GENERAL NEWS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9387, 5 March 1909, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

Master of the house: “ Your mistress tells me, Jane, that yon wish to leave and become an attendanthac a lunatic asylum of all places. WjJJV what experience have you had. Jane:. “Well, sir, I’ve-been here three years. ’ ’ ■ Baetihi is at present*enveloped in a mantle ofSsmoke as settlers are burning their bush in tbe district surv rounding. There are some _y® r y s*'- large areas 1 on the Waipuna Ridge Road, and in the Ohotu Block, Papapara Road; jet r t to be burned, and as soon as this is done grass seed sowing, fencing, etc., will be in tall swing. ( During the past year Frenchmen smoked a total; of 696 millions of oiaars' representing a daily consumption of 1.633,000, says the Tobacco Weekly Journal. The revenue to the State from the sale of cigarettes was more than £3.000,000, and the total profit to the State from tobacco exceeded £15,000,000, Building operations within the borough of Hawera just now are fairly brisk, says the Star. The contracts in hand at tbe present total the ‘respectable* amount of about £7OOO, and include the new Empire Hotel (£2600), block of buildings in High street (£1000), Technical School (about £1600), Presbyterian School (£1000). , . , n There is a story of a man who, to be funny, asked a girl in a bakery how she sold milk, and when she replied, ‘‘By the yard,” he asked for a yard of it. She dipped her finger in the pan and drew a ait line' of milk along the counter. The man not to bQ so easily beaten. “Is that a yard of milk?” he asked. “Yea,” said the girl. “All right. Wrap it up and I’ll take it.’* A touching case ofSfeminine devotion is reported from Prague, where three young girls have allowed skin to he taken from their feet to mend the wounded scalp of a factory girl whose life was in danger, A reward of 400 kronen had been offered, nod. tempted by the money, a woman with two young children offered to undergo the operation. The three girls volunteered to replace her on condition that she should not be deprived of the reward. _ According to the agricultural statistics for Canterbury the total area (7,907,135 acres)*.; in respect to which the statistics ."refer is held under the following tenures: Freehold, 3,128,658 acres; leased from private individuals or from public bodies, 951,4181 acres; leased from natives, 60,768 acres; held under the Crown (except pastoral licenses), 820,740 acres; pastoral licenses, 2,9454,88 acres. Of tbe whole area just under one half is in the hands of the State, So that land nationalisation has gone some distance. The takings at the gates on Friday night, when tbe final tests in the Hastings Band Contest were played, amounted to £lls 10s. It is estimated that there will be a surplus of from £SO to £BO on the contest. No applications were received prior to the annual meeting from towns anxious for the next contest. There are apparently no towns in the Northalsland anxious to guarantee the money required in connection with the centre at which the next function is to ha held. To run a hand contest successfully is a big undertaking, for in addition to good management being required it is essential that fine weather should prevail.

’ One of the heaviest yields yet recorded this season in the Ashburton county, says the local paper, has been grwon on the farm of Mr H. Sinclair, Seaview, a 20-aore paddock . of barley giving an average return'd 6B bushels per acre. Mr Sinclair ■ sold this for 3s per bushel on account of , the sample being slightly discoloured) This represents a profit of £8 9s per acre, from which has to be deducted about 30s for working expenses. On the same farm, from a total area of 790 acres, Mr Sinclair obtained the handsome yield of 50 bushels of wheat per acre. A correspondent writes to the Post We hear a good deal these days of the undue booming of good trade conditions in this Dominion. The enclosed catting does not bear this contention out.” The clipping referred to is from the Birmingham Weekly Post, and reads “In New Zealand there is a good demand for farmers, farm labourers, and female servants, and reduced passages are granted to approved members cf these classes. During the last two or three months the building and engineering trades have been slack. There is a continued scarcity ofigood farm hands , and dairymen, and boys and girls, as well as experienced workers—for jam, tailoring, clothing, and boot factories.” Writing in the Post, Mr A. G. Stevens sayslt most be remembered that the New Zealand railways revenue is one of the most magnificent railway revenues in the world. Money has really to be thrown away in order that the railways account may show its annual loss. If the New Zealand railways last year, instead of paying £7O exii, penses for every £IOO of revenue, f had paid .'only what all Australian * railways paid in 1906-7r—£s7 expenses for every £IOO of revenue—the New Zealand account would have shown a net surplus of £1,183,663. As last year’s interest bill at 3% per cent. '■ was £913,731, that would have left an apparent profit of £368,950 to pat ' against the £333,386 charged to the ”Open Lines” account. The High Commissioner has cabled the following statement with regard i- to immigration All New Zealand Government assisted immigrants are strictly limited to farm workers, female domestic workers, and those |l pominated |by friends in New Zealand The New Zealand Steam i Shipping Company has had lectures; p;, f .all shipping companies and shipping W agents are naturally desirous of obV tain lug passengers; lam making in--4 qniries whether any reduction in passage charged outside of those '4- dealt with by the High Com' V' missioner are being made by shipping companies. Ido not hesitate to inform unsuitable persons of the if, podtion of the New Zealand labour tv market.” Sir Joseph stated that he lu, .was cabling to point out to shipping $. companies that anything in the chape of selection of people by them unsuitable for absorption In the Dominion should be prevented. ’ Men’s Navy Vicuna and dark Tweed Suita 20s, English ready tailored suits 47s 6d, 57s 6d for 37s !!;■' Sd h"»vy dark Tweed trousers 5a lid. All wcolsaddle Tweeds 7s lid, ;?v .heavy Leather cloth Shirts 3s 6d, all p:. wool'socks 9d, Merino Underpants Is |li yd strong braces 9d, large white 'l' handkerchiefs 2s 6d the dozen at .Neal's Sale, Feilding.*

In a " little village near Nismes (France) a public sale was recently attempted which was burlesque in the extreme. There was, says the Daily Telegraph’s correspondent, only one baker in tlie place, a prosperous man apparently, who had so far enjoyed the confidence of his fellow villagers that they not only paid for their bread months in advance, but also entrusted him with sums of money with as much faith in him as if he were a banker. A few weeks ago he suddenly shut up bis bakery and disappeared with the villagers’ money. They took the matter rather stoically, and after holding a meeting, obtained authorisation to sell whatever remained in the bakery at public auction, and to divide the proceeds in proportion to each one’s claim. To their great suprise, a tall, well-dressed man, who gave himself out as a bailiff, arrived one day, and said that he was deputed by the Courts to hold the auction. The sale might have gone off satisfactorily to him if the villagers had not learned that the alleged bailiff was only an imposter, and that the baker, who was in collusion with him, was waiting to pocket the proceeds of the sale as he had before pocketed their savings. The false bailiff was driven out of the place with sticks and stones, and the only regret of the villagers now is that they did not hold him and the baker and hand them over to the gendarme, who, it seems, was looking after his fields at the time. You may not have suffered the excruciating agony of Rheumatism, Gout, Lumbago, or Sciatica, and yet you may be a Rheumatic subject. You possibly have inherited tendencies. Indigestion, Swellings, Stiffness of the Joints, are Nature’s warnings. RHBUMO will cure you. It removes the source of the trouble —excess uric acid in the blood. All Chemists and Stores, 2s 6d and 4s fid.