PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 528, 8 June 1909, Page 8

PROVINCIAL NEWS.

CfKOU OUR SPKCIAL COHRE3PON3B'rrS.) .' 0 .PALMERSTON. At Ail Saints Church on Sunday afternoon, tho Bishop of Wellington administered the rito of continuation to 118 candidates, presented by the llev. C. C. Harper. Of these, 40 were males, and -73 females. Tho church was crowded. In spite of his recent severe illness, his Lordship took tho whole serrice, which lasted ono and a half hours, and gave his usual two addresses, in his customary practical and impressive manner. The bishop suffered no ill effects from the strain, but it was not deemed advisable for him to preach at any of the other services. . . • • ■

Yesterday morning, -seven small boys appeared at the Magistrate's room to answer charges of raiding a Chinaman's gardon , at Foxton line. A complaint had been made to tho police by the Chinamen, that the boys had been in their gardens, and had slashed their marrows and pie melons about to such an extent that about £3 worth of damage was done. On a second occasion, they had attacked the cabbages. Constable M'Leod and Detective Quirk made investigations, and the result was _, that seven boys woro appro-, hended. . Five of. them pleaded guilty, and two not. guilty, and their cases were adjourned till this morning. The guilty ones were, admonished by Mr. A. D. Thornton, S.M., and were x convicted and ordered to pay. 9s. each towards the damage done. The State schools ore showing much enthusiasm over the schools' competition at the Winter Show, and their display promises to be one of the finest yet seen in the Dominion. No. fewer than eight schools have entered boys in the big competition, and a wall space, over 200 ft. long, will be occupied by their exhibits, and other school exhibits. Some of the : exhibits hail from as far north Mil be present at the'show from that disas Taranaki, and contingents of children trict. "In consequence of the' large increase in the dairy-factory exhibits, and the space

required to adequately bench them, it has been decided to house the Agricultural Department's comprehensive'- display' in No. i ha 11 , ,. which ■ will be fully occupied. It :is anticipated-that the Department's, display will be far superior to that of last year, and the best yet made ,in the Dominion, ai ■the experience gained at tho Dunedin and Auckland shows should assist the officers to make , the best of, the material at their disposal: ' Inquiries in' reference-to the £10 champion class for apples, have been, received fromall over, the' Dominion, and there should consequently be a large exhibit.. The .challenge cup presented to the Linton Defehco Rifle Clnb, ■'• by Mr. S. Green, ■ was won by: Rifleman Newth, who has been successful twice in the competition. Rifleman Newth made 274 off: the gun, and his 11 points handicap , brought hie score to-285. ■ TAHIAT3JJ A.; ■■■~"■-•.■ ■ '■• Despite cold and rain,. the. Woodlands Hunt. Club had another successful run on .Saturday.;..The;drag was laid over Mr. Mexted'.s property -for : ;about. a three-mile run. About 25 followed, and, owing, to the greasy nature of the.ground, .some falls were recorded: After, the run, .the visitors and members were entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Mextcd/ ■•'• ■ ' " '.■.'■■ . The monthly meeting of the Pahiatua, County Council was held on Saturday afternoon..: Tijo ijreasuror's ..statement showed particulars, as .follow:—Pahiatua County Fund (debit), £2597 13s. 6d.; Government 'Loans to' Local Bodies Fund (credit), £364 14s. 6d.;'interest account'and hypothecated • third (credit),' £2417 25.; Land Fund a»1 count (credit),. £201' 18s. 7d. Accounts for the different ridings were as follow '.-^ln I credit, Pukemiku, £196 13s. Bd.; Mangaone, £174 18s. sd. .Debit: Mangahao, £698 11s. lid.; Pnketoi, £1315 3s. 2d.; Makuri, £452 11s. • 3d. . Dissatisfaction was expressed at the. increase in ■the. Hospital levy, as at present assessed. It was pointed out the levy , had' increased about £230 .over that of last year, and- the , couhtjr was paying upward'of £590 towards.hospital and charitable aid, or 2s. Bd. per.pound of revenue. At a subsequent special meeting, several roads were declared ' main roads, and a general rate of l}d.. in the pound>',was struck for Pukemiku and Mangaone Ridings, and ljd. for Mangahao, Puketoi, and Makuri. , :■. .■'■■, .CA.IIt ; R.U.T.nN, . Shortly before oight o'clock.on; Saturday evening a vigorous peal.was sounded'on,tho ,fire bell." Tho residents; .much, alarmed, as a heavy, wind- was blowing,; rushed out into tho street;; but' were relieved: upon finding that the:causel'wa's -nothing mpre:than a burning chimney.- LThe Brigade-was out-promptly,' but fortunately .their services were, not' required. ■ >■-■;'■ ;'■-'.• : -. " '•.■•":.' ' '■ '• ■.'.■".'■

