LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 953, 25 April 1889, Page 11

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The railway lines both North and South we're very well patronised on Monday., In the morning, id addition to a goodly number of ordinary passengers for the North, about 120 excursionists left Dunedin for Moerakj by' the express train. About 800 visitors to the Taieri races were also conveyed to Mosgiel by train during the day, and the Northern and Southern trains on Monday night' vt^re heavily laden with people returning from the country.

There has been a most bountiful rainfall over the whole of Australia. Melbourne has had its share; and perhaps the dryest and. hottest summer on record has at last come to an end. The pastoralists of the island districts are in great spirits. We read of one station manager who was seen by a posing: coachload standing on the bank of a ■ dani waving his hat with joy in welcome of , the rain. They Jove it so, these men who have spent months in longing for it, that when it comes they stand out amongst it till it soaks them to the skin. In the cities, like Melbourne and Sydney, the owners meet at Scott's and Petty's and pledge each other in champagne. ,' ; The breakdown of Sunday closiiig of public houses in' South. Wales is admitted by so competent ,an observer as Lord Aberdare. Lord Aberdare is not a willing witness, but he says it seems tp : be proved that there has been an increase of Sunday drinking since the act was passed^ and that the act is really doing more harm.. than good. It is clear that the aot is badlyadministered

Authorities differ. Dr Jeffries, of Sydney, in a lecture, skates that Sydney bids fair to deny God more openly than any other city of the South, and that drunkenness, unchastity, and Sabbath-breaking are unusually prominent sins.' The Chief- Justice of New South Wales said at the opening of the new court house at Dubbo, that he was not aware of any country " where the law was more respected or order more. strictly followed} than in this colony ; and he considered it a fair yet proud boast that in no part of her Majesty's dominions was there a wore God-fearing^ loyal, and law-abiding people than those whose s privilege it was to inhabit New South Wales." ' These views on the same subject are certainly antagonistic.

A warrant has been issued in Melbourne for the arrest of a solicitor named Frederick James Bradley on a charge of larceny of £2000 trust [nnds. It appears that Duncan M'Millan, a hotelkeeper in;Carlton, entrusted Bradley with ! a large sum of money, the proceeds of the estate I of M'Millan's mother, deceased. The amount' actually taken. was £5000. Instead of paying the money, into a trust account, Bradley is stated to have paid it into a private one. He left for Adelaide at the end of February, stating his j intention of returning in a few days ;" but this he has never done, and it is now believed he has absconded to England. Bradley acted for a aomber of people daring the land boom, and inquiries are ,being made as to any further deficiencies.

The combined picnic arranged, by the Garrison .and Mosgiel Bands, which was held at Mosgiel on Friday, passed off very successfully. The weather was favourable, and the attendance good. A Urge number of persons went out to tne picnic from Dunedin by train, and during ?.T c d&y the grounds were visited by something ™c 800 persons. The picnic was held within a A tvS? utes ' walk of the railway station, on Mr &. m Master's grounds, where a good sports programme was carried out under the supervision of a committee composed of members of the bands. swings had been erected on the grounds, and lw\! were set on foot f ° r benefit of the cnuawn,aa)ongßt!whomc nuawn,aa)ongBt!whom toys were distributed.

A number of those present aDpeared^ to ; find a good aeal w df Amusement ' in ' trying to "disfigure )ths countenance of " Old Aunt Salty," and danc-i i ing on the green was also indulged in to a com I sidqrable '.extent by, others. The music was supplied by the Garrison and Mosgjpl Bands. i The handicappers for the races were Messrs W.i Weir and T. Gillies. Mr W. Fairley, acted as ! i starter, and Mr D. Wishart as ,; judge. ' Mr !M'Master,the owner, of the ground,. lent great j assistance in making the affair a success. j;ln the evening a concert was held in the ! ; Volunteer Hall, which was 1 well attended, conisidering that the Crawford-Hunter, party gave an entertainment ttie previous evening. The most prominent feature ia the , programme was the hand-bell ringing by .Sergeant George, 'Corporal Cook, and Bandsmen H. , George," Caddie, and T., Gillies. The ' rjaanner in which, {these gentlemen' manipulated the bells showed, that they had practiced hard since the, bells were ipurchased, four mouths ago, and there, is no, Idoubfc that their services will be often secured at' local entertainments. ■, A sensational attempt at burglary is reported 'from Bgerton, Victoria. At the farmhouse of P. Hickey a man was discovered in the house at midnight.' The son of the farmer grappled with the marauder, who drew a 'knife, and but for a watch that young Hickey wore he would have' been stabbed twice to the heart. The robber had a companion, who had a quantity of valuables packed for removal. The me'n'got away, but without any booty.

