LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4298, 6 March 1901, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL

AlrA'lbm Orr will come out aft a candidate at the forthcoming City Council electionin the character of a municipal reformer.

'Che following is a return of tho number of old age pension payments made at the under-mentioned post offices on the Ist instant:—Auckland, 647; Wellington, iffio; Christchurch, 540; Dunedin, -107.

Mr Justice Cooper, who arrived in Wellington last night, is expected to take his seat on the Supreme Court bench to-morrow, when he will preside over the hearing of tho jury case lurk iugton v. Turkiiigtou.

Temporary transters of city hotels; w-ji-o- granted by the LicensingComuiiltoe yesterday, as follows ; —Princess Koto!, from Thomas Taylor to Thomas; James Wright; and the Cambridge Hotel from Norah McCarthy to John James Firth.

Tho Maori Ngahina Matu, who was, committed for trial at the Stipendiary! Magistrate’s Court on Monday by Di McArthur, S.M., was brought up yes-, terday morning. Accused, through lus; interpreter, then pleaded guilty to the! charge, and was remanded to the on-, pro me Court for sentence. i Travellers have frequently anathematised the damp climate of Fahiatua; when they found on arriving at the railway station that there was no shelter to be got from tho rain. The Rail-. wav Department has at last conferred a boon upon the travelling public by, ordering the erection of a. verandah., This work has just been completed, and is a groat improvement to the station. | A deputation of Wesleyan ministers,j from tho conference now in session, will; 17 alt on tho Premier at eleven o’clock; this morning, with a request that ho; should remove the name of a certain Justice of the Peace from, the list, on tho grounds that he had admitted at a sly-grog inquiry, held at Balolutha, in February last, that he had ordered and partaken of liquor in a district (Tapanui) in which the sale of grog is forbidden.

In the civil division .of the Magistrate's Court yesterday judgment was given by Dr AlcArthur, S.AI., for plaintiffs in the following cases:—Stock In-

spector v. Kia Enoka te Wane, -Is, costs 7ft; A. Sample v. T. A. Hudson, £35 Gs 6d, costs £1 13s; Alary E. Smith v. Arthur Paradise, £3 4s, costs 6s; Thos. Quinn and Co. v. Neil AlcPhce, £9 18s 6d, casts £1 3s 6d ; William Alitchell v. Win. Swiney, £8 ss, costs 10s.

Tiv:> wharf labourers named D. 11. Tobin and J. McArthur, were charged at. the Stipendiary Magistrate's Court yesterday morning before Hr McArthur. S.AI., with tho theft of clothing, the property of Messrs Veitch and Allan, of Cuba street. Accused admitted baving committed the offence while under the influence of drink. Air Cooper, who appeared for the defence, asked for leniency on behalf of accused. A fine of 10s, or seven days’ hard labour, was imposed in each case.

Some surprise was expressed at yesterday's meeting of the Benevolent Trustees that an arrangement entered into between the members of that body and tho Hospital Trustees, by which three days’ notice should be given of tho intention to discharge from the Hospital

any person in indigent circumstances belonging to districts outside the city, laid been departed from, a man having been so discharged on Saturday without any intimation to the Benevolent Trustees. The man; who Was first taken into the Salvation Army Home, was received yesterday into the Home at Ohiro until the Trustees can ascertain if an acquaintance! of his near Napier will take charge of him.

The troopship Balhousie, with the ; visit in" Indian contingent on board, will arrive in Wellington this morning from , Lyttelton. , Mrs Fancourt desires to acknowledge | the receipt of C 5 from the lion .Mrs Bingham. in aid of the Queen Victoria School ; for Maori Girls. ; Councillor Brown last night gave no- ; i ice to the Mclro-te Borough Council ■ that ho would move at its next mect- ; in:; it motion uVrirrniiig the desirableness ; of .abolishing the wards of the borough. “ I’ve been contracting m this city for a number of years,” exclaimed a member of Hie Ratepayers’ Association last niglii, in a denunciatory speech. "Well ” interrupted another, "try to contract voiir remarks, for the hour is gottimr late.” The speech from this point was a model of brevity. At a well-attended meeting of settlers at Bunnythorpe on Monday it was decided to enter a united protest against tho recent increase of valuations. The objections arc not so much against tho capital value as against the unimproved values, not sufficient being allowed for improvements. Owing to tho many unavoidable delays which have taken place in playing the Pennant. Matches between the citv and Petone bowling clubs, and to the fact that Newtown Club l has already won the banner,’it is considered unnecessary to play the fifth round of the contest, which was to have taken place on Saturday next.

