The Herald. Alexandra, Thursday, May. 21, 1903. THE RAILWAY AND SETTLEMENT

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 367, 21 May 1903, Page 4

The Herald. Alexandra, Thursday, May. 21, 1903. THE RAILWAY AND SETTLEMENT

The two factors that make towards th» permanent prosperity of this district are the settlement of the people on the land and the completion of the railway, "While we desire to see the railway opened to the Molyneux Valley with all possible despatch, we trust that every encouragement and inducement will be offered to the people to settle on the land; so that not only will the district be benefitted, but also the railway itself and the country generally. We are desirous of keeping our present population, and of increasing it, and we think that the parliamentary representatives who passed through here the other day saw sufficient to convince them that the resources at present lying dormant in the interior are sufficient to maintain a very large population. Our present population comprises a large proportion of young people, who,if some inducement to settle on the land be not extended to them, may in the near future consider the advisability of leaving the district, and perhaps the Colony, to make homes for themselves where more generous conditions prevail. Here the Government has the land which is admitted by their own experts to be equal to the be.°t in California for producing fruit of the highest quality ; and, not only is the land suitable, but the climate is unsurpassed in the colony. Most of this land is at present held for the purposes of sheep-farming, and to induce the young people to settle on the land adapted for fruitgrowing, it would be well, we think, if Government* would treat such settlers in a .generous spirit. We would offer as a suggestion that the fruit-growing areas should be cut up into sections of from 25 to 100 acres, and leased to settlers for, say, 25 years, at a nominal rental; the lessee to have the option at the expiry of that period of purchasing the land at a price to be fixed by a purchasing clause in the lease. On iihe expiry of the lease, the lessee would have made a comfortable home for himself, and would in all probability have gathered round him a family ; and these would be of much greater value to, the country as producers of wealth than the runholder and his sheep co||d ever be. And following in the a fuller development of this industry, •we will see canning and jam factories spring up, and instead or the district only supplying, as at present, a purely local market, we would be enabled to supply the Colonial markets with the fruit products that are Wow imported from beyond the sea. We will defer further comment on this,-subject for a future occasion, and merely offer the foregoing remarks, in connection with the fruit-growing industry, as an indication of a policy whi|h we would like to see sion, we must admit thait the present Government has done more for the Otago Central Railway and the settlement of the people on the land than any previous that has been in power in this country, SiaA yet the population, of this distinct has not increased to any considerable; extent. It* now behoves the Government to continue work, so that the cream of Central Ofcagp's population may be induced to remain in the district,.and become prosperous wealfb producers j> vand thus benefit themselves as well as their native land.

The County Council meets at Clyde on Wednesday next. Me J J O'Kanb, dentist may be consalted at Clyde on Friday, 29th inst. A. BBPORT of the last sitting of the Clyde Court appears on page 8 of this issue. A chubch parade of the Alexandra Rifles is called for Sunday evening next (Empire Day). Sunday next is Empire Day. The Government offices and banks will observe the holiday on Monday, The next European mail, via 'Frisco, will close at the Alexandra Post Office on Sunday evening next. The meeting of the Tuapeka Licensing Committee, called for June 3rd, will probablysSeadjourned to 11th June. Mr L D. Macgeobge intimates that he will be in the district for a few days, and is prepared to undertake surveys. The next social, under the auspices ot the committee of St Aidan'sChurch.will beheld in the town hall on Wednesday evening next. The -Cabinet Jis requesting Education Boards and School Committees to arrange for the proper observation of Empire Day on the 25th. „ „ . A mefting, to consider the question of forming a curling club in Alexandra, will be held in the Criterion Hotel on Saturday evening, next The Alexandra Brass Band will, weather permitting, play a number of selections in the Recreation Reserve on Sunday afternoon next, commencing at 3 p.m. Thanks to the efforts of the Alexandra Borough Council, the public of Alexandra have been provided with a much-needed convenience in the shaped of a letter-box, which has been attached to the door of Messrs Craig and Co.'s office The box will be cleared every morning immediately before the departure of the coach, andletters may be posted at any time prior thereto. Only letters for Ida Valley and all stations beyond will be received, and it will only be necessary to affix stamps according to

