LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1893, 2 March 1888, Page 11

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

la connection with some remarks which recently appeared iv our columns on the question ■of charitable aid, Mr Solomon, the chairman of •of the Benevoaejifc Trustees, at the weekly meeting said that while the article was a very fair and proper one, and did not in any way disparage the work done by the trustees, but it did not, in referring to the increased expenditure of the institution, seem to take into account the increase in the sphere of its operations under the •Charitable Aid Act. Persons were now relieved by the institution who lived anywhere between Maheno on the north and the Clutha on the south; it attended to all poor persons who asked for aid in Dunedin and the surrounding suburbs, and in the counties of Maniototo, Vincert, Tuaipeka, Taieri, Bruce, Plutha, Waihemo, and Waikouatti. Of course all contributing bodies now claim as a right that needy persons living in their botiudaries should be relieved, and th« trustees were bound to defer to these demands to a considerable extent. The Government now disclaimed all responsibility in cases of death or suicide in these districts. Thus if a woman were all at Cromwell and the local hospital refused to receive her, or if a man were drowned at Tua;peka Mouth, or the police at Waihemo called m •.medical assistance for some person who in their opinion -needed it, the Benevolent Institution had to pay in every such case. In cases where v 'uc breadwinner of a family left the colony— and th ire were very many such cases— the institution w a « to a great extent called on to provide for J| P wid children. The difficulty of obtaining worl-', 'wog tb G P ast year had thrown an enor : mousbu onthe institution ; yet, in spite of tv Jh« institution had received from the Sri m *W Board £1100 below its estimates. lErSrl "• T-ran) did not wish it to be underZfe J?L w» plained of the leading article fasA£,tt ~ ifc a 9 well lo explain the other side of the *•**"• a l j- ' tf.uiside has been perpetrated Au extraordmao in Bpa J n here a l^ t \ eatr , eat Ca «y seated in the stalls, cy e e S ai V?° W ? f S SL »*»■ of a dynamite le toyed himself by ull were Ottered «t ulgc Portions of x fc him wag iSf Steg( \^M f **&* g^ was exfty 7r d n U l t the -explosion, and tmguished by the force of » ' upward,, of a hundred petso. «? """^ tas injured in the panic occ. * I "- uU - u "J sudden and tragic incident. Mr William Davidson, who for t'V^Sl Fears has represented the Austral, « £" tua ' Provident Society in Timaru, has been W?™™ manager for Otago of the New York Li Vg^ ance Company. Mr Davidson is an ol "* edinite, and his friends and well-wishers «« will be gratified at his promotion, and m na * w» an institution of such magnitude as the JN yiT York Life to represent. * ■ The London correspondent of the Melbourne Argus, writing on the 6th January of tne favourable turn which the illness of the Crown Prince had then taken, says :— The " military party " i n Germany alone is displeased, for it looks to Prince William as its leader, and regards the Crown Princess with the most extreme aversion. Prince William is about as unhappy and unlovely ft specimen of humanity j can well be conceived. One half of bis body is more or less defective — one of his arms being withered. He has chronic inflammation of the base of the brain, and is tortured by recurrent abscesses in both ears, which render him intermittently deaf, and are rapidly impairipg dis

