ACCIDENT INSURANCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 194, 23 August 1901, Page 2

ACCIDENT INSURANCE.

The stand taken up by the Premier in regard to the Workers’Compensation for Accident Act not applying to agriculturalists requires further explanation, as the subject is now left in a more unsatisfactory

position than ever. The Premier sians j that he has been advised that the Act j does not apply to agricultural laborers, ! that the Legislature never had any niton- | tion that it should so apply, and that in- j suranee agents had got up a scare to induce fanners to insure. Had the Premier left the subject at that point his dictum might have been accepted as so authoritative as even to influence magistrates in their interpretation of the Act; but he went on to say that lie would like to sec a judicial decision given on the subject before bringing in an amending Pill. In other | words, the already over-burdened farmer has to risk litigation before ho can get an understanding as to what is really the effect of the Act, and if lie is wise he will keep clear of litigation, l’o the lav mind the Act clearly does include agricultural laborers, and if by legal finesse the plain wording of the Act can be over-riden so as to give what the Legislature truly intended, it is most unfair that the responsibility and cost of finding that out should be thrust on the farmer. It would bo more reasonable if the State itself had the question definitely decided. It is nonsense to talk about the insurance agents creating a scare. The plain wording of the Act is quite sufficient to create what has been termed a scare.

Messrs ,1. Peekovcr ami Co. advertise numerous choice properties for sale. A new advertisement from Mr Thomas Adams appears in to-day's issue of the Times.

Mr E. Wilkinson, poundkceper, notifies , that six horses found trespassing on Ivaiti ' roads have been impounded. A general meeting of the Gisborne Rifles is to be held on Monday evening to elect a lieutenant in place of Mr Bold, who has resigned. The Hon. J. Carroll has presented to the House a requisition largely signed by East Coast residents in favor of a railway from Napier to Gisborne. Captain Edwin telegraphed at 11.5 yesterday morning: “ South to cast and north-cast gale soon ; glass rise ; sea very heavy outside ; tides high ; weather much colder.” Mr W. F. Crawford is expected to return to the colony by the White Star liner Medic, which left Liverpool on July 20th, and is duo in Melbourne on September 3rd. A Wellington business man, having made a careful computation, estimates that there will be a falling oil of £2,228,000 in the returns from wool this year as compared with last. 11l the Wellington Supreme Court yesterday the following sentences were imposed : Charles Cookery, for horsestealing, 12 months ; Edward Crcascy and George Kelley, for theft, 18 months. Mr J. Kcmpner, of Gladstone Road, is thinking of assuming the role of amateur detective, in view of the loss of his pretty cream pony, together with saddle and bridle. Ho has in this issue two advertisements with regard to his lost property. If the people who are always in trouble —or apparently so—because the birth rate is not high enough, would take a little more interest in the question of the death rate, it would be a good thing for the world. —Napier Telegraph. On Wednesday at Riverslea, To Arab Mr A. 13. Carmichael was married to Mrs F. R. Arthur. Canon Fox conducted the service. Mr and Mrs Carmichael’s many friends will wish them happiness and prosperity. At the Magistrate’s Court yesterday judgment for plaintiff was given in the cases—A. E. Adams v. Heta and Hwe, Warakihi (Mr -Jones for plaintiff), claim £-11 9s 4d, costs £4 3s ; W. N. Attwood v. W. Dennett, £2 lbs 6d, and costs ss. The football team to represent Ivaiti against City on Saturday will bo selected from the following : —Witty, Ngatai, Halbert, Thomson, Reynolds, Murphy, Eaton, Colebourno, Robinson, Bright, Mclvollar, Hansen, Brophy, K. Harris, Moorp, Ferris, and Coleman, The Druids’ social at Ormond on Tuesday evening next promises to be a groat success. The arrangements are now complete, and the gathering promises to bo quite as successful as the gathering held at Ratutahi, which was the most successful country dance held in the district. At the Police Court yesterday a native named Peta Hape, arrested by Constable Doyle, was charged with the theft of £2O from Wairoa natives. Mr Nolan appeared for defendant. Sergeant Siddclls applied for permission to remand the accused to appear at Wairoa on Wednesday next. The remand was granted, bail being allowed on Mr Nolau’s application. The Rugby Ball will bo hold in the Theatre Royal to-night, and is bound to bo largely attended. The committee spent a good deal of time at the hall last evening decorating and putting everything in order, and there is every reason to believe that the function will bo one of the most enjoyable held in the district for some time past. Dancing commences at 8 p.m. As a sequel to the volunteer procession in Wellington the Now Zealand Express Company have had to pay £23 to Ernest T. Wilkins, of Willis street, for damages caused by one of their horses backing an express through his plate-glass window, as a result of taking fright at what was described in the' course of the evidence as “ the rowdy procession.” The Dune.din Harbor Board is in hot water over its recent appointment of a wharfinger, and much is likely to bo heard of its action before the month is out. The Chamber of Commerce lost no time in passing a resolution deprecating the decision of the Board in appointing a man 'with no practical experience of the work, The mysterious manner in which the appointment W'as made—the Board wont into Committee, and filled the vacancy without consulting the secretary—has caused a great deal of dissatisfaction, and the next meeting of the Board is likely to be a very stormy one. Whilst the tea merchants were hard work last week clearing their large stocks of tea in bond in view of increased Customs duty, the publicans were also in fear and trembling that anothing halfpenny per gallon was going on beer, and as a result many of them took the precaution to lay in a largo stock. A representative from one of the Southern firms was in Gisborne last week, and did a roaring trade, taking quite a ship ioad of orders. The Moura from the South on |

Wednesday last brought over two hundred hogsheads of boor, more than half of these being for Gisborne, whilst upwards of thirty wont into one cellar.

