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Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 173, 22 July 1903, Page 4

The following is Captain Edwin's weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a.m. this day: "Gale from between northeast and north and west, glass fall, sea heavy, tides high, much rain."

Late last night a cart collided with a tramcar near Seafield View-road, in Khyber Pass, and the driver of the cart ( Rogers) was thrown out. lie was severely bruised, and was conveyed to the hospital. One of the horses had a shoulder dislocated.

Mr H. W. Brabant, S.M., gave judgment in an interesting maintenance case yesterday at the Police Court. Mr Strathern, on behalf of the Charitable Aid Board, had applied for an order against a widow named Margaret Clarke, of Chapel-street, to contribute towards the maintenance of her grandchild, William Clark, whose nearest relative she was. His Worship stated that the defendant was said to have owned a house and land worth £300, but, after the issue of the summons she conveyed the property to her sons, "out of mutual affection." The result was that she was now a destitute person herself, depending upon her sons. It had been suggested that he (Mr Brabant) should make an order against the defendant, and that the Charitable Aid Board should then move in the Supreme Court to set aside the conveyance. He considered, however, that he had no power to make the order under the circumstances, as the defendant was clearly unable to contribute at present. No doubt the transfer of the land was intended to enable Mrs Clarke to evade the provisions of the Statute, which, unlike several other Acta, made no provision for such a contingency. However, Mrs Clarke would not be able to secure her old age pension.

At the meeting of the University College Council yesterday afternoon, ■ Dr. McDowell drew attention to the disadvantage which students laboured under in having no recreation ground, and suggested that application should be made for the use of the Metropolitan Ground when not in use by the Grammar School boys. The chairman (Sir Maurice o'B.orke) said he had seen Mr Tibbs on the matter, and Mr Tibbs had said that he did not see any possibility of any body besides the Grammar School boys "being granted permission to use the "round. Dr. McDowell thought it would b? well to approach the Governor in the matter, though, of course, they had no idea of clashing with the privilege enjoyed by tba Grammar School. lt°was decided to act in accordance with Dr. McDowell's suggestion.

An inquest was held at the Wade yesterday by Mr Gresham (Coroner) on the death of Mr 3 Elizabeth Stringer, aged 62, who died suddenly on Monday. Deceased had suffered from influenza, and had been attended by friends, but no medical man could be procured at the last. Dr. Hood made the post mortem examination, and attributed death to pneumonia, accelerated by fatty degeneration of the heart. A verdict was returned accordingly.

The Northcote water poll was taking place to-day. The proposal is to raise a loan of £6000 to provide a water supph for Northcote, in accordance with a scheme prepared by Mr Wilson (county engineer). The water, is to be taken from Lake Takapuna.

A young man named Frank Mason was remanded by Mr T. Hutchison, S.M., tc-day to take his trial at Christchurch or. July 30th on three charges of obtaining money by means of false pretences, viz., £30 11/6 from T. S. Matthews, £17 12/8 from E. 11. Wood, and £20 1/3 from Henry F. Stevens.

A bright boy of 12 named Thomas McDonald appeared before Mr T. Hutchison, S.M., this morning on the formidable charge of "being an idle and disorderly person, having insufficient lawful means of support." It appeared that McDonald, whose widowed mother lives in Union-street, ran away from home two months ago, and was arrested on July ISth at Karanga-hake, where he had leen singing in hotels. He had been doing that kind of thing since he had left his home, but had relatives in that district. The lad's schoolmaster gave him a good character, except for attendance, and added that he did not think the boy was under his mother's control. Mrs McDonald, however, said the whole affair arose through the boy's dislike to a particular school, and he would settle down if he changed to another. The .police stated that the charge was brought so that the boy could be committed to an industrial school, but His Worship decined to do this.

