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Evening Star, Issue 14962, 23 August 1912, Page 4

According to the annual report of the Registrar-General the population of Ireland during the 10 years fom 1901 to 1911 decreased by 1.5 per cent., compared with the decrep.se of 5.2 per cent, during the previous decade. The Hospital Board hare received , a donation of £IOO for the Dunedin Hospital from -Mr J. T. Wright, of Wright, Stephenson, and Co. The agitation for the complete abolition of that dangerous weapon the pea rifle met with the whole-hearted support of the committee of the Otago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at their meeting yesterday afternoon. A communication • was read by the North Otago A. and P. Society, who have taken the matter up very keenly, having circularised some 89 members of" Parliament, urging on them the necessity of introducing legklation on the subject. Probably no society know better than the Prevention .of Cruelty to Animals Society the ravages wrought in country districts by the pea rifle, and their action in supporting the proposals of a 6ister society is not to be wondered at. The restrictions upon the taking and killing of opossums has now been removed throughout the Dominion. A notice to thk effect appeared in la£t night's ' Gazette.'

At the last meeting of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce a sub-conunitteo was set up to deal with the obstructions "caused to traffic in Rattrav street by the crossing of goods trains. The sub-commit-tee have addressed a letter on tho subject to the Minister of Railways, and recommend that copies be sent to the City Council and Otago Harbor Board, with a request for the co-operation of these bodies. The sub-committee point out that "whilst goods trains are marshalled in the railway yard, all trucks for transmission' 6ou.th, trucks for various local sidings in Cumberland street, and even waggons going to Hillside for repairs, pass twice over Rattray street, and it is nothing unusual to see'this street blocked for fully five minutes while a long goods train is being shunted from the goods yard to the station plat ; form."

The claims of the South Island Main Trunk Railway are to be put forward in an effective way by a deputation of members of Parliament and representatives of the Canterbury local bodies to tho Prime Minister and Minister of Works to-mor-row morning. Meters Geo. Forbes and R. M'Galium have (reports our parliamentary correspondent) arranged for a jjood at-, tendance of leeislatcrs, including Sir Joseph Ward and Mr W. D. S. Macdonald, ex-Minister of Works. A declaration of war against Turkey was unanimously demanded by a mass meeting of 20,000 people that was held last week in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The speakers declared that the condition of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and the vilayet of Adnanople had become intolerable, and a resolution was passed calling upon the Government to deliver the people from their sufferings. Representatives of all political parties supported tho meeting in its demand. Remarkable scenes were witnessed at the close of the meeting. Carrying black flags, and with the church bells I tolling, a procession marched through the ! principal streets of the city, and finally i brought up at the palace of the King. I Here the people attempted to surge I through the gates, but the palace guard ; wore called out, and the crowd turned i back.

The indignation of Mr S. S. Myers was aroused last night when a letter fits read to the Hospital Board, in whTch the general manager of the New Zealand Railways declined the board's suit for free passes to the medical director of the Consumptive Sanatorium and the district nurse. " A few weeks ago," said Mr Myers, " we read in the Budget that the Government were going to do all they could to assist the health officers in sweeping out this disease.. We have a medical director who has given many years to specialising on it, and yet as soon as we make the reasonable request to allow this officer to travel free to the different places where he investigates the disease, the Government refuse, even a free pass. In face of the statement the Government have made, they show a very poor spirit." The chairman of the board soothed Mr Myers, and perhaps explained the apparent difference between promise and performance, by stating that the board should possibly have applied to the Minister in charge of Hospitals instead of to the Minister of Railways. The app'ication will be renewed through that source. A ca6e showing how bad injury to horses may arrive through thoughtlessness was before the committee of the Otago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at their meeting yesterday afternoon. Complaint was made by a big carrying cornpuny that through the carelessness of certain people in sweeping nails, hoop iron, and other similar waste articles into the streets and right-of-ways, very grave, injury was frequently done to their horses, as many as three or four being incapacitated within the short space of a week. The committee agreed that the complaint called for immediate action, and decided to have large cards printed and cent to builders and contractors, with a view to making the matter public.

No fewer than 104 children i:nder the asre of 12 months died in Winnipeg from ty'nhoid during the first 14 days of the present month. Fifty were stricken with the. disease in one day.

