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Otago Daily Times, Issue 15857, 1 September 1913, Page 4

During the past month 151 births wera registered in Dunedin, as against 150 for the corresponding month of last year. The deaths for the same period numbered 52, as oompared with 66 for August last year. The marriages that have so far taken place

this year promise to constitute a record, but the average was somewhat reduced last month, when the total number of weddings was 34, os against 43 last year.

In connection with the recent breakdown at Waipori, the Electric Power and Lighting Committee will recommend to the next meeting of the City Council, that tho services of Mr Ferguson (civil of Wellington) be obtained to report on the

hydraulic and constructional portion of the scheme, and that tho Government be asked

to allow its chief electrical engineer (Mr Parry) to report on tho electrical portion. Tho following motion, of which notice has been given by Cr Black, will also come up for consideration" That tihe services of an expert or experts bo scoured to report on

the whole Waipori scheme; that a 6pecial committee bo set up . to report to the council regarding' tho experts to be engaged, also on the scope of the inquiry."

Tho Navy League (Otago Branct) list

week forwarded to each of the 42 seconaary and primary school branches five volumes of books for their sohool libraries:—namely, Fitohett'a' "Nelson and His Captains"; Kltson's "Captain Cook"; and Calender's " Sea Kings " (threo volumes). The object of the Navy League is to form at least

the beginning of a historical naval and military' library for the pupils. A total of some 15 volumes during the last three years have been 6ent to over 40 schools. Acknowledging the last pnrcel, the head master of o'no of the large primary schools •writes: "As the years go by we become moro and more deeply indebted to the league."

Thero was a large attendance at tho closing meeting of the, St. Andrew's Literary and Debating Club on Saturday evoning, when Mr D- H. Rogers delivered a most entertaining and stimulating address on the writings of M. Anatolo France. With tho aid of numerous extracts, Mr Rogers conveyed an excellent idea of the, penetrating- thought and incisive humour of this brilliant writer. ,Many fundamental questions connected with the origin of private ownership, war, trusts and combines, eocial evolution, and other kindred matters wore touched upon both by the speaker and by those who took part in tho interesting discussion that followed .the paper. Mr Rogers, who was accorded a very cordial vote of thanks, replied in conclusion to a number of questions that had been raised by speakers.

A short sitting of the City Pol'co Court was held before Mr, H, Y. Widdowson, S.M., on Saturday morning. Thomas Ritchie tos charged, on two informations, iritdi failing to send lits child to School during the month of August. As he had f boon convicted of a similar offenoe on I several previous oocasione, he was fined 10s ,' on cacli oharge,' -with costs (7s). L According to tho West Coast Times, the parto of sovereigns presented to Mr H.- ti *" Michel last week by his friends and supporters in tho Grey S electorate contacted cam.

-A'''brisk .demand -hie irisen (a Press As-' eociation message from New Plymouth states) for the Taranaki Oil Wells refinery's products. Consignments havo been sent to Auckland and Christehurch, and New Plymouth merchants have been supplied. The fuel oil is also being sent away as fast as it can be produced, and kerosene, lubricating oil, and wax are expected to be placed on the market this week.' Good progress is being made with drilling by various companies.: The Taranaki Oil Wells shares are in , demand, 300 being transferred last week at'lßs." '

. The St. Clair School' Committee met on Friday evening, present, Messrs, Ruhen (chairman), Lambert, Rogerson, • Speight, and Mrs Rutledge. Tho head master reported that tho' number on the roll was 216; tie average daily attendance 192, and the average last week 204. Tho inclement weather greatly reduced the average. One week the averago was only 177. Arbor Day had been duly observed; the senior boys planted a rowan tree at tho bowling green. Standard 111 had been medically inspected by Dr Patenson. Miss Alexander had resumed duty after having been absent on eick leave; Miss Miller had very capably acted as locum.tenens. The inspector's report was submitted, and was considered very satisfactory, many of. the subjecte of instruction receiving special praise, and tho manner, tone, and working spirit being referred .to as excellent. Tho committee passed a resolution thanking Mr Pope and the staff..

