NEWS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10870, 21 January 1901, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A false alarm of fire was given at about a quarter past twelve last night. According to a Wellington telegram Mr Skerrett intends to apply for a writ of habeas corpus in the case of Lillywhite. The Nelson City Council has decided to take a. vote of the ratepayers on a proposal to borrow £46,000 for improving the water supply. Of that amount is to be devoted to paying off the present loan. It is estimated that the cost of the new works will be about £30,000.

In the North Canterbury district the crops are now rapidly ripening, and harvesting should in a fortnight be general in dealing with the oat crops, and the cutting of wheat will commence almost immediately after. Rain fell at Ashburton again on Saturday morning, and the sky throughout the day was overcast with Jieavy clouds. A spell of fine weather is now badly needed to enable farmers to push, on with harvest operations.

At the Durham street Methodist Church the Rev. W. Baumber referred to the fact that the quarterly circuit list would be found in the pews. The special feature to which he wished to draw their attention was contained in the balance sheet. This announced that the appeal for clearing off the circuit debt had been lib?rally met. As a circuit, they were out of debt for the first time since 1892. Hβ had been deputed by the quarterly meeting to specially thank the Durham street congregation for the magnificent manner in which they had responded.

A big party of Southern bowlers left Chrietchurch for the South on Saturday morning, including the lion, s&eretary to the Nevf Zealand Bowling Association, Mr R. T. -Wheeler. {Several local bowlers assembled to see tlie Southerners depart. A contingent of the 3forthern bowlers left by steamer on Saturday night, and were sped on their way by a number of Christchuroh bowlers and other friends) who assembled at the railway station in large numbers. During the day some interesting matches were played on'both greens.

The Hon. J. G. Ward is to arrive from Wellington to-day, and will go to Aahburton to lay the foundation stone of the new post office. Mr J. McLachlan, the member for the district, who was in Ash burton on Saturday, -repeated Ms promise to give £10 towards providing a suitable clock for the clock tower of the new post office. Mr Ward is to be met at the Ashbnrton railway station by the Mayor and Councillors, oh the arrival of the 10.45 a.m. train. The ceremony of laying the foundation stone will take place at eleven o'clock, after wliich the Acting-Premier will be driven round the town, and a number of desirable reforms affecting the welfare of the town will be brought under his notice. He will then be entertained at Orange's Hotel, and leave for the South by the express afc one o'clock. ->ir Ward will also be present at the reception in Dunedin to the troopers by the Orient. It i.s his intention to return to Wellington by the Orient, and travel thence to Auckland by the troopship Cornwall so as to bid farewell to the Sixth Contingent.

Mr John McNally, a well-known settle: \ at Amberley, where he lived for the pa« * eighteen years, died yesterday. He was 7* s years of age. k I The Blenheim people talk of sen'i.nt $- \ supply of milk daily to Wellington \? steamer. • It has been arranged that Mr H. Cl. £11 one of the members for Chrisichurch CtW shall address a meeting in Ashburton shortly. Farmers complain oi the sc.ircitv tr labour in the Masterton district just r. ow - One man Avas unable to start harvestm« as he could not procure "stdokers." The Melbourne postal officials ndviss that in connection with the holiday arrange. ments in Victoria for Monday, *t ho 2Sth January, the telegraph offices will he op* a from 8.30 to 10 a.m., and from 6 to 7 p. WOn Saturday a number of the Muoiis from Little River. Kaupaki, ami the PeninvaSj returned to their homes from Kaiapui. when' a tangi has been held on the death of Hont Martini Piki. v. young man, well known as a jockey and an athlete.

On Saturday evening the Mayor of Kaia. poi met the Minister of Public Works r»< turning from Wuipara at the railway station, to remind him of the requirements oi the town and district in regard to the plaj. form and station buildings.

The rainfall for ths past month, as recorded at the Rhodes Convalescent Home, was 3.60 inches, and rain fell on tan day*, The highest reading of the maximum thermometer was 85, and the maximum mean was 65. The lowest reading of the mini, mum thermometer was 42, and minimum mean was 48.83.

During the past month twenty patients were received, and nineteen left, the Rhodes Convalescent Home, and there are twenty remaining. The average daily number.of patients being 19.85, as against 19.96 in the corresponding month of the previous year. ,

A large mraibar- of subscribers to the ; Patriotic and More Men Funds at Napier have determined to test the propriety, of the expenditure made by the Mayor on a; certain telegram to South Africa. Thss matter, according to a contemporary, hasbeen placed in tlw hands of their solicitor b} these subscribers.

The Hessian fly, %vhioh first made its api pearanoe in the Masterton district some ten years ago, and to combat which a natural enemy was introduced, is again spreading among the wheat crops on the Upper Plains, and in one or two instances has done considerable damage.

