LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9479, 7 April 1894, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Prior to the opening of the ordinary business at the Supreme Court yesterday, his Honor, Mr. Justice Conolly formally adjourned the civil sittings of the' Court until Monday next., ■■■; i •./ ■:■ r. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church holds its anniversary services to-morrow. The old Church is surrounded by many historical associations, and" the story of ita establishment is, in reality, part •of the history of the colony. The first portion of an account of the history of " Old St. Andrew's" will be found in the supplement, ■and should be especially interesting to old identities. ; v-

; The Senatus Academicus of St. Andrew's, Scotland, has conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon Mr. John Hay, of Coolangatta, New South Wales. This is the University to which Mr. Berry, of Coolangatta, bequeathed £100,000, and from which the Rev. David Bruce received D.D., John Hay Honey man M.D., and now John Hay receives LL.D. Dr. Hay's many Auckland friends will feel much gratified at the distinguished honor thus conferred upon their erstwhile fellowcitizen.

It is' stated that Colonel Fraser was, on Thursday, successful in securing the Government run No. 10, near Matata, containing 18,900 acres,, the annual rental being £118 Mr. VVitheford has tabled a notice, of motion for the next meeting of the Harbour Board that the meetings of the committees of that body bo open to the press.

It has been known for Homo ,* ff«W! and Bonanza th « hake, adjoining the Grown i n ' K ? have been under offer to a London y 8 ? in «. who indicated that they would « B ? ndic engineer to report on the pros™*? ° ufc a « property. Mr. Wales, the engineer „ ,° tb ° ar "« d j » Kw Zealand some SfW, and has been on a visit to th. a 8 . a §°, inspect some mining properties f° to which are under offer. wf ,B , ofca K° Auckland last week, and on^®* 1 io accompanied by Mr. Adam Pn,t-„: da F. the owners of "the Bona>S £dTali n( of and Mr. Morton, proceeded to Oh? He was shown over the propertied reopened already,. and those pas£ 7 reefs the ground from the Gt^Tnl^ h pointed out, and the result* obSiS 7"® numerous testa were explained full v J information available being placed'n! Jl e disposal of the victors. He Sto vi S it ed t Grown Company'? mine and batter . . was courteously shown through bot'h T Mr, MoGeuof, the mine manager, arid m y McConnell, the general manager of j' company. ° 1 'ha Subscribers to the Telephone £ xcan , are reminded that to-day is the last day S (Which to pay their subscription for the Ln year ending September 30, 1894 All wi wish to avoid the annoyance of fi n di bemselves cut off on Monday morning »•[! Oi well to note tins announcement,

Vith reference to the report of tv, exerts (Messrs. P. B. Walker, M IC Superintendent of Telegraphs for' v. Soul* Wales, George Smibfn, Engucer, Victoria, and Professor V i> Browr\ of the Auckland University) u nQ ' the Duiedin electric train way proposals ih may by stated that the question at iml was as to the amount of damage likely to be donfc to the telephone and teWranl, systems,iand the various gag and water pipes by fre establishment of electric tram ways on Jhe single trolly system, vising the earth as a, . return current. The experts find that to serious injury would be likely to occur t> the working of the telephones should a single aerial wire tram service be established, provided that means be adopted in the construction of the line to reduce the resistance to the return current and prevent as far as' possible its straying from the rails. They, however, except the Castlestreet and North-East Valley sections where the horse trams should be retained' They find that the telegraph circuits would not be materially affected except in the North-East Valley, where the main north wires would require to be moved to the main road if the electric trams were adopted, and they do nob consider that it would be necessary on the construction of the electric tram line to provide metallic circuits for the telephone system, They recommend that the tram current conductors be placed on the opposite side of the Street from the telegraph and telephone wires, otherwisa contact might be dangerous to life and property, and various precautions are suggested, including the necessity for the telephone and telegraph wires crossing the tram wire at right angles where it is necessary that they should be taken over it.

