DISTRICT NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1856, 16 September 1913, Page 3

DISTRICT NEWS.

JOTTINGS FROM PROVINCIAL ' CENTRES. (From Our Special Correspondents.) PALMERSTON. At tho Magistrate's Court .yesterday Williafn M'Corkindale, ol' Levin, was chiii'gcd with motor-cycling at an excessive speed in a main street. Ho 'refused to give the liamo of his companion le.»i lie should be similarly charged. Ho was fined £2 and costs. H. E. Borgerson, for breaches of the Factories Act, was fined 30s. and' costs 16s. M'Nicol and' Yule, fishmongers, who wore charged with breeches of tho Drivers' Award, were fined 50s. and costs vs. J. Hopwood, charged- with a breach of the Carpenters' Award, was lined the nominal penalty, £1. ' The Stoney Creek Post Office and store wore burned down at .midnight on Sunday. Mrs'. Cook, the proprietress, had sold out to A. W. Gilchrist, who was to take possession on Monday. She moved out on Saturday, but visited tho store again on Sunday to attend, to minor details, leaving at 2 o'clock. Gil-' christ. visited tlho store at five o'clock, but, finding it locked, did not enter. No Tire or light had been in the premises since Saturday. .Mrs. Cook's loss included an organ valued at £40. The building • was owned by Mr. M'Phail, of Wairoa, and the contents •insured in >the South British office. James Burt, who was charged with breaking into Wycherley's saddlery premises, has been acquitted. His- arrest was due to marks on a sheet of leather corresponding to his boots. He is now, being sent back to New Plymouth for; n breach of probation in> connection with a former sentence for assault and robbery. A tender for £308 has ■been accepted for the erection of' the Presbyterian Ohiirch at Terrace End. ' NAPIER. The total takings on the Napier tramways • loathe week ended .Sunday were fi&JO Ms. 3d., an average of £34 os. a day. Tiie attendanco at some of the schools in. the district lias been considerably affected by measles, though the epidemic is not severe. There are at present 121 patients in the Napier Hospital, which constitutes a record, being V above the previous record. *■■ Tt is estimated t'liat buildings to the value of £100,000 have been erccted in Napier during'the past five years. Mr. D. C. M'Gill, of the clerical staff of tlid Napier Magistrate's Court, has received notice of his transfer to Wellington. MASTERTON. The annual report of the Wairarapa Fanners' Co-operative Association shows that a net profit of £i"U,747 was made during the past year. 'With £7199 carried forward from last year's profit and loss account, the sum of £17,946 will bo available for distribution. Tlie directors ,recommend a dividend of 6 per cent, on paid-up capital; a bonus of 3 per cent, on paid-up capital, a bonus to shareholders on purchases of 3 per cent., a bonus of 3 per cent, to heads of departments, besides carrying forward a sum of £G(i00. :

It is expected that tlie Wningawa freezing works will commcnco oi>ei ; atioiis next month. ExWnsivu alterations are now being made to fiio buildings of the company. T'lie bore, at the Mangaono oil wells is now down to. a depth of 2886 feet, and is penetrating tlio liin.estono substance; A meeting was held last night to consider the advisability of forming a Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary Association.

, TAIHAPE. September 12 was the nineteenth anniversary of the arrival of the advanco guard of a band of twenty pioneers, who. wero tho' first to tako up land in Taihupe. The plan of settlement originated in Christcnurch, and under this, rules of the Improved I'arm Association, married men with not more than four children wore the only ones eligible for membership. The schcino of settlement was decidedly socialistic, and most of the rules .of the association .were bused on communistic principles. Tho advance guard consisted of Alessrs. W. J. H. JL-'Cormick, T. Shutc, Jackson, and Burran, and when they arrived here'the site of the future town of Taihapo with deuso bush. The settlors wore soon hard at work carving homes out of the bush, but it was some time before they had anything like a • good road to connect them with tho outsido world. The Government of that period gavc these sottlers every encouragement and assistance, but the Socialism of the little settlement did liot last long, and individualism prevailed. Of the original settlers, Messrs. AV. J. H. M'Cormick, T. Shute, and J. Gryer, are still residents', of Taihape, and have seen the evolution of a progressive and prosperous town from tho wilderness of bush. The completion of the railway has greatly assisted the progress of the town, but the foundations were solidly laid some .years before thc_ railhead reached .Taihape from tho soutn. The Borough Engineer (Mr. G. Sutherland) reported at Friday's meeting of the council that a test had been made to discover the leakage in connection with tho water supply system. It would appear that leakage is in the reservoir itself, and may ■be due to a fractjite of tho concrete walls by a subsidence of the foundations, or by an earthquake. The leakage amounts to 6000 gallons daily. On Saturday the Pirates defeated Waiiiui in. a Kugbv football match by 10 points to nil. Thcro was no score in the first half, but tho Pirates had every advantage in the second. M. Belliss (2), R. Belliss, and Tidswell scored trios, two of which were convert ed. Mr. W. Kclsall was referee. The Taihape Borough Council, on the recommendation of the Elcctrical Engineer, is considering the question of installing an auxiliary pumping plant, so as to have sufficient electric power avaiia.ble to meet the increase in the number of consumers. In connection with the electric light and power supply scheme, 'the council apparently greatly underestimated, the power that would be required, and though the plant has only been working for about twelve months, the council is already faced with the problem of providing more power.