Tii pursuance of the arrangement come to between tlio Shaw, Savin and Albion Company, tho K'ew Zealand Shipping Company and the Tyson Company, in regard to a service between this colony ami (ho Cape, the following strainers are to l)o despatched to the capo:—Otarama, March 7th (from Lyttelton); Rangatira, April 20th; Indfaghiri, J une Ist : Tcko.i, July 13th. Mr G. 11. Baylis will ho a candidate for the Mayoralty of the Borough of Melrose. Mr Buylis has boon associated with local politics for the last twen-ty-five years. As a member of the Municipal Association lie took a part in having valuable amending legislation placed upon the statute book. He devoted ten years to the administration of charitable aid as a me'mbcr of tho Board of Benevolent Trustees, of which body he was chairman for three years. It is stated that some time ago a rule! was made by the Port .Nicholson Yacht Club that no yacht was to receive a greater handicap allowance than twenty minutes from any in tho sa ae class. In last Saturday’s contest for the Mills Memorial Cup, tho Marihina, the declared winner of the race, had been giVe.n twenty-eight minutes from the llainbow, which started at scratch. As both boats are in tho same class ibis clearly infringes the rule. The committee of the club may possibly decide that the Montana, cannot receive the trophy.

Our Palmerston North correspondent writes; —Air Hayden, our present Alayor, intends contesting tho Mayoralty at the next election. The past year

has been a most arduous and trying time, and it speaks well for Mr Haydon’s energy that he has been able to bear Ibe whole burden of municipal affairs with snob satisfaction to himself and others. There is no doubt that under him tho pavements, the lighting of the streets, and the general appearance of the Square have been greatly

improved.—Mr H. J. Mansou has been dected a trustee on the Manawatu Land Drainage Board, by a majority of 53 votes over Mr S. J. Relf.

Tho experiment of growing wattle at Rangiriri, Waikato, has proved a complete success. The land which the Agricultural Department assumed for tho purpose of experimenting was considered unfit for cultivation, but so far from being fib for nothing, it. has proved almost ideal for wattle-growing. The area under cultivation is now 1800 acres, and a number of other settlors intend, setting apart some of their land for wattle. It is expected that the stripping of the department’s trees this year wilt yield about 100 tons of uar>k, which will be sold at from £6 to £7 10s per ton to New Zealand tanners. To assist the settlers in starting this industry, the department is crushing the bark for them at a nominal rate. Part of tho supposed worthless ground at -Rangiriri is now laid out as ah orchard, and the trees are doing very well. -

The Dairy Commissioner will hold classes of instruction for cheese and hnttermakers during the approaching “■off-season” at central factories in the North and South Islands. The classes will be on the same- lines as those conducted by the Commissioner last year. It is hoped that an early date will be fixed for tho holding of the North Island classes, as a number of makers who were anxious to avail themselves of expert instruction were last year unable to attend owing to the late dates on which the classes were .then held. The classes in Otago were held at a more convenient time—when the factories were either closed or the milk supply low. Managers could therefore safely leave their work. The result was that the Otago classes were crowded. If the classes in the two islands cannot be held during the “off-season,” it is to be hoped that Northern butter ami cheesemakers will this year have first consideration.

Our Carterton correspondent writes; —Air W. J. Lindop, of this town, received a cable message yesterday, informing him of the death of his father, Mr J.°Lindop, • of Bloxwich, Staffordshire. At the time of his death, Mr Linnop—an octogenarian—was an alderman and J.P. Ho had also held the position of Chief Magistrate of the town of Bloxw;ch. —At a meeting of the Council last evening, it was carried that all wards within thd borough be abolished, and that a special meeting be held on the 6th April to consider the confirmation of the resolution. It was argued that the resolution would never pass, but the Town Clerk remarked that if it did net pass the Council would bd no worse off than the Wellington Council, which was adopting the same procedure.—At the quarterly meeting of the Licensing Committee, transfers were granted from Mrs Elkins, Taratahi Hotel, to Air J. Innis, formerly of Kilbirnie, and from A. Stewart, Martinborough Hotel, to Air J. Rodd, late of Wellington. In neither case was objection offered by tho police.

