LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9678, 30 December 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

i We vi-onl'l ;!rn-v the attention of I the oeoupiertf rf shops within tlie j Borough "f Mast*:rton th-*t although j they may close their premises on | Monday, January 3rd next wee*, i they win alw be required to close on ! Thursday afternoon. January 6th, I the statutory half-holiday, from th-J ; hour oi' one o'rluck, in accordance 1 with the provisions of the "Shoos [rtiidOfficiiS Act." The Maaterton Methodist Church Choir v.'i li Kot meet again tor practice till Thursday, 27th January. At the Police Court, yesterday morning., before Mr Eli Smith, J.P., a firs?, .offer.!ilimg inebriate was lined iSs, m default 24 hours' imprisonment. j In the JVJasistrate's Court, Welj iington, yesterday, Joseph Victor Sly was charged with attempted suicide I at Masterto.n, on 22nd December, and j was remanded Jo appear here on sth January. . j

Tbera is on view in Mr J. L. Murray's shop window. Exchange Building?, a bowl of English waterlilies. The lilies, which are remarkable for tbeir beauty a-ul purity of colour, wera ifts centra of a great deal of attention and admiration yesterday. Thvy were on Mr Mursas'd grenersrj? at Lansdowne.

All the engines running on the Otago section of railways, likewise every station, have now been fitted with the automatic exchange in coiig nection with the tablet system,

A Fernridge settler writes complaining of the action of a band of larrikins who, on Christmas Eve, removed certain gates so that crops could be injured by neighbours' stock. Moreover, in one instance, a gate was laid flat across a half-chain road to the certain injury of any one travelling with horses or vehicle.

The "Christchurch Press" rep >rts that the two leper patients on Quail Island have been showing considerable improvement under the Na-itin treatment. Tn°. white patient, who was very bad last year, has considerably improved, and is reported to have regained the Use of his hands. The Maori patient, it is stated, is wsll on the way to complete recovery.

During the examination by the Official Assignee a'f Auckland of a debtor who had been in the hands of moneylenders, it transpired that he had undertaken to pay interest at the rate of 240 per cent, per annum on one loan—the only one which appeared on the list of his liabilities, etc.. else, says the "Star," some further interesting data on the rates of u«ury might have come to light.

This year has been a good shearing year in South Taranaki. A wellkr own T.iiporohenui farmer has shorn 900 crossbred ewes, the fleeces of which averaged 9-Jlbs. In addition he secured 98 per cent, of lambs. For the first time in his farming operations he has decided this year to sell bis wool in Wellington, being of opinion that if he can get B£d in We* Zealand it would be better than receiving at Home.

While workmen were engaged in making excavations at the rear of the guildhall, in Bath, England, they discovered a Celtic vase, which is believed to date back one thousand year before the beginning of the Christian era. After its discovery some timber fell upon the vase «nd broke it, but it was afterwards pieced together. The discovery corroborates the traditions, the legends and the fragments of poetry that testify to the existence of a high state of civilisation amongst the ancient Celts of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.

At Rotorua, on Monday night last, a fire broke out in Goodson Bros. goods shed shortly after 9 o'clock. When the alarm was given the building was m a blaze. The brigade reached the scene promptly, and confined tne fire co the shed. During the progress of the fire two firemen and a stranger went on the roof of a kanto of the building. The roof fell in, and the stranger, named Gierson, was picked up dead with his ir>ck broken. A fireman named Chilton had a leg broken, and suffered internal injuries. The other fireman, named Leach, is confined tn his bed, suffering from internal injuries.

An "Otago Daily Times" reporter has been informed that there is a very strong feeling ot discontent existing among slaughtermen throughout New Zealand in regard to the present conditions under which the industry is carried on. The secretary of the Ofcago Union has been communicated with, with a view to the appointment of a delegate to attend a conference of slaughtermen, to be held in Wellington on the 29th inst.; but owing to the shortness of the notice, and to the fact that this is the off-season there, it was decided not to be represented. When the conference is held, no doubt some decision will be arrived at as to thi rates of pay which the men are going to ask the employers to grant them.

.Probably no other industry in the world presents such a rosy hue in theory as the poultry industry. This apparent years ago when a certain celebrated mathematician, who desirous of starting a poultry farm, proceeded to work out his prospects on paper. After calculating caretully for a month he made the startling discovery that if he continued poultry farming for twenty years the birds would have multiplied so enormously that every available square inch of this planet would be required for them. In the interests of humanity he stayed hi« hand. But the way of the poultry farmer in reality is not an easy one, an i fortune is mors often a stranger tnan misfortune. This was the experience of an enterprising Masterton resident, who contemplated going in extensively for Indian Runner and Buff Urpington ducks. His little flock prospered and grew in numbers until they reached a total of 74, and then, at one fell swoop last week, no less than 57 of them succumbed to heat apoplexy in three days.

A galvanised iron whare and a lot of useful timber is advertised for sale.

A good all-round butcher is required by Mr S. Rodgers, Featherston. The programme for the Caledonian concert, to be held in th» Town Hall, on New Year's Night, is published on page lof this issue A first-class concert has been arranged, and tnere will doubtless be a recmrl attendance. The Morrison's Bush Hotel is now unr?"'- the management of Mr S. Pol.s •', who is conducting it in a first i iass manner. First-class meals ate pmvidsd, the attention is good timi the best of wines, alos and spirits are a'ways obtainable. Mr and M:--! P.ik-xn :u-e well-known and hurhJ. pop .i.-ir U'Us of the Morrison'-" tfua'i d'-tri <, -nd under their capable control 'h> j in.tel is one of the most popular in Snutn Wairarapa.

Messrs Finney Bros., Lt ' , announce that on and after fc-ftjiinmy next, their mail coaches from Castlepoint and Tinui will arrive in Mas terfcon at 1 p.m., leaving the former places about half-an-hour earlier, and the stop for lunch at- Taueru will be discontinued. Holders of private mini hags are requested to note the alteration in the time of running.