LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10832, 16 August 1898, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

An English mail, via Suez, which left Lon- ? - (toil on July 8, arrived from Sydney by the Marat'oa yesterday morning. ' Aiigld- ' Colonial Notes, Personal Items, Latest Mm. ■ ' - tag News, and other interesting news 'from - oh: London correspondent appear in another ' part of this issue. The colonial mails which left Wellingtonby the R.M.s. Aorangi on July 21, atnved at Vancouver on the 11th inst., due date. The mails are due in London on the 24th inst. Jc*. The telegraph lines south of Blenheim ' ;.'' were ihterrupted all day yesterday. Last evening communication was restored, af;d illtssdges accepted for all stations. Auckland has thus been cut- off from communica- r-f : tion with Canterbury and Otago, save as regards "hrgehts," since Saturday moraine v. last. * There were five stowaways on board' ofvß-i the Mararoa from Sydney yesterday morning, but two of them managed to escape by getting through the porthole of the cabin in which they were confined shortly "*v after the steamer berthed at the wharf. The C : 'V - three others were handed over to tlie polite ' and were sent to gaol for a month at thf-?V-\ Police Court yesterday. .: The Education Board are about to call for ■ tenders for the re-erection of the Point Chevalier school, which was burned dowfi : :A.' some months ago. The school coinbittei -l-i* desired a school capable of accommodating J '' . 250 children, and plans have been prepared ' accordingly. In the meantime, the intention of the Education Board is to erect only' as much of the building as will fairly satisfy the immediate requirements bf the school district. The new school building • will have two large class-rooms, 13ft by 24ft and 38ft by 22ft respectively; a spacioiis porch, 14ft by 26ft, and a supplementary '■ class-loom, lift by 10ft, being very useful - adjuncts for the main class-room. The :'•># school will be fitted up with the latest improvements in the matter of heating, lighting, and sanitary appliances. Provision "ft, ;J is made for extension for 250 pupils, when A; required, as part of a harmonious plait. 4;;3 The work will be carried out Under the super- Aji vision of the Board's architects, Messrs. Mit-'' h chell aild Watt. About half-a-dozen tenders Were received £$f| yesterday by Messrs. Mitchell and Witt,'. , architects, for the removal and re-erection of the Presbyterian Chinch of St. l'etet's, • on Surrey Hill, to a new site on the Greats |-;l: North Rbad, with alterations necessitated vi(?P by the site. We understand that none of i§-J| the tenders are likely to be accepted, and that alternative plans will he prepared, on which further tenders will be invited. . The appeals of the Hospital and Clmritablt,' 1 Aid Board for donations towards furiiishiiig the children's hospital with cots, etc., are being generously responded to by the public. * ■»' Seven donations were reported at the Board's meeting yesterday, bringing the total up to f:||§ 31, and the chairman mentioned that lie had ' / promises of five -more. The members of l odge Ara, 348,1.C., offered to donate £100 for 10 cots, and wished to know if, ih the yfi«i event of the amount being increased to pro- : vide cots flir a full ward (12 cots), the Board would allow the ward to be liiliiied v i after the lodge, the Board accepted tlie gift with thanks, nnd agreed to the donors' Wv= fj? proposal for endowing a full ward. It was ah') decided to allow the W.M. of the lodge, | 5 1 for the time being, to nominate a patient Sjjgij for the ward, subject to the regulations of W|4Sf the hospital, Sir. Stichbury said he had 'ksgf no doubt they would get the required Humber of cots before the opening day. • ', The following notice of motion has b?eii given by Mr. J. E. Taylor to be brought forward at the next meeting of the Hospital | and Charitable Aid Board: —" That the Go- 'V !>V vernment be requested to subsidise Hospital ' - and Charitable Aid Boards at so much per 100 of population in each hospital district, instead of subsidising them upon tile amount of rates collected from local bodies, as at | present, as the system now in force is calcu- £ J lated to foster a spirit of carelessness and ' '.-Kii profligacy in spending money, while the sys- ( i tem herein proposed would operate as a ' strong incentive to each district to practise. '0 the greatest economy and carefulness in its own interests." ' J: We understand that experiments are about to be made with the object of demonstrating the suitability of Auckland waters for deep sea-trawling, and that operations on a large scale are likely to be commenced before long.. At Napier deep sea-trawling has been at--, tended with marked success, 260 tons of • v;j fish having been obtained and disposed bf in six months, while the number of trawlers is to be added to as soon as possible. It g is authoritatively stated that Auckland waters teem with fish, and that deep fatrawling oil a very large scale coiild be carried out with advantage. The Young Women's Christian Associs* tion, which for the past 12 years has had ita . headquarters in the rooms of the Young Men'i' . Christian Association, and received the cor- ' dial co-operation of that institution, is about to make a new departure, having taken new premises in Albert-street, where it is In- ' tended to establish a boardinghouse, or Institute for Young Women. The growing . needs of the city, and the large number of young women employed in business houses in Auckland, have impressed tire management of the Y.W.C.A. for some time past frith • • the necessity for such an institution or jj; establishment, and they have only been awaiting a suitable opportunity and opening to start one. This has now offered in . a new building just erected by Captain . Nearing, in Albert'street (almost adjacent j to the Central Mission Hall), which, being -■ - very suitable for the purpose, has been taken ; • • .