LOCAL & GENERAL

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 32

LOCAL & GENERAL

The terrific force of the wind on the 20th did great damage to fences, etc., in town and suburbs, and in exposed eituil tions orchards, flower gardens, end ripened and ripening crops suffered to B Eome extent. In the Taieri orchards conf siderable havoc was wrought, in many cases 3 trees which were heavily laden with fiuit s bVing completely strii ped. The wind was also severe in North Otago. Our correspondent at Oama ru says : — r< A wind .vhidi felt like a blast from a furnace passed 1 over North Otago on Monday evening. Various thermometers registered 90 degrees, 89 degrees, 84 degrees, and 83^ degrees, according to position, but nothing hotter has been felt here at night for years past. Late in Ihe J evening the wind moved from west to the south-west, and the temperature fell J rapidly." The blood-red appearance of the setting sun on Tuesday night, as seen from Dunj edin, ami the same appearance of the moon at a late." hour, attracted considerable public r attention. In some quarters it was con- . jectured that the phenomenon was con3 nected with the heat wave which is passing » over Australia, a slight reflex of which was j felt in Dunedin on Monday night in the hot, furnace-like winds which blew fiom the north- and west for several -hours. The moon for a considerable part of the ni^lit > looked like a ball of fire, and indicated L that the atmosphere through which it was r viewed was in a condition rarely seen in the Dominion, although, a common ocearrence in Australia and elsewhere during * periods when' extensive bush fires are ' raging. The numbering of the buildings in the ' city streets by the excellent method now in use by the City Council is proceeding ■ apace, there being found but few unwilling to replace the old, almost undecipherable numbers by the handsome brass figures, which when burnished are really handsome, and are practically everlasting. A diffi1 culty has been found in cases where the houses stand back from the streets or are concealed by shrubbery. The numbers | are made in such a way as to be screwed or nailed on, and when the fence or gate 'is of iron this is impossible. The corporation officials have therefore devised an ; appliance which will meet this difficulty. The numbers are affixed to an iron plate which can be firmly screwed to the gate. The additional cost is trifling. One figure costs 2s, two figures 2s 6d, and so on. The paragraph in our last issue which described the sagacity of a. dog- which receives from the passing coach driver and delivers to his master his daily copy of the Otago Daily Times has evoked from Mr John Davie a reminiscence of the coaching days of Ned Devine. It was part of Ned's daily duty ir his journey north to drop a copy of the Times at a wayside road for a farmer, and he noticed that it was invariably picked up by a dog, which trotted home with it. One morning Ned tried the dog with a copy of the Guardian, then also published daily in Dunedin, but after smelling it, the sagacious animal turned tail and walked off without any paper. "I don't play now," remarked an <nlooker on a green last week, " but I did once, and against a crack player. I had never played before. I have never qui<e understood how it happened, but I mad* the most marvellous ' flukes.' My opponent, astounded, remarked, ' Why, you re quite a professional.' ' Oh, I play a litrle now and again,' I replied with assumed carelessness. My ' beginner's luck ' doI serted me, but not until he had won by a narrow margin. He shook me by the hand, and congratulated me. 'We had an excellent game,' eaid he. • That is why I don't play bowls. lam content to rest on my laurels."' I The lack of knowledge concerning I churches and their work was a sorrowful j theme with Mr E. Smith, J.P., one cf the L.M.S. deputation addressing a gathering- on Tuesday at Moray place. Anxious to find his way to the Moray Place Congregational Church, he had asked a policeman standing at the corner of Moray place if he could tell him where the Congregational Church was. The guardian of the peace cogitated, looked perplexed, and then responded candidly that he had never heard of such a church ! There were several churches up there, how- . ever (indicating the direction with his • finger). As he found his way into Ihe ] church ha.rd by Mr Smith reflected that there was need for a wider public know- ( ledge of the programme of Christianity. ( A poll of the ratepayers of the boroagh ■ was taken at Temuka on Friday to decide < whether the system of rating on unim- ; proved values should be introduced. The ) votes for the present system numbered 176 i and for the unimproved values system i 118, and there will be no alteration in the « method of rating. 1 During the past few weeks half a dozen s cases of poisoning have been treated at £ the Melbourne Hospital, the patients being * young women who had been poisoned by 1 disinfectant drugs, which were shown in * some cases to have been 6elf-administered. * The choice of poisons (says the Argus) I appears to have been divided between * phenyle and lysol. On December 24 a a constable found a young woman lying un- c conscious in the Eastern Market. He took her to ihe hospital, where the case was 1 diagnosed as of phenyle poisoning. The s patient refused to answer the questions of c the hospital attendants as to her identity „ n and how she came to be poisoned, but the c

