THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1897.

The tone of the cablegrams respecting the relations between Spain and America with regard to Cuba' indicates strained relations, —even the possibility of'war,— for it may be regarded as certain that Spain will not surrender one jot of her pretensions to the right to govern Cuba as she thinks proper. But the tone of Minister Woodfobd's communications to the Spanish Government has to "be largely discounted by his well-known antipathy to Spanish rule in Cuba—an antipathy which led him on the occasion of the 10 years' Cuban war to side with the insurgent.?, proclaim the imminent success "of their cause, and generally abuse the Spaniards.. He is now reported, to.be armed with authority from' Secretary Sheiiitaw to offer, -the services of the American Government in Cuba on behalf of Spain on condition that Cuban independence is granted, the alternative being the belligerent inten- I tion of recognising the Cuban Republic. It has also been stated that the President has offered £20,000,000"for the independence of Cuba on condition that the amount should be paid by an issue of Cuban bonds guaranteed by the United States, There is no doubt that the United States could annex Cuba as fur a3 Spain is concerned, for that country has almost exhausted her resources in endeavouring to suppress the revolt in Cuba and the Philippines. I3ut the question is whether the J.'owers will permit of such a course. The European doctrine now is that no State shall be permitted to acquire territory from another State without the' consent of the Powers, and the most recent illustration of this doctrine is the prohibition issued against Turkey's acquisition of Greek territory. The .Russian press have significantly stated that Europe has every reason to oppose the strengthening of the United ! States in the new world. We now see ! the value of the Moxbok doctrine. It is applicable, it seems, when it suits the United States to interfere in Venezuelan affairs, but when it wants to annex Hawaii or acquire Cuba the doctrine is conveniently forgotten. In one sense it would be a blessing if the Cubans were free from the intolerable yoke of Spain; but if they were free to-morrow they could not govern themselves. But even '•thfe doubtful benefits of democratic rule as exemplified in the United States would be better than anarchy. The.jposilipn is evidently growing to be qne"whlch,\vill probably call for the interference of the Powers. This would lead to the institution of some system o£ government, would permit Spain to retire with honour, and at the same time guarantee safety to the insurgents. _It is already a war of extermination. Spain seems unable to quell the disturbance, while unwilling to retire. Already Spain has pawned every source of revenue, and her one strong man, Senor Canovas, has fallen by the ! hands of an assassin. In this extremity

she T t listen to reason, and reeognje that she who was once mistress ot the seas and owner of a princely group ot colonies has miserably failed to oust a , handful of negroes and mnlattoes _in ! Cuba, and has to maintain a standing ; army 10 Suppress a few rebels in the , Philippines.

