SOCIAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10919, 28 September 1897, Page 2

SOCIAL AND GENERAL.

PERSONAL.

The death is announced of the Rev. Joseph Bates (Anglican). '-The deceased was a member of the Auckland Education Board,' and last year visited England iv the hope of restoring his health. ■ . An old identity passed away on toe 20th in toe person of Mr Henry Clapcott, who was well known and highly esteemed throughout Otago. The deceased gentleman waH trained in the first place-far the church, but sifter his arrival in the colony by the barque Hanbnry he took up a run at Popotunoa Gorge. Subsequently he became as-ooiated with the Government Life Insurance department, and visited many pr.rts of the colony in his capacity as lecturer in the interests of that department. The death occurred at Wellington on ths sth inst. of Mr Tallis Trimnell, the well-known musician, formerly of Auckland. The deceased wati jud^e of the bands content at Dunedin in 1891 aud at Wellington the following year. He was to have acted sit the Oanoaru contest next November. The Oamaru Mail says that it will be gfcuerslly conceded thst the musical world of Naw Zealand has lost its most illustrious figure. Modest to a degree very unusual with I thote who are devotees of the art, Mr Trimuc.U I had earned distinction long before he came '.o this colony, alike as an organist, composer of church music, instructor of brass bands, and adjudicator of bund contests, in which latter I CA]J 3ci(.y ho had been associated with Lieti- ! (criraifc Obarles GudFray and other eminent I mocicians at many of the most notable coutests in England, his experience in that direction datias back to the early siztieß.

