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Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 16, 19 January 1905, Page 4

Captain Edwin's weather forecast for the 24 hours from 9 o'clock this morning is as follows: —"Moderate to strong westerly winds; glass rise."

Mr C. J. Parr is to move at the next meeting Of the City Council: "That, with a view to the beautifying of the streets of the city, and affording a very

necessary summer shade, a special committee be set up to report and advise upon systematic tree-planting."

At the meeting of the Avondale Road Board held last night it was decided that, in compliance with the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act, Wednesday Should be the day for closing, at one o'clock, throughout the district. The Arch Hill Road Board selected the same afternoon.

The following sums kindly subscribed by the Chinese residents of Auckland towards the funds of the Hospital, have been received by the treasurer:—Wah Lee £5 5/, Loui Quen £1 1/. Shim Young £1 1/, Fong Doong 5/, Loui Him 10/, Wong Leung 3/, Lee Goon 10/, Quong Heng 10/, Hock Yem 2/, Moong Deck 3/, Dar Bing 10/. Hi Kee £1 1/. Wong Soon 5/, Wong Kau 5/, Wing Lee 10/, Hop Lee £1 1/, On Lee £1 1/, Quong Yet of, Quong Shang 10/. Sing Shoon 5/, OH Wee 5/, Ham Cheona 5/, Dar Fee 10/, Ghoong Ah Sin 2/, Shen Kee £1, Ah Sing 8/, Fong Ah Ling 5/, Ching Wong 5/: total, £18.

With reference to this seasons fruit crop, our Birkenhead correspondent states:—"Compared with last year, the season has been a very poor one mdeea for this district; the settlers.have had a great deal to contend wita, no doubt Hue to the adverse winds and excessive ram which prevailed during the latter part of spring, plums peach*.and apples are very scarce, in fact, ail fruit, wun exertion of grapes, *°% W £u_h a from the output as in previous years. Jealousy, or something akm to jjUj and Whakarewarewa, was yes?°" for what might have proved »■««"»£- ---cident the other morning (says the local naoer) Two 'buses—one belonging to STrJL Coaching Company and the other to the Hot Lake* Transport> Cony nanv—left the Geyser Hotel about W SSE*. and after travelling a short distance, during which it was evid*t to the passengers in both vehicles that the utmosT good feeling did not exist between the jehus, and a collision mu*t inevitably tike place if they continued to ; drive as they were doing, the crash came by the wheels of the 'buses interlocking. Indication ran high among the passenone in fairly forcible language told the driver of the vehicle in w»»ob he (the passenger) had not been seated that he was a blackguard, ana not to continue his funny business. The buses were separated, but the driver oi one of them seemed determined to block the driver of the other, and commenced turning his vehicle round in the direction in which his opponent was likely to go. This continued for some time. In the meantime," passengers alighted from both 'buses and walked into Rotorua.

In Adelaide Gaol one morning last week Albert Wm. Bonfield, aged 23, was executed for the murder of his sweetheart. Caroline Elizabeth Hinds, at Kensington Park, on October 28 last. The prisoner—a poor, miserable, deformed creature—was brought from the condemned cell and placed on the drop. While the preliminaries were being arranged, the Rev. Dr. Paton, the Presbyterian minister, recited passages of Scripture. Then the bolt was drawn, and all was. over. Death was instantaneous. Bonfield was penitent throughout. He told Dr. Paton that he desired to die, and that he would not have been sufficiently punished'if his sentence had been commuted to "imprisonment for life. "1 am going to meet my sweetheart in heaven," he s-rid. He was quite resigned to his fate.

A telegram from Aratapu this morning states that William Winters was committed for trial yesterday on a cattle stealing charge, and A. J. Whiteside similarly dealt with on a charge of perjury. The housebreaker is on the warpath in Wellington. A few nights ago a lady, awakened by a slight noise as of someone moving about in the house, after some time came to the conclusion that she must have been mistaken. But a few moments later, while reaching out of bed lor the matches, which were on a table close at hand, she touched a man, who was evidently creeping about the room on his hands and knees. The man got out of the room as quickly as possible, and the lady pluckily followed, calliug out for assistance to some young men who were sleeping at the other end of the house. They quickly took up the chase, and searched the house ana grounds- but without success. On making investigations later they found that the intruder had been through their pockets, from which he took a small amount of cash, and that he had taken the landlady's purse, which was on the table at the side of her bed.

