North Otago Times. PUBLISED EVERY MORNING, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1910. J. J. MEIKLE.

North Otago Times, 6 December 1910, Page 2

North Otago Times. PUBLISED EVERY MORNING, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1910. J. J. MEIKLE.

. Mr J,' J. Meikle (or should it not be J. J. Meikle, Esquire, since he has become possessed prospectively of the £2500 granted to him by the Government for wrongful imprisonment) is a lucky man. On more than one occasion has he bearded the lion in his den, the Douglas in his hall, and twice got all he asked for, and at least on one. of these occasions he signed a .full and complete quittance from any obligation on the p'art of the Government to pay him more. Yet, as the clown says in the pantomime, "Here we are again." Mr Meikle. has fosen here again and again, and with the persi§tppjr of Bruce's .spider he has, swung himself backwards qnd forwards for all these years fill by a lucky chance he got his legs lovingly encircled around the neck of Sir Joseph Ward, and the result was that a sum of £2500, was placed on the Supplementary Estimates to recoup him for mtongM imprfoolnment,! With a full knowledge of all the circumstances of the case most. people would be'' hostile to My fur|}}ep grant to Mr J, J, Meikle. At one time tho estimate of ' his material loss'and mental shock was fixed at £SOO. This sum was paid over to him, and was accepted by Mr Meikle as an agreeable way of end-

ing the subject. But only a few years had faded away into the night of oblivioji when Mr J, J. Meikle made another application, and after hammering away at the subject for some time, a further Bum of £750 was paid over by the Government as a complete recompense for the songful imprisonment. But Mr Meikle was,pot dqne ffith. He comes up again with the. persistency 'of King Charles', head, and has ..kept hammering away ' at the' hip: front door of Parliament House till; Sir Joseph 'Ward, frightened at the noise, openodi the door sufficiently to let Mr Meikle's head in,, and .evidently the head is the biggest part of Mr Meikle, for it was not. I rj n? before he had his -whole body ed: through the aperture, and Sir Joseph and' Mr Meikle must 'have fallen on each others necVs - : and [ wept, for -the sum ol £SOOO appear-

Ed on the Supplementary Estimates, | and ■ on an amendment £2500. was Passed. . Starting iu ; the first ; stages:' of the 1 .cla'ini with'', "£SOO as reasonable xpmpensation, it . was decided. to grant .another £750 a3>a i full and| final'payment,-.and now' the amount has increased to £2500!. Is this. £2500 In fu'll and complete (?■"/> isfactioh, br.; is.itsubject to"' : anotte irruption of. Mr J/ J.-lfalie/on'' i Peace of niind : of a ' Parliament that' is award lite: J. J; ■Melisle loss of .Überty/:'-'andjt!fei;\the country ; for .payment \iji fulf aiid complete satisfaction ?; Duringi the,iprosress bf' debate, in, th« House onVSaturdayon, the 'grant' to 'Meikle. I'allusiqn " was* made to" a syndicatQ that. was ■ ; . |be- , hind Meikle," and if there' was any-; thiiig. in the statementthe-speakers, sought to confine! the payments' /to , Meikle, himself.iby granting hiin fl pension ihsiisail ioßsl.(^^,;jrh(ffpr^ of; the Goycfntmnt were, too strong, however,'- for the>.Opposition; And for the third' time Mr : J. J. Meikle will have drawn from the country separate sums of money as. final

■ payments fop whatever, injury . and e injustice has ■ been' •- inflicted upon c him, Op eacj}'gccasioi) tj)e amount 1 ' has"' show an increase, but pn the i , third and (ast! occasion the jump 1 1 Wos of a r Kangiaroo character, From 1 ' £750 to ..£SOOO big spring, and ; , if there should happen to be a syndicate behind Mr Melkle, as was 1 | suggested in the House, it will ibe | able to smile with a radiancy that should eclipse all the arc lights I about Parliament . House. It may be ■ Questioned'whether the siirns j.revi- '' ously granted to Mr Melkle were sufficient recompense for what he suffered, tut inasmuch as they were . granted by Parliament and the second , -at least accepted by the recipient as 1 sufficient, it may reasonably! be asked 3 why.the subject was re-opened. ,Mr Meikle has been cleverly persistent in his applications, and is evidently a gentleman of more than ordinary ■ acumen. It is only fair to state l that 'one. tbilng in- favoi of Mr Meikle's appeal is that a majority of . both ■ sides of the House believe that, the previous payments were insufficient, although there is no law to compel the country fo, gjraiit) compensation in sueh eases. " ".

