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Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8, 10 January 1905, Page 4

Captain Edwin's weather forecast for the 24 hours from nine o'clock this . morning is as follows:—Strong winds from between sout'hseaat and south and -out—-weet, glass ftall slowly, —dications of rain after 20 hours from now. The Parnell Borough Council last i night passed a new by-law making com- j pulsory the use of water-close.s in the | borough, This action was forced on the; Council by the fact that it could get no , depot. The by-law- provides that all : closets in the borough must comply with the new rule before July of this year, or the owners will be liable to a penalty not esse—ding £5. The borough has : adopted the two-gallon flush symtem, i which Dr, FrengLey d_c__ed last night to be tho ranail—t in the colony, i r

A sort of cave suddenly formed itself right in the middle of the roadway at the junction of Customs and Albert streets yesterday afternoon. A large opening like the mouth of an extinct volcano was formed by the subsidence of the roadway, which examination proved to be little more than a foot thick at this 'spot. The opening is about eight feet deep and six wide, with a circular opening. It -is an old sewer, apparently, | for tlie remains of a circular brick chant nel are visible. The spot has been enclosed, pending the filling up of the hole by the Council workmen. Work was eomnicnced on the new ; municipal destructor iv I'atteson-street, ' Freemans Bay, this morning by the conI tractors. The destructor is to cost £10,000, and Messrs Bane Johnston and i t:o. are the Mr ,T. B. Mel- | drum, who is their representative i_ j Auckland, arriving from Sydney on Sun- ; day. The bricklaying Dart of the eon- ! tract is in the liands of a Sydney firm, | which is employing its labour, as well as i getting its material, locally. During the last few weeks there has I been a very marked improve—em. in the j tourist traffic of the colony. There is I usually a great number of people tra- | veiling during this mouth, and the j people who have been arriving of late < have been very numerous. The hotels at I Rotorua and Okoroire have reported j themselves well tilled and crowded on ! some days for weeks past, and it beg'ns 110 look as if the expectations of the ! early season, which the wet weather j rather discounted, were, likely to he realised. Recently there have been numerous callers both at the Government Tourist Office and Messrs Cook and Sons. Monday is generally a big tourist dsiy, for the Sydney and East Coast boats bring in large numbers. Tin- Sydney boat on this trip brought many sightseers, and the hotel keepers are reaping a small harvest in consequence. In the early part of the season people commercially concerned in the tourist traffic were intensely dissappointcd at the smallness of it, and attributed the failure to the bad weather. They had.laid in huge stocks of goods saleable only to the tourist, und there was consequently ;i glut. Things are now beginning to improve noticeably. An elderly man named John Binley weut to sleep near ily edge of the Queenstreet Whari this morning, and had a rude awakening by falling into the harbour, lie had a narrow escape from drowning, being rescued by Messrs- J. Williams and H. Luke, two employees of the Harbour Board, who happened to be worl-ing close bandy al the tinic ; and who picked him up in a dinghy. The unsightly block of laud at tbe corner of Queen nnd Quay slretl- is to have its ugliness removed by ;i fine block of buildings which is to be erected on that spot, long an eyesore to the city, in spite of the theatrical posters for which its fences were the excuse. Mr. John Fndcait. who recently secured a lease of the corner, has commenced the preliminary work for the building, and the hoardings have been removed and 1 lie ground denied. Tlie foundations ; ire being laid down at a c<>s-t of £2:5:10; mid tender.- are to be called for the building as soon sis the plans can be got out. They are being prepared now, and it is intended that a handsome building, costing some ihotisatids of pounds, shall 1m- erected. It will iv all probability be used for offices largely, if not exclusively. The Commission appointed by 1 lie High Court of the CounnonwcaliJi to take! evidence in Xew Zealand in connection with the ease i.f certain lish importers | of Melbourne ba.s adjourned until she. ."ji.ii iiisi.. says the Melbourne "Herald" of the 2nd. There are four defendant-,.) and against each there is an action pend j ing for recovery of duty alleged to have been short-paid, in respect to the importation of lish from New Zealand. Penal lies toi-alling ili.ooo for allegfd offences, iv connection with the importation of five consignments of fish, are sought to brecovered, while the amount claimed as duty is £I.