LOCAL AND-GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11867, 20 January 1902, Page 4

LOCAL AND-GENERAL NEWS.

The mail steamer Ventura with the Eng' i [ lish mails of London date January 4, left San Francisco at one o'clock p.m. on Friday l last, 15 hours late. The Ventura is due at? :. • ) x Auckland on February 4. . : i The Huddart-Parker steamer Zealandia, 1 arrived from Sydney last evening after a very ;>R 1 smart passage across. The steamer brought . J 210 passengers in both classes, . the majority . being for Auckland, and has also a considerable amount of general . cargo, ; including transhipments from steamers from the Con--3 tinent, China, ; Japan,, Calcutta, .and .Aus« : v s tralian ports. } Beautifully fine weather pre- - vailed during the passage, the sei-. being as ■ smooth os the proverbial millpond. tin < , Friday last a very enjoyable evening was spent in the social hall of the steamer, when , ; ' a concert was held before a large audience. ... , I Captain Hipgrave presided, and the proceedf ings finished with the singing of "He's a , t ■ Jolly Good Fellow" and the National Ail-' ■ them. A collection was taken up by the ! ladies in aid of the Shipwreck Relief Society ) and the amount of £4 4s 2d realised. . The Thames Borough Council has decided T to continue to observe Thursday afternoons as the usual weekly half-holiday, in accord- ? '■ ance -with the clauses of the Shop and Shop .. 1 I, Assistants Act. ■ ,'' >vf . . *, While in the South Island, the chief ; health officer visited the Chinese leper,, who , is isolated in the Palmerston South district. . ■ The disease has not attacked him in its most ' 1 aggravated form, but it has a sure hold, and , 1 all possible precautions have" been taken for- ,> , the protection of the general public;.. t, >, ' fH i ii s ' 1 ~ J !» id® MfflSßß

In reply to Botha's complaints in connec- • tion with the concentration camps. Lord Kitchener offered to allow those willing to leave to return to the Boers, and asked •where Botha desired them to be sent hut ,no reply was received. He also offered the Boer leaders safe conducts to inspect the : camps- ; In reply to questions in Parliament : regarding certain press statements Lord Salisbury said he was not aware that the ' Netherlands Premier had made any over- • tures for piace. The House of Lords has • adopted the Address-in-lWply. In the House of Commons the member for Prestwick, witl' Sir Henry Campbell-Banner-v' man's approval, will move an amendment to ; the Atdress-in-Reply, supporting effectiiV tive prosecution of the war, and urging that lv the Government's attitude does not conduce II to rapid termination of war or a durable peace. '. Speaking in the House of L minions, on ~/i ';he outbreak of Anglophobia in Germany, 'i jlr. Bdfour said the Government conlidered that nothing in Mr. Chamberlain's "■X ipeech which led to the outburst required .' ♦ither .qualification or withdrawal. The House cheered this statement. Colonel Jlontauiro's expedition in Upper Guinea (West Africa) has broken the power of the lAros ribe, 25 important chiefs having been eaptued. ' Dr. Krar.se has been 4 sentenced to tvo years' imprisonment, the maximum tentoce allowed, on the charge of attemptincite to murder. President Roose- ; velt has ordered 376,000 dollars looted by African marines to be restored to China.

Tinners who desire to make dairying prdtable in the winter will be interested in the experience of Mr. T. J. Thomas, of Poverty Bay. Last year Mr. Thomas formed - ail ensilage stack with grass from 20 acres. • Tie cattle throve on the ensilage during the wnter, and the cost of the feed was remark'"s ally small. Mr. Thomas says that ensilage ; ii much more profitable than hay. In mak- '• hay 1001b of grass only produces 251b ff feed ; in ensilage the position is changed, ; lie loss being only 25 per cent, and the food produced 75 per cent. A further advantage is that in the case of ensilage all weeds are utilised, one farmer in Poverty Bay actually cutting out all the weeds in his paddock and jutting them into a silo. ' ,At the Central Police Court, Sydney, on December 13, before Mr. Smithers, S.M., • Tommy Bong, aged.2B, was charged with : leing tho banker of a common gaming-house, iituated at No. 371, Elizabeth-street, and Ah Fook, 38, was charged with being the :roupier at the same house. The accused pleaded guilty, and were each fined £10 and iosts, or in default two months' imprisonment. Gee Nam, 37, was charged with , being the banker of a common gaminghouse, situated at No. 373, Elizabeth^street; »nd Ah Chick, 40, was charged with being ib 'croupier at the same house. The acrified pleaded guilty, and were each fined : £10 and costs, or in default two months', inprisonment. Fifty Chinamen who were fiund on the premises pleaded guilty to clarges of being found in a common gaming- . h>use without lawful excuse, and were each , fii?d_los and costs, or three days' imprisonju'i It seems there was some trouble on board 'tie transport Fortunatus, ■ which brought troopers from South Africa. The men are 9 gad to have thrown overboard the poultry dressed for the saloon New Year dinner, and to, have broken open stores and stolen • liquor. Corporal Goulett, of the Fourth. * 3few Zealand Contingent, has informed the Melbourne Age that the men were not well treated He himself had lost a foot at the War, and when he went on board the ship at Capetown he was told to keep to his bunk as much as possible at- first, in order to pre-, vent the cold from getting to his wounded leg and setting up mortification. Soon after she ship left he was turned out of his •bunk, and, with others, sent into the horseboxes, being told by tho doctor, when he objected, that there were many others worse than he was. He states further. that the men were very much dissatisfied with their treatment, but that he personally would not •have said anything had it not been for the statement of Captain Firth, the master of the i Fortunatus, who characterised them as the*roughest crowd that he had ever had anything to do with. More is likely to be heard of this extraordinary voyage, as several people who were passengers by the Fortunatus accuse the men of wilful disobedience and of conduct generally unbecoming, riotous and unsoldierly.

