LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11203, 25 October 1899, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

We are requested by Mr. King, the register of electors for the districts of Eden, Parnell, Manukau, and City of Auckland' to state that until lie gets official notification from the clerk of the. writs, his office will be open between one and two o'clock each afterno.on, and on Saturdays, although it will be closed during that hour, it will be available for all inquiries between two and five p.m.

At the conclusion of the business at the De\onp o rt Borough Council last night, Mr M. Niccol said that as the election for the 3'w vas approaching, he would like to ask Mr. Macky if he would allow himself t) be nominated for a further term of office. m! i . spoke in appreciation of Mr. Macky s past work in the interests of the i ' 1 S ' MayS and Handle - also spoke m the same strain. The Mayor wHlinp tn li COUn i il ' and said be would be ™ l tc b f e re ' elccted if only to see the diamage system carried out. The announcement was received with applause. The Kingites are ' suffering considerably from sickness, and the mortality is said to Hinerancri h ?T a V hieftainess ' named gra.tato and a tangi has been held in the district. At 'Te Kumi a Sv I Tn 7 oftho , late Te Ma » has passed 2' and . a number of the Lower Waikato natives, including t T ® herowllero ' the brothei of Te Mahuta, the Maori king, have been holding a tangi over her remains at the settlement of Te Kumi,. •

iarass |J-; 'illMM^ > £' 0 Tho Government District Surveyor in ti ' King Country, Mr. C. W. Hursthouse, Lai® : been transferred to the Wellington district. SI " " Owing to his complete knowledge of ths& B countVy between Watkato and Taranalo fc and of the natives and Europeans, he was ablins f to render valuable sen-ice to the Government; 1 His successor is Mr. Burd, who becomej . district surveyor. He accompanied ISjMj Hursthouse as far as the Mokau when hr- •{. • went overland to Taranaki recently. $§| | ? ' . A lunatic named Frank Coilins, a halfr® 3 caste, was arrested at Whangaps ly thf police, on Monday, and brought down t«® : • " Hokianga, for medical treatment, Re at^ ! » tempted suicide on Friday last by inrtictbe® a scalp wound on his head with a tom^- • hawk. Dr. Scott is attending to him, anj® 1 has dressed hi' wound, but regards th#;' ' patient as in a critical condition. * - 'Sv' • With reference to the proposed Trawlitwf® t and Fish Supply Company, we are informal/ ' that the shares ore going off very slowly, many ||s . would-be investors being under the imprest© ' sion that £1000 per annum is too much to pay the Auckland Freezing Company for^? • the supply of chilling accommodation and : 3 freezing power. Mr. Sanfurd informs iijfl 3 that it is much cheaper than lie could tdii: 3 it himself, if he had the machinery free |Sj ; ; , cost. There is no limit to Hie quantity of I' j ice made for use 'on the trawlers, which of % I course, cost ! nothing, being included in'tlij I ' £1000 paid for freezing power. Should ftjfv! I - proje ' fall through. Mr. Sanford intends io£ } 1 go on with the erection of the building him- I ( self. In this climate there can he no fresh-: 1 fish supply unless proper chilling and cool • chambers .ire available to handle the!: j • "catches" on arrival, and ice taken out iaS j . the steamers for storing the iisli on board, >%■ 2 Mr. R. J. Feltus happened to be ouV i Queen-street Wharf at an early hour on • ? Sunday morning, when he met an old friend } Mr. 0. P. Berry, late of Gisborne, in aS p state almost of nudity, seeming in a dying '• state. He at onco communicated with tie constable on wharf duty, who promptly took' Mr. Berry in his care, and with the assist. $ ' ance of the relieving officer, Mr. Strathern • Mr. Berry was placed in a carriage and taken i to the District Hospital, where he now lics^ : in a precarious state. Yesterday evening " S ' Mr. Feltus wrote as follows"I i, a ' ' made inquiries regarding Mr. C. D. Berrv'-I 1 in the hospital. He is in a dying state'® •' little hope of recovery. I have just tele! . graphed to his brother, Mr. J. G. Berry *4 , well-to-do farmer in the Waikato, at Alexan- V dra. He was born in Auckland 60 years ago." -<jt . ' At the Magistrate's Court, Coromandel 1 yesterday, John Heald was charged with " ; assaulting Wm. B. Muir. He pleaded notf giiiltv. The case was undertaken by Con. stable Law on behalf of the police. c , ' ( cording to the evidence adduced, Mr. Muir ' ' was engaged in splitting fencing timber on® ! his farm, near Cabbage Bay, when the ac-V '• cused attacked him. He managed to ward €' i off the blow with a hammer that he held '• : but the accused picked up n 9ft fencing rail and attacked him. It appeared that Muir had ?' , worked on a contract with accused soma time ago, but was obliged to summon him ' for his share, and obtained judgment last i Court day. Mr. Otto, in his evidence, said: i that after the assault he heard the accused & . say to Muir, "I'll give you three times as-': ' , much next time." Dr. Cheeseman gave evidence as to the serious nature of ths'SS 1 wounds, both on the body and head. 'Mrs ! Muir's face presented a sorry appearance ; to-day, both eyeballs being terribly blood-. . shot, the face blackened with bruises, and.l-*-the nose cut. The assault took place caff ' the 19th inst. Accused reserved his defence, .':;' 1 and was committed for trial, bail being [ allowed. Messrs. J. li. Rockliffe and Max ® D. King, justices, presided. 0

