LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10082, 18 March 1896, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Last evening a singular contretemps took place at Government House. When the gas jets were lit in the ball-room the whole of the lighting arrangements in the main building collapsed, and it was necessary to use candles and lamps. Mr. Menzies, manager of tho Northern Club, kindly furnished a number of lamps to meet the emergency. The lighting arrangements o! Government House have been very defective for some time past, and have occasioned a good deal of annoyance to the Vice-Regal party. It is stated that when the gas was originally put in, the piping was defective in reticulation, and there have been periodical breakdowns. Government House is under the care of the Public Works Department, and steps should be taken to put the lighting arrangements of the building upon a proper and efficient footing, as the present state of things is simply intolerable. The manager of the lias Company, sometime ago personally inspected tho piping, and was of opinion that the whole plant should be overhauled and put right. This is not a matter within the function of the Gas Company, unless requested to do so, but of the Public Works Department.

The ordinary meeting of the Harbour Hoard was to havo been held yesterday but, as several of the members were away with the Mayoral picnic, the mooting was adjourned until half past two o'clock this afternoon. Messrs. G. S. Killing (chairman), J. T. Julian, and \V. Gunson were the members present at the meeting.

The ordinary meeting of the City Schools Committee was held in the Wellesley street school last night. There were present: Mr. Blades (in the chair), l>rs. Kin? and Walker, Messrs. R. Farrell, Adams, Squirrell, Fairs, and Crowe. Mr. E. Jones waited on the meeting, and asked that hia son, aged 11, might bo exempted from attending a public school. It was stated by the truant officer that the petitioner had been prosecuted for failing to send his child to school. Mr. Jones said the boy was at work daring the day, but received five hours tuition per week at a night school. Tiie members, while sympathising with him, had to decline the request, as the Act required that 12 hours' instruction should be given. The Board of Education forwarded the names of three teachers to fill the vacancy at Napier-street school, caused by the resignation of Miss M. M. Kelly, and is was agreed to ask tho appointment of Mm E. J. Larritt. A suggestion was made by the Board, in answer to the request of the committee, for increased accommodation at) Chapel-street school, tlmt a second school bo established in Albert-street—both to be under the care of the present headmaster. This did not seem a desirable scheme to the members, and on Dr. Walker motion it was decided that the Board be informed that the committee adhered to its former resolution re enlarging the present building.

A meeting of the Auckland Women's Liberal League was held in tiio Wesley Hall last evening before a fair attendance of member;!. The president, Mrs. Johnston, occupied the chair. After the usual routine business had been disposed of, a ballot was taken for new members, twelve being elected. The chief discussion of the evening aroso over a motion tabled by Mrs. Gibson, " That the custom of opening the meeting with the Lord's Prayer be discontinued." This was negatived by 20 votes to 7. A short discussion also ensued on the proposed Eight Honrs' League, after which the meeting closed.

The sitting of the Railway Conference was continued in St. Paul's school yesterday, and the general rules were dealt with and nearly completed. The meeting then resolved itself into a committee to consider tha superannuation scheme.

Mr. Frank Andrew, the well-known grain merchant and coach proprietor of Otahuhu, after a residence of 33 years in that district, intends leaving Otahuhu on a visit to England next week. It will be seen by an advertisement in another column that his numerous friends have determined to hold a social gathering in the Otahuhu Public Hall next Monday evening, for the purposu of saying good-bye to him and his wife, and wishing them a pleasant trip and safe return. An illuminated address, expressive of kind feelings and good wishes, will also be presented to him.

We understand that a nabor of native , L, .rone back to the .ittle Barrier ar V of which the Oernment had ] ' Session, and orictcthe occupants. £ twenty men of the Pananetit I'orce, S "J. r Lieutenant Hume, arender to un 1,1 to tho island again, < soon as Mr. >T' •j,ter has made the nectary arrangeThe force is cxp&ed to leave ir.t' n ■

