LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9831, 28 May 1895, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The French authorities of Tahiti hs made various attempts to open up a tra with Auckland. Most of their suppl come from San Francisco, and some fr< Australia, while the trade with this port much smaller than it oughb to be. Duri hie stay in Auckland, M. Galleb, Lieu Governor of the French possessions in t Eastern Pacific, has visited a number of o leading industrial establishments, factor! and business premises in order to see trade relations could be increased, and h also made a number of purchases. ] leaves for Tahiti to-day by the 5.3. Ric mond. A meeting of the Governors of the Auc land College and Grammar School was he yesterday afternoon. There were presen The Rev. Canon Nelson (in the chair), t Mayor (Mr. J. J. Holland), the Hon. A. Tole, and Mr. Udy. The meeting was t first after the elections. On the motion Mr. Tole, seconded by Mr. Udy, ib w unanimously agreed to invite Mr. W. Speight to take the seat rendered vaca by the death of Mr. Moat. Sir G. 1 O'Rorko was unanimously re-elected cha man, a position held by him for sixte years, and Colonel Haultain was re-elect ▼ice-chairman. The question of establia ing a cadet corps amongst the scholars the Grammar School was dealt with. Tl Board expressed entire sympathy with tl movement, and decided to request the vid chairman to bring up full details at tf next meeting. Several other minor mat tf of detail wore dealt with. / The Parnell Borough Council at its ml ing last night received a letter from p Town Clerk of Auckland in reply to p from the Borough Council stating that 9 water supply was now made continue "Yes," said Mr. Kissling, Mayor of 3nell, " that little freak of limiting the wjr supply cost us £10 as extra consumption water." Subsequently when the quesm of authorising the payment of the quart|y water account came up Mr. Whitley £- gested that the City should be askeffo share in the loss by contributing at '|st £5 as the limitation of the hours duig which the water was supplied was agsst the advice of the Borough Council. I An instance of how New Zealand jounls, and especially the Weekly News, witits immense circulation, penetrates every wire, has just come to light. A miner acoolgardie has recently written to Dr. Lajley to say that on reading the Weekly; Jsws of the 30th March last, he niced amongst the police cases an accounfof a case in which Dr. Laishley appears and in which one of the parties bore apame similar to his own, from which he iprred that he had discovered his sister, wjm ho had lost sight of for over 21 years] This turns out to be really the case. l The road works in the Galatea [strict are stated to be proceeding vigorofly by fifteen contracts (extending overt eight miles), having been let to the uneployod on the co operative principle on thpVhiri-naki-Te Whaiti road. It is probablehat the road will be pushed on from Te \>aiti to Ruatahuna, the heart of the frewera country. The Government intendlrecting a store near Galatea to serve as a epot, so that there may be no inconveniencchrough -arrival of stores, which arise through inclement weather dtiing the winter months. It is said the unemployed are working fairly well, in view if the tact that some of them are unused t. that class of work. Those who are exerienced at spade and shovel work are doinj well. Yesterday there was reposed to the police authorities the sudden Heath of a young girl named Ida Olive Reynolds, aged 9, daughter of Mr. C. Reynolds) sailmaker, York-street, Newton. Consume Fry made inquiries, and it seems that thj girl came home from school on Wednesday feeling a little sick, but got well again >n the two following days. On Saturdaj she again complained, and on Sunday worse. Dr. Purchas was called upon anq from the symptoms described to him he prescribed for influenza. At a later period of the day he was sent for but was away and several doctors were applied to. Ultimately Dr. Walker arrived about five p.m. but the child had jusb died. Dr. Philson, coroner, was notified of the facts, but he has decided, under the circumstances, nob to hold an inquest. The following notice of motion has been tabled by Mr. Farrell for next meeting of the -City Council :—" That Dr. ■ King, medical officer to the Board of Health, be requested to report to this Council at its next meeting his grounds for making the following statements which appeared in the New Zealand Herald of the 22nd instant, namely: 'If the City Council is so absolutely blind to the necessities of the claims of health, and of proper sanitary conditions, these things will occur. At the present time it is only with the greatest amount of trouble thab the City Council can be gob to undertake anything on behalf of the health of the city.'" At the meeting of the Devonport Borough Council last night the Waterworks Engineer reported that during twenty-four hours on the 22nd instant, the water in Lake Takapuna had risen four inches, which was equivalent to an increase of 24,000,000 gallons. This is about double the quantity of water that has been pumped out of the Lake since the works began pumping operations in August last. In commenting upon the report Mr. M. Niccol observed that the actual fall of water had been about two and a-half inches, so that there must have been a large inflow into the Lake from some other source, probably Rangitoto. Mr. Niccol also mentioned thab at the present time the water in the Lake was twelve inches higher than it was two years ago, some considerable time before the waterworks had started operations. From this it would appear that the water supply of the district is an assured one, and that the fears thab have been expressed that the Lake would suffer from being so utilised are groundless.

