LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1717, 18 October 1884, Page 8

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The North island Trunk Railway Committee handed in their report to the House on the 9th. It is in favour of the central route, striking inland from the West Coast at Marton, near Wanganui, passing on the western side of Lake Taupo, and striking the line which connects with Auckland and Te Awamutu. The only member of the Committoa who favoured tho Tanwaaki route wa3 Mr Montgomery.

At the meeting of the Benevolent Institution Committee last week the Secretary reported that Mr Wm. Kennedy, of New York, who is at s present revisiting Dunedin, had forwarded a cheque for 50 guineas in aid of the funds of the Institution. The donation was received with thanks, and at Mr Kennedy's request the names of Mrs Kennedy and her two daughters were placed on the list of honorary life members.

The criminal Bcssions of the Supreme Court closed on the 9 th. Henry Cocker, for robbery from a dwelling, was sentenced to three months! hard labour ; and Peter Dunbar, who was tried at last sessions for being accessory to a robbery by a boy named Keavin from Mb employer's store at Waipori, was again charged upon a different indictment— viz., for actual larceny. He was found guilty, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labour.

The transfer of patients from the old Lunatic Asylum in Dunedin to Seaoliff is now completed.

The report of the directors of the Caledonian Society states that the year's revenue from all sources was £2367, and the expenditure £2105, the latter including £418 for additional ground reoently obtained, and for completing various works of extension and improvement. The several groundß are in splendid condition. The directors have had under consideration the propriety of dosing the sections fronting the Anderson's Bay road for the purpose of making another fobtballground and giving additional accommodation to those who attend the Society's annual gatherings. Last year the Society spent £508 in prizes and £107 for education. The gross takings at the annual gathering were £1484 The membership is now 252, or an increase of 44 over last; year's number,

The gun-platforms used by the Port OhalK&.L c-;anance companies are being replaced with heavy blue-gum flooring, the old ones having become so much decayed as to be unsafe. When repairs are completed gun drill and practice will be gone on with.

The criminal record of the week in Viotoria (writes our Melbourne correspondent) has some unpleasant features. The trial of William O'Brien, who has been convicted of having on July 24 murdered Peter M'Anish, a farmer at Lancefield, has established the fact that this was an agrarian outrage. Such crimes are common enough in Ireland, but this is the first that has come before the Victorian public, and no one wants to Bee the system acclimatised. O'Brien lost his farm in consequence of being unable to perform his monetary engagements. Peter M'Anish acquired the property in ordinary course, and thwugh he had never, done O'Brien any injury, tho latter conceived a deadly hatred for him. The murderer concealed himself, and shot the unlucky possessor of the farm as he was walking about with a pipe in his mouth. Some law points were reserved on the trial for the opinion of the full Court. There is no public sympathy, however, for the prisoner. Three ill-starred lovers have met their deaths by violent means. Gustavo Beyer, who was madly jealous, with cause, of a girl of 16, named Margaret Jane Irwin, shot her with a pistol in a Btreet in Prahran, and then applied the weapon to his own head. He died in a few hours, and the girl only lived three days. The mystery surrounding the finding of a young man's clothes on the banks of the Yarra, with letters showing that his name was Clarke, and that he was hopelessly in love with Emilie Melville, the prima donna, to whom he had never spoken, has been cleared up by the recovery from the river of the body of a boy of 15, whose real name was Herbert Richard Smart. His occupation was that of a clerk, and he seems to have been a precocious stage-struck youth. The coroner's jury found that he drowned himself whilst of unsound mind.

