DUNEDIN NOISES.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10870, 21 January 1901, Page 3

DUNEDIN NOISES.

(SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") DUNEDIN, January 19. The Dunedin Horticultural Society have appointed a Special Committee to make arrangements for an important conference of horticulturists, pomologists, viticulturists, entomologists, etc., to be held in Dunedin during the Winter Show week of the Otago A. and P. Society. The Railway Department have agreed to issue tickets to delegates at excursion rates, and it is intended to ask the steamer companies to do likewise. It is expected that close on two hundred delegates from all parts of the colony will assemble in Dunedin on the occasion. Papers will ba read, and delegates will bring their own exhibits. There is a promise that the Exhibition will furnish one of the linest fruiC shows ever seen in Dunedin. Delegates from various islands in the South Pacific will also attend, bringing exhibits of fruit, etc., with them. A "two-up 1 " school, which carried on their operations in a very secluded spot on the Town Belt, were paid a surprise visit by the police a few Sundays ago. Altogether the school consisted of over thirty members, but most of them proved too slippery for the "minions of the law," who, although they were well stationed ali round the ring, only succeeded in laying their hands on four of the men. On the cases coming before the Court, Mr Hanlon, counsel for the defence, contended that there was no evidence to show that the men were wagering on the throw of the coins, but the Magistrate took a different view, and, in fining each defendant £5, mentioned that he would have inflicted a much heavier penalty had it been shown that the men belonged to the spieling fraternity. Tha Otago Rifle Association intend approaching the Government with the object of obtaining a grant of from £50 to £100 a year for ammunition. One speaker announced, amidst applause, that the Ladies' Rifle Club, of Port Chalmers, with a membership of over thirty, would compete at the meetings, and mentioned that several of them had already beaten many of the crack shots of Port Chalmers.

The decision of the University Council in appointing Messrs Park and Marshall to the positions of Director of the School of Mines and Lecturer on Geology respectively, has given the utmost satisfaction. Apart altogether from their qualifications, the successful applicants both beloig to New Zealand, and this in itself must be deemed especially gratifying, when it is considfrfJ that applications Mere lecraveJ from tre Old Country. America, ;iuri A:;Mriili:i.

Great dissatisfaction exists over the papers set in the Civil Service examnic<tion just concluded, and it would seem as if there were just grounds for complaint on the part of the candidates, who were called on to solve some very puzzling questions. In almost every subject the pape>r was above the heads of boys fresh from school. A few of the questions to which exception is taken read as.follows: —"What are the causes of ocean currents? Enumerate and describe the chief ocean currents, and discuss their effects upon the climate of the countries whose shores they wash. Give as full account as you can of the causes and phenomena of the tides. What do you mean by a continental drainage system? Mention and describe the chief continental drainage systems of the world."