LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9495, 26 April 1894, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

His Excellency the Governor (Lord Glasgow) entertained a large party to dinner last evening at the Government] House. Among the guests were the Commander of the H.M.a. Rapid (Sir Henry Ogle, Bart.) and Lieutenant Martin. This evening Lord Glasgow will preside at the annual meeting of the friends and subscribers to the Parnell Orphan Homo in St. Mary's Parish Hall. His Excellency will be present at the Garrett Benefit Meeting to be held on the Ellerslie racecourse on Saturday next, under tha auspices of the Pakuranga Hunt Club. The K.M.s. Mariposa arrived from San Francisco about two o'clock this morning. Mow that scab is extinct in the colony the trade in breeding sheep from New Zealand to Australia is steadily increasing. Large sales take place in July in Sydney, and it will be of interest to our readers to know that the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have been *<*ccessful in securing a reduction in freight J5 0tt * 7s 6d (the rate charged last year) to os to, an y sheep that may be pent over irom oto cac ' l fc b e Sydney sales. This •h ttt ntial reduction, and in securing 10 tne com y has donjg a useful service. , re ,*. 8 V revival apparently in tho building line, te j ar ft 3 business premises are concerned. ; Ponsonby Read alone three shops ate - m process of erection. The charge sheet at the Police Court \ yesterday, though of a Vei . v heavy nature, \ was soon disposed of. Mr g B us S.M., presided. One fir' offender for drunkenness was discharged, John Svmonds was fined 20s or in default seven days' imprisonment. A charge if, perjury preferred against Daniel Sterling m connec- : tion with a case at the late sitting® of the Supreme Court, was on the application oi Sergeant Gamble adjourned to the 3rd of May. Five seamen belonging to the barque Lottie Moore were sentenced to three ; months' imprisonment for having broached the cargo. The accused pleaded zuilty y L Three of our local Jehus were fined 13s and costs (348) for leating their carriages una? tended on the Queen-street wharf. Fofi . ! 1 young men, named respectively Pitrfckl O'Connor, John O'Connor, \orman ilair» and Herbert Willet, resident <n the { Takapuna district, were ualled tt answer <» ? charge of having used insulting fcrahavioui towards Frank Mercer, a gardener in the employ of Mr. Porter. The defendantdid not appear. On the application of SirC. S. S. George, the case was remanded to the 2nd May. / , Mr. Herbert Jones, F.R.G.^' efc"rp«c' from the East Coast, after hi£t"p wiih th Premier's party through tpe Drewers cour try, on Tuesday. He !y* cove rod frr the injuries he Gclatea by "dig in the dark into a ba/fced wire* feiCe. A • Jones attended the/ Maori Parliament Gisborne, and also/delivered a lecture that township or/ "The Wonderland o Oceana." He proceeds to Vb*»Rara to see some places M interest).there, suei ing the Wairua /Falls, and will also visit Te Aroha and the Upper Thames, alter which he proceeds to England ear 1 " May. Mr. Juries has row secured about 1000 photographs of New Zealand scenery, including /he principal places of m the colour, and these will be utilised .d toe series (/lectures, which he will deliver on New Zealand in the mother country. | Yesterday afternoon the forensic* worts and the contractor for builds retaining wall at Birkenhead, laid # work on the ground, and a fair start« U1D ° Made this morning. The wall is to J* J /substantial character, 15 feet wide* J™ base, and constructed in the most ; a#° v style for resisting any pressure likely/ 10 ™ sustained. Since the slip occunjv » ' Witheford has been using every en*®" { to get this work done, though on greater magnitude than the prowf^ tract. He i. to hopes that ™ifpublSc proved of at Wellington by thf£ . oQ Works Department for reclaiming iP. of th« bay, will next year be niodj, „J conjointly by the Harbour M Government, or else by private ente!;. the land reclaimed would t let fx#* .. thus pay interest And sinking fond • ' •