The :i-.i in' snow-balling in the South ana list.- repu-ts of fan to be obtained from the game, led to a rather peculiar accident at Tauphi the other day (states the Waikato U-gus). Two young fellows, who are employed at n liaxmill, commenced a battle royal in camp, and in the absence of the tad ait: do substituted snowflake potatoes, steaming hot from the lire. All went merrily until one, in ducking, received a boiling tuber in the ear. It tilled up the cavity and scalded the inner porJ tions very badly. The sufferer was brought up to the Waikato Hospital, and although the doctor is hopeful of preserving the sense of hearing, there is a possibility that t the patient will lose it. A complimentary ball was held at Tolago on Wednesday night by way of farewell to the' popular Mr and Mrs Sinclair, who arc leaving the district'! The woolshed, which was prettily decorated, was crowded. The arrangements were excellent, and a most enjoyable time was spent, one to be long remembered by the guests and their friends. Messrs Agues and Lockwood acted as M.C.’s, and Mr Lockwood supplied first-class dance music. A bountiful supply of refreshments was provided. At an interval during the evening, Mr Poole, in a eulogistic speech, bade farewell to Mr and Mrs Sinclair, and spoke of their good I qualities, and the friends they would leave behind them. Mr Sinclair, he said, had thrown himself heartily into local affairs, and as secretary.of the Bridge Committee had done much to push that project forward. Mr Spence endorsed Mr Poole's remarks. Mr Sinclair, in modestly replying, sail 1 . that what little he had done had given him great pleasure. He was pleased to know, in leaving, that ho hal made many friends, and left no enemies. The dance broke up v/ith the singing of “ Auld Lang Syne,”

News has been received from Singapore of tiie death of Mrs Tarn, for 21 years mistress of Mount Cook Girls’ School, and well known throughout the colony. Those whose business occasions travelling by the Gisborne-Whatatutu line of coaches will have reason to feel gratitude to Mr J. T. Cassidy, who at considerable expense has just impo' ‘ J a thoroughbrace coach, built origin ;.i,y by Messrs Williams ami Sons, of Xn -hr, for the special conveyance of the ! ..u - ] of Glasgow to places of interest inland. It may he nevertheless torn- d an absolutely new j vehicle, having o by made one journey to I Taupo, under tit control ot Mr E. O’Reilly, j of the Albion Club Stables, here, and a ] small amount of work on the Patea road. One great desideratum in its construction is that whilst it can comfortably afford accommodation for twelve passengers, to gether with a considerable amount of 'luggage, goods, parcels, etc., the former are in no way inconvenienced, and can sit as comfortably as in a landau. Tho thorough-brace proper is apparently not understood in this district, and has sometimes been described as “ leather springs, and no doubt this description would bring a smile to the originator of the idea, could it possibly come under his notice. The coach, for certain lettering purposes, is placed under tho case of Mr “Wally” Howard at present, but may be expected to make its first trip on Saturday next.

Tho Hon. Jas. Carroll once oracularly said :—“ The Boss can shake a leg in any company. This was a reverent allusion to the extreme versatility of Mr Soddon.as it is indeed an epigrammatical explanation of the latter’s continual political successes over a series of years. “ The Boss can shake a leg in any company,” ought, in fact, be inscribed in brass on a Seddonian statue in front of Parliament House for the instruction and benefit of neophyte poli-

icians now and for ever. For whether ic is addressing in the roughest Lancaliire vernacular the diggers of the West ioast, or dining with Vice-Royalty, or njoying himself in a country pub, or easting at a Maori pah, or preaching irohibition to prohibitionists, or singing ; The Wearing of the Green ” at a publi■an’s shivoo, or taking part in a Masonic nvestiture, or opening a Catholic bazaar, >r addressing a congregation of Smulayichool scholars, or firing chain-lightning ipitliots at his much enduring secretaries, >r blackguarding a recalcitrant Cabinet | Minister, or cozening a caucus —in each | jr any of these capacities and a hundred jthers Mr Seddon is equally at homo. 1 The Boss can shako a leg in any company.” —Truth. At Wellington the collapso cf a concrete wall, and a conderable slip of land, caused great excitement last week. A wall about 60ft. high, sft. thick at the base, and a foot thick at the top, had been built to retain a bank upon which the residence known as “ Hour View ”is situated. The concrete had barely set, and the wall, under pressure of the moisture-laden banks, burst, and several tons of earth crashed down on to the buildings below. Mr J. T. Glover’s house of six rooms, which is eighteen yards from the wall, was lifted off its foundations and carried forward six or seven yards. It brought up against an adjacent engineering shop, into which the front rooms wore driven one or two foot. Miss Daisy Glover and an infant were in one of the front rooms, Mr and Mrs Glover having loft the house a few minutes earlier. After the first shock Miss Glover went to the back of the houso to see the damage, and, while there, a second slip occurred, smashing through the back rooms, and burying hetup to the waist in earth, debris, and broken timber. Attracted by the girl’s screams, Constable Mahoney efleeted an entrance by a window, with considerable difficulty, and released her. The infant was also got out of the house. The back portion was completely destroyed, and the remainder was knocked quite out of shape. Some damage was also done to the engineering shop. Andrew Compton’s sash and door factory suffered a good deal, and several tons of concrete and dirt fell on the timber stack. The back of the factory itself was knocked about eighteen inches out of plumb, and, beside this, some machinery was displaced.

Turanga Church Services, Sunday next.— Waerenga o-kuri (with Holy Communion) 11, Patutahi 7, Canon Fox; To Arai 3, Wae-renga-a-hika 3, Lay Readers.