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Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 304, 20 December 1912, Page 4

The following is Mr. D. C. Bates' I weather forecast for 24 hours from 0 , I ajn. this day:—''Southerly winds with . westerly tendency; moderate to strong. Weather probably cool and changeable. Barometer rising slowly; sea moderate." ■ The inquest on Mrs. Eliza. Hodson, of . Birkenhead, whose body was found floating in the harbour on Wednesday, was held before the Acting-Coroner (Mr. A. • Harris) yesterday afternoon. A verdict of accidental drowning was retnraed. the , circumstances tending towards showing that deceased, who wxs short sighted, ' must have missed her way while return- ; ing in the evening, and hid fallen orer • the edge of the breastwork. : The pas-i year has seen a gTeat irai iproveiment in tie grounds at «he Girls' ; Grammar School, remarked The headlnifii i tress dn her annual report at -the prize- - 11 giving last night, and what wae once a ; I desolate guily is now a charming garden. ■ : As time progresses, it will improve much ; more. The school has not yet got its i • full compleiineirt of Tennis course, and j ; epace for gaxnes i≤ very restricted, but lit is hoped that early in the new vea-r the lower courts TriH be able Xj> be [wed.

I When the mqmry into the _______rtr_tkm of St. Helens Hospital w__ opened ] last week, Mrs Emily Nicol protected 1 t__t an attempt was being made to take i the case out of her hands. She claimed < that she alone had brought the matters ; in dispute under the notice o. the au- < 'thorities, and had secured the Minister's i promise of an inquiry. Mrs Nicol fnr- j ther explained that she wouH not be 1 prepared to go on unto she hod __c as- ' of counsel. This _K>rni_g, Mrs Xicol received n-Wfication from Mr J. < H. Bradney, M.P., that the Minister . (Hon. Heaton Rhodes) has agreed that she arhaH have the assista-ace of counsel, '. and when the inquiry resumes on January 14th. Mrs Nacal will be represented by Dr. Bamford. At the conclusion of the evidence given at the inquest on the bodies of William ! Urquhart and Lena Gordon, held at Mar- ! ton, Mr. Collins (solicitor represeutin-" ' the girl's parents) said it was quite clear that when the deceased girl discovered what Urquhart was, she had no desire to have any further dealings with him Mr. ' I Collins suggested that from the tone of ' the letters Urquhart exercised a power- i 1 ful influence over the girl, and while she I I was under that influence she had told l I Mrs. Urquhart, the wife, that she would < not give him up. However, wmen she did i I get away from the influence, she had no I l desire to have anything further to do I i with him. The attitude of the deceased I | Urquhart was such that he had no doubt ' entered upon a scheme of revenge, be- ' ! cause the girl would not have him. The < ' Coroner, in reviewing the evidence, said j i lit was quite patent that the two had! ' ' been infatuated with each other—might £ he say it -was almost a mad infatuation? 1 (Then, when the girl's infatuation waned, '< ! Urquhart was piqued at her treatment- 1 I It got on his brain, and he allowed him- c ' self to be worked up to such a state of ' excitement that for the time being he * was practically temporarily insane. !' The attention of surveyors and of per- ' ' sons subdividing land is drawn to the '" provisions oi Sec. 3 of the Land Laws Amendment Act of 1912. Where land outside a borough is subdivided for sale or le?sn c.r other disposition as a town, a plan, showing the roads and reserves and the proposed name of the town, must be J prepared by a licensed surveyor and ap- ', proved by the Governor in Council before any part of the land is disposed of or . offered or advertised for sale or disposi- ] tier.. This applies to land under the . Deeds Registration system as well as to j land under the Land Transfer Act; and ( the District Land Registrar will refuse to ( register dealings or deposit plans until _, ! he is satisfied that the provisions of the , section have been complied with. The ] section applies practically to all sub- ' ! divisions for building purposes outside a 1 boroush. An ~ owner of land committing 1 i n breach of the law is liable to a fine of ' [ one hundred pounds. A Xew Zeal-ander just returned from a , ' Home tour affirms that, the hansom cab \ has _one for ever from the streets of ' London, .and the motor-bus has come to I stay. Throughout England the Ameri- | can motor-car represents a phase of the., I American invasion. Taxes, amounting ; sometime, to £40 a year, are keeping out j the heavier motor-cars, and the lighter American ones are coming into vogue. In , j En_l_nd. as well as on the Continent, , 1 roads are maintained in a way that seems ' to be undreamt of in New Zealand. ( ■ A visitor from the Gis-borne district. • 1 referring to the system of party tele- , phones, gives the following account of, i Gifihome's extensive telephone service:—| ' "There is hardly a Maori whare. to say ( j nothing of the settlers' homes, for many . ' miles from the Gisborne township but i : that has telephonic communication. | . What, the system has done for the dis-; ; ! trict is shown by its flourishing state. ! and that the system is valued hy the settlers is evidenced by the fact that every new house is considered incomplete [ without the 'phone. There are hundreds : of miles of private wires in every direction. One batch of settlers had the ; ! 