I News has r?aehetl Dnnedin of the death in ' Sydney, on the 15th ult., of Mrs Michslsen, ' wife of the Rjv. O. MicheUen, of the IS^ew Hebrides Mission. Mrs Michslsen was born m Malta, where the regiment of which her father was chaplaia wag stationed at the time of hoc birth. Previous to her marriage with Ac Michelsan she was acting as ons of Df B«----uardo's secreUri-s. Ou her way to the Islands she visited New Zealand less than four years ago with her husband on h; s return from his furlough, after ten years' labour id the New Hebrides. In Otago and Southland she mada many Mauds, and left a good impress.on on all she citne in contact with. Oa reaching the Islands she entered upon the work falling to her lot with great earnestness and zeal, specially engaging herself in instructing and training the native children. The tropicil climate soon began to tell upon her, and she became sublet; to fainting fits. At length she became too weak to enga«e in the reqnirsd work, and her removal to n less trying climate bscame a necessity. She was brought a few mouths ago to Sydney, where she was placed mmer the care of Dr Lee, of Wollocgong, who had been her family medical adviser in Britain. All attention was bestowed upon her, bub scarcely any hope was entertained of her recovery, or esen of her rallying so as to enable her to visit New Zealand, which she was desiroui of doing. Gradually she weakened more and more. Oa the 15th nib.'she fell into a quiet sleep, and without awakening she passeM away into the unseen world unconscious of the absence ot her husband at work at his post in the Islands, lo him and to the mission in which hi is engaged her death cannot fail to prove a great trial and j occasion no small difficulty. Dr James Kilgonr, of Parnell, has died, aged 85 years. He arrived in Melbourne in 1839, ana at Nelson (New ZjaUnd) in 1859. Alter that • he went to Pieton and WelUugton, but Ittt ; Wellington in 1869 for'the Thames go.dSelds. lln 189Dj he practically retired to live at Parnell.' Miss Ehel Be..jwjiin, who not long ago was admitted a? a barrister and solicitor of the i Supreme Court of New ZiaUnd, made her flfsS j professional appearance at a sitting of the Magistrate's Cnuct on 17th inst., being emplojed by the plaintiff in an action for the recovery ot a debb." The event was a somewhat interesting I oue from the fact that it was the flrsS occasion upon which a lady lawyer appeared as counsel ia any case in the Bupire ; and although Miss Bet.iimin had absolutely uo difficulties to en- ! tend with (the case being undefended), she j might possibly regard it as of good omen that she j was on the winning side. ~,.,. en i Word was received in town on the lith ot tne i death of Mr Thomas- Ddnniston, at ths house j of his eldest son, Mr Justice Denniston, in '. Christchurch. The deceased gentlem\n, who ' was highly e3te3iued, was bom in Scotland m 1823, and^ arriving ia Dunedin, with his wife and family in 1862, he has resided either in Otago or Southland ever since. He was engaged i in sheep-farming for some years, bufi Jattsrly he ' filled the position of editor. oE the Southland Times, failing health compelling him Qually to- \ resign that post. For practically the wliolo ot , ! the present year, indeed, he wasconfiued to hia ''bed. He leaves'-a family of four sons— • j Mr -Tintice Dannistou, Mr T. P. Dennisten (oh s ■ Ida Valley), Mr Q. L. Dsnnistoa (of this city), . and Mr A. J. Deniilston (of the Buik of New Zealand. Auckland),' whila Mrs E. I<\ Cuthbarli--1 Bon (of Invereargillj is the only daughter. ' An #old identity of Auckland named W. EoUis has died at the age of 69. He arrived in-1840 at | the Bay of Islands, aud in the early d*ys worked in the copper mines ab K*wau. Mr William Thomson, who died at Maori , Hill on the 4th inst., at the advanced age oi 86 i i years, received a mercantile traiuing in LiverL 1 pool, and in 1845 went out to India, laadiug in J i Calcutti as the new partner in the firm of Malcolm and Co. Daring his 18 years' residence ia India Mr Thomson became largely interested • in the jute industry, and he had extensive 5 indigo plantations and an important factory at , Tirhoot; while he also experimented iv the production of coffee, but this did not turn out L' so well as his venture in the tea line, which was the beginning of a very important concern. Mr Thomson was a pioneer in the Indian tea-grow-ing business, his plautation at Assam being the 1 second that was started there. As the outcome 3 of his energy and application, Mr Thomson was P able to retire from India with a' csnsidsrabla fortune, and he settled down in England to I enjoy his life quietly ; but as che re<ult of (he • crisis of 1866—Overeorl aud Gurnoy's year and 3 the stoppage of the Agra Bank—his plans had to ' be altered, aud, coming to New Zealand in 1863, 1 he settled three years later in Duiie.'Hn, where I his family have largely identified themselves •with the history of the place, Mr J. C. Thomson aud Mr G. M. Thomson being two of his sons. . . ' . . II The North Otago Times, of the Ist iusfc. p ssys :—"The very sudden death of the only daughter of Mr Malcolm M'Kellar, manager of the Otsk*iice station, will be received with S widespread regreS"in the Upper. Waitaki. We r • believe she only complained of illness oa the ' day of bar death, aud although all that '• intdical skill could do was done- the little girl a succumbed to ftu acute attack of inflammation of ~ the bowels. Mr M'Kellar was himself so ill ab the time that he had to be carried into the L' room where his daughter lay dying. The cira cutusfanoes have called forth general sympathy ,£ in the district for the parents in their sad and sudden bereavement." n