— •>, hearing altogether. His opinions are retrograde, and his temper detestable. He gets on badly with his wife, and positively abhors his mother. His dislike of her has its root in resentment against inherited infirmities — a resentment ' which is, perhaps, directed against the wrong parent, or which ought in fairness to be divided | between the two ; but the feeling, such as it is, has been studiously fostered by Bismarck, who i loses no opportunity of assailing the hated influence of " the little Englishwoman." A telegram from the Rome correspondent of The Times, dated December 22, says :— " The official Vatican journal has a leading article on the Pope and Queen Victoria, to which in high quarters the greatest importance is attributed, and which elaborates the sense of the Pope's reply to the Duke of Norfolk and emphasises his recognition of the just and liberal character of the English Government. The Osservatore says ;__« When the Duke of Norfolk had offered to the Pope the congratulations of her Majesty Queen Victoria, the Holy Father replied with words of grateful warmth, from which we understand that the claims to the gratitude of the Pope acquired by the gracious lady are older and greater than her last kindness towards him. The Pope wished to testify publicly and solemnly that in the dominions of the Euglish Crown the Catholic Ohurch enjoys precious liberty, and to recognise that the merit of this is due to the Queen and her Government. This declaration, made by the very head of the church, gives to the courtesies recently exchanged oetween the two Powers a character more profound than that of common courtesies, and suggests something beyond the exchange of felicitations on tho occurrence of two jubilees. The liberty which the church enjoys in tha English dominions is for the rest a noble eulogy for the Sovereign and tb.B public administration of that great State. Moreover, whatever may be the legal position which the Catholic religion holds there, this fact is to be admired : that the spirit in which the laws are interpreted and applied is always benevolent.' This, as emanating from the most authoritative regions, is a remarkable expression oi the friendly feeling evoked by the special mission, and one which will give encouragement to the friends of Euglish unity ; indeed, it is here believed to be intended to have that effect." On the subject of the Star of Bethlehem, Mr R. A. Proctor, the astronomer, writes:--" If there is one feature of popular converse about astronomy which indicates more clearly than another the generally prevalent ignorance of science, it is the absurd nonsense now so often heard respecting what is called 'the Star of Bethlehem.* I suppose that at least 2000 letters must have been addressed to me with inquiries about this non-existent orb. For all the announced apparitions of tbe Star of Bethlehem the Planet of Love has been responsible. She always can be seen in full daylight for a few days at the time of her J greatest brilliancy. And although it is nowhere stated in the Gospel record that the Star of Bethlehem was visible in the daytime, it seems somehow to be taken for granted that it did i present and will again present this exceptional peculiarity. Yet, by the singular perversity of ignorance, the very persons who look for the Star of Bethlehem by day proclaim their belief that it is the star which is called Tycho Brahe's, a star which shone out in 1572 in the constellation Cassiopeia, and which could be seen all through the night all the year round in all the countries I and places whence people imagine they have seen the mystic orb. Tycho Brahe's star, the situation of which is perfectly well known, even if the very star has not (as is probable) been identified with an eighth magnitude star shown in my large northern chart of 324,198 stars, does not pass below the horizon of any place in higher latitude than 26h degrees North. Whenever that star changes "in brightness even by a single magnitude, astronomers will know of the change and may be trusted to attend to it, though not one among their number imagines fora moment | that there is the remotest connection between that distant sun, probably at least a hundred years' light journey from us, and the Star of j Bethlehem." | The cook of the barque Speedwell, which arrived in Melbourne the other day, had an extraordinary escape from drowning on the voyage. The barqae was struck by an appalling sea, which almost engulphed her. The sea broke over the whole length of the vessel, from jibboom to taffrail, and swept the galley clean away, cooking utensils and all. The cook was in the galley when the sea struck it, and as both doors were closed, he had perforce to go overboard with it. Fortunately he managed somehow to get clear of the trap in which he was caught, without being much bruised or hurt, and with much difficulty ho was got on board again. The barque was hove-to at the time, and had but little way on her, or he must inevitably have perished, for no boat could have lived in tho sea which was raging all round. The Cromwell Argus states that it was reported to the police ou Sunday that four stacks, the property of John M'Lean, of Rocky Point, had been burned down on Saturday night. The stacks were valued at £300, and were not insured. Constable Rasmussen immediately went to the scene of the fire, and near the place he discovered a bootmark, which he followed for about one mile and a-half along the mountain side, aud came to a gully. Here he found a tent occupied by one Peter Jamieson, whose boots were at once examined by the constable, and found to correspond with the footmarks near the burnt stacks. Jamieson was at once arrested by Constable Rasmussen on suspicion of having set fire to the sticks, and safely lodged in Cromwell lock-up. He has since made a full statement, in which he acknowledges having set fire to the 'stacks. In connection with the same case, Elizabeth Reid, of Bendigo, was arrested on Monday night by Constable Rasmussen charged with being an accessory before the faot. They were brought up before Mr D. U. M'Gregor, J.F., and remanded to the 24th inst. According to tho Wellington Post, a young man who has been away from the colony from boyhood arrived in his native town in the Wairarapa district some weeks ago, and found that certain property which formerly belonged to his father was now in the occupation of a stranger. Acting upon legal advice he broke into the enclosure and took possession of the property, and the consequence is that he has been summoned for maliciously causing damage, and the whole question will have to be ventilated in the law courts. The property in dispute is said to be worth about £800, and it is probable that some singular questions of title will be involved in tbe litigation which may .iriso from the young man's efforts to assert his ciiinis, C?oe o£ the most popular Christmas excitement? in Spain is the State lottery. Last year 50,000 tickets of £20 each were sold, the richest and the poorest people forming groups to purchase the tickets of this national gambling. The highest prize (£100,000) has been won by the War Minister— his wife, sons, aides-de-camp, and officers of his staff (11 persons in all) having bought up the batch of tickets which secured this piece of luck. The second prize (£80,000) has fallen to the Marquis Revillagigodo, a 1 grandee of the Erst class, This lottery, of