The driver of the 9.15 p.m. mail train from Paddington.. London, to Swindon, liad an unauthorised passenger on his engine one niglit recently, and believes that he will be lucky for the rest of his life in consequence. Just before the train was due out the driver went beneath the engtne with his oilcan. Suddenly Hie oilcan dropped from his hand. He scrambled out hurriedly, and told his comrades that he had seen a pair of fiery eyes glaring at him from the darkness. Investigation with the aid of a lamp revealed a black cat, which had taken up a position between the engine and tender. The cat was invited to come forth, but declined to move. A clfaner went beneath the engine, and ru&de an attack upon the position; but the cat had the adv__utage of higher ground, and replied with such good effect that the cleaner retired, in confusion. An attack by port or s with mops was easily beaten off. The driver blew his whistle, and let off steam, but without effect. Even the tempting lure of a saucerful of milk was treated with scorn. "Time" was up, and the 9.15 started with the cat still in position. When he reached Swindon the driver found it in the same place, covered with oil and coal-dust, but still defiant. When the train returned to Paddington next morning the feline traveller alighted, bedraggled, but triumphant. With something like a swagger he walked past the astounded porters and collectors, and disappeared in East-bourne-terrace, to tell the tale of his 154-mile journey to his friends.

Consequent on the outbreak of plagus at Grafton, orders have been given that increased vigilance be directed towardsi the placing of rat discs on the mooring hawsers of all vessels in Port Jackson. We long ago had occasion to point out the absolute futility of these contrivances in preventing rats either going on board or coming ashore (says the Sydney "Evening News"). They are, indeed, nothing but an insult to the intelligence of the animal, who, in spite of them, waltzes to and fro over the supposed impediments with the utmost impunity. A month or so ago there was an important meeting held of the Port Sanltary Authorities' Association at the Westminster Palace" Hotel, London. On that, occasion, experts, commenting on the fallacy of the disc system, said that it had been tried at Liverpool. But, after rats had been "snap-shotted" as they scampered along the ropes and ever the discs entirely inconvenienced by the obstruction, the sceme was promptly discontinued. Perhaps somebody will presently call photography to their aid in order to convince tu*. authorities in Port Jackson that their precautions in this direction are as vain here as they have proved to be at Liverpool. '

Six nuns, Sisters of Nazareth arrived from England by the lonic'this week. They are to work in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch. This will be the first establishment of this order ,in New Zealand; but a branch house has been in existence for some years in BallaratT The headquarters are in" Hammersmith London, and branches have been established in various parts of the United Kingdom. There are five houses of the order in South Africa. The work of the Sisters of Naaureth is very much like that done by the Little Sisters of the Poor, but in addition to the relief of the aged poor they perform the duty of assisting orphans and destitute children.

:i A case of some interest was of before Mr H. S. Wardell, S.M., on Monday in the claim of the Hobson County Council v. the Waiteinata County Council, a disputed claim for £2 3/, part-payment of returning officers fee in connection with the last licensing election (declared invalid). Mr Field represented plaintiff and Mr Coates (instructed by Messrs Russell and Campbell) defendant. Mr Coates contended (1) that «he returning officer was a statutory officer acting under statutory instructions and his salary should be paid by Parliament; (2) his work was a statutory duty and gave no right of action to the plaintiff body; (3) accordin o, to the above the Court had no jurisdiction, and the proper remedy was by way of mandamus; and (4) that, owingto the fact that through the returning officer's negligence the election was upset, the plaintiff body had no right to pay him personal fees. His Worship held that the Court had jurisdiction, that there was no statutory provision that payment of the fees to the returning officer of the local option poll should be by Parliamentary grant, and that the fee was chargeable on the local body. He also held that the negligence of the returning officer did not affect the question. Judgment was accordingly given for plaintiff with costs £3 14/. leave to appeal being granted.

The case of a man committing suicide with the avowed object of making others happy is at least unusual. An inquest was held in Melbourne the other day on the body of Alfred Herman, or Peters, who shot himself at North Melbourne. It was shown that deceased was a cigarmaker, who was out of work, and had been ill and despondent. On the Thursday previous he made a will, leaving £20 to the Melbourne Hospital, £15 to the Children's Hospital. £45 to a young lady of his acquaintance, and dividing the remainder among his friends. He wrote to a friend asking that his funeral expenses be made as small as possible, as he considered it money uselessly wasted. He said he felt it was no use living always, as he had to go back to the same misery, and he could do no good by living. He might make other people happy by dying.

A meeting of the Auckland Regatta Committee was held in the Waitemata Hotel yesterday afternoon, Mr T. T. Masefield presiding. Mr Kilfoyle wrote resigning the position of handicapper for the motor launch race, and Messrs J. Alexander, R. Logan and R. Spinks were requested to act. Entry night was fixed for Wednesday next. It was reported that a sum of £ 340 had been collected or promised, and it was decided to continue until £400 is reached. Captain Parker stated that there would be only two competing boats in the naval cutter race, and after some discussion it was decided to retain the prize at £13. The prize for 25ft cruisers was increased from £8 to £10.

