Interprovincial

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 7, 14 February 1907, Page 24

Interprovincial

The new convent at Akaroa for, the; Sisters of" ' Mercy will; -be blessed and "opened on Sunday. ; by the -; • ■ Very Rev. Father Le Menaht des Oliesnais,\V;Gv " ;. Miss Mary O'Rorke, Convent High School, New < „ .; Plymouth, passed the Civil Service examination. - She ••_'! was the -only pupil presented. ~ '-, Owing to a blasting accident at Milburn on Sa.t- " • urday, two men were Killed,^ and three - injured. Mr. '" ' William Casserly, who was killed, was the son of \Mr. W-. Casserly, -of - Fairfax, Milton, and . , was" 22 years ' of 1 age. His brother, Mr.- P. Casserly, was seriously injured. . - ' • We have to acknowledge receipt of the ' High ' School Annual' of the Convent of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Rockhampton. -The annual devotes most of its space to accounts of the various events which . took place during th£ scholastic year. There are> some - . creditable ..original contributions in prose and verse, -and . a number of illustrations, all of which make . up a very readable' magazine. ■ " , ' ' 1 A sad accident occurred ,at Waimate " on Thursday. ~ evening. Dr. Barclay ' -was driving a jnotpr car, .~4nwhich' were his son and his groom, aD youth, named- ■ James O'Connor, about 18 years of . age., Coming, . down the Mile road the car ran into a trap coming 'in - the opposite direction, and threw the three" occupants out. The shaft of the. trap struck O'Connor '„ on the~ breasjt, and he -died a few minutes later.- Dr.- Barclay and Ms sow were not injured. The- men in* the trap were not thrown out, 1 and'- the only . damage to the vehicle was the breaking of ,one end. of the shaft. A very pleasant gathering (says the ' Qhristchurch 1 Press ') took place at the office at the "Lyttelton Gaol an Thursday evening, January Jl, for the purpose .of saying farewell to Mr. John Joyce, ' who, after - 17 years'- service in the gaol, and who during, the last, few years has acted as clerk, has resigned in order to^take. up farming in the North Loburn district. There was a" large number, of the gaol officials present, on behalf ofwhom, Mr. M. Cleary, governor of the gaol, presented Mr. Joyce with a purse of sovereigns and a handsomely illumimatod address. In • making- the presentation Mr. Cleary referred to Mr. Joyce in terms of. the high- - est appreciation., and voiced" the great regret felt by all - the. gaol officials at the departure of so. popular- an officer afte,- many years of service. *On ■ behalf of the staff Mr. Cleary wished Mr. Joyce every happiness' . and prosperity in' his future life. "Mr. Joyoe feelingly f responded and heartily thanked Mr. Cleary and his brother officials for thc*ir valuable^ gifts and kind wishes. Mr. Joyce was ajso the recipient of an address " "from - the . visiting justices,, who ' expressed their high appreciation of the qualities of tact and courtesy he had ways .displayed in the discharge, of his" duties. In the course of, an interview^ in Sydney Sir J. G. Ward said : — ' We have never had anything approaching the record- for the nine-months of the present - year. Our - revenue is " more than £600,000' higher " than it was for the corresponding nine months .of last v year. And there is nothing abnormal -in it, but, ■ on the contrary, ft steady growth of. business, and the development of the interior and of the towns and cities, to account for this i'ncreasie. Our revenue has grown in every department of the public service -excepting in , territorial revenue — and in respect of -this it? may .be' ex- " plained that the cause, of . the decrease is found in the fact that we have not been disposing of anything like the same quantity of land as in previous years. In our railways, stamps, Customs, post and telegraphs, and marine, there . has been this increase ; in fact, . every . branch of the public service gives a~reflex pf what ' is goings on in the country -generally. But in no -.sense can one say there is a boom. Our revenue" has v been. increasing steadily for some years ; ' and I predicted, when speaking in Wellington the night before , leaving. * that at the end of the present quarter, .when .the "financial year will end, our country will have had a year ,16'r revenue— exceeding," I think, ' or £700,000 better than 'in last year. - - • .-'...