LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 703, 30 December 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There will be-no publication of the Herald on Saturday. The jpoxton Brass Band will render an open air programme in Main Street to-morrow evening, commencing at seven o'clock. The settlers at Jerusalem (Wanganui river) have a fine crop of ; cherries, but are unable to market them on account of the bad roads.. One of the Lincoln rams which took a first pr ze at the Hawera Show has been shorn, aud yielded a fleece weighing 421 b. Three hundred and sixty-four ; cases of Australian cherries were landed at Wellington from the Wimmera last week. As an outcome of the Departmental enquiry into .the charges recently alleged against certain railway officials engaged on the Wanganui wharf, three of. them ! have resigned from the service. A balloon, with a lieutenant aboard, left Dresden on December 18, and passed Stockholm northwards on December 19th. J Since then nothing has been heard of it. A fall of rock at El Barco de Valdeorras, in the province of* J Oreuse, Spain, overwhelmed a church and a number of dwellings, \ killing 26 people. jm A tidal wave invaded a north-east suburb of Bo&oMiH (Massachusetts), separated there*® from by the Mystic River Fifteen hundred people, are home- il■ less. The population of in 1900 was 34,072. The suburb*® is about three miles from Boston. - * It is contemplated starting a. Baptist Church at Cambridge, says the correspondent of an Auckland paper. The township contains 1200 inhabitants, and there are already about ten denominations in the town. The assisted passengers by the Corinthic, due this week, number 233, of whom 117 are women, 54 men, and 62 children. Forty-one domestic servants and 39 farmers are included in the list. The capital ot the immigrants ranges from £SOO to £2600. On Tuesday evening, Mr R. Rand, a member of the locS brass band, who recently joined the , tanks of the benedicts, was sen ted with a handsome clock by his fellow bandsmen. The presentation, was made by Mr Golder, the. bandmaster, and was suitably acknbwledged by Mr Rand. The quantity and value of the hemp passed through the Customs . * fbf export from New Zealand from December Ist to the 15th was 829 ■tons, valued at ,£20,281. Of this amount 455 tons were exported from Wellington. During the whole of December of last year, 1,056 tons passed through the customs, valued at £23,281. The municipal trading scheme is being “pushed” in Wellington. In the electric lighting department’s showroom there are a lot of additional novelties, including electric shaving mugs, toasters, etc. Another shipment of 100 irons has come to hand, and most '' : i| of these have already been ordered. A further shipment of 100 - irons is due shortly. v ■ The local Amateur Dramatic Society have secured the public hall for the two race nights. On the first night they will play the “ Ticket of Eeave Man,” and-the second, night’s performance wilj he the well-known three act' farcical comedy, by Mr George P. Hawtrey, “ The Pickpocket,” which the following caste- has allotted-.—Frederick Hope (of Hope, Bennett and Co.), Mr A McCall; Gregory Grumbledou, i Mr F. D. ! Whlbley: Osmond Hewett, Dr. Adams; Dr, Shaw, Mr W. E. Bullard; Inspector Townsend, Mr W. Hooker; Mr Waller Johnson, Mr A. J. Imrie ; Andrew (a waiter), Mr J. Golder ; James (Mr Johnson’s servant), Mr K. H. Furrie; Policeman, Mr t R. Bright ; Mabel Hope (Fred’s wife), Miss Eevett; Miss Maria Trumpet (Mabel’s aunt), .Mrs Boyes ; Freda Gmmbledon (Grumbledon’s niece), Miss Hermessy; ' . Annette (a servant), Mrs Roche. . The first rehearsal of the “ Pickpocket” was held last nighf, and ‘ everything promises well for a . successful production on January 24th. There will be another rehearsal in the public hall' thjs ‘ evening. - " : ■; ;; j, -I,

