LOCAL $ GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 20

LOC AL $ GENERAL.

The Dunedin and Kaikorai Tram Company intend to push on their new line of tramway to Kaikorai Valley with all speed In t*e Daily Times tenders are invited for the tartage of over 500 tons of rails from the wharf. The steel track rails and slot rails of new pattern were manufactured at the Johnson §?ee? Co.'s Works, Pennsylvania, and have been shipped per Doris, which is expected here in a few weeks, and per Norwood, following a Sw weeks later. The formation work., which have been delayed somewhat by the broken welther, are now rapidly nearmg ?omp ftion. The stone wall at the rectory is quite finished, and is a very substantial work. Contracts have been let for tho tube frames and tierods A considerable quantity of cement has ■been landed, and is in stock, and a large quantity is expected to arrive shortly, lne line ■will be a great boon to the hill and Kaikorai Valley residents, and will no doubt tend to increase the population in those suburbs. A system of musical notation and pitch lias been advanced by Mr Walter H. Thel•wall, and has been accepted for publication by Messrs Ohappell and Co. There is only , one stave, instead of five, no ledger lines are ! required, all accidentals are swept away, md j the arrangements of tones and semi-tones are quite distinct. The stave is of seven lines, the middle line thick to simplify reading. The stave exactly contains on its i." . n lines and six spaces the notes included iv an octave of the pianoforte; which octavo ia indicated by the number placed at tho beginning of the stave. The key, major or minor, raid the tonic are shown by certain marks. These are the main features of the new notation, •which, it will be seen, adapt themselves .to the principle of our modern " equal temperament." A wine bath does not sound a very tempting kind of ablution, but the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph assures his readers that in France a sojourn of 20 minutes in a tub into which a hundred litres of Malvoisie have been jjoured is described as the most invigorating process that can be imagined, it being added that the oiieration can be repealed with the same wine one hundred time-." You empty the whole hectolitre on each occasion into the bath, and when you have had your dip you put the wine back into the cask." So the same Malvoisie does duty over and over again. But this is not all. The wine is not lost even now. It can be drunk ! j "After the one hundred baths the MaJyoisiej is distilled, and the result is a delicious brandy!" A. busy scene was witnessed on the local railway station on Thursday on the arrival ot the 11.51 a.m. train from Port Chalmers, the passengers by the Monowai, including the bulk of the Otago excursionists to the South Sea Islands in the Waikare, having come up by it. The tourists, who wore laden with trophies of the tropical lands they had visited, were enthusiastic in their expressions of delight about their trip, although many of them had on the return trip lo this colony Buffered from dengue fever, which thoy deBcribed as a kind of influunza. An excited political meeting was held in Hobarfc the other night, when Sir Philip Fynh, the representative of the city in the Tasmanian Parliament, was called on to rejign his seat by the unanimous voice of a meeting which crowded the Town Hall. Sir Philip Fysh's chief offence seems to be that he favours the formation of tho Emu Bay railway, and that he sDoke rather bluntly