Trooper Harris, of the Wocdyille district, writing to the. "Examiner,' , says:—Every' corps in South Africa tkat I have sem reckon that they are the smartest and has* fighters. So they are, if one could only believe what the generals say. After every fight the corps are formed up, and tt« general "pulls their legs" for about a quarter of an hour.

A sharp frost was experienced over a considerable area in Southland recently. Pot*. toes suffered severely, in some cases being completely cut djow'n. It is fenrtd th« damage to crops is extensive, in which cm* (says a local 'contemporary) the "price of potatoes this year will be high. Wtelt, which was only just coming into will also suffer materially.

This year a new departure was made in Poverty Bay cropping. Linseed liad'besn tried on a small scale and \v)Kh much success. That fact induced si.'Utkrs to plant it extensively, and it is estimated that some, what about 300 acres were planted this season. But in conssquE-ace of the rain. ex» perienced. caterpillars attacked the cropr in force, and to suuh purpose that the croji are now regarded as a complete failure.

A Sydney correspondent writes:—Some of the" Jehus are demanding outrageous fares. One such caught a. Tartar the other day. The Hon. J. Carroll and""Mr A. L. ' D. Fraser hailed a lunwoin, and lor a short journey an extortionate fare vrus asked. Thereupon the member for Nn-pier hailed Taranaki, the Native Minister's . and requested him to "deal" with the driver for his imposition. When the burly Maori, who had been to the Queen's Jubilee, drew himself up to carry out the instruction, cabby drove off hurriedly and forgot ail about his fare.

"I quite fail to understand why promiscuous spitting should bs permitted, and why it should ba necessary to spit when smoking. It should, at all events, be an offence, to spit on any footputh or in any public., conveyance. The habit is not simply filthy j> it is dangerous." Thus spoke Dr. Barrett,., the retiring president of the Medical >Socies; of Victoria,, when delivering his address on leaving the chair for the year, at the annual meeting. Expectoration in public conveyances, Tie said, was v polica court offence m France and some other countries.

"The sheep as a source of our food sup ply," says a rtcent number of the "Meat Trades Journal," "is beginning to find * rival in the rabbit, particularly the Australasian animal. In two years the supply baa more than doubled; and down to the end of last month our imports this year reached the large bulk of 16,085 tons of dead rabbits. This great weight of dead rabbits is equivalent to about 600,000 New Zealand and to even a larger number of Australian.

In the present British Cabinet, from a physical point of view, "the men are splendid." At least half of them are well overaix feet, and only one, whom it would vidious to name, could be called insignificant, Mr Hanbury, the latest recruit, the tall' -.at of all, though he is run close bf Lord Balfour of Burleigh, and the Premier probably carries more weight than any oiift for he is of great stature and bulky withal.

On Friday evening the City Councils working stall invited their late chief, Mr Oakeley Archer, to meet them at their rooM in the" new central yard. Mr T. Euseell,.: the foreman, there presented him, on beuall of all the men, with a handsome Gladstone bag, a Kaiapoi travelling rug, and a larg» gold iMaltese cross. All the- articles, were engraved with the following inscription !-\ "Oakeley Archer, from the Christchurco City Council employees, 18-1-1901." J" Archer, in thanking the men, rt-ferred to the good relations that had existed between them since they had come to know him, after he had been among them a little tuns. Though he had had occasion to be severe no man had been punished more than once for the same offence. The men had Plteß been unjustly blamed by the publK, out such charges had always been carefully enquired into, and it was frequently saown that men who had been accused of iovtof> etc., -were not Council employees stall. Is conclusion, Mx Archer said he would ulwajrt take the greatest interest in them all. :

Sucking lead pencils has led to anumber of cases of mouth and skin cisessei among Board School children (says aa Wjglish paper), and tha medical' ,W* specters have issued a protest againsr the custom of issuing pencils indiscriminately to the children. The tendency of the average child to beguile «w tedium of school hours by idly BuckingJ*| point or the butt of the lead pencil is net" by the medical officers who have been m> vestigating t/he outbreak to constitute i serious danger. This view is based upon a knowledge of the custom usually aa°pKo by teachers of 'having the pencils coUecwo at the close of die day and redistributing them indiscriminately "each morning, in this way, it is argued, one child in its time sucks many pencils which hare ia their turn been handled and sucked by perhaps a hundred other children.

