NEWS OF THE DAY.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, Volume 1, Issue 21, 16 August 1901, Page 3

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A curious circumstance, which js not generally known, was referred to at the meeting of the Council of the Christchurch Acclimatization Society;, last week. This (says the ■ Press) was the migration of the godwit -(locally lmown as -curlew, •or £auka), ; , which, Dr. Moorhouse stated* migrates to Siberia"to nest. The birds-go by.: way of the Phillipine Islands, Japan,„'etc.,. and return to New. Zealand ..every season, •. . .. ... The present squally weather is provmost disastrous to sheep farmers iy the Cambridge district, who aielosing a heavy per centaffe of newly drepped lambs. Lambing is earlier this season, as most flo'lcowners are catering for the fat lamb trade,'and/some of -them with floclcs of 500 to 1000 ewos, are losing as many as 30 lambs during a single night. It is estimated" the -per oentaoe i>f the earlier flocks will be quite 25 per cent less than last year. A stock inspector, in hunting a,rouh(: for remounts in the .Taranak'i, jback"blocks, and seeing a Maori' inp,uhted on. a fine upstanding, hack, approached the guileless native ,"and ( aske.d. what he. would sell tlie hprae foi-.' -The nat ■ ire repUed that he did not want to sell as the horse "not look.Veil."''.'The horse was in splendid conai'tiori- "and the stock inspector was anxious to make a deal. Afteralotofpiirsuasion, however, and after the Maori had tried to instil into thie stock., inspector that the animal "not look jyell,'' the Jiprse sold for £18 and waVbrqugh into Whanganui, where it- was found to be stone blind, ..When the inspector piet the gentle savage all the official could get was, uI. tell-you he no look well; you makee to buy; all right-"

A London journal (the Sphere) publishes a table showing the oi the kings ?)f Europe, whioh mny wel" make each English reader lift his eyebrows in wonder, It seems that, every crowned head in Europe* with two or three exceptions .i» descended from Mary Queen of ScottsJ- The-exoeptipns are the King of Sweden, -who is-.a-de-Bcendani^of Bemadotte, anclrepresents the only one of the niaay; Napoleonic, royalties who has taken, r.opt;. the; King of Servia, who has behind him: a peasant stock; and.thosetwp .microscopic royalties, the Princes of Monaca and Montenegro. James had two children—the iUr-fated' Charles I of England and Elizabeth, who..married the Elector Palatine. From Charles I the boy-king of Spain, Alphonse.Xlll comes, and burly Carlos I of.Portugal. Elizabeth proved a much more fruitful stock. Of her ten children eight died unmarried, but from the other two come all the. stateliest figures in the Courts oi Europe to-day;-from the agewise Franz Joseph, • Emperor ; of Austria, to the youthful Viajfcqr-Iminan-uel 111 of Italy"; from Edward til.of Great Britain-,. NichQljas jljof.., j§,.usaia^ and "Wilhelm H of Germany",, to the girl Queen of Holland, Wilhelniina I, the somewhat blase King of Belgium and that toy-King George I of Greece. All come by zig-zag lines, from !the unroyal loins of James I! .

The Coal Mines commission's report report recommends the appointment of a Chief Inspector of coal mines for the colony, and that additional District Inspectors should be appointed. A determined effort should be made to take stock of our coal resources and let the people of the colony know how far they really can rely upon a coal supply for the next generation. Immediate efforts should be made to ascertain where coal bearing area s are situated on Crown land, and such land should, not be sold; It recommends to the consideration ol Hie Government the sound policy of reserving to the State the coal, areas not now alienated or worked, ... . .

On Tuesday last, at the Ohaupo Yards Mr W. J. Hunter held his second sale of dairy cows, a large number being present, over 300. head, besides cattle of other-classes. The day was fine and a great' number of the public turned up. Dairy cows close to profit were in good.-demand, and sold very well all the day. The following are the quotations:— Seally good dairy cows to calve soon, from £7 ss.- to £9 ss. cowe of ordinary quality, from £4 to £6, vearli-ig' calves of mixed sexes £2 Bs. to £2 ]'Ss. tat cows i'voin •£3".tb.::£G; forward springing heifers- .£fi/;-r>s.- tc £7 ss. About 2000 sheep -we/re yarded also, cosisting .pviptips.liy. of end ewes in lamb, Th» prices"win-P: -':

Ev/c-ft in lamb 14s. 6d. anj-l'ili' hoggets 10s. Ud.. ;.;

A oentlLilian '3> Masti,n'ton who recently paid a visit to the King Country asserts lliat the class of liquor which is T>eing .dispensed to the KingCountry natives" Is a cong-lomeratiou of Kv-roserie and "sheep dip.

