LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 21

LOCAL & GENERAL.

News from Tonga stales Unit Mr F. J. Mosi wrote to Queen Makoa resigning the position of adviser to tho Cook Government, and that the Queen had accepted his resignation. At the Magistrate's Court on Friday morning Mr Calvert referred to a matter of some interest to litigants. When the case of Reid and Gray v. Seccombe was called, counsel (instructed by Messis Duncan _ and MacGregor), who appeared for the plaintiffs, drew Mr Carew's attention to an iriegulirity in the service of the summons which would, ho cupposed, cause the case to be adjourned. The telegram from the constable at Opotiki slated no date of service, and a wire from the defendant's solicitor said that the summons iiac 1 been served only on Tuesday — too late, of course, for hearing on Thursday. The summons was issued on July 5 and left Dune-din on that clay, and it would reach Opotiki about 12. h inst. ; ~ yet the service was only effected on 26th. A similar thing happened only last week. A summons was sent from Dunedin for service at Lawrence— it was sent away in ample time, but was returned as having been served two days before hearing, and, of course, too late. Mr Carew said that he could not express any opinion on the matter until he s.i>.v whether there was any explanation from the constable, but Mr Calvert could, if he chose, lodge a complaint in writing. Mr Calvert said that his cbject in bringing themalter before the court was that attention might bo diieeted to the duties imposed on bailiff?. Of course there might be home explanation in the Opotiki easa, but it seamed extraordinary that the constable could not effect service in tiias, and it was strange that if he could not do so , he should serve so late as to make the service ineffectual. It put the plaintiffs to a distinct disadvantage, inasmuch as the defendant got notice that a summons was issued, and by the^ abortive service the plaintiffs' hands were \ tied. His Worship said that if the constable ; sent in a memorandum Mr Calvert could «cc I it, and then lodge any complaint he wished ! to. Our Wellington correspondent telegraphs : Mr Seddon the other day received news of the death of his brother, aged 46 years, at > St. Helens, Lancashire. The deceased gentleman was at one time in partnership with his brother on the West Coast. He was a butcher by trade." Mr Lawson, of Palmerston, had a narrow escape on Wednesday evening. He was engaged in his laboratory manufacturing gas for a large lantern, when, owing, it is supposed, to tl t> unfortunate mixture of two gases under peculiar conditions— so peculiar, in fact, that although he has his own theory, ho purpos3H writing Home by the first mail to a ' scientific gentleman for his explanation of it. j An explosion followed. Its force was so ' great that the wall of the room in which he j was working was partially wrecked. Strange to say, Mr Lawson escaped unhurt. Mr Hawkins, S.M., stated at Balclutha on Friday that' he had often seriously considered if he should not direct an information to be '■ laid for perjury in sly grog cases, and although ' he hpd forborne to do so in the past, he fell , that occasions would arise when he would bo ' bound to do so. Later in tho day, when ' raving his decision in a contested case, his I Worship stated that he had not the slightest | doubt that ths witnesses for the defence had been lying, but whether a charge of perjuiy could be sheeted home to them was another thing. However, os the Crown Prosecutor was present, he would leave the matter in his hands to do as he judged proper. At the prosecutions for fly grog-selling at Balclutha yesterday Mr Hawkins, the presiding magistrate, remarked that soon a dictionary of synoymns for liquor in prohibition dis tricts would be necessary. Apparently custom in tho Clutha has forsaken the names oi temperance beverages, and medical terms are now becoming the fashion for alcoholic stimulants. During the hearing of a case it was elicited that drink was known at Balclutha under the titles of poison, pills, and toothache powder. There appears to be no calling nowadays that members of the fair sex who are obliged to earn tlieir own living do not favour. The lady commercial traveller is an old established institution, the lady stockbroker exists, and (says the City Press) there is at least one lady auctioneer, while at the Mayor's Court a few days ago one lady who appeared as a defendant was described as a money lender. Farewell meetings to Miss Lillian B. Peters, who is shortly returning to India to resume her missionary life and work there, arc to be held af. the Hanover street Baptist Church on i Wednesday, August 31. An afternoon meeting, with tea, for ladies only will be held in the afternoon, and a general public meetingill the evening. Miss Peters, after nearly two years in Bengal, returned invalided in October, 1896. Her health has since then been greatly recruited, and. she is now certified by competent medical authorities to be physically lit to return to her arduous duties. Miss Peters will travel by way of Auckland and Sydney to Calcutta, where she expects lo . arrive in November. Mr Thomas Hassall, a resident of Ballarat, who died recently and left an estate valued at upwards of £30,000, has made large charitable bequests. By his will the deceased gentleman bequeathed legacies to a number of his immediate relations, and on their deaths the income payable is to revert to the estate. The trustees are directed to expend £4000 in building cottages for the use of sober, respectable people having a small income, but not sufficient to pay rent. These cottages are to be called the Thomas Ilassall Homes. A sum of £1000 is to be invested to provide a fund for keeping the buildings in repair, and another £1000 is to be invested in Government securities, the income of which is to bo divided in equal portions amongst the occupants of the homes on each anniversary of the tcotator's birthday, in December. Certain Wesleyan churches are "beneficiaries under the will to the extent of £250 each, and a, similar sum is bequeathed to several local charitable institutions. The remainder of tli© estate is to be divided on the death of the legatees and beneficiaries into three parts, and given to the Wesloyan churches of the Ballarat circuit, to the charities, and to deceased's next of kin. An application was made to the Harbour Board at Thursday's meeting o/ that body for the use of one of its steamers for a few days for experimental trawling expeditions up and down the coast within a few miles of the heads. The request was favourably entertained, and it was understood that the tugPlucky should be placed at the disposal of the applicants on some occasion when she would not be required in the service of the board. It is quite a mistake to suppose slavery to be exterminated in Europe, for, incredible as it may sound (says a Home paper), it is never- , theless true that annually, early in March, j hundreds of rustic boys and girls, varying in , ages from seven to fifteen, years, are sysste-