The hand of death has been laid J heavily on this community of _4ate. Within the space of a week three men, each prominent in his own walk of life, have 'L crossed the bar" into the silent unknown. Mi" Fish's death we have already referred to. Since that occa- ! sion Dr A. J. FeSgusso'S has passed \ away, leaving a host of friends to whom j his professional skill and kindly manner j had endeared him. It now becomes our melancholy duty to record the death of Mr J. L. Gillies, who passed away yesterday morning at his residence in Queen street. Mr Git/lies was an-able member of a gifted family. He was endowed with a great understanding and an indomitable will, of which he gave evidence on rej^eated ' occasions. After gaining some experi- j ence on the goldfields in Victoria he i came to Ofcago, where other members of the family had settled, and soon became a prominent man, when to be prominent implied the possession of natural force and individuality of character. Mr Gillies was one of a group of men who deserved to be entitled statesmen. They were seen { at their best when suddenly called ] upon to deal with the exigencies arising from a sudden and large influx of people. They had to shape the policy under which the province was established to meet a new order of tilings, and their -utterances when read to-day display a breadth of view and a statesmanlike grasp of affairs that safely guided the ship of the State through the troubled waters into the haven of pi'ospcrity. He who imagines that the early legislators' of Ofcago were animated by a narrow and jealous spirit that regarded intruders with aversion, and.looked upon the discovery of gold as a gift of doubtful value, and move than, discounted by the "new iniquity," need only turn up the records ; of the time, when he will find that the j leaders were ever prepared to make a personal sacrifice for the sake of principle and regarded probity as the first essential of public life. A characteristic instance of Mr Giilies's enterprise and public spirit was furnished in 1873. The Superintendent, the late Mr Maoatstdrew, had acted the part of Ohoiiwet/l by dismissing the Reid Government, and dissolving the Provincial Council. He also resigned the Superintendency to appeal to the electors. Mr Gillies felt it to be his duty to oppose Mr Macandrsw, and with the briefest preparation threw himself on horseback and personally canvassed the whole of Otago and portion of Southland. He was defeated bub not disgraced. He made a model Speaker of the Provincial Council, and had he remained in Parliament would in all probability have attained a similar position in the House of Kepresentatives. He rendered good service to the mining community as a member of the commission which drew up mining regulations for Otago, and he was largely instrumental in framing the basis of reunion between Otagd and Southland. Mr Gillies showed himself' a capable journalist. He took great interest in educational matters, was one of the commissioners of the Is'evr Zealand Exhibition of 1865, and filled a great number of other public and semipublic positions. Of late years he has been chiefly known as secretary to the Otago Harbour, a position he held from its first establishment to the day of his death. It was in this capacity that his administrative ability was most successfully and continuously exercised. In its most gloomy periods he uniformly maintained that the policy of the board was right and would be ultimately successful, and he was as alert to defend its actions as to repel attacks, which he invariably did in such an incisive and convincing manner as to overcome opposition. He was emphatically a strong man, animated by. a high sense of duty and indefatigable in his discharge of it. Such men can be ill spared, and his place Avill be hard to fill. Cradled in the stern school of hardship and adverse circumstances, his character acquired a distinctive firmness, but without angularities, for in private life he was a genial companion and a sure friend.

The abufcmeu'B of the Taieri bridge, ob the Ofc.igo Central railway, and also the cylinder piers, are completed, but there has been some delay in the erection of the bridge, owing to the contractor being kept waiting for the iron superstructure, which is being manufactured by a firm in Christchurch. The first spaa of the superstructure is, hownvir, expected t°be on the site of the biirige in a day or two, -when Ihe work of its erection will be at once proceeded with. Other spans will follow in due courEe, and the work will be kept going on continuously till the completion of tfce bridge, which will probably ba about the middle of next January. A section of the railway from Hyde to Kokonga—a distance ,of XO miles—is about completed, and will most likely be .taken ove r by the Railway department and opened for general traffic afc the end of the month.

The passengers by the express train from the south yesterday included Mr W. Jenkins (of Arrotvtown) and Captain B. T. Wing and Mr M. O'Meara (of Queenstown), who had been appointed delegates from their districts to alteud a. conference of traffic managers at Dunedin in connection with the acceleration of trains running between Dunedin and Kingston.

Mr A. C. Begg has announced hia candidature for the vacancy in the representation of the City of Dunedin in the House of Representatives. The names of several other gentlemen are freely mentioned in connection with tha vacancy. Unions affiliated to the Workers' Political Omniittee are invited to submit by next Friday the names of candidates they are willing to eupfo. t.

The funeral of the late Dr A. J. Fergueson took place yesterday afternoon. The remains were followed to their last resting place iv the Southern Cemetery by a very large number of representative citizens. All the members of the medical profession were present, and some idea of tbe length of the corteye may be gained fcom the fact that while the hearse was opposite the gate of the Jewish Cemetery the final vehicle was passing Lees street. Beautiful wreaths covered the coffir, which, on its being removed from the hearse, was met at tue cemetery gate by Bishop Verdon, the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Ryan, together with acolytes. The procession was then resumed and the burial service was conducted in accordance with the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the San Francisco Bsaminer, an enterpiising Californian named Ayer has attempted to float a company for establishing a balloon service between June&u, on Lynn Chancel, and D.if/son City, in the Klondike region. Mr Ayer is an experienced balloonist, and has already issued a circular to possible financial supporters. Ho proposes to atari: his first balloon as aoou as 2000ilol are subscribed, and confidently expects to auimouut Ml the difficulties of the Ciiilkoo!; Pasa and the Yukon rapida