The defalcations^ of A. F. Anderson, from Liverpool, are believed to be much greater than at first supposed, a cable message aaying been received from Home stating that the amount of the peculations from his late employers, the Board of Guardians of Brownlow Hill Workhouse, has been ascertained to exceed £5000. At -the time the warrant for the apprehenßion was issued the sum known to have been appropriated was only £240, but since the arrest further information has come to hand, and several further charges of embezzlement are likely to be preferred against him on his arrival in England. Accused occupied the position of governor of the workhouse, an appointment which he held for six years at a qalary of £500. The diary found on him whon arrested showed that he left Liverpool on the 27th of last March, and reached Paris next day, putting up at a cafe under the name of Hamilton. He remained several Weeks in Paris, and then wandered about Europe for several more, eventually reaching Naples. Here he cook one of the Orient steamers and came to Australia, landing in Sydney three months ago. He oame on to Wellington some five or six week s ago. On reaching here he dropped his assumed name, being afraid the brother, who was residing in Wellington at the time, would suspect something wrong. Anderson then purchased a store at Ofcaki, over which he is said to have spent £600 or £700. His wife and child are en route for this Colony. Several letters in his possession Bhow that his wife kept him poßted as to the doings of the Board of Guardians and the English police authorities.

Intelligence has been received from Pitcairn Island that Elizabeth Young, the last of the firßt generation, died recently, aged 95 years. She was the third child born on the island, and was the daughter of Mills, the gunner's mate of the Bounty.

A curious will case came before the Supreme Court at Auckland last week. In August last one Herbert, who had been an inmate of the Lunatio Asylum, died in that institution ; but four days before his death he made a will in favour of his daughter. It afterwards transpired that

Herbert and his reputed wife had lived together as man and wife for 30 years, and that she had always been recognised by Herbert in public as his wife, although they had never been legally married. Herbert had no relations in New Zealand besides his wife and her daughter ; but of course they could not inherit the property unless by will. From the evidence, 'however, it appears that for about a month prior to his death Herbert had recovered his sanity, and was quite conscious of his actß and the result of thorn. After hearing the evidence, which was quite conclusive on this bead, his Honor granted the probate in the will.

Mr Justice Williams on Friday delivered Cudgineut at great length in tbo case Higgins v. The Land Board of. Otago, which, was an appeal against a decision of the Board forfeiting the appellant's land at Silver Peak on the grouqd of alleged dummyism. His Honor held that the license was not liable to be forfeited on the ground that the licensee had occupied the land not exclusively for his own use and benefit, which was the ground on which the Board did forfeit the license, although, were it liable to be forfeited on that ground, he was quite satisfied that the evidence would justify a forfeiture. ' The Act of 1883, it was held, did not operate retrospectively to make the license f orfeitable on this ground.

The Mutual Life Association of Australia have taken possession of their new premises at the corner of Princes and Dowling streets (Donaldson's Glasgow Fiehouse), which they recently purchased for £13,500.

The Auckland Herald, writing on, the South Sea Trading Company project, says : "We are inclined to look dubiously on the South Sea Island scheme. There iB too much haziness about it. When a prospectus of a commercial project is put forward it is always considered necessary to show that there is a field ito be operated upon. No doubt the South Sea Island trade admits of considerable expansion, but we believe the Government could do more towards that by giving facilities to our merchants and removing obstructions out of their way than by ereoting and subsidising a company."

At the adjourned hearing of the application in the Supreme Court in Sydney for the release of the lunatic Wm. Creswell, who was declared by several witnesses to be the real Arthur Orton, Dr Manning, inspector-general of lunacy, reported that the lunatic had! luoid intervals, and web more communicative than he had been for many months. He answered intelligently the questions put to him, and said the wound on his wrist was caused by a butcher's knife, which he waa using with both hands to cut tho scrag of a bullock's neck! He slipped, and in trying to save himself the knife slipped round his hand and inflicted the injury. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital, London, where Dr Coulson attended him. He was a fortnight in the Hospital, The other wound on the back of his hand was done by a butcher's knife at Tumut. His father whb an agriculturist, and wab born at Strathfieldsaye. ■He himself was born at Mortimer, in Berkshire. He was never bitten by a ferret. His N name was William Creswell. He had never gone by the name of Arthur Orton, but had gone by that of Smith some years ago. At first he said he could not say whether he had known Arthur Orton, but subsequently he said he knew a man of that name at Wagga, who was a butcher, and had racehorses. He also was a butcher at Wagga. The Court, withou affirmatively declaring the lunatic to be Creswell, said there was not that preponderance of evidence which would justify the release of the lunatic to the applicants.

