LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9579, 27 August 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The latest leturn from the Masterton dredge is 20ozs 12dwts for 131 hours work.

I Last Augunt there were only three. | bankruptcies in Wellington, hut this I month there have been eight already. | A movement is on foot in the Auckland district to bring about the sale of cattle by live weight. The corning wool clip of Australasia promises easily to be the largest on record. A smaller clip is anticipated from America. The by-election for the Rangitikei seat will be held in September, so that the member elected will be able to take his seat at the opening of the Session. No advice ha !, states the Hon, J A, Millar, bee:: received aa to what financial arran • ments have been made by Sir Joseph Ward while at Home. Mr T. W. Kirk, New Zealand Government Biologist, who is in Tasmania, investigating the potato light, cables to the Minister for Argiculture, at Wellington, that the outbreak is not so serious as was al- - and there is much s'nun.l stork here.

It) order to the issue of tickets for Mr J. C. Williamson':, "Jack and Jill" opera. it has been arranged to opan the' box plan at the Town Hall from 9 to 10 a.m. to-morrow morning. After that the plans will beat Miss Kive's shop. News wa3 telephoned into Masterton last evening that a house occupied by Miss Piggfcrd. school mistress at Gladstone, had been totally destroyed by fire. The origin of the conflagration was a defective chim ney in the building. The house was the property of the Education Board. A meeting of the Workers' Mutual Benefit Building Society was iu i;i last evening for an appropriation of <£3oo by sale free of interest. Mr R. Krahagen presided. Miss E. Williams' tender of £22 pur £3CO being the highest, she was declared en'.itled to the appropriation The Chairman when thanking the shareholders for their attens- - said that another ballot for i£3oo would be held on September 16th next I

The Glen Oroua Co-operative

airy Company has appointed Mr A. Cameron as manager of its factory. Mr Cameron was manager for the Ballance Company for a number of years. A Victorian buyer, operating at a "purebred" poultry sale in Sydney last week, paid £2O for a quartette of prize Aylesbury ducks (one drake and three ducks).

It is understood that an effort will probably be made by New Zealand athletes at no very distant date to send Kerr, the champion walker, and Woodger, the champion sprinter, to England. For the Invercargill band contest, to take place from November 2nd to sth, Mr A. Wade, conductor of the Wanganui Garrison Band, lias been appointed judge, out of seven nominations for that positions. Eleven bands have entered for the contest.

During the pa3t year 1,144,727 pounds of milk were received at the Tawaha Co-operative Dairy Company's factory, and the cheese made waa 114,299 pounds. The average grade of the cheese was 89.23. The average price realised for cheese sold was 62s 4d per cwt. The cost of production per pound of cheese was l.ld.

At least one property-holder in Feilding had the courage to challenge the Government to take over his property at a figure less than the Valuation Department's officer valued il at. Mr Wilson's section, at the corner of Kimbulton Koad and South Street, was valued at £SOO. The Assessment Court was asked to reduce this figure to £350, but retused to do so. The owner then offered the property to the Government at £450, and the result was that the Government immediately reduced the valuation to that amount.

Cripps, who gained the Australian light-heavyweight championship in a boxing match with J. M. Griffin on Tuesday evening at Christchurch, intends, it is understood, to devote a portion of the purse received as the award of his prowess to the purchase of a high class New Zealand bull for the purpose of improving the milking strain on his New South Wales farm. Cripps states that, quality for quality, pedigree animals of the class he intends buying are much cheaper in New Zealand than in New South Wales.

An instance of the fact that the practice of a man putting money in his wife's name cuts two ways cropped up in the Magistrate's Court at Invercarigll. Some £SOO was, according to the man, so tucked away secure from possible creditors, but in the exigencies of latter years part of it was used for buying furniture, 'ihen followed domestic unhuppiness and separation, and the wife mortgaged the furniture. The mortgagee sought to recover the goods fnm the husband, who refused to deliver on the plea that the goods had been bought with his money. The fact, however, that the money had been put in his wife's name put him out of court.

