LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4318, 29 March 1901, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tho rnpid growth of the rabbit-trap-ping industry in Otago, has received a chock aa the result of year's losses. Many large! exporters, aro' now!'offering only tourpence. a pair. In the -Palmerston district the rabbiters have determined to strike for fivepence. / A settlor who is able to gain ■lucjntivo employment during the ' shearing season applied to the Wellington tj.nul .Board yesterday to. bo allowed to l eav.« his sclcwtion for that purpose.-/. Pormission was grunted/the chairman remarking thqt the applicant was evidently a very industrious man. The Minister of Lands intends to leave on Monday for the purpose of visiting the country north of Napier, and so completing his tour of the North Island. Sir Duncan will inquire specially into the requirements of tha districts visited in respect of roads and bridges, and his trip will probably occupy three weeks. The time for receiving claims for the Government bonus of ‘ £SOOO for the production of the first 100,000 gallons "of shale oil in tho colony has been extended to December, Slat. 1001. Notice of intention to claim the bonus must be given not later than Juno 30th. Dr Gloss, of Dunedin/ who arrived hero yesterday, is visiting Wellington in reference to his scheme for the establishment of a Masonic Orphanage «a a memento of tho late Queen Victoria. Ho is to interview the New Zealand Grand Master (the Hon 11. J. Soil, don), and other representative members of the Masonic order on the subject. A young man named William Rolph, aged twenty-two,, met 1 hisi death on Wednesday morning through- a fall of earth. Ho was working for Mr M. F. Britt, contractor, in a gravel pit at Parkvillo, near Eketahuria, .when the fall of earth took place. The head was crushed in, and death ensued in a short time. Deceased's father resides iii T eliding.

On account of tho drying-up of pastures in Marlborough milk and butter are becoming scarce there, and Wellington butter, says the “Express,” is now on sale in Blenheim. The position has apparently rather altered since it was'suggested a. few weeks ago that a daily service should bo established between Wellington and Blenheim to supply the local market with milk and dairy produce from Marlborough. The Eire Police attended the outbreak of fire in Ghuznoe street last night ,nnd, by stretching ropes, did good work in. keeping the crowd back. Some person was mean-mimlcd enough to cut the ropes. This is the second occasion on which the Fire Police have had such an experience. Their ropes were also cut at a. l-ocont fire in Cuba street. Captain Hugo, of the Municipal Fire Brigade, considers that an act of this kind cannot be too strongly condemned.

A delay of nearly three-quarters of an hour ensued to the mail train last night in. consequence of the 6.50 p.m. train from the Upper Hutt “blowing out” when near Ngahauranga. It then became necessary to telegraph to the city for an engine to be sent out to shunt the derelict back to Petono, the mail train being kept waiting at that township until the lino became clear. Yesterday morning’s train to tho Wairarapa also was behind time ; in consequence of an accident that occurred at Cross’s Creek to.one of.the Fell engines.

Jlr Arthur Warburton is to be reappointed by th 0 Government to tbo Board of College Governors. A rood of laud in Tail rape Township has been vested in the Taihape Mechanics’ Institute us a. site for an institute and library. The first term of the 1901 session at Victoria College will commence on Tuos. day, on which day students are requested to meet tho professors and lecturers at the Clrla’ High School. A garden party will bo hold in Mrs Levin’s grounds this afternoon in aid of the Levin Memorial and Alexandra Homes. If tho weather is wot the. gathering will bo hold in the DrilLshed. The accounts passed at yesterday’s mooting of tho College Governors am. ounted to £l4B 17s id, and this leaves a credit balance of Lull 19s IPd, in addition to which' there are fees and rents duo amounting to £O-19 19s Id. In pursuance of the recommendations of tho Library Committee of the City Council, the room for women at the Public Library has been closed. Four extra tables for the accommodation of women have been erected in the reference library.