Great difficulty (writes our Melbourne correspondent) has been found in punishing the blacks in the Northern Territory for their recent outrages on miners and settlers. iFreah trouble iB reported from Palmerston. Three men with loaded teams, camped at Argument Flat, were visited by five natives, who received food. Shortly afterwards 20 or SO armed blacks came and demanded food. Without warning they threw showers of spears at the teamsters, and rushed to plunder the-waggons. The whites, with carbines and revolvers, fired in return, killing two natives and wounding others. The mob dispersed, leaving behind '.them three tomahawks and 60 spears they had thrown. a There is a large body of blacks camped in the neighbourhood, under the command of Jackey M'Grath, a semi-civilised native. They are supposed to be the Daly River blacks, who murdered three miners a week or two ago.

The central route, which the North Island Trunk Railway Committee have decided to recommend to the House < (writes a contemporary), will cut cleaa through a greater portion of the Island. Its starting^ point will be Marton, a small inland township situated some 20 miles south-east of Wanganui, and its estimated length is about 350 miles. After leaving. Marton it strikes north-east for about 45 miles, to the Rangitikei River* It then turns to the north-west, following pretty well the Hautapu, a tributary of the Rangitikei, for 50 or 60 miles, passing through country broken on the right and with high wooded ranges on the left. Some good limestone land is next met with, but the Murimotu Plains, which are a short distance farther on entered upon, are stated to be but indifferent country. One hundred miles from Marton the line bends again, and strikes almost due north for some 50 miles till it hits the head waters of the Wanganui River at Taumaranui. In this 50 miles it passes behind Ruapehu, across pumicestone plains, alternating here and there with' ridges covered with black birch, and then over what is styled " mixed" or broken and falling country, well watered and timbered in some places, but poorly in others. The greatest altitude on this route is reached on the Ruapehu plateau — namely, 2600 ft. The dietanoe from Taumaranui to Te Awamutu in the Waikato is between 80 and 90 miles, very good land being tapped after 30 .miles have been passed. A very discreditable affray has occurred at Oampbefltown, Tasmania. Two boys, F. Johnson and A. Melville, ; aged 10 and 8 years respectively, had been incited by an older boy, named Youle,. to fight. When Johnson fell to the ground, bleeding and half unconscious, Youle raised him, so that he was struck again and received fatal injuries. The immediate cause of death was inflammation of the brain from a blow. The coroner's jury showed their opinion of this inhuman pastime by returning a' verdict of manslaughter against Youle.

One of the latest numbers to hand of the London Athenseum (says a contemporary) contains a favourable review of Mr Thomas Braoken's new work. The Rev. Rutherford Waddell, who contributed the introduction to the book, is handled somewhat severely by the reviewer, who asserts that the reverend gentleman has selected the least meritorious of the poems for commendation, while overlooking those which bear the stamp of excel lence. A long extract from " The March of Te' Rauparaha '-' is quoted with approval, and regret is expressed that a man who could write such poetry should not have given bis readers more verse of equal merit.

At the annual meeting of the Caledonian Society, reference was 1 made to the insinuations which have been thrown out from time to time as co the unfair use members' tickets are put to in the way of gaining admission to the ground. The particular case referred to waa the occasion of the sports in aid of the Benevolent Institution, and Mr John M'Gregor asked if it was known how many members.' .tickets had been used on that occasion. -The; secretary stated in reply that admission bad been gained on " not a single, solitary ticket.' 1 The members of the Society are thus cleared of a somewhat unenviable Btigna. ■ , , -. . ,

