LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 700, 28 December 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

. Few members were to bo seen about the House yesterday. As might be anticipated,' the chief topic of conversation was tho protest against tho reinstatement of the vote of ,£4OO for "Financial Adviser in London," which promises to bp memorable. By last night ievoral of the members who went homo: for Christmas .had returned. Among the number were Messrs. Newman and Okey on the Opposition side, and Messrs. V. Brown and Dillon of the Ministerialists. 1 Word has been received . that other members of tho respective sides will reach hero this , morning. The general opinion is that thero will not bo a very full House when the debate is resumed this afternoon,

A centre-board yacht;/ with - sails hoisted, was se«n early yesterday morning drifting in the harbour towards Ngahaurunga. Mr. Henry Heaney, of Nga* hauranga, and a number of others put out and brought! the boat ashore. Tho matter .was reported to the Tho boat is -desoribed as being about 37 feet long, her centre-board and rudder are missing, and the bowsprit is broken. She is painted white, but bears no'; name. In her were found somo fishing lines and a butcher's knife. ,

A man, who. was smoking in bed; on Sunday night was responsible for an outbreak of fire at the house ...of'.'- Mrs; Blightmau,' 80 Taranaki Street. The Fire' Brigade was summoned at fifteen minutes past midnight, and found that the damage had; been confined to the bedding and furnishinss. " v.

Although' the Customs office was kept open for. business yesterday, no -revenuo was collected, the shipping offioos being closed for the day. • '

A young lady who arrived in Dunedin by the'9.ls p.m. train, from the north on Wednesday last was tho victim of. an impudent and daring theft.; When walking up Stuart Street from'' tho • station a young man snatched a handbag ; that she was carrying on ' her . wrist, and dashed off with it. Chase was given by the young lady and two young men,, but the thief was too speedy, and, running through'the Octagon in the direction of Filled Street, was lost to sight. Tho purse' contained a cheque, payment of which , has been stopped, steamer and railway'tickets, and other valuables.

Mr. Jackson's launch'Taiiiwha, whjch left for the Sounds on Friday evomng last, returned -yesterday.morning. Tho Vidiv Mt. Palmisr's launch, also resumed .yesterday. Mr. . Greenshield's 'launch ; left at ■ nine o'clock yesterday morning for tho Sounds, and cleared Tory Channel at five p.m. The yachts which left : on Friday '.evening last are at the ; Sounds, and the crews are. all well.

An alarm of fire was given from the Koyal Hotel, Lambton Quay, at 3.50 o'clock .yesterday afternoon. ; Some, fat in tho kitchen -ovon became overheated, and burst into flames, causing, damage to tho mantelpicco and lining boards of the kitchen. The 'brigade quickly suppressed the outbreak.'

Although search for the body of the late Mr. William Crawford (who was lost from the yacht Patrouus at the Heads on Christmas morning) has not been concluded; tho police report that,no- trace has beer, found on any, of the .beaches round about Wellington. A .'white lifebuoy has been up at Kaiwarra. It'bears no name, but it may be that which was thrown'from the Patronus to assist Mr. Crawford. ,

> Two Old English sheep-dogs, a pointer ond two fawn pugs for N6W Zealand fanciers arrived from . London by the.Corinthio. '.'

Of the 659 arrivals from London by the-Corinthio yesterday, S9 were, farmers, '5 farm labourers, one dairy farmer, uiid 'about 40 domestio servants. .Only about four of the 1 latter,' however, tiro coming ,out to take -.situations' asjsuch. Tho 6eventy-one immigrants who had to clare possession .of • capital, mustered a total stun of .£5593. -.The new arrivals •were met;by-Mr. Dauby, of the Immigration; Department,'; and Mr; Proctor, I ' arid '.Miss 'Bremner, of t the Labour.. ment. ' The total list- was made up of "1 first, saloon, ,'96 second , saloon, and 51)9 ; third olass,' Of these,. 233 were 'assisted, and no fewer than 38 were wives comiiig out to rejoin their husbands. ,

