LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Afc a special mc-ebing of tbe Union street School Committee it was decided to recommend Mr John Reid, of Kaifcangata, for tba position of thitd msle assistant. The Premier has always contended that tbe last tariff did not increase the burden of taxation on the people, bub the New Zealand Times is constrained to admit that there is a large increase, and declares a revision of tbe tariff is imperative Our contemporary points out th&t while in 1889, under the Atkinson Government, the customs revenue pur ibead was £2 7s lOd, it is now £2 15s, or an increase of 7s 2d p9r head of population This means '.hat the average family (which most statisticians count as five) pays £1 15 i lOd more now th»n in 1889. The vital statistics for the past mofcfch are :—: — Births, 90 ; deaths, 50 ; marriages, 27. The statistics for the corresponding month of last " a ar wore :— Births, 90 ; deaths, 50 ; m?,rri*ges, 35.

The new committee of tbe Dunedin Horticultural Society met on the 30bh, and elected a Schedule Committee to prepare the new prize list for the year, and the committee will be pleased to receive donations for special prizes and any tuggesfcions in connection with the shows as early as possible, as they wish to lose no time in getting the schedules into the hands of exhibitors. Mr Every was reappointed secretary, and some routine business was transacted.

Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, whoso deal h in reported by cable, was born on May 25, 1809. He first entered Parliament in 1837 on the *Bcension of the Queen. He broke party "ties in supporting Sir Roberb Peel in the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. He then retired from parliamentary life, bub re-entered the House of Commons again in 1865 as a follower of Mr Gladstone. He took spaoial interest in educational matter*, and took up the study of agriculture on retiring from Parliament. He also took a prominent part in the volunteer movement. The Board of Works, according to a Pekia despatch to the North China Herald, has lately been turning out hundreds of steel shields for the Pekin field force. These shields are «boat the ordinary sizs ef the native w*r shield, and nob much heavier. They are claimed to be bullet-proof, and within each shield is coi> cealed a sword bayonet, which can be made to protruds in front of the shield by simply touching a spring. Armed ..with these shields a body of soldiers, it is alleged; could "charge" with impunity an opposing enemy, and put the latter to the sword without *ny harm to the former. This shield is said to be the invention of an officer of the Imperial Guards, who has declared that " the new weapon will be more efficacious in the field than the mual bayonet charge." The Berlin cor respondent 'of a London paper, writing on March 22, states :: — •• The last two nights witnessed some , exciting * scenes at Kiralfy's Olympia, which/is at present in Berlin. An interesting item on the programme

is a tug^of-wac between two teams of German and Euglish girls, each wearing their national colours. It was arranged beforehand which team should win each night, bub the night before last the excitement of the contest was too much, and the English girls refused to allow the German girls to win as prearrange*).

The result; was that a general scrimmage ensued on the slsge, in which several Boglish-

men, who were among the audience, joined

with the object of protecting their country--women from violence. Several of the English

girls were seriously hucb. Last night similar scenes t took place between the English and Italian girls. Two girls are lying dangeroujly ill." Intimation has beon received that at the recent Pharmacy Eoard examinations Jame3 Carroll and A. Hamilton passed in all subjects, and are entitled to registration. J. H 'Naught, H. Grocotb, and E. Scatt were successful in

passing their subjects.

j The discouragement shown in Englaud to in- | ventorshas become a byword in the mouths of j other nations, end now a friendly Dutchman, Jan Van der Veen, endeavours in the Daily News i,o arouse the British from their supine apathy. The revolutionary method of compounding steam turbines for Ifhe propulsion of ships is, he says, the invention of two young Dutch marine engineers in Amsterdam, who

I proceeded to England to endeavour to sell thtir I patents, with the uiual reßulfc. They remained j in Englatsd a eonfdderabie time, and they were I treated — as all inventors seem to be treated in

! England — with eu.tpioion and contempt. They 1 were treated' as " cranks," and as though they I had come to rob John Bull. Dkcouraged but S not disheartened,' they came back to Anatstardain, ned then a bright idea struck them. Perhaps the Germans would give them a hearing. They proceeded to Berlin, and in a very short time the matter was settled avnd several million

tnarka were paid down as an earnest of what was to follow. While the Turbinia no»y not be all that is claimed for her, it is very certain that Germany will soon produce craft equally as fast, if not faster. "tn the mutter of in-

vention," says Mr Van der Veen, "English people seem to be quite out of it America and Germany load you wicb manufactured inventions. You have the worst postal, telephone, and telegraphic arrangement of any continental country. Your railways, while being fast—made possible by" the superior permanent ways — are run on old-fashioned principles, with comfortless carriages. Your inventors are discouraged, and jou never <eem to appreciate an inventor unless he comes forward as a scientist and asks •no money for his brains." Take imj your War Office and Admiralty, and see that inventors get a good hearing, and then you will find that you will soon lead the world in invention and manufacture*, because that which an ' Englishman undertakes to do he dees well."

