brought a large influx of people, and hou*e a,' c muucdation has be<.u severely taxed. The buililei^ hue their hands lull, and one architect has orders for pLm^ for twehe new dwellingliodM>. Thk French Consul at Wellington is advised that, in order to extend to as large a scale as possible the exportation to New Caledonia of cattle from New Zealand that are recognised as sound and free from the disease affecting some of the cattle in the Australian colonies, the Governor of NerV Caledonia, by Order-in-Council, has resolved that from the Ist mat. the quarantine measures are to be considerably relaxed so far as New Zealand cattle are concerned. . The Christchurch Meat Company have offered to erect for the City Council a slaughter-house large enough for the use of themselves and all the butchers of Christchurch, and hand it over to the city in consideration of being given all the offal by way of rent. As showing the profit from this branch of the company's operations, it has been stated that they could afford to do the freezing gratis in consideration of being allowed to retain the material for the manufacture of by-products. A very large and fashionable audience assembled at Government Hou>-p, Auckland, on Saturday night, June 17, when a concert was given in aid of the funds of the society for the Protection of Women and Children, and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Among the performers was Mr. Arthur G. Murphy, well known in Dunedin. Regarding his contribution the Herald said : — ' Mr. Arthur G. Murphy contributed Barnard's taking melody, 'For Thine Own Sake,' and showed that he has made considerable progress in his musical studips, his articulation being perfect, and his fine tenor voice doing full justice to the music' The number of lodges whose returns are tabulated in the annual report on Friendly Societies of New Zealand is 388, and the central bodies 34. The number of members at the end of the year 1897 was 32,(570. The total sick and funeral funds was £583.924, and the medical and management funds, goods, etc., £53,087. The assets are ab follows :—lnvestments: — Investments at interest, £480,631 ; value of land and buildings, £117,511 ; cash not bearing interest, £26,486 ; value of goods, £10,(534 ; other assets, £1740. The report state 3 that the exceptionally light mortality of the colony was generally thought to justify the assumption of a correspondingly favourable sickness rate, but this expeotation has not been generally realised.

Accoudinu to the Wellington Post the Agricultural Department ia continuing its efforts to eradicate phylloxera from the vineyards of the Colony. For a considerable time past two experts have been engaged in making a thorough examination of all the vineries in the northern part of this island, and another viticulturist (Mr. Harnitt) has made a start, on similar work in the Wellington district. The Canterbury and Otatro district* have already ; been inspected, and at an early date the Nelson and West Coast dis- j .tricts will be visited. ] ™ An esteemed correspondent -writes :On Tuesday afternoon. June 20th, the children ot the Catholic School, Lt e^ton. presented the Very Rev. Father Chervier, S.M., with a mantel drape on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of his ordination. An entertainment, consisting- of songs and recitations, was given by the children, a number of friends being present. At the conclusion Father Chervier thanked the children in a few well-chosen words, and acknowledged their good wishes by granting a holiday and promising an afternoon tea on a future occasion, when tho dnjs grew longer and warmer and the prevailing epideinio of measles had disappeared. The Californiau thistle has proved itself a great pest in many parts of the Colony, and has been a groat trouble to farmers. Mr. W. C. Buchanan, of the Wairarapa. was for some time greatly inconvenienced by the spread of the thistle, but has, by the adoption of very simple measures, quite eradicati d it from his pastures. Several large property owners in the south are now taking similar means to clear their land of the peet. The plan is simply to prevent the formation of any leaves ; and if this is done for two seasons the thistle will wither away. Mr T. W. Kirk, the Government Biologist, at whose suggestion a number of farmers have taken the measures described, states that he has never heard of a failure in any case where his directions have been followed | As I had occasion, writes a correspondent of the Lytth ton Timrs, to visit South Canterbury, I availed myself of the opportunity of having a look over the new settlement, the much-talked of Waikakahi Estate, and I do not think anything too much was said in its praise. I might mention that I have been all over New Zealand. and I feel sure that there are not 48.000 acres of as good land, all adjoining in the Colony. I think the Government has made a really good bargain, and that the land is worth from £2 to £3 per acre more than it paid for it. The settlers seem to be all of a most energetic type. In every paddock you will see teams of horses turning up the dark, loamy soil, and although it is scarcely two months since the ballot, you pee numerous houses in course of erection, of a most substantial kind. There are at present being landed at the Dunedin wharves Beveral hundreds of tons of machinery, together with retorts and fireclay goods, for the New Zealand Collieries and Oil Syndi "ate in connection with their oil work 3at Orepuki, and other large shipments are to arrive. The work of opening up the shale deposits (says the Otago Daily Tnnex)\% being pushed on with spirit and energy. Some 800 sqnare feet of bush land has been cleared, and the foundations for the stills and the large boilers are already in position. It is understood that the tests which have been made by the syndicate's experts of the oils procured from the deposit have more than realised anticipations, and thus the prospect of another industry of colonial importance springing up in Otasro are of the most promising character. It is stated that the company hope to place their products, in the shape of parafna, lubricating oils. wax. and sulphate of ammonia, upon the market at the beginning of the year. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Grimes, (says the Aumara Tims*, Juno 19,) preached his farewell mission sermon last evening in St Patrick's Church, taking his text from part of the 10th verse of the 20th chaptor of Revelation 'Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of lite.' The sermon was listened to with marked attention by a very large congregation, the church being crowded to its utmost extent, forms having to be placed in the aisle to accommodate persons who could not obtain seats in the ordinary way. Before commencing his pennon the Bishop announced that the collection at Waimea and Stafford yesterday in aid of the cathedral fund amounted to -fcioi Is. His Lordship leaves Kumara to-morrow morning and will be driven by Father O'Hallahan in his twn-horse buggy as far as the Bpaley, Father Goggan remaining to finish the mission in South West land. ' The collection now amounts to the respectable sum of close upon £.">OO. and when the different place-* on the Ohri«tchurch road have been visited this amount will be considerably augmented. A correspondent sends us the following report of the visit of his Lordship Bishop Grimes to Ahaura. His Lordship, who was accompanied by Father Carew and Dean Martin, drove from (ireymouth in a carriage and pair provided by the Rev. Father King, pastor of Ahaura. At Nelson Creek, a distance of ten miles from Ahaura, hia Lordship was met by Father King and a large number of parishioners in vehicles and on horseback. After a brief greeting a procession was former! and moved on towards Ahaura. The #^110110 Church there was suitably decorated for the occasion, the entrance gate, surrounded by ferns and greenery, were the words ' Welcome to our Bishop.' His Lordship was presented with an address, on behalf of the Catholics of the district, in which they thanked him for coming amongst them, and hoped his visit to the West Coast would give him much pleasure and be crowned wuh Ruocess. Dr. Grimes and Father Goggan gjtve a mission in Ahaura The appeal of his Lordship on behalf of the Christchurch Cathedral was generously responded to.

The Queen's annual comings and goings to and from Scotland alone cost her close on £5000 a year.