LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9602, 23 September 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Greytown Bowling Club will open the season on October 14th.

The annual meeting of members 1 of ihe Wairarapa Amateur Swm ( ming Club will be held on Monday j evening next, in the Drill Hall. The practice of importing work ing sheep dogs from Home seems to I be growing. Two more were brought ! out by the Kuapenu on Tuesday, i Their destination is Canterbury. Heavy rain from the south fell in Masterton on Tuesday night, and at intervals yesterday, the weather being very cold. It is feared that considerable mortality has taken place among lambs. The S. Matthew's Ciub Minstrel Troupe will give an entertainment in the Town Hall this evening. -An excellent programme, including minstrel items and a sketch has been drawn up. and all the arrangements are complete. At a neeting of tiie committey of the combined cun clubs of the Wairarapa it was decided to hold a £lO match of 21 clay birds on Saturday, October 9th, at Greytown. It was intended to hold a Wairarapa clay bird championship —probably in December. Lloyd's annual return shows that of the 30,540 steamers and sailing ships in existence in the world Britain and her colonies own more than one-third—ll,s6s. Many of the foreign owned vessels, howevei, are small coasters and lake or river steamers, and thus our proportion of the total tonnage is considerably greater. The world's shipping makes up 41,499,767 tons, and of this total over 45 pel cent, is owned by the British Empire, its quota being 18,826,442 tons. The lateness oi tne English mail this week is due to a series of accidents which befell the R.M.S. Osterley on her maiden voyage from England to Australia. According to Australian files to hand trouble with the lir.er's cylinders nece~ i.ated a longer stay at Plymouth th i usual, but thn delay was made • p before Marseilles was reached. V/hen en • tering Port Said, the bot om of the first intermediate cyli ider was blown out. As it was a quadruplex engine, the engimers decided to work tHe ship to the 11 sion system, and this cased more delay. The time might ha 9 made up but for tronble v. ith an overheated high-pressi re viston rod. On August 21st the rod lvad to be taken out and replaced by r new one, and the operation took T 0 hours, during which the speed of the vessel was reduced from 15 to 10 knots. The whole of the New Z.aland portion of the mail arrived .by the Moeraki at Wellington yesterday. Referring to the Rangitikei byele;tion the "Marlborough Herald" says: —'The return of Mr Hockly at the head of the first poll in the Rangitikei by-tlection is only a realisation of the general anticipation. Disint.rested observers recog • nised clearly enough that the champion of the reform party commanded an amount of pubiic favour that would take a lot of beating, though it was r.ot reckoned that he would win Outright. The best judges regard his ultimate return as practically a certainty, and there are good grounds for this confidence. ... Mr

Hockly has more to his credit now than Mr Remington had in the 1902 election, when he won with 1,399 in a field of five. That fact is significant enough in itself. Indeed, even at this stage, it is by no means premature to say that, whatever the result, more than the usual political significance io attached to the con • test, especially in regard to the land tenure question.' The circumstances as they stand are a remarkable setback to the prin- iples of the land nationalises. If Mr Hockly is returned on the second ballot, as is more than lively that stetback will be accentuated in a still stronger degree.

Quite an unexpected development taken place in the sheep market, says the "Southland News." About a month ago the freezing works closed down, and it arp'ared that there was r.o hope <f improvement in prices Unlocked for developments at Home and very likely in America are probably the onuses for unusual activity on the pa. t of buyers, and prices have gone up considerably. It is stated that purchases have b;en made in Southland for immediate freezing of something like 30,000 sheep, and buyers are still busy throughout the country securing all the wethers obtainable. As compared with a month ago, prices are up fully two shillings, and likely to go still higher; in fact, onev well-known gvqwer predict? that before New good wethci'3 will !.e worth £1 a head. The explanation of this sudden spurt is probably that the shortage in America means that the States Will have to import supplies from London. The outlook for sheep farmefp, Whose position has been for some .itne one of anxiety, is decidedly cheerful, and if the price of word ke-ps out the coming season shotkl be one of prosperity. A meeting i etween a Committee of the Masterton County Council and ratepayers it:t.rested in the Opaki and Lansdowrc water supply was held yesterday afternoon for the purpose of ronsiderin.! further matters in connection with the working of the scheme. There were present-Cr W. J. Welch (chair• man), Cr D. W. Foreman, Messrs P. L. Hoi lings. A. H. Wrighfcson, V. E. Donald, W. H Cruickshank Mr Laing-Meason. enginerr-in-charge of the works was also in attendance. The chairman in exolaining the object of the conference said it was found that before the Lansdowne works could be completed a sum of approximately £SOO would require to ba provided and the question to be discussed was how was this to be done. It had been suggested that possibly the surplus from the Opaki portion of the scheme might be utilised for the completion of the high pressure supply. After discus ■ sion it was resolved that if the Council is satisfied that the surplus from the Opaki water scheme can be legally used to mak2 up the deficiency required to complete the! Lansdowne works this should be I done, otherwise the conference sug •! gests that the amount required to be raised to complete the Lansdowne scheme should be provided by the Council, and the repayment of it spread over a period of ten years by recouping year by ryear out of the maintenance rate.