We are informed that a'considerable number of papers, both for Australia and the United Kingdom, are detained at Dunedin Post Office, : some because they are only prepaid |d,aud others because two papers are enclosed * under one cover'for Id. Those who post newspapers should bear in mind that ,all newspapers addressed, to places outside the colony must be prepaid Id each, if they wish them to reach their destination. It is only for places within the colony that |d stamp is sufficient.

Wilhelm Heindrichs, who was arrested at Cbristohurch for drunkenness and ,cruelly.stabbing a horse about the eye with a pocket knife, has , been sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The injuries to the horse are very bad, one eye being nearly gouged out.' ' The financial centre of, New York is now having one of its periodical sensations in a swindling transaction involving the stealing of millions of money and a railway line 100 miles in length. The principal man in the affair is Henry 8. Ives, who aspired to be the Napoleon of Wall street, and was regarded at -one itime as a financier of remarkable ability. He has been ia courts before this, but has managed to slip through the meshes of the law. His confederates (writes the correspondent of 'thVAge), were Stayner, his partner/and 'Woodruff, his olerk, and the charges include forgery, as well as embezzlement. Woodruff has turned States evidence, and will testify to the guilt of the others, and if half is true as alleged, the story will be a sensational one. Through various trick's and devices too loug to enumerate, Ives obtained control of a majority of the stock of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton railway ; he proceeded to depose the old board of directors and' elected himself, tis partner, his clerk, and other employes in their gtead. Then he issued debentures and preferred stock, and pocketed the cash obtained for them. He took possession of all the money in the' treasury, and'so manipulated 'the affairs of the' company aa to bring the shares' down from a quotation of 150 to less than 40. The lawyers who are managing'fche suit say that the amount of the thefts of Ives and Stayner is not far from 2,000,000d01, or £400,000'! The money ,has not been wasted in riotous living, but carefully'invested and laid away for the proverbial rainy' day which the conspirators realised might'fcome in course of time. The suits aro'both civil and criminal, and there are enough of them to keep the courts busy for quite a period. If one indictment fails another' will be tried, and so on through the list until conviction is obtained or the charges are exhausted.

' The New York correspondent, of the Daily News writes : — " A license, has been issued by the judge of probate in ; Florida for the marriage of George William Sutherland Leveson Gower, widower, otherwise the Duke of Sutherland, and Mary Caroline Blair, widow. The duke has been for jjwo months living quietly at Tampa, in Florida, on some property .which he acquired, devoting most of his time "tq hunting, shooting,, and fishing. " A small but comfortable house on the place has been 'occupied by him arid a hand-, some lady known as Mrs BJair, who shared in> his sports and pastimes, and who was something of an enigma to the neighbours. ' This has been solved by the announcement that the lady is about to become the Duchess of. Sutherland. She is the widow of a dependent of the duke, whom he accidentally shot while on a hunting expedition." Railway) travel in America has reached the very acme in the new vestibuled trains, called the " Golden Gate > special/ which -leave San Francisco (from Oakland, across the bay) every Wednesday and Saturday > evening for New York, where the passenger is delivered in 118 hours from the time of leaving the Pacific shores. In no portion of the world has there ever been such a luxurious mode of travelling placed at the disposal of the tourist, who can not only have his meals and sleep in. the cars, in a style equal to the best hotels in America,' but th,ere are also bathrooms and barber shops on the train. All it now wants to make a man supremely happy is a theatre carriage attached to the train, where the productions of such modern composers as Offenbach, Lecoq, and Audran can be given while travelling between Poker Flat and Grand Hog's Glory at the rate of 40 miles per hour.