Tho Presbyterian congregation at Cam. bridge, Waikato. at a recent meeting, have unanimously resolved to give a call to the t? Rev. John Knvin, J.I.A. His name was then M inserted in he call, which lias been signed'fj! by 72 members and 18 adherents. Further j signatures have yet to be attached, and the'® completed call will be presented at the meet' tj ing of the Presbytery in December next, Mr. Lrv.-in came out from Ireland some ; months ago, and lie has a brother residing % in Christchurch. He has been occupying St. David's pulpit, Symonds-street, for son.' weeks past. jp

those interested in high-class art will doubt avail themselves of the opportunity ;? offered by the exhibition of pictures alj ;■} the studios of Messrs. Goldie and Steele, Hobson s Buildings, Shortland-street, to«' morrow, and during the succeeding week,!'! as notified in our advertising columns. Tlm\tv7 work of Mr. L. J. Steele, who has for a"-fe number of years been one of the foremost of our local artists, is well known to tho '® public, and this gentleman's recent produc- ' tions are in 110 way inferior to his previous work. Sir. C. J". Goldie, who is the second son. of Mr. David Goldie, Mayor of f Auckland, has only lately returned after- & having completed six years' study at the | famous Julian school in Paris, and can fairly lay claim to being one of the most , carefully-trained artists in the colony. In- i. cluded in the number of exhibits will be a"-.£ large canvas painted by Messrs. Goldie and Steele in conjunction, entitled "The ArrivalJof the Maoris in New Zealand." This picture, which is intended for competition un- .g der the bequest of the late Mrs. Boyd, is § alone well worth inspection by all interested fii in fine art. All the pictures from iUr. Goldie s brush are of a high order of merit, ?; and his studies from life and copies from tii old masters, will commend themselves to the attention anil inspection of art students. $ Students of Messrs. Goldie and Steele are also exhibiting studies. The exhibition will no doubt command the patronage that to merits of the work deserve. '$

The Auckland Cycling Club's spring car' nival, which takes place on Saturday next J' in the domain, promises to be the most successful the club has yet held. The handi- | cap events promise to be very interesting)" whilst the Federal Scratch Race will bring : out the cream of New Zealand riders, including Reynolds and Wall (New Zealand cham- £ pions), Chalmers (champion of Wellington), | and Jones (champion of Canterbury). A f novelty lias been added to the programme in the shape of a pursuit race of one mile, i in which the North Island will be repre- Jsented by E. Reynolds, &nd the South Island £ by J. W. Jones arid E. Wall. Three amus-_ {. ing races will be the officials' bicycle and i flat handicaps, and the old buffers' bicycle ¥ handicap, all of which promise to be keenly i contested. As will be seen elsewhere, tickets for the sports may be obtained at Partridge's and Williamson's, f,