-The extensions of the Wellington Meat Export Company’s works at Ngahauranga are new complete, and they will be put into use on Tuesday. Tho capacity of the works has been increased by 1500 shcop per day, and the storage accommodation by 40,000 carcases. Tho Commandant of the Forces has | instructed that a register of returned I soldiers who are unfit for hard work shall ho kept at tho Volunteer Office. Employers having light work to offer the- men are requested to communicate with tho office. Volunteer officers are also invited to assist in this commendable movement. During his'recent visit to Wangnuoi, the Native Minister arranged, in accord, anco with a general desire, that there should not be a. contest for the election of a council for the district under tho Maori Lands Administration Act. Tli e requisite number of natives to form tho council .was selected, and the expense of an election will thus be avoided. A performance of Lee Williams’s “Bethany" will be given by St. Mark’s choir on Monday next. This work -was composed by special request for the Gloucester festival,, and the music is of a highly pathetic and devotional character. On Good Friday evening the choir will give excerpts from this work and Air Laurence Watkins’s “ Story of the Cross.”

Four new hydralic cranes for the Wellington wharves have been constructtod by -Messrs S. Luke and Sons. The delivery of the last of these was begun yesterday, and tho task of moving I lie ponderous crane along Jervois quay was watched by numbers of spectators. Five or six years ago Luke- and Sons supplied eleven similar cranes to the order of the Wellington Harbour Board. An Order-in-Council appears in tins week’s - Gazette ” delegating powers to the Pahautanui Domain. Board, which is to be constituted -as follows: —Messrs Nicholas Abbott, Alfred Igguklou, James Pearce, James Walker, James Milieu, John Sidney Smith and William H. Blaokcy. Tho Board will hold its first meeting on the loth April, and thereafter on the second Monday in every month. The Wellington Pigeon Homing Club flew its produce race for young birds from Huntervillo on Wednesday. Each member was allowed two registered rings, and tho birds were liberated at intervals of fifteen minutes. The weather was perfect, and as a result tho winning bird attained a velocity of T6SI yards per minute. The wipner be. longed to Mr Haynes, and the second and third birds to Messrs Bailey and Leighton respectively. The lessee of a section in the Mount Cerberus district applied to the Land Board yesterday for permission to trars fer his interest to the lessee of an ad. joining section. Mr Hogg, who presided, said that if tho application wore granted, tho holder would have two sections of 200 acros each, whereas the majority of the holdings of Crown tenants in the district ranged from 100 to 300 acres in extent. The Board refused the application, and decided to inform tho present lessee that ho must cither comply .with, the, conditions or , surrender the' section. Tho proprietor of the Woodville “ Examiner” has appealed to the Minister of Justice to remit tho fine of £5 and costs for publishing an advertisement relating to an art union in connection with the Eight Hours Demonstration in Melbourne. He points out that when his attention was drawn to tho fact that ho was rendering himself liab'e to a heavy fine by publishing the advertisement, it was at ones withdrawn. lit other cases of the same kind, merely nominal fines were inflicted, while, in one case, against tlio proprietor of the “ Wyndham Fanner,” a conviction with, out a fine was recorded. The decision of the Court, of Appeal in the case Jackson v. the College Gov. ernors, in favour of the Governors, was reported! to the Board at yesterdays meeting, and the following resolution was passed -“The Court of Appeal having decided that the ,whole of the Col. logo reserve, containing sixty-nine acres, lias been by statute vested in the Gov. i ernors, and the Court also having given ’ strong expression of opinion tnat it has I been so vested free from any condition I or trust respecting affiliation with the New Zealand University, the Governors record their strong protest against any further attempt,to deprive them of their endowment.”