>oo. Mr lohn Kbsworth. of Melbourne, who is appearing for the defendants, returned to this city by the Mocraki yesterday, but Mr Powers, Federal Crown Solicitor, who is instructing counsel on behalf of the Commonwealth, has remained in New Zealand in connection with the cases, it has been arranged that if any additional evidence of importance is broiisghl forward the Com mission will be further adjourned to enable Mr Kbsworth to return to New Zealand. Hitherto it has been the custom for the Auckland Land Board to meet on the fourth Friday in each month for the transaction of business. This week's ''Gazette (telegraphs our Wellington correspondent) will contain notification to the effect, that henceforth the Board will hold its sittings ou the fourth Thursday in each month. The change has been decided upon iv order to suit the convenience of settlers from a distance. A "Hawke's Bay Herald" correspondent, telegraphing from Taihape. states: "The unseasonable weather has been very destructive of stock in the centre of the North Island, ln some parts tho cold has been unprecedented for this time of the year. The ranges arc snowcovered. On Birch's station 4sT>o she-p died in a single night after being shorn. Thirty-five of a mob of horses which was being driven through from the Waikato also died in one night aftpr being turned into a paddock. The drovers employed Maoris to bury them. The weather is still wet, and the roads are terribly rougfr.'' lnvitat—rns ltave been sent by B_bop Grimes to Uordmal Mosr_.ii, of Sydney. I Archbishop Garr, of Melbourne-, and the prinrdpa.l prelates in Australia, to lie present on the occasion of the. opening of the Roman Catholic (,'atihedrail at Chr—tr—_'ch. which is fixed to take place on February 12. Though it was hoped that- he mnght be able to a.t„end. Cardinal Moran is not expected to be prreseatit, as his health will not pai-mit , of arduous journeys. Archbishop Carr, of Melbourne (who laslil tho foundationstone of the Cathedral), will be present, however, in company with Biish-ops Oorbet/t, Ounnc, Murray, O'Conator aTi ' Rev-ell of Australia, and Are!rb—hop Kelly of Sy<—ey. The Bisi—ps of this colony will be present, and 50 pries-ts will Assist in tbe function. Pries: from Australia who have seen the ca.thednii praise it as successfully ch—leug—g comparison, in point of beauty, vrith the cathedral a oi the CommonweasMli. Arrangements have been made for the olTieers of the local Agricultural Department to transfer their quarters to the old Admiralty House, which was tnoroughly renovated some time ago by the Public Works Department in anticipation of such change. A widow named Bailey, lately residing at Crookwell, was found drowned, with her child, in the Mnlwarrie at Goulburn last week. The unfortunate woman, who was the mother of 10 children, had intimated her intention of comuiitling suicide. She complained of the difficulty of securing a dtuation without references.

The tender of Robert Kay has been . accepted for the conversion of the Brigade Office, near Albert Park, into a s residence for the inspector of police. The contract price is £910, and extras will fl swell the amount to nearly £1000. U The Public Works Department is sau4 lguine of the alterations now being carIried out at the Supreme Court buildings "! being completed at the termination of .[the long vacation on the 31st inst. The ■ alterations and improvements to the ■ buildings will entail an expenditure of '. about £500. Owing to the intricacy of the work the ofEcials of the Department ■ came to the conclusion that it would ho a cheaper and better plan to carry . it out under their own supervision. ' ; ! Tho paddock at Tdtara on which the 11 experiments arc being conducted with la view to finding a specific against the 1 1 California.]! Must— lias of !a.te assumted "Iquite am air of hustle (say- tht 4 Oamam '{"Mail"). Fifteen opt—iists with co-n- ---■ j ooel_otis of various ingrodients have J I cadi worked their little plots, some being satisfied t_at. one appLioaTion sof their magic preparation will 4 suffice, while others, appreciating to its 5 full the strength of the enemy, are not -sso ssanpuine. In many ca.'ies the leaves ? I have been entirely removed, and the ; ! roots, on examination, .have been found 'to liave Kuw.umbed to f-be death of lit. • iThivs, of eotirse. is ;i comparatively M •slight. achievement as against the roots 'jof ;i Ca.liforni.n t : hjstsle, which go down 5 fo The depth of about 4ft and ramify "i in sill directions, but it would admit of "i.i .serin! crop being taken off the ground "'(hits cleared, and if that were followed | by turnips 11k 4 chance, of eradicating ' the weed should he good. Five of those ' who asked for selections have not yet 1 arrived on t.h. sL*one, being kept waiting for their preparations. r Two visitors who arrived at Little I River, in Canterbury, by an excursion .train during the holidays met with ra- , ther a avid reception when they asked .to he put up at the local hotel. One ,!of them, an artist, who wanted to do , Isome landscape pain,—lg. wils carrying litis