LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11199, 20 October 1899, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Tire Government have arranged for pre. 4 mises in ParneM, at the corner of Manukan'VRoad and Russell-street, for the purposes '■ of a telegraph office and Post Office Savings Bank. As soon as fitted up businev? will be commenced. This will prove a great' | convenience to the residents of Parnell, ajjiS the public generally. ■-,£

As a result of the recent decision of the Harbour Board in regard to the proposed * offer of patent silt punts to the Board for',l dredging purposes, Mr. Geo. Goldie has made arrangements with Dr. David Gouk,'-!-the well-known shipwright, to build a silt :'' punt of 60 tons dimensions. Mr. Gouk • commences the work in the first week of I November. - |i The two young girls who were reported asjjt ! having run away from the St. George's Day .. Industrial School, have been recovered by the police, and were returned to the Home,® by the polpe matron (Mrs. O'Brien), and 4 Constable Hutchison, of the Parnell police -ft station. $

The police have not been able to obtain any I trace of the lunatic who escaped from 5 the Avondale Asylum, since he was lost sight of in the Remuera district on Sun- ; day morning last. f>

Evidently our citizens eithei find the ! question of the federation of New Zealand | with the Australian colonies far too grave % and important a subject to hastily discuss, or they have very little interest in the mat- £ ter, as the adjourned meeting of the Cham- « her of Commerce, called for the purpose of* a discussion on federation last evening, % lapsed, for want of a quorum. The only h persons present at the Chamber of Mines! ivooms were Messrs. S. Vaile, R. R, Hunt, f and the ecretary, Mr. Goulstone, and after® waiting rom half-past seven until eight ° clock, they decided to lock up and retire. At the Onebunga Police Court yesterday! (before Mr. T. Hutchison, S.M.),' AndrewCunningham was charged with a breach off the Police Offences Act bv causing an em- 1 ? ployee to vork on Sunday, September 24 j last Sergeant Greene staled that the defendant caused to be delivered a drav load •? of goods from his store in Queen-street, f Unehunga, to a steamer on the above date, iae defendant admitted the offence, but - urged, in defence, that his dray broke down on the way out from Auckland, on the day ." before, and as the goods were of a perishable nature, he had no option but to deliver'. them early on the Sunday morning. His -; \\ 01 ship accepted Mi. Cunningham's state**' ment, and merely recorded a conviction 5 against him. 1 %

The general secretary of the New Zealand section of the Theosophica! Society ha 3 received n_ prospectus of a proposed Theosophical Congress, to be held in connection with the Paris Exhibition of 1900. The Congress » being organised by the French llieosophists, but will be attended by members of all nationalities, Eastern and Western, and will probably be presided over by Uolpnel Olcott, the president, and one of the founders of the society.

At a meeting of the Thames Boroughs Council last night one tender fir leasing ,? a portion of the borough endowment at !■, Waitoa was received, and accepted. The tender was that of Mrs. Neames, of TeJ Aroha, for 25 acres at a rental of Is peracre per annum. %

Our Thames correspondent telegraphs —It A stabbing affray is reported to have oc- Sj curred at the Kauaeranga on Wednesday. A It is alleged that an Austrian and an English' man, both of whom are gumdiggers, had an altercation, whereupon the Austrian is'g said to have drawn a knife and stabbed the' other. The matter was reported to the a police, but. the latter, who have made in- inquiries into the affair, attach very littles importance to it. 'f.

. A Church conversazione in connection with i the Anglican Synod will be held this even- I ing at the Choral Hall. The Most Rev. % the Primate will preside, and an interesting .4 programme, consisting of vocal and instrumental selections and short addresses, will | be presented. The proceeds are in aid ofthe chaplaincy to the public institutions f fund. .;K

The Hinemoa Syndicate intend giving Bf| performance at the' Wade on the 25th inst.,. and another at Warkworth in the 28th inst? ■ Among the attractions will be a kinematoiig graphic reproduction of the AucklandWairoa football match, played at Potter's Paddock, of which the syndicate secured : jjj| fine film. A "living picture" of the de- | parture of the Auckland Transvaal contim|| gent from Onehunga has also been obtained Jg by the firm. This unique record of that in--I teresting event will be exhibited in Auckland;! as soon as a suitable hall can be engaged, ! -J^g The Police Court sitting yesterday was presided over by Messrs. W. Beehan and Ml M. Morran, justices, and several cases of if: drunkenness were dealt with. ■ fii ..US

