LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9697, 22 January 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Britain imports from Denmark alone every year butter to the valae jf nine to ten million pounds sterling, and for eggs about two million pounds per annum. At the congress of foreiun pro3ucers hel I in Austria in April* 1907, it as stal ! that during the year 1906 no leas t .an 157,284 tons of eggs were imported into the British valued at £7,098,137. The "Telegraph" states that a gentleman conversant witn swimming affairs estimates that since the opening of the Napier municipal baths over one thousand people have joined local swimming clubs. The K(stin automatic gas-lishter is coming ints general use in the larger centres in Britain. The advantage of this system is that all lamps can be automatically lighted or extinguished from one central point simul* taneously. As a result of the increase m railway farss, the Willlan son Opera Company, which opens at Hastings on Tuesday next, will, days the "Standard," be called up n to pay an extra £95 for th ir lickets between New Plymouth and Hastings. The official report of the Director of Orchards, Gardens and Apiaries on the effects of the recet t storm on Jtruifc crops in New Zealand id that no material damage was done, anywhere except in Wellington and where considerable injury was done by ihe wind.

Some little excitemei t set ma to have been caused recently by the hanging of one of the public men of Ohakune in effifiy. According to a "Star" correspondent, h milkman going his founds in the eary morning mistook the effigy for the ''real thing," and gave the ai: rm. tor a time the bustle and excitement of citizens hastening to the spot to "cue down the body" was considerable. The coriespondent winds' up a long account of the matter with the ominous statement: "Proceedings are likely to follow." ' ' A.substitute has been discovered for cedarwood, so much in demai.d for lead pencils, and which is becoming very scarce, and has rabidly increased in price. No other wood being suitable, scientists have been engaged seeking a substitute, and at last havemet with success. A chemical compound, the fundamental constituent of which is potato, has beet; produe* d, and jso cheaply that pencilsmade therefrom are now being manufactured in increasingly large quantities. The pencils are the same familiar size and shape, but a trifle heavier, and they are more easily sharpened. The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, informed a "New Zealand Tfmes" reporter that he had referred the matte* of the Knyvett case back to the Board of Inquiry for a report upon the one point only. By that he mdant the point raised by Wednesday's deputation as to whether the decision of the Government to dismiss Captain Knyvett was based upon* an incomplete report of the proceedings. Until he had received the report now called for he would not be in a position to make any announcement, but it could not be long befor the matter was finally dealt with; a few days, or at most a week.

"The average intelligence here is not as high by any means," writes a New Zealander now resident in America, comparing the New Zealander and the American citizen. "I have no hesitation," the writer adds, "in saying that the average New Zealander has nothirg to fear from the average American. The average intelligence in America is not high by any means, as so many low-class Italians and other peoples from Southern Europe pour ir, all the time. ... Ido not think the school system here is as effective as in New Zealand, although the high schools are all free and scholars stay at them until they are about 23 years of age. As far as I can see, however, any first'year High School New Zealand boy knows as much as a fourth year fellow here."

A table published in Thursday night's "Gazette" gives the present estimated population of Greater Wellington as 73,867. Of these 69,357 are in Wellington proper, 1,287 are in Karori, 1,400 are in Onslow, and 1,623 in Miramar. There were 141 births during the month (132 being in the city) and 73 deaths, neither of the boroughs having any of the latter to record. Comparison" with the three other chief centres shows that including the suburbs, the.death rate during the month of December was highest at Wellington and lowest at Dunedin. The total births in the suburban boroughs at the four centres amounted to 640, against 576 in November,— an increase of 64, The deaths in De--1 cember were 241 —an increase of 61 on the number in November. Of the total death 3, males contributed 147, females 94. Sity-two of the deaths were of children under five years of age, being 25.73 per cent, of the whole number; 47 of these were under one year of age. From Messrs Ferguson aid Hicks we have received No. 4 of their series of "Annotated Statutes"— Farmers' Law in Nrw Z aland—which is edited by Mr William Joliffe, the Guvertur ent Law Draltsman. The volume contains ihe provisions of the Land Act »nd ihe Land for Settlements Act, the basis on which the bulk of the farmu g land in New Zealand is held. It also contains the Dairy Industry Act, the Fencing Act, the Irrpoundiny Act, the Noxious Weeds Act, the Crchard and Garden Diseases Act, the Siock Act, and so much of the Public Works Act as enables the owner of land to protect himself on tie compulsory taking of his land for public works. In addition to these are numerous extracts from various Acta of interest to farmers. The volume is. not very bulky, and by a little steady reading of it the farmer in New Zealand can leadily obtain a very comprehensive iuea of his legal position. Messrs Ferguson and Hicks also send us the firtt annual supp'fmei.t of (1)' Locai Government in Counties, (2) Local Government in B< roughs, which will be extremely useful to mary persons, and are most capably arrarged.

