LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12853, 29 April 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

At yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board five applications were received for the position of senior,medical officer at the hospital. The applications were referred to the honorary medical staff to select three, the final' appointment to be made by the Board.

Our P. 01*0111 a correspondent writes: — Some excellent trout are being caught in the lake at present. As a- proof that the fish are plentiful, it has only to be stated that on Wednesday evening, in a couple of hours, two lady anglers secured nine fine specimens, the total weight of which was 471b. Others hare been equally successful; in fact, several gentlemen have gone out in the morning and caught from five to seven fish before breakfast.

The following "message from the sea" waa picked up on Good Friday, securely corked in a blight bottle, on the west coast, about nine ihiles from the entrance of the \\ aikato River, towards the Manukau Harbour:— "Date and hour when thrown overboard, March 29,1901, at noon; ship'sname, s.s. Star of New Zealand; latitude, 54deg. 21min. south; longitude, 112deg. OOmin. OOsec. west; stale of wind, north-east moderate breeze; state of sea, moderate southerly swell; ship going from Lyttelton to London; signature of master, John M. Hart."

The notification of the Auckland Master Butchers' Association, to raise the price of mutton and lamb Id per lb on Monday next, lias been received with something like consternation by thrifty housewives in the city and district. Inquiries made from several butchers failed to throw any more light on the subject than -was contained in the butchers' announcement, viz., the high price of sheep and lambs. In some cases it was stated that this was » contributory cause, but that the recent award of the Arbitration Court in the butchers' dispute had something to do with the case also. "It) is impossible," said one master butcher, "for ,U6 to charge exactly the same price for meat and to pay higher wages to our men at the same time. Some one has to pay this difference."

That good work is being done by the Auckland Society for the Protection of Women and Children and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, may be gathered from the fact that during the past twelve months the society has dealt with 256 cases touching the welfare of women and children. During the same period the officers of the society took the initiatory steps leading up to the payment of maintenance fees amounting to £888 10s 2d, and were instrumental in causing lines totalling £18 los to be levied on persons guilty of cruelty to animals. Between 200 and 500 persons were also, cautioned for ill-treating animals, nine of the cautions being delivered on racecourses in and about Auckland.

The two prisoners Skelton ami Wood— who escaped iroir the Waiotapu prison on Monday, and were arrested on Tuesday night at Waimangu shelter shed (writes our Rotorua. correspondent), were brought up at the Rotorua Police Court oil Thursday, but the charges preferred against them of stealing stores, the property of the New Zealand Government, and of escaping from the custody of the warders at Waiotapu, were withdrawn, The men have been brought to Auckland, where they will be dealt with.

, Yesterday afternoon Mr. Justice Cooper and Mr. P. G. Ewington, official visitors, went over the Avondale Asylum. His Honor expressed himself pleased with, the great enlargement of the building which is now being carried out.

Our Kori'olk Island correspondent, writing on April 13, says-.—"The Melanesia™ mission yacht Southern Cross, Captain Sinker, arrived from Auckland on the 10th iust., making the passage in the smart time of two days and twenty hours. The vessel left the following afternoon at five on her first cruise of the year, taking as passengers the Bishop of Melanesia, Misses Kitchen and,Hardacre, Revs. L. P. Robin, W. C. O'Ferrall and wife, Hopkins, Drummond, Lobu, Messrs. Staples, l'ery, A. Christian, 75 boys, and 15 girls. It is intended that the vessel shall call at* all the mission stations in the Melanesiau diocese, as far as the farther Solomons. Alter going the round Bishop Wilson will be left at Florida, Solomons, there to remain three months; thence he goes to Malayto for another three months. The foundation stone of the new school and teacher's residence was laid on the 16th ult. The ceremony was performed by Mr. Win. Quintal, an old Pitcairner, and the oldest man on the island, the Chief Magis- . trate ICuntam. Drakak.

mi' " - ■»—* ■ :s .... At the annual meeting of the Auckland ■im Society for the Protection of Women and Children and Prevention of Cruelty to ||g Animals, held yesterday afternoon, a clause in the report of the committee urged those interested in the welfare of children 'to use their best endeavours to obtain v for, th£ colony a, evstem of children's courts similar <2, to those established in some States of the Australian Commonwealth, where cases re- -v/jg lating to children are heard by the stipen- J diary magistrate in a place quite distinct -.. from the police courts, in order that the. >| children might not be affected by the asso- £ ciations of a. police court. Several of the •:?; members present warmly supported the clause, and it was generally agreed that- . ]:h| separate courts are highly desirable. J;

A singular catastrophe (says our Hamilton correspondent) happened on Thursday morning on the Whatawhata Road. It appears that Mr. Perry was driving towards Hamilton in a sulky, and met some cattle near Durnadale's bridge, which were breaking away from the drover. The horse suddenly turned round and upset the vehicle, breaking one of the wheels. The horse bolted in the direction of Frankton, dragging the remains of the sulky after him. On reaching the bacon factory he was stopped, it trembled a good deal, and almost immediately dropped down dead.