which every ticket was 601 d,' and of winch I during the last four days before the drawing none could be had except at a heavy premium, produced a net profit of £200,000 for the Treasury. The popular saying in Spain is that any Government which attempted the suppression of bull fights or lotteries would cause a revolution, and the Christmas lottery is the most important one of the year, the poorer people forming associations for purchasing the tickets. Everyone who has read the life of Benjamin Franklin remembers (says the New York correspondent of the Morning Herald) that that great man left by will the sum of 5000dol each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, to be loaned out in sums not exceeding 500dol to young married artisans at a moderate rate of interest. At the end of 100 years part ot the accumulated fund was to be employed for any derserving public purpose. In Philadelphia, owing to bad management, the 5000dol had only grown to 70,000d01,'u and it will be allowed to keep on growing for another century. But in Boston it amounts to 328,000d01, and a great part of it will be expended in the purchase of a public park. Franklin estimated that each fund ought to amount to about 500,000d01, but it was hardly to be expected that any board of trustees would do the very best possible. That the money, after a century of usefulness, should in one case be 14 and the other 65 times what it was at the beginning, ought to stimulate philanthropists with money to spare to copy the example of " Poor Richard." Commissioner Tucker, of the Salvation Army, has addressed to the Bombay Gazette a letter worthy of universal attention. Apropos of Canon Taylor's attack on foreigu missions, he discusses the comparative failure of our attempt to evangelise India. He says that the great majority of the 260,000,000 inhabitants of India can neither read nor write. They must therefore be evangelised by the living voice. As St. Paul said, they cannot hear without a preacher. Buthowmany preachers would they need ? Let us suppose that one-half are children too young to need teachers at present. The rest— l3o,ooo,ooo— would need 1,300,000 evangelists. If these evangelists were Europeans paid at the present rate they would cost £130,000,000 a year ! That is out of the j questiou. Suppose we tried native agents ? At the present rate of payment they would cost £10,000,000 a year. They also are too dear. Mr Tucker has found out, however, that the Hindus contribute about that amount for the support of Hinduism. But they give food and land, not money. The Auditor-general has returned the balance sheet of the New River Harbour Board, corrected to show the requirements of the law. In the accompanying letter he says the board did not appear to realise that, although identical in. personnel with the borough council, the two bodies were distinct and exercise posvers under different acts, having entirely different sources of revenue and objects of expenditure. The borough funds had been illegally expended on purposes to which the council had no power to apply them, while the harbour board had escaped payments for which it was legally liable. It was no part of his duty to criticise the reasons which had induced the action of the council or board, but only to require that the accounts be kept in accordance with the law. The harbour board has had several thousands out of the borough funds, which has hitherto been treated as floating liability. It is expected that the Government will have completed the work of reorganisation by the end of this week. The Defence and Justice changes are complete, and the Lands and Mines department retrenchments are also well ad- 1 vanced. It is not anticipated that any retrenchment will be made in the Stock department at the present time, as the Government consider it would be false economy to touch this important department. The department in which the work of reorganisation is behind is the Public Works. It is understood that the Railway de- | partment will not be touched, in view of its being ' handed over to the Railway Commission. As soon as the appointment of a chief commissioner has been settled, the two local commissioners will be selected. Each and all of the police districts in the colony are branches of the labour bureau of the chief cities. The special duty is to from observation note the state of the labour market and periodically acquaint the head of the bureau with the condition thereof — whether any kind or class of labour is wanting ; or, on the other hand, if the district is overstocked. This extra duty (says the Dunstan Times) to the police force, while not falling very heavily on to their shoulders, will, if carried out intelligently, prove of great advantage to the labourer as well as to the employer. During the past week 12 persons were admitted to the Duneilin Hospital and 16 discharged. Three deaths occurred in the institution — namely, Thomas Dixon, Wong Pack, and Robert Jeffrey. The number of patients remaining on Saturday was 90. The Oamaru Mail learns on good authority that Sir Robert Stout has been offered a scab in the House of Representatives by a Northern member who is abeut to resign, with a promise that he would be elected without oppposition. Sir Robert declined the offer. The rather spiteful remarks on the Centenary of New South Wales made by the Melbourne Age, and part of which we recently quoted, have provoked a reply from the veteran Sir John Rebertson. As to the remarks about tracing the race back to sturdy thieve.? and beggars who were landed on the shores of Sydney Cove, Sir John says plainly that a large portion of the convicts referred to found their way to Victoria, and although New South Wales lost great numbers, mucu intelligence, much uuscrupulousness and general floating rascality, she gained in having the atmosphere purified of the effects of their presence. As gold was to be obtainod In Victoria very easily, and as their vicious propensities were then unrestrained by either law, order or decenoy, it was not likely that they would return to tho good oldfashioned, sleepy, law-abiding and well-governed colo- j nies like New South Wales or Tas- | mania. He then goes on to show that Victoria " is insolvent, bombastic, unjust and inconsistent, and from her vanity incapable of seeing when she is treated generously," enumerating Victoria's conduct in regard to trade, her wretchedly unneighbourly railway policy, and half a hundred other " pitiable cases of overreaching." He concludes by saying that Victoria " must now send her best men from one colony to another to cajole, or, as they put it, to conciliate each, and to implore that all localism be set aside — I wonder tho word does not choke ! them — and that we should join them in their ] rotten and thoroughly exploded fraudulent J federation scheme. Conciliate, forsooth ! We shall see." The Greatest Blessing. — A simple, pure, and harmless remedy, that cures every time, and prevents disease by keeping the blood pure, stomach regular, kidneys and liver active, ia the greateßt blessing ever conferred upon man. Dr Soule'a American Hop Bitters is that remedy, and its proprietors are being blessed by thousands who havo been saved and cured by it. Will you try It? See another column. " JJagle."