The following may be interesting in tbesa days of controversy as to female nurses: — ' lhe hospital nurses who have just left London to assist in the campaign against bubonic plague still being waged in India, are the latest recruits to that noble company of English women who are weaving new bonds of sympathy between rulers and ruled in our Eastern dependency. The love of the feeble folk, ' old in grief and very wis# in tears'—as Rudyard Kipling finely sings in 'The Song of the Women' — is not lightly won; when won, it is a very potent influence for peace and quietude in India. Lady doctors and nurses arc England's champions in the fight v against the blind prejudice and death-breeding insanitation that lie hidden behind the purdah."

The New Zealand Times, of the 19th inst-< , g contains the following : Mr. Charles B. . *£ Russell, the manager of the American ig Tobacco Company of New Zealand (Limi- •. ted), Auckland, .afternoon sent the j| following letter to Mrs. l'enton, which ex* || plains itself : —"Dear Madam, —I an) pass* ■fyj ing through Wellington, and noticing your # noble efforts on behalf of the New Zealand :■ 5 troops for the Transvaal, I will feel much r [ - :: pleased to deliver on board the Waiwera 50,000 fragrant Vanity Fair cigarettes for the use of the troops. These are presented -tei 011 behalf of the American Tobacco Company , of New York. Should you accept this gift'. g 1 will be pleased to make arrangements with • the company's agents, Messrs. Levin and fii, Co., of this city, and have the cigarettes delivered 011 board free of all cost.—l remain, etc., C. B. Russell." Mrs. Penton replied in the following terms:— "Dear Sir,-' Thank you very much for your most gener- . ous offer of 60,000 cigarettes for the use on board ship of the New Zealand contingent '<-V for the Transvaal. I have much pleasure in.'^g accepting the gift on their behalf, and fee® sure that it will be highly appreciated by tlie men. I am also grateful for you arranging -• i to have the cigarettes delivered on board free of cost,—Yours truly, Mittie I'entos."^ , We would remind our readers of the Liedertafel's concert on Friday night, in tbe. Sj Choral Hall, We understand the concert will open with "Rule Britannia." verse is to be sung by the members and the 8* audience are requested to join in the refrain, which, no doubt they will do very heartily-* The concert augurs well for success, Jfok§ ".> . '■ ' * •' .£*[

' i 1 We have to acknovledge from Messrs. Stillwell and Co., priifers, 196 a, Collinsstreet, Melbourne, the receipt of a copy of a new work on joultry-keeping, entitled, "Poultry for Profit: Economical Poultry-keeping in Ausralia, for the poultry farmer, the orcbardist, the small produces', or the housewife." Ey Thos. H. Young, " Chanticleer," of the Australasian. Mr. Young is not only we! acquainted with his subject, from long penonal experience, but ' owing to the position he has so long filled in connection with mtre than one journal in Victoria, he has beei placed in possession of a variety of cxperence and knowledge scarcely possible of attanment by one working by himself. Tliaigh the fancier will obtain many useful hilts in the little book before us, the author Ins kept the economical side of the question prominently in view, and has written more largely in favour of tie farmer and small producer than for the fancier. Tlio work is useful, fills an important niche in the literature on poultryfanning between the costly works which arc beyond the reach of mo ordinary farmer or -keeper, and the trashy books which have been prepared on the subject for the purpose of the profit to be made by such publications. Mr. Young's little work consists of 168 well-printed pages, upon good paper, adorned with many good illustrations, and is divided into 24 chapters, in which the various questions relating to poultry are very satisfactorily dealt with. One chapter is devoted to the diseases which usually affect poultry, which cannot fail to be helpful to those wh» become possessed of a copy. He gives instructions how to use incubators to the lest advantage, the natural incubation of poultry, information on the ancient and modern methods of poultry raising, fattening for market, caponising, preserving eggs, proparng birds for show purposes, the profits of joultry-keeping, etc. We do not know the price of the book, but anticipate it is moderate, and within the reach of all, but its coitents are such that we think even those wlo have some of the larger works oil poultry-keeping will find it of advantage to add this one to their poultry library.

