LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3217, 15 June 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The House of Representatives, last evening, confirmed the offer of a Dreadnought to the Imperial Navy made by the Government. Mr Dillon has presented a petition to Parliament in favour of the Government cutting up Flaxmere. The first name on the petition is that ot Sir William Russell. Mr A. R. Guinness is the seventh Speaker of the House of Representatives, and has the second longest record (three terms), Sir O'Rorke (eight terms) holding the record. The Town Hall was crowded last evening, when the Taylor-Garrirjg-ton Company showed an excellent series of cinematograph pictures. The films had never been presented to a Mastsrton audience before, and met with rounds of applause. The proposed erection of a new theatre in Wellington will probably mafte the obtaining of dates by important companies in the Dominion easier than now. The demand for dates in New Zealand is increasing every year. Formerly the winter season used to be quite a theatrical desert, but now it appears to be a favourite, though somewhat r?sky, period with the Australian touring companies. Two well-known public men were i recently charged before Mr Bar-' tholomew, S.M., with being on j hotel premises at Na?eby after i closing time. It was the night of the County Council meeting, and the men stated that they were there attending to some county business, but the S«M. would not take the excuse, and inflicted a fine of 10s and costs. The matron of the Masterton Hospital desires to acknowledge with thanks the following donations:— Books from Mrs Ridgeway and Mr Robinson (Lansdowne); flowers from Mrs H. Jaclcso." and Mrs Wimsett; plants from Mesdam.es Henry, Cameron and Boddington; pumpkins from Mr and Mrs J. McKenzie (Woodlands); old linen from Mr John Camerson, and cakes from the Y.M.C.A. The Matron would be pleased to receive further gifts of plants. In the Magistrate's Court, at Wellington, yesterday, a;i application was made by the Levin Industrial School authorities that Jatr.es McKee, of Masterton, be ordtred to. pay a sum by way of maintenane. towards the support of his son, j Rupert McKee, at present in the school mentioned. Mr R. K. Jackson, of Masterton. for defendant, raised a technical objection, which was upheld and the case was dismissed. The weekly meeting of .Endeavour Lodge 203 was held in the Dominion Hall last evening, C.T. McLean presiding over a fair attendance of members. One new member was initiated. During the evening short addresses were given by Bro. McLear>, Sis. F. Miller, Bros. Leighton, King, Bedford, Anderson and Tarr, ancl a reading by Sis. Flanagan. After the business has been transacted at the next meeting, the Lodge j will be thrown open to visitors. |

The' Morris Tube Association will hold the first shoot for Mr F. Whitton's trophy to-night. Competitors will fire in the following order: 7 p.m.--Messrs E. Perry, Larsen, E." Clark, Hodges, Williams, Wheaton, Mcintosh, Jaques, and Hornblow. 7.30 p.m.—Messrs Barker, McHattie, H. King, H. Perry, Jones, Lewin, Winslade, Wheeler, and Hood. 8 p.m. Messrs Bannister, Gray, Taylor, Wellington, Minett, Harding, C. Perry, and Pickering. 9 p.m.-—Practice for all the other members.

There are eighteen cases of typhoid fever at present in Alexandra (Otago). Ihe first of non-commis-sioned 'officers of the Masterton Mounted Rifles will be held in the Drill Hall to-morrow evening. The monthly meeting of the Council of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce will be held on Friday next, at 3.30 p m., in Messrs Abraham and Williams' Farmers' Room. A fire broke out in a milliner's show at Hamilton, occupied by Mrs Laws, on Sunday night, and much damage was done. The insurance was £650. Providing for the taxation of bachelors and spinsters at four times the rate of married men and ;vonien, a Bill has been introduced to the Danish Parliament by the Government As evidence of the fact that the unemployed are not absent from Wanganui, the Borough Engineer lias received a large number of appli- ! cations for work during tha past few weeks. I The Feilding Technical School Committee, with the Wanganui Education Board, have arranged woolinstruction in , various parts of the district. The instructor is Mr J. T. Cahill. Mr M. J. Corrigan, who i? a taking a hading part in the promotion of the Wellington Farmers' Meat Co., Ltd., writes to say that he has received advice from the Managers of the Masterton Branch of the Bank of New Zealand, in reply to inquiries made through that official of the best authority in the Dominion, that it is now possible to hold frozen meat | in the insulated trucks used by the ! Railway Department for as long a period as 24 hours, providing that it has been frozen down to below 10 degrees. Mr Corrigan adds: "It is needless to point out that this overcomes the strongest objection to inland works." The Stratford "Post" states that whilst engaged in the work of construction at the site of the future Hinakawa railway station, a workman came across a live frog embedded in the sandstone at a depth <f ten feet. When released by the breaking open of the lump of rock in which it was encased, the reptile first sat up, and then hopping away reached a drain, into which it flopped and swanrcheerfully away, after the usual manner of its kind. Two other creditable witnesses also testify to the circumstances, which afford rather interesting, first-hand proof of what one often reads about in books.