r : J ( " Train arrangements for the New • : : Vesir holidays are advertised in ; this issue. :,” On New Year's Day there will ; 1 fee a celebration of the* Holy Communion at 7.30 a.m., in All Saints' Church. Five daughters have been born at one time to the wife of a peasant named Gaira, near Senes, in Macedonia. They were distinguished at the christening by ribbons of different colours tied round their necks. On Thursday last, members of the Otway family appeared at the Magistrate’s Court, Gore, concerning a claim made against them by a local dressmaker. Part of the amount sued 1 for was for making the trousseau for., 1 1 the bride ' who ' married the famous Amy Bock. Mr R. McNab, who in London making researches into tfrf records of early New Zealand history, has obtained permission to examine in Paris the logs of the ’ French ships which founded the Akaroa settlement in the early days, and will leave London shortly for France. The Rev. G. Y. Woodward will hold the first of this season’s services at the Beach to morrow, at 7 p.m. The service 1 will be conducted at the house tenanted . by Mr H. S. Porteons, of Palmers- , ton North. A similar service will . be held on Sunday, January 9th, at 2.30 p.m; The Timaru Chamber of Com- . merce recently discussed the question of the band writing of the coming generation, the general opinion being that of the lads from the primary school was much superior to that of those who received a secondary education. As a result it was decided to offer a : prize to school pupils next year for good commercial handwriting. Nine Swiss farmers arrived in Wellington from Sydney by. the Manuka, on Wednesday, and intend to take up land in New Zealand. Other European foreigners who came by the same boat were two Germans, a Norwegian and a Swede. They all satisfied the Customs requirements with regard to admission, of foreigners into : , New Zealand. 1 A Wellington resident r who has 1 business interests on the West Coast, states that he has experi- ' enceda difficulty in obtaining saw- < mill and flaxmill hands. He recently visited Westland, and %ays : . that he found business there much better than during the early part : H£~of the year. The industries in : which he is interested are to be 1 more fully developed as soon as I additional labour is procurable. : During the progress of a bush 1 ‘v fire, says the Sydney Daily Tele- £ graph, -and while it was raging j S) fiercely on a farm at Molpng, New j Wales, last week, a , sheep- , HKug displayed- wonderful sagacity , y taking charge of 200 sheep , HKlmost from the thick of the flames, . Hynd landihg and keeping them ; B (Jutsjde the Scope of tire. • He reSygiained with them until the flames . Bm his master’s property were sub■bdued. I The country has never asked ! for a bulky statute book, but it is, or ought to be, deeply concerned 1 at being saddled with a sheaf of 1 crudely-conceived, ill-designed, : and badly-made laws to harass the < people and restrict‘their. liberties, ; says the Christchurch 5 Evening 1 News. Bacon says somewhere ! that there is no greater torture 1 than the torture of laws, and it i will be no thanks to our legislators < if the country is, not crying out for < relief at an early date against some < , of the statutes recently enacted. j ' v u . 1 & An amusing, and at the same , ~ time annoying, departmental de* lay has just come to light (says , an Australian paper)*. In 1883, ; 26 years ago, a Wagga resident 1 lodged an application for the issue of a real property title to - a piece of land.- After repeated attempts to secure an,answer from the department .the matter was apparently forgotten, until this week, when the applicant was surprised by the receipt of his - title. No explanation was forth coming for the delay of more than a quarter of a century. The Dunedin Star points out i that the smokers’ tribute to the Excequer last year amounted to ■ ,£568,000. “ That is quite enough y" —rimless, indeed, Government and IT Parliament should decide one of L these days to draw a line ‘between -wholesome pipe-smoking and the pernicious and offensive habit of inhaling cigarette smoke. (Offensive, we say, for the pollution of f the atmosphere caused by the smoky discharge of the cigaretteinhaler’s lungs is very different from the salubrious aroma generated by the cleanly pipe-smoker. _~\Next year Sir Joseph might put a impost on cigarettes.” H. ~ An estimate of the yields from BTthe New Zealand harvest of 19x0 M -has been prepared, with the acrqW* age under cereals as on xotb Dell cemher. A further interim report •- he issued nest month. Taking wheat at 4s a bushel at the port of shipment - —and this is a low estimate (if a high price for • \ wheat)—it will mean that the estimated surplus for 1910 of four ’ millions and a half bushels will f - bring in .£9o*ooo to the Dominion. The estimated yield is 11,020,900 f bushels of wheat, or an average of I : to the acre. There are 312,000 acres under wheat; ’V, and last year there were 252,391 ff acres down in wheat, yielding, #r> 8:772,799 bushels, or an averagefj *of 34.75 bushels per acre. The |=: ■ surplto exported last year was oyer llv. two million bushels. Oats show a IY\ decrease in acreage of 26,905 acres, V w ith a corresponding decreased *• Xldof 1,136,288 bushels.. .Barley shows • a decreased ’acreage of* r 7300 acres'. - -

