PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 32, 28 January 1908, Page 4

PROVINCIAL NEWS.

MAKhTAWA. From Our Own Correspondent. Things iu this district tur the past few weeks have been lairly ••humming." Uh.it with lire aud hay gathering set Hero have bad a busy nine of il. The dry spell bus lengthened uul lougcr than i> iniul; and laruicrs are already getting uiiiious a« to the vulture ul tbeii stock, although splendid yield- uf oais, eu., nave been put into -lied aud stack. Lite rivers aud creeks bate uol been so low iur many years ana ouce lire is put UUo logs there is uo telling what i» going to uappen! Settlers who hare bush felted report oalislacioiy burns, anJ, judging Iroui the volume ul siuukc iu the distance others in different part: 01 the district nave tared likewise. iilr. Joe. Duckeiiski s place on Norfolk road was in a tight corner last Saturday, strenuous eUorts having to he made to save the residence. The large cowshed on the property was destroyed, aud the lire continued across country to the Dumam road, Mr John Salisbury's place ■uttering considerably. A Urge number ot settlers were very busy preventing the lire, which continued on Irom ill Salisbury a, from destroying the buy and shed and residence oi Mr James Uridgeuian. X am glad to stale that, alter a trying time au one night, ike lire was sueccsniuily kept back. 1 belie.e others on -\ortolk road report uario.i escapes oi sheds, etc., but the kiss ut pasture in many cases has been particularly severe, and, combined witu the dry weather there ia no wonder at sutlers becoming anxious. Air. Albert Skriebcr has, X learn, acquired the section on the top end of Uurnam road, foraeny owned by Mr Ullu buse. The dry weather is responsible for a lot ol minor troubles to the bush settler, and blacksmiths and coachbuiiders are kept Uiriy busy re-tyring wheels and repairing traps, which are used lor com eying milk lo the factory. Xt is a common sight nowadays to see the tyre ot a trap go whizzing in lront ot the trap and the rattling of the woodwork loosened by the heat seems to say •'Haul, rain'." However, X suppose it'> good lor somebody though inconvenient. The metal on the roads, also, is very loose, and koraen'culler accordingly—alio the "cockies"' pockets! Sir E, Bridgenun, who, a week or to ago, met with a nasty accident, he having fallen on the epute ot a leaf of tint barrows and received a dangerous prod, is, X understand, mending slowly at the New Plymouth Hospital. Considerable difficulty is experienced in obtaining labor for the dilferent road contracts which have been let in the district, ilr r'ariy, who is metalling Joan's road (near itugby road), is severely handicapped through shortage of hands. One would think a big artillery duel was the go judging by the banging and booming 01 blasting operations necessary to get the supply of stone. living close to old Egiuont may have disadvantages, but toe other side is worth considering. While complaints are mauy as to the state of the pasture on the lowlands, the settlers on the lop report cool nights and very heavy den and a consequent freehening of the feed. tt.Mta&SMiU