The residence occupied at Naseby by Mr Henry Anderson was almost destroyed by fire on Friday morning, Mrs Anderson and the \ children escaping with nothing but their nightdresses. The building was insured in favour of the mortgagee (a Dunedin resident) in the Norwich Union office fcr £200, and the furniture in the same office in favour of Mr Anderson for £100, or £300 in all. The residents of Naseby subscribed £35 during the afternoon for the temporary relief of the family. Catching an heiress is not an everyday piece of luck (writes the Paris correspondent of a contemporary^, but when that phenomenon is also a real live princess into the bargain, what good fortune! Sarah Bernhardt's son, little Maurice, aged 23, who fights duels for his mamma, has just been married to the tiny Princess Terka Jublonouska, whose family tree runs its branches into the Napoleon dynasty through Prince Lucien Bonaparte. The princess is small and winning, but not positively handsome. The match was on the part of Maurice a veni, vidi, vici, all accomplished within six weeks. It was as rapid a courtship as his mamma's — may the union .be more longlived. The Catholic Church, near Passy, was filled to overflowing ; there were representatives from every world, including the half and the quarter- worlds. The scene resembled a premiere at a theatre, aud the good clergyman begged the congregation to remember they were in a sacred edifice. The bridal dress was composed of rich white silk, buried in point (VAlencon and orange blossoms. The princess carried a bouquet of orange blossoms nearly as voluminous as herself ; the train alone was 9ft long. The most interesting persouage was the grand Sarah La Tosca herself. She wore an ottoman silk, colour silver grey, simply made, fastened to the waist by a silver belt ; round the neck a collar of black fur, which ran down in front to the bottom of the skirt ; over this a long grey velvet mantle, trimmed with fur. But the hat — what a duek — composed of silk and velvet, trimmed with heliotrope ribbons, and diamond buckles to keep all materials in their place. She cast all the bridal party into the shade. Another excursion trip to Mount Allan, on the Otago Central line, has been arranged by the Railway department for Saturday. As the weather proved jjunfavourable^on the last occasion and many were prevented from going, they will be glad to avail themselves of this opportunity. At the annual general meeting of the ex High School Boys' Club the chairman (Rev. Dr Belcher) said ie was a very great pleasure to him to find on Friday the first dux of the school — Mr Noel Lee Buchanan —-walk into that building with his son, a little boy not quite 10 years of age, who had come to join the school.— (Applause.) Of course as time went on they might expect the nnmber of boys of that kind who came to the school increasing. Mr Buchanan's kindly interest in the place was so marked that it filled him with encouragement, and so long as that same spirit animated other boys who had been educated within those walls the future of the High School would be very bright and promising. With regard to the academical success of the school, he might say that it had been at least as satisfactory during the past as during the preceding years. Out of 264 boys in the school, 4-1 went in for the honours examination, scholarship examination, matriculation pass examination, the medical examination, or the civil service examination. Then he was sure they would all be glad to hear that at that time the school was numerically larger than at any time since its existence. — (Applause.) There were 280 boys now on the roll. That would compare very favourably with schools of great reputation and world-wide fame in Great Britain— such as Westminster, Winchester, Salisbury, and Rossall. At Friday's meeting of the Women's Christian Temperance Union the election of officers for the ensuing year was the principal business of the day. Tho following were elected: — National President Mrs Packe (Upper Riccarton, Christchurch) ; National Treasurer, Mrs Wroughton (Christchurch) : National Recording Secretary, Mrs Troy (Napier) ; National Corresponding Secretary, Mrs Venables (Christchurch). Superintendents for various departments were then appointed. Tho branches of work taken up were as follows :— Drawing room and cottage meetings, hygiene, scientific instruction, Sunday school and juvenile work, literature, influencing press, evangelistic, young women's unions (known as V's), kindergarten, prisons, sailors' rests, unfermented wine, police work and Sunday trading, flower mission, franchise legislation, agricultural shows, work among Maoris, social purity, relief fund, inebriate asylums. A resolution was carried that an appeal be made to Parliament to have the licensing of clubs amended aud placed on same footing as hotels. The public business of the convention then closed.