to his constituents. The Hobart people have no particular interest in the Emu Bay railway, but evidently it is regarded as an ■ antagonistic venture to a railway in which • ' they have an interest. The meeting in the , ' Town Hall is described as a '" deputation' . ' to Sir Philip Fysh to ask him to take a 'certain course with regard to the railway. ■ i Some temper was shown, and after descfibl ing the meeting as a " mob," and stating that i ' he was quite prepared to say " good morn- ! ing" to his constituents, Sir Philip Fysh left, - accompanied by howls, hoots, and jeers. The • , meeting, having nothing else to do, solemnly ■ j passed a resolution calling on Sir Philip Fy.sh jto resign. The railway question was discussed in Parliament the same evening, and Sir '• Philip Fysh voted against the wishes of the '" mob." There was another heavy fall of snow ( ' in the back country on Thursday night and throughout Friday. The i ; Oamaru Mail reports that at Kurow fully two inches fell, while in the Hakateramea there is fully one foot in places. At Livingstone some six inches had fallen, while at Tapui and on the hills around Ngapara the snow-line was lower than ever previously known. A number of alterations in the scale of fares, rates, and charges vpon the Govern ment railways are detailed in this week's Gazette. The regulation with regard to the carriage of grass seed has been amended, and J the following inserted : — Now Zealand grown ' seeds forwarded by rail to seed-cleaning establishments to be cleaned will, if returned from the original consignee to the original j sender, t>e carried back to the original send1 ing station free of charge, provided that such seed was grown in the vicinity of the original forwarding railway station and is for use in the locality were grown, and that a certificate fa endorsed on the consignment note when the seed is being forwarded to the &eed-clean-ing establishment. When seed is returned \ under this regulation the consignment note | must be endorsed. This regulation will not ' | apply to seeds for export. Returned empty [ t butter and egg boxes, when consigned by the ' , original consignee and from the original rei ceiving station to the original consignor and \ I forwarding station, will be conveyed frco of I charge. This regulation will apply only to ■ empty butter and egg boxes previously carried | over the railway full. The Dunedin Naval Artillery held a church 1 , parade at St. Matthew's Church on -Sunday j morning. There was a good muster, and the 1 } congregation was also large. The Navals 1 Band was in attendance, and played the accompaniments to the hymns. One of theso was a hymn specially composed by the Rev. Mr Ourzon-Siggers for the Naval Artillery Volunteer service. The organist (Mr Lilly) conducted when the hymns were being rendered. The band also played " God save the Queen " during the offertory. The Rev. Mr Ourzon-Siggers preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion. The first of the monthly meetings which the Otago Pharmaceutical Association propose to hold regularly was held in the association's rooms on Friday evening, some 30 members being present. Mr T. W. Kempthorne occupied the chair. It is intended that these meetings should instruct as well as promote a social feeling amongst the members, and this object was eminently fulfilled on Friday night, when a lecture on tho " Rontgen Rays " was given by Mr R. A.. Ewing, who was assisted in the demonstration by Mr R. I Henry, electrician. Mr Ewing's remarks were most attentively listened to and, the apparatus

working 1 well, photos of the hands and forearms of several of the members were taken, amongst those who were operated upon being Dr M'Kellar, who was present as secretary of the (Jtago Medical Association. It may be stated that the Rontgen rays have already been put to practical use in Dunedin. At tho hospital a few days ago a person presented himself for treatment for a mysterious pain in his ankle. The medical staff were unable to locate the cause, but the rays showed plainly a pellet of shot in between two of the ankle bones, the result of an accident many years ago. The pellet, of course, was promptly removed, ancf the patient cured of his lameness. A hearty vole of thanks was accorded to Messrs Ewing- and Henry for the educational treat they had provided.

A singular epidemic is reported at Jerusalem, a settlement on the Wanganui River. Mother Mary Joseph A. ubert, who is in charge of the Jerusalem Foundling Home, reports to Mr Kettle, S.M., that three of the infants in the homo had died within nine days, twe others are in a very low state, and several arc beginning to ail. The children appear to suffer from dysentery and purnura. Strange to say, all the cats in the settlement have dieo during the last fortnight. Dr Wait, of Oamaru, who has visited the homo, reports that its sanitary condition is good. He attributes the sickness in some measure to the milk being affected by the herbage on which the cattle feed at this time of the year, and the wintry weather, both of which have an effect on the cows, and make the milk less wholesome for infants. The doctor has ordered an alteration of diet for the children. He cannot account for the death of the cats.

A large and influential meeting was lield in Milton on Thursday evening, upwards of 150 attending, to receive the reports of Mr J. E. Brown, C.8., and Mr William Samson, ox-manager of the Kaitangata Coal Company's mine, on the prospects of the Fortification Railway and Coal Company. Dr Sutherland occupied the chair. Mr Brown's report on the proposed line of railway was highly favourable, and no difficulty is anticipated in this connection ; while Mr Samson reported in a similar strain upon the seam and quality of the coal. A number of gentlemen spoke, strongly supporting the scheme and advocating the development of the large coal area which would result from the ilolation of the company. The meeting was an ei-tluuiiaslie and successful one.

