LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Star, Issue 5994, 29 May 1882, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the ordinary meeting of the Dunedin Branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners on Saturday night at the Working Men's Club, it was stated that an advance of wages was contemplated at an early date, as the reduction which they had submitted to during the late depression was 20 per cent., and not 10 per cent, as with the Government. It was also resolved to tender the warmest thanks of the Branch to Mr M. W. Green, M.H.R., for his early and energetic action re the Labor Bill he has introduced.

John Midgley, eighteen years of age, was shot through the head at Foxhill (Nelson) on Saturdaymorning and killed instantaneously. It is believed to have been the result of an accident.

Considerable excitement has been occasioned at Greymouth by a rich strike of stone in the Keep-it-Dark mine at Reefton. The sample is richer than any ever seen on this field before. It is estimated that four bags of stone brought up contain from 200oz to 300oz of gold. The same sort of stone has been passed in the lower stopes, though not so rich. There is a great demand for shares, which are reported to have gone up to 455. The Christchurch Exhibition is to be closed about July 10. Thefollowingreply has been received by Mr J. W. Bain to thecongratulatory telegram sent to Sir John Hall by a number of Invercargill citizens :—" Pray accept and convey to the other citizens of Invercargill who signed the telegram my most sincere thanks for their congratulations. Respecting the honor conferred upon me, I value it very highly, not for itself alone, but as a compliment to New Zealand. My pleasure is greatly heightened by the hearty congratulations I have received from friends in Invercargill and other parts of trie Colony." An accident which has resulted fatally occurred at the Seacliffe Asylum buildings on Saturday. Nicholas Coughan, a workman, went to set a stone saw-machine in motion, and in order to turn the fly-wheel took the extraordinary course of standing directly underneath the gate containing the various saws. As as natural consequence, he had no sooner touched the wheel than the gate descended on him, breaking his right thigh and crushing him in such a manner as to injure him internally. He was at once extricated by his fellow-workmen, and sent by train to the Dunedin Hospital, where he was admitted at two o'clock, and died about half-past four. Queen Margaret of Italy has among the ladies of her court two Americans, whose magnificent jewels almost eclipse the famous diamonds of the Roman Princesses. They are, the Princess Trigiano Brancacci, n6e field, and the Princess Cenci, nde Spencer. Saturday's ' Tuapeka Times ' states that a Chinamen named Ah Kye, who has been mining for some time near Tuapeka Mouth, has been missing since Sunday last. On that day about noon he was met going towards Tuapeka Mouth, and he told some of his countryman that he was going to see an " exhibition " there. The poor fellow, however, has not been seen or heard of since, although a search was made along the banks of the river and in other directions. His mates are of opinion that he has committed suicide, as a piece of paper written in Chinese characters was found under his pillow, the interpretation of which was as follows;—"I owe some friends money. I

have no money to pay them. I am very much obliged to them. This time I die ; next time I am bornl will pay them money." Ah Kye is reported to have been in a desponding state for some time back. The fortune of the late King George of Hanover, which was confiscated by the Prussian Government in 1866, amounted to over 13,000,000 thalers (L 2,000,000) in the year IS6B, bearing about 600,000 thalers (L 90,000) interest. By law the Prussian Government are authorised to employ this interest " for measures to avert and combat all undertakings of King George against Prussia." The Progressist party in the Prussian Parliament have now introdtxced a Bill prohibiting a further application of this kind, and ordering the interest to be added to the capital till such time as it can be returned to the Duke of Cumberland on his recognising the annexation of his former kingdom. The present amount of the "Guelph funds" is entirely unknown, as tho Government are not forced to give any accounts.

The ' Dunstan Times' states that on one station alone in Vincent County 230,000 rabbit-skins have been obtained during the past season. The Christchurch papers record the death bf Archdeacon Willock, who was one of the pilgrim fathers of the province, having arrivedin the Randolph on Decemberl6,lßso. In connection with the Church, he was a large contributor to the Cathedral, and a hard worker upon the various standing committees of the Church, being an active member in at least six of them, and for many years filled the post of secretary and treasurer to Church Property Trustees. Some few years ago, being seized with a fit of paralysis, Archdeacon Willock had to give up hia various duties, and has remained an invalid to the time of his demise. It may be stated that the rev. gentleman was a graduate of Cambridge University, and that for the few years prior to emigrating to Canterbury he labored in the parish of St. Andrew's, Ancoats, Manchester, where he was generally respected. He was 76 years of age. The Vienna correspondent of the 'Daily Telegraph,' writing on 30th March, Bays : " To-day's celebration of the Sicilian vespers at Palermo excites great attention here. All the journals are occupied with this subject, and most of them consider that the situation is not without danger, having regard to the excitable character of the Sicilians. It is generally remarked that the anniversary of a terrible popular outbreak and a passionate act of national vengeance is not usually commemorated as a glorious event. No doubt the Sicilians of to-day wish to demonstrate before Europe how completely France has lost the sympathy of the Italians. Possibly also the Radicals, who have a rendezvous at Palermo, may wish to embarrass the Government and the dynasty, and for this object Garibaldi is to lend them his aid. But the Peppetis Cabinet know the danger that threatens them, and, according to reports from Rome, five men-of-war have arrived at the port of Palermo to watch the course of aftairs, and be at hand in case of need."

