LOCAL AND GENERAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4514, 15 November 1901, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr Justice Edwards will take Cham, her business at the Supremo Court today. , , , , Saturday, the 30th inst., St. Andrew s Day. is gazetted a public holiday tor Government offices. Tho annual communication of Grand Lodge o£ Now Zealand Freemasons W 'U bo held in Wellington in April nest yoai*. According to Airs Brachcr Government lecturer on hygiene, JSapxor is tho most cleanly and most sanitary city in tho colony. The ?iev. Henry E. Newton, M.A., of the Church of England is gazetted an officiating minister under tho -xarriago Act. Mr W. Warbrick, ono of tho members of tho Now Zealand native football team which visited England some years ago, died at Galatea, in tho Hot Ha es district, a few days ago. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt at 6.40 o’clock last evening, while ono of the severest shocks on record occurred at ALastorton three minutes earlier. At Wanganui there was a sharp earthquake at 3.8 p.m* An event of great Masonic importance took place at tho Victoria Hall. Adelaide road, last evening, when Lodge Hinomoa No. 123 wa s constituted and consecrated. There was a large assemblage of Freemasons, At tho mooting of tho City Council last night, accounts amounting to £12,789 9s fid were passed for payment. Other business wag as tho Council chamber was in use in connection with the rating poll.

Judgment by default was given, by Mr Haseklen, S.M., yesterday m the following casesT. R. Ellison v. Nar karita to TJki, £6 Bs, costs £1 15s 6d; Wellington City Council v. John Nicol, £4 19s, costs 6s; same v. James Stevenson, £3 12s 7d, costs ss. Some amusement was created at the Conciliation Board sitting yesterday by a witness for the Grocers Assistants Union, who stated that there was always a lot to learn in the trade, the blending of tea and certain things to be done to the butter,” for instance. As a result of a fight at the corner of Manners and Wilis streets early on Wednesday evening, Philip C. bmith and Henry Pankhurat appeared before Mr Haseldoh yesterday, charged with disorderly conduct. They were each fined 10s, or in default forty-eight hours imprisonment. A large number of shares have been applied for in the Wellington Deposit, Mortgage and Building Association, Limited, and the provisional directors will probably proceed to allotment soon after the dato ■ mentioned in the Prospectus, viz., the 16th instant, lb will therefdro bo well for intending shareholders to make early application, A case was called before Mr Haselden, S.M. yesterday, in which the Wellington £ity Council was plaintiff and Lieutonant.Colonol Newall, as one of the trustees of the Wellington Dnllshod, defendant. The claim was for £27 11s 9d for rates on the Drillshed, and judgment was given for the plaintiff by default, with £1 3s costs, no defence be. ing made. The revenue from the "Wellington-Napier-New Plymouth section of railway for the four weeks ended October 12th amounted to £33,125 17s on, as compared with £28,575 2s lid for tno corresponding period of 1900. Of the total revenue £13,398 was derived from the carriage of passengers, £17,089 from tho carriage of goods, £1844 from parcels, luggage and mails, and £1484 from rents and commissions. During the four-weekly period ended October 12th, 26,121 first-class and iOl,887 second-class passengers were carried on the Wcllington-Napior-iNow Plymouth section of railway, a total of 128,008, as compared with 110,4170 for the same period, of 1900. The parcels carried numbered 16,124, as against 15,041, goods 16,376, as against 15,512, produce consignments 39,938, a$ against 31,543. A demonstration lecture' of more than, ordinary interest to photographers was fiven before the Camera Club in the •resden rooms last evening by Mr J. A. Hoginbotham. The lecturer exhibited the process of bromide enlarging in all its stages, and gave an instructive explanation of tho procedure. He then ex. plained tho method of supplying cloud effects in landscape views by printing from special cloud-effect negatives. There was a good attendance, and the lecture throughout wa s followed with interest- , At the Stipendiary Magistrate’s Court yesterday, a laundry proprietress, Mrs L Morris, sued N. Diraock, a former employee, for 21s, on account of the latter having left tho laundry without .giving tho regulation week’s notice. The 21a represented tho amount paid for tho previous week. It was submitted in defence that tho defendant had been only hired by tho day, and it was, therefore, open for her to leave without no, tice. It was also stated that tho defendant had previously told the plaintiff she intended to leave. Tho Magi?, trato hold that there was not sufficient evidence to show that the defendant was required to give a week’s notice. Judgment was given for tho defendant without costs. 1