The owner of a bunch of keys is advertised for,. Messrs Collinson ,and. Son, of Palmerston North,’ have a-replace in this issue. A furnished house at the beach is advertised to let from January 10th to 24th. i At the local Police Court yesterday a first offending inebriate was convicted and discharged by Mr Hennessy J.P.

Mr Walton, has a large crop of Cherry Plums, the late kind ripening fast. Please place orders early so as not to be disappointed.* The poundkeeper notified that a brown mare has been impounded, and if not claimed and expenses paid will be sold on Thursday next at noon.

On Sunday next the services in the local Methodist Church will be conducted by the Rev. P. JMairs, who will take for his evening subject, “ Links in the Chain of Life.” There will be a covenant service at 8.15.

A united watch night service will be held on Friday night, commencing at 11.15, and closing at midnight. The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches are uniting for this service as in former years, and the Rev. P. J. Mairs will give the address.

; ’ A. Birch has accepted J. Arnst’s ‘challenge to cycle from Timaru to Christchurch for ,£SO a side. The conditions are (states the Ashburton Guardian) —no pacing, competitors to start within half an hour of each other, the rider making the fastest time to take the stake.

Messrs Newth Bros., advertise that they have dissolved partnership and thahk the inhabitants of Foxton for the support aeporded them during the past thirteen years. The milk business will in future be carried on by Messrs J. Newth and W. S. Carter. Attention is drawn by the Town Clerk, by advertisement in this issue, that all licenses for vehicles, billiard saloons, public halls, hoarding houses, hawkers, bill posters, etc., have now expired, and must be renewed within seven days, otherwise the parties will be sued without further notice. The services at the Presbyterian Church on Sunday next will be conducted in the morning by the Rev. Geo. K. Aitken. At the, niprning service the Palmerston Buy Scouts, who are visiting the Beach for a few days’ camp, will attend a church parade. In the eveningMr H. Billens, of Palmerston North, will preach. At both services, special reference will be made to the season of the year. The way of the Arctic explorer is undoubtedly hard, but it nevertheless has its consolations. A well-known publishing house offered Commander Peary 55 2d a word for the book which the explorer is now engaged in writing on ; his expedition to the North Pole. The offer has been definitely accepted, and the price constitutes a record. It is lod a word more thap that paid for Mr Roosevelt’s story 6f his African adventures. Although Peary’s* rival, Dr Cook, has. still to convince a great many unbelievers as to his explorative success, he has made a large sum of money by lecturing, and a phopograph record, which has bpen duplicated many times and seph broadcast over tho United Sfates, narrates to various audiences the explorer’s alleged deeds. It now transpires, the Chronicle says, that Dr Cook received ,£I2OO from the phonograph company for the record. The .company states that Dr Cook, with; a quick eye for business, offered his services to them for this purpose two days after his arrival at Copenhagen and mentioned his terms as £3OO a minute. The company stipulated for four minutes only, and that is the length ot the record.