Local and General News.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 72, 21 September 1895, Page 2

Local and General News.

. * The half-yeasly meeting of the Cheltenham Co-operative Dairy Company will bo held on Wednesday evening next. Additions are made to the entries for Messrs Abraham and Williams' stock sales at Palmerston on the 2btb and Colyton on the 24th instants. A cable has been received at Auckland stating that the Victor Waihi Company has been floated and fully subscribed in London, the capital being £110,000. Prices of produce, especially oats and potatoes, are advancing in the South, owing to an increasing demand from Australia, where the crops are almost a failure. The well known stallion "Young Bruce " has been sold by W. Baker, of Makino, to a gentleman in Gisborne at a satisfactory price. Mr R. Robinson effected tbe sale. We regret to hear that Mr W. F. Downes, manager ofthe W T anganui branch of the Bank of N.S.W., who is still in Sydney, is in no better health, and he expects to be in Wanganui next week. The Feilding Cycling Club will hold their opening run on Wednesday next, probably to Palmerston, and in the evening will have a lantern parade through Feilding, if the weather is favorable. There was only a small attendance at the meeting called for last evening to re-organise the local branch of the Prohibition League, and it was decided to adjourn it until Monday, September 30th. With characteristic enterprise Mr G. W. Fowles announces that he is selliug fishing tackle of the very best descriptions at Wellington prices. He has a very large and well chosen selection now ready for the inspection of fishermen. John Roberts, the celebrated billiard player, during his recent twelve months trip to the Cape, Australia, and India, after paying his expenses, is said by bis public exhibitions of skill to have netted upwards of four thousand pounds. What is Socialism ? Watts—' Now, if I understand correctly, the first principle in Socialism is to divide with your brother man.' Potts — ' Then you don't understand it correctly. The first principle of Socialism is to make your brother divide with you.' The quarterly meeting of the Oddfellows Lodge was held last evening, the attendance beiog large. Two new members were initiated. Bro. D.D.G.M. Parker acted as lecture master. Final arrangements were made for their social on Wednesday evening next. On the field of Waterloo a topaz seal, set in gold was recently found, bearing the arms and motto of Viscount Barrington. It belonged to Ensign Barrington, who was killed at Quatre Bras, on 16th June, 1815, and had lain undiscovered for 80 years. j During the past week Messrs H. Rutherford and Son, butchers, have had some of the finest beef in their shop we have seen in Feilding. The beef referred to were the carcases of two Hereford Heifers, bred and fattened by Mr D. P. Buchanan, of Beaconsfield. In the matter of the estate of James Thomas Thompson, late of Sanson, deceased, the Public Trustee gives notice that all claims against the estate must be sent to the Public Trustee, Wellington, or his agent at Palmerston North on { or before the 6th day of December. For other particulars see advertisement. During tbe hearing of a Maori case at the Pabiatua Court (says the Herald), Nireaha, tbe popular chief at Hawera, was called as a witness. When he tried to enter the witness box he found that be could not possibly get into it and was therefore allowed to give his evidence while standing in the body of the Court. If the Chief were much bigger his evidence would have to be taken in the Court yard. A sad incident of the New South Wales bush fires was the burning to death of an aboriginal woman of the Kawkesbury district. Sarah Ridge, or " Old Black Sally," as she was called by everyone, was the last of her tribe, and for 46 years, ever since she was two years of age, she had lived with Mrs Robert Pitt and family, by whom she was treated as one of themselves, and it was in attempting to do what was possible to save her benefactors' property this faithful old black woman lost her life. Mr Young, manager of the New Zealand Dairy Union, recently from Australia, addressing a meeting of farmers on Wednesday evening at Bunnythorpe, recommended more artificial feeding of stock. He strongly advised them to grow amber cane, as it was a specially valuable fodder plant. Apropos of these remarks we may mention that a large number of o»v settlers are sowing the seed of this plant just now, a local trial last season having proved eminently satisfactory. Tho seed is bein? snpplied by Mr T. Watson, of Feilding, and it is going off rapidly, orders coming from as fax north as Tarauaki.

The Gazette notifies that Wednesday 9th October, will be observed as a public holiday in the Government offices throughout the Colony. While in 1873 the illegitimate children born in the Sydney Benevolent Aaylnm numbered 889, in 1883 they numbered 1318, and in 1892, 2289. In the dog registration case, T. H. i Whishaw v. JEL Bennett, heard at the S.M. Court yesterday, defendant was fined Is, and not £1 as stated in our report through a typograpical error. A former West Coaster, writing from Coolgardie, says -.—"Every other man you meet in the Golden City is either a lord, a colonel, a captian, a doctor, an expert, an agent (for some syndicate) a shareholder or a sharper, all the rest are dudes, drunkards, and dry blowers, professional liars and loafers." As an instance of the peculiarity of the lay of the artesiau water supply in some parts of Hawke's Bay, a pipe was recently driven over 300 feet at Havelock without getting anything of a flow. Another pipe was put down only a few feet away and at a depth of 170 feet a splendid flow of water was obtained. Mr Mason, representative of the Fire Vnderwriters' Association, is at present in Palmerston making arrangements for the institution of the new insurance tariff adopted at the Melbourne Conference. ' Yesterday Mr Mason met the local agents and explained to them at length the principles and details of the scheme.-' Standard. We understand that Mr G. Johnston, late manager for Warnock and Adkin's Feilding branch, has received the appointment of manager of the local branch of the New Zealand Clothing Factory, Mr F. W. Tresedrr having resigned that position, with the intention of proceeding to the United States. Mr Treseder will retain charge of the branch until the beginning of October. Two returns laid cm the table of the House throw some light on the working of the Advances to Settlers Act. They show that up to the 30th June last 1101 applications, representing .£570,033, were made for loans to release mortgages, and of these 440, representing .£228,013, were granted. The total applications to the same date wore — On freeholds, 1345, representing £718,159, of which 701, representing £'314,822, were granted ; on leaseholds, 779, representing L 155.579, of which 256, representing L 35,840 were granted ; on freehold and leaseholds combined, 32, repre- ! seating L 15.715, of which 8, representing L 4245, were granted. — Post. A large number of dog registration cases were dealt with at the Feilding S.M. Court yesterday, and from the evidence of the informant, who is collector aud registrar for several local bodies, it appears to be customary with him to leave collars at settlers' residences when they were not at home or had not the money available. In several instances the persons who bad thus become possessed of collars deluded themselves into the belief that their dogs were registered. When summoned for keeping unregistered dogs the defendants in these cases innocently pleaded that as they had the collars their dogs were registered, but to their sorrow they found the contrary was the case and had to pay in expenses considerably more than the registration fee. Another point wbicli should not be lost sight of is that a person who keeps a dog for over fourteen days after the 14th of January in each year, is liable for the tax, even although the animal should have been destroyed at a later date.