DISTRICT PARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 1, 26 October 1906, Page 2

DISTRICT PARS.

The following returns will be of interest to the general public of the King Country:—-The actual number of patients admitted into the Waikato Hospital within the last five years, from the King Country and The Front, totals 244, out of which number nine deaths occurred. The total number of accident cases amounted to 91, of which number two died.

At the meeting of the Waitomo Council this month, when it was proposed to invite the Minister of Lands to visit the district during the recess, a member expressed the opinion " that it was ho use asking a Minister to come here during the summer; they ought to get him here in the winter, when 'the place where the roads ought to be,' was a sea of mud." On Tuesday next, at Ohaupo, Messrs McNicol and Company are offering 200 bulls, from the herds of wellknown Waikato breeders, including those of Messrs W w Taylor, Park, Corrigan, Chepmell, Potts, Sturges, Fisher, J. Taylor, Carl, Gibson and others.

A general rate of one penny in the £ on the unimproved value of all rateable property in the Kawhia County, has been struck by the local authority. It will be satisfactory news to settlers to know that the London wool market is extremely brisk, merino and fine crossbred being in special demand. There appears to be every chance of the present good prices being maintained.

Reports state that the lambing in Mahoenui district has been exceptionally good this year, the majority of -the settlers having had the satisfaction of marking over one hundred per cent of lambs.

The'Kawhia County Council has heard from Wellington, that the mistake made by advertising the period of the loans can be rectified by a special Order-in-Council.

The Chairman of the Waitomo County Council (Major D. H. Lusk) has received an invitation from the Exhibition Commissioners to be present at the opening on November Ist. The invitation card is enclosed in a handsome cover, bearing the words " Haeremai" and " Welcome."

A policeman, requiring the presence of a certain Native, sent him notice accordingly, which produced the following reply:—„ Mita Taniora, ai keti u reta, ai kana kamu te rei, ai kamu te mara." The equivalent in English being : —" Mr Stranger,—l got your letter. I cannot come to-day. I come to-morrow."

The Kawhia railway league has established a branch at Te Rau-a-moa, and is advertising the objects of the league, by printing same on envelopes for distribution.

The Taumarunui Racing Club has expended nearly £4O in improvements on their race course, and are taking steps to arrange for a race ball. Settlers throughout the King Country will be glad to hear that we have made arrangements with the Loan and Mercantile Company and Messrs Mc Nicol and Company for the regular insertion of full lists of entries for their regular stock sales throughout the Waikato, as well as this district, and also for reports of the prices realised. This should prove a great boon to stock-owners, enabling them to see with reasonable promptitude the classes of stock to be disposed of, and the trend of the market. Good nominations have been received for the Taumarunui Races. The Cup has secured ten entries and the Matapuna Handicap fourteen. Application for two sections of second-class scrub land in the Pirongia survey district, Waitomo County, situated some eight miles from Otorohanga, will be received at the Crown Lands' office, Auckland, up to 4 p.m. on Tuesday next, October 30th. While engaged in surveying, some three miles beyond Oparure, in the Pakeho block, Kinohakau East, Mr R» Cashel discoved some mda bones at the entrance to a cave. The ground at the mouth of the cave had slipped down, disclosing the bones, the largest of which was almost as thick as a man's forearm. The Kawhia Council has been vested with the powers of a harbour board, and has taken over the control ,pf the harbour from the wharf trustees. Some little time ago, a few of the more energetic members of the Church of England in Te Kuiti, formed a committee for the purpose of raising funds towards the erection of a church and by their efforts raised . a sufficient sum to secure a half-acre section on which to build. After the expences in connection with this transaction, (£8 7s 6d), were paid, only £1 I2s 6d was left in hand, and with the object of further increasing this amount, a concert is to be held in the hall, on Wednesday evening next, for which a first-class programme has been arranged. We trust to see a bumper house.

A football social, which promises to be largely attended, is to be held at Otorohanga this evening.

