LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Amongst the gifts presented to the British footballers at Rotorua "by the Natives was an old mere, which was handed to the British captain. It is stated! that this mere was so prized by the original owners that they had' several times refused to part with it to guests of honour. The total number of passengers carried on; all lines of the Auckland electric tramways on the day of the British— Auckland football match was 81,117.. This is «a record for the company, as it is 117 more than the number carried! on the "people's day" of the last agricultural show in Auckland. The section, of the North Island TrnnK Line between ftfangaweka and Taihape will be open for passenger traffic on Saturday, September 10, on wihich day that section will be formally taken over by ih& Railway" Department from the Public Works Department. Taihape is thirteen miles from Mangawekai. A new way of robbing the Government 1 was mentioned- in New Plymouth last wsefa l>y the Commissioner of Crown Lands 'for Taranaki. According to the local " News," the Commissioner observed that the acquiring of an estate for settlement by the Government was the signal for the settlers round to immediately, denude it of grass by turning their stock "upon it. This was tha case in other districts as well as Taranaki^ . and he was determined that the public should 1 know that this could not be 'dona with impunity. The Totalisator Bill, which hag just been circulated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, allows the managements of racecourses to deduct 74 per cent from moneys invested on totalisators, one-third of which is to go to the support of a charities fund. The balance, S per cent, is to be utilised for stakes arid racecourßS improvements. The remaining 92£ per cent of investments is to be paid to winners. If more than 7£ per cent bs deducted by the steward^ the committee, or others responsible, such persons are to be liable, on conviction, to heavy penalties. Perso£6 under twentyone years of age are prohibited by the Bill from putting money on the totalisator, and a penalty attaches to the receipt of money from such minors. The Victorian Education Department has concluded arrangements with tne, Ballarat School of Mines, ' whereby a number of selected pupils from the senior classes in the State schools shall, in lieu of the lesson in experimental science given by tbeir teachers, attend th© School of Mines. Arrangements have been made for the establishment of five claases, each of twenty-five pupils; These classes will attend the School of Mines from half-past three to half -past four o'clock on one afternoon in the week. The work to be done will be simple experiments, under the direction of specialists in science. It' is the intention) oi the School of Mines to' offer a*#cholax- > 6hip for the best student in each group of twenty-five boys, in order to provide tuition for him when he- leaves the Stata school. „..!■■

The Superintendent of the Lyttelton j Sailors' Home acknowledges, with thanks, magazines and illustrated papers from Mrs S. Derbidge and Mr C. J. W. Cookson, Lyttelton; from Mr W. G. Britten, and • collected by Miss Martin, Christchurch. . About a thousand one shilling tickets, for the football match between the Police Force and the Insurance Companies, on Saturday next, have been eoid already. The whole of the proceeds will be given to Nurse Maude's Hospital. The match will be played on the Christ's College ground. Returned troopers who are uaable to earn their livelihood, or are partially incapacitated owing to wounds or sickness incurred whilst .on service^ in South Africa, should communicate with Mr F. M. B- Fisher, Box 2V Christchurch, when their names will be placed before the 'trustees of a fund which is awaiting disbursement. All names should reach Mr ' Fisher before the expiration of seven days. » Lieutenant Pickering attended at the Artillery District Office, in.; the Lyttelton Government Buildings, (this morning for the purpose of receiving applications from applicants for service in the Royal :N T avy or the Royal Naval Reserve. Several men made application, and Lieutenant Pickering intends to be at the same place fr«m 10 a.m. till noon daily for about a ■week. He will be happy to afford all information to applicants. A young man -who was cycling in Hereford Street this morning, aeoompained by two spaniels, had. his career 6ud<Se»ly checked". A stray dog charged the procession, hitting the bicycle ■amidships. The animal struggled through the whselsr, escaping entanglement with, the pedals, and tho rider was as fortunate as his assailant. fie alighted" unscathed' on his feet, gazed for a few moments in the direction of ths retreating cur, and safely remounted his machine. Mr Fraser, the Crown Prosecutor at Sfanedin, has been instructed by the Commonwealth of Australia, to collect evidence' «t tha Bluff in connection with the alleged extensive evasion of import duties by certain fish importers a-t Melbourne. The bulk cf frozen fish imported into Melbourne cornea from* the Bluff. New Zealand exporters at first were willing to give all tho necessary particulars, but (says an exchange) Mr Fraser his now been notified tihut they decline to give any informatin. A commission has been issued from the Federal High Court to taker evidence. About nine years ago a young lady from St Kilda, '"Victoria, lost a diamond brooch, valued at £50. on the Yeo B-oad, near Colac. Diligent search was made^ but it was not discovered. Two years ago a dealer driving stock along the road picked up the brooch, and handed it to a female relative, who considered it an old buckle, and threw it into a drawer. A few days ago it was taken out, and the lady, noticing the setting of tho stones was rather too good for a buckle, took it to a local jeweller, who pronounced the stones to be diamonds. An advertisement attracted the notice of a friend of the lady who lost the ornament, and it has been returned to her, after being lost for nine yeais.' A correspondent of the "Wairoa Guardian "r comments on the destruciiveness of "morepork9." Ho says:— A few nights ago, a settler here saw a morepork fly into some maerocarpa. trees where his fowls were roosting. Shortly alter he heard a commotion an<? fluttering among the fowls, but be nuver connected it with the presence of the owl, which ha regarded as a harmless creature. The next day, however, a fine pure-bred Minorca, hen was found dead under the tree, all the flesh on ! eaoh side of the breast-bone being eaten .Way, evidently the work of the owl. On i Sunday last the morapork made a swoop in broad daylight on a brood 'of chickens, and carried off one. On Monday it made another swoop at the chickens, but someone happened to-be, near, fright<?ned it away, and it flew to a tree near at • hand. The settler brought his gun, and '•promptly shot the bird. Mothered by Lady Talbot (wife of the Governor of Victoria) and Lady Janet Clarke, an Australian Institute of Domestic Economy has been founded. The Institute i began operations this month with £100 [odd in cash and appliances. Members. will 'pay 2s 6d each a year, whether mistresses ! or maids — one woman, one half-crown — and educate one another to a full and proper comprehension of household management. The object of the Institute is to improve [the market value of its associate-members '.