easel, table, etc.. strapped up. Howlt'\er, ihe landlord eyed them douhtful- . j Iv. and then led them to a Maori hut I outside, which was assigned tJiem for . j their quarter.. Jt appeared t-ha.t the | land—rd. who is very off-en visited by sApieiers, carrying taibles, etc., mistook i the travellets for doubtful eharooters. I FoTtiina.tely the two friends were able to prove Lhat they were harmless citi- ] zesiKs, and got carni'orta-ble lodgings in consequence.. I Mr Frank Pa.lliser returned last, week to Thmuni, after successfully conveying the Himalayan thar to the sanctuary al Mount Cook. The road from Pukaki onwards \v_s in a very bad condition, the recent and continuing fresh in Che creek- having destroyed the fords; uevert——ess, the journey was made in safety, and the animals arrived sasfi 4 and sound. A little trouble was caused by one of the. kids, which separated itself from the rest when let I loose, and when il h_<l been reea-ptTtred t.he rc**l Itad gone away into the bt—h, sjsi :.he. little one was kept encaged in tlie meantime. A number of tourists at the Hermitage showed great in-te-ri-sst ill the a—imals. A house occupied by Mr Smith, atWaingaro, was destroyed by fire early on Thtirsd_y morning. Mr Smith was in Auckland, and his wife and children were left at home. About one o'clock in the morning Mrs Smith heard an 'lominous crackling sound, and soon disI covered that the house was on lire, the 1 flames bavin, a good bold of the paitritium between the kitchen and diningj room. Sin 4 placed her children in ! safety and si roused Mr M_kstfh and his wife. Who wear sleeping in t.he house. Mr Meßeth eiuleavotired' to save sonic furniture, but 'rut his foot badly in the attentuU ami the house, with practically . all it- contents, was d_troyed. When the occupants went lo bed at 8.30 p.m.. everything sceined to be safe, and the fire in the kitchen stove was out. Though the house, and furniture were insured. Mr Smith's los.-, will be severe. Ju spite of ihe fact thai, we are told that culture is tone inheritance of a fort—_4« few, and that at heart the pub-. lie are all Phi—dines, good nm.sic or .ooJ pictures are always popular. Even 'if the public do not see ail the fine i points of a work of art, they are quick to appreciate the general effect. The iirl-istic supplement of beautiful pictures in tinted ink issued witlh tihe last, "GraplriV' was among the most popular sent out with this up-to-date paper, and the kiml things said about it induced the manage—enst to include another _in»i_supplement this week, the pictures being if anything better than the initial series. ' Other pictures in the number inclut- portraits of the winners in the lawn tennis Lourr—ment, and Lord Phmket's fishing trip to Rotorua. Among the reading matter aire a vivid account of the bottling up of Port Arthur, and the opening c.hapters of "Will Wa-bur-ton.*' the last novel from tlie pen of ' tha_ brilliant writer, the late George Gissing. j James Waterhouse. a Waitakerei 3 Maori, who had been summoned for ne- . glecting to pay the dog tax. attended the , Police Court with an imposing array of relatives this morning. According to -' Constable Rowe, the prosecutor, Water- , house was able to carry on a long con- ■ ve.rsation in English, but in Court the 1 defendant either could not. or would not, speak the language of the pakcha. His . looks were, however, exceedingly expressive, and he indulged in a Maori address, to the amusement of the general public. There was no interpreter, but Mr S. h. McCarthy, the stipendiary, would not allow a deadlock to be created. "Will you give evidence?" he asked the Maori. A constable repeated the invitation many times, but gestures and Maori phrases, but no English, came from Waterhouse. "As you won't give evidence 1 fine you 10/ and costs." remarked the magistrate, and this ended the difficulty. Mr F. Eug.stcr met with an unpleasant accident yesterday. His stirrupleather broke while he was riding near Three Kings, and the rider fell heavily to the ground, with the result that he sustained concussion of the brain. He was taken to the Veterans' Home, where Dr. Scott was shortly in attendsince. Subsequently Mr Eugster was removed to Mr Betts' house, and is reported to be progressing satisfactorily. Thoto frames, plain and patterned, for poker work, in sycamore, from 2/ upwards. —At Tonson Garlick Co.'s.—AdEveryone delighted with the low prices at John Oo_"t's colo—al adteratdson ssaie. We esta_ish a record for sale reductions. Stocks must be heavily reduced before the oonan—cement of j the extensive alterations to prem_es. — John Court, 2 shops, Queen-street. —Ad. Stools, plaeques, and tables suitable | for poker work in great variety, from 3/9 up.—At Tonson Garlick's.—-Ad. John Courts' upper shop open to-mor-row (Wednesday) till 6 p.m., rMday to 9 p.—., —titurday 1 .p—_ John Oourt's lower shop open to-morrow to 1 p.m., S-inr — ay 9 p.m. — Joinl Conrtfe / Oolos_i Asrtera—atn £_te, Queen*__s-eet. —-Ad.