" The Roman Catholic clergy of the archdiocese of Wellington go into re- < treat on Mcnday for some days. Cabinet has authorised the expen- j diture of.a sum of £.34,079 for railway construction, £5,229 for rolling stock, £7,265 for roads and bridges. Forty-two estates of deceased persons were placed under the charges of the Public Trustee during the month of December last. The Dunedin City Council has decided to estab ish a small market by wayiof experiment on the baths reserve in Moray-place. The Knox Young Ladies' Bible Class will meet again on Sunday afternoon after the vacation when the delegates' reports from the summer school recently held at Abhburton will be received. The following are the competitors in the angling competition at the swimmirg snorts on the Park l.ake on Monday "next -.-Anglers Messrs Jor°enseri, E.' Richard?, J. Aithur, Edward Richards. Swimmers Messrs A. Snowball, B. C|aysuii, J. McLarep, W. Gtceu Tjhe Rev. A. Hodge will prearh morning and evening in the Congregational Church to-morrow. In the morning the quarterly missionary Beivice will be held, when members arc ask eel 1 ring in the missionary boxes. At t! e [evei ing service tht subject will be Job 23, o— The Sigh of the Weary."

The train leaving Masierton to-day at 7.30 a.m. will onlv go as far as wJhe Trentham Racecourse. The passergt r train for Wellington does not leave till 8.30 a.'n. The return trains leave Wellington at the usual time, reachirg Masterton at 8 o'clock. The train from Trentham does not reach Masterton till about 9 o'clock. * At a well attended meeting of ladies interested in the Lansdowne Scfy ol picnic was held last everirg mut-h enthusif sm was displayed, and * a strong con mi'tee formed The date fixed for the picnic is Friday, February 11th, and the i.ext meeting of the C« mmittee to make final arrangements will be held immediately after the school re-opens.

Though Wellington has not yet altogether recovered from its land boom of a few years ago, finance gecerally ia much easier than it,was about a year ago, and money for investments is becoming more plentiful. The building societies and lending companies, writes a correspondent, have decided that the rate of interest on fixed deposits shall be re4| to 4 per cent. iThe "Taranaki Herald" states that we experiment of applying waste petroleum On the main road at Omata and Oakura has been attendeel with great success. It was remarked at a meeting of the Council that during the very dry and windy weather that had been experienced the metal in all the other hills had broken up badly, but where the petroleum had bten used the road had held well together; the surface was perfectly smooth and there had been no dust. • In all probability, the members of ex-Captain Knyvett's corps who made a demonstration at the Auckland Drill Hall on the occasion ofitfce dismissal of their commanding olScer about a fortnight ago, will he ClilUd to account for their acMon in bandiDg in their accoutrements aDd announcing their intention of taking no further part in parades. Up till the present no official report of the incident has reached headquarters, and no action will be taken until such as been received.

Mr J. C. Boddington, secretary of the Master ton Chamber of Commerce, has received the following letter from the Minister for Railways"l have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 17th. inst., in connection '■ ith the suggested implements to the Wellington Wc.cd\ille timetable ; s adop<e'i at a conference of dek- • a es uf the Chambers of Commerce ifn the Wairarapa and Forty Mile Rush districts. In reply 1 have to inform you that the suggestions will be carefully considered when the readjustment of the timetable is being dealt with." Jn a report, dated 19th November. 1909. received hy the Minister

fur Industries and Commerce from the High Commissioner, regarding ih< first shipment of new season's bmter received per s.s. Corinthic and e.s. Paparoa, the Produce Commissioner states that a good market was met, as although considerable supplies of butter were available there was not hny great quantity of finest -quality offering, and there was Consequently a keen demand at /jgh prices for suitable brands. The Produce Commissioner adds that the butter in both boats wa9 found to be of exceptionally fine quality foi such early shipment!?. Every one ir the trade he had spoken to expressed the opinion that these shipments were tie finest that Dad yet been receivtd so early in the season. As alraay advised by cable the shipments by these vessels were cleared at an average of 118s to 120s per cwt. One of the party of American bus nov visting Australia, when afKed his opinion of the place by a M lbourne "Argus'" representative, m.'i-d. ' 4 lt's a 'dandy' country, and -■■. Melbourne's 3 'dandy' city." The Ihoy, Charlie Norton by name, went to express some refreshing opinions in contrasting Australian cos oms with those of his own country. He is, it appeals, struck with the f-»ct that an Australian bo.v doe? nnx'address his father as "Sir" and his mother as "Ma'am." This would be regarded as rude in "Amutka." "Guess I'd have been cufftd if ] didn't say it," he said; "but the custom is different herf. and its real good manners just to say 'Yes' and 'No.,' Australian folks have better appetites than we have. We eat three meals a day at home. Here the folks eat six sometimes. That's because you drink such a heap of tea. We drink more coffee at home. You can make swell tea. but I calculate we can show you how to imke coffee. Your table manners are funny, sure. You put the knives and forks in the ■wrong places on the table. You eal ■ the pudding and what you call pies with a spnon and a fork. We use onl> a spoon. But a fork's very handy. 1 suppose we never thought of it a 1 home. And every time, you cuta piece of meat you eat it We don't, We cut up all the meat into little hits, and then put the knife awas and eat it with the fork. Still, J think the knife's bandy, too."

