LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Post, Volume LII, Issue 93, 10 September 1896, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Yesterday afternoon the Legislative Council referred the report of the Native Affairs Committee upon the petition of Kipa te Whatanui to the Government, considered the Defamation Bill in Committee, and in Committee struck out the short title of the Criminal Code Act Amendment Bill dealing with the crime of incest. In the House of Representatives the Abattoirs and Slaughterhouses Bill and the Poverty Bay Land and Deeds Registration Districts Bill were put through their final stages; the Native Reserves Act Amendment Bill was read a second time and referred to the Native Affairs Committee ; and the Wages Protection Bill, Ngatitoa Trust Bill Rating Act Amendment Bill, and Married Persons Summary Separation Bill were put through their final stages. It is proposed to open classes in telegraphy, telephony, shorthand, advanced joinery, and hand-railing at the Wellington Technical School :.t the commencement of the next quarter.

The passengers from London by the Kaikoura this morning included the Hon. W. C. Smith, who returns to the colony apparently greatly benefit ed by the change of air and scene, and Mr. E. J. Strickland, son of the London manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, who is making the round trip in the vessel. The infant child of one of the steerage passengers died on the voyage a few days after its birth. There is an unusual amount of ice in the track of vessels bound from London to Australia and New Zealand just now, judging from the reports of vessels whmh v have recently arrived in the colonies. On the voyage of the Kaikpura which ended this morning six . icebergs were passsd between long. 54 E. and long. 70 E., and there was also a considerable amount of broken ioe dangerous to navigation. One berg sighted was 1J miles long and 870 feet high. Several offers of land at a small rental for the market-garden scheme were received and • considered by the Anti-Chinese League at its meeting last night. Mr. Murdoch condemned the proposal to' establish a market garden unless taken up by the Government, when it could be worked by the unemployed. Messrs R. Patten and Glover spoke in the same strain. Mr. A. Collins (Chairman) said that vegetables were being grown at the Levin State Farm, but the distance was too far from "Wellington to make the garden of nay service to the local market. The matter was eventually allowed to stand over. A long discussion ensued as to the probable cost of establishing and maintaining a central vegetable market. Ultimately it was decided, on the motion of Mr. Collins, to adjourn the meeting for a fortnight and invite the Hutt farmers and the fruiterers to attend the adjourned meeting, to take into consideration the question of establishing a central depdt. The Seoretary reported that a complaint had been made to him by a tenant that he had been turned out of his shop, and the shop re-let to a Chinaman at a higher rental, and further, that the landlord and his family were living in the same house. A motion was unanimously carried declaring that the conduct of the landlord in question was disgraceful. A small scow has been built by Mr. Henny Bender at his yard on the reclaimed land at Te Aro, and will be used by him for lightering purposes in the harbour. She is on the lines of the flat-bottomed cargo boats so popular in Auckland, and a trial trip has proved that she possesses a good turn of speed. Her length on deck is 36ft, and she is able to carry 12 tons of material on a draught of 2ft. Her beam is 9ft 4in. She^ is fitted with leeboarde, a centreboard having been considered inconvenient. An English and an .Australian mail, as well as an English parcel post mail, came to hand by the Kaikoura tins morning. Mr. G. H. Scales, Secretary of the Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Association, returned yesterday by the Mararoa from Dunedin, where he interviewed, the Manager of the Union Steam Ship Company with reference to affording facilities for the transit of the live stock which is to be exhibited by Southern breeders at the Association's show in November. The result of the interview was very satisfactory. The company has undertaken to run a suitable steamer from Dunedin to Petone, calling at Oamaru and Lyttelton 'en route. Reduced freights are to be charged. About 100 head of cattle and a very large number of sheep are to be brought up. The entries from the various parts of .the colony will greatly exceed those for any previous show, and it will be necessary to double the accommodation for the live stock. After we went to press yesterday the hearing of the case of Jack v. "Wellington Patent Slip Company, in which the plaintiff claims £220 for damage done to the yacht Ngaira, was concluded. