LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10032, 5 July 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There will be no practice of the' Orchestral Society this evening, as members are playing at the Egyptian Princess performance.

Mr E. Huston, assistant clerk of the Court at Masterton, has gone to Wellington for a fortnight, and is relieved by Mr Eric Inder, assistant clerk in the at Wellington. ,

A,visitor to Masterton, who saw Murphy (who is boxing Tracy to-mor-! row/evening at the Town Hall) win the Middle-weight Championship, was heard to remark, "It should be a lively 'go,' plenty of clever boxing, and incidentally some hard hitting."

The mildness of the present winter is evidenced by the fresh growth of pasture in Wairarapa. This is very noticeable on several properties that border on the line of railway between Masterton and Featherston.

The Grey town Borough Council yesterday received advice from the State Guaranteed Advances Board that the loan for the proposed Municipal Gasworks bad been approved. A poll of ratepayers is to be. taken ,t!his month.

Although considerable doubt prevailed here yesterday as to the exact hour by New Zealand time, when the great fight at Reno Would commence, it should be borne in mind that the first bout at the Boxing Tourney to be held at the Town Hall to-morrow (Wednesday) starts at 8 p.m., tertontiime! ' " "> ..''""" ""

Early sown crops throughout the district are looking exceptionally well. The growth in many cases 'is. so luxuriant; that a considerable amount of feeding off during the winter will be necessary, and there should be little fear relative to shortage of feed this season.

There was a good attendance at the Congregational Church last night, when the annual mission was opened by the Rev. A. M. Aspland,, preaching on the subject v pf the supreme, need of .the church. The Rev. A. Hodge conducted, the prayer meeting which followed.. The subject of Mr Aspland's sermon to-night will be "The New Birth; is.it a necessity?"

Apropos of the epicurean tastes of Southlanders as regards hsh,. a exAmercican fisherman remarked to a Southland News reporter that what would be in America a highly sound fish was not eaten in Southland at all. "Take the'moki, for instance/' he said, "it is as fine st fish as could be wished for, but the only peopleto eat it, I are at Christchurch and northern centres. We passed through, a similar stage in the States. For many years, while I was at Lake Erie, there was a' splendid fish, the sturgeon, which was,not saleable, although it would have been difficult to obtain a more edible fish anywhere. When we caught them we used tu send .them down to the 'stink shop,' or down house, with the refuse, etc. It was a first class article simply thrown away. Before I left for New Zealand, however, New York had taken a liking to sturgeon, which, as we used to say, "fcaught on.' It was fetching 8 cents a pound, and that .is a good price in, America.'" He said, in conclusion, that he simply could not understand Invercargill's piscatorial tastes.

Owing to the recent rains, a considerable area of land at Dalefield was under waier yesterday. The factory season having closed, most of tbe farmers have sent their cattle to other parts of the district for-the winter, consequently the flood waters will not cause any loss by making a shortage of feed in the meantime. Railvaymer, says the New Zealand , A > rrade Review, are wflking up to -a- ■ vA' lively recognition of the fact that ..<&s£' they must secure full civil and political rifthtP, not for' selfish ends, but to enable them to take their proper places in the commnity as men whose opinion are entitled to consideration/The present system of allowing merely the exercise of a silent vote is an anomaly in so democratic a community wher.e such close attention is paid to the over changing political' scene. , The Guardian announces that the following clergy have joined tne t staff of missioners in connection with 1 the ■ i, _.,-i General Mission in New Zealand: lW The Rev. Hubert W. Jones, rector 'of'' Ws' Guarlford; tne Rev. E.D. Evans, of ■' St. Augustine's, Cambridge; the "■>• Rev. .7. H. Darby, Hartlebury College of Missioners; trie Rev. M; " , W. Kirloch, rector of and .the Rev. H. (J. Mission for the Diocese of Oxford. The mission is to tegin on Septemer 1 let in the diocese of Auckland

"Too much sport nowadays," re- \' : marked a well known bm iness man on bearing everyone discussing football; "has been fur a long time, and will <§. be, I suppose, for a longer time, ft Why, | see now that there are? to J\j be 200 newspaper correspondents at Hs the Johnson-Jeffries fight, and yet there were only twelve in the Rns-o-Japanese War!" He rather spoiled the effect shortly afterwards, - : however, by adding that he hoped to hear the glad news that Jeffriea. V 1 had won.

