TELEGRAMS.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 802, 12 February 1909, Page 2

TELEGRAMS.

[PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] SUPPLYING LIQUOR TO NATIVES Wairoa, February 11. .At the Police Court, before* Mr Barton, S.M., two half castes were charged with supplying liquor at a Christmas feast at Whakapo to male and female natives. Fourten persons consumed eleven bottles of whisky, and all got drunk. The defence was that the liquor was drunk at the place of supply, and not taken away from the feast. The Court ruled that the plaoe of supply was Dalgety's licensed wholesale premises, and the accused caused it to be consumed at the feast. The fines • and costs inflicted amounted to £35 j THE CITY'S LOAN PROPOSALS. Wellington, February 11. The city loan proposals to borrow j £200,000 for various works was submitted to the electors to-day. There was an extraordinary lack of interest shown, less than 2000 ratepayers going to the poll ont of about 12,000 on the roll. All the proposals were rejected, except two affecting suburban areas, viz., the construction of a tramway to Wadestown (£40,000) and a water supply to Northland and Wadestown (£22,550). Amongst the rejected items was a vote of £27,555 for the erection of workmen's homes. ADDINGTON SCHOOL FIRE. i Christchurch, February 11. ! Mr C. A. C. Hardy, M.P., stated ' at the Education Board, with reference to the destruction by fire of the Addington school last Friday, that if necessary a magisterial inquiry would ' be held into the cause of the outbreak. Whether from gross careless- ' ness or other causes the fire arose it was impossible to say, but it was too serious a matter to have £2000 or £3000 worth of property, destroyed without inquiring closely into it. YES AND NO!. ! / Invercargill, February 11. j.-.-^t a meeting of the City Council , to/night, on the question of amalga- ! niating the town with the suburbs, ,it was dervded to take a poll of the /ratepayer!, . of the town. ', Public dissatisfaction expressed . during the last few d»y6 on the GoI vernment valuations was reflected in i the discussion at the Town Council meeting last night, when it was generally agreed that the valuations were in many cases excessive. A committee was set up to go through , the valuation roll and report to the , next meeting, with a view to further action. WHO WAS THE CAVE-DWELLER? Dunedin, February 11. A few days ago, while two lade i were climbing on the cliffs facing the Harbour, they came upon a hut very skilfully built into a small cave about 50ft up the face of tbe cliff. The j cave had been enlarged and a roof of j half-inch kauri planks had been carefully made. The front is oovered with sheets of rubberoid, and the whole coated with tar. Inside the cave were found articles of very varied description, including a well-made stretcher, a good assortment of carpenter' 6 tools, a miner's pick, a hand mirror, a set of shaving apparatus, candles, cartridges, a quantity of fuse, a couple of aurora lamps, methylated spirits, a few magazines, a quantity of tea and a sugar bag containing small metal from the quarry near at hand. Subsequently a rope was procured, and Constable Rings descended into the cave and lowered the hut and its contents to the bottom, whence everything was removed to the police station. The police are of opinion that the man is some crank, and do not entertain the idea that the place was intended as a store room for plunder. No trace of the v .mpant hae been discovered. MASTER BAKERS' CONFERENCE Christchnroh, February 11. At the Bakers'- Conference it was reported that Dr. Mason, Chietf Health Officer, had accepted an invitation to attend the sittings of the conference to-morrow. A committee was set up to report on a scheme xo appoint an organising, secretary. During a discussion oh technical education, it was state that there would 6e a bakers' department in the new college at Auckland, and that there was a probability of the Wellington Technical College making similar provision. Satisfaction was expressed with this outlook, as the practioal training of boys in the bakery trade is a matter of some difficulty owing to the early Siours whioh the operations have to be observed. NAPIER'S REFUSED LOAN. Napier, February 12. Interviewed on the subject of the rejection of the harbour loan, Mr Vigor Brown, M.P., chairman of the Harbour Board, said that he regards it as a calamity to Napier m particular, and to Hawke's Bay m general. An indignation meeting of ratepayers' is to be held on Monday to discuss the situation. A JUDGE IN DOTJBT. Auckland, February 12. In the Supreme Court this morning Mr Justioe Edwards said, in oonn^c-

