LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

M'b. Seddon - was " found out" in a very amusing way at Mr. Massey's meeting at Christ-church last night. Mr. Massey was answering questions, and a supporter of the Government handed up a questior written on the back of a telegraph form. The Mayor oi Christchurch, who was in the chair, in mistake read the telegram instead of the question. It was from the Premier, and it urged his supporter to attend the meeting and give Massey a turn." The questioner protested indignantly against the reading of the telegram. The situation was so comical that everybody present had a glorious laugh. When next the Premier meets his Christchurch henchman, the interview should be full of interest. ■

In yesterday's issue a Press Association telegram from Wellington conveyed the news that a writ of habeas corpus was to be applied for on behalf oil the ex-Premier and Treasurer of Tonga (Sateki), recently deported to Fiji, by order of the High Commissioner, Mi. im Tliurn. . In this connection it may be mentioned that the petition of King George of Tonga, praying for the release of the Minister in question, has been received by King Edward and the Secretary of State foi the Colonies. A letter to King George (now in Auckland) from the deported Premiei states that the latter has been advised by the High Commissioner that he is to be. permitted to return to his home at Tonga inside two months.

The annual report of the Epsom Road Hoard, presented to the ratepayers last evening, called attention to the great inconvenience caused to residents between Newmarket and Onehuuga by people travelling within the city boundaries using the Epsom and Onehuuga cars, to the exclusion of the suburban residents. A fresh and united effort by all the suburban bodies on the Onehuuga line to bring about some amelioration of the existing state of things was suggested.

The president of the Auckland North Island Main Trunk Railway League (Mr. G. W. 8. Patterson) has issued a circular to members of the league, chairmen of county councils north of Auckland, etc., inviting them to attend a public meeting, to be held in Auckland on the 12th hist. The Mayor will preside. , The circular says: — The object of the meeting is to protest against the present unfair allocation of the votes for railways, and to demand that justice be done to Auckland in future votes. This meeting has become all the more necessary, because public meetings are being held in the South to demand large votes in the coming session for the Midland and other branch lines, and it behoves- Auckland to bestir herself in this matter of securing a fair share of the public expenditure for railway construction, in 'order to extend the Main Trunk railway in the North, in accordance with the best interests or the province and the colony."

The fourth trial of the ease in which Herbert Pearson was charged with committing a criminal assault on a woman named Beuth, at Cambridge, on October 5 of last year, is to take place at Auckland on May 29. Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice, will on this occasion hear the case. At the first three trials the jury were unable to agree. In no other instance has the fourth trial of an accused person been ordered in the colony. A caole message lias just been received from Vancouver, announcing the death through heart failure ol Mrs. J. R. Gray, wife of Mr. J. R. Gray, late of Auckland. Less than 12 months ago the family left this city for British Columbia,, ifr.' Gray's • sous had bought a ranche, and it was the desire of their .parents to live within reasonable distance'of these sofas. Their many friends in New Zealand'will regret that so soon after settling in Vancouver this sorrow has overtaken them. Mr. Arthur M. Myers, Mayor-elect of Auckland, will be installed in office to-day at noon, the ceremony taking place in the Council Chamber, Municipal Buildings. An interview with Mr. Fletcher, of Vavau, Tonga, on the Tongau crisis appears in the supplement to this issue. Mr. Fletcher has been in the Islands for the past 15 years. The installation of Mr. E. W. Alison as Mayor of Devonport will take place in the Borough Council Chambers at eight, o'clock to-night. '

Ab the ' meeting of the Auckland Harbour Board which took place vasterday a letter was received from the secretary of the Shipmasters' Association of New Zealand, stating that it is their opinion the remuneration of the harbourmasters, pilots, tug and dredge masters employed by' the various harbour boards of the colony is very inadequate, having regard to the responsibilities they incur. ' Dissatisfaction was also felt at the varying rate of pay and conces- * sions in force at many of the ports. The association had, therefore, resolved to put itself into communication with the various boards in the hope of bringing about an increase in the rate of remuneration. Enclosed with the letter was the following schedule ''* of suggested salaries for the officers of Auckland, Wellington, Lyttellon, Dunedin, Bluff, Timaru, and Westport:Harbourmasters, £500 per annum; chief'pilots, "" '; £350; pilots, £300; tug and dredge masters, £280; with certain allowances for ' ' ! house, uniform, and insurance, and two \ i weeks' holiday a, year on full pay. The chairman (the Hon. E. Mitchelson) moved that the letter be received. Mr. W. J. Napier said that they could not treat a let- ' , ter from a recognised association in that manner. At the time of the engagement 'V, of the present harbourmaster, Captain Duder, the cost of living in Auckland was ' much less, and he certainly thought the salaries should be increased. They paid ■'{.. quite 50 per cent, less in salaries than boards with much smaller incomes, and it was absurd to say that a polite request would not receive their attention. He moved that the letter be referred to the , Works and Tariff Committee for a report. Mr. C. C. Dacre formally, seconded th« amendment, which was lost, the chairman's motion that the letter be received * being carried. ' -