The West Australian correspondent of the Sydnoy "Daily Telegraph .''states:'— "The temerity of : a young lady'swimmer is causing anxiety to (W.A.) Council, which has rocommended the Commissioner of .'Police to try and restrain her natatory' ardour; • Cottcsloe is Perth's oeeattrbathing, resort,; and; the chairman of the council's * beach committee complained that' the girl .often swam right out to sea/and did not return for,a very long time;- She had even threatened to. swim to Rottnest Island, eleven- miles' out,: 'These, swims caused great, anxiety to Ivach frequenter's, tind if a shark took:th<!,girl'. : or she. became unablei to swim back Cottesloe. would get a bad name. .Some of the councilloi'6 intimated they had no objection to the girl swimming in the Swan River/from Fremantle to Guildford, where she would bf in sight !\ll tlie way. One dissentient considered , that the: girl had. li right, to. swim to Sydney if she liked, but a motion was carried that the Eolico \Commissionei' be'.'asked to intervene." ' As a result of. the .inquiry.; into a recent fatal to, a cadet in. West Australia, an order has been issued .by the Defence Department of that State that no officer or hon-c'ommissioned officer of the cadet instructional staff is to take charge of: cadets firing at moire .than two targets. Such targots must be adjoining. Cadet non-commissioned officers andcadets are not to be placed , in charge; Cadets , are- to bo instructed that if . d cartridge'. jams or any .defect is .found in the mechanism of the rifle it must be retained in a position . towards the targets 'until taken, by tho instruc-. tional officer , in charge., ■

' About half a dozen katipo spiders have been i'ound on the Waikuku Beach, near Woodend, by Mr.' W, . Thompson, a resi-' dent of Rahgiora, who is camping there just now, 1 says ■ a southern paper. The first one was found accidentally, and a search showed , that othersV were present. ; One, which 'was forwarded toChristohui'ch last week,' is ah exceptionally find specimen. The body, is larger than usual, and tho bright orange-red stripo down the back is very conspicu-, ous. Sovoral. of : tlia ' speoimens: shown in a" window in Rangiora attracted' attention, The katipo has been found iv other . places near. Woodend, which lis beliovod to ,be close to tho southern boundary of its habitat. It has never been recorded.South of ;Banks Peninsula.

It is not alwajrs safe ..for' a public speaker, to take, his audifinces much into his confidence. • The; unexpected happened at the Kaiapoi District High School prize distribution last week, when a ruvcrend gentleman began his address,-by asking if the scholars would like: him' to make a long speech. The reply was a. chorus'of "Noes." "Well," he continued, ■ "do you want any speech from mo at nil f" And the "Noes' were equnlly as . emphatic. "Well," he went on to, say, ''it is good for children to receive sometimes what they do not want,"; and he proceeded to give a forciblo address on the need for building'; up a' sound body, training the mind, and establishing ■t\ i good character. A vory hearty round :of applause greeted the speaker's remarks.—C'hristchur-oh "Press. ■ ■■■ ■ Dr. J. C. Dunlop, superintendent of the Statistical Department in the .RegistrarGeneral's office, : rcad a paper on "Occupation Mortalities" at a recent meeting in Edinburgh under the auspices of the Faculty of Actuaries in' Scotland. - He dealt with a reeent statistical report'for England and Wales, and devised hew methods -for studying that information, with tho'f result -that ho found that the 12 occupations found.to be of lowest mortality, or . with : the'.greatest expectation of! life at 1 the age of 25, were as follow:— Clergy (with expectation of 42.8 years), gardeners. (42.3 years)',' gamekeepers (42.1 yoars), farmers (41.8 years), railway engine drivers (41.7 years), farm, labourers (41.5 years),, schoolmasters: (41.2 years), briclcmakers (4l;l years), Civil Service officials (40,3 years), grocers (40.2 years), papermakors (10.2 years),, and ironstone 'miners (40,2, years). The 12 occupations found to be ol' highest mortality, or with the smallest expectation of life, are;— General' labourers (27.8 years), tin miners (23.5' years), costermongers ' (29.0 years), inn and hotel servants (29.4 years), publicans.and innkeepers (30.4-ytars), seameii (31.3 years), file makers (31.5 years), general shopkeepers'(32.4: years), cutlers (32.6 yoars), dock labourers (32.0 years), mes-' sengers (33.0 ' years),' and. ipottors (33.5 y<Sars).

