LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 78, 30 October 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The annual meeting of the Stratfor Municipal Band will be held this evening in the Bandrooni, Fenton Street, at 8 o'clock. :. A London cablegram to-day states that in Holland, owing to the early closing of the public houses, the convictions for drunkenness totalled only •15,257 per annum, compared to 99,735 iu 1915. The. War Pensions Board last week dealt with 172 claints from soldiers ; and dependants. The total number of pensions and allowances granted is now 4358, of the annual value of £2ls,6B9.—Press Association. , Cabinet, it is understood, has decided, on the recommendation of the Minister for Public Health, to appoint Mr Justice Sim as a Royal Commissioner to inquire into the whole of the circumstances connected with the purchase of a property at Waikari for the purpose of a secondary hospital. At the entertainment given by the Victor Prince Vaudeville Company at the Town Hall on Saturday night, the sum of 16s 6d was collected on behalf of the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. The amount has been hr.nded over by Mr F. Foley on behalf of the Vaudeville management, to the Mayor (Mr J. W. Boon). Members of the A. and P. Association are asked to muster in large numbers on the showground next Thursday at 10.30, to assist in covering the bull boxes, and also in providing better accommodation for the draught horses. As quite a number of hands are required to do the work, it is hoped there will be ready response. Luncheon -will be provided.

Mr R. A. Browne, who, as Agricultural Director under the Taranaki Education Board, hasjaji . reputation from South Taranaki, where he has been lecturing, d«i. monstrating, to farmers dh agricultural matters for ,gave an informal talk to those present at the Farmers' Union on Saturday afternoon. In outlining his plan of work throughout the Stratford area, he said that from experience he found farmers appreciated a practical demonstration on their own rarms to that "of a lecture. He hoped to arrange matters so that settlers and ' their sons could attend at a local ;f;irm, where the advantages of the v;irii.>us' manures and their amplication to fehe farmers' land would be pointed out on the spot. In this connection, satisfactory work had been done atMahgatoki, Low garth, and other centres. As to the cost, for instance, at Lowgarth, there were; forty suppliers, the instruction cost. ,-#£4. a year . . The payment for the instruction ferred to was generally based pa the , ; .; :T(n output of the particular, factory, and,,,; w i at Lowgarth, so satisfied were they ~'• j with the working of the scheme, that they had increased their contribution from 6d ta Is per ton on the output. Other arrangements could be made to meet varying local conditions. MiBrowne incidentally mentioned that in his late district of South Taranaki, he had -been looking after 300 farms, giving demonstrations and practical advice to any enquiriers when necessary, and the keen interest taken by farmers throughout was most encouraging. Messrs It. McK. Morison, N. F. Fletcher and Buckeridge, spoke in favour of Mr Browne's scheme, especially when it embraced a personal visit to farmers on their own farms. Later on? Mr Browne hopes to have the_ privilege of addressing a larger number of farmers with the object of putting his scheme of work into operation in Stratford.