• police ascertained by inquiry that she was t a single woman, 22 years of age. The "^ woman died. The deceased had at one ie time been an inmate of the Yarra Bend in Lunatic Asylum. A few days later a i- woman, 24 years of age, ivas brought to id the hospital in a cab. The patient, who to was suffering from lysol poisoning, would n- give no information as to how she had rs been poisoned. She was admitted to the it hospital in a precarious condition. A as girl was found unconscious in the Heidele- berg train at Prince's bridge. This id patient was suffering from the effects of a ' phenyle poisoning, and refused to give jo | any information about the matter. i Some idea of the financial side of the L q ; enterprise involved in running the latest I* i class of ocean palaces may be gathered from the figures supplied by the Liverpool to ' Courier. The expenses of a trip across ,jj i the Atlantic, occupying 4 days 22 hours and some minutes, comprise: — Interest, £1120; repayment of capital (sinking fund), £2050 ; L ff wages, £2000; establishment charges, a - £1000; coal, £5000; victualling, £4000; '.n. n harbour dues, £1000; water, oil, and io breakages, £600; insurances, £1220; — a " total, £17,990. The revenue is made up 1 " as follows: — Passage money, £28,000; l S cargo, £500 ; profits on wines and cigars, is £500; proportion of subsidy, £2350;— total, ie £31,350. If from this the amount of exm penses is deducted, there remains a sum 1(3 of £13,360 as profit. 1( j A special army order issued from the ls War Office, London, states that it is [ n deemed expedient to extend the period „_ within which the death of an officer or L _ soldier from wounds or injuries received re in the performance of military duty, or from disease contracted or commencing I while on active service, must occur in order that his widow, children, or otherdependent relatives, may be eligible for pension or compassionate allowances. It ,g, g is provided that the period laid down in warrant of August 30, 1907, shall be ' extended from two years tc seven years, ,' and that the warrant shall be held to apply to all cases where such -wounds or injuries were received, or such disease was contracted or commenced, on or after October C ? 11, 1899. cl c Plaster casts of New Zealand fish may i- now be seen (says the Lyttelton Times) in j n the Canterbury Museum. They have been f. placed in a large case in the gallery of c the New Zealand room, where they mako 5. a, fine display. The colouring has been t c done well, and the casts are very natural j and lifelike. This is especially the ease in ' regard to the elephant fish and the rat- ' |j tail. In the collection there is a representation of the _long-finne«l boar-fish. Jt has been described a 6 from New South Wales, but the specimen from which the a cast was made is the first recorded in New i Zealand waters. Severa-1 of the common * fish found near the Dominion's coasts are represented in the collection. Mr Waice, curator of the Museum, wishes to get together a really representative collection ' of New Zealand fishes. He will be glad to j receive specimens from fishermen ?nd others, end, if desirable, he will bave castings made of the fish for display in j the collection. About daylight on the morning of the *22nd a steamer appeared off the Otago Heads, and was at first taken for the Te Anau, but as she drew nearer it was seen that the Union Company's steamer Koonya had made an exceptionally smart return from the Antarctic pack ice, I whither she had towed the exploring [ steamer Nimrod. At 4.45 a.m. Lieutenant , I Evans, R.N.R., berthed his 'vessel at the ' Bowen pier, iha Koonya looking as neat ' \ and trim as though she had just arrived from coastal ports. At first glance there '. was nothing whatever to show that the steamer had just completed the highly ' meritorious work of towing a vessel nearly ' 1500_mjles across some of the most turbulent waters on the globe, but a bent Boat " davit and a few minor details sufficed to : show that her passage had not been all j over smooth waters. A very full account j , • of the experiences of the Nimrod and the Koonya in the Southern Seas is given elsewhere in this issue. In view of the present question as^ to the disposal and treatment of infectious cases otherwise than in general hospitals, ; the opinion of Dr F. Ogston, District ( Health Officer, as to what constitutes a - really useful establishment, will be found i of interest. The doctor refers to the infectious diseases hospitals in the making at j Eew, two miles from Invercargill The < 44 acres on which they are to \ stand overlooks the sea, and is i screened from the railway by low ] sandhills. Behind "is dense bush t sweeping upwards, and through this, t on a flank, flows the Kingewell Creek, s Between the bush and the sandhills, on j gravelly soil, will be situated the diph- t theria and scarlet fever hospitals respeo- I tively, to the right and left of the main c approach. The diphtheria hospital has been completed, and is so arranged that scarlet fever cases can be isolated tempor- joj o arily in one end. Tie proposed scarlet fever hospital is a larger group of buildings , a with a windmill water supply. Further !fc back on an eminence, and approached ; • from the opposite direction, are the pro- i g| posed quarters for consumptives. Dotted i w here and there are to be observvition wards j.j and disinfecting chambers. The rough cost of the diphtheria hospital was -£I3OO. The weekly meeting of the Benevolent tl Trustees was held on Wednesday; pre- o sent— Messrs W. T. Taiboys (in the ! J chair), J. Loudon (Mayor), and W. Bur- f\ . nett. The secretary reported that the fi cost of upkeep of the Benevolent Institu- J a.

tion for the month of December had been £324 4s 2d, or an average of 6s 4-d for eaohf of the 230 inmates. One death, that of James Griffin, aged 81, had taken place during the week. Twenty-one applications for relief were dealt with. A somewhat melancholy interest is attached to the reservoir just completed *or the Roslyn Borough water supply. During the progress of the work two engineers who supervised it passed away. These were, the late Mr G. M. Barr and Mr "W. J. Hall. And now Mr Mathie6on, one of the contractors has followed them. At the meeting of the executive of the Council of Churches on the afternoon of the 22nd much important business was dealt with, and a full gramme of aggressive work, including a no-license campaign, is to bo submitted to the meeting of the whole council on February 10. Amongst the immediate engagements is the forthcoming mission of the Rev. Mr Inwood, of the Keewick Concention, England. Owing to the destruction by fire of the Glenavy Railway Station (15 miles norih of Oamaru) on Wednesday afternoon,- telegraphic communication was interrupted -for some time, the heat of the flames having j affected the wires. Communication with ■ i the north was completely restored at 6-15t p.m. ~ v Bowling ie a game in which mankind J may take his pleasures placidly. There,, are no 6corchings or scrums or risk to - neck and limb. To watch a number of ' amiable gentlemen blissfully trundling bowls on Wednesday, it seemed strange that Omar Khayyam had not made the ancient I game £he Subject of a Rjjbaiyat sketch. The line: "A loaf of bread, a game, of bowls, and Thou "' would „ have sounded " remarkably well. Perhaps' the gams was out of fashion in Persia in those days, or the technical parlance thereof too 'obscure. "A toucher" and "in the ditch" are certainly suggestive, and Jack and Kitty carry with them a possible savour of [ romance. If this omission is not an over- , sight, it seems the old Persian joet was j too placid even to play bowls. A travelled player during the tournament has been relating how tbejj play bowJs in Rome. The bowls are stones, and sometimes they are nearly, round. For a green they ,use the street or the pavement, and as it requires great muscular exertion to propel the "bowls" J as far as the kitty, flagons of Falernian j wine take the place v of tea " thoughtfully provided- by the ladies." The - adage 6aith : " When in Rome, do as Rome .does," but it stops there and says nothing about doing it in Dunedin. Those who hare heard this statement and marvelled nave expressed a hope that this style of bowling j will not be imported. In cities iike Duri.edin once could never tell where th« missiles would stop rolling. The monthly meeting' of the Executive of the Otago Sunday School Union was held on the evening of the 22nd, the Rev. O. *■!. Laws presiding. JEteference was made to the question of Sunday trading and to the fact that money intended for mission contributions is spent by children on Sunday afternoons. Messrs J. H. Wilkinson and E. Rosevear were appointed as delegates to represent the Otago Sunday School Union in a deputation which the committee of the Presbyterian Sunday School Association are arranging to wait on Ihe Minister of Labour. Advices were /eceived from Mr W. H. Stones (children's tnissioner of the Indian Sunday School Union) to the effect that he expects to commence his mission for children s ix Dunedin at the beginning of March. Good reports have been received regarding Mr Stanes's work in Australia. He understands child nature and uses models, objects, chalk, and the lantern slide largely. Mr Stanes has private means, receives no 6alary, and travels at his own charges.- It was decided to invite the committee of thd Presbyterian Sunday School Association to co-operate in the welcome to Mr / Stane8 i , and to call a meeting of all school superintendents in order to make plans for various missions in the city and suburbs. An enthusiastic meeting of the Financial Committee of the Otago Diamond Jubilee Celebration, presided over by Mr Donald Reid, was held in the Early Settlers' office on the 22nd, when all matters connected ivith the financial aspect of the affair were thoroughly and thoughtfully considered. Very satisfactory decisions nrere come to, and many weighty matters' referred to the several sub-committees to deal with, and as those committees are composed of strong-, ■willing workers, there is no doubt the proposed programme will be most effectually carried out, and not only ensure that the day representing 60 years of the Otago setlement will be well commemorated and prove highly attractive and interesting to the old identities and the general public, but will also reflect honour on all conjerned in carrying out the celebration. The members of the Otago Auxiliary of iie London Missionary Society met in. inference with the members of the visitng deputation — Rev. A. N. Johnson, M.A., md Mr Edward Smith, J.P., from, London, .nd Rev. Joseph King, from Melbourne^n Moray Place Congregational Church for everal hours on the 22nd. Matters of weighty import were fully discussed, and. he Rev. A. N. Johnson outlined in detail he roints Calculated to record 1908 as a. ear of special activity in* the ranks of he London Missionary Society. Methods f organisation was the theme of the Rev. oseph King, and points of- value were ully entered upon. In reply to a query, rom the "Rev. W. Saunders as to the lleged policy of the Board of Directors

