LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Post, Volume LV, Issue 102, 2 May 1898, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Three members of Parliament— MessrsA. W. Hogg (Masterton), John Grabam (Nelson), and P. J. O'Regau (Inangahua)— will be the Government nominees on the Council of the Victoria College. Dr. James, Wellington, has been appointed by the Government to represent tbe Professorial Board on tiie Council until the Board is able to elect its own member. The first meeting of the Council is to be beld at an early dale. The Railway Department is considering tbe desirability of improving the communication between Wellington and Auckland via the West Coast by running three or fodr express trains per week between this city and New Plymouth. At present express trains are only run twice each week — viz., Tuesdays and Fridays. On the other days the train leaving Wellington in the morning only gets as far as Hawera that night. The improvement of the service will depend in a great measure on tbe co-operation of the two companies which run steamers between New Plymouth and Onehunga. We understand that the result of the enquiry into the circumstances under which tbe school train was derailed at Kaitoke some weeks ago is that the stationmastei there has been cautioned. The Minister for Lands has promised tc give serious consideration to a suggestion from the AVanganui Chamber of Commerce as to the desirableness of preserving the ferns and native bush on the slopes of the river adjacent to the Ohutu block for scenery purposes'. Mr. Justice Edwards was unable tc resume his seat on the Court of Appeal Bench to-day, being still confined to his house with a severe attack of asthma. A strange occurrence is reported in connection with the election of a School Committee at Dannevirke. According to tbe declared result of the poll, one candidate received only 24 votes. A recount, however, showed that he had received 53, while two others received more votes than were credited to them. Two of the three scrutineers are, it is alleged, prepared to swear that the declaration of the poll was correct. The ballot papers will probably be forwarded to the Hawkes Bay Education Board. Some neighbours discovered an incipient fire in the rear portion of a house occupied by Mr. W. H. Skinner on Upper Lewisvilleterrace yesterday afternoon, aud on the almost " unringable " bell in Tinakori-road which is supposed to do duty as a firebell a brave effort was made to ring out an alarm. Owing to this inability to properly ring the bell, and to the fact that a telephone message was misinterpreted, the main contingent of the Pire Brigade, under Captain Kemsley, did not arrive on the scene of the outbreak until some little time after all danger had been ended by tbe neighbours. The building is owned by Mrs. Holdsworth, and insured in the Norwioh Union office. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Slight, who are leaving Paikakariki after a residence of several years, were entertained by the residents at a ball on Friday night. There was a large and representative gathering, and the proceedings were very hearty, about 100 persons being present. Mr. D. P. Lynch, J.P., after a speech expressing his sense of the loss the district was sustaining in the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Slight, presented them, on behalf of the settlers, with a beautifully - illuminated address. Mr. Slight thanked the residents for their good wishes towards himself and his wife, and assured them that the address with which he had been presented would ever remain one of his most treasured belongings. The final heat of the Petone Homing Pigeon Club's ltace for Mr. Priest's trophy was flown on Saturday afternoon from Eketahuna. Three owners competed, starting seven birds. Of these, Mr. W. Dixon's Builder got home just in front of Mr. T. Lunny's Blue Tire and Goldleaf, who again came home simultaneously. Builder's velocity was 943 yds lft per minute, Mr. Lunny's birds doing 943 yds. On making up the points, Mr. Dixon and Mr. Haggar proved to be equal with 10 eaoh. The tie will be flown off at an early date. A telegram from Dunedin states that Mr. Durward Lely commenced his second season there on Saturday night, the Garrison Hat being crowded to suffocation. At the close of the concert, when Mr. Lely sang the American patriotic song " The Star-Spangled Banner," the audience was wildly enthusiastic. " It is no use telling me that betting on the totalisator is perfectly moral and betting by means of bookmakers most immoral," said Mr. Haselden, S.M., this morning. But learned counsel shook their heads, apparently deprecating even the bare possibility of their making such a suggestion. A Church Lade' Brigade on the lines which have worked successfully in Eugland has been formed in connection with St. Paul's parish. The Hon. J. Gr. Ward is at present on a visit to Wellington. Judge Butler, of the Native Land Court, who is at present