The enormous rise of prices In the\ United States'since the beginning: '■ of .last year, and the disturbing firi-; ancial situation thereby created, lends special interest |to the Econqmr j ist's monthly index of comhodity values. The percentaees for April _■-'-.-. indicate the upward movement in ' Great Britain for the time being has' been checked.' In fact, exceptihthe " ras vof meat, tallow, andoils which ; have riseln, there has been a geheraV ' 'weakening of prices, although■.•Vibi*V v :v'.-. only one"case, that of wheat, ■> has. ' the drop been substantial. v 'I f!

It is cjcpecttd; that New? .Zealand!" ;,-■ will follow the lead of Courts in 'us tog phonographs to >• ;sißf sHorthacd writers wnile jdbing:-' ■ ' Court wqrk? It has been found, says the Sydney Daily Telegraph, -that by this plan much more y time can-; s be saved 1 than; is possible when the* shorthand writer .■■ is ". requireud • to* dictate from his notes to the typist*. The method followed is that/on thai •;" J* reporter finishing his "turn'' in*- »r\. the court he at once reads off hiV ■% transcript, riot to the typist,; but tothe phonograph. Hence, , when hisi ; task is concluded, he is frcey to go* back into the court, if necessary. The Otago Daily Times says:-—..■" "The utter disrespect with which a : very great proportion of the people . of the city of Dunedin view, the necessity;.',' fox; the ; yaccj|nati6n, o£; ( children: is a matter fwhicb causesV < serious though'ti It ;ib a facte thiat during the year .la 09, as shown* by the figures obtainable at the office of tfie Kegistrar of Births. Deaths', and Marriages, out of 1774 chi.dren born in Duriedin only 669 were vaccinated, The tendency to disregard w X this precaution against small-pox i» shown to have become even more pronounced this year than was the* : case'last year. .:'.;/■'■''>.V.v^ A whale hunt in the Sounds lastweek created some excitement for v the Jackson crew who made an endeavour to "land" a fairly specimen, or rather, two, a mbtheiK and a calf, off Whatamonga. They . successfully harpooned the young ' whale, and their b«at was towed at. the rate of knots on a zig-zag course for miles;' The mother defended the- ; calf the whole and managed to keep the whalers from fixing an-.-other hlie. Off Kahikatea the parent wnale instinctively bumped the calf : r : and snapped the iron. Odco the'pair got away at great speed, and the Chance of securinga catch was unfortunately, lost. There is an old custom in Lancashire, of putting a number of articles before a child'and prophesy- / >: ing what the child may become • from the ; article he fancies the-V ' most. One father placed before his;,* child on a tables a sword, a Bible,:, i an apple, and 6s Bd. If he fancied . the sword, he was to be a soldier; if he took the Bible, he wag to be educated for j& parconj if he" favonrefl • lte<^Sr^ ,tt green--- ;

grocer; it he selected the 6s Bd, he was to be a lawyer. The child took away the whole lot, so the father decided that that was a sure ;indica-*- ;.A tioft that the boy should be a police- ■ ->- man. ' - The prospects of the Ohura district are referred to in hopeful terms by a recent visitor to that district. The number of settlers is rapidly in creasing despite the fact that they are greatly handicapped by want of- [ up-to-date means of communicatioa ' with the outer world. Quarter-acre* sections in the township have recently changed hands at over £IOO, and all the residents appear 'to have full confidence in the future 01 the district; The capabilities of the district .for pastoral purposes may be gauged;from the fact that the-' but- S£ tei sent from Home froyn the Ohura «*- last season topped the .London market; New County Council chambers - are being erected, and other new buildings are expected to make their.appearance shortly.

~-. Exporters of spirituous liquors info the, Commonwealth after January Ist next, will be required to modify theirr language in describing the , beneficial. nropertieS'Of their svares. The Feder- . al Minister for Customs has directed that, iri regard to spirits, the description should be confined to the. nature of the article, and 'that it"..' cannot be truthfully asserted as a generel statement that spirits are : safe and beneficial,, and that any statement, direct or indirect, which would'infer medicinal, properties, •".■ claims, etc., are not to be permitted. ! This direction floes not effect any statement as to the purity of thespirit. Importers are io be informed that an observance of .these conditiorts ">■; will be strictly enforced on and after January let; next,, excepting in re* gard to those £pirits.~iii bondonthat, date. ,;;.;.■;. '.■■■■ : ; '■'..■'..

