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Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2596, 2 March 1889, Page 2

Stoats and weasels are giving trouble to the farmers in tho south. The Piako County Council will meet at the County office. Cambridge, at II a.m., on Saturday, the (>th inst. The amount paid by the Government for advertising during the year ending September oOth, Ifc'bT, was FJ.ljfH Us M. The Harvest Thanksgiving Services will be continued to-morrow at S. Andrew's, Cambridge, morning and evening, and will be senii-chi;ral. The reports of the Raglan County Council, Han est Festival at Hamilton, Ngaruawaliia Road Board, and other matter, are crowded out of this issue. The distances for the various events at the South Auckland Racing Club's Autumn Meeting have been added to the adveitisement, which will be found elsewhere. An error appeared in Mr J. Knox's notice of motion for the lease of Lots !l and 10, Hamilton West, The whole 14 acres is to be ottered for 1; 1 per annum, and not t'l per acre, as stated in our local. The next meeting of the Cambridge Licensing Committee has been fixed for Friday next, when the transfer of license of the Masonic Hotel from C. H. White to Edwin Hope wili be considered A considerable improvement to thel land attached to S. Peter's Church, Hamilton, was made by the working Lee on Thursday. The enclosure has been enlarged by taking in more ground and a new fence run round it. A subscriber has made the suggestion that the C'omus Club should repeat '■ Helping Hands," at popular prices, for the benefit of Mrs Abbot, of Pukete, who is deserving of all the assistance that can be given her. A well-known settler in the Piikoriinu district informs us that if apples affected with the Codlin moth are immersed in a tub of water for a few hours, the grub will be found lying dead at the bottom of tho vessel. The apples can then be wiped and packed away, Mr E- Pearson, the patentee of the celebrated Carbolic Sand Soap manufactured in Hamilton, is meeting with considerable encouragement in New South Wales and Victoria. One of the leading firms in Sydney, Messrs Elliott, Bros, have accepted the agency for that city. The shooting squad of the Hamilton Light Infantry, intended to tire in the match against the City Guards in Auckland, did not leave by train yesterday, as their passes had not been forwarded, and the Railway authorities could not give the men a free passage without them, A journalist who has been " doing" the (Jhnstchurch churches visited the Salvationists recently, and remarks of one man : —He did not " preach " on Sunday night, but he prayed, and aftor hearing him address the Lord, f hud no desire to hear him address the people. The number of persons convicted in the colony for various offences during the years ISSoSti.ST were ;i,u'ol!, 2,771 and :?,GM!I, respectively. There has, therefore, been a substantial decrease in crime, especially in cases of drunkeness. The per centage was, for each year, uo.ob", 47.S- and ■tl.i") per 10,000 of the "population. Sir Hercules Robinson, in a private letter to a, gentleman in Hawke's Bay, expresses his determination to settle in New Zealand after his retirement from the Governorship of Cape Colony, if he can make the requisite arrangements. He would soon be n big figure in tho political world if he did,

A boy named Fred "Wilson, six years of age, living in Auglesea-streot, street, Hamiltmi, met with a very painful accident, on Thursday. He was running in tho street, playing, when he cut his fncit dti ii piece nf glass, inflicting a, groat gash, and severing the artery. He was convoyed to tho hospital, and had his injuries attended to by J)r. Kenny. The usual annual race meeting at Kaghui will be held this year on Friday, March i.'2nd. There is every prospect of a successful meeting being held, the Secretary having a very substantial balance in hand, Mr J. B. Somerset has been appointed secretary in place of Mr K. Mathias. In such able hands, the meeting is sure to bo carried to a successful issue. We saw a very fine sample of maize yesterday brought in from Mr Uodd's farm, Tauwhare. It was fully eight feet high, and not nearly ripe, it is being converted into ensilage. Mr Dodd was very successful in carrying on this operation last season, and has therefore practically demonstrated the value of maize so treated for winter fodder. A meeting of the Cambridge Licensing (Jommittco was held yesterday at noon in the Court House, Cambridge. Present : Messrs J. Webber, J. Ferguson, J. 6. Jiond, J. M. Hally, and Dr. Moon. The only business was the election of chairman, and Mr James Webber was appointed, on the proposition of Mr Hally, seconded by Mv Ijond. We have an indication that a current of Australian capital is setting towards jS'ew Zealand, in the fact that all Mr Falconer Larkworthy's properties have been sold to Melbourne capitalists. The price at which the estates have been disposed of (says the Ilangitikei Advocate) has not yet been allowed to transpire, nor the arrangements with regard to the stock. A cricketer writes:—" The pitch on Sydney Square, Hamilton, is very bad. Every year the grass is cut for hay, and nothing is put on the ground. Nn important match is likely to be played on the Square, Auckland players and others refusing to play on it because the pitch is so bad. If the Domain Board would allow drivers to turn in mobs of sheep for a few hours a great improvement would be the result, without endangering the trees." S. Andrew's Church, Cambridge, was crowded on Thursday afternoon, to witness the marriage of Miss M, A. Mc.Karlane to Mr David Craig. The careinmiy was performed by Archdeacon Willis. The bride was attired in a very becoming dress of grey silk, with the usual orange blossoms and veil. A dance was afterwards held at the residence of the bride's father, and at midnight tho happy couple started to drive to To Arolia in a baggy.