The son of Mr. Samuel Brown of Panmure Road, was run over by a cart on Saturday last. He sustained a fracture of one of his legs, and injuries to his face and head.

The organ of Presbytc-rianism in Otago, the "Christian Outlook," in commenting on the late outbreak of larrikinism in Auckland, propounds the following heroic treatment for this form of social evil: —" We fear the full-blown larrikin is irreclaimable. Clubs, gymnasiums, evening classes, and the like may get hold of a few, but for the groat majority we see little hope except to treat them as morally diseased, and deal with them as we do with those who are smitten with fever or smallpox. lb is perfectly futile to fine them, or commit them to prison on a short determinate sentence. We do nob liberate the lunatic or the leper after they have been in quarantine a few weeks. Why should we deal differently with the morally infected ? Society should make provision for the treatment of such, and it should deny them freedom till it is satisfied that they are competent to use it."

A meeting of the Society for carrying on Rescue Work in Auckland, was held in the Young l Men's Christian Association Rooms yesterday afternoon ; Captain Daldy presided. Mrs. F. W. King received entrance fees from 14 members. The election of president was adjourned for a fortnight, for a fuller attendance of members, when the offices of president and vice-president will be filled up. A general discussion took place on the subject of Rescue Work. A letter was read from Mi?s F. Garstin, chairwoman of the Working Committee of the Society for Social Ethics, Christchurch, who had received an invitation to be present, as she is at present in Auckland. In her note of apology to the hon. secretary, Mrs. St. Clair, for being unable to be present, Miss Garstin says:—"The old adage that 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' doubly applies to the work you have in hand, and the most experienced members of our Society affirm that real preventive work is the only true and sure rescue work. Leprosy and small-pox were never cured by keeping decent coverings over ghastly realities. The horrible facts must be placed before the people in words which do nob soften or cover their repulsiveness. We have had too much of concealment and fair words for foul conditions. Ignorance is the cause of all the distress, vice, and wretchedness that prevail." On Friday last, after the funeral of the late Rev. M. Downey, of St. Benedict's, Auckland, his many friends who came bo the funeral were entertained by Father Walter, the clergy also accepting of his proverbial hospitality. A* Mass on Sunday morning. Father Walter made feeling refer ence to the deaths of Bishop Moran, who, he said, was a true friend to the clergy and people, and also to Father Downey.