CASUALTIES,

A boy named King, aged three year 3, was killed while swinging on a gate afc Kiiwarra, Wellington, ou the 7bh, with other children. He fell off, and his head was jammed between the gate and a post. He died ia a few minutes. Information has been received of the death afe Melbourne oE Mr G. E. F. Schullze, who, while in Uunediu some years ago, married a granddaughter of the Jafce Mr John Joues. The deceased, who was between 30 and 40 years of age, was a son of the late Mr C. W. Sahullze, of Wellington, and after his marriage settled for a time ab Waikouaiti. At Wellington a child, three years old, named Kathleen O'HaHoran, the daughter of a corporation employee, was drowned in the harbour. She went out to play between 12 and 1 o'clock ou the Bth with an older member of the family, and when paddling in the water w;is washed off her feet by a wave and was drowned before help could reach her. Patrick O'ftleara, wh.7 met with au accident at the Wellington drainage work* owing to. a full of earth ou the 6;h, succumbed oa the Btn. , Deceased was only 31 years of age, and leaves a young wife. He was formerly mining on the ) West Coast. Edward Long, a swagger, was • brougut to Chrutehucch from Colgate outh«Bbh, ami died ntxt inoruiug, He was .in a destitute condition, aud was suffering from rheumatism. It is not kuown whether he has acy relatives m the colony. . " ■ ■ Bftrtha Summerton, three years old, died somewhat suddenly at Ciiriatchurch on the Bih. She had been suffering from iufluecza some tiaia ago, but was apparently well tha day before her death. Her mother states that she swallowed a pin gome time ago. A man named M. Philips left the Awatere Accommodation House, M.irl borough, with a horse and dray on th-3 9;h insfc. The dray was found nssfc moruiup, two miles off, upset, j Piiilil)S was lying Aen.'i under the horse. - . : At au inquest at P.ilmcrston North on the 14th on the body of W. J. Delahunfcy, a baotm&ker, who was killed on the Manawatu railway line oo the previ'.ui Saturday night, a verdict of "Found dead" was returned. Tha death is announced of Mr T. O.^ D'Arcy, a Wairarapa pioneer of 42 years, standing. . ... Another fatal accident by falling into a boiling hole happaned at Ilotoru* to a young Native girl named Lucy Ngapuua, a member of the Tuhourangi tribe. She was cominar out of Paul's wbare at 8 .o'clock on the 16th insh, when she fell into a boiling spring. Sufficient time elapstd before she was got out to preclude all hopes of her recovery, aud she died about 3 o'clock yesterday morning after undergoing nmohagouy. Deceased.was a great favouriti with tourists and others at Wbakarewarewa. Thetbrea-auri-R-half-ieir-oldson of J. B'>babt, of M»h»rahara, N. 1., was burnsd to drath on the 17th inst. The boj's dress caught fire during the temporary absence of his. mother. He v?fts terribly injured about the body and fice, ami died ab mid-day. John Leslie, a farmer of OUkeho, N. 1,, was killed ou the 14th through the capsizing of his rl(Jn the 18th inst. Viggo Lykke (18), a new arrival from D.-ijirawk, hanged himself in a cowshed at Tahoraito, N.I. The body was warm when fouud, but efforts to induce raspjratign failed His toes were touching the ground, as if the straightened knees hud taken '.he strain off the rope. Btfore the youth cw.e Banevirke he twice attempted suicide by poisoa and aA S'cuUd named John M'Guffie Black.vood, three months old, the son of Archibald Blackwood, employed iv the Hillside workshop', and residing at Richmond street, South Dunedin. died suddenly on the morning of the 31st uU. An inquest was held in thß afternoon before Mr E H. Carew, coroner. Vrom tho,evidence, it appeared that the infant eommeucad crying iv the night, bub was easily.ipufc,to, sleep again. Mr Blackwood left home at 7 o'clock to go to his work, leaving his wife and.infaufc apparently sk-epinp iv bed Mrs BUckwpod awokashortly afterwards and found the chi^d lying still and paie. She becamo alarmad aud .called jn a neighbour, and Dr Fultou w,ai.dest»atched for. The doctor arrived about half-past 8,,bu1; found life to be extinct. He gave it »s hisopimon that death was due to convulsions. A verdict

to that effect was returned. An inquest was held at Alexandra on 3rd inst., before Mr Jamefl Rivers, acting coroner, on the body of .lames Kelly, who was found drowned iv the Molyncux Kiveron the 2nd hist., and the jury returned a verdict of " Acci leatal drowniug while in a state oi intoxication." At ftu icqufist on a girl named Edith Carter, who disd at Pslmerston North on the 4th inst. while undergoing a dental operation, tbe jury returned a verdict "That the deceased died from paralysis of thehsatt, caused by lubal&tion of meth^lice."