. .; At a late meeting of the Waitotara County Council it was decided to drop the special loan of £3650 which it was proposed to raise for special.works within the county. This action was taken' on account of the legislation of last session, which provides that be- , fore a' special loan shall" be raised a special rate small be struck and collected as a guarantee for the payment of interest. Hitherto the striking of a special rate has been sufficient, but the practice of councils devoting ordinary revenue to special work has led to the Treasury being empty when necessary maintenance works were required to be taken in hand. . Before a special rate could be struck a poll of ratepayers would have to be taken, and the councillors were evidently of opinion that the ratepayers would prefer to leave the special work undone rather than pay the additional rate..

The following tenders have been received 'by Mr. P. Hansen, attorney for the Auck- , land Electric Tramways Company, for the erection of the permanent depot and the temporary stables at Ponsonby: —J. Ellingham, temporary stables, £810' ; permanent depot, £7561 : total, £8471. R. Kay, temporary stables, £948 ; permanent depot, £7830 total, £8778. Philcox and Sons, temporary stables, £615 ; permanent depot, £8330: total, £8945. J. W. Jones and Son, temporary stables, £950 ; permanent depot, £8000: total, £8950. W. E. Hutchinson, temporary stables, £862; permanent depot, £8134: total, £8996. James A. Moody, temporary stables, £845 ; permanent depot, £8765 : total, £9610. W. Fairweather, temporary stables, £1235 ; perman- ■ ent depot, £8389: total, '£9624.' James Lye and Sons, temporary stables, £1265 ; permanent depot, £8732 ; total, £9997. A. Watson, temporary stables, £1350; permanent depot, £8820': total, £10,170. Robert Farrell, temporary stables, £1705; permanent depot, £8633: total, £10,338. John Farrell, temporary stables, £1136; permanent depot, . £9623: total, £10,759. Mr. Hansen has cabled the tenders Home to the board of directors in London, and he expects a reply early this wfeek, when it will be announced which tender has been accepted. " v. , A few days ago a Maori, while scorching 'along the cycle track on the Whakarewarewa Road, came into collision with one of the telegraph poles which are placed dangerously close to the track. He was picked up insensible and taken to Whakarewarewa, Where he was found to be suffering from : concussion of the brain. " The Haw trey Comedy Company have been playing successfully . through the South Island and also up the West Coast to New ; Plymouth. They open in the Opera House on Thursday next with "A Message from Mars," a play that has been drawing enthusiastic audiences wherever played. It is stated to be one of those happy stage productions that only now and again strike • the spirit of the hour, and to be replete with good literary passages and moving pictures : of the gay and gray sides of human nature. The plot of the play is in certain lights a psychic study relieved by comedy, and is from the pen of Richard Ganthony, whilst in the matter of scenic effects and mechanical ■..V contrivances they are reported to be pary ticularly effective. The box plan is open at- Messrs. Wildman, Lyell, and Arey s. : We have received copies of Sharlands New Zealand Journal, the official organ of the v - Pharmacy Board, and Sharland s New Zea- ■ land Photographer, the photographic section of the journal. They both contain a : large amount of information on the subjects iV:< to which they, are devoted. . - The subscriptions to the fund for provid- .' ing a memorial , window at St. Peter's Church, in perpetuation •of , the memory of : the late Archdeacon Stock, • now amount to • a sufficient sum to. supply a window , equal to the finest now in the church. ' The latest large . subscription' is that of Mr. and Mrs.' : E.. G.: Jellicoe; who,' on their return from ; , England,' handed to the committee a cheque - for £20. '>,>V . '

The Dunedin correspondent of the Lyttelton Times states that a tremendous waterspout burst at the Kawarau River on January 10, right below the Kawarau dredge. It carried away a considerable portion of the hillside, and a quantity of 'debris, estimated at 40 tons, was washed on to the bridge, causing it to sag visibly.

