LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10143, 20 January 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

—-—*"- About twenty carpenters are at present employed oh the new grandstand at the Sol way showgrounds. Smut has been rather prevalent in some of the oat crops in the Masterton district this season. .-.. •.,-..■•■ A private cable received' in New, Plymouth states that choicest New Zealand butter is now 112s ai Home* and likely to go higher., *■■•'■ ; .•; A claim for damages in connection .with: a bicycle collision is to-be-,heard> 'at -the* the Magistrate's Court i*i JfesteYton. i The Masterton Co-operative Dairy Company;thas:received*advice^thafc:;it& 'first shipment of butter realised'lKS? per cW&on the,.lTdnc%» market. '■% Harvesting is now well advanced in ; the Masterton district,- and the• yield is reported to be quite up to the average. Feilding sheep-bi eeders are com- I _plaining Iritterly of • sheep-worrying by stray dogs. One (-owner -uepofits lost several sheep 3» g»ring for the Feilding ISliow. , In picked dberds. $f ' Danish " cows,, handled perfecfcsystera of the country, the average of butter is 3301b per con per annum. The hedgehog found at Te Whiti the other day is supposed to have been one of a number which were imported some years ago by Dr. W. M. Hosking, of,Masterton. ' " : very fine ts&j&»£&es ''-are/ to be found in the bush on the new ,«howgroimds of the Masterton A. and P". Association. The march of civilisaand- the a scarce commodity*iii'tfie Good progress is behig made with the erection of the saleyards at Solway for the Masterton auctioneering firms. It is expected that they will be ready for occupation in the course of a few weeks. Great ages were reached "oy a large proportion of persons who died in the Auckland district last year. There were 96 over 80 years of age. when .they, passed away, an,d 14 who had had their 90th birthday, the .century', was reached by two old T settlers: :' The shares in the proposed.!lajein-i----pany to establish:' ; a connection" with-the : Waingawai saeat ' works are being nip in the iPorty-Mile.Bush. It is hoped that the.canvass which is being made will be successful. The oyster season in New Zealand opens-on..February Ist. Trawlers at the Bluff are being overhauled, and it is estimated" that £7OO or v £Bo0 v will be spent on the fleet iu view of "the new season's operations. A settler in the Masterton district informs us that this season he is putting nearly double the quantity of poison on his property that he did last year. He states that the recent favourable season has caused a. visible increase in rabbits all-romuls...-_.- - > I The latest evidence concerning the I sleeping sickness so prevalent in Con-i go, _ Uganda, and. oihei- parts of f. Africa is that it is conveyed by a fly f other than that which has hitherto i been regarded as the sole carrier of the infection. In north-eastern Rhodesia, particularly in the Valley of Luangwa, a species of tse-tse fly hag been found known as Glossina Morsitaus. ,

