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Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 January 1901, Page 2

Sir Edwyn Dawes who has purchased the Grcymouth-Point Elizabeth Railway and Coal Company’s property, is a member of the firm of Gray, Dawes and Co., merchants. London. He is a director of the British India Company, and of the Suez Canal Company, besides many others, and chairman of directors of the New Zealand Shipping Company. He is the freeholder in the Blackball Coal Company, and in making the purchase above mentioned, is probably trying to increase his investments in coal mining hero. The revenue upon (ho Westland section of our railways for the four weeks ended December Sth was £5,031 2s lid and expenditure for same period £3,448. The increase in revenue for the period as compared with the previous year is £683, while the expenditure increased £312. Upon the running a profit over weekly expenses of 40 per cent is shown. Of course this docs not take into account interest upon original capital. We understand there are one or two additional cases of dipthcria in town, and it Is desirable that the strictest precautions should be taken so as to prevent the further spread of the disease. The Borough authorities, too, should see (hat back yards and lanes are kept clean, and in Grcymouth there is plenty of room for improvement in this respect. We have frequently of late seen rotten fruit and decayed vegetable matter loaded up in a dray, the latter left for hours with stinking fluid oozing slowly from the cart. —High time this was attended to. The wharf to-day presented a very busy appearance seven steamers and sailing vessels being engaged in cither loading or unloading. The Wainui, which arrived about the same time as the Mawhera, brought another large consignment of mining plant. Mr J. A. Lyell, owner of the barque Dovonport, now in port, and one of the largest sharebrokers in Tasmania, will to-morrow conclude a lengthy visit to this district. During his stay he has visited most of the mining claims and entertains a very high opinion of the dredging prospects of the Coast. He proceeds to Hobart with his ship carrying away 250,000 feet of timber, but trusts to return to the district again in about three months hence. Owing to the presence of diptheria in our midst the Grcymouth State School Committee have determined to postpone the opening of the school till the 28ch instant. Mrs Phaff’s celebrated Transvaal Hair restorer and scalp cleaner is now meeting with ready sale consequent upon its excellence, and the number of genuine testimonials that have been received as to its reliable qualities. A leading firm of electrical engineers has been consulted as to the cost of lighting Gisborne by electricity, and has given an estimate that for an expenditure of between £12,000 and £15,000 the falls midway between Gisborne and Wairoa could bo “harnessed,” and a complete electric lighting system installed. According to the Tapanui Courier a private letter from Mr Watson Abram, now in the Horae country, indicates that horses of all kinds are very dear, and a good draught stallion costs from £BOO to £ISOO. First-class geldings bring up to £l5O in Glasgow. Light horses arc at famine prices. £BOO being paid for a stylish gig horse in England. On Tuesday last the thermometer in the office of the Town Clerk of Gisborne went up to 98. A Maori woman supposed to bo about 100 years old died in the Old People’s Homo in Invercargill last week. She was married three times, her last husband being a European trader. The West Coast Times says:—At the last meeting of the AVestland Laud Board plans were approved of the subdivision of some 4000 acres of land in the Waitaha valley. The area will be cut into 14 or 15 sections comprising some of the lest land on the Coast with the land already taken up lower down the valley there should bo a flourishing settlement, quite large enough to support a dairy factory. In the surveyor’s plans a site is set apart' for a d .i y factory and one for a school. The scUlo.in.iu wifi have a road running through it connected with the main south road. Interviewed at Dunedin rclalivcto the Premier’s statement regarding a two days’ service to Sydney, Mr Mills, manager for the Union S. S. Company, said he could not take it seriously, and declined to go any farther than describe it an impossibility. < Two little girls of Wairoa sent their f birthday books to Lord Roberts, who re- ] turned them with the inscription, c “Roberts, F. M. Pretoria, October, 1900.” c The revenue from the Westport section f or the December period amounted to : £580.3 14s 7d, as against £2004 14s Od, “ or the corresponding period of last year. * Discussing the lessons of the recent 1 leneral Election, Sir Henry Fowler the J ither night declared that one of them was ho vast majority of Liberals desired that iord Rosebery should return to his place n a the Councils of the party which had 1 cen his political home, and to which he ] /as bound by the strongest ties of past s ervice, of undiminished confidence, and t f mutual affection, Personally ho had \i ever concealed his trust in Lord Rose- f ery’s wise and peaceful statesmanship, c ’hich was as strongly social as it was tl anely Imperial. p A record of a not very desirable nature b r as established at the Central Police a hurt, Sydney, on 24th December, when t! 36 persons were present on various k barges, principally drunkencss with Its st ttendant evils. (1

