Local and General.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 924, 4 July 1891, Page 2

Local and General.

«, Tiibre is a quantity of goree growing on the Leeston Road, at Flood's corner, which threatens soon to encroach even on tho crown of the road. It is not only uneightly, but interferes with traffic. The funeral of the late Mrs. Grampton took place on Wednesday from the hume of: her son-in-law, Mr. A.. Oamoron. The hoarse was followed by a large number of friends, anxious to shew the last token of respect to the deceased lady, and to thje sorrowing relatives. Some doubt seems to exist as to exact date at which tha ■hooting season ends. The Gazette of March 19th says explicitly that tho season for both hares and pheasants would close on the 30th June, and no notification of any extension of the time has been gazetted. Mr M Dickie, of Doyleston, met with a serious accident at Loestou on Thursday. While engaged falling trees m tke Mange grounds, he unstained a fracture of the arm m two places. The broken bone was quickly set, and we are glad to learo that there is every prospect of a speedy recovery. ; ' The meeting of the Temperance Society on Monday evening wus well attended, und a pleasant evening was epant ' Mr. R. 3. Burns presided. Misses Annie Hampton and Ev.i PonfoM contributed iecitutioßß ; Miss J. Burns, Messrs. W. Stewarv and G. Simpson gave loadings; Miss West sang a solo, aad Miss ft., and Master D. West a duet. ■ An Invereargill telegram says : — A month ogo Mr. bowerman, of 'Picturesque Atlas' fame, hired a bugs?y to travel the country and deliver the work. He put up at a hotel for a night and m the mornitg 1 1)3 buggy had disappeared, and it has not been seen since. The owner claimed its value, twenty pounds. Bowerman refused to pay. A civil action was brought, but before the nour for its hearing to-day, he paid the full amount into Court, with costs. A dispute about a right of drainage occupied the Ellesmsre Road Board for some time on Wednesday. From tho statements of the parties, it appears that for years past the owners and occupiers of certain land at Sedgmere have been accustomed to allow their surface water to flow to the sea through Forsyth's pro- i perty. Mr. Foreyth's successor, Mr. Me Lachlan, objects, and now two at least of hia neighbours, Mr. Fincham and Mr. Schnell, are rather awkwardly placed. '1 he Board however, was unable to interfere. Good oats are clean, hard, dry, sweet, heavy, plump, full of flour an i rattle lik) shot. They have a clean ano almost metallic lustre. EncV kernel m a well giowa sample is nearly of the same siz^. There are but few small or imperfect grains. Tho hard pre^suru of the nail on tho oat should leave little or no mark. Tho kernel when piessed between the teeth should clip rather than tear. The B&in should bs thin. The size of, the kernel will bo less m proportion than the skin iv thick. The colour of tho oat ia not very material, but white oats are generally thinner m tho skin than black. Again black oats will grow 'on inferior soiln Short, plump oats are preferable to large long grains. Bearded oats must have an excess of husk. Oats are oot necessarily bad because they are thin-skinned or bearded ; but they must contain a less amount of flour per • bushel than thinskinned oats without boards. : The s'rong North Easterly winds bring the la'ns. Australia, during the past twelve months has been visited by frequent strong North Easterly winds, an : l .*s v consequence abundance of rain lias fallen and very rich harvests have been the result At present, from some natural cause, the strong North Easterly winds have uot visited the broad plains of Canterbury so eflen an m past years ; the' c:)!ißiqaetice iv we hava passed through. an almoßt dry sumn.er and \vinler. In Europe and ofher Northern countries, the prevalence or absence of tho North East winds havo the same marked effect up. »n tho seasons, as it has m the South parts of tha world. The North East or Easterly winds are the lower currents and tha South West and Westerly winds aie the upper. The upper currents are more highly charged with electricity than the lower. If we could tell when to expect the strong North Easiurly winds to prevail, we could foretell the state of the coming seasons with more accuracy. Wet weather from ihe South West soon follow after the North East winds have been at work for some days loading the atmosphere with moisture which it evaporates from the sea, and which can be seen passing overhead to the South West m the snape of quick moving clouds.— A. F. Tub half-yearly meeting of the Loyal Leeston Ledge of Oddfellows was held m the Masom'e Mall, Leaslon. on Monday ovening. Thero were about fifty brethren present and Bro. J. Doyle presided. The election of officers for tho aext term resulted ns follows :-NG., Bro. T. Dent; V.Q., Bro W. Bonnett; E.S., Bro. W. Sundrey. Three new members were nominated, making the total membership seven-ty-lire. The question of purchasing the Masonic tlall was then considered. Sevoral brethren spoke m favour of such bsing done, and it was unanimously decided to complete the purchase subject to the approval of the district meeting. On the motion of P.GL, Bro. Jameson, a very cordial vote of <ha»ks was accorded ito Bro W. Soring- for the free use of his room for Lodge meetings during Ihe lasj; ten years. The receipts of the evoiiipg' amounted to £60 and the expenditure jto £38. Tha meeting was one of the lag-dat and meet enthusiastic that have been nel.l since tho formation of the Lodge. The ne'v Hall m which tho meetings will bo held m future, is most suitable m every way for the purpose, and the Lodge may fairly be congratulated on securing- so desirable an aj&ot nt a reasonable price,

Toe Monthly 1 meeting of the South* )ri(igo School CommittHo was held last sveninsr. The report is unavoidably held )ver until next issue. Fkom tho complete offiical returns we learn (hit iho total population of the Golony, exclusive of Maoris, is 626,830. fn addition there were on chipboard m New Zealand waters on census day 2974 person?, and 1184 persons on board British men of war, and 365 on *n Austri m wart-hip. The Maori population is 41,523. The North Inland has 281,793 inhabitants, axclusivo el: Maoris ; this Island. 344,635 ; The Stewart, Chatham »nd Ktsrinadud 'Islands,. 402. , : Tli re are nearly 40.01)0 more males than females m the Colony. A Sydney cablegram dated July lah, j(ayß:r-A curious point has cropped no m connection wiih the payment of members. It appears that ihe payment 'inly aoplied to the last Parliament, and that the new House will require to pass it again for themselves. &ir H. Parkes adheres to tha opinion that the payment of memoers was only m force up to the tiuie of tha dissolution, but he has stated the case to thw Attorney-General for his decision. .This v a serious imvtter for the Labour purty »nd many others, because, although the Lower House may pat* the payment again, there is raaaon to belivve that the Council will reject it.