DOMINION NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 69, 16 March 1912, Page 5

DOMINION NEWS.

(Per Press Association.)

Wellington, March 15

William Reeve, a clerk in tne State Coal Department, shot himself :u Paparangi, near Johsonville, this morning, He wont our early, saying that he was go ng to snoor rahmis. Pater nis houy was found with the gun alongside and part of Lae iieao blown away. At the inquest the evidence showed that deceased, who was 48 years old and a married man, had no worries, iias of a cheerful disposition, aim enjoyed good health. 'there was nothing to show now the fatality occurred. A verdict was returned that deutii resulted from injuries from a gunshot wound, accidentally received. Alfred Leigh was found this afternoon lying on the iloor of a room which lie rented in Taranaki Street, iwitn a small cut on the inside of his left forearm. A razor was beside him, and he was covered with blood. He was discot ei ed by his wife, who had gone to tiie house to get some money which lie had promised to give her. Leigh was taken to the hospital, where he dice shortly after seven. He was 39 years old, .and was employed by the Wellington Gas Company. ■ Wellington, March 16.

Edmund Janies I 1 isiienden, single, aged oJ, died last night under circumstances which necessitate holding an inquest. He was suffering from a cold and was taking some whisky in the hope of curing it. He had also been inhaling onseptol. Bottles containing those liquids were on a table alongside his bed and it is supposed he must have swallowed the poison in mistake for the whisky. At (lie annual meeting of the AntiOpium Society to-night, a resolution was passed expressing profound grief, shame and humiliation, that notwithi landing China’s efforts to free itself from the demoralising elf cots of op : - n;n Britain still continues, for the sakj of money, to cultivate the manufacture and export of the drug to China, and that at the Hague Conference Britain was the only nation that refused to agree to the prohibition of opium importation into China and refused to release China from the treaty. Hie resolution also appeals to the churches to unite in prayer that. China may bo freed from obligation to further admit opium into that country. Dunedin, March 16. Early this morning the promises of James Gray and Sons, general grocers, hardware 'merchants and drapers, the largest business in Milton, were destroyed.: Tho ! fire spread to the Commercial Hotel billiard room adjoining cojiiiainjng three tables. The' contents of the Post Office, which is.only pqpf aratedj a } uan|ow right-of-jf-a^ n ' removed.j' The' insurances are nnascertainable.

( Ths Milton fire completely destroyed Gray's store and St. George’s Hall, nsed as a billiard room. The Post Of’ f’-pd B.iinlt of New Zealand were badly blistered. A heavy gale was blowing. Jho insurances aea'reo'ate e>**hhrt '•*» > £i’> hJ • , 6>t3 iv b“ .t/UUu in the Liverpool and London and Guardian offices. ■ Timaru, hfareii 15. Information has been received that tlie Government has purchased Claremont Estate, of 3000 acres, for settlement. The homestead is a large mansion, erected by Mr J. H. Rhodes, and " ■’once taken for the summer by Lord and Lady Ranfurly. The property is nine to eleven miles from Timaru.

Christchurch, March 15

At the inquest on Win. Gifford, who died in the hospital yesterday from injuries received on the 4th instant at Lyttelton, a. verdict was returned that denth resulted from lockjaw, the result of injuries received in an attempt to alight from a moving train.

Mr G. W. Russell, M.P., speaking at the function of the turning of the first sod of Pages’ Road, leading to New Brighton, for tho widening of which the State made a grant of £2oo, said it was a question as to how far the State should be called upon to assist the local bodies without such ‘bodies being called upon to do something for themselves. Looking througli last year’s statement he found; over 3000 roads assisted by Government grant, and he assumed that not one copper was found by tbe people concerned. The time would come when Parliament would require to exercise a much closer grip upon finance than was done during the past 25 or 30 years. The question must be raised whether, when Parliament voted money. there should not bo some responsibility on those benefiting to pay the money back. There were practically no public works in Canterbury, where tho roads and bridges had been completed many years ago, yet the people of Canterbury wore being taxed for tho opening up of the North Island and other parts of the Dominion where settlement had not gone on so rapidly, and had to assist in finding the interest and sinking fund on expenditure from which they received no benefit. Of 5100 voters who recorded their votes at the Christchurch licensing election on Tuesday, 803 delivered informal papers. The temperance party contend that tbe intention of these voters was plain, that they desired to vote for the temperance ticket but omitted to erase the first name on tbe list, which was printed close to the top of the ballot paper. If these 893 votes had been allowed, all those on the temperance ticket would have been returned. Attention was drawn to tbe matter by the No-license Party, but it is understood that it is unlikely the party will take any action.