The tender of Thomson and Co., of Dunedin (£1375), has been accepted for the erection of a fallen soldiers' memorial at Oamaru. The "North Otago Times" remarks that, though the sum is nearly £200 above the estimated limit, of the committee's means, it was o-enerally felt that the public of Oamaru and district would find the extra amount necessary without hesitation, especially when, allowing for the duty which is to be remitted by the Government, the value of the monument will be about £1700. Nearly £100 of the extra cost v,.as guaranteed by the committee and one or two other residents of Oamaru, so that little more than £100 is now needed. A Dunedin school committee has been advised by its solicitor that in the event of accident to the janitor or any casual labourer working for the committee, each individual member was responsible under the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act. It was decided to bring the matter before the Education Board.

During the voyage on the Corinthic from London a saloon passenger, named J W Newby, who was travelling to New Zealand for bis health, jumped overboard, and was drowned. The incident occurred, half an hour before the vessel dropped anchor at Teneriffe. The death, from burns, of a Maori child, aged two years, is reported from Mamaku. The child had been left alone by a fire, and its clothes caught fire. The child was very badly burned, and died soon after removal to Rotorua.

With reference to the paragraph in our last night's issue, stating that the Onehunga Borough Council had decided to give notice to all of their employees with a view to reorganising the staff, we are requested to state that the Town Clerk was not included in this resolution, inasmuch as that officer haa previously been granted three months' leave of absence by the Council at his own request.

At a recent meeting of the creditors of Mr J. Wilkinson, tailor, of Dargaville, a prosecution of the bankrupt was suggested, and the Crown solicitor (Mr J. A. Tole) was communicated with. Mr Tole's reply was received yesterday by the Official Assignee (Mr J. Lawson). After summarising the facts enumerated in the sworn statement Mr Tole expressed the opinion that if Mr Clark (A. Clark and Sons), Mr Goudie (Macky, Logan, Steen and Co.), and Mr Hodgson could state "that it was on the faith of representation as to capital that credit was given, and that no credit would have been given if bankrupt had stated his capital to be only £40 and £50 borrowed," he thought there was abundant evidence to prove that the bankrupt did make the representations, and that credit was given on the faith of such representation.'With a view to dispensing with a public examination it has been decided that Mr H. Wilding be asked to make a statement to the Crown solicitor as to what took place at the creditors' meeting of July 3rd and not recorded in the minutes, The question of the prosecution of the bankrupt has been left to the discretion of the Crown solicitor.

The first of the two final concerts annoimced by Max Hambourg will take place to - night in His Maesty's Theatre. The programme is an exceptionally attractive one, as Max Hambourg will play Rubenstein's colossal "Concerto" in D Minor, for the first time in this part of the world; also Chopin's "Sonata," B Flat Minor, introducing the immortal "Funeral March," and Liszt's famous "Ehapsodie No. 2." Other members of the company are also down for exceptionally attractive numbers.

The ladies' committee of the Remuera district connected with the forthcoming bazaar in aid of the Veterans' Home assembled at St. Mark's Parish Hall and decided upon holding a matinee on Tuesday. August 11th. The entertainment promises to be very attractive, judging by the programme, which will appear in the advertising columns shortly.

The Stratford "Post" states that several residents of Stratford have been receiving letters of an abominable nature from a person signing himself "Alf. Boston and Gang." Some of these have been addressed to young ladies. The Egmont "Post" received a communication from .the same source, threatening to burn down the premises, the wording of the letter being couched in most profane language. The police are being pressed to make full inquiry, and, if possible, to bring the offender to justice.

The school statistics published in a recent Cape "Education Gazette" show that though the number of schools is yet in arrear as compared with the number in existence in pre-war days, the number of pupils is not. The figures are: Third quarter, 1899: Enrolment, 147,424; attendance, 114,842. First quarter, 1903: Enrolment, 147,702; attendance, 121,309. The school statistics further disclose the fact that there has been an extraordinary increase in the number of school boarders in the colony. The figures bearing this out are: Last quarter of 1902, 5740; first quarter of 1093, 6591. In the Cape division the rise is still more marked., there being now 635, as against 404 in the previous quarter.

A dance will take place in the Foresters' Hall, Devonport, to-night, in aid of the Veterans' Home Bazaar to be held at Government House at about Christmastide.

An inquest was held at Waihi yesterday on the body of James Kerwin, who died in the hospital as the. result of injuries received iv falling off a waterrace, at Waitekauri. A verdict of accidental death was returned. Mr Max D. King (Coroner) presided.