! Is stated th/t the price of flour has beJaised anotttr £1 per ton, making £2 ve perm increas/ within a fortnight, and d e thafche bake* contemplate, raising the ies ri( > f bread wxb week to 3d. >m flaps or/ of the most gratifying is feat ps in collection with the Free Public aw Libify is th/eteady increase of subscribers D,. M tfl "len/ng branch" of the institution, be }he)Low/>tal 850, and ib is anticipated ur Pat lurirf the winter now upon us the is, Jimbbr «fl go up to a thousand. This if Ipreseivf l ar go amount of home reading, as Jout f P er cent, being fiction, and the le ficr •ft'f thoroughly useful books in h- Irio/branches of literature. JDu/ng the past year and a-half Captain k- &• °* tMe Rescue branch of the Salvation Id fray's work, has been labouring in this s . ty, principally among the young women ha d girls who are brought up at the Police j # »urb from one cause or another. She is (j e w removing from Auckland, and states 0 f pat "she will always think with pleasure M the generosity of its people, and hopes j iiat her successor will find as kind friends nfcfs she has done." &] The other day we drew attention to the r*normous yield obtained by an amateur jtjgardener in growing some of Sutton's jWhite Jerusalem artichokes. Since then Whe has written to say that he has taken up J another plant which had nob been injured by the blow as the former one was. "The result surprised me. After washing the tubers they weighed 211b loz. Of these, 181b were fit for market, and the rest, with the exception of one pound, were as large as the seed used, or about one ounce each." Ab the present time in the window of Messrs. Hesketh and Aitken are shown a number of apples which have been subjected to a rather novel experiment. Mr. J. C. Firth having thought that his pumice sand would be a good substance in which to {irevenb apples from decay, for a time ab east, on the 13th March this year placed a quantity in a box, packing them with pumice sand. They were removed from th« box on the 24th instant, quite fresh, free from injury of any kind, and do not appear to have lost moisture during the time they were packed in the box. Those on view have quite a fresh appearance, and if apples so packed could successfully undergo ten weeks' confinement, ib gives a clue to a cheaper method of packing fruit for the London market than by sending them in the cool chamber at such high prices as hitherto were charged. The fourth annual meeting of members of the Union Free Church, VVellesley-street, was hold lasb evening in the schoolroom. After a social tea, Mr. Robert Fry took the chair, and the business part of the proceedings was proceeded with. Mr. C. B. Stone (secretary and treasurer) read the annual reporb, from which we gather that 16 members have been added during the year, and four have left for other parts of the colony. The various branches of work in connection with the church were doing fairly well. The Sunday-school was progressing under the superintendence of Mr. F. M. Hay, there being 184 scholars with 17 teachers. As to the Christian Endeavour Society, ib was growing in numbers and usefulness, and twenty members had been added, and six have left for the country during the year. The membership consisted of 73 active, five associates, and 10 honorary members. Thanks were accorded to the choir and their leader (Mr. Abbott) for past services. The Good Samaritan Society was doing good work. Since last annual meesing its president (Mrs. Herapath) had died ind been much missed, as she took a lively interest in the work. There were twelve inmates in the Children's Home supported by donations of food and money, and from the Church funds when needed. These poor little ones wore being cared for and trained instead of being in wretched homes or on the streets. There have been admitted during the year eleven children, three of whom have left ; one has been adopted by a lady at Gisborno, and one died on the 28th Jannary. At present there are eighb boys and four girls, varying from 20 months to 10$ years of ago. The Abercrombie-street Mission belonged especially to the Endeavour Society, and was doing useful work. | The statement of accounts showed receipts to be £352, expenditure £347, leaving a credit balance of £35. The election of seven officers and a committee of management concluded the proceedings.

Yesterday evening, at the Opera House, I the drama " Life for Life" was again pro- I duced before a good audience. To-night "The Sunny South" will be produced. This drama has had the record dramatic run in the colonies, beating in Melbourne even "The Silver King."' Mr. Darrell produced it also in London, where, on the twelvth night he received a wound in the hand from a bowie knife. This meant the undergoing of three operations, the care of no less than seven London surgeons, and a stay of about four months in Sir Henry Thomson's private hospital. Mr. Darrell i has played the piece—since he last presented it to an Auckland audience —all over the world, and has to take it back to London in September next. Mr. Durr6ll plays the part he himself created. The character of " Babs," which has been interpreted by Miss Essie Jennings, Miss Annie Mayor, Miss Haggie Knight, Miss Emma Fisher, the late Mrs. Darrell, And many other actresses of note, will now be played by Miss Harrie Ireland, who has already been very successful in it. The story of the play is well known. Briefly it illustrates some of the most romantic of Australian episodes — the stoppage of the police train going with a detachment to arrest the Kellys, the bank raids, and other sensational incidents. The drama, which nine years ago drew the record house for Auckland, has been written up to date. As the season is drawing to a close, " The Sunny South" will only be staged for two nights. On Thursday "East Lynne" will be produced, on Friday and Saturday the farcical comedy "Mightmare," to be followed by "The Corsican Brothers," will be given, and on Monday night, the last of the season, Mr. Darrell will play for the 574 th time "Badger" in the " Streets of New York."

A concert and limelight entertainment was given in St. Matthew's Sunday-school last evening in aid of the funds of the Temperance Society. There was a large attendance, Mr. C. Burrows presiding. A capital programme was gone through, one of the special features being a scene from Shakespere, the characters being taken by Mr. G. S. Bullen and C. Smith. Mr. Smith also showed some excellent limelight views.