LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9657, 23 November 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The crops in the Te Ore Ore district are in a very forward condition, the wheat crops being particularly so.

The £5 tourist tickets that are being issued by the Department over the North Island railways are becoming exceedingly popular. The tickets are good for four weeks.

The treasurer of the Masterton Hospital acknowledges with thanks the receipt through the post of an anonymous donation of three pounds. If the absence of the donor's name was an inadvertent omission, the treasurer would be pleased to be furnished with it. ' The usual meeting of Endeavour Lodge. 1.0 G.T., was held last evening, Bro. Morris, C.T., occupying the chair. Routine business was transacted. Two members were initiated into the Order, and one brother readmitted on a clearance card from Anchor of Hope Lodge. During the evsning recitations were given by Bros. Morris, and King, and readings by Bro. Heyhoe, Sister McLean and Bro. McLean.

"Are you the King of the Costers?" was the query put to a witness at the Auckland S.M, Court. The witness modestly denied the imputation, but subaequently admitted owning 17 vehicles, which he let out to hawkers, who sold fruit for him upon commission. He also admitted that one man sold 208 boxes of strawberries on a particular day and made one penny per box. In another case it was stated a hawker purchased £9 worth of strawberries one day.

Entries for the jHawera show total 1,437.

It is currently repeated that the wife of a well-known jWrnsJlat. and many time candidate for farHamentary honours on the West Coast, has received news of the fact that a "windfall" amounting to sanftefching Hke £30,000 has fallen to her M. A conference of delegates frtfm the various Chambers of Commerce and locs!'bodies in the Wairarapa and Korty Mile Bush Districts. t> which the business residents of Mastertfon' are invited,- will be held at 2 o'clock-to-day in the Dominion Hall to dfcscme the proposed railway time tabhr and railway matter» generally. There ut& stiW some very honest people in th*- world. Th 6 other day a lady called upon the Taranaki Harbour Buard sectary and complained that she had net rceeived her usual demand for ratesi She tendered the usual amount, and' was quite as tounded to learn tftftt the Rood old harbour rate was 4Dt being levied Mr Arnold (Dunediw) has given notice to ask tihe Govern nent whether it will earltf' nest session bring in an amendment tlo ihe Libel Act, with a view of gto-inor the press of this Dominion the same immunity from prosecution as is enjoyed by the presa of England; and iff »ot, why not?

It ie notified in the Gaaeite that the maximum weight of awy class <o£ cereal or other agriisuUural produce contained in any one sack tlo be carried by railway sriaD! be 2001b. Any sack of any class of ceneal or other agricultural' produce containing a greater weight than 2001b shall be charged for ati four times the ordinary rate of freight. Aii erroneous paragraph has- been going; the rounds of the newspapers that there is expected to be an exportable surplus of 2,000.000 bushels of_w<fteat this season. The paragraph is clipped from the annual rep irt of the Department of Agriculture, but it refers to the last season. The exportable surplus o the harvest which we are now waiting for is likely to be more than double the quantity stated. The termination of the Financial Debate;, says the "Lyttelton Times," is regarded as an augury that the autumn session will not be necessary.. Many Government members who refrained from speaking on the Address in Reply had iptended to havesa fling on the Financial Debate, and their self sacrifice indicates a deaire to help the Government to get through by Christmas if possible A Gisborne paper states there is good reason to believe that the statement published by a Taranaki newspaper recently that there fe-a probability of half a million pounds of British capital coming to New Zealand for the purpose of thoroughly j exploiting the oil fields is correct. [ For some time British capitalists interested in oil ventures have been casting their eyes in this, direction, and their attention is now being specially directed to New Zealand on acooont of the deeisinn of the Defence Conference that a naval base for the Pacific station shall be established at Auckland.

A curious affair is reported to have oacurred at Trundle, says the "Sydney Daily Telegraph." A large army of bees invaded the local cordial! factory, and, on being interfered, with, made themselves exceptionally un pleasant. Thousands of them were killed by fumigation with sulphur, and with bags wielded by the employees. But the winged foe held the advantage and the proprietor and his men were foicedl to beat a retreat, after having experienced a warm time. "Next day,"" a correspondent adds, "the bees; returned to the attack, and on the Wednesday the battle was still raging." A meeting of the Butchers' and Bakers' Sports and Picnic Committee was held last night. Arrangements in connection with the picnic, which is to be held on Thursday next, were reported to be well in hand. It was, announced that various trophies had been donated for competition at the picnic. Arrangements were made for drags to leave the Post Office Comer to the picnic grounds at "Willow Park" at 9.30 a.m. and 1.30 p»m. Refreshments will be provided|by the committee at the grounds. The charge for admission will he 8s for J a family ticket, which includes the drag fare. That New Zealand once was part of the great continent of Lemuria is a belief b3ld by Mr Clement Wragge. Lemuria, he explained, was the name given to the continent which, in long bygone age 3, had occupied that portion of the earth now known as the Pacific Ocean. It had been, hundreds and thousands of years ago, literally ground away by an encroachment of ice, but he believed that Mew Zealand, in common with Easter Island, shared the honour of having once been known as Lemuria. He had no doubt at all about the extreme age of Easter Island, or of the race or beings who once lived there. The very an cient carvings found there had been declared by scientists to have been the work of pre-historic man—socalled missing links wht lived some 300,000 or 400,000 years ago, and were probably contemporaneous with the race the existence of which had been established by the discovery in France of a skull that had belonged to a creature that was half man and half ape.

