LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 262, 25 May 1910, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Nurse Hattaway notifies that she has now made arrangements to attend patients at their own homes. Mr Holland, judge, and Mr Waitai. clerk, of the Native Land Court, left for Taumarunui last evening, where the Court will continue its session.

A basket social and plain and fancy dress Ball (complimentary to Mr and Mrs J. Willison), will be held in the Marakopa Hall on Friday, June 3rd. Mr Trinnear, who was for some time on the staff of this paper, has recently joined the ranks of the benedicts. He paid a business visit to Te Kuiti to-day.

On Saturday next Mr C. B. Lever wlil sell by auction at his mart a quantity of poultry including some purebred white leghorn pullets, which should find a ready sale. Mr W. Bowler, the new president of the Maori Board, and Mr G. Cardno, clerk to the Board, reached Te Kuiti on Monday, and are engaged for some days on the business of the Board.

Dr R. H. Makgill, of Auckland, has been appointed police and prison surgeon in addition to his present duties in the Health Office. This is part of the retrenchment scheme a* applied to the Department of Justice. The Waikato musical and elocutionary competitions which were held last week at Hamilton proved highly satisfactory in every way, the attendance and entries exceeding last year's records very considerably. A prize concert, given by the successful competitors, is to be held to-night. Mr Harold Jennings, son of Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P., has resigned his position in the Bank of New Zealand at New Plymouth, and will leave shortly for England, where he may remain for some time. He was entertained at a farewell social at New Plymouth last week, at which the Mayor and prominent citizens were present. If the further tests that are being made with oil fuel on the New Plymouth line are satisfactory the Railway Department favours the introduction of oil fuel. The conversion of the locomotives from coal to oil burning can be effected at a comparatively small cost. Coal costs 22s a ton on New Zealand against 6s a ton on Victorian railways.

Halley's comet is now in headlong flight to the regions of outer darkness. It left no trace of having covered the earth with its tail, and when once out of sight—it is travelling at over 300 miles a second—few of us now living will ever set eyes upon it again. On Sunday night the comet plainly showed two tails, one stretching in a straight line, and the other shaped like half a rainbow. Last night the heavens presented some paaticularly beautiful combinations in Te Kuiti. The eclipse of the moon was at full about half-past five as it rose into prominence, and Halley's comet was seen to better advantage than hitherto in the evenings. Shortly after six o'clock the celestial panorama showed the shadow slowly passing off the face of the moon and the comet, plainly visible, on its long journey to outer darkness. The sight was most impressive.

A conference of representatives of the dairy industry met in Wellington last week to discuss skim milk and whey pasteurisation The Government is not underr.tood to favour compulsory pasteurisation. The leading dairymen favour the process and the experiments at the Glen Oroua factory supply the necessary data as to cost. There 3000 gallons a day was easily dealt with and output by one pasteuriser. Other factories in Taranaki deal with double that amount. One of the Jo)l factories deals with 6000 gallons daily, fpr cheese making. The experience so far gaiped favours the exclusion of the principle of skim milk pasteurisation.

The Wanganui Education Board has decided to circularise all education boards in the Dominion, suggesting that a conference of delegates (two from each board) be held in Wellington in the third week in July next to consider subjects of interest to the cause of education, notices of motion to be forwarded to the Wanganui Board before July 6th.

Some 350,000 acres of Native land situated in the Thames, Waikato, Kawhia and King Country districts was offered for purchase by the Government on Monday by a deputation, including King Mahuta, M.L.C., and Mr Henare Kaihau, M.P. The Hon. A. T. Ngata said the Government was prepared to purchase large areas at once. A further meeting will be held next month to go thoroughly into the question.

The Kawhia harbour authorities announce that the channel on the Kawhia bar has shifted about two cables to the north. The depth of water on the line of beacons at*present in use is about Bft L.W.0.5., and the depth of water in the new channel is 12ft. The beacons, therefore, to mark the channel will at once be altered, and for this purpose two beacons will be erected on Te Motu, or the mainland. Karaka Kerapa, the Maori who baffled all efforts of the police to capture him over six weeks ago on a charge of burglary in the Kawhia district, and who has been at large since, was on Monday arrested by Constable Rock, of Huntly. Constable Rock heard that Kerapa was in the district on Saturday, when he saw a number -of the accused's friends, and advised them to bring him in, which they did, about 15 of them escorting him to the police station. The accused was conveyed to Auckland on Tuesday morning.

According to the Hon. R. McKenzie, the coal deposits at Retaruke may be found to contain many millions of tons of valuable coal. Although only su perficial prospecting has been carried out to date, between two and three millions of tons are estimated to exist there. If it should turn out that the deposits include household coal which can be profitably worked it should mean a reduction in the price of that commodity in Wellington and other districts. Owing to the fact that there is a fall each way from Retaruke, which is on about the highest elevation of the North Island Main Trunk railway haulage should prove inexpensive. Some months may elapse before a full report in connection with the deposit is available. Ingenious in the extreme is the method by which 1600 kegs of wire nails have been recovered from the bottom of the Mississippi river at New Orleans, where they went down when a barge sank at the head of Lafayette street several weeks ago. A huge electric magnet, attached to hoisting gear, is lowered in the water. The current is turned on. and the kegs are hoisted out one by one, clinging to the magnet. The magnet is shaped like a mushroom, and is three feet in diameter. The electricity is controlled from the pilot house by means of a controller-box such as is seen on trolley cars. The magnet is the property of the Carnegie steel mills, and was sent from Pittsburg. Its original use was the unloading of iron from cars in the yards of the mills There are 15,000 kegs of nails in the river. Of these, 1600 have been recovered. Two months more will be required to complste the work.

Settlers interested are complaining of the delay on the part of the Government in not making a start with the Ongarue-Stratford railway from the Ongarue terminus. An indignation meeting was recently held at the Niho Niho Dairy Factory, and resolutions were passed protesting against the Government's inactivity. It was decided to forward the following resolution to Sir Joseph Ward :—"That this meeting protests against the inactivity of the Government in fulfilling their pledge in connection with the OngarueStratford railway, and expresses regret at the attitude adopted by the Minister for Pubic Works, the Hon. R. McKenzie, to the deputation which waited on him at Wellington; that this meeting also petitions the Prime Minister to do his utmost in forwarding the construction of the railroad from the Ongarue terminus." A resolution passed for transmission to the Minister for Public Works expresses the opinion that the Minister is paying little or no regard to the much-needed work, and points out that the pledge to commence the railroad from the Ongarue terminus has been dangled before the eyes of the electors of Ohura ever since the Government took office, and asks for a definite date when the first sod will be turned.