LOCAL AND GENERAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 5008, 4 July 1903, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mrs Seddon, president of the Soldier’ Graves Guild, acknowledges the receipt of a subscription of £lO from Mr G. A. Storer. of Dunedin, and one of £5 5s from Mr George Mnsgrove. The death occurred yesterday at the hospital of Mr Hugh. Cameron, a son of one of the original settlers on tho eastern shores of 'Wellington harbour. The deceased was very well known in the city. He was a comparatively young man.

Good progress is being made by the contractor for tho formation of the bowling green for 'the recently-formed Karori Chib. A meeting of members is to be held next week for tho purpose of electing permanent officers and adopting rujes for the conduct of the club.

Tho Saturday and Monday classes of the Shakespeare Club aro to meet ha future in tlae Sct Zealand Alliance rooms, at the corner of Manners and Willis streets. A general meeting of the club is to be held on tho 13th iust.

The question of establishing woollen mills at Mastertou is still engaging the attention of tho farming conununity, and others. in that district. It is expected that some definite move will bo made at a meeting of tho Mastertoia branch of the Farmers’ Union, called to discuss the question to-day. Tho Court of Appeal has fixed the case of the Minister of Mines v. Hislop for Monday next, the Waimato County Council t. McLean for Tuesday and tho appeal of Reid v. Mew Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company for tho same day. It is expected that the last mentioned case will occupy at least a week.

The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company has fraaned a new by-law dealing with tho trespass of aniiuals on its lino. Tho owner of any animal so trespassing is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, while provision is also made for tho impounding of any animals found on tho oompauy’s line. Permanent asphalt courts are likoly to be put down in the near future by the Karon Tennis Club, though tho matter is in abeyance pending a decision regarding an offer made by the club to a local institution for a loaso of certain land. If these negotiations ond satisfactorily, a beginning with the work of putting down tho courts will he made during the present month. At tho Victoria College Debating Society’s meeting, to be held at the Girls’ High School this evening, a debate is to take place on a motion, “That no event in tho history of this colony has had more injurious effect on tho morale of its people than tho despatching of contingents to Soutli Africa.” Mr H. H. Ostler will take the affirmative ana Mr T. Y. Seddon the negative. Yesterday tho Court of Appeal, consisting of the Chief Justice, Justices Denniston,Oonoliy,Edwards and Cooper, was engaged with tho hearing of a Crown.' caso reserved by tho Chief Justice from Napier under the Criminal Code Act, 131)3. A man named Henry Stanley was indicted lor incest with nis adopted daughter, a girl of the age of sixteen yeai-s. The jui-y found the prisoner guilty. His Honor had reserved the point of whether tho accused was father of tho girl within tho meaning of tho Act. Having heard Mr 801 l'n support of the conviction, tho Coui-t reserved judgment. There was no appearance on behalf of tho prisoner. Tho lion secretary for tho colony of tho Australasian Association for tho Advancement of Science has been informed by Sir J. G. W T ai-d that the Government is disposed to render handsome assistance to tho local committee arranging for the meeting of tho association at Dunedin in January : next. Tho Government will place £SOO on tho Estimates, all printing will _be dono froo of cost, railway passes will bo issued to all visiting members, the socretary will be authorised to frank all correspondence, and any assistance tho Government departments can render will bo cheerfully given.

Miss Nellie Stewart has donated twenty guineas to the Wellington Hospital. Writing on behalf of Miss Stewart to the secretary of the Hospital Trustees yesterday, Mr Chas. B. Westmacott, manager of the company of which Miss Stewart is principal, says: —“I am instructed to express Miss Stewart’s groat disappointment at having been too indisposed to visit your hospital yesterday. Miss Stewart wishes to mark her grateful appreciation of the many kindnesses shown to members of her profession on the part of your institution, towards the funds of which (Miss Stewart hopes the enclosed cheque may be of some small assistance.”

The case of Guard Turner, recently dismissed from the railway service by reason of his accidental neglect, to stop a train at a flag station'where a goods-train for the Thames was to pass, was brought under the notice of the Minister of Railways yesterday oy Messrs Herries, Hogg, Buchanan, Lang and Massey, M.H.R.’s, who urged that the punishment should be mitigated, especially as dismissal would involve the loss of pension. The Minister, while being aware of Guard Turner’s groat popularity j n the service, said that the mistake he had made constituted one of the highest offences against the regulations, and dismissal was inevitable. After a lapse of time, possibly something would bo done to mitigate the blow.