Mr A. E. Guinness, Deputy-Speaker of tho Hou.-u of Representatives, has gone on a trip to Rotorua. The Governor has received tho following cablegram from the Secretary of Stale for the Colonies, in reply to Hie hirlhday congratulations sent by New Zealand : “His Majesty commands me to express his cordial thanks for the birthday greetings from New Zealand, whoso kind message he highly ap. preciut'•s.” The Premier has received the followinn letter from Major-General Sir Hec. tor Macdonald "Government House, Wellington, New Zealand, 3rd November, 1901. Dear Mr Seddon, —I can. not’ leave Wellington without dropping you a lino to thank you for your great kindness to mo —kindness which I shall look back upon with happiest memories of our too short acquaintance. Believe me, yours very faithfully, H. A. Macdonald.”

With reference to tho prospects of mining at the Thames, Air John Hayes, inspecting engineer, in his last annual report, says: —“In tho interests or the industry, and of tho district generally, it. appears most desirable that tho sinking of the Thames-Hau r aki ••malt should he resumed as quickly us possible, anti carried clown to a depth which will, once and for all time, s cttlc the quei ioa as to tho existence or otherwise oi payable reefs below tho lino at which operations have hitherto stopped, and which terms ttic top of what hag been described as ‘an unproductive zone.’” The Minister of Mines announces that a bonus of £IIOOO will bo paid to any person who, before tho Ist of January, 11)0-1, Vhall invent such appliances as will successfully save gold from clack sands. The invention must bo a new one, portable and capable of utilising local water. It must have a capacity of thirty cubic yards an hour, and must bo capable of treating profitably ma, tcrial which contains for each cubic yard gold valued at not more than 3d; not less than 80 per cent, of tho gold contained in tho material to bo saved by tho invention. No bonus will bo paid until the machine has boon working for at least six months, and has treated not less than IOhfOOO cubic yards of material. A now bicycle gear which revolution, isos tho ordinary method of pedalling baa been 'invented by Mr S. E. Wright. It is claimed that by the new system the power exerted by tho rider is uniform throughout, instead of allowing, as at present, an increasing or decreasing leverage. The plan patented by Mr Wright will, it is predicted, prove particularly useful in hill.climbing or against a head wind, especially as each foot is able to begin its stroke before tho other has finished. The principle of tho fx-ee wheel has been applied in this invention, and the chain is entirely done away with. The inventor states that his gear is more suitable for ladies than that now in use, since there are no revolving pedals to catch in tho skirt, and at tho same time all the running gear can be covered in. An interesting comparison between the prices realised for merino wool last season' and those obtained thirty years ago is contained' in some account sales of consignments of wool sent Homo by Air Batley, the well.known settler of Aloawhango, shown to tho “Alanawatu Standard” the other day. The shipment forwarded on November 2/, 1871, realised from Is 3d to 2s Ifd per lb in the following lots:—l763lb, 2s l^d; 6881 b, Is 10d • 4171 b, 2s id; 2081 b, Is 8d; 3321 b, Is 9d; 111 b, Is 3d. The whole of this wool, with the exception of the one bale of 4171 b, which realised £42 11s 4d — probably the largest bale and the highest price for a single bale ever given in tho colony—and which comprised . halfbred lambs-wool, consisted of merino wool. Last year Mr Batloy’s wool did not realise fid per lb.