LOOAL & GENERAL

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 22

LOOAL & GENERAL

The Clutha Leader reports that Willi*m Moir and Je66ie Moir were charged before Mr Hawkins, S M., with selling whisky without » license. James Townley, a Warepa settler, in his evidence staled that he and a man named Kirk went in and asked for whisky. Mrs Moir told them she bad none, and offered ginger wine, some of which he took. Kirk refused to have anything but whisky. The ginger nine was not paid for. Constable Christie was about to question the witness as to whether he had not told him (Constable Christie) a different Btorv, but Mt Neave's objection was sustained, and theoonstable said that as his wituesß had thrown him ©ver he would have to withdraw the charge. Mr Hawkins asked where Kirk was, and th« oocsfcable replied, "Oh, I won't have anything to do with him. He is worse than this witness." His Worship said he wes afraid the constable had fallen among thieves. The informations were withdrawn. For using obscene language Townley was fined 15s and ordered to pay 31s 6d costs, while William Kirk for the same effence was fioed £2 4s and 25s 8d cost*. For breaking 1 and damaging a bicycle Towuley and Kirk were each fined £ilßs3d.

At a meeting of Dunedin telegraph and telephone officials, held on Saturday, it was unanimously decided to nominate Mr M'Nickle as their candidate for election to the Board of Appeal, and a atrong committee was appointed to endeavour to secure hia return. The Dunedin branch of the Post and Telegraph Officers' Society unanimously elected the eauie geutleman as their nominee for the position of telegraph representative, and have uotintd the executive to that effect. The post office officials have not yet decided as to their course of action.

The new letter-card which has been adopted by the New Zealand Postal department is a handsome desigu by Mr T. Sears, of the General Survey Office, Wellington. The card bears a l£d stamp, and ample room is left on the front {or the address. On the inside there is much more room for correspondence than on the present penny postcard, and on the back of the card, whioh is like one large card bent in two, there are viewß of Mount Cook, Mitre Peak. Sutherland Falls, Tongariro, Rnnpohu, and Lake Taupo. Altogether the oard is a very elaborate one, and is expected to be in oirculafcion by the Ist of December next.

Some months ago we published particulars of the saving by Mr Thomas Valentine of the life of a young woman who threw herself off the cross wharf. The matter was brought under the notice of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia by those conversant with the facts, but it appear* the members of the court in their wisdom consider that Mr Valentine did not risk his own life sufficiently to entitle him to an award. It is true that on the occasion in question a considerable number of persons were about, but the night was very dark, and Mr Valentine was the only person who went to the woman's assistance, and in doing so must have ran more or less risk of losing his own life. *

Tenders are being invited by Mir R. H. Leary, agent of the City Corporation, for the sale of per cent, debentures for the conversion of the city loans.

There was again a large attendance on Saturday night at the exhibition in the rooms of the Technical Classes Association in King street, and visitors were evidently much Interested in what they saw. It is expected that between £50 and £60 will acorue to the funds of the association from the exhibition.

At St. Patrick's Church on Sund&y morning, before the sermon, the preacher, the Rev. Father Lynch, expressed his pleasure at being able to announce that Bishop Moran was afceadily improving in health, and now- felt hopeiqJ of recovery. He requested the congregation to continue their prayers on the bishop's behalf. Referring to the recent opening of St. Patrick's, Father Lynoh stated that the amount received on that occasion was £400. If the entertainment promoted by the Dunedin Catholic Literary Society in connection with the church were taksr. into account, close on £500 had been reoeived within a few weeks for this one object. Considering the timea and the many calls upon the people he considered the result as very satisfactory. Bishop Moran had desired him, while thanking the people for their generosity, to express his joy at the progress which had been made in South Dunedin.

At a meeting of delegates of the city and Buburban oounoila held on Monday night to consider the question of drainage, it was resolved — " That it wag desirable that a comprehensive sjetem of drainage should be adopted, embracing Dunedin and the BurroundiDg boroughs; and that the councils lepresented at the meeting be requested toy their respective delegates to agree to pay mro rata the cost, in accordance with their rate roll, of obtaiaißg professional schemes and estimates of cost, such cost not to exceed £500." Bln connection with the presentation to Dr smon the other day the Hon. J. G. Ward gave Borne interesting details of the development of the Telegraphic department. He Baid:— "ln 1867, when Dr Letnen took up the controlling position in the telegraph service, there were only open 757 miles of telegraph lines, carrying 1496 miles, as against 5513 miles of line and 13,515 miles of wire in 189*. There were 21 stations, transmitting annually. 70,952 messages of a total value of £12,840, as against 640 stations transmitting 2.069,961 messages of a total value of £140,783. These figures, he thought,