The Wairarapa Star >haa the :. following remarks concerning' the- charge against M'Kenna and Ferry of "Baiting a quartz reef".:—" The general theme of conversation in Maaterton at present is the .bursting of the gold bubble. On Monday morning Mr Parsons and a mining expert named Eaton got on the scent of M'Kenna and Perry's quartz-reef. About eight miles from Masterton, between the Te Ore Ore and Rangitimau HUIh, they discovered 'the diggings. 1 Beside a beautiful cascade, above a romantic cavern with a stream circling at the foot of the hill, they found a huge boulder embedded in the sand and almost covered with ferns. The boulder had been nicely bronzed. Near it lay a Bmall bag of broken btones ■ evidently picked up from the river. . Since then the spot and boulder have been identified by- Mr -Horn] blow, of this office, as the ■ reef ■ which ' he was shown at night by the tprospectora. • The Aladdin's cave which the latter said was glittering with gold contains seven feet of water and is ' inaccessible. It 'now transpires that M'Kenna and Perry have been prospecting the pookets of a number of Masterton citizens to the tune of £30 and upward, and proceedings are to be instituted against them." > A cerrespondent at Timaru writes to us as follows :— " Mr Stumbles, of Messrs Allen and Stumbles, of this town, and Mr M'Gregor, of Messrs M'Gavin, M'Gregor,' and Oo.j Ihw^ edin, were placed in a very awkward' and dan^ geroua position on Friday night when crosiing the Temuka River in a buggy. The 'horse, when in the strongest part of the current, stood still, refusing to move except when lashed, and the effect of lashing was to make 'matters worse, as he kept dancing about in the same spot, causing the wheels to sink more than a foot in the shingle, and the water to come nearly over the buggy. One more attempt was made to start him, but it was of no avail, and he wound up by throwing himself into the river. Fortunately, however, he: got up without coming in contact ' with the shafts, thus saving him from beirig drowned. „M essrs Stumbles and M'Gregor remained in this pre* dicamant for an hour and a'-half— until they were rendered assistance. The individual who kindly came to their rescue procured a' horse, thinking the "jibber" would follow, but he would not move. The last and only resort was to procure a draught horse and draw the animal out with a chain, which was done before the ' night got too dark. The legs of the horse had by this time become so benumbed that he ceuld not start for a considerable time after being dragged oat."

A sad fatal accident is thus reported by the Christchurch Press :— " Between 7 ■ and 8 o'clock ob Friday morning Mr Jamei Patterson, who for the past 10 years baa been farming in the ABhburton Forks district, met his death through 5 kick from one of his own horses. Mr Patterson went to the paddock for the purpose of bringing in the horses, and shortly afterwards his wife noticed the animals Btill at . large. Finding her husband did not return, she went onfc to ascertain the reason, and was horrified to find Mr Patterson lying dead underneath a fence. Hearing cries for help» Mr Isaac Sargeant and Mr Frisby,-wbo live close by, went out and found Mrs Patterson supporting her husband in her arms. Ha waa bleeding at the nose, and there were signs of deceased having received a violent blow in the fcae. Dr Boss was immediately sent for, and on arrival pronounced life to have been extinct some little time. Mr Patterson was over 60 years of age, and was much respeoted. The presumption is that in attempting to cut out from others the particular horse he re* quired, he received a violent kick in the face from one of the animals." > ~

The Wairoa Guardian gives "the following account of the burning to death of three Maori children near that place:—"lnformation was received in town yesterday to the effect that three Native children, two aged 12, and the other aged three, were accidentally burnt to death at Whakaki on Sunday night. It appears that a party of. 15 Natives were holding a tangi on Sunday evening dv'er an old woman in a large whan, when they all fell asleep, leaving a fire burning. ' About 8 p.m. the party were made aware of the' fact that a fire had broken out, and all tbe adults' rushed out, leaving three children behind, who were burned to death, The remains were -interred before Constable Shaw reached Whakaki.