Daring the return trip of the excursion tram to Deep Stream on Friday, a serious accident happened to George Freemnn, the driver of the ballast engine on the Ofcago Central. 1 "When the excursion train was between Hindon and the viaduct, Freeman, who was driving one of the engines in front of the train, left it to speak to the men on thenext one, but fell while passiag from one engine to the other. This was unnoticed by the men on the engines, but one of the passengers saw Freeman fall, and reported the fact. At first there was some doubt a? to whether the passenger was not mistaken, but very soon after they reaohed" the place at which the engines were to be watered it was dtscovered ■ that one of the drivers was ( missing. The locomotive at 'the rear was sent up the line and Freeman was found lyirig m the water channel alongside the line in an insensible state, with his left shoulder dislocated I* He was brought on to the train, .and Dr Brown, who was fortunately on board, reduced the dislocation of the shoulder, and with the assistance of the officials, did all that could be done for him until he was handed over to the care of the house surgeon at. the Dunedin Hospital. The injured man, who has a wife and a large family at Mosgiel, had not recovered consciousness up to a late hour on Friday nighti On Monday Freeman was sensible, but complaining of a good deal of pain. It is not apprehended that his oa'se will result seriously.

A Fair, Bkattttfuii Skin. — Snlpholine Soap gives the natural tint and peaoh-like Bloom of a perfect complexion, makes the Skin smooth, supple, healthy, comfortable.— 6d Tablets; Everywhere

day was unusually heavy. The express trains for Nor t th and South 'were crowded,' and two large' engines, were required tor! each; About" 600 passengers left by the train 1 for .the North, and ,800 by the southern' train. The excursion' train to Deep Stream conveyed another 800 passengers, and the 9.15 and' lo.2o trains to Mosgiel were both crowded; the earlier one' requiring an extra engine, and. .taking fully 300 passengers. All the ordinary local trains werealso full, and as ,there was goods traffic on the lines as well, the business done by the Railway department in Dunedin yesterday was something extraordinary. : The excursion train •to Deep Stream, consisted 'of. three engines and 18 carriages) .left Dunedin station ■at 9.20 a.m., and arrived at, Deep ■ Stream shortly after 11 o'clock. The excursionists- here disembarked. Some .went rabbit shooting, I'and1 ' and others roamed about thefaills to see the' country. Had it not been' that there was* a fierce 'gale blowing from the nor.fcb^west the -trip would have beema pleasant, one^but the high wind certainly interfered-wifch the comfort of the excursionists, and a number of, hats < were lost, being carried by,, the wind beyond pursuit. »At half -past 3 the return/ trip was commenced, and was accom- > plished in good time, although some delay was caused by an accident .which' unfortunately happened to one of the engine driven*, and of which particulars will be found in another , paragraph. >

Commenting > on the issues of the general elections in Victoria, the Sydney Daily Telegraph (says:— "For the first' time in the ' political 'history of Victoria a definite proposal for I increased Protection has been submitted to the people at a general election, and has been | rejected by a vote of apparently at least two to i one. It is impossible at present to estimate' the exact significance of this fact. That it is an i important one, and one entailing other highly important consequences, cannot be doubted. What form they will ultimately assume has yet to be seen.'

The German papers state that Field-marshal voa Moltke is mot only passionately fond of music, but is, or -was, an excellent pianist. He Iknows by 'heart an extensive repertoire 'of the ; compositions of the, great masters, and until enfeebled by age, he used to delight in performing ithem. As it is, itie rarely misses one of the Court concerts. The great Duke of Wellington, it may be added,'v*as equally fond of music, and was always to be seen at the concerts of .the ;•' Ancient Society." ' ! " Attious " in the Leader writes :— " There iare few men in the community more deserving 'of pity than the , Ballarat burglars who broke into the School of Mines the. other day. The only sufferings I can compare to theirs are those of the men who through the boom dreamt they ; had acquired great, wealth, and who, when the 'bottom was out of it, awoke to the fact that ithey owed more than they could ever pay. The poor burglars were successful in their little iboom up to their wildest hopes. For a few jbrief but, delicious minutes tbey; would not have jexchanged places Miith a Munro or a Mirams. They had lumps of yolid gold in their sacks big Enough to represent years of exquisite drunks, jvaried only by the intenser. joys of D.T. The 'Welcome,' the 'Berlin,' and dozens of iother •historical nuggets were safely bagged, and taken jout o£ the building. Then came ;the hour of jdisillusion, Horrid doubts., came into, their minds. Those lumps of ,, gold that shone so rejsplendently in their, glass cases— could it be possible they .were not real? , The hammer ia produced — a blow struck— and m a moment the fraud exposed. N,bw I ask anyone, is it not hard that a skilful, burglar who thinksi.that he has successfully shaken half a ton of' solid gold, should awake to the fact;, that he has only a sack Full of gilded plaster casts ??' l k The latest society fad' in New York, according to a Home paper,' is the Salvation Army. jOne of the enthusiastic women who has faithfully followed General Booth for several years Went to New York recently from England with the avowed purpose -of making 'a social revolution in favour of, religion.' She is p'retty'ahd intelligent, and at once " caught on " with some pf the ladies who claim to' lead the fashions. Prayer meetings were organised and invitations sent "out, and now these meetings are of daily occurrence, and the millionairesses are Vicing with each otKer to get up the 1 largest attendance and the greatest enthusiasm. Whether the conversions made at these meetings are anything more than skin deep is a' juestion; that the movement will last tor any '. ength of time nobody believes. It's a social i sraze and nothing more ; society in New York is ■eady to take up anything that will furnish excitement, and the range' may be any where ; from horseback i riding to stockings to be drawn on, ' >ver the head. ' '