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, finding that the Patent Slip Company had taken charge of the yacht on 3rd June, and had been guilty of negligence, and awarded the plaintiff £135 as damages, frith costs according to scale. No award was given on the defendant company's counter-claim of £10 for damage done to ite wharf by the yacht. His Honour Mr. Justice Edwards leave to the defendant company to move to set aside the " judgment within 14 days. Mr. Toung appeared for the plaintiff and Mr. Ollivier for the defendant company. ' Mr. H. D. Bell, M.H.R., has contributed £2 2s to the prize fund of the Wellington Technical School. An entertaining performance was given in the Exchange Hall last evening, before a, crowded house, by the Zealandia Variety Company, as a benefit to Mr. H. Hall. The first part of the programme consisted of variety items contributed by Misses Hawthorn, Lucas, and Thompson and Messrs. Evans, Hall, Savieri, Tipling, Mackey, Lightfoot, and the Laurence Bros. Every item wa# encored, the Laurence Bros, being specially honoured for their clever acrobatic feats. A one -act comedy, entitled "Bearding the Lion," occupied the remainder of the evening, the different characters being interpreted by ' Misses Hall, Kelly, and Fitzgerald and Messrs. Savieri and Hall. Capt. Kemsley, of Wellington, estimates the cost of complete appliances and uniforms for the Danevirke Fire Brigade at £416 7s lid. The matter has been referred to a . special committee, as the Borough Council ' consider the price is above its means. At a meeting of the committee held list eveuing final arrangements were made for the carrying out of the German ball to be held next Monday. Mr. Godber is caterer, and Messrs. M. Eller & Son have been . entrusted with the furnishing. Two handsome stallions arrived from South by the Flora yesterday for «ale purposes—Victor and Lord Derby. Victor is a bay Clydesdale by Hero — Maud, by South- , stone. Hero comes from a splendid family, his dam being Damsel, who was imported from Scotland, and was purchased for 500 guineas. Lord Derby is a fine upstanding carriage stallion. The horses will be exhibited at Messrs. A. G. Tame & Co.'s annual parade on Saturday. Mr. T; B.Fleming delivered an interesting lecture on "Friends worth Cultivating 5*5 * at the meeting of the Forward Movement Literary Society last evening. The secret of a full and useful life, he urged, was friendship with the great and good of all time. This ivas obtained through literature. Three things are necessary to true friendship — sympathy, knowledge, and familiarity. The necessity for a true conception of an author's lire and character as a means for rightly understanding his work was insisted on. Illustrations were given from the lives' and works of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Cowper, Goldsmith, Scott, and Tennyson. A hearty vote of thanks was given to Mr. Fleming for his lecture, and especially for coming to the help of the society at short notice; Mr. Hinman will continue his lectures in the Gospel Hall, Herbert-street, and the Schoolroom, Sydney-street, to-night and tomorrow night. The subjects are advertised. The New Zealand Cyclists' Touring Club has every prospect of soon becoming the largest organisation of wheelmen in the colony. There are already 250 members on the register, and the Hon. Secretary (Mr. E. T. Sayers) is receiving numerous applications every day from cyclists of both sexes. , The objects and advantages, which are numerous, include a gazette being posted to each member every month, free of charge. The Faust-Lawton Company continues to do good business. Last night little Ruby Faust in her baby songs, Miss Fernandez in her mandolin solos, the Risley act, and Mr, Alf. Lawton (who was in especially good " form) kept the house Well entertained.

