LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, 12 March 1901, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

—•, '. » - - .. ... ,;,..;-:.'>■'<''". ■■.'!. -■!■ .\..v,;;.\-;;Vv : The Hon. T. Yj Duncan, Minister for Lands, returned fr£n his visit to the North , • yesterday morning arriving in Auckland by . the Helensvillo triin about a-quarter past, : nine. Mr. Duncan immediately left for Paeroii - by the twenty-five ininutes to ten a,m. train ' and will afterward! visit Waihi and Tauranga. By way "oj Rotorua, Taiipo, Gis* borne, and Napier, the Minister goes on to Wellington, where lie expects to arrive about the end of the month. The Union Company's steamer Waakatt,* . . the first vessel to] ' undergo the 24-hours. • quarantine placed ipon all vessels arriving from Australian ports, arrived from Sydney 1 yesterday morning and went down to an anchorage off the Quarantine station Motuihi, shortly after fay light The Waikare* which has 59;salo<tn and 45 steerage passea-i • gers on board, wai visited by Dr. Shaman, health officer, and Captain H. Parker, of H.M. Customs, during the afternoon. All on board were reported to be well, and the Waikare will com< up harbour this morning about seven o'clock, when the passengers and crew will be inspected by the health officer; and the steamer 'will then berth at the Queen-street Wharf. - The Union Company's steamer Mararoa left for Sydney last evening, taking away a very large number of passengers, the scene just before the steamer's departure from the : Queen-street Wharf being a most animated one owing to the large crowd who had as< ; : sembled to wish their friends proceeding by the steamer " good-bye." Amongst the steamer's cargo were 16 bars of bullion valued -0 at £14,985, a large quantity of maize, timber, frozen fish, and butter. ...'.'..' H.M. twin-screw steel cruiser Taurangai , arrived from the islands yesterday afternoon,, anchoring in the man-o'-war ground. The' warship, it. will be remembered, proceeded from Sydney to Suva recently, where His Excellency the Governor (Sir George O'Brien), who is • also High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, was taken on board, accom panied by his secretary, and Mr. Hamilton Hunter, the new British Resident at Nukualofa. The Tauranga then proceeded to the latter port, where Mr. Hunter was installed into his new office with the customary; honours. Mr. Hunter, who was formerly i"'" British Consul at Samoa, replaces Mr. Leefe,! who has held the consular office at Nukua-i lofa for some years. The Tauranga then : returned to Suva with His Excellency, the Governor, and went on to Yavau, and after 1 a short stay there came on to Auckland. . '

:.'. It is not often that the cozens of Auck-'' land form a real live public meeting to discuss municipal affairs; but the meeting over, j the Freeman's Bay Park, held in St. James* • Hall last night, can fairly be so described, The hall was well filled, and there was a very :, decided feeling favourable to- the scheme ' that the city should lease the proposed sitein Freeman's Bay and borrow £8000 to lay''<:i it out as a recreation ground. There was, some opposition, but at the, vote it could- • not muster over a dozen hands; The result' was the adoption of a resolution approving of the scheme, and asking the City Council to take a poll on the question. . The Mayor intimated that the poll would be > token three weeks hence. ;" The patients of the Auckland Hospital' were afforded an excellent treat on Saturday ;.; evening in the form of a concert organised by Mrs. Eliot Davis. Items were given'.by .. the following ladies and gentlemen:—Mr. and Mrs. Arclidale Tayler, Mrs. Lawry, Mr.. : and Mrs. Eliot Davis, Mr.; Webb-Bowen, X Miss Hope Maine, and Mr. Sharp (of the Charles Arnold Company. At the conclu- ■ sion of the concert Dr. Inglis, the house isurgeon, returned thanks on behalf of the' > patients and staff for the very enjoyable > evening's entertainment. ■ ' ' '•