Some remarkable escapes from death are thus recorded in the "Lyttelton Times." A young man, a resident of Sydenham, was coming from Taylor's Mistake to Sumner, on Friday atfernoon, and when he was at the top of the hill overlooking the old baths he jumped on to a large boulder which was jutting out of the ground, and which seemed to be as stationary as the hill itself. To his surprise and consternation the boulder, loosened by his weight, started to go down hill. It soon gained a tremedous momentum, arid bounced and bounded down the steep places like a cricket ball. There were several people on the hillside road, and the boulder passed close to them and then went over the hanging rock near the baths and hurled itself into the earth below There was a picnic party having afternoon tea there at the time. The bnulder went into the midst of the members of the party, passing within a few yards of an old lady, and its resting place was close to the hoots of a horse. It was found lo weigh about a hundredweight, and there were several people who narrowly escaped being crushed by it.

It is feared that the: cold weather of the last few days wlii cause con • siderab'e mortality amoflaj newly shorn sheep.

Stock on the East Coast at& in goud condition, feed being very plentiful. Farmers anticipate »a exceptionally good season.

Owing t<? S. Matthew's Garden Fete being: keM on Thursday next, ili has been deckled to postpone the Brass Band concert in aid of the Salvation Army iuhds till the following Thursday.

Ssveral of the h*ge shearing sheds in tbs Masterton ddbtrfct have "cut out/' The clip is re'/stfrted to be a> good one, and tftere is a general (increase in the number of bales turned oat.

About ninety candidate!? will be presented* for confirmation at St. Patrick's Church on Sunday next. Archbishop Redwood wis adnrraiater the Sacrament of Confuv™<jiot) Mtbe moving-, att 30.30 o'ciuck,, and will preachito the evening.

A Government valuer' for a Hawtm's Bay district was recently, retired., the reason given being thaft the Government was The "Hrwke'a-Bay Herald :v states* that two- valueira have now' been 1 appointed for tb\e district hv- question, and' between them they draw 50 per cenU more salary than their predecessor did!-

"™A circular issued by the Labour authorities with>a.view of ascertaining the feeling: of Radical members as to whetheva-Labour party should! be formed in the House is not exciting much comment;.says the "Dominion." Accofding'.to one of the advanced Radicals-,, a stiep in the direction in question willibe taken sooner* - or later, if there i&not further legialaf'on in the interests of the wage earning Op tilllnow the workers, he says, have considered that their interests would be nest conserved by a Uiberal*Labour alliance It is not expected that: the proposal to establish a separate Lahour party will receive much sapport.

A passenger travelling straight through from Auckland to Dunedin by the shortest route has to go 663 mile"* by rail. His present farp, first class, is 625, but under the new scheme it will be a poundimore, 82a IOJd, to be exact. Similatly the'second clas3 fare will be against 34a 3d now. If he goes right trough from the Northemn capital to Invercargill, hiß increase; in. fare will be even bigger in proportion. He has to go 802 miles byyrailway., and now the first-class fare comes to 74a» When the change is-made it will be 110s 3d, with a.jpmp.from 40s 3d to 66a lOd in the case; of" &> secondclass fare. Oil shorter journeys, of course, the change wail not be ao marked.

A large crowd was-recently attracted to a church) att Willesden,, England, by seeing ainumber of firemen in uniform, andi wearing- rosettes* lining the pathway leading from the porch to the street.. Presently a fireman, leading* on his arm a bridb, came out, followed by relatives and friends. Passing the guard of honour?the couple wereepslted with confetti,, and at the church gate a gentleman presented a man in bandages to the bridegroom as one whose life he had saved. The gentleman then pmned a medal on tha; ffareman's bceaat,, and the assembledlcrowd cheered heartily. To their astonishment, however, the bride immediately unhookediher wedding dress,, and put on a . cap and waterproof and walked away. The whole affair, it was found,, was performed for the benefit, of j, a cinematograph! opsrator. ' j In spite of the execrable weather Inst evening, there was a large attendance in the Methodist Sunday Schooifoom to hear the lecture entitled. "Making Friends with Uncle Sam*" given by Mr C. H. Poole, M.P., tor Auckland. West. The lectuse, which waa illustrated by a most comprehensive set of laateyr* sjides, secured by Mr Poole during his travels, was a most interesting: and instructive one, and thoroughly appreciated by everyone present. Every phase of lite in the Spates was described most lucidly and tba views of the destruction caused by the earthquake at San Francisco, were particularly interesting. Pictures of great railways, skyscrapers, and workshops were shown, as well as numerous scenic sMdes. The remarks relating to the great strides being made in matters oi education, the views of prominent universities, and the keenness of the young men to take advantage of the educational facilities offered, bristled with interesting facts. Mr Poole is a bright and humorous speaker, and embellishes his lecture with a fund of amusing anecdotes.

A boy with some experience is wanted for the blacksmithing trade. Messrs Gillespie and Co. have vacancies for domestics and farm and station hands, Messrs McGruer and Co. advertise a special purchase of samples which includes Galatea hats, underskirts and pinafores. Prices are quoted in the advertisement.

Intending competitors in the floral and cooking competitions at S. Matthew's fete are notified that entries close to-day. The fete will be open on Thursday from 1.30 to 5.30 p.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m.

Elsewhere in this issue Messrs George and Kersley, of the "Economic,"Wellington,advertise the purchase of a job line of Swiss embroideries. These have come to hand and will be sold qt special prices, details of which will be found in the firm's advertisement.

Mr W. Pauling, tailor, Masterton, has,turned out scores vf stylish suits since opening in business some months ago. As a result his business is rapidly expanding. During the past week he received at his stora a very line assortment of summersuitings, which are particularly sty. lish and up-to-date.