DISTRICT PARS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 139, 15 March 1909, Page 2

DISTRICT PARS.

Meetings of the Te Kuiti Railway League and the Chamber of Commerce are to be held tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, in Messrs Tompkins and Davis' office. The League meeting is to be held at 7 o'clock, and the Chamber of Commerce meeting at 8 o'clock.

The telephone exchange has now been established at Te Kuiti, and the service is being used by about thirty subscribers. A feature of the service, which is greatly appreciated, is the fact that direct connection can be obtained with Auckland and the Waikato centres. As soon as the outback offices are constituted bureaux, direct communication will be opened up throughout the district.

In the course of threshing operations on a farm in the Taieri last week there light what had evidently been a deliberate attempt to wreck the machinery of the mill. In three separate sheaves there had been placed large pieces of scrapiron.and when the first of the sheaves struck the drum of the mill a piece of iron concealed in it waa thrown out, narrowly missing the head of one of the men. The other pieces of iron were also thrown out unexpectedly, but fortunately struck no one. One or two beaters of the mill were damaged as a result of coming into contact with the iron. We have been informed that another venture of great magnitude is to start at Rangataua. A powerful syndicate has been formed to embark in the manufacturing.of paper from wood pulp—an industry which will be allied to the timber industry. The success of this venture, should it become solid fact, will be watched eagerly by the whole Dominion, and, in fact, the outside world. The verification of the statement will indeed be gratifying.—County Call. The sixth annual Stock Show took place at Raglan on Friday we«!k last. The total number of entries exceeded those of last year by 163, the largest in crease being in the horse and cattle classes. The arrangements for the Show were well carried out, the day being a glorious one. No doubt the anticipations of those interested, that the show will prove to be a record one in every way, will befully realsied.

Captain Naylor, master of the s.s. Penguin, has appealed aganist the Court's finding on the ground that it was not proved that the casuality was due to bis negilgence or default, or that, under the circumstances, shelter should have been souhgt or the vessel's head put out to sea; that it was not proved the master was guilty of a breach of the rules for preventing collisions at sea, or that sounding should have been taken; that therfe was no vidence to show that the steamer did not strike an unchartered rock or wreckage; and, generally, that there was no evidence warranting the Court in suspending the master's certificate. A peculiar case is reported from Ngaruawahia, where an old manjnamed M'Donald, familiary known as "Old Mac" throughout the Waipa, died some time ago near Ngaruawahia without friends or relatives in the country, and to all appearances without any money or property whatever, The local constabie, while going over the few effects which the old man left, found some papers, amongst which was a ticket for the winner of a recent Melbourne Cup, carry;:,;: witr. it a prize of Nothing.known of where M 'Dor.a'fi came :(• or whether he had relative.- or :nc-r.ds. ho that though the money ran be secured the question is to whom is it to go.

Potato disease, says the Clutha j Leader, has made its appearance on j most of the crops in the district. When j the disease made its appearance a few j years ago, the practice was to remove j all the haulms and burn them; this by | instruction of the department. It was : found that this did not save the crop, j that potatoes that were left alone were j just as sound, more so in fact, than j those that had the "sbaws"' carefully j gathered. Now, as a rule, the crop is j left alone, and when digging time j comes the tubers are found to be in a better condition than where the shaws j had been all gathered. This is published as the opinion of a well known successful potato grower in the district.

A representative of the Bruce Herald made a tour among the farms in the Tokomairiro district last week and reports that nearly all the oats were cut in the Clarkesville district. A commencement was about to be made on the wheat. All the farmers spoken to were highly satisfied with their turnips. Several farmers declared the cerel harvest to be the best for years. One mentioned several neighbours who expected from 70 to 80 bushels per acre of oats, and up to 60 bushels of wheat. "But prices"— and he shook his head. Oats are not worth much at Is 6d. No chaff won't do. There will be a poor demand there also. Besides, if you get £3 15s a ton for chaff, it costs £1 for cutting, cariing, commission, and all that. I think farmers will be inclined to stack."

The Hon. D. Buddo, Minsiter for Public Health, gave a New Zealand Times reporter some idea of the work being done by the Public Health Department to protect the community from impure and adulterated food. The latest Food and Drugs Act . gives the Department extensive power, and when it decides what shall constitute the standard quality of any article in common use, the manufacturer or retailer who provides something inferior will do so at the risk of a heavy fine. Standards have already been adopted for a number of articles and work is going on steadily. "I have seen standards from other countries and made careful comparisons with those proposed for New Zealand," explained Mr Buddo. "I want to be careful and to go slowly, so as to fix standards which are not so high as to be impossible or difficult of attainment, while at the same time the consumer is guaranteed a good article. I realise that adulteration is bound to creep into manufacture of many of our foods, and if it is to be permitted it must be of a useful, and certainly not h harmful character, as harmless, for instance, as the mixing of chicory with coffee." The Minister remarked in regard to animal products, that what had been said in regarsd to inevitable adulterations did not, of course, apply. Animal products varied considerably, according to the animals and their feed. Inquriies and experiments were still going on, with the object of fixing resonable standards of purity, and he hoped before long to set them up in connection with every class of article in daily consumption which could be adulterated.