ZTrtim W. v. Reeves (Minister for * Nation and Labour), in compliance with; Jaucafeio frill address the citizens .of a 'itfndon 'Land, Labour, and Educa"^UC nn Tuesday evening, in the City Hall. ticker Mr. J. J- Holland, will preside.' T , b6 Reeved is' at present in the North Mr ' J-® native schools, but Is expected K?vei" Auckland on Saturday. The *°.i. V.i« of Hamilton are desirous thai he Sid address the settlers of the Waikato. 8 An inquest was held yesterday by Dc, , coroner, at the District Hospital, Tb 'TS " "° infant Gladys fells, °" „f® accidentally burned to death while *i ■ « with her little brother, who had P &«ion of a box of matches. . Before eamo the little child was Sly burned, and died at the Hospital of ? iniories. The jury, after hearing the evidence adduced, returned a verdict of accidental death. _ The bathing season is now practically at the City Freshwater Baths. Last °. V !r there was some talk of making arrangets to heat the water to a temperature Tfis decrees, which would admit of bathing hlinfT carried on during Ihe winter months, u f »nflii,:<* latterly has been heard about V project? It is said that as the baths tain about two hundred thousand * ong of water it would be somewhat j De n«ive to heat such a body of water, by Btehm pipes reticulating the floor of the bath? Then there is the difficulty of win a certificated engine-keeper and the difficulty of removing the steam pipes from the floor of the baths every summer. Last of all is the question of finance. It is reckoned that the charge would have to be raised from Id to 3d for winter bathing, and it is doubtful whether with our present population a sufficient number of persons would use the baths at that figure to defray the additional expense which would be entailed upon the city. Half-a-dozen elegant show cases have jusli been manufactured for the Mackelvie Gallery in which the curios and other rare specimens of art will be exhibited. Mr Cheese man, curator of the Auckland Museum, has been entrusted with the task of re-arranging the old exhibits, and of stacin" those which have not hitherto been exhibited for want of room. The show cases are all mounted with plate-glass, and come of (them in pyramidal form, as being best adapted for showing the exhibits. " As 3 rule, -Mr. Cheeseman is following the system adopted at South Kensington. Further particulars have been received in town relative to the destruction of the Travellers' Rest Hotel, Ardmore (South Wairoa). The fire is supposed to have commenced in the kitchen, and may have arisen through some embers left burning when the inmates went to bed. The licensee was Mrs. Hope, who had occupied the hotel since ISS3. It was very old, having been built during the Waikato war of 1863. The stables and outbuildings and a small quantity of furniture was saved. £S0 worth of gum was destroyed in one of the sheds which was burned down. The hotel furniture and stock were insured in the Economic office for £230. Mrs. Hope estimates her loss over insurance at £200. The little boy ac Brunswick who was chained up by his father tarns out to have been a born vagrant. Neither in petticoats aor"bare buS" could he be kept indoors. His particular delight was hangings, and fin Court he admitted that he had once run *way to Ballarat for the purpose of seeing (Johnson hanged, and on another occasion to Lilydale to see Colston hanged. His father declared that he had brought the youngster home from nearly every railway terminus in the colony, and had taken him sway from 13 different police stations. He was fined £5 for putting the lad on the chain. A special meeting of the Harbour Board will be held on Friday next to receive report of sub-committee of finance and legal committee as to information for year-book for 1894. A serious accident occurred at Tuakau

