LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 11542, 29 November 1900, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

His Worship the Mayor (Mr. Goldi?), accompanied by several councillors, visited the contractors for the Nihotupu-Titirangi waterrace. The work was found to be going on in a very satisfactory way, but m. decision has been come to as tc whether fluming vn.l\ be necessary in the conveyance of the wat«. The Mayor and the engineer will have a consultation on the subject.

The Free Library account (lending branch) is found to be in a more satisfactory condition than it has been found for some years, having about £500 to its credit. Two hundred books are on the way from England, and 200 more will be ordered shortly for the library. The Mayor proposes to reorganise the Library Advisory Committee on the lines of the new committee of the Art Gallery. It is proposed to include on the committee a representative of the labour organisations.

The Mackelvie Art Gallery will shortly be closed, in order to rearrange the gallery in view of the recent arrival of two large pictures from Home. The bust of Mi". Gladstone, which has recently arrived, will shortly be presented to the City Council, in order to its being presented tc the Art Gallery.

Now that the summer season is setting in, sharks are becoming plentiful in the harbour, and bathers should be on their guard. A number of snarks have been seen cruising off Stanley Point.

At the last meeting of the Mount Eden Road Board a letter from the Auckland Cycle Road League was read, asking for the privilege of cycling on the footpaths in the Mount Eden district, the same as in Epsom. The Board declined to grant the concession.

The Domain account is tit present in a healthy state, there being a credit balance 0 i £600. In addition, £200 is Iroing to the account from the pavilion account. Mr. Percy Holt has formulated certain reforms ue g' es ted, now that funds are in hand, and these will be submitted to the Domain Committee or a sub-committee for consideration, i; .'.-.

The Takapuna Jockey Club's spring meeting was commenced yesterday, when the afternoon was delightfully fine, the attendance satisfactory, and the racing well contested and interesting. The principal event of the clay— St. Andrew's Handicapwas won by Mr. J. Taylor's five-year-old horse Dayntree. A full account of the racing will be found in another column.

It is stated that the Land Purchase Board has acquired, on behalf of the Government, 100 acres in the Lower Hutt for the establishment of workmen's homes. The land, which is leased, is at present under crop, and it will not for some months be available for settlement.

A general meeting of the committee of the Ponsonby Regatta Club took place last night in the Ponsonby Club Hotel. There was a full attendance of members. Mr. S. D. Hanna presided. A good deal of routine business was transacted. The reports of the collectors were of a very favourable character. It was decided to postpone the allocation of the prize-money for the various races until Monday evening next, when a special meeting of the club will deal with the mattei. A meeting of the committee of the Society of Arts was held last evening to consider the annual report, Mr. E. W. Pay ton (president) presiding. Among other things token into consideration was the blunder

which had arisen in regard to the awards made in the competitive examinations at the late exhibition. It was resolved: (1) That the secretary be directed to write explaining to Mr. Macky that in the hurry of the moment t!i*> matter which he had intendec to refer to the committee had not been s referred, and expressing the regret of the cor/ mittce that publicity was not given the fat that Mr. Macky had beep placed equal w'h Miss Coulicr for the society's bronze meal in monochrome work; (2) that publicitfbo now given to the fact, and a duplfate bronze medal awarded; (3) tha'. a opy of this resolution be sent to Mr. Muckjan'd the press. i

At a meeting of the Hobson's Bay Irninage Board it was decided to offer a pnhium of 100 guineas for the best scheme submitted by a certain date for the drinage of the ilobsnn Bay watershed. I two schemes should be of equal merit, thn the premium will bo divided.

After sentencing,the prisoners Lois and Quintal!, convicted of perjury, at be Supreme Court. His Honor Mr. Justice fonolly yesterday morning said he desired o state that, in his opinion, it was highly undesirable that such steps as had been aken to entrap the prisoners in this case Mould be employed in what were merely offences, and not crime;. There was a "distinction between matters coming tinder thee heads, and while there might be cases <t serious crimes against the State in which traps and disguises might properly be emjloycd, in His Honor's opinion, such offencosas" selling liquor without a license and keeping a brothel did not come within that .-ategory.

During the running of the Handicap Hurdle Race at the Takapuna Jickey Club's meeting at North Shore yestmlay afternoon, three of the horses came t> grief, but, fortunately, none of the rider, were seriously injured. A. Hall, whe was riding the favourite. Drum Major, had a nasty fall at the last hurdle, and as the h«rse galloped away it looked as though he had struck the prostrate rider heavily, caising serious injury. Hall was brought ir unconscious by the club's stretcher-bearers, and was attended to by Drs. Walker am Reid. He soon regained consciousenss, and but for the shaking was little the worse for his mishap. Drum Major walked in lame.

At the Supreme Court yesterday forenoon, Nettie May Andrevs. r. prisoner, ■who, under the provision* of the new Act, had pleaded guilty to an indictable offence in the Lower Court, and had been committed for trial, was granted probation. This was the first occasion in whicl the new Act has been taken advantage of in Auckland. In reply to Mr. Baume, counsel for the accused. His Honor Mr. Justice C'onolly intimated that, in his opinion, the practice followed in this case nad been correct. He considered that it was iutended by the Act to let the prisoner be brought before the Supreme Court for sentence at any time it was sitting, whether tor criminal or civil sessions. His Honor further stated that he was of opinion that the power of the Magistrate, to admit to bail was not in any way interfered with by the new Act.

