LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2157, 27 June 1895, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Among the applications that came before the Education Board on the 19th was one from the Wethewtones Committee for permission to alter the floor of one of the rooms iv the school. The committee intend to raife part of the funds required for the erection of & fence round the ground by a concert, &x, and as it appears there is a gallery in the room in question, they find th»b " the floor don't suit as it is at present." They consider that the alteration they propoge will nob interfere with the teaching in the least. One of the merabew of the board ? expressed the opinion, which wai generally ' accepted round the table, that the object of the " committee was to convert the schoolroom into >n assembly room for dancea. It was agreed fturt tho board could not lee its way to grant

the application, but it was at the same time mentioned that several committees had taken it upon themselves to alter rooms in the way proposed by the Wetherstones Committee. The business that came before the City Council at the fortnightly meeting held last week was of an unusually interesting character. Besides the opening (in committee) of tenders for the abattoirs loan, which was subscribed several times over, the counoil received applications for the position of inspector of the abattoirs and also the competitive designs for the abattoir buildiDgs. Tha designs were some eight or nine in number, and there were 63 applicants for the inspectorship. The placs and applications were referred to the General Committee to report. The council, on the recommendation of the Special Drainage Committee, adopted the draft of jhe Drainage and Sewerage Bill which is to be introduced in Parliament this session. The bill is drawn on the lines of the Wellington Drainage Act, which 1 wai recently passed by the Legislature, and I provides for a general borrowing power of I £100,000 without sinking fund and for power to borrow £25,000 on the security of moneys payable, under the provisions Ipf the measure, by owners or occupiers of premises. The tenders for the purchase of the corpora 1 tion's abattoir loan of £6000, bearing interest at the rate of \\ per cent, and having a currency of 20 yeera, were opened at the meeting of the City Council lssb night. Excluding from consideration the offer of one gentleman, who is apparently not well versed in financial matters, to take £600 on the security of 44-2 acres of land, there were 28 tenders opened, and the tot*l amount offered was £57,100, the loan thus being subscribed nearly tenfold. The prices quoted by the tenderers ranged from par to £105. One tenderer of £1000 at 105, one of £150 at 104, and one of £500 at 1034: received allotment in full, and the balance of £4350 was divided among tenderers, whose offers aggregated £7000, at 103. Tenderers at piices under 103 received no share of the allotment. Great satisfaction was expressed by councillors at the eucceis of the lgan, though tome had entertained tha hope that a higher average price would have bean obtained. One of the mest wonderful clocks in the world is being exhibited in Sfc. Petersburg. It was originally manufactured for the late Duke Charles of Brunswick, who bequeathed it to the Swiss Confederation. There are no fewer than 95 faces to this cilogsal timepiece. It indicates simultaneously the fcim^of the day at 30 different spotß of the eaitn'd surface, beside 3 the movement of the earth around the sun, tbe phases of the mcon, the signs of the zodiac, the passage over the meridian of more than 50 stars of tha northern hemisphere, and the date according to tho Gregorian, Greek, Mussulman, and Hebrew calendars. So complicated are the works that it took two years to put them together efter the clock had been seDt in detached pieces from Switzerland to Russia. 11 It is stated," says Industries and Iron, ••that the «uccessful tempering of aluminum, bo as to give it the consistency of iron, is a discovery of F. Allard, of Quebec, whose rediscovery of the lost Egyptian arb of hardening copper startled the mechanical world three or four years ago. He has made and hardened a cannon, which has jast been tested in the presence of Colonel Spence, the American Consul, and a number of othera with success. This caunon is 28in long and siu diameter, the metal of the (an outside the bore bsing only &in thick. A