Why clon!t wo laugh more? Tho Lancet writes:— .''"'• A

"The discontented worrits oi! the morose person may Very likely whort. on his days, and the general justice ol Nature's arrangements provide that his early departure should entail no long regrets. On the other hand the man that can laugh Hieeps his health and his friends, are glad to keep

him. To the perfectly' healthy laughter comes often. Too commonly though as childhood ia left behind the habit fails, a half smile is the-best that visits the, .-thought-lined mouth of ..a modern man or woman. People become more and more 'burdened with

the accumulation of knowledge, and _Kith the weighing responsibilities of Iffe, but they should Btill spare some time to laugh.

There was a lesson given to all Scents at the Magistrate's Court yosrrtay, and the necessity. :for greater •■trictness or .-supervision ovev 3 oung thildren was forcibly illustrated. The

parents of three young children found themselves in tho unhappy position of having to witness their children admitting they hed stolen old iron, and sold it-for cigarettes,—Thames Advertiser. 'Thirty-five million bushels of wheat in the Canadian North-we^t. will be available for export in the . autumn. The entire crop is now* estimated at 43,000,000 bushels. ' "Yn connection with the removal of the restriction on the importation of New Zealand fruit into West Austratralia, the Agricultural Department has received notice that, if any one fruit in a case is found -diseased with codlin moth, the case and ita contents will be destroyed. Tha notification warns exporters not to ship diseased fruit., ■ ■" . ■ ...■■• \ ..-.■•• The Melbourne Argus of Aug. io: says that the American desreiption of a wideawake politician, as "he who has his ear to the ground,'' may be well applied to Mr. Seddon'a declaration to the people of New Zealand, that they have had enough labour restrictions. Wl^at may have" movV-dhim ia i possibly the; revolt of the country districts against a system which, threatens, . ivif pushed too far," to impose heavy burdens on them. While the producers have generally approve 1 of rhe efforts to abate' sweating, they may not be enthusiastic in enforcing by law,.wages which tH>y cannot1 possibly pay to iaboiir themselves.'

. At Ashburton on. Saturday an enthusiastic meetinar of over 200 farmers [ was held here. Mr jlftrper, county chairman, presided. }$.r LeacUey, exI president of1 the Agricultural and Pastoral, Association, . iaoved "That, a Farmers'' Union ; ioy the bounty be formed in connection with the New Zealand Parmers? Union," -This .was supported by • Mbsws. Caxneron, Grrigg, Studholme i; &uji others,,,aad was carried, unanimously* A/very lafge: memberjship is anticipated,,, = :..„.;,... r ■".,....

■Tn .'reply to-a, deputation ol single taxers, 'Mt.\ Seddoit said that terge estates were inDi-eaain^ -degpite the (nuniber which;ha'd been•-acquired -for. jSettlement, The 'intention- of -Farliajment to. compel #10 subdiv^won of estates, wa* being ctefeated, Th» Cabinet, he intimated^; wfts aow considering the whole question^ in connection with J the reduction of - ihe ;mort^ag«= tax with,,the increase of=the g^a,du"ateC4and tax,'- '■- ■ ■ ■--. ■■ ■•■^■■M : =•.-..„ - •-■;..-.:

It ia rumoured hi WeUijig^Cfii that Lieut-Colonel Dayis is tPibe Appoint-; ed to the comtnand of jflie volunteer district, in succession to Lieut, -Colonel Banks, : ti&w in South Africa. ■; " \ ' "' "'.' British war slips successfully intercepted wireless telegraph messages • during naval manoeuvres of the French fleet, .-. .; " T ~.. ■' V.. " -;. ■*'■• Bating on unimpiovtd values is not a system of taxing upon the value oi the property or the ability to pay. It is rather a system of compelling a poor man to pay. as much as a healthy one.--Observer, . . , The irrepressible T. E; Taylor has b< on propounding some extraordinary doctrines at Christchurch, He took advantage of a "social" held in celebration of the electitfn of Mr, G. J. Smith to advocate a political alliance of workers and prohibitionists and the disitanchisment of v every person connected with the Ho^uor trade. To the general body of the people; it would seem perfectly reasonable'^ that pnblicans, brewers and their .employees, should be disfranchised, on condition that the same rule is made. applicable to prohibitionistg. If that were done, there would be some hope of sane legislation being passed on the subject of the liccjuor trade.— Ohmemuri Gazette. . In his annual Prisons' Reports Colonel Hume (Inspector of Prisons) advocates flogging for crimes against women and children. The Government has set apart for settlement an area of 25,195 acres in in the Marpkopa Survey District (in the King Country) near Kawhia. • The Government. will consider the advisability of giving a rebate of customs duties on stone crushing machinery imported by local bodies. Largo quantities of oats, are going iirom the Bhiil to South Africa. The Kassala takes a cargo of 110,000 sacks, find.-anothos -stf-araer duo at the Bluff shortly will load -with over 100,000 Uaok.fi. ■ ■ ! The Premier.gays the "whole citiesV ion o£ Cvovernment valuation of"" land requires to.be looked into. There is| ao intention however, to introduce legislation to allow, local bodies to | make tbeir own valuations, ' ; | Mr.- Kruger ftaid, or was reported to iliaVO Said, that if tlin Rvifci<ull Tumrf-orl

