LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11642, 2 May 1901, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

\ ■ ,'■'■'- ■ ■.'. ' - The coital ma ,\y whirii left Auckland on April 13 l)i| ie , R.M.si Sierra arrived at San Francisco ATuesd*}* morning last. . The ndjouv,j inquiry into the circura« stances tela** 1 to tie death of John McGuire, whored at the Auckland Hos. pital on Satur v while under chloroform', ; was resumed yterday before the district coroner, Mr. : tesham. The witnesses examined inclnd the parents and sisters of deceased anaVo medical gentlemen, Dr. T. Hops Lewisprho held the post-mortem examination, art Dr. Scott, who was performing an opeijcm on the nose of deceased when he expired Dr. Lewis' evidence went to show that vjle certain of the organs were of ab'noraahrciwth and the heart was' not in its norm condition, the general health of decease! was such that he would not ascribe dear to these- causes, while certain of the reives alleged that, on asking an explanfon from Dr. Adams, of the permanent stu, who administered the chloroform, some yo or three hours «utet death, they were Wormed that the heait was perfectly soul, and that death was the result, of "i unforeseen accident through the use qa wrong instrument." This statement, thejsaid, was then qualified by the doctor statg that death was due. to the use of " annstvument," the word " wrong" being omied in the qualification. Dr. Scott, in the-mrse of his evidence, said there was no nson whatevei for the suggestion that a yong instrument had been used or that tlitorrect instrument was wrongly used. Thenquiry was adjourned at half-past fom p.u, and will be continued to-mono (Friday Dr. Scott will be cross-examined by b. Napier, who appears for the relatives of. to demised. The resolution incasing Canada's guarantee with reference trthe Pacific cable, so as to cover the actual, est of the work, passed tho Canadian Hoiis of Commons. . Mr. Muloek announced tat instead of the Commission borrowing Ktney to carry out the/ undertaking the tmcrial Government proposed to raise the necessary capital, the various Government interested undertaking to pay their piper share to the Im-' penal authorities. In the discussion several members expresed regret that New South Wales had mde concessions to the Eastern Extension-'tompany for tho land, line business in that .'State. Objection was i also taken that no pualty was included in the. contract with the onstiuction company,', to be imposed in the vent of the company' failing to complete t«e work" within the j specified time. Mr. Jordan, leader of the Opposition, said thai a penalty clause,; should have been iusetcd, but. even as it was the construction company would be liable to damages. ~

We are requested by the officer commanding the district to ask ail the returning members of the various] contingents to forward to him immediately their "proper and pre-. sent addresses. , J , ■ -1

During the four months just ended there have been 97 births in tie Thames district and 24 deaths. Ifc tin Thames Borough the deaths number 14, uid the births 45, while in the county fcfaare were 52 births and 10 deaths. These returns do not include tba deaths at the hospital. The mooting season for native and imported game opened yesterday. The Acclimatisation Society. is employing a large number of rangers this season. The Government h;ve this year declared a close season for the native pigeon and the pukeko, to g:ye than a chance, the pigeons especially being slaughtered in such numbers m lata years tint they would probably be exterminated. ; * ■•; .'. At a meeting of the Education Board yesterday an intimation was received from the Education Department that a grant of £250 would be made to the Board to provide temporary arrangements for the instruction of teachers in manual and technical work. The Board cheerfully accepted the grant. Acondition of the grant is that free instruction be given to teachers. ; At the inquiry held yesterday touching the death of John McGuire, Dr. T. Flops Lewis, in the course of cross-examination by Mr. W. J. Napier, who appeared for the relatives of the deceased, said he did nob consider that the present medical management at the hospital was satisfactory. He thought that in addition to the resident! house physician and surgeon, both young and comparatively inexperienced in the profession, there should be a permanent medical superintendent of some years' standing. The Sydney City Council is now busy, getting into order certain 'Bills which are 1 necessary to carry out reforms that have been determined upon. These include a loan Bill for £200,000, which. is intended to raise funds for. wiping off the overdraft to provide for building the remaining portion of the Belmore' markets, and for further: developing the garbage destructor system.. In the event of a special session of the State Parliament being convened, the early preparation of this proposed legislation will enable the Council's business to be well placed on the notice paper, with the result that it will receive early consideration. In the letter "To the Ratepayers of tb.« Remuera Road Board," signed by Messrs. Winstone and Pond, an error occurred in the portion referring to the interest and sinking fund, which, it was stated, would be met by a rate of 2*d in the £ instead of id. The London Missionary Society's steam yacht John Williams, after a stay of. 14 days in Sydney, left on April 20. The vessel will proceed direct to Rarotonga, and will visit nearly all the society's mission stations in the South Seas. She will also convey to the Cook Islands a number of Polynesian teachers returning from New Guinea. The animal report of the Department of Mines of New South Wales shows a decrease of 150,546 ounces on the return of last year, amounting to a value of over half a million sterling. There are several reasons for this, one of them, perhaps, bein£ the fact tha* prospecting has been less frequent on account of the openings for employment elsewhere; Yet the value of the yield for the year was only a little under £1,200,000, But this total is comparatively small beside the returns from silver, which for the yeal reached over £2,600.000. With lead and zinc the total return from the silver mines was valued at' nearly £2,800,000, or over half a million ; sterling in excess of the return from the previous year. Copper also shows an increase, the total output being worth £428.336. M is suggested that the increase of over £28,000 on the return of last year is partly due to the stimulation of operations by the sustained advance in the price of this metal. The savne observation applies in a measure in the case of tin, where an increase of over £22,000 is ascribed to the increased demand, and the consequent greater attention which' lias been given to the working of this mineral. in the matter of coal it is satisfactory to learn that advantage has been taken of the exceptional conditions of the trade to increase the yearly output by over 900,000 tons, the total for the year being a little over five and a-half million tons. '•■.'•'•