' At the Onehunga Police Court yesterday, I Mr. T. Hutchison, S.M., delivered judg- ' ir,ent in the charges brought by Sergeant Greene, deputy-registrar, on September 12, at Otahuhu, against three persons for having obtained old age pensions in excess of the amount to which they were entitled, Mr, Hutchison pointed out that all the parties were admittedly entitled to pensions, and that the ground upon which the proceedings were based were statements of undervaluing property. He held that the value of property was a matter upon which people might honestly, and in everyday experience did, differ. Further, he pointed out that such casts would not be likely to be of frequent occurrence in the future since the Government value had been made the standard of value. Tested by these values, the pensions under consideration were excessive and the three pensioners before the Court had admitted their willingness to their respective pensions being reduced proportionately to this standard. But for the express admissions and consents of the defendants, he did not see how he could convict. He therefore dismissed the informations undei section 87 of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1882, ordering simply the pensions to be reduced in accordance with the desire of the parties. The cases were not such as would warrant the blot of a conviction being recorded. An inquest wis held yesterday at the Arclihill Hotel, by Di. Philson, coronei, on the body of James Cross, 77, widower, residing in Sackville-street, Arclihill, 'who died somewhat suddenly. The jury, after hearing tli3 evidence adduced, returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes." The police authorities have received information that Samuel Joy and Nganiho Nape te Awapouri, halfcastes, have been committed for trial at Ngaruawahia, by ,;he lo:al Bench, on a charge of cattle stealing, near Hiintly, about June 1. ° Yesterday a cable was received from Conlprdie announcing the accidental death of Mr. Thomas Cumming Craig, youngest son of the late Mr. Thos. Craig, of this city and brother of Mr. Hugh Craig, ot San Francisco. The cable was sent tc Mr. Watkinson, of Hep-burn-street, whom Mr. Craig succeeded as manager of the Ladysmith and twe other mines, by one of the mining officials (Mi. Read), desiring him to break the news to Mr. Craig's mother, who is now 80 years of age. and in a frail state of health. ' Mi. Watkinson fulfilled his sad mission yesterday. Mr. Craig, it is understood, fell down the shaft of a mine, but no details arc given. Deceased, who was a surveyor by profession, was a native of Auckland, and made a 1 flying visit here some years ago, when he was engaged on work in Queensland. He ultimately went to Coolgardie, and, as stated, succeeded Mr. Watkinson, in managing a group of mines, when that gentleman left for New Zealand for the benefit of his health. Mi. Craig was about 40 years of age at the time of his death. He will be well remembered here by many of his old school fellows, and others, by whom he vas esteemed and respected, and who will regret his tragic death. Mr. Harry Draper, one of the office staff of the Great Northern Brewery, in Kliyber Pass, was among the first to volunteer for service in the Transvaal, but after spending seven days in camp at ICarori, found himself amongst the rejected ones. His companions, in employ, had intended presenting him with a memento, in the shape of a massive sold ring, with a New Zealand fern leaf worked in, suitably inscri'mu, and rewising that it was at Mr. Draper's own desire that lie returned to Auckland so soon, they determined to carry out the presentation. The pleasing ceremoney took place at midday yesterday. Mi. H. M. Jervis, jun., in a neat speech, voiced the feelings of all connected, and on behalf of the subscribers, handed to Mr. Draper the ring, and two letters, embodying the expression of their esteem and respect for himself and their appreciation of hit action in so readily volunteering for service with the Imperial troops in far-off South Africa. Mr. Draper, replying, thanked all his fellow employees for their valuable present, kind feelings, and good wishes, and referred especially to Ml. A. Seccombe's thoughtfulness in keeping his position open for him, and thus taking some of the sting cut of his grievous disappointment at not being able to accompany the contingent. The funeral of the late Mr. C. Joynt took place yesterday. Deceased was a very old settler, and at the time of his decease was 74 yeiirs of age. He leaves a widow and a large grown-up family. The funeral was largely attended, and as he had been the treasurer of the Orange Institution, a number of the brethren were present in procession, in addition to the general public. Deceased was interred at Purewa, the funeral service being conducted by the Revs. E. Best and W. J. Williams, afterwards the Orange chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Sharp, read the ritual of the Order over the grave. A sensational incident in the voyage of the • ur-masted barque Lancing, which arrived :ii Sydney recently from San Francisco, was the loss of one of the crew, a German, named Rnoffaer, who fell overboard. It was during ? terrific gale from the northeast that the unfortunate man lost his life. He had been sent to assist in furling the flying jib, when the ship gave a tremendous lurch and Snoffaer went overboard. Anything in the way of attempt at rescue was out of the question. The ship was bowling along at the rate of 14 knots an hour, and with the fearful sea that was running any attempt to save the unfortunate fellow would Lave resulted only in further disaster. His Honoi Judge Docker, sitting as a Court of Review upon income tax assessments in Sydney delivered judgment on October 9 (reports the Australian Star) in respect of the appeal of Di. John Hay, representative of Mrs. Agnes S. B. Porter, of New Zealand. His Honoi said the real question was what was the income derivable by Mrs. Porter from the legacy. The appellant contended that it was the amount of the legacy less the probate duty. The commissioners contended, on the otliei hand, that it was the whole amount of the legacy, including the probate duty. When the question was put in that simple form no great difficulty arose in deciding it. Now, what was the amount actually received as income by Mrs. Bruce-Porter? His Honor thought it was- no more than the legacy after the probate duty had been deducted from it. That was not a debt owing by her, but an amount deducted by the State out of the corpus before it came into her hands. It was admitted she could not get it until that amount was paid; therefore what she really got was her legacy, less the deduction. A very simple illustration might be applied. There is a small boy at school, and his mother sends him a pot ot jam; in being passed to the boy it has to pass the bully of the school, who grabs it, scoops out. a tablespoonful, eats it, and then passes the jam to the boy to whom it belongs. On the other side of this boy is the pet boy of the school, the personification of the commissioners, and he says to the boy with the jam, " You always share your good tilings with me; won't you share the jam with me?" The first boy replies, "Yes, and offers him a share. But the other says, " Oil, you got a full pot of jam; I want more than this share you have given ine. The boy replies, " If you regard it as a full jar and want more you must go to the bully and get your share from him." And in the same manner if the commissioners! desired to tax the probate duty .let- them go to the State and ask it to pay the income tax upon it. They could not get it from a person who had never received it, and from whom it had been deducted by way of debt. He was, therefore, of opinion that the appeal must bo uphold, and the assessment altered to' show the actual chargeable amount of income. Although it is only, a little over 12 months since it was ordered to be done, the work of adding a second wire fa the trans-con-tinental telegraph line is almost completed (according to the Adelaide Advertiser), ana Sir Charles Todd expects that by the end of this month it will be ready foi use. From the southern end the second wire has been taken as far north as Attack Creek, which is 40 miles north of Tennant'.i Creek, ana on the Port Darwin side it has been brought as far south at Daly Waters. The work would have been more quickly carried out had it not been for the difficulties in the way of carting the wire and other materials from the McArthur River. Owing tc the lifavy rains which fell in April, and which amounted «to more than 20in, the country became im- ' passable. In addition to putting up a second wire, the lihe has been strengthened t by increasing the posts to 20 to the mile * ' 'north of Oodnadatta,'and to 27 to the mite i. I- . south of that station, and about 80 miles ) ' 'f' of new line had to be put up in order .J 0 , «e avoid places where there is the possibility ~ of the present line being washed away by ■ .floods. - • I ifer-V / ' » A. '