to -withdraw from the South Sea stations end the probable ill effect upon the Christian natives if such a policy were pursued, the Rev. A. N. Johnson made it clear that the society aimed at launching all -stations on an independent basis so soon as they clearly were in a position to be regarded as absolutely self-supporting. But at the game time Christian interests would be safeguarded. No risks of relapse would be taken. The church should show sufficient Bigns of stamina before the possibility of •withdrawal could be considered. The visiting deputation will conduct services in the local Congregational Churches next Sunday, and leaves on the Monday morning to connect with the steamer at the Bluff. A project of the very greatest importance (saye the No'voe Yremya)— namely, the junction of the Russian Central Asian railways with the Indian railways — is now being drawn up by Russian engineers, and will soon be submitted to the proper authorities. It is proposed to join the Russian lines to the Indian railway to New Tchaman and Karachi. The Russiams calculate that the junction will reduce the London-Calcutta journey to nine -days — only half as much as is required via Suez. A meeting of ladies convened by Mr Langlands was held in the board room, Agricultural Hall, on the -22nd to ionr - eider .* proposal that the. Early Settlers' Aesooiation arid the Motor Car Association -„ combine to" hold a. x ißoral iete,*"gymkhana, ' and motor sports. Much interest'- was

taken in £he matter, and the details discussed, but as the meeting Jiad been called on very short notice, it was resolved to adjourn until the attendance of those ladies who had^ taken part in such affairs pre- , viously and others could be obtained. That dear old moss-grown misstatement, so, long accepted as truth in the Home- -. l* n d, that it takes 100 years to make a lawn, finds flat and convincing contradiction in the bowling greens that during the hat few years have -appeared with the suddenness/ of mushrooms in every part of New Zealand. Many .lawns in England have taken hundreds '■ of years in the making; and the close-cropped turf in the quadrangle, which is the pride of many an Oxford don, would afford the average bowler but poor sport. An eminent authority questioned on the subject yesterday scouted the hundred-years theory, • and said that all that was required to make a lawn H was plenty of water and a Htfle common sense. The soil of New Zealand might be trusted to do the rest. It was anonunced at a conference of local bodies held on the 23rd that in view of the

congestion at the Hospital, caused by the

outbreak of scarlet fever, permission had , been obtained fr&m the Defence Department ibo erect tents at Pelichet Bay. These are to jbe fox the accommodation, of infectious cases, -and Dr Valintine stated that it was due to the efforts of Dr Ogston (district health officer) that tids concession had been granted. The canvas hospital is to be erected in the scrub close to -the site of the Infectious Diseases Hospital. A powerful plea for the feelings of the inmates of the Benevolent Institution was made at the conference on the 23rd by Mr W. Burnett. He urged that the inmates were sterling, honest jpeople, possessing .a deeply-rooted belief that consumption was

contagious to a degree. "To bring what to them was a serious menace to the home "which sheltered their declining years would tie to destroy their peace of mind. In reply, Dt Valintine said sentiment was well enough in its way, but should not be permitted to stand in the way of an obvious duty; also, that to allow inmates to say •what kind of patients were io be admitted

was absurd. This reply, though true enough, seemed to show that the rather ..nice point Mr Burnett had intended to make 'had .been missed by the Inspectorgeneral of Hospitals with' marvellous dexterity. A dispute has been filed by the Alexandra Coal Company' (Ltd.) Industrial Union of Employers against the Otago Coal Miners'

Industrial Union of Workers.

Mr Justice

Sim has not yet intimated whether he will hear the dispute at the next sitting of the Arbitration Court. It has not been decided if the dispute between the Printers and Newspaper Proprietors and the Printers of Otago will be heard during the coming Bitting or not. Our correspondent at Auckland gays that Mr. F. J. Quick, of Lake Takapuna, has brought back with him from Canada some very fin© varieties of seed potatoes from the experimental farm at Agassiz. They include Rural New Yorker, Country Gentleman, Sir Walter Raleign, Rose No. 9, and Sabian's Elephant. They are early kinds, free from blight, and -splendid croppers. Mr Quick "has also introduced 1000 plants of the "Magoon" .strawberry. This ie one of the finest berries grown in America —

similar to the Marguerite, but larger.

Young plants will be available for distribution among local growers next season. The following resolution was passed at an executive meeting of the Otago Employers' Association held on the afternoon of the> 23rd:— "That as some of"/ the- inspectors of factories are interpreting section 14- of ' The Factories . Act Amendment Act, 1907,' as constituting a weekly employment, and

as >uch •& .construction, if given effect to, would have a 'very serious effect upon the

manufacturing industries, of the Doniinion, the executive -of the Otago Employers' Association is of opinion, that the first case brought xinder this section should be treated •s £. test cose send -taken up by ih& New Zealand Employers' Federation and contested along the lines of the following judgments (which lay it down that * full