- - aMhe «^£ *£_^ £«« Hera]d) fc ; date fche . ugorance6 nofc been paidi tbongh ona of the companieg . g perfectly ready to Sfct tle if the other CoEapan y interested would- acquiesce. The de]iy is most un uiual, and in the case of the High School is inflicting positive loss and inconvenience on the Board of Governor?, seeiug that it is lengthening the time duriug v?hmh temporary premises must be rented, and that the arrangements for rebuilding the school are necessarily held in abeyance until the boovd are made acquainted with thair monetary position.

As showing the pressing necessity of pushiog on the Ofcago Central railway iv order to take advantage of the dredging boom traffic, the following quotation from a letter to the Dunftan Times by Mr A. 0. Iversou, oi EaviiEclengh Flat, ia of interest:—'U feel confldeut that we will have the Ot»go Cetitral railway here in perhaps less than two years, aa it can no longer be done without. The machinery and material will soon become so heavy that the w?ggoners will be unable to bring them. In my »c-kfc letter I stated that there would soon be 40 dredges in the neighbourhood of Alexandra and Clyde," and their sizes increased also. This has coma true, as there are now 40 dredges either at work or about; floated ; and 10 more are taken up. The sizes of these dredges are inoreaaing. The. Ewrsclengh No. 2is about.to bs built, and the material and mfichinery will weigh about 300 tons. One part of the machinery aione will weigh between 10 and 11 tony, and it is doubtful if it can be brought hy waggon, and even if it can^the freight will be very heavy. Cartage from Lawrence being £3 10s a ton, the total cartage on tbis dredge will, therefore, amount to about £1000."

We regret to Uiwe to record the death. o£ Sir John Allan, eldest son of the late Me James Allan, oE Hopehill. The deceased was well koown to Taieri settlers as having 'bscii possessed of the Tftutima property, out of which he sold a few months ego, when, ia consequence of failing health, he came to Dimcdin. He leaves a widow and two children to mourn their loss.'

At the School of Mines'on Situraay morning Dr. Don was the recipient of a silver tea kettle from tha sludeuts cf the geology clasJ. Mr JB. Pvfsedonald, who made the presentation, in a few well chosen rematlts referred to tho untiring energies of Br Don in.hia wotk. Dr Don briefly thanked the class for their handsome present. The kettle bore the following inscription:—"To Dr and Mrs Don, from the Geology Class, 1897." : . '

In tbe course of f.n article in the.Ereas on "The Maori'as a .Warrior," Jr.d^s Gudgeon says:-"From my knowledge of M'-ori traditional history, ami my own personal experience, I am, I think, justified in spying that there never lived a people who took more pleasure iv the excitement incidental to killing or being killed, or met death more bravely. But it may be admitted that it was their excessive pride that fostered this snoiinafcibn for war and bloodshed, and thai but fir this weakness there would have been less of both ; for one insultiog speech was never allowed to pass with impunity; blood alone could wash out the affront."

Mr A. S. Baston, a Wa);ganui resident, at present an inmate of the Wellington' Hospital, uuderwent an-operation recently which disclosea a singular fact. When a boy (says the Waugaaui Herald) Mr Esston, in .plajing on the beach, had a rather severe fall, causing an abrasion of the skin. It healed up, awd uothiug more was thought of it at the time; but ot recsnt years he has experienced severe pnina hi the limb. Finally, he placed himself under trea'.rnerit in the Palmerston Hospital, -but without any appreciable liensfit.-,. Ultimately ho procured admittance to the Wellington Hospital, where the operation referred to took place. A little abova the mark of the abrasion caused so many years sgo, and buried underneath the muscle somewhere near tho top of the? thigh, was 'found a piece of pawa shell, which' had been the cause. of all the recent trouble. It was extracted, and the operation vras'in all respects successful.

