LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1970, 22 August 1889, Page 1

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The action commenced by William Christie against District Judge Ward for false imprisonment has been discontinued. We understand the reason for this is that, on the commencement of the action, the Parliamentary Committee, to whom Mr Christie's petition against Judge Ward had been referred, refused to proceed with its investigations while an action is pending, and that Mr Christie is anxious to have the whole matter thoroughly investigated. We are informed that the action would probably not have been commenced at all if Mr Christie had known that it would suspend the operations of the committee, and that the writ was only issued on the last day of the three months within which any action against the judge could be commenced. The Union Steam Ship Company have presented Captain Fairchild, of the Hinemoa. with a graphoauope, for the prompt services he rendered to the passengers and crew of the Maitai when she was wrecked on Mercury Island on June 2. Applications were received at the Land Office on the 14th for a couple of sections which were not applied for in time for the balloting for land which took place on that day These applications came before the chief commissioner on Thursday morning, and the resulfeof the balloting was as follows : — Section 11, block X, Kurow, 94 acres, cash price £1 per acre, 10 applicants — James Strachan, perpetual lease; section 10, block X, Nsseby, 88a 2r sp, cash price £1 per acre, one applicant — Thotnas Mawhinney, perpetual lease. In addition to these, section 12, block IV, Tiger Hill, which has been open for gome time past, was taken up by Mary Jane Sloan on perpetual lease. There fire 311 seres in the section, and the cash price is £1 per aore. A Scotchman named M'Lean appeared at the Warrnambool (Victoria) Police Court recently for not sending his child to school for the required number of days, and on being called be walked np to the bench with a very tall boy at •h\s side, remarking, "This is the child, your Worship." The announcement caused great merriment in court on acoount of the stature of the child, who wes taller than the biggest man in court. " What height is he ? " asked the magistrate. "Six feet six inches," was the

father's reply. '• Well, according to his age, he cornea under the %ct t though not according to his stature," was the magistrate's answer, and a fine was imposed. The boy, who is just under 14, appeara healthy, ia well bailt, and if properly locked after will develop into Victoria's greatest giant. The Daily News proposes that in international exhibition should oe held in London in 1891. The following telegram has been received in Ghristchurch from the agent of the South Paoifio Petroleum. OompaDy, at Qisborne;-- " Good news. Facifio pipes up 100 ft, Coming freely. F. J, Pibsse." Mrs Alexander Sullivan, wife to the Alexander Sullivan now charged with murdering Dr Cronin, is a clersr woman journalist. The last time a London correspondent heard of her she was doing the Paris Exhibition for a syndicate of 700 American newspapers. She gives an amusing account of her first press engagement. She had been article writing to fill the place of a siok leader writer. On his recovery she was offered a permanent engagement at a very small salary, bub walked out of the room indignantly. A clerk was sent after her to offer double. She left the house. Ihe clerk was again told to follow and offer four times the first sum. She said they must pay her as they would a man. Finally she came to terms at £400 a year. She was then only 18. A good portion of her time has been spent in the service of teetotalism and other movements con* nected with the poor. The Palace line of oars which Mr Young, of Wellington, has decided to stark in Danedin commenced running on Saturday last. The plant comprises 16 Palace carsandabout 100 horses. On Saturday only what may be termed the main line was in operation—that is from Caversbam to the Bbtanical Gardens. This route is cut up into about one mile sections, whioh system Mr Young was the fleet to introduce into the colony. By the purchase of coupons the charge for each of these sections is reduced to Id, or if more than three dozen coupons are purchased even something lower than Id is charged. Starting from the Custom House square, the first section Northwards extends to St. Andrew street, the second section extending to Albany street, and the third to the Botanical Gardenß. On the south line the first section extends from Custom House square to