After a long and exhaustive trial, lasting for over three days, the three prisoners' Moses, Leon, and Nathan Shein, three Rug' sian Jews, who have passed here under thf names of Miller, Smith, and Jackaon, were, lasb night, convicted on a charge of coispiracy to defraud, and were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment with had labour. This was what was known a "The long firm case." The salient fict was that one of the prisoners known as Miller obtained quantities of goods on credit from Messrs. W. McArthur and Co., Abbott, Oram, and Co., and J. Trenwth. These were taken by the other prisoners to Taranaki, Te Awamutu, and the Thanes, and disposed of, and Miller, who had a shop in Isewton, wrote to his credfcors intimating that he had nothing to pay, that he had given the goods to havkers who could not be found. His affairs were placed for liquidation in the hands of Messrs. Cook and Gray, accountants, who discovered evidence of fraud which led to the arrest of the prisoners and their subse. quent conviction. When the jury returned their verdict last evening two of the prisoners. Miller and Jackson, cried bitterly, bub,, they were evidently relieved by tha leniency of the sentence, for. Miller, with' great alacrity and in quite a cheerful tone, thanked His Honor. The Court adjourned at half-past six o'clock until ten o'clock this morning, when the case against Tibbutt, charged with a breach of the Bankruptcy Act, will be taken.

A somewhat pathetic incident took place yesterday at a city boarding-house. Some six weeks ago a young woman, aged 19, arrived in Auckland from Queensland, where her parents reside. She took lodgings as above, and has remained at them ever since. On Thursday, at midnight, she appears to have gob out of her bedroom, and went into an unoccupied room, where she was found soma hours afterwards lying on the floor, and her dead baby, a boy, by her side. Dr. Lindsay was sent for, and attended to ths unfortunate girl. He was unable to say, though ths child appeared to be mature, whether it had been born alive, or otherwise, but if born alive, ho thought it would would not have survived the exposure, in in any case. The landlord took steps to promptly inform the police of the affair, and they communicated with the coroner, Dr. Philson, who, under the circumstances, did nob deem it necessary to hold an inquest.

A fire took place on Thursday evening at) Panmure, a cottage—valued at £60, belonging to Mr. John Donnelly, farmer, and occupied by a widow, Mrs. Kelly—being burned down. Everything in the way of furniture was destroyed, save a cupboard and a few chairs. The fire was first discovered by the postmaster, who was passing along the road when he saw a glare of fire. He went over, and found that the house was in flames, and it was speedily burned down. The house was insured in the Alliance office for £30. The origin of the fire is unknown.

The following is the result of the local option poll in the Marsden Licensing District Publican's licenses : Continuance, 235 ; reduction, 72; not granted, 248. Accommodation licenses: Continuance, --y reduction, 57; not granted, 235. Bottle licenses ; Continuance, 208; reduction, 6/; nob granted, 247. Total number of votes recorded, 583; number of men who voted) 430; number of women who voted, 153.

Ab the Police Court yesterday, fore Messrs, J. L, Tole and R. Udy, J-Kf? on first offender was discharged with caution. Wm. John Paine was ® man 9, on the charge of having, on the J of September, 1892. at Auckland, feloniously forged the name of Mr. P. Du , to an endorsement of a promissory no e £25, and the name of Mr. P. A. Lrnd ay, M.D., to another for £10. On the app tion of Mr. Williamson a remand «a granted. James Reicl was fined 1 „ costs and ordered to give security to to keep the peace for six mon assaulting John Wilson. Mr. McGregor was for plaintiff.

Yesterday afternoon we had an PP. tunity of inspecting a new applian , shelling maize. The new invention is m» by Mr. James Walden, Matakana, and intended for the use of settlers whog ' acre or two of that grain for.feed to pou J pigs, etc. It is very simple in construct.. and can easily be worked by a chi • portable, and can be attached to y by a couple of screws in a / ev ? . One of the chief advantages it has' in cheap . fcion to its simple effectiveness, is > ness. -Mr. Walden isat present 11 d f tha trying to make terms with som hardware merchants for the salelo fchfl anticipates • that it can be merc hant, market, with ample.profit for th«em and M at a figure ranging from 10 to 12. fto it is simple and not liable to bre ' » t j, e get out of order, it should c seemed, sale so far as cheap shelters ar^°" C aUa As Mr. Walden intend S! to ® ecu -l t ? pt ion foi it, we refrain from giving » de« of it.at present. One cob is fe own and the new invention will hold he with any single cob shelter at; pre» market at many times the rice Matakana article. , To-day two eminently useful driverlectures will b 3 commenced at the sity College, which , ™ ,^ v P are intended attended throughout. They Tho m»3 chiefly for teachers. Pi°fes gftturd ay will lecture at 11.15 a.m. eac - ng ha on botany anol., agriculture, s in btai „ compositionn of plants, their food, etc. Professor Brown commence at 10.15 a.m., and are aev elementary science.