matically sold into bondage by tl.ejr parents in

the Oberinnthal, Vintschgan, Stanzerthal, and St. Anton districts of tho Tyrol. The purchasers of the juvenile live stock are the Sivabian, or Wurtemberg and Baden, peasants, who, while they keep their own offspring at school, utilise tho human imports for agricultural and domestic work Irom spring till late in autumn. The children arc exported in batches of fifty in railway luggage waggons from the station at Landcck, an overseer being appointed over each batch. The local authorities do not interfere. The children are released from bondage in the autumn,

when they return home to their parents, t'io I wor&c for wear, morally and physic-illy, with nominal wages in their pockets and, if lucky, a Sunday suit of clothes.

A stable and barn, containing foui

draught hoises, weie destroyed by ihc al Speargiass Flat on Wednesday, 20th. The properly belonged to Mr John Turner, a iarni.jr, who estimates his loss at £iOO, ot which £50 is coveied by insurance in tiiu A'ew Zealand office.

The one bundled and thirty Jews v.ho have returned to Russia this week from the Baron Hirseh colonies in Argentina, btate (says the Sun of May 29) that they arc returning to their homes almost destitute, after investing .several thousand roubles in farms in South America. The incursions of insects completely destroyed their crops,, and this and other circumstances proved tlieir ultimate ruin. They declare tho Baron Hirsch colonies a, failure, and &tate that the favourable repoits which have been issued concerning the a enture Lave been written by the paid European officials, who are naturally quite contented with their lot.