Mr. Kruger ftaid, or was reported to havo said, that if tlio British wanted his country ho would make them pay £100.000,000 for it (says the Saturday I'e.view). The facts are that we have jairoady spent on the South African pvar £13.6,000,000, and ass it is admitfcod that our expenditure is at the rate of £7,000.^000, a month and we shall have had to j-ay large sums for compensatiou and assistance to ruined farmers,.that the total jrobable cost will not be far short of £200,000,000. This would be five times what the German war cost us, aud nearly a third of the debt incurred in the great struggle with Napoleon. - ..

xiMAirti,. Sunday^ A meeting of farmers, held yesterr. lay, to form a anion, was attended by : about 120, and. after - hearing .Messrs; iMaslin and Action, it was unanimous* ly resolved to form a union. The chief orgument used w*» that it was-iieces-;' sary to unite to cotoßewe the, interests of farmers iron* mjuriesihreatened by ; recent andproponed labour legislation

■" was agreed that farm labourers may be members of the union. A committee of 12 was appointed to draw up a scheme and rules. The committee will propose a subscription of 2s. 6.d. and limit emergency calls to 2e. 6d, more. Writing on the subject os "Military Drill in Schools," the Wairarapa Daily Times says editorially: "What we desire to take special objection to in Mr. Seddon's utterance is that he indicated that the British Empire .owed its expansion and prosperity to the cultivation of militarianism. This is absolutely erroneous. Great Britain has never been a military power, and recent cix%cumstance3 in South Africa sufficiently prove this, It is mainly because she has not cultivated the military spirit and sent forth' soldiers as pioneers, but.indusfcrial adventurers,that she has gained such an onormous footing in the world. And although the untoward circumstances in conectioii with the present campaign are deplorable, as being mainly due to insufficient preparation and incapacity in nifmy quarters, that does,not at- all furnish an argument, in- favour of this cdlony Tia»-ing foisted on it an elaborate system of compulsory military service, like that of Germany... It proves that the British military -system should be better administered—^not that.ic should be amplified, or take anothor form." The Times, commenting on the deputation • f Labour Unions to the Premier a few 4avs Ago, traces the evils complained o^ to. abuse, of the Conciliation Boards by labour agitatQrß, who fill seats on them, and suggests that each Board could consist of one. member only,- who Bhouht be the chairman,."having the assistance in each dispute of ooe or two. persons chosen on either side- to act as expert advisers/- Hud f cross-examiners other thanin^a Judicial;capacity. The Times thinks the existing- system-Js near collapse. _ The article I oonqludes ,with $hi< following iigriifioant warning.; ".If Labour Unions do not take notice of the signs of the -times and mend thai?-ways accordinglyjfliey - ; -muit .not comfyiain if their best friends, includ-ing;-the Premier, cut them "adrift aid insist;Jipoii repeal- of the "• lawßj; which are being abused," .. . r Mrv-Chailes Onyo'rf-(C]lOurt'r»porter), who; recently" teturned" 7 fronj Sydney and Melbourne, wUs:'infoTmed by; the Attoijney.-General, Mr. Wise, in" Sydney, that the New South Wales Cabinet were, introducing as > one of their first measures an Industrial ••• and Arbitration Act, but that the reports he had had. of our Conciliation Boards were anything but favourable. Mr. Onyan found that the T-lon. Mr.- Wis« had been watching the' of out indus^ trial Conciliation and Afbitration Act very carefully, •