LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4311, 21 March 1901, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Our country readers will bo interested to learn that we have instituted a daily produce market report, which will be found in tho financial column. As a guide to the daily prices ruling in the city for poultry, cereals, butter, bacon, frut, vegetables, etc., it should prove of considerable value to fanners along the railway lines.

Tho question of the reception of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall will be further discussed at the meeting of the City Council this evening, after which tho matter will be referred to the Joint committee of the Council and citizens.

| The Brick and Tile Company, which proposes to begin w<3rk at Silveratream, js preparing to start active operations at once. A new steam-engine and boiler j of twenty-five herse-power have Just been completed to the company’s order by Messrs Robertson and Co. Further affidavits to the number of eight have been filed by the SolicitorGeneral in the Porirua school trust case, which is now before the Court of Appeal, and rhe trustees have been given till noon on Monday to file answering affidavits.

! Mr O’Meara, having represented' to tho Minister of Lands that owing to the scarcity of labour in the back-blocks the settlers were unable to get thedr roads made, and having suggested that as a remedy the Government should pay eight shillings a day wages—a similar amount to that being paid by the local bodies—the Minister has promised that instructions shall be sent to tho overseers to increase the rate of pay for labourers accordingly. j

Increasing attention is now being paid j to the quartz-mining claims in the Marii borough district. Already some promis- • ing properties have been placed upon tho ! market, while others ard likely to follow. | Near tho Jubilee andi Just-for-Luck i claims, at Top Valley, Arm-chair Creek, I a new claim is to be opened up, and the water-whoel and other gear for, the* I anarte-emsrhing battery to be erected I there is being made by Messrs Robertson | and Co. at their foundry in Old Customhouse street, for Messrs Young and Watty. *

The hat and neck badges supplied to the members of the Seventh Contingent are of a new design—a fern leaf with the letters “N.Z.” in relief upon it. As no glittering metal can be worn by the troopers on active service, these badges, as well as those worn upon the shoulder, are of a dull bronze. The letters ’N.Z.” (give to the emblem a more distinctive New Zealand character than even the fem leaf itself could have, and in this, respect the new. departure is likely to .be generally adopted. It was at the I suggestion of Sir J. O’Sullivan, Defence ■ i Storekeeper, that these letters were {placed upon the badges, which were made by Messrs Rash and Gocder, jewellers, Willis street.

The Govu-umeiiv has approved of plan;, for now baths afc Rotorua, to bo called a-! Ur tho Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. I Ire hainlnrum's’ and tobacconists’picul'', which was to have been hdd yesterday at Day’s Day, was postponed on account of tho weather until Wednesday next. At the -MomfC Cool: Police Court vestrrday, boforo Mr John Kays, J.P., two li rit-off cmlcrs, a male and a, female, cl.arged with drunkenness, were convicted and disci larged. The Gorge Bridge question is not being allowed to drop. The Minister of Lands has decided to make one more communication to the local bodies concerned, and invito them to adjust the responsibility. Ho will take action according to tho replies received. Tlio Minister of Lands has promised Mr O’.Meant, M.1i.11., that instead of persevering with rock-cutting at the t!a)lance-Woodvillo Gorge, a surveyor will bo despatched to the spot to take out sections and make* other preparations for tho erection of a bridge at that spot. In respect to the £3OOO lean which the settlors of the Weber Road District recently decided to raise, tho Minister of Lands lias promised Mr J. O'Meara, M.1i.11.. that a £1 for tl subsidy shall bo voted. Listn.iei.ions have Iwou issued 1.0 proc-od at 0..c0 with the further construction of the Pahiatua-Pal-merstou road.

Messrs Drummond Bros, and Mr Hart I’d-.-, sa-vvinillcrs, have secured a fine i-it, ce of native hush comprising between 7h() and 800 acres on the- railway lino le-ar nukauui, between Eketahnna and Paliiaiua. The mills arc now being erected, and one of them will bo at work in the. course of a week or two. The timber in this locality includes a good ileal of valuable totara and rimu. Tho Wellington Education Board is a' rangiiig wifh the ether Boards throughout the colony to interchange newspapers containing reports of discussions on educational subjects. “Wo know linin' about Russia in Manchuria, than what is going on hi other parts of tho colony,” said Mr J. Robertson, speaking is support of tho proposal, at yesterdays rac-otiiig of the Board.

.Mrs 11. D. Bril, captain of the Wellington Ladies ’ Coll' Club, has intimated Lit intention of presenting prizes to tho winners ol the m'-ictl Foursomo Handicap to be played on Saturday next, the opening day of the present season. The club has arranged with the Steam Ferry Company to run a special boat, on Saturdays in the future, leaving the ferry wharf at 1.10 p.m., aud returning from Miramar at 5.15 p.m, A cable mcasagei received from London, and published yesterday, was, through tho obscurity of its wording, taken to imply that the New Zealand Shipping Company’s steamer had been towed to the Island of Ascension in a disabled condition. This turns out not to have 'been correct. Tho Press Asaociafiuu has received information from the Shipping Company that tho steamer really towed the other vessel (the Norluun Castle) to the island. Tho Tongariro is duo at Capetown on the 28th inst.