We understand, says the "Otago Daily Times," that the police are investigating a case in a country township where it is alleged that a corpse has been buried by two men during the hours of darkness. No certificate of burial has reached the registrar of deaths in the district. It is further alleged that when the coffin was being lowered into the grave ons of the men requested the other to offer up some kind of a prayer. This request was not complied with, and both men hurried away from the cemetery, taking with them the lantern, by the dim light of which the burial had taken place. It is not unlikely that the case will enrne before the Dunedin Police Court in the near future.

It is estimated that about 150,000 ssicks of wheat, and the same quantity of o£ts was shipped from New Zealand last month, there is more grain offering than the direct steamers homewards can take, says the Dunedin "Star." The consequence is that shipments are being made to Australia for transhipment, the freight by that route being a shilling cheaper than from'here diredt. The explanation h understood to be that the;! shipping companies in the Dominion have enough cargo offering (including a lot of frozen meat) from their regular customers, whom they cannot sacrifice for the sake of "casuals." Over 20,000 sicks of oats are tu be shipped §it this port by the Unian Company's steamer Waihora, to arrive on Sunday for transhipment at Sydney for Great Britain. It is believed, however, that the direct steamers will be able to deal with everything offering in the course of a few weiks. . j Dr. Buck, M.P., lecturing at | Auckland last week, stated that during certain rites, if the tohunga, | wiitn invoking the aid of the gods, forgot or misplaced a single word, immediate death was supposed to descend on him from the powers whcse ritual he had forgotten. Dr. Buck mentioned that at the opening of Mr Nelson's carved hou->e at Whakarewarewa some few years ago a famous tohunga from Taupo made a slip in some of the incantations. During the evening the visitors were the guests of the Arawas at Ohinemutu. The old tohunga had been a famous warrior, and, armed with his taiaha, hs described the deeds of the past, and never before had hi shown such agility. He resumed his seat, and soon afterwards, when one of his friends spoke to him, the old tohunga was found to be dead. This, said the Maoris, was a manifestation of the divine law. Europeans would probably say that the old man had heart disease, and had I taken too violent exercise. |

| At the Magistrate's Court, yesteri day morning, before Mr W. P. 'James, S.M., Samuel Bartlett, and John Elder, bricklayers, Masterton, sued RoM. Clive Fowler, farmer, Mangaimhoe, for £4 10s for balance due under a contract for £92 10s for bricklaying work done on or about March, 1906. The defendant counterclaimed for £6J5s foi work not done according to specifications, and for damages done to his property while the work was in progress. As the amount of balance due was not denied defendant took the affirmative and proceeded wih the counter-cWim. Defendant called E. J. Rose (architect) and Henry Larsen (builder, of Mauriceviile) to give evidence. For plaintiffs evidence was given by William Biggs (bricklayer, of Masterton) and Joseph Langley. After hearing the evidence the Magistrate found that the plaintiffs were entitled to £4 10s on their claim, and the defendant £1 5s on the counterclaim, and accordingly gave judgment for plaintiffs for £3 5s and co3ts £2 10s., Witnesses expenses were not allowed, as the Magistrate considered that the action should have been brought before the Court earlier than it had. Mr John Coradine appeared for plaintiffs, and defendant was represented by Mr C. A. Pownali.