• ,: , . ; ';'.."EEETAHUNA:. .;..'■;; ..,■;■. The,'recently-fbrined Literaiy, and Debating Society h'w;■.'developed' into juite' a.,popular institution'for : mutual;' improvement,- 'and already .much, latent- oratorical... ability- ;has been unearthed. The-' ladies ' are ;taking ' a keen.interest;in. all the debates,:so much.'so that.they.recently negatived a question to the effect'that;woman's activity should be con-, fined,to tho.home.- : -' ,' ' ~';. .. .. .'i

Tho'Eketahuna electric lifting scheme>ae ■added'another .burden to the already heavily taxed'residerits- of ■ the Many.'of thd. businesspoople have intimated their intention of retaining their .old syatom of lighting on.: the grounds of, economy,. and, if this .is soj only the minimum;amount of light generated will bo required, and a maximum'rato lovied'; Now , that ratepayers ' have the expensive' luxury in.their midst, thdy should be loyal enough and shrewd enough to make the bost uso of it.. . : .■■-.-■ .•:•■'.■ . . •■' . ;

Tbo' funeral of the late Mr. J; Windelcy. Wefaroa: who died in Wellington Hospital last week, took.place at the Levin Cemetery sm Sucday, aiteruooc.. The Spiritualiatq'.

burial service waa used, and Mr. W. C. Nation and Madame Nordica gave addresses at tho jjravo. On Sunday morning, wbilo Messrs. R. J. Jones and D. Mnsgrovo w-ere taking a calf away- from its mother, tho latter made things rather lively for a while. She charged Musgrovo, knocked him down, and got her horns to work on his clothes, which were considerably the worse for the encounter. Jones eventually drove the infuriated animal off. _ Tho Levin firo online shed was broken into on Thursday or Friday night last week, and although nothing of value was removed, a valuable painting was smashed and a cupboard broken open.

The meeting of the Horowhenua Racing Uub on Saturday was ono of tho largest over held by the club. Officers for tho yeai were olected, and eight new members nominated. FEATHERSTON. At the Magistrate's Court in Fcatherston yesterday, before Mr. James, S.M., most of the cases set down' for hearing wore either struck out or sottled out of court. Judgment in the following civil cases was given: —J. H. Tully (Mr. J. W. Card) v. W. Houston,,judgment claim, £2 75., and 10s. costs; W. H. Whale (Mr. J. W. Card) v. W. Houston, claim £10 and los. costs; C. Lawry (Mr. J. W. Card) v. A. Brant, claim £2 7s. Bd v and 10s. costs; J. Barr v. G. Lawry, claim £2 75., in- default, seven days' imprisonment; A; Watson (Mr. J. W. Card) v. B. Carpenter, claim £2, and 12s. costs; A. Watson (Mr. J. W. Card) v. — Lepinski, claim 15s. 4d., and 15s. costs. > P. C. Hill was prosecuted by the police for boarding a train whilst it was in motion. The evidence called showed that defendant, who did not appear, camo on to tho platform as the tram was moving off. Ho was under the influence of drink, and went to get on the running board of the van, when he slipped and fell, landing between the van and the station platform. He, however, escaped unhurt—a fact that caused the magistrate to remark on the luck of soffit} people. A fine of 205., and 14s. 6d. costs, was inflicted. The bazaar held .by the Martinborough

Fire Brigade on the occasion of the opening of the water scheme proved a-great success, and - has_placed the brigado on. a sound footing. The Art Union will be drawn somo time this week, on Thursday most likely; vA good game,of hockeyought to be'seen here , on Thursday next, when a team from Carterton.will engage the local club. The football match played here—Liberals v. Grey.town—resulted in a win for the Liberals; (Feathorston) by 10 points to 8. The local team are showing much bettor form ..than in their previous games, and, by. keeping in good'training, should got soraewhoro near the winning post at tho end of the season. . . . .

. Featherstonians seem to bo wanderers by natsre. Two residents are going from here to British Columbia, two to Vancouver, and ono to. Queensland at an early date. Already there are several young men from hero in America, and all seem to be ,tho. right stamp to get on wherever they go."