The Auckland Weekly News, issued today, deals with" a remarkable variety of sub-

jects of both local and wide general interest. The double-page of the issue contains two very fine panoramic views, depicting tho great Waihi gold mine from the Martha Hill, and some of the works in connection with Auckland's wonderful gold-producer. These pictures, which were specially obtained for the News, should be of wideinterest, as conveying an idea of the magni-' tude of the works in connection with the mine, which is r:o closely associated with

the prosperity of our goldfields. Among the current events dealt with are the volunteer Easter manoeuvres in Taranaki and Nelson, Auckland Forester;-' annual picnic, Auckland Racing Club's Autumn Meeting, the New Zealand rifle team lot Bisley, th* University tournament at Wellington, the Trades and Labour Conference at Wellington, North Island Main Trunk Railway, and New Zealand's National Park, together with all the other events of note in the colony, and some beautiful scenic pictures.

Out Towai correspondent- writes:— experience which might have had fatal results, happened to an old woman, 74 years of age, who is residing with her foster daughter in the Ramarama Valley. The old lady, on trying to reach home, got off the track,- and wandered away until she became lost, and lay down among some timber. Next morning search parties

were out in all directions. It was about midday when Mr. and Mrs. Brock, driving up the valley, noticed the poor woman. They .tlrove he! to the residence of Mr. H. Pattison, where she is receiving every care and attention, and is making a good recovery. The night she lay out was one of the coldest felt in this-district for years.

We regret to have to record the death of Sirs. A. J. Schnackenberg, which occurred' at the residence of her son-in-law at Morningside, in the early hours of yesterday. "'The deceased'lady was' the eldest''" daughter of the late Mr. .Edward Allen, of "' Mount. Albert, who arrived in Auckland! with his family in. 1861. coming in the Black Eagle. Married in 1864 to the Rev. C. H. Schnackenberg, she became intimately connected with mission work during the Maori war, being located right in the heart of the disturbances. ... On.the death of her husband, . in 1880, she removed to Auckland with, her family, and during her later years took an active interest in temperance and other ~ philanthropic organisations, being for 10 ' years New Zealand president of the Wo- ; men's Christian Temperance Union, besides : being on several committees. Owing to failing health, she gradually gave up public duties, and for nearly two years has teen quite an invalid.

Apparently the West Australian State hotel experiment is not a success (says an Australian paper). The hotel is at Gwalia. Owing to a desire to reduce expenses the manager has just resigned. The amount he was asked to accept was & per week more than a barman's wages. It is said, on behalf of the Government, that the retrenchments being made were necessary in order to admit of a reduction in the rates fori boarders. It it said, however, that if these be reduced to 25s per week, as suggested, they (the State) will be cutting under the local boardinghouse-keepers, who charge 30s, and many .of whom are hard-working women. The latter slate that with the high prices of proisions a rate below 30t does not pay.

"The Epsom Road Board in its annual report, submitted to the ratepayers of the district last night, had a tilt at the;" Greater Auckland " scheme. The only inducement the city had to offer the district to become absorbed in a Greater Aucklaud, was (ac-, cording to the report), a problematical drainage scheme, which the Board was satisfied, so far as' the bulk of the district was concerned, would be so difficult and expsoi-; sive that it would not be likely to participate for many years to conic. On the other hand, insignificant representation, vita increased rating, and the probable appropriation of the greater part of the revenue for expenditure elsewhere, wew some of the matters that residents of the district would have to consider— from the fact tl«i the local option of the small suburbs* bodies with reference to the incidence of taxation,"which now obtained, would umre than likely be lost were the district .absorbed. One of the ratepayers present, M,p J. Edgerley, congratulated the Board on it* attitude in connection with the scbem«. which beheld would mean increased taxation to the various road board districts, withew* compensating benefits to the ratepayers.