the Kerosene Bond, the second to St. Peter's Church, and the third to the terminus at Caversham, A division was taken in the House of Representatives on Saturday morning on Mr Moss' amendment — " That the property tax is unfair in its incidence, harassing in its effect, and an obstacle to the progress of the settlement of the colony" — with the result that the Government scored their second victory this session, the majority being as on the previous occasion, four votes. The Property Assessment Bill was at once read a second time. At the City Police Courb on Friday morning two persons were fined for drunkenness. Ser-geant-major Bevin stated that one of these had £51 8s in his pocket when arrested, and that two men of the criminal class had been " shepherding" him, apparently with the intention of robbing him. Messrs J. Logan and R. B. Martin, J.P's, ocoupied the bench. Principal Rainy comes to the colonies from the Free Churoh of Scotland, the main object of his visit being to attend the jubilee services of the Presbyterian Churoh of Victoria, but his commission also extends to the Presbyterian churches of New Zealand to express to them the sympathy of the Home churches in the work which is being carried on here. His visit to the Otago church presents some features of peculiar interest, inasmuch as the province was a Presbyterian settlement, almost the entire body of the promoters being connected with the Free Chinch of Scotland. Principal Rainy is a most scholarly and able man, with qualities as a preacher of no mean order, though he has shone most as a church leader, being acknowledged and followed by three-fourths of the members of the Free Church Assembly. In debate he is considered to have few peers. He is Principal of the New College, Edinburgh, and in addition occupies the chair of Church History. During his stay in Dunedin he has been the guest of Mr A. W. Morris, Marinoto, Newington. Our Outram correspondent writes :—": — " There was a large attendance at the quadrille assembly on the evening of the 15th on the occasion of the first waltzing competition. Six couples entered, but only two couples competed, and as both were good waltzers.the judges (Messrs f4rant, Stewart, and Pindlay) had some difficulty in deciding Eventually Miss Charlotte Hollands (Greytowu) and Mr M'Millan (Green Island) were awarded the prize. Miss Marshall and Mr William Snow were the other competitors. Mr Simmons supplied the music." Active preparations are being made for the forthcoming dramatic season of Mr Bland Holt. The company, numbering 35 people, arrived from Sydney on Wednesday by the s.s. Wakatipu. Saturday, August 24, has been fixed for the opening night, when will be produced for the first time in Dnuedin the new sensation drama, " The Union Jack." Mr Holt brings all his Melbourne scenery and effects, consequently a very complete production may be anticipated. A lad, about five years of age, named Chirles Shaw, met with rather a nasty acrident in King street on Saturday. It appears he was playing about the street when he was run over by a tram car, one of the wheels of which pagsed over his left leg, tearing all the sinews from the lower part of the limb and fracturing the ankleAfter the accident he was conveyed to the hospital, where his injuries were attended to. Advantage was taken of the lovely weather which prevailed on Sunday by a very large number of persons to visit the Exhibition building.andduringtheafternoon fully 2000 en usfcbfive been about the buildings and grounds. The

gardens, on which a good deal of work baa been done, were greatly admired, and when completed will evidently be a favourite resort with many visitors. Some 21 patients were admitted "ate tae Dunedin Hospital duxiug the past week, and 17 were discharged Arthur Ohen, Hector Mockford, and Alfred Lakitipu died. There are at present 100 patients in ihe institution, or one more than at the beginning of last week. Mr John Dillon, M.P., one of the Irish delegates, has accepted the invitation of the local branch of the Irish National League to visit Westport. He leaves Sydney for New Zealand on the Ist October, It is related of Mr Christie Murray, the novelist about to visit Australia, who began life , as a reporter, that when in the gallery it fell to his lot to report a speech of Mr Lowe, that terror of reporters, upon the Army Purchase Bill. " His speech was a mass of literary quotations, all most wittily applied. I tried to take ihe speech. I sweated, and in my anxiety my note book got greasy. At last I gave up tha attempt rb hopeless. 