LVckuing before the Wellington Philosophical Society last week, Mr G. H. B-u-ker, of the Agricultural • department, Eaid the Government veterinary officers have no authenticate d case of the death of a horse bting caused by the bot-fly, although no doubt the fly is a contributory" cause of the death: Me Barker quoted an American authority who had laid it down that bots in horses sided digestion, that they did not injure a horse until they became diseased, and that anything given the horse to kill the bots is just as likely to kill the horse. Some tiuth and a great deal of nonsense was, he' said, mixed up ia these statements. Tho department had found that nothing would kill hots eseept nitric acid or boiling water, but either of these remedies, unfortunately, was calculated to cause serious damage to the unrortunste bor^e.. Tbe fly was natural to horseiv and pestered them for 10 months in the year.'

A pleasing function took place in the Chinese' Mission Church (Walker street) last evening, the occasion being a meeting to wish Goil-jpccii to Mr Don, the local Cbine.se missionary, who, with Mr Joseph. Ings, of St. Clftir, is about to pay a visit to China. Prior to tbe farewell meeting, the Dunedia Chinese gave a social tea in St. Andrew's Schoolroom in honour of the occasion, about 130 -being rprestnt;. The Ryv. W. Bannerman occupied the chair, and, after the meeting had been opened by praysr-by the Rev. Mr Dutton, referred to the high plane Mr Dun oscupied in the minds of the Missionary Committes and lho:,e ir..tsr<?sttd in his work generally. Mr A. C. Bejjg also made, a few happy remarks, in which Iw referred to tbe commendable way in which (he Chiner.e of Otago had subscribed to the building of their church. Mr Don, in response to the many kind wishes for his welfare, thanked his friends from a full heart, and trusted he would come back better fitted for his work smong the Chinese of Otago, and closed by bidding farewell to his many friends, Chinese and Euglish. The Rev. Dr Waddell said this was the first time he had been present afc a soiree initiated and carried tbiongh by the Chinese of Dunedin, and he congratulated them on its successful issue, and said Mr Don wss deserving of all the kindness they could show him, and wished him a pleasant voyage on behalf of the Duutdin Chinese. Excellent music was rendered by ! Miss Lo Keong, Master Lo Keong, and Mica i Edwards, and a Chinese'harpsichord solo was I played by Mr Lee Kry Leet. Mr Looe Fay thanked tbe ladies lor supervising the tables, and with a few general remarks from Mr White the meeting terminated.

The second performance of the drama " One of the Best" by the Bland ■ Holt Company attracted even a larger "house" than greetid the company on the opening night of the season. The lower parts of tho building were packed, while few seats were available iv the dress circle. Tha pie'es was staged with that attention to detail and with that general lavishness of style for which the Bland Holt productions are peculiarly noted. The fesue wherein the hero, apparently overcome by the machinations of bis enemies, is deprived of his soldierly badges, degraded, and banished was a remarkably striking and effective fesne ; while tbe part where lie i» reinstated triumphantly at;d with additional honours afforded an example of the extent the Btage manager's functions have bsen developed in the representation of episodes iv real life. The production of the piece otherwise was marked by uniformly good acting. As tbe general's daughter Miss Elizabeth Watson acted with considerable dramatic power and skill, and in that portion of the drama where she denounces her betrayer her acting tvoked quite cnthuciastic plauditsMifs Francs Ross also acted with grace and ability. The fair sex will be interetted to know that the costumes worn by these Indies were exceedingly beautiful and were the source of much admiration throughout the evening, ftlr and Mrs Bland Holt supplied the comedy so requisite'to rc-libve the gloomy features of the drama and mere received with the very warmest applause. Mr Raker as Lieutenant Keppel, who was tho- victim of a false charge, acted with manly vigour throughout, and in tho degradation scene displayed intense emotion with lernarkable dramatic power. Meosrg Albert Norman, Ch.trks Biowu, J. Cosgrove, and B. 0. Corlesse, together with the other members of the caiuimiy, were bucccsjl'i'l in their respective parts. To-night the picee will be Egain produced. .

