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Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 73, 27 March 1895, Page 4

, The half-yearly meeting of the Colonial Bank was held in Dunedin to-day. From t,he fnil iexb of the Chairman's speech which is reported on the second page of to. night's issue, it will be seen that the directors have taken special precautions to maintain bhe bank in an extra sbrong position, by holding Very large reserves of coin and bullion. Mr McLean in reviewing the condition of trade, takes a hopeful view; of the future.

, In connection with the Budden death i an old man in Mr Kneebohe's drakTT... °" in Symonds-street, referred to il-vl^' ' day'B issue, we learn that the deceasedT' beon identified aa James Butler who sided with Mra Mahoney, a widow' 6' Gladstone • street, Newton. He w _i' S years of age, and had no relatives in r colony Dr. .. Sharmu, who had attended Mr Butler some time previous to his deatv, has given a -certificate-as' to the can_. _1 death to Dr. Philson, coroner, so tha. to* will be no necessity for an inquest. Tl. certificate states that death reeulted h™! syncope. Mr Butler had only reeentlv v. rived in Auckland 'from Ireland. Mr Hodgo arrived at Wellington by lfe fl Ruahine to resume the management of the Kapanga Goldmining Company's propen. ab Coromandel. Another passengers frote London was Father O'Connor, who takes nn duty in the arch-diocese of Wellington. Somo little excitement has been canted at the Thames by the sentencing of tw_ lads named Brideson and tVoods to oa* week's imprisonment in Shortland Gaol for bathing in a public place without, bein. clothed in proper bathing dress. An a_i tation is on foot to get part of the-aentoßM'. remitted. . An inquest is being held this afternoon in Eden Terrace by Dr. Phihjon, 'coroner touching tho death of a child named Georee Kemp, a few months old, who had bean boarded oub under the Infant LifeProtee tion Acb. A report has gained credence thatffjff ' coins stolen from the Auckland Muioub included the valuable collection formedb? the late _r K.C. Barstow. We are glad to learn that thia is not the case, Xta rumour probably originated from the facts that Mr Barstow frequently loaned por'tiom of his collection to the Museum, where they eometimos remained for a eonsidenjfcii's time. No part of his collection, however has been in the Museum for several y eats 'past. A meeting of the Committee of the Aucfc. land Amateur Athletic C!ub wai held ___=_ evening, Mr J. Haliday, who. hag beea bo long connected with the Club," tendered the , resignation of his .service! as secretary, lb was decided to accept the resignation with considerable regret, and ■bo .-request the President to write,to Mr Haliday embodying the thanks of the C6mmittee for the valuable services rendur_i by him to the Club in the past. Air W. (_:. Speight was elected Secretary pro urn. After a eborb'discussion tbe Committta resolved to hold a 440 yards Hurdles Championship on Wednesday the 10th of April. The event will be .one of-great interest, as the bwo crack hurdle jumper*, Roberts and Martin, who competed at therecenb Championship Meebing, and finished first and eecond in the 440 race, intend competing ao as to make an endeavour to lower tho world's record. After their [ recent performances it is confidently expected they will have no difficulty in ae-. compliehing the feat. The world's record for the 440 hurdle race is 61 l-sth sec, and the Now Zealand record 61 2-sth, the latter of which ie,held by Batger. . v The Government evidently appreciate the pressing necessity for road work in various parts of the "King " country. Tbe road now in progress between.the Awakina districb, on the West Coast, and Te h.i.i, in the "King" country, to give accet? ta Awakino from the Upper Waikato, isevidently the road oh which the Government intend to sp£nd the sum of £2,OQQ, at telegraphed - from Wellington yesterday. Tho survey maps show no such name as Waipopiro (the name mentioned \n m telegram) on tho road, bub ib is most pr_> bably tho Kuiti end of the road which ie re< ' ferred to. The Government are already constructing the road .at the Awakino fi^ from the sea coast inland,'_if& afo.T. yn^lf bridgo over-, the Awakino .seve^alsatf/M from tho sea, thus giving acqefo ..^//a Taranaki province from this e'ndl''T_j road, which ia under the superintends.^ of Mr C. W. Hursthouse, Govern men. roil engineer at Kuifci, is to be carried throng, to Kuiti from the Awakino, a.disfca-C_~'of l soma forty miles, in order to.- allow,;of. cattle being driven .right through from Waikato to Taranaki, and vice versa, -.andto:■.-.■ promote settlement in the Awakino districwf:.-.-. a large portion of which has been already settled-by Taranaki farmers and grazien. The sum of £2,000 should go a long way to making n practicable cattle _rivine road through the bush, which is the worst portion of this route. In reference to,-. tha^ .:■ Stratford road from the Auckland e»d, we , lerrn that this road has now been carried a considerable distance through theOhura Valley, to the vicinity of the: Wai.rala Range, the men working on it,, beinj employed on the co-operative principle, under Mr Hursthoose's superintendence., .-' An odd specimen of the genus small boy, by name Arthur Johnston, aged 11, fell into the hands of tho Wellington police on Friday laßt. lie was found on board the 's.s."Charles Edward. The story he-told waa that his mother lived at Oxford Terrace. Christchurch, and he left tha .city about a fortnight ago on the buffer of a railway eDgine, which carried, him as far M Lyttelton. There he .towed away on"» steamer and wenb to Nelson, saw the sights of, that town, and wenb back to tea, finding a hiding-place on the Charles Edward, which nailed for Wellington by way of Wanganui. Unusual things happened on the yoyage. Some clothing disappeared, and every night there■ was a mysterious disappearance of eatables from tho pantry. On. arrival in Wellington, the,.. explanation of the goings-on was supplied by the discovery of Master Johnston, very much disguised under a, coating ot'rußb, secreted in an unused locker. He had taken-.he clothing to lie upon, and pilfered from the pantry to supply the demands of small-boy nature during the yoyage. No information regarding the boy could, however, be obtained ab the address given in Christchurch, and the police are now. makiog enquiries at the Nelson IndustriAl : ; School, from which ib Ib supposed 'be' _a«Tescaped'. - "'/ "' ''■'•;,:

