WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9202, 3 November 1888, Page 5

WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

[by TELEGRAPH.—own correspondent.] Wellington, Friday. DEATH OF A NOTABLE LADY.

Your readers who have been much in Wellington, especially if they have been in the habit of attending' the debates in Parliament, cannot forget tho well-known figure in the middle seat of the front row in the Ladies' Gallery, Mrs. Batkin, the wife of the Assistant-Comptroller of the colony. She died to-day about one o'clock. She was a very old lady, although looking so ' 1 hale and hearty." She was found dead in her bed, apparently asleep. It was only after renewed attention by one of the servants the discovery was made that the lady was dead.

THE GOVERNOR. His Excellency and suite leave hero by the s.s. Wairarapa on Monday for Christchurch. He will bo absent from Wellington about a fortnight or three weeks.

THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE. On inquiry at the Government Buildings to-day as to the date when the Hon. Mr. Fergus might be expected to return, I was informed that it appeared to be understood that the Minister had left Melbourne on Tuesday last.

-MUNICIPAL LOANS. The New Zealand Times, in a leading article, suggests the consolidation of all the New Zealand municipal loans under a single scheme, and their conversion into a uniform long-dated stock bearing a lowrate of interest, say -1 or per cent., the latter being the rate favoured by Mr. Westgarth, the eminent financier.