i Mr. p. J- S. Hroomhall "Corn Trade v p ,ok" there are publish! some rather r , facts i" regard to ie risk which ;:!t Britain runs in conno.ion with the ' r ,a .applies of the peoph « Let the ~V ,'av i;rft«P «he eituabn, says the ry., 1 " .md" the (iovemmen that neglects w *i matter would bo looted out of - , L ' r '' The slender proportons to which Jjafi cf life'' is annuallyoduced in tho !l '\ •v, u : May may be knowito the trade, ".. . e ~::b!ic only dimly reiise the situsC Y 'i":, r ee or four weeks' supply is all Britain call thencount upon. ~ ' that the dogs o war should f 1 1' lo.'f. a.« might very esily happen, . M iul.i become of the leart of tho ! Lmpire? " Whab garrison in ,-i a i manure one milbnth part as r 'l~ i. ihi< littlekingdoimafi inherited ;,•! M blind chance sueha ftiomcntous '' a , ;ts food supply The concloc . . c writer arrives at i " that if no B . , _ , :i be deviled to indue the growth c ' • K':it wheat in this cCL'jtry for supc ' , t .oi-t half the natural wants, the 1 i;i ,1 illlike provisicn for ensuring jj ,! r v .I foieign grain in |ur midst at a.. !..»< '•

<V> Mice Court yosteiay morning i,,. c Mr. H W. Northcroftj'etor Peter- ,. , Y,< found guilty of having used -. ... li-uMuge in a public place and a 'V ;; u f 14 days with hail labour was Charles A. Giiderton was 1 ~ 1 ( i:i the informatioiijof Mr. T. C. j".'*,., j-.,die inspector, frith driving ii si i ret corner at otho than a walkj,. ... and a lino of >s will los costs was r ,~ , , L -,inn him. Ijenry Albert . . , .i- , 1 )e:.ry Mounsey vcre remanded ] :. -m a charge of beig concerned j. .. . ■ :'.,e robbery at tiat place.

. ' line.*' Hall, last nijht, the Rev. i. \ •: : v delivered a mat interesting .... r:, life in the Transvaal. The at y. ■i -v. >• -mall. Mr. Ro)y spoke with ]. :: .j nity of personil knowledge, I , . _• ....• iv i for six years D the country i.ff'.ntenan minister. The lecturer * ,:n i.if chief cliaractiristics of the , _ .; me manner?, occupations, and rej;- .. .-pinions of the Boeu; and the re- .... exiting betweer the GovernJ...; . i the lit landers. '.'ho subject was i -:d hv a number of suitable anec- : <-* a', 1 personal experien.'es, and the lec„jr, :ire>v much light on ihe events which ;• ■ ■ ■;? recent troubiis. Tho lecture v . .: valuable inbrmation, from i _• ■;; _• to end. and waslistenod to with u \ _remention by these present.

TI-j 'l.ioti contingent ithich has been : Australia, arrived jesterday by the i. ;.| ,-i.v.iMiri, and held a meeting in the S ... . Army Barracks, They gave e.,;..-- ...iilres-es, and two of them sang vrt -i. >.-lv some sacred solos. The contirjf.t leaves to-day for Gisborne.

5. ir.j'ch was run in the Domain yesterday f':-: • ii. over the hundred yards distance, K-Mcen Messrs. W. Everes, of Mercury i:,v. v, 1 J. Braddilly, of the Thames, for i'.'j v-; ie. Eyeres proved the winner, and 1..- :i:r.e was 10 1-5 seconds.

The fortnightly meeting of -he Otahuhu ,\!:i:'i:il Improvement Association was held ci Monday evening, Mr. W. Hunter in •J - chair. There was a large attendance. 'Mi? business on the programme was a paper l,v Mr. 11. 1 lick on " Oor Auld Hume." The put of Scotland especially selected was Falkiik, Mr. Dick's native town. The essayist gave a graphic description of the town, its castle, and fortifications, and ruins. The scenery wa< described as most beautiful, and so extensive tlatfrom a partira'ar eminence, part of tvelve counties cn be seen. The history of Falkirk, as t.\ 1 Lv Mr. Dick, is extremely interesting, c : acted as it is with Wallace, Bruce, i, . •'i Mary, and many of the kings of s."!.i:id. The paper was full of humour, i.-ke a true patriot Mr. Dick considers S'ri.md the most famous country in the iv- :. and his native town, Falkirk, the i:.--: :.iniuus part of that most famous c- '-v. Mr. Dick was heartily thanked f-■ lever and racy paper. Miss Dawson, .Mr. '.I'ibert Todd, and Mr. Allan Douglas we:; pjecteii members of the Association ; j- i Mr. Charles Macdonald was appointed secretary in the place of Mr. James Vuglar, v.:,. Has left tile district,-(Own Correspo:. lent).