"M.A.P." is responsible for an extraordinary story regarding Prince Christian. His Royal Highness, while staying at Kissingen, received from Mr. Aicock, secretary of the Surrey Club, a telegram giving him the scores at the close of the second day as follows :—" England, 576; Australia, *220 five wickets." In his abundant good nature the recipient of this important intelligence caused the message to be posted up on one of the trees of the Curgarton. A Dutch official, evidently ignorant alike of cricket, and of the momentous contest then proceeding in England, took the telegram to mean that war had broken out in the Transvaal, and that the figures indicated the number of the slain in the first engagement. Immediately he communicated the news to the Roumanian Minister for Finance, who, recognising that the commencement of hostilities would be fatal to the prospects of a loan which he was seeking to negotiate in London, spread the gloomy tidings. Presently the whole population was in a state of wild excitement, and the public was informed by a local paper that owing to the " amazing indiscretion of an illustrious personage" a message had' been prematurely published, giving details of the first encounter of the belligerents. It was not until next day that the Prince heard what a stir had been created by his innocent and good-natured act, and, of course, he laughed mightily at the stupid misunderstanding.

At Palmerston North the other night (says the Standard), the Hon. J. Carroll was showing the good record of the colony under the beneficent rule of the present Government, when he unconsciously remarked, " Our debt is a record, and you won't- see that anywhere else," amidst numerous "hear, hears." The same speaker was also expatiating on the fertile land, the beautiful climate, the regular rainfall, the lovely scenery, and the natural advantages of the colony, when a resident- interjected, "All brought on within the last nine years!" and brought down the house.

One of the most striking effects of the late drought ill the North-Western district (savs the Sydney Daily Telegraph) is the great falling off in the weight shorn per head this season Messrs. Winchcombe, Carson, and Co., state that in two clips that have already come under their notice the difference is as follows: —A" shore last year 35,000 sheep, cutting per head 81b 9oz; this year 14,000 yielded per head 51b 12oz. "B" shore last year 30,000 sheep, cutting per head 7|lb; 'this year 7000 yielded per head 41b Boz.

To what extent is a man liable who " goes bail" for a friend, and that friend fails to put in an appearance at the appointed time? Most persons would answer that query by saying, " to the full amount of his bond," but how will the matter stand if the nonappearance is unavoidable; if, in fact, the party bailed is dead? Such a contingency arose in Melbourne not so very long ago; a man (who was really innocent of the crime with which he was charged) being so despondent that he committed suicide the night he was released. The bondsman was then called upon to pay down £100 bail, but instead of doing that he brought the body to the Court in a coffin, and said, to the Stipendiary's great dismay, " My bond simply says I must produce the ' corpus,' or body of my friend. Well (pointing to the deceased), there's the 'corpus,' and now you can do what you like with it, for my responsibility is over." Then flie legal worry began, but the bondsman won, and the" corpus" was buried, but it was understood that a precedent had not been formed.

A conference of representatives of the boroughs in the suburbs of Sydney has demanded the passing of a law to prevent " the practice of building small tenements alongside pretentious residences, thereby depreciating the value of the latter." There is a strong movement against what are described as "shanties" and straight six-furlong rows of " doll's houses, all looking as though they were made in the same mould, and all shrieking aloud at the vulgar taste or the man who " ran them up." The aldermen, who met in conference, declared that " the law should absolutely prevent people from building dwelling-houses on insufficient areas of land."