* week must be worked -before a worker is entitled to a -full week's pay) : — Lindsay v. I Mollison and Co. (Book of Awards, vol. V, page 280), Inspector of Factories v. Whitcombe and Tombs (Labour Journal, September, 1907, page 1142), and Auckland Tailors v. B. J. M. Kemp (Labour Journal, , December, 1907, page 1574). And further, that in the meantime all wages, with the exception of apprentices', be paid according to the custom prevailing previous to the. I passing of the amendment act. Selwyn College, Dunedin, has, by a recent regulation of the senate of the University ,of Durham, England, been accorded the [ status of a college associated with that unij versity. There are at present only two 1 colleges beside Selwyn College, outside England, "which have received this privilege. It is now possible for the theological stui dents of Selwyn College to keep the neces1 sary terms of residence and to pas 6 the two university examinations for the License in Theology (L.Th.) at their own college. 1 It also secures for them two other advan-

tages. As licentiates in theology they may proceed (1) to the degree of B.A. after keeping three terms of residence at Durham and passing the examination for an f ordinary degree in classics ; and (2) to the degree of B.D. when they are of two years' standing from the L.Tlu. and have passed the necessary .examination in New Zealand or at Durham. j Instances of -canine' sagacity in delivering copies ,of the Otago Daily Times -are multiplying. A correspondent at Green Island , writes: — "I noticed a local in to-day's issue setting for€h the fact that your paper is being delivered in Naseby by a dog, and I write to let you know of a dog in Green Island which >does the same. Mr W. ' Irvine had a retriever dog which -came down to the road every morning for years to meet the newsagent, and if he did not see him a whistle brought the dog at full speed to get the paper, which it took right ■up to the door of the house. When that dog died from old age Mr Irvine' got another young one, and in a few weeks' time it became as proficient as the first; and when I rode round my mare got to know the dog so well that whenever she saw him she stopped without being told, waited till I reached the paper down into the dog's mouth, and then trotted on to the next customer." The majority of the unions connected with the Otago Trades and Labour Council j have adopted the scheme for the appointment of a permanent secretary to the council, and it is likely that the appointment will be made at the council's next meeting. In the meantime the executive is •going into the question of secretarial duties and other matters pertaining thereto. An interesting missive in the shape of a letter from King Edward "VTI Land, bearing the stamp pf the Post Office established in that far south region, was received by a young lady in Dunedin yesterday. The stamp is an ordinary New Zealand postage etamp with the words "King Edward VII" I printed <jn its face. The defacing stamp of the post office — the most southerly in the world — is the usual oircular mark, with the words, "Brit., Antarc," and the date, "January 14, 1908," within. On the back of the envelope is another circular stamp with the inscription, "British Antarctic Expedition, 1907; January 14, 1908. S.Y. Nimrod." At Tinaaru on Wednesday a working man was sued' on a judgment summons for £6 16s, in payment for clothes supplied to himself and his family. The judgment debtor, in the witness-box, said that he had 13 children, of whom 10 were not-self-supporting, and the remaining three could give him no assistance. He was earning only 8s a day. The Magistrate said h© could make no order under these circumstances. The fire in the Nightcaps coal mine, which was the cause of the disaster on June 21 last, is now (says the Southland News) sealed off. Since about November, when No. 1 mine was first re-opened, th© miners have been working carefully in it, and now they have stopped-off completely a small portion of the "mine which was the seat of the old fire. This means that three parts of No. 1 mine can be worked again, and unless something unforeseen takes place coal will be taken in safety from this portion within three ■ weeks. During the whole of the reopening- •operations nr> fire-damp has been met with, but there have been , white-damp and black-damp, occasionally in large quantities. Many of the .regulations made by the Government departments are not of the most workable nature (says the Taranaki Daily News). For instance, the other day a, settler in the neighbourhood of New Plymouth was puzzled to account for the behaviour of one of his horses. It fell over, got on to its legs again, quivered, and fell again, repeating the performance - several times. In order to secur-e advice he sent a message -to the Government Veterinary Office, and was fortunate enough to catch ! the Government veterinarian. The sympI tarns were explained, and the suggestion 1 made that the horse might be suffering from sunstroke. Captain Young agreed, and | presoribed the treatment required, but said I he could not go out and see the animal. Before the veterinarian oan visit a farm in j order to investigate disease the Stock Department in Wellington must -be notified, and it in turn communicate with the district veterinarian if the case is beyond the bounds of the stock inspector's knowledge. In the -meantime, whilst the red-tape -regulation* are being complied with, there is every chance of the sick animal dying. In this case, however, the treatment prescribed by Captain Young soon restored Jhe atiima.l

to its normal condition, the owner pouring water over its head for hours at a time.

Commissioner M'Kie, head of the Salvation Army in Australasia, and Mrs M'Kie, are to pay a farewell visit to New Zealand on the completion of their present charge. They will arrive at the Bluff from Melbourne on February 17, and will be in Dunedin on the following day.

The Press report* a case heard at Lyttelton on the 22nd, which shows the manner in which some prisoners spend their leisure hours in gaol. The case was that of a criminal named George Ferris, who had been sentenced last year at Wellington to 15 years' imprisonment for burglary, and who had evolved a scheme for escaping from his cell by boring holes with a brace and bit through the wooden portion of his cell door. With this end in view, the prisoner manufactured a brace in the shoemaking shop and stole two bite from the tool shop. He obtained a quantity of putty to fill up the holes bored by him in the cell door, and some red paint ix> rub over the putty in order to' conceal his handiwork. The prisoner also made a sand-bag, shaped like a large sausage, with which he intended to silence the warder in charge of his cell. The sand-bag was a for-midable-looking affair, and would have been a most effective weapon. Fortunately the prisoner's plans were frustrated by the vigilance of the warder. Mr Bishop sentenced the prisoner to be kept in close confinement in a " light " cell for 14 days and to be fed on bread «nd wa-ier for that period.

To oiroumvent the criminal it is necessary for the police io at times step off the beaten path, a literal illustration of which was yesterday furnished -at the Central Police Gourt (saye the Sydney Morning Herald). The officer in question (Constable T. Lynch, of No. 2 station) unfolded a story which drew upon him remarks of commendation from the magistrate. Ridding Hyde Park of night prowlers, -whoso prey is the unsuspecting sleeper, was an item included in Constable Lynch* programme. Circumstances were favourable, so far as the ingredients of the little drama were concerned. The bait in the form of a sleeper wa3 there, and near by a tree. Seizing the possibilities of the situation, the officer ascended the tree, where he clung with the tenacity of a native bear awaiting developments. In due course the prowler appeared, and after the manner of hia kind cautiously " sniffed the air." He then fell to with gentle but expert fingers to explore the pockets of his prey. Just then, however, fate in the shape of a large policeman fell upon him. The weight of evidence being also against him, the thief's flimsy defenoo broke down, and he was remanded for sentence to enable previous records to be investigated.

Recent retirements and changes in the magistracy (says a telegram from Wellington) have necessitated a rather extensive rearrangement, and possibly an additional appointment. In addition to Mr Cutten's transfer from Napier to Waikato, Mr Turton (of Oamaru) and Mr Cruackshank (of Milton) will find new spheres. A position has also to be filled oa the West Coast.

