LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 974, 18 February 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A farmer of Mid-Canterbury of thirty years' experience says he never remembers when the yields of grain were so deceptive as they are this season.

Auckland Harbour Board is urging the Minister for Marine to request the Admiralty to survey the Ranizi(oto Channel in which the Kaipara went aground.

A sneak-thief at Raurimu appropriated 200 bricks which were to be used for the erection of a chimney at the police station. The Ohakune paper is most indignant over the affair.

The "North Otago Times" states that within the last few day s blight has made its appearance in the potato crops in several parts of the/district In some cases it has occurred in a very virulent form.

The "Eltham Argus" understands that owing to an unwitting infringement of the disqualification clause of the Municipal Corporations Act, at least one, probably two, of the Eltham borough councillors will deem it necessary to send in their resignations.

Orchardists in New South Wales are having great trouble with a disease in peaches cali"d "brown rot." It is a fungus rot d ie to hot mugev weather. It can be a-<-ested by spraying with Bordeaux fixture when the fruit is green. .

It would appear, says ihe "Timaru Herald," that oats have gone up with a run. An effort was made by a Timaru merchant to fill an order for a line, but he found it impossible to do so owing to the price asked—ls 10(1 per bushel—for oats which were blackened by rain, and sprouted. In writing to a resident of Ashburton, a land commission agent doing business in Taranaki says that land values in that province have been inflated to such an extent that, notwithstanding the satisfactory returns obtained from dairy farming, a reaction has set in, and there is every indication that many of those who have advanced money on land j will call it m as soon as possible. This will mean that those who have been compelled to borrow money wlil feel the pinch keenly. "Land in Taranaki," says the writer, "is not adapted for growing cereals, and I ha,ve come to the conclusion that, after everything Is taken into consideration, the province of .Canterbury, as a whole, will take a lot of beating,"

The usual" meeting of the Endeavour Lodge was held in the Foresters' Hail, last evenings, C. T. Bro. King presiding over a fair attendance of members. Routine business was transacted. During the evening the Lodge was favoured with an interesting address by C.T. Bro. King.

In conversation with a Dunedin reporter, Sir Joseph Ward said he had nothing to say on the Knyvett case, except to contradict Captain Knyvett's statement that he had todispense with Colonel Robin's presence duriri the debate on the Defence Bill aid .onsult a junior officer.

Writes the Kaipara correspondent oftbe "Aucklnnd Star": Steadily the bushes in the Kaipara are being denuded of timber, and it seems a great pity that the Government does not avail itself of present opportunities to plant new areas of forest, and so keep up supplies of timber for the future. The St. John Ambulance District Nurse Fund Bazaar was continued last night, when the stalls report having done good business. The sideshows attracted a good number of patrons. To-night a torchlight procession will be held, in which the Fire Brigade, Fire Police, Masterton Battalion Band and memberes of St. John Ambulance Brigade will take part.

JLJoxing promises to be one of the most popular pastimes for the coming winter, in view of the fact that the honorary secretary of the Masterton Centre of the Wairarapa Boxing Association has received over forty applications fnr forms of active membership for the fifty vacancies. Anyone desiring lo join should communicate with the secretary, Mr Smith, care of Messrs Chennells and C 0.,. without delay to avoid disappoint' ment.

At a meeting of the South bury Acclimatisation Society in f Timaru the secretary reported hav- ■•' inn rectived from an Australian visitor an excellent testimonial to the rivers i •> South Canterbury as fishing streams. The visitor was Mr E. E. D. Clarke, who had been in the habit oi visitiDg New Zealand for some nine years past for the fishnig. He had been »11 over the world, and said that he considered South Canterbury bad the best Silling grounds in the world. So pleased was Mr Clarke with the fishing in South! Canterbury that he Had written a congratulatory letter to the Society,, and accompanying the letter was a cheaue for £2 n

The price of iambs has taken a -J sudden upward; tendency in Soqth % Canterbury, says a Timaru paper. Prior to the rain feed was so scarce That farmers were willing to part with their lambs at almost any price; hut there is now an abundance of fresh, green feed, and no one is in any hurry to sell. Fat lambs have been selling this up to 14a 3d,

Referring to the collapse of the reclamation wall at Freeman Bay,. AucKland, the Harbour Board 's engineer reported that during his absence in England a trench Bft, deep and 250 ft. long was blasted without his authority, and that the subsequent collapse of the wall was due to thi«A special meeting of the Board wil*£ be held to investigate the whole question.

Bollock teams were * larumar sight in the Wairarapa many years ago, and not the subject of remarksYesterday, however, when a trolley with six pairs of bullocks passed through Queen street, Masterton, it created a great deal of comment, and those who didn't see it had heard of it before long from those who wished to make known what they had seen. A caustic comment, but, of course, one that was -quite untrue, was— - "This is what Prohibition has brought us to." The erstwhile familiar sight, however, recalled to the mind of many the extreme use-wA fulness of the bullock team, and thaA : despite progress in various direttfonPl* bullock teams in certain circumstances are as useful as ever.

