General News

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 15, 8 July 1893, Page 8

General News

Another maritime strike has been organised in Sydney. A mail for Australia and the United Kingdom closes at Invercargill at 3.15 p.m. on Tuesday. Mr C. W. Brown notifies several additions to his land register. A guarantee fund has been opened in Dublin'to oppose Home Rule. A sum of £25,000 has already been subscribed. It is estimated that America’s supply of timber is being depleted twice as fast as it is being reproduced. The colonies (says the London Times) whatever blunders may have been committed, are just as substantial a going concern as can be found on the face of the earth. Owing to the prevalence of the larrikin element in Sydney the police force is to be strengthened, and its members armed with revolvers. A pit in Thornhill, Yorkshire, is on fire. One hundred and forty-seven miners are entombed. Later advices strte that ten have been rescued. A chance for our axemen. The secretary of the Tasmanian Axemen’s Association has been authorised to back T. Reeves, ev-cham-pion of Tasmania, against any man in New Zealand for £25 a side—match tota.c place at Latrobe about November next.

A letter from Hedgehope is crowded out of this issue. It will appear next week. The Emperor of Germany says the adoption of the Army Bill is essential to the welfare of the Fatherland! The marriage of the Duke of York and Princess May took place o» the sth inst. Her wedding gifts filled twenty vans. The Home Rule Bill drags its slow length along in the House of Commons. _ The clo9ure|ia to be enforced so as to expedite its progress. The first of a series of articles on the good old game of cricket is published in this issue. Our contributor (“Norwood”) deals on this occasion with Giffen, the famous Austialian player. The Twelfth of July will be celebrated by the Sons of Levi Loyal Orange Lodge on Wednesday evening, when a soiree and concert will be held in the Protestant Hall, Liddell street. Anthony Wrexel, one of America’s rich men, is dead. He leaves ten millions sterling, and would probably have been a happier man and a better citizen if the amount had been ten pounds. The drawing of prizes in connection with the City Band’s art union takes place on "Wednesday evening. The tickets have been in great demand, and there is sure to be a big house to hear the numbers read out. By a majority of more .than three to one the shareholders of the United Farmers’ Agency Company on Saturday last confirmed the resolution previously adopted in favour of amalgamating with the J. G. Ward Farmers’ Association. The number of “ calls ” in the Liverpool telephone exchange is 42,800 per day, or about one per second in a working day of twelve hours. When will Invercargill approach this ? The funds of the Government Life Insurance Department considerably exceed £2,000,000, the whole contributed by New Zealand colonists, and entirely invested in securities in the colony. During the debate on the Representation Amendment Act, providing for the printing of the rolls for the new electoral districts when the House is prorogued, the Premier said he had been informed that October was the most convenient month for holding the elections. At the last meeting of the Southland Education Board several anonymous letters were received from country districts. The Board decided that these communications should not be received, the general feeling being that su*h a practice should be discouraged. It is reported that an up-country resident, who has been engaged in a driaking bout in Invercargill has got rid of nearly £IOO in a little over three weeks, on some occasions spending about £ls a day. The Hon. J. G. Ward says it is intended to exempt Building Societies from the payment of land tax, but shareholders receiving dividends from such societies will be required to include them in their returns of income, and pay income tax in the ordinary way. In the opinion of the Inveriyirgill Bootmakers’ Union, the duty on imported bootware is too low’ to enable colonial manufacturers to compete with the imported article, and they have decided to ask Mr Kelly, M.H.R., to endeavour to have it raised during the present session. That veteran fixture, the Long Bush ploughing match, took place on Wednesday, but only attracted eight entries, a falling off of five as compared with last year. The Champion honours were annexed by W. C. Ladbrook, with W. Crombie first in class B (double-furrow), and D. McCallum in single furrow’s. Reference is made in another column to the exhibits sent to the Sydenham Poultry Show this week, by Messrs A. N. Lindsay and H. Double. We learn that Mr Lindsay took one first and special, two seconds, and two thirds, and Mr Double first and special for Langshau cockerel. A visitor lately staying at the Hotel Metropole, London, hired a hansome and called at his bank for his wife’s jewels. Driving on to Oxford street he left the jewel case behind. As a result of cabby taking it to Scotland Yard, he received the nice little sum of £SO. Referring to the hissing of Mr Gladstone at the Imperial Institute, the Westminster Gazette says that “ the utterances of ladies and gentlemen who hissed and hooted Mr Gladstone were simply the equivalent in polite society of the pistol which the man Townsend discharged in Downing street. This was probably written before the discovery of Townsend’s insanity. The balance-sheet of the Borough of Avenal is published in this issue. It is in some respects a unique document. The Borough is in the happy and probably singular position, of not only having no overdraft or public debt, but of possessing a credit balance and a substantial sum on deposit. Happy Borough 1 Happy ratepayers! Long may this delightful state of things continue ! An interesting letter, written from Wellington, New Zealand, to a friend at Home fortynine years ago, will be given next W'eek, wdien it will appear in print for the first time. It contains numerous references to old time incidents, and we understand that Sir George Grey desired to secure it to add to his collection of MSS relating to the colonies.

