Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7, 9 January 1905, Page 4

' The following is Captain Ed-win's weather forecast for 24 hours from nine a.m. this day: "Moderate to strong -winds from eastward, glass fall slowly, and weather very close." Some right sections 22 miles from Te Kuiti will be thrown open for selection on -January 31. Twenty-eight sections ! also in the. Taranaki Land District, and 10 to 39 miles from Tonga.pouutn, will be available on the Bth of next month. "We were stranded in Sydney, and had no prospects, so wr came over here." e-x----j plained a respectably dressed young man. j one of a pair named Harry and John J Ray, who were charged before Mr MejC'arthy, S.M.. this morning with defraudj ing the Union Steamship Company of their from Sydney. They had been found secreted on the Mokoia. having ivaded a preliminary search at Sydney", when a large number of would-be stowaways were found aud put ashore. Having no money, they were sent to prison f'.r a mouth with hard labour. ; A ten-minute delay in the Auckland tramway service on Christmas live was caused through trouble with a middleaged man named Patrick McOarroll, who ; was charged in the Police Court tfday I with assaulting Colin Murray and Frank i Eltridge. The latter, an inspector nu jiho tramways, staled that in spite of a ■ regulation that passengers should not I stand on the platform of the small cars I near the mutormaii, MeOarroll persisted Jin disobeying this rule when a small car i arrived at. the Queen-street terminus. ! YVitm-SH tried unsuccessfully to put him ! ofT. lie was then helped by Murray, the I motoiman, and succeeded in getting the I accused oft", though not before McGarroll I had given them some painful kicks on ' the >hin*. Witness" injuries necessiitated his being off duly for a day. MefJarroll's explanation to the Court Mas j that he had paid his fare and considered (he had a right to on the ear. lie was lined £;"> and costs, aud given two I months in which In lind the money. A serious charge, that of indecently assaulting a girl, under the age of I*2 yeans at Cirey Lynn on December 27 aud January 1, was niacin against a middleaged man named Waller White, stated to be a barman, before Mr. McCarthy, S.M.. this morning. Chief Detective Marsack. who prosecuted. secured a weekV remand, and agreed lo bail in the accused's reeojrrtisanee of i" 200, with two others of £100 each.. A recent analysis by tsir George Turner of the fluctuations of Australian imports has revealed two interesting facts. Notwithstanding the talk of bad times, the importations of jewellery show a remarkable buoyancy. The Tariff Commission will doubtless decide whether this buoyancy has been at the expense of the Australian industry; but on the face this rise seems to indicate that the people have more money to spend on luxuries. The second unusual fact is the increased importations under the heading of apparel. Sir George Turner hesitates to hazard an explanation until he has gono deeper into the matter. He expoeta to find that piece goods aro responsible for a good tleal of the increase. This would mean that the articles mc manufactured in Australian factories into their complete foriu for the retail market.

A draught horse was run over by the Tram Company's freight car on Satin?, day, and had to be shot. The horse was being ridden by a. lad named Dean, who had to dismount in Upper Queen-street to recover his hat, which had blown off. The freight car came along at the moment, and the horse took fright, and* rearing up. fell across the line. The brakes were applied, but the animal was carried along for about ten yards under the platform. When the car was lifted it was seen that the off foreleg had beea broken at the shoulder, and that other injuries had been received. A rifle was brought, and the animal was through the head.

There is a prospect of a boom in Australian sugar in 190.V1006 (says the "Melbourne Age'"). It is alleged thafc the word has been passed round among commercial men largely affected by fluctuation* in sugar production that after 1905 there will not be a ton. of sugar imported into the Commonwealtn, owing to the expansion of the Queensland and New South Wales industries, notwithstanding the anti-kanaka legislation. The effect on the Federal customs will bo serious in this ca.'p. Tho duty on imported sugar i* Hi a ton; the excise on Australian grown sugar jc:i a ton. or £1 a ton when the bonus of £2 per ton on -•white grown" sugar ia deducted. .state Treasurers should, therefore, fuel the pinch before the expiration of the Braddon clause.