I +i A good deal of business was transacted at , the Oity Council last evening. Intimation was received from the Neuchatel Asphalt Company, of London, that orders had been given for the shipment of 20 tons of asphalt slabs to Auckland. This material is to be laid down as a trial-piece of pavement, and if successful the Council will at fine °n mon ' , ' ls take it over at a cost 1 of £35. On the motion of Mi. Courtney the Legal and Streets Committees were instructed to ascertain the amount dile by the Bank of New Zealand to the Council for rent and penalties in connection with the Auckland tramways. Several other matters of interest were dealt with. A report of : the proceedings will be found elsewhere. A very nafrow escape was experienced by i three miners at the Sunlight mine, Hill- i grove, New South Wales, recently. Three men were preparing to let off three blasts in a like number of stopes, following close upon each other. When all the holes were charged the man furthest in called out to his mates to know if they were prepared to i to, and being answered in the affirmative, i all proceeded to light theii fuses, when a large fragment of rock fell upon the centre man, M. Hanlon, holding him to the ground. 1 the other two had in the meantime lighted their fuses. One of them, named Dowdle ; rot-icing the critical situation #f Hanlon, at ! once; with great presence of mind, rushed to the burning fuses, and, with his pocketknife, severed them, before it was too late, and thus averted what would have been almost certainly a fatal accident. Hanlon was not. seriously injured by the falling earth, although he had to knock off work , in consequence.