LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11243, 12 December 1899, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The colonial mails which left Melbourne by the R.M.s. Oceana, on November 8, wen delivered in London on the 9th inst., one % day early. Contributions towards the South African % war relief fund continve to come in steadily, i; and the fund- has nov> reached a total of' over £800. In addition to the £720 already forwarded, His Worship the Mayor statei that it is expected that another £100 will .4 be available for transmistion in the course -If of a few days. . The Works and Tariff Committee of the Auckland Harbour Board, met yesterday afternoon at the Board's offices, Mr. W. J. *f| Napier (chairman) presiding. Mr. J. Wil- ff son waited on the committee and explained §| the proposals for providing accommodation % for coasters to the west of Hobson-street' $ Wharf. It was decided to consider the # matter at the next meeting of the committee. % The secretary read a letter from the Marine! f Department, in answer to a communication % from the Board, in reference to the case of if the barque Alice, stating that arrangements had been made for the light-keeper to tele- J| phone to the Board and report vessels in dis- ■ tress, and report all other vessels which,jf signal the lighthouse. A report was read, '% on the question of increased accommodation at Birkenhead Wharf, to the effect that it' % was not required, and the committee agreed Js : to recommend that no further action be taken. Several other matters were also dealt with. ... ~|fi The Revs. H. R. Dewsbury and S. Lawry §f were in Hamilton recently in connectionM with the affairs of the Wesleyan Church, ; Hamilton. They have arranged that a stu- M dent should have charge of the work of the r f church, until the meeting of the conference. It is stated that Dr. Hosking lias been invited to take ministerial charge of a church in Auckland, and also received a call from Christchurch. He has not come to any'l; decision at present, further than that he will >■'. make a trip to Melbourne. "||f A married woman, named Mrs. Madigan, died yesterday at the District) Hospital, .. who had been suffering from peritonitis. It' was deemed desirable to hold an inquest, which will probably take place to-day. i>|; A death occurred on board of the steamer Sf Waimarie last night, whilst o:i the passage from Paeroa to Auckland. A Mrs. Jenkins, 1 : of Waitekauri, was bringing her son, aged four months and a-lialf, to town for the purpose of obtaining medical advice for him, lie having been ailing for some time. The|| child, however, succumbed on the way. The police were notified of the event on the arrival of the steamer, and Constable Macdonald took the body to the morgue. An adjourned inquest will be held to-day'jp; at the District Hospital, on causes surrounding the death of Prank Ceilings, half-caste, v who was brought from Whangape, and died of wounds in his head, supposed to have been ' self-inflicted. The medical evidence was to . the effect that it was just possible that the wounds were not self-inflicted. Some na-;® tives, who were last in the company of the M deceased, have been brought up from Wha- % ngape, and will give evidence to-day. The Wellington Times predicts that Parlia- f| ment will during the coming session be is| asked to amend the Alcoholic Liquor Sales Control Act by deleting the reduction issue ■~ from the voting paper. . 'M A fire occurred early yesterday morning. in a house in Calliope lload, Devonport, oc- ' cupied by Mr. John T. Drought. The f|. Devonport fire brigade were early on the spot, but in spite of their efforts the house ;-| was practically gutted. The fire originated in the waslihouse, and Mr. Drought and his M wife and family had to be aroused and ' v warned of their danger. Some of the furni- -4 ture was saved before the fire got a firm hold of the building. The house was owned by, S Captain Douglas, and was insured in the yg New Zealand Insurance Company's office fol £275. The furniture was insured in tiff 'J| same office for £100. Captain Douglas, who 1 is now on a trip to Honolulu, occupied the g house till recently, when he let it furnished. T. The piano recital to be given by MisS' Dora Judson in the Choral Hall, on Friday, promises to be one of the musical features of M the season. An excellent programme is in ;--;; preparation, and includes the compositions ,5; of Chopin, Brahms, Paganini, Liszt, Greig,..|i Rubinstein, Schubert, Schumann, and Men- :: delssohn. More than half the programme will be contributed by the fair artiste, who ; will be assisted by lions, de Willimoff and . Judge Edger. The Klein Presse, speaking of ■■■ her performance at a recent concert, says her playing showed both advance technical ability ■ .; and a degree of artistic individuality, sur- g prising and seldom found in one so young, -*g and her execution is beautifully clear, and ij the most difficult- passages are overcome with perfect ease. ~ Much interest is being manifested in the § newly-formed Orchestral Society at Pen* sonby. _ The Hon. J. A. 'l'ole has accepted the position of patron, and Mr. J. H. Upton that of president. Mr, J. Short has been yf; elected hon. secretary. Vice-presidents art to be appointed, and rehearsals will commence early in the coming year. % The secretary of the General Post Office, Wellington, makes the following notification • j with respect to the postage of Christmas cards: —" So many infractions of the printed' ;; paper regulations usually occur in connection with Christmas cords that it is necessary to remind senders that: (1) The covers of such cards must be open for easy inspection .g of the contents. If an envelope be used, it sfft must be entirely open at one end, or the M flap turned inside. Small slits cut in the J|g ends of closed envelopes are not regarded M leaving a packet open for inspection. (2) , Nothing may be written on Christinas card! /: beyond a simple complimentary or convenI tional remark, such as, "To John Smith) with best wishes from Man- Smith. Christ- K mas, 1899." No communication such aSfsjs All well; write soon," "Hoping to see, you shortly," or the like, is permitted. (3) Presents of articles, which have a trifling . salable value, may be sent by sample or pat - .. tern-post to any place within New Zealand j| .and the Australian colonies (except Queens- g land). To Queensland and all other places such articles can only be forwarded by parcel post. (4) Any breach of the regulations i|: will result in the card or packet, if ad- - dressed to any place within the colony, being surcharged letter rate of postage, or, »;| for any other place, in its being returned to s; the sender. 1 :'-S" The quarterly meeting of the Eden Licensing Bench was held at noon yesterday, at I the Borough Council Chambers, Devonport. Mr. H. W. Brabant, S.M., presided, and?| there were also present: Messrs. Alison,Lg. J. Bollard, G. L. Peacocke, and Walters. The police report on the seven hotels, in M the district was satisfactory, and an appli" cation for a transfer of the license of the* Lake Hotel from John Boguo to B. p. Roberts was granted. "Mm

