LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 January 1911, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

— & — Mrs Hughes, widow of Judge Tom Hurdies, the well known author ot "Tom Brown's Suliool Days, <\ud County Court Judge at Chester, died recently at Nuneaiton. Local fishermen had good sport atHokio last week-end. and one party of net fishers 'brought about a score of kawhai and niulh 1 to land at one drag, in addition to n lew flounders. Mr R. A. Mael)o>a!d has donated two guineas to fie iunds of t'he A. and P. Associaii ,n Mr J. Johnson and Mr E S. Lancaster have given one guinea each. ' Miss Doris Wilson (little daughter of Mrs Wilson, Arc.ulia Hotel) was the attendant spoken of in the list of assistants at the bridal ceremony of Mr Glackin and Miss "Williams. By a- slip of the pen the name appeared r.s Miss Dons William.-*. Rov. D. C. Bates' weather forecast slates that present indications are for moderate to strong southerly and westerly winds with slowly rising barometer everywhere. The weather will probably remain unsettled for a time and showery in paints, especially in the southernmostdistricts of the South Island. ■The following judges hare been appointed for the A. and P. Show, to" be held on February Ist:—Comj petitions: Light saddle and harness horses. Mr H. Gillies (Palmerston Noi-th); draught horses, milkeart-s, tradesmen's, etc., Mr H. E. Hockin gs (Feilding): dairy cattle, y.v S. Staudon (Feilding); fat cattle and fat sheep, Mr J. Campion (Fordell); sheen, rams, etc., ~Slr S. E. Lancaster (Palmerston NorWO : pigs, Mr R. Ohambley (Woodville). The sailing boat Waitohi, which is abonlt to bo taken to Wellington by its owner, Mr S. Brejvster, is now being overhauled 'by Air W. B. Macintosh at his works in Queen street, and provided with a cabin to make her more suited to Wellington harbour's rougher waters. A duck boat for Mr V. T. Hi tellings, senior, is also on the stocks at Mr Macintosh's. It will be utilised at Hokio Beach and vicinity in the gunning season. Plumbing and oienorn! fiCting work in Levin continues brisk. Mr T?. On rruthers, man amor for Mr C. H. Williams, reports having installed three large vats for the Levin Cooperative Dairy Company at the new crenniery in lCimherlev road, Levin. These comprise a skim milk vat, a new milk va'-t, and a weighing vat, all of very heavy gauge. ft is satis, factory to nolo that the company recocniises Mio merit of local plumbers' work. A special meeting of parishioners will be held in St. Mary's schoolroom this cveninir. a'-t 8 o'clock, to consider the subdivision of the district of Levin and Shannon. At the same meeting arrangements will be made for a concert and gymkana to beheld durino: February. The proceeds of the concert will go to supplement the church finances and Those of the latter will be divided between the mortgage on St. Mary's schoolroom and the. fund for erecting the new church room at Weraroa. There are a largo number of farmers who own .stock that could success, fully compete \yith the best shown at various A. and P. shows, but for some reason or other they aro never seen i ; i the prize ring. Have they ever considered the enhanced value It-bat a first, or even a second._prize would, give to the animals that win them, and the extra demand there would be for their progeny? Tt is

nover ton Into ; to make a start, and the secretary of tili-o Fending A. and P. Society submits that-the Feilding •Show, fo Ik' lipid on .February 7tli and 8 tli. oilers exceptional opportunities for farmers to make their initial aftemni. As entries close on FriKJav next. 20tb 111t.. there is not nmcli time to lose, and those con■teni plating sending exhibits should apply to the offifo of this paper, or to the secretary for a prize list The Hon. Mr AfcKonzie, Minister of Public Works and Mines, has transmitted the following letter to Mr G. Cameron, secretary of the TTorowlieuna Development Assoeia tion :--"[T.nt'omlieui:n .Mineral Pros neffciiifc Association. Dear Sir, --- T am in receipt of your letter of the •"tih ii>-Inii.t. asking for information as to the necessary steps to be taken in order I bat your district may be proclaimed a mining district, or for partiri'larc as H tb fi action required to enalde the Government subsidy to be o'Maiuv!. Tn reply, T mav say ; lhat T will forward you the desired inform-' i ion as early as possible, ft was for me In answer your letter by S-itrrdav last, as you requested, a« T only arrived back in Wellington from Marlborough late on fcha't night."