' n Wellington, who is the Dr. BftW fa plant protector for snails, (ovo" tor ; 0 o P the articles to Mr. Greenbaa en n f this city, who is also the inventor ' bield? 'n ant pSitoctor, as he wishes to of a P ideas as to their respective cbftnt bnt artc ] being effectual for the merits, intended. he Wellington mvenl,,irpOio6 Bts Of a circular body of! fine, six tie" C . deep and four inches in diameter. i°® ? £ inches from the bottom is a A bollt r helf or tray about an inch wide, cir f t-Vrned up lip or rim about an eighth »° d •„n inch deep, so as to retain a P» rt 0 ifflo or salt on the tray. At the layer of » s a circular verandah about three t°P® dg urnad This is for the purpose of inches finer the lime upon the tray, tray and prOtoC fHh being soldered to the body, all of ver While effectual for the purpose ,inC j a the cost of production is against in i and the shape prevents them tblS "t in'" packed in nests, while they fr °ro be removed after a plant is grown f"h! but must remain » fixture. _ The S invention is much simpler, being a • ill- bodv of zinc about four inches f°n and of any desired diameter. At the deep e d-'o is » vim of copper projecting "He ami outside to the depth of about San-inch. Snails having a decided objection to have one portion of their body 7inc and another on copper, the shock X,; men to the traveller being apparently V disagreeable. Although the price will be objectionable, Dr. Rawson'a invention is ingeniously pot up, and may be seen at the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the local invention.

The funeral of the late Mr. W. OBsirne, winter, Into of Wellington, took place ••»«terday afternoon. The circumstances of his tragic death have beon already published There were present the members of the Auckland Typographical Society, the H.A.C.B. Society, as well as a number of old colonists to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased. The Kev. Father Downey officiated at the wave, the funeral taking place at the Catholic Cemetery, Symonda-streeb.

The mission of the Rev. J. McNeil was continued yesterday in St. James' Hall. In the afternoon Mr. McNeil gave an address on "The Chariots of God." At the evening service there was 'a large attendance, Mr. McNeil delivered an impressive address from the passage in Revelation Behold 1 stand at the door and knock." There was the usual after meeting, which closed the mission at St. James' Church. Mr. McNeil commences a week's mission to-morrow in the Tabernacle. In the afternoon there will be a special united service for the young, subject " A Puzzle : Something You Have not Seen Before."

In connection with the Otahuhu Band of Hope a very interesting and instructive entertainment was provided by the gentlemen members of the society and friends, on Thursday evening, April sth. The attendance was good. Mr. C. Bailey, vice-presi-dent, occupied the chair. Addresses were given by Mr. E. Allan, president, and Mr. W. S. Bowie, both of whom gave some real sound advice and instruction, interspersed with amusing anecdotes and illustrations. The following programme was efficiently rendered Selection on tin whistles by members; recitation, Mr. W. S. Bowe; vocal solo, "Saxony," Mr. C. Macdonald ; dialogue by five members ; round, "If All Would Sign," by four members ; recitation, Vincent Stringer; glee, " The Canadian ! Boat Song," by four members ; vocal solo, The White Swan," Mr. H. Wills; pianoforte solo, Mr. J. Dalton; vocal solo, Mr. F. Andrew; recitation, "Billy's Rose," Mr. S. Holdsworth; glee, " The Social Glass," by three members; vocal solo, "Marguerite," Mr. H. Wills. The benediction brought a very enjoyable and suesessful meeting to ft close.

A meeting of the Preachers' Association of the Primitive Methodist Church was held last evening at Pitt and Edwin-street Church, the Rev. C. E. Ward in the chair. Mr. Backhouse read a capital paper upon the Church's relationship to the old lines, which was followed by an interesting discussion, in which Messrs. Kerr, YVheatly, Coad, Hawkins, Miss Frith, and others took part.

