LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 508, 15 May 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Cheers for May Ifallott wore given by-a section of the crowd as sho drove away from the Court yesterday. The trial lasted four hours, and the! jury. after 50 /minutes' -absence, returned a verdict of "Not Guilty." Between 60 and 70 junior members of the Boys' Institute were present at n social given last night by Mrs. Sloan.- Games and competitions helped to. make the evening pass very pleasantly. The competitions were won , by E. Baker, Walter, and Nosbit. . St. Thomas's Football Club, Newtown, held its second annual euchre party in St. Thomas's Hall last evening, when over 100 guests participated in the evening's amusement. Progressive euchre, was played, until 10 o'clock, and after supper several musical items and: recitations woro. given. Kindred clubs wero well represented, and nltogother a moat enjoyable evening was spent. The, weekly meeting of the Wesleyan Literary and Debating Society was held in the Institute, "Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, on Thursday evening, the subject being: "Should Preference be Granted to Unionists?" Mr. Geo. Clark opened in-tho aflirmativo, and Mr. E.'Cumming in the negative. A vote taken at the. close of the discussion was in favour of the negative.A suggestion has been mado to the Government that a branch of the Public Trust Office should be established' in London, and that the functions of the office should be extended so as to enablo persons at; Home to deposit money with tho Public Trustee for investment in the Dominion. The Prime Minister, whilo of opinion that the suggestion has a' good deal to recommend it, nas intimated "that .thero are difficulties in the way of adopting it at present. . Judging by tho state of the finances-of tho Shannon Public Library (says our local correspondent) tho district would seem to have fallen on bad times, or elso the' roading public of Shannon is decidedly limited. There nro about: 900 volumes in 'tho library, and •the assortment compares more than favourably with other country libraries in tho variety and quality of tho reading matter. Yet thero aro only four or five paid-up subscribers. . There are two elements in tea—theino and tannintheino. has the. stimulating effects for which we; alone drink tea. Tannin produces dyspepsia,- and is, thcroforo, injurious to' the' system. - The percontago of thoino in teas varies, and the. variation is according to the quality. Theine is tho attract from tho leaf, and pure tea must consist wholly of loaf and little or nothing of fibro and dust. Crescent Blend Tea is all leaf; it is exquisite in flavour, rich, and of full strongth. - Crosceut Tea cap- • tivaXoi Uuj paint, All gceoer* at 2d, par lb.

Tho Victoria, which left Sydnoy for Auckon Wednesday, May 12, has on board an English and Australi.Li mail, which is dua horo by tho express train from Auckland on Monday afternoon next. The threatened strike on the West Coast, which wis the subjcct of a Groymouth telegram published yesterday, concorns tho workers on the railway between Port Elizabeth and a second.mine, threo and a half miles inland among tho hills. Tho troublo therefore affects tho Public Works Department. Tho first lecture on first aid to tho injured was given by Dr. Hogg at .a class formed in connection with tho St. John Ambulanco As. sociation held at th« office of' tho socrotarj ■(Mr. J. D. Avery) last night. The class is for gentlemen, and there are still a few vacancies for students. Tho second lecture will be given on Friday next. Owing to the alterations to tho mains being carried out in connection with the Hutt Road Improvement' Works, tho water supply from Wamui-o-mata will bo cut oif to-morrow, and residents on the higher levels, other than Kolburno and Brooklyn, will bo without water for the greater part of the day.. Householders are advised to store a supply of water sufficient to last them for the day. It is hoped to restore the supply again tomorrow evening. ■ The General Trust Board of' tho' Anglican diocese of Auckland has decided to erect a now seo house for the Bishop at a oost of between £3000 and' £4000, and tenders will bo called shortly. Tho house will be situated on a portion of tho site in Parnell, neat whore the bell-tower was located, on tho east side', of'the former residence of tho Bishop, which will not be interfered with at present. Tho dwelling will bo a handsomo structure. The Pollard Opera Company, which haß been touring the north, arrived in town last ovening, and will leave for Blenheim, Nelson,': and'the West Coast to-day. En route from Auckland the company opened up a new theatrical touring route, by giving performances at Taumarunui, Ohakune, and Taihape, which have never before been visited by so large an organisation. The circumstanoes_, under ■ which those performances were given will be realised, whon it is stated that in . eaoh town tho performance was given in a delugo of rain. Yesterday's meeting of tho Makara County Council was_ attended by Councillors' Bryant (in the chair), Hawkins, Monk; Eastwood, Moore; and Haggerty. In reference to the difficulty of obtaining road metal from Paokakariki, it was decided' to ask Messrs. J. P. Luke and W. H. Field, M.P.'s, to arrango a deputation to wait on the Government. The council decided to ask the Railway Department' to; declare : the Tawa Flat subway a public crossing. All' outstanding rents and rates, not paid within , a fortnight, are to bo sued for. Accounts amounting to £295 16s. 6d. wore passed for payment. Among tho secondary Bchool magazines for April, tho"Scindian," published by tho Boys' High School, Napier, mußt'take' a leading place. Its comprehensive reports, interesting special articles, and varied budget of fino photographs will bo of special interest to "old boys" and friends of tho school. The "old boys" now extend to most parts of tho civilised and uncivilised world; Extracts are published from a letter by one of them who is working in the Indian Native State of Johore,' where he did not see a European for eight weeks, and another contributor has Norfolk Island for his address. A meeting of Titahi Bay residents was held yesterday morning to consider ways and means by which tho roads round Titahi Bay might be improved. As m outcome of the meeting a ..deputationf. consisting of Messrs. Meadows, Armit, Smith, and Newman; waited upon the Makara County Council, and asked for a refund of £30, part of. the amount paid in rates, the monoy to be spent in putting the , roads into repair. It was. pointed out that while ,the .residents wore paying rates and taxes, nothing- was being done to their portion of the, county. The chairman of tho council said he was quite in sympathy with the'request of the deputation, and would see that something was done in .tho near future.

