LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11058, 9 May 1899, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A committhe of gentlemen representing the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and tb'i Trades and Labour Council yesterday conferred with His Worship the Mayor (Mr. D. Goldio), at the Municipal Chambers, relrtive to the holding of a public meeting, for the purpose of urging the retention of Auckland as the port of call for the San Fioncisco mail service. After a brief discussion, in the course of which Mr. Graves Aickin pointed out that some delay had been occasioned through the difficulty of obtaining a suitable hall, on a convenient aato it was decided that the meeting SI bo held 1 f the Y.M.C.A. lecture Vail on Tuesday, May 23. Among those who will n°M Vlt€d rMS the meeting are Sir G. Maurice O'Rorke, the Hon. W. Jenning W. Crowther, M.H.R., 0 J ffj M.H.R J. Bollard, M:H.R., J ; nd H M S J. H. Upton, F. G. Ewington, Peake H 0 Tewsley, J. M. Shera, and M Nccol while the remaining Auckland member ,n eluding ,*"» Hon. A. J. Cadmafis " B. Monk, W. Hemes. J. MoQowl p fe* to La K dW - P - M^^be The colonial mails which left Aik-U™,! tI , n i FIft , CISC ?, on Ma y IMb, duo date London on Friday last, two dayS at To-day Mr. Cheeseman, curator Jt a. Auckland Museum, leaves fo, l£ * the n order to make a bo Seal survey rffe' tonga, and to procure a c Bon fte Kew Herbarium. It appears that tin as not yet been thoroughly evror d \t tho interest of botanical V Cheeseman will be away aLK ?Ll T ' and no doubt his visit to KtZ 2ft be of benefit to the colony of New ZelS Yesterday we referred to the deterioration S IS 'fing on in some of the 2™ n the art galleries, Experts state that here is no fault to find with the buildta? as regards ventilation and light '« Some of be pictures which were Sent Home to En? K i - 'restored," are said to be again ma bad way. - Some steps will have to bo taken shortly. to improve matters^ovtb n

-'. ' .-! g At midnight a drunken squabble, it {, •'-' said, arose in Centre-street, Freeman's Bay, in the course of which one of the persons 9\ present, a seaman named John Taylor, belraH longing to one of the scows in harbour, 0 : l his head laid open with a brick. Constable Finnerty called Dr. Hooper, who re. ' cemmended that the injured man bo taken'' '& to the hospital for surgical treatment. Co„, ; 3 stable Payne took a cab over to Freeman's® Bay, and Constable Finnerty and he took the man to the hospital. Taylor's skull .jf said not to be fractured, but he has sustained a very severe scalp wound. He informed the police of the man who he.alleged Lad assailed him, and they went in quest off;; him, and found him on a scow. He gave. M his name as Frank Swan, and Constable Payne arrested him on a charge of assault. >••' ing Taylor, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. jig Tho rainfall of the last two or three daysl has totalled up to or 125 tons to thelffi acre, which will prove a substantial addi- ': tion to the supply at the Western Springs,. There is reason to believe that the city need S have no apprehension this season as to af::> sufficient supply for all wants. The water-. mains, which arrived by the s.s, Mamari, from London, in view of obtaining a supply from the Onehunga Springs, are now stacked- : adjacent to the Ponsonby Reservoir, so that \ v being on the higher level, they can be' speedily transported to any place they may '... "■ "■. be required. As soon as the legal difficulties =v in connection with title are adjusted,.and ar.'S rangements made with the intermediate local bodies through whose districts the mains will be laid, no doubt the work will be proceeded 1> with ir^readiness for next summer. •»££ The inquiry into the origin of f§| the recent fire at Ming Quong'g.-.' • store, Epsom, was continued yes; terday, when the evidence was concluded/-.':: ; and several items relating to the accounts,' .: as presented in the sales books, were ex» : : > plained. This morning the evidence will be;.. read over to the jury, who will probably'give their verdict during the course of the 7;/ day. j|;. A man was presented at the Sydney Water '■('' Police Court a few days ago, on a charge of making a counterfeit coin intended to re-i; semble a sovereign. It was stated that the '- accused was arrested while attempting tort pass a gilded shilling, and the Bench was in- ','■' formed that on being arrested, the man swal- • Z: lowed no less than 18 similar coins. In the-': dock he looked very ill, and was evidently);. in great pain, and Mr. Smithers remanded ® him for a week, making at the same time an ± :: orde r for him to be medically attended. •11 One would scarcely expect the city cor«S poration to be among one of the sinners, by : . its own laxity of looking into matters, in 7-. contributing to the alleged impurity of the lp : city water supply. It appears that on land leased from the Council a number of pigs '•' were kept, although the terms of the lease f ■- did not warrant or authorise such a practice, a The Mayor (Air. Goldie) discovered this state' K, of affairs last week, and the pigs were re-'i'V moved at 48 hours' notice. ■ @l