'We want this every word,' said my chief, tapping me on the shoulder. • For heaven's sake, hold your tongue/ I answered, and so I sat and listened. At the aame time I aaw another reporter — one of the old type. Ha was a fine classical scholar. He knew all the Greek and Latin quotations. 1 knew all the English ones. So we wrote out our report, I doing mine from memory. The nest morning I got a letter thanking me for my report, and I got known for a time as the man who reported difficult speeches by looking upon the painted ceiling." Bull fights ia the latest attraction at the Paris Exhibition. , In deference to the indignant horror excited by the demand for the authorising of these cruel aud dangerous sports, .the bulls' horns are to be tipped with indiarubber, so that the horses may not be gored; but the hideous torturing of the bulls themselves, by the insertion of burning darts into their sides, to incite them to' the furious onsets whioh constitute the life of the fight, will be performed as diligently as in Madrid. In furnishing some information to its readers in connection with the telegram announcing the fact that H.M.S. Dart was overdue on her passage from Auckland to Sydney, and that one of her boats had been found washed ashore, the London Times gravely announced :-— f( But if the Dart left Auckland for Sydney direct without the intention to call at any other port en route, it is considered certain she is lost, as the distance is only 500 miles. Mail boats cover the distance in . 48 Iwurs, and the Dart left Auckland on the 6th inst." Up to last week the Victorian Public Works department had issued 1700 free railway passes to the unemployed in Melbourne. Cardinal Moran, in thanking some Protestant contributors to a Catholic bazaar, acknowledged their generous co-operation, and told his auditors at the opening ceremony that " it must be their duty, in return for this sympathy, to cooperate with them," Continuing, he said that "it was a very happy feature to see throughout the length and breadth of this land that all parties were so earnest in the resolve to develop in harmony and in peace the resources of Australia " ; and further on the cardinal made reference to " that spirit of conciliation, of charity, and peace which seemed to be so racy of Australia and the Paoifio Islands." The United Presbyterian Church in the United States is now engaged in discussing the following resolutions :—": — " No student who is addicted to the use of tobacco in any form shall be admitted to license. No one shall be eligible to the oflftce of ruling elder who is addicted to the use of tobacco in any form." What a panic there would be in Scotland if the General Assembly were to entertain such overtures as these ! Principal Rainy, like many other visitors to this city, is delighted with its surroundings, and speaks in terms of the highest praise of the magnificent views to be obtained from many points about the Town Belt, round which he was driven on Monday morning. He also visited Messrs Boss and Glendining's mill in the Kaikorai Valley, and expressed himself most favourably with regard to the various classes of goodsturned out. On Tuesday Principal Rainy vißitcd the Boys' and Girls' High Schools and the university. The question of the use of unfermented wiDe at the Communion table is at present causing a good deal of discussion among the members of the Ravenßbourne Presbyterian Church. As far bank as May 1888, it was discovered by several of the communicants that wine was not being used at the Communion table, and on making complaint they were plainly told by the kirk session that unfermented wine had replaced the genuine article. Out of respect for Mr Kelly, who lately occupied the pulpit, nothing more was s&id, but the matter has Dgain come to the front with *he question of the appointment of a new minister, and the dissenters now threaten to take such action as will retard the remainder from obtaining a minister unless their wishes are complied with There is talk, too, of the matter coming before the presbytery. A good deal of indignation was aroused recently in Sydney by a statement attributed to Dr Higgins, the auxiliary Roman Citholie Bishop of Sydney, to the effect that licentiousness and infidelity were being taught in the State schools. Dr Higgins, speaking at Parramatfca, said he did not intend to charge the public schools of the colony with teaching licentiousness and infidelity. He did, however, intend to Bay that he regarded them as part of a system of public instruction established at the present day in many centre? by men whose principles were opposed to the teaching of tne Church of Borne, that such a system was fraught with danger to the faith and innocence of Catholic children who availed themselves of