The traffic returns for the tramways for tho fortnight ended August 23, as compared with tho corresponding period for last year, are as followsl9l3, recoipts, £2620 8s 9d; mileage, 48,576 milc6 21 chains. 1912, receipts, £2486 16s Id; mileage, 48,796 miles 52 chains.

On Wednesday afternoon a meeting of representatives • of various churches was held in tho Presbyterian Church Hall, Milton. There was a good attendance. Jt •was moved by the Rev. Mr Patchett, seconded by Mrs Small, and agreed to--"That tlhis meeting, representing tho Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist Churches of Milton, express our strong approval of the platform of the Bible-in-State-Scbools League, and- agree to intimate this to the Prime Minister (tho Hon. Mr and to the Hon. Mr Alien (tho member for this district),' and ask them to support a referendum' as asked by the loaguo." A collection • was taken up, and ■wo 6 liberally responded to.

An impression seems to have got abroad (says our Wellington correspondent) that the motor trains, of whioh the Government has two at present on order, aro to be run on suburban'lines. The Minister of Railways states that he is advised that motor trains aro not useful for suburban traffic for the reason that , they can not carry tho heavy loads of passengers using those lines. He thinks that the trains will be found suitable rather for short branch lines in tho country districts, where the traffic is ■ not heavy and where there arc 110 steep gradients, ' ,

Our Wellington correspondent informs us that the Government's Land Bill and tho Arbitration Act Amendment Bill aro in a forward state of preparation, and both wib probably be introduced this week. Tho Land Bill, which will provide a further important instalment of the Government's land 1 policy, will probably be the first of these two bills to make its appearance. A large 1 number of reports will probably be brought down this week. The reports that may be expected include those of the Land and Labour Departments, and also the first report of tho Public Service Commissioners.

The poll of St. Kilda ratepayers on the question of whether the borough should float a loan of £25,000 for tho purpose of improving the 6treets was held on Saturday, and resulted as follows:—For tho proposal, 433 j against the proposal, 95; informal, 3. There are, roughly, about 2000 names on the roll. The voting at the three booths is worth recording, if for no other reason than to show the surprisingly large majority in favour of the loan at tho St. Clair booth. The figures read:—St. Kilda Town Hall,. 302-. for; 56 against; MusselburghPresbyterian Church, 67 for; 33 against. St. Clair, 64 for; 7 against. The town clerk (Mr J. B. Dick) having read out the numbers, the Mayor (Mr W. T. M'Farlane) addressed the dozen or so people who had gathered to hear the result. Ho thanked tho ratepayers on behalf of the council for carrying the loan proposal—tho result amounted to a vote of confidence in tho council. So far as the expenditure of the money was concerned, the streets that wero reticulated would have first attention. There wero three or four streets on the east of St". Kilda and three or four in St. Clair which were fully reticulated, and these would be first dealt with. The council hoped to ?pend £5000 this year, and would have no difficulty in raising the money. '

Tho cumber of paticn-ts in tho Hospital a week ago was 146. Thirty-nine were admitted during tho week and 26 discharged, ■while two deaths occurred (Margaret Shearer and Catherine Amanda Smith), tho number remaining in the institution at the close of the week being 157.

