Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 9123, 2 May 1893, Page 2

The 'Giiwtte*' j»i*/e<l yesterday notifies that the Wungamii ami Jnitnguluui seats are vacant.

Mr J. \V. Paulin sent ua this memo, this forenoon :—" Owing to atmospheric disturbances having appeared north of latitude 4'2deg S. and about from IGTdcg and 17ldeg K., strong north-east winds will continue, changing to west and south-wust, with rain in about forty - eiglit hours. Barometer further fall.''

Tins Wellington 'Post,' which is an authority on Masonic matters, gives the following explanation of the way in which the late Premier came to be buried under Masonic ritual:—" The Hon. Mr Ballance was formerly Worshipful Master of St. Andrew's Kilwinning Lodge, then working under the Scotch Constitution. When Sir Robert established a lodge in this colony under the' Grand' Orient of France Mr liallance joined "ami'.so cut himself off from Fre-fimasonry as recognised' by the Scotch Constitution or New Zealand Constitution, to which the St, Andrew's Lodge transferred its allegiance. Prior to the operation being performed Mr Ballance expressed a wish to Mr Seddon, who is also a Mason, to be buried according to the Masonic form by his old lodge should the operation terminate fatally. A similar wish was expressed hj, j)js wife. On this being represented to* (he'.G rend f,odge, the Most Worshipful Grand Easier gA'antjed p, dispensation to ombU Ht, Andrew's KilwJnhing Lodge to comply with Mr Jtojkwce's vish. The District Grand Lodge pjf Wpflhigton, E.G., also granted a dispensation to enable its lodges to take part in the ceremony, and the of the North Island, S.C., Bro. iM'Cullough, #a? P)T»ongst the brethren present at the gray*/''

A very interesting libel action Carlisle (England) lately, before Mr Justice Charles. Mr A. J. Hope, an iron merchant in that city, sought to recover £IO,OOO from! the proprietors of the ' West Cumberland Times',' 'the aljoged libel having been contained in a fiye-tfiifc " yar " to the effect that a firm of local sojkjtoVs kid fijwd # petition in bankruptcy in the Carjisle .County Court:, against Hope on behalf ui creditors', and it I was asserted that in consequence of thfs Jjbel ! plaintiffs credit had been very seriously affected, leading to the breaking off of sevetaj contracts he had had with railway and iron coir.pnies. It transpired at the trial that Hope had ligd some legal proceedings with a Mr Wilson, wlv?, while he was 1 away from home, had filed a pet;lion in bankruptcy agaiiist him,' but' the petition was dismissed, The tyjlege'd libel was pub- i lished between the fijjng 0/ the petition and* the hearing. The reporter gay# evidence; that he obtained the information he pub-1 lished during a public examination of one Russell, who had been in partnership with Hope, Id charging the jury the judge pointed out Ityat, one of the firms relied on to prove special damage k*4 s }"°. ra that they stopped plaintiffs credit' apart altogether froin anything that had appeared in the j paper, and jfc was possible that other people i might have been in t)}s sa me position. The ; jury found four of favor, but declined to award any damages, j The judge said that as the jury had expressed the opiiiton ihat W flange? bid really occurred in consequent of ti\s f>vMhe would enter judgment tor plaintiff for ww ferthing, without costs. -

The High street School has been closed for u week owing to the prevalence of measles.

The Clutlia andMatau Agricultural'and Pastoral Association have unanimously decided that the management of the State railways should be kept free from political control.

Mr A. J., Parsons, late mayor, contests the Wanganui : seat in the Ministerial interest. Sir R. Stout is willing to stand for Inangahua, on condition that ho is not required to visit the district or incur any expense.

At the annual meeting of the Ravensbourne District Library Committee, held last night, the Committee' reported that during the year 100 new books had been added to the library, 800 being the number now on the shelves. The membership was about seventy, showing a slight increase from the previous year. The following were appointed a committee for the ensuing year : Messrs Ferguson, Blackie, Page, Russell, Dredge, Harold, and M'Culloch; Mr D. Russell was re-elected secretary. The Wellington 'Press' asserts that before the operation on the Hon. Mr Ballance was commenced it was definitely arranged that, no matter how the operation resulted, Sir Robert Stout should become Premier. If Mr Ballance went through the ordeal safely, lie was to resign the Premiership and his seat for Wanganui, and Sir Robert Stout was to take the Premiership and oiler his services to the Wanganui electors. The Inangahua seat was not then vacant.

Telegrams will in future be transmitted in the following order of priority : —Telegrams of the Government marked urgent; service telegrams ; urgent private telegrams ; nonurgent (ordinary) private telegrams; delayed telegrams. The charges for transmission of a telegram within New Zealand are : —For eighteen words or less, including add ress and signature; Urgent, 2a; ordinary, Is ; delayed, Gd ; extra words, 2d, Id, and \d each respectively. On Sundays, for urgent and ordinary telegrams, these rates are doubled. Delayed telegrams will not be received on Sundays. For any fraction of a penny a penny must be paid. The 'Marlborough Express' severely criticises the map attached to the pamphlet entitled 'Farming and Labor in New Zealand,' and recently published in England by the Agent-General. "The map," says our contemporary, "is dated 1882, and contains about as many errors and makes about as many omissions to the square inch as any map could possibly do. Starting at the north we come across Cape Mairavan Dicmend, something new to geographers. Kotorua is spelt ' Itoto Rua.' Taupo has the old name Taupo Moana ; i'atea figures as 'Carlyle,' a name it lias not had for nearly twelve years ; such unheard of places as Uawa, Mohaka, and Alfredton figure in capitals, while Palmerston North and Woodvillc arc conspicuous by their absence. Naturally an 1882 map has not the latest railway lines, and so far as we can make out the only way to get by road from Blenheim to Kuikoura is to go round by tho Top House and come out at Jollies Pass. As a guide to the colony the map is absolutely of no use."

The annual meeting of the Hospital Guild will be held in the Town Hall on Thursday afternoon.

Tlio monthly meeting of the Gaelic Society will ho held in the Stuart street Hall to-morrow evening. The annual tea meeting in connection with the Mornington Presbyterian Church will be held to-morrow evening. The annual meeting of ratepayers ia the Portoliello road district will be held at tlie ofliee, Portobello, at noon on Saturday.

The volunteers of the Dunediii district will parade on "Wednesday, 24th Way, for field mancuuvres. Particulars will lie announced later. We have received the current numbers of the JJoys' and Girls' High School magazines. P.oth publications are fully up to their usual standard.

A meeting of graduates of Otago University will be held in the library on Saturday evening to consider the proposed alteration of the length of the university terms. Braithwaite's gigantic sale now on. Thousands of people visited the IJook Arcade to-day, and were astonished at the wonderful bargains. £5,000 worth of stock must go. Gome early, and secure the best bargains.—[Advt.] The April number of the * Australasian Pastoralists' Review ' contains an admirable picture of Mr Whitely King, secretary of the Pastoralists' Union of New South Wales. Mr King, who is a native of Auckland, was for some years a member of the Press Gallery during the parliamentary session in Wellington.