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Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 154, 1 July 1901, Page 4

The coroner's inquest into the circumstances surrounding the fatal fire at the Grand Hotel was continued on Saturday, nearly the whole of the day being occupied in the examination of Miss Jessie. Minns, pantrymaid, who, after having refused to speak on the previous day, gave some very sensational evidence. George Sage, billiard marker, was examined as to three men mentioned by Miss Minns having frequented the billiard-room, and the inquiry was then adjourned until Thursday morning, the coroner having to resume the taking of evidence to-day in inquest on Mrs F. O'Dowd.

Mr J. Lyons, Government Veterinary Inspector at the Tomoana Freezing Works, Hastings, has been transferred to Auckland. His place will be filled by Mr W. McKay, who arrived recently from England in charge of the pedigree stock purchased in England by Mr Gilruth for the Government.

News has been received that on Friday last there died at Wellington Mrs Walker, a lady beloved by a very large circle of friends for her Christian qualities. She was the life companion and co-worker of the liev. Walker, the well-known Congregational minister and temperance organiser, for whom heartfelt .sympathy is felt in his sad bereavement.

A bpecial meeting of the Onehunga Borough Council will be held this evening, when the tenders for the waterworks loan of £4GQO will be dealt with.

In response to numerous requests, Mr and Mrs Hamilton Hodges aunoun.ee a grand Anglo-American concert in the Choral Hall on Thursday next, July 4, American Independence day. Special prominence will be "•iven in the programme to patriotic English and American songs, and those Identified with the national life and character of both peoples. Aladam Chambers. -Mrs K. H. Queree, .Mr Rupert Mantell, arid members of the Wiviattt Quartette will contribute items to the programme.

Mr W. Taylors choir is making pood progress in the rehearsals of the (.-iintntu "Esther,"' which is to be rendered shortly in aid of the proposed new Birkenhead Wesleyau schoolroom. Many of the soloists arc local residents, but one or two of ihc leading parts arc given to Auckland singers. The first round of the senior Kugbv football championships was completed on Saturday, when Urn Leon and City, two unbeaten teams, met. After ;i hard, willing game, Urafton came oni the victors by lour points, ja goal irom a. mark to nil. This Leaves the Graft on ream wiuT a lead jof Three points over City, who drew i with Newton on the previous Satur](i:iv. I'onsonby were defeated by .--. i' ,iu-:>s by six to nil, and Putnell, who have not won a match this sea:..,;i ,»ueci:nibed to Newton by nine to i,;i. '.'-.'. have exeellenl authority for saving (;s:i\s the Dunedin "Star") jrluit the Premier lias called the aiten--1 tioii of the "Imperial Government to ; the absence oi' any recognition of the | services of Major Maddocks at New ; Zealand Hill and elsewhere in South I Africa, and it is confidently autici- | paled that Mr Seddou's comnninicaiiion will induce the authorities of I thii War Ofiice to consider the claims of Hint officer. We shall not be sur»v',:<>\ 1o hear ere long that the gallan I Major has been created C.B.

'Ihe Mount Iloskill Literary and Musical Society met on Saturday evening in St". Albans Schoolroom. Mrs McKinstry, the president, stated Ihat the society was reformed on the lines of the literary and debating society which met in that hall up to three years ago, and which was then one of the foremost of such societies in Auckland. "Sbr Mcllvean having been appointed chairman for the eveningl, an excellent programme was gone through, including songs by Mrs ilcKinstry, Misa Skelton. Miss Ilinton, Mr Skelton, and Mr A. S. Reid. The Misses Taylor contributed a vocal duet, and excellent readings were given by Messrs Taylor and C. H. Iteid. it was stated that Mr P. G. Ewington had consented to deliver his excellent lecture on "China" at the next meeting.