As an outoome of the Rev. Dean Fitchett's address last. June, the Otago Educational Institute invited Mr John Caughley, of Christchurch, to give an address on " The Bible-in-Schools Question" in Dunedin. Mr Caughley has acceded to the request, and, taking -advantage of the term holidays, will give his address in the Early Settlers' Hall on Wednesday, evening, when he intends to bring forward evidcnco from Australia to show that there is another side to tho question. The institude has invited the members of the Bible-in-Schools League to bo present, and has offered Dean Fitchett half an hour on the platform to refute what Mr Caughley brings .forward. The Education Department notifies (a Press Association message states) that, notwithstanding the Public Service Commissioners intimation that the public service entrance examination is not open to "irl candidates this year, entry forms have been received from girls. The only course properly open to those not eligible for, or who do not desire, employment during the coming year 13 either to take the intermediate examination in Ms non-competitive form, with a view (if they liavo previously passed the examination) to securing 'a bettor schedule of marks than before, or to enter through tho education boards as scholarship candidates. In view, however, of tho special circumstances, the department is prepared, for this year only, to allow intermediate candidates entering on the senior free place form to take the competitive papers as set for the'scholarship and public servico candidates, provided their election to do so is endorsed on their application form | such candidates to be in no order of merit lists, but in the alphabetical list of. those lvlio qualified in the November examination. In the August form for senior free places their names would appear ■with some distinctive mark of having qualified on scholarship papers.

With the spring weather conies already the thought of Christmas and holidays. Tho Young- Women's Christian Association, with tfus thought in view, has organised a Holiday Saving's Club in all the largo business firms. Tho scheme' has evidently met with favour, for already between 150 to 200 have joined, ant) more have expressed their desiro to join. Tho ideal of this club id Raving in small instalments. Any sum is accepted from Id up to £10. When any girl's account reachcs this last amount she roust draw it out and deposit it in her own nnmc'. Ail the money is paid out a week before Christmas, to be used for holidays or to bo transferred dircctly to the gill's own banking account. Miss Harridge •i>2& bec-n appointed secretary for. the club, aipd several treasurers have been appointed. Abr group of girls may join tho club Ijy c'incting' a treasurer find calling on tho secretary of the Young Women's Christian ■Aijwinfion for printed matter and for iny structiors as to the very simple method nf procedure.. Close on £16 is the united total of small amounts to be banked'as tho result of 4 week's effort.

Miss Proctor lectured to a good audience in -the Octagon Hall yesterday aftehioon on "The History of the Sun and Planets." The lecturer began by briefly sketching the cosmogony of ancient times, and- exhibited several pictures illustrating ancient ideas of a flat earth with the 6un revolving round it. She then proceeded to describo the size and constituents of tho sun, using our own . earth for tho standard of comparison. Tie magrnificent eolar corona was described, and pictures were thrown 1 on the scrcen illustrating the appearances of tho sun during various stages of total eclipses seen by tho lecturer herself. After epeaking of tho colossal storms which rage over the fun's surface and their influence on our own'climate, Miss Proctor rapidly sketched the planets which form the sun's family, each member being shown on the screen. Mars, as seen from our earth, and the earth as seen from Mare, were attractive pictures. Our own satellite, the moon, received ample notice, and the audience, was invited to imagine our earth when it reached the dead stage—waterless and lifeless, a mere dry cinder—but 1 was oomforted by being reminded that the catastrophe was too remote to cause us concern, The canals of Mars, tho discover)- of Uranus by Sir. W. Hersohel, and of Neptune by Professors Adams and Leverrier were described, and then comets had their turn—those strange wopders, wanderers whose periodic irruptions within our sphere caused 1 such perturbation to our forefathers. The greed of Jupiter in annexing those tiny members of tho sun's family, the planetoids, thereby increasing the number of moona let the audience see that earth hunger existed even among celestials. A fine quotation from Tennyson concluded a very fine address. On the invitation of the Rev. W. Slade tho audience expressed by acclamation its appreciation of Miss Proctor's visit.

