Local and General News.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 289, 16 April 1894, Page 2

Local and General News.

Letters for " Farmer" aud " Draper" have been left at this ofl&ce. The Feilding State School will be examined on Thursday and Friday next by Inspector Vereker Biudon. A farewell tea and concert feo the Rev. W. E. Birks will be held in the Birmingham Town Hall on Wednesday evening. The hawks kill more ducks in the year than all the sportsmen in Otago put together. A meeting of the Shooting Committee of the Manchester Rifles will be held in Mr Bastings' Hotel this evening at 7.30. A Melbourne softgoods firm has discharged no fewer than 100 of its employes during the hist six months. The concert to be given on Tuesday week by the Manawatu Rugby Football Union promises to be a great success, and the tickets are going off rapidly. Mr H. Worsfold, confectioner, had on display in his window on Saturday last, five wedding cakes, four of which were for a Maori double wedding, and one for an Awahuri resident who is about to be married. It is a strange coincidence that as soon as a local body (especially where a big harbor work loan has been squandered) gets into financial difficulties, the people begin to agitate for " The Consolidation of the Loans to Local Bodies in the colony." A meeting will be hcltl at the Cheltenham Hotel on Saturday next for the purpose of electing a committee for the sports to be held at Cheltenham on the Queen's Birthday. We hope there will be a good attendance as fclxe object is a commendable one. \ Harvest thanksgiving services will be held in St. John's Church ou Wednesday evening next at half-past seven o'clock. The services on that occasion will be j conducted by the Rev. Archdeacon Towgood, of Martou, aud the offertories will ' be devoted to tbe aid of tho choir fund. Contributions of flowers, fruit, and vegetables, will be received at the Church at any time on Wednesday. One of the finest places for scenery on this coast is said to be the Oroua Gorge. Last summer several riding parties were arranged by settlers and a trip taken up the river right into the gorge, which narrows considerably as the Ruahiue range is entered. The journey takes about eight hours each way from Ajnti as the travelling is very slow, but uo doubt as the country is opened up by new roads the journey will be accomplished in less time. A public trial will take place to-mor-row afternoon at 2 o'clock, on the farm of Mr A. Perry, Kiwitea, of one of Bennett's stump extractors. This implement is a very ingenious contrivance for raising stumps of almost any dimensions, with comparative case. The advantage of having his land cleared awa}', instead ot waiting for the stumps to rot themselves out, must be recognised by every farmer who has these " eye-sores " on his property, aud it is therefore expected there will be a large number on the ground to-morrow afternoon to \vit» tiess the working of the machine. Each recurriug seasou more attention in i>eing paid by farmers in tho Kiwitea district to the cultivation of the soil, ami one of the foremost iv this respect is Mr A. Porry, who lias " broken up " 40 acres which has been sown iv oats. Af-tev eating them off through the wiutor thp cryu will be saved for grain next summer. Mr Perry U about to have another 50 acres stumped ami to keep pace with the times the work will probably ha dono with a stump extractor, that : t a if the trial which is to to be given with emu on Tuesday next i« a success when Mr Porry will purchase it, aud put it to profitable use.