The Liverpool Mercury says : "A. singular accident through the breaking of a telephone wire connecting the North Staffordshire L> ' firmary with the surgeries of the vari6us virit* ing surgeons of the district,.. ooourred at [ Hanley. The wire broke in Gannon: street* Hanley, and knocked down ?a chimney of a* house to which it was attached, the chimnejp and the brickwork falling on the ,roof of a kitohen aad demolishing it. The: wire r«bounding, and curling'up in the street,' caught hold of a ohild five years of age, lifted it up in the air some distance,- and dashed' it to the ground, rendering it insensible and. injuring one of its legs severely." <*\ : A prisoner, named Watson, who pleaded guilty at the Wellington Supreme Oourfc to charges of larceny, was represented '.by Mr Shaw, who urged in extenuation that prisoner was evidently one of those nnforjunates who periodically suffer from a disease known in the practice of medicine— and also, perhaps, in the practice of the law— as kleptomania. Mr Justice Richmond very suggestively remarked that there waa a hospital for incurables, of this class. ' Dr Rigg writes in the Contemporary Review ' for August ; " The native born American hates drudgery ; and all the mechanical arts, when pursued without Borne knowledgeof science to. employ and interest the mind while the hands are active, are more or less drudgery. ' Accord* ingly we find that the American is scarcely ever to be found as a mere workman. It has indeed passed into a proverb that the real American never takes off his coat to work. The railway porters, the pointsmen, the navvies on the various railroads of the country, are foreigners; the conductors are American Call at the pointsman's cottage, and yon may find him Irish or French Canadian, certainly not American. The porter at the railway-Btation may be Irish or German. Tht navvy may be English or Irish, or* Canadian, or even Italian— he may possibly be German or Scandinavian; American he neVer'U. The factory operatives of Fall ' River or of Providence, of whose 4 strikes ' we heard so much four or five years ago, may be Canadian, or Irish, or English ; it is certain they are