plainly marked the great change which had taken place during the time he had referred to. The number of stations opened and the number of messages telegraphed had increased some three hundredfold, but the cost reached less than 12 times that of 1867, the exact figures being £10,558 and £121,251. That, he thought, was a great tribute to the progressiveness of the department, and a high oompliment to the late superintendent. While these great changes were g'-'iig on, the reduction in tariff charges, originally varying from 6s 8d for 10 word*, was initiated, which had culminated in the recent concession of 18 words for Is, including address and signature."

I Mr A. Brodrick, a British citizen and a Transvaal burger, tells in an interview in the South African Empire an authentic story of the marriage of President Pretorious. The good, sturdy old man at 75 thought of marriage, and wrote to a buxom widow at some distance notifying that he would call on her with a license. So one day he »panned-in his mules, paid £7 10s for his license, and leisurely trekked to the widow's homestead. He had lingered too long. " Jij es toe tatt," laid the widow, "I was married last week." Pretorious shook hands, lit his pipe, and returned to Pretoria. •« Mr Bok," he ! said, •• I want you to soratch out that name and ! put in "Widow . I think she'll have me." !" I can't do that, Mr Pretorious— the license is annulled ; but go down to Oom Paul and see what he can do." The ex-President gravely w*nt down to his successor and stated his oa«e : •' No, no ; I can't do as you wish ; but here is £7 LCs for a new license." Off then went the old man to the registrar, secured his new I license and the widow as well.

We have received a little pamphlet published by the Boutihl*.ud Time* Company on a question which ia iikrh to hulk largely at the meeting of the Pn.sb>t<-rian Synod this week, namely, " Marriage with a deceased wife's sisttr." The author " Laicus " giveß an outline of the argument, which goes to prove that such marriages are not forbidden by Scripture. Taking the 18th verse of Leviticus, it is contended that the translation in the revised version makes the meaning very clear. " While the prohibition immediately preceding of the wife's lineal relations are without qualification or limitation, as are also those of the other two claeseß contained in the law, and while they thus explicitly and absolutely include the man's mnniage to his wife'o mother, daughter, grandmother, and grand-daughter, and while such marriages are denounced a» wickedness, that p-hich applies to the wife's sister is qualified, limited aB to time, in force only during the wife's lifetime, and based on grounds not of abominableness nor of wickednets, but only of expediency, as calculated to produce domestic irritation and dispeace." The whole question is very judiciously treated and the little work will co doubt help to strengthen the hands of those who desire to assimilate the law of the church to the civil law.

A fire was discovered shortly after 5 o'clock ob Sunday morning in the furniture warehouse of ftlems Hitchcock Bros., in the Ootagon, and a considerable amount of damage was doDe by it, the premiees being virtually gutted, and the stock being to a large ex! eat destroyed. The fire is supposed to have originated in a cellar at the back of the building, for there had been a plumber working there on Saturday repairing some gas piping, and it is regarded as likely that some embers may have been left smouldering, and it was through smoke issuing from a grating below the pavement in the Octagon that the fire waa discovered. By that time, however, thr- flames had a strong hold, and a man v.. i d Nixon, who acts as assistant to one M-ISUir, the keeper of a billiard saloon in the upper storey, and was sleeping on the premises, kad great difficulty in making his way through the smoke downstairs to the open air. Mr Edward Hitchcock lbft the premises at 9.30 p.m. on Saturday, when everything appeared to be all safe ; and there waa no sign ot fire either when the billiard room was clotted at midnight, the first intimation that Nixon had of the outbreak being when he was awakened by th« clanging of the fire bells. The billiard room itiielf was not damaged, and the New Zealand Clothing Factory's premises and Mr HaU'a hydropathic bathing establishment, which are on either side of Messrs Hitchcock Bros.', al*o escaped — the fire being confined to the furniture warehonse, which, as already stated, whs piaetically gutted The stock of furniture, which was valued at £1600, was nearly all destroyed by fire and water. It was iasured in the Victoria office for £1000. The premises are the property of Mr Daniel Haynes, who bad them covered by the Standard offioe for £1000.