At the Patent Office, Wellington, compile .-pecitications in relation to the following implications for patents had been iiccept f l: —T. L. Baker and J. H. Cobb, of irviney : An invention for an improved --mane rabbit-trapping fence. J. O. lb-hand, of Wellington : An invention tor a-: improved hauling apparatus. W. Run- ■. and T. McMillan, of Victoria: An invention for an improved apparatus for r!;.-:;;bu:ing poisoned materials for the detraction of rabbits. J. Harrison, of

Wellington: An invention for the sale prt-er of fresh foods. J. Campbell, of O'aip: An invention entitled "Campbell's ir.pact Rabbit-trap" C. Bristow, of Wellington : An invention for an improved rcl'ln -eeding machine. C. Dahl, of PalD:»r?ifln North An invention entitled 1 ' I>fihl .a Universal Water and Rot proof Ure-in-r, and Process for Applying same to 1 cxlie and Fibre Materials " W. A. Bromnich an i C. A. Floyd, of London : A', invention for an improvement in the rhxfva of vehicle, and harness to he used in r i,m• (■'ion therewith. A. Pulbrook, of E' .' nii'l : An invention for improvement? i'j .-I-.,! cvmccted with inplatable wheel t.r'-c. L. L),tvic j , of Christcluirch : An inV'j,'i ,'i for improvements in teat-tube connec'i '0= for mi king machines. D. Monro, o: Melbourne: An invention for an im-P'-jvwl process of and apparatus for tha (■ mivi r-io.i of skim-milk into a marketable commodity. A provisional specification had b>-( ii hC'p'.d for lie following —J. H. Lamb, ot Waika'n: An invention for a combination wire clip and splicer for wire or ire-rope.

A number of persons in the colony of Victoria are entering upon the industry of growing lavender fur scent manufacture, and it, is of great importance that the best varieties for the purpose should be cultivitcd. In some parts of England lavender i- a favourite crop with gardeners and .-!: all farmers, and as a rule crops pay them f. rly well, and in not a few ca s es very well in i,wl. In a recent issue of a London I .iper an instance is reported of a grower v.-1,, 1 ained £50 worth of oil of lavender it j'n a single acre of ground devoted to the cr p. The grower was his own distiller, and he was strongly of opinion that ten roes would have been much more remunerative. He had also tried rosemary with success. He had two acres of it, and sold '-I'. the product to a German firm, who were f.'l;i ito secute it. Of rural industries herb-gj'i-eiiiig and herb-growing seem to pay ala.vi as well as anything in the old c; witry. There appears to bo a good d'lr.-md for plants used in the manufacture oi .-'.-tuts, lavender especially ; and as scents ir c largely used in these colonies, it cannot be wondered if in Victoria attention has at W'th been directed to the growth of plants utilisei tor their manufacture, so as to stop '» some measure their importation from o'tier countries. In regard to the culture '-■I lavender, there are generally two varieties grown, the common and the broad-leaved. Tin former is smaller on the spike, but l: r f - aromatic; but the latter- is the more Iwgc.y used for distillation. At the lluno.iy scent farm in Victoria, according 10 l! ie Australasian, there are several kinds, t' le common Lavendula vulgaris, spica, vera, a,u ' 'ientata. The last-named is hardly or "th cultivating ; spica and vera are said by some to be merely varieties of vulgaris, while modern botanists recognise them as distinct specie*. L. vera is pronounced to be the mo-t valuable of the lob. It may be dibtinguished by having longer and more Men ler spikes of flowers, growing taller and having narrower leaves than npica. In the south ot France L. spica is said to yield thrice as much cil as L. vera, and alone to yield what is known as " oil of spike." l-ecently a controversy has taken placo in some of the English gardening papers as to the real difference between these lavenders, many persons maintaining that the narrow eaved (L. vera) develops into the broadleaved (L, spica) under certain conditions of soil, situation, and climate, and this reverts to the ntirrow-leaved when subjected ° poor conditions, yielding little or no oil, *.j th broad-leaved—the better cultivatedaffords abundance.