The Timaru Herald says that the cha.r* man of one school district in South Canterbury has hit on a brilliant idea for obviating the'trouble caused when the householder ._. do not attend in' sufficient numbers to «*«*. a committee. His modus operandi is to secure enough nominations beforehand, *"* ~, he can: do the rest himself. ' The following . communication from him to' the Board- «' v plains itself:— the meeting of hew holders to-night there was only myself present, and, after voting myself to the chair, I declared the following nominated gen-*""; men duly elected as a committee for In* ensuing year. (Here follow- the naaiwK Don't laugh.— sincerely, —-» c' lK,r man." His action seems legal enough, V> there is no provision about a quorum »fc • householders' meeting, and the Board wiJ probably not laugh, as it will save t»e» the'expense of another attempt to get * meeting. -■■"...

There were in the lockup last night two persons charged with and on*, with theft.

A depiorahb state of affairs upon the gumfields on Saturdays and Sundays was depicted by the Rev. I. E. Bertram at last night's "meeting of the Auckland Presbytery. In the course, of an appeal for something to be done in this city for the religious instruction of the gumdiggers ot Mangonui and the surrounding districts, he said that the condition of affairs at these plaws on Saturday nights, when these rough and hardy men were drinking, "was a perfect he]!." Then, he said, it took them all Sunday morning tc recover from their debaucheries of the previous evening, and that when this was done all the store* were thrown open and business executed as upon week days, but upon a laiger scale. "Surely." he argued, "ii misaionarie; were appointed for these districts this state of things would not continue, for these men, as 1 have found by personal experience, have a. respect ior religion and for those who teach it. and I am sure that ii services were held there on Sundays, not only would they have a good effect upon those who attended, but also -ipon those who did not go. In a city like this something ought to be done for them, and the Presbytery ought- to make a start." rive Presbytery directed the Home Missions Committee to see svnat could lie done.

The Manaia (Tarauaki) paper say.-, that Mr. d. W. A. Bertram, brothei of the Rev. Bertram, formerly of Hawera, who is the discoverer of a greenstone mine near Milford Sound, paid a visit to the district during the holidays. He had with him several specimens of the stone, which is ot Ihe rarest kind, it being called by the natives

tangiwai," or "kokotangiwai. 1 " In the o'.ilen days, it is said, the Maoris prised the small piece* of tangiwai that were 'u circulation above anything else—even human life itself. Mr. Bertram, with a staff of five or six men. has beeu working at the mine for over two years, and possesses a schooner which keeps him in touch with civilisation. H< is desirou -. »i extending his operations, and lor that purpose is floating the concern into a company, and in that connection is meeting with success.

Prohibition is evidently not- a very burning question in Sydney 1 . " I have conducted many elections, Parliamentary, municipal, school board, burial ground, etc., but 1 have never in my experience conducted or taken pan in any election so profitless or characterised by such indifference and apathy as that which distinguished the taking of the local option vote in the city of Sydney, on December 1," writes the town cleik of that city in his annual report of 1904. The total number of voting papers actually used was 1229 out of a total of 37.502.

A Haunter correspondent writes to a con*' temporary: —" I wish to give you. as accautelv as I can. a description of a phenomenon I observed heie on Good Friday jiight. about eight o'clock. We were sitting around .the tire when the master of the house came in and said, 'Would you like to see a rainbow?' We. of course, answered that we would, and went outside, and there could see in the sky a perfect bow of a silvery white colour, and after looking at it. for some time it appeared to me to show the prismatic colours. 1 was wondering if this sight had been observed elsewhere; if not, I thought an account of it (a-s far as iUI nnscientile person can give it) would be interesting to scientists. . Is such a sight common ':"

An old-aae pensioner at Timaru has fallen into an error which has cost him a few pounds. Last year, through not staling the amount of money he had in the post office (£4l). he had to make a refund of £7 from the pension he had received. In order to do this, he drew out the whole of his £41, intending to redeposit the balance, but the money so urawn counts as incoare for the year," and this has entailed a loss to him this year of £5 in the pension he is to receive.