At a meeting of the Belvedere School Committee it was resolved to apply for an assistant teacher in view of the increased roll number and average attendance.

A syndicate of six hand 3 employed by a Dunedin timbering; firm have drawn first prize (£6,000) in Tatterfall's consultatiou on the Kalgoorlie Cup, Last season 46,413 bales of wool were offered for sale in Wellington, of which 41,952 were sold. In the 1907-8 season only 20,200 bales were offered. This is a remarkable demonstration of the growing popularity of the local sales. An information has been laid against a resident of Ashburtun for trespassing on the railway by crossing the line £t the Asliburton railway station. The case is being brought as a test to determine whether the public can claim a right to cross a line where no formed or recognised crossing exists.

On Tuesday afternoon the monthly meeting of the Methodist Ladies' Guild was held at the residence of Mrs A. Hoar, Wrigley street, Mrs Z. M. Hoar being, hostess. Thara was an excellent attendance, and an enjoyable afternoon was spent. Songs were rendered by Mrs Edwards and the Misses Rigg, Jackson and Tait, a reading by Mrs H. Beale and two delightful recitations by Mrs F. Dupre completed the ' programme. The Rev. C. E. Porter occupied the chair, and at the close proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the hostess and Mrs A, Hoar for their hospitality. The annual meeting of the Greytown Rifles was held in Greytown on Tuesday evening, over thirty members benig present. Major Charters was in the chair. The balance sheet was read and adopted, which showed the corps to be in a sound financial position. A shooting committee was elected, consisting of the officers, Sergts. Walker and Roydhouse, and Privates Hare and Bicknell, with Major Charters as handicapper. After the meeting a smoke concert was held. The usual toasts were honored, and sr.ngs were sung and recitations eiven by Major Charters, Messrs Wilson and Roydhouse, and Sergt. Walker. Pts. Fisher, Fuller, Holland and Hitchins.

A meeting of settlers interested in the construction ofprotective works in the Ruamahanga River at Te Whiti, was held in Mr R. Brown's office yesterday afternoon. Mr Jas. McKerizi e occupied the 1 chair, and there were also present Messrs J. Ogilvy, F. Dorset, Corlett, J. Strang and McLaren. A report was read from Mr Dorrell, of the Greytown River Board, as to what he considered Bhould be done, and it was decided to call tenders for the construction of a groyne 130 feet in length, to be erected at a place directed by Messrs McKenzie and McLaren. The tenders will be considered at a meeting to be held on Saturday week. Some time ago Mr Kettle, S.M., Auckland, gave instructions that in future if a person arrested ana taken to the lock-up should ask for his or her private medical attendant to be summoned, the police should communicate with such doctor, and see if ha would attend. The case, says the "Star," out of which these instructions arose was one of drunkenness. An accused person, who came before the Court, said he had asked for his doctor to be sent for, but the request was refused. His Worship reiterated his instructions, and impressed on the police that they must be carried out.

