DISTRICT PARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 113, 7 December 1908, Page 2

DISTRICT PARS.

+. ..-~ As will be seen by an advertisement in another column, Messrs Dalgety and Co., hold a sheep fair at Piopio on the 15th instant, when 2000 ewes and wethers will be offered.

The potato crops in the district are looking extremely well up to the present, and there is a marked absence of the blight which so seriously affected the crops of the past three or four seasons. Reports from other localities are of a similar nature and there is every indication of an extremely good yield througout the Dominion. Trout fishing this season has not been productive of any'noteworthy baskets locally, but very good sport was obtained by several Te Kuiti residents who made a trip to Waimeha last week end. The basket totalled twenty-three fish, the largest being an eight-pounder secured by Constable Mathew.

During the last 11 months New Zealand exported 466,5810z. of gold ; valued at £1,849, IoS, as compared with 462,3690z, valued at .£1,845,741, during the corresponding period of last year.

- The payments made for butter-fat by the New Zealand Dairy Associated, Limited, to milk suppliers on the 21st ult. totalled £19,174 12s, this being an increase of * 1791 lis 5d on the similar payments made by the association for the corresponding month of last year.

During the recent election campaign the candidates for Taumarunui put in some hard travelling. Mr Jennings, who began the tour of the eleeiorate on October 15th, did not complete his itinerary until polling day, November 17th, having travelled 1017 miles. By train he went 550 miles; traps, 200; jigger, 12; steam launch, 20; horseback, 205. He spoke on G2 occasions, the biggest performance being on October 17, when he addressed six meetings in the daytime, finishing with, the seventh at Raetihi at night. The places of meetings comprised halls, schools, woolsheds, sawmills, railway stations, new bridge at Tokirjma, men in bush camps, and men in railway works. Mr Jennings received 1.T5 congratulatory telegrams from all parts of the Dominion.

The Hon. W. Hall-Jones 'left" Wellington for London on Thursday last to take up tiie office of High Commissioner for the Dominion. Numerous presentations were made to Mr HallJones and family prior to their departure, and they carry with them the good, will esteem of a wide circle of friends.

The public of Te Kuiti will have an opportunity of witnessing soma tine exhibitions of riding on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, when tho Australian I-Uickjump'.TS will 'no showing in the town. in addition to the ordinary rough riding and taming of outlaws, there will be trick ponies which perform really remarkable feats. Prizes are offered to local riders for riding and a special prize of twenty pounds is offered to any champion who can sit the famous horse "Rise-up" for two minutes. The Buckjumpers exhibited at Taumarunui on Saturnday last to excellent audiences.

Residents of Te Kuiti town and district will be glad to learn that in all probability Miss Melling, who has had charge of the local post office for some years past, will continue to hold a position in the office, notwithstanding the appointment of a postmaster to take charge. The great increase in postal business, and consequent additions to the staff rendered the appointment of a postmaster necessary, and Mr A. E. Moore was recently appointed to the position. Efforts have been made by seve-al prominent residents to have Miss Melling retained as assistant,Jand last week Mr Jennings, member for the district, placed the circumstances before the Premier, with the result that Miss Melling will likely continue on in the local office.

There are 46,000 acres of Crown Lands now in the market for close settlement, mostly in the Auckland, Hawke's Bay, and Wellington disricts. The whole of the recent Maori land purchases in Auckland, Tarnnaki and Hawke's Bay are being surveyed, and will be available for selection as soon as possible. They comprise nearly 300, 000 acres.

A temporary readjustment of portfolios has been arranged by the Prime Minister. The Department of Railways will be taken over by the Hon. J. A. Millar, and that of Pubilc Works by the Hon. J. McGowan.

In connection with the annual school picnic at Te Kuiti, a ladies' meeting will be held at the schoolroom tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4 p.m. A cable from London on Friday, stated that over 500 assisted emigrants, with capital were sailing in the steamers Mamari, Wakanui, and lonic for New Zealand.

The Australian amateur football team at present touring Britain, met with its second reverse on Wednesday when it was defeated by Midlands and East Midlands Combined, by 13 points to 5.

Mr W. R. Simth, Independent Liberal candidate for Rangitikei at the recent election, declined to accept a purse of sovereigns. Over £2OO had been subscribed, and this money is being returned to the suscribers. Mr Simth is to be entertained at a banquet shortly, when probably a presentation of a piece of plate will be made.

