INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10069, 10 February 1909, Page 4

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

(Pee Pbess Association.)

WELLINGTON. February 9. At the Police Court this morning, John Trainor, William Thomas, and George Williams, the latter with several, aliases, were charged with assaulting an old man named James Garter in the back premises of a hotel last night, and robbing him of a small sum of money. The men were remanded, being allowed bail in £IOO and in two sureties of £SO each. CHRISTCHURCH. February 9. At to-day's meeting of the Board of Governors of Canterbury (Lincoln) Agricultural College, the chairman (the Hon. E. C. J. Stevens) stated that he had received a cable message from Mr W. F. M. Buckley to the effect that he had, on behalf of the Board, appointed Mr Robert Alexander to the position of Director of the College in place of Mr W. Lowrie, who recently retired to take up the position of Director of Agriculture in West Australia. Mr Alexander is to leave England Tor the Dominion on March 18th.

At the Supreme Court, William James was found guilty of breaking and entering a. butcher's shop and stealing therefrom a loin of mutton. His record was not a good one, there having been several previous convictions of theft. Accused had qualified for commitment as an habitual criminal, and his Honor, in sentencing the prisoner to two years' imprisonment, stated that if he appeared before the Court he would be 6o committed. George Henry Barket was found not guilty of a charge of wilfully indecent exposure. Similar charges against the same accused will be heard to-morrow.

The eighth annual meeting and conference of the New Zealand United Master Bakers' Industrial Association of Employers was opened in Christchurch today. There was a large attendance, among those present being Messrs W. .A. Kellow (president), Laurenson (vice-presiednt), F. MTarland (treasurer), H. F. Allen (secretary), Denhard and Langdon (members of the executive). The report and balancesheet, which disclosed a healthy state of affairs, were adopted. The order paper is a fairly substantial one, containing remits from the Auckland, Wanganui, Wellington, and Canterbury Associations. It is probable that the conference will occupy three full days. Among the subjects to be dealt with are the cash coupon system, the protection of an employer of labor from the competition of a non-employer of labor, a proposal that the locality of the Executive Committee be changed from Wellington to Auckland, desirable alterations in existing awards, and alterations in the rules of the Association.

At to-day's meeting of the Christehurch Presbytery, the Rev. T. Tait, as convener of the committee appointed to secure the due representation of the Presbyterian Church at public functions, submitted a report. He stated that they had no desire as a church to complain of having been badly treated at any time by anypublic body. They felt, however, that there should be some official of the Church to whom those in charge of public functions might- send an invitation if it was desired that the Presbyterian Church should be represented upon such occasions. It was decided that the clerk of the Presbytery should be the official to receive invitations, but the matter of appointing representatives of the Church at the public gatherings has not yet been considered. AUCKLAND. February 9. A stormy scene in the Police Court this afternoon culminated in Mr W. E. Hackett. a vounger member of the bar. being fined, by Mr Dyer, S.M., £5 for contempt of Court. Mr Hackett was appearing for respondent in an application for judicial separation. The evidence had been taken, and the magistrate was reviewing the case when counsel rose to make some remarks. He was told to sit down, and on rising again lie was informed that in summary cases counsel only had the right to an opening address. Mr Haekett: "I have a statement to make." The Magistrate: "It doesn't matter. I have told you to sit down." Mr Hackett: 'T only want " The Magistrate iwarmly): "Sit down." Mr Dyer continued to refer to the evidence, when Mr Hackett again rose, and was once more told to sit down, and did so; but presently he was on his feet again, when Mr Dyer told the Court attendant to take him into custody. When the case concluded Mr Haekett was brought before the Court to show cause. After' a smartpassage at arms the magistrate imposed a fiueof £5 for contempt of Court, adding that if it were not paid within a week, Mr Hackett- would have to go to gaol for seven days. Mr Hackett : "I may siiy. with all due respect, that I shall never pay that fine." Earl Stanhope, who arrived in Aucklanu from Sydney by the Wimmera on Monday morning, is making a tour of the British" Empire, with the object of obtaining a more intimate acquaintance with Imperial affairs. He is specially interested in the subjects of ' defence and colonial preference. Earl Stanhope travelled to New Zealand via the Vancouver route, the time at his disposal for a tour through the Dominion is very restricted, but he is making the best us of it. Yesterday, under the guidance of the Mayor, he had interviews" with several representative men, and to-day has been devoted to the inspection of some of our colonial manufactories. He will probably leave for Rotorua to-morrow, where he will meet Sir J. G. Ward, proceeding from thence overiand to Wellington. Earl Stanhope is the seventh in succession to the title. He was born in 1880, was formerly a captain of the Grenadier Guards, and A.D.C. to the Major-general commanding London district. He succeeded to the title in 1905, and is unmarried. THAME-S. February 9. In the District Court, before Mr Judge Kettle, Patrick Timmins was charged with indecently assaulting a young ,girl at Te Aroha. The jury disagreed after four hours' retirement, and a new trial was ordered for next session. A native was fined £5 and costs for assault. A big . fire is raging on the Hauraki Plains. NAPIER. • February 9. A poll was taken in Hawke's Bay today on the Napier Harbor Board's proposal to borrow £200,000 for the completion of the breakwater. The issue is still in doubt, as a number of county returns have yet to come in. The present position is that the votes in favor of the proposal exceed the requisite three-foutrhs majority by 176. WESTPORT. February 9. The mines in this district—the Westport Coal Company, Westport-Stockton Company, and the Seddonville State—are working smoothly. The Westport-Stock-ton are not insisting on medical examination. ROTORUA. February 9. The statement recently made by Mr A. W. Rutherford, ex-M.P., regarding the Wellington Post Office, -was referred- to by the Postmaster-General (Sir Joseph Ward) in the course of an interview tonight. The assertion of Mr Rutherford that- all the space in the General Post Office at Wellington was not occupied was, Sir Joseph said, quite contrary to fact. As a matter of fact the Department was paying the sum of £2660 as rental-for outside premises tnat had 1 to be leased in carrying on branches of the business for which room could not be found in the General Post Office. This entailed a grsat deal of extra labor, he said, by reason of divided estates, and the main tenance of a messenger service between the different offices, and it also caused inconvenience to the public. To show that Wellington was not being treated excep tionally in regard to post office expenditure, he referred to the proposed! new office at Auckland, and to the sums that had been spent in past years on improvements at Auckland, Christehurch, and Dunedin. ' GORE. February 9. At a meeting of the Mataura Presbytery to-day, the Sunday School Committee reported that out of 1578 scholars only 231 were presented- for examination, and the results showed a lack of Scriptural knowledge. Only five out of 194 gained 80 per cent, of marks, and 88 40 per cent. A large percentage, however, passed: in catechism, proving that lack of intelligence was not the cause of failure. During the discussion the Rev. H. Gray (clerk) declared 1 that we were raising a generation of heathen. In reply to a suggestion that the remedy lay in Scriptural i teaching in public schools, there was, he

said, no hope of getting religious instruction in schools while the present Government was in power. The opinion generally was expressed that ministers should take advantage of the facilities for giving religious instruction after-•hours. A committee was appointed to fully report on the Sunday Schools question at a future meeting.