An Ordcr-iu-Councii in this week’s “ Gazette ”‘ authorises the collection of diirs'/or the proposed wharves at Miramar, Karaka Bay and Soataun. The dues are as follows:—On each passenger embarking or lauding, lid (provided that if a passenger shall land and embark on one and the same day the lid shall cover both, landing and embarking) ; on goods (excluding live stock) landed or shipped, per ton or part of a ton. Is; great cattle, each 9d: small cattle, each Id. These dues are on goods and cattle which are brought from or taken to places Within Wellington Harbour.-. Tho dues on goods and cattle brought from' or shipped to places outside the limits of th®!* harbour shall be the same as. are in force for the time being for'the use of the Queens Whurl at. fWelHnpton. -

The' shooting season; for imported game (hares, .cock, •pheasants and Califormrn quail) in tile Wellington district, and for native game; r except slick as are protected or for which kOlos© season is being observed,,opens on, May Ist, and closes on July *3lsti Licenses (will be issued at the - principal ' post offices throughout"- t'bV district, the' fee being £ l. Hares may- not - he taken in. Pahiatua. County; and- neither imported'game nor native game'may be taken in the Whunui forest" reserve ‘near , Parapa. raumu, in the -“’mallard district near Martinbcroughj on'tho Lansdoivno dam., near Mastcrfon; 1 or 'on the island of Kaniti. The seasonal’* ill cover th© same period in the Feilding, (Wanganui and Hawera acclimatisation districts. The folldwing Wot be taken in the Wellington district: —Kaka, native pigeon, pukeko, tui, huia, white heron, crested grebe, paradise clucks mid blue mountain ducks.

A subscription of £1 to the Queen’s Statue Fund, from “Help," was received yesterday at the City Council offices. Dr McArthur, S.M., presided at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, when George Miller was remanded to Hamilton, Waikato, for trial on a charge of obtaining £5 from- Thomas Floyd by false pretences. Bowlers will be sorry to learn that Mr George E. Prince, of lliutoul street, met with a serious accident yesterday. Ho was going up to a stable loft, when one of tiro bars of tho ladder broke. Mr Prince fell a considerable distance, with the result that ho suffered a compound fracture of tho left leg above the ankle. He was removed to the hospital, where he now lies. Mr and Mrs Prince wore to have left for Australia by the steamer Wostralia on Saturday but this mishap .has, of course, upset their plans. Dr McArthur, S.M., was occupied all yesterday afternoon at the Magistrate’s Court hearing the evidence in the case Reginald Stace Wall, of Porirua, farmer, v. Matenga fc Hike, of the same Mace. Plaintiff claimed £9B, being the balance of £3OO paid by him to defendant on November 25th,_ 1899, for the purchase of a piece of land known as Pukcrua, 2c, 2b, which he found subsequently had already _ been sold by defendant to Messrs Sinclair Bros., of Plimmorton. The case was ultimately adjourned until the 2nd proximo. Mr Luckio appeared for plaintiff and Mr Menteath for defendant.

In an article dealing with the new Vancouver steamship service and the desire of Mr J. D. Spreckels to obtain, a subsidy for tho carriage of colonial mails, the ‘‘Sydney Morning Herald’’ says; “The Union Company, having taken up the Vancouver service, has arranged to work it by means of first-class reseats, and Australians travelling by the) line will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are sailing under the flag of their own nation. If the steamship traffic between our ports and San Francisco is large enough to be a matter of any particular concern to us, it should be large enough to pay Mr Spreckels without a subsidy. If it is not, it is hardly worth while raising a controversy over. It must not be forgotten that the American company enters into direct competition with ourselves, and that in tha Union Company we have an Australasian enterprise which _ possesses considerable claims upon us.”

