LOCAL & GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2645, 12 April 1894, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Social at Gapks’s Valley. —A social in aid of the school funds will be held in the Gapes’a Valley schoolroom this evening. Found Drowned.— Alexander Milne, a shepherd at Glenmark, N. 0., found drowned in a small lake on Tuesday afternoon, was a single man, 55 years of age. Sports at Arundel.— A meeting is called for Saturday night at the Rangitata Bridge Hotel to consider the holding of sports on Queen’s Birthday at Arundel. All interested are requested to be present. Illegal Sealing. The Government having been informed that a Norwegian ▼easel ia being fitted out at Melbourne for the purpose of sealing and taking birds at the Auckland Islands, it has been decided to send the Hinetnoa to checkmate the design. The World’s Trio.— This Company appeared last Tuesday evening in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, and gave an entire change of programme, which appeared to give great satisfaction to the andience They left yesterday morning for Ashburton. Bankruptcy Case. —In the Supreme Court, Auckland, Walter Tibbub was convicted of failing to keep proper books prior to his bankruptcy, and sentenced to one week’s imprisonment. As that dated from the commencement of the session the accused was discharged. A Lodger Case, —At Dunedin Mr Justice Williams upheld Mr Carew's decision convicting Knott, a hotelkeeper at Mosgxel, for selling liquor on Sunday. Appellant had raised a point that the person supplied was a lodger in the house, but His Honor h Id that merely engaging a bedroom did not constitute lodging. Football at Woodbury.—A movement is on form a football club at Woodbury, and a meeting of those interested in the matter is convened fur next Saturday night at 8 o’clock. There are a goo 1 many athletic young men at Woodbury, so that they ought to get together a rather strong teanj. Hotels in the Four Centres. Inspector Brohgm t>as obtained the following statistics with reference po hotels in the four centres of the colony :—Number of licensed houses in Christchurch City. 17 ; number of licensee houses in the licensing district of Christchurch. 55 ; Wellington City and district coterminous. 51 i Auckland (no licenses in di-trict outside of city boundary). 5S ; Dunedin —in city /I, in district bS. The t■ tneretor**. lor toe four centres of N> - " /'‘eland is ■!(.• hole s A Difficulty r •* r led.—When Mr J. A Millar's letter of March Ist appeared, calling the attention of the Trades and Lab r Councils in the colony to the lact that Huddart Parker . ompany’s steamer Tasmania was running over here with sailors and lircui.cy. yeceiyiwg lower wages than are paid by the Umbjy Company. Mr Murrell, representative of the Huddart parjxer Company in New Zealand.’communicated with his principals on the. other side, and has now beep advised that the comp my have decided to pay the same rate as the Union Com; any. The concession represents an increase of £1 per month per man. The new arrangement takes offset immediate!}-.

A Record. —The civil sessions of the Supreme Oour L , at Christchurch on Monday morning occupied eight minutes, which is a record.

The Waitemata Seat.— The result of the Waitemata election (with ten more returns to comein, which cannot affect the result), is as follows: Massey, 1516 ; Palmer, 1277.

Floated Off. —The Union Company’s Moa, which stranded at Gisborne during last week’s gale, vas floated off on Sunday morning’s tide. She is apparently uninjured. Fires. —Mr J.North’s flour mill at Rakaia was destroyed by fire on Monday night •, loss £looo,insurance £SOO Mr F. Becker,of Flaxton, had four stacks of grain destroyed by fire on Sunday; insurance, £75. Charity. —A meeting was held at Auckland on Monday to raise funds for the benefit of the wife and family of the late Robert Garret, who are left penniless. The athletic club and sister institutions intend to assist.

