LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 15 July 1911, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

1 — ■—• Mr T. N. Burns, local representative of the Fresh Food and 100 Company has returned to Levin from Victoria, Australia, whither ho wefiton a visit to his native town. He saw many signs of .great prosperity in Victoria and New South Wales, and in the mallee country of Victoria lie found the farmers all in great heart. These mallee lands were for years regarded as unprofitable and hopeless, but improved farming methods have altered all that, and todi;iy there are astonishingly fine crops of wheat being raised oh extremely jvide areas. Men who began farming six or seven years ago, or even less, with a hundred oounds sterling or less, have cleared themselves of debt and put by from £3000 to i")UUu. \\ orkmen are in keen demand, both in country and town, and 1 ates of wages are increasing everywhere. *

. view of the attitude of the .House of Lords' on the Parliament , 7T? n .attitude which the cables published in The Chronicle have ilj list rated—the following peroration, by the Earl of Rosebery, as reported in a London Socialist journal, is interesting reading :-"Lord Rosebery wound up with some passages of intensest- scorn about the Parliament (Veto) Bill. _ 'My lords,' he said, what does it matter to any hunum being on tlie face of this globe what is the composition of the House of Lords when the Parliament Bill has become lawP Who a,re the people \vm> will accept the degrading' position which is to be offered hy the flicient House. Who, he cried, in has hiteiest tones, turning and tainting -Ministers on the Government bench who are the acolytes and sycophants you can get to do your work? Nb doubt your lordships can find people ready to come to hand and do whatis ■leqinred of tlhem under the ParlhwS ni+ l l ' Bu , t T r h ?P e til® mumiber j 1 1 not he great. I hope that ,memheis of this House of Lords will he the S lbl6 ? f jt h " tl . V u ]j^ d } rh{li a Ghamflil ??' f m tlle present and in Sw l 7 G ' t0 acc «Pt the abject mSliiy" PWr " nifer Parlia -

At t-lio meeting of the Fruit Growers' Association last evening, it was' decided to ascertain whether the Association was eligible to send delegates to the forthcoming conference of the New Zealand .Fruit Growers' Association. Thieves on learning from the newspapers that a man they 'bad robbed, of a watch and chain was Mayor Uircl of Shoreditch (a rough (locality of 1 HO,OOO people in the East End of LondonV returned these articles to him. Mr Bird, who has been foui - times mayor of t'he borougji^.enjoys great popularity. " Now, tell m'e," said t'lie inspector, "who was the mother of our great Scottish .hero, Robert Bruce?" He pointed to the top boy, then, around the class. There was no answer. Then at last the heart lof the toachor of that class leaped with joy. The boy who was •standing at the very foot had held up ibis hand. "Well, my boy," said the inspector encouragingly, "who was she?" "Please, sir, Mrs Bruce." Interest in local cycle racing is quickening, in view of this month's district road race. *A good entry is assured for this evemtj including the two back-mark riders, O'/Dounell and Musgmve. A new road-racer is being built for Musgrove by Mr N. Barratt, audi Musgrove hopes to make a good showing on it, both in the district race and. in the approaching circular contest about Mount Egmont " for the hundred: guineas prize. In a report on the living conditions iii New York, the Charity Organisation Society states (sa.ys the Daily Chronicle's New York correspondent), that there are now over 100,000 beggars in the city of New York. This number is easily a record, and the society reports that the total is increasing in an alarming extent. The report states that the majority of the cases are really necessitous, and are not professional beggars or "won't works." The distress is partieualrly acute in the east side tenement district, and the society -attributes this increase of poverty to had; trade and quietness in the labour market.

