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Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 26 January 1901, Page 2

Applications close this evening for the position of medical officer to tho Grey Valiey Miners Medical Association at Brunner.

On Monday morning Messrs Easson and Co will soil by public auction at their rooms KiO boxes prime fruit without reserve.

The interruption to the cables explains our absence of news from Europe and South Africa, The cable is expected to bo in working order to-day.

In another column Mr James notifies that, owing to the death of his wife and his absence from Greymouth, orders entrusted to him will be delayed for a few days. In St John's Presbyterian Church tomorrow, special memorial services will be held. The Rev. R. Stewart will deal with the leading features of her life, character, and reign of Her late Majesty, Queen Victoria. Special hymns and anthems by Hie choir. All are cordially invited.

Parents and guardians are notified in another column that the Greymouth State School will re-open on Monday next. A full attendance is requested as it is desirable to have tho children classified as speedily as possible. A young woman named Miss IS r eale, travelling from Reef ton by train on Thursday was so obviously ill that a lady and gentleman looked after her, and on arrival called in medical aid. She was at once sent to the Greymouth Hospital and was found to bo suffering from very severe internal inflammation. Her condition to-day is most critical, and unfortunately her parents arc in Melbourne.

Mr A L Ryan who has boen a rosiden* of Brunner for some time past leaves on Monday to fill a position on the staff of the Hasting Standard. While we are pleased to hear of his promotion we regrot his departure, as he has always taken a most active interest in the Literary Institute, Volunteers, and amateur theatricale and always foremost in good works for the advancement of the people or the district.

Special Memorial Services in connection with the death of her late Majesty Queen Victoria, will be held in Holy Trinity C'nurch to-morrow. There will bo a Celebration of the Holy Corambnion at 8 a.m., Military Service at 11 a.m., Children's Service at 3 p.m., and Evening Prayer at 7 p.m. Tho music and sermons will be appropriate to tho occasion. A general order to volunteers throughout the colony has been issued requiring lliem to attend the memorial services to be held throughout the colony to-mor-row. At Grcymoulh the Rifles are notified to parade at 10 30 a.m. in order to march to church. At Thursday's parade Captain Moricc addressed the men, and after called on them to " present arms " to her memory, dismissed the Company without drill.

The Chairman of the Gr-ey County Council received a Government circular by telegraph in rolation to tho observances of mourning services in connection with the Queen's death, as was sent to the Chairman of all other local public bodies, and has sent the following reply to Hon. J. G. Ward, Acting-Premier:—"On bohalf of the Grey County Council, I can assure you that we acquiesce in the suggestions contained in your circular wire. The Grey County and inhabitants deeply deplore the death of our late beloved and Gracious Queen —W. M'Kecknie, Chairman."

At the Presbyterian Church last evening after choir practice, one of the members—Miss Guthrie—was presented with a handsome silver tea service on the occasion of her approaching marriage. Mr Moss, in making the presentation, regretted tho choir was about to lose so valuable a member, but hoped that Miss Guthrie would have happiness and prosperity in her new sphere. Mr Harlcy, responded on behalf of Miss Guthrie. According to a correspondent of tho Southern Cross an exciting incident occurred near tho railway station upon the occasion of the Southland Pipe Hand's arrival at Christchurch. The pipers drew up in line, and at the signal from the drum major (tho great M'Gregor) out burst a wild shriek from tho 60 drones and 23 chanters —enough to frighten the most stolid moke reared outside the precinets of a'■ Hielan" commnnity. Acertain cabhorse suddenly conceived tho idea that Inferno had broken loose, so he followed its example, and gnlloped off at break-neck pace ; but opposite the Railway Hotel ho fell, and upon examination was found to be stone dead! This is a fact, no fiction.

It has not yet been decided what shall be done to welcome the returned troopers from South Africa. The uncertainty as to the date of the funeral of the late Queen prevents any fixtures being made. At Wcstport it has been decided to postpone the formal welcome till after the funeral has taken place. In the meantime a mere formal but unofficial welcome will be accorded on landing. It is likely that a similar course will be followed here.

A party of West Coast miners have gone this week to prospect tho Tararua ranges at Woodside, un er the guidance of a settler who, for a long time past, has found auriferous quartz in tho locality. The ranges have never been properly prospected,

The Auckland gold returns for 1900 readied a total of £635,033, as compared with £641,150 for 1899. The decrease is not to l)e taken as a sign of deterioration as it is more than accounted for by the fact that in 1899 a larger number of

companies were engaged in ore treatment most: of- which during 1900 devoted their

time io development, and consequently the output had more sources of supply in 1899 than in the year just dosed. The details show no sign of a falling oil* in

the returns from the great majority of of (he regular bullion-prod icing mines. In fact, an excellent average has been v maintained, and the year has been a very prosperous one.

Regulations for tho registration of dairies have boon gazetted. A fee of 5/is charged for a certificate, which is liable to be cancelled, and a fine of £SO imposed for a breach of tha regulations.