Messrs J. H.'.zlett, H. M. Henderson, ana A. Herdman were the presiding justices at the City Police Court yesterday morning, when one first offender charged with drunkeuneEß was con victed and rli-charged.' Tbe remaining case was a charge of inebriety against Ellen M'Gee, who had been three times previously convicted within the past six months. The Sergeant of Police stated that the woman waa liberated from gaol on Saturday morning, after serving a term of three mouths, and was locked up »g<-.iu at night. She pleaded hard with the B«nch for leniency and promised reformation^ and finally a fine of 20s was imposed, with the alternative of 24- hours,' imprisonment.

Messrs Park, ReynoUU, and Co. will hold a cieurir.g sale of household furniture at; their rooms to-diy, and will hold a sale of property on fee Uth i>rox. Mr l>. M. Specidiug will sell fancy Indian furniture to-morrow afternoon. The second concert of the Duncdin Liedertafel's twelfth season will be given to-morrow evcnincf. " (Jre.-ceut against Gross ; or, the Thrilling Story of Armenia,"-is the pu'.jecfc of a limelight lecture to be {riven at th* Tabernacle, Gr*at Kin? street, to-morrow. The lecture, Mr Jjudbro^k, has lately been travelling in Turkey. A me-ting will be hell to-monow evening to arrange for the organisation of sin intardenojninatiosial mission to the Maoris' of the South Island. ■ The anniwl meeting of the Dimcdin Rifle Club will his Wttld oa Thursday evening. Mesars T, K. Shiel and 00. will sell unredeemed pledges in their new auction rooms oil Saturday ne.xt. - ....

The Public Works depaitruant invites tenders for the purchase of scrap wrought iron and cast ron. . '

Tha attention of our- readers is directed to the notice in our-advertising columns by the Australasian .Tncaudescsnt Gaslight. Company (Limited), cautioning the public against importing or u>icg incandescent gaslights unless obtained from the company's agents. The holder of a patent in the colony can, it is said, prevent by injunction the obtaining from abroad—i.e., from any placs outside New Zealand—and selling in the colony the article- covered by his patent, although such article was manufactured according to the specification upon 'which the patent was granted. The company find that articles manufactured by an Knglidh company, and ia every rapid; similar to their goods, are innocently purchased in Engl.-v.d and imported here. When proceedings are instituted to restrain tho use of such goods and for damages for infringement of the company's patent rights, innocent purchasers naturally feel aggrievi'd, and- the company has giveu thiii notice in order to prevent such unpleasantness in future.. _ John Hislop, oldest established Watchmaker and Jeweller, 47 Prince? street. Good assortment Watches, Clocks, and Jewellery. Spectacles suit all sights -Advt. Caiiteh and Co. have just landed their first large shipment Now Season's Drapery. Novelties in all departments, and lowest possible prices. Call early at Cirter's, 60 and (J2 George street, Diinedin.-Advt. Mnllison and Go. specially invite inspection of their fprius and summer novelties. The favour of a call will be esteemed. -MOLLISON AND Co., 195 aud 197 Georse street.—Advt. . Who is Peter Dick? — The most reliablu Watchmaker-• and Jeweller, opposite Coffee Palace, ' Moray place, Dunedin. Uaarges strictly •moderate.-Advt. . .. ■ jr-icte.—That G- and T. Young show the largest and most beautiful stock of watches, clocks, "jewellery, silver, and silver-plat d goods; tlut they have a range of good* to suit alt tastes ana mir-ifs; and tliafc their prices are the lowest. All goods 'iriiposted direct from manufacturers.— I Advt. .