on Sunday last to a son of Mr. Underwood, aged nine years. He was found at the foot of a 10-feet cutting, over which ho had fallen. Although very much injured, he was conscious when found by an elder brother, who carried him home. On examination a very ugly scalp wound was discovered, and bruises about the body. Dr. Dalziell was sent for, who promptly attended £;nd stitched up the lacerated wound in the head. He g/» cs liopoa vf ihv vtiiiuvultimate recovery. Complaints are very numerous by butchers and others who have occasion to use the Cox's Creek Road to the abattoirs, as to the unsafe state of the roadway across the creek, and unless something is done, either to widen the road or to fence it, a fatal accident will probably occur. The road is very narrow, and some persona sometimes carelessly leave gear, oars, etc. on the roadway, and it is reported tfiat several traps have latelv all but overturned into the creek or mudflats, through horses shying at obstruction? on the toad. This road is vory largely used by butchers and others whose business takes" th&hi to the abattoirs, often before daylight/' in the winter months, and obstructions on the narrow roadway are very dan^rous. Law is expensive, and law costs are unknown quantities. A short time ago, two men iued for wages, claiming a lieu on a riv/r steamer named the Barstow, which Wd been trading on the Mokau river. 'he steamer was taken under bill oi sale' by Mr. McCleland. The claim for wagesfor (he two brothers was £80 6s, but to recover this the case had to be brought into the Auniralty Court, and it was heard before Mr.Justice Conolly. There were few witness, and the proceedings were not unusual/ prolonged, but it now turns ! out that afte the costs are boiled down, or in legal phrweology, taxed, the defendant has to pay £Jl, or more than £100 beyond the amount o ginally claimed. The Wellinfon Evening Press, commenting on last y«.r's rainfall record, says this shows that ilia ridiculous to talk about " the climate f New Zealand," for there is *o such thing The commercial traveller's iremark that cw Zealand's so-called climate k only a ccection of samples, hits the mark. For ample, the appropriately dry spot where t Rhodes Convalescent Home is built net Christchurch, • had only 19 inches and fraction of rain during the year, andihat was spread over 118 days. At jyseeur Point 14 feet 6 inches fell, and atbe Summit railway station, 25 | miles frocVVellington, 8 feet 10 inches, \ and at Injwood, in Taranaki, 12 feet 10 . inches. may add, the contrasts are \ carried in other aspects of climate from \jorth tojuth and from east to west at \oost / latitude within the colony, i are> many and so great differences I &aSv e aht to speak of the " climates " I * AevKjiiand. One can get almost any 1 m* Jeß ' hkes— rom Greenland's icy \ r°tDta#j "to something like India's barnJ pHray, Bub among the strangest of I oca 1 climates is that of the deep steep i 1 P'Ke *Bi 9 y ß of the Molyneux, which are ! I fk [,t Wat P through the sharpest winters by \ \ Mke? rea river §owiD S * rom fc ke " cold " \ \ ps\ Uth anniversary of St. Andrew's 1 thT yte * ian Uurch will be celebrated I 1 Vftn ' n ° ky a soiree in the Choral Hall, 1 A K" n ", on tbQ **ble at 6.30. The Rev. ft r mc Mpastor Ku i occupy he chair, 1 simnlv^n od the gathering is brinemo' th« natU F e if a social reunion ' congregation J?®)!? 1 * of the church and i course On" of th« f' in fraternal interring will be tha •me of the even ' \The choir will r fl^ UßlC " l arrangements. WidMrs p render some part songs, i (Sbi 8o ; 00p0ra " d ilr ' A. H. Gee con- ! ' iinginy GounodSv' 1 num berg f the latter i h tfrt Pt.ssinu i ha ™eth" and " Thou 1 ; Ifhose ■ .vho kfl i' ICe ' , Mother" (Sullivan). f«nder these'itemsT, th ' d P ° P "> r VOOa ,• 'treat. The. Ms pronounce it a musical / V F>e church i, preße ?. fc an niversary soiree of \ F th e reviv-fl 60 ' ? interesting, ow ing i PEKALDofH, u- a " publication in t the \ '01,1 vf . , history and reminiscence 0 f \P: Aup'uio j n ' Jrew ' B : The ' Mother Ch ;pithorit,i 0 j l res hyterianism." The fa patnnKiof l V ® "-published the article pers and i, 1 ? 6 ! hi order that the mota. fcie hist " ere nts may have possession ot fcianenr, P°' tie church in a handy per6t)tiinihiorm' an d the pamphlets will be wo e*ro ?at t ' le soiree this evening. With <Krch of 9t- Paul's there is no fipfical ln .Auckland city so rich in hisifith the ,niSCences or 80 closely identified ; M Old St 3tor and progress of the colony lAt Andrew's Presbyterian Church, i* I'heir meetings, held lately, take Qv'^^.r' r^« County Council decided to Swie nf -d m Mr. Lawrence Raws' „ enwort ' lam . at an annual rental iJf SftfiA,-." u as . e terminable at five, ten, oß&ii'a) P^ .' for tlle purposes of agrixperiment and instruction.