The Choral Hall was well filled on Monday evening when Sli»B May Yaten, of London, g*v« htr pictorial monologue on "Ths Progress of the English-speaking People," The Hon. W. Dowuie Stewart, who occupied the chair, introduced Miis Yatos as a modern reformer, who concerntd herself with the poor and with providing good food for young people, and who would, he believed, lecture in the interests of kealth and temperance. Miss Yates, who was well received, plunged at once in medias res and, speaking without notes, and perhaps, on that account, more discursively than would otherwise have been the case, entered into a glowing panegyric of the Angle-Saxon race, the progress of which was, she said, inseparably united with the cause of liberty. The great characteristic of the English people was, she ot-cmred, their capacity for forming organisation* b> vhich the strong might help the weak, but tteru was no common platform on which these tneD, and she ventured to suggest that they might all unite in endeavouring to secure the health and strength of the race. This object, the audience was led to infer from her tuccrramg remarks,

was to be attained by the adoption of temperance principles and by the abandonment of flesh as an article of diet in favour of fruit and vegetables. In connection with the lecture a number of views, some of which did not appear to have any special applicability to the subjeot, were exhibited by limelight, and Miss Yates delivered a recitation with good effect.

The Rev. E. Biaiet has received a call to the Presbyterian Church at Woodlands, Southland. The Joint Committee of the Waiareka parish also decided to invite the rev. gentleman to fill the vacancy there caused by the Rev. Mr Wills's removal to Lawrence, but ifc is understood Mr Bisset intends to accept the call from Woodlands.

The New Zealand Herald says that Viscount Folkestone, recently in Auckland, said to one of its representatives that if the tourist attractions of New Zealand were properly put before the travelling British publio, thousands who now go to France, Switzerland, and Italy, would turn their faces to New Zealand, and visit the lake country of the North Island and the alpine regions and lake country of the Middle Island. He himself had no conception of the wonders to be seen here in volcano, lake, and mountain scenery, and he was sure that thousand* of the English nobility were equally ignorant. Nothing worth speaking of, he stated, was being done to familiarise the British tourist with New Zealand as a route of travel. It might naturally be expected, with tbe completion of the Rotorua railway to Rotorua, and its opening in a month or so to that terminus, that steps would have been taken to disseminate information about the lake country, and to popularise this route of travel, but so far we have not heard of anything being done in this direction.

An incident of a recent cruise of the Sydney steamer Archer amongst the Islands was a visit to the ship of the exited King Mataafa. It will be remembered that Mataafa was deported first to the Union Group, and afterwards to Jaluit, in the Marshall Group. After his landing at the Marshall Islands, whioh are under the German flag, he was given his liberty, and allowed to roam about the place at will. On the arrival of the Archer in September last, he went on board, and was permitted by the Governor of the group to accompany the ship on her cruise among the Marshall Islands. It so happened that one of the passengers on the Aroher could speak the Samoan language, and Mataafa soon got into conversation, and seemed del'ghted to meet one who oould give him news about his native place.

The Nolson Evening Mail learns that the position of nautical adviser to the Government has not been conferred, as reported, on Captain Sutcliffe, of the Aorangi. The position, whioh carries a salary of £400 a year, has not yet been filled.

A watchman named Thomas Heavey, who was engaged in patrolling at Darling Point, Sydney, at about 1 o'clock on a recent Sunday morning, accosted a suspicions character, who at once closed with him, and as Heavey was getting the better of him shot him through the ohest with a revolver. An alarm was given and a constable set off in search of the man. He eventually saw him making off through the Ruihoutter's Bay reserve, and as he seemed about to draw a revolver the constable covered him with his pistol. The man said that if he would not fire he would give himself up, but directly the officer lowered his weapon the man closed with him. He, however, was over* mastered and conveyed to the lock-up, where he was identified as a well-known desperado ■amed Grenon. A knife and six-chambered revolver fully loaded were found on him.

Our Wellington correspondent telegraphs that Mr Fitzgerald, the Controller- general, denies the statement made in the New Zealand Times th%t he intended to resign hit position.

A conference of traffic managers in charge of various sections of railways in the colony was htld ou Tuesday in the office of the District Traffic Manager in Dunedin.

The customary exchange of districts, by the audit inspectors in the railway service is about to be made. Mr C. L. Russell, the inapeotor in the Dunedin section, goes to Auckland ; the present inspector at Auckland proceeds to Christchurob, and the officer there comes to Dunedin.