A mooting of creditors in the estate of Cecil Ernest Harcourt, insurance canvasser, was hold yesterday at the office of the Official Assignee. Two creditors were represented. Most of the creditors live out of Wellington, air Campbell appeared for tho bankrupt, who stated that his debts were spread oyer two years. His earnings, including Travelling allowance, from the Government Insurance Department, were £6 a week. It cost him £3 a week for travelling expenses. His lodgings and his wife and child cost £3 a week. His net earnings included commission. At first ho got only an allowance of 30s a week. His average earnings with the Equitable Life Assurance Society were not over £6 a week, and it cost him about £3 to travel. If an offer of 10s in tho£ was acceptable to his creditors, he would pay £4 a month on the average. Ho would try if he could gelmoney from Home to meet the whole of his debts. Another meeting of the bankrupt’s creditors will he held. At the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Dr McArthur. S.M., sitting in his civil jurisdiction, gave judgment for plaintiff in the following cases: —United Farmers’ Co-operative Association v. Janies O'Malley-, claim. £8 16a lOd, costs £1 13s 6d; Cadbury. Bros. v. R. and A. Baldwin, £2l 12s, Costs £2 17s ; Commercial Agency v. Thomas Griffin, £l, costs ss; samp v. P. 11. Hardcastle, £ll 17s 6d, costs £1 10s 6d: same v. Dennis W. 'Carrol, £4 17s 6d, costs IDs; same v. Oswald W. Hanby, £ll, costs £1 10s 6d; saino v. , Charles Grams, £3 15s, costs 10s; Inglis n ßrost:V,. Roger,Mad. ley, £7 4s, : costfe ;£1 ]os ’Gd';-' Warded Bros. v. Mrs 11. Crabbe, £3 11s Id, costs 10s ;. same v. ■ John M. Merrier, £lO 10s 7d, costs £1 10s ,6d; v Oakley, Rickard and Chapman v. Walter L. Smith, £3, costs ss. In the case John Carr v. Samuel'Minifie, in which plaintiff claimed £2 or possession of a cornet, the Court ordered defendant to re. store the instrument,' or pay. amount claimed, with costs Bs. f In Brown and Dean v. R. McGuire, judgment was giv eu for plaintiffs for th© full amount claimed, £3 0s Od, with 6s costs. Judgment for plaintiff was also given in J. S. P. Morshead v. William 1 Hamilton (in which plaintiff claimed £1 6s for two weeks’ rent), for one week’s rent, 13s, with 6s costs. : •/

Th, 6 St. John Ambulance Nursing Guild established lash year with the’ help of Lady Stout; Mrs C. J. Johnston and other ladies, appears t<> be' a vigorous organisation, judging from a meeting held on Wednesday for’the purpose of arranging a programme for the winter months. There was an excellent muster of ladies holding medical certificates, and application was made by several additional ladies, who have passed th 0 - St. John Ambulance Association exami. nations, for enrolment as members. It was decided to' commence tho regular meetings for developing’practical knowledge on nursing and general ambulance work during the current session on- the 14th of next month', and Miss Barron undertook to do her best to secure a suitable place for this purpose. A proposal was made by Miss jßonayne in the direction of organising'a sale of work and garden paxty for next November to raise funds, for the employment of a district professional nurse- on similar lines to those adopted by the. late'Hon Dr Campbell, of Adelaide, who, with Mrs Campbell, gave generous help for philanthropic purposes. An animated discussion arose over Miss Ronayne’a proposal, Mesdamos ; Balcombe • Brown and L. H. B. Wilson and several other ladies taking part and approving it, the principal aim being the alleviation of distress deserving sick poor.

In the Court of Appeal yesterday, argument was concluded in the case between the! Union Steam Ship Company, appellant, and Jakins and another, respondents. This was an appeal against a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Martin, who awarded damages to the respondents for delay in the deliveA of a consignment of onions shipped from Lyttelton to Sydney by the steamer Talune on the voyage in which she sought for and picked up the steamer Perthshire. Mr Stringer submitted that the Talune left Wellington on an adventure —on an unknown voyage, and cue of uncertain duration—for the purpose of picking up a vessel which might or might not have been afloat and might or might not have beeta already picked up By another steamer, it being known that other steamers were out looking for the missing vessel. The direction was clearly beyond reasonable! limits,, Mr Sim replied that the - Talune had a right to deviate, for the purpose of saving property,. and ,to ascertain whether the Perthshire was in, distress or not- The circumstance that life was possibly _ in danger would justify a deviation which, if undertaken merely for the purpose of salvage, would not be authorised. All the circutffstances .justified the devia-. tion which was made by the Talune. and the time occupied in making the deviation was not unreasonable. The Court . reserved judgment.