>; and is now being furnished by the com- *- mittee, members, and friends, of the .< Y.W.C.A. The friends have responded • liberally to the appeal, and it is hoped, by ' S further aid, to open the home or institute ' not only free of debt, but with a credit balance to carry on operations. The man- ;; agement have every confidence in the suc- 1 cess of the undertaking, and as the building ' I is well finished and furnished, it should prove attractive to the class of young women for whose benefit it is being established. The | ground floor is taken up by a large dininghall, which will also be available for .the different meetings, classes, etc. A nice S kitchen, or small diningroom, with scullery, . ' ■ bathroom, and lavatory, is immediately at , rear. The upper storey commands a fine g view of Albert Park, and a peep at the bar- ' ?:r bour, and is sub-divided into live bedrooms, with sittingroom. The secretary will reside on the premises, anil will do her best u to make everything cheerful and home-like. It is intended shortly to formally open the - , institute, when the management hope to welcome their friends, in order to the latter ; inspecting the premises and wishing the m* stitution success. 'Tv? We have to hand the Southern Cross Log for August. " Solomon Island Sketches . are - continued, the sketch for this month being : j-j Charles Sapibuana, the first native clergy-. man. ' In the course of the sketch an m* teresting page of Melanesian mission history is contributed. " Our Girls and OtW .■ Girls" is a description of Melanesian;^. at Norfolk Island. "In the Kitchen » another description of mission life:at . ■ , ; r folk Island. It is stated that Bishop **' - . son has appointed the Rev. L. P- ';ii '/■ organising secretary in England, and he i begin the .work next year. ■ - - 1

' 1 Th 6 M' cc authorities have received in--1 Munition of the death of a gumdigger named : ' eg ' forahl Hennessey, aged 46, at Tairua, '"I •' aider the following circumstances, which i ' «n' elicited at an inquest lield by Mr. 1 'i Lye, J.P., coroner. Deceased, who was I ■ . single man, lad been gumdiggihg about I ? Wii» for 12 J™ I,B ' He was iii the habit ■ | jfcoiiiing in from the bush to Tairua about i ertfy three months, to enjoy himself. Ho | Mie to Tairua 011 the Ist inst., and reI mained at Laycock's Hotel. On Saturday 1 : nick ie 61,1 inst t ' ie barman took the I deceased to a small cottage belonging to the 1 hotel, where he used to sleep, about halfK past eight o'clock, as the night was very & [lark. He was then sober, and was not I seen again until he was found dead on the ' H beach about seven o'clock on Sunday mornI in? following. Dr. H. Slator held a postI mortem examination of the body, and stated 9 that heart disease was the cause of death, I At, deceased was not drowned, but might | have fainted, and fallen over the small bank I on the edge of the beach, where the body 1 „ as found. Deceased bad no property, nor I jar friends in the colony. Deceased 'was a I native of Limerick, Ireland. Mr. Sydney I laj-cock, storekeeper, who had kfioivn deI teased for 12 years, and with whom deli ceased had dealt, defrayed the expenses of | burying the unfortunate man. | Complaints have frequently teen made & (says the Age) that telephones are liable in & time to become in a very insanitary condiPi tion, owing to the interior of the instrument f, being contaminated with the breaths of those I using it. To meefc this difficulty Mr. Smii.| bert, the telegraph engineer of the Postal y| Department, has devised a kind of accessory q paper diaphragm, which is to fit over the §j projecting rim above the- metal diaphragm, SI the attachment to be effected by a metal colli ]ar. It is found by experiment that the in- | ! terposition of this miniature paper drumhead I| . between the speaker and the sensitive part of . i-..i the instrument does not in any way impair H tie instrument's efficiency. The Postmaster-;.'-j General has approved of the invention, and ctie Department will shortly be in a position 1 to supply the paper diaphragms to subscrij j iers at the cost of about Is per 100. I Some time ago information was received | (says the Sydney Morning Herald) to the |! effect that the Home military authorities t objected to accept Australian tanned leather in 'f connection with army contracts for supplies, [J and the Minister for Augricultiire lias, with 1 a view of dearly demonstrating to those con- | ceraed the quality of our colonial leathers, ; decided to have some tanned samples col- £ lected to forward to the Agent-General in I London, so that he can submit them to the I authorities in England. He lias also asked 1 the Agent-General to have samples exhibited p in some prominent place in London, so that I those