LOCAL & GENERAL

Otago Witness, Issue 2197, 9 April 1896, Page 13

LOCAL & GENERAL

The train traffic on Thursday was unusually large. The outgoing Christchurch express took away about 200 passengers, and the incoming one brought to Dunediu about 300. The south express in the morning toak away between 300 and 400 persona, aud the special, leaving at 5.20 p.m., close on 300. The special to Christchurcb, which left the platform at 9 o'clock in the evening, was crowded, fully 400 excursionists departing for the north by it, including 50 members of the Union Football Club. The special train for the volunteers at 8.40 p.m. carried about 200 out to the encampment. The railway authorities complain, and not without some cause, of 'the manner in which on such occasions the public crowd the platform and impede operations by getting round tbe carriages. In two instances last night officials were hustled off the pktform aud I ell between s Jt aud the train, one of them gettiog some Severe scratches about the legs.

The regular meeting of the Higb Schools U vfinom was held on Thursday, aud was aUei dfd by Messrs*J. F. M. Fr*sei (chiirnsan), 3. R. Sinclair, G G. Russell, James Allen, 3H H.tt,, N. Y. A. WaUs, and Dr Brown. The Finance Ctmmifctee's report, rtcommeHding the payment of accounts amounting to £468 10a Id, was adopted. Mr D. K. Macrae, lessee of runs 161 and 162, Wyudham, wrote in connection with his application for a reduction of rent that he was unsble to give further information reg&rdipg his losses, but that the carrying capacity of, the runs were nob ac good as in former years He asked the board to grant him a further extension of leaf e for one year. — Application granted. The CcinmisBiqner of Crown Lands, Dunedin, wrote suggesting the advis&bleness of determining the present lease of section 2 of 30, block 11, Oam*ru district, and offered a lease of tendon 134 of the same bl'ick (which the. bjard had accepted in exchange for the first-named section).for a terra of 14 yearsj the Government to make good any deficiency between the respective rents until expiry of original lease (10th July 1902). It was resolved that the acop'ed land brf advertised for lease for a term of 14 years, the upset to be ascertained and approved by the chairman.

Oa Sunday last the Rev. Harold E Bsliliouee entered upon his duties as " supply " for the Rev. J. J. Lewis, and ennduots that day the Trinity Sunday school anniversary services. Mr Belihouse hails from Auckland. I?ive years ago he was accepted as a ; , candidate for the "Wtslt-yan ministry. For two years he prosecuted his studies at Three Kings Wesley *n College, Auckland, and since then he has laboured in Taranaki district, having had charge of the new Stratford circuit. As a student, a preacher, and a pastor, it is admitted Mr Bellhouse has acquitted himself with more than ordinary success, and the con- < greg-ition at Trinity Churchward to ba congratulated upon his appointment.

The remedy, " aseptolio," recently discovered for pulmonary disease, is being rapidly introduced in the American hospitals and in private practice. The reports are that almost immediate beneficial effect? are apparent from its me — cassation of cough, increase of flesh, and refreshing sleep. It is a combination of phenol (carbolic acid) with other substances. The compound used by Dr Edson, t\xe discoverer, consists of a solution, in pure water, of a compound of phenol with lesi than one-hundredth part of a chemical called pilo-ctrpine--phenyl-hydroxid. The addition of this compound of T>ilooarpine serves to counteract the ill ■ effect that the phenol wou'd produce if used alone. Dr Bdson's description of the appearance and effect of his new remedy is as follows :— " The solution prepared in my laboratory is a colourless fluid, strongly refracting light, having the characteristic odour and taste of phenol. Injected under the skin itcauses-a sharp, burning 'pain, nob so Bevere as that following an injection of bichloride of mercury in solution. In the great majority of cases the injection is not followed by 'any local irritation whatever. In a few a small nodule appears at the point of injection which, as a rule, disappears after a few days. . . . The effect of the solution when injected into the organism of a patient suffering from disease caused by active germ infection is to directly inhibit bacterial development, and consequently to diminish' the production of poisonous bacterial products."

At the V.M.C. A. Booms on Thursday afternoon, Cheok Hong Cheong, the Chinese missionary from Victoria, addressed a large gathering on mission work amongst the Chinese at home and abroad. Bishop Cowie presided and introduced the speaker, who gave an interesting address. Cheong said there were some 5000 Chinese in New Zealand and 40,000 in Australia, the great majority of whom were untouched by Christianity. If they were Christianised they might be sent back as an army of missionaries to their native country. He would like to see a college established in Melbourne to- give Chinamen in the colonies instruction in general knowledge and a ChrisKan training. The present was a promising opportunity for Christianising China, as if this trefe done that country might be expected to jrfcart on a career of great progress. He appealed fgc uuraMd foppori for -mission work M Chins, ; ..■"-

"Tee 3rdinst. being Goud l'rirlay wua ohjerved as a close holiday. The weather, though flue overhead, was not very favourable for those who desired to spend the day out of doors. A large number of sportsmen, evidently bent on the destruction of ducks and other game, left town by the early trains, and large numbers took advantage of the' cheap excursion rates to travel by rail and spend the Easter holidays in the country districts.