At a banquet given by the Foresters of Dunedin to the delegates attending the the district meeting, the Vice-chairman proposed "The Agricultural, Pastoral, and Mining Interests," to which Bro Inglis and Mr J. C. Brown responded. The latter said there was evidently a revival in the mining industry of the colony about to set in, and urged the necessity of encouragement being given by the Government to mining pursuits. Referring to the pastoral interest, he said that he and others had entered into a scheme by which they would be prepared shortly to take mutton at payable prices from the producers for shipment to the Home market, paying for it before it left Npw Zealand. The district secretary (Bro. Woodland) submitted sonwj interesting statistics with reforcncD to Forestry in Ofcugo. Thoy numbered now only somo 1200 or 1300 members, but soeing the number of young men who were leaving the colony they had done well in increasiug the membership by 33 during the past year. The order at large numbered now 660,000 members, with a oapisal of £4,000,000, excluding the juvenile branch that had bcen|formed at Home. In this district even they had 15 courts and over £20,000 capital.

No complaint has been made to tho Minister of Justice (says the Evening Post), as was anticipated, relative to the conduct of the mayor of Gore while occupying a sea 1 ; on tho beuch at a recent sitting of tht; local cojrt. As the mayor is a justice of the peace by virtue of his office only, it is difficult to se^ how the Minister could interfere. With a justice appointed by Government the case would, of course, be quite different.

