OMNIUM GATHERUM. NEWS, GOSSIP, AND ADS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 34

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

NEWS, GOSSIP, AND ADS.

Scarlet fever is said to be very prevalent just now in Sydney. ,

A soup kitchen has been opened afc Newcastle, in aid of the distressed.

There are 14,000 men on the Coolgardie (Western Australia) goldfield. , The accommodation of the Wellington Ff cc Public Library is said to be wretchedly inadequate.

The regulations fixing the charges for water supplied from the Mount Ida water race are gazetted.

Earthquake shocks are reported to have been felt at Queenstown on Thursday and Friday mornings.

At Palmerston a carrier was fined £1 and £3 10s costs for throwing a dead horse into a creek at Dunback. x

Miss Bertha Aldrich, late of Oamara, has been appointed assistant at the Upper Hutt Sohool, Wellington. .

Mr William Hilliard is gazetted as inspector of factories for Palmerston (Otago), and Mr Michael Greene for Inveroargill. Forty compositors have been dismissed from the Government Printing Office at Brisbane in pursuance of the scheme of retrenchment. v There is a/decrease of over £7000 in the revenue of the Melbourne tram's for last month, as compared with June of the previous year. The Cromwell Argus reports the death of an old resident of Bannockburn, Thomas Inkster (or Williamson), one of the lucky Bailey Gully diggers after it opened. Judge Ward is gazetted as District judge for the districts of Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, and Otago goldfields, and his appointment as Supreme Court judge revoked. Mr " Bob" Walker, well known on the West Coast, and formerly a publican in Wellington, died in the Wellington, Hospital on the 13feh from a complication of diseases. A four-roomed wooden house, the property of a miner named Jans Rasmussen, was destroyed by fire at Tucker Beach, near Queenefcown, on Sunday afternoon, There were no insurances. A decision of Mr Martin, R.M., at Wellington, is said to mean that domestic servants are entitled to a month's notice of dismissal, or in lieu wages for that period. It is generally understood that a week's notice is sufficient. Two deaths have occurred at Wyndham this week from the effects ot measles and bronchitis—the wife of Mr M'Kerrow about midday on Tuesday, and during the night the infant twin son of Mr Thomas Rankin, of South Wyndham. • At a recent' meeting of the Borough Council of Palmerston North a constable was in attendance, invited by the mayor, who was afraid that the council might take to settling disputed matters in a way not provided for in the rules of the council-

Mr iames King, a stonemason, died suddenly" at Napier on. Monday. He was formerly resident in variousparts of the South Island. He was an enthusiastic volunteer, and one of the Napier representatives at the Ride Association meeting. ,: Moritz Orenstein, jeweller, who made a claim against the Manchester Insurance Co., Wellington, for £255, damage by a fire,- and was awarded £27 on arbitration, was committed for trial on Friday for attempting to' obtain, money by false pretences. A sew police regulation ha» been brought into torce' in Wellington. Constables in future are to wear numbers in their shakos according to seniority, and not at random, as in the past. This is to do away with disputes when on dutjr on the question of seniority. , ■ Despite the verdict of the jury at the. inquest on the body of- W. J. Spreat, who was shot dead by Lonis Sanderson, hi& stepson, at Wellington, on Saturday week, the police intend to proceed with the charge o£ murder preferred -against Sanderson. - The railway authorities have raised the price of teachers' yearly tickets for Saturday from £1 to £3. This prevents country teachers from taking advantage of the Auckland university - science classes. The council decided to join with ' the Board of Education in representing the matter to the proper authorities. Mr Luks, who .recently diedat Auckland, was well known to those on the\'Otago and West Coast goldfields 'in the early days. Mr Luks for some years was the commercial manager of the West Coast Times, and^afl a gentleman of superior culture arid most estimable qualities. The following are the hospital returns for the past week": — Remaining from the previous, week, 98 ; admitted during the paßt week, 29 ; discharged, 21 1- total number of patients at present in the. institution, 105. There was one death, ,the deceased's name being Lachlan M'Lean. A most unusual sight was seen about haltpast 4- on Thursday afternoon at Chrißtchurch . in the shape of a very fine meteor. Its brilliancy, may b8 judged from the fact that at the time mentioned the sun had not set. Several very bright meteors have been seen during the last two nights. Southland papers record the death or Mr A. «. T. Clark,. Born in Argyleshire in 1809, he reached "g Ofcago 39 years ago, and was the first to take up land on the lower* reaches of the New river, about seven miles "from Invercatgill. He was one of the founders of the Southland Caladonian Society. A beautiful cave haß just been explored at Makairo, near Woodville, with the- result that several fossilised moa bones were discovered. The cave presents a magnificent sight, the roof being a grand array of stalactites, while the floor is studded with stalagmites of corresponding baauty. The Otago Harbour Board evidently possess a peculiar tug boat. At Thursday's meeting of the board, the' chairman stated that not one engineer out of a hundred could get any good out of her, and jihere was hardly an engineer in charge of the ocean liners that visit this, colony that could manage her. According to a Wellington paper the Government have introduced a lower scale of pay inthe Government Printing Office, by which the wages and overtime of a number of the employes have been reduced. This has created a great deal of discontent amongst some juniors whom it most affects, and the afiair nearly culminated in a strike. At a meeting held at Christchurch on Saturday evening, and attended by 1200 men, the' following resolution was carried : — " That the meeting heartily approve of Sir R. Stout's proposed amendment of the Licensing Act, believing it to be consistent with the spirit of true Liberalism that the people should have the power to vote for the decrease or extinction of licenses "

A dastardly assault was committed on the nignt.,of the 12th at Wellington on a young man named Gresham White, who was robbed of 38s,' by G. M'Kenzie, J. Collins, and James Douglas, who were next morning charged with the offence. M'Kenzie, who has turned Queen's evidence, was acquitted, and the others were remanded untU' Tuesday. They are recent arrivals from Australia.