Our Pokeno correspondent writes :— n*\ gret to announce the death of <one of our oldest settlers in the person of Mr. James Graham, aged 62, who passed away at one o'clock on the night of March 5. For the past 18 months the deceased has been a-.-great sufferer from dropsy. He was unable >: to lie down, and has been sitting among pit-/ lows, night and day, for a long time, Bur-, ing the past few weeks he had been evidently., failing fast. A few hours before he died,, ; he sent for his eldest son and his wife, who j live near, and talked with them about farm Imatters and other things, then asked them to feel his heart, if it beat rather quickly, and immediately after, said, "There's the I last," and died without a struggle, apparently without any pain. He was perfectly ]; conscious to the end. The ; funeral took]' place on March 7, at half-past two, at the' Presbyterian cemetery, Pokeno. The cor-,-tege was the largest seen in the district, for a very long time, an evidence of the high-' respect in which the deceased gentleman was held. Numbers of the mourners came ■ from other districts, many miles away. The : Rev. Mr. Wonsbone officiated at the grave. > The late Mr. Graham came from' Scotland,, and settled in Pokeno Valley some 37 years, /;■ ago, where two of his sons, who are married, •.; now hold farms. There are still six of th» ■ original settlers left in the district.—[Own .'. Correspondent.]

The quarterly meeting of the Eden Licensing Committee was to have been held yes-j terday, but lapsed for want of a quorum.! The only business was the application of i Thomas "William Allan for a transfer of $9; license for the Northcote Hotel. Mr. Allan has already a temporary transfer, and the application for a permanent transfer was adjourned till the annual meeting of the com*' mittee in June. •••"Jv

At a meeting of the Motu Settlers' Association, the, complete report of Mr. James Prouse, the well-known Levin sawmiller, on the Motu Forest (near Gisborne) was received. This states that though he had{ only been able to inspect a portion of the* district, there were within sight 30 miles of bush, four miles wide, of excellent timber,; worth fully a million pounds. He saw specimens of white pine and rimu 6ft in diameter at the butt, and 60ft or 70ft in the bole;; also matai sft and 6ft in the butt and 30ft; ; and 40ft in the bole. The meeting decided • to urge on the Government in the strongest possible manner the completion of the railway to tap this forest, which is under advancing settlement rapidly being destroyed. l :

At the recent examination for entrance scholarships at Prince Albert College there were 14 candidates, six boys and eight girls-; Scholarships have just been awarded, on the results of the examination, to Karl Howarth on the boys' side, and Ruby McMaster on the girls' side. These scholarships; provided by the board of governors, entitle the holders to free tuition at the college for three years. ' - "

The editor of the New Zealand Illustrated' Magazine, Mr. T. Cottle, calls attention to a mistake made by our London correspondent in giving the title of Mrs. "Alien" Baker's new book. Be called it" A Woman's g Territory," instead of "Another Woman's Territory." .The story is running in tee New Zealand Illustrated Magazine. .

An unusual discovery was made at Whan-, garei the other day, when a small turtle measuring about 18in across the body, was found in the river close to the township. It was secured by some of the residents and given to Mr. S. Rout, the chief steward of the s.s. Wellington, who now has the curiosity in his possession alr?e and well* ■■ . '-■■;■■■.■..'•.■•■ ■'.■■■.■;■'■■ '■■"' ■';■'.'.'•;' '-•;'. " : '-:M;S®ffiK -■•'••■.-.■■■ :•■ -.:■"■■■■■■■.■.::. ".- ■;■;■ -"■■ • ■ •• ■:■ ."--v-■-'•■-. ■.■■i.'-t.-r.Mci-jS.s* ~■■.■ ' ■■'■■■ ■■■■■ ■:■ . : . .--J" >.<■;-..:■■ : - ■:.;.■-i^JSSSJ«j;

'I I, '•-'. -~ "™ ' ~ ■"•' ' I * In. ti» attack at Lichtenburg the Boers "< -•■'•■ after occupying: a part of the town -were re- • poked.. Private Beck, of Auckland, -who ''. bilangti to tie New Zealand Artillery, was severely -woanded. General French, who is :i "-:■' ; operating in the Eastern Transvaal, is driving tie Boers before him. They are ,so ! ' despairing -of success that they hare abandoned their women and children and waggoes to tie British. The former have been sent isto the British camps for protection. ile Wet's main body is said to be between • Springfontein and Dewetsdorp/in the east cf the Orange River Colony. General

Tußgftthsbng and Prince Tuan are said to be - resisting the return of the Imperial Court to Pekia, and to have at their command many thousands of troops. America has warned China that she will not acquiesce in any secret or separate negotiations with any one Power, or the cession of territory to any Power without the full knowledge and consent of all the others. The French press doubt the success of Mr. ; Brodrick's army reform scheme. The plague at the Cape is proving serious , 102 cases have been reported, and there have ' been 22 deaths.

The Telegraph Department are about to renew the Rotorua-Taupo line with railwayiron posts, 200 tons of which are now being placed along the line. A nev line is also being carried from Earthquake Flat to the new gaol at Waiotapu Vallev.