'phone put into the band room, and by i ! arrangement were linked up on band ! practice nishts. so that, although twenty miles distant, they were able to sit and I listen to the music. I Letters received in Xew Zealand by I last English mail s*ate5 * ate that Mr w. 1 B Moo-house, of Xorthimpton. nas been I committed on a charge of manslaughter in connection with th - death of a carter j on a Gloucester country road. Mr. I Moorhouse. who was well known in Wei- | lington and Christ-hurch a few years j ago, i_ now one of the celebrated English , aviators. It appears that when t_> ace;- |- dent referred to happened, he was motoring past a wagon, when the horses in the latter took fright and bolted. The j man, who had recently been suffering , . from sciatica, was knocked down and j killed while endeavouring to stop the ', horses. It _• alleged that he was j j motoring at an excessive speed. While j I in Christchurch young Moorhouse, as I the result of an accident while riding j j a motor-cycle, was tried for manslaughter and acquitted. Wimesses ali ieged that he was travelling at the rate j j of over 60 miles an hour. Two Canterbury colon'sts. who have j just returned from a tour abroad. j motored in England, and saw all that J could be crowdill into the time avail i able. They received an impre_ion that i the Old Country is becoming more and | I more French. In the best of London j | hotels, for instance, ladies may be seen | ! smoking at the dinner table. In one | I of the hotels a notice is posted, asking i ! that guests should not smoke at break- | ! fast, a practice which, apparently, was j | becoming popular, and had to be ! I checked. The menus are now completely j ; French, and there is nothing but French j ] methods of cooking. The English i I waiter is seldom seen except in clubs I and country houses. The Swi_3 and the ! Frenchman have, supplanted him. He I will soon become extinct. A Christchurch paper affirms that the i number of bicycles reported to the police ! as stolen is 380 for the present year, and of these 230 have been recovered. Two hundred have been returned to their rightful owners, and 30 still lie un claimed. This does not necessarily mean that 65 per cent of the number lest or stolen were "recovered, as a large number of lost bicycles are never reported to the police. Up to the present time during the current year 640 bicycles have been brought in off the streets by the police, and 610 of these have been claimed and returned to their owners. Ten motor bicycles hav e been reported as stolen, and 7 have been recovered. There are said to be 30,000 bicycles in use in Christchurch. so that opportunities for thieves are bound to occur, but it is very evident that not enough care is taken on the part of th= owners. Thirty-five arrests have been ! made this year for the theft of bicycles, -ad about 65 pe r cent of those eonj victed of the offence have been fined, the remaining 35 per cent being sent to gaol, the average sentence b=i_g about i two months. 1 By a recent mail a Timaru firm of so-li- | : citors received a letter from a client who j ; forwarded payment for a property he had - bought. He sent over twenty £50 notes . ; in an ordinary envelope, the* letter not I even being registered. I

A mas of 40, who was charged at the Police Court this morning with v_gr___y, __ stated to be living on his old mother's income of 10/ a -week. His chief occupation -was said to be sitting about the Grey Statue, though he found occasion at times to add a little excitement to hie restful career by abusing his mother for not providing him with the full supply of tobacco his palate craved. I j This able-bodied specimen of manhood, , in the prime of life, was righteously in- t dignant at being called an idle and dis- ; orderly person. He had been working , for some time on the railway up country, , he said, but bad had three accidents; then , his back gave out: and, finally, he hadi, to come to town to his brother's funeral, and he had not yet returned to work. I j AH of which sounded quite plausible and , pathetic, till a sudden question from the |. sub-inspector elicited that the funeral j had occurred about nine months ago, and! j the man had been resting ever since. | ; The magistrate signified his condolence ; with a sentence of three months' hard j labour. i " There can be nothing simpler or more suitable and becoming for a girl's wear - than navy blue serge." said the head- '■ mistress (Miss Butler lof the Girls' • Grammar School at the annual prize-giv- j'■ ing last night, when expressing the hope j ' that in future the teachers would have < ' the support of parents in carrying out • ' the dress rules of the school. " May I ' also urge," she said, " that mothers re- ' strict the width of hair ribbons, as some ' children have a great love for wide ' ribbons." The rules of the school provide for a regulation dress of m*.vy blue skirt and navy blue or white blouse, and : hair ribbons and ties must be navy blue i or black, and blouses must be made with long sleeves and as plain as possible; lace collars must not be worn. The school hat is a white straw of