■the Greymouth "Star" states tht four men went to an employer of labour not many miles out of Greymouth. The latter took them to a place through which the road was required to be made. Pointing to the work, the employer said his manager[had estimated it to be worth £lO or £l2 to do, but he would give them £ls and provide them with tools if they made a good iob of it. The men refused without further ado to take it on, contending that they were not going to •, work for 4s a day, but the employer insisted that they could make 10s a day at it. Still they refused unless the employer would guarantee them 10s a day each. This he refused, and negotiations ceased. He subsequently found a men the job at £ls. They made a thoroughly good job of it, and netted 26s a day each.

The addition of another storey to Dalgety and Co.'s wool and grain stores at Kensington, near Melbourne, has involved a building feat which it is believed constitutes a world's record of this kind. The work had to be completed within two months from the tftne it was started on July 22nd. and during its progress business had to be carried on as usual. To meet these conditions the contractor decided to raise the roofs bodily on screwjacks without dismantling them. The difficulty of the operation will be understood when it is stated that these two glazed "sawtooth" pattern roofs are respectively 236 ft and 216 ft long, with a width of 10ft. In the case of the first this was successfully accomplished. The work on the second roof was started last week.

On Sunday morning, August 15th, I Constable Graham, who was on duty near Moore Park, Sydney, observed a number of young men indulging in a game of football, which was so attractive as to draw together a large crowd of onlookers. The noise emanating irom the spot was such that the constable desired the men to desist from play. They declined, [and the constable awaited his opportunity, when, dashing in, he secured the ball and marched off with it. Immediately there was a hue and cry, and missiles are stated to have been thrown. But that was not all. Deprived of their ball, the players cast around for a substitute, and one bright youth hit upon the idea of securing the officer's helmet. Snatching it, he inaugurated a passing rush across Dnwling-street, and thence — tin; constable knows not where, for his he met, liiis not yet turned up. Two young men, said to have been im- I plicated subsequent 1.7 appeared at the Police Court, and JVL-ru remanded.

Rev, Janiea Worbjys, of Parrarrmtta, who has raccDliy litunt a month in Brisbane, writes io the "Cumberland Argus," in regard to the Satimbiy haif-lioliciay there, as ful 1 r»a hivu given considerable attention (n ihu half-holiday question The I!;■ i.-ibn9 po.iple, os ;.i whob.', ar-j very much pleased vvifn their prcsont arrangements, vis., late Friday night shopping and Saturday lull [-holiday. From a public ttaudpqinfc it worhs woJI; from a moral tinni.'; ,uaf, it is uuisionfcly satisfactory. In fact, it seems most x'itdit tlmt Ha'.r- '-y rf'crnoon should *bo free from ail compulsory business engagements. It is a line prelude to tho Day of Rest. From a social [standpoint, it is certainly advantageous, as everyone is free on the same afternoon. Brisbane's testimony is in favour I of Saturday half-holiday being imivarsal."

Over a thousand white Leghorns and silver Wyandotte chickens have beeu hatched by Mr W. Knight, of the Hutt, Wellington, so far this seaon. Th e best hatch was 84 per cent;Mr Knight's highest hatch has been* 93.

Mr C. C. Graham, S.M., presided! over a sitting of the Old Age Pensions Court yesterday morning, wheo< seventeen applications were dealt; with. The nature of the applications were not at all involved, and the Court granted 13 renewals andi 4 new pensions after a short sitting. • The Rongokokako Dairy Company have had a most successful year. The' sum of £4,087 Is 5d was paid to suppliers, and the cr. balance now stands at £1,506 17s Bd. The directors recommend that an> additional 2£d per lb be paid, making the payment for the season Is OJjd,, which wili absorb £1,021, and they also recommend the payment ofia dividend of 6 per cent - .

It has been decided to leave out the reading at sight portion of the elocutionary competition to be held at Knox Hall this evening, as the competitors? will not be allowed m the room while the contest in which they are competing is taking place (except of course to contribute their own piece). An adjoining room will; be available for them.

The debate last evening between the Greytown and Y.M C.A. Debating Societies resulted in a win for the former b.v 14 points. The judge (Mr W. M. Easthope} awarded the points as follows:—Greytown: Roberts 72, Irwin 71, Pettendreigh 70: total, 213. \.M.C.A. A. Donald 73, J. Cole 70, W. Gillespie 56,. total, 199. The visitors and their friends were provided with refreshments.