The Creations working on the gumfields of : the Northern Wairoa are considerably annoyed over the report of Mr, Gow, to the Government on the kauri fjum industry (says the "Star's" Darg'aviUo correspondent). .The suggested taxing of, Croatians they l consider uncalled for arid unjust, and they contend that the recommendations of the report aro mado with a view to cliasing Croatians off the gumfields. There is no doubt that Croatians or,, Anstrians have taught, colonials, a lesson in tfio science of..pum-diggjng, and had it not been for, their enterprise and industry, many ; of our gum lands would never: have yielded: up their treasures of, resin in the same degree. As a people, they are a: credit to themselves and to tho country from which, tlicy come, being scrupulously honest and industrious. They are, likely to make a determined effort to remove the apparent 6lur cast upon them, and'there is no doubt that considerable soreness now prevails.'

A marvellous escape from death, as a result of a shot from a pea-rifle occurred at Gore last Wednesday evening (says the: "Standard"). The five-year-old son of Mr W, Wilson,; of Brougnfcon' Street, was sitting on the lawn in front of the • house .wlien his. parents 'were startled by hi« screaming. On reaohing the boy .Mr; and Mrs,. Wilson found .that ho had jjoen •hit! by • ft,': bullet from , a pea-rifle. ~-The bullet struck the child on the left breast, making .a- bole' in his waistcoat, .but"-as it was evidently spent,,before! reaching him, his shirt was . not penetraUd, though , his skin was liadJ.j bruised. ■;

'•i' A reunion, is to -;ba held at' Pokeno (Auckland), to commemorate the 45th anniversary of tho arrival of the good . ship Helenslie in ,1861. A large and active committee has, boen at work in Pokeno for some months past,, and as a result, every preparation has ; been made to fittingly celebrate tho occasion. The. committee that has tne management of the function on hand is desirous that the gathering shall be as representative' as possible, and has' extended a hearty, wolcoine to nil, particularly'those whom, it has . been unable, to reach by postal communication.

"I'm a humble man," meekly remarked Mr. . il'lntosli, M.L.C.,, at '„ the Russell Memorial unveiling ceremony, at, Sydney University last week, "but"—with a Hashing smilo of infinite optimism—"l'm a Scotsmanl" Ho J was relating reminiscences of tho lato Sir Poter Nicol; Russell, whom. lie toiew from the early He told how Sir' Peter had left his homo at Kirkaldie. in 1832, ' because his iva? too small. He commenced ; business in' Tasmania, which place ho likewise found himself too large for. He then re- , moved to Sydney, and .opened a small engineering works at Circular Quay; sub; scqueritly moving inwards . and establishing what was, or ; promised to be,, the biggest ironworks, in Australia, and perhaps in' tho-southern hemisphere. ; "In 1875 a great striko among tho engineers,, almost :as • disastrous as the present one,: occurred," paid Ml'.. M'lntosh, "and Sir Peter's business was irretrievably ruined. He was away Homo at the time,' and when lie returned ho found only the remains of a once thriving enterprise, and he 'fair cried' when .lie . said to me, 'Mac; all my work in Australia lias gone for ; nothing.'" Sir Peter evidently -..thrived subsequently,, ior .'rushing., on.' With ' his story,. Mr.. 1 M'lntosh a, few minutes later was telling tho audience that he bad advised the wealthy engineer that'.<£loo,ooo i was "little, enough" for him to give towards 'an.'engineering/.school at. Sydney I University.' v

t An: extraordinary' occurrence is reported from , AVeetalibah, Now South ■ Wales, about r 2o miles from Coonamble, bearing ill its train serious loss for a well-known district grazier. It appears that Mr. J'. Hail, oi'. Jidgerton Park, made it a custom to yard his sheep overnight about oiice. u .fortnight.- . Rome weeks ago : : ho yarded 1000. Next day lie. forgot to release tho sheep or givo any aboiit them,' and proceeded to Sydney/ on ■ business. Tho sheep - were locked : up in the yards for eight' days.' before' their plight was discovered, when it was found ■ that nil but. about 20 were dead. aud they . sufcoiimbed. immediately ; they were given. Hall's-_loss_, is estimated,fat ..£800:. The yards in which the sheep were Confined'are some distance from any habitation., One day during which-the sheep were in tho yards the heat registered was •107 . qcgrees, ■>~ ■ /;

