LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10277, 3 July 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Wairarapa Age Company was on Saturday last served with a writ, ] at the instance of Mr J. J. KelHher, ! law clerk, of Masterton, claiming £5Ol I damages for alleged libel contained in J the publication of the annual, report of the No-License Council, read by Mr Jabez Bridges at the No-License meeting in Masterton on Friday evening i last. The case is set down for hearing at the sitting of the Supreme Court, to be held in Masterton in September next The annual meeting of the Masterton Farmers Implement Company was held on Saturday last, Mr W. Perry 'presiding. Messrs Jas. Miller andi Ben Rayner were elected to the directorate.

In the New South Wales Assembly, Mr Waddell, ex-Treasurer, commenting on Mr .Justice Higgins' decisions in Federal industrial cases, called the judge a sentimentle humbug. According to a Melbourne caple, sentence of death has been recorded against a coloured man found guilty of burglary, with wounding. A New York cable states that Sam Langford, the negro pugilist, knocked out Fitzgerald, the Philadelphia "White Hope," in five rounds. Material is being placed on the ground for a new railway station and Post Office combined at Hukanui. It is expected that a start will be made at an early date with the erection of the building. Nc traco has been found of the missing man Hepple, and his two sons, who left the Hutt oh Coronation Day on a fishing aruise in the Wellington Harbour. Subscription lists have been opened in Wellington and at the Lower Hutt in aid of Mrs Hepple and her family of seven, who are left unprovided for All children who intend being pres-ent-at the children's plain and fancy dress ball on Friday evening next, are invited to meet Mrs Kendall and Miss Wolff at the Drill Hall at 4 o'clock on the afternoons of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, for the purpose of receiving instruction ,in the grand march.

In connection with the proposed cow-testing association in Eketahuna the following committee has been appointed to go into the matter —Messrs T. Parsons, Calton (Dairy Union), Elliot, Morriss (Rongokokako), Hofmeister., Renall (Kaiparoro). The committee will meet at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday. Mr TV. H. Buick, of Opaki, has just returned from Feilding with 20 stud ewes, ten of which realised the highest price as -1-tooth ewes, being the pick of the flock —15$gns being paid for them. They were bred by the late Mr Wheeler, by the imported ram "Prince Imperial," and have been grazing with the imported ram "Godfrey," which was sold at- 61gns at the sale. ' . In a iletter to the ,-Petone - "West School jCommittee, ./.Mr Pierce C. Freeth 'says-.—"The Masterton school is not teaching agriculture. It is merely'growing cabbages-and potatoes. It is wasting the valuable hours of its childhood by playing at farming." This will be news to Mastertonians. .

; A Maori woman named Mere Terei, 41 years of age, met her death under peculiar circumstances at Taumutu, Lake Ellesmere, on Friday. Operations for letting out surplus waters of the lake were in progress, and a strong scour was running through the culvert. The woman intended to cross the culvert, but the bank.gave way, and she was sucked down in a deep hole and suffocated with sand and water. . It took a gang of men three hours to recover the body.

A number or Masterton settlers purchased sheep at the late Mr G. C. •'WheelerJ.e dispersal.sale, last week. / Mr W. H. Buick purchased ten f our-tbqtk, ewes at 7Jgns, and ten at 15£gns. Mr J. H. Tatham, bought seven two-tooth ewes at B£gus. Mr W. Perry purchased one four-tooth pedigree ewe at llgns., one pedigree ewe at 12gns, and one at 23gns. He also bought a hogget ram at 35gns. Mr C. F. Peake purchased a fouryear ewe at 7fgns.

