LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10010, 5 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Lansaowne is progressing, several houses being iu the course of erection there at the present time. Two ot the strurctues are nearing completion. A local angler has secured no less than 501 trout so far this season. A good proportion of the total landed were from the Waingawa river. A South Canterbury farmer, who has lately returned from a trip South, says that he is more convinced than ever (hat South Canterbury is the garden of New Zealand. After having been a member of the Wanganui County Council since 1876, with very few intervals, Col. J. R. Sommerville has been compelled, owing to ill-health, to forward his resignation to that body.

A Japanese auction is a most solemn affair. The public do not call out their namas, but write out their names, together with the amount they are willing to pay, on slips of I and put them in a box. These i are looked through, and the article awarded to the person who has made the biggest offer. The keenness of certain houses to do business often runs 'away with their discretion, and, according to some of the creditors in estate which was being investigate:! by Mr E. i Gerard, Official Assignee, of Auckland, this risky system is too prevalent in that city. They were discussing what representations the bank rups had made when they got goods, and the answer was that travellers came round pressing them to give an order. "Theer is too much of that sort of thing," said one of the creditor.-'. '"Everybody is after business, and in gettingi t risks are taken that should not be run." There was a, chorus of approval from several of the o h r creditors.

A peculiar occurrence is reported from North Wairoa. During the past: week there has been a swarm of millions of crickets which have absolutey stripped the grass. In parts the ground is just black with the pests. It is estimated that farmers have lost hundreds of pounds through the clevastation. A number of factory sappliers have been compelled to dry | off their herds and place them in paddocks further back where pasture was procurable. This was necessary, to save stock from starvation. According to Mr Rogers, treasurer of the Maternity Hospital, Chicago, there are fully 3,000 husbands who are fondling infants not their own, but adopted by their wives, and the deluded "fathers" are none thewiser. From this institution 250 infants are adopted into good homes, every year. Of these more than: half are believed by the husbands to be their own. There was a man in Chicago supposed to be worth millions, who passed much of his time in Europe, and his wife palmed off on him at different times two babies which he believes are his own. Acording to the Hon. R. McKenzie, Minister for Public Works, £BOO,OOO has already been spent on railway construction works in the this year. He declared at I Auckland the other day that the cooperative system upon the railway : works was working satisfactorily* [ and that the men were doing very well. "Of course " he added, "there are always a number of men on the works who have never done any navying before in their lives, and in many cases an experienced man has to be put in with them to snow them how to do their work." - *■ At the Rev. W. Mawson's lecture on "Life in the Canton Villages," in Knox Hall last evening about twenty of Masterton Chinese were present, and they seemed highly pleased when several of the pictures, relative to their native towns in Chi a r '. were depicted on the screen. On several occasions, one of their number asjced questions concerning the whereabouts of certain places in the villages shown. Mr Mawson, who has been connected with missionary work in China for a considerable time, was able to reply to the questions asked in the Chinese language,*, much to the delight of the one-time residents of the East, and to the interest of the audience in general. A wellknown Saukey hymn was sung during the evening, and afterwards a copy | of this hymn was shjwn on the Sheet J in the Chinese ianguage, which was . sung by Mr Mawson and soma of the ! Chinese present. It is announced by 'Country LifeV that a very interesting experiment is to be tried in the Blagdon reservoir, near Bristol—the i&troduction into it of a large number of trout from New Zealand It is pointed out, writes a London correspondent, that this is a reversal of the earlier policy of sending out English trout to the Antipodes, where they have grown to such great size in some of the l<rge rivers and lakes. I-, will he curious to watch whether the race of New Zealand giants will have the effect of increasing the size of the native stock. Doubt is expressed as to whether this will happen—or for more than a generation ahead—because the growth of fish is largely pendant on the foud supply. But. should it ever so far succeed, an interesting result will have been arrived at. The Blagdon reservoir is already a well-stocked water. Under date 18th February, the "Post's" London correspondent writes—"ln a local police court, in which the Waratah was mentioned,' it ,was stated by a represenattive of the owners that about £6,000 had been paid as compensation to the sufferers. In the Nisi Prius Court this week Mr Justice Madden gave leave to presume the death nf Nora oonnolly, who was a passenger on the Waratah. It appeared that she left Tipperary twenty years ago, and went to Australia, where she married Patrick Connolly in J 892. She came home in 1901, and remained until 1909, when she went to South Africav Her husband had been killed in the mines there in 1908. He made no will, and his wife was his only next of kin. Last July Mr 3 Connolly wrote to her friends that she was returning to, Ireland from Durban in the Waratah, and she sent a sum of £I3OO to the Bank of South Africa in London. She was bringing the body of her husband to Ireland." > The members of the Waitdtara County Council must surly have smiled, remarks the "Wanganui Herald,' when they received a letter from the Government referring tu some noxious weeds on the Council' nroperty. The Council decided to cleari the weeds at once, and, with what looks like a delicate piece of sarcasm, resolved also to inform the Government to this effect, says the ! paper quoted "That it is a pity the i Council did not go furtner, and ask > the Department of Agriculture why, when it is so fond* of intimating to private persons to eradicate noxious weeds, it does not serve similar notice upon certain other Government Departmenta, notably the Railway, Lands, and the Native Dspartments. When a Government insists so » strongly—and rightly-upon private persons and local bodies keeping down noxious weeds, and also sends round inspectors to see that do it, it seems rather disgraceful that it should allow its own land to becor. e a noxious weed nursery." The difficulty experienced in s«curing the services of' certificated teachers for country schools is referred to in tha annual report of the Wellington Education Board inspectors, who make tue following reference to the matter:—"The Board is year by year experiencing greater difficulty in finding suitable applicants for vacancies in country schools. While a vacancy in a city or suburban school will brine in cwen y or thirty applications from experienced and certificated teachers, for a I similar position in a country school, (and advertised at the sa>ne rime, there is often not a single ceni applicant. The transfer system i *:he only way to counteract this incivaxing disinclination on th° part of our teachers to take service in tha country districts. Some definite plan of grading teachers is, of course*. liecessaryßto render such a policy effective. Under some Boards we notice that this is already done, but in the interests of the transfer system, and of the teachers themselves, we think it inadvisable that each Board should have its own svstem of grading. There should be one uniform, s-ystem for the whole Dominion."

