LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 30

LOCAL & GENERAL.

At last week's meeting of the Waikouaiti County Council the following self-ex-planatory letter from the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister of Railways, was read:— "With reference to your letter forwarding a resoiutokm urging that the train leaving Oamaru for Dunedin at 2.30 p.m. should be altered so as to arrive in Dunedin about 7 p.m., 1 have the honour to inform you that the train in question has to work all stations -en route and to meet the- requirements of settlers in the various districts, and it therefore could not be accelerated witbput interfering with its usefulness for the purposes for which it was established. No doubt the- alterations suggested by your council would meet tbe requirements of a few individuals, but they would not be for the benefit of the district as a whole, and after giving the matter every consideration 2 regret that I cannot see my way to accede to the request." The letter * was simply " received." - ~- Dr Ogston, District Health Officer, and Mr Donaldson, Inspector of Nuisances for the city, paid a visit to a freezing wx>rke in the city area on August 31 with a view to injecting the fish. A joumbor .of the cases were turned out and examined, and everything . was found • satisfactory, except' ing a few fish ngridh, Dr Ogston thinks, must have been in a bad condition before they were.' sent to the, freezer. Tbe xarayiieh inspected were also in good condition #nd quite fit for consumption; An Auckland telegram states that the .Bank of New Zealand has offered to take the whole of the £52,000 loan of the Mount Eden Borough at 97£ per cent, net to the ■council, with a currency of 30 years, at 4£ per cent/ interest and £ per cent, sinking^ fund. TJie Mayor informed tbe council that the terms were the most, favourable that could be obtained". The offer remains cpen till December 1. In addressing the Grand Jury at tho Supreme Court at Inveroargill on August 31 (says a Press Association telegram), Mr Justice Williams expressed great satisfaction that there were no criminal oases. The district had always been remarkably free from crime, but this was the first time in his experience that there^. was absolutely no criminal case, though in 1901 and 1906. „ when Mr Justice Denniston (presided, the «une thing bed happened. The Crown Prosecutor congratulated the town, and the okrk of the court presented his Honor •with a pair of white gloves. Mr Justice .Williams, in returning thanks, remarked v "that in that, part, of the country they had not been blessed with euch a soft and luxurious climate as in the north. It was -a feet thai the further north one went tbe- greater the amount -of crime- However that -might be, it was clear fliat 'Southland had an honest, hard-working community, in which the habitual criminal could find no place. A return has just been issued showing in a comparative form 'the estimated value of Victorian products for the fire years -ended 1908. During the period mentioned there was a -steady increase for the first four years, the total having expanded from £31,652,033 in 1904 to £37,274,65* in 1907. ] Last year, however, there was a drop of .£992,245 to £36,282,499, owing entirely to \ ihe shrinkage in the vaJue of dairying and j pastoral production, amounting to no less than £3,856,700. For this large decrease the fall in the wool market was mainly responsible, but the butter output also diminished materially, the reductions in the exports overseas alone representing a money value of £507,208. Wheat during 1908 showed up well, the production being valued at £11,0w,288, or & gain of £2,629,832 over the previous year's figures. Manufacturing interests have progressed throughout the last five years, and from this source, in 1908, the amount of £11,673,693 was produced in the shape of value, due to the process of manufacture. The latest news about the Maori " prophet" Rua in hi 3 TJrewora retreat indicates (says the New Zealand Times) ihat recruits are not coming to hie banner, and the movement is gradually declining. Rua's "mana"- began to disappear with the lack of ready cash. He had boasted "that God-given five-pound notes came to him at a snap of the fingers, but this has not stalled off a shortage of food which has been experienced among his foolkh followers, who are helpless to improve j their position while they remain, because all their property was placed at Rua's dk- j posal. The eight gocd-looking young women who form Rua's domestic circle »re still with him, but a large number of | Native children who were withdrawn from I the Government schools to secure instruc- I tion from the prophet have returned to the more orthodox education. The attendance at one school went down to 29 owing j to Rua's influence, but it has gone up . again to 69, and the " prophet " is understood to be changing his attitude towards the pakeha system. He is now anxious to have two Native schools in his district reopened. -- It is possible that something further w ill Be heard concerning the Orepuki Shale.works as a result of the visit of the Director of the Geological Survey to the aistriot Dr Bell ha 3 left Wellington to investigate the shale deposits. His investigations (says the Post) will probably extend over a fortnight. The report to be presented to Parliament will be awaited ;with a good deal of interest, as many thousands of pounds are now. lying idle