The Otago Slaughtermen's Union has decided to affiliate with the Otago Trades and Labour Council.

A Wellington telegram states that the wholesale price of butter has been raised to local tradesmen to Is o£d, which means that the consumer will have to pay Is 2d per lb.

What is described at /the Land Office as a " big rush " has set in to take tip land in the subdivided Otekaike Estate, and officials are kept busy answering questions and receiving applications'. A guide has been stationed at the looal railway siding, and, is reported to be daily showing a vary large number of intending applicants over the ground.

It is eaid that municipal life is but a nursery for a parliamentary career, and if this is true the Dominion has something in store for her from North-East Valley. The Mayor of that delightful and -salubrious'suburb told the ratepayers on Friday night that the town clerk had refused 'to shake hands with him, that councillors had shaken their -fists at him, denounced him as a liar, and left him without a quorum; that the attitude adopted by these same councillors was that of a "snarling, barking dog"; and that a dog show and a bull fight (both of which, by the way, he had witnessed in " England ") were as nothing to a meeting of the NorthEast Valley Borough Council. By this it would appear that when these politicians in embryo " arrive " certain gentlemen in Wellington during the session will have to -look out for squalls.

For the extraordinary vacancy in East Ward, Port Chalmers, only one nomination was received on Friday — namely, that of George Leyon Asher, who was nominated by Andrew Thomson and seconded by James Weir. Mr Asher was accordingly declared elected.

Among the dry bones of mammals set up by the taxidermist in the great hall of the Museum, a very striking feature to visitors is the hospitable smile (literally) extended to all-comers by the gigantic shark suspended crossways from the roof. As a smile it -cannot be beaten, either in depth or width or in assurance, that all will be warmly welcomed within. It is probably the most capacious and ingratiating smile in tha -world, and long after the duckbilled platypus, the mummies, and fragments of moa have been forgotten it will remain fresh in the mmdJa eye. The memory of suoh a smile can never fade, and it, will remain a lasting monument to

minutes'

the ability of the naturalist who has stamped so vividly on something dead and stuffed that genial expression common to sharks by sea or by land. In connection with the Maori Congress to be held in Wellington in March, whioh is again advertised in this issue, a meeting of gentlemen interested in its success was held yesterday. It was proposed that a special carnival should be held at Tahnna Park, in which a number of Maoris from the North Island, together with those of this province, should be invited to take part. At this gathering poi and war dances, hakas, and other ancient games of the race will be exhibited. Passengers by the mail-train from the Wairarapa on Tuesday had an exciting experience -when about midway between Cross Creek and the first tunnel on the Rimutaka incline. A burning tree suddenly rolled down the bank and fell aoross the line right in front of the engine, almost touching the cowcatcher. The driver (says the New Zealand Times) promptly pulled up the frain, and the engine hands, assisted by several passengers (prominent amongst whom was a sailor from the Pyramus), cut the tree and got it off --the line after about 20 minutes' delay. A man strolling along the cross wharf about 8 o'clock on Friday night permitted himself to be so lost in reverie as to walk over the wharf and take an involuntary plunge into the harbour. A passer-by qtricWy manned a waterman's boat and, with assistance, rescued the dreamer from hi« unenviable position. On dry land again the man looked little the worse for his sudden immersion: his spectacles had not even been displaced. The contractor (Mr A. M'Neill) for the construction at Lawyer's Head of the main outfall for the drainage system of Dunedin expects to have the work completed in a month's time. Practically all that remains to be done is to line the air-eh&it for about half its depth. When that is completed the eolid rock ends of the two bifurcations, whioh open out into the sea, to the north-east and the north-west of the point, will be knocked out at low tide, and the outfall will thus become an accomplished faot. A telegram from Wellington states that Mr Alexander Wilson has resigned his position as editor of the New Zealand Times, owing to private business making it necessary for him to visit England. It is understood that Mr Pierce C. Freeth, will succeed Mr Wilson. Mr Freeth was at one time chTef reporter on the paper which it is said he is now to edit, and he resigned that position to take up the Manawatu Daily Times, and after being so occupied for several yeans made a tour of the world, from whioh he has just returned. At the Police Court on Friday morning two shopkeepers carrying on business in the city were prosecuted by the Labour Department for keeping their assistants on their premises after 5.30 p.m. on a Satur\day. In each instance the presiding magistrate (Mr H. Y. Widdowson) entered a conviction and! inflicted a fine of 20s and costs, and in,, doing so said he hoped the present cases would serve as a warning to shopkeepers generally. The law provides that shops must be closed at 9 p.m., but contains a proviso which gives the employee half an hour's grace in which to finish up his work for the night. A notification m the Government Gazette states that the sum of £5 17s 6d, -unclaimed money, is lying in the National Bank of New Zealand to the credit of " Bland Holt, actor, Dunedin " ; also that the sum of 10s 3d is d!ue to " Sir John M'Kenzie (deceased), Wellington." Mr Holt's money has remained unclaimed for nearly eight years. Suspicion seems to have been cast -upon the electrical installation at the Chriatohurch Hospital as a possible cause of the fire there The Press says:— That the electrical installation at the hospital was at one time not entirely satisfactory is fairly well known, and in the absence of any definite information as to steps having been taken to remedy the alleged defects it has appeared to come that the cause of the outbreak may have been connected with those defects. The statement made at the meeting of the board by Mr Wilkinson, of the State Fire Insurance Department, to the effect that he had suggested to hie head office that an examination of the installation by an expert should be made, and that the head office had agreed to the suggestion, provided the Hospital Board had no objections, seems to support the idea that doubt existed as to the efficiency of the installation. This statement is understood to be the first indication of the Government's desire to have the installation inspected. A prominent member of the Dunedin Tailoreeses* Union, in conversation with a Daily Times reporter, had something to say in regard to the published statements of a number of employers in the- clothing manufacturing trade to the effect that there is an urgent need for the importation of female labour owing to a totally inadequate supply of that commodity locally. "In my opinion," said the woman, '•' there is not the demand for labour to j the extent that is now being made out. ' As for the assertion that 2000 hands are required throughout the Dominion, tny query is, 'And how many of those at present in employments-are to be displaced to make room for the 2000 ?* Another phase of the. question is that if these 2006 hands are to be brought into the Dominion and given permanent employment, the .