i'A fathcrrosciting little incident which occurred on. the Wairoa River a few dayß ago proved tho ; sagacity of a. dog (says an exchange). 'A, man '.named Todd was going ashoro from a- river, steamer,- which had . been drawn fairly close rto tho bank, when he slipped into the rivor, and, there being a strong current'running at the time, ho was in danger of boing carriod down stroam. A friend's dog was on the boat, and it seemed to grasp the situation quicker than anyone else, for with a spring.it was into tho water almost as soon as Mr. Todd was precipitated into the stream. The animal quickly grasped Mr. Todd's clothing in his teeth, and made for tho shore, which was successfully reached. Mr. Todd cannot swim, apparently, and had it not been for the' dog a serious result might have'occurred. Tho dog is a fino specimen of a pointer, and can do almost anything but talk, '.An unlucky accident .prevented Dr. Gibh'e jntended lecture on "Rome and Florence" in St. John's Hall last evening. The generator attached to tho lantern, which was under the experienced control of: Mr. Galloway, had begun to make gaß a little too quickly. This often happens, and the excess of gas, would have oeon reduoed in a few seconds,,.when the light, gotting'back into .tho-generator, ignited the escaping gas. There was a quick flare up, which threatened no danger,' as only a small quantity of gas had escaped. The hall was, however, crowded, some of tho audience became alarmed, a lady screamed, and a young man with unfortunate presence of mind tore off his coat and threw it upon tho flames,' upsetting the; generator by his' action. The contents of' the generator poured over the floor, and a generar smell and smother wore a , further ■ obstacle toholding any lecture. The , young . man'B , ooat was ruined, and the audience lost their pleasure. As they, evacuated tho smoky hall, their tickets or money were returned, to them,, and Dr. Gibb will dilate upon the glories and humours of tho' Italian cities on another evening.

At a meeting of the Pharmacy' Board of Now Zealand, held in Wellington yesterday, afternoon—attended by the following members of the Board: Messrs. IV Castle (president), A. Hobson, J. Baillie, and G. Bagley •^the 'reports of the examiners in connection ' with the examinations held last month were considered, >. and the following - candidates gained passes:—Section'A—Auckland: B. M. Irvine; Wellington :'W. J.'Duff, W. J. Inglo, A. F. Stubbs, J. W. W. M'Kenzie: Dunedln: H.'H. I\ Grant. Section B—Auckland: J. G. Gallaglior, C. G. Sandin, J. F. Brooks, A. A. P. Clouston, B. J. Cronin; Wellington: G. C. Armstrong, B. Hill: Christchurch:' W, A. B. Morton and A. F. Brooks; Dunediu: H. T., H. Gill, 11. F, Monzies, F. W. Pratt, H. Brown, and C. G. G. Sinclair. A memorandum from Dr. M'Kellar, Auckland, advocating amendment of the Pharmacy Act to allow hospital nurses to serve apprenticeship' in hospital; dispensaries was roeoived, and it was decided to oppose any such proposal. A largo quantity of board business was 'transacted at the meeting. It is intended at tho next monthly meeting to consider means for improving the conduct of tho board's practical examinations. ;> Tho annual' general meeting of tho Gregg , Shorthand Association was held in tho Gregg Institute Rooms on Thursday evening, Mr. J. Wyn Invin inthc chair. '|hc report congratulated members on the sound financial position of the association, and the rapidly increasing number of Gregg writers in Wellington., During tho year 80 speed certificates ,(from.6o to 170 words a minutoi, and 37 theory certificates hud been awarded. Tho following officers ivere electcd for tho ensuing year:—Patron, Sir •J. ;G. Ward (reelected; president; Mr.F. M.'B. Fishor, M.P. (re-elected); vice-presidents, Mrs. Wyn Irwin, Miss A. Seward, Messrs. Barker, Fitzgerald, Fox, Gray, and Waters; hon, sec. and treasurer, Miss E. Tregea; assistant hon. sec. and treasurer, Mr. S. J. Smith; committoe, Misses O'Neill and Ward, Messrs. Wilkio, Downard, and Schmidt; representative for Mr. Gregg, Mr. J. Wyn Irwin. The remainder of the evening was devoted to a most enjoyable musical programme, contributions •bring given by the following members:— Songs by Misses Treeby, Thomas, Dodds, Grcvillc,' Ryan, Messrs. Tinnoy and Munt; piano solos -'by Misses Grist, Packer, and Scanlon; recitations by .Misses Bwen, Vile, and Coad, and Mr. Schmidt. The Gregg hockey cry, spiritedly rendered in Maori by the members, under the direction of tlie composer, Mr. H. B. Stowell, concluded tho evoniii£.