DISTRICT PARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 47, 13 September 1907, Page 2

DISTRICT PARS.

The concert in aid of the Medical Fund, which takes place next Thursday evening, is being very strongly supported. Seldom have the local performers been induced to come forward in such force, and the function promises to be one of the best and most popular ever held in the King Country. Both town and country are well represented, and notwithstanding the state of the roads quite a number of people from the out-districts have signified their intention of beingpresent, " whatever happens." Included in the list of performers will found the following :—Mesdames Porter and Walter; Misses Reid and Kerr ; Messrs Blackmail, Fitzpatrick, Davis, Elliott, Lusk, Walter, Kerr, Turner, Pavitt and Poutawera. The programme is excellently arranged, and includes a wide range and variety of items, suitable for all. The forthcoming concert, in aid of the Church of England, at To Kuili, is expected to be an unqualified success. Special arrangements have been made for a number of visitors from Hamilton, and a high-class programme is now being arranged. The performers will be drawn from the King Country and Waikato, and given fine weather on the appointed evening a record attendance should be established.

The Rev. Hone Harris met with rather a severe accident on Saturday afternoon whilst playing in the Roto-rua-Maniapoto match. The accident happened near the end of the second spell, and was supposed to have been the result of a fall in which five or six players came down at the same time. He was driven to Dr Craig's surgery, who discovered that the collar bone was broken, and after attending to the sufferer, Harris was taken to the boarding house, where, from latest reports, he is progressing as well as can be expected. Rather a sudden death occurred at Kio Kio, on Thursday evening of last week, the victim being Johnson Wylie (aged 25 years), second son of Mr William Wylie, late of Ngapareuru, Dannevirke, Deceased had been suffering for the last two and a-half years, but death was supposed to have been caused through a recent very severe attack of influenza. The funeral took place at Otorohanga on Sunday last, Rev. Sanders Spencer, of Te Kuiti, officiating at the grave. Railway improvements are still being undertaken at Tc Kuiti, and the staff now numbers nine, live being attached to the station and four to the loco-staff. An acting-guard has just been appointed to act as relieving officer to the guards on the Te Kuiti and Taumarunui runs. The houses for the staff at Te Kuiti are still under construction, and probably some months will elapse before the fid I number is completed. The guard's house is now occupied, and the station master's residence is in hand, but operations have been suspended on the latter owing to a scarcity of suitable timber.

Replying to Mr Jennings in the House last Thursday, the Minister for Health reiterated the statement published in these columns some weeks ago, that plans were being prepared for the Taumarunui hospital and that tenders would be called for erection of the building as soon as possible.

Guarantees for the Te Kuiti District Medical Fund are coming in well, and it is estimiated that the nuniber will shortly total two hundred. The request for a subsidy has been, forwarded to the Minister for Health but so far no official reply has been received.

Now that the beginning of the end is in view with regard to work on the Main Trunk Railway, prominence is being' given to (he workmen's requests thai areas of suitable land should Ik* set aside, on the route of lie 1 iij ■, Cor settlement by the co-operative labourers. iJptothe present, however, the Lands Department has ii'M been able • ... to locate, a suitable area, either in Wellington or Auckland provinces, though the Auckland Commissioner for Crown Lands reports that some of the land, now being purchased from the Natives, might prove suitable. The Minister for LamL, while expressing sympathy with the workers' requests, wisely stipulates that the land must be of suitable quality for settlement in small holdings. The sitting of the Maniapoto-Tu-wharetoa Maori Land Board at Te Kuiti, concluded on Monday last, when Judge Brown (Pre; idenl of the Board) proceeded to ()loroh mga. At the Te Kuiti sitting, a large number of leases from Maoris to Europeans were recommended for approval, the area of land involved aggregating about 16,000 acres. Disciples of Isaac Walton will hail with mixed feelings the new regulation, limiting a day's take of trout to twenty fish, or 20ll> weight. At some places in New Zealand such a regulation has, no doubt, become highly desirable, but judging from the baskets obtained in King Country streams last season, the new law will not entail much more work on the Inspectors than heretofore. However, there is a great future ahead of the King Country as a fishing resort, and, with judicious stocking, the day will come when the 20111 limit will tempt many an enthusiast lo " take the chance " for "just one more throw." For failing to supply sheep with sufficient food, a man was fined £5 and costs at Napier. The evidence disclosed the fact that 250 sheep were paddocked in eight acres without food. With regard to the new regulations governing trout: fishing' in the colony, it has been pointed out that they are simply general rules in support of the New Zealand license, which is subject to local regulations, where any exist. It is only in districts where there are no local regulations, that the clause, limiting a day's catch to twenty trout or 20lli weight, will operate. In reply to an application by Mr Greenslade, last week, the Hon. James McGowan stated that his representations on behalf of Mr Scholield and other settlers of the Olorohanga district, for an expenditure on the road from Waitoino Caves through Otorohanga, and Wailomo Valley, the main thoroughfare from the Marakopa to the Ohaupo sales, would receive consideration in connection with the compilation of the Public Works Estimates. The Government has decided lo appoint an additional butter grader at Auckland, in which province the dairying industry has made great progress during the last two seasons. The. appointment has been conferred on Mr Gwilliam, who for some years has very successfully managed the Eltham Dairy Factory. He lakes up his duties almost immediately. The State horses are to be located as follows this season : Shires Resolution, Kuakura ; Danger Signal, Momohaki ; Hertfordshire Boy, Nelson. Clydesdale --Sir Talbot, Wercroa. Thoroughbreds Lupin, Momohaki ; Amasis, Opttiki; Glcnaif, Gisborne; Nuptial Rile, Nelson; Singlestick, Springston ; Malachi, Rakaia. Mr W. R. Douglas, Government Inspector of Machinery, has arrived iii Hamilton, where he will in future reside. The Athenie, which left Wellington on the 12th inst., carried the first shipment of the new season's butter, probably a total of toon boxes.