The approach of the vintage w cauang attention to be paid once more to tire A** Zealand precautions against phylloxera, which forbid the admission of Australian grapes into the colony. "It has bfeii slxow".over and over again." says the »y™ e 7 "Daily Telegraph," "that there w ..-absolutely no danger to be apprekendtd, ana that the restrictions make it impossiifce for New Zealunders to get decent gra{«* for lens than 2s or 2s 6d per lb when tn«y require them most, and that there is consequently ample reason, from the «««• point of the islanders themselves, for* change in the panic-caused precautions. _A 3 regards* New South Wales, the P ra<;,b <*i non-existence of What used to be a gopa market means something very serious joi our vignerons, and it is not to be wondered ut that much, was expected from the representations local politicians were to niata to the Maoriland Premier while m Sydney. So far nothing has 'been heard of these interviews, and there are numerous enqum<* as to what is likely to be the outcome, r

o. mt> l.<« of serifs told by De Wet to enT Trtrtoirn to escape the Chinese, who «/&«*» " r Kneland: Lord i) wr* ten twn buried under the. HeilETtot" Hall, and General Buller hu , (>nt , Home and b«n presented with a gold xp*w. Purine the temporary absence from the ilcnr *<'f ,nP Premier, the Progressive i -b'Ti! Vs-sociation of Canterbury has been ni'lviOK' high J ink »- end rVen S" ,le 8O fal " W \<) iwu* a nianifesto protesting against sii-s political methods of Mr Seddon. When »]i»t l>on. gentleman returns he will soon bring th«m to their senses. —"Feilding Star. ,, \ curious tunnt of law cropped up at t | iP » Court c.n Saturday morning. It, wad in connection with fin affiliation cue. Before Mr He-etham had left for his holidiiv he , had ordered n certain defendant to find a surety that he would comply with a m»interi?n<e order. If lie failed to do thi* the alternative was three months' imT,ri«onmenf. <■'» Kattirdav Mr Bishop «»■< sitting, and he was a»"ked to siijn the warrant for the three months, as the ni;ui fcad n"t found the required surety. The qofstion v< m raised whether only the j(,,j,i,rtraite wiio made the order could sign the warrant. One section t>l the Destitute Perenns A**t states that only the magistrate making the order could sign the warrunt; another sect inn n general power id all roagUtratee to sign .'ill warrant*, and ■ptrfonn all necessary acts." Mr Bishop !i«!<l th*t thin was not really a judicial question (it all; •'' w a s simply » matter of office practice. The iinn hiu'f been to a t-erm of iniprinonnH-nt in default of finding surHv: that imprisonment was now due, and it was immaterial who nigned th« warrant. Hβ tlierefwre signed it.

The present has been n season of unuiual activity, mid the importations (by the leading dnip'-rv fHtiibl'mliment of Christchurch, tfie D.J.t'.) of high class drapery and have al«u been unusuully Uts'j and varied. Many of these are still held in -stock, and the management of the DIC. re'juest ux to annotlnce that the whole remains of thena splendid goods will be disposed of at barguin price* at the lijlf-vearly after-«easo« sale, which commtnees at the Company's warehouse tomorrow at ten oVloi-k. 3365

Mr GriwliahfJ", jeweller, High street, whoso lease has now expired, and as the pmniws are to be rebuilt, announces a clearance sale of his stock at great sacri-fice.-(Advt.)

Thtre i* no linn to equal Oats, Lowry, and Co. for built to order bicycle* for persons of any age, height, or weight. Works. Mani'lifier street south, Christchurch, Catalogue , * free.—Advt.

Tui Extract of Soap. Save your money end your temper by using Tui Extract. For w**hing clotlii'«, scouring floors, and housework generally. Ask your grocer. Don't take any substitute. 8

Make absolutely sure of the correct time liv having your watch repaired at the best shon in New Zealand. Clarke and Co., ]*B Colombo street. English watches i*ane<], 4s; mainsprings, 3s 6<l; WaterLiiry*. 2m 6d. Cl;irk» and Co.'s wedding ttnd engagement ring)* copied, but not MjiinUni, by all the leading shops in New Zealand. S. Clarke and Co., 148 Colombo street. —{Ailvt.)

Ojip hundred and sixty-three bicycles to be tle.irrd prior to stock-taking. Hale comjiii'iief* today. Inspect the bargains in "riuinhcis." "Anglo-SpeciaU," "Osmonds," and "Olobos," all guaranteed for twelve innntljs. Ilusy payments arranged. Forty wtuudlutnd cycles, various* makes, at clearing'pricce. 'Accessories greatly reduced. Oenuiuu wale of up-to-date goods. Don't mm thi* <>p]H>rtunity. For fourteen days only. Th<- Anglo-New Zealand Cycle Company, 1).1.e., and 226, High street."—(Advt.)