What might have proved a serious accident occurred near the ichoolhouse at St. Leonards on Friday. A trap, in which were two ladiea and two gentlemen, was being driven down the hill at a brisk pace, when Mr Cummings, of the Caledonian Hotel, who was sittiag in fiont with the driver, was jerked from his seat aod fell heavily to the ground. Bth wheels passed ever his legs, but forSurjate'y the trap was light and the road soft, and he escaped with some bruises and a severe shaking. He received every attention from Mr Hedger, a loral storekeeper, while the rest of the party proceeded to Dunedin ard sent back anotbertrap to t»ke Mr Cummiugs to hi« home.

In condensing the evidence given by Dr Brown at the Aehburn Hall inquiry a wrong impression wan conveyed. Dr Brown did not sa> that when he saw ftjacalister he formed the opinion that the case was hopeless. What he did say was that after he had examined Macalister and performed an operation deemed necessary to rave life he saw that the casa was hopeless.

At the Nelson Polica Court last week Walter Beattie Thomson, a member of the Waimea Cuunty Council, was committed for trial on a charge of the alleged forgery of an endorsement on a cheque. The complainant, William Hupgood, is Thomson's stepson. Beiog out of work he, with his wife, went to live at Thomson's farm. The latter procured him some county work and supplied him with two horses and a cart. Payment was raado by cheque, and this cheque was endorsed by Thomson with Hopgood's name and cashed, Hopgood alleging that he received none of the money. Two of the witnesses who gave evidence stated tbat accused told them he had offered to get the cheque cashed for Hopgood, and as the latter was a bad writer, endorsed the cheqne by writing Hopgood's name, and he paid Hopgood £7 10s of the money, retaining the rest as payment for the use of horses and cart. A quarrel took place some time afterwards, and on Hopgood being cleared out he appears to have commenced the proceedings. Accused reserved his defence.

A novel application of the Bontgen rays is reported from , Vienna. In the Imperial Museum of that city is a mummy about whose personality there has been some difference of opinion for some tima. It was doubtful whether the mummy was that of a human being or that of a sacred Ibis, whioh the ancient Egyptians held in such reverence that at its death the remains were preserved with even greater care thau those of common mortals. The form of the mummified Ibis is stated to be much the same as that of the human mummy, and for certain reasons it was deemed inadvisable to solve the question by unwinding the cerements.- The Rdntgen rays were, therefore, called in for this purpose, and with the most successful results. A photograph of that portion of the mummy where the human breast and shoulders would have been situated showed none of the bones of the human skeleton. What was disclosed does not yet appear, but we may take it that it was the seoret of the sacred Ibis.

A Home paper states that DrDawsen Burns's Britfsh drink bill for 1895 reveals the facUh.it over three and a-half millions more money was spent on intoxicants last year than in 1894, the total being £142,414,812. The average expenditure per head >of the population was £3 12a 9^(3, against £3 11s 6£d in 1894.

At a meeting of the African trade section of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, on February 14, letters from English traders on the West Coast of Afiica were read, pointing out that the Benin country is rich in palm oil, gam, and rubber, but that it is impossible to develop the resources of the district in consequence of the 'obstructive tactics of the King, whose custom, it is added, is to kill yearly a large number of slaves to . celebrate the anniversary of his father's death ; while young women are crucified in times of drought or too much raia in order to propitiate the gods.

The Motor Car Club recently invited a number of persons to the Imperial Institute to witness a trial of what are considered to be the best adapted fer practical use in horseless carriages. Amongst the carriages were the Daimler, an American invention, and the Acme Company's small carriage for two persons. These are driven by petroleum vapour or bqnzone. Another exhibit was a strong, wellmade and well- designed double-seated dog cart. Some of the petroleum carriages were light and elegant. An electrical carriage of Messrs Garraud and Blomfield was strong and serviceable for road work,' although necessarily of considerable weight on account of the storage cells, dynamo, and driving gear. The electric motor was placed under the body of the carriage, at right angles to its longitudinal axis ; the wheels were of solid iron, short, and covered with broad rubber tirea packed with sand. The total weight was about 18cwt, and it was t»tated that a journey of 80 miles cooM be undertaken

without recharging the batteriea. It would be horseless and free from smoke cr smell, which the petroles were not. 'The starting, stopping, turning, and speed, tests were all well performed, and ample proof was afforded of what could be done if the legal difficulties in the way of horseless carriages were removed. The great drawback was that there is no means for direct reversal of the engine, an essential in crowded streets, and that there is no provision in the petrotas and benzones against accidental fires caused by the carriages being overturned or run into in busy thoroughfares.