Our Taukau correspondent writes :—An/I accident, very simple as to the cause, but; rather serious in the results, happened to q.v son of Mr. Gerrand's on Friday evening last. S He was going quickly out of the back door when he slipped and fell, causing a simpla fracture of the thigh. Dr. Dalziel was sent i for, and did what was necessary on tha ] spot, and on Saturday morning lie was taken | to the hospital, where by latest reports he is A getting along as well as can be expected. M The bicycle trade of Victoria suffered 0. severe reverse during 1898, as compared with the previous 12 months. According to a'f Customs statistical return just issued, bicycles stand at the top of the list as showing the largest per cent, decrease in Vic toria's imports, the falling off being 51 per 1 cent. In 1897, when the bicycle trade may" be said to have been at its height, the value;; of machines and parts imported into Victoria was £319,143. In 1898 it had droppedf to £155,901, or to the extent of £163,242. % In 1897 Victoria exported bicycles to tlie'; value of £114,283 to the other colonies, bnfc ■; the following year the value of this trade had increased to £123,580, or an improve- ■ ment of £9297. Prom present appearances '" the trade in imported bicycles for 1899 will?; show a further decrease on that of last year. Our Port Waikato correspondent writes | —The caves in the limestone have been par- : tially explored. One extends for a distances of 500 yds, is very lofty, and about 100 yds 1, in width. The other one could not be ex-" plorcd without ropes, as on account of &£% precipitous nature of the floor it was deemed • unsafe to proceed further without something s to hold the explorer from falling into one' knows not what below. In the former! cave naked footprints of human beings--' were discernible, and by the light of the.']' torch the interior presented a pretty sight ; ;' with its glistening columns of stalactites! g This find adds another item of interest tjj§ visitors to this seaside resort. f^p Several Sydney firms ■were victimised in ■ a most ingenious manner a few days wo. Ihe mode of procedure was the same in .' arch case. Messrs. F. Lassetter and Co r (Limited) were amongst, the first upon whomß the scheme was tried. Shortly after noon 1 they were called up by telephone, and odl answering the ring, were informed that the .' mniager of a large company urgently V-. quired some gold. As the kinks had closed a request was made that Messrs. Los- ■■>: setter and Co. would cash a, cheque for £39 if it were sent up. A willingness to comply 1 with tho request was expressed, and in a ■? few minutes a young man came in with a : ' cheque purporting to be signed by the'"i manager of the company mentioned. * For- ■"■ tunately Messrs. Lassetter's cashier has had some experience in these matters, and pro- > ceeded to make inquiries as to the value of : the cheque. The pretended clerk mm-"-l fested some uneasiness while this was going on, and shortly left without getting change I for his cheque. The plan was repeated in several instances, and with success The iJ descriptions furnished to the police leave f?' no room for doubt that one individual car-;;': ned out all the frauds. If

At a recent meeting of the Sydney City Council, the report of the electric lighting tj committee was presented and adopted. The jf report set forth that after taking expert en- - dence the committee recommended that the;.':' electric light be installed in the city ofjl Sydney for public street illumination and pri- M vate use at the earliest possible date, as being M tho best system of public lighting known, •?.; lie committee further recommends that f§ within the business area of the city all wires § be earned underground. It also expresses its ;- i opinion " that it is imperatively necessary tolll engage the services of an electrical engineer to devise the best system of lighting M to meet its recommendations," and therefore fj advises that the Mayor be authorised to com- 1; municate with the Agent-General of New bouth Wales with a view to the engagement ot a competent engineer willing to ,-isifc W Sydney to prepare the necessary plans andll specifications for installation. The contractors for the erection of the M spacious warehouses of Havman and Co., 1 Custom-street East, are making very good progress with the brickwork. They have 1 cow the second storey well in hand.' M A man named James Robinson was arrested M yesterday by Constable Forbes on a charge M of attempting to commit theft from StiJH Patricks Cathedral by breaking open the M poor box. ° ' 'm Some much-needed improvements are about >' a°u e u " dertilkeil a the Avondale Asylum. |§ About 20 separate rooms are to be erected for the accommodation of the most refrac- : ii tory female patients. This new division will constitute a wing of the asylum. 8 The Government are giving attention toll the matter of giving suitable accommodation M to the police stationed in out-districts. One E of the latest improvements in that way is to 1§ oe the erection of a six-roomed house for a II police station at Cambridge. : A,;V At the inquest on Alex. Scott, killed by » ■% Ml of stone, at the Kiripaka coal mine, the V| jury, after hearing the evidence, returned a H verdict of "Accidental death," and a rider K£ was added to the effect that no blame was 'Si. attachable to anyone. ijf; With regard to the fire at Devonport, an3tl account of which appeared in yesterday's % issue, it is not yet ascertained whether Horr •% /immermann's effects were insured. Among XV; his effects destroyed was a valuable violin. fM The ambulance van has just been renovated by Messrs. Cousins and Cousins, and is -1 now in splendid order. In painting the ex- -%f terior less sombre colours have been used 'h than last time, and the'result is a decided '-t improvement;-The van will be kept at Mr. Martins stables, Parnell. . ,^ /.The only prisoner in the lock-up last even- AS ing; was a man named Trueman, on a charge cart"- while in charge of ft horse an 3§