not Americans. The pianoforte - makers of New York— another 'striking' trade— may .be German ; they are not American. The men employed in the heavy work of the mines and ironworks of Pennsylvania— among the Alleghanies or in that 'black - country ' of which Pittsburgh is the centreare of many different countries, not a few being Belgians, but they are not American." ■ ! ' --The strennous and peraißtent efforts of the Australasian Colonies after territorial extension (writeß our Home correspondent on Aug. 29) seems to have had somewhat of a disturbing influence on the minds of Continental Powers ; for, though there Beemed a Bpirit of , indifference in relation to the immediate case ' in point, it is evident that the Bpirit of the 'Colonies has been accepted as showing a grasping disposition in relation to the yet unclaimed ' portions of the earth's surface, and that, coupled with Borne incidents that have Binco * occurred on tho coast of Africa, it has tended to prodube in certain quarters a jealousy and suspicion of the British objects in colonisation. That there is a coolness on the part of the German Government — or of Bismarck, which is pretty much the Bame thing — towards England has recently been placed beyond question, find we have the singular sight of an evident rapprochement between France and Germany. Of course France has her special grounds of offence, but it must be admitted that the overweening conceit exhibited by some of our if allow Subjects in outlying corners of the world, as on the West .Coast of Africa, and their intolerance of any other pretensions but their own, are capable of being represented as a desire to absorb all the yet uuclaimed portions of the earth. No doubt there will be no interference with the intended annexation of New Guinea, but it is not to be ignored that the movements in the Colonies in this direction have tended to embarrass the relations of-thi-Imperial Government, and that any further manifestation of the same monopolising disposition in relation to the. South Seas will be very jealously watched, and that in relation to places where German interests are involved Any movement in the direction of annexation would lead to greater tension between England and her neighbour, and possibly to positive action 'on the part of Germany ; and it may be that the knowledge of this on the part of the Home Office may have accounted for the uncertain and undecided attitude of Lord Derby, which has made him bo unpopular throughout the Colonies. There may nave been reasons familiar enough to himself, but Buch aa- were entirely incapable of being discussed or put forward in public, for ' the hesitating which he ' has exhibited ; and probably a light is now "thrown .over tne 'whole of the procedhigs of the past by the half- sullen attitude which Germany has now'aßsuined towards England, and the somewhat jaunty fraternisation ,of France with her old and hated enemy. ' Certainly -France baa quite sufficient reasons herself, apart from this, for desiring friendly rela turns with her Continental neighbour. At. "war with China, and with the war in Madagascar still on her hands, it ia of prime "importance to her to have in this emergency, if not ao. alliance, at least friendly sympathy The sacrifices which Mr Gladstone's Government have made to soothe the irritated vanity of France is sufficient evidence that bo long as the present British Administration continues there is no fear of hostile action from across the "silver streak," and for the sake of the far more valuable friendship of Germany she oan easily throw over her old ally. Finding Germany in an irritated mood she has made , common cause, as that of two nations seeking opportunities for peaceful extension of commerce, '.and both baulked and thwarted by perfidious Albion in her desire to monopolise the whole world. After all the eccentric folly of .the paat, France has played this game excellently well, and standing, as she_ was a few months ago, without an ally or friend in Europe, except England, she is now, when entering on a great struggle in the East, apparently on the eve of forming an alliance with, the only enemy she had feared in the world. . OAa adjourned meeting of the. Dunedin branch of the Otago Educational Institute waß held at the Normal School on Saturday morning, when there was a good attendance. Mr Fitzgerald introduced the subject of the constitution of the New Zealand Institute, and some considerable discussion ensued thereon. The subject will bo resumed at the next meeting. .The death of the. oldest inhabitant of Tasmania is recorded by the Hobart Mercury, which state 3 that "Mr Thomas Wiggins, whope arrival in Hobart dates back to the foundation of the Colony by Governor Collins in 1804, died at his residence, Springmouth, Sorcll, near Hobart, qn Saturday last, in the 81st Jear of his age, after an uninterruoted resi ence in Tasmania of 80 years. He was, at the time of his death, tho oldsst inhabitant, 'and the last of the arrivals by the first fleet '.visiting Tasmania, having been born on board • H.M.S. Calcutta, at sea, on the voyage from England .to Australia, on the 11th of June 1803. The deceased was christened on board : H-M.S. Calcutta', by the first chaplain of Tasmani , the Rev. Robert Knopwood; With his father and mother he was landed at Port Phillip when six months old j but, on the hasty abandonment of 'the settlement,' as it was then called, he came to Hobart with his •parents in the early part of 1804. His early . days .were- spent in this city, but the greater part of hia life at Sorell, where, until his death, he was a BUcceßsful farmer. He leaves behind him over 60 descendants, running through three generations, to perpetuate his memory." A full deputation of Otago members, waited on. the Minister of ' Public Works on Monday to 'urge upon his attention the position of the Otago Central railway. • Mr Richardson promised'to take immediate steps to resuscitate 'tne' Deep Stream contract, as also the Hindon works. He was not at liberty to state what the Public Works Statement contained, but he 'promised that whatever sum was put down should be spent within the time allotted.

. ,A man named William Symms, who, it will bB remembered, served a sentence of imprisonment some time ago for defrauding a country visitor to Dunedin by meanß of the " match- , . box trick," figured at the Police Court on Mon- ' day. He was charged, with vagrancy, and , alao .with gambling in a railway-train. It appeared from the evidence that accused was performing the "three-card trick," and a . .young , man, a passenf er by the train, was ! nduced to bet on the manoeuvre and was , ' taken in "to the extent of £7. Mr Solomon defended the prisoner, and argued that the triok ,as performed by accused was not gambling, aa it was hot a game of chance, and Contended that such betting was quite legal. Messrs Logan and Hyman, J.P'b, who presided on the Bench, reserved judgment in both eases to consider the points raised by Mr Solomon, . Up to the present time 225 applications have •' been received at the Public Works Office in Chrietohuroh from men out of employment. ' !<l Of these men 116 received passes for Waikari, and 30 for Little Biver. The others did no v

present themselves when the passes were given out. It may be noted that the applicants were not all residents of Ohrietchurch, some of them hailing from Lyttelton, Rangiora, and other places outside the city.