Mr J. H. Witheford, prior to his departure to Wellington to attend the forthcoming session of Parliament, desires to meet his constituents, and for that purpose has arranged to deliver an address to the electors of Auckland this evening at St. James* Hall. Mr Witheford considers the meeting' this evening to be of a nonparty character, and therefore tiesires those who have matters they wish attended to during this session to attend. On Friday last Mr Witheford wa- interviewed at the Harbour Board rooms by a very large number of his constituents on affairs in connection with the ensuing session of Parliament.

To-day two letters received from Major-General Baden Powell, by the Premier, Mr Seddon, returning thanks for the handsome golden lion on o-reenstone base, recently sent to him by Ihe residents of the Thames goldfields, were on view in Mr A. Kohn's window, Queen-street, and attracted a great deal of attention. Mr Kohn was the manufacturer of the beautiful souvenir sent to the hero of Mafeking, and that it was thoroughly admired and appreciated the following letter, dated February 17, shows: —"I have only now received the handsome present which the residents of the Thames (ioldfields have been so kind as to send me, as representative of the Mafeking garrison, which I had the honour of commanding. In their behalf I beg to offer our grateful thanks for your generous recognition of our efforts to do our duty in defence of that, place. 1 need scarcely say that in thus honouring us your good action does not merely give us personal gratification, but its influence extends further afield, and stimulates all who hear of it to renewed efforts, since they feel that their work is watched and appreciated by their brothers in every part of the Empire. T personally feel specially honoured and gratified at being the recipient of so handsome and interesting a memento. The fine conception included in the model so appeals to me that I propose to adopt your lion as the crest of the S.A. Constabulary,-which I am now organising.—With sincere gratitude, believe me, yours very truly, R. Baden-Powell." The other letter gives warm thanks to the "fellow Britons" of, the Thames for 'their handsome present.

Miss Sheriff Bain will deliver an address in the Foresters' Hall to-night on "Human Betterment" The lecture is of special concern to women. In a notice of this lecture when delivered at Invercarg'ill the "Southland Times" says:—"An.idealist and a mystic, Miss Bain chose her subject naturally, and her lecture was as remarkable for its ripened thought as for its beauty of language. The question of 'Human Betterment' is, of course, an exceedingly wide one. Miss Bain could not possibly, within the limits of one address, deul with it in all its aspects. She therefore confined herself to what she held to be the principal source of human perfection and happiness—a larger, wiser, more scientific, and more Christian conception of maternity. By training women to be mothers, with a full understanding of the responsibilities of that word, Miss Baiu held that the nature of men could be changed in one generation, and the whole world transformed in a century. Miss Bain held the attention of her audience throughout her whole address."

Messrs Massey, Liing. La-wry and Powlds, M.'sH.K., left by the s.s. Ngapuhi yesterday afternoon. Lieiit.-Colonel Gudgeon, British Resident at Rarotonga, King John, of Mangaia, and Maretu Pa, who have been° on a visit as guests of the New Zealand Government, during the celebrations in connection with the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, return to Rarotonga by the s.s. Taviuni to-morrow.

On Tuesday last the Rev. W. P. Matthews, late of Victoria, was inducted to the pastorate of the Presbytoriar, Church of Whangarei. The. service was held in the church at 7.30, when there was a good attendance. The Rev. Mr Thomson, of Thames, preached: the Rev. R. VArylie, of Onehunga, inducted and addressed the minkter; and the Rev. H. B. Gray, of St. Andrew's, Auckland, addressed the congregation. At the close of the service refreshments were handed round, and while this was being- done Mr .Matthews had an opportunity of shaking hands with the friends present. The settlement is a most hopeful one, as Mr Matthews is a schodarly and cultured preacher, who has had large experience of pastoral work in other spheres. The Poultry, Pigeon and Canary

show in the Agricultural Hall closed on Saturday night, having been well patronised for the three days the birds wore on exhibition. Owing- to the points for clucks not being calculated, the award of the enp for the most points for poultry in the show was made to Mr J. May, who scored 78. The committee, however, considered the matter on Saturday evening, with the result that the award was altered, Mr J.- Reed being- first with 91 points, and therefore winner of the cup.

