LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 808, 4 May 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

"In regard to the Hunanese riots and the article in your issue of the 29th ult., 'A Chinese View of tho Causes,' " writes the Rev. W. Jlawson, of the Presbyterian Canton Mission, now in New Zealand, "it should be pointed out that while offioinl status was offered hy the Chinese Government in 1899 to all missionaries in China, tho privilege was emphatically declined •by all Protestant missionaries. Further, over a year ago, the privilege was also withdrawn from Roman Catholic missionaries, so that .now no ' missionary holds official status in China. Again, Chinese Christians are amenable to the laws of their own country, only the treaties provide that they may claim the protection of their officials if persecuted on account of their religion. If missionaries interfere in ordinary law eases on behalf of their converts they are going beyond their province,, and it is no wonder that Chinese officials resent it. All Europeans- in China are under the extra-territorial clause' and amenable only to the laws of their own countries. Extra-territoriality has been abolished in the enso of Japan, and it depends upon tho Chinese themselves, upon the reform of their criminal code and methods of administering justioe, when the baa of this restriction shall also be removed from tjiei? country."

While gift, horses should'not be "looked in the month," equines which change owners for a matter of a couple of pounds are, it would appea.r, doserving of very, careful scrutiny, to judge from the remarks which were passed' at the meeting of the Society for the Prevention j of Cruelty -to Animals ; yesterday. Such transactions were, according to the societv's inspector, shrouded m deep and dark suspicion. When, lie said, a man sells' a' horse for <£2, he is obviously: desirous of getting rid of it. Two,owners of tired-looking horses confessed to him recently that their respective specimens of horseflesh had cost them no moro than £2.

The newly-elected general committee of the New Zealnnd Accident Insurance Companies' Association is as follows:— Messrs. C. A. Ewcn (chairman), R. M. Simpson, R. J. White, A. E. Kernot (Wellington), Jas. Buttle (Auckland), C. J. Cooper (Christchurch), and Donald Stronacli (Dunedin).

Hearing of the case of the Harbour Ferries Co., Ltd., v. the Royal Exchange Insurance Company, arising, out of th« loss of the ferry steamer Duco, has.been fixed for Tuesday next in the Supreme Court. The Duco was insured foi d 62511» in vnrious offices, and it is ( understood that tIV deoision ia' the action against the' Royal Exchange Insurance Company will settle tho whole/matter of insurance.

A petition bearing the signatures of 92 residents living in the vicinity of Melling's (Lower Hutt) and Belmont has been presented to the Minister for Railways by Mr.-T. M. Wilford, M.P. The petitioners urge that the train leaving 'l'e Aro at f1.15 p.m. and tlie train leaving Upper Hutt at 7.43 a.m. daily should stop at Melling's. It is' also pointed out in the petition that tho workers are not able to catch the train leaving Wellington at 5.10 p.m., this being the train which stops at Melling's al present. It is further urged that Melling's is a station which is used by ten persons for every one which uses Belmont.

The police are investigating n sensational episode which occurred during the evening service at the Courtenay Place Congregational Church on Sunday. During tho flinging of an anthem, a heavy bar of iron was hurled through the church window, and fell close to the Rev. A. Macdonald Aspland, who was seated in tho pulpit. If Mr. Aspland had been standing,' the missile must have struck him, probably with the most serious result. The bar was about fourteen inches long, and an inch thick. A shower of glnss felt over the choir and pulpit as the missile came through tho window. Stones have been thrown through the windows of the Sunday school in the past, and they have been protected with wire netting, but it was not thought necessary to cover the windows of the church.

The wheels of justice, we are told, grind arid apparently the Justice Department is limit upon these lines (stntos the "Tarauaki Daily Mews"). Thoro hao recently bc>cn a good deal of trouble in South Tarauaki owing to delay in appointing a relieving magistrate. The same conditions arc apparently going to prevail here. Mr. H. S. l'itzherbert, . S.M., is away on extended leave, due to illness, but no. step has yet been taken It appoint n relieving magistrate. Thus there is a little block in the oouduct of Court, work at this centre, Justices of the Peace are not allowed to deal with cases involving over a certain amount, and several cases must stand over until fnt appointment of a magistrate. Judgment summonses are entirely beyond the province of the justices, too. The legal profession and litigants will be pleased to hear of an appointment. This emergency fully supports the attitude of the Tarauaki Law Society in askin-g that a permanent relieving magistrate be appointed for the North Island. "Work on the Wndestown tramway was commenced yesterday at the point above Goldie's Brae, whore the first sod Was turned a week ago. Should tho city authorities charge for rehearsals of concerts and entertainments to bo given in the Town Hal] ? Mr. Hugo Gorlitz, a concert manager with a worldwide experience, answers the query with nil emphatic "No" in a lcttor to the Editor. "X think," says he, "I am entitled to enter a protest, against an unnecessary charge put upon artists when hiring tho Town Hall. Every conscientious artist, desirous of .doing his best on tho occasion of his debut, must test tho acoustic properties of tho hail, in order to adjust Ilia voico ov his instrument to the sound procurable. Everywhere throughout tho world the hiror of a concert hall or thoatre is entitled to a free rehearsal on tlrn day of the performance or any free day prior to tho date, .except 'in. Wellington. Why is a charge lnnde here?" I