Our ancestor Adam was of the common or garden variety of man. The reading of romances is forbidden I by the Koran, but the Mahomedans are enjoined to read that book 1 This is good. At the meeting of the Pohangiua Road Board on Saturday, it was resolved to send a letter of condolence to the widow of the late Mr G. R. Lucas. Potatoes in Napier have reached 10s , the sack — a slight difference to a season ; or two ago, when growers were' giving them away for the carting. There was a very sharp frost this morning which, we regret to learn, cut down a fine lot of chrysanthemums in the garden of Mr H. WorsfoUl. We have to acknowledge receipt of a pamphlet giving details of the case Saml. M. Baker versus the Mauawatu and W. C. A. & P. Association. Mr Murtagh, veterinary surgeon, who dressed the injuries sustained by Mr Charles' horse, put in forty-six stitches, and he is confident he will bo able to effect a complete cure. The match committee of the Red Star Football Club will meet at Mr F. Bray's this evening to select a team to play the Palmerston North Half-holiday Club at Feilding on "Wednesday afternoon. The Longburu Freezing Works are now (says the Manawatu Times) receiving support from tho Pahiatua people, as some of the settlers in that district find it to their advantage to Bend their stock to the local works for freezing. Mr Vicary, of Apiti, will be returned unopposed to represent No. 5 Ward iv the Pohangina Road Board, as. Mr E. Goodbehere has determined to adhere to his decision not to stand unless at the unanimous wish of the ratepayers. At the annual meeting of the Otago Rugby Union on Saturday the motion in favour of affiliating with the New Zealand Union caused a lengthy discussion. The division was not taken till 11.45 p.m., when the motion was lost by 20 votes to Hi. Some people always grab the wrong end of the stick. A Bill has been introduced into the lowa Legislature prohibiting newspapers from publishing the details of prize fights. Surely it would be a good idea to blindfold the spectators, or better still to prevent the rights. But some people never thiuk of things. The newly- formed Birmingham Mountaineer Football Club promises to be a success. There are already thirty members in it. most of whom have been players in their school days. The men are being " coached " in the scientific parts of the panic by thoiv "skipper," Me Frank Barlow, who is an old Wellington halfback.. Mr P. J. Murtft-gh, veterinary surgeon, has* a new advertisement in which he announces to the public the fact that he has commenced the practice of his profession iv Feilding. We have seen many of the testimonials to his skill from wellknown' farmers and stockbreeders in other parts of the colony, i\ud they are all eminently satisfactory. Mr C. H. Hosking, engineer, has just fitted up to the order of Messrs Smitli aiul Son, of Cannlcn street, a four-horss: power L'ujiiue from the manufactory of Messrs Luke and Son, of Wellington, to be utilised in sawing firewood into convenient sizes for household purposes. A chaff cutter can also be connected with the main shaft. The Apiti main road is metalled to a short distance beyond the Apiti Hotel, and then there is a piece of unruetalled road for about half a mile (a stranger to the district has to be told that it wa^ at one time formed), and then the metal commences again. This portion of road is said to be the worst patch, and many arc the complaints that it should be lef iv such a state as the winter is again fast approaching. A large audience attended the performance of " The Corsican Brothers" by the Dunbar.Field Dramatic Company ou Saturday evening, the piece being 2>rosented in a manner which gave great satisfaction. The Company announce their farewell appearance to-night, when the favourite drama, "East Lyune," will be produced. We hope to see a bumper bouse. The following tenders -were received on Saturday by the Pohangina Road Board:— Contract No. 35, formation, metalling, &c, No 8 Ward :— M'Dermott and Gordon, £343 (accepted) ; B. Poole, .£519 ; Lyon and Son, 1453 11s. Contract No 36, Apiti Road— Five tenders were received, of which two were informal. That of Messrs R. Home and Co., as follows, was accepted : — Bushfelling, 23s on flat, 18s on sidling ; 12s for clearing on flat, and 10s "on sidling. A full report of the meeting will appear next issue. When the Premier was passing over the treeless Murimotu Plains the other" week he was struck with the idea that these and similar tracts of pumice country which are unfit for agriculture might be turned to profitable account if planted with valuable timber. • A gentleman interested in the timber industry in Wellington has a suggestion to offer which is worthy the attention of settlers all over the country. He considers that no class of timber is more likely to pay well for the trouble taken with it than the ash. In the market ash sells at °d per square foot. A piece of ash 10 feet long, 6iu wide and 2in thick will readily fetch 7s yd. At present all the ash uwed iv the Colony lias to be imported. On Friday and Saturday next, April 20th and 21st, Mr J. W. F. Halcombe, at one time of Feilding, and for the past eight years a resident of Chicago, U.S.A., will exhibit at the Assembly Rooms tho latest and loudest Edison phonograph which has yet been introduced to this colony. We gather from our contemporaries at New Plymouth, Hawera, and Patea, that the phonograph exhibited by Mr Halcombe is quite what it is repre"scuted to be, tho selections are of an t exceptionally high order, and that as, well as hearing this wonderful instrument the audience is treated to a concert by America's most famous musical artists. We expect to see a crowded house. i