in the shape of plant and buildings' at Orepuki, and repeated endeavours have been made to induce the Government to • reimpose the duty on kerosene, and to give a bonus for the production of a stated quantity of purified oil. A petition was presented to Parliament last year seeking relief and encouragement from the Government, in the hope of vitalising the industry, but nothing in the shape of financial assistance was forthcoming. The result of Dr Bell's investigations may have an important bearing on the future operations of the company Serious trouble is threatened by the cottars of Back, Vatiskir, and Coll townships, in Hie Isle of Lewis. For come considerable time tfcey hove been considering j th* necessity of taking drastic measures to relieve the congestion among them. They have now resolved to take possession of Ihe lands in their neighbourhood, from which tfceir forefathers were evicted many years ago. A representative committee has been appointed by them, and this committee has shown ' its determination to bring matters to a point, by writing to the j Scottish Secretary to the effect that, unless measures are taken by the Government to give them land, they will, next October, seize and occupy tihe available land in their neighbourhood A relief map of New Zealand has been prepared ' by Mr H. Mason, M.A., Vtf Auckland; which would seem (says thy New Zealand Herald) to be capable of meeting- a ° requirement in our schools. One value of such a model is that it substitutes observation for the rote -work often complained of. A still greater advantage claimed by Mr Mason for bis new relief map is that it will train the reason of the pupil to note the necessary relations between mountains, drainage, means of communication, and centres of ! population. Mr Mason i& submitting on example of bis design to the Minister of E-ducation. Sir John Quick (Commonwealth Post-master-general) e&id, in the House a few | days ago, that if there was- any r,easonab!e | prospect of an agreement between the Com- j monwealth and States being carried out, he intended to introduce a proposal for the institution of penny postage between the States. If it worked satisfactorily it would i in ali probability, be extended to make a penny postage throughout the Commonwealth. He proposed also to have a uni- , form stamp. If these schemes were accept- j able to Parliament and the country, two ' ideas of Federation would be realised much | sooner than if the expiration of the Brad-don clause had to be waited for. j Tbe New York correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph cabled as follows recently: — "In CMKJnoati (Ohio) yesterday" 40 canaries were installed in the Lincoln Baptist Church to aid the regular choir j in tbe religious service, and the effect of . combining the birds' voices with the pipe organ and the vocalists was declared i>y I members of the congregation to be a sue- j cess. The text was 'Who are these that come flying through 'the air like doves?' The pastor had requested the members of the congregation to bring as many canaries as they could, and the^gilded I cage 3 were humg all about the building, j The birds began chirping with the firet strains of the organ, and continued as long as the choir sang." On the 31st of August Messrs Park, Reynolds (Ltd.) offered for sale by auction a col- I lection of 104 oil and water colours from I the brushes of well-known British and colonial artists. There was a good attendance of the public, and competition was very keen, every picture (with one exception) beinjr disposed of at satisfactory prices. At a meeting of a Special Committee of tho Charitable Aid Board on the Ist it was unanimously resolved — " That Dr Closs be appointed senior medical officer to the Forth Street Maternity Home." The other applicants were Drs F. C Batchelor, Riley, Orbell, and Ritchie. Phe name of Dr Batchelor was wifch-drawn in the course of the meeting. Mr James Allen, M.P. (vice-chancellor of the Univeirsit), announced the University Council's ; intention of still advertising for a lecturer on obstetrics. We understand that the threatened litigation in connection with the new dock works at Port Chalmers will engage the attention of the Supreme Court, Messrs Scott Bro3. (of Christchurch), the contractors for the dock, having intimated thoii* intention of claiming from the Otago Dock Trust the sum of £36.000 on account of the construction of the dock, etc. It is understood that the Dock Tru?t some j time since forwarded a -cheque for £3351 ! 5s 5d to the contractors* in final settlement of tho contract account, the sum mentioned being the balance due after deducting a very considerable amount for penalties for non-completion of the dock up to contract date. The cheque referred to has not been lifted by the contractor. The claim for £36.000 made by Messrs Scott Bros (contractors for the new dock at Port Chalmers) includes an item cf £20,030 for alleged unsuitability of and I non-fulfilment by Dredge 222 to dredge ! out ihe dock site . before the work of i cc-iist ruction was taken in hand. Another j item is tho refusal of the contractors to j acknowledge liability for some £9000 de- I ducted by the trust as penalties for delay in the completion of the work. The sums j named together with the cheque for £3351 ; forwarded by the trust to the contractors in settlement of accounts, and which has not been lifted by Messrs Scott Bros., J