Discussing town and country M.H.R.'s, the Duuedin Star says :—" Comparisons are proverbially "odious," but it must be admitted in New Zealand that the centres of business and population manifest at least carelessness in the exercise of the franchise, and consequently are as well represented as they deserve. Wo need not, in Duuedin, go far for an illustration of this." The Harvest Festival at S. Andrew's Cambridge, was held last evening, and was well attended. An excellent sermon was preached by Dr. Hooper. Tho service was semi-choral. Tho responses were by Tallis and tho olfertory sentences and anthem, " 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works," both by Burnby. The services will be continued on Sunday, Dr. Hooper preaching in the morning. In another column is a notice of the meeting of the Waikato Archidiaconal Conference at To Aroha on Thursday next. Amongst the subjects to be considered will bo one which was unavoidably postponed from last meeting, "The Lord's Hay, the Christian's Sabbath." Tho other subjects on the list are " How best to promote tho unity of Christians of all denominations," and "The more effective publication of intended marriages." S. Peter's Church, Hamilton, was very beautifully decorated yesterday for the Harvest Festival. There was a good congregation at the evening service, when the Rev. Isaac Richards, from S. Mark's, Remuera, preached a practical sermon from the Gth Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, 7th verse. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The thanksgiving service will be continued tomorrow. We are given to understand that ratepayers in the Newcastle Riding contemplate getting up a requisition, calling on Mr Dawson, momber for the riding, to resign his seat in the Council, for the alleged reason of his having frequently misrepresented the views of the ratepayers on important questions affecting their interests, and that his actions in the Council on the whole don't harmonise with theirs, and are therefore contrary to the well being of the riding. A cricket match will be played today on Sydney Square, between the Patera ngi and Taupiri clubs, and great interest is felt in the result, as both clubs have won all their matches this season. Taupiri, unfortunately could not take p.u-t in the cup matches, owing to the way in which the programme was drawn up, as they would havo had to travel from home four weeks consecutively. Both clubs will put their strongest teams in tho field, and a good game may be expected. Mr T. G. Sandes has consented to act as umpire for Taupiri. There have been a good many different opinions offered as to what species the fish belong to so often to be seen on the sand banks and .-hallows of the Waikato River at this season of tho year. Some people, asserted they were pokororo, others that they were grayline. The question however was set nt rest on Thursday. Mr John Wright, of Hamilton, was successful in netting three line tish that turned the scale at ten pounds, and proved to be the genuine kanae, or mullet, exactly similar to tho.se supplied from the Auckland fishmongers, and as one was presented to us, we vouch tor it being just as toothsome. Mr Wright caught six more yesterday evening. In our advertising columns will be found a notice of a lecture to be given in the Public Hall, Cambridge, on Monday evening by Mr G. W. Russell, previous to his departure for Christehurch, where he is about to take up his residence. Tiie sub ject of the lecture is "General Gordon," and there will also be a number of instrumental and vocal selections by well-known