The Hlne CommiFsion is expected tp cost £ISOO,

A social to Mr and Mrs Keane will be held in the Windsor Hall on Friday evening 'next.

Entries for the flower show close with Mr W. Straolvan-, the hon. secretary, at 1 p.m. to-day. ,

Tho.Urton Company's s.s, Kaitivna leaves Lyttelton to-day for Oamaru with coal for the Railway Department.

iln tha Supplementary Estimates appears an item of £2OO for renovating the Oamaru Courthouse, < and the bailiff, is set down for an increase of £l'j|in his salary,- '

The "Gazette notifies that allotment la, part of section Nd. 60, block VII, Moerak'i survey 'district, has been temporarily reserved as a site for a public school.

We understand thati. Messrs Thomas anfl Joljn Watsojj are. returning to Ofjmaru from Pajmerstpn North owing to the qlimate of that placq ■disagreeing with the healths of members ol their 'households.

Owinjs to insufficient entries coming forward for the Duntroon stock sale •advertised for ,FnMp<y, 9th instant, the Oamaru Auctioneers' Association have decided not to hold a sale on that date,

Thei Juvenile Court sat yesterday morning, when three small boys were charged with throwing stones to the damage of property. They all admitted! the offence, and after a reprimand from the Bench, were discharged with a caution.

Arrangements have been made ic run a special train in connection with the sports night concert at the Waitaki Boys' High School this evening to convey guests. The train v-ill leave Oamaru at 7.30 p.m., returning after the qoncefj;.

The annual prize distribution and bieaking-uii ceremony in connection .with the Waitaki High Schools take 3 place in the Opera House to-morrow evening. A general invitation is extended to parents and others to be pre.?ent, Tho proceedings begin at S o'clock, , ;

After the rains of . over a week ago the Public iGardens were a wealth ,of bloom and color. The dry weather is, however, beginning to affect the flora! display, although even yet the show of flowers is a magnificent one, and reflects a great deal of credit on Mr Mackenzie,

Arrangements have now been made for the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company's chartered steamer Turkistan to load at this port during the last week of December; It is .anticipated that she will take a 'good shipment of wool hence for the March saleg,

A meeting of the Board of Governors of the Waitaki High Schools was held yesterday, there being present-Messrs Milligan (in. the chair)',. Brown mi Buckley. The minutes 'having 'been confirmed, a number of matters of detail were attended to, and accounts and salaries amounting to £377 I2g lid were passed for payment. ;

At/the Court yesterday (before Messrs.6,-Brownlee and J, Oagney, Justices of the Peace) James Hollow was convicted and fined 10a, 'in- default 48 hours' imprisonment, for being drunk on the North Road on Sunday while in charge of'a horse and trap. John Bain, for)Mding a bicycle on Thames street wftjput .a %ht, was fined Is and cfjsts.

, While the Supplementary Estimates were being considered in the House, at the item £SO .in- connection with rein-making at Oamafu, Mr Massey objected to the Government lending Itself, to the "tohunga business" in an enlightened age -Sir J. G. Ward said that,-on the last.occasion'.dynahiito: and tother, explosives were used the experiment had been successful.—• Mr Mwsey :.;Why, it ~wa? raining before, the experiment was maie.-The vote wan passed.

•The'absence of green fly from ■roseß has 'teen widely - observed--; this smntuer, and the phenomenon baa

been t variolisly discussfed,' as bcason in thd district < 18 ■favorablo:to tlxe'^prfep agation 0 feSt It is a Vfc'l known that the smail ( ib'irds .aro'having a- hard time; owjhg to the scarcity of.fqod, and' it vis qfaite -possi'ble. that:they.: have utui'nelktheir attention -to the 'green , fly, whoso, scarcity may bo resultant .oil -tliiir.

Thero aro few cotng. (says Dr Foster Palmer in •vl'The Hospital' 1 ), that will not succumb to : a.- nightly; bread poultice-or water dressing,' with a soft ■'perforated': plaster of spongiopihn . by day to avoid fric-tion,-If the perforation can be filled with glycerin it ■ will 'hasten tht' cure.. by keeping' the 'hardened skin saturated by day a3 well as by night. Soaking the feet night and ;morninj;_. m warm .with .the addition of sonre alfcalino -carbonate will in many caas remove corns.:.'