charge consisting of a pound of powder was fired out of this without any appreciable effect upon it. A new and scientific trial of the cannon has been ordered by the Canadim military authorities and the United States Consul. Allard baa been asked to manufacture as soon as pooBible a cannon 12ft long for direct shipment to Washingtui." Some millionaires lay the foundations of their fortunes by picking up a pin, others by entering London with half- a-cr own in their pockets. Mr Letter, the father of Mrs George Curzon, bfgan bis successful career, according to the Morning, by washing windows. Thirty- five years ago he was in Chicago without either the pin or the half-crown, bub with a letter of recommendation to Mr John V. F&rwell, the head of the great " dry goods " firm. Mr Far well had nothing for him ; bub as he turned to go young Letter looked at the office windows, and said, " Your windows need washing, sir. Let me clean them. Anything to do is better than nothing." At lunch time Mr Farwell handed the young man 2dol, and said, "Hang your coat up in the outer office I Hie your pluck, and will find you something else to do." Mr Leiter in course of time became head of the firm, and his fortune is now said to be 20,000,000d01. The weekly meeting of the Benevolent Institution Trustees wes held on the 19th, and was attended by Messrs Chisholm (chairman), Hayneu, Allan, Brown, and Swan. It was reported that Andrew Munro, aged 57, had died in the institution. Accounts amounting to £105 19s 4d were passed for p»yment. The monthly out-door relief book showed that during May the number who had received aid was as follows : 176 meo, 344 womeD, and 883 children, the cost being £133 3a 6d per week. For the corresponding month last year the figures were: 151 men, 338 women, and 898 children, the coit being £126 7a. The increase in the cost was £6 16s 6d per week, in the Dumber of men 25, and of women 6, while there was a decrease in the number of children of 15. The Chairman thought that the slight difference was surprising con»idering tbe weather and distress there was about. The Visiting Committee recommended an enlargement to the kitchen at the institution, and that another range be procured to provido more facilities for cooking; also, that the architect be ssked whether the scheme was practicable.— Approved. Relief cases numbering about 40 ' were considered. ! It is uuderstood the trustees of the Duntdio Saviiga Bank have appointed Mr Frederick Smith to succeed his late father at manager. The Christian Outlcok states that Mr Smith is authorised to aot as treasurer for the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, provisionally till the meeting of synod, in room of bis late father. The City Coukcil lsst week voted £100 to ■ the Unemployed Relief Works Association. ' The council also voted £30 to the Ocean Beach Domain Board to enable that body to undertake necessary works on the sandhills. A good deal of speculation has been indulged in as to the meaning of a cable message which we published on Thursday referring to prohibition in Canada. After looking through a number of articles referring to the movement in tbe Dominion it seems probable that the explanation is that given by the Lyttelton Times, : namely, that "assent has been given to local Prohibition Acts passed by several Frovincia Legislatures. It was held by the General Legislature that such statutes were ultra vires of the Constitution, and could net therefore become law : but, apparently, that attitude has i now been abandoned, and the laws declared operative as soon as the Privy Council of the Empire shall have decided that they are constitutional. This does not mean lb.it prohibition has been voted in any part of Canada. It only means that laws empowering the taking of a local ODtion role have been assented to by the Dominion Parliament. Should the3e laws, as we anticipate, be found by the Privy Council to be constitutional, the people would then proceed in the different provinces to vote on the question of license versus prohibition." Section 46, block VI, Rankleburn, was the , only land taken up during the past week at the Crown Lands Office. It contains 210 acres, and was selected by Mr James Hyslop under occupation, with a right of purchase, at a capital value of 20« per acre. Amorgst the applicants for relief to the Wellington Benevolent Institution Trustees this week was a woman who at one time was in receipt of an income of £1200 a year. Her husband is dead, and she has now to depend for a living on the meagre earnings of her young children. The sudden death at Portobello on Thursday afternoon of a girl named Evelyn Mary Geary, aged 11 years, has been reported to the police. Sergeant Geerin, on being informed of the ' event, proceeded to Portobello and ascertained that on the 9th instant the girl, while carrying an armful of hay