Andrews and Beaven, Ltd., Christchurch,

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 4

Andrews and Beaven, Ltd., Christchurch,

the Fife« Coal Company have accepted the company's proposal to provide bathing acCommoda.ti.on for its employees at a cost of Id each per week. Owing- to furtiier retrenchment on the part of the Government, some 50 men employed as rabbiters in the Rotorua, Taupo, Waiotapu, and Galatea districts were dis- ' charged last week. During last week a red deer was seen in a plantation on Mr RJckards's property at .drncls, Ashburton. This is believed to j be the first deer seen on the open plains | country in Canterbury. 1 The world-famous -cathedral of Cologne is in serious danger, the -foundations having subsided. Estimates of the cost of repairs show that several hundred *hou- [ sand pounds will b©r needed. Over 300 applications were received for the poet of town hall keeper at Guildford at a. salary of £?0 per annum. A local iharnessmaker and saddler was appointed. He said motoring had killed* his trade. A civil case was heard at the Magistrate's Court at Timaru a, few days ago in which counsel appeared, and two witnesses, 'besides the plaintiff and the defendant, gave . evidence, the total amount of the claim being 3s. Increased attention to the honey industry is being paid by Poverty Bay settlers. There are now 2500 hives of bees in that part of New Zealand. A request is to be made to the Government to appoint a local inspector. The- oldest university in the world is at Pekin, China, and is called the " School for the Sons of the Empire." A granite register, consisting of stone columns, 320 in ' number, contains the names of '60,000 graduates. Last week three Croatian brothers called on the proprietor of the Northern Wairoa Hotel, at Dargaville, and asked him to cash a cheque to the amount of £721 18s 6d, this being the net proceeds of 18 months' gum-digging. A Londoner, returning recently from a 15 years' sojourn in the colonies, was mest struck by two things — the immense increase in the traffic and the mass of flowers everywhere, in shop windows and street sellers' baskets.

Sir Robert Hart in a recent speech called attention to a remark made to him years ago by the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Hsiang : " You had better let us sleep on ; if you will waken ue, we'll go farther and faster than you'll like." One of the Timaru banks complains that m the course of business several filed or clipped sovereigns have been received. The Herald points out the seriousness of the offence, while the authorities have been advised on th© matter. The Reef of Norman's Woe, familial by name to every schoolboy through Longfellow's "Wreck of the Hesperus," is but a short distance off the shore from Rafe's chasm, near Gloucester, on the north shore of Massaohussetts. Field-marshal Sir Frederick Paul Haines died at his chambers in London after a brief illness. who was in his ninetieth year, was one of the oldest officers in the British army, having had 70 years of service, mainly in India. In Boston, U.S.A., a a,uarter of a million people are living entirely on vegetables and nuts. They dress in white, sleep in draughts, abjure milk, and remaii alone for half an hour a day. By this means they hope to live 1000 years. _ On account of the misapprehension which exists as to the necessary postage payable on newspapers sent from New Zealand to oertaip places, the Postal Department has issued a poster giving full details relating to the postage on newspapers. The first census of Australia under Commonwealth control will be taken early in 1911, and for some time past Mr G. H. Knibbs, the Commonwealth statistician, and his staff nave been ectively engaged in clearing the ground for the work. General Riza Pacha, for 15 years Minister of War in the Turkish Government, is prominent among the officials who have been exiled by the Young Turks. It is said that he seemed d-olightod to depart for Mitylene, th-j ancient Lesbos home of Sappho.

A synd : eate consisting of Mr Thorns? Stone, of Ha re wood, Canterbury, and three others, has completed the purchase of the Bangor estate, about 25 miles from Christchurch, on the Midland line. The transaction involves considerably over £100.000.

