COUNTRY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 127, 22 February 1919, Page 13

COUNTRY NEWS

NOTES PROM VARIOUS CENTRES IN THEffAIRARAPA The managers of tho Masterton'Tecli- ' nical School .arc making every provision for the vocational training of returned ivounded soldiers. It is estimated that, motor-cars to the valuo 0f.J850,000' were .on the Masterton showground oil' Wednesday. i Tho thermometer-registered as high as 88 degrees- in the shade in Masterton on, Thursday. Two families who were recently unable to find housing accommodation in Masterton have taken up their, residence in Eketahuna. ,A farmer at To Ore Ore has taken 67 "bushels of "Victor" wheat per acre from a twenty-acre paddock. There was a decline in prices at the Masterton "ram fair on Thursday. The highest prices secured for stud Lincoln and' Southdown rams tare SOgns, The 1 supply of coal received at the Maiterton gasworks during the v month "of January was 75 tons less thai) tho actual requirements. • "The snowstorms of November Iji'st.have had a most invigorating effect upon tho .pastures in the Masterton district, The growth of .white clover has been phenomenal. Tenders are shortly to be invited for the erection of a new school at Poro Poro. .'■■ The Masterton Technical School ,is to be re-opened on March 10, instead of March; 3. . ■ ; V. : ' - An' evening, run in connection witlr ,tho Wairar&pa Amateur Athletic Club ,was held on Thtirfldav. The 220 yards handicap was won by A. Campboll, the 440.yds. handicap by D. Davey, and tho half-mile I bicycle, event--by J; Dean.-'. ' •: ' • The i'eathcrston Borougli Council -has been'advised, by its engineer that.- :tho sewerage works, which have been in progress'for the : past tta years will be complete<l by the end of Jlaroh, when all nouso connections may be made. The contract involves an expenditure of over oGSpOO, privided by a- bequest under - the will of "the late Mr. James Cnyvford.--Special correspondent. . .The"takings at the Masterton Show amounte dto--'.-6534, as against £sio las.t year,., The sum taken at the jrates.-was ,£238, being Sl2 less than in 1918. . . The first meeting of the Returned Soldiers' Land Association at Carterton was fairly well attended," slates" the local paper.- After considerable discussion, Mr... J. Vickerstaff, Mr. 11. M'Ke.nzie, and the. secretary, Mr. J; H. Bishop,

were appointed as a committee to interview owners ra. purchase of land. • Motions, were also carried:—(l)-: That in view of the eriiall- area' of land acquired for. soldiers'- settlement in , the Wairairapa, the R.S.A. be , asked to 'tfiquest the Government to giv? Wairarapa soldiers preference" over land, acquired by the Government l in this district, . (2) That the eecreary be instructed', to write to the secretary of the Wairarapa Patriotic Association : as to iwhat financial assistance, if any, the association would give •to soldiers' taking up. land in .this district. i ; According to .one or two members of the Masterton'-Borough, Council there is little fear. of the ratepayers. protesting against slightly increased rates should •this course be found necessary- in launch-

.ing., a... municipal' building scheme.' It was'-: pointed out: that ratepayers were I sufficiently wide nwake to grasp the fact that every, building, erected tended to in-- ; „qeas.e.'th. value of their property. .'V,A: return'match'between the Martin-; .feorOugh. and Featherston llifle Clubs is to be fired at Martinborough to-day. ,':Mr. Adam Donald ■ has Wen appointed, to succeed Mir.' F. Hooper in the control of'the Labour Department's office in Maslerton, and .-took* charge. on Tuesday; .. Mr. Hooper, has been transferred to Christchurch. ;manawatiT~ At a ,meeting: of thd Palmerston North Swimming Club it was stated that owing! to the epidemic , and the late season ■little interest'had , been shown .in swimming lifattci'S- this season,'" although the funds showed- a credit balance. . As -a

temporary arrangement to .carry the club over the season it was resolved to ask members and intending members to 'pay a subscription of Is. for, this season. An endeavours.to be mado to get the Auck- j land swimmers who are visiting Christ-' church sports to . give a display in Pal-; merston.-,-. The, Teachers' Association was allowed the management of the primary schools' relay ,race;fqr this season. Mr. H.,-L. Young! was reappointed secretary for the . remainder of the , season, .' During-.the past two years the sum of : J@225 -has been, raised by the sale of. flowers at the Otaki railway station for Bed Cross purposes. In all, a total of over ';24<10 "has' been raised - since the beginning of ':the war by the sale of flowers; v. - • .'. . , . _ A, FAVOpED DISTRICT. (By: Telegraph—Special. Correspondent,) . .Palmerstori' N., .February. 21. . ' In the course of'his charge to n jury yesterday- ,Sir. Justice -Chapman remarked, ' incidental to • the coso tin-, der;'review, "that they had already heard 1 that' Palmerstpn was a most favoured district in the! matter of jvages. That i-t was a fortunate district for some was evidenced in the present ease, where it was'shown that the working man could earn ,£1 per day, i'his was not the only case of working men receiving this remuneration for their labour that had recently, come under' his notice in I'aliineriton. "I don't know," commented His Honour, "whether it is afine weather pound or an average pound, but it is a good pound if you can get it. It seems, that Palnierston is a favoured district."'' Two of the instances which His Honour doubtless had in mind were cases of flaxmill workers, who appeared in the . Supreme Court as litigants. That in some coses the. worker's opportunity of aver-' agin" X'l per day is not limited purely] lo fine weather was instanced during the lieiiring of a case early in the Supreme Court sesisons, when a witness (a (la.tmil!, Worker) deposed that for the whole of the year 1918 he had averaged «C 3 15s. per week. He' also volunteered the information that he had spent all this and more on the upkeep of,his wife and family— a comparatively small one at that. In the Magistrate's Court this ;nionth another litigant, in giving, evir deuce of his earnings, said that he-was; averaging ,£lO per week. i Boulders falling from the Napier Bhiff Hill cliff have recently been a source of. concern to both motorists, and pedestrians in that vicinity. A fair-sized boulder went through , the hood of a motor-car one evening last week, and a couple ofevenings ago two ..pedestrians barely escaped being, struck by some falling boulders. At a meeting, of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce the Saturday night train question Was again .brought up, and it was decided to .write to the member lor the district asking- him to meet the General Manager of Railways to protest against the delay in this matter. Tho Hawke's Bay Countv Council'is' in receipt, of a letter frohi the Hawke's Bay branch of the Xetv Zealand Farmers Union (o the effect that tho council's notion in deciding to establish cottages for their workmen was favourably commented on at The recent meeting' 0 V the union and that a resolution was carried congratulating the council on its action ■and expressing hope that the members of-the i'nrmcrs' Union will likewise eii•deavour to provide homes for all their married workmen, ,

flic gardening season at Damievirke this year has been most erratic and peculiar. This time last, year most potnto crops here were, disastrously blighted and tomato crops were almost completely spoiled by blight.' A ploapii'iE peculiarity ot the present season is that up to the present there has been an entiro Hb-sence locally of either potalo or tomato blight.

- -i u'o sisters from tho 3rd London General Hospitn.l were on board the tor pedoed Atjuilania.". One was in the water some hours; the other was fortunate enough to be in a boat. Thev drifted in.mid-ocean for a long time be-' foro rescue. When asked whether she was frightened, one laughed and replied ii •Li 6an , f l . every coraio s °ns we could possibly think of, and got the wounded soldiers lying in the boat to join in the choruses."