NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 32, 10 August 1905, Page 20

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL

The net profit on the working railways ior the year represents a sum of £716,331, or 3.3 per cent, on something like a capital of £23,000,000. Among the priests ordained at the Cathedral, Thurles, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, b)y his Grace the Archbishop of Cashel, was the Roy. Michael M. O'Dwyer, for the Archdiocese of Wellington, The heaviest rainfall ever experienced in the' history of Hastings was that during the May-July quarter, which recorded 22.16 inches. A large number of eaily lambs, have died during the past week, one man losing 250, The Fielding ' Star ' states that a number of local farmers, in order to protect themselves againsit the potato blight, which made its appearance there last season, are importing their seed potatoes for the forthcoming planting season. A man who called in at the Christohurch Labor Bureau in search of employment was asked whether he was married.. ' No,' he replied. ' Preference is given to married men, 1 a clerk said. ' I'm not going to get married for work,' ran the applicant's comment. There were nine old-age pensioners in the Colony over the age of 95 years, of whom one is an unmarried man, five are widows, and three widowers. One of the last-mentionod (at Masterton) is 104 years old, and another (at Ashburton) is 102 years of age. The unmarried male pensioner, who lives at Havelock, is 101 years old. A gentleman who has* been on a tour in Central Otago states (says the Oamaru 'Mail') that the stock throughout the whole district Is in excellent condition, and the country is enjoying the best winter it has experienced for 40 years. The land hunger is> at present manifested in a pronounced degree — indeed, tnere are so many applications that the Land Board had determined not to dispose of any more land on the fiats until the leases of the runs fall in in 1910. As showing the durability of manuka in sea water, a piece of wharf pole recently pulled up in Akaroa is a case in point (says the Christchurch 'Press'). This j ieee of manuka is as sound as the day when it was put down, and it is intended to senri it to the Christcluirch Exhibition, where it will be shown as a piece of manuka that has been thirty-five years in the sea water. Two smaller pieces of manuka were actually submerged during all that time, and yet they are so sound that they have been privately purchased with the idea of making them into mauls. The defence of Auckland will shortly be strengthened by ths addition of two modern Gin guns, which were landed last week from the steamer ' Maori/ These guns, which were manufactured at Woolwich Arsenal, weigh 7 tons Bcwt each, and measure 23ft in length. They have been taken over by the Defence Department, and are, it is stated^ to >be sent to Devonport. In placing the evidence before the jury in a somewhat complicated crirrinal case in the Supreme Court (says the ' New Zealand Times '), his Honor Mr. Justice Cooper found it necessary to comment upon at least two matters which are of general importance. The first as to the manner in which jurors should regard the demeanour of witnesses when giving their e\idence. He pointed out that although witnesses of absolute truth were often found hesitant and apparently uncertain in their statements of what they knew to l>e facts, on the other hand it was often observed that witnesses to even palpable falsehoods frequently told their lylrfg stories with such semblance of truthfulness that the most wary and incredulous were liable to be deceived. Therefore, in cases where there was a direct conflict of evidence it was well that every juryman should pay attentive heed to the general attitude of witnesses. In this connection it may be remarked that the late Mr. Justice Windeyer, of New South Wales, time and again expressed his approval of the system which obtains in the Irish Criminal Court, where the witnesses' do not stand in a box, but occupy chairs placed on a table in the ' well" of the Court, whore their every ' movement — nervously involuntarily or designedly acted— may be observed and noted. The second matter Mr. Justice Cooper referred to had reference to the verdicts whioh under our laws a jury may return. His Honor seems to hold the opinion that when there is such a sham conflict of evidence I *^ at the inrv finds it impossible to 'decide where Ihe truth lies, it would be well if they were enabled to return the Scottish verdict ' Not proven.'