When the ordinary business bad:beeav disposed of at the Police' Court this taorning, a man came forward with his^son,^ . about 9 years of age, and made,a ramblitfg.: statement aboub the latter, conduct. Hf ~ said the lad was in the habib of stealing both from himself and from his neighbours, . and that he had no conbrol over him. The son denied the truth of the father's state-. ment. Mr Northcrofb asked the complainant why the neighbours had nob laid ; the complaint. The father said they had refused to do so. Mr Northcroft: "Then, because the neighbours have refused to accuse , bim of theft, r his own father comes to Court to do ib for him. I suppose you want the boy commibted to the Industrial School so that you may be relieved of your responsibility ot rearing him. Oh, yes, there are plenty ot your sorb aboub hero. Do you mean to .ay thab you, a father, have no control over a lad bo,small as that? 1 really think its monstrous you should come here to make such an application. The boy would be ail righb now if you had reared him as a P 9'60'!! should have." The applicant lefb the Oowm muttering something expressive of tut feelings at his reception, bub which was nob distincb enough to be heard by the _ . v of those in the Court.

! Last evening the Auckland Volunteer Naval Artillery corps went ocrOBS to Fort) Cautley, under Li.ut.-Commander Littley the 8-idch gun detachmenbß being exercised at big gun drill by Permanent Force instructors. An inspection parade of tbe two infantry corps, the Victoria Rifles-ana City Rifles, was held in the Drill-sbed la. evening-_;he officers in command being Captains Somers and Robertson. After inspection, the two companies as one were po» through a course of instruction by Serg»'*Major Cfc£W_ .?*

. The Western Australian telegraph lines >r e still wrong bebween Albany and Perth, . n d business is considerably delayed oh iccount) of interruptions to direcb lines. _An inquesb was held ab the Thames I yesterday "upon the remain, of the mau I John Barker, who was fonnd dead in his I cottage at Tararu. A verdicb of deabh from I alcoholism and exposure was reburned.

.. Messrs S* Cochrane and Son sold by (action to-day* the lease for a term of years of an.allotmenb and dwellinghouse at (be corner of Beach Road and Stanieyitreet, North Shore, for £10 a year.,.' ; A race took place on Saturday lasb between bhe yachts White Heather (sailed by J5, McCabe), and Tui (sailed by R. Butti- : more}, the. latter winning easily independent of the time allowed.