tion with the Wairoa oase, in which the jury found Robt. Jarr guilty oi having caused actual bodily harm, he had some doubt whether the jury was correct, and had decided to postpone the hearing of evidence and to reserve the point for possible reference to the Court of Appeal. Accused would be allowed reasonable bail. HONE HEKE. Wellington, February 12. The obsequis of the late. Hone Hekt commenced this morning, when the body was taken by rail to Otaki. where a tangi ia being held to-day. to-morrow tne ramains will be taken on to Wanganui, and finally to Kaikohe, for entermenfc. The native minister has gone to Otaki, and may go on to Wanganui. IS HE A BIGAMIST ? Auckland, February 11. At the Supreme Court this afternoon, Alfred Ernest Trail was tried on a charge of having, at Coromandel, on July 16, 1903, gone through the manage ceremony with a young woman, hia wife, Elizabeth Catherine, whom he had maried at Auckland on March 4, 1890, being stil) alive. The circumstances were that Trail, after living with his first wift for some time after their marriage, separated from her, and in July ot 1903 maried the seoond woman. The prisoner,' when first charged, admitted that ne knew the first wife was alive joist before he married the second one, out he had not seen her for ten years, and had been told that she was dead. He also tofld the young woman he maried tbat he was not certain whether his first wife was alive or not. When charged the prisoner remarked, " I was suspecting something like this, but I don't call it bigamy, as I had not seen my first wife for ten or eleven years when I maried the second." After an hour's retirement, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. CHAMBERS OF C 0? r MERCE. Amongst the subjects whioh tlje Council of the Auckland Chamber oi commerce desires to be discussed at tbe New Zealand conference, are the re-establishment of the San Francisco mail service, the urgent need for completion of railways now in course of construction (with- particular reference to the Gisborne and North Auokland lines), the encouragement of trade with the Pacific Islands, tho ned for Governemnt continuing th<' actively advertise the atractions I the dominion, and to continue offering facilities for assisted immigrants the reduction of cable rates, and tinamedment of the Bankruptcy Act. 20 YEARS' HARD. Auckland, February 12. At the Supreme Court, Thomas Grogan, alias O'Brien, was sentenced to 20 years' hard labour for breaking and entering and theft at Kaihu • THE M'LEAN BEQUESTS. Christchurch, February 11. At the meeting of the Board of Governors of tne M'Lean Institute today, the question whether the Board had poweo to devote the funds under their control to payment of the maintenance of indigent gentlewomen who did not desire to go into a home arose ont of a letter received from Lady Stout, who applied for assistance of the nature indicated on behalf of a lady in the Souui, who is in indigent circumstances. A legal opinion is' to be obtained. > THE MAIN TRUNK LINE. Wellington, February 11. After about twenty-five years' work the Public Woriss Department on Saturday will finally hand over to < the Railway Department the last section of the North Island Main Trunk Railway. At the end of last January 400 men were stil engaged in putting the- finishing touches to the line, but every week their numbers have been diminishing, and there wil soon be no Publio Works' employees on tinjob. Most of the men have been ab-' sorbed on other works for the Deparrment, which is very busy, and has t-.n extra large pay-roll just now. RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIP. Gore, February 12. • An attempt is being made to induce Trembath, the half-mile Australianchampion, to meet Hoskins, the American intercollegiate champion, at Dunedin, on March 20. The local man is agreeable, providing Hoskins is reasonable in his conditions for distances. It is felt that the match should be run in Gore. BILLIARD ROOMS. Auckland, February 12. . The Attorney-General the City Counoil that the amending of the Municipal Corporations Act is receiving attention. The proposed amendment is for giving local bodies power to refuse billiard-room licenses ; where they are not satisfied with the oharaoter of tne applicant. RAIN IN THE WAIRARAPA. Masterton, February 12. Fifty-five points of rain fefll in Masterton last night and up to nine o clock tnis morning. HIGH-HANDED ACTION. Christchurch, February 12. A sequel to the Te Orauga Homo inquiry is provided by the dismissal of Miss Ada Harrison, the teacher employed at the institution. At the inquiry, Miss Harrison criticised the management of the matron (Mrs Bunting) in several important respects. She prefaced her cvi. dence by asking whether she would endanger her position by appearing before the Commissioner. "I am a teacher here and I want bo \ remain," she said. "Is it the method of the department to dismiss ._,■ an officer without letting her know the. complaint made against her?" She was reassured "By the Commissioner and gave her evidence. Now she has been dismissed from her position under circumstances which seem to "suggest a connection with what occurred at the inquiry. Miss Harrison has been dismissed summarily, being given three months' salary, in lien of notice. No suggestion has been made that her work has been in any way unsatisfactory, either before or when she received notice of dismissal. She wrote to the Education Department, asking why she had been put out of her position and in what respect her services had been unsatisfactory. She received a reply from the UnderSecretary of the Department, still making no complaint against her work, but stating that in the interests of the institution and the inmates it was not desirable to retain an officer who was out of sympathy with the matron. The letter stated in effect that the teacher had been dismissed because she could not agree with the matron on points of policy. BREAD ,FOR LONDONERS. Oamaru, February 12. The Oamaru Mail to-day forwarded direct to London, through the Secretary of the Treasury^ £100 in aid of tbe Children's Bread Fund. ,ON THE UNIMPROVED VALUE. Hastings, February 12. A proposal to rate the town properties on the unimproved values carried yesterday . by 77 votes, - the polling being 323 for and 246 against. WITH A DIFFERENCE! • Wellington, February 12. Judgment was given to-day in the Compensation Case, G. H. Bayliss and others v. the City Council, a claim for £15,947, arising out of the resumption of land at Island ' Bay for tne purpose of making a. recreation ground. The Court awarded claimants £2925.