The annual session of the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland was opened on Tuesday evening with the customary services. The retiring moderator (the Rev. Dr Dunlop) conducted th« exercises with whioh the proceedings were commenced, and then vacated the chair in favour of the Rev. R. R. M. Sutherland, who was installed as moderator for the ensuing term. As was to be expected, the first sentences of the address of the new moderator were devoted to a glance at the vacant places in the synod, in which during the past 12 months great blanks have been created by the deaths of the Rev. Dr Stuart and the Rev. Dr MacGregor. The revival of religion was the subject to which Mr Sutherland then directed the attention of the court.

An inquiry into the origin of the fire on board the Mararoa on the 17th mst. was held at Port Cfcalmers on Tuesday, before Mr Coroner Carew, when a verdict was returned to the effect that the vessel was wiltully Bet on fire, but that there was not sufficient evidence to show by wbom.

At a large and representative meeting of the postal officers, held on Tuesday night, Mr G. B. Dall wai unanimously nominated as a candidate for the Postal Branch Board of Appeal.

The directors of the National Insurance Campany have declared a dividend for the half-year at the rate of 15 per cent

per annum, making a total of £14,705 12s 6d for the year. They have written off:— Office furniture, £327 153 2d ; salvage plant, £200 ; freehold properties, 20 par cent., £5400 2s lid ; loss on securities realised, £300 17s ; and carry forward £14,149 0s Bd.

Some time ago it was recorded in these oolumns that the Rev. F. J. Barton Parkes, of Charters Towers, had met with a serious acoident in a peculiar manner, the clapper of a bell, whioh was being tolled by him, falling on his head and, it was reported, fracturing Us skull. Mr Parkes has a number of friends in this colony, for, in addition to having aoted as assistant in St. Paul's Cathedral at Wellington, he had also charge for some time of the Waikouaiti parish, and they will be relieved to hear that a letter has been reoeived from him stating that, though a piece of his skull was ohipped off by the clapper, which weighed 401b, he has now recovered from the effects of the accident.

The Rev. O. H. Irwin, of St. Andrew's Church, Carlton, Melbourne, will occupy the pulpit ab Knox Churoh on Sunday next, when the anniversary services will b« held. The rev. gentleman and his wife are at present on a visit to the lakes distriot.

The death of Mr Peter Cunninghams, whioh occurred on Tuesday, removes another of the prominent settlers iv the early days of the province. He was born in December 1815, at Riccarton, Kilmarnock, N. 8., but proceeding to Barrbead he entered there with the firm of Roy and Co., printing masters, in whose employ he was principally occupied in tbe work of cutting and preparing the fine blooks from which Paisley shawls were printed. With the advent of machinery he foresaw the possibility of a speedy end to his peculiar art, and on that account he determined to forsake his native land and come to New Zealand. Prior to his departure from Barrhead he was entertained by his friends at a supper, at whioh he was presented with a testimonial in the form of a purse of sovereigns and a splendidly, mounted ebony walking stick. Arriving in Dunedin in 1860, Mr Cunninghame established himself in business as a general mercbaut in the Octagon, but after some years he removed to the Tokomairiro diatnot, where again he went into business. He attained great popularity there, and was elected mayor of Milton, while on his retiring from business the residents of that town marked their appreciation of his worth by presenting him with a silver tea and coffee service, together with a gold brooch for Mrs Cunninghamo. Full of years and honour he has now paxsed away, leaving a widow and an only son, Dr Cunniugharoe, of Port Chalmers. The deceased was highly esteemed for his genial disposition, for bis readiness to assist thoiie in need, for his manly conduct, and for his open-hearted generosity.

The case of a Madame Wallace, who has been charged with fortune- telling in Sydney, has occasioned great interest. In her defence a large number of witnesses of undoubted respectability and position deposed to consulting her as a medical clairvoyant and having derived graat benefit from her treatment after professional advice had failed to afford relief. One of these was Mrs Smart, the wife of the late city police magistrate ; while a Mrs Sbeele, of Newo«»tle, stated that sh« owed her life to the defendant's oar©. Another was Mr James Currie Lloyd, chief inquirer in tho electoral office, who attended voluntarily, and deputed that about 12 months ago he waited on Mrs Wallace, paid her 10s, and aiked her to trace an important document whioh was missing. She told him its exact contents, and that it would be found in a solicitor's office. A searoh was made in that office without success. He informed her of the fact, and she replied that it was there, and that it was mixed up with the papers of a oertain estate. Two months later the paper was found as described. The acoused was committed for trial.