it, and that a father who exposed his child to these dangers was failing in the first duty of a Catholic parent. Such was the opinion he must always hold dI every system which praotically excluded from its programme the God of the .Christian man aud law-abiding member of society. A totara pile, wbioh has been in position for some 30 years, waa taken uu on Monday during the progress of works M the Queen's wharf, Wellington, and, with tne exception of the portion that waa exposed above low- water mark the timber was in as good condition, if not better, than when put to the use it has served so well. This is another instance of the value of totara as a lasting agent in submarine structures. A London cablegram, dated August 13, says : 11 Further intelligence has been received respecting the movements of Mr H M. Stanley, who, with Emm Pasha and 9000 men, was reported to be marching towards the East- African Coa3t. Mr Stanley intends proceeding to Kavirondo, which is on the easteru side of Victoria Nyanza, and in the territory marked out as within the English sphere of influence, ahd. thence to Mombasa, the port of the British Imperial East Africa Company." It is now nearly a year since the top of the Cbristchurch Cathedral «pire w<u> knocked off by the earthquake, but nothing has yet been done towards its reconstruction. Dean Jacobs ssys, after the offer of the Rhodes family to repair it, it wa& deemed advisable to obtain the opinion of an ex pert in the construction of earthquake-proof buildings. Mr Waters, engineer of the Westport Coal Company, who is latoly from Japan, has been communicated with, but no reply is yet to hand. Among the heroes of the Johnstown disaster— aud some ' of them swept off in the flood will never be known — John Stitt, the boy hereof the bridge, should have a brass plate memorial set on his stone. He was 17 years old, and worked* in the Pennsylvania railroad machine shop at Blairsville. After helping to pull several people out at the bridge that black and awful Friday night, he went to the 6hops and came back with a lighted locomotive headlight. Standing on the bridge he turned it this way and that, not only saving many from being, dashed against the bridge, or caught in the houses that cracked like egg shells against it, but enabling others to get to the shore. Several times be was urged not to stay, but he still kept his place and held the light, occasionally taking off his nap and fiending up a cheer as he saw one after another safely reach the bank. Then a wave larger than the others came ; there was a crash, and noble little John, still with his saving headlight, was washed away. It will be remembered that Superintendent Robotham, of the Abingdon police, passed through Danedin some months ago with a prisoner named Arthur Latham, with a number of aliases, arrested in Hobart on a charge of larceny as a bailee of jewellery and plate., value £800. He was taking his prisoner to England in the Coptic. The accused was very despondent and low-spirited on the way Home, and fhowed signs of suicidal mania. On arrival at Rio do Janeiro, on June 10, the ship was coaled in midstream. About 5 a.m. the following day, when the Coptic was being got ready to proceed on her voyage, Robotham suddenly missed Latham, who, it is said, must have run up on the afterpart of the hurricane deck, for his coat was afterwards found there. An alarm was raised and the ship and lighters were thoroughly searched, but no trace could be found of Latham, who, in the opinion of Robotham, the officers of the ship, and the engineers, committed suicide by jumping overboard. Captain Burton refused to detain the ship whilst a search was made ashore, and Superintendent Robotham went on to Plymouth with the recovered stolen property. The affair in some respects resembles the escape of Gasparini when in charge of Detective Walker. Quite a gloom has been oast over the district (writes our Lawrence correspondent on the 19fb) by the announcement of the sadden demieeof Me Jonas Harrop, of Lawrence, who died yesterday (Sunday) about 1 o'clock. He had only been ailing a short time, having caught a severe cold last Thursday week on the recreation ground witnessing a football match. It was thought he was getting better, but a relapse occurred, aud though Drs Blair and Withers were summoned, their efforts were without success, as Mr Harrop succumbed to neuralgia of the heart. Mr Horrop was a very old resident, arriving in Lawrence in 1861, and has been in business ever sincr, 