The Bible-in-Schools Association have adopted a petition to Parliament asking for the re-introduction of the Bible into the State sohools. After giving the results of the plebiscite of parents of children attending the schools, the petition goes on to say—- " Your petitioners humbly submit that this result demonstrates incontestably that the great body of the people throughout the Colony are deßirous of having Bible-reading introduced into the public schools, ana further humbly submit that no sufficient reason exists why a book which ia acknowledged by all enlightened and thoughtful persons throughout the civilised world to have done more for the moral advancement of mankind than any ether, or perhaps all other agencies combined, should be withheld by the action of the Legislature of the Colony from the children attending the public schools. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that your honorable House will take into its consideration the provisions of the Education Act under which the Bible is excluded, and make such alterations in the same as will allow of its re-introduction into the public schools." Dr John Brown, whose death was announced in our cable messages last week, was a well-known contributor to the ' North British Review,' 'Good Words,' and the * Scotsman,' He is especially known for his interesting writings regarding tho dumb creation, among which may be mentioned "Rab'and his Friends" (the story of a favorite dog), and hia works on " Our Dogs." A Civil List pension of LIOO a-year was bestowed upon him in 1876 in recognition of his literary services. Dr Brown was born at Biggar, Lanarkshire, in 1810, and was consequently in his 72nd year. He was brought up to the medical profession, and has written several essays on subjects connected therewith.

Mr Holmes's Distress Bill provides that it shall not be lawful for any landlord to serve or distrain for rent due in respect of any lands or premises, goods, chattels, or property of person or persons, save and except of the person or persons owing such rent, although the said goods, chattels, or property may be in or upon the lands or premises in respect of which such rent is due, and upon which such distress is made or levied. The personal clothing, bed-clothes, bedding, tools of trade, and furniture to the value of L 25 are also exempted from distress; and every agreement made to enable persons to seize bedding, tools, etc., so exempted, shall be null and void.

According to a summary laid upon the table of the House of Representatives by the Controller and Auditor-General, the liabilities of the Colony outstanding on March 31, 1882, according to the instruction of the Public Revenues Act, 1881, are as follows: —Liabilities of Consolidated Fund, L 189.583; Government Insurance account, L 1,500 ; Public Works Fund, L 880,276; total, L 1.071,359. Captain Green, of Buckden, England, died recently at the age of ninety-four, in the same room and in the same bed in which ha was born. He is believed-to be the last surviving officer of those who were on duty at the funeral of Nelson, in St. Paul's. He did not share in the victory of Waterloo, having then just arrived from America with his regiment, but he joined the army of occupation in Paris very soon afterwards. The Statute Revision Committee have presented the Governor with their interim report. They state that since last session they have prepared several new consolidating Bills, absorbing seventy-two complete Acts of the General Assembly, and some parts of others, besides several Provincial Ordinances. Regarding the criminal code they report:—" We have nevertheless proceeded with the work of examination and adoption, and should have now had a draft Bill ready for printing had it not happened that one of the Commissioners was obliged to devote considerable time to the performance of extraordinary judicial duties, and has since been suffering from indisposition, temporarily unfitting him for business. We are, however, of opinion that these unavoidable delays will prove of advantage in the end, and we shall be able, as soon as the Imperial measure is disposed of, to complete the draft Bill, and, with the sanction of the Assembly, to have it printed and circulated among the members of the Legislature, the legal profession, and the public, before its introduction."

What might have been a fatal .fmdent has been reported to the ' Crpmwett" Argus' as having happened to Mr Henry Campbell, of Wanaka Station, at Albert jown on Sunday afternoon. Mr Campbell went over to the Fork Run across the upper punt. On navigating ifc back, and while passing along the narrow plank from one boat to the other, Mr Campbell's foot slipped and he fell into the middle of the river. Persons passing by gave the alarm, and Master W. Norman and George Aitkenhead made a rash for the small boat belonging to the AJfeg&HoJel, and succeeded in picking Mr'Cjp|Jfeeirup in the middle of the river. Although a good swimmer, the weight of his clothes made headway next to impossible, so that if the boat had not been there a valuable life would most likely have been lost. As it was, a severe shake was the only evil result. At a lecture recently delivered in London, says- a Home paper, Mr Armstrong stated : "It had been computed that one word in a thousand was spelled exactly as pronounced, one cause of this being the insufficiency of our alphabet as now constituted to perform the duties devolving upon it. It was laid down as being absolutely necessary, if orthography and orthoepy were, to be brought into agreement, that every

simple sound should have a simple sign to represent it, instead of which there w£rß really only twenty-three letters (excluding' k, q, and x as useless) to stand for thirtyeight distinct sounds. The letter "a" did duty for six different sounds, while there were thirteen methods of expressing the power of that letter, as in mate. Altogether there were over 400 different ways of giving expression to the thirty-eight simple sounds which might be said to be the back-bone of the English language." The great ritualistic case of Martin v. Mackonochie, says 'Truth,' has already become venerable, and yet it has only now been decided after fifteen years' litigation that the "parties " may begin to argue their " points " all over again. It is difficult to imagine a state of things more repugnant to our notions of the majesty of the law.