Lieut. Colonel Eobin will inspect the Alexandra Rifles on Thursday evening next, I and on the following day he will supervise I the shopting for the Government medals. i In a trial at St Louis, U.SJk,, it was j stated that the procuring of young girls as I " white slaves," is systematised by the police. They receive £2O for each person so secured. '■" Two cases of smallpox, ohe of which proved fatal, were discovered «n the steamer Gracchus at Lyttletofl on Saturday. , The steamer, which came frarn Calcutta, hai been quarantined. ~, Referring to the Otago Central Railway the " Lyttleton Times " admits that it would be suicidal to stop the line at Ophir, but opposed its being carried beyond Alexandra, and adds: "If it is decided to carry the line to Alexandra, it should be pushed on with all possible speed." It is said that the drinking of kerosene id such a growing evil in France tht.t measures against it are proposed. The vice has long prevailed among the Natives of the Southern Pacific. To such an extent has it been carried that the importation of kerosene for drinking is an important trade in Peru and Kaiva A sacred concert, under the auspices of the Alexandra Brass Band and Orchestral Society, will be held in the town hall on Sunday evening, commencing immediately after the return of the Band and Volunteers from church parade. An appropriate programme has been prepared, and no doubt the concert will be well patronised. Rev. W J Elliot, of Wellengton, writes to " Olutha Free Press ":—Many opinions unite in indicating that the coming session'will be very lively. Some fuel for the fire will be the bungling at licensing polls, the Parliamentary picnic to the South Seas at country's expenses, &c„ but, in spite of all. the Government is better than it seems to its critics, and worse than it seems to its warmest friends. Bltham borough (Taranaki), which at last census had only a population of 400, has gone in for a loan of £16,000 for water and drainage work; and now the clerk has been notified by the Treasury Department that the money is available. Pluck and butter—mostly butter—have enabled the people to undertake this immense responsibility ; for Eltham sends away more butter by rail than any other place in New Zealand.

Stick to the People, it is but their due, Give them good value and they'll stick to you, So we have found it, wherever we've been; We have a big lead, to keep it we mean, In many a home we have saved much expense And still will crntinue for years that are hence. For bad coughs and colds, the stuff good and pure Is W E Wood's Great Peppermint Cure. The Premier makes the following Announcement with regard to . old age pensions :—Compared with what was paid to 31st March, 1902,. there is, for the financial year just closed, an increase of only £3OOO for the year. From this must be deducted £IOSO refunds by courts paid to the Public Account, and £7OO due in 1902, but paid this year, which reduces the increase to £1250. In other words, the expenditure of 1902 has been held in hand. This amounts to a saving on the estimates of something like £IO,OOO. The number of pensioners on the rolls on 3lst March, 1902, was 12,776; the number on the rolls on 31st March, 1903, was 12,557, a decrease of 219. The " Daily Times " says:—An example of the fertility of the soil in the AlexandraClyde district is afforded by some specimens of produce on view at Messrs Howden and Moncrieff's shop in Princess street These comprise some specimens of the large-grow-ing potatoes "Finlay's Up-to-date"; the largest measures 6in in length and is well proportioned, weighing lib 7|oz, and three of the potatoes together turn the scale at 31b 6oz. They were grown by Mr John Sbeehy on unirrigated land near Clyde. Another specimen is a splended ripe quince, grown by Mr Iv.ersen' near Alexandra, and weighing 14|oz. Included in this little collection of produce is a cooking pear weighing 14|oz, grown by Mr Dawson,at .Conrpy's Cully. Mr Howdeh states that he finds the potatoes producing the best crops in Central Otago are the coarser varieties, and these yield remarkable results.