; ' It) appears from the Review of the Churches that during the last seven years the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union has been preparing a monster polyglot'petition against the traffic, in alcohol and opium, and againsb legalised vice, to be presented to all the Governments of the sworld., Lady Henry Somerset and Miss Willard have been appointed to convey the petition, which has over 2,000,000 signatures, to the divers Governments. Dr. Lunn has been requested by these ladies to organise a demonstration round the world. A first-clasß steamer is to be chartered, and a party of 100 .will accompany Lady Henry Somerset and Miss Willard in October. Mr. . William Pipe is to act as managing secretary. In October the American delegation will proceed to Washington. Leaving New York .on October 24, London, Naples, Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, Cairo, India, Siam, every Australasian colony, China, and Japan will successively be visited. After this the eastern circuit of the world will be completed by a journey across the Pacific. It is intended later to present the petition to the northern and central Governments of Eurofie. <

At the Salvation Army Barracks, Dunedin, what is known as the " ward" system has been inaugurated. The city is divided off into twelve wards, and each placed under the care of a sergeant. The duties of the latter will be to see that the sick in his ward are visited, that the necessities of the poor are relieved, and, in fact, he will be responsible to headquarters for tho general conduct of army work in his district. The system has been attended with much success at home, and it is anticipated that equally good results will follow its adoption here.

One incident of the Hood in North Queensland the other day is worthy of notice. A man named Samuel Johnstone had been staked in the groin at Towalla by a falling tree. Almost the whole population of that goldfield turned out to convey him to the Geraldton Hospital. They were not able to cross the swollen rivers, and were compelled to keep to a track on the Divide, which was overgrown with vines and the "stinging tree." The party were kept hard ab work clearing a passage. : Tho journey occupied six days, during which the whole of the company underwent great privation. Johnstone was admitted to the hospital, and is now recovering. The prize medals granted by the Government for competition by members of tho New Zealand Volunteer force for 1594 have been won by the following, and the medals will be engraved and forwarded in due course :Gold medal for best shot in each island : North Island, Private J. E. Mooseman, Wanganui Rifles, 88 points; South Island, Sergeant John Keller, Kumara Rifles, 92 points. Gold and silver medals for second besb shob in each island: North Island, Colour-Sergeant F. W. Okey, Taranaki Rifles, 85 points; South Island, Private J. H. Morrison, Blenheim Rifles, 89 points. Silver medal for best shot in each district : Auckland, Bombadier P. Brown, "A " Battery, 81; East Coast, Private A. W, Pirie, Napier Rifles, 79; Taranaki, Private R. Hicks, Hawera Mounted Rifles, 76 ; Wanganui, Private H. Hooker, Wanganui Rifles, 82; Wellington, Sergeant W. Jeffries, "D" Battery, S2 ; Nelson, Private R. Kenning, Nelson City Rifles, 89; Blenheim, Private E. Griffiths, Blenheim City Rifles, 89; Westland, Private I. Williams, First Westland Rifles, 88; North Canterbury, Private F. S. Parker, A" Company Canterbury Rifles, 85; South Canterbury, Petty-officer R. Waugh, Timaru Navals, 82; Oamaru, Gunner W. H. Barnes, Oamaru Navals, 82; Dunedin, Corporal J. T. Gillan, Dunedin Highland Rifles, 83 ; Southland, Corporal J. O. Hawkins, Invercargill City Guards, 74.

