LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the afternoon meeting of the Exchange yesterday there was an extensive turnover, and gales were as follow : — Kauri Timber, 15s paid, 14s 8d ; New Zealand Portland Cement, £2 Is ; Consolidated Gold, 16s 8d; Tairua Broken Hills, 2s o£d ; Talisman, £2 11s 9d (two parcels) ; Waihi, £9 Os 9d ; Extended, 6s 4d; Grand Junction, £2 5s and £2 5s 3d; New Sylvia, 2s Id and 2s 2d; Pride of Waihi, 9|d and lOd. At the first call to-day mining interests again almost monopolised attention. Talisman were the medium of big business at from £2 12s 6d down to £2 11s 9d. Waihi £9 Is, and Portland Cement £2 Is were the other sales reported. Quotations : — National Bank, £5 8s (seller) ; Equitable, £9 7s 6d (s) ; Trust and Agency, lls 3d (buyer) ; Trust and Loan, £7 Is (s) ; Deposit and Mortgage, 8s 6d (s); Peilding Gas £1 (b), £1 Is (s) ; South British, £2 7s 9d (b), £2 8s 6d (s) ; Christchurch Meat £10 4s (b), £10 8s (s) ; Gear £10 2s 6d and £2 12s 6d (b) ; Wellington, £6 5s (s) ; Stockton 8s 6d (s) ; Leyland Timber, £1 Is 6d (b), £1 2s 3d {&); Portland Cement," £2 Os 6d (b), £2 Is 6d (s) ; Taranaki Petroleum, 7s 6d (s) ; Blackwater, £1 4s 6d (b) ; Big River £2 18s (s) ; Consolidated Gold, 17s (s); N.Z. Crown, 5s 4d, (b), 5s 9d (s); Tairua Broken Hills, 2s (b), 2s 3d (s) ; Talisman, cum div, £2 lls 6d (b), £2 12s 3d (s) ; Extended, 6s 2d (b), 6s 6d (s) ; Grand Junction, £2 ,6s 6d (b), £2 7s (s) ; Waihi, £9 Is Ib), £9 2s 6d Is); Waitangi, 4s 2d (b), 4s 3d (s); New Sylvia, 2s 5d (b), 2s lA (s); Waihi Consolidated, 2s 6d, (s); Saxon, 2s 3d (b), 2s 5d (s). The following amounts were authorised for expenditure by Cabinet yesterday : — Roading land for settlement, £2300 ; railway stores, £2800 ; post and telegraph office stores, £2800 j roading lands required for purchase, £3212. Theft from a dwellinghouse of some wearing apparel and a razor and brush, valued at £3 5s 6d, was the nature of a charge preferred against John Thomas Driscoll in the Magistrate's Court today. Evidence was given that accused stole the articles from a bedroom, and subsequently was found wearing the clothing over his own. He pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. The Union Company s steamer Ta^une arrived from Papeete and Raratonga today. She brought 747 tons of cargo — which is somewhat larger than usual. Included in the main list were: — 3334 cases of oranges and 2733 packages ot bananas. Mr. M. P. Caffin, the purser, reports an uneventful run to Wellington. There was a fairly large steerage passenger list for New Zealand and Australia, 25 in all. Most of them are of British origin, and intend to settle in this country or in the Commonwealth. The charge against William Joseph Grendon, of having broken and entered a dwelling-house occupied by John Henry Meyer, with intent to commit a crime, was this morning, in the S.M. Court, reduced, on the application of the police, to one of vagrancy. SubInspector Phair stated that Grendon was heard in the dining-room of the house, and was subsequently seen in the yard. Accused pleaded guilty, and after receiving a warning from the Bench, was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon. Mention Avas made in the course of evidence in a case in the Supreme Court to-day that a little boy on the road by the Karori tunnel asked a man for 'a penny. "People seem to have the habit of begging for pennies round about the tunnel," said Mr. Justice Chapman from the Bench. "The only place I have experienced such a thing as this begging for pennies is just about the tunnel— the only place in New Zealand." "There is a lollie-shop near by that may account for it," said counsel. "Elsewhere," added his Honour, "it is not the habit of youngsters in the streets at all.'\ Some severe strictures on our present system of education ao secondary and university colleges were passed by Professor Hunter, at his lecture to the Teachers' Institute iasfc night. What was wanted, said the Professor, was more continuity and an emancipation from the fetishes of examination and illusive spirit of "general culture." Principles had been sadly neglected in our present system, and no scope is allowed for the development of individuality. Compulsory subjects thought the professor, were an anachronism, and their only effect was to tend to develop students in the same mental mould. Persons who watched the fire at Miramar last evening or assisted in its extinction, had an alarming experience with "live" wires. The electric light wires connected with the Dominion store which was burned, fell to the ground and "spat out fire," as one spectator put it. Mr. Hector M'Leod and Mr. Mark Cronin, who is in the city electrical department, moved the wires into a place of safety, and the former warned the people off while Mr. Cronin, weaiing rubber gloves, handled the wires. The incident was a practical lesson regarding Iho danger of inexperienced people coming in contact with anything of an electrica 1 character. The man-o'-warsman David Johnston, who was remanded at Monday's sitting of the Magistrate's Court on a charge of having unlawfully assaulted a girl aged 13 yeais, was to-day committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Bail was fixed at £60, in two sureties of £30 each.