... ■ The .Atlanta Constitution of December 5 last / contains the following:—"We regret to record the death" of Major Edward Parsons, ■who died at Atlanta, Ga., U.S.A., on December 4, 1901, at the. age of 89 years. Few men in Atlanta were more extensively known than Major Parsons. He was one of the pioneers of the city. He was a devout churchman., and a member of St. Phillips. -To that clburch he had always been a liberal giver, and. two wings of the church were built from his private purse. ■ He met death with the calm of one who had made peace with the Infinite. A guard of honour, composed of; Confederate veterans, assumed control, and .watched beside the casket until the march, to the cemetery began, the real estate' men of the city them acting as honorary escort." Major Edward Parsons was formerly well-known in Auckland, where he resided for some years.

* It will be remembered (says a -Manawatu paper), : that a few months back Mr. T. Steward, at Waikanae, picked up a large lump of what he considered was ambergris, on the Waikanae beach. He forwarded his find to England through the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency, and it is reported that he received word a few days ago from that firm to the effect that his find has realised, up to the time of leaving England, over £500.

The Hot Lakes Chronicle says:—The ancient carved ridgepole known as Te Umunui, which , was handed over by the natives to Mr. i Coilett, of the Tourist Department, has a history of its own. The log was dug out of ths river bed at the Ngongotaha stream, one portion of it was used to. make a gateway for one of, the entrances of the old Ohinemutu pa and became known as Tiki, and which was afterwards presented to one of the Ministers of a former Government. The other, portion of the log, the ridgepole in question,, was used for soma time as a post for the pa, but was taken down and shaped into the ridgepole of a house,'which, when erected, received the name Te Umunui. It formerly stood on Muruika, or what is known now as the uubmefged pa, but was afterwards removed to Te Utanga, a piece of land adjoining Lake House. It is pronounced by the tohungiis to have been, a masterpiece of ancient carv ing, but was mutilated about the time of the arrival of the first missionaries.

The Wellington correspondent of the Dimedin Star says : — The servant girl problem loomed large here during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Many girls got leave from their alleged mistresses at the point of the toasting fork, as it were. Others asked for the holiday, and being refused took it, and others broke bounds without notice. The result was that many people forsook their homes and went and ate their Christmas dinner at a public house. The days of the holly and the mistletoe are numbered. Maty Jane spells death to sentiment." ■ • , ' V

As an instance of what the Auckland gum lands can produce in the way of vegetables, theirs is on view at Henderson a cabbage grown by Mr. J. Houghton, of that district, which is 3ft 9in in diameter, including outside leaves. The solid head is 16in in diameter, and the weight is 301b. Tho Stock Department has decided not to insist upon the dipping of sheep until the end of April. After April, however, owners of undipped sheep will be compelled to dip them forthwith. The penalty for exposing sheep undipped and affected with lice is still in force. .. .

Mr. R. Brough, who has just closed a successful farewell season, writes to thank the Heeald for the great courtesy and assistance he has received, and- to assure us of , his grateful remembrances in the future. Mr. Brough. adds :—" I feel too that I must express my admiration of the splendid and loyal manner in which you uphold in the Herald the cause of the British Empire. Such plain and direct articles must - eventually, check the treacherous utterances of suqli as Sir , Campbell-Bannerman, and I hope the meeting about to be held here may follow your advice and send your message to the abovenamed."

In noticing the last wool sales at Sydney, the Evening News says:—The sales opened well for vendors, the attendance being large, and competition from the start animated and sustained, all sections oi the trade operating freely. As compared with the closing prices of last year, greasy: merino wools showed an advance of -.id and scoured up to £d. Fine crossbreds also improved, while the lower qualities remained as before. The sales under the hammer amounted to 6439 bales, which quantity, together with the private sales made during the recess, totalled 8758 bales. Some good, useful wools in the greasy section were offered, most descriptions of the staple being represented.

Robert Mulholland, one of the oldest coach proprietors in Katoomba and the Blue Mountains, was killed on December 7, at the level crossing, at, the railway station, by the " fish " train, which arrives at eight o'clock. It appears that Mrs. Mulholland, who is feeble, was attempting to cross the railway line just as the train was approaching. Mulholland, seeing that his wife was in imminent danger, rushed to her . assistance. Mrs. Mulholland managed to get over the line in time, but her husband was. not so fortunate. The engine struck him on the head and shoulder, throwing him some distance clear of the line, killing him instantaneously. The body was picked up and conveyed to the police station, and thence to his residence. The greatest sympathy is •expressed for Mulholland's*widow.