At the last meeting of the Mount Eden Young People's Association, an interesting and instructive address was given by Mr. W. G. Ball, the subject being " Samoan Manners and Customs." The speaker illustrated his remarks by a map on a large scale, of the Samoan Group of Islands, and many samples of native manufacture. Tho address was much enjoyed by tho large audience, and at the close a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Ball, the president, Rev. B. L. Thomas, .at tho same time expressing the regret of the society that Mr. Ball would be shortly leaving Auckland forXapier. - A" very successiui social gathering was held last night in connection with St. John's Wesleyan Church, Ponsonby. The company sat down to tea at six o'clock, after the conclusion of which a public meeting was held at which addresses on various branches ot Church work wero given byMiss A. Porter and Messrs. H. Field, W. Beaumont, P. R. Dix, W. Hutchinson, and the Kev. C. H. Laws. A number of musical items were rendered by the choir. A pleasant evening was spent, and the meeting caisnot fail to do good to the Church. It was stated that the debt reduction scheme was working well, and that over £100 was already in the bank.

The first concert of the season by the Auckland Orchestral Union takes place this evening, in the City Hall. The programme offered is a very good one, including works not before heard in Auckland ; notably, the overture to King Stephen, by Beethoven ; the Scotch rhapsodic by Mackenzie, and a selection from Sullivan's new opera, " Utopia Limited," besides tho concerted items by the orchestra. The Liedertafel will sing four part songs. The singing by this now popular society is always a feature at these concerts. The Messrs. Jackson play a duet for clarionet and oboe, and Messni. Tapper and Raid sing the famous duet, " The Fishermen." A quartette by four members of the Liedertafel and a pianofore solo comprises the programme. Special attention and interest is attached to this last item, as Miss Alice Stevens makes her debut as a pianist in Auckland. She is from Fiji, and has been studying with Mr. Towsey for two years. Next month sho returns to Fiji, to her parents. The solo she will play is Chopin's " Deuxieme Scherzo," which affords ample scope for displaying the technical difficulties, and is a brilliant and effective composition.

The World's Trio and American Novelty Company open a season of six nights in the Opera House, on Monday next. Among the company is Mr. Charles Fanning, negro comedian, who made himself such a favourite on his previous visit with Frank Clark's Alhambra Company. Mr. James Mooney, another member of the company, is a native of Auckland, and now occupies a leading position in the colonies in the variety business. The Southern press speaks in the highest praise of the company's performances.

* The popular concerts at the City Hall were continued yesterday evening under tho management of Mr. A. H. Gee. The hall was well filled in all parts. Hunter's Quintette Band gave two fine selections, "Fairy Footsteps" and "Le Chevalier Breton." The next number was Mr. Gee's song, " The Wolf," a number in which he is thoroughly at home. Miss Coleta Lorrigan sang " Remember Me No More " with fine taste and effect. An excuse was made for Mr. A. L. Edwards on the ground of hoarseness, but he appeared and gave a very rendition of the music of Margarita. He subsequently appeared with Mr. Gee in the duet, *' The Moon Has Raised Her, Lamp Above," and the blending of tho voices was on the whole satisfactory. Madame Laura Daw, who was pub down for several solos, was incapacitated from appearing owing to illness. Changes were made to meet tho emergencies. Mr. Montague's humorous recitation, " The Whistler," was intensely funny, although its effect was somewhat marred by the rowdy manner in which the boys joined in the whistling portion. The substitution of "The Australian Emu" entirely took the audience. A very nice feature was tho humorous song, " Beautiful Girls," by Mr. Krone, which was encored. The other items of the programme appeared to receive full appreciation. . Mr. John Fuller's farewell conceit next Monday bids fair to be a great success. All the leading talent of Auckland will assist, including Mies Alice Rimmer. So many Mrtiatea have kindly offered their services Mat) one item only will be given by each, a verv long programme will be offered. John Fuller will sing Sally in Our Ally an "My Pretty Jane."

' TK following is the state of Her Majesty's prisot, Auckland, for the week ending April 'n 1894 : — On remand, 4 males ; awaitios' fcril 4males; penal /servitude, 34 males ; Xrd labour, 74 males, 10 females ; imprisoning 2 males; default of baiil, 1 male; boy* j*. recoivod during the week, 10 males, I female; discharged, 3 males; total in prist, 120 males, 10 females.