An outbreak of fire occurred yesterday morning on the top floor of the Colonial Mutual buildings, in premises used by Mi- A. Levy as a clothing factory. The fire was discovered before it had progressed far, and was suppressed before inuch damage was done. Mr Levy has his stock and plant insured in the Alliance office for £750. Tho loss ho suffers is by haring to cloao down tho factory until the whole of tho electric wires, which are placed under tho flooring, are overhauled. Ho had a large quantity of clothing mado up’ for different warehousemen, who have the goods insured. Some of the stock was slightly damaged by smoke. The building is insured in the Phoenix office for £IIO,BOO. Sir "W. H. Ware, electrical inspector for tho Underwriters’ Association, is of opinion that the outbreak was duo to the arcing of an electric wire. This, he says, was probably brought about by excessive leakage caused by moisture. °

In connection with our remarks in yesterday’s issue on the subject of the, widening and straightening of the Hutt road and railway, it has been brought under our notice that a good few years ago the late Mr W. H. Levin made an offer to tho Government to do the work of reclamation and formation 1 if he was in return given the freehold of the land he reclaimed 1 or such part of it as was not required for road and railway. Mr Levin had quantities taken and estimates prepared by a thoroughly competent engineer, and it cannot ho doubted that ho satisfied himself of tho feasibleness and lucrative nature of the project before he made the offer referred to. Although the Government thought fit to decline the proposal, it is evident that if the scheme would have p ovcd payable then, it would bo much more so now, and might, indeed, he remunerative to a syndicate on the "alternate blocks” land grant system. In tin's connection, a correspondent, ‘Dock Trust,” writes suggesting that an arrangement might bo entered into between ‘he Government and the Harbour Boa-cl. whereby the material raised by the Board’s new dredge might bo used for tho purpose of reclaiming tho foreshore between Thorndon esplanade and Pctono—tho Board receiving in return a certain proportion of reclaimed land by way cf dock endowment. The matter is ono that might very well form the subject of eosideration by the Harbour Board. w : th a view to opening ;:p negotiations with the Government,

To-day—“ the glorious fourth ” —is tho anniversary of tho-signing of the Declaration of American Independence. The Dannevirkc Borough Council has voted a subsidy of £25 towards tho establishment of technical classes in that town. Land in tho new St. Helens Settlement, near Oamaru, is being keenly competed for. There aro 71 a.pplications for throe sectitons. Mr F. Short, the Commissioner appointed to inquire into the cost of * maintenance of tho Makuri-Pongaroa road, has finished hi* investigations, and will make his report in a few days. Tho quantity of Has graded for export at the port of Wellington during tho month of June was ASo 7 bales, weighing 978 tons, as compared with 5831 bales, weighing 1170 tons, for the month of May. hour hundred and thirty-two bales were graded at Blenheim. A handsome silver-mounted oak salad bowl, which has been presented to tho New Zealand Fox-terner Club, is ou view at Ross’s, Willis street. Tho bowl is to bo competed for at tho forthcoming Auckland show, and will bo presented to tho owner of tho best foxterrier pup. The club is donating two gold medals for competition at the same show. Tho wines made at the well-known Te Mata vineyard, Hawke’s Bay, aro now being placed on tho market in large or small quantities through Messrs Eil.sou aud Duncaai, merchants. Port Ahui'iri (Napier). These wines aro well matured. and aro spoken of as being remarkably fine testimony to the capabilities of Hawke’s Bay as a wine-producing centre. The officers of tho Stock Department have been experimenting in the Wairarapa with a specific for destroying ragwort. The weed on the patch operated upon was vci'y thick, and’the spe-' cifio appears to have eradicated it. It will not bo certain until the spring, however, that tho experiment is successful. If it is, the Government will probably purchase the patent, which is tho property of Messrs Miller and Falloon. At the dinner of the Wellington Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Society last evening tho following intimated. their intention of presenting gold medals for competition next year:—Proprietors “New Zealand Times,” Frosh Food and Ice Company, Messrs D. Murphy, R. E. Bannister, J. Cui'rie, FBraclley, F. E. Cooper, C. Camping, W. B. McKenzie, H. Arnold and A. B. (Alpo. Mi- A. Walker (Auckland) promised a lady’s bracelet. In respect to the reported disagreement betivteeu Mr George Mnsgrovo and the Opera House Company as to tho right of tho directors to free seats at performances, the secretary of the Opera House Company writes to say that the meeting of shareholders to bo held on the 13th inst. is an adjourned general meeting of shareholders. This meeting was adjourned on the 14th April, and the board then contemplated an alteration in tho agreement, long before Mr Musgrove raised tho question.