Wo understand from the secretary of the Horowlieuna A. and P. Association that one of the finest shows of dairy cattle will be exhibited on February the Ist. The entiles in tikis class are almns't double what- they were this time last year. In the best cow competition seventeen en'trics have been received and in the heifer classes also satisfactory entries have come in. Extra yards to make provision for this increase will have to be built and bails erected. It is very satisfactory, indeed, to know that at last tihe dairy farmers have awakened to the importance of making these annual exhibitions of their stock at the show, for there they will leni'n from expert judges the defects, if any. in their cows. We l'!-po to nilblish' a complete list of entries in all classes in to-morrow's issue of The Chronicle. _ Queen street wesf, householders are showing commendable diligence in the cultivation of their garden areas, and the whirr of the lawn roller is ■heard betimes just now. A part of the activity is traceable to the rivalry evoked by M r N .Kirkealdie's offer of prizes for the best kept gardens in 'the. long street, but friendly rivalry also plays a prominent part in the sustained endeavours. The judge of the contest—Mr W. H .Taylor, of the Government Experimental Farm -has made one official visit to the street, and. he has been keeping an observant unofficial eye 011 the gardens ever since, though his second official visit is not due until March next. In addition to the two prizes to be alloted by the judge, a third prize which is being given by Mr Kirkcaldie- will be awarded on the votes of all Levin citizens—to be recorded and checked by the editor of The Homwihenua Chronicle. The question of cutting off the gas supply cropped up at last evening's meeting of the Levin .Borough Council, Wihon the Mayor (Mr B. T?. Gardener) presided, the following members being nresentCrs. Cameron, Mackenzie, France, - .ouse, Williams, Amis, Hannau, Lancaster and Palmer. with Mr P. W. Goldsmith (town clerk). The following letter was received from Messrs Harper and Harper, and was duly noted "The Town Cleric, Levin. "Dear Si v. —With reference to our conversation this morn in 2as ! tn whether notice should be given, "before cutting off the supnlv of gas to- these consumers who ih-ave made default in paying for same, we have looked into, the matter and we are of opinion 'that it is not. oecessarv to sn've notice to the defaulters before cutting off the p-uiynlv -of 2:ls. Section 272 of Municinal Cnrnnrnf'ons A"t 1908" empowers tlie Council to r, nt off the c-ns from any consumer who fails to r>av same. Tlie Council would therefore be fn.llv justified in cutting off, without* notice, the.su.imly' of eras from anv consumer at n.nv time after default has been made in payment of the account for gag consumed.''