it is not unlikely that a still further J increase in the price of butter will take place in Masterton at an early date. The Auckland City Council has voted £25 towards the local musical and literary competitions. The decoration committee, in connection with the Hospital ball, are requested to be at Drill Hall on Wednesday night and at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The road between Masterton and Castlepoint is in. a very heavy condition just row. The Forty-Mile Bush was enveloped |in dense fog during nearly the whole j of Saturday. I A Gisborne telegram states that I Brotherstone's store at Tokomaru Bay has been broken into and £4O stolen. Mr J. C. Boddington reports that eleven degrees of frost were registered at the Upper Plain on Saturday morning. Rain fell in Pahiatua on nineteen days during last month, and in Eketahuna on fifteen days. The new Town Hall and municipal offices at Eltham,"which have been recently erected, were designed by Mr J. A. Duffill, formerly of Masterton. Farming operations in the Masterten district are being seriously interfered with owing to the continued wet • weather. The ground is so thoroughly j soaked that it is impossible to get on to it. >■ At Eltham last Wednesday, Mr Rye was married to a Miss Pollard. They are both attached to the soil. A runaway occurred on. the IV Ore Ore road, near Masterton, on Sati---day night, but beyond some broken harness, no damage was sustained. Mr W. F. Massey, M.P., will address a public meeting in Wellington on Thursday evening next, when he will make a statement concerning the policy of the Opposition. The latest return from the Success dredge is 14ozs. 17dwts. for the week. The Worksop dredge shows a return of 70ozs. Idwt. for 128 hours' working. The nautical enquiry into the stranding of the barquentine Pelotas on the Castlecliff Beach, Wanganui, is to be commenced at the Wanganui Courthouse this morning.

Barley is said to be a rising market. A large lino was sold to a prominent Blenheim firm at 4s 8d per bushel, on trucks at Blenheim.

Messrs Dalgety and Co., Ltd., report that there was a large attendance at the auction sale of the 242 acres of freehold property at Weraiti, in the estate of Robert Gordon Johnstone, deceased. Bidding was spirited, and ultimately the property was knocked down at £25 10s per acre, to Mr W. B. Chennells, as agent for Mr J. McRae, of Stronvar. Mr H. G. Groves,- of Bush Grove, reports the following rainfall for the month of June: —Rainfall for month, 3.87 inches; maximum fall, .62 on the 29th; days with rain, 22; maximum temperature, 64 on the Ist; minimum temperature, 26 on the 18th; rainfall for June, 1910, 5.41 inches. A special feature of the Hospital Ball, which takes place on Thursday night, will be the music. An excellent orchestra of eight has been engaged, and the music has been specially selected by the programme committee. At the last Auckland City Council meeting, a Councillor pleaded for an inauguration qf the rule that, all things being equal, New Zealand should receive the preference in municipal appointments. With permission from the Reverend Mother of St. Bride's Convent, a handsome wreath has been placed on the grave of the late Sister Mary Michael, from a few friends, as a mark of the esteem in which the good Sister was held by them. Every seat was occupied at the Exchange Hall in Masterton last night, when the Rev. S. Barnett lectured on "Our Children iri Spirit Land." He described the solar origin of human life, of its circuit through various planes, earth life being one of twelve in this evolution. The sacredness of child-life was emphasised from a rich and varied fund of the speaker's experiences. \

The Hawera Star says:—Enquiries are being nrade by the local police for a lormer resident of Hawera, Daniel Condon, who was employed as a porter at the Auckland Public Hospital. The missing j man left this institution on the 13tli inst!, and it is believed he made for Hawera, but enquiries here throw no light upon his and his ifriends are anxious.

A Bombay solicitor recently received : the following amusing letter from one of his native clerks: "Honourable Sir, ' kindly excuse this poor servant from attending on your Honour's office this day, as I am suffering from the wellknown disease commonly called ach© of the interior economy, and I shall ever pray.—Your ever painful, Ram Chuiider. P.S.—O death, where is thy sting?" The Sunday meetings at the Masterton Y.M.C.A. were held as usual yesterday. At the Bible Class, a very profitable discussion took place over Mr Amoore's paper, on "The Problem of Questioned Things." At the Strangers' Tea, Mr G. Falla was the speaker. His address was of an inspirational Icharacter, giving to the men and youths* present excellent advice as to their life. Conduct in life, he said, * was like; a book, every day a page, and very much depended upon' how the - ■ pages were kept. A vote of thanks was passed to the ladies of St. Matthew's Church for the provisions. Of the few strangers who were present, Mr Marsh, from Gisborne, spoke on Association matters at Gisborne, and very amusingly told of the fine work done at the Gisborne membership oaropaign, which was so successful.