in Wellington, will open a sitting of the Court ab Hastings on Thursday. Mr. H. J. Carter, who has been on the inspecting staff of the Wanganui Education Board, has been appointed to the charge of the school at Newman. A new and improved hot salt-water apparatus has been fitted up at the Thorndon Baths. Mr. T. W. Manifold, cutter at Te Aro House, who has left that firm to enter into business at Pahiatua, was on Saturday presented with a testimonial from the employe's of the tailoring' department, accom panied with a Gladstone bag. Yesterday's offertories at St. Paul's proCathedral are to be applied towards replenishing the libraries and providing the annual prizes of the parish Sunday Schools. Mr. Haselden, the Wairarapa Stipendiary Magistrate, is presiding over the Wellington Magistrate's Court during the time Mr. Kenny is attending to the work of District* Judge Kettle. At to-day's sitting four first offenders were punished for drunkenness; and Thomas Trudgeon was fined 10s, in default 48 hours' imprisonment." To a charge of disorderly behaviour while druuk, John Johnston aud James Simms pleaded Guilty and were fined 10s, in default 48 hours. Alex. M'Donald was found guilty of having stolen two watches and one gold chain, valued at £5, the property of James Connoff, and was sentenced to four months' hard labour. An old offender, Matthew E. Pickering, for being charged with being an incorrigible rogue and vagabond, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. The native Kuku Karaitiana, who was remanded on Saturday on a charge of having obtained from John Coogan by false pretences a quantity of clothing and a portmanteau, of the total value of £11 16s, was granted a further remand till Wednesday. Further evidence was taken in the case against George Aldridge, who is charged with an assault on Constable O'Connell, and auother remand was granted, to allow oertun enquiries to be made. For committing a breach of the Factories Act, by employing a girl after 1 o'clock on a recent Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Whittaker was fined 20s and costs, £1 Bs. The defendant pleaded that she was unaware that the girl was working on the premises at the time, but Miss Soott, an Inspector of Factories, proved the offence. Dr. Findlay appeared for the Department. The Southern Cross Society will meet this evening to receive the report of Miss Kirk, who was its delegate to the Women's National Council.

Two more oases brought by the Wellington Racing Club against bookmakers were heard in the Magistrate's Court this moruing. The oasen, which were against Solomon and Wm. Ball am for wilful trespassing, were similar to that brought against Champion a few days ago. The men went on to the course at tho recent race meeting, cried the odds, and were conducted off the course by the club's officials, but returned by jumping over the fence and plied their avocation with renewed vigour. The only difference between these cases and that of Champion was that whereas in Champion's case one of the grounds of Mr. Wilfoul's contention was that Champion could not have been put out of the enclosure, because there was then no enclosure, the gateway being without a gate, this had since been remedied by the erection of turnstiles, making the enclosure complete. In the previous case the fine inflicted was increased in order to enable the defendant to appeal. Mr. Wilford, who appeared for today's defendant, admitted the facts in Solomon's case, and the same course was pursued —a fine of £2 being increased, at defending counsel's request, to £5 Is. Mr. Myers appeared for the Racing Club, and agreed to the case being dealt with as above. The charge against Ballam was formally adjourned till Wednesday. There wa9 a large attendance yesterday at the funeral of the late Mr, J. W. Richmond, Assistant Engineer of Working Railways. Amongst those present we're Messrs. Ronaj'ne and Hudson (General Manager and Assistant General Manager of Railways), J. H. Lowe (Chief Engineer of Constructed Railways), T. E. Donne (Railway Traffic Manager), H. J. H. Blow (Under-Secretary for Public Works), and Sir Robert Stout. The service at the grave was read by the Rev. T. H. Sprott. There are two million pounds worth of property in Wanganui, and to protect it in these times of unrest the Chairman of the Wanganui Chamber of Commerce considers there should be 200 or 300 men armed with the best of weapons, as well as a couple of gunboats in the river and a couple of batteries at the Heads, so as to be able to ward off attack in case a privateer should happen to come along. The Premier is to be approached on the subject. Yesterday Detective Henderson arrested a man named Duncan M'Gregor on a charge of having obtained by false pretences from Messrs. Abraham & Williams, Palmerston North, 758 sheep valued at £209. In the Magistrate's Court this morning M'Gregor was remanded, on the application of Inspector Pender, to appear at Palmerston North to-morrow morning, being