The Borough Raider w Ito instructed to impound all stock at large on the borough streets on and after January 20. The firdt annual picnic of tho Roman Catholic Sunday school children will be held on the Racecourse, Makomako road, on Monday next, 23rd inst. ' The parents are welcomed as well as the _ children, and given a line dny ,f fche iiiriugiiral outing should 1)0 a decided success.,A programme of events is being, arranged by Mr C. Williams, who is also handicapper, and prizes will be awarded to winners of the different events. "What steps ilia.ro been taken to deal with noxious weeds in the locality?" asked Cr. Prouse at last evening's meeting of the Levin Borough Council. The Mayor replied that an inspector was in f/ovin a lew weeks ago, and lie had told him (the Mayor) that any time he was wantedih© would Visit the district <>u receipt of a letter. Cr. Prouse said that he noticed on the way to tbe cemetery a nnmber of noxious weeds in a certain garden. Cr. Lancaster thought something should be done in tbe master. There were some very bad weeds in the district, and many people did not seem to know what they were. The Town Clerk was requested to write to the inspector on the matter. I am getting tired (said Dr. Pomare at Otorohanga the other day) of seeing long articles written by our would-be benefactors; I am .getting tired of hearing the expositions of pretty theories on worn-out themes from public -platforms, for when we pin the expounders down to practical ways and means we invariably find them suggesting that the Government ought to do more for the Maoris. That may be, but it is always tile Government. This everlasting dependence on the Government is a wrong principle; it is a wicked practice ;it demoralises the race. The time lhas come when dependence must be -done away with, for it spells communism, idleness, and decay. We must be independent, for thai is the watchword of success, vitality, and longevity. An interesting incident followed the Chancellor's veiling of the new clubhouse of tbe Young Scots' Club at Edinburgh. Mr 0. E. Price, M.P., said as a memento of the occasion lie had been asked to present Mr Lloyd-George with a silver qnaieli Mr Lloyd-George: A what? (Laughter.)—Mr Price: T don't know that I should tell him— (laughter)—-because I am rather afraid, that when he takes it home and his wife finds out what it is for she will begin to think, is this the beginning of the end (Laughter). It is essentially Scottish, and on that account I think it will be appreciated. Tt is more particularly Highland', and that, perhaps, gives him an inkling of what it is for.—Mr Lloyd-George: Tin's is exceedingly charming of you. I understand Mil's is the vessel out of which Scotsmen drink nrilk. (Great laughter.) •Tt is a very beautiful, delightful thing. It has got a very pretty Celtic name, which adds to tho charm of it, but, more charming than, all, it comes from the heart of good friends. Mr A. J. Harding, on behalf of a. large number of ratepayers in the district concerned, forwarded the 10l lowing lotter to the Levin .Borough Council: "The undersigned ratepayers owning property on Trafalgar street, Levin, respectfully beg to draw your attention to the state of tho street ;andi to urge that the work of putting it into proper order be no longer delayed. . We acknowledge with pleasure and thanks the improvement made by metalling from the lower end of Trafalger street, via Nelson street to Queen street; but this is at best only temporary and partial relief, and in view of the recent great rise in the value of property in Trafalgar street we beg to suggest the time has now come when the street should be dealt with in a comprehensive manner. The works we suggest should- include stumping, metalling, forming and draining. We ■desire to point out that at the time when the last improvement's wore effected there was only one house directly fronting the street. There are now four houses built fronting the street; two in process of building, at least two more likely to be built early next year, and two more which use the street as .side entrances. We believe that no street in the town has increased in value in such great proportion in the last year; and we trust that you will look upon the improvements for which we ask, as reasonable and necessary under the circumstances. We specially desire to draw your attention to the corner of Trafalgar street and Wornroa road. Tho surface water from Worn roa road is at present discharged full on to Trafalgar street by means of the drains. The water then gravitates down Trafalgar street, floods over the street by reason of the culvert being too small and then wanders where it will, transforming tho upper three or four chains of the street into the state which recently caused tihe "Chronicle" to remark that i't looked as though the "Battle of Trafalgar" had been fought there. There is also the question of the flow of the spring which periodically senV-s a strong stream through 'the recreation ground, across Weraroa road, and down Tragalgar street, as it did during the winter of 1909. But close observation has convinced us that the proper forming and crowning of the street to its right level, and the putting in of efficient • culverts at both ends with side channels leading to them will cope with the nuisance at tihe infrequent intervals when it appears. Finally we trust we. have made out a good case." At last night's meeting of the Council, Cr. France movedi: "That the petition of Mr Harding and others, resident in Trafalgar street, be referred to the Streets Committee." Cr. Prouse seconded. Cr. Palmer hoped that the Committee would give the matter their most serious consideration. Cr. Hannan was in sympathy with the request of the deputation. Some relief, lie said, should- be given to the people before next winter. .Tf something were not done they would want a ferry boat to convey them to town (laughter). The motion was adopted.