The Emperor William w«s present on 20th February at the annual banquet of the Brandenburg Diet. In addressing those present his Majesty began by recalling the spleudid feats of aims accomplished at Metz by the Brandenburg Corps. On the occa-don of his visit to the battlefield he had in spirit, and with emotion I and tearful eye, beheld the regiments of the old Brandenburgers, and had noted how they had sacrificed themselves for their king. He had then vowed that no mark of gratitude for their serviced was too great, coming from their Margraves. The Emperor proceeded to tneution the festivities at the opening of the Kiel Canal, and specially referred to the % unravournble weather and to the faot that the sky cleared just at the moment when the Hoheuzollem out through the oord which spanned the canal. His Majesty exhorted his hearers to defend the sacred memory of the Emperor William against evety attack, for to him and to his trust in God they owed all the benefits that they had experienced. The Emperor also referred to the German wives and maidens who had cheerfully given up sons, huebando, and lovers for the Fatherland. He trusted that they would remain mindful of their high calling, and train up their children to be good and able men. His Majesty concluded by calling upon those assembled, at the eefemoDy to work every man in his place for the welfare of the Fatherland in memory of the Emperor William.

When Mr Stead went to Chicago he found it a veritable pit of Tophet. Since then (says the World) Chicago has been looking around for the reasonj and has found it' in the Bible. The Board of Education has discovered that the Bible is by no means the sorb of book to leave upon the drawing-room table when there are young people about. So it has set to work to eliminate from the Bible everything that could bring the blush of shame to the cheek of innocence. Stripped of its "questionable passages " the. Bible runs to no more than 200 pages of large print. The Song of Solomon goes overboard en masse. Certain incidents in the lives of Jacob and Sarah are suppressed. And the next generation at Chicago will not understand an allusion to Potiphar's wife. Chicago is nothing if not thorough. And now that Chicago has taken hold of morality, we may be sure it will make morality hum.

On the representations of the two Canterbury freezing companies the Hon. J. G. Ward, Commissioner of Customs, has agreed to charge duty at the rate of 5 per cent, instead of 20 per cent, on those portions of the Hercules refrigerators which were deemed by the customs/authorities to be steam engines.

We regret to learn that the Hon. G. M'Lean received word on Saturday morning of the death of his brother, who lately came from India to New Zealand on a visit for the benefit of his health. ■-, Mr G. M'Lean had not seen his brother for abont 40 years until about a fortnight sicca, when he went to Wellington to meet him. Mr M'Lean left for Wellington by Saturday's express.

The -annual meeting of the United Braes Bauds Association of New Zealand was held on Friday morning. There was a good attendance of delegates, and the local vice-president (Mr E. Stratton) presided. The report and balance sheet disclosed a satisfactory condition. A proposal to appoint three judges for future contests was lost. It was unanimously resolved to remove the suspension of the Invercargill Garrison Band. For judges of this year's contest the following gentlemen were nominated : — T. E. Bulch (Victoria), A. Grieve (Victoria), G. A. Martin (Wanganui), T. T. Trimuell (Wellington). For the ensuing year the following officers were elected : — President, Mr W. Wills; vice-presidents — Messrs Herd, Langdown, Lillicoe, Mohr, Mitchell, Rotiett^haw, Stratton, Squarise ; secretary, R. M'Lellan ; treasurer, T. Gillies ; committee — Messrs Boyd, Brundell, Davie, Jackson, and Smith.

With regard to the announcement which was made to the effect that the consecration of Monsignor Verdon would take place in Sydney towards the end of t.he present" month,' the Very Rev. Father iyn h stated at St. Joseph's Cathedral on Sunda uuat no arrangement had been made at all, int the good and sufficient reason that the P-pal Bulls had not as yet been received from Rome. The Bishop-elect, Father Lynch »• ded, had expressed a wish that the consecration might take place in Dunedin, and there was a possibility of such an arrangement being made.