A very bad state of affairs continues to prevail on the Rand. A telegram from Johannesburg to the Cape Argus, dated 17th June, says :—" To-day's Stai devotes fully a page to the depression and destitution prevailing in Johannesburg. All the authorities interviewed agree that the present state of affairs is quite unprecedented in the history of the Rand. Not only is there complete stagnation of trade and absolute destitution among a largo section of the working class population, but many families who a few years ago were in comfortable, if not affluent, circumstances have now a hard struggle to keep their heads above water. Among the victims of the depression are not a few public school men and university graduates, who are only too glad to accept any work at a few pounds monthly. The demands on the charity organisations are out of all proportion to their financial resources. The most striking feature of the crisis is the absolute hopelessness with which people generally regard the future."

The Argonaut of San Francisco tells a good tale of the late Benjamin H. Brewster, President Arthur's Attorney-general. His face was terribly disfigured with Bears, and when engaged in a case as attorney for the

Pennsylvania railroad, the opposing counsel made a brutal attack on him. " Th« dealings of the railroad." he said, " are as tortuous and twisted as the features of the man who represents it." Mr Brewster held his peace till hib turn came. Then he taid : " For the first time in my life the personal delect from which I suffer has been the subject of public remark. I will tell you how I caino by it. When I was five years of age, I was one day playing with a younger sister when she fell into an open grate where a fire was burningI sprang to her as&ihtanco, dragged her from danger, and in doing so I fell myself, with my face upon the burning coals. When I was picked up, my face was as black " — and hi 3 finger transfixed his antagonist — " as that man's heart."

In the "English Illustrated Magazine " Mr J Holt Schooling works out Trom the current life table for England and Wales some interesting results as regards the chances of males at ages 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80. and 90 living for 10 years more, 20 years more, .50 years more, etc. For example, as regards 1000 men aged 20, 939 of them "live 10 years more" — i.e., to age 30; that is, 94 per cent, live to age 30, and 6 per cent, do not, so that the chance at age 20 of living to age 30 is not quite 16 to 1 in favour of living. Similarly, 559 out of 1000 '" livo 40 years more" — i.e., to age 60, so that the odds in favour of a man aged 20 living to age 60 are 56 to 44, say 5 to 4, in sporting phrase. Again, as only 10 out of the 1000 "live 70 years more '" — i c., to age SO. the chance of a man aged 20 attaining ago 90 is only 1 in 100, or odds of 99 to 1 against him. As to the chances of men aged 50, 770 per 1000 live 10 years more — i.e., to age 60; therefore we may say that the chanco of a man aged 50 living to 60 is represented by odds of 77 to 23, or about 7 to 2 in favour of the man aged 50 living 10 years more. This chance, favourable as it is, is. of course, not nearly so great as the 16 to 1 chance in favour of a man aged 20 living to 30. Glancing at men aged 70, we see thai only 335 per 3000 live 10^ years more — i.e., to age 80; this mean? that 34 per 100 livo the 10" years and 66 per 100 do not. so that the chance at age 70 of a man living to age 80 is represented by odds of 2 to 1 against him. As for men aged 90, of 1000 rren alive at age 90 only 4 livo to age 100. Thus, at ago 90 the chance of living 10 years is very small, it being represented by the long odds of 249 to 1 against the man— quite an outside chance.

The first claim on thtf United States Government for a pension as the result of the war with Spain is that of Mrs Thomas F. Hook, of Oshtosh, Wisconsin. Her husbair.l, to whom she had been married but a short time, enlisted on a Friday, became ill on Saturday, and died of a choleric affection on Sunday, sc that he was barely in the service of his country for three days; but lie died a soldier, and she is therefore entitled to a pension. The case is exciting a great deal of interest, and the lawyers who have charge of it will endeavour to obtain more than the ordinary pension of about Bdol a month, on the score that the young woman was deprived of her husband's support at the outset of her career, and that his death was due to some oversight on the part of the Governmentagents.

The total output of coal from the mines of the colony last year was 840,713 tons, as against 792,851 tons for the previous year, showing the increased output last year to be 47,862 tons. The coal imported from other countries last year was 110,907 tons, while for the former year there were 101,756 tons, showing an increase in the importation last ye\r

of 9151 tons. The imports were 1500 tons from th© United Kingdom, 109,403 tons from New South Wales, and four tons from Victoria. The total export 01 coal was 82,396 tons, of which 76,073 tons was colonial produce, and 6323 tons imported coal from olhec countries. Of the quantity of coal exported, 55,757 tons was for coaling direct steamers trading between the colony and the United Kingdom, and therefore treated as coal consumed within the colony. Taking, therefore, the output from our mines and the coal imported, we have a total of 951,620 tons, cf which 26.639 tons were exported,- leaving J .ho consumption within the colony last year to bo 921,097 tons, as against 866,633 tons for the previous year, being an increased consumption last year of 54,464- tons. Taking the output of the different classes of coal from the mines in the colony, there were 504-,76* tons of bituminous coal, 34,969 tons of pitch coal, 268,820 tons of brown eoalj and 32,960 tons of lignite.