It is likely that the men of the Sixth Contingent will be inoculated against typhus before they leave the colony on active service. Tho medical officers aro to bo consulted on the matter.

A bonus of 4d per lb is offered for tho production in New Zealand of 100,0001bs of quicksilver, one-third to be produced before March 31st 1903, and the ballanco by March 31, 1901.

Some discontented percion wants to know why the inhabitants of tho United States should monopolise the title of " Americans, " while the inhabitants of Canada are called Canadians, and the people of the South American Ecpublics are Brazilians, Peruvians, and so on. He suggests that the United States population should be called Yankees. ALonlon exchange suggests Chat president M'Kinley should deal with tho matter in his next Message. The sheep as a source of our food supply (says a recent number of the Meat Trades Journal), is beginning to find a rival in the rabbit, particularly the Australian animal. In two years the supply lus more than doubled ; and down to tho end of last month our imports this year reached the largo buik of 10,085 tons of dead rabbits. This great weight of dead rabbits is equivalent to about 600,000 New Zealand sheep, and to even a larger number of Australian.

This year a new departure was made in Poverty Bay cropping. Linseed had been tried on a small scale and with much success. That fact induced Settlers to plant it extensively and it is estimated, that somewhat about 5(00 acres were planted this season. But in consequenco of the rain experienced, catapillars attacked the crops in force, and to such purpose that the experiment is now regarded as a complete failure. The Christchurch Star says that on his way back from England rather more than a year ago, ex-Judge Martin travelled through the United States. After his return to New Zealand, ho more than once expressed his, admiration of American customs, and also of the conditions of life prevailing in the Republic. It is considered highly probable by those people who are qualified to advance an opinion that Mr Martin will find his way to America and settle down there,

In Wellington and many other cities of New Zealand the bulk of the newspapers are printed on paper supplied by American firms. It appears, however, that important developments are about to take place in the paper trade in the United States. A new corporation with a capital of £1,000,000 is about to commence the manufacture of paper from the wasted hulls of cotton-seed, millions of tons of which are pilled up all over the south of the State?, constituting the refuse of hundreds of cotton-seed oil mills. The company controls a now process for manufacturing from this material a new pulp, which will keep white, and not turn yellow as wood pulp does, and costs only £f> per ton as against £ir> per ton for wood pulp.

Premier Seddon (writes the Bulletin), whose uniform and cocked hat made him an opera-bouffo king, blazed indignantly at a Sydney pressman whila denouncing Gov. O'Brien's threat tD depart the seditious clergyman from Fj\ "I'll see about it, snapped Dick; ce<thinly I'll see about it. It's tyrannous, despotic, un-British." "By the way," said the audacious scribe, "how in your Hansard staff getting on now? Any more of them likely to go off the chain about Boers and things?" But tho "Windsor uniform disappeared. The Wellington correspondent of tho Auckland Herald says:—The Hon T. Duncan spates that the Government has decided on the gentleman to succood Mr Percy Smith as Surveyor-General but owing to pressure of other business the actual appointment will involve other changes and these have not yet been fixed, and will probably not ba settled for a few weeks.

Tho Government intend issuing "303 rifles to intending competitors at tho forthcoming New Zealand F.iflo Association meeting. It is expected that the rides will bo issued towards the end of the present month. Applicants are required to make their applications through the officer commanding, at the same time depositing £l, which will; bo refunded at the meeting. Any person receiving a rifle and not attending the meeting will forfeit his pound, and tho captain of the corps or club be responsible for the safety of the rifles. Rifles have to be handed in again at tho close of the next meeting.

One of the N.Z. Federal escort writes of the officers with the Imperial troops ; There are officers here, both in the Imperial and colonial forces, who the men learn to lova and would do anything for, and who recognise that they have men under them and treat them as such. And then again there are officers here who are not fit to command a pack of hWnds, and are rightly hated and detested by their men.

A Sydney correspondent writes : Some of the Jehus are demanding outrageous fares. One such caught a Tartar tho other day. The Hon. J. Carroll and Mr A. L. D. Frasor hailed a hansom, and for a short journey an exbortinate fare was asked. Thereupon the .members for Napier hailed Taranaki, the Native Minister's body Guard, end requested him to "deal" with the driver for his imposition. When the burly Maori, who had been to the Queen's Jubilee, drew himself up to carry out the instruction cabby drove off hurriedly and forgot all about his fare.

The Bombay Gazette says:—There is not, as far as we know, it single armoured train in India, and yei; on the lines of railway along tho frontier there should certainly bo cngins ancl trucks so constructed that they could be used at once, in cases of emergency, At Quetta more particularly a train should bo formrd; on the new Nowsheic-Dargai line this precautionary measure is also needed ; and jf if the Peshawar-Jamrud railway is ever ' j to bo used, armoured vehicles are there an absolute necessity.