Messrs. L. D. Nathan and Co;, agents for Huddart-Parker Company, notify consignees that the New Zealand Government having given instructions that all cargo shipped at Sydney shall, before being allowed to land in New Zealand, undergo thorough fumigation under the supervision of a Government official, such fumigation will be undertaken at the sole risk and expense of consignees.

Lovers of good music will doubtless hail with pleasure the announcement that prior to her departure for Sydney on Monday next, Miss Alice Hollander, the young and charming Sydney contralto, will give two concerts in the Opera house on Thursday and Friday night, under the direction of' Mr. Arthur Towsey. Miss Hollander will hay* the assistance of Madame Chambers. Mr. A. L. Edwards, and Moris. E. J. de Willimoff. The programme, which appears elsewhere, contains vocal and instrumental items of the highest order.

Our Hamilton correspondent states that it is announced that Messrs. Holloway, Gwynne, and Quick, three members of the staff, have taken over the Waikato Argus from Mr. G. Edgecumbe, who is about to enter upon another line of business.

The question of vehicular traffic punts has been engaging the attention of the New South Wales Department of Works for some time, and experiments have been made with a view to ascertaining whethei it would be practicable and economical to utilise cil engines tor the propulsion of hand-worked vehicular ferries, of which thete are 92 under its control. The initial difficulties experienced have been great, owing partly to the fact that the design of th.. ferry punts in use is not suitable for the adoption of oil engines. Trouble has also been encountered in the application of the power developed by the engine in the experiments referred to. A special punt, however, is now being designed, to be constructed of Oregon, and propelled by an .oil engine of about 12 horsepower, for a ferry on the Clarence River. As soon as that punt is in commission, the Department should be libit to judge of the cost of this mean? of propulsion, and when the traffic on a ferry justifies the expenditure necessary to give an improved service, the matter of constructing specially-designed oildriven punts in lieu of the existing handdriven ones, can be considered. But it is out of the question to drive the existing punts by means of oil engines.

Amongst the donations received by the Auckland Regatta Committee, and not previously acknowledged, was a handsome gift from llr Donaghey (Rope and Twine Works) of two coils.of rope, which were converted irto cash (£10), and the proceeds added to the regatta funds.

' On Saturday afternoon Mr. Gresliam, coroner, held an inquiry at the King's Amis Hotel, Newton, concerning the death of Men Clarke, the illegitimate infant child of Mary Clarke, a married woman (living apart from her husband), in Montague-street. Newton. Sergeant Walker represented the police. Dr. Grant, who had attended the child once, and refused a certificate; Thos. Beamish (its father), Mrs. Julia Corr, and Elizabeth Black, gave evidence. The coroner summed up at length, and, at the request of the jury, remained in the room with them whilst they proceeded with their deliberations. On the Court reopening, the coroner ordered Mary Clarke and Thomas Beamish to be brought before him. Adressing them, he said: Mary Clarke and Thomas Beamish. The jury desire me to inform you that you have both narrowly escaped "a charge of manslaughter, and that they consider that you are both very greatly to blame for the neglect with which you have treated this infant. It is their unanimous opinion that when you found, on March 1, that the child was not improving in its condition, it was your duty to have either taken the child to the hospital, or to have again sought the assistance of Dr. Grant or of some other doctor. In tins opinion of the jury I entirely .joncur. ' I find it of frequent occurrence for the parents of a child to take it for one visit to a medical man, with the intention, in case death ensues, of subsequently applying to that medical man for a certificate of death. Such application was by you made to Dr. Grant. That gentleman most properly refused to give a certificate. You have mutually accused each other of repeated drunkenness. The verdict is that this child died from wasting, We result of prolonged diarrhoea, Thi coroner thanked the jury for the very great care and attention which they had evinced throughout the inquiry.

Hulse. Band performed in the Albert £ark last evening, at the new band-stand inere were about 4000 people present, which snows that the performances of the several bands in the park are much appreciated.

--e main roll for boroughs is now complete, and the town clerk of the Borough of Auckland (Mr. Wilson), and also those of the suburban boroughs, are now preparing the supplementary rolls. Registration on the Parliamentary roll does not necessarily qualify for voting in municipal elections for the election of Mayor and borough councillors. Those entitled to exercise the extended franchise in municipal elections should see that they are placed on the rolls.