On Thursday night last, at the Young Women's Christian Association, the third oi a monthly 6eries of talks was given by Mrs Miller. Tho 6ubjcct for the evening was " Pictures, Illustrated. from the Life and Works of Francois Millet." Mr Chiaroni very kindly lent many beautiful oopies of tho masterpieces of this great artist. Mrs Miller gave an outline sketch of Millet's life —his boyhood on the farm, his financial struggles whilst becoming famous, his. resolvo to forsake the prevailing style of art and paint simple pictures of tho peasants in the field, and the founding of the famous artist echool at Babayon. Mrs Miller concluded her talk by reading a graphic account of tho last public sale of the "Angelus," This picturc -was 6old by'the artist for a slim equivalent to £20. Rw wife livedi to see it fetch the fabulous price of £35,000. A vote of thanks to Mrs Miller for her most interesting talk concluded the ovening. (

Mr J. T. Johnson, who has had a quarter of a century's experience of Waipori, on being spoken of by one of our staff with reference to the Waipori floods, said it was a ourio.ua fact that there had been practically no floods in the Waipori River since tho hydro-electric works were started eight years ago. We experience first five abnormally dry seasons, and during tho last two years and a-haff wo had had abnormally wet weather, remarkable not so much for the quantity of rain that fell in ono given rainfall, but rather for tho even distribution of the rainfall throughout the year. The two recent floods in quick succession seemed like a return to what we considered normal conditions, when floods chased each other in rapid succession throughout the spring and early summer, and about January merged into a dry spell which lasted into tho frosts of winter. Another curious fact was, he said, that for the last 20 years there had never been other than a "sectional," flood at Waipori, that was "sectional" as far as tho watershed was concerned. A long-continued rain usually turned to enow on tho: higher country (above 2000 ft altitude) on the second day, tho area, of snow increasing with the longer continuance of the rain, cutting out between 30 to 40 square miles of the watershed as a flood factor. From January to March, the only months during ■which the rainfall did not turn to;snow on tho high country, the centre of the rainfall had been either on tho Taieri or over on the Tuapeka side, tho heavy rain affecting only a portiop of the watershed of the Waipori. If the lower river was running high, the upper river, contributed very little to the flood, and when the upper waters, wero in flood tho lower tributaries (the Lammerlaw and Post Offico Creek) had been normal. Some day, he said, one of these record rainfalls would strike the centre of' tho watershed, and bring down all the contributing parts at once in heavy flood, and this would easily, put; the generators at the power-hquse under 6ft of water. The only precaution that could-, bo taken was extensive storage by largo dams on the upper river. As ho was personally interested in this, however, he said ho could not go into tho question at short notice.

We have received from the New Zealand Express Company its calendar pencil, for September. A special and general meeting of tho Otago Labourers' Union will b.e held in the Trades Hall on Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock. . ' Tho writer's pen fails to do .iusticc to tho latest B.S.A. motor cycles. Inspect these masterpieces of mechanical ingenuity for yourselves.—Wilson, Bond street —Advt We offer a very t fine lot of linen-finish pillow cases, full size. Special inducement price, Is 9d per paiir.—Mollisons.—Advt. ... Singer light cars and motor cycles still sv.cep the board at Home. Eighteen wins in 20 events, 9 firsts, 4 seconds, 5. thirds, and incidentally winning Reliance Cup at' Colyn Bay speed- triala—Curlinc Bros.— Advt. V Eczema Curs 6170" is a real boon to eczema sufferers. Made and sold bv Wilkinsorl and Son chemista Princes 6treet; is t)d, and posted to all parts.—Advt. "Catching a oold," with its attendant sore throat, nasty oongh, and " stiiffed-up " head, is oommon enough, but " Benjamin Gum " is now Tel! known as the one quick and perfect cure. Is 6d bottle. It relieves immediately I—Advt . Wo recommend for watch, clock, and jewellery repairs A. J. Shaw, 13 Rattray street. Absolutely tho best in Dunedin.— Advt. For Chronio Chost Complaints. . Woods' Great Peppermint Curs. Is 6d. 2s 6d.—Advt A. E J. Blabeley, dentist, Bank of Australasia, oorncr 8f Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859.— Advt. Who is Peter Diek?—Tho most reliablo Watchmaker Jeweller, and Certificated Consulting Optician, 490 Moray place (off Princes st.), Dunedin. Charges moderate.—Advt