engaged in the leather trade may see I for themselves the excellence of the coloniali made leather. p There arrived by the s.s. Mararoa, yesterl day morning 22 'Austrians en route from P Sydney for the Northern gumflelds. | The band of Greek gipsies advancing on ( Melbourne (says the Age) is causing more \ anxiety in the Ministry than any thought of E a warti-of-coufidence motion. The last halt £ was made at Ararat-; but this did not prove f any resting-place, and the party lias made | a start towards Ballarat, and meanwhile the I Chief Secretary lias telegraphed to the super--3 intendent of police in that place (through the fj chief commissioner) instructing him to have | the Greeks arrested if they break the law. | They are acute enough, it appears, to let the fi women and children do the begging, the K men being more liable to provoke action by I the police. An effort is to be made to arS range for the contingent to be sent out of I'; the colony. It is stated that they have a I . letter from the Greek Consul at Port Said, | commending them to the friendship of all I nations ; and they state that they are making I their way to Queensland, with the inten- [ tion of getting on to the sugar plantations. § The Wesleyans in Sydney have just celeI brated the 83rd anniversary of the arrival of I the first Wesleyan Methodist minister in 1 Australia, in the person of the Rev. Samuel Leigh. As showing how the world lias moved in religious matters, as in other 1 things, during those 83 years, the Rev. Dr. | Sellors mentioned in his review of the hisS tory of Methodism at the United Convention, recently, that- when Mr. Leigh landed he was informed that it was doubtful whether the then Governor would allow him to remain in the colony in the capacity of a Wesleyan minister. Subsequently, in an interview, Governor Macquarie expressed his regret that he could not give Mr. Leigh any encouragement as a Wesleyan minister. Mr. Leigh, however, promptly told His Excellency that the documents lie had the honour of presenting would show him that he was legally and duly authorised to preach the Gospel in any part of His Majesty's dominions. The last census, taken in 1891, reported that the Wesleyan and other Methodists in Australasia numbered 435,355, or a little over 11 per cent, of the population. A disturbance occurred in tho. Gisborne Old Men's Home a few days ago. The custodian (Daniel Kavanagh) admits that lie lost his temper and struck one of the inmates (McMurray) on the head with a whip and also put him out of a room. The custodian alleges that lie was provoked through McMurray calling him names. When the late Professor Kirk died he was engaged upon a new work relating to the flora of this colony. He had completed it as far as the end of order Compositaj. The sheets of the work as far as it had gone were sent to Professor Hooker, the author of the original book on New Zealand flora, and lie has now written to Sir James Hector stilting that he lias perused it, and thinks the work is excellent. It is hoped to » make satisfactory arrangements for having tlie book completed. A gentleman from Auckland, who has settled in Perth (West Australia), writes: — "It is a matter of surprise here that New . Zealand produce is not shipped direct to : West Australia, as prices are very high, i There is a splendid market here for all sorts of dairy and agricultural produce. The ab- : sence of return freight is the stumbling block, I expect. Still the difference in prices is enormous." \ An appropriation of £100 in the first group of the Auckland Co-operative Terminating Building Society was drawn for in the Ponsonby Hall last night. Mr. A. J. Entrican was in the chair. The number drawn was . 591, held by R. Barber. Mr. Barber being the holder of two shares, was entitled to the full appropriation of £100. The fact that tinned salmon and tobacco were included in some recent supplies to a 1 recipient of charitable aid, occasioned some remark at the meeting of the Nelson Charitable Aid Board. One member thought , that these articles should not be supplied by 1 'the Board; but it was explained that the i man was drawing relief only to the amount i * voted, and that he was living far' back in I the hush, where fresh meat was not easily i procured. As to the tobacco, no serious ] objection was raised; but a promise was i made that the matter would be inquired . into. ' ■ A singular epidemic is reported at j . Jerusalem, a settlement on the Wanganui , j - River. Mother Mary Joseph Aubert, who is in charge of the Jerusalem Foundling ; Home, reports to Mi'. Kettle, S.M., that three of the infants in the home had died j %■., within nine days, two others are in a very : low state, and several are beginning to ail. jp The children appeared to suffer frjm dysenfe tery and purpura. Strange to say, all the vi eats in the settlement- have died during the i . «st fortnight. Dr. Wait, of Oamaru, who ( • has visited the home, reports that its sanitary condition is good. He attributes the ■j ; sickness in some measure to the milk being 1 7. affected by the herbage on which the cattle . fm|7 feed at this time of the year, and the wintry J leather, both of which have an effect on 'lie cows, and make the milk less wholesome f °r infants. The doctor has ordered an j v'lteration of diet for the children. He can- 1 0.-. lot account for the death of the eats.