local girls will, In the event of a slump in; trade, simply have to drop out and seeK work elsewhere.. The possibility •of bucH 1 a contingency arising was borne out by, one employer when he said that present conditions might change, and that present employees would, in such a case, suffer. As to the shortage of female labour as compared with what it was a few years ago, it is due to other and more favourable conditions, such as^ clerking 1 / and typewriting, having been opened to young women. Employment is to be had in other directions now, and in more congenial surroundings, and in consequence the ranks of the factory, hands are undergoing perceptible diminution." j In order to obtain the money required 1 by the City Council on Ist April as par* redemption of the loans then maturing, it has been decided by the council, we under* stand, to borrow by way of temporary loan from the commissioners of the sinking fund a further sum of £20,000, in addition to the £20,000 already authorised to bs borrowed, being in all a total sum of £40,000, Such sums so borrowed are to be repay* able on demand, with interest until repayment at the rote of 5 per cent, per annum, end all moneys so borrowed are to be paid to the credit of the corporation's general banking account. ' It will be exceedingly/'tarelcome news to ratepayers to learn „• th,at the .Finance Com- ' mittee of the City Council has decided to reduce its 9d special rate to 6d, so thail the total rates — -that is, special and general (2s 3d),— instead ojF 'being', as" formerly, equal to 2a, , will .now "be "Is 93. Thia is owing to the reduction in interest consequent on the renewal of the loans which' recently matured. Application is to fee made to the Auditor-general for his Approval of the reduction. During last week 23 patients were admitted to the Dunedin. Hospital, and 23 discharged. There was one death during the week — namely, -that of James Barclay. The ,palients remaining in the institution at the close of the week numbered 109. Notice x>f motion has been given, by Of Fiddis as follow*: — "InJ the opinion of this council men engaged in the work of , track cleaning on the tramways, between ' the hours of 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. should be | paid for those hours at the rate of time and a-quarter— that is to say, 2^ hours for, two hours' work,. — provided that a full day's work o' eight hours is put in by the men so employed." In the case of the young man named Crossan, who received a bullet wound- I» the back of his neck while' out shoo ting ( at Mount Benger -Station on Tuesday ol - last week and was adniitted to the Dun* edin Hospital on the 23rd ibst.,' the bullet has not yet been extracted, neither lias "jf been located. The X-rays instrument ha^ been brought into use on the , patient* but without any success, and it is fearecf that the bullet is buried somewhere in; the young man's head. All that -it is pos* sible to do is to await developments. HV condition is therefore "none too promising. The traffic returns for the City Corpora^ tion tramways for the fortnight ended[ January 18, 1908, as compared with those" of the corresponding period for last yea^ are as follow :— l9oß— Receipts, £2441 17< sd; mileage, 41,896 miles. 1907— Receipts, £2314 4s 6d; mileage, 41,477 miles 30 chains. j The Tramways Committee of the City, Council has recommended that Messrs R. W. Cameron and Co. be appointed buying agents in America for the tramways de< partment on the same terms as,, those of the appointment, which they hold for the electric power and light department. On Saturday afternoon the Kaikoraf Band, undei* Conductor Laidlaw, journeyed to the Seacliff Mental Asylum for the pur< pose of giving the inmates a mueioal treaty During the afternoon a suitable programme ■of music was rendered, ■ after which an adjournment was made for tea. After- , wards everyone repaired to the concert! hall, where the band again played some of its best pieces. TClie floor 'was them / cleared, when everyone enjoyed a. couple of hours' dancing, the music for which was also supplied by the band. In the -absence of Dr Truby King the deputy euperinten-i; dent cordially thanked the band for the' great treat it- had given, and called * 'fort three cheers, which -were heartily - given*., i The . band returned- to town by the 9.15 express, having 1 enjoyed the afternoon thoroughly. Those who do not happen to be Scottish frequently wonder why Robert Burns, ahel not Sir Walter Scott, is claimed as Scot« land's national bard, and why* Scots quota the sometimes rugged stanzas of the formen and are silent about Roderick Dhu and Marmion* This point was happily ex-« plained by Mr R. C. Bruce at the Burn* Club dinner on Saturday evening. Scots* he said, had a sincere admiration for Si< Walter, but it was Burns that was croonecj . at the cradlesides by their mothers. A? " couplet of Burns was quoted by the village patriarch to point a. moral or clinch "ait argument. Burns wrote not only for thfl Scots, but for humanity. The recommendation in regard to tn'a shortage of tramcare which was made tc( the Auckland City Council by the Electric and Tramways , Committee was considered! at the special meeting of. the council in committee " on Friday evening, tha committee recommended that the 'oity, solicitor be instructed ' to -take eueh legal action aa- is jieceaeary vto ,#&eover_ ihtt " damages. «ccrumg from son-complianca with the notice to provide additional cars.'The council decided to refer the matter of ■enforcing the fines to ih* city solicitor. 'In regard. to the licensing of motormen, if