At, the Hospital on the let insi, Mr Ei. j H Ca-ew, district coroner, and a jury of _s>x , he'd an inqusst oh the body of Frederick ; Thomw Wood, ag-«l 21, who died in the in,t.- j tution on the previom diy. Gaorge Wood said he had lived with his brother id a tourroomed fcor.se ab the Upper Junction They went to bad at 10 o'clock on fee 29;h ult, and at about 3 o'clock next morning witness, who aloot in a separate room from his brother a, was awakened by a strong smell of smoke. He iumped out of bed and opened the bedroom door leadins into the kitchen, where the smoke was very thick. Ha immediately closed the door and jumped out through the window. He went qucldy round the house to see tba u his brother was safe. He smashed the glass of the back window. The window was 4F6 from the "round and he coald nob get it up. Ha then emashed in the back door with an axe. Oa ■roiag ioside he tripped over hi a brother, who was lying on the floor. He got hold of him and dragged him out by the leg. His brother was delirious, and was badly burned about; the hands and Faoe. He w&s removed to the hospital. After further evidcuce a. verdict of ' Death from burns " was returned. At an inquest on the body of .james Kennecn Tavlor o£ Te Aroamutu, Auckland, a verdieb was relumed of "Accidental death by a fall from ahorse." A child, seven months old, the son of Martin Larson, a labourer, of Maungatua, died suddenly ab 1 a.m. on the Ist insi. It had been in a weakly state since its birth. A mm named Frederick Muhlenbruck, a miner residing in the Stafford distiiet, 67 years of age, left tbe Westland Hospital one morning receutly, aud later on his body was found in s. little pool at the bottom ot a steep gully at the back of fie hospi'al. There is little doubt that is was a determined case of Buicide. Tha poor old fellow had evidently gone down the gully, carefully laid bis crutches by a tree, and deliberately put his face in tbe pool, which was nob afoot deep—so shallow, in fact, that the back of his head was out of the water. At (he inquest it was elicited that deceased was suffering from a diseasa in the legs, bub was improving, and mould prob»b'.y hive b<-en well enough to leave (he hospital in about (hree weeks. He was of a very despondent temperament;, though there was nothing to indicate a predisposition to selfdestruction. Hs was earning but little at his claim, and was in very pcor circumstances.

