INTERPROVINCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1909, Page 4

INTERPROVINCIAL.

In- a leiter to the Oiago Daily Times, , " Weary Traveller " complains of the encui of a railway journey in New Zealand, caused by the unsociabilfty of fellow-trawellers he meets on the various lines, and he suggests that a friendly association stoontd be formed, the •members of which, when travelling, would ■wear a badge indicative of their willingness to indulge in conversation with or be of service to. their fellow-travellers. The attempt by a solicitor in a recent Maori case ta introduce the Maori equiv- • alent ol the astral plane, or something ot that fcort, was mildly bnfc firmly nipped in the bud by the presiding magistrate, to whom, as to most of us, the things oE this, world give ti'ooble enough. The introduction of evidence from the other world would have bpen most interesting, and a special report for s\lr. W. T. Stead, the dauntless explorer of Spookland, would have commanded a good figure. The restriction of evidence to the purely material may be necessary according to the letter of the law, but it is disappointing to have missed an excursion into the occult as viewed from a Maori standpoint. — Rotorua Times, There passed away at the Kumara Hospital, on Friday moraine, one of the oldest and best known residents of the Wairarapa district, in lhe person, of Mr. James Valentine, reports the Daily limes. Deceasfcd was a native of Dublin, and 77 years of age. For upwards ot 40 yeai"s he has been connected witji the courts of Hokitika, StrdEfcwdtown, Kumar a. and for a short time in Canterbury, as bailiff. He received his first opportunity under Warden Shaw in December, 1868, and retained his office, ercept a shout interval some years ago, when he retired owing to ill-health, but was reinstated again, up till last y«ar, when he was retired on pension. "Old Val/^as he was popularly called, was a favourite ' with everyone, young and oW, in the district. Mi\ Comgan, who organised the Nelson Co-operative Freezing Works, is assisting in the formation of the new co-operative freezing works for Wairarapa and Mana■vrafcu, and is already assured that the necessary capital to float the concern will be forthcoming. The question of site will be submitted for eiperi decision after flotation, states an exchange. On Friday a monster rainbow trout was caught in the Tongariro River. The fish weighed 30^1b, the Auckland Star reports, and was 42 inches long by 30 inches in girth. The fish are now on their annual run from Lake Taupo, and the rivers are swarming with very fine fish, A demonstration of the salient features of the St. John Ambulance Brigade's new galloping wagon was given on Saturday afternoon at Cranmer square, before aibout a hundred people (reports the Lyttelton Times). The display consisted of giving first aid to a man, who was supposed to have fallen from a scaffolding, _ and removing him to the hospital in ..the wagon, which was called by a telephone message. The work was smartly carried out, and the capabilities of the new wagon were thoroughly- demonstrated. Three 'little children sat gravely eating biscißts, provided as a last gift, on the benches in the Magistrate's Court at Oamaru on Saturday morning, while the father asked for their committal to the Caversbam Industrial School. There was (says the OanuCru Mail) another, a baby of, four months, but the father, who had had to dress the children, could not finish the toilet of the baby in time for the court. It was a sad story, told by a man with wet eyes : "Mother very delicate and unable to look after the children ; father receiving 21s a week ; debt, efforts by the father to care for the children proving too much fon him — then the court." There is nothing against the father or mother in any way. The affection of the children for the father, warmly returned, added pathos to the query : "If I go to the Tiome can I see them sometimes?" The parents have only been a few months in Oamaru. .Mr. Hutchison, %vho was evidently in sympathy with the father, committed the children, and the forlorn family trailed out of court. At Invercargill last week a case of some interest to motorists was disposed • oi (states the Daily Times). T,. Brown, of Gore, was charged with carrying a tin of petrol in a passenger carriage, contrary to the regulations. Mr. Macalister, who appeared for the Bailway Department, said the department wished the public to know that this was an offence, as it was not only a. nuisance, but was dangerous. In this case defendant had a motor bicycle, and he put this in the van, and emptied the- oil from the tank into a small can, which he put in a first-class non-smoker carriage, while he himself went into a smoker. Brown admitted the offence at once when asked about it, but stated that he did not know that it was an offence. Defendant stated that he acted in ignorance of the regulations. He knew tho character of petrol pretty well, and that it was_not permitted to leave petrol in the tank of a motor bicycle in the van, on account of the danger of explosion from concussion. At the same time he always carried • spare petrol on ■ the carrier of his machine, where there was quite as much vibration as in a van, and had never had an explosion. Ip order to avoid any possibility of the spirit being exploded by combustion, he placed the can in a non-smoker instead j of taking it into a smoking carriage. I Defendant (reports the Southland Times) was convicted, and ordered to pay costs (witnesses' expenses- and solicitor's fee)' amounting to £3. The escapades of tww youths, who are said to have absconded from Burnham, have been causing the police authorities at Lyttelton considerable trouble during the past week. It is alleged thatthe youths stole two bicycles at Ashburlon, and set out for Chrislchurch. One bicycle is said to have broken down at Rakaia, and ; fc is further alleged that • after leaving the machine with a cycle repairer, they took charge of another bicycle further up the street, and rode on to Christchwrch and Lyttelton. At the port they were seen on the wharves by Constable Eichardson, who caught one of them. The other ran away, and mounting one of the bicycles, rode off in a hurry to Governor's Bay. The police telephoned to the Bay, and the youth was chased by a man on horseback. He abandoned the bicycle when he was l-idden down, and got away out of sight in the bush. The youth who was caught in Lyttellon, and whose ' name is Oliver Erneat ■ Campbell, appeared at tho Lyttelton Police Court, charged with ha-vring. on sth May, at Asbbnrton, stolen a bicycle valued at £5, the property of George Stoddart. The police asked' for a remand till Monday next,' which was granted. In the meantime the other youth had made his way back to Lytteltou, and was seen by Detective Hammond. Tho boy, who was j going down to the Pateena, dodged bci >,hind a truck, and on being followed by • the detective, ran off in the direction. V iof the Gladstone Pier. A hot chase re- ? *su}ted, aud Detective Hammond finally - *ran tho youth down on board the Marat roa, prhich was lying .alongside.