Handsome Wedding and Birthday Presents.— We have jus»t received » special shipment of Bptiutiful and Useful Goods. Wβ ur« making it splendid show in our window ; e< t try thing tnnrked in plain figures. Wβ i!cfv Competition,—Fletcher Bros., Direct Importers, High street, ChrUtchurch. [Advt.] Mr Morr's. photographer. Colombo street, Chri*tchuri:h, fiiuls it is not generally known tii.it hi» charge for cabinet portraits of children and thrfe-quarter-length pictures is 17s 6d per do?., any extra charges are for vignetting, groups, largo mounts, also the various met nodi of printing, etc. —(Advt.)

If it prophet be not without honour save in hi* own country, the rule must be one which i« proved in the accepted manner— by thf exception. The exception wo refer to is Mr K. <t. Lane, of Onmaru, who has placed upon the market a specitio for lung troubles called Lane's C'reasoted Emulsion. TJf' honour hi , hiis received in his own country is contained in duily-recurring letters acknowledging benefits* received from tlie use of the preparation. The following i« a caw in point:—"Amn street, Oamnru, July 7th, 1899. Mr Lane,—Dear Sir.—l notice you are publishing testimonials you liftvti received about your emulsion. 1 wish to add mine to the litnnlj.r. My niece, who was staving with mc a little ago, had a bud attack of nmislss. which left her very weak and with v bad cough. I gave her your emulsion. aid it wns wonderful how quickly she recovered. The cough stopped almost «t once, and the way sue put on fie»h is marvellous. When sfie returned to h*r homo her mother would hardly believe ihe. had had anything the matter with her, and said she looked bettrr and was stronger than wer shu was. Last month my husband caught a severe cold and hud a terrible cough, so more of your emulsion. He says lie never got rid of v cold so quickly, and that the emulsion wns the nicest physic he bad evtr taken. My niece was also very fond of it,—Yours truly, S. Uibson." 79 A SINOn.AU KSfAI'K FROM DEATH. A well-known military member of Parliament (the "Daily News" says) is telling a remarkable story concerning the miraculous escape from death in South Africa of a very Rear relative. This yalliint younif officer wa» first of till nlmt, the bullet, which went within an inch of a vital iwrt, passing clean through the body. So little was he incon- # noienced by the mishap, that he perished i» riding on horselwck to the nearest hospital to get the wound dressed, and absolutely refused to take a place in the ambuunce waggon, which was badly required for f'W* urgent casw. On the road to the hospilal this clumsy vehicle and its human burden topolfd over into the river, and all were drowned. TWO MILLION POUNDS FOR SWEDISH MINKS. According to a correspondent of the "Daily fapres?, ,, n syndicate, with a capital »Urn £2,0CO,0O(). hits pnrcliased in Sweden thirty copper and lead mines. The metal *>11 be transported by rail to Stockaryd and and shipped via Kalmar. i s rich in mine*, which have not wn tttilUwl w> far, and it is expected that *wi>lar investments of foreign capital will »*« place. THE PALACE 08 , KINO MINOS. fie discoveries which have recently re*arded the excavating work carried on in » Crete by the British School at Athens are '**?* "Invention"') v striking warning against even when it seems most safe. WBian echolni-s, fuilowetl V>y Knglish his•wiaiw, have dismissed jvs almost wholly «*Toii.J of fuUndntirin, in fact, the numerous w gends «i eariy (rreece». King Minos "ffwded w being a» mythical a* King *> Arthur. The *t t ry of the Minotuur was wi»ni«m.tiv j-ationaliced. and the f.tmous j«%rinih" whs only allotted * doubtful e.xi»wn«e.jj ut m lh : ,s c .jjij e mann proved the nalitjr of the Tnjjan wars, so «>f vr" tli^t ' iN . mi ployed by Mr Hogarth and Jlr A. J. Kv.ui>; at'KniM's.w. has broit-ht to ''Sat the jKJace of Minoe himself, Ji'ith his "sroue cam ,j ou . (J { aialwjstur. The dis™?ukljed explorers have little <loubt thai % hn xumi with its bewildering wealth and nuslfudmg passages, was the of tin* traditions which haJS produced «« I'Ubyiinth of the legends. But more wawkjibltt even thai! th"c frescoes, va.-*es, fuiutingH wiiicii l».avn l*tn preserved in SjwguUwi pahtt-tt duiiujj a long sleep of J**n», is a library of clay documents. v**w earn' ut b;u-k "'some seven centuries tiujetfrsi known niimuments of tlie t|J*^ * }retk vv ri ''"^" 'I'* 4 * B * tablets s»liow , nifn of lireek blood the use of f wa« known many centuries beIyr *% iwually asaiifned to Homer.