Dr Mason and Dr Pomare have recently visited every Native school and district they could possibly get at between Napier and Rotorua for the purpose of investigating how the present system of looking after the health of the Natives is working, and ascertaining what improvements might be effected. The Department supplies medicine to the teachers of all Native schools, menVho are doing very valuable and self-sacrificing work, tn many cases the local school-master is the only man in the district who knows anything about sickness, and has any appliances, and to him, not only the Maoris, but also the pakehas, are often deeply indebted in times of sickness and trouble. The Department spends about £SOOO a year—last year it was £4700 — in supplying drugs and subsidising medical men, and so far the results jhave been most satisfactory. "Our principal difficulty" remarked Dr Mason, "is in getting the drugs to the outlying districts, but Dr Buck, Dr de Lisle and myself, had a conference on the subject on the way down from Wairoa, and, with the assistance of Dr Pomare, we hope to deviss some means of facilitating access to every Native district. We found a little sickness at some places, including a few cases of typhoid fever, but generally the health oc the Maoris is good."

The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have reecived the following advice by cable from their London house under date December 4: —The annual meeting of the company was held in London in the 3rd inst., when the annual report and directors' recommendations were adopted. A dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, has been declared, and the company's res-rves have now been increased to £400,000, in addition to those of the New Zealand Land Association, which now amount to £85,000.

Messrs Dalgety and Co., Limited, Auckland, have received the following cablegram from their London office under date the 3rd inst.: —Frozen meat: The beef market is dull, but prices are unchanged. The mutton market is weak and prices are lower by I£d except for Gisborne. Frozen lamb is weak, arid for New Zealand prime light crossbred any change in price is in favour of buyer;-. For heavy and inferior, prices are lower by : !<1 to .1 d per lb. Tallow.- For low and inferior descriptions there is a change, if any, favour of pollers. Good descriptions are neglected.

rarihaka. the once famous Taranaki Native village, around which such a fierce light was wont to beat in the days of the zenith oH TV Whiti's influence, is now a greatly changed p!a<v. Since the death of To Yvhiii, tin- Natives, no longer subject to the masterful domination of the "prophet."' have become accustomed to individual t'ree-

dom, and the general result, so ,-, reecnf visitor informed a Herald representative recently, is a great improvement on the old order oT ihin.iis. The Maoris appear to be more industrious, eia! those who are receiving rents for !ssg. owncd by them. a.re in many ease- applying the money to the iniprovoiiaaiis of the holdings on winch they re.-ido. whereas formerly, a great deal oi the money was handed b> Te AVliifi, The work of the Young Maori party Ims had a great iniiuence for good on lee Native, and the ministration:' >''.' the Rev. R. Ileddon. ef llavva. and Ihe Rev. T. 0. Hamm-nd. of Opunake. both of whom periediesl!y vidl I'arihaka, have also been attended with beneficial results.

Very little rain has been experienced at Te Kuiti of late, but good showers haw fallen in "the out districts, and the country is looking exremely well. The Awak'ino Road is getting into fair order, though there are still one or two holes which have to be negotiated with care.

A peculiar occurrence is reported from Mairoa, where, it is said, a settler's house was broken into during the absence of the settler and his wife at Te Kuiti. The intruder must have been possessed of a spirit of mischief, as clothing and furniture were wilfully damaged, while it is thought notning was stolen. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police.

A sitting of the Maori Land Administration Board is to be held at Te Kuiti this week, and a considerable amount of businss is scheduled.

It is probable that as a result of proposals brought forward in Wellington and Christchurch to send scientific expeditions to the Chatham Islands, at tempts will be made to obtain the remaining specimens of Moriori tree carvings on the islands. These carvings represent the crude artistic efforts of the Maori race, which is now almost extinct. The carvings have been cut into tree trunks, adn are in the shape of human beings. As the art has not been practised for many years, they have a high ethnological value. Mr E, R. Waite, curator of Canterbury Museum, brought the matter before the Board of Governors of the Canterbury College some time ago. He was asked to secure photographs of the carvings, but, as there are no photographers on the islands, he has not been able to do this.

The largest shipment of dairy produce to London this season was made by the s.s. Corinthic, which left Wellington on Friday. It consisted of 45,072 boxes butter, valued at £ll9, 440, and 18,156 crates of cheese, valued at £68,085, the total value of the shipment being-£187,525.

The Railwiay Department will probably give the general jpublic a choice of three time-tables for the Christmas holiday season. There will be the ordinary two-days service, passengers from the North staying overnight at Taumarunui. In addition, it is likely that the' Department will run trains from Wellington and Auckland about 7.30 in the evening, timed to connect at Taumarunui in the morning with trains heading for the North and South. This will really be a "through" trip, (about 20 hours), though the passengers will change trains. The caravans will not include sleeping cars. A third arrangement will enable travellers from Auckland or Wellington to spend one night at Taihape and another at Taumarunui, thus making a three-days trip. All these services will be maintained simultaneously. Everything possible will be done for the comfort of passengers, but they will need to bear in mind that a portion' of the route has not yet been handed over to the working branch of Railway Department, and pasengers must therefore, be prepared to put up with minor inconveniences. The fares will be about £3 18s 2d for the return trip first-class, and £2 2s 4d second-class. The charge will be the same whether the excursionist goes in accordance with the one, two, or three-day timetable.