The teachers of the North Canterbury district held a social gathering in Christchurch, recently, when Mr. Charles Hall gave an interesting lantern lecture on "The Wonders of Wairakei." Dr. Symes, who was present, spoke briefly on the medicinal properties of the hot springs of the North Island. He said he had searched carefully through • analvses of the hot springs of all parts of the world, and the result of his examination showed that the North Island springs were unique. One of the springs at Wairakei proved very beneficial in cases of rheumatic gout, a peculiarly intractable disease. This week's mail brings reports of the Grand National Championship meeting of the League of American Wheelmen, at Boston, United States America. The Americans appear to favour the short distances for then championships. This year these events were restricted to quarter-mile, third-mile, haltmile, one-mile, two miles, and five miles. As this meeting was held shortly after the World's Championships, at Montreal, Canada, most of the champion representatives of Great Britain, tHS Continent, Canada, and the United States competed, as well as Ben Goodson, of Sydney. Goodson was riding in exceptionally good form at this meeting, winning the third and half-mile Grand National Championships, and being placed third in the five-mile, and fourth in the one mile. As usual, his mount in these races was the Massey-Harris bicycle. He was also awarded the special medal for riding the fastest mile in competition at the World's Championship meeting. Shropshire sheep seem to be making headway in Canterbury. Messrs. William Cooper and Nephews, Berkhampstead,, England, made a shipment to Lyttelton last year, and the sheep realised very high prices. The consignments this year which recently arrived in the Ruahine and lonic were made to an old Shropshire , breeder from Home, Mr. James Davenport, of Christchurch, and that gentleman, in a £>. letter says:— are certainly,, the |ij finest lot of Shropshires ever landed: in this , colony." The proprietors of Cooper's Dip have for many years identified themselves with this breed of sheep, having bought many Royal Show prize-takers, including fejplSJtr. Buttar's champion ram last year, for which Messrs. Cooper paid 310 guineas, , the •' largest sum ever realised for. a, Shropshire ■rV ' sheep. , The " Cooper" flock now numbers 600 breeding ewes, being the largest stud |gp Shropshire flock in the world,; . ; .

The conduct of discharged prisoners towards the gaol officials was the subject of a prosecution in the Wellington Magistrate's Court (reports the Post). Richard White was charged with having used threatening language in Abel Smith-street to the governor of the Wellington gaol (Mr. P. S. Garvey), Mr. Jellicoe, who appeared for defendant, said that his client regretted exceedingly having allowed his temper to get the better of him, and admitted having done wrong. Mr. Garvey said the officers of the prison were continually being treated in this way, but, personally, though he had been in Wellington 18 years, this was the first time that a discharged prisoner had ever spoken to him in such a manner. In reply to the Bench, Inspector Pendei said defendant had a bad record, but Mr. Jeilicoe intimated that the man was now in honest employment. Mr. Garvey thereupon said that if the defendant was going straight he would not like to hinder him in any way. His Worship observed that had Mr. Gamy pressed the charge, severe punishment would have been inflicted, but under the circumstances White would be ordered to keep the peace for six months, ,in his own recognisance of £25.

At the Melbourne City Court, recently, Peter Yoight was charged with having attempted to steal £10,000 from the Bank of New South Wales, Collins-street, and William Harris was charged with having aided and abetted him. The evidence of the bank officials was to the effect that during the luncheon hour on October 5, Yoight made two attempts to abstract the money from the teller's box during the teller's absence, and that Harris sought to occupy the attention of a teller in the adjoining box, so that Voight's movements might not bo noticed. Both men were committed for trial. Voigiit and a man named • William Armstrong were then charged with the theft of a horse and cart, and were sentenced to six months' gaol. On a further charge of having attempted to pass a valueless cheque on the licensee of the Duke of Albany Hotel, they were sentenced to 12 months' gaol, the sentences to be cumulative. It is perhaps hardly necessary to remind our readers of the second organ and vocal recital to be given in the Choral Hall this (Wednesday) afternoon. Afternoon performances seem to be growing in public favour, and large audiences are now the rule. The half-holiday on Wednesday now enjoyed by a large section of the community, no doubt contributes its quota to these enjoyable gatherings. In announcing the second recital Mr. Towsey acknowledges that he has received much encouragement from the musical public of the city. Mrs. Dr. Parkes, Mr. A. L. Edwards, and Mr. S. Jackson will contribute a large share of the many varied and choice items provided in a programme of unusual excellence.