A timber business firm got a pleasant surprise recently on receiving a" dividend from a bankrupt eatate. It. amounted to the munificent sum of twopence. The letter in which the two penny stamps were enclosed cost one penny to send, and as a receipt was asked for, the first named will have to spend half the dividend straight away in forwarding one, leaving them one penny net. The firm also has to undertake to make a pro rata refund of its dividend should any unforseen claim cume in L The firm acknowledged receipt of &L money, and added: "Please acctfct our best thanks for your remittance " They usually add to their receipt forms, "Hoping to be favoured with your further esteemed commands,'" but in this case the phrnse was omitted. '

A recent visitor to the Piako Swamp country, where the Government is canying on an extensive drainage scheme, speaks enthusiastically of the value of the land that is being reclaimed for cultivation On land that had been drained and partly drained he saw red clovergrowing three feet high, turnips (grown without manure) seve n and eight inches thick, and grass as high as a man's head. Wto/fto motor-launch took shooting partes only a few years ago, one can M J drive a horse arjd dray, a cm.al which will be 161 miles long 40ft ' wide, and 20ft deep. „ t he drainage project. Stores are taken to the contractors across the swamp, lands in canoes drawn by hw*e'

In the watch house station CiT.Tir tice offenne a reward f-. r infnt «o» as to the whereabout of a ™" man missvng from Australia. The reward is offered by a co 'JI nf *£! missing one, and the notlc TasVmt quaint features a „t, * taken at thirteen 8 ' yeals T%X given as a guide to her pl«S" notice is frank mo tn +, W. * .ell-brad, |. , ain 'JFSSSg* lery, it runs. "Has full fwe g a?thLo ißt A ken oP 2SK i nd i 8 fond of me selves a » on ' T K bUt no£ of "°» 111 !" notice conchr the .announcement that 5 " menr that the man >" towed in Boutkd sfrr* oiiiEebruary. 20th /£»«■»' inquires tor btr, ' **—**' . i

The New York correspondent of the "Loidon Daily Telegraph writes of the discrediting of Dr. Cook:—There is a general anxiety to know what was his object in putting forward hia claim to have discovered the Pole. Some Americans still adhere to the theory of delusions, but the more favoured theory now is that from the beginning he was actuated by the sordid purpose of making his fortune, and he has made it. Keceiving £5,000 from one nswspaper alone, ar.d £IB,OOO lor his lectures, the venture netted him, afcer expenses were paid, over £2O 000 He would have been richer but for the fact that as the falsity of his story became established, the public ceased to attend bis lecture*, and the rec<;ips fell to vanishing point. Mr John Bradley, the New York spirting man who backed Dr. Cook's expedition and defended him to the last, now admits that he has been fooled, "but," he continued gaily, "the best of us get fooled once in a while. . . . Cook is a

peculiar man; he never told me anything. Now we ve got to admit lie fouled us. There is not any sense in howling about it or attacking Dr. Cook. I'm going to be a good sport and tahe my medicine."

4 first-class reliable pony, harness and trap, suitable for lady, is advertised for sale in the Wanted Column?.

Houses Nos. 32 and 34, Cole street, are advertised to be let. For terms as to rent apply on the premises.

A young man a advertises in our Wanted Columns for employment as a handy man on a station.

An advertiser wishes to purchase a second-hand spring trap or full-lot k brake, in goad order.

Intpnding pupils at the art classes, under the instruction ot Mr J. Smith, artist, are reminded that classes will resume to-morrow, 19th, and Thursday, 24th inst.

Both ih 3 popularity arid the complete efficiency of Quibsll's famous dip was demonstrated at the Masterton A. and P. Show. Of the prizewinners nine champions, 42 firsts, 38 seconds and 29 thirds, were dipped in Quib U's dip. "Further comment is unnecessary," was the remark of the manager of a local firm who act as agents for Quibell's. •' Bristling with bargains" is the heading of the D I C. sale advertisement on tne seventh page of this issue. Tne fact that the D I.C. sale is nearing the end does not mean that the bargains are all gone. Far from it. Marvellous attractions in furnishings, tapestries, curtains, hangings, are advertised at less than cost price. Special quotations are given and orders by post receive special attention.

Details of a farm of 446 acres are published in Messrs W. B. Chennells and Co.'s advertisement on our eightn page. This the owner is prepared to sell at £l6 an acre, and instead of a cash deposit he is willing to accept a nice house of six rooms with ten acres of land surrounding it, situate near to Masterton, in lieu of cash deoosit. The farm is well-known to the agents and is recommended as a wellimproved farm, close to school and post office, and only 5£ miles from township. It is all rolling country, and half ploughable. It is a splendid farm for mixed purposes.

it may not be generally Known that the greatest candlemaking establishment in the world is in England. It is that of Pbice'b Patent Candle Compant, Ltd. with two other large factories, one Battersea on the Thames, and the other on the Mersey, neir Birkenhead, covering together thirty acres, and giving employment to about 2,200 people. The leading position held by the company is shown not merely bv their having received the large number of eighty-six awards at the principal International Exhibitions during the past half century, bnt especially by the unique fact that five of these are Grand Prix gained in the greate'st candle-pro-ducing countries of the European continent —namely, in Antwerp in 1894, Amsterdam in 1896, Brussels in 1897, and Paris in 1899 and 1900. Some of the company's specialties are: Gold Medal Palmitine, Grand Prize Parascrine Shade, and Best Stearine Candle ;"Childs', Royal Castle, New Patent and Palmitine Star Night Lights; Begina, Glycerin Cream, and Court Toilet Soaps. Gas Engiue and other Lubricating Oils. Glycerin absolutely pure Price's Soaps and Candles are stocked by all Grocers and Storekeepers in the Wai ; rarapa district/