The steamer Quiraing, which lias arrived at Sydney from a trip to the Gilbert Islands, reports that the group is in r, more prosperous condition than lias been the case for 1 many years. The chief copra-prc islands are occasionally subject to lengthy' periods ot drought, but just now they ar» teeming with cocoa.nuts, and the trading ;' vessels are doing exceedingly well. fh« ;' Sydney steamer Perumount was met in th," .;! group, and reported an abundance of trade > Under the British Government the native* :;' are, the master ot the Quiraing said, "contented, prosperous, and happy." An unoccupied and uninsured house, owned by Mr. J. Hawkes, of Tapu, was burnt down last night.. The loss to Mr, Hawkes is over £150.

• Details of a severe engagement in Zulu- j land show how a small party of Britishers defeated Beyer's commando and drove them i to the Zululand border. Various British | ': . columns are vigorously hunting down the. | 11l Boers, and several additional captures ar«> , reported. A force of Victorians have in- j -:: fliot&d losses on the enemy in the Cradock i ' ; district. News from China states that a j ■-'"' German party were entrapped in a defile in j Shensi, 45 out of 80 being killed. The gen- i ends have decided to allow the Chinese civil j government to gradually regain authority | in Pekin. M. Block, the Russian peace j apostle, connects- the recent visit of -M. i Delcasse to St. Petersburg with an effort i to "bring the Chinese question befort The ' Ha<rue Arbitration Committee, and with a j proposal for the transformation of European j ' armies, owing to lessons taught by the South | African war. The discovery of Nihilist j documents has revealed a --rent conspiracy [ .'** in Russia. Six hundred arrests have been i ; made. Sir Mfiehael Hicks-Reach says the issue of the war loan was most advantageous, j .'■■''' It had not disturbed the market, but had i tended to improve securities. The results of the Auckland Weekly j - News' prize competition are announced in j our illustrated supplement, this week. It is understood that the question of plac- ■''■: ing the Thames Fire Brigade upon a better j ■i| {opting in the matter of pay, is to be brought i :■; formally under the notice of the Thames | ■ local bodies. | A goodly number of Thames sportsmen j journeyed to the Piako Swamp and other j likely places, to participate in the opening day's; sport of the shooting season. It is Elated that several good bags have been secured. A party has also left for Tamaki and Puhoi. '; To-night in the Choral Hall Mr. J. W. Ryan makes lik last appearance in Auckland prior to his departure for England. The valedictory concert tendered to him promises to be an exceptionally successful one. ■ A more varied programme has seldom been presented to an Auckland audience. The full programme appears in our advertising | columns. lions. De Willimoff and Mr. Towsey fire the leading instrumentalists.Madame Chambers also assists both in solo Slid in concerted items from the " Yeoman of the Guard" and the " Bohemian Girl." Miss Watkins, who possesses a beautiful contralto voice, also sings Tosti's " GoodDVt." This concert, should prove a great success, and be a very fitting send-off to Mr. Ryan. The committee of the West End Lawn Tennis Club met on Tuesday night, and decided to close the lawns on Saturday next. The president (Mr. C. J. Parr) is to be asked to present the prizes to the winners of the late tournament, at four o'clock. The. work of top-dressing the lawns will be proceeded with at oace. A girl named Campbell, aged 16 years, ; was brought up from Mangawai last night and taken to-the hospital, having broken one of her legs by a fall from a horse. Mr. G. A. Coles, of Auckland, who was examined before the Arbitration Court at Christchurch the other day in the boot and shoe trade dispute, explains a remark that he made; what he meant to say was that there was a lower class of work in Auckland in some factories. The idea"Mr. Coles desired to convey was that, in consequence of this, less skill was required, and many men were thus unable to qualify themselves for the higher class of work. In spite of this, however, these men might be quite entitled to the minimum, wage on account of the quantity of work they might be able to do. j "With one or two exceptions in New Zea- ' land,'' said Mr. Frostick, at the Arbitration Court at Christchurch, persons engaged exclusively in boot manufacturing within the last 25 years have gone under." In reply to a remark from the Bench, Mr. Frostick added that if he had possessed. 12 years ago the experience he had to-day, he would never have started. Arrivals of grain into stores in Ashburton have been exceptionally heavy during the past few weeks, and some of the ware- ' houses are being taxed to find the necessary accommodation. The pressure on space is being intensified by the shortage of trucks to transfer the grain.