Up to the present no trace has been found of Wilson, the hotelkeeper at Mataura Bridge, who disappeared on the 6th inst. The river is being examined minutely from Mataura lo Wyndham. and the surrounding country has been scoured, but all without success.

line of steamers between New York and New Zealand, via Australia, is about to be instituted by the proprietors of the well-known. Tyser line. It is intended to put on the line first class cargo boats, leaving New York ab regular intervals. The first steamer will be despatched from New York on the 25th September, and New Zealand importers of American goods are specially invited to instruct their agents to support the Tyser line. It is understood the steamers will call at the principal ports in the colony with cargo, and take back loading if offered.

At Wellington on Saturday a person who had for two years ignored all notices sent to him by the tax commissioner, and had failed to supply before July 1 a full and complete roturn of hiß income, was fined by MiKenny. H.M., £10, with £1 83 costs. A second conviction was also ordered, and the magistrate directed that treble the tax should be paid. It was plated for the commissioner that if satisfactory returns were supplied forthwith it was improbable that the enforcement of the second conviction would be pressed.

_ The Chrisfcchurch Press ,«ays : - " The detective office at the Police Station presents the appearance of- a clumping ground for waste paper. The paper in question consists of some thousands of blocks of tickets in a ' grand art union ' which has been promoted in Christchurch. These tickets, which have been distributed all over the colony, setout that the holder is entitled to a chance in a grand art union of 810 oil, water colour, and monochrome pictures of New JZealancl scenery. The police allege that the art union is a fraudulent one, as the pictures da not exist. Two sacks of butts, representing some thousands of pounds worth of tickets sold, have been seized."

Mr William Grant Forbes died very sud« denly at his residence at St. Clair on Sunday! morning. He retired to rest early on Saturday evening, as lie had complained for tw<> or three days previously of a pain in thel region of the heart. About 2.30 on Sunday; morning Mrs Forbes was awakened by tha noise her husband was making, and observing that he was seriously ill, sent for Do Coughtrey. On that gentleman's arrival he found life to be extinct, and on examination gave it as his opinion that death was due to angina pectoris. Mr Forbes had been in thai service of the Bank of New Zealand for many,

years, and held the position of agent at Mataura, Ross, Featlierston, and Waimate. He retired a few years ago on account of illliealth, and took up his residence at St. Clair. He was a member of the school committee at St. Clair. Deceased leaves a .widow and two children. An inquest was not considered necessary by Mr Carew, coroner. A large and influential deputation waited on the Premier on Saturday, and requested that a sum of money be placed on the Sup plementary Estimates for additional building accommodation at Mother Aubert's Home for Destitute Children at Jerusalem. The Premier paid a high tribute to the work done in the past by the mother, and said he should weigh carefully what had been placed before him and submit the matter to the Cabinet. The Cabinet would decide the question and, if favourable, a sum would be placed on the Supplementary Estimates. If otherwise, they might rest assured there had been good grounds for not involving the State in the erection of a large building for the nurture of the children of fallen women.

Professor Sale in the weekly literary column of the Cliristchurch Press thinks it extraordinary that no writer has ever drawn at tention to the remarkable literary parallel presented by the lives and circumstances and i>y the greatest masterpieces of the twe greatest writers of tragedy the world has evei seen. The writers are Sophocles and Shakes peare, and the tragedies "Oedipus" and "KingXear." Closely allied with the deep religious feeling in " Oedipus " is a strong sense of nationality, and the professor sum? up the one essential difference by saying that Sophocles is in short the poet of Athens and of tbe ago in which he lived. Shakespeare is the poet of the world and all time.