The Christchurch Press says :— " The Opera House was filled to overflowing on the occasion of the first of the concerts given by the Dunedin Orchestral Society. Though comparisons, according to Mrs Malaprop, are 'odorous,' still it is valuable in music to bs able to compare our visitors with the home orchestra. In this respect thoy come out with credit. The orchestra is well balanced ; it powessca excel*

lent players in the brass, strings, and wind, and I what is best of all it is well trained and thoroughly under control of the baton of the conductor. In light and shade, the very essence of playing, the nice gradations of forte and piano effects, the orchestra is good and its attack is vigorous and well sustained." Madame Venosta, Miss Kitty BUney, and Mr Jago are all favourably criticised. A translation of an article that appears in a recent issue of Te P*kio Matariki, the offioial gazette of the Maori "King," is rather disquieting. The article (saya the Lyttslton Times) alleges that a powerful section of the hitherto loyal Ngapuhi Native 3at Hokianga have " taken up arms against the Government." The Hapus (tribes) are Ngatihau, of Omanaia, and a portion of the Mahuruhure, of Waima, and those who have taken up arms number 500 men. Their chiefs are Te Waru, Hone Toi», Ngakuru Hare Taku, and their pa is called Mangatoa, near Eaikohe, in the district of Hokianga. They have sent notice to the Government thab they intend to fight to the last, but it is also stated that none of the influential chiefs of the Ngapuhi tribe have anything to do with the movement, or have in any way been consulted. Then comes the reassuring statement that the trouble is all over the arrest of a Maori chieffor not paying the dog tax. The Native " war correspondent" further alleges that "the settlers round about Hokianga are in great terror " ; but it i 3 significant that no news of the "war" or the fright of the pakeha has reached the re3t of the colony save through the medium of the imaginative correspondent of the Maori paper. Thr Timaru Herald states that an opening 30ft long has been made by the sea on the southern side of .the stranded steamer Elginshire at Normanby. Some of the inside bracing has apparently given way and the plates have " caved " in. The Post understands that Mr H. A. Gordon, late inspector of mines, will receive a salary of £1500 a year with a percentage of profits from the German mining syndicate, while Mr Park's salary will be £1000 a year. Dull though pleasant weather was experienced in the morning of the holiday on Monday, and bright sunshine in the afternoon. Thousands availed themselves of the opportunity to leave the city. Some 350 left by the 10 o'clock special train for' the Taieri races, whioh formed the prinicpal attraction of the day, while 250 more left for the south* by the 11 o'clock train, at least 100 of these proceeding to the volunteer encampment. The south exprets took away some 230 persons, while 185 left by the north express. Not an inconsiderable number preferred driving or riding, and the south road especially was quite crowded in the early evening by those returning. The trams to the suburbs, especially to St. Clair, were well patronised, while the s.s. Invercargill, which visited the heads, had on board a large number of holiday-makers. Information was received in town on Monday evening that a shuufcer named Patrick Sheehan, while engaged in his duties at Balclutba on Monday morning, by some means slipped, and one of the wheels of a waggon passed over his leg below the knee, causing serious injuries to the limb. The Clutha Leader of Friday last saya : — " The Borough Council's financial year ended on Tuesday last. We believe the balance sheet when it appears will prove the most satisfactory balance sheet ever issued since local, government was conferred on the citizens? The overdraft at the bank has now been reduced to £350. A sum of £250 is due by the Government on their purchase of the gravel pit from the council and .£SO of rates has. not yet been paid. With the payment of these two sums the overdraft would be only £50. This is a very satisfactory state of affairs, and the council deserve all praise for the prudence and economy they have exercised over the borough finances. It is to be hoped a like prudence and economy will characterise their management throughout the year now commenced." A Wellington telegram states that a number of men are to be added to the police force, whioh is at present under-manned. The recruits will not be confined to the defence forces. The Premier, in replying to a deputation which waited on him at Kokatahi to urge the advisability ' of connecting the Hokitika and Kokatahi valleys by means of a bridge, said when the funds in the hands of the Government became very plentiful or if the Opposition should get into power and 'go in for a big loan he thought such works as a railway to -Ross jmd a bridge over either of the two rivers would be taken in hand. A four-roomed house at Mount Pleasant, the property of Mr J. G. S. Lawrie, of Dunedin, aad occupied by Mr Ernest Winter, was totally destroyed by fire about 10.30 p.m on Saturday. Mr Winter states that his wife left home in the morning for Waitati, and after he had had tea he left the house at 6.45 p.m. and went to Dunedin, leaving a small fire in the kitchen range. The fire was first seen by two neighbours, Messrs John Barrowman and T. Moven, but it had'then such a hold that there was no chance of laving any of the furniture, which was valued at £140, and insured in the North German ofßoe for £100. Bergeant Geerin and Constable Breadoa were quickly on the scene

aud, with the assistance of the neighbours, succeeded in saving the outhouses. We have been unable to ascertain whether there was any insurance on the building.