A Timaru resident, ulio recently wont to the Ashburton district to live, says that li\ing is much cheaper there than in Timaru. notwithstanding that Athburton, as an island town, has to pay railage on goods, which is escaped by seaport town* Faith in the future of Rotorua. despite any temporary dullness, is evinced by the erection of new bo;.rding-houses, two of which have been erected this year. A third, a large one, has been tendered for, and a fourth, also a large one, is contemplated. A donation of 100 guineas has been given by the Hon. W. C. Smith towards the purchase of 10 millegrammes of radium (£250) for the Waipawa District Hospital. The Government will give a. subsidy of 24s in the pound, thus enabling the trustees to make the purchase. Fumes from motor-launches, said Lord D-eeborough at a Thames Conservancy Board meeting, accumulate on the surface

of the water and destroy insects, and he urged anglers to come forward when they decided to prosecute offenders for eiceediag the speed limit.

The Timaru Harbour Board is endeavouring" to assist the fishing industry in Timaru, and a new and up-to-date slip will be bu£lt to enable fishing boats to. be overhauled with the least possible inconvenience. At present the boats have to be laboriously hauled up on to the shingle.

D-r Gibb, at the "Weilington Presbytery, described as farcical the church regulation that forbade a moderator to make motions while he presides a£ session. Nearly all the suggestions, he observed, that found their way on to the minute book originated with the moderator;

A resident of Masterton who resided fos, a number of yeafs at Capetown states that the fishermen who- rescued the men at the wreck- of the Maori at Duyker Point would almost to a certainty be Malays, of whom there are a larg© number in the vicinity, all making a living from fishing.

When the Hon. J. A. Millar was chatting with, reporters at Christchurch he referred to the work that is done by the Railway Department, and to give some idea of its stupendous character, he stated that since the beginning of the year he, as Minister of Railways, had dealt with no fewer than 5600 letters. -

Mr E.. A. Miles, at a reoen* meeting^ of Lambeth Borough Council, stated* that in 40- new houses erected, with baths-, for the benefit of working men, only; six of the tenants air the end of six months were using, the baths to wash in. The rest used the Bathrooms for coal, and as receptacles for ■ any old rubbish. * -. . It was stated at the meeting of the Great Harwood CounciL-that the council's fire engine- could not attend a fire brigade demonstration, as it had been condemned, but that the men, some of whom were wearing uniforms 17 years old, rode in a waggonette painted and altered so as to represent a - hose tender. A man who was formerly an inmate of the Ohiro Home left because, as he said. " the home isn't large enough for me." He applied to the trustees for £2 ss, in order that he might buy goods to " hawk." He stated thftt he .could " sell anything." The board decided that it was unable to eet any person up in business. - A large number of Australian shearers aye in the habit o£ booking stands through the Canterbury Sfoeepfarroers' Labour Exchange, but in view of the number of men unemployed in the Dominion at present, the>- secretary has been instructed to give preference, -as far as possible, to New Zealand shearers .when filling stands for next season. A. large number of Sfrouthlaikters are included among the numerous visitors in Christohurch for the Grand National week. It is suggested by the Press that they can be distingished from the holidaymakers hailing, from other parts of the Dominion by fcheir habit, after nightfall, of peering fuartively into the sky for signs of airships. . Poor-law relief has been given by the Lambeth Board of Guardians to a clerk wtho, it was reported, had under a deed of trust the interest on £700 invested m Indian Government stock. The man k in bad health end unable to get employment, and under the deed of trust he cannot realise on the stock, which now brings him £5 6s 5d quarterly. A Chrifitchurch Cat Club has been formed with a considera-ble number of members, some of whqm are fanciers from. Auckland and Dimedin. The objects of the club are to improve the breed of cats, to arrange the classes for the various shows, and to ' procure funds for special prizes to be <>«?**? to exhibitors showing under the club « rules. The president is Lady Clifford. Mr William Archer, speaking ** *"« Polyglot Club on. the subject of simplified spelling, said a publisher ha<i l calculated that, assuming 5 per cent, of letters, to be superfluous, £20,000 a year was wasted. Good opinion held that with a rational system of spelling from one to three years- of school time could be saved in the life or ca An C illustration of the benefits of membership in a friendly society is afforded by the recent death of a young man at W^nganui, though on the books of a- local lod<r.e for only four years, during which he paid in about £13, his dependents receive a benefit of £120, in addition to which the lodge, of course, Paid all expenses in connection with his illness. , Mr J. Young, cura-tor of the Cimstchurch Public Gardens, does not entertain a very exalted opinion of the capacity of the ladybird to exterminate the cockle seal© which attacks bluegam trees. He states that trees which have been killed by the- scale have been found, on being felled, to be giving shelter to both the pest and its supposed natural enemy in vast numbers. On a silver tankard which was stolen from the safe of the parcel office of the General Post Office at Wellington last January was a Latin inscription, m which occurred the word " restituit (l«fc it be restored). Mr Myers, in conducting the prosecution, says the Post, in certain charges in connection with burglary of the