j The rapid development of " process " work— • |hat is to say, the mechanical reproduction. in facsimile of original pictures and drawings— is one of the marvels of the present day. ..Within ihe last few days (writes , a contributor to,the Pall Mall Gazette) I have been permitted to see what is perhaps the greatest woncjer of all, but inasmuch as all the patents applied for throughout the world have not yet been completed, I withhold for the present any reference to the details which constitute the "secret", of the invention. Lithographic, typographic, and even steel and copper-plate proofs of originals can by ijbis wonderfully ingenious yet extremely simple process, be produced in hours, which in the ordinary manner has hitherto taken days and weeks. A " ground "on oopper/plate for mezzotinters, which by the ordinary method of , rocking " takes hours to produce properly, can now be obtained in about two minutes. Your portrait can literally be engraved •• while you wait," and a steel plate of a man who died tfo-day can be issued to-morrow, as an " Indiapaper proof before letters ! " While I stood beside him, the operating artist reproduced on tbfe lithographic stone before him a life-size head — a beautiful stippled drawing of a beau- 1 tif ul girl— in 20 minutes by the watch !

, London Truth says that the Holloway College for Women at Virginia' Water appears to be dearly as absurd an institution as the Academy of Laputa. It has altogether cost £800,000, and is fitted up for the reception of 250 students, but I hear that the number does not abtually exceed 40, which is at the rate of i|20,000 per student. ! It is rather a ourious circumstance that Mr F. Simmonds, who has been appointed official agent for Great Britain for the present exhibition, held the same position to the commissioners for the exhibition held here in 1865.

The application of electricity to street rail - Ways in America is proceeding rapidly (says Engineering). Already nine lines are fully equipped and running, while 22 are being built, and 15 others have been contracted for. In Richmond 12 miles of traok are being operated on the overhead system. The current is conveyed by a contact wire fin in diameter, and at an electromotive force of 450 volts. The running stock consists of 20 closed. cars seating 22 persons each, and 20 open cars seating 40 each, ! fitted with a Spragne motor.. The running speed is seven miles and a-half an honr on the average, with a maximum of 15 miles ah honr. The gradients are very severe. The worst; is

oae,of 101 per cent,, but it is very short; another is 92 per cent, for 100 ft, while gradients of B's per cent: occur on curves 1 of 40ft radius, and gradients of 5 3 per cent, on a radius of, 27ft 6in. In New York the. Julien Company are extending their system. On the Fourth-avenue line' the, cars are now running three • round trips, <•' '"or 36 miles without change of battery. Twelve miles are run with the expenditure of 15 electrical horse power. An electric power transmission plant waa lately erected, on the Big Bend river of California. Two five-horse power Sprague motors at the end of an eight-mile circuit succeeded in clearing a shoal of water 600 ft square by 10ft average' depth 'in the bottom of the river channel. The efficiency obtained at the point where the pumps were located was 65 per cent. The situation was such that no other form of transmission than electric could have been employed. J Senior-constable Roche has been arrested in Brisbane for, being illegally on the premises of Dr Gibsdn.' ' The r doot6r' found the constable in his house' at 4 o'clock in the morning in uniform, but without his boots or cap^ which' were found on the verandah. He seized Roche, and detained him until a police, sergeant was sent for. Roche's boxes were afterwards searched, and a quantity of ladies', clothing was found which was stolen some months ago, so that it is pretty evident that he has been, carrying fin a burglarious career.

