NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8999, 9 December 1907, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS

MaNAWATU railway

FORMAL NOTICE TO THE COMPANY. BY TELEOEAPII—PKERB ASSOCIATION. WELLINGTON, December 8. Formal notice was sent yesterday to the directors of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company that the Government intends to acquire the company's line under the terms of the original Act. The price to be paid will be determined by arbitration. Negotiations are expected to be completed before the completion of the Main Trunk Line. HOSPITAL SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WELLINGTON, Decembers. Determined efforts were put forth with great success to make the Hosnital Saturday and Sunday collections in Wellington this year eclipse all previous collections. Yesterday the passer-by was accosted at every comer by ladies armed with Red Cross labelled boxes, and the persistent collectors were rewarded wiih a total sum of £249. In addition to this the boxes from the various hotels have yet to be emptied. So far it is impossible to estimate what this afternoon's demonstration on the Basin Reserve will yield. The various bands of the city and suburbs gave their services, and contributed an excellent programme of music. There was a very large attendance of the public, perhaps five or six thousand as the übiquitous lady collectors were as attentive to their task as they were yesterday, a total collection of a very substantial amount is assured. The crowd this afternoon was addressed by the Hon. T. W. Hislop, Mayor of Wellington, and the Hon. C. M. Luke, M.L.C., chairman of the Hospital Trustees.

RAID ON A SLY GROG SHOP. AUCKLAND, December 8. The police made a raid on a sly grog shop in Grey street early this morning. A quantity of liquor was found. CHARGE OF MURDER. AUCKLAND, Decembers. A woman, named Florence Ferndale, between 25 and 30 years of age, was arrested late on Saturday night, charged with the murder of an infant found on the Ponsonby beach. She is a married woman residing in Symo xls street, and it is alleged she was the mother of the child. WEATHER IN THE SOUTH. EFFECT ON CROPS. DUNEDIN, December 7. The long-continued spell of dry weather is beginning to cause anxiety to farmers and agriculturists, and it is felt that unless there is abundant rain within the next week the prospects of even an average harvest will be small. The extreme heat of the last few days has had a damaging effect on the crops and grass alike, both of which are beginning to look parched and wilted. In nearly every case the crops, although in many instances now in full ear, are extremely short for the season of the year, and quite lack that appearance of vigorous growth which usually characterises grain in the early part of December. Rain, even at this late period, would have a beneficial effect, and give quite a change to the outlook, which is now very discouracing. The grass is beginning to fail rapidly under the present weather conditions. The growth during the last few weeks has been almost imperceptible. The shortage of feed is most severely felt by holders of lines of lambs intended for freezing. It is feared that unless there is rain soon the result will be that large numbers of lambs in an unfreezing condition will be forced on the market, causing a glut and a serious fall in prices.

FASTING. AUCKLAND, December 7. The fasting cure has claimed at least one believer in Auckland, the subject being a dropsical patient, who has subsisted on lime juice and water without food for seventeen days up to the present time. The patient undergoing this treatment is a lady, who stated that for the first three clays of her fast she suffered a good deal from acute hunger, but since then her self-imposed denial of food has caused her no inconvenience. While previous to her fasting she was practically an invalid, now she is able to undertake housework. The experiment will be watched with interest.