TELEGRAMS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2079, 14 May 1907, Page 3

TELEGRAMS.

Press Association. AUCKLAND, yesterday. All vessels that arrived yesterday report bad weather passages. The Miowera, from Gisborne, experienced strong head winds and a heavy head sea. The Takapima also had a stormy trip from 'New Plymouth to Onehon-

° TUo steamer Rarawa, which left Onelnuiga for south yesterday afternoon, returned to the wharf this morning, the bar being too bad for crossing. It is probable the rakapuna’s departure for New Plymouth to-day will be delayed for the same reason. ~ . ~ , The Arawas haring reconsidered Maori korero, decided to remain on the understanding that the question of sending a deputation to England and its personnel be left in abeyance. The following resolution was adopted as the basis of a document to be signed by all members of the Maori rime, representative rangatiras, and delegates of all tribes scattered throughout the length and .breadth ot Aotearoa and Waipounanu: AVe do hereby agree to unite in one contederated body so that this union will include all members of the native race, and we pledge ourselves to maintain and uphold all the lights and privileges enjoyed by our race in the year 1824, signalised by the flag of 1836, ancl maintained under enactment by the New Zealand Constitution Act, 1852.” Rewhiti, the'-chief secretary, displayed a colored represal tation of the Maori national stan dard, presented to independent am confederated tribes in /calaiin by Bishop Williams in 1834. He nnoted from a letter signed by a friend and well-wisher of the Maoris, urging them to return to their flag R they did not r get justice from the Parliament of New Zealand. decided that no use should bo made of the flag until the union was accepted by a majority of the native race of both islands of Zeaiand, when a great ceremony would be hole, for the purpose of unfurling the fla„The hope was expressed -that the cere mony would be followed by beneficia legislation which Maoris demanded as "■ft frS r w n Ad tbi, afternoon on Minnie Raynor Kitchen agcd 10, the daughter of George Ivit eben residing at Parnell. Deceased had a tooth extracted by a local dentist on Thursday, and subsequentlj became ill. She was attended by doctor but died on Sunday. The ’Hon. Millar and McGowan, who intended to return south have been delayed by stormy, weath ° n in h reSd to°the Auckland slaughtermen’s application for a award, the parties have made an airang . ment P regarding freezing worked . out the intervention of the Goun The terms m regard to killing.tor t , K local trade will probably be similarly arranged The ' Westfield chemical manure workers have come to an »! re.P»n her mill near Jiokmnga. The POai of the waterside workers for an award is proceeding. J lie un ion ™.:entative. in h.s opening ■- statement, said the wages e,nd conditions required by the men were practically those which had prevailed foi 27 years, excepting the rate lor overti’]Vlr " 4 iisticcs" Oioiipr’» dccisjon _in the anneal case of G. V. Priestly, of Wae- ’ rmKfi-'i-ivka near Gisborne, v. Miles police constable, has been for* warded to the Registrar. Appellant was convicted on November 24 upon a charge of exposing liquor £” r f“'° at his licensed premises on &vindav ; Constable Doyle>-visited Piw J ho tel on Sunday, November A and found the front door open in the ™n cial room. Ho saw four poisons, o h of whom had a glass of beer-iph--hand, while, an empty glass was belli washed by appellant, who tol tne constable be was .just S lvln G , , friends a drink before lunch,! I)o)k considered that one of the men, Mu.phy, was the worse for liquor. Jmng, another of the four, asked at. a person could not go into an hotel ana. get a meal, and Doyle replied, i <-*«>' hut as soon as you ask for beer you commit yourself.” His Honor referred in Ids judgment to the importance of ascertaining' the demeanor of ivithes'ses who support such a defence ks : that' raised by appellant, and t ing tlie Magistrate’s .notes as bis ground, lie was not satisfied that tne four men were guests of appellant s. The circumstance that Long justified his presence by the statement that lie had gone to get a meal, and that some of the men alleged at the time that they were the guests of the li- * con see, also' the -fact that one. or the. party invited - Doyle to have a drink before they knew lie was a police diricer, prevented him from accepting the licensee’s statement. He could not ignore tlie fact that the Magistrate, having had the opportunity of observing the demeanor of the witnesses for the defence, disbelieved them, and jflieio being also uiicontradicted circumstances which tended to throw suspicion Oil the bona tides of the defence, he could not hold that appellant bad succeeded. The appeal was (lismissed with £7 7s costs. TiMARU. yesterday. Lid red Waldon, a lad nbout 18 years of ago, whose parents reside at Auckland, last night fell from the rigging of the.barque Kassa, prior to her entering port. The lad fell 70 feet and sustained severo injuries. The Hon. Mr. Fowlds, Minister of Education, is expected to arrive here from south to-morrow to cny. . quire into several matters connected • with education. - /

CHRISTCHURCH, yostordny. No definite arrangements have boon mnclo for the sale of the Exhibition buildings. It is understood thnfT they will ho" taken to pieces first and the timber sold in lots. All the statuary and office fnrnitnro will bo sold by auction. 'Shortly before midnight a fire occurred in an eight-roomed house at the corner of Victoria and Salisbury streets, owned by J. McLaren and occupied by J. J. Dunn, laborer. The upstairs portion was completely guttpd_- Tho building was insured for .£250, but there was no policy on tho furniture.