Jr&s decided to continue tfce former system ft issuing licenses on the certificate of the tramway official that the men have been efficiently trained. The following clause is contained in the Electric Power and Lighting Committee's report of the City Council: — "The Right Hon. the Prime Minister has been advised of complaints of bad service from the telephone lines through the Exchange to the VVaipori Falls hydro-electrio power-house, via Berwick, and requested to make a bureau at the power-house, using the council's private line for the same, and that the service between Berwick and Dunedin be made metallic." Three hairdressers of Wellington have published a notification that on and after February 1 the charge for haircutting will be Is for men and 6d for boys. Inquiries made by the New Zealand Times elicit that the step taken by the three firms is merely a. foreruner of what is universally intended by the members of the union in the immediate future. Several hairdressers state that the contemplated extra charge is due to the increased cost of living. They state that advanced rents, dearer labour, shortened hours' of work, and the much higher prices now demanded for nearly .every commodity, have sent up the hairdressers' expenses fully 50 per cent. Otter traders, they say, have increased their charges, so why should not they do likewise ? It is, however, not easy to understand why a boy's hair should be cut for Half the price of a man's. It looks like doing twice the 'work for half the money; for boys, as a rule, are decidedly restless during the operation. A strange denizen of the deep was caught in a net at the New Plymouth breakwater a few days ago. The fish was 24in long and 18in in girth. The snows is- very pointed and the tail resembles that of a mackerel. The inside of the mouth and tongue was a bright silvery colour, the upper part of the body a deep slate colour, arid the under part light with silvery stripes running the length of ' the body" ' - The ' fish was shown • to a number ' of people, all of whom declared •it 'to be a stranger. Two local experts now pronounce it to be a bonita, a habitue of tropical waters. The fish is being mounted,' and will be presented to the local museum collection. A Blenheim firm of land and estate agents has organised a scheme to supply " farm labourers and domestics, and a repre fientative of +he firm is ' to go Home for the purpose of selecting hands as soon as applications for, 60 men are made to the inn.' So far come 40 men have been" •' hpplied for, and a number of women, but the exact number of the latter cannot at present be definitely stated. .Recently, James Hudinettj a single man, {Sfho -resided -at* Punt road, Bichmond, called at the Melbourne Hospital and informed the doctor on duty in the casualty room that he had swallowed his false ' teeth. Hudinett complained that he was suffering ■ great pain, and his condition appeared so serious that he was admitted as an in-patient of the hospital. On the 10th inst. symptoms of an alarming nature i became apparent, and at 4 o'clock on the ! afternoon an operation was performed, j but the teeth were not located. The appli- j cation of the Eontgen rays had also failed ■to discover them. Hudinett never rallied j after the operation, and shortly after midnight on the 11th he died. At a post mortem the teeth were found embedded at the roQl of a lung, and they had. penetrated j the r»ophagus. The cause, of- death was .- pneumonia, supervening on the injuries caused by the teeth. According to the Southland News the Stewards' st»ad at the Gore racecourse, together with the accompanying range of offices, luncheon, weighing, and press ■ rooms, were within an ace of being destroyed by fire on Wednesday. While at work in the press room a scribe, after lighting: his " smoke," apparently dropped a', lighted match into a crack in the flooring, and left, the' room without noticing the happening. The other reporters, who fcad .concluded their labours for the' time ■ being, indulged in a friendly conversation , before adjourning, and thus remained in 'doors longer than is- their wont. On rising to depart, one of their number noticed - that a.holfe had been burned in the floor, and that the * gale, which beats with great force -on this angle of the building, was driving- the fire with blow-pipe action into the heart of the lower timbers. The prompt application of a small supply of water speedily removed all danger, but had the occupants left th© premises according to custom, a serious conflagration must have resulted, as the room is not often opened by outsiders, and a few fninutes would have sufficed to set it completely ablaze. The force of the wind prevented smoke being observable, and a fire was thus given an unusual opportunity it- extending, while there is an absence *>f fire appliances on the premises. The recent fife at the Christchurch $lospital-:.has caused Mr S. Solomon, K.C. <qliairman of the Dunedin Hospital Trustees) to, ascertain., the .position of the dunedin institution in the event of a similar calamity. He considers the existing provision for fire prevention inadequate. It is therefore likely that the subject will engage the earnest attenion of the trustees j at .an early date. What might have resulted in a serious Accident occurred on the 19th inst on the 'Maungatua road. A settler and his j daughter were dri\ ing along in a buggy, i ■when two dogs rushed out from a neigh- I bouring house and got amongst the horse's J foet, causing the animal, in its fright, to [

I kick so violently that the splashboard of the buggy was smashed and the safety of the occupants endangered. As an outj come of the incident it is probable that a 1 member of the Taieri County Council will be charged before the magistrate at Mosgiel, under " The Dog Registration Act, 1880," with being the owner or keeper of the dogs in question. The meanness of some people passes all comprehension. After the wreck of the Elingamite the Marine Department estab- • lished a food depot at the Three Kings. When the Hinemoa visited the place recently it was found that the depot had been, broken into by some miserable creatures. A wooden box -'containing a ' gun and ammunition (placed there so that 1 shipwrecked people might be able to shoot i the goats on the land) had also been 1 forced open. The gun, however, was originally placed in a tin case inside the | wooden box in order that it might not be i ren-dered useless by the effects of the ' weather, and this the miscreants left un1 touched. It is a great pity (says the j Wellington Post) that the people who_ commit such wanton acts could not be adequately punished, for this is not the only case of the kind. It hae been found that oil has been stolen from the reserve store for the light at Jackson's Head on more tlian one occasion. j The foul-mouthed inebriate, who on occasion monopolises the pavements and shocks women and children with his disgusting expressions, gets scant sympathy in the Police Court. One of these informed Mr C. C. Graham on the 27th that being drunk jhe remembered nothing about it. The I magistrate, perhaps reflecting that "in 1 vino veritas," and that when under the | influence of drink a man often shows his true character, sentenced him to three ] months' imprisonment, with hard labour. j -The Milton Mirror learns on good : authority that Mr A. Campbell, wheelwright, of Lawrence, and known to -Milton people as the talented tenor of the Lyrio Quartet, has quite unexpectedly come into a fortune of £30,000 through the death of a relative at Home. Attached to this, also, is a tea plantation of 800 acres in Ceylon. Mr Campbell intends to dispose of his Lawrence business and visit the Home Country almost immediately. The artesian well at the railway engineshed is now sunk to a. depth of 153 ft. The boring is at present being extended through solid bluestone. Our correspondent at Cromwell informs us that the weather is still very warm and exceptionally dry. The harvest is now general, most of the cutting being over. The New Zealand. Acetylene Gas Company has secured the contract to instal an , acetylene gas supply in the- town of Geraldjne. A poll of tne ratepayers was taken on tha 27th on a proposal to borrow £2000 for .the purpose, and tha, affirmative was carried. Under ordinary circumstances the town shovild be illuminated in a month or cix weeks. The poll of the Cromwell ratepayers | taken last week to raise a loan of £3000 to i bring in a .further water supply was (says our correspondent) carried almost unanimously, 109 voting for it and only three against. This will be of great value to the borough, as it is expected it will eventually do away with a large amount of sand that was coming into the town. At the Dunedin sitting of the Arbitra-, tion Court, which commences on Monday j morning next, Mr Wm. Pryor, deputy representative, will .take his seat on' the court as the employers' representative in place of Mr S. Brown, who is at present on holidays in Australia. Next week's sittings ivill be the first occasion on which Mr J. A. M'Cullough will take his seat as the | workers' representative. A wonderful discovery -was made In the Tamaiti Company's claim on Monday week J (writes the Tuapeka Mouth correspondent I of' the Tuapeka Times) when a tree 50ft in I length and 4ft in diameter at the thickest : part, tapering to a diameter of 2ft, was unearthed. The claim is situated on a, . terrace not far from the Tuapeka River. Mining operations had only been begun five or six days on the new pacldock when the embedded tree was discovered. There was about 30ft of clay and conglomerate and -wash on top and about 4ft beneath the log. The wash was cemented round it. Ii has evidently been there from prehistoric times. When the debris had been cleared away by the nozzle a considerable amount of gold could be seen shining on the black monster, which still retained the marks of fire. A -good judge of wood pronounces it as black pine. Mr Highley had to employ dynamite to remove the huge obstruction, and with the aid of the nozzle there was soon very little left. Much dissatisfaction is expressed in Canterbury in regard to the methods of enrolment for the general election. It is staled that in one case a man who has been married for over 30 years, and has never been away from home, is now parted from his wife by the registrar. The man has been placed in one district, while his wife has been placed in another. A similar course has been adopted in regard to another couple, who live miles from the boundary line of the two districts which they now represent. Scores of complaints are made that electors have been informed that they have been placed in different •districts from those in which they reside. Quite a large number of electors complain that they have not received any notice of registration. The most bitter complaint, however, is that of the man who says that the registrar has divorced him from his v if e. i