. ."If there is any danger threatening our educational system," said Mr. Edmunds, of.Doniliqiiin,'at a recent Teachers' Conference in Sydney, "it is the entry into the seryico. of a groat number of young tallows oininpntly, unfitted to ha.' there. Somo I liavo mot arc without cclturo of any kind. They cannot talk English, and cannot s<?t'an example to others, jutting by their . behaviour in the; railway' 'carThese are in. want of .very ; drastic training,, and there should , certainly be a highor, qualification for entry into the service,' : lcst it be degraded in the'eyes of tho wliolo community." Speaking' later, Mr. Goulson, of Murrumburrah, took strong exception to Mr.- Edmunds' 6 remarks.. At Fort Strootj he said, ho lmd occasionally seen sorrie display of: auimal spirits, but, ; nono could call,it worse, and ho lmd; certainly, seen nothing at an\ timo .to compare with what Mr; Edmund's hail described. He protested very strongly against the statements.

.A who .travelled out of .Mataura rc r: ri ? tm . as cil€ ? r on his Paybackfell oil the train; as it. was travelling at- &' good, pace, but'with, the good fortune which - generally attends such, people fell clear; of- the. train. ■; His 'disappearance, was apparently, not noticod by other passengers, but;, a resident near-by saw the mishap and telephoned to the oouce 1 station. .- Police Constable Schuffer accord* lugly proceeded* to ,the spot and found csomfortaWy sleeping by.the side 0 ' i •11 .with his only; injury a real' goo! black - eye. • When . awakened, he, extreme unconoern, accepted the constable s invitation to. accompany him' lo tho police station. ' >. .

. On Sunday December 19, at ■bt. Joseph s -Roman Catholic Cathedra), Dunedin,. hw Grace...the . Archbishop' of Hobart preaohed an impressive discourse. He spoke of the progress of the Church in this Dominion, as was evidenced thevvery. fine. cathedrals, churches, and institutes of charity. The Home of the . Little Sisters of the Poor at 1 Anderson's Bay, and ■ the' Homo - of. the' . Sisters <of .Isazareth, • Christchurch, • now 1 / in of .erection, excited his. admiratiori( In' Wellington he saw one of : the most touching; examples of Christian charity in the work carried on at tho Honi'j for Incurables, where the 1%. Mother Mary Auibert. and tho Sisters ,t>f Compassion- cared for ovory .form.'of human suffering.lu"' Wellington they had that very fine institute, of learning, .St.-Patrick's-College, whilst'in Dunedin they had .the-Ecclesi-astical; Seminary of Holy . Cross Collego, tho first fruits of which were made manifest on- the previous'. Sunday, when six students were ordained to: tho priesthood. His Grace cxpressod' tlie belief that''-in' time to come JS'ow- Zealand would- be a Kecond Ireland, ;, and tlia from. it would go forth its eons as missionaries; taking the' light of. the Gospel to the peoples of Eastern, lands) more particularly,,his Graced suggested, to - Jliprrn, that . young country which had now- taken a front rank in the concert of the nations.' His Grace paid a tribute to tho social ) and economio legislation of Nov;. Zealand, which gave, a lead toi othei" : fc'ountrii;s: in this respeot. The legislation ".vas watched with the greatest, interest':by .Catholic thinkers: in evory .'part of the world. A visitorv.to ChristchUrch is at;present in 1 a quaudavy rcgardiiiK' tho recovery ;25a.: which ho. lent .to a strangor on Kii alleged gold and diamond, ring (says tho "Press"). "He stopped into a local tobrcconist's shop to purcha'so a packet of cigarcttes. A gonial young man, ; apparently a customer, who was standing inthe shop, recommended a certain : brand-' The visitor resolved to try, tho, cigarottcs, and then tho parties entered into conversation. The visitor disclosed the fact that ho was going to Wellington in tho evening, and his • new-found .friend remarked that ho also was . journeying north, but. he • was :at presant' rather Short of cash,, and if . the visitor .would advance.him 255. on. n gold and' diamond ring ho; could pay for liis passage. Tl| e amount was to bo refunded at Wellington. The request was complied with, but tbo ..lender, subsequently, ascertained that his; security was brass .arid pasto; 'The matter • was put in tho hands of 'the police, but they, could do nothing as tho recipient of tho 255. said tho. monbv was lent on the rinc.