Major-general Scratchley has received the appointment of High Commissioner for New Guinea.

A trial was recently made in Manchester of electricity as a tramoar motor. Mr M. H, Smith, engineer, Halifax, is the inventor. Tho experiments (the Manchester Guardian says) were made at the Cornbrook Telegraph Works, where the apparatus has been made. The main novelty in Mr Smith's arrangement is (he carrying of the electricity along a track between the ordinary rails. The conductor consists of a copper tube in halves, a little apart from each other. The electricity is sent along this divided tube, and underneath the car there is a collector which takes it up as the car goes along. The electricity is conveyed to the engine by two copper wires. To complete the circuit it is taken to the wheels and sent along the outside rails. The machinery all goes into very small space under the par. To the ordinary observer there is nothing which indicates how the car is driven. If he looks underneath all he caD see is the thin outline of the instrument which collects the electricity. It hangs below the car arid runs in the tube arrangement along which the electricity is conducted. The keeping of this centre track clear presents some difficulty, but Mr Smith believeß he has not only overcome this, but has also made the trouble involved in a breakage of the collector a very small matter. The car worked very smoothly, and waß perfectly under control. It ran along a track made on a field near the telegraph works. The electricity was supplied from a Siemens generator in the works. Mr Smith calculates that with his system cars "can be driven for 2d per mile per par, including all contingent expenses ; and it seems that the cost on tho same basis of horse conducted traffic iG about lOd per mile per car.

It is curious now (writes our Home correspondent) to look back to the short time ago when to bo many the proposal of direct atearn service between Homo and New Zealand was regarded as a doubtful experiment. And no one probably in his mast sanguine moments ever dreamt that so early as now cargo should bo shut out from the steamers, and that berths Bhould ba full long before the dates of sailing. Yet so it is. The Doric left London yesterday, a full ship, cargo having been refused. The Victory will leave on Monday or Tuesday next, and already is refusing cargo. The Ruapehu, sailing a month from this, promises to be in the same condition, aa she is rapidly filling up with passengers and cargo, and already inquiries are being made by shippers for freight for New Zealand by way of Australia, but owing to recent combinations the rates are so excessive that no trade is likely to be done in that way. There 1b great grumbling on the part of shippers to Auckland that no steamers are laid on direct, but the reason given ia that until the refrigerating works are in operation there is not sufficient return cargo to warrant the laying-on of steamers for the port.

The following are the weekly retuma of the Dunedin Hospital : — Remaining from previous week . . 119 Admitted during the week .. „ 19 Discharged during the week . . 12 Total remaining: .. .. ..121 Th-ice were two deaths — viz., Alexander Fof&yth and Janet Bird.

The Silver Peak dummyism question was brought before Parliament on Tuesday by Mr Pyke, who wished to know whether the Government intended to prosecute the appeal in re Higginß and others. The Premier replied that instructions had been given to proceed with the appeal, but he might point out the peculiar position in which the matter was placed. There were two classes of cases — first, the cases of those who purchased under the Act of 1877, -and who held possession for some time, which was Higgins' case ; and second, the class of cases in which no license had been issued, which had bean decided in favour of the Crown. The other Bide^ gave notice of appeal. The Judge decided in Higgina' case that the Act of last year was not clear enough to enable him to give a decision. The question for appeal would simply' be on that point.

Sir Stafford Northcote and Lord Randolph Churchill, who are prominent members of the Conservative party, have had an uncomfortable experience at Birmingham. It had been arranged that they should address a Conservative demonstration in that town, but the Liborals gathered in force to prevent it, and a riot ensued. Sir Stafford and Lord Randolph narrowly escaped being roughly handled by the mob.

The Rev. Mr Gualter, minister-elect of First Church, Dunedin, may be expected here about the end of December. The Rev. Dr Salmond received a letter from Mr Gualter which stated that he and his family woqld sail by the new steamship Arawa about the middle of October. The sailing of the Arawa has, however, been postponed till November 6. Mr Gualter's letter was dated August 21, and as the Gasgow Free Presbytery only released him from his charge on the 19th August, he has lost no time in communicating with the Moderator of First Church Session.