MISCELLANEOUS

A painful case came under the notice of the Asbbarton bench on the 2nd iust. A young fallow, about 23, well dres-ed, well educated, and evidently of pupsrior upbriogiog, had (the Mail reports) culled the previous eveuing at the police siktioa, and stated to the sergeant the position in which he fcund himself. He had beeu only 15 months in the c ilouy, and his experience in New Zealand hid bseu anything but pleasant. He had bad but little work of any kind all thai; time. Hi had, iust walked frotnTemuka, where he had been for three weeks trying to get work, without succsss. He w?.s now literally starving, and had not the wherewithal to procure a meal. In his deHitufce condition, having no friends in this island, he had lost hearS arid was despairing, and he ask«d the sergeant, for mercy's sake, to take him.in chirge »3 a parson'withouVluwful visible me»ns or support, so that he might ha-able thus to secure a moufchful of food atd somewhere to lay his head for the night. The sergeant took him in, fed him, and gave him Buch shelter for the nig'it aa a cell r.iffi;trded, and next morning he wa3 charged with vagrancy. The bsnch said it was a sad position f .rr an apparently respectable young man to find hinwlf in. lv the ordinary course of the liw he should be sent to gaol, bu-/ this they were not prepared to do. It was a monstrous thing that in a Christian c'ouutry like New Z^land a young f«llnw like this should be unable to find wori sufficient to provide himself with food. The Bench infcere-ifed <.hem<elves for the wanderer, and a week's board and lodging at oue of the boarding house 3 having bean guaranteed to him, the <w.sa was nismi-sed. The railway revenue for the colony for the four weekly period enrliug on the 2<Hh July Hut was £88.922 Os lOd, and the expenditure £68 037 2s Id. Of. the re^nue the North Island lines contributed £32 715 17s Id, and those in Ihe'Middle Island £56,203 3s 9i (of which £48.939 <U 4-d was derived from tha Humuai-Bluff section). The expenditure oa the North Island was £25,462 8s 6d, aud that of the Middle Island £42.574 13 > 7d. Mr T. Mackenzie, the oldest resident in "VVelliu»tou, in the course of a lecture en the early da.vs, said that iv tha first marriage celebrated iu'"WeUinstou the bridegroom was su Irith coloaisti aud the marriage was celebrated in real Irish fashion, one of the guests beiug laid up for two raontbs from a blov/ on the head inflicted with a tomahawk. The parties proceeded to get redress and as the, court was badly iv w&ut of funds, the magistrate -impair-1 liaUy flaud each or the witnesses £]~ while llw bridegroom had to j».-.y £2. According to the magisttatie the latter was. the causa ot the quarrel, because if he had uot got married there would have b>>cn uo trouble. . . A young .woman. 22 years, of age presented herself to the Wangiwmi magistrate recently aud asked that a prohibit ion order should bsy made against her. She said aha bad arrived ia town a fortnight before from Patea with saline £15 iQ. hec pocket, and' had imnsdiatsiy begun to "knock it down." She is described as a girl of " prepo»S3Sßing appearance, frosh complexioo, aud with a faC3 that would do credit to a pure and womanly girl," but when before the magistrate she r.ppsared on the verge of delirium tremens, and admitted that she was a victim to drink. Mr Kettle, S.M., expressed surprise that the police Had uot noticed .tne girl and stopped her from drinking, and usued a prohibition order applying to all the public houses in the district. ~,.,..,. The vital statistics for the Duaedm district for the momh of August v are as under :—Births, 91; deaths, 66; marriages, 13. For tha month of August last ys&r the figures were :—Births, 95 ; deaths, 41 ; marriages, 22. The Auckland Star reports that last week, while two men were out rabbiting in Pearose they came across a number of human skeletons in a cave near the Qtahufcu road. There were about hall'-a-di.zuii skeletons ia the cave, and they were arranged in the form of a circle. The remains are most likely skeletons of Mioris. There was buried at sea. on-the 31st ulfc. some ruiles. outjido Lyttelton Heads, the body of an old lady who passed away two days ago, at the age "of.. 87 years. By the terms ot hsr will, made a few years ago, she directed that her body should bs either cremated or buried at sea; aud a3 thu former method was. unfortunately impossible, the body was embalmed, encased iv a lead shell, and committed to the deep iv the presencs of her relatives and Dr Ireiug. The service was performed by the Hsv. A. W. Averill, Vicar of St. Michael's and. All. Angel*'. ... The death is recorded of Mr J. C. Macintyre, railway stafcionaiasfcer .at .Lyttelton. Tiie. deceased joined tha railway service in 1878, and occupied many positions of trust on. the Dunetlin section, including that of chief clerk at O-imaru. Subsequently he bacams relieviu^ orScsr, and then st-itioutnaster at Kaiapoi aud Timiru. From the latter place.he was removed to Lytfceltoa in Jua« of lxst year. A collision occu>red on the railway lins_ at Burkes on the 4th inst., the train which left town at 7.5 and the train which left Port Cbalinera at the same time coming into slight contact on the siding at the Burkes station. The train from Dunedin arrived firs! at tne crossing place, and was shunting on to the siding. The man in charge had opsiiod the pi>mt» at the lower junction of the" siding in ordec thit, if necessary, the train might outer oa to the mum line and tben back on to the straight rails at the upper (or town) cud of the sidiug. The idea of opening the points and back shuntmg 15 to giva accprnm- datipn should the tram which takes the sidiug hi too long to find room on Ihs side line. On this oecision these lever points wore opened, and tne man in charge—ordinarily oue of the most reliable officers in the service—forg.it to close them again, whsrefore the up-troiu slid into the siding and ran into the stationary train. The imoact was comparatively slight, as the train f com the Port had stopped at the semaphore and wa? msrely crawling in to tbe station ; but, liuht as the blow was, ili sufficed to damsge the ccwcitch^r snd dis-fl^'ure the frontispiece ot the moving ei:giue. No one, however, smtamcrt the least id jury. There happened to bo another engine handy, and thia was vied to take the trdn to Pore after a short deteutiou. Tha.uptrain passengers ware delayed nearly au hour, casing a lojs of time to the workmen who were on board. , , The list of dairy factories in the colony and theßmount of their output for the seasou 1&9&-/ has iust besn issued by the Department ot A-rculture, aud shows that the amount ot butler aud cheese manufactured was: Cheese, 4608 tons; and butter. 1566 tons. The following shows the amount produced in the <Utferent provincial districts :— Cheese. Eultcr. Tons. Toms. 247 B3fl 9«-> 2 :!2!* ;;; i.ios 'aic 03 78 _ 51 GS (vl 07!) 510 1 ««2 523