At the meeting of the National Convention of the Women's Christian Temperance Union on the 22nd ult., in the V.M.C.A. rooms, the National Treas'irei-'s report was adopted. An appeal to gi # ocer.s from the British Women's Temperance Association to withdraw from the spirit and ale business was strongly supported, and all members of the union were urged to withdraw their support from grocers holding spirit and bottle licenses. Tho union will address the Board of Trade, requesting them to devise some means for the better protection of girls during ocean travelling. The union hopes that young women's uuions will be formed throughout the colony, popularly known as the Y's. The matter of inebriate asylums will be brought more fully and freely before the

public. An^iuvifcation is to be given to Mrs Lucas, Sunderland, England, to visit New Zealand and give, addresses in the chief centres of population. At a meeting of the committee of the Tokomairiro High School held on Monday evening, when there was a full attendance, the names of 15 candidates were submitted for the position of fourth, assistant ; and after these had been reduced to five a final selection was made, when the choice fell on Miss Louisa Richards, who has just finished her course of pupil-teachership at the Port Chalmers High School and who was highly recommended. At Lovell's Flat the same evening Mr John A. Robertson, of Ngapara, was chosen head master in place of Mr Strack, resigned. There were 12 applicants. The Rev. Dr Grimes, Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, visited Timaru for the first time on Thursday, when he was accorded a most enthusiastic reception and received addresses from the clergy ami laity and the Hibernian Society. Bishop Grimes, in referring to the education questiou, said during his sojourn in the colony he had spoken to many people outside of his own church, aud they believed with him that the present status of educational affairs inflicted a great injustice on the Catholic people. But the Catholic people were not afraid ; they v/ere the only ones who had the courage of their convictions, and they would fight by every legitimate means in their power until the great grievances done them were redressed. In connection with the supposed discovery of the Hessian fly in Nelson, a belief prevails in some quarters there that the fly has been noticed for the past six years on some farms in the Waimea district. A correspondent writes to the Waikato Times : — " It may be of interest to some of your readers to know that the Baron de Hirsch, who is the donor of an unparalleled gift to the Czar of Russia for the establishment of schools for the welfare of his Jewish brethren, at one time resided in Waikato, and that the present baron is no other than James de Hirsch, who was a member of Capt. Krippner's company of Waikato milifcia, most of whom are now located in aud around Ohaupo. After the disbandment of the militia, Mr de Hirjch went into partnership with a Mr Burra, of Auckland, and traded under the style of Burra and de Hirsch, and subsequently, after the opening of the Thames goldfield, Mr de Hirsch erected large reduction works at tha Thames for treating tailings. On the death of his father Mr de Hirsch returned to Germany and became head of the large banking business whose headquarters are at Munich." At a meeting of the old boys of the High School of Otago, held at Messrs Bell, Gully, and Izard's office, in Wellington, presided over by Mr H. D. Bell, it was resolved that the old boys resident in the Wellington provincial district should dine together once in every two years, and that therefore a dinner should take place on Saturday, the 3rd March, when Mr Bell will preside, and the Hon. Mr Hislop occupy the vicechair. A committee was appoiuted to mak9 the necessary arrangements, and a hope was expressed that all old boys would, if possible, attend. It may be remembered that at the September sessions of the Euglish Central Criminal Court in 1885 a prisoner named James Malcolm, who was in the employ of a meat salesman at Smithfield, was tried for bigamy, alleged to have been, committed under very extraordinary circumstances at Brighton. He appeared to have met a young lady walking with her mother on the pier, and to have introduced himself to them as Captain Macdonald, of one of the direct line of steamers to New Zealand, who had met the young lady previously. Almost immediately afterwards he made her an offer of marriage, which was accepted, and the ceremony took place at Brighton in the course of a few days. Within a few days of his marriage he disappeared, but was recognised some time afterwards at a butchers' garden party by a person who attended the marriage, arrested, and committed foe trial for bigamy, as he had been married before to a Scotch lady. After the trial, in the course of which it came out that he had acted in a somewhat similar manner towards a respectable young woman whom he had met at St. Albans, and that he had represented himself to her also as Captain Macdonald, he was tound guilty and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Since then his health and reason have given way, and we now learn that on a representation of these facts, and after ascertaining from medical authority that the prisoner really was in an almost dying state, the Home Seccetary felt himself justified in remitting the remainder of the sentence passed upon the prisoner, and Malcolm has since been set at liberty. It appears to be very doubtful, how* ever, whether he will ever recover. Tht; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have reversed the judgment of the Viotorian courts in the casu of Coultas v. the Victorian Railway department. On Bth May 1886 James Coultas and his wife met with a mishap while driving a buggy across the level gates at Burnley, a Melbourne suburb. The gatekeeper opened the gates, though the train was due. The result was that Coultas just managed to swing the horse out of the way, avoiding injury, but the wifo suffered long from nervous shock. The jury gave a verdict for £742. The point raised was that as there was no impact between the train and the vehicle the Railway department were not responsible for the illness. The Full Court decided against the railway, but the Privy Council have now reversed that decision. Ferrets have made their appearance in the North-East Valley, and during the past week have made sad havoc among the hen roosts of residents in that suburb, some of those who keep poultry fiuding on several occasions half-a-dozeu hens or ohickens dead in the morning. The tfirrets are supposed to have made their way into the Valley from the Waikouaiti diftrict, the animals having apparently abandoned the rabbits for the poultry yard. From a recent number of the Journal of Gas Lighting we take the following -.— " The fifth ordinary meeting of the Australasian Electric | Light, Power, and Storage Coinpauy has just been held ; and the chairman took the opportunity of miking a clean breast of the facts of the history and position of the undertaking. He said that of the £120,000, which was really all the company's original capital, excluding vendors' and founders' shares, not leas than £85,000 absolutely disappeared during the first year of the company's existence. Of this amount, £45,000 in cash was paid for patents, besides £30,000 worth of shares. Then the company lost £5570 upon the purchase of the option of the SellonVolckmar accumulators; and the advertising trip of Sir Julius Vogel cost the concern over £5000, without any result whatever. This is the way in which eleotrio lighting companies spent their money in the good old times of five,years ago." Some misconception exists in reference to the method of distributing the vote for educational buildings. Only £29,000 is available for distribution this year out of the' annual vote of ! £40,000, owing to £11,000 of ihat sum being, anticipated by last year's expenditure. Th§