The states which comprise the German Empire are not altogether a happy family. The other day the Cologne Gazette took upon itself to reprimand the Grand Duke of Hesse, whose daughter has been contracted in marriage to the Czarewitoh, for having gone to St. Petersburg without first asking permission of the Emperor of Germany ; whereupon the Darmstadt Gazette retorts in this trenchant fashion :— " The reptiles seem to take the Grand Duke of Hesse, as well as the King of Bavaria and the other German princes, for simple French prefects. We have not come to that yet. Berlin is not yet the capital of Germany. Berlin is simply the capital of. Prussia, and the residence of the Emperor of Germany."

Writing on March 8, the London correspondent of the Argus says: — The Manchester "cab mystery," to -which I' alluded lately as recalling the Melbourne story ' of " The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," resembles it much more nearly than was known at the time I wrote. .It is proved that the ' victim was drugged with chloral, though possibly not with intent to murder. Whilst drugged he was robbed, and he never recovered consciousness. A' young man named Oharles Par't'on has been arrested for the crime. He is identified as the man who entered the cab with the' victim. More than that, it is proved that he stole a bottle of chloral from a Liverpool druggist some days ago, and that he used some of the drug to rob a man in that city. He has very small chance of escaping" the gallows. The young artist who murdered a young woman in his studio at Godalming, Surrey, after trying to seduce her, was hanged this week ' at Guildford prison. And the Muswell Hill burglars, who shot Mr Aitken, one of the sons of the house which they attacked, have been sentenced at the Old Bailey to penal servitude for life. This sentence applies even to the man who gave evidence against his " pals,"- and who did not himself fire the shot,

Mr. Aitken is recovering.

A correspondent writes .'rr-The many friends of Mr John Duncan, so long the tenant of Cherry farm, will be pleased to know that he does not Joayo the district, having arranged with his old neighbour and friend, Mr; John Reid, of Corner Bush, for a lease of that estate,' and takes possession on June 1. As Mr Duncan is to discontinue -cultivation and confine his' attention to grazing, there will be large cleariog sales at Cherry. Farm aad Corner Bush during next May.

Our Wellington correspondent telegraphs : — " Instructions have been issued for defaulting deferred payment settlers to be sued forthwith for the amounts of their 'arrears, and they will be sued for the full amounts 'due. ' The new valuations are now almost complete, and the sums which would be payable under the new and reduced valuation will be peremptorily executed until Parliament shall have declared its will in the matter. It is understood that a Fair Rent Bill will again be introduced, however, at least in respect of some of it 3 details. ' This, it is hoped, will meet with a better fate than, that which befell last year's."

Since November last quite a number of attempts have been made to secure the nomination of a ratepayer for the position of mayor of Rivertbn, but up to the present no one has been i fonnd willing to occupy it. Mr, Dow, the Victorian Minister of Agriculture, is preparing a soheme for the development of the agricultural industry by expending '£50,000, yearly for. the next five years in encouraging new industries by granting bonuses ,for establishment of factories for dealing with products of the. soil, and appointing experts to lecture to, farmers throughout the colony. > ' Reference has been made in our cablegrams on several occasions to water, , gas. A Home paper says :-t-" The Leeds Forge Company happened to 'be obliged to carry on a 'higher calorific intensity ' than nsual. The results of certain experiments (not revealed) induced the managing director to devote his attention to the manufacture -6f water gas. He began his experimental system in September 1887, and it proved sosatisfacfcory that at the end of March 1888 he went to the expense of special plant. The latter now produces 40,d00 cubic feet of water gas per hour. For nearly a year this large supply has gone on uninterruptedly and successf ullyl Water gas is now used, not only, for lighting purposes but for metallurgical requirements also. The whole of the Leeds Forge Compauy's works are supplied with it. It is used in the heating furnaces,- aha in the plate mill where steel ingots' aire rolled into plates for the 'manufacture of Fox's corrugated boiler flues. It, is employed to wfeld the same tubes, to heat the plates for the flanged frame plates for' 'railway rolling stock, a.nd other manufacturing purposes where hitherto fuel has been employed. The cost of the production of water gas comes out more favpurably. Its production per ton of fuel is 30,000 cubic feet; and, with fuel at 8s per ton (the average North Country price), and labour at 3s 6d per day, water gas can be manufactured at less than 4dper thousand f«et. The manager of tihe Leeds Forge Company's works states thafche saving effected there by the use of the new gas is £10,000 a year. The gas has little or no ' smoke or smell, and there is no destruction of pictures, curtains, or furniture in the rooms where it is used.