It is probable that Mr. J. E. Page, Town Clerk, who has been ill for some time, will spend a fortnight at the Hot Lakes before resuming his official duties. An aljourned meeting of creditors in the estate of Mrs. Mary Ann Bowen was held this morning, the Official Assignee presiding. With regard to the offer of the members of the debtor's family to make a reduction in their claims on the estate and take over the stock at a certain sum, the Official Assignee said he thought if the creditors accepted' the claim he could give them 10s in the £. After discussion it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. Stringer (Bing, Harris & Co.), to accept the offer to settle for the family olaims by a reduction of £0 per cent, all round ; the Levin atook to be taken over at 13s 4d in the £, the building at £100, and the plant at £40. The meeting adjourned tine die. Several important changes have been made recently in the deck-officers s*°.ff of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamers. Captain Jaggard, late of the Otarama, has been retained in London to take charge* of. the new, steamer Waimate",' and Captain Haraon, late of the ship Turakina, will be associated with him as chief officer. Captain Sutcliffe, formerly of the Aorangi, is now in' command of the Rakaia. All the deck officers of the Rakaia who were here on the last trip, with the exception of the fourth officer, have been changed. It is reported that Mr. Clifford, chief officer of the Tongariro, will receive command of the Otarama, and that another steamer similar in type to the Waimate will be built for the company. At the Magistrate's Court to-day, Before Mr. J. C. Martin, S.M., an old offender, Fanny Cook, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for drunkenness. Another, Eliza Blame, was fined 10s, or, in default, 48 hours' imprisonment, and a third, Thomas Scott, was fined 40s, or, in the alternative, seven days' imprisonment. Fanny Cook was also sentenced to # three months' imprisonment as a rogue and a vagabond, the sentences to run concurrently. The membership of St. Mark's Temperance Society continues to increase. There are over 100 names on the rol. The annual meeting of the Thorndon Cricket Club was held in the Thistle Inn last night, Mr. J. G. Clark being in the chair. The report and balance sheet, which showed a credit balance, were read and adopted. Eighteen new members were elected. The election of officers resulted as follows : — President, Mr. Jos. Myers ; VicePresidenta, Messrs. Clark, Cameron, C. Haynes, O'Brien, Henderson, and Cooper; Captain, Mr. A. Sampson; Vice-Captain, Mr. A. Williams; Hon. Secretary, Mr. H. Buck ; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. C. Matthews ; Match Committee, Messrs. Yeatts, Williams, and Sampson; General Committee, Messrs. Clark, Yeatts, Golding, Withers, and Sonagle. It was decided to enter a team tar the Junior Championship, and to apply for a practice wioket on the Basin Reserve. Trophies were promised by Messrs. Haynes, Clark, and Williams, to be allotted as the club decides. On the civil gide at the Magistrate's Court this morning, judgment went by default in the following cases : — Cook & Gray v. S. P. M'Nab, £1 4s 3d; Commercial Agency v. W. Hughes, £3 5s 3d ; Staub and Bradley v. J. J. Duncan, £4; same v. James Nowbam, £6 ; J. Liddle v. P. Tuomey, £9 16s lOd; Commercial Agency v. J. Gillies, £2 15s lOd ; same v. C. P. Anderson, £71 15s ; New Zealand Farmers' Dairy Union v. T. Ayton, £8 10s ; same v. D. Humphries, £4 13s 9d ; same v. John Bett, 64 13s 9i ; same v. H. Hansen, £4 13s 9d; Harcourt & Co. v. F. Harding, £2 8s (possession of tenement ordered to be given on Tuesday next) ; F. Balford v. T. Hill, £7 13s (possession of tenement ordered to bp given on Friday next) ; M. Maher v. R. R. Lovegrove, £3 Os 8d ; Commercial Agency v. F. Marshall, £3 Os 6d; same v. W. 0. Bud, £13 5s 6d; same v. W. H. M'Kinnon, £1 its; same" v. W. Bell, £2 6s 7d; Johanna Flockton v. N. Weston, £2 4s. Li the defended cjise of A. G. Tune and Co. v. John Coyle, judgment was given for defendant. In the judgment summons case of G. Stockbridge v. Thos. Marshal], defendant was ordered to pay £1 12s forthwith, or in default undergo three days' imprisonment. In the case in which W. Ryan claimed from C. R. Bowater £7 7s, value of a dog which was run over by defendant, judgment was given for £5 and costs. The Committee of the Horticultural Society met at the Secretary's office last evening, Mr. W. H. P. Barber in the chair. The report as to the recent Bulb Show was most satisfactory, and the Secretary was instructed to write to the exhibitors congratulating them upon their most successful efforts, which caused the show