The poultry show attracted a largo number of people to tho Skating Bank yesterday. Compared with last year, the receipts are highly satisfactory, and when the accounts are balanced there should bo a fairly substantial surplus. The art union tickets were numerously purchased, and this proved an additional source of revenue to tho society. A number of incubators by various makers on exhibition at the show were critically examined by fanciers, while tho exhibits of machinery for treating fowl food were objects of interest to many. Tho show trill remain open to-day and this evening. A number of Chinese in Wellington have been suspected of importing quantities of opium into tho city. The detection of these cases, however, has boon extremely difficult, by reason of tho measures which the Chinese take to conceal the opium on their premises. Yesterday afternoon Detective Cox, Mr Johnston (Collector of Customs) and MrBaul (a lauding waiter) paid a surprise visit to the shop of Fan Tu, Chinese fruiterer, Adelaide road. After a thorough search of the premises they found ten tins of opium amongst a number of empty boxes stacked in the backyard. Tho opium found is valued at £2 15s per tin. Speaking at the annual dinner of the Poultry Society last night, Mr' D. D. Hyde (Government poultry expert), gave some convincing figures illustrating tho importance and growth of the poultry industry in New Zealand of lato years. Last year the export ho said, totalled 38,000 birds. This year it was over 100,000, and that, he added, 1 only represented a fifteenth part of the orders sent to the colony. Poultry raisers were not in a position to supply tho demand. Such a prosperous state of things, Mi- Hyde continued, augured we,ll for tho future of the industry, and in a fow years the profit to ho derived from breeding poultry for export would be more generally exercised. The largo increase in the exports and the demand for Now Zealand poultry at Home and in South Africa, ho attributed mainly to tho system of grading now carried on by tbo Government. “Ex-Irregular” forwards tho following particulars of the conditions of service for the King’s South African War modal; which may be of assistance to any ex-members of South African Irregular Corps now in this colony. Thus communication has boon forwarded to him from the Headquarters Staff Office, Capetown: Conditions Eighteen months’ service in South Africa, some portion of which must have’been on or between tbo dates Ist January 1902, and 31st May, 1902. Individual applications should now be made for this modal, as follows:—(a) it the applicant’s last corps belonged to the Cape colonial forces, to Colonial Military Secretary (medals), Capo Colonial Forces, 57 Parliament htreet. Capetown. (b) If to South African Mounted Irregular Forces, to 0.0., Discharge Depot, tho Castle, Capetown. Every application should contain the following particulars: (a) Full name and adress to which _ medal should ho sent; (b) alj corps in which served, in consecutive order, according to date. The qualifying service in.the Cape Colonial Irregular Forces, such as special squadrons, district mounted troops, town guards, etc., is limited by the following conditions:—(a) Must have served in a column personally commanded by either of tho following:—Colonel Lukin, C.M.R., or Oojonol Crewe, ami (b) served in such force beyond bis district. Two clasps will be granted: fa) a clasp “South Africa. 1901.” to nil who served in South Africa, on or between Ist January, 1901, and 31st December 1901; fbl a clasp, “South Africa." 1902,” to all who served in South Africa on or between Ist January, 1902 and 31st May 1902. Tho above clasps will be worn “with tho Queen’s medal” by those qualified to receive them; if they are not entitled to receive tbo King’s medal. If they arc entitled to the King’s medal, the above clasps will he Worn w(th it.

Speaking last night in regard to tho visit of throe members of tho House, Messrs Ailken, JJuthio and Buchanan, to lho Porirua Asylum, tho Hon \V. Hah-Jones, replying to tiio objection that ]parb of tho building was upon too low a site, stated biiat lie had'beon informed that tho sito waa a very good ono, .and that it waa sloping ground. As to tho complaint that rimu Imu been used for the joists, tho Minister said that tho architect had recommended this wood, and pointed out that tho rimu of. the .North Island, if well .selected, would last almost as long as heart of totara. Tho fire-escapes at Porirua, tho Minister also explained, were sullicient.

In speaking to a representative of tho “Times”' last evening, Mr D. IX llydo expressed groat satisfaction at tho progress made at tho Government poultry station at Milton. Last year the demand for sittings of eggs exceeded tho supply, but this season littlo difficulty is anticipated in the fulfilment of all orders. Over fifty birds have been added to the' breeding-pens, while tho number of fowls in all classes has also been increased. Particular attention has been paid to the selection of suitable birds. During tho present season Mr Hydo visited the principal shows of tho colony, and in many instances succeeded in purchasing some tip-top birds of tho.most favoured sbraius. The buildings on tho farm at Milton now cover a largo area of ground. The establishment of a poultry station in the south, Mr Hydo stated, had been marked by signal success, and ho predicts a bright future for it.

The Kev William Thomson will deliver tho second lecture in the Soots Church, Abel Smith street, on Sunday evening, on “Stops to Faith.” Tho public aro requested to bo early in their places.

