LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 147687, 5 September 1911, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

It was. expected that the first of the Kingsland tragedy . cases, in which Mrs. Martha Jane O'Shaughnesey stands charged with the murder of Elsie Alexandra Holland, at First Avenue, Kingsland, on the night of June 13, would have been called on at the. Supreme Court yesterday morning, and there was a largo concourse of spectators when the Court opened. But the perjury case, in which the accused is Charles Boakes, could not be finished in time, and the new panel of jurymen was -dismissed from further attendance until the following day, It is expected that the Boakes case will finish this forenoon. Subsequently the . murder charge against Mrs. O'Shaughnessy will be proceeded with.

The discharge of cargo from several large vessels has been considerably retarded during the past few days owing to the difficulty of finding waterside labour. The steamer Cape Ortegal arrived from New York yesterday, and the, number of men available was only sufficient to work one hold, instead of four. - Other vessels are similarly affected., The Waitemata, which arrived from Fiji yesterday with a large cargo of sugar, will absorb a large number of men, and it will take seven or eight days to empty her holds.

The low birth-rate and the best means of keeping the cradles full, was one of the subjects dealt with by Mr. A. Harris in his political address at Devonport last night. . He advocated that the Government should give a paid-up endowment policy of £20 to each baby girl in a family of six or over, the amount, together with interest, making a total of about £50. to be presented to the girl at her marriage, as 3 wedding dowry. As an alternative, he said, a section of land might be given to the fathers of six or more children. He also advocated free maternity hospitals for the wives of workers earning not more than a fixed wage. ■ ' >* !

Bread cast upon the waters may or may not "return- after many, days." Few folk are optimistic enough in these degenerate times to take the old, but pretty proverb literally, and risk the experiment. But Constable McGilp, who is now stationed at Birkenhead, yesterday found himself distinctly " in luck's way," for he recovered a much prized, and intrinsically valuable gold watch-chain in a remarkable manner, taany, many, days— in fact, 30 years after it had passed with him into the regions of possessions that were, but are npt. In those -gone times he was stationed at Russell, Bay of Islands, and by some means his three-year-old boy had got ''daddy's watchchain" to play with. He incontinently lost it; and sedulous search of "the paddock in which the child bad played failed utterly. The chain was given up for lost. A week or so ago a Maori employed cutting furze down in the same old paddock found the chain, and with a commendable honestly of purpose at once handed it over to Constable Parsons, who, is . now.; in charge of. the ' Bay of ; Islands district. Parsons made inquiries, and soon found that the owner of the' long-lost - valuable was still accessible. As a result it was handed ' over 1 to' McGilp, :who lost no time in suitably acknowledging the honourable conduct of the Maori.

' ' Work in connection -with the erectioifi of a subscribers' v telephone line at Workworth will be put in hand by the Tele- , graph Department nest week, and a gang. of men with a foreman have been sent from Auckland, with & view to commencing operations. The erection, of subscribers* ' r wires at Russell, Kohukoha, Rawene,. and > Mangonui will be commenced when ; now on order come to hand.

The inward Vancouver mail, which was rf| transhipped from the Zealandia at Sura* 5 was brought here by the Waitemata, which arrived from Fiji yesterday. The mail consisted of 228 bags, and the Southern por- , tion was despatched by the Main Trunk f? express last night. t -Q

'' Are you the selected candidate of the Reform Party for Waitemata ?" was a question put to Mr. A. Harris at Dovonport last evening. At present there is no ■ selected candidate," was the candidate's reply. "I do not know whether 1 any other Opposition candidate is coming out, but if he does he has got to fight the matter out with me. lam going to the poll absolutely against all comers. ? I do not care if even the Prime Minister himself comes along."

The case in which a young man named Charles Boakes is charged with perjury, and which was commenced-on Friday last « in the Supreme Court before His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman and a jury of 12, was continued yesterday. The accused - • is a respectable-looking lad, 20 years of ; „ age. The case for the prosecution, in sup. port of which the Hon. J. .A. Told, :,,' K.C., appeared, was that a young woman ft named Pattie Keyte had charged Boakea ./ m the S.M. Court before. Mr. C. C.||| Kettle, with being the father of her illegi,, timate child. This was denied by Boakes,-J who gave evidence-on oath, denying many';/ statements made by witnesses on the other v,. side. The result of a subsequent magis- % terial inquiry into the case was that prisoner was committed for trial by . Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., on a charge of perjury.; A large number of witnesses were examined ?, and cross-examined for and against the -

prisoner in the Supreme • Court. Lasfe evening the evidence was brought to 'a close, and Mr. Lundon, at 8.45, concluded -' ! his address to the jury. At that hour thai ?|| Court adjourned. This morning the Hon. ' £ J. A. Tole, K.C., will address the jury anu2| behalf of the Crown, and His Honor L wil! sum up the evidence. '

