NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2, 11 January 1900, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

We have to thank Messrs. Charles Begg and Co., Dunedin, for a neat pocket calendar. The Triad for the current month contains a quantity of very good reading matter of a varied character. The illustrations, which include a coloured supplement, are above the average. A feature of the Christmas issue of the Sydney Catholic Press is a number of full-page illustrations of valuable paintings of religious subjects, the property of his Eminence Cardinal Moran. Farmers and horse-owners in South Canterbury report the troublesome bot fly to be not nearly so bad this year as has been the case for the past two or three years.

We have received from the publishers, Messrs McKee and Co., of Wellington, Andrew Wiseman's Pairty, a humorous Scotch reading, by Mr. John McGlashan, well-known in musical circles, in the Empire City.

In commemoration of the opening of the Waiau River bridge, Mrs. J. G. Ward was recently the recipient of a handsome gold iocket, suitably inscribed, and presented by the contractor, Mr. W. Baird.

Rev. Mother Mary Joseph Aubert writes acknowledging with grateful thanks the receipt of the sum of £6 2s from the Sisters of Mercy, Hokitika, in aid of the funds of the Sisters of Onr Lady of Compassion, Wellington.

The Irish Athletic Society, of Southland, intend to hold their annual sports meeting on March 14, when among other events there will be a £60 St. Patriok's Handicap. Further particulars oan be obtained from the hon. secretary, Mr. D. Hinchey, Criterion Hotel, Invercargill.

Speaking in the Otaki electorate last week the Premier said that Old Age pensions for nine months of the financial year had been paid and still the Treasury had £218,000 to the good. As another instance of the prosperity of the Colony, he pointed out, that when the Income Tax was first struck they received £68,000, while this year it would reach £125,000, an increase of 85 per cent.

Steps are being taken in Auckland (writes the correspondent of the Otago Daily Times') to establish a home for incurables and convalescents to commemorate the approaching jubilee of the arrival in Auckland of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy on April 9, 1850. The Rev. Mother Cecilia Maker, at the instance of Bishop Pompallier, then undertook the education of the children of the Church, both Maori and European.

A country resident, who had evidently chopped up with a tomahawk in his backyard a stick or two of indifferent prose into suitable lengths, sent the result of his labours, which he designated poetry, to a Southland contemporary. In a note which aooompanied his handiwork he modestly remarked : ' Colonial poets cannot hope to be appreciated like Kipling, though their work may be as good, or even better, than his.'

The Dominican Star for 1900 is now ready, and copies oan be" obtained at the N.Z. Tablet office, or at St. Dominio's Priory, Dunedin. This is one of the best and most interesting annuals published, and a copy should find a place in every Catholic household. This year's volume is larger than that issued a year ago, and the subject matter is of a very high order of merit. The volume has been very favourably reviewed by many of the secular papers in the Colony. It is beautifully bound in cloth, blocked in gold, and profusely illustrated. The price is 3s 6d, or post free 3s lOd.

It is the custom of the Marist Brothers stationed in New Zealand (says the Nelson Colonist, January 4) to meet each year for a religious retreat, a season of spiritual exercises which last for a week. By reason of the central position and the accommodation provided, the Stoke Orphanage is the usual meeting place, and the Brothers from all parts of New Zealand are now assembling, the retreat commencing on the 6th inst. It is anticipated that about fifty will attend, and the Rev. Father Ginisty, S M , of Sydney, will be present to conduct the proceedings and give addresses.

The prospectus of St Patrick's College appears elsewhere in this issue. It is needless to draw the attention of parents and guardians to the excellence of the education imparted at St. Patrick's College, as its record since its establishment bears ample testimony to its succesp. The College is intended to afford the youth of New Zealand a sound liberal education, whilst furnishing all those safeguards of religion, without which education ceases to be an advantage. The course of education is classical, scientific, and mercantile, special attention being devoted to the last-named branch. Students are prepared for the Civil Service, Law, University, and Musical examinations. Full particulars oan be obtained from the College authorities.

The traffic on the Government railways during the Christmas and New Year's holidays was very heavy, the number of passengers from Dunedin on Boxing Day being close on 6000, It is very creditable to the staff, with the appliances at their command, that this large number of excursionists was dealt with Buoessfully, and that not a single accident or mishap of any kind marred the day's record. It is admitted that the accommodation was not sufficient to meet such an abnormal increase in passenger traffic, but this is the business of the authorities in Wellington, and under the the circumstances all the more credit is due to the Dunedin office for having, with the plant at its disposal, coped so successfully with the crowds that travelled both North and South during the principal holidays. The St. Mary's Orphanage girls (says the Nelson Colonist"), to the number of about 130, were taken on Wednesday for their annual picnic. The children, accompanied by the Sisters in charge, his Grace Archbishop Redwood, the Very Rev. Dean Mahoney, Father George Mahony, and a few friends, were conveyed to the ' Glen ' in vehicles provided from Mr. R. Thomas' stables. The day was bpent in the usual way with games, sports, and rambles in the bush and on the sea-shore, and needless to say the children enjoyed their outing to the full. Before leaving the picnic ground, Dean Mahoney addressed the assemblage, and reminded the ohildren of an old friend whom they had lost (the late Mr. M. J. Hunt), but congratulated them on obtaining a worthy successor to perform the work of gathering funds in Mr. B. Crisp, junior, and he thanked that gentleman for his labour, and also all those who had contributed to give the children the great treat which they had so much enjoyed. Cheers were given for those who had helped, including Father George Mahony, who was very active in getting off the sports.

Ik connection with the retirement of Inspector Pender from the Police Force of the Colony, the Masterton Times, an outspoken organ of the Opposition, pays a warm tribute to the zeal and impartiality of that gentleman. It says : — No servant of the Colony ever retired from his post with more honour than Peter Pender, whose retirement from the important post of senior Inspector of Police is to take place in a few days. We feel that the circumstance is one that calls for more than ordinary notice at the hands of the journals of the Colony.; for if the preservation of the peace in the community, and the execution of that civil law which is the basis of social order and welfare, are in the province of the police, and there ia any merit in the efficient discharge of police duty, Mr. Pender undoubtedly represents the highest type of such merit. For during a long and honourable career he combined firmness with gentleness, and while vigorous in the suppression and deteotion of crime, he was never known to exhibit a trace of the persecuting spirit, or the anxiety to ' make out a case,' which is generally attributed to policemen. This somewhat rare trait of police character often called forth admiring and approving comment from the Bench — magisterial and judicial— when Mr. Pender was engaged in prosecutions. A stern and all-mastering sense of justice marked his character. Mr. Pender's career did not begin in the New Zealand police force. He saw service in the Crimea and in Victoria, and through all he was regarded as a man to be relied upon. Lyddite shells were not in vogue in his day, but had they been he would have walked about among them, as they exploded, with the same unruffled air as if he were walking about the Christchurch streets. When we express our respect, and even reverence, for the unsullied character and fine qualities of the aged officer, we are only voicing the universal opinion, which has been repeatedly expressed from the Bench and in Parliament, as well as by the man in the street. The Colony certainly furnishes no finer model of police efficiency than that whioh Peter Pender presents. One does not, as a rule, advocate a popular tribute to publio officers ; but in this oase we most heartily advocate a publio tribute to an officer who will be remembered, in his honourable retirement, as the model Peace Officer. It would be only fitting that services so numerous and efficient as his, and a oharaoter so admirable should be acknowledged in a fitting manner.