Lambs have made their appearance in Canterbury. The population of Victoria on March 31st was estimated at 1,278,344, of whom 642,756 were males and 635,588 were females. No fewer than 18,231 old age pensioners have died since the schemecame into operation in Britain on January Ist. said a Parliamentary paper issued recently. Captain F„ Naylor, formely of the Union Company's steamer Penguin, has been appointed mate of the Anchor Company's chartered steamer Wairau, which is engaged in the Wellington-Nelson-Motueka service. The number of children on the rolls of schools in Auckland district in 1908 was 35,587, an increase of noless than 2,330 on the total of the previous year, and 33,256 were present at the annual examinations, an increase of 4,099 as compared with 1907. Two first offending inebriates appeared before Mr W. P. James, S.M. at the Court yesterday morning. One of the accused was fined ss, in default 24 hours imprisonment, and in the otner case the offender was convicted and discharged. Pig-hunting in South Canterbury isnot a thing of the past. Mr W. J. Evans, of Woodbury, has just killed an immense boar at Waihi Gorge.. The animal measured 7ft 4in from tip of nop« to end of tail, had a girth measurement of 57in, and a shield 4in, thick. There is at present an agitation in Christchurch against the reckless driving indulged in by motorists, and; general agreement is expressed with i the demand that drastic regulations should be enforced. It is asserted j that before long there will be an< | mperative demand for the infliction of severe punishment on those whoare making the motor car a nuisance and a menace. There is considerable activity- in the building trade in Melbourne at present. In March, April and May there were erected 801 new houses, as against 760 for the corresponding period of last year;, while for the i eleven months ended May. 2,947 houses were erected in Melbourne and suburbs, com oared with a total of 2,856 for the entire financial year ended June, 1908. | The Labour Department reports • that there has been no mater al. j change in the labour market in, I Auckland during the past few days,. | There are a number of men out of ' | employment, but the position carij not be called acute. The number of j men applying for work would indi-- } cate that about 120 unskilled laj bourers are unemployed in the city,, and about 80 tradesmen. In a letter received by Mr J. T.. Stevenson, F.R.A.S., of Auckland,., from a member of the Royal Astronomical Society in England, the writer states that there are nofresh developments in connection with Halley's comet. The comet is. expected to copie within about million miles of the earth on May; 18th, 1910. Mr Stevenson thinks the comet will become visible in New | Zealand before October, even without. : a telescope. j 1 Speaking at the FarmL-ri' Union l ! Otago Conference, the Hon. T. Mac-- ! kenzie said his position as Minister - I for Agriculture was closely associated wth the farmers' interests, and if he had, as stated, had the interestsof farmers at heart in tha past, how much more would he have them atheart in the future. . In a young

cojnfcry the primary products were* resDonsible for its>success, and in ihecaae of New Zealand the primary products were from agricultural pastoral sources, together with min-

ing. If h 6 devoted himself to these interests, he devoted himself to the •interests of the whole community. A meeting of the -Management Committee of the Wairarapa Hockey j Association was held in the Y.M.C.A. Rooms, last evening Messrs E. R. B. DanieJl (in the ch2ir), J. Gray, A. J. Fisher, J. Fisher, W. Minett and A. C. Pi'agnell (secretary). The•appeal of the W.F.C.A. Juniors; against the referees' decision in their match with Carlerton A Juniors, onJ May 27th, was not upheld. It was< | decided that the team to represent Wairarapa'against Wellington, on June 24th, at Carterton, will be picked on Thurs lay evening after the W.F.C.A.-Carterton Senior match, Messrs J. Fisher, Minnett, and Gray were appointed to select the team. It was decided to recommend Mr O'Meara to act -as referee in tie ■ match.

A gentleman requires furnished rooms convenient to town. An advertiser has for sale a horse broken to saddle and harness. A black cow. lost from Te (fre Ore, is advertised for. All the leading lines of seed oats and wheat are in full supply at the W.F.C.A. Samples will be forwarded on application. Messrs Veich and Allen, of Cuba Street, Wellington, offer a special parcel of cutlery, particulars of which will be found elsewhere in this issue. Gas 690sumers are reminded that to-dav is the last_ day on which discount will be allowed on current accounts. .

The Masterton Fire Police will hold their annual social at the Foresters' Hall on the evening of Thursday, 24th June.

Messrs War nock and Adkm, drapers, Queen Street, advertise particulars and prices of some special lines to be offered during their fire salvage sale. The time for receiving applications for manager of the Mangar imarama Co-operative Cheese Company has been extended till Saturday, 26th June. On Thursday next, at 101. Pine street, Mr M. O. Aronsten will sell on account of M J. Yarr, the whole of his first-class f irniture and household effects. Fuli particulars of the lines will be found on page Bof Uii.i issue. At the residence, No. 190, Dixon street, on Wednesday next, Mr J. R. Nicol will sell on account of Mrs Miller, the whole of the household furniture and effects. All the goods are to be cleared by auction without reserve. - The Hastwell Sawmill Company's timber now in the jards at Hastwell is to be sold by public auction on Thursday by Mr J. R. Nicol. The timber is principally heart rimu, and the sale will be worthy of the attention of builders and settlers generally.