The weakly rehearsal of the Masterton Amateur' Theatrical Society will be held this evening in the Exchange hall, at 8 o'clock.'' air Thos. McCaughey, CoonoDg. N.S.W., used to be Australia's wool king, with 1,000,000 sheep, but of late years he has reduced his flocks. The distinction now belongs to Mr Jowett," whose properties are mostly in Queensland. Next year, bar droughts, he will own a million she.'p. As a result of the prosperous wheat season in South Australia, it is stated that dozens of farmers are disposing of their farms and retiring to ilve in the city. Rural lands are booming in the State. Last year a farmer purchased a medium sized farm at £7 10s an acre, put it under crop and secured a yield which more than paid the price of the property. An expert workman in one of the great needle factories, in a test of skill, performed one of the most delicate feats imaginable. He took a common sewing needle of medium size, an inch and five-eighths in length, and drilled a hole through its entire tleugth from eye to point, the opening being just large enough to permit the passage of a very fine hair. A small block of land north of Auckland, covered with kauri forest was recently sold by the native owners for £SOO to a European, who a tew months later disposed of it for £2,600. The "Wairua Guardian" says the present owner now wants £20,000 for his property, and has announced his intention of putting in a mill to cut out the kauri, rather than sell for less. " Tne funeral of the late Mr Henry Wilton, of "Riverbend," Bideford, took place yesterday, at the Masterton Cemetery, the Rev. Bain Macdonald conducting the service at the graveside. The late Mr Wilton was the youngest brother of the old Wilton Family, same of whom settled in the" Wairarapa in the early days. Four of the brothers are still living, Messrs Nun and Job Wilton, of Wellington, and Messrs C. and T. Wilton, of Masterton. The oldest, Mr Nun Wilton, is just on ninety years of age. A novel horse race, a 50<-mile ) walking match, for £SO a side, between Mr O. H. linsor's Spider and Mr C. O. T. Kuthefrord's Deceiver, tuok place in Canterbury last week. The journey was over a pack track from Mr Rutherford's Homestead at the Peaks to the Lakes Station and back, an hour beirg allowed before the returnn. Mr Ensor's horse covered the 50 miles in 6 hourb 37 minutes, winning by 58 minutes. This is believed to be a record. Both, horses ate notpd journey horses, and the match excited considerable interest in the district. A striking instance of the good effect of pigs upon an orchard is reported from Mildura. Mr H. Jacobs, whose lemon trees had begun to give poor yields, recognised that the soil had become harsh in texture, and believing the result to be due to the washing out of the humus or vegetable mould,- erected movable enclosures in the orchard, and carried out a system of hurdling pigs for the purpose of improving the soil. Five years ago the lemon orchard returned only £5, but this season the crop amounted tc 17 tons, selling for £250. Trees which were almost dead quickly revived under toe treatment, and each year £he yield of the orchard increased. A large number of pigs . are kept between the trees, as means of manuring the orchard, with the remarkable result already stated. In addition to the gain aerived from the increased yield of the lemon trees, the return from the pigs alone is said to be equal to £lO per acre of land per annum.