A test of the machinery and armament fixed at Port Phillip Heads, for the defence of Melbourne, has just taken place. There is only" one navigable channel through the Heads for all vessels of any size sp?kiu£; the port, Upon the channel the gun's of the forts at Point Nepean and Queenselift' are always concentrated, and on the absolute command by the fort.* of all vessels crossing the Rip through this channel, Melbourne's safely depends. The rehearsal consisted in a test of the ability of the forts to do what was expected of them. lu the opinion of the State Commandant, they bore the lest with complete success. lie examining vessel was H.M.". Vulcan, while the vessel which played the part of the invader was H.M.s. Alert. Perfect communication was maintained by telephone and other means between the toils, and the whole- 'business went through with considerable eclat. Twice the Alert tried to rush the channel ignoring the Vulcan, and refusing all explanations, but a shot across her bowsblank cartridge, of course, being usedbrought home to her that further progress meant destruction.

The Victorian State Premier, Mr. Bent, is a firm believer in the Government helping only those who help themselves. Two deputations from his own electorate waited upon him recently. One wanted money to improve a recreation ground at Brighton Beadi. The sum of £850 was needed, and the local residents offered to put up £200. "Not enough." said Mr. Bent. '-When, you can offer more, come back and see me." The other deputation wanted a sew station at South Eteternwick, to cost £2600. They offer*] to contribute £1400 if the Government would give the other £1200. Mr. Tait; Chief Railway Commissioner, was present, and asked for a guarantee that any future improvements needed to the station after it was once built would be paid Tor by the local residents. Mr. Bent »aid the Covernment would give £1000, not a penny more, and eventually the deputation agreed to find the other £1600 within six months' time. Mr. 'lait agreed to modify the guarantee asked, and the- bargain was closed.

Mr. Herdman, M.H.R., who has been visiting several palcea in Centra] Ota-go, addressed a public meeting at Rough Ridge recently, and in the course of his speech : pointed out that in November next there would be political armies opposing one another—one led by Mr. Seddon, the .''other by Mr. Massey. On the banner of the former there would be inscribed: '" Roads, bridges, billets, gifts, increased old age pensions, in exchange for political support." On Mr. Ma'ssey's standard there would be emblazoned: "Reform of the Legislative Council, local government reform, Public Service Board and reform of the Civil Service, repeal of the offensive Md harmful part* of the Public Revenues Act, .'md the restoration to the people's representatives of their proper constitutional powers, the Crown tenants to (jet the freehold. Naliv« laud reform, and, above all, honest administration and econo- • »J.'i (Applause.) It was for the people M the colon? to make their choice iu a few months. He earnestly hoped that the majority would ally itself with the side which wished to lift the country up; with "Wn who desired to. give it a name and a reputation which would be honoured not ';'ily among*: other colonies of Great Britain, but some day, when wc owned alarg population and great wealth, amongst . ll »« nations of lbs world. (Applause.) Li

A disastrous end came to a holiday party at Amclift'e (says the Sydney Morning Herald), <-. cart containing, 12 persons being overturned, and one of the occupants receiving injuries which proved fatal. An excursion "was being made to Sans Souci. In the party were Mrs. Mary Ann Grotty, of 51, Hordi-rn-street, Newtown, Sarah dotty, Eva Grotty, Alice Grotty, and an infant, besides the men. Mr. Albert Burrows was driving, and on account of the conveyance being so full, lw bad to sitout on the front. He was about to hit th« horse with the end of the reins, when, lie lost his balance and fell forward onto the road. The. animal took fright, and, with nothing to control it, charged down Arneliffe Hill, Rocky Point Road. 'The horse turned suddenly into Spring-street, and the cart capsized, throwing everybody out. Mrs. Crotty, however, was not among those who were thrown on to the road. It was found that she had jumped out soon after the horse started to bolt, and when the others wen-t to her she was lying with blood miming from her mouth, nose, and mis. Medical help was obtained, and the sufferer was removed to the St. George's Cottage Hospital, where she died in the evening. Burrows escaped unhurt, as also did the infant, but out: of the men received a cut over the eye, and had to get it dressed at the hospital. The others also were considerably shaken and bruised, but none of them were injured severely. Mis. Crottj was 52 yeais of

Customs-officer John Williams had a narrow escape from drowning in Sydney Hat boar the other morning. He was iisltiug off Parbury's Wharf, Miller's Point, when he fell into the water. A tight watchman named Edward Coulter, hearing a splash, called for assistance. Captain Baikley. of th* schooner Tamarina, immediately lowered the lifeboat with four Polynesian sailors on board, and rescued Williams, win. was subsequently removed to the Sydney Hospital. While 'Japtaiu Barkley was in the lifeboat a thief entered the cabin and stole a watch and chain and other articles, valued at £10.