The question of Union was discussed by the Session of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at a meeting on Monday evening last. The following motion waß carried with only one dissentient : "' That union with the Northern Church is desirable, and that details of the proposed basis of union be discussed at a special meeting to ba held on 27th inst."

A committee of the Presbyterian Synod of Otftgo, consisting of the Rev. Dr Copland and the Rev. Mr Will, met the University Council on Tuesday afternoon to confer regarding the proposal of the Synod to establish a*" new Chair in connection with the Otago University. It was decided to recommend the Synod to fix on a -Chair of Natural Philosophy.

New patents are applied for a 8 follows : — For a hillside reversible plough, G. M'Hattie, Palmerstwn ; for an invention for blasting and boring purposes, J. Ritchie, Kaikorai ; for an improved method of fastening wires to iron fencing standards in such a manner that they are readily secured and readily removed, E. S. Lees, Oamaru.

The following cable message, dated London, October 1, appeared in the Melbourne Age : " The term of office of Sir Francia Dillon 8011, Agent-general of New Zealand, will shortly expire. He was requested by the Government of that Colony to retain the poeition for another' term, but he has resolved to rotire, and he has communicated his decision to the New Zealand Government." The Government have fitated that they know nothing of the matter.

Wo are glad to find (writes a Home paper) that Ireland is profiting by that ill wind which keeps English touriota oft" the Continent thia year. It is long, we aro told, since there has peeo ffUCh & season at Killaroay. The hotels

are crowded, and fashionable visitors abound. It is to be hoped this will inaugurate a new state of things. During the last few sad years it has been the fault of Irishmen themselves that English holiday-seekers have not cared to cross the Western Channel in search of health and pleasure, but there has ahvays b3en too much estrangement bofcween the countries, and a littlo of tho Euglißh gold which pmir.i so freely into the pockets of tho Swiss and Garman hotelkeepera might give an impetus to Irish trade which would produce moafc beneficial results to the people.

Speaking at a farewell banquet given to him in the Northern Territory, the Duke of Manchester said that he had como from England especially to see the Northern Territory. It's fame had first reached his ears v/hnn in Queensland in 1881. Its geographical position, natural advantages, and facilities for trade with Asia and the East across smooth seas, had convinced' him that Port Darwin would ultimately be an important port of commuuica tion with England and Europe. When he heard that South Australia intended to commence a transcontinental railway to Port Darwin, he was confirmed in the opinion that that port would shortly become a port for the arrival and departure of Colonial mails and passengers. The railway would enormously advance their interests, increase tho population, give facilities for trade, and assist the development of the mineral and pastoral districts. Before his visit he thought Queensland the best portion of Australia. He now considered, judging from the country he had visited, that the Northern Territory was Huparior to Queens land. The vegetation was richer, the graes was thicker and of a more permanent character, and the country was better watered. He considered the Northern Territory the bestwatered countiy he had ever soen — better even than Huntingdonshire in summer, which w.»b one of the wetteßt counties in England. He had seen immense lagoona which, after being four months without rain, were still full, evidencing perennial supplies, evidently springs. There was ono waterhole on the slops of a hill above the level of the plain, proving that it was not drainage. It was clear and beautiful as an Irish holy well. He had a very vague idea of the mineral wealth of the territory, and was surprised at the extent of tho mineral country, which was rich in minerals. The Tomtorians had every reason to be proud of their adopted home.

About 300 people met at Marsden the other day to witnesß some cock-fighting exiraordinary. There were ovet 40 birds on the ground (says a Groymouth paper), and 16 battles were fought^ Greymouth scoring 13 wins. A hundred persons fat down to dinner in the evening at Russells Hotel, and gloated over the success of their illicit sport. It is pretty evident from tha clever way the thing was managed that tho promoters of the main have had a good deal of experience in this line in other parts, if not on the coast. It would be interesting to know what the police were doing at the time.