Ladies’ Angling Competition. —Lady anglers are reminded that the competition for the president’s prizes takes place on Saturday next. Entries should be made with the secretary, Mr J. McLean, from whom full particulars can be obtlined. Sudden Deaths. —Mrs Robertson, wife of Mr D. Robert-on, of the Phoenix foundry, Wellington, died very suddenly at Masterton on Monday of apoplexy.—Dr Henry, the well known Wellington medico, died rather suddenly. He had been only ailing for a day or so, and death ensued on Monday night. The supposed cause was angina pectoris. Marian Willis Company at Geraldine. —We would remind our readers that the Marian Willis Dramatic Company will appear in the Volunteer Hall, Geraldine, to-night, when they will play “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The plot of the piece is well known —nearly all must be familiar with the life and death of Little Eva and Uncle Tom, and the trials of Cassy—and as the Company have the reputation of staging it in a first-class manner we hope to see agood house. The company will appear in the Temuka Volunteer Hall to-morrow and Saturday evenings. A Disputed F ke. —At the last meeting of the Timarn Borough Council a letter was read from the Geraldine Town Board, acknowledging receipt of a letter demanding payment of the £lO paid to them by Mr Mundell for auctioneer’s license.—lt was resolved unanimously that the Town Board be informed that unless the amount is paid within one week after their next meeting, the claim will be put into the hands of the Council’s solicitor, with instructions to take steps for its recovery. Embezzlement. Edward Parkinson, late clerk to Harper and Co., solicitors, was charged at the Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning, on the information of the Official Assignee, with embezzling £IOSO, the property of the said firm. He was remanded till the 18th inst.; bail —accused in £IOOO and two sureties of £SOO each.— George Gibbs, manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company, at Hawera, was brought up on Tuesday on two charges of embezzling £lO 7s, and £7 Is respectively, from the company. He was remanded.

Bankruptcy Case.-— ln the Bankruptcy Court, Wellington, on Thursday morning, before Mr Justice Richmond, John Windley, a gardener, was called upon to sho w cause why he should not be punished for failing to make application for his discharge within four months of the date of filing, under section 115 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1892. Windley said that he was in very poor circumstances and was led to believe that the application for discharge would be very expensive. He agreed to come up for discharge at next sitting, and on this understanding His Honor made no order. Runaway. A runaway occurred in Temuka yesterday, which fortunately resulted in no serious consequence. A horse belonging to Mr Philip Wareing was standing attached to a trap near Messrs Aspinall Sc Go’s office yesterday afternoon, when it took fright at Mr J. Brown riding a bicycle and bolted down the street on the main road leading to Milford, It continued its mad career along that road, with Mr Wareing on horseback following it up, till it reached the cemetery, where it was caught and brought back, none the worse for its smart canter.

Dunedin Harbor. —The finance committee of the Harbor Board recommend the rating of the district of which Dunedin forms a part as the fairest, but fear that the Legislature will not consent. They suggest that Government should formulate a scheme for the consolidation of all local bodies’ loans at 3J per cent. By this means the colony would be saved £137,000 annually, and to Dunedin alone £IO,IGI. After providing a sinking fund of 1 per cent., the proposed economies and alterations of charges would enable the board to incur expenditure with the object of increasing the depth of the channel to 21 feet at low water.

Serious Accident. —A serious accident, attended by sad surroundings, happened on the Karori road, Wellington, on Tuesday afternoon. Mrs Graham, wife of Mr C. C. Graham, Official Assignee in Dunedin, and her daughter, who reside at Karori, went to town to take out the Misses Henry, daughters of the late Dr Henry (who died the previous night) to their residence. All appears to have gone well until nearing Karori, when the horse shied, and running against an embankment overturned the vehicle, which was badly smashed. Mrs and Miss Graham and Miss Geraldine Henry escaped with a severe shaking and bruises, but Miss Kathleen Henry was rendered unconscious, and remained so for two hours. She is progressing favorably.