It is worthy of note that in order to find out what are the best varieties of grasses for comparatively poor clay land, as well as the best system of culture for these grasses, Messrs. Yates and Co, are fit present carrying out a series of interesting experiments, which should be of considerable value to settlers in some of tho northern districts. In order to prosecute the proposed trials that enterprising firm has leased a piece of land at Waikomiti, where they will curefully experiment as follows: —1. After burning off light tea-tree the land will be surface-sown with different grasses, one portion with manure and another without any stimulant. 2. Land will be ploughed and otherwise worked, and sown with grasses, but without manure. 3. In addition to ploughing and working tho soil, another plot will be drained, but will receive no manure. 4. Land will be workod, drained, and dressed lightly with bonedusb and potash. 5. Same us 4, but treated to a year's course of green manuring, as it is believed that would bo the cheapast plan of getting this character of soil into a state of fertility. Some trials have already been reportori, experiments having been prosecuted for more than a twelvemonth. It has been found out, for instance, that very few grasses surface-sown will grow on the land without some stimulant. The following did fairly wellßedtop, cocksfoot, Lotus corniculatus and major, yarrow, and alsyke. With a light dressing of bonedu3t and potash, the following were pretty good Ryegrass, yarrow, and white clover. Cocksfoot, timothy, hard and Chewing fescuos, sweet vernal, redtop, birdsfoot trefoil, alsyke, and trefoil grew fairly. Meadow fescue, red fescue, and Poa pratensis grew weakly: whilo tall fescuo, Japan clover, and Ton nquatica did not take at all surfacesown. With a liberal use of bonedust much better results could have been obtained.

The lighting of the newspapor reading room of tho Free Public Library is all that could bo desired, the incandescent light being equal in illumination to the electric light. The reading-room has now five times the former amount of light, at the samo cost, and there is more light projected into Wellesley-street than was formerly visible in the reading-room. The Gas Company are now tilting up the Choral Hall with this incandescent light, and will shortly tako in hand the lighting of tho \.M.(J.A. Rooms, on the same principle. The usual weekly meeting of the Alex-andra-street Mutual Improvement Society was held in the school-room on Monday evening. The programme consisted of short displays of the elocutionary abilities of the members, some of whom acquitted themselves creditably.

It is reported that during the year 1895 the enormous number of nearly '25,000 dogs were found in the streets of London and taken to the Dogs' Homo at Battersea. Hero they were kept for five days, and if no likelihood appeared of any owner coining to claim them, they were narcotised in the lethal chamber. This apparatus in three minutes puts them to death by means of antithetic fumes. The lethal air" is composed of carbonic acid gas and chloroform. Tho compound lulls them into a fatal sleep. The animals are put into a cage which can hold a hundred dogs, and which is placed just before the door of the deathchamber. The signal is given, the door hurriedly raised, the largo cage wheeled in, and the door closed. Tho bodies of the dead dogs are afterwards cremated. Larger numbers than usual are often brought to tho home toward the beginning of the Now Year, and on Monday last no fewer than 170 were received. Tho numbers received appear steadily on the increase. Stray cats are also received, but in far fewer numbers, while cats are also taken in as boarders at a small charge, and abundantly fed with meat, fish, and milk, when their owners leave London for a time. But the enormous number of 25,000d0gs received from London streets in one year testifies to the great public service which, in this respect alone, is rendered by this institution.

Klaer'a circus again performed in the Agricultural Hall last night, and repeated the programme which was so well received on the previous evening. T. Kadoma's balancing feat with a barrel, two tubs, and a boy, was one of the best items, and of the equestrian actsi that of Mr. Walter St. Leon, with his beautiful horse St. George, specially trained by himself, excited a lot of admiration. The contortions of Masters Walter and Ernest were very clever, and the lady members also acquitted themselves with credit.

We would again remind our readers of the demonstration of gas cookery (tho first of a series) which will take place this afternoon, at the office of the Auckland Gas Company, from 230 to 4.30. Ladies who are interested in this mode of cooking are invited to attend.

The variety entertainment in the colonies is developing more on English lines, in that thore is more and more constant variety. Mr. Abbott, of the Opera House and City Hall, has recognised this, and intends inaugurating a series of entertainments with constant relays from Sydney. The first company will arrive by tho Mariposa, on Friday, and will open on Saturday night.