LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2101, 7 May 1898, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr W. 9. Allan, M.Awill preach in the Te Aroha Wesleyan Church to- morrow,, morning and evening.

A most sensational' article appears! is Thursday’s* Herald'from its London correspondent, dealing with England’s readiness for War, and the gigantic prep irationa now being made; In one breath he refersto matters as being the profouniest of Cabinet secrets ; in another that he has learnt them under the seal of confidence-, and clared not- even hint at them for fear of rendering the Government’s! efforts nugatory.. A great war, however,. £» deemed imminent at Home, according th this veracious-writer. ’

Some of the machines for making- matches which are used in these days mace 200 revolutions a minute each, and! turn out about 2# millions of matches daily, or afeotst 000,000,000 annually. ,

The meeting-of two men in a® hotel not a hrndrod miles from Te Aroha the other evening, furnishes an example of the say*, ing ‘ that the world lifter all is a small place-.’' They were strangers to each other’s personal history, but it cropped up as they smoked their last pipe prior to- turning, in, that both of them had served through the affiur at Coomassie when GFarnet Wolseloy knocked King Coffee-’® throne- from undar him, ; -

The Te Aroha Agricultural and Hortii cultural Society’s annual general meeting I will be held on the 11th inst. r at the Town | Hall, when business of an- important character will be transacted. Holders- of members' tickets areparticolarly requested to attend. This Society from small be-» , giumn-gs has suddenly sprung into a I position of importance in the locality, and . next year’s show promises to provide a® , great a surprise as the last one, in the ■' briUrancy of its fulfillment. The last show was indeed a most creditable affair, and we have not the slightest doubt its success will have greatly strengthened the hand® of the Committee;

It see ins that suppliersto-tha local factory wish to leave off at the end of the present month, notwithstanding the fact that they agreed to supply until the end of Map The Manager was engaged on- this understanding, and consequently if the factory closes at once it-will be a dead loss of £l2 for wage 3 alone. The guarantors of the factory are prepared to advance the price to 3d per gallon on account of news haying been received from the A uckland.’ agent that Tauranga cheese is in demand and . they can dispose of a ton per week. We hope su-pplierß will make an effort to keep the factory going during next month at any rate. —‘ Bay of Plenty Times ’ —[For the sake of suppliers generally we should Kke te hear the rights of this case which presents som-3 interesting and important features.— Ed News.] TT For Coughs and Colds take Wood’s A. Great Peppermint Cure. 1/6 and 2/6

Mr George Purcbas on severing: his connection with the Waitekanri Company was presented with a handsome testimonial by the employee® of the Te Ao Marama section.., ■ . -

Tfeii l week’s 4 (Sraph’c-V contains several excellent pictures, illustrating the Block*, ade of Havana by the United States. Oneshows the New York bombarding the fort* and another the same vessel using the search-lights at night t.» discover' blockade runners. 4 Afamous Sea Fight isa thrilling' nCfonot of the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, which were the prototypes of our modern war vessels; There is a splendid illustration off the ships in action. • The Fallacy of Coramereedestroyers ’ i&an illustrated article on a topic-much agitated in naval circles. A short history of Spain written in an interesting style will make readers familiar with the history of that 1 distracted country up to the present date' * On sale at the News office.’

If the reservoir at the Western Springs does not improve shortly, the water supply for baths in households will require to be cut off by the Auckland City Council authorities.

During the past ten days stags have been fairly numerous on this side of the hills, and some good bags were obtained (says the Tapanui Courier), Messrs W. Telford and A Stronaoh secured eight stags at Black gully, the kill including some good heads. Mr Wood of the Goredistrict, shot four in. tho same locality, one white deer having an especially good set of antlers ; and the Kev W* C. Oliver obtained three heads during his stay in the district. Mr J. R. Mackenzie secured a fine animal at the Gorge bush, CroobstoQ, on Saturday the buck being in splendid condition. The horns, which are massive end in two knobs and form a wonderful curio.

We,from a sense of duty, read Mr Lang’s, M.H.R., reply to the Premier's recent speech at Hamilton, as reported in the Waikato * Argus,’ As &n example of Mr Lang’s inaccuracies, we may cite his statement relative to purchase of the Poncohaka Estate, 4 ln this instance,’ he says, 4 the Government gave .£19,960 for a property which the Bank of New Zealand did not think worth £Booo.* In its leader, speaking of this sale, the 4 Argus’ 1 says 4 also the Pomohaka Block transaction, in which the Government paid -£19,960- for a property the Bank did not consider sufficient security for an advance of £Booo.’ The statement in the leader iscertainly not in accord with what Mr Lang is reported to have said, but granting that the statement ; in the leader is correct, if the Bank of New Zealand’s valuer considered the Pomohaka property not to be worth more than £19,960, the Bank very rightly declined to advance £BOOO on such security., To warrant an advance in that amount the estate would have to be worth quite £24,000. The Bank will not advance more than a third of the value of an estate in consequence of depreciations and fluctuaa tioas in the market. For instance in event of a general war and the possible occupation of New Zealand by a foreign power, which might resort to excessive taxation j to recoup itself, it cannot be denied that the population would dwindle very considerably, and property consequently become valueless. We only mention this as a possible contingency to illustrate our argument.

XFor Coughs and Colds take Wood’s Great Peppermint Cure, 1/6 and 2s,