Some time ago a question was asked in the Commonwealth Parliament as to why the Australian representative with the Japanese forces had returned. Colonel Hood, the representative in question, has furnished his reasons for returning to the Minister for Defence, and the Minister for Defence has declined to make those reasons public. The many people who love mysteries, and love them all the more when they are denied any opportunity of investigating them, will now have a delight-

ful subject for discussion. Also, there are sure to be a number of conundrums invented, all beginning with the question, "Why did Colonel Hoad come back from Japan?" As a matter of fact, says the "Sydney Evening News," we mv agine that of which the Minister for Defence is making so great a secret will turn out when it is disclosed not worth all the fuss created about it. A distinguished modern monarch once returned hurriedly to his palace in the middle of a parade of his troops. The reasons- for his action were unknown, and all sorts of mystery was made about them. Then it leaked out that the monarch was thirsty, and wanted a whisky and soda. We are certain that the monarch's reasons were not those of Colonel Hoad. But when the latter are stated both will probably be found to be equal in importance. In this connection it might be worth inquiring why Colonel Hoad ever went to Japan.

"The thoroughness of the equipment of the commercial schools of Europe is astonishing." writes the Education Commissioners in the interim report juat furnished to the Minister in New South Wale 3. "Not only is the apparatus to hand for making the teaching intuitive and thoroughly practical—especially as regards the actual features and details of a business house—but there are also the requisite museum specimens, and apparatus ior demonstrating the physics and chemistry of the subject. In many cases these specially illustrate the material produced in important local industries. So complete was the information as to the state of development of each country that in one institution visited by the Commissioners it was obvious that in certain respects one could there readily learn more of the development of our own territory than can be learnt at any one institution in this country itself. • The method and elaboration is often quite ideal; the museums well arranged;, the course so developed as to give a comprehensive view of commercial life and its possibilities. Special industries in the neighbourhood often furnish quite unique collections illustrating the commercial side of the industry." "

Included in the Wellington Railway Wharf extension contract (says the Harbour BbSrd Engineer in his annual report) is the construction of the concrete foundations for a 20-ton hydraulic crane. Tour English firms; were asked to supply tenders for this crane, and the Board accepted the offer of Messrs. Tannett Walker and Co.. Limited, of Leeds for the manufacture and delivery of the crane, i.b.b.. at Liverpool for the sum of £8009. -and foT the freight and insurance t -?,^ mng^0n at * sum not to exceed £1205. or for £4214 in all. The crane will have three powers of about 6 13 o? d lobft 6hS ' * Ub a Uft throu e h » height

The latest type of battleship for the Royal Navy, of which several are now approaching completion, is the' King Edward" class. They are 425 ft. longTSft broad, and 16.350 tons displacement! Their engines develop 18,000 horse-power and their guaranteed speed is 18* knot<= per hour. The hull of each vessel*is said to cost £400.000, 'and the armour about the same amount. Propelling and other machinery cost nearly £220,000-. n-un mountings and torpedo" tubes £*15 000----"fiiwrtfi exceeding £ 1,33 1, 000, exclusive of armament and ammunition. When fully equipped, each ship is reported to represent over one and a-half millions sterling. In ten rears the displacement of a. first-class battleship has increased from 15,000 to 10,350, and the cost from £820,000 to £1.337,000 exclusive of armament.

iJJV"-*" Al^*troaß . *hieh is at present undergoing some slight repairs to her rudder and engines, will resume the Birkenhead and Nefthcote runnim. in a cay or io. -

His Excellency the Governor will ojtg;? the Manual Training and Technical Exhibition at the Technical. School, Rm.¥ land-street, at 3 p.m. next The exhibition will embrace work inplumbing, carpentry and joinery, eteJ& at the evening classes, drawing done bj teachers attending the special training classes in drawing, woodwork donea! the manual training schools by boys of Standards V., VI., and VII. of tbe pn|>. lie schools, and handwork, such ' '.& brushwork, etc., done by pupils of th» public schools. A correspondent writing from Drury says: "About midnight last night (Tues-! day) a heavy rumbling noise was heard at Bombay by several people. An un usual and strange mist settled over the whole country at the time. I m^ 1 several other people also heard a noiia J like a report of a distant heavy mm about midnight at Drury, and my home creaked and shook, and a heavy fog settied over the country. Then, at about 11 p.m. last night the fog suddenly began to roll away, going north." ~ -

The largest independent tobacco raano. facturing firm. Messrs. Gallager, IA&. have just aded the distinction to a lone list of successes by winding the gold, medal at the World's Fair, St. Louie, 1904. They secured the gold medal for the highest grade leaf tobacco, in a com. petition open to the whole world, »t an exhibition where the tobaeoo exbibiU were of the most complete and ox tensive character. -_' Axe chopping competitions are apparently not without their spice of danger for the onlookers. At the Eltham chopping matches an axe slipped from the hand of a competitor and went perilously near one of the spectators. Had it struck him it is difficult to say what the results might have been. At the Marlborough sports the other day there was a much closer approach to an accident. One of the men accidentally let the axe slip from his hands- In.,itsflight it actually grazed the throat of an onlooker, who had a narrow escape, jot the keen blade inflicted a wound 2jin, long, fortunately a shallow one".

