LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12241, 9 April 1903, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

There will be no publication of the Herald to-morrow (Good Friday). The public are requested to note that the office in Queen-street will be open for the receipt of advertisements from one p.m. The uprising in the Balkan Peninsula is spreading, and according to the Sofia correspondent of the London Times the movement in. Macedonia and Bulgaria has grown too strong to be checked by foreign influence. The Albanians are said to have massacred Christians at Okhrida. The Dreyfus case has been revived in France by M. Jaures, the leader of the Socialists, who in the Chamber of Deputies read a letter from General de Pellieux, who played a leading part in the conviction of Dreyfus, asking to be placed on the retired list, as his chiefs were making him act on forgeries in connection with the case. This letter was written in 1898, when General de Pellieux at the trial of M. Zola went into the witness-box and brandished before the eyes of the jury the forged bordereau after he had been previously informed privately by one af the jury that unless they had some proof of Dreyfus' guilt they must acquit Zola. In the Chamber M. Brisson, who was Premier at the time, interrupted M. ] Jaures with the explanation that the letter had never been communicated to him. M. Cavaignac, then Minister for War, said he did not consider it necessary to take notice of the letter, as he believed the writer regretted as soon as it was written, an explanation which drew from M. Brisson the retort, " You deserve to be impeached." The King witnessed a bull tournament in Lisbon, which was purely a display of gymnastic skill. His Majesty is due in Paris on the 22nd. It is now stated that when in Rome he will not visit the Pope. The strike riots in Holland are becoming very serious, and the trouble is extending. At Amsterdam the police used their sabres to disperse the rioters, and one man had his hand severed. The dragoons also charged, and several persons were trampled on. The Governor-General of Finland has been given the powers of a dictator. Insubordination among the students has resulted in the closing of St. Petersburg University. The East Manchester Conservative Association expressed regret at Mr. Balfour's attitude on the Church Discipline i Bill. In reply Mr. Balfour stated that he feared that the abolition of the bishops' | power, to veto prosecutions would divide ; the Church without stopping Romanising j practices. In reply to a suggestion by the 1 Canadian labour organisations that it should : be made unlawful to assist immigration to ' Canada of persons under conditions of con- | tract labour, Sir W. Muloch said such a I proposal was against public interest and • inter-Imperial sentiment, and objectionable fr.om every, standpoint*

At the meeting of the council of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday Mr. A. H. Nathan drew attention to the inconvenience and expense in which New Zealand vessels trading to the South Pacific Islands were involved in having to report themselves at Rarotoiiga. In the case of a vessel coming from Nine, for instance, it was about 1000 miles out of the course, and for sailing vessels this might mean a delay of two or three weeks. The matter had already, he said, been brought before the public by an article in the Herald from Captain Ross of the Ysabel, and he considered it most unfair that New Zealand vessels should be placed at a disadvantage in this respect as compared with' those trading from New South Wales. An .unfortunate delay has occurred in the extension of the electric tramway on the Onehunga section. In "a few days' time the care will rim to the Royal Oak, and it was hoped that shortly afterwards the lines to the Onehunga terminus would be completed. The decision of the Tramways Company to erect wooden poles in place of iron ones, which', say the" Onehunga Borough Council, we/e definitely promised, has aroused tne ire of the Onehunga town fathers, and the work has, therefore, stopped for the present. Some interesting statements, giving both sides of the question, are published in another column. An accident that fortunately was not attended by serious results occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Paeroa. It appears that Mrs. Hunt, her little daughter, and the Misses B. Lyes and A. Campbell were out for a drive, and upon their return to Paeroa the horse took charge, and though Mrs. Hunt did her best to pull up the animal her efforts were of no avail, and the horse dashed down the main street of Paeroa. When opposite Mr. Cullen's drapery one of the occupants of the trap, in her fright, pulled the reins, and the horse ran on to the footpath and up a bank on the side. The vehicle, of course, capsized, and all the occupants were thrown out. All escaped with a very severe shaking, except the little girl, whose leg was injured. In a Government Gazette received in Waihi yesterday the late poll on the question of raising a loan for waterworks is gazetted. This notification is of considerable importance, as it indicates that the Government consider the proceedings taken in the matter are in order, and that there is a very good chance of the money being forthcoming before long for an efficient water supply for Waihi.

The funeral of the late Mr. J. John Landrigan, accidentally killed in the Martha mine on Monday morning, took place at Waihi yesterday afternoon. Amongst those who followed the remains were representatives from the Waihi Miners' Union and the Oddfellows' Lodge, deceased being a member of both. The Rev. Father Brodie officiated at the grave. While mustering sheep for dipping on an East. Coast (Wairarapa) station, recently, a " straggler" ewe was run in with the mob, and, on being shorn, the staple of wool was found to measure 14in. Perhaps the record for the Wairarapa — not New Zealand (says the Wairarapa Daily Times';is that of a Lincoln sheep shorn at White Rock station a couple of years ago. The staple of this particular sheep measured 2ft 6in. A hogget at Waiorongomai, some few years ago, had a staple 13in long. The White Rock sheep had two or three years' growth of wool on, which accounted for the extraordinary length of the staple. The whole of the afternoon was taken up at yesterday's sitting of the Police Court (Mr. T. Hutchison, S.M., on the Bench) in the hearing of a charge against an elderly man named John Hamilton (for whom Mr. J. C. Martin appeared), of wilfully setting fire to a house at Newmarket, of which he was the tenant, on St. Patrick's Day. It will be remembered that the fire in question resulted in the destruction of two houses, and also that a turncock was killed at the scene of the outbreak by a falling chimney. His Worship committed the accused for trial. A detailed report of 1 the proceedings appears in another column. Owing to the Choral Hall being engaged by the Chrysanthemum Society on the 16th inst., the farewell concert which Mdlle. Dolores hoped to have given here prior to her departure for America cannot take place. The Chrysanthemum Society regret their inability to have arranged for any postponement of their show to enable Mdlle. Dolores to appear at the Choral Hall, but they were in the awkward position of having their advertisements and printed matter in circulation, and could not therefore alter their dates.

Visitors from the Southern cities and from the various country districts around Auckland are commencing to arrive in the city for the Easter holidays, whilst a good number of Auckland residents are leaving to spend the holidays in the South and elsewhere. The passenger traffic, especially by the steamers on the West Coast, is much larger than usual at this season of the year, and the steamers engaged in the trade find a difficulty in coping with the number of passengers offering. Thte Takapuna, which arrived at Onehunga from New Plymouth yesterday, had her passenger accommodation taxed to the utmost, and the Ngapuhi, which is due "this morning, has also a large number of excursionists on board. At the Police Court yesterday, an elderly man charged With being found drunk on College Hill on the previous day, pleaded not guilty, offering as proof of his complete innocence in the matter a somewhat curious explanation. He said he was perfectly capable at the time of looking after himself, and on being taken to the lockup was requested by the constables there to test his sobriety by "touching his toes without bending his legs," and lie did so. Constable Finnerty, who arrested the accused, said he was helplessly drunk. On arrival at the watch-house he started walking the line and similar tests, saying he was an old man-o'-war'sman. Constable Ramsay also stated that accused was drunk, and in reply to His Worship said he did not perform the test of touching his toes, but fell down in attempting it. A fine of 5s was inflicted.