made a total of £32,351, and the balance of the claim (£3649) is for work or alterations said to have been authorised after the contract was agreed to. The original contract price for the dock was £58,719, and the stipulated time for completion sixteen months. The trust, it is understood, allowed 90 days beyond the stipulated time for completion before enforcing the penalties provided for under the contract. The contractors, on the other hand, claim that they were hindered in the work owing to delay on the part of the trust in removing obstructions and in other ways. So far no legal citation has been served on the Dock Trust in connection with the claim, the contractors' statement of the j position having only came to hand on | Wednesday. As the Dock Trust's engineer for the work (Mr R. Hay) is at present absent from the Dominion, 'and will not return until a month hence, the opinion is expressed that consideration of details of the claim will be deferred until his arrival. The Rev. A. W. Kinmont, speaking at Green Island o~ the Ist inst., produced a huge cake, burnt on one side and doughlike on the other. It -was an illustration of his text, and be appealed in vain to the i children to say what that, text was. " You 6ee," s&fil tho speaker, " this cake has been carelessly leid down in the hea* and " A small boy in the audience became excited, and, as the speaker's eye turned o:i him, he blurted out, "I know; damper!" The taxt wa&, " Ephra-m is a cake unturned." " The board claims that it should appoint the best man for the position, and the University Council believes it should | appoint the best man for the students." This remark by Mr J H. Walker to the deputation from the University Council waiting on the Charitable Aid Board's committee on the Ist, placed in a nutshell the board's attitude on the appointment of 6enior medical officer and lecturer on obstetrics at the Forth Street Maternity Home. Later in the proceedings the chairman (Mr W Wilkinson) said, " The board is not going to have these unfortunate people [inmates] subjected to anything they would not have to put up with at St. Helens." This was presumably levelled at the practice of medical students having access to the Home for professional purposes. The Otago and Southland Gold Mining Industrial Union of Employers i 3 up in arms against the Southland County bylaws, which restrict the amount of goods to be 'carried in vehicles during certain portions of they-ear and absolutely prohibit any goods being carried for gold mining purposes during the months of May, June, July, August, and September. If given effect to this *^u!d completely stop all gold mining operations; as no one would carry on an industry for seven months or so only From information the union has received it has ascertained that each dredge employs eight men on board and rpquires about 100 tons of coal a month, i Tho hewing of this coal gives employment to a large number of men. The amount of wages paid per month on the 40 dredges at work totals £3590. The sum paid for coal is £2410, end the amount for repairs (say) £2000, or a total per month of £8000. The closing down of these concerns for five months in the year would mean , a loss to the wage-earner of not less than £41,000— that is, directly,— to cay nothing of the large number cf tradesmen, engineering shops, and others who would be thrown out of employment. It is held by the union that the by-laws are arbitrary and unjust in their application, for while the gold miner is severely restricted, tho farmer is given an absolutely free han-d, and may carry any weight over the roads at any time during the year. The whole matter has been brought prominently under th-e notice of the Hon. R. M'Kenzie (Minister of Mines). The operations of the Dental School attached to the Otago University are such that an extension of the buikling is urgently required. This branch of the University's usefulness has only been in existence for a year or two. and unless further accommodation is speedily provided the institution will be seriously I hampered in its work. The council is ■ anxious to ereot a two-storey addition to the present building in order to meet the demands of the next 10 or 12 years, and , has laid its wishes before the Minister of , Public Health. [ The Health Office returns fo r August j show that 62 cases of zymotic diseases were J notified to the authorities in Dunedin during tho month, as against 61 for the preceding month. The scarlet fever case? totalled 33, as against 34—12 town and 21 country cases. There was one count ry , case of enteric; 1 town and 8 country j cases of diphtheria ; 3 town and 