Among tho visitors in the colony at present is Mr W. ,Stitt, assistant paswinger agent of tho Canadian-Pacific Hallway at Winnipeg. In an interview with a representative of the “Otago Daily Times,” Mr Stitt alluded to tiie implication, in a press interview with Mr Spreckols, that there might bo an opening for New Zealand frozen meat in San Francisco. Ho was satisfied *T, O sheep-growers of California and Oregon would resent tneir mutton market being intruded upon by tho colonies, and would take steps to prevent it. An example of Mr James Nairn’s work iu his happiest mood, is at present on exhibition at Messrs McGregor Wright and Co.’s gallery. It is an evening scene at Silvorstrcam (Upper Hutt). that the. artist depicts with singular charm and truthfulness. Beyond tho Hutt Valley hills tho sun is sinking, aud tho shadows from tho trees are lengthening. Tho desire to. interpret the mystery of Nature’s beauty rather than her more obvious attractions is clearly impressed in this artist’s treatment of tho subject. The drawing of trees is full of understanding, the colours soft and liarmomoui, but it is the spirit of repose marking the declining day which tho artist him so sorely caught.

The* casd between Thomas Ridclier and ethers, appellants, and Dew, respondent, came before the Court of Appeal yesterday afternoon, and argument in it will ■be continued this morning. Mr Ollivier appeared for that appellants and Mr Hislop for the respondent. A piece of land at Tart ais the subjedt of the case. The respondent Dew is entitled to one undivided half of the land absolutely and to one undivided 1 half of it for his lifetime only. Ho is in possession of the whole of the land. He claims that he is entitled) to sell one half of the land 1 , but the appellants say that he i? not entitled lo partition at all, because he is in possession of the whole. Mr Justice Edwards held that Dew’s suit was maintainable, but that the other side were entitled to a sale if they preferred a sale to a partition.

Tho monthly meeting of the Victoria College Council was held at tho Education Board’s building last night. Present : Sir Robert Stout (chairman). Bishop Wallis, Dr Knight, Messrs C. Wat so 11, J. P. Firth, 0. Wilson, W. A. Evans, J. 11. Blair, and A. W. Hogg, M.H.11. Leave of absence for the meeting was granted to Mr G. Talbot, who was unable to bo present in consequence of a steamer delay; Mr T. B. Fleming, who is at Pahiatua; Dr Findlay, who is at Greymouth: Dr Chappie, who is in Dunedin; and Mr J. Graham, M.H.H., who is on tho Midland Railway Commission. Accounts wero passed for payment as follows: —General account, .6290 17s 6d; laboratory account, TIC. The obtaining of equipment for the geology class was authorised. It was mentioned that the rock-cutter which was to.be obtained would ho a source of income, as the Mines Department has promised to avail itself of it when it required rock specimens cut. On the occasion of.tWharvest thanksgiving festival recently, Mr Irvine, ■drawing master for tho Masterton Technical School, executed for tho Salvation Army Barracks at Masterton a harvest scene which took up the whole of one side of tho building. The painting repiesents a farmer and his daughters witnessing harvest operations. A reaper and binder are at work with a team of horses and a waggon, loaded with grain, occupies a position in tho foreground. The horses aro resting while the drivers, :>• couple of youths, aro having their lunch. The figures aro nearly life-size, and are. so well executed that tho scone may ho said to be impressive and lifelike. Some toi-toi, fragments of How Zealand bush, and tho dark tinted hills iu tho background, aro all very happily rendered. Though • hastily painted—for Mr Irvine had only three days m which to cover between three and four hundred square feet of canvas —the picture is to bo admired for its artistic merits, and the members of the Army, to whom, Mr Irvine made his gift, intend carefully preserving it for future festivities.

Messrs R. Ltfvoi and H. S. Davis, J.P.’s, presided at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, when an old offender named Sarah Glenn was con lea as a disorderly person, and ordered to coma up for sentence when called upon. Three seamen, P. Cbcrer, -I. Chapman and J. A. Diven, charged with absenting thornselves from tho s.s. Knight Errant, on the previous day, without leave, were remanded till to-day, whan they will be put on hoard. A number of breaches of tho hv-laws were dealt with, including charges against Chinese and others, for allowing refuse to remain on their premises. Pinos ware inflicted, ranging from os to 2Us, with costs. For leaving a cart unattended at the Tiiorndon Railway Station, P. J. Breda wan fined os anil 7s costs. Per allowing a chimney on Ids premises in Cuba .street to catch fire, CL Cochrane was fined Is and 7s costs.

The hearing of a charge against George Thomas Ross, of Wellington, hut late of tlio Railway Hotel, Trentham, Upper Hutt, of obtaining tho sum of £3O by false pretences from Mr Coleman Phillips, of Graytown, occupied tho attention of Messrs Level and Davis, J.P.’s, at tho Police Court tho greater part of yesterday. Mr Gray appeared for too prosecution and Mr Cooper defended. It appeared that Mr Coleman Phillips was persuaded to-advance the £3O to accused, to enable him to enter tho Trentham Hotel, on the strength of his representations that certain furniture belonged to him (Ross), whereas it was alleged the goods belonged to tho D.I.C. Company, Ross having acquired them on tho hire system. Accused also represented that a mare, which did not belong to him, was liis property. A numhar of witnesses were examined, including C. Phillips, R. Wenden, A. H. Barnett, M. S. Duffy, A. A. Corrigan, A. Bowden and R. t. Walters. At 4.30 the Court adjourned till 2.30 to-day. tho accused being allowhis liberty on his own recognisances in tlio sum of £SO.