. Mr. E. Zohrab, manager of the Wellington Harbour Terries, Ltd., has returned a visit to tho Chatham Islands,. in connection with the fish freez-, ing business which it was proposed to initiate at the time of the loss of the Duco. As Mr. Zohrab had not yet consulted his directors, he did not care to sny anything for publication under that head. While he was at the Chatham Islands, a meeting was held to consider the proposal for establishing a freezing company on the co-operative plan that would freeze mutton as well as the products of but so far the project is "in the air." Tlie total number of sheep in the group is said to be some GO,OOO.

Zacliaeus, _ the man of short stature mentioned in the Scriptures, isn't the only man who has found it useful to climb a tree. On Monday morning Mr. Ben IMpiiins, the Now Plymouth borough inspector, might have been observed snugly enseonsed in n trco that commanded a view of a portion of the King's highway in an outlying portion of the borough. Ho. wasn't bird-nesting, either (states Ihe "Taranaki Daily News"). "Ben" has for some lime been sure that a certain young cyclist used tho footpath frequently at this point, but so far he had never been able to catch the bylaw breaker. This time, however, from his porch up aloft, he made a sure catch.

Between thirty and forty witnesses will be called in the case against John Joseph Powelka for the alleged murder of Sergeant Mapuire. It is expected that the hearing of the charge will occupy at least two days.

Mr. J. T. Hogan, M.P., states that the Minister for Railways (the Hon. Mr. Millar) informed him that he would shortly visit Wanganui, in response to the invitation of the Borough Council, to inspect and discuss with the council the suggested subway for the railway and alterations to the Guyton Street crossing. ■ ■ '

Judgment will be delivered by Mr. Justice Cooper at 10.30. o'clock to-day in the cases of Jim Young v. Murphy (the pak-a-poo appeal, reported this week), and the Dannevirke Cordial Factory v. Hall, appeal on a Magistrate's Court action in' regard to a transaction in corks.

A woman was arrested at the Hntt yesterday by Detectives Andrews and Lewis on a charge of theft of a postal note valued at' 10s. It is alleged that she was given 10s. with which to purchase the postal note, with instructions to put the note in a letter and post it to a certain address.' It is stated that ehe cashed the note instead of putting it in the letter. .

Burglaries' in various quarters of the city are giving the detective force food for reflection just now. One niorning last week the residence of Mr. W. Camp, bell, Duncan Terrace, Kilbimie, was entered, the thief making his way in through the dining-room window and departing after he had secured 255. in cash and a gold nugget out of one of the bedrooms. A residence in Coromandel Street was also broken into last week, and a small 6nm of money stolen. Tiio money was in a pair of trousers, which, together with a vest, were removed from the house, one of the garments being left hanging on a fence.

Detectives Abbott and Cameron arrested a man yesterday evening on a charge of wife-desertion at Christchdrch.

Professor Percival Lowell, the famous Martian expert and director of the observatory at Flagstaff,'claims to have found final proof that Mars is inhabited. He announced recently that he had seen a new canal spring into being last summer, showing, he declared, that it had just been completed by the Martians, the water had just been turned into it, and vegetation had just sprung up in a hitherto uninhabitable part of the great desert which comprises most "of the planet's surface. , The first meeting of the session of the Wellington Philosophical Society will be held at the Dominion Museum to-night, at 8 o'clock. .The' presidential address will bo delivered by Mr. A.' Hamilton, nnd addresses on "Halley and 'Hallcy's Comet" will be given by Messrs* Thomas King, C. E. Adams, and Dr. Kennedy, i In regard, to'the difficulty with reference to admitting the :"Kangaroo" coinage into New Zealand, the Hen. Dr. Findlay informed, a reporter yesterday that he had just received an answer from the Attorney-General for the Common- • wealth explaining the arrangements which had been made between the Commonwealth and the Imperial Government. He . (Dr. Findlay) had . been furnished yrith much valuable advice and' information on the question of oversea coinage by Mr. G. E. Tolhurst, resident inspector of the Union Bank here, whose wide knowledge of banking in all its branches, and especially of the currency question, was well known. The whole matter, he added,. was now in the hands of the Minister for Finance (Sir Joseph Ward), Speaking to a reporter yesterday, the Hon. Dr. Findlay said that the supplementary list of new justices of the peace could not" be issued for at least a fortnight. A large number of nominations had been made by members of Parliament and others for the consideration of the Government, and the necessary inquiries whi;h had had to be made had delayed the publication of the appointments. The list would now have to await the next full meeting of Cabinet, which could not take place until the Prime Minister returned to Wellington.