The merits or otherwise of the electric tramway system provoked some debate amongst members of the Ratepayers’ Association last night. One member was afraid that a great disappointment ivas in store for the AA eli Imp ton public over electric tramways. I In. Sydney the drivers dare not go fast I because they were afraid that tho cars would leave the lines, and! the system, ■lie declared, was not one whit better • than our own. The chairman (Air ! Harrell), on .the other hand, thought the electric tramways an unqualified ’.success. Another member (Air Drake), • who said he had travelled five times round the world, and had seen all traction systems, declared that . nothing could surpass the electric trams of New York or San Francisco. There one could ride thirty miles for ten cents., and nothing could equal the cars to itravel in. After other members had given personal experiences of rides in • tram-cars in various parts of the world, i the association decided to support the extension of the tramway system.

. ■ The monthly’moating of the Women * Social and Political League will be held , to-morrow evening. A droughts tournament, with prizes j totalling LAO. is to bo played in Pal- ■ merstou North shortly. His Vv'or.-hip the Mayor has convened a meeting of citizens for Friday afternoon to consider what steps .shall bo talma to entertain the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall on their visit to Wellington. The recent resolution of the City Council, abolishing al) wards in the city, will be submitted [or confirmation at a special meeting of the Council, to bo held on the 2Cth in.st. The annual meeting of the Pioneer Lodge of Good Templars was held last evening, Bro. E. A. Drury, Chief Templar, in the chair. Greetings wore received from several lodges in New South Wales and Wanganui, and reciprocated. The evening was devoted to impromptu speeches. Sir Richard’s Grand Lodge representative was authorised to submit two important resolutions to the Grand Lodge at Nelson convocation on April 9 th. The abolition of the ward system was discussed at last night’s meeting of the Ratepayers’ Association. Mr A. Wilson, Newtown, moved, “That the Council he informed that the abolition of the

wal'd would be a stop in the wrong direction, and not conducive to good municipal government/’ To this there was an amendment, proposed by 'Air K. JO. Bannister, ‘‘That ibis meeting approves the action of the City Council in abolishing the wards.” After some discussion, this amendment was- carried by a- largo majority. A man named James Hart, who was anvsi-ml by .Detective Brchcrg the previous evening, was charged at the Stipendiary Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning with forging the name of D. Neave to a cheque for £lO 10s, and uttering the same to Maurice Fruhauf.

On <ht* application of Sub-Inspector Wilson, accused was remanded till 11th March. A first-offender for drunkonne.'.>; wait lined .Is, or twenty-four hours’ imprisonment. Norman Campbell was fined £2, or eight days’ imprisonment, for ii similar offence. Waiter Strachan, charged with assaulting James Kelly, was fenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. ’'Surely a young fellow like you ought to lie able to get work,’’ protested the chainpan of the Benevolent Trustees, when a young man, who looked the picture) of health, presented Himself at yesterday’s meeting, and asked l for assistance. The applicant merely wanted a passage to Sydney. Ho had just come from Australia, and had been a steward on board an ocean liner. If he could cnlv got bad: to Syd-nov. lie said, he would bo all right. But the Trustees, as one member pointed out, were not granting any holiday trips at present. “Arc you dead broke?” queried the Chairman. “Yes, sir,” replied the other. Finally it was agreed to grant the applicant three days’ board and lodging, with an intimation that if somebody ran after him , to offer him werk in the meantime the Trustees would raise no serious objection.

The Rev Richard .Harding (England), in an address he delivered last night at tho Wesley Hall, gave some interesting particulars” about Wesleyan Methodism in the array and navy. It appeared that Dissenters have bad a hard fight to win religious liberty in the service during tho last century. In Gibraltar and Malta tho Protestants were all marched to the English Church until the Methodists revolted and won the privilege for themselves to worship as their consciences directed!. Tho Presbyterians followed suit, the soldiers of that denomination declining to enter an English Church at Malta after having been marched there. Expostulated with by their officers, a canny Highlander point-, eel out “that the orders only said they were to march to-the kirk. Nothing was said about going inside.” Nowadays, said Mr Harding, there were four religions and a few etceteras recognised by the War Office.