An inquest, held under the Infants' Life Protection Act, took place on Saturday afternoon, before Mr. John Gordon, J.P., and a jury of sis, to inquire into the circumstance's of the death of an infant named Olive Irene Moore. The' inquest was held at the residence of Mrs. Kearney, Randolphstreet, with whom the child had been boarded out. The jury found that death as the result of natural causes. Mr. Gordon also held an inquest at the Avondale Lunatic Asylum, on the body of a patient named Charles Stewart, who was admitted from Tauranga about a week ago. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that death was due to a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.

Our Waipu correspondent writes: —On the 6th inst. Captain Wintle and his son met with an accident on the Cove Road through the wheel of the sulky they were riding going into a nasty hole in the middle of the road. The vehicle was upset, and its occupants thrown out, the horse breaking away, and bolting for four miles along the road before being brought up. Captain Wintle received some bruises and a severe shaking, voung Mr. Wintle luckily escaping unhurt.

Some stir was caused in Gisborne on Friday evening (says our correspondent) by the report that a man at one of the local board-ing-houses had been poisoned. It seems that he had been drinking of late, and had taken, either by accident or design, the contents of a bottle of chlorodyne. Fortunately, this was discovered in time, and Dr. Cole being sent for, was immediately on the spot, and administered the necessary antidotes. After treatment the man recovered from the effects of the poison.

A telegram has been received by Mr. Henry Metcalfe from the clerk of the Piako County, that Messrs. James Brothers are the successful tenderers for the bridge over the Waihou River at Shaftesbury, the amount of their tender being £539 14s 3d.