As a sign of progress, Canadian papers are reflating how the branch banks in the dominion have multiplied. Twenty years ago the Canadian chartered banks had between them 402 branches in the whole of Canada. Of these there are 26 only west of Lake Superior, 231 in Ontario, GO in Quebec, and' 85 in the Maritime Provinces. At the close of last year the number of branches in tho Prairie Provinces and British Colomba. had risen to 823, in Ontario to 025. in Quebec to 367, and in the Maritime Provinces to 179, or a total of 2321 branches. Epernav (France), is a vast; subterranean "city of champagne." For miles and miles there are streets hewn out of solid chalk, flanked with piles of bottles of champagne of all blendis and qualities. There is no light in this labyrinth of streets, crossing, and turnings, except that given by spluttering candips. All is dark, dank, and damp, with the temperaturo about zero. The largest champagne manufacturers in Epernav have underground cellars which cover -18 acres amid contain •">,000,000 bottles v»f wine. There is a whole street in Eperna.v lined with fine chateaux, the proprietors of which posses similar establishment. An East End of Loudon man, writing to a. resident of Levin, says:—Everybody in the country— Radical and Conservative alike—-re-gard Sir Joseph Ward as "the" man •anion<r all the overseas Premiers. Even the extreme Radical papers eulogise him, and. pay a warm tribute to his efforts to promote the unity of the Empire. The French and German newspapers have criticised, in a. friendly tone, some of his proposals, but they unanimously declare that he is a far-seeing statesman, who is determined to build up a virile community in New Zealand, and to strengthen the ties between the Mother Country and the colonies. The writer adds that the journal Le Temps expressed the hope that Sir Joseph and Lady Ward would visit the French capital before returning to New Zealand. There was a, capital muster at the Y.M.C.A. rooms last night, wheal the Boys' Department held their usual evening. The solo "The Good Ws All May do," with a. hearty chorus

of voices, went well. Master W. Wilson gave a recitation in. fine style. Master G. Gardener contributed a splendid song—both these items would have repeated had there Ijooii time. Mr Herd, sen., had a good time with Iris theme, "Youth's Springtime." Its brevity, M'it-li its life's lesson, it is hoped. will ever abide in the lads' memories. The essay competition closed with oiio on "Heading," one on "To Mastorton over the" Ranges," one on "Characteristics,'' two on "London," and one on "Thrift." These are to he submittal to a l.jiida-e residing out of Levin and results should be known for next Friday. The' splicing class and 1 the gymnasium wen'e two busy spots for over an hour. j Theiv is a small crab found upon the English coast that is so afraid of his enemies that lie has found out or has perhaps been taught, a very clever way to hide himself. The writer once saw one of these crabs which was kept as a pet, and lie was lucky enough to visit him when he was in the very act of making his wig. The crab first tore off a piece of green ribbonlike seaweed with its pincers and put one end in its month. This ho sucked and nibbled and moistened with some kind of glue that hardens under water, and then he pressed the sticky end upon his back. By and by l his broad back was covered with a regular green and wavering wig so that as lie crawled about he looked like a lmneli of seaweed in gentle motion. We must suppose that he makes a very sweet mouthful for a hungry man, and that he takes the wig to preserve him from being gobbled up. From time to time the

5 requires repairing of comrse,

p A London correspondent writes :— ) Tlio immigration branch of the High . Commissioner's department has nev- , er been busier than it is to-day. r Shoals of applications for reducedrate passages are pouring in upon ( Mr Donne, and his staff, and although only farm hands, farmers, ' and domestic servants can bo select- ' ed', the work entailed 'by till© mnltitnde of enquiries is very heavy. ; Tlie probable explanation of tihis rush of would-be immigrants is that . Canada is, to put it tersely, beginning to be "found out" by the people of the Old Country. So many letters are coming back from disappointed immigrants in Canadla.. diescribing the severity of the winters, when the country is snowed up for months at a stretch, and the awful 'lonliness of life in the far NorthWest, and those left behind in England are beginning to diisco nt the eflowinio; advertisements of the Canadian Government, a.nd turn their attention towardis Australasia. The famous Roslyn writing pads obtainable from local drapers and storekeepers at 6d and Is each.-Adv. There's .nothing like leather for wear, and no hoots can better a pair 1 that are purchased from Pink; tlhey- ; 're the real "hunky dink;" so place your next order with Fred! For ' day toiil by honest hard workers, or ] night use in polka mazurkas, the ■ hoots tlint Pink sells a-re as stotundi as good hells—hv rivals he'll nevei' J he led!—-Advt, , '