New books added to the Newtown Libi rary during the period from October, 1903, to February, 1909, total 475, made up as follows : — General literature, 126 ; juvenile literature, 143 ; English fiction* 115 ; American fiction, 91. The annual meeting of tho Wellington Adult School was held in the Druids' Hall last evening, a large number of members of the Society of Friends, now sitting in conference in Wellington, being present. Mr. A. Goldsbury, Lintou, presided. A tea preceded the meeting. An evangelist preacher of the Presbyterian Church, the Bey. Mr. Allen, is to arrive in Wellington next month. He was formerly minister at Goran, in Scotland. Arrangements are being made for the holding of evangelical meetings, by Mr. Allen, in some of the local | Presbyterian .churches. The Canterbury Philosophical Institute proposes (telegraphs our Christchurch special) to hold a special meeting next month to celebrate the 'Darwin Centenary. Speeches will be delivered on Darwin's general scientific work, and his zoology, botany, and geology will receive special treatment. Information has been received in Wellington that a general store, situated at Ruakituri Valley, Cook County, and occupied by Mr. A. L. Bellarby, has been destroyed by fire. Insurances on the building and contents were covered by policies totalling £925, m the Australian Alliance Office. "Where are , those finger-prints the police are so proud about?" asked counsel rhetorically in his address to the jury in a robbery case yesterday. There happened to be a bloodstain on a certain windowframe, and on this counsel placed great weight. There was no finger print, and no microscopic analysis was made of the blood. . ' The question of the Levin-to-Great-ford diversion of the Main Trunk line got short shrift at the Railway Conference at Palmerston North yesterday (telegraphs our correspondent). The delegates were against loop-lines in country already railed, and a motion waß • passed — "That, in the opinion of this conference, it is in the best interests ol the Dominion that the proposed devia-i tion be not made." Some sulphurous language uttered by a prisoner to a police officer was repeated from the witness-box yesterday afternoon in the Supreme Court. "Was the prisoner excited?" asked cross-ex-amining counsel. "No," replied the witness, "he was not excited." "Well, isn't that strong language for a calm man to use?" "Oh, he's a seafaring man, and that is the class of language we expect from them," said the witness conclusively. "They live in a miserable house,"said Miss Kirk, Inspector to the Benevolent Institution Trustees, yesterday. She was referring to the case of a man, just discharged from tho Hospital, and ordered to lay up. "The place is dark, damp, and dismal. It is not suitable for an invalid to be nursed in. The man is being looked after by his wife." It was reported that tho house contained four rooms, and the rent was 16s a week. Heavily-laden vehicles with narrowtyres of late have been making, a mess of roadways in the Hutt County. The heavy traffic to Wainui-o-mata, where the dam construction is in progress, has resulted in the hillroad surface being cut about, and the local roadman, acting under the authority of a by-law and a resolution of the council, adopted yesterday, will prosecute in cases where a weight exceeds' 30cwt on each pair of wheels. (This is to include the weight of the vehicle.) The inspector of works was also authorised to proceed against any offender. ' Recent donors to the Newtown Museum include the following : — Mr. A. Day, collection of 120 silver and copper coins ; Mr. A. Gray, collection of katipo spiders ; Mr. Gentles, gold nuggets from West Coast, and quantity from Thames ; Mr. E. W. B. Bornabiook, kiwis, bitterns, and Spoonbill duck ; Mr. 0. RoseJaggar, marmoset monkey ; Mr. E. Fraser Jones, silver ore ; Mr. P. Muter, an extensive collection of the eggs of native birds. (This is a valuable adV dition, on account of its completeness) '; Mr. G. Remington, two pairs of huias;, fiom the Newtown Zoo, Penguins, dingo, peacock, eagles, iguanas, red deer, hog deer, emu, golden pheasant; Miss Katie Farquhar and Master H. Farquhar, collections of sea eggs, sea stars, brittle 6tars, etc. Regarding the Presbyterian Orphanage, to be instituted at Brooklyn, it was reported to the Wellington Presbytery yesterday that the building would be opened this week,- and that the four orphans at present in care would b© received there, under charge of Mrs. Mills, formerly of the Tory-street Mission. A report regarding Brooklyn generally stated that visitation was being made systematically, and services had been carried on by ministers of the church. Seven or eight ministers had been spoken to with a view to a call, but none had been able to close with the position, this being largely due to the fact that no provision had been I made for a manse. Arrangements are to be made for the appointment of a home missionary, other present arrange* ments to continue. General orders issued by the New Zealand Council of Defence notify that the several companies of the regiment of New Zealand Garrison Artillery Vol. unteers in Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago shall be formed into divisions, and be styled the Auckland, Wellington; Canterbury, and Otago Divisions of Garrison Artillery Volunteers. The several companies shall be numbered in order of seniority in the division to which they belong This establishment provides for an electric-light section, which will be formed in each com. pany of Garrison Artillery Volunteers where necessary, and will consist of one lieutenant, one sergeant, one corporal, two bombardiers, and six gunners, to be employed as electricians and enginedrivers. It is noted that in no case shall an officer be promoted to the rank of major until he has at least seven years' commissioned service. A meeting of the Wellington Presbytery was held yesterday. The appointment of Mr. Routledge as home missionary at Wadestown was reported, and it was stated that at Lower Hutt and Kelburne there were prospects of suitable settlements of ministers being made before long. The committee set up to consider £he application of the Rev. R. Wilson, of Petone, a Methodist minister, to be admitted to the Presbyterian ministry, submitted a report, and it was agreed to forward tho application to the General Assembly, with a strong recommendation that it should bo granted. A committee was appointed to consider an application for permission to baptise, made in respect of home missionaries stationed at the Hutt and Eketahuna respectively. The New Century Fund Committee was recommended to make a loan of £300 towards the building of a manse at South Wairarapa. It was reported that the Rev. Mr. Mawson, of Canton, and the Rev. D. Porteous, who is waiting to take up mission work in India, were at present available to take local services. Millinery at specially reduced pri. as. Yieux rose silk hats, bound with velvet to tone and trimmed silk. Worth 21s, now 10s 6d. Kirkcaldie and Stains, Ltd.—Advtt