A young man named John Masson, aged 23, an engineer at the Motaura paper mills, died from the effects of injuries received at a football match at Mataura on Saturday last, through colliding with another player. Ihe match was between the men employed at the paper mill and the freezing works. At the inquest the jury condemned Rugby football as being too rough and dangerous. At the sitting of the Waikaia coul ° n sth inst., D. Gillanders was charged at the instance of H. T. Turner, Stock Inspector for Southland, with having made false return of the sheep on his run on 30th April, last. It appeared that the error w r as due to an employee, but as the defendant had signed the return, the court had no option but to fine him A fine of £lO, the lowest allowed under the Act, was imposed. The new rolls for the electoral districts of Invercargill and Awarua are now in the hands of the registrar of electors, Mr J. Borrie. They are headed “Provisional,” and will be supplemented by other,s to be compiled from time to time till the issue of the writs. The Invercargill roll was printed in the Southern Cross office, and that for Awarua in the establishment of the Phsenix Printing Co. A case of public interest was lately heard in Wellington. Kempthorne, Professor and Co. sued Horrax, a commercial traveller, for the retnrn of £ 710 s paid him for travelling expenses. Horrax had put in a bill for the amount mentioned, it being the sum it would have cost him on one occasion when travelling for the firm had he not stayed at a friend’s house. He stated that it was a customary thing for commercial travellers to profit by any little saving in this way. Plantiffs denied this, and said they would not have paid the money had they known the defendant had not required it for expenses. Mr Martin, R.M., gave judgment for the plaintiffs, ordering each party to pay their own expenses. Lieutenant-Colonel Fox’s report on the volunteer forces of the colony, presented to Parliament last week, has caused a sensation by reason of its outspokenness. ■He condemns the practice of members of Parliament and others whose duties involve frequent absences being placed in command of corps, and recommends the disbandment of 41 companies. The volunteers should, he thinks, be armed with the Martini-Henry rifle. With regard to Southland, he recommends that the G Battery, the Bluff Navals, and the Gore and Riverton Rifles should be disbanded, and that the Invercargill contingent of the Navals should be formed into a rifle company. A few weeks ago Sarah Sinden applied in the Invercargill R.M. Court for a maintenance order against her husband. The application, after evidence had been taken, was refused by Mr Eawson, and her counsel (Mr Macalister) took steps to have it re-heard at Gore. This was done, with the result that the S.M. there granted the order. On Monday last Mr Wade, on behalf of defendant, applied to the Magistrate at Invercargill to have the order varied or cancelled on different grounds, one being that the application at Gore had been laid vexatiously, and that the court at Gore could not have been in possession of all the facts. His Worship (Mr Rawson) cancelled the order, with £1 Is costs, and so ended the legal see-saw. One of our veteran colonists, Mr Peter Dalrymple, of Appleby, will celebrate the 80th anniversary of his birthday on the 10th inst. We wish him many happy returns. Our old friend was long an active force in the local political field, and although he has not been (n town for some months he still takes a keen interest in public matters, and does not fail to occasionally, stir np those in authority as to the necessity for establishing woollen factories so as to give work to our young people. Mr Dalrymple was born in the farmhouse of Glenchamber, parish of New Luce, south of Scotland, on 10th July, 1813, and left his father’s house for Manchester in July, 1830. After being connected with that great city for upwards of twenty years, he came to the colonies, and has now been settled in Appleby for over thirty-eight years. He has witnessed many changes since then. Builders and farmers attention ! Mr B. M. Duthie, of the Colonial Carrying Company, Esk street, has been appointed agent for Southland of the Milburn Lime and Cement Company, whose product has been largely used in buildings in Dunedin and neighbourhood, with highly satisfactory results. While it is claimed that the cement is fully equal to the jmported article, it has the further advantage of being somewhat cheaper—a consideration that will doubtless weigh with those who might not otherwise be inclined to support local industry. Another “ line ” to which Mr Duthie calls special attention in our advertising columns is lime—the Winton lime, which has made a name for itself, and which can be supplied in large or small lots at the shortest notice. People talk by the hour sometimes of the duty of supporting local industries—here is a splendid opportunity of putting profession into practice, while at the same time receiving good value in return. The really reduced prices at which Messrs Herbert Haynes and Co. are just now selling every article in the drapery and clothing line stamp the clearing sale, which closes next Saturday, as a genuine cheap sale, Yerb. sap. Advt.