The Levin Egg Circle reports having paid out Is 2id per down for eggs collected on July fith. In to-day's Chronicle a reminder ok given of the next progressive euchre tournament to be lhcld ! in till© Oddfellows' Hall. The date is 18th July (Tuesday next). To-morrow evening the Rev. T. F. Jones will continue the series of sermons on the Book of Daniel. The evening subject will be "The Overthrow of Pride." Sir Albert Rollit, from the London Bench, speaks of suffragettes as "the ladies who are first carried away by their feelings and afterwards by tho police." At the S.M. Court yesterday, before Messrs Remington and Nation, J.P.'s, a first offender from Weraroa was convicted and discharged for drunkenness, .and on the application of the police a prohibition order was granted against him for twelve montlw. Some dozen cyclists intend, providing the weather is fine, to cycle to Palmerston and bade on Sunday, in order to get in "trim" for the cycle road race on July 26th. They proposo starting from' the Leviii square about 10 a.m., putting a brief stay in for refreshments at Paimerston, and returning in a body about five o'clock. Some motor cyclists will accompany the pedal men. Rev. IX C. Bates' weather forecast states that present indications are for strong south-easterly and southerly winds. Cold and showery weather especially on the East Coast of the North Island. The barometer will probably pise fairly high and' the weather improve for a day or two. A westerly storm area will probably preva.il in the South Island during the latter part of next week. For several years rating upon tho unimproved value of land has been in vogue in this town (Feathersfcon), and it is safe to predict that this system of levying local taxation will long 'hold' sway. Rating upon improvements imposes an unfair burden upon the industrious, but the method now in operation is calculated to have a beneficial effect upon enterprise. It is somewhat surprising that the County rateyayers have not seen fit to give this important phase of rate-levying due consideration—it would be in the interests of the majority to adopt the system of rating upon the unimproved value.—Wairarapa Standard.

The front page of the massive Times' Empire Settlement, issued toy the Times, is (says <a London correspondent), taken up by «, fine advertisement ,for New Zealand. There are pictures of Milford Sound, a bit of Milford Track, Cabbage Tree Grove, Wood.side, Tamahcre, the dredging industry, and Taranaki the centre of dairy fa.nming, as well as a portrait of t'ho Prime Minister. The letterpress deals with agriculture, cattle-raising, the timber trades, water power and electricity, maritime and minerals. In the body of the supplempent a half-coluiim disposes of the progress of New Zealand during 1911, the subjects referred to being the new defence scheme and advances to settlers. "One Who Doesn't Know" writes asking us to tell him why dairying in Holland pays? We do not know much about Holland, and as to its dairying industry, 'Dutch cheese' is about all we have had experience with. We asked a well-informed farmer why Holland's small farmers succeeded, and this was his to-tlie-point- reply : "Dairying pays in Holland! (1) because the Dutch dairyman sends to the 'butcher the cow that does not pay for he) - keep, (2) because the Dutch small farmer long ago learned tlie value of turning waste, products into pork and 'bacon, and (3) because skim milk and whey go to the pigs.' Conning this over carefully, it seems to us that thoi'e is a lesson, if not two _,in it for New Zealand's numerous small farmers.— Star.

The annual social and dance in connection with the Levin Volunteer Fire Brigadta took place last evening in the Town Hall, and proved, from every point of view, a gratifying success. _ For some time past the members of tlhe Brigade, with. Oa.pt. McTaggart as lion, secretary, and MiLaurie as assistant secretary,, had been hard at work arranging tho programme and the various dietails in connection with the function, and they are to be heartily congratulated upon the result of their sustained, efforts. The floor was in splendid condition for dancing, and everything possible had been done for the comfort and pleasure of the gather--1 ing. There was a large attendance and dancing was kept up merrily till the early .hours of this imorning. The proceedings were enlivened with songg by Messrs D. 0. E. Shaw and L. Nation*, while Mr J. Ivearsley kept the company in the best of humours with a varied programme of music. Mr J. Follas officiated as M.C., and he discharged his many duties with admirable tact. A recherche supper was partaken of during the evening, "and altogether the dance was a ~reat success. Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the members of our local Fire Brigade -for the excellent arrangements which they made for this, their fourth annual (knee.