allowed bail in his own recognisances for £300, and two sureties of £150 each. Mr. J. Hutcheson, M.H.R., presided at the " Talks on Current Topics " in the Forward Movement Hall on Saturday evening. Mr. W. A. Evans delivered an mteresting address on certain stages of the development of the Labour Movement in the Old Country. Mr. D. M'Laren gave a recitation, and several songs were also sung. Members were enrolledfor a choir in connection with the meetings. Special meetings of the Salvation Army were held yesterday at the Oitadel, Vivianstreet, led by Major Birkenshaw,- divisional officer, assisted by Major Turner, of Melbourne. The building was packed both in the afternoon and evening. In the afternoon the marriage of Mr. C. Day and Miss Clarke took place according to Army rites. Afterwards Major Turner gave a stirring address dealing with different phases of Army work. He rebutted a statement that Prison-gate Brigade Homes and those of a like nature were mere criminal academies, and gave several instances of long-sentence prisoners who had become thoroughly reformed and were now leading respectable lives. In .the evening .Major Turner again gave an impassioned address on the Army's •ocial work. At a meeting of Wellington painters 38 more signed their names to the roll of membership of the Union. A large amount of business was done, including proper organisation before making demands on employers for inoreased pay and shorter hours of labour. The annual sale of work in connection with the Wesley Church Sewing Guild will be held on Wednesday next in the schoolroom. In addition to a variety of goods, there will also be refreshments, and in the evening, besides vocal and instrumental music, the graph ophone will be exhibited. Admission will be free. After the monthly inspection of the Wellington Naval Artillery, the comrades and detachment of P.O. Davenport entertained him at a socml gathering in the National Hotel.' In the course of the proceedings, Leading-Gunner Donaldson presented to P.O. Davenport a beautifully framed group photograph of his late squad, mentioning the regret of the detachment and the company at his retirement from active service to go on the Reserve. P.O. Davenport suitably responded. A painful case, said to be probably the first of its kind, heard in the colony under the 1893 Criminal Code Act, came before the Stipendiary Magistrate at New Plymouth last week. A man named Wood was charged with having omitted to supply his wife with the necessaries of life (the woman herself being unable, through sickness, to do so) r ßuch omission causing her health to be permanently injured. The evidence disclosed a shocking state of things. The woman was suffering from congestion of the lungs, heart djsease, and from the effects of a recent miscarriage. When visited by a doctor she was lying on what was described as a filthy bed, and in an equally filthy room, the walls of the latter being full of cracks and holes. It was a terrible case of destitution, and the .doctor in his evidence said that though it was a fine day when he went to the place, yet the yard was ankle-deep in mud, and a number of pigs were wandering about around the house. During the hearing of the case the defendant, who appeared to be of a most excitable disposition, kept up a runniug comment on the evidence,* and again and again held forth on the efficacy of certain pills and ointment with which he said he had cured his wife, and which would enable him to defy all the doctors in the world. Such was the purport of the man's repeated interruptions. Painful though the revelations were, it could not be proved that Wood had actually neglected to supply his wife with the necessaries of life, so the Magistrate dismissed the information, remarking that the informant was perfectly right in taking the action he had taken, The Superintendent of the Home for the Aged Needy, Adelaide-road, desires to thank the proprietors of the New Zealand Times and Mr. Herbert Stock for colonial newspapers and illustrated periodicals for the use of the inmates. The new offices of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society in the fine building erected for the society at the corner of Customhouse-quay and Harbour-street, is now occupied, and the local Secretary gives notice of removal into it. The first of a new series of sixpenny popular concerts is announced for Wednesday evening at the Skating Rink. The programme published on Saturday set an excellent standard, which if kept up during the season should reap to the promoters the fruits of success. Singers of such culture as Madame Carlton and Miss Tansley are always worth hearing, while the items by the " Alabama Cooms," an orchestra, and Messrs. R. H. Hall, P. A. Savieri, and C. Cinjino will no doubt hi found well worth their place on the programme. An extraordinary general meeting of the Wakamarina Gorge and Deep Creek Gold Mining Company, Limited, is to be held at the Exchange Buildings to-morrow.