Chemists of the Glucose Sugir Refining Company claim (says the Scientific American) to have discovered a process for Mileanismg the oil from corn in such a manner as to produce rubber. They »ay this will revolutionise the rubber trade and give them control of at least the manufacture of bicycle tyred. Fivo chemists in the employ of the company have been working on this innovation for borne months past. According to reports, the chemists have found that the oil ot the corn properly treated and vulcanised is superior to that of the product of the South American ruauor tree, i* more resilient and more lasting; and it is said that tLe manufacture ot rubber under the new process will become an important part of the business of the glucose company. The process was accidentally discovered some months ago. It is also said that the new process will greatly lessen t.ie cost of rubber, especially that variety that is used in the inanuiacture of bicycle tyros, which is required to be thin, durable, and resilient. It is claimed that the now variety of rubber will withstand much more pressure than that now in use for tyres, and that it will otter more resistance to outside force. At a meeting of tho Tri-State Medical Society on April 5, Dr J. J. lirownson, ot Dubuque, lowa, reported the case of a man who was terribly injured by coming in contact with a live electric wire. He lost one arm and part of his other hand, besides being brrned on othev parts of his body, lhe man received 2400 volts and s»till lived— the greatest number ever received by a human uemg and recovered from. The next greatest number of volts passed through the human body without causing death n received by a linaM in New York, who sustained a shoe* oi 1000 on two different occasions, and whose mnaci.lous e'eano from death Ikb earned for him the sobriquet oi the " human lightmrg rod.

The story of the attempt to put a ston to lite ado of liquor in connection v.ith mo Homes of Parliament is thus told by the 1 all Mall Gazette, of June 13: "'l he law of this land is open; and the House of Commons waiter duly appeared at Bow street yesterday to answer a charge of Aiolating section 3 the Licensing Act of 1872 by selling, in bt. Stephen's Hall, in the Palace of Westminster,' a brandy and soda 'to a member of the public,' who turned out to be clerk to a singular combination of private detectives and law stationers. This clerk having proved the absorption by him of the drink, solemnly stated that he was neither an elected nor even an hereditary legislator. Another clerk, with more command of countenance, proved that the Palace of Westminster was not licensed to sell intoxicants. Then counsel for Sir Wilfrid gravely told the magistrate that that was his case, and the magistrate told him that tho act of 1872 never intended to allow itself to bo made an inconvenience and an absurdity by being applied in this way, and therewith dismissed the summons. Next, please, Sir Wilfrid."

A ludicrous mistake in the New York World has resulted in an action for half a million dollars damages being brought against that parer. The World printed an article, in which it alleged that tho Government had seiz.ee! the yacht Buccaneer, belonging to Mr Hearst, the" proprietor of the New York Journal, and had placed a guard aboard it because the Government had learned that the Journal reporters had stolen the official plans of campaign and were coining north with them to publish them in the paper. The if al facts of the cafe, it is said, are that Mr Hearst presented the Buccaneer to tho Government ad an auxiliary gunboat, and that the Government accepted the offer and sent marines to take possession of the vessel. Mr Hearst publishes the correspondence himself. It is also asserted that Mr Long, Secretary of tl c Navy, is bringing an action against the World simultaneously.

The gift, of prescience was one which was generally held by his political opponents to have been denied to Mr Gladstone. It would need a detailed examination of his speeches, letters, and policy to establish or disprove the accuracy of this judgment. Meantime the following may be offered as « contribution — an extract from an article in the Nineteenth Century of August, 1877 — more than 20 years ago : — "Our first site in Egypt, be it by larceny or be it. by emotion, will bo the almost certain egg of a North African empire that will grow and grow until another Victoria and another Albert — titles of the lake sources of the White Nile — come within our borders, and till we finally join hands across the equator with Natal and Capetown, to say nothing of tho Transvaal and the Orange River on the south or of Abyssinia or Zanzibar to be swallowed by way of viaticum on our journey." Much has happened since Mr Gladstone penned these words— e.g., so important a phenomenon as the new colonial ambitions of the European Powers has become a factor; yet it would seem that, his prediction is, in spite of others and in spite of ovrselves, being worked out to a fulfilment.

