ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43087, 2 May 1907, Page 4

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

This is the fourth, consecutive year Mr T Gilmour has been elected to the mayoralty of Waihk There are 99 counties in New Zealand, of which. 62 are in the North Is : ■. land and 37 in the South Island. Parliament ha* been further prorogued until June 6th. Qur Auckland correspondent writes T. E, Price, of Tauranga, is at

present in Auckland completing' ar rangements. for aji option being taken over the To Puke Gold Beefs by a southern syndicate.” At the Oxford (Canterbury) Magis-

date’s Court W. J. McConnell was § fined >£s and costs £2 for betting with a. lad seventeen vears of age at the Oxford races.

■ .During the currency of the Exhibition the Cadet Branch of the Education Department earned out, without mishap of any k'nd, th°, transportation of 4242 rcadets from a.ll parts of the State to Christchurch, their maintenance in ca-mo for a week, and return to their homes. The vacancy in the Auckland district staff caused by the promotion of Lieufe Rogers ha?? been filled by the appointment of Scrst.-Major Walk late of the 15th Hussars, and a new arrivail. The contest for the Hamilton Mayoralty was m close one. and judging by the tone of the defeated candidates “thanks to electors” a good, deni of feeling must have been imparted into the struggle, W: Wilson, the well-known crosscountry horseman, has been engaged to steer the eix-New Zealand Swimmer in the V.R.C. and Caulfield Grand National Steeplechases. Wilson leaves for Australia shortly after the A.R.G. Winter Meeting. Mr James Shaw, ex-May or of Coolgardie, who was at Thames last year, and who intends to reside in this colony, has stated that he intends to be a i candidate at the next general ©lection for one of the two seats in the Bay of Plenty. He declares himself to he a. straight-out freeholder. When the cook and the steward fall out, the captain generally manages to find out who stole the butter. Rumours are current that the last has not yet been heard of the Hierarch disqualification case, and, if what jS stated is correct, there is a likelihood of a further sensational development at an earlvy date. A! shocking fatal accident occurred at Kaikouya,. Mary. Sweeney, aged 14, was driving a, milk cart to the factory, when the horse shied, and she was thrown out on top of her bead. The-crown, of the skull was lifted clean off, exposing the brain. The wheel passed over the girl’s forehead, and death was almost instantaneous. Tins was the last day her father intended to send milk to the factory.

Apparently one of the burning questions at the Tauranga municipal ©le :- tions dealt with the matter of stock grazing on the streets.' T'hlr* present Council recently gave instructions to the ranger to impound all live stock om'the streets, with the exception of milch cows and working horses reg.stered at an annual fee of 10s and 2Cs respectively. This caused a large number of residents to threaten to dislodge the councillors for so acting! After his tour of the North, Mr 11. Beauchamp, chairman of directors of the,Bank of New Zealand, states that he and his colleagues found business throughout, the North Island in n satisfactory state. There is a healthy demand for land in the Waikato*, and the progress made in the district of late, owing to the adoption of scientific farming methods, is very marked. The party paid a visit- to T'e Kuiti, in the King Country, which, the consider, ,is .likely to have a, fine future. There is an immense Quantity of native land of good qualitv in that district, and it is certain, says Mr Beauchamp, that when-the titles have been, ascertained and the land; placed on the market, settlement will progress at a verv satisfactory rate. The appearance of Mr J. W: Walker, popularly known as “Long Drive Walker,” in the town; (writes our Wadhi correspondent) is generally the forerunner of something fresh, and a chat with the veteran miner, on his

early association with the Waihi and Grand Junction mines, is always interesting. His present visit is likely to extend over seme days, and in the Course of conversation the* subject of tin ore deposits recently discovered at Stewart Island! was touched upon. “Yes/’ replied Mr Walken*, “I was

asked to- investigate these deposits, but the South Island is a, little too, far 1 afield Tor me at my time of life, and I declined the bequest.”