The roads all over tin- district arc in a frightful stale owin;; lo (he coulinued wet, and unless we have a dry spell very soon, some of ibem. parlieularly in the Cambridge district, will be impassible when (lie (rallic lo Ihe milk i'aetories gets into full swing. One of the great wants of the Wafkato is a supply of stone at a reasonable price, for even when the ordinary freight on Te Kuili limestone is reduced by half as it is when used for road-making only it is, nevertheless, almost prohibitive, for neither county councils or road boards can a Hon! to pay 8s to 9s a yard for it. Waikato Argus.

Last Sunday afternoon, while being driven round sight-seeking, a hall was made at the Nursery, Kotorua, and the members of the Maniapolo football team took the opportunity of making a. small presentation to Mr G. Elliott, manager of (he team. Mr Mackenzie spoke on behalf of the, players, who wished him to express their appreciation of Mr Elliotl as a real first-class manager. It was recognised by one- and all that he had gone out of his way. in many respects, for the care of (lie men, and they wanted to show him thai all he had done had been duly appreciated, and trusted that he would accopl a walking' stick as a reminder of Ihe very pleasant trip. Mr Elliott, in returning thanks, said the beat in;; was such a large one that he woidd never be able to forget the trip and the game, but was glad to accept the stick from the men as it showed him that his efforts liad been recognised by the players, lie was, he said, very sorry that such a defeat had befallen the Mania polo's, and gave Roforua every credit for their splendid display of football. The extra train between Te Kuili and Erankton, which stalled ripmiiig at the beginning of this month, is already proving a great convenience lo the travelling public. Moreover, instead of decreasing' the number of passengers (ravelling by the ordinary express it has been found lo operate in Ihe other direction, people being' able to visit different places a Ion;; the $" line by one train and return by Ihe other. Compared with Ihe bi-weekly train service of live years ago (he present service oi' three trains daily affords some idea ihe progress of the. King Country in a shorl space of time. For Bronchial Coughs t- - ikc Wood's Great Peppermint (aire. 1/6 & 2/6.

For the few past weeks the Te Kuiti school ground has presented an air of industrial activity, the master and scholars having been engaged digging portion cf the ground with the object of utilising it for agricultural and horticultural classes. In addition to - A the practical utility Of the operations if- jhe surroundings of the school will "be greatly improved, while the effect on the scholars should prove highly beneficial. It is said that a new company, composed of Maoris, has been registered, the object being the establishment of 'a new "line of steamers on the Wanganui River. The capital of the company is to be £SOOO, in 5000 shares of £l each. The new Town Hall at Raglan is being made use of by the Justice Department as a courthouse. The utilising of the halls in the various country centres for this purpose is general and up to-the present the same course has been followed at Te Kuiti. At the recent land sale, however, the Te Kuiti hall section was purchased by Mr J. T. Hetet, and it is stated the building will probably be turned to commercial uses. If such proves to be the case tEere will probably be some difficulty in securing a suitable place for a temporary courthouse. Possibly the Government will find it desirable to proceed with the erection of the public buildings on the site already acquired for the purpose, at an early date. £ The last issue of the Government Gazette contains notifications of the setting apart of 3acres 13 perches at Kawhia for a hospital site, and an area of 3 roods at Te Rau-a-moa as a site for a sheep dip. The Railway Department is now turning out some very powerful and very fast engines, one of which was exhibited at the Exhibition, and has since been put into service on the Christchurch-Dunedin express; and with the intention of placing engines of this type on the Rotorua line, the Department has undertaken the work of widening and strengthening the Hamilton railway bridge- The work, has been in progress now for some three weeks, and already some twenty men are employed. Its completion will occupy fully six months, and a large army of skilled workmen will be needed. When this work is done the bridge will be able to carry the largest, heaviest and strongest locomotives in the service of the Department. That the Native leasehold tenure is opposed to progressive local administration is the opinion of the residents of Utiku, a rising township near Taihape. Utiku is a Native township, and the residents are presenting a petition to Parliament, requesting 4 that legislation be passed this session *- to permit the purchase of Native townships for their conversion into Crown Lands, with the option of the freehold.

Some poets rhyme for fame alone, And some for bread and butter; Some rhyme , because their nature is Poetic thoughts to utter. But these poor rhymes have nobler aim, They're written to secure The health of all humanity By Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. For Bronchial Coughs take Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. 1/6 & 2/6.