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Motueka Star, Volume II, Issue 61, 14 March 1902, Page 3

The last Gazette notifies the promotion of Lieutenant W. S Canavan to a captaincy (militia). We congratulate Captain Canavan on his advancement. *

The public are reminded of the regular monthly visit of the American Dental Company. It will be noticed that, on account of the large increase of business they have been compelled to increase the charge for plain extractions to two shillings. The Motueka Borough Schools are to be re-opened on Monday next. According to the Municipal Corporations Act of 1900, persons wishing to place their names on the district (or burgess) roll must do so 14 clear days before an election. The clause says the roll shall be deemed to be closed at "five o'clock on the fourteenth day preceding the day appointed for any election or poll, and shall continue closed until the election is completed or the poll taken." Those who have failed to take the necessary steps will therefore understand why they will be unable to record their votes on Monday next. Messrs W. Rout and Sons, auctioneers and land agents etc., of Nelson, notify that they have appointed Mr Tarrant their Motueka agent. This will be a great convenience to residents in this neighborhood who may wish to I enter into business relations with this I well-known firm.

We are exceedingly pleased to hearthat Mr L. D. Easton, of the Lower Moutere, has received favorable replies in response to the circular issued advocating the establishment of a branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute at Motueka. A meeting of teachers is to be held in the'local school room on Saturday, the 29th instant to inaugurate the branch.

The local branch of the Bank of NewZealand will be closed on Monday next, St. Patrick's Day.

Messrs Brougham, Edwards, Jordan, i and Trewavas were nominated for the < two vacancies in the Motueka Borough Council. The names of those who < nominated the candidates are :Mr < Brougham by Messrs T. Goodman and 1 C. J. Bartlett; Edwards by J. S. Wratt J and R. Rankin ; Jordan by W. Ryder, < junr, and A. Manoy ; Trewavas by W. ' Moffatt and E. A- Knapp. ,On Thurs- : day Mr Jordan notified the Returning * Officer, Mr Tarrant, that he retired ] from the contest. The poll will be * taken on Monday, at the Council room. The eapital value of the Borough of Motueka, upon which a rate of one < penny is now levied, is .£88,857. The unimproved value is stated at .£49,933. and if the Borough worked under the " Rating on Unimproved "Value Act, 1896," which act has been brought into operation in many parts of the colony, it would have to make the rate '■ two pence to yield the present revenue. Monday next, the 17th of March is St. Patrick's Day, when all good, loyal Irishmen will respect the memory of their patron saint by keeping_holiday. s^^Tena^^i^£ Fearuriv testate, which has been offered for sale] jduring the past month, close at noon) ion Monday . next, the 17th instant.} The land is some of the best in the! Idistrict, and we are given to under-/ ( stand the will be competition for a num j iber of_ the blocks. i^r^<gg~a was the recipient of a large number of telegrams from this district and other parts of the colony prior to sailing with the Ninth Contingent on Wednesday, wishing him success in South Africa and a safe return. Mrs Deck, on behalf of her husband, desires to acknowledge the kindly feelings expressed. We understand that although Captain Deck is on the unattached list, he will act as Surgeon Captain during the voyage and will probably be be given a j

command irpon arrival. The New Zealand Times says that Mr J. F. Hursthouse. well known in Motueka, has been appointed to a position in the head offce of the Union S.S. Co., at Dunedin. Mr Hursthouse has lately acted as purser of the s.s. Wainui. The Blenheim people are excited and dribbling at the mouth over the fact that volunteer Hyde, who won the championship at the Trentham Rifle 'meeting, was born in that town, and that lie was fed on Neave's food till his molars allowed him to wrestle with tough meat placed before feim. George is just now a little, tin god, and can speak and nod, " and none so poor to do him reverence."

At the Committee meeting held on Wednesday evening some of the members maintained that as the service was more in the interest of the fruit growers than the farmers, the first mentioned should have their wishes carried into effect. We do not think such a view of the question is" altogether fair to the farmers, who, although having nothing perishable to export, may have wool, grain, or other produce to send away, and they sometimes want to catch the market as well as the raspberry grower. The service is of vital interest to all who have the welfare of the district at heart, and we were pleased to see that after a little talk the committee settled down to the business which was before the meeting.

The Suez Canal Company last year topped all previous records. The vessels which passed through the Canal numbered 3699, and the dues paid to the company amounted to .£4,014,553 ; as compared with £3,624,944 in 1900, and with .£3,652,750 in 1899. j The number' of live stock in the

Nelson, Marlborough and Westland Provincial district at the end of 1901 was : Horses 15,181 ; cattle, 48,816 ; sheep, 1,631,456. Included in the cattle are 13,759 dairy cows.

The Waikato Farmers' Club has decided to agitate for the introduction of a decimal system of weights, with the object of ultimately adopting thmetric system after the public has be. come conversant with its advantages To further that end the club has also resolved that all farm and other produce, also manure, be sold by the pound, ten pounds, hundred pounds, or thousand pounds. That Sir Joseph Ward be asked to co-operate by adopting these weights as a base for freight charges on the. railways. That the Agricultural Department be recommended to give statistical grain returns in 1001 b instead of bushels.

Mr E. F. Knight, in his book 'With the Royal Tour,' says • —lt would be well, by the way, if Mr Seddon's speeches were widely read in the United Kingdom, for they represent ttiß true feeling of the New Zealand Democracy—its fervent, patriotism, loyalty, and Imperialism, its determination to stand by the Mother Colony. It is said that stammerers rarely, if ever, show any impediment of speech when speaking in whispers. On this fact a new method of treatment has been advocated, which is as follows :

For the first 10 days speaking is pro* hibited. This will allow rest to the voice, and constitutes the preliminary stage of treatment. During the next 10 days speaking is permissible in the whispering voice ; and in the course of the next 15 days, the ordinary conversational tone maybe gradually employed. Judging by reports which are coming to hand (says Saturday's Timaru Herald) oats are still rising in The sale was reported yesterday of a large line on trucks at Seadown at 2s 2d per bushel, 801 b bags supplied ; and of a line of prime milling oats at 2s 4d per bushel on trucks at Otaio. The farmer who informed us of this sale added that buyers are chasing growers all over the paddocks, and are offering 2s lgdto 2s 2d, according to sample, delivery second week in April. In face of the eagerness shown by buyers,, the large growers are holding on. The yield of oats in the Otaio district is excellent this year, and the mill has shown returns up to 97 bushels per acre. The sample in the majority of cases is exceptionally good: Some rather sensational tendering took place for grazing farms on Welltown resumption, near Goondiwini, Q. There were 40,000 acres offered in various sized blocks ; forty two applicants lodged fifty six separate applica.ons, of which fifty two were for gra.ng homesteads—that is, the lessee zl ust reside personally, and not by ailiff for five years, and cannot mortgage or transfer the selection within that period. The average rent tendered w T as nearly 9d per acre, though B|d was offered for some of the land.

There is evidently a scarcity of youths desirous of becoming pupil teachers in Canterbury, for when one Christchurch school committee recently invited applications for a pupil teachership there were no male applicants, but 15 female applicants. The chairman of the committee pessimistically remarked that in fifteen yeai's there would not be a male teacher in Canterbury.—Press. For the first time in the history of the United States Parliament conscription on the lines of European systems has been advocated in Congress. Senator Hale, in introducing Bills on the Nationel Naval Reserve, declaied the reserves were useless for warfare. Some sort of compulsory military service was necessary, he urged, and gave support to his contention by instancing the lesl son of Great Britain in South Africa.