The Government has. gone into the sawfliilhnjr.busi'iKSs. During, the discussion on; the Supplementary 'list! 1 mates Mr Herriess; referred'to..'the Item of £SOOO for a'new'sawmill -at" Kaiahi, and asked why should such a large r^iuiredi'se&ing::. that the', mill had cnly. jufet been purch'ased"?The Hon. : Mr 'Millar, replied • 'that practically a new plant .was' ■being' installed; -He would issue a • balance-sheet-next,year.: He; was sure it would slioT.a profit';. There an area of 17,'000 acres ava'ilaWe, -be-, sides the actual area now being cut' out. . : 'V.

An inquest was-held:yesterday before. -Mr :R. Miliigan, J .P. Coroner) and« afV'jury ■' comprising Messrs V' : Finch,' . T,. .■Williamson, J M'Dowell, Collis, J, p. Cagney and' Herlitrt,;. ' touching ; the death of Samuel Holmes, who died suddenly on Saturday afternoon. Deceased, , 'who' lived wijth: hisdaughter, , Mrs ■ Enjmett, Thames street," '-was Myears'..of- 'and, up to the ,time, of His death had been in . apparently , good health, After medical evidence-' h'axt'been given hy Dra Douglas and M'Adam,' the. jury, found that death was due to .heart failure,.

'Mr M'Donald pf the Operacipescope Pictures, announces a complete change of ; pregramme .for tonight in the prill Hall, ,T|ie pictures are: direct, from Sydney, and include '■' The. Fisherman's Sen" , (1000 feet), "The Golddigger's Son" (1000 lest), and'others. There will he no pictures on Thursday, the Drill • Hall bsng required, for the Horticultural . Sc. ciety's show,. The usual matinee will take place on Saturday, and in the evening a complete change is intimated.

An Oamaru resident who has been round the greater of the dis' trict savs it if} wonderful how 1 a

great many of the wheat crops are holding out. There are promises: ofmany ftof crops, although the pasturage is. conspicuous by its absence, The want of rain, however, makes farmers anxious, for it is impossible for -even good crops to hold out indefinitely in a period of drought. The l situation, however, is not 'so hopelessly bad as townspeople—who are influenced by the spell of dry weatber-ibelieve, and with raiatbera will still be enough to feed the multitude.'

A most satisfactory condition of affairs prevails in the Auckland labor market ai present, and there is an unsatisfied demand for oorapetent skilled labor in nearly. every trade. This is very pronounced' in

the building trade, and severail nsw dwellings are making the' slowest progress in their erection owing to contractors being unaible to obtain carpenters. The demand for skilled laborers is also great, and domosI tics 'are almost impossljble to'ooutb ut tain. In fact, if all the vacant positions ait the present moment were to be filled there would be a further substantial increase in Auckland's rapidly-growing population.

.Seventy years ago the colony o{ •Hong Kong.was "a barren; rock, infested by pirates. 1 ' To-day the gross tonnage which 'enters the bor, exceeds that of any Qtteport in the world, anil, fn addition to the recently-completed Imperial dock, ■Hong Kong boasts of private dockyards, with accommodation for Dreadnoughts, and capable of building both ships of war and of commerce; of : factories of many kinds, supplying the needs of the Far Bast; of banking and insurance establishments wit)i world-wide connections, and filially of a railway which cost upwards of'million, as the final link of the future grand trunk line of Ohin a from Canton to Peking. Its prosperity has been continuous, and with ''the 'awakening of China," its Mure large Possibilities,

The last of the' - three largo pontoons, to be. used in connection with the dredging operations in the harbor, was launched yesterday afternoon a little after i o'clock, The tide was a neap one, and the pontoon, after a "ittW persuasion, gracefully glided along the well greased ways, and took the water like a duck,' That) launched yesterday is the largest of tho pontoons. Six small pontoons, two of which are now completed, have yet to be launched, These are to carry the piping for the spoil, andi as the framework is' in readiness, no great', time will elapse before they are' completed-. There were a good. few interested spectators yesterday to watch the

launch, and several snapshots were taken by, amateur photographers as the big pontoon struck the water. Tha work has been carried out under the direction, of Mr ; Curwood, the Board's foreman.