Mr Reea Watkins, president of the Welsh Societw, states that New Zealand is attracting increased attention in Wales as a field for immigrants. The action of the society in arranging to meet its countrymen on arrival has therefore not been taken in hand any too soon. Scarcely a pas enger ship arrives that does not bring one or more from that Principality. There are very few who ( do not speak English; nevertheless, many keenly feel the strangeness of i their surroundings, and, failing to | find compatriots, are liable to form and send Home an unfavourable first impression of the new land. A few years ago, when the famous Welshman was in his prime, the news that A. F Harding—in his day a splendid forward—was to leave the country would have been received with consternation in the Principality. Now (says the "Sporting Chronicle") it will provoke nothing more than passing comment. The London Welshman, who, it will be remembered, was the leader of the Anglo-Welsh team which last year toured in New Zealand and Australia, with not altogether satisfactory results was enamoured of a life in the Dominion, wherein he has madfc np his mind to settle. Hariing will leave Lonlon for New Zealand in the course of this month. At the conference between the Masterton County Council representatives and ratepayers interested in the Opaki—Lansdowne water supply scheme, held yesterday, it was decided that steps should be taken to appoint a Management Committee for the works, which are now nearly completed; and that Messr# V. Donald, W. H- Cruickshank, W. J. Hirschberg, A. H. Wrightson, and A. Buick should be nominated for the position. It was further resolved that the services of a canvasser be secured to obtain toe necessary signatures to the requisition for the appointment of the Committee, as required by the Act. The matter of a caretaker for the works was discussed, and it was resolved to invite tenders for the pjsition, to close on October 6th.

A morning's amusement was provided for a fairly large crowd at the Bank of New Zealand corner, Christchurch, by the efforts of two constables to detect cyclists who were riding machines without hells attached, says the Lyttelton Times." One of the policemen, armed with pencil and nott-book, was busily engaged taking the names and addresses of the offenders, while his conferee devoted his attention to the handle-bars of all approaching bicyclss. Mary were caught, and more escaped. In some cases, when no bell cou'd be seen, the cyclist was promptly "nailed," and then the constables would find, to the huge delight of the crowd, that the rider had covered it with his hand New«> quickly spreads, and in a short time it was surprising to see how many people preferred to wheel their bicycles, and the trade in law-break-ers correspondingly decreased.

At a meeting of the Y.M.C.A.! Debating Society, last evening, at which Mr D. Hebenton presided, it was decided to bring the season toa c?ose with a social gathering about November 6th.

It is understood. that the TouristDepartment is contemplating undertaking to do the booking for tourists on a basis of 5 per cent, states a contemporaiy. It is estimated that in addition to being a convenience to tourists, the innovation, if in« troduced, wll result in an annual income of close on £B,OOO.

A Socialist daughter pays a heavy penalty for her political faith under the will of the late Mr Alfred Kichards, of London, who died: worth £64,389, Wheieas (says a clause in his will),* his daughter,. Gwendoline Florence, had recently joined the ranks of the Democratic Socialists, with whose principles he' was not in accord, he revoked all the provision made for her or her husband or issue oy his will, and in lieu or sub-provi3ion. left her a life annuity of £lO4 only. The great competition of pastoral Australia is the Argentine, but the recent very severe drought m that country should without its in* fluence on wool values in the coming season. That there will be a surplus in Australia is generally recognised, but the bad times ex* perienced of late in Ssurh America are likely to result in a serious, shortage there, so that the world's supply of wool will not be above the normal point. Tenders are invited by Mr H. A. Jones, architect, for additions to the Club Hotel stables, Mastecton. Men for dairy farm and sheep run are required by Mr F. P. Welch, labour agent. The anrual meeting of members of the Masterton Branch of the Veterans Association will bo held on Saturday next. Mr G. E Allen returns thanks to all those who sent messages of sympathy to him in his recent bereavement. A sitting of the Assessment Court is announced to be held in Masterton on October Ist, for the purpose of " hearing objections to the revised valuation roll. , Dr H. Spear, the well-known eyesight specialist of Wellinuton, is now j on a visit to Masterton, and may be | consulted to-dav at the Club Hotel. |lt is the intention ot Dr Spear to visit Masterton every three months. I Opening entries are advertised foe the second annual cattle fair at, Palmerston North on October 13th, by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd.. and Dalgety and Co. No less than 2,000 well-bred Polled Angus and Shorthorn cattle, on behalf of Mr R. A. McKenzie, are advertised. The spring and summer goods which have recently been opened up |at Mr H. A. Whelch'e store were specially selected for him by hig - Home buyer. Residents should make a point of inspecting the very fine displays made in all departments at this store, and note the reasonable prices. Mr Leonard Webb, who has 1 een is . the employ of Messrs Nodine and Co,, Wellington, for several years past, and whn is thoroughly conversant with every branch of ladies' tailoring, has entered s ,nto t,he employ of his brother, Mr A." Webb, Masterton. The valuable experience gained by Mr Leonard Webb in designing, cutting and fitting of costumes will be available to patrons of Mr Webb's Masterton tailoring store, and should result in a substantial increase of business. A specialty is to be made of linen costumes' during the coming season.