Auckland t T^ranaki Wellington Hiiwke's Bay Nelson Marlborough Canterbury ...' Otago and Southland

Among preventable disaa«B typhoid fever still has an undesirable proininen.Cß iv this couulry. In WwiKanui, at present, there is sorao excitement because of the prevalence of this disease, and there has been somo newspaper correspondence on the sul.jert. The He»ld states editorially that the number of eases "f typhoid foyer admitted to the hospitals of the colony during 183G wan 540, and the deaths resulting therefrom numbered 48. At tho Auckland H. spital there- were 16+ cases and 16 dentha ; Wpll; i»fitou 85 cases ami 1 death ; Chrihtchurcb, G9 ca«e« and G deaths ; liauedin, 5 eases and 2 dettlis Of the towns n.-.xb in order, Napier had 33 cases and 5 deaths ; Gisborne, « easea anrt 5 C&tAm ; Thames, 29 oases sun 5 deaths ; Wai|>ukurau U cases an-l 1 death ; Coromnudel. 14 nasea kud 2 deitha ; Tim-Ai-u, 12 c.ises ; New riymouth, 11 ciaes ;' Hwailton, 11 cases aud 1 death; Waimatc, 11 cases; Palmerstou North,

9 cases and odeaths; Ashburton, 6 aw* and 1 death • Nelson, 5 ease* ; Masterton, 4- cw.es; VYaagauni, 2 cases : Grey town, 2 cases ; luvercargUl, 2 cases ; Clyde, 2 cases ; Oatn^u 1 case aud 1 de.iUi; Queen^fcowu, 1 ease and 1 death; Arrowtown, lease. A cable message receutly stated that the raavor of Ballavat hid refused to w&lcorae Mr Ben Till&tt on the ground of disloyalty on the part of the latter and certain members ot tne | Assembly at a dinner in South Melbaurce, when | the toast of " The Q leen" w*s contemptuously j treated The Argus of the 30ch ult. gives an account of the occurrence to which reference is made. It is (our contemporary nays) not otteu th^t the toast of "TheQaren" is trea-.ed with marked discourtesy in Victoria, but the gathering of labour representatives who met Sir Ban Tillelt ab luncheon at the Silver Gate Hotel, South Melbaurne, on Saturday made a disagreeable display of their disloyalty, possibly with the objecst of impressing their visitor w.th an idea of tbe stage of progress m democracy which they had already attained. Mr Stephen Barker, who was in the <*a' r>™" to his feet and proposed the toast ot me Queen" without comment, but there was no response, and for about the spice of 10 seconds the 30 or 40 representatives of labour who were present, including fiee members of tne Lsg.s.ative Assembly, sat doggedly in their place?, and made no sign of ri*iu ff . " This »an awkward pause," said someone, and the banqueter* looked at one another, each apparently waiting to see how' the cat would jump. I'inally, «ir Ben Tilletli, who sat next to rhe chairman, rose ta his feet,-and raised his glass to his hps, with tbe off-handed rsmark, "Oh, yes. let us dnok to her health, or that of any other old lady With their apprehensions sot at rest, the polite banqueters rose to their »Vt, went through tha form of drinking' in comylele s-leuce, and then sat down. It was au edifying specacle .ot " democracy."