Last evening at the Opera House the Pantomime Company repeated the performance of the previous evening. To-night the company will eive another entire change of programme, comprising comedy olio and farce, in which several new and original items will be introduced. Attention is specially drawn to the programme and novelty for Monday night, which will duly appear in our advertising columns, and which will be the last night of the pantomime season. This afternoon there will be a special afternoon performance of "CinderEllen" by the pantomime company, at specially reduced prices, as will be seen by the advertisement. The fairy pantomime of "Cinder-Ellen," the transformation scene and harlequinade, will be given, and a large muster of little ones should attend, as th>B will be the last opportunity of witnessing the pantomime.

Yesterday evening a benefit entertainment was given at the City Hall by a company of officers and men, the proceeds poing to the Orphan Home, Parnell, and the Blind Institute. There was a large attendance, and the excellent programme programme provided was thoroughly enjoyed. Some ably-rendered instrumental music was given by the fine band of the Curagoa ; cutlass exercise and singlestick encounters were gone through by bluejackets, under Instructor Slowly, and Messrs. Whitmen and Harvey had a well-contested bout with the gloves. The vocal part of the programme, particularly tho comic element, was very good, and encores were the order of the evening. Amongst those who took part were Lieutenants Warren and Worthington, and Messrs. W. Staples, Meiklejohn, Slowly, R. Denyer, A. Templeton, E. Reid, T. Poole, and T. Cannon. Messrs. Hennings, Staples, Slowly, and Goddard were loudly encored for a finely-danced Scotch reel in burlesque. After the concert the floor space was cleared, and the bluejackets and their friends enjoyed a dance.

" Humour, Art, and Harmony" is slightly suggestive of the name adopted by Mr. Snazslle for his exhibition, and from a perusal of the programme of the performance to be given in the Ponsonby Ballon Monday next, we gather that the entertainment is of a somewhat similar character, consisting of musical, humorous, and dramatic items, illustrated scenically by apparatus which the management state to he similar to Mr. Snazelle's. The programme, however, is a particularly varied one, and appears to have items in it to suit almost every taste, ranging from Gounod's Ave Maria" to the latest musical absurdity. In addition to the artists who have toured tits Australian colonies with Humour, Art, and Harmony," special artiste* have been engaged locally, including flfcrr Zimmermann (the talented violinist), Mr. \\ alter I m pett (pianist), Miss Katie ltzpatrick (vocalist), and Mr. Leslie Dix iffiusical comedian).

IK Auckland Bowling Club will give his afternoon a formal reception, on the rafton Ureen, to the club "reps" who went to the Napier Easter bowling tournament. A match will be played, Presi®r'o v - Vice-president, play commencing a ' 2.30. There will no doubt be a large attendance of members and their friends on tie occasion.

A and benefit concert has been tended to Mr. and Mrs. A. Anderson, on ' onday, 17th instant, at St. George's Hall. «e Mayor of Auckland (Mr. J. J. Holland) 11 preside, and a number of our leading Th*'u' art ' stes w 'H assist on the occasion, nn 6 -d'ghland fling will be performed by a umber of juveniles, and a quadrille party take place after the concert.

here were in the lock-up last evening, a an on a charge of drunkenness, and Jas. mes, arrested by Detective Chrystal, on o c large of breaking and entering into Mr. _ orge Seagar'g establishment and others. a e . charge is similar to that preferred rem "'d "* me 3 00re > wbo ' 8 afc present on

p. ? regular meeting of the Provincial | a : a f ch Chapter (Masonic) was held ju evenin in the Freemasons' Hall. basin Was a a ttendance and the usual Dllfi iness wag transacted. .meeting of the Auckland held i \ Club was convened, to be been $ ni J?kfc in the British Hotel has •eooeiJ° Ur i_ until Friday next in conSett death of Mr Roberb

HaUuni'' 1 concert of the series at the City Gee iJ" he directorship of Mr. A. if. Part, sonct i P 00 on Wednesday next, duets wiifl* 8 j ß ' quartettes, trios, and - will be rendered by Mr. Qee'a pupils.