Mr G. C. Jeffery, of the Dunedjn police force, has received news that bis brother Frederick was accidentally killed, in Liverpool by being knocked down by a hansona. The Liverpool Weekly Post, of February 8, says the decoded may be termed a. celebrity in his way. He wag the son of the late Cr J. R. Jeffery, J.P., once famous as the proprietor of Compton House. He was cradled in luxury, his father being able at one period of his career to wfite out a cheque fir £100,000 ; and young Jeffery began life with a great prospect before him. Unhappily a disillusionment came with the burning of Compton House, and the sudden death of his father, amid reduced circumstances, left the young man to face a harder fate than he had dreamed of. When Mr Jeffery came of age his father preBented him with a magnificent turnout, but the son lived to see the day when he Wished he had banked the money. The deceased bore up bravely under his hard luck, and having many friends who had a most kindly regard for his father, he managed to scrape along without into dire poverty. He was a frequent contributor of gossipy paragraphs to the newspapers. The native newspaper printed at Rarotonga (Te Torea) recently reported that a Rurutu maD, named Tearii, in Arorangi, was arrested on a charge of having stolen some few hundreds of dollars — moneys that had been collected for the education rate. The policeman, a native,hung the man up by the wrists to a rope suspended from one of the beams of the courts house. He wai kept there, with his toes j barely touching the floor, for over 24- hours* when the rope broke. He was ordered to be strung up again, when the man in agony called out thab he preferred to be. shot, and pleaded that he had not taken the money. Mr Moss, British Resident, investigated | the case, and found it proved that the police wished to extort a coafession, and so tortured the prisoner, and he considered that the exposure in this case would put an end to the custom. From particulars of the fatal fire, supplied by ■ our St. Bathacs correspondent, it appears that the house destroyed was not Mr Black's. Our | correspondent writes :—": — " At an early hour on I Saturday moving it was discovered that Mr C. Gerkina's commodious dwelling house had been ° burned to the ground somo time during the night. The house was built by Mr Handyaide on what was known at one time as the preemptive right of Lander station. As Mr Gerkins could not be seen anywhere, fears were expressed that he had been a victim to the fire. On search being made the suspicion turned out to be too true, as the renuini ef Mr Gerkins' were found burned beyond recognition. Deceased was the only person supposed to be on the premises on the night of the fire. He was a very sober and careful man.'? The' whole affair is at present enveloped in mystery — a mystery that some light may be brought to bear upon by the coroner's inquest." / The Clutha Leader states that Mr James' Gibsom, of Dunedin, who has sank a shaft to a > depth of 400 ft at LovelTa Flat, has penetrated18ft 'into a seanf of coal, but its thickness has not yet been ascertained. The quality of the coal is said to equal that of the Eliot Vale coal. The pit ie about a mile and three-quarters from the Lo veil's Flat railway station, with which it will at once be connected' by a tramway. Mr Gibson expects to have the. tramway laid and the minirtg commenced in about two months. The manager of the Wellington Oyster and' Fisheries Company reports that during the summer the number of oyster spat caught wai 500,000. The stock in hand now contiats of 20,000 full-grown oysters,- 200,000 ane-ye»r-old«, 300,000 from one to two years, and 500,000 spat, valued altogether at £370. Everything, he Bays, points to the company's efforts at oyster culture proving a success. ' Lato English files state that the despatch whioh had been received at the Foreign Office, announcing that Dr Nansen is returning from the North Pole, was sent by the British Viceconsul at Archangel. He received the news . from M. Kuchnareff, a great Siberian merchant, whose extensive commercial connection* make it probable that any newi of Dr Nansen through his intermediary would come more quickly than, if. sent by the explorer himself. Baron Oscar Dickson, who is now in London, suggests, in explaining the report concerning Dr Nanien, that the Fram has for the past two winters been drifting "kbout in the pack ice north of the New Siberian Islands, and has not reached the Pole. Mr G. Qt. Fyfe, who is abont to pay a visit to the Home country, was entertained at a banquet at Wyndham. Mr Fyfe, who i*>over 70 years of age, said that when he first saw the Taieri plain, some 40 years ago, it was a vast expanse of flax and fern. He was one of the first to drive a wool dray from Taieri to Dunedin. Ha believed two of those he knew at the time vrera Mr Alexander Smith, of East Taieri, and M» Allan Boyd, of West Taieri.

Beat the big drum, shout " Hurrah." Come and have a drink of W"nds's Great Peppermint Care for Coughs an OoMs— 1« "• 1 and 8s 8* Wholesale agents ; X.2. Drug Company,