DISTRICT NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1961, 19 January 1914, Page 3

DISTRICT NEWS.

JOTTINGS FROM PROVINCIAL CENTRES. (From Our Special Corrc6rondcnt6.) PALMERSTON. Largo entries are reported to have been received for the Manawatu Hillo Association's tenth mooting on January T2. Among prominent shots entered aro: Messrs. G.Hyde, .R J. King, D. Hoots, and L. Loveday. Wellington is well represented. Entries havo also been received from Ohakune, Patea, and Hastings. Tho "Standsml" is appealing for five persons to contribute) £100 each towards tho Radium Institute fund. NAPIER. Customs duties collected at Napier last week amounted to £4.033 3s. 3d., a record for the port. Mr. N. Beatson has been elected secretary of tho Okaiva Rifle Club,, vice Mr. H. M. Bishop, resigned. Th« following will represent the club at Palmerston North on January it\— Rifle- 1 raon J. D. liirers, A. Hyde, Tong, Symonda, and Humphries. Tho team selected to compete at tho Trentham meoting, commencing on February 26, is as follows: —Riflemen Rivers, Hyde, James, Humphries, Symonds, Smith, Wellwoo'd, M'Millau, and Beateon. Tho directors of tho Hastings Y.M.C.A. havo decided to erect a new building at a cost of about £3000 or £4000. According to a statement made by the Mayor, tlio rates in tho - Borough of Napier will be increased next year by twopence in the pound. MASTERTON. Tho Masterton Trust Lands Trust decided last week to join with the Chamber of Commerce in extending an invitation to Mr. M'Taggart, of tho Agricultural Department, to deliver an address in Masterton on tlio subject of agricultural education. A company is about to start a felltaongery business in this district. There- aro at present nineteen patients in the Masterton Hospital. For . tho first timo for a considerable period I there aro no fever patients in the in-1 stitution. The Rev. James M'Kee, of Penrith, Now South Wales, who was tho pastor in charge of the I'robyterian Church at Masterton over thirty years ago, is at present a visitor to Masterton. A local firm of auctioneers is insti- ; tuting stock sales at Langdale. The first salo is to \)o held on February 3. A canvass of Masterton was mado'on Friday for donations of special prizes for the forthcoming show. Tho response was very liberal. The Masterton Trust Lands Trust lias made a donation of £4 4s. towards the prize-list of the Wairarapa Amateur Swimming Club. The New Bank of New Zealand premises in Masterton are now practically completed.' Tho building is ono of the most substantial and ornamental in tho town. The miter walls aro of brick, plastered in. rawu colour, and tho front has a massive appearance, tho doors being in the centre of four pillars. The ceiling is of steel. A motor-bus company is being formed here, with a capital of £3000. It is proposed to run services within tho town in three-penny sections. CARTERTON. Rifles-for the use of tho Cartort-on Senior Cadets have arrived and will be distributed at tho next parado of tlio company. Emoy Jackson, relieving ofDcer, of Wellington, is at present in charge, of the local corps of tho Salvation Army, until Captain Whittey, of Pahiatua, arrives to take Captain Foster's place. Tho latter has been, transferred to Norsewood. A meeting of members and 6iipportors of the Carterton Hiockey Club was held on Friday evening for tho purposo of considering ways and means to secure part guaranteo for a match with the English toekey team. Mr. W. Fisher was in the chair. Messrs .W. Fisher, E. V. Ellis, G. Riggs, C. Foster, and tho secretary were appointed a committee to carry out arrangements as adopted by tho meeting. A fatal accident happened on Satur-■" day morning at tho Taratahi railway crossing near tho Waingawa Freezing Works; when a middle-aged man named Thomas Johnston, employed at tho works, attempted to , cross tho lino just as ono of tho morning trains was approaching. Before ho had time to do so he was struck by the engine. Deceased was about 40 years of age and has a wife residing in England. OTAKI. During the year 1913 117 books were added to tho shelves at the Otaki Public Library. The library now comprises 2700 books. Tho nowly-formod public gardens at Levin are iiow looking very attractive indeed. The bedding-plants make a bravo show, while tho neatly laid-out plots, paths, pond, etc., combine to, make a vory picturesquo and pleasing, little spot. The gardens are small—anarea.of about three-quarters of an acre in all —but aro a decided acquisition to tho town, and will doubtless be improved as times goes by. Tho property is a borough reserve, and the work* of keeping the gardens in order is in tho hands of tho Borough Council, but tho .Levin Beautifying Society—a most useful organisation—had assisted largely, .by providing and.planting trees, shrubs, bedding plants, otc. Visitors to Levin who havo a few minutes to spare should certainly visit tho new gardens, which are situated in Bath Street East, a fow chains from tho Arcadia Corner. , Three pupils of tho Otaki State School --jMasters Saul Keegan, Amos M'Kegg,, and Arthur Anderson—who qualified for scholarships at the recent Wellington education Board examinations, have boon awarded board scholarships, being sixth, eighth, and ninth on the list respectively. William C. Hayward, of' .the To Horo School, is sixteenth on the ■list, but is not recommended for a scholarship. In thoso scholarships examinations those who qualify aro divided into three classes: (a) Schools with an average attendance of over 200; (b) schools with an average attendance of 36 to 200; and (c) schools with attondanco under 36. All tho Otaki boys aro iu Class B. Flakmillors in this district are stated to bo agitating for a substantial increase in their wages—an increase of nearly fifty per cent, in many instances—and for a reduction of hours, and other concessions. It is understood That the employers will strenuously opposo the demands made. Both tho Bank of Now Zealand and the Bank of New South Wales aro about to build iip-to-dato premises at Shannon. The present season prornisos to be a fair ono for apiarists. Owing to the excessive amount of wet 'during tho early part of the summer, tho bees collected very'little.honey, and weak colonies fared badly. Sinco Christmas timo, however, tho bees have been vory busy, and, especially in cases where. Urn owners had carefully nursed their colonics, excellent results have boon secured. Extracting operations are now being carried out extensively all along the coast. It is pleasing to notico that the boo industry is becoming moio popular all through this district.