Mr J. Beasley, who has been farming in the Konogkokako district for some considerable time, hasdisprs:d of bis property and intends settling in, Queensland. He will leave for Brisbane this week. At the annual meeting of shareholders of the Permanent Investment and Loan Association, held at Greytown yesterday, the retiring Directors, M. Caselberg and C. Phara\l~kyr\, were re-elected. Messrs A. L. Webster and Mark Maxton were elected auditors to the Association. A Wairarapa Age representative was informed by a Carterton dairy farmer that the value of maize as a fodder for dairy cows is being quick- .... Jy iec gnised all over the Wairarapa by the dairy farmer and though a large area of land was under this crop last season it will be more than doubled in the coming season. Word has been received by the postmaster at Kaikoura that the .Jwcoacb, which was overturned in the 1 river, has been recovered, also the Christchurcb and Wellington mails j»nd a private bag have been swept out to sea. The beach is being patrolled in case of anything turning : up. : The river, it is further reported. —s*' is still in flood.

' The committee of the Masterton Homing Pigeon Club met last evening, when final arrangements were made for their annual smoke concert to be held on Monday. A vote of condolence was passtd to the President, Mr J. Payton, junr. It was decided

to allot tings from Nos. 1 to 100 m rings. Account 3 amounting "" \ to £3 17s were passed for payment.

Mr Clifford Paul, who is leaving Masterton, was last nicht presented by the members of the Masterton Theatrical Society with a handsone travelling bag. Mr W. J. Jasro, in .making -the presentation, referred to the very able manner in which Mr Paul had fulfilled the o secretary to the Society, and wished him, on behaif of the Society, a prospers 'ime in his new,sphere. Mr elingly responded.

At the meeting of the Masterton

Parliamef tiry Debating Society, lYiJiekl last evening, the "Liberal Gov- '■/ -eminent" was defeated on its Land Bill. The cause of the downfall was * clause in the Bill proposing to • give those who occupied leasehold land the right to acquire the fee simple thereof ■ at the original value. A caucus meeting of the "Opposition" will be held on Wednesday evening, to elect the "new Min--r~ istry,"

The ordinary monthly meeting o£ f tbe Masterton Veteran Fire Brigade Association was held In the Fire Station last evening,, Supt. T. Jenkins presiding over an attendance of twenty-five members. Five new .ts members were proposed for memberand twelve duly elected. A debate was taken upon, a supposed fire in business premises in Queen street, which created a great deal of discussion between the members of tha Brigade and Association as to the test means of dealing with the outbreak. The subject not only proved interesting, but was instructive to the younger members ot the Brigade. Jt is the intention to continue these debates dealing with various buildingß in the town. The debate for next meeting will be "Has the time arrived to improve the fire service of Masterton."

The Dunedin Star considers that the knell of the licensed bookmaker <:% as sounded from the Supreme Court A Njencb at Auckland. The honesty of individual bookmakers is nothing to the point, says our contemporary. The calling is Bhady and uncleanunclean beyond possibility of purging—and if men of personal integrity choose to eneage in it they have no right to be sensitive in respect to unpleasant imputations. As a matter of fact, the Eo-callsd honest bookmaker can exercise just as demoralis ing an influence aa his utterly unscrupulous conferee. To a mucn : greater extent than the totalisator—concerning which Mr Justice Chapman also expressed en unfavourable opinion, though in less emphatic terms—the bookmaker and his sinister activities are a standing j> temptation to weak, covetous, and ' souls; a menace to social welfare, and an impediment to the progress of the higher national life. They must go.. For the sake of the rational honour the present law should be replaced or amended during the coming session.

An ircidert occurred at a meeting of the Invercarinll Town Board that threatened to result in the less of a valuable nv-mler. Cr. Thos. Fleming, referring to Mr Sturrock's resignation, spoke highly of the Engineer's ability, and congratulated him on having received an oppointment that carried a higher salary than that ***\ which be was receiving in Inveicar\kill. He also remarked that some i -\ members of the Council had treated * AJr Sturrock in a contemptible manner. The Mayor asked the Councillor to withdraw the word, which he refused to do, and Mr Ott stated that it • would have to be withdrawn or the Councillor would require to leave /the table. The Councillor said he would rather resign, and he resumed his seat and proceeded to write out his resignation. The Mayor subsequently advised Cr. Fleming thac the better course was to do as he had suggested, and ultimately the Councillor submitted the word "shab ■ fcy," which was accepted by the MayV.ot, and business was proceeded with, -f?