His Excellency the Governor arrived bj the express train from the north on the Ist. He travels in the special car which w*s recently built for the purpose. This c»r was attached to the 9.20 p.m. train south, <md his Excellency remained^ in it at Mosgiel during the evening. The carriage was picked up by the aouth express train next morning and conveyed to Milton, where bis Excellency attended the formal opening of the Bruce Woollen Mills. He proceeded to Balclutha'in the evening. .

The Hob. John M'Kftnzie, In «ddressiug hU constituents on the lst.-atated that when he re-, cently made a reference to Mr Scobie Mackenzie the Daily .Times had out out that reference in the Press Association tel?gram. The hon.- gentleman did not ipdicate his speech was made or the d^tr, but we presume he referred to hia address At Stratford., If such be the case ..we, writes the Daily Times of the 2nd inst., must emph&tioally contradict theMinisters assertion that we cub out even one word f com the Press Association telegram. Further, on no occasion has Any reference made by the Minister to Mr Scobie Mackenzie been cut out of telegrams forwarded to us by the Press Association. Owing to the lateness of the hour we are unable fco ssay whether the telegram gent to the Wellington papers, referred to by the hon. gentleman, differed from that which we published, but. we fiud fchafc the telegram which appeared in the Christchurcb. papers is exsciily the ' sfcme as ours. We oan only aurmise that the Wellingson morning papar received a message from its Stratford correspondent, and that the Minister is confusing that message with the one sent elsewhere by the Press Association.

The weekly meeting of the Benevolent Trustees, held on the Ist, was attended by Messrs A.-Sulomon (in the chair), C. Allan, R. Wataoti, R. Wilson, P. Treseder, and W. Swan. Accounts amounting to £241 Is 9d were passed for payment. The outdoor relief book nhowed the total number of cuses dealt with for May to he KZK, comprising 188 men, 310 womeD, and 627 children, at & weekly cost of £115 19s 6d. For the corresponding month of last year the cases numbered 408, affecting 176 men, 301 womea, «nd 634 children, at a cost of £109 3s per week. About _55 relief cases were dealt with

The Hon. J. M'Kenzie announced fco his constituents that at the next election he did not intend to be * candidate for Waihemo. Appended to the motion vpaseed of thanks to and confidence in the- Lou. gentleman and the Ministry 'wss & ct quest that he should reconsider'his decision to retire from the representation of the district. The British Secretary of State for War announces that '2oo commissions in the army will be given annually for some years for competition by officers in the militia. Thia step is rendered -necessary by the vacancies caused iv regiments in congequence of the deaths of officers in the recent frontier expedition, uni by the warlike operations in which England U at present engaged in Egypt, West Africa, ar.«J elsewhere. It is &n ill wind that blows no one any good, and the militia will csrtainly benefit by the opening afforded of obtaining commissions in the regular army.

The Westminster Gazette suggested in a "Note" that a record in journalism had" been established by an American paper, which offered a reward to any one of its employees who might succeed in killing the Spanish General Merote. Apropos "B. A. V." writes to our contemporary :—": — " Inasmuch as the feat (?) is to be accomplished by a 'news--paper man,' this is, of course, a record ; but to France belongs the honour of having initiated newspaper rewards for the killing of obnoxiong personages. In that year of madness and slaughter, 1870, several such rewards were offered by organs of the French press, the selected victims being chiefly the Emperor William, Prince yon Bismarck, and Marshal yon Moltke. In connection with these offers cfcme that of a • rifle of honour,' to be given fca the citizen who by any means whatsoever should Guoseed in despatching the King of Prussia. This scheme was initiated by a paper oa>led Le Combat, edited by Felix Pyat, who wrote that the weapon iv question would become more famous than David's spear, Tell's bow, or Joan of Arc's battleaxs. A public subscription was opened to defray the cost of the rifle." Captain Robin has received intimation from Lieutenant-colonel Webb that the Government have accepted the services ai the newly-formed Glutha Mounted Rifles,.