GENERAL NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2156, 12 August 1907, Page 1

GENERAL NEWS.

A case of an'unusual character was brought oil' at the'Dunedin Magistrate’s Court when a Chinaman; was fined for obstructing a footpath; with the .familiar baskets suspended,,from his shoulder (by a pole. The defondant(was very much pertur--bed, and answered the query for a plea with., “Me no know.’’ As the caso proceeded All Ting assured the court that lie had led aj blameless existence for 73 years, and with a half sob, “Me know next time.” Then All Ting, with a conjured-up vision of a long term of , incarceration no doubt, broke down and wept bitterly, and Air. Graham terminated the pathetic little episode by fining him 2s 6d, without 1 costs.

That the Scot may, though at the, antipodes, yet have hips feet upon his native heather was shown by Air. It. Chisholm in a lecture at Dunedin on Alonday (says the “Otago Daily Times”). AA’lien in the Highlands Mr. GliisJiolm became so enamoured of the purple bloom that lie cut a sod of it, and determined then ,and there to bring it ? back with ,him to Dunedin. There happened to be a,shop in sight, and, there lie obtained a biscuit 1 box, for which the shopkeeper, who appropriately enough was called Al’Gregor, would accept no payment, though he had never heard of “a dace called Now Zealand.” In: this fox .tho-square patch of heather veiled .across two oceans and-a eonti-. nent. , “And ; now,” exclaimed the' lecturer, waving his .stick• in justifi-', able triumph, “that (heather grows well and sturdily in my garden.

, ,In a recent issue ,of the: Hawke’s Bay Herald a correspondent, “Tang, hern,”, writes, as follows:—It Ms refreshing to see the interest,’ that is being taken in, the East CoastRailway, as shown, by . letters appear-' ing in your columns. (Without wishing to take, away from, that movement.in any, way,, l would like to call attention' to a- work of immediate necessity. I desire to urge Upon'the jieople- of Napier to join with those of Gisborne in .agitating for more reliable, telegraphic communication between, the two towns. The interruptions ,that all too frequently take place arq extremely, inconvenient. In the Loan Bill, a large sum is set apart for telegraph extension. It should he the business of the people of [Hawke!? Bay .and. Poverty Bay to endeavour to have some of that, money ;spent on a new telegraph line between Napier and Gisborne. /

Tho alloged tendency of the mini.unim wage, to become the maximum wage received'some'notice at the Arbitration Court in Christchurch recently. .Mr. Siddall, clerk of the Woqlstpri Borougli Council, said that that, body was paying its carters higher. wages than those mentioned under the award. Mr. Justice Sim suggested that the, award could do the Council no harm, but Mr. Siddall intimated that it might be better for the employees to allow things to.remain as they are. He said there was a tendency on the,part of local bodies, when made subject to an award, to adopt the rate of wages mentioned in the document. “That,” said Mr. Slater, from his place ■ on the Bench, “confirms a statement that has very often been denied.” Mr W. King, who was appearing for the Canterbury Drivers’ Union, would not consent to the withdrawal of the citation, and the Council’s application for exemption was dismissed by the Court,

The “Taranaki Herald;” referring to the pottery clay that lias been recently discovered on the Smart-road, asks, Is this find destined to be' attended with more fortunate results than' the ironsand and petroleum? We sincerely hope so. An expert from; the' Old Country-, Mr. Thos. Foster, was in New Plymouth the other day, and wont to the SmartTO ad“TO "i USpect ’ the deposits. Mr. Foster is connected with the. firm of . Messrs:"’!’, 'and R. Boote, tile manufacturers;' Burslem, England, and consequently his opinion is the best that, could bo obtained. Interviewed by a J’Herald” reporter, this is wliat lie .had t'o say: “As far as; I can see you have a very fine deposit, but of course this depends oil the test. The Quantity is there, and the boulder formation is right, similar to that found in Cornwall, the best of the few 'known deposit's of, china clay-. It is also found in France, and lately a small deposit has been discovered ill Wales. From Cornwall each week thousands of tons are sent to Staffordshire and the other pottery districts.” Mr. Foster took samples with him for testing purposes, and articles made from the clay will he forwarded to New Plymouth as soon as possible. -

Of the stories about “lady- helps” some arc true and! some arc exaggerated.' The following is true (says the Dunedin Star). A lady having engaged her help—a nice girl—retired to rest much less worried than slio

had been for many nights; the question of domestic assistance had robbed

her of sleep 'ami siioiled her appetite. But having got her treasure, she determined to kill her with kindness. She set tho alarm for six o’clock, gave her her supper, handed her a candle, showed her into a comfortable room, and said “good-night,” and retired smiling. At four o’clock she was awakened by a terrible buzzing. “Dear me,” slie thought “it cannot he six o’clock,” and striking a match, found it wanted two hours to .six.

“I must liave made a mistake in setting the alarm,”, and, walking over to the new girl's room, told her not to got 'tip; ; a rid "that she would , call her later.. Then_shp_ ..went back to her room nnd .slept the sleep of the disturbed hilt, happy. Shortly, after six she woke/ saw a light under her door/ smiled,"and again thought!, “What a treasure.” On going, out she found a‘ light in the bedroom,' a light in the hall, and a light in the kitchen, but no girl. Closer e* animation still showed no handbag and aniopen daor. Tlie “treasure” bad flit eel, ,and she knew how to set an alar.' clock. .

The Southland News of ; July 29tli says : -—Reference has frequently- been made, of late to the great demand for land, in Southland on the part of Northern farmers, and this shows no sign of abatement. For several weeks past there has been quite a 'number of prospective buyers in the district, and transactions have taken place at much higher values than formerly, ruling. During the past six years . Values , of land in j Southland' have increased, on an aveiag<{Vbyi2o per emit., and therc' are'instances in.

which .they have advanced in that period 50 and even 100 per cent. A property consisting of 14,000 acres, with 10,000 sheep, sold four years ago a(p£l 15s per : acre, and recently the properly ,iilone realised) £3 per acre. Three thousand acres have since been disposed of in areas rang- | ing from 500 to 1000 acres" to. Canterbury farmers,.and there is every prospect that this balance Will soon change hands, as many inquiries have boon mado from the syndicate who own the proporty. Necessarily, the presence ‘of visitors from the North in search Of land lias' kept agents busy, and they are to ho seen almost daily with their clients flying through the country in motor cars, j In fact, owing to-’the exigencies of business, a number of tlio commercial' 1 ' houses have equipped themselves (with” this modern means of transit.