Active Sbrvicb cannot w^ar onfc the teeth thai are brushed daily with Rowlands' Odouto. All dentists allow that neither washes or pa»t«s are as efficacious for pollihing the teeth and keeping thea sound and white as a pare and DT<rttfcy tooth powder; such as Bowlutos' Odchto has always proved itself . It whitens the teeth, prevents and arrests decay, .strengthens the gums, and gives a pleasing fragrance to the breath. Bowlasds EssEycfc ok- Tybk is a harmless preparation for dyeing the h&ira permanent brown of black. Ask chemists and storekeepers for Rowlands' articles, of 20 Hafctou Garden, London, and avoid ipurioui imitiiloaii

Atifce Port Chalmers' R.M. Court on Saturday, Margaret M'Coombe sued J. W. HartisOb ifor £7 IPs, iov X wrongful conversion . of '14 sheep and damages sustained.— Mr Platts'for plaintiff, and Mr Macgregor for defendant.--From the evidence it appeared that plaintiff purchased 10 sheep from the Farmers' Agency on March 20, and on tbe evening of the 23rd defendant told plaintiff that some of his sheep were amongst hers. This was deniedj but defendant drove them away. She had been put to great' inconvenience, and had been compelled to purchase killed meat to supply her customers, whereby she lost fully Id per lb. The sheep ■she purchased were branded with an oval and two strokes on the rump. Eight of the sheep had been returned. — Defendant staled that he purchased 150 sheep on March 13, , the brand being an oval with two ticks on side of hind leg and two inverted J's on top of rump. A fortnight after purchasing them he missed 25, and noticed six of that brand amongst some other sheep, and told' plaintiff he would take them, which he did; bnt had not killed them.— His Worship gave judgment that the defendant give up the six sheep, valued at £2 8s; with damages, 10s ; and 19s 6d costs.

Our own correspondent writing from Sydney says:— "The San Francisco mail service has been engaging tho attention of politicians .and leading business me,n here for the past few weeks. Mr Creighton, formerly the American correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, has been here endeavouring to persuade the colonies to contribute £40,000 to a fortnightly, service, but the New South Wales Government have declined his proposals. Mr Creighton is now in Melbourne. He returns here on Tuesday, the 16th, and then leaves for Auckland in the Mariposa. He is acting as agent for the great American firm of Spreckles Brothers. He was very sanguine about getting the Government to entertain his proposals, but so far he has been disappointed. Mr James Mills, M.H.R,,of the Union Steam Ship Company (Limited) of New Zealand, is also over here. A Telegraph reporter interviewed him the other day and got a lot of interesting information out of him about the company he represents. At present he is negotiating with the Government for a year's renewal of the present 'Frisco contract, with every prospect of success. Business people here are now attaching great importance to the continuance of the 'Frisco service, but they think that a monthly service is sufficient at present. 'The agents of the Canadian-Pacific route are agitating for a service to Vancouver Island, but this proposal is regarded as rather premature. This is the very latest information procurable on the subject, and you may rely upon it as correct."

Our Auckland correspondent telegraphs:— " Mr R. J. Creighton arrived from Sydney by the Mariposa, where he has been conducting negotiations re the San Francisco service with the New South Wales Government. It is. understood he leaves for Wellington in a. few days with a similar object in view.

On April 5 nearly 100 former residents aDd natives of New Zealand assembled in the large banqueting hall of the Palace Hotel, Melbourne, and held a most successful and enjoyable re-union. .Dr Leger Erson, late hon. physician Auckland Hospital, occupied tbe chair. " Success and prosperity to New Zealand " was proposed by the chairman, who dwelt upon the glorious climate of, that colony, the fertile resources, grandeur of the, scenery, the causes of the past depression, and the signs of returning prosperity, while the presence of so many native-bom New Zealand ers , was referred to as an incentive to the formation of a New Zealand Natives' Association, as a kindred organisation tQ the Australian Natives' Association now flourishing in Victoria. The health of the Maor football team was proposed by Mr Cosson, tha well-known footballer and athlete (the notice of .whose death from typhoid fever in Mcl» bourne has recently gone the round of the New Zealand papers). To show, however, that he was still alive and in his old form, he offered to organise a team of , New Zealanders now ia Melbourne to play the Maoris on their return from England; and it was subsequently arranged by a strong committee that such a match should take place, and be followed by a banquet in honour of the Maori footballers. Success to the New Zealand and South Sea Islands Exhibition, New Zealand's new , Governor, and prosperity to Victoria, were all enthusiastically given and received. ' ,