£29,000 is being distributed strictly on the basis of population, and no partiality is shown towards certain districts.

The notorious Paddy Shine arrived from Timaru on Monday in charge of Detective Kirby, cla-ged with having stolen from the person of Joseph Sherwin, in Frederick street, a silver lever hunting watch, a gold albert guard and gold locket, with "Preseuted to P.P.G.M, Shprwin" eugravß.l thereon, and shell peudant, leaf and cross pattern, mounted with gold ; value £12. The watch was found in Shine's portmanteau after his arrest in Timaru for burglary. The theft was a clever and impudent one. Sbine followed Sherwin home, and after seeing Sherwin go into his house, waited about and entered also. He then saw that his man had dropped into a deep sleep while reading a paper in a chair by the side of the table, and Shine at once relieved him of his watch and the articles mentioned.

At the sale of Crown lands held on Tuesday there was unusually brisk competition for a largo portion of the land offered. Many of the prices realised were satisfactory, and some were perhaps too high to prove satisfactory ultimately, a tendency being displayed in some instances to " run " the prices up in the rather reckless fashion that proved disastrous some years ago. This, however, may be Baid to have occurred in isolated instances, and was nofc general Altogether the Rftle may be regarded as successful, and as such was an appropriate ending to Mr R. B. Martin's services as Government auctioneer. Mr Marbin leaves the service of the Government to-day, after having served for many years in an important office, in discharging the duties of which he has displayed a great deal of energy and no small amount of discretion. It must have been gratifying to Mr Martin that his final sale should have been of so successful a character.

The Hon. G. F. Richardson has forwarded to Mr Duncan, M.H.R., a tracing of the Kurow runs, asking him to indicate how they could be cut up into small areas so as not to leave the high country on the hands of the Government. Mr Duncan will visit Kurow to discuss the matter with those interested.

