LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 29 August 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

-A .meeting of the.'.Tahiiipa ■Prqgi.'essive Association will be held to-morrow evening. ' '

The following- steamers will probably- be I within wireless range to-night:—Wim->{ 'mera; Moeraki, Manuka, 'Turakina, Hau-i-oto, Zealandia, Warrimoo, Victoria. I There are. about 560 third-class passengers aboard the Athenic, ia.rri.ving in Wellington from London pn sth Septeip.b.er. next. The Remuera, arriving a few days later, is- bringing 2t>o pasengei» .in the third-class. ' j A Wanganui daii'y cpmpiany pleaded guilty to- the magistrate on Monday to offering for sale milk not obtained from I a registered dairy. The company was fine<j £lO, with costs 9s. A dairyman, for selling milk' not -produced- at a registered dairy, was fined. £5, with 7s costs. The quantity of coal exported from Newcastle during the week ending August 17, shows an increase of 48.499 tons, as compared with the quantity, exnor ted durino- the correßpoiVdiniz weeklast yea-r. Of the total, 87.633 tons went to foreien ports and 42,978 tons'to Commonwealth a.n<j 'New Zealand ports. Xo-morrow, at 1 p.m., M*- Alfred Gould will" hol.r] a sale of household furniture and effects on account of Mrs ■Stevens, at her residence, Collingwoodstreet. 1 Messrs Bisley Bros, and Co. will hold a- stock sale at- the Rai Falls on Monday. 9th prox.

The Nelson representative football team, which has been on a tour of the Ivortii Island, returned to Nelson by I he Fateena this morning.

It is n'otitiej that the re will be nomeeting of the -St. John's Hand of Hope this evening.

The annual dance in connection the YVair.iea Football Club will be in. the Oddfellows' Hall. Richmond, on Thursday next, sth prox.

The W'aihu estate, of 6162 acres, has been purchased by the Government, -'-"d----will be taken over on 12th March. It is suitable for mixed farming, and is situated on the proposed Hastings-l'uke-titiri tramway line.—Hastings 1 ri'ss wire.

The Hobson County Council believes that a. girl is m-oiv suitable than a t:u y for the post, of assistant clerk. '1 he worst of a boy," said the county clerk, at a recent meeting, "is that alter he had been here for three months lis would want to run the whole sho»v; he'd bs th* l boss and I'd be tile hoy.

The Turakina, which arrived at Wel - lington from Loudon on Saturday, is the first direct boat to Wellington for two months, owing to -disorganisation through the strike. (She brought 250 immigrants, 105 males, 104 females, and £0 children, but there were only 53 assisted passengers, 31 adults and 22 children. All the adults were women, coming to rejoin their husbands or to enter domestic service. The voyage was an uneventful one. '

The General Manager of New Zeal,and Railways has informed the executive of the Amalgamated Society of xvailwav Servants that the department is-making every effort to hasten payment of amounts due to injured members of the service.

The following will be the Citizens' team to play the Port Railway to-night : Lomax. Hey ward, Blincoe, 'Trewee.k, Bolt-on, Hawkesworth. Batchelor, Johnston, Slinn, Logan.

The half-vearly meeting of the H.A.C.B. Society at Auckland, at which Southern branches were rei;> resented, resolved to raise the -contributions of all members between the ages of lo to A2 v.ears joining branches formed since Jan. Ist, 1912 from 7d to Is 2d weekly /v resolution suggesting the advisablitv 'it establishing, with the sanction of the Hierarchy, branches of the Catholic Federation, was -carried. The Wellington delegate gave notice of motion for the removal of the executive and phn.e of annual meeting from Auckland to- Wellington.—Press wire.

.Holiday-makers at Devonport- have been forced temporarily to abandon sea-bathinp- at Mount W:se bathing•olace. Bathers there had emerged covered with a sticky dark-colour-ecL oil, which they found very' difficult to remove from the. skin. It was found that the water was covered with the oil, which is believed to have come trom warships using oil-fuel before they left Devon port for the manoeuvres. When the tide recedes, it leaves the sl:my mass on the beach. All bathing has been susp°rd?d while the authorities try to get rid of the oil by the use of lime and soda and by burning the seaweed.