9r6t starting in partnership with Mr G. Jeffery, and afterwards on his own account as chemiat and stationer. He ha 3 always taken a prominent part in local public affairs as a member of the Borough Council (serving one term as mayor), Atbenasum, School, Licensing, Bowling Committees, and other bodies. He was a justice of the peace, and waa very attentive to tho duties pertaining thereto. Mr Harrop was about 50 years of age, and leaves a widow and family of five, the youngest beii-g i about 16 years of ago. Ifc is understood his life I was insured for £500 in the Government office. His funeral takes place to-morrow, and will no doubt be largely attended from all parts of the 1 district. Mr Harrop for many years acted as representative of the Otago Daily Times and Witness a f Lawrence. On Sunday afternoon (telegraphs our Auckland correspondent on the 19th) the Rev. J. S. Hill continued his lectures on " The Administration of Justice." Some of the statements made by him were of an extraordinary character. One wa3 tbat Caffrey was not guilty of the Barrier Island murder ; and the second was that Penn'a crime was of a very different nature to tlint for which ho suffered death. As to the Hamilton mystery in Newton, the lecturer stated that ho knew a murder was committed and who was the murderer. He condemned the new prison and the solitary cells as being planned on an obsolete system. The lecturer was in "favour ok

placing females in charge of fomale police c«il-, *nd of appoinHDg magistrates to try the nffendersof tboirowu 6ex Referring to sundry social questions, the lecturer stated tbat there were more bad girls— not young women, but i trirls — in Auckland than wo id till Mount' •'Jdeu Gaol, the causes o£ then fall bciug laziness and vanity. The statements of tbe lecturer caused considerable sensation, and on subsequent consideration it •vas considered that, as regards the Caffrey, j Ptnn, and Hamilton episodes, he said either too • micb or too little, and his statements would only lead, in their present iorin, to unsettling the minds of the public Among those present waß Mr Bisley. the 'ieputy registrar of tbe Supreme Court, and Mr J. M'Lachlan, J P , the tarter gencleman taking patt in the subsequent di«)CUßston, "It passes comprehension 'writes a London journal) how Mt Gladstone escaped altogether uninjured when he waa knooked • over by & hansom before he went down to rouse the West. 1 " The shaft struck him on the cbest, and stretched him Hat on his back , but, to con* tinu«» tha account in his own words, " 1 knew that o harm had been done, and I wasn't a bit hurt. What I thought of first wa« that I must keep hold of my umbrella, and &ot let my hat fly off, and then it struck me that in the interests of the public the cabman should b& securer), and < > 1 scrambled to my feet &a quickly a* 1 could." Ho tella the story with tbe moat perfect simplicity, aud seems to think it quite iD the order of things that an old man of 80 should be laid prostrate one moment by a cab, and the next be chasing the offending driver. The Victorian Poultry and Dog Society's annual show, the thirteenth of the series, was beld on the Bth, 9th, and 10th inst., and dis> phyed, both as regards quality and number of entries, a marked advance upon the standard of previous years. " 650 does were exhibited, and the poultry clashes included 1240 exhibits, being an advance of 400 on last year ; while there was an increase also to 540 in the pigeons, this being 200 more than last year. A show of cats was held in connection with tho exhibition. The show was almost intercolonial in character Messrs Rogen aud Co., of Wellington, were awarded a champion oup, valued at 20ge, »nd placed second for two other championships in poultry. They also received 32 other prizes Mr E. P. Dombrain, of Christchurch, scored in bulldogs, Pirate taking first prize iv the open class. Mr W. Reilley secured most honour* in fox-terriers, but Mr Trigge, of New Zealand, took away a few prizes. In Gordon 6ettern one dog was valued at £1000, bub on J>be judge promptly ordering it out of the ring the owner's views changed, and £500 would have received respectfnl consideration. The society received from gate money alone £819, and with commissions on sales would realise £lUOO, irrespective of entry fees. The Dnntroon School Committee have unanimously recommended Miss Isabella Davis for the position of mistress of the school. Lord Oranley is now convalescent. Ttie taperlnteudent ot i3ea.eltft Agylum desires to thank Mr J M. Laggett, of Hampden, for a parcftlt ot illustrated papers which, he kindly teat for the> patients.