Cost of Licensing Elections.— The Taieri Advocate says:—lt seems to have been forgotten that in the event of a district declaring for prohibition the expense incurred in conducting the licensing elections falls on the Government, and not on the local body having control in the district. The returning officer for Clutha, in which district prohibition was carried, forwarded to the Clutha County Council the vouchers for the expenses incurred, and this led to the following motion being agreed to: —“ That as the Alcholic Liquors Sale Control Act, 1833, provides that all costs and expanses incidental to the election of the licensing committees or of taking a poll of electors under the said Act shall be paid out of the license fees accruing in the district, and, as no license has been carried, there will be no license fees from which the council may pay the vouchers sent in by the returning officer, they be returned, as the council has no other funds from which it can legally pay the same, and that the returning officer bo informed that it will be necessary for him to apply to the Government for payment.” In the Wilds of New Zealand.— The Premier telegraphed as follows on Monday fro n Frasertown : —“The Wairoa has just arrived safely at Frasertown; self and Carroll well. We have had a very adventurous journey, and 1 am not sorry to get back to civilisation. The country passed through is the rough* st I have ever met with, apd absolutely dangerous to travel through. Yesterday we had nearly come to the end of our food except for the pigeons we shot in the bush, anil the day before we travelled on foot 24 miles tiironrh bush. On arriving at Waikari Mo>na we found that the canoes had gone. Yc-ter.lay vim Maoris crime for ns and wo fa-Td the lake, ; U-iioitgh there was quite a gale blowing; it was teu.di and go, and about the nearest approach to dissolution that 1 have ever met with. There were 13 all told in the canoe, and the seas kept breaking into it. and it was a case of bail or sink. Well wo landed after a hard struggle, all drenched to the skin, and ever;, tiling wc had with us was also wet through. Wc stayed at a Maori pa all night, and left for this place at 7 o’clock this morning, not sojg'y to get back to civilisation, 1 assure you, all well. Wo reach Wairoa to-night, and then I will make my way to Wellington as quickly as possible,’

South British Insurance Co. — The South British Insurance Company declare an interim dividend for the half year at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum. Fatal Accidents. After the performance at the Opera House, Auckland, on Saturday, James McCormish, for many years leader of the orchestra, fell down the stairway underneath the stage, fracturing his skull and breaking one of his arms. He died on Sunday evening. —Mr W. Mackenzie, farmer at Allday Bay, North Otago, was killed by sacks of wheat falling on him.

Accidents. —We are \jery sorry to learn that a peculiar and painful accident happened to Mr Williams, storekeeper, Temuka. He was hunting a rat in his shop when he knocked his knee against the corner of a box, breaking the knee-cap. The accident was so painful that he fell down, and was unable to get up till lifted. He was taken to Dr Hayes, who did all he could to alleviate his suffering, and from latest accounts we learn that he is progressing favourably.—A sou of Mr Loach, Orari, got his fingers in a mangle which his mother was working, and had them very badly bruised. Sir William Blunden attended, and the patient is getting on well.