) Government offices will be on I Friday, Saturday and Monday, the sth, 6th, and Bth of. April, for the Easter holidays. With a view to corroding misapprehension arising from statements which hare lately been made, the city coal merchants publish in our advertising column’s the prices that have been charged for coal for many months past, and are still current. The Minister of Lands and Mr W. H. Field, M.H.R.. will to-day visit the Upper Hutt, for the purpose of injecting a certain- area’-of native -land that has been placed under offer to the Lands Deportment as a site for the nursery which it is proposed to establish for the propagation of young _trees which 1 arc to bo planted on the Himutabas. Two cases have boon brought under our notice in which, through simple clerical errors, ratepayers have been under-charged in notices issued from the City Council office. In one instance the error amounts to ton shillings ; in the other it involves the Corporation in tho loss of a much larger amount. Naturally enough, people who are under-charged do not appeal against their assessment.

The following gentlemen have been appointed to the Board of Examiners under the Now Zealand Institute- of Surveyors and Board of Examiners Act I96o:—Mr John W. A. Merchant, Mr Morgan Carkeek. the Hon George F. Richardson, and Mr Arthur O’N. (TDonahoo. The first mee+ing of the Board will be held on April 3rd. Tho first meeting of the Institute of Surveyors incorporated under tho same Act will be held on May 13th. The members of the Hutt, Borough Council had an interview with Messrs T. Wilford and W. H. Field, M.H.R-.'s, yesterday, with regard to the position of affairs concerning the Hutt bridge. It was decided -that the Premier should be asked to receive the members of the Council as a deputation and to hear their views on the- subject. An invitation will bo extended to representatives of those who are opposed to the Council’s intentions regarding the bridge to bo uiescnt at the interview with Mr Seddon.

In the Court of Appeal yesterday, before Mr Justice Williams, Mr Justice Denniston, Mr Justice Conolly and Mr Justice Cooper, argument was begun in the case between the Solicitor-General, appellant, • and Frederic Wallis and others, respondents, with reference to the Porirua school trust. Mr H. D. Bell, with him Mr Myers, appeared for the appellant, and Mr Quick, with him Mr Tolhurst, for the respondents. Mr Bell had not concludeld Ms argumenlt when the Court adjourned for the day. Mr Mvers will follow him, and wall argue that the trustees’ scheme for a school in the Wairarapa wholly diverts the trust, and gives the trust fund to persons not intended to be benefited and to a locality not intended to be the place of- the school. According to the Napier "Telegraph,” the following are the principal planks in the platform of the Municipal Reform Association recently formed in Napier in view of the coming elections: —1. Retrenchment in the expenditure on the staff. 2. Reorganisation of the staff; the Mayor to be paid a fixed salary monthly. 3. Muncipal control of town lighting. 4. All municipal business to be done in open Council, in the presence of representatives of the) press. 5. When necessary to go into committee, business to be afterwards supplied to the press, with motions and division-lists. 6. Abolition of log-rolling for the benefit of any special part of the borough. 7. Executive to be appointed to act witlUthe Mayor in all important business. 8. No expense to be incurred unless passed in open Council. ■ On the subject of tho Huitt road, the annual report of the council of the Wellington 'Chamber: of Commerce states ; The deplorable state of, disrepair of Hi 0 road from Wellington tb the Hutt has long been a disgrace to the place, and a" source of great discomfort 'to those .using it. Your council brought together in. conference representatives of the various local bodies interested in the road, and suggested’a scheme whereby an equitable adjustment of the cost of widening and repairing the road, might be made among the several communities using it, and a deputation waited on the Government in reference to the subject. Au Act was passed last session to facilitate, an "opportionment of the expens© between tho local bodies, and it is hoped that a better comlitiori <it tilings will be brought about before long. _