The State mine briquette works at Westport have temporarily closed down owing to scarcity of orders. A number of residents of Masterton have expressed .heir intention of visiting the Eketahuna Show on Monday next. The Primitive Methodist Conference in Wellington yesterday passed a resolution expressing its emphatic and uncompromising opposition to any form of sectarian teaching in State schools. The President of the Wellington Life-Saving Centre (Mr G. S. Hill), has intimaf'dhis intention of being ' present at the swimming carnival in Masterton on Monday next. One or two visiting lawn tennis . ; players, who are engaged in the | tournament which commences in Masterton to-morrow, arrived in town last evening. Good progress is being made by the , Railway Department with the construction of the siding for the new showgrounds of the Masterton A. and P.-Association. It is expected that it will, be in. readiness well before show-m time. -' « It is probable that the question of the railway time-table will again be ) discussed at the meeting of the Council of the Masterton Chamber, of Com- [ merce to-day. The date of the o<»n- ■;, ~ • ference of local bodies, which is being ■ convened io discuss the position, has i not yet transpired. !/ : : ' ; : ■'. vijtterast M;->matieiiir„;s^OTte-,.|a.". .Garter-; . ■'.; twitt-,' Mr.' :t3ari« r Ulej" : *wh'o- -■ ■• '{■ was an.interestjedf .'spectator: at "the -.-. h'fSpdrts held lasterenmgunder;tho.aus-;.. . \' 'pices;;*.of '^the<VviWniparapa'":iA.ro*te i t , r' ' . i Athletic .Qub,, made a donation, .of ■'" two guineas to> the fund's of 'the Club '.■ The position of Councillor James Elliott on the Masterton Borough Council, has been made secure by his • having resigned Ms seat on the directorate of the Masterton Blacksmith , and Company. It is'irot expected that *aia election will be HefdF to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Councillor Pauling, as the biennial-elections " " take place in April 1 . A, number/of' splendid' / springs.ij' of ",• from the higher portions "' of the new showgrounds at Solway. These form themselves into streamlets which course through the. grounds. , The Rail way Department is approaching the. A. and P. Association with a view to erncting a hydraulic ram .at . one of the springs, to supply,; water for the railway enp»r.cc. Mr James McGregor, senr., was in. '>• a prophetic as well ;as a- humorous \ inood at the local A. and P. Associa-tion's-picnic at Solway yesterday. He . imagined himself reading a copy of the ..Wairarapa Age in 1965, describing the ' electric trams running toand from the grounds, tKe-^tendfence-;of 20,000 peop% and the .scene 4 and arii- (^; mat#i v plpevailingv I Though the population of. the North Island is far greater than that of the .South it would seeni; front the scholar- ' that.educatioii-is far more . advanced or perhaps moreVvalued in the south than in the north? Out of ; the ten junior university scholarships seven* went to South Island students, and only three to the North, all falling to Auckland, Similarly of 20 sen-. I ior national scholarships,.the North I,lsland secured only three, '. ■' '■' *' '•■."-• ;"' ; ~■'.-,:• v.: '.■■ ■ ,■:'.-. ' ' '' ' ; ? ; *&ne or two mtnor^isiiaps^ ; otscufr63 '' . ;; ■ ""* I «a»Ms ; >yesterday..-;JThVlin voluntary-".''''■'.' = a youth^in andi ■•■'.; spM*i£ lady Spy the. aospensiou of ra conU C? ; "siderable. portion of on. .* the limb of a tree, were incidents .; which created diversion; if not pleas-; * ant reflections on the part of those .; most directly concerned. The members of tfle Wairarapa Amateur; Athletic Club, wljo, were ' efening-,-. j tobk ,f ' ad-" : /vantage of visit to secure a number of entries for the amateur events at the forthcoming Park Fete. J. W,., Coard ; , of Wellington, who ran' second ■ , in the-quai;t«r-mire ; championship re-; il^? tly » will als *> be a competitor in * "ftliese events.

The Wanganui branch of the Amalgamated Society,of Railway Servants, following the example of Masterton, has passedthe following resolution:— "That if the Minister of Railways gives official recognition io the Enginedrivers', Firemen's and Cleaners' Association, thus breaking the agreement; by which the A.S.R.S. was recognisedas the. only Society to represent the' second .'division's grievances, this, branch- requests-the Conference toi ignore and' ; affiliate ' ■ org&nisa^' ; ::Amas.V' .':>■..''■ ;V./ .--•'<.;.:,}:,;, '•■■ ■ "QMs',is theomkiftd way ihwhich the Cai-terton papier iftsfers to Mr Hogg's ; speech :-I-"Mr- Hogg< has sketched a yery pleasing and popular platform: It has a ring about it of Jack Cade's address to his ragged rubble. If he had promised that, as well as abundance, v of land and cheap bread,, the public dnnkmg fountains should run with wme, the parable would have been per-, feet. It is to be* hoped it goes no further. Jack Cade lost his head. Mr Hogg may lose his seat I" About two hundred, pigeons, from various Masterton lofts, were liberated on theSolway showgrounds yesterday afternoon. As they ascended in the .air, surveyed their surroundings; and' | made a^bee-line for their homes, they' } presented a very pretty sight. It* is, ; Jl understood that about three-hundred Uirds will be entered for the Ladies' v/hichis to be flown oh Peo- | ploVDay of the Show. The birds will ij fly from the Summit, and will be afterwards judged and exhibited on the Showgrounds. -

