LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1317, 21 December 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that tho s.s. Mooltnn, which sailed from Sydney at 1 p.m. ou the 18th instant for Auckland, has on board an Australian until. Th« Wellington portion is due to arrive by the Mailt Trunk ou Saturday next, tile 13rd instant. The telegraph offico will close at 8 p.m. on Saturday next, December -3. It will greatly assist in disposing of Christmas messages if as many as possible are presented oil Friday, December Hi. Tho undermentioned hours will be observed at the telegraph ollice oil the approaching holidays:—Christmas Day, S).:i() to 10 a.m., and*s to 5.30 p.m.; Hosing Day, il a.m. to 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. to midnight; New Year's Day, '.I a.m. to 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. In midnight. Midnight cable service as usual. Telephone Dxehaflge open continuously. A number of sections of land will be balloted for at (he District 'Lands Office to-day. Village homestead allotments in the and Mataroa village settlements will he offered on renewable lease. Areas in the and .Mount Cerberus survey districts will be offered for cash, oa 0.K.?. or oil renewable lease, at (he option of applicants. Applicants are required to present themselves for examination before the Land Board at 10 a.m. to-day. Ballots, where necessary, will be conducted at the District I,anils Office at p.m. A correspondent writes,—"l witnessed an n,ct. of gross and wanton cruelty on (lie part of u Wellington, cabman ou Tuesditv. A small newspaper runuerboy was crossing the (Juuy opposite A mil's tobacco shop, and as he waited for a cab to pass the driver deliberately slashed the small lad's bare legs with his whip. It was a cruel cut, which made (he boy yell with pain and cry bitterly for a long time, and raised a weal on his leg that will not disappear hurriedly. Tlicw paper boys are quite able to look after themselves, even on the crowded streets, and in the prosecution of their business have to dodge about a good deal among (ho traffic, wliich is no justification for the cruel act' of Die 'cabby' concerned.. What with motor-cars and motor bicycles often defying 'the reasonable rate of speed' by-law, and the frequent ignoring of the law which compels horse-drawn vehicles to go slowly round corners, life, for those who depend upon nature's means of locomotion, is becoming more than ever a game of chance." At the monthly' meeting of tho Fcilding and District Ministers' Association this week it was resolved to place on record gratification at Ihe magnificent vote cast for National Prohibition at the reccnt poll. Ov.ing to the extremely boisterous weather which has played havoc with many of the local gardens, the Kose and Carnation Club's Show, which was to have Ijeen held on Wednesday next (December il), has been abandoned. It has now been decided to hold a show in Godber's rooms, Cul.a Street, on January 10, at, which members of the club and their friends are invited lo compete. The Australian Photo-play Company, of Sydney, liuve secured tho rights to kinematograph the Davis Cup tennis mutches, to be played ill Chrisleliurch, beginning to-morrow week. As it is the first attempt made in Australia lo produce a picture of a tennis match, at) experiment picture was taken of a gamo played on ihe Double Bay courts, Sydney. The result was\an excellent picture, the flights of the ball being distinctly shown. A representative of the company end a operatur arrived from Sydney by the Warrimoo yesterday, and 'will "continue on to Chrisleliurch this week. We publish elsewhero a Government advertisement relating lit (he railway arrangements for tho holidays.

The Commonwealth Meteorologist (Mr. Hunt) attributes the great prosperity of Australia to causes other than lite exceptionally rainy seasons. There is, he points out, an increasing demand in the world's.markets for raw Australian prochieU; 'ii')feli''"pricis' have mled .lev meat and wool, wheat has been in firm demand, the land is being' tilled with greater knowledge and judgment, and there are facilities for the removal of «tnrvi;ic stock, lor the conservation of water, and fur the storage of fodder. The daj is past', he thinks, when a drought necessarily means ruin, lis evil effects can be minimised, <-.iid divelopuieiit of Australian resources go on .almost without check. Thcro is a lesson in this for the laggard (says the ' Swli.ey Suulay Times"). Conservaiioa of water an.) the storage of fodder li.ive become tlu; two main planks in (he iiii'enee of the man on the land; at least, of those with an eye'to the morrow. Bui it wvuid need anolher bad season to convince tho laggards that they are really deserving of that title. When it conies a striking illustration will be provided of who are the sheep and who arc the goats in the agrarian kingdom.