The Hanover street Baptist Church accepted on Thursday l.ight the recommendation ot tho Heading Room Committee thai the room be now closed. It is 10 years since the room was opened as a resort for the unemployed, where good reading might be found. The need to meet which the room was furnished has now happily in groat measure passed away, and for this and other sufficient roasons it was felt that the lime had come when the church might

I without injury to any resume the use of th< room, which it has for bo long devoted to th< benefit of lhe public. Owing to the snowfall the whole of lh< i Iramwpy services of the city and suburbs wen ' compelled to suspend traffic on Sunday , Notwithstanding the use of the snow plough i it wj' found that both the roads on the nortl i ro Ho of the city lines were so heavy that the ' company's best horses were severely taxed tc I get through. The risks and labour of running the services were considered by the genera; manager to be too great to attempt running. Trafhc was, however, resumed on Monday. Our Wellington coricspondent telegraphs: j " Two well known Otago millers who are in | Wellington at the present time arc negotiating with a view to the puichas>o of the Northern Roller Mills at. Auckland. They endeavoured to &co the Premier on Saturdayoil the subject. The mills belong to (he Bank of New Zealand, and as the policy of tho Government is to get rid of such an as^et, tho negotiations may come lo something. I uudorhtAiid a good offer has been made." At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Dunedin Diocese Bishop Xevill an- ' iK.uncod that the oilice ot Chancellor of the ! Diocese has become vacant through the death 1 of Mr B. C. liaggitt, and that he had appointed Mr Justice Pennctathor, who had agieed to the appointment. A resolution was passed that a meeting of clergy and laity i be held in St. Paul's Schoolroom to take ! stops towards raising funds for a See house, 1 so thai the grant of £1500 obtained irom the j Home societies by the biphop on Ins l.itt visit to England might not be lost. Tin vital statistics for the month of July show that 95 births and 55 deaths weie registered in Dunedin distuct, and that 33 niairiage licenses were taken out. For the , corresponding month of last year the numbers v\ere: Births, 95; deaths, 59; mariiages, 25. At the o/iice of the New Zealand Insurance Company on Saturday the stall" of the Otago ! and Southland branch met to bid farewell to Mr James Edgar on his retirement from the company's service. Mr E. B. Pilchar, the Iznei car gill manager, on behalf of the stair, said that they could not let Mr Edgar leave . without giving him some token of (heir re- [ s,pect and esteem, and that lie had much '' pleasure in presenting him with a shield containing tho photos of all the branch officers land the following illuminated address: — i "Piesented to James Edgar, Esq., by the ' staff of the Otago and Southland branch of the New Zealand Insurance Company on (ho the occasion of his resigning from that company's f-ervice to assume the pobitiou of manager for New Zealand of the Victoria | Insurance Company (Limited)." Mr Pilchcr I fuither wished Mr Edgar success in his futuie sphere. Mr Edgar suitably and feelingly responded. The shield, which is very handsomely illuminated, is the work of Me«?srß Wilkie and Co. H.M.S. Taiu-anga has recently visLted Picton, Nelson, and Westport (says the New Zealand Time I and a mass of information in reference to these ports has beon collected, which is to be forwarded to tho Admiralty. Special attention was paid to Westport as an important coaling fetation, and Nelson as the terminus ot the cable, so that the autlioriticd will exactly know tUo conditions of ! the.