regulation pattern, trimmed with the school ribbon. Commenting upon the _nbject of school dress, Miss Butler, in the course of her annual report, said:—"Many people are of the opinion that dress is not a matter which concerns the school, but the individual. This standpoint is held, I think, only by those people who have not seriously considered the position of the school, and its influence in the life of a girl. Discipline is a most important , : factor in a girl's life, and discipline in i : dress is just as essential as in anything else, and it is for this reason thai we < have adopted a school dress which, in i our opinion, allows the girl maximum j) freedom in movement and the greatest j comfort, as well as training her ideas in ! the art of dressing quietly and well. ': : Apart from these considerations the ■ j dress which we have adopted has a i hygienic and economic advantage." . A local telegraph messenger boy ap- i peared in an unfavourable light" this morning. During the forenoon a representative of the "Star" met the Minister for Marine (the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher) : leaving the Grand Hot-sk- and he ex-1 plained that after waiting for some time for a special messenger who had been asked for by telephone to take an urgent telegram to"the G.P.0., he l the Minister) had decided to take it himself. Halfway up Shortland Street a boy with a messenger's bag was observed walking backwards at a snail's pace, and when hailed by Mr. Fisher he admitted that he j was going to the Grand Hotel for a : special message. Although he pro__bly did not know at the time that he was being addressed by a Minister of the Crown, the youth realised that the position -was sufficiently grave to call for much more speedy methods, and he set off at a brisk pace, this time face fore- . most. ' Mr. Leslie Reynolds (Wellington) and Mr. Cyrus Williams (Christchurch) are to be asked to inspect the Otago harbour and draw up reports on the question of reclamation of the southern area. Should either be unable to devote the necessary time, Mr. Dillon Bell, of Auckland, will be asked to act. Prior to the breaking-up of St. John's College, the headmaster (the Rev. P. S. Small-eld', addressed the scholars upon the desirability of starting life as pledged abstainers from intoxicating liquors, and 55 of the elder lads signed the pledge of the Auckland Total Abstinence Society, which recently celebrated its 70th aani- j versary. The damage cattle can inflict on each other with their horns is too well known to em-phasise. An ingenious solution of the problem had been arrived at by a Southern farmer, which, while it may appear expensive, is certainly effective, and has much in its favour as compared with the dehorning method. The farmer in question has fixed brass doorknobs to the horns of his small herd. It is not stated whether these are polished each morning at milking time, but it is alleged that the cow so accoutred presents quite a j distinguished appearance. , Mr. A. R. Harris, a well-known farmer of East Tamaki, and a member of the , Auckland Land Board, who judged the I light horses at the Bay of Plenty Show, 1 says that he noticed a gTeat improve- j ment in the Tauranga district since his last visit, and attributed the evidences of prosperity to the distribution of wealth per the medium of the dairy _g j and grazing industries. He also stated , that the live stock had greatly improved in quality. Messrs. F. Harvey, H. Wright, and H. j Hyams. representing the Auckland Centre jof the Royal Life Saving Society, waited |on the Works Committee of the City | j Council yesterday afternoon, in reference Ito the Council giving assistance to the | Society. The Council has decided to fol- j : low the precedent of Christchurch, and ! give a grant of £10 10/. I "*He had a salad complexion, and spoke | sort of foreign-kind," was part of the de-1 j seriptio_ given by a woman the other day j j to a policeman respecting a man who had . I created a disturbance at her house. I When finally located, this "foreigner" j ' proved to be a lad with a pronounced I i Lancashire accent. If a troublesome cold ___ attacked you, get Baxter's Lung Pre--erv_r now, and be quickly cured. Large sized bottle at chemists and stores, 1/10 ; -(Ad.) -Cma." bargains at Grey and Ford's, Karangahape Road. Save 2/ to 4/ in the £ on your suit by buying now.—(Ad.) . It's the little things that count, 60 shop early, and remember them.—Hutthineon Bros., Ltd. Open Sat., 9 pjn.—Ad. Xmas Gifts! Thousands of useful and appropriate articles for Xmas gifts. We advise early shopping, before the rush | sets in.—Smith and Caughey, Ltd. (Ad.) ! The "Real Mackay" hand-made suit is! the result of good materials—plus brains I —plus the cream of the tailoring talent j of England. See the windows.—■Mackay's I Clothing Corner (late Dickson'-), Queen j and Fort Streets.— (Ad.) \ The Universal Providers of Xmas' cheer.—Hutchinson Bros., Ltd. Open! Saturday until 9 p-m.— (Ad.) Biggest and best variety of linen and point lace runners, table centres, A. T. i ! covers, etc., most suitable for Xmas pre- ' . sents, all at bargain fair prices.—Grey : and Ford, Ltd., Karangahape Rd. — (Ad.) 1 Don't leave all your ah-pping until Christmas Eve. We axe open Saturday till 9 p_n. —Hut _x_o_ Br__ Ltd.—(_L> i