The striking picture of the America Cup challenger, Shamrock 111., issued as a supplement with this week's "Graphic," is pronounced by yachtsmen to be one of the most effective photographs of a yacht published in Auckland. It makes an admirable subject for framing. Two framed copies exhibited in the. window of Messrs Alf. Jones and Co.'s shop in Queen-street attracted a lot of attention to-day.

The Consumers' Taupiri Coal Syndicate has procured a calyx drill, and now only want an operator to enuble them •to commence boring on Mr W. Mooten's property, Rangiriri, with the object of locating the dip of the seam. Already two seams have been cut, but it is necessary to do an amount of boring to get accui-ate information prior to commencing opening out.

A large meeting of tradesmen, in which Newton shopkeepers appeared to predominate, discussed the Saturday half-holiday question with considerable vigour at the Wesley Hall yesterday afternoon, and finally passed a resolution objecting to the proposed change of the law to make Saturday closing >• ,mpulsory. Only one vote was recorded against this decision. The speakers were almost unanimous in favour of retaining existing law, wliieli grants them a choice of days. It was decided also to oppose compulsory closing on Labour Day and several other days specified in the new Bill, and to ask 'the Auckland and suburban members of Parliament to urge the withdrawal of the Bill. It was stated that married people generally liked the shops to be open on fcSaturdays, so that husband and wife could shop togetlier. . .;, A tale of the slump in Otago mining was told by a Dunedin school teacher, who very recently filed his schedule with debts amounting to £280, a pitialiio story. He said that during the quid <a edging boom he took up a number of shares in the Clutha dredges, which, almost without exception, rose to a fair premium. Being convinced that the market was fairly stable, he took up Coast stock, and finally resolved to sell out of Clutha completely. At th,is stage, unfortunately, he deferred selling out for a week, during which a disastrous slump occurred, and he was left with more shares than he could pay for. Several of his stocks, however, had a good reputation, and after paying away mi his savings and £100 of his wife's, he was tempted, in the hope that the careful nursing of good stocks would enable him to pay off his liabilities, ami so retrieve hi 3 position, to get financial assistance, only to find himself eventually deeper in debt. His salary was only £150 a year, and since June, 1901, he had paid away over £80 to dredging companies. He also had to send in his resignation to the Department. The Assignee remarked that 'the bankrupt was not the only one who had come to grief in a similar way. A Canterbury farmer, writing from Springfield to a friend in Auckland* gives a graphic account of the severe snowstorm which occurred there about o, fortnight ago. He says:—"The sever snowstorm has kept us all busy all day feeding the sheep and cattle. It is certainly the heaviest fall we have had here for 39 years. It commenced to rain at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 10th, and at 7 a.m. on Saturday it started snowing, and by 5 p.m. there was fifteen inches on the lawn at the house here. On Sunday it was snowing a little. Monday was fine, and on Tuesday night it was intensely cold. To-night at 8 p.m. it was down to ten degrees—that is, there were twenty-two degrees of frost outside the verandah. If the frost continues we may have a fortnight of this. I have fifteen to eighteen drays carting out straw and oat sheaves to the stock. In 1887 we had a most disastrous snowstorm here towards the end of September and first days of October. At this time snow was twelve inches on the lawn, increasing to eighteen and twenty-four inches towards the top end of the run; but, strange to say, at Mount Somers, Springburn and Alford Forest there were only four inches of snow, and at Lyndhurst railway, station only one inch. So you see it was very partial. But. this time it seems general all over. In 1867 we had what was certainly a heavy fall, but there was a great deal of wind and snow drifts, which covered a lot of sheep. This time there was hardly a breath of wind. All day on Sunday our plantation was like the booming of artillery, branches and trees breaking under the weight of the snow." Walking matches are all the rage at Home. The Stock Exchange had a walking match from London to Brighton, and they were followed by the butchers. Auckland is sure to adopt the craze, and we ought easily to beat the records in England, as it is possible to buy Reliable Tea all along the likely routes.—Ad.