Speaking at a complimentary dinner tendered to him in Aberdeen a few weeks ago, ex-Baillie Pyper, the father of the steam trawling industry of that port, gave some interesting particulars of the expansion of the fishing industry since the introduction of 6team trawlers. Twenty-five years ago, he said, the population of Aberdeen was 90,000; to-day it was 175,000. There were 250 steam trawlers fishing from Aberdeen, and they had on board 2300 men. Multiply that number by five, and they had 12,000 of a population connected with the fishing industry. No less than £600,000 worth of fish was landed year by year at the port. Last year the value of fish landed was £780,000, and they would soon reach the million. Such was the opposition offered to steam trawlers at their introduction that the effigies of Mr and Mrs Pyper were burnt. The policy and enterprise of the ex-baillie has been fairly justified by results.

Mr Carnegie has emphatically refused to subsidise the Palmerston North Library, and the Manawatu Standard congratulates the citizens of the town upon having escaped an indignity which it feels some members of the Borough Council wished to thrust upon them. The following is the millionaire's letter: — "Yours of 11th September received. An, expenditure of £10,000 for a building with four frontages is altogether out of the question. If what is wanted is a building for use instead of . for ornament, it could very well be on a site where it would be less of an architectural landmark. Your present building gives very good library accommodation, and if not large enough for library purposes one would think the last thing would be to start a museum in it. Should like to know what is to be done with the building after it is discarded as a library."

Speaking , to a Lytelton Times reporter, the Prime Minister said that he had no knowledge of any scheme to test in the courts the right of people to 6ell Tattersail's tickets in New Zealand. The position at present was that advertisements for the lotteries could not be published in the Dominion, and as far as possible the use of the Post Office for gambling purposes was prevented. The provisions of the Gaming Act would be enforced in all these details, but apparently they did not prevent the publication of lottery results. It was impossible under the existing law to sell Tattersall's tickets in New Zealand in any legal manner. The reporter suggested that the post office was still being used to some extent in the purchase of the lottery tickets. The Prime Minister replied that if the post office authorities had reason to believe that letters addressed to a Tasmanian newspaper, for instance, were intended for Tattersall's, they would take steps in the matter. The procedure was simple, and by no means arbitrary. When there was reason to believe that the post office was being used in contravention of the Gaming Act or the Public Health Act, the person to whom the suspected letters were addressed would be required to open them in the presence of an official. Then if the letters were found to be such as could not legally be sent through the post, they would be returned to the senders. There could be no injustice under such a system, and there was no violation of the secrecy of the post office.

A 6 a result of a conference on Saturday between the parties, the country part of the typographical dispute has been adjusted. The linotype conditions for the district were previously arranged, and are now in force, so that the fixing of monotype and monoline conditions ie the only matter left for the court's deliberation in the dispiite.

Inspector Gladstone left on the 27th to investigate cases of typhoid at Owaka and Houipapa.

The smuggling of Chinese into the Commonwealth continues (says the Sydney correspondent of the New Zealand Times), and the trade is said to be so profitable that as much as £80 has been paid for the cafe landing of only one man. No wonder the Federal authorities are anxious to stop the traffic. The difficulties In their way are exemplified by an incident ■which is reported to have occurred when an Eastern steamer recently arrived at an Australian port. One Chinese, who professed to have lived previously in the Commonwealth, was found to be unable to speak a word of English, and was unable to prove that he had the slightest knowledge of the country where he was supposed to have resided. Howeyer, the Customs authorities let him proceed to the southern, port for which his ticket was -marked, and no doubt reasoned that he would meet hie Nemesis there when he tried to get ashore. However, when the steamer reached this port, it was discovred that -the man could speak English well, and moreover was full of information about the condition of the country and of his own cabbage patch in particular. It was then that the disgusted immigration officer discovered the little trick which had been worked. The first man was smuggled ashore at an intervening port, and his place had been taken by one of his countrymen, who came on board fully primed by reason of residence in the country to present the stranger's certificate and answer all the inquiries of the authorities at the port of destination.

The curious effect produced on a once flourishing British industry by the introduction of khaki into the British army was disclosed in the course of some Tecent proceedings before Mr Justice Parker, of the Chancery Division. Marking that the capital of the Yorkshire Scarlet and Colour Dyers (Limited) should be reduced from £400,000 to £78 000, counsel said that the business related to the dyeing in two

primary colours, which" were once popular, but were not so now, the scarlet having given place to khaki in the uniform of the British army, and the indigo having gone the same way. The company had lost £250,000 by the change. The reduction of capital was sanctioned by the court.

On the 22nd H. E. Ward, a young man, was found dead in a bedroom in the British Hotel (Lytte'.ton). He took a room on the 21st, but did not give his name. When the housemaid was cleaning the rooms today she knocked at the door of deceased's room, but got no answer. The police were called, and the room entered. Deceased had only removed his boots. In his pocket were visiting cards inscribed : " Harold E. Ward, manager Nurse Maude's Camp." A peculiarly distressing fatality is disclosed by the Tapanui Courier in reporting the death of Mrs R. F. Kirk. On the 27th of December Mrs Kirk's clothing caught fire at a burning rubbish heap. Since that time everything possible was done for the sufferer by her husband, medical attendant, nurse, and friends, but without avail, and death ensued from shock a.nd the effect of the terrible burning Mrs Kirk was only 35 years of age, and had been a resident of the district since oh'ldhood. The oircumstanoes attending her death- go to make up the saddest case of the kind in the history of. .this district. The baby was born on the 14-th' of the .present month, and she" died on the 17fch, after a period of most acute suffering, during the latter portion of which exhausted Nature kindly lent unconsciousness. Amongst her young friends the late Mrs Kirk was a general favourite, and her untimely death caused very general regret. The funeral took place on Sunday at Tapanui cemetery, ami was the largest ever seen m the district. The procession was headed by over 50 members of the Tapanui Lodge of Oddfellows (of which Mr Kirk is a member), and relatives and friends came from far and near to express their sympathy for the bereaved husband, who is left with four small children, the youngest only a few days old. The coffin was covered with floral wreaths, sent by friends. The Rev. G. H. Jupp, Kelso, conducted the funeral services.