NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 12, 21 March 1901, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

Oot of £2000 required for the Queen's statue in Wellington, £]'MiO have been received. Lady Ranfubt,y leaves London to-day for this Colony by way of Australia. She is accompanied by her two daughters, and is expected in Wellington the second week in May. Our Kaikoura correspondent wires as follows :—Notwithstanding the dull and threatening weather the St. Patrick's sporta' meeting on Monday was a signal success. There was an average of ">0 applicants for each of seven sections of land balloted fur at Urenui, in the Taranaki district, last week. There is no necessity to advise the people there to 'go on l\e land,' as they have evidently a very keen desire to do so. At the Trinity College inu.«ical examination held in November last the successful candidates from the Convent of Mercy, Lyttelton, were : — Junior Uivisun — (pianoforte), honors, Alice Davies, 80. Peparatory Division — (violin), Walter Hildson, 02. It has been decide! to postpone the Otago A, and P. Society's popular winter show until about June 2*5. the exact date to be fixed as soon as the committee ascertain the dates on which the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York will visit Dunedin. It is said that the Government have gone in for the production of wine, having established a vineyard at Wairangi, in the Auckland province. The area untler vines is about three acres, and sheds are in course of erection for the necessary plant. A rathek cool request has been made to the South Canterbury Education Board. A parent claims free education for his children in the literal sense of the word, and refuses to supply them with school books or pay for tho9e supplied by the teacher. The knotty problem has been referred to the Board's solicitor. It is believed that tobacco can be grown profitably in certain parts of this Colony, and the Government have taken the matter in hand, and have instructed Mr. Sutherland, an expert, recently in the employ of the New South Wales Agricultural department, to ascertain the localities most suited for the purpose. Th c Canterbury A. and P. Aeeociation seems to be in a very healthy condition. The receipts last year were £3,421, and the expenditure £2,99-1. Over £1300 were given away in prize money during the past. year. The life members number 117, and the annual subscribers 582. Amono the many excellent articles which make tip the contents of the March number of the Austral Lief fit are 'The Coronation Oath,' a timely contribution to thi9 subject, from the pen of the late Father Bridgttt, 'The Pope and the Papacy' by the Rev, Father Phelan, S.J., ' The Great Jubilee and the Holy Year ' by the same writer, 'Catholic Devotion to the Saored Heart,' the sermon preached by the Archbishop of Melbourne in Wellington a few weeks ago, and which appeared in the N.Z. Tablet, and a thoughtful contribution on ' The Negro in America ' etc'

In September last the Agricultural Department distributed for experimental purposes a large quantity of potato se d of several varieties amongst settlers in various parts of the Colony. The results in most cases have been very gratifying, f) r farm 1 r in Hawke's Bay obtained the following weights of "olatn s from t<>ur 51b parcels of seed : — Sutton variety, 1121 b ; D.iincl \a'i>> - y. 10010 ; Lapstone kidney variety, Tolb ; Findlay's Ito-abellu witty. C<hb, The potatoes are well-grown. ABOUT 300 citizens, including many L>di( s, n^mnblel in the Art Gallery, Christchurch, on Friday afternoon t> -a y fare, < 11 to Mr. VV. Recce, mayor of Christchurch, and Mr-*. Ft >l-p. \\ ho inti ml to leave shortly for a trip to the old countiy. The g.iiliennjr was thoroughly representative, and during thi* a. terno n n apr •-* n'atiun g{ nt] jfl,l»/i(.u n-;o TliC tQ -111" [I l^ -^ mi' fiHlll I *.! i/ I U -i appreciation of his \aluable services as mayor during ih" jubilee year. Speaking at an entertainment at Wellington to returned troopers on Saturday night the Premier said that as he id of the Government he had made up his mind that no mitUr w h it h ippened he was prepared to back up the motherland by -ending the necessary number of troops to maintain the prubtL'e ot tie Cjlony and to support the Empire. According- to a North Island paper private information has been received to the effect that the first New Zpaland. rs. who took part in the relief of Kimberley by General French's tcrces will receive a medal and three bars. The medal is for the South African campaign, and the bars for the relief of Kimberley and the occupation of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State, aid Pretoria, the Transvaal capital. The Becond and third New Zeilander-*, who did not take part in the relief of Kimberley, will receive a medal and two bars — Bloemfontein and Pretoria; the fourth and fifth contingents, medal and one bar — Pretoria : and the sixth and seventh contingents the general medal. A South African or colonial medal may be awarded in addition. Hit. J. J. Cotter, superintendant of the Citizens' Life Assurance Company's business in Dunedin, was on Thursday last the recipient from the staff of a handsome presentation, consisting of a case of pipes, with the following inscription : — ' Presented to J. J. Cotter, Esq., by the Dunedin staff of the Citizens' Life Assurance Company, Hth March, 11)01." Assistant-supeiintendant Colville referred to the good fe ding which had always existed between Mr. Cotter and his staff, and expressed the regret they felt at losing so popular an officer. Messrs. Kindly, Wilson, Trainor, and Dixon also spoke in the same strain, making particular reference to the capable manner in which Mr. Cotter had conducted the business of the office. Mr. Cotter, who was evidently taken by surprise, thanked the staff for the handsome pre-tent they had made him, and briefly outlined the progress the Dunedin branch of the c unpany had made during the four years he had bet n in charge. He attributed this success to theoapible m mncr in which his Btaff had performed their duties and trusted that the '•am i would be extended to his successor.