to be such a financial success and advanced the cause of horticulture in the city. A letter was read from the Secretary of the Industrial Exhibition stating that the committee could not see ito way to agree to either of the propositions made by the Society with respect to j holding the Spring Show in the Exhibition Buildings. The Rink has been engaged for the 17th and 18th November for the Spring Show, and it is proposed to hold an art union in connection with it. The Chairman, Secretary, and Mr. A. Boardman compose the sub-committee to carry out the arrangements. The committee is sparing no effort to make the Society the premier one of the colony, and hopes to receive large accessions to the roll of membership. There was a good attendance at the weekly entertainment of the Helping Hand Mission held last night in the Choral Hall. All the items were well received and most were encored. The following ladies and gentlemen took part in the proceedings: — Mesdames Reid and Petrie, Misses E. Weston, Bell, Ellison, Taylor, Everett, and L. Taylor, Messrs. Johnson, Bell, Rose, Hindly, G. Petherick, Redhead, A. Thompson, and J. Sawyer. A temperance character sketch, entitled "Two Pictures," was performed, and the performance by the new brass band was well received. A man named Howie, employed at the Upper Blackball, was standing on an incline when a truck knocked him down and he fell over an embankment about 30ft. He sustained several ugly cuts on the head, his arm was fractured, and his right shoulder dislocated, besides which he was bruised internally. There should be in this paragraph, published by a contemporary, a good chance for our New Zealand breeders: — The London General Omnibus Company have contracted for the supply of 5000 Canadian horses at the useful price of £40 each, to use in their 'buses on the streets of London. This announcement is scarcely calculated to inspire Home breeders of this class of animals with confidence. The Canadian horses have been present in English markets in increasing numbers for several years back. It has generally . been believed, however, that the aim of the importers would fail, for the reason that the foreign horses, though suitable in weight and build, and tempting in price, would not be able to withstand the* combined hardships of the British climate and the wear and tear of London street work in a manner which would justify employers in giving them preference to the home-bred animals. In course of time, therefore, it was expected that the Canadian invasion would practically cease. The information alluded to, however, does not indicate any such probability. The London Omnibus Company uses an active, light, draught horse, about the size and substance of a Clydesdale. Such horses are much more easily reared in the colonies than in Canada. Hot-house tomatoes grown at Newman are already to be.seen at Eketahuna.

The funeral of the Marquis de Mores (who lost his life in undertaking a counterdemonstration against the British in the Soudan) at Notre Dame on 19th July was a demonstration in which some were sincere mourners, while.ofliers joined in the procession in the expectation of some disturbance, whioh, however, did not take place. Speeches were delivered in which the murder of the Marquis de Mores was attributed to the Jews and the English, and the listeners oried " A has les Juifs ! A has l'Angleterre!" President Faure, M. Hauotaux, and General Billet sent representatives, and the Duke of Orleans sent a wreath to be placed on the coffin of " the great explorer dying for his country." • While the present craze continues it can hardly be expected (says a London paper) that there will be any material deorease in the price 1 of cycles, but already the American manufacturer threatens to become a formidable competitor by supplying highclass machines at a lower figure than the home maker. It is by no means improbable, however, that they will both be undersold by the Japanese, who have recently taken to the construction of wheels, and although very few, if any, have been placed on the English market, large numbers have been exported to New York, where they command a ready sale, on account of their low pricej although they are strong, beautifully finished, and constructed with the exquisite imitative skill for which the Japanese are celebrated, after the most approved models of the day. A case of breach of promise of marriage was mentioned before Mr. Justice Williams at Melbourne the other day. Isabella Rice, a professional nurse, is proceeding against James Joseph Gibney, of Maffra, to recover £1000 damages. The defendant is alleged to have promised to marry the plaintiff as soon as he was out of the hands of the doctor