An inquiry into tho Bankable collision was opened to-day boforo Mr. Bishop, S.M., Messrs. Beattie (chief mechanical engineer). Buxton (chief traffic manager), Piper (Christchurch station-master), Vhitcombo (district traffic manager), were also present. -Mr. Harper appeared for tho driver and guard, and Mr. Hall for tho Railway Department. Mr. Hall said he understood a ruling had bcon given that the scope of the enquiry would lie extended to ascertaining the facts in connection with tho collision, and

so far as was necessary and relevant reference would have to bo made to the rules and regulations. Mr. Bishop said he had given no ruling on the matter. Tho subject of the on- ! quiry was the cause of the collision, | and ho was not prepared to say how lar he would allow the enquiry to go outside that. If Mr. Hall suggested that, the Court allow the enquiry to ! include tho whole scope of railway j administration, ho certainly would not allow it. Sir. Wliitcombe, the . first witness, detailed tho methods under which special trains run, After the accident witness interviewed tho guard and asked why ho overran the stopping place. Guard Seaman replied that he did not want to get anyone into trouble, but the stationmaster at Christchurch, when checking advices, never pointed out tb.,t they had a crossing at Bankside. V, itness asked tho guard if this was not si own in train advices, 1 !.< giiai-d replied: “To tell tho truth, sir, I did not think tho volunteer train affected mine, and omitted to read my instructions through.” Tho witness added that ho had not received communications from tho Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and would not have read thorn if he had. Ho knew they had made serious complaints about tho nature of tho special train advices, The Society’s recommendations .wort* such as to quite prevent the running of special trains in emergencies. At the Bankside inquiry, Mr. Piper, statioumastcr at Christchurch, Guard Seamen said ho had not got a circular,' but tho circulars were put in all train pigeon-holes. Before Seaman went off duty Seaman got a circular from Foreman Dunn. Special notioo was put in the notice book as usual, but was stolen shortly after the mishap. The porch in which the .book was kept was open to the railway people. Meikle, the driver, was a good, reliable man.

CHRISTCHURCH, last night. I At Bankside railway inquiry to-day John William Piper, stationmaster at Christchurch, stated that the special 1 advise as to the train for South was placed in Guard Seamens’ pigeonhole, and a copy placed in the guards’ room two days before tho collision. Before the train started witness checked the advice of both guard and driver in tlieir presence. A copy of the circular was placed in the train notice book; but had been stolen since the date of the accident. Another circular, “T 450,” the Easter circular, had also been stolen. Jas. Meikle, onginedriven, said lie could not say he noticed the circular T 450 c-'n the notice board. He scanned the notice.board hastily. Drivers frequently had to sign that that they had read and understood long circulars that it was practically impossible for them to understand thoroughly without very long perusal. Until he passed Bankside ‘lie had q,o idea that a volunteer train was on the line. Seamen;’ the guard of tlie train that collided with the volunteer train, said he did not know of any notice board. He took advice circulars from a box. He got a copy of circular T 450 from tliej foreman’s office. When he left Christchurch with the train lie had no knowledge that he had to cross a train at Bankside. The inquiry was adjourned till to-morrow.

ASHBURTON, yesterday. At the Magistrate’s Court Henry Brown was committed for trial on a charge of forging a cheque for £ll os, and purporting to he signed by J. Brown, and uttering the same to W. J. Brookes, hotel-keeper, Metliven.

* DUNEDIN,- yesterday. The Hon. Mr. Fowlds received several deputations this forenoon. One representing the - Benevolent Trustees asked that a part of the poll tax be applied in sending indigent Chinese back to China, and it was explained that the total cost of maintaining Chinese was about £BSB per annum, while they could be sent hack for about £l2 per head. The Minister said application should be made to the Charitable Aid Board, who received subsidies from tho Government.. He had no hesitation in saying that the Government would not make any special contribution in aid of the object asked for. For the Fire Boards, the following representatives have been selected unopposed by the fire insurance comnanies for Dunedin: Frederick George Cray (Royal Exchange), Thomas Ghalmer (Liverpool, London, and Globe), William Isaac Bolam (New Zealand). Oamaru: Messrs. Cray, Ohalmor, and Grave. DUNEDIN, last night.

The following are. the bankruptcy reports for- Otago and Southland for the quarter ending March 31: Dunedin 6, Invercargill 4, Gore 1, Lawrence 2, Queenstown 2, Oamaru 4, total IP. The total for the corresooncling period of 1906 was 20. The olio wing are the liabilities and assets for the same period, as per bankrupts schedules for Dunedin district 1901 : Liabilities £1583, assets £362. 1906: £35471-; 1905 figures for deputies districts are not available until end of the year.

INDECENT POSTCARDS. DUNEDIN, yesterday." John Johnson was charged at the police court this morning with the exposure of an indecent postcard to females, and was remanded till Luesday. Bail was allowed the accused in his own recognisance of £IOO and two sureties of £SO each. ,

RATES ON NATIVE LANDS

NEW PLYMOUTH, last night. This afternoon the Chairman of the Taranaki County' Council secured an nterview with the Hon. Minister for Native Affairs, and. discussed with aim the question of recovery of rates .evied on native lands. The depucation pointed out once more that the vlaoris were in. many cases farming lands and conveying milk to dairy factories and using roads to the same extent-as European settlers, but paid no rates. Local bodies were, loth to „o to the expense of Court proccedjigs,V for there was a clause in The Native Land Rating Act ol 1904, which stipulates that no judgment secured against a Maori for payment of rates could be urged upon without the consent of the Native Minister The natives, it was believed, shcltcied behind this clause and declined to pay. The .deputation asked Mi. Gatroll to state definitely if he could allow this to continue, or whether lit had given consent to local bodies pioceeding to- the fullest extent against property in order to secure payment ° • The°Mhdster told the deputation to “fire away” ; that was what lie want•Ml If they had to take the Maori hi Court and judgment were obtained he would see that the rates were na'ld even if he had to take the land and ’pay the rates himself on Maori land.