^o ports in the event of war. The trip j from Wostport to Piclon was nnulo via tho French Pass and Tory Channel, and >t is stated thai tho Tauranga is tl.o first cruiser that has ever accomplished this feat. The feat has caused much eomniont in shipping circles owing to tho vvarjhip's tonnage and [ the groat risk can in navigating that extremely narrow strait, which is deemed by shipmasters to be very dangerous. Last year at the New Zealand Dead Letter Office 1386 inquiries were received from Mia public respecting missing articles ; 719 of these referred to letters, etc., which were subsoqnntly found to have been delivered or were otherwibo traced, and 667 were for articles winch could not be traced. Tno ofiice dealt with 112,171 letters. 127,31,3 $>acket3 and 34,34-3 newspapers. Of the.^e 103,926 letters, 126,535 packets and 727 newspapers were returned to tho senders ; and 5245 letters, 778 packets, and 35,616 newspapers destroyed. Many of the articlevS destroyed were refused by both ade'res-jees and senders, w!iilo others did not contain information such as would admit of their return to senders. An awfully sudden death took place on the 18th ult. at a prayer meeting being conducted at Collingwood, Melbourne. Mr Robert Ilarribon, a well-known manufacturer of cordials, offered up an earnest prayer. A peculiar rattle in his voice was noticed by somg of tho listeners, and just as Mr Harrison concluded his prayer, invoking a Divine blessing on the congregation, he threw up his hands and fell into a seat. _ Some of the congregation wont at once to his assistance, but life was extinct. Mr Harrison was widely esteemed for his zealous Christian work and his charitable disposition. Mr R. Dobbin, accountant of the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Insurance Company, has been appointed acting manager for Otago for the company until the arrival cf Mr W. J. Bolam, who will shortly take up the management of the branch. Of 230 cases of fruit from Sydney by the Tarawera no less than 44 cases were condemned for being infected with reel scale. Tho whole of a consignment of Seville oranges was condemned by Inspector Fitch, not a clean rape being in the whole consignment. The fruit was evidently badly graded, as in some cases on account of a few infected oranges a whole case had to be rejected. Our Southland correspondent, telegraphed as follows on Monday: — "The commission appointed by the Presbyterian S3 m od to hear the charges against the Rev. Mr Smellie are sitting at Wyndham to-day, but when tho telegraph office closed nothing of importance had transpired." Some lime ago it was decided by Mr Justice Williams that a special olaim for mining purposes could not be granted by a warden out of land held under a perpetual lease ! which had been issued before the proclamation of the mining district in which the land is situated. That decision was given in re ! M'Kenzie, but it appears now that in that ' caso it was wrongly assumed that the perpetual lease had been granted before the proclamation of the mining district, the fact being that the Mines Act was brought into operation in the district prior to tho issue of tho lease. The matter came before the Supreme Court on Monday in another form — in tho case of Couston v. M'Kenzie, — Mr Justice Pennefather being asked to decide j whether a warden has power to grant a special claim out of lands, held under perpetual lease issued within a mining district after the mining district had been proclaimed. Argument in the case was not concluded yesterday, only one side being heard.