OTAKI. Messrs. Drake and D'Ath have heen nominated tor the seats on the Horowhemia County Council, rendered vacant by the death of Air. A. W. Skerman, while Air. J. Noble and 'Goo. Dempster will contest the seat for the Town Board. Air. AV. Little, of the railway stalF, is at present oil a fortnight's furlough. Air. Carmine, of Wellington, is relieving. Airs. Julia Bevim, who has been in indilferent health for somo time, leaves next month for England. She will probably be awnv two .years. The \Vaikanao Hack ftacing Club's animal meeting on .Saturday night was well attended. All oHieors • were reelected, and improvements to the buildings and (lie course decided upon. PAH IfITU A. Air. T. (.!. Scott, who is leaving AJaknri, wlinie lie has resided for several years, will lie tendered a farewell social liy the. settlers to-morrow. ' Commissioner AV. J. Richards, the commander-in-chief of tho Salvation Army in New Zealand, paid his first official visit to ihc Pahiatua corps on Friday afternoon. Ha was accompanied by Captain Suter' (his private secretary). Brigadier Carmichael (Divisional Corn-

mawling Officer), and Brigadier Ciist (officcr m chargo of the Army Training ] College, Wellington). The Commissioner was accorded a civic reception at tho Borough Council Chambers. Further land transactions are announced. Mr. Robert Davenport, who recently sold his property at 'fane, has purchased j\lr. A. C. Weber's dairy farm of 83 acres at Te Relmnga. Mr. Milne has also disposed of his dairy farm at Umutaoroa, and Messrs. Donji Bros, thoir dairy farm at Rua Roa. NEW PLYMOUTH. Engineer-Lieutenant H. Ponsonby Mackenzie, R.N., the Admiralty's coal inspector for Australasia, with headquarters at Westport, visited the oilworks oil Friday in company with the chairman of the Advisory Board (Mr. U. Carter). He was greatly impressed with the suitability of the oil for burning purposes. The gravity and flashpoint were right up to the standard, and for naval fuel purposes the oil was excellent.. The Admiralty, lie said, were keenly interested in tho development of oil resources within the Empire, and naturally were following the local operations with ho little interest. Auckland was being made a naval base, and provision for the storage of oil for fuel would be made. At the monthly meeting of the Waitara Harbour Board, held on Friday evening, a letter was received from the Minister for Marino, tho Hon. F. MB. Fisher, stating that Mr. W. T. Jennings was acting illegally on the board, and that steps were being taken, through the Crown Law Office, to have his attendance at the board's meetings stopped. On Friday afternoon, a number of tho friends of Mr. J. Taylor, of the staff of the Bank of New Zealand, assembled to wish him good-bye oil the evo of his departure to.take up the managership of the Bank of New Zealand at Manaia. Mr. J. B. Roy, who presided, asked Mr. Taylor to accept a handsome set of plate as a. slight token of appreciation. Mr. Harry Gilbert, who is in the Hospital 'Suffering from a serious illness, lias turned the corner, and is making satisfactory progress towards recovery. In- the case of a man charged at Manaiai with foiling to send his children to school, Mr. Ivenriek, S.M., said it seemed to Him that the sooner parents had to pay for tho education nf their children tho better. Nothing that is cheap is thought anything about. I hey have'now to be paid for conveying them to school, and even then they : will not send them. It was a pretty bad case, the children being almost entirely ignorant. A conviction was entered on each cliargd and fines imposed amounting m the aggregate, with court costs and witnesses' espouses, to £4 8s