Plucky Rescue. —The Oamaru Mail reports a very plucky rescue at Kurow on Sunday. A housemaid in the service of the Rev. H. C. Frere while out walking on the Waitaki bridge fell through into the main stream of the Waitaki. As the water here runs about 10 to 12 miles an hour, and is in some places 15 to 20 feet deep, it seemed as if the girl had gone to certain destruction. A young man named Rout, who was standing near, pluckily jumped in after the girl, and, managing to get hold of her, worked into shallow water, where another man, named M’Callum, went to the rescue and succeeded in getting both Rout and the girl, who were in a very exhausted condition, safe to the shore. New Zealand Stock. —The New Zealand Times in an editorial article recently says : —“ A great event in the financial history of New Zealand has happened for the first time in that history. Our 3j per cent, stock has in the Stock Exchange quotation arrived at par. It is eminently and emphatically satisfactory for several reasons. First, it has been long desired ; secondly, it out-tops the position of our neighbors ; thirdly, it represents only what is just and proper. The late movement of colonial 3$ per cents, is interesting, as the following figures for January 12th and February 23rd respectively show :—New South Wales, 98i; New Zealand, 96i, 981; Queensland, 92, 981; South Australia, 92£, 93 J; Victoria, 93, 94. In the race New Zealand had in six weeks crept up to first place, and now heads all competitions at 100. It is a great contrast to the position of three years ago, and a grand augury of the future. New Zealand is acknowledged to be the premier colony.” Divorce Suit. —The truth concerning the Tennyson Smith divorce case has at last been made public, and it is now beyond doubt true that the Tennyson Smith, of temperance fame, was not concerned in it. The Age of the 27th of February contains the following report of the case“ Eva Smith, of Nicholson-street, Fitzroy, sought a divorce from her husband, Tennyson Launcelot Smith, of parts unknown, journalist. Mr L. Woolf, instructed by Messrs Woolf and D’Estree, appeared for the plaintiff. The parties were married on the 11th August, 1880, in Sydney. On the 13th June, 1890, while they were residing at Hawthorn, he left her, and she had not seen him since. Evidence, was given to show that when last heard of he was at Valparaiso, South America. A decree nisi was granted, petitioner to have the custody of her one child.” This settles the question as regards Mr Tennyson Smith, the lecturer.

New Zealand and the Other Colonies. Several of the delegates to the Intercolonial Postal Conferen e were interviewed on their arrival at Sydney from New Zealand. The chief subject of the interviews was the work of the conference, but several questions were put to the delegates about this colony. In answer to the representative of the Sydney Morning H«rald, Mr Kidd, the Postmaster-general of New South Wales, said " I think New Zealand is fairly prosperous. By comparison I would say that New Zealand is more prosperous at present than the other colonies. Auckland and Wellington and the Bluff seem to be the more prosperous places, especially Wellington. People are now making Wellington the commercial as well as the political capital. There is no doubt New Zealand is in a b itter position than the other colonies, for it has a larger proportion of its population settled on the land. And then, instead of having one large centre of population, they have several smaller ones. That and their long seaboard, with its convenience for water carriage, help them materially. I noticed a considerable improvement in New Zealand since I was there four years ago. There are very few houses to let now.” Popular Decision. —The decision given by His Worship the Stipendiary Magistrate last Tuesday in the Temuka obstruction cases was very popular, especially with the defendants. These were the cases in which several farmers and others were summoned for obstructing the thoroughfare by allowing their horses to remain on the public road during the sale day, and His Worship took a very lenient view of the offence, fining the defendant in the sum of one shilling without costs. The defendants were delighted, and rushed forward to pay the fine with an eagerness that would denote that they were performing a most pleasing duty, while one well-satisfied individual called for “three cheers for His Honor the Judge.” “ His Honor” very promptly put down any such exhibition of feeling, while apparently much amused at the scene. There were altogether some 15 or 16 persons summoned, and it was most amusing to see them in groups outside the court afterwards, praising up the Magistrate. “ What a fair and just man he was, and what a broad sensible view he took of the case. He was a grand man, just the sort that ought to be a magistrate,” and so they kept going on for the best part of an hour afterwards. They expected to be fiued live shillings aud costs,and Mr Wray’s decision agreeably surprised them.

A Timely Warning. —When asked to sing at a concert or social choose something popular. Something that the audience can appreciate and join in the chorus. “ After the bull ” is the song to suit you; good music and splendid flowing melody. You had better send to Begg k Go's., music sellers, Timaiu, for a copy.— [Advt.] SYNOPSIS OF ADVERTISEMENTS, Temuka Road Board—Tenders for painting and drain cleaning. Woodbury Football Club—Meeting of those interested on Saturday,’(April Hth. Marian Willis Dramatic Company—Entertainments at Temuka to-morrow and Saturday evenings. S.C. Board of Education —Annual meetings of householdcio to elect school committees ou Monday, April 211.