There was a good attendance at 1 Knox Hall last evening, when the 1 Rev. W. Mawson, M.A., delivered 1 a kcture on "Life in the Canton Villages, China." Mr Mawson gave a vivid outline of the life and customs ' of the Chine3e in the South of China, J and also of the advance made with ] missionary work in Canton and the | surrounding district. The lecturer, by means of very clear lantern slides, 1 illustrated his address which was * most instructive, and he instanced j the large number of improvements ( that had been effected during the past s five years. An interesting part of the 1 lecture was that appertaining to the '• ■ culivation of rice. By means of the laatern sides, all of which were from \iews taken by the speaker, Mr Mawson, was able to explain to his audience the many ways in which : missionary work was carried on in the East. At the close of the lecture the Rev. Bain Macdonald proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Mawson for hia interesting address, and also to Mr A. Snowball for assisting with operating the lantern. The monthly meeting of the Masterton Veterans' Fire Brigade Association was held in the Fire Station lastnight, the Vice-President, Mr J. Symes, presiding over an attendance of [22 members. It was resolved to adopt the silver badge a3 now in use by the Auckland Association. It was decided to form a debating society in connection with ttie Association, and a strong committee ■was appointed to work up the movement. 'lwo new members were elected. At the close of the meeting a social evening was sper.t with members of the Fire Brigade, and toasts were proposed and replied to as follows: —"The King," Mr E. Pragnell (U.F.8.A.) and ex-Captain W. Dixon; "Masterton Fire Brigade," Mr D. A. Pickering snd Sujrt. T. Jenkins; "Masterton Fire Board," Mr P. Gilbert and Sub-Supt. Picker ing; "Veteran Fire Brigades' Association," Supt. T. Jenkins and Mr J. Symes; "L'he Ladies," Mr P. Gilbert and Messrs W. Blinkhorne and J. Brooks; "The Press," Mr D. Pickering and Mr A Gardiner; Social Committee," Ex-Captain W. Dixon and Messrs J. Johnston and E. Hooper. Songs were rendered by Messrs J. Symes. C. A. Ewirgton, C. Cole, H. Ewington and P. Gilbert. Recitations were given by Messrs E. Hooper and E. Jenkins and J. Johnston. Phonograph selections co/.tributed by Mr F. Jackson, and musical items by Messrs J. F. Johnston and Jas. Harman. Mesrss C. Smith and Co. invite the pubiic to visit their showroosm and inspect the newest fashions and latest importations in dresses and millinery. There is also a varied selection in men's mercery and clothing.

Mr V. J. Gordon has a notice in reference to presciiptions and those entrusted 19 prepare them. A woman for housework and cook ing at country hotel for a fortnight is advertised fir. Good wages will be paid and permanent arrangements can be made if the party ia suitable. Messrs Gillespie a'id Co. advertise for six experienced grass seed sowers; also a blacksmith for the country. Further particulars will be n on page 1 of this issue. H The membsrs of the Masterton Fire Brigade ant} Fire Police are requested to attend a special practice this ; evening, at half-past seven, at their respective sheds. Mr David Milligan, high-class tailor, Wellington, has a special business announcement elsewhere in these columns. Country patrons are guaranteed absolute satisfaction in fit, style and workmanship. A shipment of crockery from the world-renowned pottery works of J Wedgwood ana Sons will be sacrificed at Home's great crockery sale, to commence on Wednesday ' (to-mor-row), at 9 a.m.

A display of winter apparel is announced by Messrs Hugo and Shearer in our advertising columns to-day. Ladies who wish to note the trend of present day fashions are invited to see the newest creati ns which this enterprising firm will exhibit for the first time in-Masterton The W.F.C.A. call attention in an advertisement to their haberdashery. The trouble of needle threading is. overcome by usitg their gilt eyed needles, which all but thread themselves; and a new system of roller tapes, every piece five yards in length, and dainty wools cut in needlefuls. They invite inspection. At 1.30 to-morrow afternoon Messrs J. McQueen and Sons will sell on behalf of Mrs J. A. Robertson J {who is leaving Masterton) the whole of her household furniture and effects. The sale will take place at the residence Cornwall 'street, and as all lines are for absolute clearance, the sale presents an excellent opportunity to those desirous of securing good bargains.