LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11952, 29 April 1902, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

His Excellency - the Governor (Lord Ranfurly) arid Lady Ranvurly, accompanied by Captain Alexander and Captain Bos* cowan, left' yesterday for a week's excursion in the train. They visited tthtfWal* rangi Government experimental farm on the way up to Ngaruawahia, and • yesterday afternoon drove out to Waingaro Hot Springs. Cam bridge is to be visited fin Wednesday, am'. Rotorua on Friday, when His Excellency presents the flag sent out by the Prince of Wales, to the Arawa tribe..' \

The colonial mails which left Melbourne on March 26 arrived in London on Saturday last, one day early. .. r •

An English mail which left London oi" March 21 arrived from Sydney by the Elmgamite yesterday.

The Tyser liner Indradevi arrived. from New' York and Australia yesterday morning, and after inspection by Dr. E. W. Snarman, . the port health officer, was ordered into quarantine at Motuihi for.lU days, and the steamer will proceed down to the anchorage off the island thi» morning. These precautions are deemed necessary by the Health Department, owing • to there having been an outbreak of smallpox on hoard during the voyage of the steamer from New York to Melbourne. At Melbourne the Indradevi was <-imrantined,. the officers and crew vaccinated, and the steamer thoroughly fumigated. After landing her consignments at Melbourne, the. steamer proceeded on to Sydney, and on arrival at that port was again quarantined. The vaccination of the crew not having taken, they were isolated, end after she bad again undergone fumigation, the Indradevi was permitted to berth at the wharf and discharge cargo. On leaving Svdney !<>• Auckland the steamer was granted a clean bid of health, there having been no 'sickness amongst the crew from the lime of the learner having been declared free at Melbourne. The agents of the Tyser iiue are at, present in communication, with the authorities in-order to seo whether, under the circumstances, the time, of the . detention of the steamer in quarantine cannot be shortened. All on board the steamer are in perfect health.

•The Huddart-Parker steamer Elingamite arrived from Sydney yesterday afternoon, after a somewhat lengthy passage of over five days, which is accounted for by the fact that extremely rough weather was met with in the Tasman Sea. Leaving Sydney on Wednesday afternoon hat, the wind was from the eastward, blowing moderately, with a moderate sea. Both wind and sea increased, however, until on Thursday it was blowing a kajd gale, with a tremendous sea, which lasted until port , was made. The Elingamite brought 50 saloon and y 4O steerage passengers, the ma- , jority of whom are for Auckland, besides ' a large general cargo, including'tranship- .■'.'■ ments from London, the Continent;' and Calcutta. ' ... t : : ;■. •" *

■ • , •■■' ' - '■'.'. -'- : "i - i : ■ '.',"■;•■ ''■ As the result of a conference,; between, some 30 representatives of tie local bodies in and. around Auckland, an! Dr. J. Malcolm Mason, chief health officer of the colony, held yesterday, tin vexed question of erecting a hospital! for infections" diseases cases was at last Kittled. It ■ was agreed to ask Dr. Mason to exercise the 'powers vested in him by thf. Public Health.'' Act, and join all the lOoffl bodies in the Auckland Hospital district, 'such bodies -to. bear the cost of the hospital. y There 'are 61 local bodies in the district, and it was' thought this would be the !aire«t wav out of the difficulty. Dr. Mason gave an under-" taking to have the present plague buildings in the outer Domain'removed when the new hospital is erected. A sub-com-mittee appointed at the conference met afterwards and left the final selection of a site in the hands of Dr. Mason, who also undertook to prepare plans ■ and • submit them to the sub-committee fo.: approval'at an early date. / * "

The Hnddart-Parker steamer Zeahuidia left for Sydney last evening, taking away 52 saloon, and 48 steerage passengers, in.addition to a number from the South. Amongst, the cargo by the steamer were 10 bars of bullion valued at £7600, shipped by the National Bank of New Zealand for "transhipment to London; 836 sacks maize for Sydney and Newcastle ; 187 boxes butter for Sydney and Melbourne," 1 50 cases cheese, a large number of sacks of concentrates and slag, bales of flax, pieces of timber, etc.

