General News.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 270, 16 October 1902, Page 3

General News.

The Wain.ate A. and P. Association call tenders for the supply of sheep hurdles. Vice-Admiral Fanshawe sails for Australia in tho steamer Orient early in December. Thirty-three thousand persons have died of cholera in Egypt since tho middle of July. The contract for the steamer service to South Africa was signed on Saturday at Wellington, and a deposit of ,£BOOO paid. The Studhohne Mounted Rifles go into camp this afternoon for a week’s training. The camp site is Knottingly Park. Crops all over Waikakahi are in good heart, and the present light rains will greatly help to bring them forward. A hundred guns, purchased chiefly in Germany as a present to the last Ameer of Afghanistan, were impounded at Pedmwur, while en route to Kabul. Mr Coulson, advance agent for Professor Lewis, the wizard of the East, is in town making arrangements for a performance towards the end of this month. The dissolution of Parliament takes place at tho end of the month, and within a week of the dissolution the writs for the general election will be issued, and be returnable in a fortnight. The election will take place about November 19. The result of the licensing polls next month will be looked forward to with interest, as Kaiapoi at the last election required 209 to carry Prohibition; Ohinemuri, 250 ; Mataura, 251 ; Oamaru, 369 ; Masterton, 327; Tiruaru, 468; Waiapu, 450; Invercargill, dll; Awarau, 393. The Victorian Cabinet has adapted a scheme of railway retrenchment effecting a saving of £IBO,OOO annually. It includes reducing the time paid hands to five days weekly, allowing holidays in lieu of overtime pay, and ; dispensing with supernumeraries. At the German Colonial Conference at Berlin the speakers laid much stress upon the necessity of diverting emigrants to Southern Brazil, in view of preserving the national character and language of large German settlements. Herr Moritz Scanz spoke as strongly against emigration to Australia, declaring that tho Labour Party there regarded the German as too diligent a workman and one who lowered wages. The new electoral law provides that applications for enrolment of electors Will be received up to the date of the issue of the writs. Officially, only ten days’ notice will be given of tho date of the polling ; but the date will no doubt be unofficially known prior to that notice. The monthly meeting of the Nukurua Band of Hope was held on Tuesday evening, Miss Low, secretary, in the chair. There was a large attendance. Musical items were contributed by Misses Peck and Moore and Messrs T. and J; Hayman. Miss Low and Mr A. Sinclair delighted the audience with recitations. Readings were given by Messrs Dohrmann and Dash. Mr Dash, in an address, dwelt on mistakes commonly made at the ballot box. At. the conclusion of the meeting the committee arranged details of tho annual coffee supper for November 11. At Morven on Tuesday the Rev. A. S. Morrison, who has prepared Sunday school statistics for the Assembly in Wellington, in November, said that there are twenty-eight Sabbath schools, in tho Presbytery, attended by 1235 children, whose average attendance ; s 1016. There are eight Bible classes, which are attended by 143 persons, and there are 2641 volumes in the Sabbath school libraries.

f I This afternoon, given lino weather, . ! tiuro will be ii cycle road race twice [ I round Bathgate's block. Tin- first, t | second, and third prizes of los, Gs, and . )4s will be provide:! out of a t ,vo- , j shilling entry, and Miss ilk-hard give* a bicycle lamp for the fastest tune. Mr J. I'. .Smith gives a pair of shoes for second fastest time. Following ! are the handicaps:—B. Turner, S. Butcher, and S. Bird, scr ; B. Hardy, losec ; W. Fllen, oOsec ; D. .Symon. j 40sec ; A. Hammond, 45sec ; J. Kent and B. Sullivan. Imin; J. Symon, L.min. The nice starts at o p.m. Mr T. Wilco acted as handicapper. j The question whether people like I speeches at soirees or not was the

subject of a discussion by tho PresbyI tery at Morven on Tuesday. One of j the elders favoured a wholly musical , entertainment, and cno or two of tin clergy were of a like - opinion, holding that the speeches usually delivered at soirees were very often poor and only tired out people, whereas if games and music were arranged for, people could move about and talk, and thus do much more to foster harmony and real friendship amongst them. At the meeting of the the Presby-

tery at Morven on Tuesday the question of tho Bible in schools was introduced. Tho Bov. B. Jackson reported the steps taken in Timaru to secure a vote of the pciople on this question, and tho Bev. G. Barclay added that in Waimato also they were arranging to take a plebiscite, the votes to bo in by October GO. There was, he said, a good deal of enthusiasm shown in the matter in Waimato. The Bev. J. White said ho had pleasure m renorting that at Sutherlands and Gw mint Point a committee bad been st pto bring the matter prominently ’■ ■'■■■■-o Parliamentary candidates.

Mr Samson, a candidate for Taieri, is supporting the whole Governmor. policy and defends them from rbi eh irgo of extravagance. Poor oainsm ■, . some Government Delilah must hr--cut. off his hair, and his strength i 1 mind lias gone. We did not know S-uuson from Adam, but it seems as if a good name like that would have been useful in pulling down the pillars and props that at present “ support ” the St ue at so much a year. Some strong man has got to come forward and pull something down soon. It will be better to have straight-out ruins that we can rebuild than to have the whole structure carted away, brick by brick, to tho Loudon money market.

OSTRICH FARMING. In Auckland the production of ostrich feathers bids fair to become an important industry. One linn that has been breeding ostriches lias found its accommodation too small, and has purchased property to the extent of 30U0 acres, to which it has transferred its stock. It is proposed to largely increase tho ostrich dock, and the prospects of the industry may be gauged by tire fact that the present supply of feathers is equal to only about one-third of tho Auckland demand, to say nothing of the southern market.

j WOMEN FOR SOUTH AFRICA. ; Tiic .scheme for promoting the I immigration of women to South j Africa, started by private enterprise, i has been taken over by the Governj ment of the Transvaal, assisted by committees of ladies and gentlemen in | England ami Johannesburg (says tho London Times). Arrangements have boon made to despatch the first party of immigrants under the new regime, comprising fifty domestic servants and six dressmakers. The Government contributes .£5 towards the passage money and advances the rest of tho funds required for the journey, which will be repayable by monthly instalments out of wages. Tho Government also provides free railway travellingover the Orange River Colony and Transvaal lines, whilst it is hoped that the Cape railways will giant a substantial reduction of fares on their lines. Wages were reckoned at £5 a month for domestic servants. A HARBOUR BOARD COMBINE. Speaking at tho Wellington Dock dinner last Tuesday evening, tho Acting-Premier suggested a li combine” of the Harbour Boards of the colony. He is reported to have said :—“ In view of the number of ships visiting tho farscattered ports of New Zealand, tho time was arriving when the Harbour Beards of tho colony should combine with tho Parliament and enter into an agreement by which a minimum charge should he laid down, so that a steamer having paid harbour dues at one port should be exempted at other ports. To enable this to bo done it might be necessary for the Government —and he personally would be favoursble to such an arrangement —to make some contribution to tho Harbour Boards to make up losses caused by such exemptions. Ho felt that such an arrangement was necessary, and that it was coming. We had now tho competition of the Argentine and other countries, and though wo might talk about the splendid facilities we gave, when it was remarked that these leviathans had perforce to load partly at one port and partly at another, and the manner in which the shipping was mulcted, the necessity of co-operation to bring about a more equitable scale of charges would bo realised.”