A rumour has been circulated to the effect that the Auckland Harbour Board would shortly have to curtail expenditure on works, and that this would entail the, discharge of 'a certain ' number of men. Mr. A. J. Entricau (chairman of the , board), to ' whom the matter wag referred, states that the ground for this assertion is'a very flimsy, one. It is-a fact that tho board is pledged not to go on the London market during the coming year, and in consequenco may not have all tho money to' come and go on that it might. Not only, however, will the board proceed with all tho work now in band, but fresh work will bo undertaken during the year. Queen Streot wharf will bo pushed on with more expedition than has yet been shown, and it is hoped to have two sheds up and tbo eastern berth ready within the nest three or four months. Work at Freeman's Bay will also bo proceeded with. Mr. Entrican hopes very shortly to lay before the board a scheme of work for the year.,

An amusing example of Maqri justice, as administered by the "kommitteo" appointed to look after the manners and morals of residents of Native settlements, was related at the Thames Magistrate's Court (roports the Thames "Star"). A middle-aged mail had "married" a girl of 17 years, and in his absence a youthful suitor had appeared on tho scene. The latter person was "warned off,", but he persisted in pressing his presumably unwelcome attentions. An. appeal was nindj to the Maori Committee, with this astounding result: They found that the yoiuv.' man had erred in trespassing, but th.it the damsel hud also committed an error of judgment in asking him to tea. They therefore imposed no iine or punishment upon the ytmthful pair; but inDieted .a fine of £2 10s. and costs on the absent husband! Counsel asked jokingly if solicitor's fee was not included, but the witness failed Fo see the point. He said, however, that he had paid the fine "under protest." His Worship queried: "Where did the money go to?" Witness replied that he did not know, but we saw the chairjnan of the committee (who was in court) smile in a manner too sweet for words!

The mysterious disappearance of (In /Leader' picture from the Art Gallery is still occupying the attention of the police, but tho matter cotnos under th< 'Tcept-steadily-in-viow" category.

Some horseowners in the city evidently have a strict regard for the treatment which their animals receivo at the hands of drivers. The Inspector for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty t« Animals, reporting to his committee yesterday on the cases of alleged ■ cruelty investigated by him during the past fortnight, Remarked that one particular horseowner, on being informed of the fact that one of his employees had been severely flogging the horses under hia charge, promptly undertook to 6ee thai the driver was dismissed from his service. 1

About ono hundred of the oonverte ol Dr. Henry's "Wellington mission eat dovmto a combined tea in the Kent Terrace Presbyterian Schoolroom yesterday, and afterwards attended a metting, over which >Mr. 11. N. jjlolmes and Mr. T. P. Mills in turn presided. Tho l?ev. A. Dewdney and the Rev. W. J. Comrie gave short addresses, and a service of prayer was lield, whioh included the giving of testimonies. Hymns and songs were sung, and refreshments were served at the conclusion of the evening.

The proceedings of the weekly meetings of the institution formerly designated the Wellington Benevolent Institution* and _ now, under the new system of administering charitable aid, designated thd Charitable Aid Committee of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, are to w closed to the press in future. Previous to the new regime} the press reporter? regularly attended the weekly meeting! of the Benevolent Trustees, but when they assembled in tho boardroom yesterday afternoon as usual,' the chairman, MiTl. G. W. Aitken, intimated that the proceedings of the Belief Committee wei*. not to be reported. Tie press repreeeatives accordingly withdrew.

According to a Toport in a Eotorna paper of last week, the Natives of the Taupo district have held a tangi in connection with the death of Tamaiwhana. who was overwhelmed in the landslide at Waihi (Lake Taupo) on March. 21. Us report states that the people wljp hovß been excavating for the remains hare had what they consider satisfactory proof that they were carried out into the laka and covered with the deposit of liquid mud and earth which flowed out of th* mountain-side.