Speaking at the annual picnic of the Mataura Paper Stills employees, Mr-;T; S. Culling, managing director of the _f§_ Zealand Paper Company, said there wag more paper made in the colony than the colony can use, even with the mills working only two shifts; the stocks had accumulated to 300 tons of paper waiting for purchasers, and the end of making any profit on the capital invested in paper mills was in sight. Had amaigamation not taken place, the coming year would have seen paper sold for. less; than cost price, which would have suited neither employers nor employees.

A plucky little lady is thus spoken jof by the Lyttelton "Times":—"A young lady, after matriculating from Ashburtoo High School, took it into her head that she would like to travel, and, earning enough money by teaching to carry/her to Melbourne, she filled a place as gover* ness there until her little stock of capital would allow her to continue her journey to London. In the great metropolis she presented herself at a training college, and by her very force of character won her way into the good graces of'the management, and was again able to*re\ plenish her finances. Writing to he. friends in Ashburton at the end of November, she says: "I am now a resident English governess in a very, aristocratic Russian family. I get £60 a year-4125 francs a month. There are three other governesses—two French and one German—and a nurse for two children. -As you can imagine, we all have practical!} nothing to do. The nurse speaks nothing but German, and when I first came here we could not exchange a word- During the Anglo-Russian incident over the fisher boats in the North Sea, she used to shake her fist at mc and scowl whenever I passed. The dear old woman ii wonderfully patriotic, and hates everything English. For three monthsin thY summer I took the children and a young Russian lady travelling." She went over most of Europe on this tour, and is enthusiastic about "these old cobwebbed places."

A remarkable experience was met with when the Loch Carron was between 90 to 100 miles off the New South Wales coast, a week or so back. The wind m» blowing strongly from the north-east— not from off the land at all—when sud* denly the air became charged with a anY stance like powdered charcoal. It blscb ened everything about the ship. Captaii Henderson says it was a remarkabli occurrence. Had the wind been fram th* land he would have known that btosa fires were raging somewhere on short, because, he says. "I know N-S.W. all its bush fires." What was more remarkable was that hundreds of moths, butterflies, and other insects swarmed et board. The watch bid rather a bid time. No one could look to windward unless the precaution was taken pie. viously to protect the face and eyes. Al it was. some of the officers and men got the stuff into their eyes and' nosiritt The captain has an idea* that possibly. tk« powdered charcoal may have been blowi seaward by a north-west wind, and #»• being carried back when he met it. An* ther event you noted after making tW N.S.W. coast. The ship ran into a hWty fog. The captain explained that it fU not one of the usual Australian, fapj but one in every way identical iritt those sailors experience, in the El_ft* Channel. He had never seen anyta_< like it in Australian waters beforeferring again, to the dusty atmosphe& the captain said there were also BUt»*ious small birds—such as are never feet at sea—flying around the ship lock!"! for a place to take shelter.

-v.* _, r ui-_ tv uiKf sneuer. p. It falls to the lot of few persons"** B travel as far south as Cantata Sc«# M and his gallant comrades ol the si. W | eovery. but it was open -|< anybody i> X London recently to purchase, and drh* 1 bottles of wines and spirits which iv I been nearer to the South Pole than WT I other bottles ever before offered for sate- B In all eighty-seven dozen bottles, P 1 surplus remaining over on the return of I the expedition, were put up at auctio* I at Messrs. Christie's, king'street.;;* I James's Square. Sentiment foufC■». I place in the sale room. The much-trare 1 - I led bottles just realised the onMiaff ■ market prices. Several lots of MM** l I Cossart Gordon, fetched 36/ a dci* I and B. and E. Perrier's "Unique" ch»* ■ pagne went for 50/. I The annual picnic of Lodge Ara.JK? I 1.C., was held at Motutapu yestet*?' ■ about four hundred, people being I sent. An enjoyable" day was sp*"* I and some excellent selections '"*% I given by Impey's band. Bro. PiS°| I the caterer, was presented with a.M* ■ some tea and coffee serv.ee as a a*? ■ of appreciation and esteem. B-W'.Jj?. I Bees, P.G.M., made the P r I Hearty cheers were given for I the owner of the island, before ■ nickers left. . I Police Inspector Cullen has w I Auckland from his fishing excari*" ■ Botorua. ";;._j I The secret of good tfontog &jfiL I starching—whiteness, I ness. Then .on "Sylvia," the *•* "j I in the world.—Aa, .««— * I