Mr A. Avery, who was president of the Olago Shearers' Union some years ago, and who represented the workers during hia term of in the "Benmore strike/' described the preaent trouble between the sheaiers and sheepowners in the South as a "waste of time and temper—and probably of'money." "Tbert are p'enty of sensible men on both sides," he said, "who ought to be able to settle the dispute in half an hour if they were brought together. What is wan- ! ted is to get the men and the employers togtether in a free co-ference without the interference of the chair man of *he Conciliation Council, or anyone ehe. It is really only- the squatters who are concerned. Tie 'small' men are quite content to pay 20s*per lOC'.'and willpay it whatever the Arbitration Court may award. Met three or. four squatters meet three or four sheaiers, and if they can't come to an agreement before they have finished their first pipe, human nature has altered very much since 1 was involved in labour disputes."

During the roooth of June 6.27 in] chea of rain fell in Eketahuna.

The Masterton Homing Pigeon Club anticipate a successful season next year, and have ordered four hundred young bird rings. The lings will be issued on the 10th of the month.

Dairy herds in various parts of the Wairarapa and Forty Mile Bush have recently been bringing astisfactOry prcea. An Fketahuna farmer has sold his herd at an average price of eight guineas,

Mr T. G. Taylor, 8.A., B.Sc, who is to accompany Captain Scott's expedition tG the Antarctic as geoloigst, in the course of a brief interview at Melbourne, said his investiagtions in Europe in the Alps showed that there was little doubt thßt Many thousand years ago, perhaps 20,000, the eame conditions prevailed in Europe as now obtain in the Antarct'c. All the huge passes, rivers and gorges in Switzerland, and the soils of Central Europe bore evidences of having passed* through the Ice Age. l The subject was at present occupying a giaat foal of attention in scientific circles in Europe, and he was going with the expedition to prosecute bis investigations, and to discover how the geological features of Europe and Antarctic compared. A good deal of anxiety is being felt at the Bluff concerning the party of eight men who went to the Macquari* Islands to obtain penguin oil la't September under instruction from Mr Joseph Hatch, of liivercargill. Mr Hatch hqs been unable to obtain a vessel to make the trip to the southerly group in questior, and as all the stores must have been used up during their nine months' stay, their bill of fare must be a meagre one. It may be remembered that the schooner Jessie Niccol endeavoured to make the Macquaries a few months back, but had to return (o Dunedin for repairs. Mr Hatch is trying to get the Government to send a vessel. An up-to-date five-roomed house is advertised for sale.

A light, second-hand spring cart and harness is advertised for.

Four good dairy caws are advertised for sale.

Board and residence for a young gentleman is advertised for. A progressive euchre tournament will be held in the Kuripuni Hall to morrow night, at 8 o'clock, under the auspices of the Masterton South Brass Band.

In a change advertisement Mr C, E. Daniell has .a word to say oh scientifically constructed coke stoves. Ihey insure the greatest heat for the least cost.

Mr A. Henderson, manufacturing jeweller, announces the arrival of an attractive consignment of ladies' gold signet . rings, inspection of which is invited. V In another column Mrs Rooks and family return thankd to the friends who sympathised with them in their sad bereavement,and to the members of Court Loyal Enterprise A.O F., to which Order the late Mr Rooks belonged.

The W.F.&A , Ltd., fn their new advertisement ou page 4 recommend their alarm clocks to anybody that cannot wake in these winter mornings; also the difficulty of shaving in a bad light is overcome by buying one of their safety razors. The prices are reasonable. These articles supply a want that is often felt.

Mr A. C. Scrimgeour announces on the front page of this issue that he has taken over the Prince of Wales Hotel. Queen Street, Master ton. This well known house has always enjoyedan excellent reputation,and it is the new proprietor's intention to conduct it on the most UD-to-date lines. The hotel has been refurnshed and fitted up in the best possible manner, and is now ready for the reception of guests. Temperance drinks and beef tea are obtainable at the bar.

The handsome Victoria carriage recently purchased by the enterprising firm of Messrs Hole and Holland, has been generally admired. The suit of livery worn by the driver, Mr T. Holland, was the work oi a local tailor, Mr W. Pauling. The suit was built according to the latest city style, and the material used is of the very best. The style, fit and workmanship reflects great credit on the manufacturer. Mr Pauling makes a feature of this class of work, and ordsrs placed with him for the making of any special uniform will receive his prompt and efficient attention.