I The Leader of the Opposition ad-* dresses a publio meeting in Hastings to-night. A large number of dairy cattle inf the Whangamomona district are being bought up for dairy purposes on the Waimate Plains district. The Taranaki Herald says that Sit; James Carroll has on two previous occasions declined the honour of knighthood. The Southland News reports tha€ six Southland sawmill hands have been engaged by a West Coast miller, who is on a visit to Invercargill. He says that labour of this class is scarce on the West Coast, though the ruling wages are Is a day in excess of those obtaining in Southland. The mills on the West Coast were never busier; than now, and were not more than than able to keep pace with the demand for timber. John Stanfield, a remittance man (47), died in the Auckland Gaol while on remand to get over the effects of a drinking bout. Deceased was well connected in the Old Country, and at one time practised as a solicitor -in, England. An Aramoho farmer was prosecuted recently for 'allowing his pigs to wander on the rail- ) way line. He urged, in extenuation, that he had been unable to procure labour to attend to his fences. He was fined, nevertheless, £1 and costs. The early sown wheat in North Canterbury is now looking particularly well, the frosts and wet weather having caused the grass grubs to disappear. As soon as the weather will permit, an unusually large area of land will be sown in cereals. Those who intend being present ai the Hospital Ball on Thursday night next are reminded that the dancing ] commences at 8 o'clock sharp. The t supper room will be opened ait 10.30 o'clock. The Napier municipal staff is to be increased b;- the appointment of an inspector of plumbing, drain-connecting, sanitation, etc., at a salary of €250 per annum.

When the question of dates for hold- * ing the next race meeting was under discussion by the Stewards of the Masterton Racing Club on Saturday last* Mr J. B. Moodie stated that consideration must be paid to local tradesmen who wer3 members of the Clur>, ami the races should not clash with business,. Feilding is congratulating itself that not a single death occurred within the boundaries during the month of June, whilst Palmerston boasts that it had only one bankruptcy during the same period. The opinion is expressed by the Farmers' Union Advocate that if the suggestion to start a Governmentdairy is adopted the price of butter would go up to Is 9d or 2s per lb. The Adyqpate asserts that with everything the State touches which entails manual labour either the cost goes .up or 'the public pays the loss. , A Palmerston paper states quite, seriously that "a woman who arrived at Wellington from Sydney was detained on board the steamer on account of her being afflicted with partial paralysis." A Singer sewing, machine, in good order, is advertised for sale. A reward is offered for the recovery of three one-pound notes lost in Masterton. on Saturday last. Mr A. Henderson, jeweller, is making a splendid display of ladies' evening neckware, including dainty pendants and necklets; also gentlemen*3 studs and sleeve links. « Fifty tons of mangolds are advertised for sale. Particulars may be obtained on application to Messrs Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Masterton. As you are going to the Hospital ball you will need, gloves, wraps, etc. The W.F.C.A. sale, prices enable i you to buy these very economically. Spec- ' ial prices are auoted in the "-anteil columns to-day.*

Messrs A; J. Jehnson ajid Co. report; as follows on their weekly sale held on Saturday last :--Ducks 3s, roosters Is 7d, hens, Is 2d to 2s each. A lot of ! tools and sundries were disposed of at prices, while a consignment of o.b. rimu scantling realised ! 8s 3d per 100 ft. The New Zealand -Clothing Factory announce that they have received intimation of a large consignment of new boots and shoes coming to \ hand for the spring and summer season. To make room for this shipment the firm announce that they have decided to effect a clearance of a number of lines from their present stock. In a change advertisement, appearing elsewhere a special price list is inserted, to which the attention of readers is drawn. A great variety of furs of the latest style are available at Messrs Hugo and Shearer's great winter sale, at bargain prices. Smart tailored costumes, Girton costumes, Raglan tweed coats, and heavy tweed coats, all of the very latest, are going at the most tempting prides. The attention of ladies is directed to the details of the bargains appearing in the firm's advertisement on the leader page of this issue.