The classes of the Auckland Technical. gchool in Weliesley-sbreeb, conducbed by Mr-W. 1.-Robinson, are again,opened for \the year, with a fair attendance. The -prospectus shows the courses to include ! freehand and mechanical drawing, plane and solid geometry, machine and building construction, applied mechanics, steam and :| <tbe: steam engine, graphic statics, and II engineering construction. A special course li* ." bandraUing , and stairs," now comjsehcing, will be found'of great value to B carpenters. Coach and carriage building apprentices will work through the course of instruction approved by the examiners of .the City and Guilds of London Institute. ■The loco, superintendent at Wellington baa y contributed a set of reference drawings. . Boiler work »nd valve gear, etc., for the o«e of the mechanical engineering pupils, will be found of great value. Freehand, model and perspective drawing is chiefly -engaged in by teachers attending the Saturday classes and preparing for school work and examinations. At the recent examination in these branches, the pupils obtained the first and bhird prizes of thedeI partmenb. These classes have now been ' ten yeara in operation, under the auspices of the Board of Education. A number of tho members of Lodge Ponsonby 54 and a' few friends spent a . Bjoat enjoyable evening on board the Norwegian barque Ophelia, where they had j .Assembled to do honour to and bid farewell to the genial captain, Bro. S. P. Sorensen, who is about leaving this porta for London. ißro. Jobansen, bhe Norwegian Consul, presided over the surprise party, and during ..the evening refreshments were discussed /and a varied musical programme gone [through. . Songs were given by Messrs Edwards, Jaggs, Morran, Harvey, War- = nock, Way mouth. Cooper, "_oung, Pbilpot, Elison, Captain Petersen and the Chair- | man. During the evening boasts were drunk and responded to, and Captain Sorensen and the crew of bis ship were 1 wished a pleasant and speedy voyage home. Bro. Philpotb presided at bhe piano, and added very considerably to tbe enjoyment I of the. evening. : At a meeting of the Auckland district of the Australasian Institution of Marine.En- , gineers held here, there was a large attendance of members. After the usual .routine : business was disposed of an animated discussion arose with regard to tha number of . engineering officers employed upon steamers in tbe New Zealand trade.; Ib was alleged > that fourth engineers were nob employed on some of these steamers, whilst vessels tof tbe same class (fitted with modern /machinery) belonging to the Union Steamlebip Company, had ab least thab humb.r and frequently more. Competition of this > nature; was considered to be highly, un- : fair.. Although aware that the complement of engineers could nob be legally increased, the meeting held that immediate stops ; ought to bo token to place all steamers of the same claes on a similar footing. '■ A rather flhuiuiil cfiee was heard at | Waipa nra lasb week. It appears that, a lad of twelve years, named Charles Rose, at-" '-._ tendingfcH. WaijSawa school, waa ordered [oub for punishment by the assistant master 'Mr D. McLennan) for remissness in his Jesione. The boy refused to hold out his /. hand, and the master struck, him upon the .body with a strap, whereupon the ( delinquent drew biß pocket knife and dared his superior bo repeat the blow, at the Bame "time making a menacing gesture with the -knife gripped in his hand. The lad bore a r bad character at school, being of a sullen disposition, and repeatedly referred to, his , ..master by his Christian'name.' The Bench 'considered a whipping would be inadequate •-''■:, punishment, and fined him £1, costs 7s, and solicitor's fee £1 is, ab the Bame time ex- :. pressing a hope that the boy would receive P severe castigation at the hands of, his father, j who was presenb during the bearing of the . '.case. ) To the Editor: Sir,—ln response to the I*appeal the Helping Hand Mission made through your columns a few weeks ago for ■~; cast-off clothiDg for a gumdigger's wife in the Kaipara districb, we have received a large quantity, the best of which has been jelicted and sent.off, together with new flannel, calico; etc., a few days ago to the person who wrote us. We are not a little surprised to note in Saturday's issue thab the good folk of the Tabernacle have, on their own responsibility, and withoub a 1 single reference to the Mission who had bhe matter in hand also senb off a quantity of new garments, flannels, etc. This is very commendable, but common courtesy would have suggested a -reference to the Mission authorities, who .-,{purposely kept tbe name of the districb out fif the paper to prevent one person, receiv- - ing more than enough, which has actually ; occurred while there ore scores equally '' needy, many of whom we shall gladly refer f-:'td. the Tabernacle Ladies'. Benevolent

Society, but who cannob write aboub their need in such sympathetic terms as the ''gnrndigger's wife referred to. Any delay with us was due to the facb that we wrote ■rebona fides, etc., which were satisfactory. —I am, on behalf of the Helping Hand pMission Benevolent Society;' Jane "'Mc-'Kj-nzie, Wellesley-streeb Wesb,

C In another column wi|l be found particulari of the service of song to be rendered by the members and friends of the Mount Eden

.Baptisb Christian Endeavour Society to-■ borrow (Thursday) night in the church, at h1.20. So far everything has gone off with.outa hitch, and a great success is anticii j _ted. A collection will bo taken up in aid of the Baptist Home Mission Fund. '>, The. fourth anniversary tea meeting in '; connection with tho Union Free Church ~ Monday-school took place last evening ab tbe.eld Wellesley-street Baptist Schoolroom. The building proved utterly in• . adequate to seat the large number presenb, •eothat the tea was served in three relays. Ample justice being done to tbe tea, etc., ' *'_i adjournment was made to the church, •which was crowded^ On the platform were Eev. J. a. Soper, S: G. Rountree, W. P. •Baker (Tabernacle), Mr Castles (Alexandra--1 -rest Primitive Methodist), and in the audience Rev. Edward Besb (Wesleyan V- Methodist). The speeches were brief, lively, ' Instructiveand to the point, and thesingingof the children in the gallery was very successfolly rendered under the able baton of Mr w- H. Bishop. The Secretary's and Treasurer's reports were read, the'former showing 170 children and 20 teachers on the roll, with two Christian Endeavour Societies with a membership^ 92 and 44 . eapectively, both figures showing a gratifying increase on the previous year, whilst the finances showed a balance of - about £3 15s on the righb side- Every ; service so far has been an unqualified suej.ceas. To-night a free tea and limelight . otertainmenb will be given to the children of the school and all other children, who may be accompanied by adults. The adultwill be charged Cd. A large crowd is ex--1 Pscted.

At the' Otaki Licensing ."Meeting the other day a police officer wae asked what offices he held in addition to that of constable. He mentioned thirteen offices, but added . as there has been a question asked in the House about it, I would like to allay tbe anxiety of tbe taxpayers by saying I only gee £10 a year extra for them all."

Two typhoid fever cases were admitted to the District Hospital to-day.