The tourist traffic down the Wanganui river is already in full swing. On Saturday last fully a couple of dozen -visitors booked passages from Taumarunui for the trip down the New Zealand Rhine.

A trustworthy correspondent has written to us, stating that the report that appeared recently in the Taranaki Herald, giving an account of the hardships endured by Mrs Old, of Mahoenui, had been considerably exaggerated. Last season, the Te Kuiti Butter Factory (owned by Messrs Lever 8r05.,), dealt with 526,022 lbs of milk, giving 21,864 lbs of butter-fat, from -which 24,040 lbs. of butter were made, -with an overrun of 2172.9 lbs, equal to nearly 16 per cent. The receipts totalled £989 0 9, while £683 6 8 was paid to suppliers, with further, honussesct£7s 5 8 and £Bl 5. The price obtained for the output last year was one-sixteenth under iod,and this year, the whole Output till March has been •disposed of at .1 id. There are at present only some fifteen or sixteen suppliers, 1 but H is hoped that this rium~berwill be considerably increased in tfct near future*

The Native Land Court is still sitting at Otorohanga, where there is a large gathering of Natives, giving the township an appearance of former days. The annual sports meeting of the Ohura Athletic Club, for which a first-class programme of events has been arranged, takes place on December 17th. The substantial sum of £7 has been allotted as first prize, in the handicap chop. The Te Rau-a-moa Co-operative Dairy Factory has disposed of its output at a very satisfactory figure, and with several fresh suppliers, there is every prospect of a successful season.

The Taumarunui Rugby Union, at its meeting last week, resolved to donate the funds it had in hand, (sonie £3 5 o), to the trustees of the Taumarunui Cottage Hospital. The special commissioner of an Auckland paper, who has been visiting this district lately, makes mention of a good waterfall somewhere to the south of Ohura. This surely should be worth finding.

The annual meeting of the Otorohanga Athletic Club was held on the 20th inst., when it was agreed to change the date of the sports to Feb. Isth. The ragwort nuisance at Te Rau-a-amoa is being kept down, by the sheep the Government sent up there, but it is thought that cutting will be necessary.

A mob of one hundred light horses was brought through Te Kuiti yesterday from Waikato,*on their way to Palmerston, by Mr Corrigan. - On Friday evening, the 19th inst, the T« Kuiti Debating Society held their thinl euchre tournament in Mr Rountree's large dining room. Twenty players took part, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. At 9 o'clock an adjournment was made, anif Mr and Mrs Rountree entertained the players to supper. At the conclusion of the tournament Mr Pine, on behalf of the Society, presented the prize-win-ners (Messrs Tammadge and Tapp), with handsome silver-plated breakfast cruets. The "booby" prizes were won by Messrs Souter and Thompson, who had the ill-luck not to win a single game.

There are a class of people who, if they do not understand, or cannot assign a definite and practical cause for certain phenomena, affect to disbelieve in its genuineness. Take for instance, the use of the divining rod in locating water. A good proportion of the people one meets, simply smile derisively when this subject is mentioned, quite ignoring the fact that this means of finding water was, times out of number, resorted to by our own troops in South Africa, and the Boers themselves, when taking up new country, availed themselves freely of this method. Mr W. Lorigan, of Te Kuiti, possesses the power of —and a very valuable power it is—of locating water by means of the willow twig, and will contribute an article on this subject in our columns at an early date.

It is always a good sign in any town or township when the attendance of school children steadily increases, and we are glad to hear that this is the case in Te Kuiti. To give an idea of this increase, we quote the following figures obtained from Mr Power, the local schoolmaster: —In February last the number of children on the-roll was 55, which number has already been increased to 90, and it is certain that, when the new school is opened, which will be shortjy, the building will be found to be all too small for the rapidly increasing attendance. We may state that the accommodation in the new school gives room for 100 children, and if the present rate of increase is continued the local school committee will at once have to take steps to provide further accommodation.