■ A London cablegram in the Australian papers {states that Maharajah Dhuleep Singh has [written an insolent letter to her Majesty the Queen, in which he insists on the restoration lof the Koh-i-noor diamond, the ' largest be* i longing to the British Crown. An Indian j legend tells that the diamond was found in 1 jone of the Golconda mines, near the Kishna S river, and worn 5000 years ago by Kama, one iof the heroe,a celebrated in theMahabharata. ;It was ,in th 3 possession- of Baber, the founder of the Mogul dynasty in 1526, and in 1739 ifc 'passed to Nadir Shah, the Persian invader of .India, who gave it the. name of Koh-i-noor, 'or Mountain of Light. It was handed on from the successor of Nadir Shah to Runjeet Singh, the ruler of Lahore ; and in 1849, on the annexation of the Panjaub, it was surrendered, and presented to the Queen. It has since been recut in rose form, and its weight is now given as 106 1-16 carats.

It is pleasaut to learn that the test of voices for the exhibition choir is proving satisfactory to the music director and committee, nearly 120 ladies having passed, and very few being re* jeefced. We understand that the full strength of the choir is necessarily limited to 300 members.

The Rev. F. A. Gace, vicar of Great Barding, who recently published a catechism in which he denouueed it as a sin, equal to lying and tbeft, to attend a dissenting place of worship, has been censured by the Bishop of Sfc. Albans for hi 3 publication. The Bhfiop says that the vicar's assertions are most unrighteous. • ' In South Wales the offensive words had been printed on election placards and done a great deal of mischief. His Lordship adds that he fears he caii do nothing to restrain Mr Gace. He hoped that such publications, which he had to notice 20 years ago, had now gone out of date. Their revival had caused great scandal.

A considerable sensation hag been caused (writes ourMelbo«mecorrespondentonthel6fchinst.)by the arrest of Dr Figg for an illegal operation on a woman. Dr Figg is a very old resident, who practises at Williamstown, where he is greatly respected. The woman is a widow residing in another suburb. Her husband has been dead six years. Requiring the services of a doctor she consulted one residing in her own locality, but he replied that he did not care to deal with local cases. He recommended Dr Figg to' her (at any rate such U her story). She went to Williaeastown, and Dr Figg agreed to perform the necessary operation for £6. She was put under chloroform, anrl when she left the doctor assured her all was right. Before she got home, however,she was taken violently ill,and has gradually grown worse,! Blood poisoning has set in/and " she is at death's doer. Dr Ffgg has admitted treating the woman, but asserts he did so ffratis, .and denies having done anything illegal. Ha ' has been arrested and is under bail \ in two, sureties of £1000 each. In -spite of the^ grave

nature of the offence, much sympathy h felt few Dr Figg, who is greatly esteemed, aQ d his arrest caused great constern?,cioa in WilHamstown. He, was Very dejected "while before the court, ana on his return home to meet his family oecaD^e quite unmanned and shed tears. The aoc'^or is 74 years of age. It is with deep regret thai; wo have to record a sudden and great bereavement which has W fallen our townsman Mr W. H. Taggarb,ia the loss of his wife, who was killed through being 'thtxwn out of a vehicle on Monday evening. Mrs Taggart left her home alone in. a dog cart drawn by one horse at about haft.past 5 to drive to a place which Mr Taggart ha? at Musselburgh, and when in Crawford street the horse took I /' trignfc and bolted in a southerly direction. It turned mta Manor place, and in Mxtg so brought the wheel of the vehicle Into contact ' with the corner of the kerbstone. Xhe sadden < jerk : threw Mrs Taggart out of the trap* and she i alighted on her head in frontof the wheel, which passed over her. The horse got fclear of the Kerbstone and continued its course, going entirely round the block, between "iftanor place and the cricket field. On its return \l dashed along Bond street, down High atteet, and into Mauandrew street, where its further course was stopped. •Constable Ramsay on arriving on the scene of the accident found Mrs Taggart lying in an iasensible sl?&te at the corner of Crawford street and Manor place, and some people toutfd her washing the blood from her fatte and endeavouring to restore consciousness. A cab ' was procured and she was taken to the hospital, i where she was examined by Dr Copland, who ■ found that judging from appearances she had fallen on her head and am. The face was son-, fiid-Brably scratched and bruised, but there must ' . no, doubt have been some internal injuries. She died shortly after being received into the institution, never having recovered consciousness. An inquest was held on Tuesday, when the jury returned a verdict to the effectthat the deceased was .accidentally killed by boing thrown out of a buggy.