An old Maori chief of uolo. named Pehi Hitaua Turoa. died a few da3~s apo at Raetihi. Pehi was the highest in rank of all the Upper Wangamii natives, and in the Maori wars from 1864 to IS7O, wa.* a prominent man anionjrsfi the Hauhaus. His cider brother, the venerable Topia Turoa, died at. Wanganuj a few months ago. Physically; Pehi was a fine specimen of thr- old« school Maori—a tall, soldierly-looking, and well-tattooed. He was present at the battle of Moutoa, on the Wanganui River, in ISO 4. when he and bis fellowHauhaps, who meditated a descent upoff Wangamii town, were defeated by th.6 friendly natives. For many years after the war he isolated himself from all European?, and lived chiefly at a remote settlement in Hip Wainiarine forest. This earned for liim from the Lower Wanganuo native the soubriquet of "te ruru nolio-motu" —tlie owl which abides in the depths of the. bush. IfS was not often that be eared to emerge from his seclusion, but in later years he occasionally visited Wellington, and he was one of the chiefs who presented valuable gifts to the Duke and Duchess of York on the occasion of their visit to Rolorua. He was an old friend of the Hon. J. Carroll. Native Minister.

In a pamphlet on the Development of British New Guinea, Senator Staniforfh Smith quotes a quaint series of regulations drawn up by "that prince oC administrators," Sir William Maegregor. for the encouragement amongst the Papuans of the growing of cocoamil-. The regulations read a> follows: (1) It is good to plant cocoa nuts; (-), the trees will belong to Hip person that plants thorn and to his heirs; (3) the magistrate will talk with the people of each village, and fix the smallest number of coi'oaniits that each man shall plant in one year: (4) all men will not hare to plant the same number, as some men have little land, or caunot obtain many eoeoanuts: (o) every man shall keep his eoeoanuts clean: (6) any man that does not plant eocoanuts. and keep them clean, as fixed by the magistrate, may be brought lieforo the court: J~) if the man is found guilty the magistrate may semi him to prison for not more than three days; (8) if the magistrate thinks a man has already enough cocoanut trees the magistrate will not make him plant more: 19) if a man has no land he will not be made to plant coconuts. "If,"' comments Senator Smith, "these regulations had been enforced during the last ten years a great portion of the coast -would now be a waving mass of cocoanut palms, yielding an immense return, and involving increased exports, and, as a result, increased imports, with, of course, a large additional revenue." A peculiar incident occurred last week at Lady Gully, near the. North Perse» verance mine. Castleniaine, Victoria. A browii snake, some four feet long, was seen to tackln a large, lizard, and was getting the best of it. when another lizard came to it? assistance. An ej-e "witness of the encounter ran to cut a stick, with which to despatch the »uake, but on returning was only just in time, to see the three reptiles, whije struggling, topple over into the North. Perseverance shaft. Two "miners working in the shaft at a depth of 100 ft received a great shock by the snake an 4 the lizards, still firmly locked together, falling between them. The miners quickly despatched the reptiles with their picks. The future of the Northern Territory , ; is once more beginning to trouble South Australian politicians. No one will be surprised if within the next few months the proposal to transfer the Territory to the Commonwealth is again revived (says the Melbourne "Age.") The first offer of tin . Territory to the Commonwealth, made by i<ir Frederick Holder's (iovenimcnt in the early days of federation, with withdrawn or suspended when the Jenkins Ministry believed its transcontinental land grant railway scheme would be ;i success. As even-body knows, that scheme was a. complete failure, no satisfactory offer to build the line from Oochiadatlii to Pine Creek being forthcoming, sine;- then the Territory has made no progress toward- solvency, and the deficit on mere administration has increased. South Australians ha*e hopes of using the upland country iOV i-ottou growing, aud its Premier intend* to brink this idea before the Uobart conference. The Devonporl Ferry Company has placed the new s>. Albatro.-- ai the dU- | posal of the residents of Hirkenhead, . Xortlipote and surrounding districts on ' Wednesday, when she will run free, excursions to St. Helier's .Bay, and in the i evf-ning *he will rim a trip round the harbour. J A public meeting will be held in the Foresters' Hall. Devonport. next Wednesday evening to consider ihe decision of the Harbour Board to remove the ferry tee to the western side of Queenstreet. The ?.s. Pitoitoi will run an excursion to Riverhead on Wednesday. Several excursions arc announced by Devonport Ferry Company to take place this week. A colossal success: John Court's alteration sale of drapery and clothing; exceptional reductions in every department. — John Court, Queen street. —Ad. A colossal success: John Court's alteration sale of drapery and clothing; exceptional reductions in every department.-*-John Court, Queen street.—Ad. An event of supreme importance to every lady is to be seen in McCullagh and Gower's half-page advertisement in Saturday's "Star , " re their popular "Clean Sweep" 9ale at "out tney go" prices, which is now on. The genuine character oi tliis sale needs no comment,—-A3*