Tho following notice ia from Bundaberg :—" Cable advises arc that no communication is possible between Gomon and Noumea. Gomcn advises that the wind is increasing in violence, and they cannot foreto'd when eornruunication is likely to to be restored."

Samples of stories told by Do Wet to encourage his burghers :—The Queen has Hod to Capetown to escape the Chinese, who have captured half of England ; Lord Roberts lias been buried under the Heilbron Town Hall, and General Bullcr has gone Home and been presented with a gold spear.

The Hessian fly, which first made its appearance in the Masterton district some ttfn years ago, and to combat when a natural cneni}' was introduced, is again spreading among the wheat crops on Llie Upper Plains, and in one or two instances lias done considerable damage. The other evening smoke was seen to be issuing from a postal pillar box at New Plymouth, and cm the box being opened it was found that two or three letters were badly burned, and others more or less so. All the letters could, however, be either traced to their writers or forwarded lo their destination. 'Whether the fire was accidentally or Wilfully caused is not known. MB A certain well-known Dimodiii lawyer ■ ' Was vory fond of setting (raps for workmen who might happen to be working in or about his house by leaving money or some valuable article about. One day . recently a workman, well aware of the fact, found" a half-crown lying on the floor in one of the rooms. He smiled as he said to himself, "I know what that's for," and taking a brace and bit from his bag, he drilled a hole in the coin, and putting a large screwnail through it, lie fastened it securely to { the floor. The lawyer has not set any more traps since. The statutory meeting of the Montgomery Sluicing Company was held at Christchurch yesterday, 35 shareholders being present. Messrs G. Kitchie, T. Jones, L. Graves, J. Thornton, C. Meredith and Kaye were appointed directors, J. I). Gilliesj Greymouth, consulting engineer, C. L. Russell, secretary. The intention of the directors is to commence operations at once. The survey of the proposed water race is to he immediately started. This is one of the best sluicing claims in the Blackball district. Brewers are often troubled with fouling of the beer-barrels, due to the growth of a fungus which penetrates the wood to a considerable depth, so that ordinary methods of cleansing fail to remove it. This growth is now successfully removed by means of ozone, the method being to alternately subject the casks to the action of steam and ozone gas. Mr Cecil Bhodes has subscribed £3OOO to the new Anglican Cathedral at Capetown. The names of Lord Boberts and the late Prince Christian Victor are also among the list of subscribers. Owing to the continued dry weather in Nelson and the lateness of the January rains, the yield of milk from dairy cows has been considerably lessened, and it is probable the milkmen's Sunday halfholiday may have to be suspended for a few weeks in consequence. Such an eventuality was foreseen at the time the holiday was suggested, and arrangements were made to fit the case. Perhaps the queerest and drollest market in the world is the "Thieves' Market" of the City of Mexico. In this market one can purchase very nearly anything, from a diamond ring down to a hairpin. Here you will encounter ancient books, bound in vellum, and worth their weight in gold; queer old relics of the days of the viceroys, and for that matter, relics of Montezuma's time! As for modern articles, you can purchase everything, from a Yankee egg-beater to a modern street car, and every single article has been stolen. The peons of Mexico are, perhaps, the greatest thieves on earth, and there is a tale told of some enterprising rogues who, after much labor, actually succeeded in getting a street car off its track and into this same thieves market, where it was offered to the highest bidder. The weekly sale takes place on Sundays, and they arc generally well attended; for every house-holder who has been robbed during the previous weelc knows that by attending the " thieves " Sunday auction lie is quite sure of locating the missing property, and buying it back ,'" again at merely nominal prices. That such a market exists speaks volumes for the state of law and order in the City of Mexico.—The Wide World Magazine. On the chalk hills in the south-east of England there are a number of ponds known as dew-ponds, which contain thousands of gulbns of water even at the end of a very dry season, when most of the ponds in the neighboring villeys are empty. "Why theso ponds do not dry up, and whence they obtain their enormous supplies of water are being investigated by sevoral scientific mon. A ton weight dropped from a height of twenty feet will not break a good steel rail; but if the rail is nicked with a chisel to a depth of 1-61 of an inch it will break when a weight of six hundredweight falls upon it from a height of only twelve feot. The loss of strength due to these minute scratches is believed to account to some extent for the occasional fracture of rails on lines. Trooper Harris, of the Woodville district, writing to the "Examiner," says : Every corps in South Africa that I have seen reckon that they are tne smartest and best fighters. So they are, if one could only believe what the generals say. After every fight the corps are formed up, and the general " pulls their legs " for about a quarter of an hour. With av ew to meeting the wishes of the Auckland public, the Union Company have decided to improve ihe services between Auckland and S\dney next month. The Waikare. so well and favourably lcown in the intercolonial trade between Wellington and Sydney, will, on the completion of her West Coas' Sounds' trip, take up tbo East Coast Auckland-Sydney trade, in which she will continue to run jointly with the Mararoa,