(the kitchen ladies) by granting them cev[tLocates, also the mistresses will get cer- j itificates if they pass the ecamination in (domestic fitness. Naturally, the proud (matron who can sign A.I.D.E. after her' 1 [name will seem more desirable to a servant -, -who has also taken her degrees than, a {mistress who has not had the advantages of | 'the Institute's teaching. • The angriest maa in Australia is an Eaglehawk resident, who sued the Electric Tram Company at the Bendigo County " Court for £99 damages, alleging that he had been pitched bodily over the front of | a car, owing to the driver wrongfully applying the brake while travelling, at^high speed. Having got plaintiff down, ' the tram played handball with him for a hundred yards or so. The defence set forth, iv all solemnity, that the company was not liable, inasmuch as the "plaintiff had left the car while in motion" — which the.plaintiff did not deny; in ffactt t that was just what he complained about. The defence didn't hold good, but it suggests a- lot of things to a* Sydney contemporary. Supposing a large dog dvertakes you with his teeth despite your best efforts to leave him while in motion, it cays, the same pica ought to come in. Concerning the cost of living afc the Sc JLouis Exposition, an Australian lad> "writer quotes from a letter from some friends who .visited the great show: "1 jay 28s 6d p*r day for ■a, room without a Scrap of food. . . . There is a menu jesrd as big as an evening paper, setting forth, details of scores of articles of food for each meal, with cost of each item, and tfhe very cheapest breakfast., runs into ,6s, and then I would be 'hungry in an hour. I chose as the most •economical, the followiing dejeuner: 2 apples, 35 cents ;' plate of porridge, 35 cents; cup of tea, 20 cents; roll, 20 cents.- "tip" to- waiter, 10 cents. The moxb ordinary dinner comes to about 15s. They charge for pickles, salad, celery; every ; bit % of vegetable is specially charged, even> potatoes, and a single mutton chop is billed at 60 cent?, or 2s 6d. To use the telephone in thisjhotel costs 2a Id « minute. I'm quite off going to any more American exhibition cities, unless I marry « millionaire before starting."" Humorous stories pf the recent New South Wales elections continue to enliven the Australian papers. One of the funniest concerns a candidate who had been working hard for the women's vote. He had told every meeting how, night after night, he had fought for the Women's Franchise Bill, and just before the election a roan ask«d him in a friendly way vi'liet'ner "Hansard" reported divisions in the House. The candidate said it did. "Then here's the second reading division on the Woman's Franchise Bill that you •worked so bard for. Is your name in it?" The candidate ran down the list of "ayes." It wasn't. "Here's the third reading division; is your name in it?" It wasn't. iThe candidate couldn't explain, and urged that it must all be a horrible mistake of the reporters or printers. But the crowd »id that that was a played-out excuse, and hooted vigorously. It was only after lie had been called a humbug and a fraud R, hundred times, that he turned up "Han- ■ sard" in a. quiet moment, and found that - the lists referred to the previous Bill— th= '. Bill that the Council threw out in the Par"Miameht before last— and he wasn't in that ■ Parliament at all. But by that time th« ' -Bfcory had got twenty-four hours' start, and lihe 'polling booth was only twenty-foni • 7 fcours ahead, and -the story got there firsi Lbiwt a street.

i The Electrical Construction Company has ! made a start on the embankment across th« Heatbcote Estuary and on the line at Mr S. P. Andrews's quarry. In accordance with representations made by the West Christcharcb School Committee, it has been decided to raise the salary of the second male assistant for the secondary department at the school to £175 a year, and to call for frosb applications for the position. A and F At tho Timaru Magistrate's Court this morning a test case, tho Inspector of F«c- , tories v. the Timaru Borough Council, in, which ifc was sought to compel the Council to register the Municipal Abattoir under J the Factories Act, was argued before Mr Wray, S.M., who dismissed tie information, , expressing the opinion that as the abattoirs were registered under the Slaughtering and Inspection Act another registration, was not necessary, and considered that it would be j unreasonable to moke tto& Borough Council bring it® establishment under two conflicting authorities. It was stated' that Timaru and Auckland' were the only towns that had not registered 1 their abattoirs under both Acts. , ' A reporter mentioned to a gentleman in the city yesterday that there was a general impression in Chrisfceirarch that the distance from Moorhouse Avenue (South Belt) to Bealey Avenue (North Belt), measured along Manchester Street on a parallel route, ■was exactly a mile. " There are about two hundred cabmen in Christchurch," oame the reply, " and they all know thafc ifc is roughly a mile from the Railway Station to Salisbury Street." The traditional belief that the "perpendicular distance between the belts mentioned is explained by the common assumption that the area of the old City of Christchurch, now the City Ward of Greater Christchurch, is a square mile, but it actually exceeds that estimate. The shortest linear measurement between Moorekouse Avenue and Bealey Avenue is one mils, twenty-seven chains, and the distance between Fitzgerald' Avenue (East Belt) and the part of Antigua 'Street which was once popularly called the West Belt, is one mile twelve chains.