The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 21, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 957, 21 February 1911, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 21, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Certain of our contemporaries have urged municipalities to make application to the Government for subsidies in connection with the erection of suitable memorials to commemorate the forthcoming Coronation of King George V. Not having noticed any pronouncement on the subject from the Government, we communicated with the Premier and asked whether it was the Government’s intention to subsidise local bodies’ expenditure in the direction indicated and, if so, whether such subsidy would be available in connection with the erection of a hall. The Premier, in reply, says “ the question as to the direction in which the Government Coronation subsidies are to be given will be settled after my return to Wellington on Monday week.” It will be seen that if the Borough Council can receive a sum by way of subsidy in their effort to erect a municipal hall, no stone should be left unturned to obtain it. Whether the subsidy will be paid on loan money or only on expenditure out of ordinary revenue or on public subscriptions is not at present known. We feel sure however, that the Borough Council will ascertain full particulars in this connection.

Universal sympathy is expressed throughout the Dominion with the unfortunate victims of the Auckland fire. The harrowing details have been discussed by almost every one. It is very easy ior the man in the street to glibly say what he would have done in similar circumstances in order to save the lives of those two little children. To be suddenly awakened from one’s slumber by stifling smoke, and the cracking of burning timber, and with the children in peril in some far-off room, are sensations that the man in the street fails to realise. Those who have had to do with fires of a minor nature, where no lives have been at stake, know how bewildering it is. The unfortunate father at the fire referred to, did all that a human being could do under the awful circumstances, and his conduct was decidedly heroic.

Like this district, the Kivvitea County some years ago were threatened with a large increase of rabbits and the pest was playing havoc with the pastures. At a meeting of the Kiwitea County Council last week it was stated that the rabbits have decreased very much. Opinions were expressed regarding the cause of the decrease. One councillor stated that extensive poisoning had had the desired effect so far as his riding was concerned. Another did not feel inclined to give poison much of the credit. “ I know what has kept the rabbits down in my place,” he said. “Cats! That is what I use, and I find you can’t beat them.” Others thought the bush fires, which burnt up the dead timber, did the rabbits a great deal of harm by clearing up their “harbours.” Whatever the cause, the propertyowners of the district are delighted at the disappearance of the threatened capture of the laud by the rabbits. It is very questionable whether any decrease is noticeable in this district, despite the efforts of settlers to exterminate the pest.