A party of about 40 Austrians will leave here for Sydney this evening by the s.s. Mararoa. ea route to Noumea, New Caledonia, where they are to be put on road: work at 6/ per day and quarters, through the instrumentality of .Mr Langguth, Austrian Consul here. It is stated that about 200 men in all are wauted for this class of work in New Caledonia, and more Austrians are to leave here shortly. We are informed that GOO to' 700 Austrians have left here during this year for America, Australia, and other places, because they consider there is no chance of them getting remunerative employment here. Rome of them have been under the impression that, even if they took up land they would not be able to get on to the gumfields. There are still somewhere about 3000 Austrians in the Auckland district.

Tn connection with the laying, of the foundation - stone ot the British Schools of Egypt, Lord Cromer, in the course of his speech, a fuller account of which Reuters Cairo correspondent sends by mail, said:—"The old Egypt is now rapidly passing, even if it has not already entirely passed away. In the place of it we have the Egypt of the motor-car, the hansom cab, and the sandwich man, for I was. positively fascinated by seeing some of these humble but useful, members of society walking about the streets of Cairo some time ago. In the place of the old, wicked, semi-insolvent, back* sheesh-beridden Egypt, which some of us knew so well, we have an Egypt which is prosperous, relatively, let us hope, respectable, and, from a comparative political point of view, perhaps a trifle dull." Lord Cromer continued:—"lt cannot be too clearly understood by the natives of this country that it is in no way the wish or intention of the British Government to use their influence in the direction of Anglicising Egypt. What they wish is to. introduce Western knowledge and Western methods of administration to such an extent, and to such an extent only, as may be useful and serviceable to the Egyptians themselves. To go further than this would be both undesirable and inadmissible."

On Saturday last Messrs Hatrick and Co.'s steamer Wairere ascended the Wanganui River to Tawata, a point 110 miles from Wanganui, and within 2G miles of where the central railway will cross the river. This is the farthest distance up the river that any steamer has yet been. The Wairere took a large number of natives to the tangi that is being held over the remains of the fanatical chief Takerei.

The Samoa "Nische Zeitung," the new German paper published at Samoa, says: "The introduction of German coins into this colony, to' take place from the first of next month, -will necessarily cause changes in the tariff, as the treaty tariff still in force (with the exception of the ad valorem duty, the export duty, and the native labourer tax) is based on the American coinage value. We understand that the Customs are preparingl a new scheme for the Governor's consideration, and that he intends to submit the same to th« Council for discussion; in the meantime we think it advisable to make some suggestions for the new tariff, and hope they will be taken into consideration.

News lias been received from Earoia, lies de Tuamotu, via Tahiti, stating that on April 28 a- native found on the beach at Earoia a large bottle, corked and sealed with wax, containing a piece of paper of the United States Scientific Bureau for currents. The paper bears the date sth, latitude, 5, S., but the longitude has been deleted. Latitude 5 is 240 miles north-east of the Marquesas; which are 600 miles from.Raroia. The most peculiar circumstance was the fact that the bottle had entered at the mouth of the lagoon, and been carried by the north-east wind to the village where it had been found, upwards of two miles from the passage. The spot where the bottle was found is, on the French chart, 16 degrees S., 145.15 degrees west. The island of Raroia is 20 miles long and 7£ miles wide at the broadest part.

On Friday evening, July's, an exhibition of the British Biograph living pictures will be given in Probert's Hall, Remuera.

Last week of Ernest Moore's stocktaking sale, 240, Queen-street: Enormous reductions in men's, boys', and youths' clothing, hats, shirts, ties, mackintoshes, rugfs, umbrellas, etc.— (Ad.)

Special lines in carpets this week. The London art square, 3 x 3J yards, at 15/9, is wonderful value.—Tonson Garlick Coy—(Ad.)

Last week Ernest Moore's stocktaking sale, 240, Queen-street. Hard felt hats 1/11, 8/11, and 3/11; none of these hats are worth less than 6/6. Boys' tweed caps on© penny each.—--Ad.