Sarah Sime, a patient ab the Dunedin Hospital, in a suddea freak rushed into the bathToom on the second storey on Monday and, trenching off one of the bars fixed across the ■window, threw herself out, falling on to the asphalt path in the garden. She escaped with a severe shaking and the fracture of one of the «m(».ll bones of the orbit. On© of the nurses in attendance on Mrs Sime had left her only a few seconds previously. At a general meeting of temperance societies, held in the Choral Hall on Tuesday night to ■meet Miss Ackerman, the Rev. Dr Stuart made the folio wing remarks :— " The people who commissioned Miss Ackermau to visit our country in connection with the great temperance reaortu is the creation of the lat>t 270 years. They *ww number close en 60 million*. Though their fopginuing was small they are the product of very choice seed. Their migration to America was compulsory. They left the land of their lathers partly To rear an independent shed, And get the lips they lov«d Unborrowed breadv but chiefly for freedom to worship the Living God and to shape their life according to their conviptions. They planted in the virgin soil of their adoption three root institutions— the family, school, and chuech,— and wherever they wandered they took them with them. In the course of time they found that the demon of intemperance followed them, and, with a success which amaaed them, counter-worked family, school, and church. It was felt that the resulting evils required a remedy. Some said that the cure .'was to regulate its movements, while other.a advised shampooing and cajoling &s the most likely means to change his nature. But they found that neither treatment affected his evil nature. At last, after much discussion, the people came to an agreement that they must banish him. It is now felt far and near that the right and proper thing is social ostracism and transportation. Miss Ackerman is here to tell us what the mothers and maidens of her nation have done to secure the extinofcion of intemperance, and their steady resolve to pass on the campaign from mother to daughter till the nations are delivered from its power and pollution." Miss Ackerman having addressed the meeting it was announced that as the result of the raeetiugs during the day 52 ladies joined the union,

The Yen. Archdeacon Julius, the popular Church of England clergyman, of Ballarat, has, Ijke Napoleon the Third, been filling the role of it special constable. On a recent Saturday n ight a resident of Dana street, named William Frank Powell, assaulted Bis sister-in-law, who is a cripple, by throwing her off a chair against a fender and outting her forehead. Dr Gordon was first summoned to attend to the physical requirements of the patient, and subsequently Archdeacon Julius was sent for to afford the sufferer spiritual consolation. This done, the Archdeacon made inquiries regarding the assault, and on optima fade case being apparently made out, the Archaeacon went in search of the alleged woman-beater, and on discovering bis whereabouts, he arrested and marched him off to the city lock-up. The lock-up keeper, who describes^ " the grip " of the venerable gentleman as something more than official as far as security of hold is concerned, was much surprised when the popular preacher appeared in the police camp with his prisoner, against whom he had signed the charge. Archdeacon Julius is an earnest dispenser of spiritual comforts, and, when necessity requires it, he can, by virtue of his early training with the gloves, deal out hard knocks to erring members of Chiistianity. Th<? prisoner, when brought before the Police Court, was- discharged, as no one appeared to prosecute, The Age has published a leading article on the case, asserting that the Archdeacon had no right to take upon himself the role of special constable.

We have received from Mr Alexander Joyce, of Lyttelton, a pamphlet entitled "Land Ho I " advocating the repurchase and settlement of the large freehold blocks of land in the colony. His schem? is to repurchase the land at property tax value, the money being found by the issue of 4 per cent, laud debentures to the value of £1,650,000 issued on the security of the land repurchased, the rentals of which he would have specially applied to the payment of the interest and the repurchase of the debentures.

The new Forbury School, which is a fine commodious building capable of holding about 500 scholars, was opened on Tuesday, in the presence of the parents and friends of the pupils, by the Mayor of South Dunedin, who said he had been requested to deolare in opened. From what he had seen of it it was one of the best schools in the colony. It was well ventilated and airy, and there was no reason why fchtj pupils should not be as comfortable there as in tbeir own homes, and he fully expected to set* a large increase in the- number on < the roll. He impressed on parents the necessity of their sending their children to the school regularly, and if this was not attended to they could not expect them to become good scholars.

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