The name of the locality in the county of Collingwood known as West Wanganui, has been changed to West Haven. The excellent programme presented by the Thompson-Payne Company again drew a large audience at the Foresters' HalJ, last eveni!>g, when every film was warmly applauded. At the meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce yesterday, a letter was read from the Carterton Chamber advising that they intended to enter a protest against the abolition of the early morning train from Cross" Creek. It was decided to write to the Carterton Chamber advising them as to what had been done in the nlatter.

The following is a good recipe for making waterproof whitewash. One pound of glue is dissolved in three and a-half pints of hot water. To this j ia subsequently added three ounces | of bichromate of potash dissolved in I half a pint of hot water. These two ' ingredients are thoroughly well mixed, and enough whiti;ig then added to secure the desired consis ency The mixture when applied to outer walls will be found to be quiter rsinpoof. Mr C. E. Daniell brought up the question of the Pongaroa light line railway at the meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce yesterday. It was a most important matter, and one that they should endeavour to fostir as far as lay in their power. Members generally agreed with the suggestion, and it wad decided that a c immittee consisting of Messrs C E. Daniel), J. Hunter, and J. C. Ewington, should be appointed to deal with the question and report at next meeting. The rise in the price of leather is likely to have an effect on the cost of boots. In a comparatively brief space of time the price of sole leather has risen from B|d to Is 3d, and the demand appears to be insatiable and universal, all countries finding difficulty in having their requirements satisfied. It is reporttd that a buyer j for a Canadian firm recently bought I 17,000 out of 22,7000 hides offered at Stratford According to an authority the rise in leather will probably mean an addition to the price of boots of one shilling per pair. Mr F. P. Welch has vacancies for bushmen, navvies and ploughmen. An advertiser wants to purchase a second-hand register. Mr H. S. Claughton, L.T.C L., will resume teaching, piano, organ, theory and singing, on Tuesday next, 25th instant. The blacksmiths and coachbuilders of Masterton will cloae their premises on Monday instead of to-day. A well improved farm of 844 acres is advertised for sale by Mejsr3 E, B. Hare and Co., Pahiatua. Messrs Chamberlain and Son, Masterton, are cash purchasers of bay, chaff, straw, and every description cf grain. Mr O. N. C. Pragnell will be the speaker at to-morrow's men's meeting of the Y.M.G.A., at 5 o.m. The strangers' tea will be served at 5.30. Mr J. Kitchener, bootmaker, has on hand a stoclc of faultless footwear from the best known manufacturers. The goods are new, up-to-date in style, and t>f best quality. Mr P. Hamill announces that his great bargain safe starts to-day, at 9 o'clock, and will be continued for a couple of weeks. A special range of prices will be found on page 7 of this issue.

Intending exhibitors are reminded that entries for the Pahsatua-Akitio first annual Show on February 9th, will close with the Secretary, Mr J. A. Walsh, Pahiatua, this evening, at 8 o'clock. The extensive stock of fancy goods and crockeryware held by the W.F.C.A. is being offered at considerably reduced 1 prices. During their half yearly sale a few lines are quoted on page 6 of this issue, and a visit of inspection is invited. At the Masterton Auction Mart, on Wednesday, Mr J. R. Nicol will sell the privileges in connection with the Masterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association's Show and Ram Fair. Particulars are advertised and the conditions may be obtained on application to the auctioneer.

Settlers desirous of acquiring, a ' farming section in the Matahiwi Estate should lose no time in definitely selecting one of these eminently situated holdings. A third of the land subdividtd has already been sold, and a thriving little settlement must be the result, as the quality of the country for dairying and sheepfarming is unrivalled. Some of the best sections are still available for purchase on the same advantageous terms as originally offered. The sole agents in the matter, Messrs W. B. Chennells and Co , will arrange for prospective purchasers to be personally conducted over the property. Slim Jim and Sunny Jim, and every Jimmy Jim I« jumping round for ioy because the Swimmy Swim —is at the Park Lake on Munday.*