A large crowd gathered on the Hohsonstreet Wharf last evening to witness the

departure of the steamer Wimmera - for Sydney. The Wimmera. cleared ' the wharf • v at precisely six o'clock, carrying 224.p5» sengers, 124 the saloon and 100 steerage*/^;

The : Auckland Ministers' Association adopted the following resolution yestesN day " That this association, expresses Jts whole-hearted sympathy with .-wary, effort that is ; being made; to further the* cause of peace in the world. It fartJn® expresses its willingness to co-operajfe / •atith. any who seek to promote the cauea } M€ of peace. The association, however. dceg not feel called upon to express 'any, view; with regard to the New Zealand Defence I Act, this not being primarily a peace or war. Each member of the osso* ciation is free to express his- own views,* 3

During the month of August thfc4oDowi ing: cases of infectious disease harra beesf reported at the District Health Offico:—• Scarlet fever: City, 2 cases; suburbs, 5 k

cases; country districts, '11 casesi total, 18 cases. . Diphtheria: City, 3; suburbs, 7; country districts, 18; total, 28. En* ' teric fever: City t nil; suburbs, 4; conn-. • try districts, 3: total, 7. Tuberculosis?! City, 4; suburbs, 4; country districts, life ' total,; 19. Blood-poisoning: City, 3& i suburbs, 1; country districts, 21 tStal 6s&r * '4T*** A number of workmen engaged in pipelaying on* the Hastings municipal , wate* •■. supply installation who knocked off work on Friday afternoon because the foreman ■ • would * not allow the secretary of theLabourers' Union to talk to the men during working hours, resumed work yesterday morning. The Council and union agreed that : the secretary must not go on' the ? ground - without giving notice to the foreman, and the foreman must not dismiss OS ; V engage i men without notifying ' the union ; secretary. •- , • : ■ ■ ■-■ = '• ' . ••' '• - ■ ' -.-V 'i "

One of. Mr. Isitt's first experiencea-o? the : : New Zealand: Parliament is not perhaps calculated Jto impress him with the high .'. moral tone of his surroundings. He has had s his overcoat stolen. The coat dis« appeared on • Wednesday last, and so fae all efforts to trace it have been as futile as the attempts of the local police to ascertain' the whereabouts of the notorious Poweihiy No docbt some "stranger" has taken the garment 'from the corridor ; but in any case Mr. Isitt is the victim of his inde-*\v pendence ;in politics. Were he a party, man, aad as such entitled to hang his haS (and . coat) in, the Whip's room of eithef party, he would not now be lamenting f hia loss.. •' ... Meantime some members deeply ' sympathise with him, while others think ' the incident is not without its humor ■ side. ; ;

■With the object of finding out whafi quantity of . pigs North Auckland and the ' Bay of Plenty are capable of producing, representatives of Messrs. W. oimook andi|&! Co., Ltd., Wellington and Auckland, have been touring these districts. After making . a thorough inspection, it has been decided to proceed with the erection in Auckland of a bacon factory on the most approved and up-to-date lines, similar in type to the g firm's Wellington works. • This will no doubt, prove an immense boon in the Aucki land districts..-' "

" The present Government has been -cat- ■ rectly described as ' a jellyfish Ministry,^" said Mr, A. Harris in his speech at Devonport last evening. "When they go ia : Otago, where the people are Scotch, they/?J preach economy, but when they go to the West Coast of the South Island, -they " _ preach extravagance. Then when they *, go ; into a i no-license district they preach < temperance, but when they are in a dia-< I trict with hotels they preach the reverse." . ,

It is a regrettable fact that New Zea-./p|| land is still losing population to Australia |£§f at as rapid a rate as exer. The inward and ?k ; outward steerage figures for the Sydney vJS steamers this week show that the excess of departures over arrivals continues. By thq Victoria on Sunday there arrived 55 pas- * .j sengers in the steerage, and by the Wlm-i mera, which left for Sydney yesterday,; there went away in that class no less than 100 persons.

An amusing example of mixed metaphor 'ra occurred in the course of a conversation at the annual meeting of the Dannevirke Jockey Club. A member, referring to tie generous manner ■in which a gentleman . present had stepped forward to fill a vacancy caused by the illness of an official of the club, said "he grasped the bull by the horns, and took hold of . the . j reins." The#remaining portion of the sentence was lost in laughter.

The : Oamaru Caledonian Society, one of /V-V" the oldest institutions of its kind in the Dominion, has *of late been falling on evil . days, and has decided to sell its ground. This practically means that the society will cease to hold its annual sports gathering. This will also deprive the town of its orlly. Recreation ground.