GENERAL NEWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 308, 2 November 1910, Page 6

GENERAL NEWS.

Questioned as to what area of Urewera land has been purchased by the Government the Hon. A. T. Ngata stated that the total area during the past month was from 15,000 to 18,000 acres, and the total purchase money would amount to about £21,000. Mr Ngata stated that the balance of the Urewera lands at present under offer was about 30,000 acres. As a matter of fadt, no Urewera lands had been bought at all during the past two or three weeks for the reason that the land purchase officer had been in Wellington.

"While the Maori is anxious that the huia should be preserved, the national sentiment amongst the race with regard to the preservation of the bird has died out, very largely because there are few Maoris left now in the localities where huias are said to exist. The other tribes do not seem to be actuated by a national spirit to preserve these birds." This remark was made by Mr J. Stevens, ex-M.P. for Manawatu, who was in Wellington the other day to interview Hon. D Buddo, Minister of Internal Affairs, and Mr A. Hamilton, director of the Dominion Museum, on the question of forming a Maori expedition for the purpose of ascertaining whether there are any huias stiil to the found on the western slopes of the Ruahine ranges. Mr Stevens' idea is that two or more Maoris, expert in the capture of huias, should go to the head waters of the Kawatau stream, a tributary of the Rangitikei river, and also to the Mangawhararaiki and Pohangina rivers, the latter of which runs into the Manawatu river, just below Ashhurst. His proposal is that the expedition should search round the headI waters of these rivers and along the foothills of the Tararua range.

The number of applications to the Advances to Settlers during the last two year for loans of over £SOO was 795, the total amount of applications being £832,712, The number of loans granted was 139, and the amount £98,165. The Thames Valley Co-operative Dairying Company continues to progress. Over was paid out to suppliers last month, and the amount for October will be greater. Another locomotive for the Railway Department has just been turned out by Prices' Foundry at the Thames. It is a and makes the thirtythird locomotive turned out by the firm. They still have contracts for nine more.

A discovery of great interest was made by a sheepbreeder near Dunkeld, Victoria, recently. Mr Carter was out mustering in the forest, when he chanced across a merino sheep on the top of a mountain. The earmarks showed that it was 13 years oldd. It had never been shorn, and carried a fleece 21 inches in length. A claim is made that the length is a record for Australia.

The Craveri method of preserving meat lately found by Italian experts to promise advantages over all other processes, consists in draining the veins of the slaughtered animal, and then injecting a solution of 100 parts of water, 25 of kitchen salt, and 4 of acetic acid to the amount of one-tenth of the living weight. In the Turin tests, a treated sheep and calf were hung for 75 days in a cellar at 61 degrees Fahr. They were then skinned, dressed and cut up, when the flesh was found fresh in appearance, with no trace of putrefaction, and proved to be tender, unusually well flavoured, digestible and nutritious.

What might easily have been a lamentable fatality, occurred at Mr T. Bellamy's farm, Tauwhare, the other afternoon. Mrs Bellamy was cleaning up some rubbish around the well, when she stepped on one of the logs which served as a covering for the aperture. The log gave way, and Mrs Bellamy fell backwards into the well, which is 25ft deep and has 10ft of water in it. Fortunately, the accident was witnessed by Mr Bellamy and equally good luck was it that the piece of timber displaced fell into the well also, for when Mr Bellamy reached the spot he saw that his wife was using the log as a life-preserver. She was thus able to sustain herself above water until Mr Bellamy had got time to get a ladder and invoke the aid of his daughter and son, and she was rescued after 20 minutes' immersion.

Few men in public life have furnished material for so many anecdotes as Mr Theodore Roosevelt. lie was once shown a picture of himself during war. It showed him waving a sword and dashing uphill on horseback, in one of his fights in Cuba. "Is it a gqod picture?" he was asked. f 'Ye-es," he replied. ''lt's all right except that my sword is still wrapped up in a bundle in Tampa and I didn't ride a horse. Otherwise it's all right."