Some months ago Mr. Stevenson, F.R.A.S., of Auckland, wrote to one of the officials of the Rvyal Astronomical Society, asking for the latest information re the expected shower of meteors in November, but 88 he was unable to supply the required information he kindly requested Dr. Stoney, F.R.S., F.R.AS., who is considered the greatest authority on the subject of the Leonid meteors, to forward all particulars that were available. This, Dr. Stoney has done in a letter which unfortunately arrived after the date oi the shower had passed. Dr. Stoney explains very clearly the reason of the failure of the shower, viz , that the main swarm passed inside the earth's orbit at a distance of some seven times the moon's distance from the earth, and as the entire thickness of the meteoric stream was probably under 100,000 miles it was therefore impossible for the earth to encounter the main portion of the stream this year.

Yesterday afternoon the girl Ada Cole, who has been in the Hohipere Hospital, was brought up at the Police Court, and charged with attempting suicide. She was remanded).

A tobacco robbery occurred the other day in Symonds-strect. Some £12 worth of tobacco and cigarettes and £4 in money were taken, while the shopkeeper was away at church, as the door was found open on returning. He had recently • come from Sydney, and some of the goods had never been removed from the packages. So far the police authorities have obtained no clue to the perpetrators of the robbery, which appears to have been a most impudent one.

Of late Elliott-street has been greatly improved by the buildings erected there by the New Zealand Insurance Company. Thev have just let a contract to Mr. J. T. Julian, builder, for the erection of a three-storey warehouse, with basement, adjacent to those erected. It is tc be on pretty much the same lines as the others, with the exception of having an additional storey, and will be a great improvement to the street. The frontage in about 29ft, with a depth of 100 ft. The building is to be of brick, and the contract time is foiu month!-. Mr. Arthur P. Wilson is the architect.

A little child named Reid was very severely scalded at Paeroa on Tuesday evening. It appears that when Mrs. Reid had turned her back for a few moments the child got hold of the teapot, which had just been rilled with boiling water, and put the c.pout to its mouth and took in a big mouthful of the hot tea. The child's mouth and throat were terribly scalded, but Dr. Bnckby, who was called in, did much to alleviate the sufferings.

Mr. J. G. Rush, a well-known and highlyrespected resident of Palmerston North, died a few days ago. The deceased gentleman landed in Wellington in 1843. He settled in the Hutt Valley, and for nearly 40 years engaged in farming operations near laita. Mr. Rush settled in Palmerston North m 1882. He was 73 years of age at the time of his death.

In connection with the yacht race to the Kawau on Saturday next for the trophy presented by Mr. Hicks Ross, the manager of the island, the steamer Kawau will leave the Queen-street Wharf at half-past one oclock p.m., following the race, and leaving the island for Auckland at six o'clock .'p-m., reaching town about nine p.m.

1 The long-standing "dispute re the election E the officers -of Holy Trinity Church, Taufinga, was ended on Tuesday (writes our 'auranga correspondent) fby Bishop Wil*ims confirming the election and advising |>th parties to behave in a more for|aring and Christian spirit. The Bishop's tcision was received by both parties in a tendly spirit, and thanks to Bishop Wilims the'trouble has* now become a thing !'ms the trouble has now become to thing the past. All parties seem to have tried their differences. Much sympathy |i been expressed with Bishop Williams ding to the death of his eldest sister, the Me of Archdeacon Williams, of Napier. ■ I, ' ■ - •

ft. resolution was passed at a recent meetit of the Wanganui Education Board askif .the Government to make a special grant wards establishing classes In agricultural AAnistry in connection with the Hawera Id Palmerston North technical schools, fie resolution has been supported by the Jimerston North Agricultural and Pastoral j-sociation. ;It will be seen from our advertising ilumns that the prizes won at the late .{ricultural Show will be paid to-morrow, lie regulations of the association provide jftt in case of unforeseen circumstances rretoting the revenue amounting to the exacted sum the prizes will be paid in pro]rtion to the revenue received, but the <nmittee have unanimously decided that in lite of the heavy loss resulting from the incanent weather on the people's day, every <:? should be paid in full. A considerable limber of supporters of the association have jven a practical expression of their symflthy by writing, offering donations and i-ize" money to assist the executive to meet i* deficit.

_ A benefit performance, tendered by Mr. „ '. R. Dix to the Auckland Ladies' Bencvos i r ent Society, will take place at the City s ffall on Thursday next, December 6. The e full strength of the Gaiety Company will t; present a specially good programme. The .' society requires funds to enable it to carry J out its excellent work, and the generosity ■' of Mr. Dix in-giving this benefit should be rewarded with a bumper house. The boxplan for this entertainment will be open at YViidman and Lyell's on Friday next. At a meeting of the Ladies' Committee of the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children, etc., it was resolved I that a moonlight excursion be got up in aid of the society's funds.