from the hay stack to the cowshed, fell and hurt her left log. Her mo 1 her applied remedies and bandaged the I Bwolli-n part, but the sufferer complained frequently afterwards of a tevero pain in her toot. Her parents thought the iajury was not serious enough to demand medical advice and they resolved to tike the child to the fcoipital as soon as she seemed fib to be removed. She was confined to her bed off and on after the accident, bub took her food fairly well until within a day or two of her death, when she complained of being very thirsty, and she was supplied with a quantity of milk. She died suddenly aboub 1 30 p.m. on Thursday, in tho presence of Mr Poison (the schoolmaster) and her parents. Sergeant Geerin examined the body, and found no sign of violence ; but the left leg, from the knee to the instep, wa^slightly swollen. An inquest was held at Otago Heads on Saturday. Aftor hearing the evidence of Mary Geary (the mother of deceased), Mr Poison (who was i preEenb at the death), Dr Cuuninghame, and Sergeant Geerin, the jury returned a verdict, of " Death from necrosis and blood-poisoaing." i The meeting of the Education Board on Thursday lasted for over five hours, and a large variety of business was transacted, bhtrd beiag an evident deßire on the part of members to i have a clearing-up bafore the depatluro for Wellington of the three parliamentarians who occupy seats at the board. The class' fication scheme, certainly, was not Gaally disposed of, but a settlement of it is promised for the nexfe monthly meeting. Finality seems, however, to have boen reached, so far as the board is concerned, in respect to the Waiareka inquiry, for a letter which was read from Mr P. B. Fraser was regarded as S3 offensive in tone that it waß decided to return it to the writer, and some numbers of the boird expressed a hope that Mr Fraser would accept that as a hint that they wiahed to hear no more from him. An application for a school at Sfc. Clair (which gave rise to a brush between the Hon. J. MacGregor and Mr J. F. M. Fraser, who, a r ter a rather prolonged illness, was able to take his seat at the table in apparently good fighting form), reports from the Finance and School of Art Committees, and a complaint from the second assistants in two

of the city school* respecting certain questions ' submitted by the inspectors in the examination of one of tho higher standards, were among the other subjects which engaged the attention of the board. At a large representative meeting held by the Cheviot settlers a resolution was carried asking the Government to oapitaliso the next ; half-year's rent at 4 per cent, for five years. Messrs Gibson and Forbes were appointed a deputation to interview Ministers. Referring to the case of Major Brown, of Taranaki, who waa struck off the roll of justices of tbo peace and deprived of his license as a Native interpreter, but failed to got an inquiry, Mr E. M. Smith, addressing his constituent? at New Plymouth, made the following rather peculiar admission :— " In not granting an impartial inquiry in the first instance tha Government had, he btlieved, acted wrongly, but had the friends of the major sent the statement of the case to him and the members of the Government instead of forwirding it to the Opposition and the Upper House, they might have been granted an inquiry." Mr Duthie, M.H.R., who has returned from Europe, via the United States, says that there are many s'gas of a revival in England and America, and that New York was never ao busy as at the present time. He hopei that the wave of prosperity will soon reach New Zealand. At the Colonial Temperance Convention to be held in Wellington, tho following are the subjects set down for discussion :— ■•• Essentials of New Legislation," by Rev. E. Walker; "Parliamentary Work," Mr E. A. Huggeu ; " Organisation of the Party," R». T. J. Wills. Mr Luke, the Mayor of Wellington, will preside, and among the speakers will be Sir R. Stout, Messrs R. M'Nab and Hone Heke, M.H.R.'f, Rev. F. W. I«t% and Mr T. B. Taylor. Details are published by the Age of a swindle worked by a man named Selwyn, alias Smitb, alias Foster, carrying on business as the National Drug Company. He conducted a lottery by inserting adverHiements in newspapers in various colonies inviting solutions of an illustrated "puzzle," tho answer to which wa» so obvious that everyone cquld discover it almost at the first glance. Numerous prizes were «et out in tbe advertisement as being for distribution among those who, in addition to sending in a correct reply to the puzzle, remitted Is 3d for a box ot antibilious pills to be supplied by the National Drag Company. Although the prizes we/c advertised as gold and silver watches and gold bar brooches, those articles were, of courae, of the most trifling value; bub they allured the unwary bucolics of the different colouioi so effectively that on an average 70 or 80 letters a day were delivered to the National Drug Company, and nearly all of them contained stamps to the amount of 15d. A better idea of the far-reaching extent of the pill lottery business may be gleaned from the circular which was forwarded to the winners ot" the £100 offered for division amongst those who purchased a box of pill* and correotly tipped the winner of the last Melbourne Cup. 