Mr F. M. Dowries who made a claim of Id upon the Auckland Tramways Company, in respect of two fares charged upon the Queen Street section during the repair operations last week, has been noti- - fied that the sum of Id, together with 3s costs for summons, has been paid * into Court. The claim will not there- • fore come before the Bench.

While proceaaing to New Brighton . (near Christchurch) in his motor-car one day last week, Dr Simpson had an unpleasant experience. When • midway between Breeze's Road and Bexley, the car caught fire and in a ■ few seconds was a roaring mass of flames, which it was found impossible to extinguish. Soon the car was an utter wreck, only the undercar- - riage and the metal parts remaining.

The directors of the Wellington - Farmers' Co-operative • Meat Freezing Company yesterday paid a visit to Pigeon Bush to inspect i the site which has been offered to the company for the establishment of " their freezing works. The previous ■ day Mr J. C. Cooper, chairman, and other members of the directorate, , visited the proposed site at Wai- - ngawa.

A charge of insobriety . was pre- - ferred against a young man, named Thomas Henry Sewell at<lke .Magistrate's Court yesterday.- morning. Constable Anderson stated in support of the charge that prior to his arrest in Masterton accused had been brought before the Court at Carterton . the previous day and had been con- • victed and discharged for a similar offence. The presiding magistrate, Mr C. C. Graham, inflicted a fine of; 10s, in default 48 hours - imprisonment.

Mrs Simeon, wife of Fred. P. Simeon died in Wellington yesterday a£ed 65 year? nays a Press Association te)egram. The 'deceased was a half-caste, and was will-know among the Maoris as Kurakitiro and also as Akanihi.. She was a close relative ot the late Chiefs Tohu and Te Whiti.- For many years she had been of ereat assistance to the Native Land Courta in unravalling intricate cases by reason of her intimate knowledge of lineage of Taranaki natives. She was born at Te Awamutu in Waikato district. Her grandfather was a noted tohunga.

A detective who gave evidence in a conspiracy case heard before the Court at Christchurch produced a small wooden implement which he had found in the possession of one of the accused men. He described it as a "two-up kip." This desription did not please Mr T. M. Wilford, who asked, "Is- it not an article used by gaidenei: in planting sweet peas?" The witness said that he did not "know it as a gardening implement. It was made out of the end of a cigar box. "It has to do with 'plants,' apparently," was his Honor's remark.

A majority of the witnesses at the criminal sittings of the Auckland Supreme Court have been natives, and all have elected to give their evidence in the Maori language. "I suppose these witnessescan speak English," his Honor remarked as an intelligent-looking 1 Maori entered the box. The interpreter interrogated the witness, and received a negative reply. His Honor: "If someone asked you tohave a drink, would you not understand?" The bland face of the native : turned to the interpreter, in welifeigned surprise, but ths joke had appealed too strongly to his risibility,, and a broad smile illumined his face, to the amusement of those in Court! The services of the interpreter were, however, not dispensed with.

Mr H. Byron Moore, secretary of the Victoria Racing Glub last week received a letter from Madame Melba stating that it was her intention to become an owner of racehorses, and that her colours should be registered as olive green jacket, mauve sash, and white cap. Miss A'urphy. Madame Melba 'a private secretary, said that Melba had always bin i"; fond of sport, and fond 01" hoist-F, and had been thinking for a long wlulo of trying whether her luck would be as good in this, direction sis in others. fco she had enrolled herself as a pa iron 0 f horseracii.'g. "ihe last time the' spoke to me about it," said Miss. Murphy, "was on the ship, on the wny out from Enehm\ but I don't think her arrangements are coirplete. even now. Oh, yes, ] think she certainly means to race iu New Bouth Wales, an well na in Vieluria. Perhaps she will have the luck Mrs Langtry had, or the Duchess of Montrose. No, I don't know what horses she is going to buy, or how many, or when she intends to begin racir.fr. You see, I don't fancy ( her plans aie quite made out just yet."