Tho latest phase of the deadlock in Nelson between the Education Board Bad tUe Town,

> Schools Committee on the question of r*» : ligiaus instruction in schools was the carrying of the following resolution at the lasfi s meeting of the board a few days ago : — \ "That this board regrets that the committed has not adopted tho suggestion of the board to slate a case for tho Supremo Court. The board consequently must use its own inter- . prctation of the law, and requests tho comi mittee to desist from giving religious instruction upon days and at hours when the school I menl in the case was not concluded on Mon- ! day, only one side being heard. Ti.e membois of the Wyndhain Presbyterian Chinch have subscribed a sum of £70, to be presented to the Rev. Mr Smellie, as a . tangible loken of sympathy with him in his ! rece it troubles and confidence in him as their ! pastor. The movement started in Westport about a month ago for commemorating the name of j Gladblouo by the erection ol a woman's ward | at the hospital lias been singularly successful. Tho women of the district initiated a penny subscription, and the whole neighbourhood w.is diligently canvassed, with the result that ! £151 18s 6d has been netted. The Govornf mout subsidy will brine this amount up to 1 £230. j At a recent meeting of the Hobart City i Council a resolution was passed to ask Parliament to p.iss a bill giv ing powers to the mayor I and aldermen ot the city to restrict children , under 16 years of age being in the streets (unj loss under protection of parents or guardians) after 9 p.m. in the bummer and 8 p"m. in tho winter, and that the curlew bell be rung as a warning half an hour before and at tho hours named. In supporting tho resolution, AldorI man Benjamin said thero were over 300 towns ' in America and Canada where the curfew bell was rung. He himself lived in ono of those cities and ho was able to pay that the system had a good effect in preventing the demoralisation of children and young peopio. Alde?man Smith said he was in accord with the motion, but was dubious as to what could be done with the children captured in the streets I ot night. They had to consider where the children would be put. j _ Captain M. S. Welby, of the 18th Hussars, in his recently-published book, " Through i Unknown Tibet," gives a connected narra1 tive of the latest Mohammedan rebellion in ' Kan-su, of which little more than faint echoes have ever reached Europe. It is a gruesom* I story of slaughter that Captain Welby has to» ' tell, arising in tiie first instance out of lha interferences of a Chinese official in a religious squabble between two Mohammedan sects, known as the white caps and the black caps. 1 The Mohammedans behaved with the utmost cruelty whilo they had the upper hand. It i.9 estimated that 40,000 Chinese lout their lives, j And when the Chinese got the upper hand they wore not one whit less cruel. Whole j villages of Mohammedans were exterminated. I The rebellion and the troubles arieii.g out of it lasted some 15 months- -from March, 1895, to Juno, 1896, and it is scarcely surprising that at its close the hatred between the Mo- : hammedans and the Chinese was " vaora intense than ever." There are, Captain Welby believes, still some 30,000 • 40.0UC Mohammedans lofl in the north Rnd sout 1 "' east valleys. "Were Ihepe to riso il«.h is the still more seiioas possibility >\ V_,. Government Mohamrnedun <nldiers cyu;^; " ! their lot with them. Wore tuch a cua'x • lion lo take place, . very giievmis lio 1 - 1 - 1« ' would be caused, and tho north-wei-.t pro vinees would bofore very long be in lhe hare'e of (he rebels." Captain Welby is evidcitK' of opinion that had the Mohairunodi'ii iebc" i been even moderately well armed, th; 'c 1 ellion would have ended very diffeiwiii. The course of lectures delivered by Ui Maiphcrson to men on first aid under St. Jnl n Ambulance Association was concluded last i Thursday evening. Before dismissing the class. j the Secretary (Mr North), on behalf of the members, presented the lecturer with a travelling rug. Dr Macphcrson, in expressing his | acknowledgments of the present, said he had j noticed the great attention given by tho membors to the lectures all through the course, and he hoped they would not be content to rest ab I that, but would attend on the two succeeding nights' for practice, and afterwards would come up for examination, and also give a good account of themselves as pupils and himself as lecturer. The gift, he said, was not only pretty, but useful, and that was saying a good deal for it. A lecture, " Incidents and Adventures of Travel in Many Lands," under the auspice* of the Loyal Excelsior Lodge Protestant Alliance Friendly Society, and in aid of t'-.cir ! building fund, was delivered in the_Vol'.mtrer Hall, Greon Island, on Friday night \>j U'« ; ftcv. Dr Watt. Mr J. Bayley presided, aj.d in his opening remarks referred to tho sunnd | financial position of the lodge, as taken cuifc ! by himself from the balance sheets for Uie ! past seven years. He said that the lodge had j been of great benefit to the members, and counselled all the young men in the district ! to join and so prepare for a " rainy day " The ! rev. lecturer then delivered an_ enterhMi.iug i and instructive scries of narratives, holding the attention of the audience entirely for tha j space of two hours. Tho lecturer was In1 quently applauded during the evening. Mr C. Samson proposed a vote of thanks to th& lecturer, and also to the chairman and Mesdames Wright and Lindsay, who gave thre« musical items during the evening very nicely. The vote of thanks was carried by acclamationThe propejty in Victoria of the lato John Lang dime, of Larra, Camperdown, is valued at £417,000, and his Queensland aud ]Sd\v South Wales properties approximately at £100,000. Generous provision has been mM\e for the widow, and the remainder ot the estate is distributed among the members of the deceased's family and relatives, subiect to payment of £1000 to the infirm ministers' fund of the Presbytemn Church, £2000 to the widows and orphans hind oi the Presbyterian Church, and several gifts to persons who had worked for deceased, and £200 per annum for 10 years to the trustees for distribution, at their discretion, among charitable and religious institutions. Mi«s Flora Hart, daughter of Mr Benjamin Hart, of Lawrence, took the vows of a Uominican nun at St. Joseph's Cathedral on he 22nd inst., and will be known « rehgio* as Sister Mary Francis Xavier. Iho cathedral was crowded. Bishop Verdo^ass 1S ted by the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Ryan, received the vows of the new Bister. Messrs Stone, Son, and Co aimounce the 110 th issue of tlieir monthly ABC Penny Guide and Diary, a publication waich because of its great reliability and the gieat amount^ of useful information it contains, has become t very popular little work.