11 country cases of tuberculosis ; 1 town and 2 country cases of blood-poisoning ; and 1 town | and 1 country case of hydatids. Ten of , the scarlet fever cases occurred in South- j land. The case of enteric fever was reported from Matakanui. A man wlio for some years past has been employed in a, responsible and lucra- j tive clerical position in Timaru left some fxiw weeks ago on a holiday, a severe j attack of influenza having- left him in rather a depressed state. He went to the , North Island for his holiday, and was *luo back some time ago. As he did not return, inquiric-3 wore set on foot, wirti the result that it is now believed that he is in America. Another Timaru man, asso- t ciated with the grain trade, has also disappeared. It is believed that the latter has gone to one of the Australian cities. • With' respect to the first-mentioned (says

i " the Timaru Herald), his employers, Messrs • Tripp and Rolleston, solicitors, had their • books audited, and the auditor's report h& L embodied in a circular which assures the firm's clients that the trust accounts are correct. It is, however, understood that there is a considerable shortage in the firm's own account The quarterly meeting of the Taieri Licensing Committee was held at Mosglel on tho Ist ; present — Messrs H. V Widdoweon, S.M. (chairman), J. Dicker, D T. Shand, H. Sutherland, and Dr Cattan. Mr J. Hay, of Middlemarch, forwarded an apology for absence. Eliza Williams, executrix under the will of the late Philip Williams, applied for a transfer of the license of the Railway Hotel, Middlemarch, to herself. Mr F. G. Duncan, of Dunedin, supported the application, which ; was granted. i ! At Thursday's meeting of the CatlinsTahakopa Railway League the Chairman I (Mr R. Chisholm) said he was pleased to be able to report a welcome response to > the published request of the league for literature for the use of the men engaged '. on the work. The Rev. V. G. B. King had seen the request, and - bad provided a case 3ft 6in long by about 2ft broad, packed with books. He (the chairman) had sent for the case, and the Railway Depart-oent had N generously ( franked \the case to its destination, where ' j the books were now being distributed by I the local missionary. Qther donations had been received from Mr T. K. Sidey, M.P., and Mr J. Neil. It was unanimously de= cided that a special vote of thanks should I be accorded by the league to those don at- ' ing the books There was no report from j the local branch at Catlins, but the chair- > man remarked that he thought no news ■ might be taken as good news. Messrs i Allen and Arnold, M.P.'s, Waters, Fea, I Bolt, and Brown were present in addition '■ to Mr Chisholm ' j Subscriptions are still coming in for the j.Jlassey testimonial. On Wednesday a | gentleman sent a guinea to Mr Alien, j M.P., for the fund. Any sums now ' j donated will be forwarded to Auckland to j augment the already handsome amount handed to Mr Massey last month \ A matter brought up at last week's meet- ; ing -of the Dunedin and Suburban School ' Committees' Association was the early rising and long working hours of some schoolboys, whose progress at school was found to suffer in consequence. One local schoolmaster had found that some of his boys rose at 3.30 a.m. in order to deliver papers and milk, and as a natural consequence were tired at school. Discussion upon the matter was impossible last evening owing to the time being monopolised by the subject of the simplification of the school syllabus; but the president (Mr R. H Todd), in his remarks, • said he considered they could do nothing as an association, as they had no jurisdiction, save to give t publicity to the facts and ' rouse the I attention of parents to the subject. , ! A sad and sudden death occurred on , board the Hinemoa on her arrival at the , Bluff on Thursda. morning (says our correspondent). An elderly gentleman named j Heberley, belonging to Picton, and interested in. the Campbell Island whale j enterprise, made the round trip with the ' steamer. He is reported to have been in good health and excellent spirits up to I within a few minutes of his collapse at about 9 a.m. Dr Torrance was promptly summoned, and arrived just in time to see him breathe his last. He was an old-time resident of Pelorus Sound, of active habits, and otherwise a man of good sterling character. Hia age is stated to be 75. The police seem to think an inquest unnecessary Mr Henry Skey's abstract of weather observations at Dunedin for August is as follows : — Mean barometer, 29.791 in ; mean elastic force of vapour, .230 i n; mean temperature in shade, 45.4 ; mean terrestrial radiation, 42 ; mean daily velocity of wind, 148 miles; mean amount of cloud' (from 1 to 10), 6.2; total rainfall. 