who at the time of the promise was attending him for injuries received through an accident. According to the plaintiff the defendant's vows were not kept upon his recovery nor within reasonable time afterwards. The plaintiff's version is denied by the defendant. The case stands adjourned owing to the illness of the plaintiff. The foundering of the German gunboat Iltis, in the China Sea, involving the loss of 77 lives, was recently reported by cable from London. News received in Sydney from the East states that the Iltis was on her way from Chefoo to Nagasaki, when she fell in with a typhoon, and struck on a small island. She quickly broke in half, and only the fore part remained above water. From this, two days later, eleven men were taken off. The survivors had a thrilling experience on the wreck. The scene of the disaster was Flat Rocky Point, which is the southernmost point of Shangkao Bay, in the Shangtung Promontory, and about 60 miles from Chefoo. Consternation has been caused in Napier by the destruction of a number of valuable dogs. The Evening News states that only a few days ago a pair of valuable young Gordon setters were missed and subsequently found, one lying in a quarry with its head smashed in, and the other, poisoned, on the road. About the same time two dogs prized by the owners were poisoned on the Whiteroad. On Friday Mr. C. Ryan's valuable greyhound Cartridge was poisoned, and on Saturday morning Mr. J. Calder's wellknown and much-prized miniature collie Bunny was found dead in Market-street, also the victim of strychnine. After a series of trials of Commander J. D. Irvine's line-throwing gun, the Trinity House Corporation has ordered that five of of its vessels are to be supplied with these guns. The object of the new gun is to effect immediate line communication between two vessels at sea, or between ships and shore, by means of a rod (having a line attached to it) being discharged from the gun — in fact, of establishing line communication wherever necessary. Another use claimed for the gun is that of saving lives from drowning. Lord Glasgow will attend the lecture which M. Leo R. Sulzberger is to give at the Opera House on Saturday night on " French Wit and Humour." The proceeds are to be devoted to University purposes. The box plan may be found at Holliday*s. A special meeting of the Women's Social and Political League, for members only, will be held to-morrow evening, when Messrs. Worth and D. P. Fisher will deliver addresses. An instrumental and vocal entertainment, with musical glasses performances and character sketch, is advertised for to-morrow night at the Choral Hall, Courtenay-place. Admission is by silver coin collection. Jupp's Private Band will give another performance in Oriental Bay on Sunday afternoon, and make a collection in aid of its instrument fund. A lecture, illustrated by lime-light views, will be given by Mr. F. de J. Clere, F.R.1.8.A., on " The Famous Buildings of the World," in the large hall of the Technical School next Monday evening. A special meeting of St. John's Lodge, 1.0. G.T., is convened for to-morrow evening at 7.30 o'clock, and visitors from other lodges are asked to attend at 8.30 p.m. Seaside sections on the Miramar estate have been much in request of lato, and some twenty houses on the harbour frontage are to be built within the next few weeks. Messrs. A. and C. Crawford, proprietors of the estate, notify in another column that they are prepared to let or sell further allotments ranging in area from a quarter of an acre upwards. Messrs. Harcourt & Co. will sell by auction to-morrow, at 2.30 p.m., two dwellings in Hopper-street, NO3. 40 and 42. The upset price will be .£4OO, and the rentals produced by the property, viz., 19s per week, will give a return of over 12 per cent, gross on this reserve. The sum of .£3OO may remain on mortgage if desired by the purchaser. The properties in Nelson-street and Alfred-street, recently advertised, have been withdrawn. Messrs. E. B. Crespin & Co. call speoial attention to their price-list of boots and shoes just landed per s.s. Mataura and lonic, there being 20 per cent, reduction on every line. ' Mr. W. F. Shortt will hold two important trade Baleß to-morrow — at 11 o'oloolc, condemned stores at Mount Cook Barracks, by order of the Defence Department; ana at 2.30 p.m., builders' material in Taranakistreet, on the Cathedral site, by order of Mr. J. H. Meyer. Messrs. A. 6. Tame &Co. advortisea largo catalogue of furniture for sale to-morrow, at 11 o'clock, in the upper and lower salerooms — the contents of two houses. As the owners are leaving tho colony, there will be no reserve. The hour of sale is 11 o'clock, not 1.30 as previously notified.