A series of clever swindles has been perpetrated ou the Savings Bank of New South Wales by m2ans of bogus deposits and false entries in pass books. Norman Campbell, a young American, employed as a clerk in the bank, was a parly to this swindle, in which the chief operator was a friend of his named Morris Marks, alias Lamont, a clerk, aged 20, and a native of Victoria. Marks opened an account in the bank with a small deposit, and wheu he wished to obtain money he got Campbell to place his initials to an entry of a deposit sufficiently large for the purpose. Next day he would go to the bank and withdraw the money. This method of robbing the bank was carried on until between £600 and £700 had been withdrawn, when some little hitch in the arrangements of the swindlers attracted suspicion to Campbell, who was^caplured by the manager of the bank and locked in an upstairs room pending the arrival of the police. Campbell, however, managed to get out of the window, lower himself to the ground by the water-pipe, and escape. He succeeded in evading capture for some time, but was eventually pounced on so quickly that his efforts to use a loadsd revolver, which he was known to carry for the purpose of resisting arrest, were foiled. Campbell and Marks were both charged with the frauds at the Police Court and remanded.

Robert Sumner, a sash and door maker, and ex-alderman, committed suicide at Rockhampton, Queensland, on Saturday week by lying on a jar containing 101b of gunpowder and putting a match to it. It exploded, and he was so terribly injured about the stomach and cut about the head by the falling timber that he died next day. The shop was wrecked, and the windows in the adjoining houses were all smashed. The noise of the explosion was heard a mile away. The body of Sumner's son, who had died of typhoid fever, was lying in a coffin upstairs, and was thrown out by the explosion.

An estate of nearly 1450 acres not far from Melbourne, and adjoining the township of Campbellileld, was bought by Mr Duncan M'Pherson a few years ago from various owners at prices averaging about £20 per acre. He has just sold the estate for the sum of £159,461 105, equal to £110 per acre.

A boy 12 years of age died at Williamstown, Tasmania, recently from the results of a blow from a atone thrown by another boy nine years of age. Henry Woods, the boy killed, was playing ccicket, when a stone thrown at some object by Laidlaw struck him on the head. Shortly afterwards he became unwell, and though he was attended by two doctors, he was seized with convulsions and died three hours after he was si-ruck.

Archibald Loughlin Campbell, charged with having embezzled £175 belonging to the. Bank of New Zealand, while acting as teller in the Newcastle brauch, was acquitted by the jury at the Metropolitan Quarter Sessions, Sydney. Judge Forbes commented severely upon the action of the jury, remarking that it was very strange that they could nob arrive at a verdict with evidence such as they had before them. _ He remarked that in future any young man might go into a bank and rob as much as he pleased, besides falsifying the books, and might then come before fsueh a jury as they were and get off.

John J. Veal, the captain of the British barque Anni". Stafford, has been committed for trial at the Water Police Court, Sydney, for shooting at Samuelsou, o»g of the seamen of the vessel, with antent to do grievous bodily harm. The men alleged that the captain fired two shots afc Saruuelson with a rifle, and, the bullets missing the mark, clubbed the weapon and struck him across the face, inflicting terrible injuries. Other charges of assault against the captam were withdrawn. The captaiu proceeded against three members of the 'erevr iirst for disorderly conduct, but they were admitted to bail, and took steps agaiust him.

An interesting illustration of the power of WosLern culture to penetrate the almost juvincible social conservatism in India has lately oi curml, according to the Calcutta correspondent of the Times, in Bombay, The brilliant career of the now famous "girl graduate" has been repeated in India, iii exceptionally difficult .fii-cumsrances. by a Parsee girl named Sorabji. Miss Sorabji has distinguished herself throughout her university course, and has vsuceeeded jn witining t*>aolarships each year. In 1883 she was declared Havelock " prizeman," and gained the Hughliug scholarship, besides being at the Lead of the list of in English. She has now succeeded in graduating in the first class. Only six students «i all, of whom the teruaining five were men, succeeded in obtaining this dpgree. Sliss Sorabji is the only " girl graduate" in the Bombay Presidency.

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