3.93 in; number of days on which rain fell, eight. A fondness for flowers indicates a sensibility which would shrink from robbing , graves, and it is difficult to imagine what j j inducement there can be to steal the floral j tributes left by a mourner at the last j resting-place of a loved one. This abhorj rent practice is becoming disgracefully ; frequent. Young rose bushes, wreaths, . flowers in vases, are all taken. Quite 1 recently a well-known citizen placed fresh j flowers on the grave of his wife, and within an hour they had disappeared. A Wellington telegram announces that the Speaker's warrant for the Rangitikei i election has been received by the Clerk of j Writs, and the election is fixed for Thurs- ! day, September 16 At the annual meeting of the School | Committees' Association on Thursday j > 2nd inst. reference was made to the ueces- I | sity for training in commercial subjects by | young people about to enter office work, and piobably Mr Brown's remarks on the work of the Technical School in book- | keeping 1 suggested to some persons a solution of the difficulty Not only is pro- ' vision made for bookkeeping, which, as Mr Brown remarked, is exceptionally well j taught, but special attention is . also given to commercial correspondence and general handwriting This class was instituted on the recommendation of the Chamber >of Commerce, and it is probable that were its existence better known and its instruction availed of there would be less reason for the remark so frequently made regarding | ■ the handwriting of the boy on first entering upon office woik, The instructor, of

the class is a well-known public officer and . enthusiast in the subject. It is the intention of the director {Mr Marshall) to give the general public, and more particularly those interested, an opportunity this yea< of seeing the work produced by the pupils of the class under examination conditions and time limit Other classes in the commercial- course are shorthand and typewriting, each subject having an attendance of from 120 to 130 pupils. It is intended next year to form a special day commercial class for those pupils who have just passed the Sixth Standard and require a short preliminary special course before taking up their, life's work It will thus be seen that it will not be for want of facilities if the youth of this city do not get at least part of the instruction for which the members of the Sohool Com<" mittees' Association seem to be contend* ing. The quarterly meeting of the Chalmerf Licensing Committee, held on the 2nd, waf attended by the Chairman (Mr H V Wid« dowson, S.M.), Messrs A. Roy, R. Ferrier, J. Rhodes, and A Kilpatrick. Mr F. G. Duncan applied for, and was granted, a. transfer of the license of the Port Chal-< mere Hotel oil behalf of Margaret Bastings, executrix of the will of the late William J£. JBastings. This was the only, business before, the committee.' Regarding the request of settlers at Tuapeka Mouth for .a 'Ppsfe office savings bank, Mr J. Allen,- M.P. (Bruce);* haa _ received the following reply /.from the .Hon. Dr .Findlay, r Acting . Postmaster-general : — " Iv reference to your letter of July 9 stating that the Tuapeka Mouth Close Settlement League asks for a post office savings bank at that place, I have the honour to inform! you that it is reported that not much savings bank business would be transacted at Tuapeka Mouth. There are facilities foe forwarding money to Lawrence for deposit! in the bank. Moreover, the postmistresl demands an additional £20 as salary in the event of an accounting office being opened.; Such a payment is out of the question. The scale 'salary at present payable is only £15, and the postmistress is paid £22. If you can forward me a workable proposal for the establishment of the desired facilities I shall be very glad to look into the question again." A Press Association telegram from Auck* land states that a small launch picked up, by a steamer in the Rangitoto Channel wag found to contain a man named Ted Maxwell, who was handed N o^ er to the police and locked up on a charge of drunkenness. Maxwell stated that he left the Thames in a launch with a man named Jack SRipworth, and could not account for his disappearance. , In giving evidence at an inquest' jt Chrietchurch on the Ist inst. regarding tha death of a woman 62 years of age, Dr C. J. Russell said " (Reports -tho tyttelton Times)" that she' had died in a place tha« was a disgrace to the city, and he wished to make a protest; against such a state of affairs being allowed to exist. The woman: had been living with her husband in a building at the end of a right-of-way', a .place that was in every sense of the word the mpst loathsome he had ever entered. During the 40 years that he had been practising in 'Christchurch lie had seen a great many dwellings of a thoroughly uninviting character, but he had never before met with one in which the conditions wer< so miserable. The interior of the dwel< ling was in a most filthy condition, and hi could not understand how it was that tba city inspectors allowed such a state ot things to exist. An applicant for public relief at Wellington on August 31, testified that he ha<? sold out his furniture in Dunedin to gel to Auckland, sold more to leave for Gisborne, and more still to get to Wellington. He also stated that since his arrival some five or six weeks ago he had been trying to get work. He did not read tha papers, nor did he ever speak to anyone, and though he had heard of the relief works in Wellington when in Auckland, he had not made any application to tho