The contractors for the erection of the imposing monument over the grave of the late Mr Seddon, on Observatory Hill, Bolton street cemetery, Wellington, are making good progress with the work. The monument, when completed, will stand sixty feet high, and is being built entirely of Coromadel granite, with panels of Westland granite. The panels with inscriptions have now been placed in position, On the side facing Parliamennt buildings the panel bears these words: "This monument is dedicated by Parliament and the people of New Zealand to the memory of Richard John Seddon, P. 0., LL.D., Prime Minister from 1893 to 1906. Born at Ecchston Hill, Lancashire, 1845. Died at sea June 10th, 1906, lat. 33.55 S., long. 154.08 E. 'He rests from his labours and his works do follow him.' Rev. xiv.—l 3." On the southern side the inscription reads: "Richard J. Seddon entered Parliament for Westland ir. 1879, and reesprented that distriet continuouslv until his death in 1906. He had the rare distinction during bis Parliamentary career of holding successively most of the portfolios of the Crown, the first being that of Mines, to which he was appointed in 1891. He became Prime Minister in 1893. His last message on embarking at Sydney for his home in New Zealand was, 'Leaving tonight for God's own country* On the Tinakori Hills side is the inscription: "A strong and resolute personality with indomitable will enabled Richard John Stddon to carry out the humane and progressive legislation which characterised the thirteen years of his administraton. In him the most lofty qualities of an eminent Imperial statesman were united with wide human sympathies and warm affections of the heart; he lived and died honoured by his King and country." On the front, facing Karori, is the plain word in gold lettering, "Seddon,"

Mr E. Fulton, engineer for the Hamilton traffic bridge, arrived from Wellington on Wednesday to inspect the concrete foundations of the traffic bridge. In consequence of representations of the Borough Council, Mr Fulton met the Council on Thursday morning and expressed himself quite satisfied with the way the work was being carried on. "Pockets," such as those complained of frequently occurred in large masses of concrete, and when filled up did not impair the stability of the foundations. This bridge involves an expenditure of £21,000, and the public mind haß been somewhat uneasy of late in regard to the foundations being put in.

The secretary of the MatapunaManunui Atheltic Association is in receipt of a letter from Mr D. Pretty asking permission to chop on the sports ground on March 17, in the attempt to lower a world's record of lmin. 34secs., 18 inch log, put up by Miley at Taihape recently. The letter was submitted to the ccommittee, and arrangements are now being made for this perofrmance, which will undoubtedly prove a great attraction and be of considerable interest to axemen. Three timekeepers have been specially appointed, and the best arrangements are being made for the event.

The result of the guessing competition in connection with the Te Kuiti Sports resulted as follows: — Number of beans in bottle —2188. Nearest guess 2222, by J. E. Jensen, 34 different. Misses G. Thom and H. Smith ran the winner close, their difference being 35 from the actual number of beans.

The Hon. R. McKenzie renewed an old acquaintanceship on Sunday at Oparure, when he met Mrs Josephs, who was for many years a resident of the Nelson district, and an old constituent of Mr McKenzie. A considerable time was spent in chatting over old times, and at the conclusion Mrs Josephs did not forget to represent the claims of Oparure for a. railway.

Pipiriki House, the well known tourist hostelry, owned by Hatrick and Company, at Pipiriki, was burned to ground on Wednesday night last. The building contained about 100 rooms, and was comparatively a new structure. The insurances are £4700 on the building, and £I3OO on the contents. Of these amounts £7OO is in the Law Union Office and the balance in the Royal Exchange, reinsured with the South British, Victora, Sun, New Zealand, United and Ocean Offices. The loss is etimated at £OOOO above the insurance. Passengers now travelling

down the Wan&anui River will stay overnight at the houseboat, and go through from the houseboat on the following day. Instead of leaving Taumarunui between 6 and 7 a.m. as in the past, the steamer will leave at 9 a.m.

A striking character sketch of the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister for Railways, appearing in the current issue of the "Citizen," the breezy Wellington fortnightly. The writer says:—"It is a cheering sign of the times — this recognition of Mr Mill-ir as the coining man. He has not won it by any pandering to class feeling, by any smooth concessions, or by any sort of humbug whatsoever. He has earned it by doing just what the mere time serving politician cannot do. 'I may have to raise the railway fares,' he says, and the crowd cheers. 'I may have to shorten hands,' — and they cheer again. 'I am going to take off trains that don't paj','—more applause. 'You can't have a station between Ngaio and Kaiwarra' —and that is the man to be the next Premier.