'lhe circular states that 13,857 tips were received, and that 398 selected Patron, the winner, and they were entitled to receive 5s each. There were over 1500 each on Carnage and RuoualF, either of whom would have only paid a dividend of la 4d. However, a sum of £866 was received for the pill?, which, after deducting the £100 distributed in prizes, left£766 to pay for thepiUs and recoup the proprietor for his trouble— a very handsome return. Over 1000 stamps of d ffcr-mt denominations from the various colonies were discovered in the office, as well as projects for fresh veutures of the same eorr, and memoranda of moneys received, which totted up neatly to £2000. The accused is iden 1 ioal with a man named Smitb, who carried on a bonauza lottery on tne Melbourne Cap ia 1881. The risk members of friendly societies unconsciously incur are illustrated by a case reported in tho " Sods of Teooperauce " for April: —"A G.W.P. attending a meeting of a subordinate division in his official capacity, atated, by request, what he believed ta be true of a candidate for the post of surgeon to tbe division. An action for slander followed, and although the occasion was held to be privileged, the mitter was left to the jury, who deoided adversely, and the unfortunate G.W.P. has had to borrow nearly £250 to pay damages and costs and save his home." Remembering that the brother simply repeated in a semi private manner what had been told him, in tbe interest of the order, the penalty should serve as a caution to members of other friendly societies to avoid the risk of similarly disastrous consequeucas. The Wellington correspondent of tbe Oamaru Mail says :— ■" Respecting the public works loan, it is understood that thß Government do not intend moviug in the matter, but will l>aye it to be agitated for by members interested in the construction of railways. That money mvs 1 ; I be got fcoin somewhere is beyond qi* s iou, unleis the *e : zure of tbe Midland railway ia to end in a fizzle. Provided that the money is . forthcoming, there is no doubt that the Govern- , ment will proceed immediately with the con- j struction of the line from Jackson's to Spring- ■ field, but the chancss of the Rtefton-Brlgrovo secbiou being pushed on are very remote. Should this public works loan become a reUity the Betterment Bill will be again intrcduced and passed." The question as to whether Mrs Deao, the Winton child murderess, will be hanged or not has given rise to a good deal of speculation ; but the general impression teems to be that ib will be her fate to suffer death. However that may be, a great many people are strongly or opiuion that she should fulfil the sentence passed upon her by Mr Justice Williams ; and j the police have already received a number of applications from persons who appear to be eager to perform the hangman's duty. Bishop Nevil', preaching from the text "Ye are the ealb of the earth " on Sunday morniDg m St Paul's Cathedral, mentioned tho case of tte notorious Mrs Dean. He pointed oub thit the oiurde'CJß of a he!ple33 infant had at one time doubMe-s had tbe grace of God within her soul to love children; but, while admitting the blackness of her crime, he might say that she had been brought to her present doom by the adulterers and adulteresses of the time, It his voice could reach those persons, he would ask each of thtm to fay of Mrs Dean : " I am, in part, the cause of that woman's came and of her do-m." They might esc«pe the penalty of a cumbrous law of man, bub they would iu.t escape from tho righteous judgment of God In cloamg an eloquent rcroration, the bi"hi p said fch.tfc Christ expected His followers to acf, like silt, as the presetting and purifying influence among the masses of mankind. They must act faithfully in fulfilling their duties in the way of holiness. As the preserver of spirituality and of morality, the Church should be heartily supported. IMPROVED TIMES are evidenced by the large sale of Frossard's Cavour Cigare, mild and ' fragrant— B for Is 3d.