Among the passengers from the South yesterday were the Premier, the Minister for Lands, and Sir James Hector. Recent appropriations by Cabinet include £1500 for the Otago Central Railway and £600 for the Waipa bridge. A compliment that was not without satirical meaning was paid the police this morning by Mr. Haselden, S.M., in connectiou with the " moving on " of people in crowded thoroughfares, notably Willis-street. His Worship remarked that he had not seen the constables performing that function often, but when they did it was done in a most, polite manner. This remark was evoked by an allegation that a constable had roughly ordered persons to " move on," and when arresting a man had handled him with unnecessary roughness. At St. Augustine's Anglican Church, Petone, last evening, it was announced that a special service for cyclists will be held next Sunday afternoon. With the exception of the choir, the church will on this occasion be reserved for cyclists, the public being admitted after the wheelmen have taken their seats. The Jubilee cantata written by Meisrs. Mautchan Barnettand A. H. Adams, " ASong of Empire," was successfully performed by the Nelson Harmonic Society last Friday evening. Mr. Barnett went across and personally conducted the production. The Newtown contingent of the Salvation Army now has the advantage of being commanded by Captain W. H. Gore, who was leader of the Australian Guard Army Band for a considerable time, and who led it through its tour in New Zealand a short time since. Although he has been in command only a few weeks there is already a very noticeable improvement in the work of the Newtown Band. Special interest will be given to the limelight lecture to be delivered by Mr. C. Huike in the Forward Movement Hall to-night by the exhibition of views of Havana Harbour and other places connected with the Spanish-American War, as well as the Swiss scenes previously advertised. Members of the New Zealand Natives' Association are reminded that the halfyearly meeting will be held to-night in Thomas's Hall. The Secretary, Mr. Logan, reports that the Invei'cargill and Christchurch branches are in a flourishing condition, and a branch has now been formed in Dunedin. It is intended to form a volunteer corps here in connection with the Association. There are already four corps in connection with the Auckland branch. The Secretary of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants gives notice that the next examinations of the Institute will be held on the 20th instant, in the four centres only. A moonlight excursion to Day's Bay in the steamer Duchess is advertised for Wednesday evening. Dancing in the new pavilion, under electric light, is one of the attractions promised. Messrs. Davis & Clater advertise a large stock of hosiery and mercery, whioh they claim to be the best value in New Zealand. The prices of various articles are set out in the advertisement. Mr. A. Lindsay apologises to those who were unable to get served on Saturday night, and notifies that to-day and every day this week fresh lots of cheap boots will be brought forward. The loss of a cheque for is advertised in another column. Messrs. Francis Sidey & Co. will sell, at their Central Manners-street mart to-morrow, really good household furniture. Messrs. F. E. Jackson & Co. will bold their weekly sale of stock at Johnsonville to-morrow. To-morrow, at their yards, Johnsonville, Messrs. A. <j. Tame & Co. will sell sheep, cattle, &o. Good-looking women and plain women are mutually agreed that the wearing of furs adds greatly to the attractiveness of their appearance. There is a softness, a richness, an air of distinction about handsome furs that imparts an extremely taking air to the wearers. This being the case, it is not surprising that the chilly season finds furs in great demand. It is with much pleasure, therefore, that we direct the attention of all ladie,s to the unrivalled stock of furs now to be seen at Messrs. James Smith & Co.'s, Te Aro House. A speciality is made this winter of those Very^becoming fur necklets which are now the rage. The choice is the most extensive ever offered in Wellington, and comprises some really beautiful goods. Long fur boas are also shown in immense variety, both as regards price and style, and in all cases the value is so astonishingly good that the display of these furs presents an opportunity that ladies should hasten to take advantage of. Our advertising columns contain particulars that will doubtless send many a one to make extensive purchases at the fur department, Te Aro House. — Advt.