At latest accounts the Jane Douglas was still ashore at Okarito, grounded on the hard in the river. There is no danger and as soon as the tides malm suliicently the steamer will be refloated. At present the tides are unusually low, but they should now make rapidly, and permit of her being iloated shortly, Mr A. K. Waddell informs us that he has received a letter from Messrs G. Eraser and Sons, Auckland, which states as follows: —“Hokitika River plant,— Our part of the contract is completed as regards the machinery which is all ready for shipment. We are shipping first lot in the Sir Henry.” Teremakau*—This plant is well forward and will be delivered in Kumara the first week in March, or as instructed by the engineers.” The other evening smoke was seen to be issuing from a postal pillar box at New Plymouth, and on the box being opened it was found that two or three letters Were badly burned, and others more or less so. All of the letters could, however, be cither traced to their writers or forwarded to their destination. Whether tire fire was accidentally or wilfully caused is not known.

Lord Tennyson, Governor of South Australia, has written to Mr Chamberlain, pointing out the desirableness of special facilities being offered to young Australians, who wish to enter the Indian Civil Service. It is reported (says the Napier Telegraph! that Mr W. L. Rees, the wellknown lawyer, at one lime an Auckland City representative in the Lower House, has been suggested by the Gisborne Liberal Association as a representative of Poverty Bay in the Legislative Council. A gentleman, who has recently been travelling in the Taranaki' district, is greatly surprised and alarmed at the rapidity with which the dog daisy and ratwort are spreading over the province. There is no doubt that if stringent means are not taken to destroy these noxious weeds before seeding, it will not be long ere good productive pastures will bo turned into waste land.

The Railway Department has received a telegram from Mr Barnett, its Inspecting Engineer, stating that the huge clay embankment between "Wedderburn and Ranfurly, on the Otago Central line, is subsiding at the rate of about 2ft a day. The Department docs not not anticipate 1 any interruption of tire traffic, but it believes that in the near future it will bo necessary to use lighter engines than arc now running on the section. The Victorian Governnient in February last paid £20,000 for the cyanide patent rights in the State. Up to the end of the year the revenue derived was £1,893. There arc 53 companies and persons in Victoria using the process. A hailstorm at Bombala destroyed almost the whole of the wheat crops, which were recently estimated to represent 15,001) bushels. Hundreds of trout were killed in the Bombala River, and for some days the banks were lined with dead fish. The Chamber of Commerce Conference at Christchurch resolved to recommend to the Government the advisableacss of an extended geological survey of the Buller coalfield. Tho consideration of the adjustment of railway haulage on the Westport Mokibinui line; for the defence of Westport Harbour and the connection of that district wiih tho general South Island railway system. In the course of an interview on his return to England, Sir Redvors Buller said : —“I have never had any New Zealand troops under me, none at all, to my very., great regret. I should have been only too glad to have bad them, if.l could have got them. And one thing I should very much like to say. I have had a great many letters from New Zealand, from people whom I did not know, whom probably I shall never know or meet; but they were meat sympathise letters, exceedingly so, and I should like to take this opportunity of thanking my many unknown New Zealand correspondents their kindness and sympathy.” The establishment of an orp’. mage and homo in the Wellington distrkt by the joint Friendiy Societies, is now almost a certainty, there being sufficient funds in hand to justify steps being taken to erect the proposed buildings. The intention is to make the institution complete in every respect, and a considerable sum is needed to carry out tho work in its entirely. The crops this season in the Ashburton district arc reported by the local paper to be of a phenomenal nature, and there are some fields of wheat and oats which could not be surpassed in any country in tho world. Referring to the hay crop tho paper says the growth of hay throughout the district is a treat to sec. In some cases the sheep are feeding in grass and clover so high that only the animals heads can be seen.