The two poultry associations, hitherto known respectively as the Auckland and the Suburban Poultry Associations, have amalgamated, and formed one association under the name of the Auckland and Suburban Poultry Club.

Wc have to hand the Decembei number of the Monthly Record (Y.M.C.A.). Under the title, "Letters from Missionaries in the (Field," is an interesting paper from Mr. Arthur J. Carr. Mi. Josiah Martin contributes another of his chatty papers, entitled " Tonga, and the Tongans." At the Police Court on Friday (says our Gisbome correspondent), a young man named James Madder, who has just finished serving a term of imprisonment in Auckland gaol, in connection with a safe robbery in Gisborne, was charged with the theft of a pocket-book containing £21 5s in money, the property of Lucy Weston Buck, of Auckland. Informant stated that whilst standing in a crowd in the main street on the evening of the election, accused spoke to her, and afterwards made a grab at her watch and chain. The hitter had some keys attached, which caught in her belt. She was in the act. of stooping to recover the chain, when, she says, the pocket-book was snatched from her hand. The informant, after giving pai t of her evidence, was taken ill, and the case had to be adjourned for a week. Dr. Julius, Bishop of Christchurch, while in Sydney recently, was asked for liis views on some' of the New Zealand legislation. When asked if he was a prohibitionist, he paid, "No. I'm not, but I'll tell you where I stand. I am not a prohibitionist. As an ultimate solution of the drink question, .the Licensing Act in New Zealand offers three continuance, which I cannot vote for ; reduction, which is better than nothin». but does not pretend to be ft remedy ; and no-license, which, until the country can give me a system of liquor control, such as I can support, lam bound to vote for. A considerable number of men known to me, who are not prohibitionists, who are not even total abstainers, are determined to vote no--license until an option is given, either to close or open bars, or bring the whole traffic under State or municipal control." A peculiar find, consisting of fossil bones in a perfect state, has been made at Murrumburrali (New South Wales), in a shaft 40ft deep, on the Cunningham Creek. The bones have been forwarded to the Mines 1 Museum, and arc described by the Government paleontologist as those of eight different species of marsupials, principally of kinds that arc extinct. Some of the bones are the remains of marsupials of gigantic size.

Captain Nightingall, of the steamer Coolgardie, which arrived at Sydney on December 3, from Melbourne, states that early in the morning the decks were found to be covered with a chocolate coloured dust, which continued to fall until about noon. The most, remarkable fact in connection with the incident, was that the wind was blowing from seaward the whole time. The Governor of New Caledonia, who is about to visit Franco on a twelve months holiday, was lately entertained at a banquet- by the members of the Caledonia Agricultural Union. His Excellency took advantage of the opportunity to speak at great "length on the wealth and resources of the colony, and to discuss its future prospects. The Governor called attention to the fact that very shortly the contracts by which public companies and private individuals had been allowed to use convict labour would cease, and that they would have to seek foi other workmen, especially in connection with the mines. _ Ihe Governor sketched in very attractive colouis a scheme whereby both miners and agriculturists might be induced to settle in the —where even the miners might have comfortable habitations, surrounded by gardens where they could grow vegetables, fruit, and flowers, and said that special concessions of land would be .nade to industrial villages. He considered that the mine proprietors would, without exception, benefit by the employment of European labour and the establishment of such villages. He, of course, desired that French workmen should bo brought to the colony, and expressed his readiness, during the year lie remained in France, to visit the centres of industry in that country, and point out to the workmen the advantages they might gain by emigrating to New Caledonia. But if, he 'added, they failed in the movement to get French workmen, there were other sources from which they might get the necessary help; and lie especially instanced Piedmont, many of the natives of which were employed in France; the sober and industrious Spanish, and the labourers, who were highly spoken of. And, failing these, and as a last resort, there were the Japanese. In this great movement, the Governor said he would place his services entirely at the disposition of the colony. A knowledge of New Caledonia was spreading more and more in France, and he believed they would be able to obtain sufficient labourers from there. He was convinced that in a short time the population of the colony would be doubled, if not trebled.