"Side Lights on Prison Life" is the title of an article in the Auckland Herald by Mr O. F. Spooner (the unfortunate printer who got two months for neglecting to place an imprint upon a circular oontaining a few verses of harmless doggerel). In the course of his article the writer says: — "One phase t)f prison life which struck me as being productive of much evil among the men "wa.s the {indiscriminate herding of the prisoners. There was no attempt at classification. The boys of tender years, although they may justly deserve all the punishment they get, should not be associated with men of older yearß and more advanced in sin. An illustration of the harm that this system can do was given one anorning, when I saw an old, grey-headed prisoner teaching a boy of 16 years of age liow to fight (which, might be the least harmful of the many lessons they would learn). These things of course^ are all unknown to the •officials of the prison. The boys by their association with the men leave the prison very mu«h more confirmed criminals than when they entered, and, as a rule, soon find their iway back again to gaol."

Mr F. Rogen, Evansdale, well -known as a breeder of collies, has just received a cablegram from his Melbourne partner to the effect that their dogs have won the teasa prize and every first prize except the championship in the classes in which they competed at the Victoria Kennel Club's show last woek.

At a recent meeting in Wellington of persons interested in the proposed Commercial Exchange Bank, Mr Michael Flurscheim Jbriefly reviewed the subject and reported the progress of the movement. He stated that 250 Wellingtonians had taken \ip 500 shares, and in Christohurch the members numbered 257. Tho local members would practically exchange goods with one and other, and gradually the scheme would expand. It was inteudod to issue cheques and bank aotes, the latter varying in demand from Is upwards. A member desiring goods to any value gave a cheque, if ho pleased, to another tradesman, also a member, who placed the document to liis credit at the exchange bank. When he, in turn, desired goods he likewise gave a cheque. Private information as to the standing of members would always bo available to those who controlled the institutions, and they r~uld advise as to the advisableness of accepting the cheque or otherwise, just r.s an ordinary bank certified that any cheque presented it would be paid. The bank's papers would be really orders to deliver goods. The initial expenses are. being borne by Mr Flurscheim, and after that gentleman's address it was decided to establish the bank, a committee being set up to draft the oonetitution and by-laws. Another meeting is to be held to consider these things and appoint a permanent committee as an. advisory .board.

An interesting case came before Mr Poyn ton, S.M. at Feilding, last week. A Mrs Heade, suspecting that her servant, who was leaving, had stolen some of her property, caused the girl's portmanteau to be detained at the railway station, and subsequently taken to her house. There she opened it by taking out tho pin which held the hinge of the lock, and. alleged that she found in the portmanteau several articles which belonged lo her. She then called in the police. When the girl returned to the house she denied Inking the articles, and Mrs Reade laid an informatioa against her. Mr Poynton, in giving judgment, said that Mrs Reade had said enough in her evidence to show that her conduct was influenced by something other than the charge made. It would be a dangerous thing to convict on such evidence, and as an instance of evidence manufactured in this way he qiioted the case of the children of Israel and the drinking cup. Mrs Reade should have obtained a search warrant. That would ha*e fceen legal and would have averted suspicion, whereas the course followed rendered the doer ■liable (o imprisonment. To allow that a person could obtain the box of another by subterfuge, open it secretly, find goods belonging to himself, and without corroborative evidence obtain a conviction would be a most dangerous principle. The case woe dismissed.

The Timaru Herald says : — " Mr H. BezKant, of Timaru, has discovered a process by which he can make tweeds or other kindred material perfectly waterproof. We have seen experiments made with bags of both old and ijew tweeds, which stood the severe test of being filled with water, and not a drop came through. Old suits of clothes can be put through the solution, dried and pressed in the ordinary way, and will then be quite rainproof. New tweed can be immersed in the solution (which in this case takes the place of tho ordinary shrinking process and will then foe waterproof. The solution does not add to the weight of tweed, has no smell, and does not hurt the cloth in any way.

When the late Professor Kirk died he was 'engaged upon a new work relating to the flora of this colony. He had completed it as far as the end of the natural order Composite. The sheets of the work as far as it had gone were sent to Professor Hooker, tho author of the original book on New Zealand flora, and lie has now written to Sir James IJoetor stating that he has perusal it, and thinks the (work is excellent. It is hoped to make satisfactory arrangements for having the book Xomnteted