The Mayor of Pahiatua (Mr J. D, Wilson) unites with his other occupations that of a shearer, and (saj 7 s a contemporary) is the champion wicldcr of the shears in his district. Recently he put up a record by relieving 207 heavy Lincoln sheep of their fleeces in one day. Tho local paper credited him with having shorn 220, and his Worship modestly wrote to tho editor giving him the correct number. Mr. E. M. Smith, M.H.R, for New Plymouth, contemplates leaving for London two months hence, his mission being in connection with the exploitation of the ironsand industry. Mr Smith has, tho News states received an invitation to visit America, hut owing to his prospective trip to London he cannot sec his way clear to visit tho great Republic. One day this week about two-thirds of the carp in the Albert Park fountain, Auckland, were found to bo dying, and were floating on the water. It is supposed that poisoned food was given to them, or the water poisoned. Tho water in the fountain was run off, and tho surviving fish returned. The municipal authorities have placed the matter in tho hands of tho police authorities, and offer a reward of £5. While on tour in Ireland, a New Plymouth resident found the Belfast Ropeworks Company using Now Zealand fibre, and he obtained specimens of the finished rope and cord they turned out. The samples wore well finished, and would scarcely be identified as phormium tenax, while the price was 80s per cwt., as against Gss and 70s for Manila. Early this year Miss Agnes Slocum, the daughter of a Vermont farmer, hoard that strawberries were selling in the Philippines at 2.V dollars a pint. Within a few days she was on her way to tho islands, carrying with her 500 dollars capital, and a s ock of strawberry plants- Her first letter homo reported that she had secured two acres of excellent land, and that all her crop for the first season had already been engaged. She is now a prosperous planter, being the owner of a strawberry farm of considerable dimensions.

Interprise always deserves encouragement, and all persons who liave .very little money should encourage C. popular “Bargain Sale.” The shop stacked with bargains from one end to the other. At first entering from Mawhera Quay your breath is taken away for you see bargains hanging from (he ceiling to (he floor, all marked in plain figures so that customers can sec the prices for themselves. There are also bargains displayed on the tables and counters that make ladies exclaim, after they have spent all their money, “How long is the sale going to last,” for if it is still on next day, T shall come again, for the bargains are real, and there is no

liumbng about tin’s sale, for look at what I've got for 2'“-. I cloth jacket 2/(5, I cli’OSs prices 2/11, 1 dozen grey siliiia for 2/11, I pair Vvijsliing gloves for (».. amir, ■1 dozen Indies’ liar Ikereliiel's for L/-, 1 ladies’ trimmed sailor bat for 1/-, 3 sprays pretty (lowers for (id, 1 pair elastic side kid boots for 1/-, 1 pair white twill sheets for 3/11 a pair, and a pair woollen drawers and a strong working shirt thrown in for the old man, and then you wonder why I smile and am satisfied; I say try Christopher Smith's for bargains. During a recent heavy thunderstorm at Yarram (Victoria) a meteoric stone fell on the Aylesbury estate, It struck the earth, and exploded with a tremendnous report, throwing up flame and smoke. Mrs Bland, while sitting on the verandah of the homestead, witnessed the fall and explosion, and was terrified at what she believed to bo a huge meteor making for the house. Referring to Judge Martin, the New Zealand Times says: “His present infatuation must be ascribed to that form of madness which has been known to have transformed in a moment the careers of the most honored of men and women,’ Judge Martin was born and educated at Christchurch. On leaving school he joined Mr Duncan, solicitor, and ultimately became a partner. A bleached human skeleton was found at Wellington the other afternoon buried among the sand heaps between Worker Bay and Scatonn. Evidently it was that of a Maorihqmd had lain in the sand from time immemorial. According to the Tapanui Courier a private letter from Mr Watson Abram, now in the Home country, indicates that horses of all kinds are very dear, ami a good draught stallion costs from £BOO to £ISOO. First class geldings bring up to £153 in Glasgow. Light horse arc at famine prices, £BOO being paid for a stylish gig horse in England, A comnlfendable suggestion has been put forward (says the Army and Navy Gazette) that war medals should bo more largely worn in private life —out of uniform, that is to say—so that people should recognise the men who have served, and pay them the consideration that is their due. It would help many an old soldier to employment if he was seen to carry on his breast the scraps of ribbon that bear witness to his deeds, and possibly in fashionable society the veteran officer who was decorated might find himself less at a disadvantage with younger and showier rivals.

The crops around Makikihi (says the Timaru Post of Saturday) are looking remarkable well, and although rather later than usual, with fine weather harvest will soon bo hero. The small birds are causing much damage to some of the earlier crops, and from early morning till dusk the sounds of guns may be heard scaring the depredators. For the last throe days a cold south wind has been blowing, accompanied by heavy rain. Some of the heavier crops will bo much laid unless the weather changes for the better. Boot crops, however, will doubtless benefit from the soaking.