Tho D.I.C. has a full-page advertisement in our supplement to-day regarding the engagement of Air Prank L. Carr, junr., to decorate its windows. Mr Carr is said to bo the champion decorator of tho world, and has wan many medals anti other honours in the older countries. Ho has received complimentary letters from King Edward and tho late Queen Victoria, Presidents Cleveland and McKinley, Admiral Dewey and other notable people. Mr Carr’s first work in this 'city is to bo tho arranging in artistic stylo in the spacious windows of tho D.I.C. of a huge array of New Zealand blankets. This "blanket exposition," apart alto got her from it;? appeal to the eye, should bo of great value as an advertisement of pure Now Zealand woollen goods. Ten pair* of Antwerp and homing pigeons, which were imported from tho loft of Dr \V. G. Grace, England arc to bo sold by Messrs Levien, Shallcrass and Co., at their rooms this morning. ■Williams and Kettle, Ltd., Napier, advertise their sale dates for July. Tho following .businesses, farms' and properties are advertised by Messrs Macdonald,. Wilson and Co.—Auctioneer's business. 3500 acres leasehold, partner for auctioneering and general storekeeping business, 500 acres Manawatu lino, hairtobacconist's and billiard saloon, building sections at Newtown and South Rood, and two dwellings in tho city. ' 1

Messrs Macdonald, Wilson and Co. direct tho special attention of capitalists and others to the sale of that splendid business bLck in Manners’street known as Whittaker's consisting of land with double frontage 50ft to Manners street, and 51ft Gin to a lane at tho rear, by a depth of 120 ft, with the three-story building thereon, s divided into shops, social hall and offices, Tho full detail* appear in the auction column It should bo noted that the salo will take plnco on Wednesday, 15th instant, and not tho IGfch instant, as previously announo* Ofl. Messrs Harcourt and Co. will submit a valuable property to auction next Friday,, namely, the family residence in Cuba street recently occupied by Dr Teare. Tha section hag a frontage of 50ft by a depth of 150 ft Gin. Particulars are given in our eighth page. A valuable collection of shrubs and plants will bo sold by Messrs George Thomas and Co., at their rooms nest Wednesday afternoon.'.under instructions from Mr John Walker, cf Mount Albert Auckland, Pictures, mirrors, watches, a singlebarrel gun. a sowing machine and other goods will be sold by Messrs Levien Shallcrass and Co. at their rooms this afternoon’. Messrd/Freeman R. Jackson and! Co. will soil stock as usual at JbhsonviJlo on Tuesday. To-day Messrs Pearson and Co., of Manners street, start a sale of eiderdown quilts and other goods. 'At the : r rooms this afternoon Messrs S'dey. Heech and Co, will sell a wholeplate camera, with Rosa lens, tripod and all accessories, after which, they will submit pnyt of __ the stock-in-trade of a cabinetmaker, who is g : ving up business, also jewellery, furniture, sewing machine and other lines, detailed in our advertising columns.

Messrs G«urg& Thomas and Co. will sell on Monday afternoon, .at their rooms, tmd-er iattractions froxh the Shaw, &avill Albion, Company, a lot of unclaimed merchapdige. The sale is to bo without reserve;", The 00-oporative Tailoring Company, in an advertisement in another column, quotes prices for suits and invite® inspection of its stock. A monster sale of drapery, etc., is announced by Mr Lindberg. Cuba street. The City Council will hold a solo of unclaimed dogs at the Bestructdr yards at 3 o'clock this afternoon. We have received a copy of Messrs Earcourt and Co/s "Register and Property Investors' Guide” for July, and as with this firm's monthly public*, tioa it is replete with valuable information to those in search of either city suburban op country properties. To these }J* search of forms or sheep stations the Register" is invaluable, as saving them considerable time by their being able to pick out likely properties and got from Messrs Harcourt and Co/s offices full deraalg and direction*? to immediately in. w-halst to the busy city man it is invaluable as it brings available city investraeats under hi® notice without cf time and gives him many op. portumties of picking up "good things ” Messrs S. and W. Mackay advertise a French Guy de Mau P assant,s novels in sssr»issa's ss

Messrs Wardoll Bros, and Co. advertise pnseg of Defiance and Champion butter. Ihe terms of sale for sections at Miramar North are advertised in anothei column by Miramar, Limited. Mr ChaseMorns is floating a building company, which will erect twenty houses as soon as the capital is subscribed. Messrs Turnbull, Watkins, and Williams are advertising on easy terms some fine sections at Berhampore, on the electric tram route . Messrs Turnbull, Watkins and Williams insert an advertisement of city properties, including residences in To Aro and Mount'Victoria, building sites in Thorndon, shop sites on the tram route, a largo factory site off Cuba street, and several sections_in the Wilton estate at Wadestown. Taitvillo sections and a paying business are also advertised. The firm notify that^ they are prepared to build on terms to suit purchasers in Hobson street. Hataitai sections are specially advertised. The July number of “The Property and Investment Index" is now ready for distribution, and will be posted free to any address. Qraphophones and records may bo obtained, for cash or on terms, at the Singeries*; Manners street.