Post Office, remarked that. curiously enough, the vessel had. been restored. Many old identities will, no doubt, remember that bundles of green flax played an important part in the fascining of Inv.ercargill'e stroets away back in tb© 60's, and it is of interest to note (say 3 the Southland Times) that some of the phormium fibre used in building up Tay street nearly half a century ago was last week unearthed and found to be in almost as good a state of preservation as the day it was put down-. The question of nationality was being discussed in. a small but representative gathering of Natives in. the King Country recently. One owned to an infusion of, Celtic blood, others to other admixtures. " For my part," said a f all-blooded Maori who was present, "I'm Scotch." He explained : *' Scotch , missionaries came to the country owned by my ancestors. They disappeared. I am Scotch — by absorption." Negotiations- are in progress for a three months' exhibition- in Australia of New Zealand scenery by a picture, syndicate.The - Tourist Department, .which owns both the machinery and. the subjects, supplies tire plant free of cost, but is not to share in either 'the expenses or profits of the venture. Mr J. M'Donald, of the depart--ment. will, however, accompany the ptant n and his expenses will be paid by the syndicate. Mr D. Munro, of Napier., explains the On Friday nignt (says the Oamaiu Mail) .the police, raided the, premises of Edward James Gean, expressman? at South Oainaru. ■ A .thorough search was made by Sergeant " Griffith, Constables Macartney. Langmuir, and Doak, with the result }>hat a seizure was madie of a 10-gallon keg/ of beer, halffull. four tottles conta-mlng whisfcy, n.n4 *. number of empty bottles. The liquor was \ conveyed to the police station. The sale of basket _ willows is no inconsiderable item of revenue to the South Waimakariri River Board. The secretary stated at the last meeting that no less than 69 tons' of osiers grown on the board's'reserves was disnoeed cf last year, the price received being" £2 10s per. ton. The board also resolved to consider the question of replanting new willows to replace _ those which, through old age, were beginning to prove unprofitable servants of the board. A curious find was made in the bueh near Tauranga a few days ago. Some ' sportsmen came across an old Maori whare which contained two barrels of gunpowder, which were contained in an old military chest. There were also two old-fashioned military rifles and some old moulded lead bullets. The contents of the barrels had • disintegrated into the original ingredients, thie saltp2tre, charcoal, and sulphur lying in layers. It is supposed thai this plant had lain -undiscovered for 80 years. The services of the Spiritual Scientists' Society on Sunday evening were conducted by Mr and Mrs Weeks. Mr Weeks .delivered an address on " Christianity and Spiritualism : Was Jesus a Medium ?" The speaker said that genuine Christianity .consisted far more in a life of purity, selfsacrifice, and love to God and man than in a belief in any creed or point of doctrine. To substantiate this contention many citations were given *from v the; Gos- N pels and epistles. Mr Week 3 read a poem entitled " 'The SiaeramAnt," and also gave several messages from flowers, which were fully recognised and highly appreciated. * j ' ' ; - -