amateurs. .During an interval in the programme a handsome tea aud coffee service will be presented to Mr Russell, also an illuminated address, which have been provided by some of his friends and supporters.' Wo learn that Mr Russell is going into a printing business in Christchurch, in which we trust he will be successful. We wonder (says th-3 Po^t) whether the people of New Zealand actually realise the astonishing fact that they are living subject to a Custom! taxation which has no parallel in the civilised world '.' Yet such is tho fact. Wo do not believe, there is any other country in the world where every article which enters its ports is subject to taxation, and not only everything which is imported in the ordinary way, but practically everything also which comes through the parcels post. The octroi duties imposed by the _municipal ty of Paris were, until tho position was wrested from them by our tariff, supposed t> be about the most oppressive, inquisitorial, and far-reaching impost of the kind known in the world ; but in every bad and oppressive feature they are far behind the New Zealand Customs duties. The Rangitikei Advocate says :— " Since the Central route was adopted, all the evidence has gone to confirm the decision then arrived at. The country has proved, on more exhaustive exploration, to be even more fertile and extensive than was thought when the matter was beforo the Parliamentary Committee. It has been pronounced by thoroughly competent witnesses to bo the best inland country in the North Island, and much of it has been found to be quite as good as the fertile districts near the coast already settled on, and which aro valued at frwm six to ten pounds per acre. Its arboreal wealth has been provost to be almost illimitable, and there can be little doubt that it contains rich and extensive coal deposits. On the other hand, not one solitary fact has b;en brought to light to show that in rejecting the Taranaki routes the committee and tho House acted unwisely." We need scarcely inform an intelligent reader that the Central would bring more grist to the Rangitikei mills than the Stratford route.

Some remarks disparaging to New Zealand having been attributed to Principal Grant by some of the Canadian papers, he has authorised the Ottawa Chronicle to say editorially that "any references concerning that colony made by him since his visit have been of a wholly different character. There is no part of the world that he would advise emigrants to betake themselves to rather than New Zealand, panada alone expected ; and if Canadians wished to emigrate he would advise them Lu go to New Zealand, or, at any rate, to enquire about its advantages. The colony is blessed with every variety of healthful climate, with fertile soil, excellent timber, and mineral wealth. It grows good cattle, good sheep, and a line class of men. _ It has good schools, churches, and other institutions. Both North and South Islands arc good, and as they extond over 1200 miles from north to south they differ widely in climate and productions." A curious discovery was made by the Messrs Condor whilst cutting a drain through Mr C. Nelson's section in Marton on Saturday, says the Ruugitikei Advocate. Embedded in the clay was a hollow log, and in the interior of the latter a baker's dozen of fish were found, not only alive, but very active. The longest of them measured about four inches. They seemed to be a cross between a New Zealand trout and an eel. They had trout heads and spots, whilst their shape was eel like, and over the eyes of each fish were a pair of miniature horns. There was no water anywhere near where these pisciuocuriositics were found ; indeed, no water, save that produced by shower? of rain, had been thero for weeks previously. Though the fish were full of animation when taken out of the log, they expired soon after being exposed to the air. Mr Alfred Koss, of Coakloy, informs us that he once found similar fish embedded in clay three feet deep, in the bottom of an old watercourse which had been dry for months. A Wairarapa correspondent of the New Zealand Times says :—The harvest is now over, and farmers have the satisfaction of knowing that not even a single sheaf came in damaged. Threshing machines are working from daylight to dark to get through their orders, and grain is coming in in considerable quantities. When Messrs Bannister Brothers had cut their heavy crop of oats at Akura, which, as already reported, is expected to yield eighty bushels to the acre, I took occasion to walk over the held and remaiked upon the fact that one side looked quite brown, while the other had (he usual yellow appearance of stubble land. in reply to a question, they informed me that the yellow portion had been skim ploughed directly the previous crop wasolf, in order to kill weeds. Other work interfering, they r.',id not finish the paddock, The result is so marked that farmers might well take a lesson from it, for while the one part was comparativelycloiin, the other showed a large number of dock stumps and a thick undergrowth of sorrel. The owners estimate that there is a difference of over 14 bushels to the aero in the yield, and lam sure they are \vcl 1 within tho mark. I