A minor phase of the litigation between William. F. AlcLeod and tho Ala'nawatu Railway Company, over the subject of compensation due to AlcLeod on account of injuries received by him whiio in the company’s service, came before the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The company sued AlcLeod for £l3 10s as rent due for the .use of a cottage, the property of the company. The defence to the action was that defendant had placed in the cottage a stove, a boiler, and other articles for which officers of the company had agreed to pay him one-half the cost. Air Ollivier appeared for the company, and Air Dalziell for McLeod. The company called two witnesses to state that no such agreement had been made as that which AlcLeod alleged, and to further say that the stove was worn out and the boiler worth only five or six shillings. Dr AlcArthur allowed the defendant 30s on his counterclaim for £4 10s, and entered judgment for the company for £lO and costs (£1 16s). The case of Airs C. Lindsay v. John Lindsay, a dispute as to the ownership of a piano, which was adjudicated upon by Dr AlcArthur, S.AI., some weeks ago, was again before the Court yesterday morning. Air Luckie applied for a rehearing. on the ground that he was pro. pared to. produce fresh material evidence. Air Wilford opposed tho application, on the ground that the evidence indicated by Air Luckie was insufficient. The case was set down for rehearing next Tuesday. Haigh and Alorrah recovered £3 from F. J. McDonald as coinmission on account of a sale of a vehicle effected by plaintiffs for defendant. Tho defence to the action was that plaintiffs had agreed to sell the conveyance at a price greater than that which it ultimately realised; and, further, that the sale was effected by the principal without tho intervention of Haigh and Morrah. It was elicited by plaintiffs that no notice of withdrawal of agency had been served upon them by AlcDonald.

The monthly meeting of the trustees of the Home for the Aged Needy was held at the institution yesterday, when there wore present—Alessrs Thomas McKenzie (in the chair), AY. Allan, C. E. W. AY dies ton and C. P. Powles (secretary)- A favourable report on a visit to the Home was conveyed from Airs Allan, who stated that she received no complaints from any of the inmates. It was decided to call for tenders for the annual contracts for supplies, and to hold a meeting on the 19th instant for the consideration of the tenders received. Accounts to tho amount of £6l 7s were passed for payment. The secretary reported that financially- the institution was just managing to get on from hand tr> month. There weire one or two rooms which had to be kqpt unoccupied on account of lAck of funds. It was arranged that Air Allan and the secretary should endeavour to obtain additional” subscribers. The opinion was expressed that there were many peirsons who did net now subscribe to the Home, but who would he willing and pleased to do so if its claims on" their generosity were directly laid before them. One piece of extra work which the trustees wish to have done before the winter is the lowering and metalling on the northern side of the home. This, however, cannot bo I carried out unless the funds at the disjposal of the trustees are augmented.

1 When it was proposed last night that j the Ratepayers’ Association should draw up a policv for the municipal elections, Air R. E.' Bannister urged that before they took any steps in this direction, thev should try to infuse mere life into theassociation. They should arrange for a'publio meeting, organise a programme, and at this meeting have addresses from leading citizens. No doubt they would #thus enroll more members. Air Davenport stated that members had alreadyspent money on such a meeting. Air Bannister retorted that the meeting in question was badly organised, and except for the fact that the speakers were well chosen, it was not creditable to the sociationThe fourth game in the match between Air W. E. Alason, chess champion of New Zealand, and Air R. J. Barnes, an ex-champion, was contested at the social hall of the Working Alen’s Club, on the invitation of the Chess and Draughts Committee, last ■ evening. Barnes had first move, and opened with what is known as the “Queen’s Gambit,” which Alason declined. The game was probably the best-contested of the series, and at the adjournment Alason had a pawn to the good, which Barnes sacrificed, apparently to improve his attack. Shortly after the resumption of the contest, Alason secured another pawn, by which he gained the attack; and at 11 p.m. sealed his thirty-fourth move, the game being adjourned till 7.30 p.m. tomorrow, at the same place. The winner of the first seven games is to be the conqueror; and at present the. score is: Barnes, 2; Alason, 1. A very large number of spectators were! present, and much interest seemed to he manifested in the play'.