The wind has been blowing very strong; from between, north and east 'f past few days, and yesterday it increased until" it was blowing half a gale, some of the squalls being very severe. A very heavy sea is reported running along the coast; and and at Capo Colville and in the Frith of Thames it is said to be the heaviest for many months past. In consequence of the bad weather the departures of the Northern Company's steamers Terranora, for Tnuraisga and Oliiwa; Waiotahi, for Tairua and Whangamata; and Muritai, for Kuaotunu and Mercury Bay, have been postponed until today. ■■'•'. f :■■•'

The contractors for the laying fof the asphalt paving in Queen-street resumed work, yesterday at the Victoria-street crossing. The concrete foundation for the asphalt is now laid as far as the Bank of New Zealand, whilst the roadway has been broken up to beyond Shortland-street; on the western side. In.other directions work in connection with the electric tramways is. proceeding satisfactorily, such as the ground-break-ing and platelaying on the Newmarket route. he power-station machinery foundations are now finished. '

A fishing party, organised by Mr. A. Alison, manager of the .Devonport Ferry Company, left in" the p.s. Awaruu, on Saturday night, with the intention of trawling in the vicinity of Arid Island, Great Barrier-, but owing to the very heavy sea. prevailing the intention could not be carried out, and the steamer trawled from Cape Colville along towards Tapu, in the Thames Gulf. A splendid haul of fish of all varieties was made, and the part; returned to town well pleased with the results of their trip. A '-n-gp supply of ice was taken out by the party and after the fish were cleaned they were packed into cases with broken ice. Mr. Alison torwarded several cases of the fish to Sydney by the Zealundia last evening, having them placed in the cold chamber of the steamer, and the results of the experiment will be looked forward to with interest, it being the first occasion upon which fish has been sent across to Sydney in this manner.

Our Waibi correspondent writes :— A narrow escape from a serious accident was experienced by a party of ladies, consisting of Mrs. C. Macmillan and child, Misses Edie and Florril Gledstanes, who were returning home on Sunday afternoon after attending the church services at the schoolhouse a few miles on the Katikati side of Athenree. The horse took fright, and turning sharply round a corner overturned the buggy. The horse was thrown on its back and the occupants were pitched in nil directions. Fortunately there is no metal on the road, and the ground is comparatively soft. Beyond a considerable shaking the party escaped without serious injury. The child escaped unhurt through the mother holding it clear of the ground as she fell. Curiously enough no damage was done to the buggy, and after getting things righted the party proceeded on their journey. •

A burglary took place at Mr. Legg's bakery, Symonds-street, on Sunday night, the lock of the door oeing found smashed yesterday" morning, evidently by a c.owbar. There were also signs that the shop had been thoroughly searched, but there, were no money or valuables there at the tuna* '•

I .Pa, la Bey has' returned to Klerksdorp, P» la Rey has relumed to Klerksdorp, afttr discussing with his men the proposed surrender. J .This is regarded us an encouraging sign. In South Russia a ft ate of revolution exists. Estates are being plundered and mansions looted, and the landlord* have hud to abandon their homes. Nihilists and others lire hunting- the peasantry to revolt, and it is feared the rising will spread-to the towns. In Finland the attempt of the Imperial authorities to eni force compulsory military service is meeting ; ">-i: with the opposition of the whole population. : It is denied that the White Star line has "-.' ■ been acquired by the shipping combine. Mr. "'• N'uaw. secretary to the American Treasury, •-: in an extraordinary outburst of spread" '"'•■"- eag'.c.ism, declared tfiat America was destined to obtain absolute sovereignty in the whole ; ■of the Pacific. The French elections are ;; proceeding quietly. The returns indicate § a victory for the Government. General ■, Smith's admission of the charges brought against him in connection with the conduct fV of the war in the Philippines has produced = a painful impression in America, and his dismissal is being demanded.

Arrangements have been made (writes our Thames correspondent) for procuring, through His Excellency the Governor, new ribWms for the medals worn by the veterans tit present at Thames. So far four names have been forwarded, but there are more to wane, and when all are available His Excellency has promised to forward the ribbons. The names entered up are : — Kelsall, Turkish and New Zealand ; Richard Baker, New Zealand and India (relief and capture of Luekr.ow clasps); Timothy Buckley (deceased), Crimea, I'niijaub. and Indian Mutiny; Robert William Cargill, New Zealand (3rd Waikatos).

A sitting of the Old Age Pensions Court was held at Onehunga yesterday, Air. Thomas Hutchison, S.M., presiding, Mr. King representing the department. The following pensions were awarded:—-Emily McCormick, £1.6; Catherine Wade, £15; and Isabella McKeraae, £5; whilst several were adjourned on different grounds. In one case of renewal the investigating magistrate ordered summonses to issue to two witnesses, who were asked by an order of Court to be present on two occasions, but had failed to put in an appearance. At the close of the business the next hearing was fixed for the 19th pros.

; A small yacht, which had evidently broken away from her moorings on the northern sldfl of the harbour, was observed from the barque Kinclune yesterday morning as it drifted up past the vessel, which was anchored opposite the Queen-street Wharf. The son of the master of the barque, Master Willie Robertson, swam off to the yacht, and on getting on board hoisted the mainKail but could not manage to get her under control. The barque's boat was accordingly seat away with several of the crew, avid the yacht was taken alongside the barque awaiting her owner. There is no name on the "hull or anything about the yacht to fix her identity.