A Cornish festival was celebrated ia tkf Salvation Army Fortress last evening, h musical meeting wm commenced at 8 o'clock, . and was concluded by an address by M»jo» Berkinshaw. A Corniih paatio supper was then hold, and the affair pasted off very pleasantly. A London paper has been hoaxed iuto pub* lißhiog the following in an article dealing with imeots :— " In New Zealand, where grasfio hoppers are more than abundant, they are used for food by Europeans. Grasshoppers are pro* nounced n great delioaoy in New Ze&land when prepared according to the following formula :— Ouo bushel of the insects is immeised two hours in half a gallon of poik brine. The insects are then boiled in the liquid for 20 minutes, then thoroughly rinred in warm water and placed in an oven to become crisp. When cold the heads are removed, and they ara ready to be eaten. The flavour is said to resemble that of the shrimp." Details are given in a Constantinople de« spatch of the scheme of reforms for Armenia which the three Powers presented to the Saltaa on May 10:— "It proposes that one-third oE the officials in Armenia shall be Christians; that the appointments of Governors shall be snbjeob to the veto of the Powers ; that a High Commissioner shall be appointed to supervise the carrying out of the reform?, who is to remain in office till they are completed, and whose appoint* ment is to be subject to the approval of the Powers ; that a ojpmmission eonitituted of Mohammedans and Christians is to watch over the administration of the Armenian vilayets ; that the gendarmerie shall be recruited from both Christ iacs and Mohammedans ; and that the Kurds shall be disarmed. The | three Powers propose to plica the adminiatra- ' tiou of the taxts in the hands of the Mudire, the moneys being collected by officers appointed by the Communal Councils inttead of by gendarme?. The scheme also proposes to abolish the farming, tibbes and other taxes." No mention is made of tbe control to be exn-cised by the Powers over the carrying out of the reforms. Professor Loie.eUe, an eminent memory psychologist, whose system of memory training hai a wurld-wide reputation, is at present staying at the Grand Hotel, and will giro vi during the current week his four celebrated lectures on 41 Assimilative Memory." The first is introductory, »nd is addressed to the general public at pjpnlar prices. The remaining tbrae lectures give his system of memory culture in great detail, and, as his testimonials assert, make his auditors know his moMiods perfectly. The professor has the repntation of being not merely a superior platform spenker, but is abundantly avouched as a " born orator," unapproachable •s a iciontiflo prator and humorist. Ho alone kept on lecturing during the late financial crisis in America when all the other koburecs and dramatic entertainments had to quit tbe field. He has never been •' managed" by any agenoy, nor does he ever trumpet his approach by any notices in advance. He relies solely on his merits as interesting expounder of his system, which the Calcutta Statesman says " has superseded all others." His testimonials declare that he builds up a new and powerful memory and cures mind wandering— the two greatest blessings an educator can confer. All details of bis lectures will 6hottly appear. . The American correspondent of the Melbourpo Argus writes as follows on the subject of (lading work for the unemployed :— " Vacant lots of land in the city and suburbs were assigned to the use of poor families for cultivation as farms or gardens, and the result was ia tho caie of Detroit' that 953 families hitherto suppotted in who!e or in part by charity were m&de self-aupporliug. A charitablo association furnished the money necessary for tha ploughing and for the purchase of farming implements ; most of the property cultivated belonged to the city, and tbe owners of private lots readily donated their ÜBB to tho Foor Commission for cultivation. The scheme has been adopted by the Charities Commicsion of New York, and a large area of ground has been secured, and will ba utilised in the way described, work having already been commenced. One-third of- an acre is allotted to «ach family, and the rule is not less that onehalf of each lot of ground is to be planted with potatoes. Many' of the applicants for these miaature farms are not acquainted with farm work, and it ia largely for this reason that they will be confined to the simplest kind of cultivation." On Saturday evening the Walton School Committee met and selected Mr D. Sinclaii Mason to fill the position of head master of th« school. There were 40 applications for the position. A Feilding telegram states that Alfred Neilson, aged 15, wai out shooting neai Stanway on Sunday, when by accident h« wa? shot through the heart, death resulting^ instantaneously.

THOS. PATERSON k CO. FRUIT AND PRODUCE AGENCY. MANSB STREET, DUNEDIN. (Established Dunedin 1879), Roceirei Consignments of Locally-grown, Tmmanian, Australian, and Fijfen FP.UIT. Also IGGS, BUTTER, OHKKSE, BACON, and other FARM PRODUCE. Id