A telephone service is provided bel- - Masterton and the new showgrounds at Solway. A forward sale of Banks Peninsula cocksfoot seed is reported, 100 sacks at 6d f.o.b. Lyttelton. Gisborne is evidently progressing. During the past year permits wore issued for works totalling £BO,OOO. < The Eketahuna Lodge of Druids now boasts a membership of over one' hundred. ' Dr. Henry is having crowded and successful meetings at Grey mouth, j some of the open-air demonstrations having been characterised f by marked J enthusiasm. ! A peculiarity about the grass seed harvest down south this year is half the crop is in seed and the other half ■in flower, the late rains having j brought on a second growth. Mr G. A. Spinley has sold his dairy farm of 74 acres at Pahiatua, as a going concern, to Mr J. I. Fox. The v «ale was effected through the agency Jbf Mr James Tulloch. Blight" is spreading to rape in some districts in Canterbury. Caterpillars are also doing a lot of damage, and the sparrows are looking after the grain in preference to devouring caterpillars. .About Cheviot the small birds,! pest, is loudly complained of, and some early crops have suffered badly from this cause. The inclement'weather on the hills in North-Canterbury, towards - the z*+ end of last, week, "was .responsible for " the death of a considerable number of recenily shorn; sheep. :-.. One owner. was reported to have lost.ftdly.soo* . ... *~\ : A fresh batch of Justices of the Peace will shortly be issued. Most of the available talent in Masterton in this connection seems to have been Used up. And What remains is distinctly not of the right colour.. The Marlborough papers report ,a: •phenomenon in the form n of a fall .of Bnow ia harvest time. The Naihapar hills were a beautiful sight, the white tops glistening in the sunlight. The water raees in-' • Ashburtoh district are said'to^'haveambpved-the ! value of land by at least £5 peracre. And yet how many farmers •jfehe necessary rate. - - A very large consignment of pigs was taken from'.Feilding by the " Waikato Bacon Company on Tuesday. There were close on 400, one of the largest lots yet railed from the town. The floating population of Rotorua during the recent holidays was quite unprecedented, and accommodation was almost impossible to obtain unless secured long beforehand. ~"":.'' The Feilding. Star on Mr A. R. ! Barclay's "penny dreadful":-—"You are down and. out,. Mr. Barclay—#pd squeak' in a penny- pamphlet: would give a penny for your troubles ( on a Premier's troubles, when every* "\ one has troubles of his own f"

' ' A' large, consignment? of,-Australian. l ... and New Zealand>ut'fer was* sellingweek at 17d,,per lb wholesale at Vancouver. The quality of the butter exported from Australia during last year is favourably commented upon. Central Otago is likely to experience a very, good season after all. The recent rainfall has been abundant, and two or three inches of snow fell last week. The grazing areas have benefited greatly from-the. moisture, and; the farmersare optimistic. -regarding '■• ~ :the future.'; j':',^:' ; :';.'''-' ;,;;•;■ - '] £?'.. At-the'Wa'nganui'Police Court, a , /fir mdf bricklayers .at Arambhb were, fined for failing to pay one of their drivers the increased rate of wages fixed by the drivers' award for Show days. The driver was also fined for failing to claim the increased rate. The defendants pleaded ignorance, but his Worship intimated that incfut- - uro this plea would not ensure a light fine. . .:>'.. f ..<:--.' A peculiarity in North Auckland geological formation wasV discovered recently-; in Dargaville during wellSTttkjmig operations. OnVthe sandstone ridge at the west or the borough a shaft was put down through ahard\"\.pah which is frequently present im- .; mediately under the surface of gum / land. After sinking through 20ft, of clay, an old river bed, of blue mud formation, was encountered. This contained rushes and kauri timber, amongst which - excellent gum was found. Below this strata water was . tapped in'plenitude. In the course of an, address given at the Sol way "picnic yesterday, Mr W. Perry (President" of the Masterton A. and P.' Association) stated that the land for the* new showgrounds had cost £4372, and the building -and improvements £7428; making a -total cost .' of £II,BOO. A sum of £I4OO has beeri . J paid in wages in connection with the ouildings and other improvements to the grounds. The railway >idjng, which was to have cost £4QO, was being* put in for? £2OO. Mr Perry paid a warm tribute to the Secretary (Mr G. R. Sykes),»and\the members*of the . Committee who had worked so hard to get the grounds in order. % The W.F.C.A., in a change of advertisement on page 6, ahnoxmce a genuine bargain boot sale, commencing on the 21st inst., - A first-elass horse, gig and.harness, are advertised for sale- The horse can Ibe driven\by a lady, and is quiet in '-saddle or in harness. . ■ i * m *' Mr'OEL C. L. Robinson invites -all persons interested in the Masterton Trust Lands Trust to meet him at the Masterton Town Hall to-night, when he will deliver an address on Trust matters. Tenders are invited by the Wellington Education Board for the erection of a new school at Carrington, near Carterton. Plans may be seen at the office of Messrs Varnham and Rose, Masterton. \ Messrs McGruer and Co., drapers and clothiers,. Queen Street, draw attention in a replace advertisement to a fresh lot of goods for their special sale, which have been written down in prices. In:a change advertisement.'.attention is drawn to correct riding habits for ladies,at the coming A. and P. Show. Mr Alex. Donald, the 1 fashionable tailor, of Queen Street, is ever to the front with the latest in tailored goods. His'clothes carry a •■ • splendid reputation and the ladies are well advised when-they are requested "to talk the matter of • riding habits over with him. ■'■''.•;.