A twopence-in-the-slot telephone has been installed in the lobby of the Tele* graph Office for use of the public. _ This makes the third instrument of this description installed in' the. City. Others'' are shortly to be installed in various parts. of the City and suburbs. An invitation from the W.C.T.U. to attend a conference next Thursday on the

question of the domestic help difficulty discovered the members of the Dunedin Hospital Board last night all convinced ofthe importance of such a conference, but each equally convinced of the impossibility of hia being present at it. One after another they discovered other engagements, until the chairman triumphantly nominated two members without receiving the response '" I'm sorry." The nominees were not present to dispute the choice. A Mongolian Prince, with several thousand other leading Mongolians, is planning an expedition to Mongolia for the purpose of overcoming the independence movement there. It is reported that Chinese soldiers will accompany the expedition, but Ruisia declares that she will not permit China to send soldiers to Mongolia, on the ground that it would be an infringement of her special interests in that region. A son was born on August 15 to Mrs Astor, the 19-year-old widow of Colonel J. J.,.. Astor, who was among those lost in the wreck of the Titanic. The event

made a great stir in the quarter of NewYork in which Mrs Astor lives, and when

the news got abroad a large and curious crowd surrounded the house. There was some excitement raised at t.he Town Hall to-day about noon, when the City Fire Brigade were called out to deal with an outbreak of fire in one of the lower rooms. Two sets of gear were quickly at the building, but little energy was required to extinguish the fire, which had originated among loose paper. The damage was trifling. The Kaitangata- correspondent of the Balclutha ' Free Press ' writes:—The town is slowly recovering from the effects of the strike, but it will be seme little time before things come round again to normal. The Kaitangata mine is still being -.\-irked on the one shift, and things seem to be proceeding smoothly in that locality. A good number of the dismissed men, particularly among the single ones, have already (eft the town for the We&t t;oas,i and other places, and the married ones are busy packing up to follow suit. A few are for going to Australia, but most seem to have obtained jobs on the Coast I and at Lake Coleridge. On the other ' hand, a number of new arrivals have ob- , ' tained work here and made a .-art, a «i it is expected that the mines will bo full handed in about a fortm/itIn the Police Court late yesterday afternoon James Johnson appeared before Mr Widdowson on a charge of failing to provide adequate maintenance for his illegitimate child, and was remanded until Monday in order to give the complainant time to "appeal-. On the application of Mr C. N. Scott bail was allowed, self in £SO and two sureties of £25 each. The late Mr Henry Sargeant, of Wan-r-ajun, by his will appoints the Public Trustee, as his executor and trustee. He directs that his wife shall have a. life interest in the whole estate, which is worth about £35.000. After her death a number of leeaoies are to be paid, including £SOO to* the Waneanui Astronomical Society, £SOO to the Waneamu Orchestral Society, £250 to the Wanganni Museum, and the residue to the Wanganui Borough Council to establish and maintain in the Wanganni hoTou?h a fine art gallery for the reception, purchase, and acquisition of works of art for the benefit of the public. The deceased expressed a desire that such works of art be purchased only on account of their intrinsic value as works of art. The gallery is to be managed bv the Wanganui Borough Council, to which the Public Trustee ie to account for the income. The English msiil which was despatched from Dunedin via Wellington and San Francisco arrived in London on the 21st August, two days late. Ladies.—Dorescka Toilet Cream keeps the skin smooth and clear. Agents, Wilkinson and Sou,, prescription chemists.—[Advfc.l A meeting of members of the St. dair Improvement Association is to be_ held on Tuesday evening. The public arc invited fco attend the meetine.

There can be no better portraits done than those exhibited by Mr Morris, of Garden Studio. 5§4 George strfet, on left-hand side of the Zenith vestibule, in Princes street. Appointments made in Zenith Portrait Studio, or telephone 2,279.—[AdH] This year being the 250 th since tho passing and enforcement of the Apt of Uniformity, by which so many suffered as pioueers of Free Church opinions, a special celebration will be held by the Council of Christian Churches to-night in Knox Church to do honor to the memory of the men who suffered for conscience sake. Speight't ale and stout are acknowledged by the Dominion public to be the best on the market. —[Adrt.] Never in this City has there been a better show of beautiful and carefully-finished work than in the showcases of the Acme Photo Company, George street.—[Advt.]