Yesterday Messrs. Andrew Anderson and William Scott were elected unopposed to till two vacancies on the Mangcre Road Board. Mr. K. Hall acted as returning officer. At a meeting of the Board held during the day Mr. M. M. Kirkbride tendered Ids resignation. 'Considerable regret was expressed at Mr. Kiikbrith-.'s action.

A fox terrier caused quite an exciting little incident in Queen-street yesterday afternoon. He seems to have jumped from mm of the upper storey windows of Messrs. Court. Bros.' establishment, next door to Cannings diningroorns, and crashed through the glass 'portion of the verandah. As people were passing to and fro beneath it h fortunate that the glass was caught in tin wire-netting fixed underneath. The dog managed to scramble on to the verandah again, and sprang from there on to tli'- street. He then trotted quietly oft', apparently none the worse for his adventure.

A correspondent writes from Mananu (Whaiigamata district) as follows: — There is a population of 100 people here, besides a large scattered district around us, and yet we have no post, money order, or telephone office. Sports were, held here the other day, over 250 local people being present. There is a post office at the port, seven miles away, with a weekly service from Auckland, ' but the nearest moneyorder office ■is 14 miles away, and that is only to be reached when the tide is low. We have the telegraph wires within a mile of us, with a spare wire on, and although the Mananu Company are prepared and willing to giro a substantial guarantee, yet we cannot get a telephone. In case of accidents we have no means of getting » doctor to us. The track to Hikutaia (16 miles) is not fit to carry anyone if seriously hurt." Married men cannot get money sent to their families without trusting to Hick, Tom, and Harry to take it to Hikutaia. 16 miles away, or Waihi, 23 miles. We all signed a petition for a post and moneyorder office (over 100 signatures), and accompanying it was a written offer from a responsible business man to carry mails between Hikutaia and Mananu twice a, week. and carry on the post office here for £35 per annum. Surely, sir, we should have some consideration shown us. We have neither school, post office, roads, or anything else. .. Newspapers reach us once a week, and these a week obi. " Hence these tears."

A correspondent of the Gisborne Times urges that as the district was the first visited by Captain Cook, a monument should He erected to him. He says :—" Coronation Bay is coining along, and we will oe having a quiet little flutter in this district. Let us do something to commemorate the occasion in a proper manner. Do not let us make fools of ourselves by changing the name of the bay, but let US erect, a statue to that great navigator, Captain Cook. This monument would stand for all time, and "*ould le looked upon with pleasure by succeeding generations. In no part of the colony ;s there a statue to Captain Cook and what is more fitting than that Poverty By should take the lead in this matter.

Mrs. Alice Graham, of " The Lodge,' Hamilton, suggests that the hist./;/ of St. Matthew's parish should be gathered together arid published. This should include: The names of the first members and the parts they took in the church, a lis!, of those who in (he early days gathered and gave hard-earned money for the stone church fund, and who now mostly lie in Symonds-street cemetery, while we in many cases, their children and grandchildren, see what they worked for in those distant years. Also, * the names of the clergymen and remarks on their works; also particulars re the Sunday-school and early workers therein; also concerning the first wedi.ing, baptism, death, on the parish register. There are still a few remaining who could give facts, and thus place on record for the third and fourth generations th« good work done by those whose names are "still to memory dear."

Settlers for some years back have (writes our Hamilton correspondent) Buffered considerable lois of cattle by what has been called "bush sickness." The cause of the disease has remained a mystery up to this time, notwithstanding that Mr. Gilriith and other veterinarians have carefully investigated many cases. They had a suspicion, however, that the disease was attributable to ragwort. In order to test this theory, it was decided to carry out some experiments at the Government farm station at Buakura. Two calves were panned up and kept on a diet of 121b of chopped ragwort, 41b cfcjff, and 41b bran each per day. They ate this food greedily, but at the end of the eighteenth day one died and the other is just on the point of death. 'This apparently goes to show that the weed is poisonous, and that it is probable that the " bush sickness" arises from eating this weed. Mr. Lyons, the Government veterinary, is expected immediately to make exhaustive inquiries and experiments. If the weed prove poisonous it will bo a very serious matter, as it grows abundantly in many districts. Some of the Kuwhia land is overrun with it.

During the year ending March 31, the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board spent £5020 9s lid in outdoor relief. Of this amount £1207 4s 8d was absorbed ,in providing rations in Auckland city and suburbs, £8 in the Waitemata County, £196 4s Id in the County of Kden.v- and £110 Us 9d in Manukau County. ' ; : -' r - , ,■;... - ;■; „,.■.-, ,:.■ ,