Mr. Frank Lawry, M.H.R., has been informed bv the Postal Department that tenders will be called shortly for the new post office at Parnell.

The Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Journalists held its annual meeting in the Y.M.C.A. Hall yesterday afternoon, Mr. T. W. Leys presiding, owing to the absence through ill-health of the chairman, Mr. Rollett, There was a good attendance. The annua 1 report, which was adopted, concluded by stating that the branch consisted of 55 members and two junior associates. The balance-sheet, whicH was also adopted, showed that the branch was in a good financial position. Upon the motion of Mr. T. W. Leys, M.\ A. Lowrie was unanimously elected chairman for the ensuing year. Mr. 0. K. Wheeler was elected hon. secretary, Mr. A. E. Greenslade was re-elected hon. treasurer, and' Messrs. F. A. Clarke, Greville-Smith, W. McMunn, and R. M. Hacket members of the executive committee. A special vote of thanks were passed to Mr. J. Birch, the retiring secretary, and a vote of thanks was also accorded to the branch officials for the work during the past year.

"An elderly lady, who was alighting from a tramcar at the corner of Welle and Queen Streets yesterday, was knocked down by a passing cart. She wag seen by Dr. Pa'bst, and was found to be suffering! slightly from shock. Dr. Pabst sent her to iter home in Grey-street.

Our Coromandel correspondent writes: — The death. occurred near Matariki ? in the vicinity of Manaia, on Thursday, of Mrs. Ivawhine, wife of the well-known chief of that name. Much sympathy is felt for Kawhine in his bereavement..

A CJiristcliurch fishmonger and poulterer imports gray ducks from Australia. These birds are closely identical with native birds, which* are absolutely protected. The, question came up before the council of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the other* night, and it was resolved to take some action with a view to securing legislation restricting the importation of such birds.

Som? unusual features were brought to light in a case heard recently at the Parramatta quarter sessions, Sydney, in which Adolphe Kulinefc was charged with assaulting an eight-year-old child named Mabel Elsie Hoare. The child in question professed not to know what the Bible was, nor had she heard of God. She did not know the -difference between telling », lie and speaking the truth. She replied "No" | to every question put to her, said she was | two years old, and had a brother named Jack, whose age she did not know. She said she did not know where she lived. The witness was them ordered to stand down, and her father, William Hoare, was examined. He said the child had been going to Sunday-school for about three years with her sister. She had not gone to a day school, as the doctor forbade it on account of her health. The little girl was recalled. His Honor again essayed to examine her. She said she went to the Sunday-school, where Miss King taught j her sums. She subsequently amended this statement by saying she meant the day school. They sang there "Jesus Loves Me." She did not know who Jesus was, and did not know the difference between, being good and naughty. After this answer the attempt to obtain evidence from the child was abandoned.

An interviewer of a novel kind went to the Salvation Army Barracks, on Victoria Parade, Melbourne, professing a desire'to interview General Booth. He announced himself to Brigadier Birkenshaw as a, representative of a. New Zealand newspaper, and was very anxious to secure a personal interview with the General. "The brigadier sent the guard in search of Commmissioner Nicol, through whom alone the interview could be arranged, the would-be interviewer being offered a seat in the vestibule. While the guard was absent the General's bell rang, and Brigadier Birkenshaw rushed impetuously to answer it. The stranger, who was left alone, walked into the brigadier's office, where there lay on the table a purse containing 27s in silver. He took the silver* and iiad left the barracks before either the guard or the 'brigadier returned.

The Christ elm roll Press, commenting oa the Premier's teachers' superannuation '£ scheme, remarks that two years ago Mr. Seddon told a deputation from the institute that two courses were open to the Government, either to give a lump sum to set the scheme going, or' to pay the teachers better salaries so that they might be able to afford bigger payments towards the fund. Two years ago he favoured the latter proposal;- ' to-day be leans towards a vote in aid. "In., > this," says the Press, "we entirely disagree _ with him, and wo cannot imagine that- a proposal to benefit one section of the com* '• ' munity by the payment to it of a large) lump ; r sum will meet with the approval of the general body of taxpayers. The teachers do not even suggest that the State should start th» .. .; superannuation fund which they so keenly - i desire. The institute, we gather, only as&s for Parliamentary sanction for its scheme, and the teachers propose to find the fund themselves. If they can do so so much the better, but whether they are able to bear ! the burden or not they are still absolutely justified in continuing the agitation . for higher salaries. ... Mr. Scddoni always talks sympathetically to the teachers on th» . | subject of their salaries, but his sympathy has not so far gone much beyond talk. The . additions to salaries made last session we 10 x . totally inadequate to meet the just claims of ,* the profession, and he cannot hope to evade these by helping the teachers to secure >| • | small pension in their old age. They , do this for themselves if they are paid ; proportion to the responsible nature " i their duties. , - There were five persons in the lockup night, three being charged with drunken* ness, one with being illegally on pre*» l '! cs * 3 L «uid one with using obsoene * ''\h