Some unusvtal experiences befell the Pha-w. Savill steamer Matatua, nuclei charter to the New- Zealand Slupmng Company, in, her 'voyage from England to Auckland, via Montreal -and Alalia. The Matatua left the River T>iiv on May 24 last for. Montreal After passing' the Flannan- Inlands, the- wind freshened to a gale, but four days latei the weather moderated, and from May 29th -till June 4th the vessel was enveloped in a dense blanket Jog. Lu?.ino- the Whole time the Matatua was in wiirelrasiS co-miniunication with steamers to the north and south, and information was received that there were heavy icefields in the tracks aisual.lv taken by stfeamers bound-to the United -States and •Canadian' ports. By taking a. ..course midway between the usual routes. Oap; tain Gil'man managed to keep clear Oi ice. but the : indications of big ice were sr> much in evidence that the steamer was "hove to." During.the following .night those aboard could, hear the grinding and crack ins: of the bergs, as they drifted ahead of the steamer. After- five days, during which considerable anxiety was felt by the passengers and crew of the Matatua and other steamers in the vicinity, -the fog lifted, and the steamer continued her passage for Montreal.

Sir Francis Snttor found himself in an awkward position last week, when, the Anglican Synod of New South AVa.cs (of"which he is a member) passed the following resolution :—'That this Synod of the province of New South Wales •desires, first, to bring before tli& counciJ of the Royal Agricultural Society its • ■earnest protest against' the present custom of holding the show on C!opd _ Friday, to the great trouble-of conscience of verv many citizens of this State, and requests .the council to take steps' to effect oth°r arrangementsi and, seoowl. respectfully suggests to the metropolitian and bishops of the province that they should, take such steps a,s appear to them desirable, to impress or* all Church people of the orovince the importance of a reverent observance of "Good Friday. Being -president of. the Royal Agricultural Society, he found that, under the circumstances, lie would -either have to resign that positioi.i or his seat on. the Synod. Aft-?.v some deliberation;, he decided regretfully to take the latter course, and retain- the presidency of the society. . \ •

Four thousand delegates to the International Bible Students' Conference at Washington have" voted unanimously that hell fire does not- exist. They also mssed a resolution demanding that all Protestant clergymen repudiate the docti'inr oij eternal* fire and brimstone, and en lied 011 newspaper editors to invite •clergymen to say - whether tho Bible teaches the-literal doctrine of hell fire. The conference declared its belief that tbf* vast majority of clergymen do not believe in hell fire, but hesitate to inform the laity of their disbelief. This reluctance, the conference declared, was driv.in.jr many thousands of persons into religious scepticism. General William P. Hall, of the United States army, one of the ■•delegates, raised the question of -repudiating the hall. His speech was followed by an animated discussion, revealing the sense of the conference to be that :it; was unscriptnraJ t'* teach that hell existed either as a place, state, or condition.

The oil industry at New Plymouth is ft, nrsFont beins* carried oil with, a good deal of success. At present there are three bores flowing'at, Mo.turoa —a ,suburb of New Ply-mouth—and four more wells will be sunk in the near future, two at Moturon and two at Bell Block. The Bell Blcck .district., which is about, five miles from New Plymouth, fli.r.s not nveviously chicimr capabilities have yet to be prov ed. but, the companv is confident that oil' will „be -obtained in this localitv. There are now 450,0C0 gallons of crude petroleum in store at Moturoa. and the three wells flowing are producing about 240 barrels of oil a week. In connection with the erection of a refinery. Mr. Keith said that the foundation work was now being carried out. and the first, instalment of the machinery was expected to arrive from England towards the end of next month. The refinery will nrnbably be working in about 12 months' tijne.