LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 52

LOCAL & GENERAL.

An account of the extraordinary disturbance that occurred in the section of the Paris Exhibition devoted to the display of ladies' toilettes is told in the " Woman." A number of foreign dressmakers, it seems, were busy making copies of the costumes, and as they prevented several lady visitors from seeing the exhibits, the latter made an attack upon them. The dressmakers retaliated with hands and nails, and a scene of great confusion and noise ensued. Some men standing by interfered in the hope of restoring order, but both sides turned upon them, and they had to defend themselves with their walking-sticks and umbrellas — a line of conduct which added stHi more to the fury of the feminine fighlero ! liaU and bonnets were torn up and trampled upon,- costumes were rent to tatters, hair was pulled out, find faces scratched, and the attendants had great difficulty in restoring order by forcing the combatants out of the building. When they had gone, the place was littered with wrecks of hats, bonnets, wearing apparel, and handfuls of hair. Mr George Sumpter, of Oamaru, was (says the North Otago Times) one of the hardy band of pioneers, whose ranks are being depleted so fast by the hand of death. Born in Middlesex in 183^ Mr Sumpter left for Adelaide in 1851, and after about 10 years' residence there came to Oamaru with his wife and daughter in the early part of 1862, the place at that time being a wilderness of tussock and unfenced land. Since his arrival in Oamaru Mr Sumpter has taken a very keen interest in practically everything concerning the welfare of the town. In 1864 he took an active part in forming the first rifle company, and in 1865 joined the company himself, and after serving for distinction for some years, he became a lieutenant-colonel. He was the first town clerk of Oamaru, and subsequently waa elected mayor of the city. He was elected

to represent Waitaki in the Provincial Council in 1871, which seat he retained till the abolition of the provinces. He also held a seat for a brief period in the Provincial Executive in 1875. About 60 of the friends of Mr and Mrs Thomas Grainger met at their residence at Anderson's Bay on Friday evening, the 9fch inst., to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding. The worthy couple were the recipients of a large number of handsome silver and other presents — the gifts of their friends. Mr A. M'Kenzie, in proposing the hjalth of Mr and Mrs Grainger, spoke of the high esteem in which they were held, as the large gathering on that occasion testified, and hoped that they would all be spared to be present at their golden wedding 25 years hence. The guests spent a very enjoyable evening, and the morning sun was shining before they dispersed to their homes. The City Council has decided to ask tho citizens to sanction a loan of £50,000 for the purchase of the city and suburban tramways and plant. Tho following is the list of cases to coma before the Conciliation. Board at an earlydale: — Otago Coal Miners' Union v. the Lovell's Flat Coal Company, Otago Coal Miners' Union v. the Alexandra and Clyde coal mine proprietors, United Millers, En-gine-drivers', and Mill Employees' Union 'v. the master millers of Otago, Otago Metal Workers' A=siE>tants' Union v. the masterironworkers of Otago and Southland. There are two applications for the enforcement of industrial agreements in the baking trade set down for hearing before the Arbitration Court. The saving to the city by the extinguishing of the loan of £7100, maturing on the Ist January, 1901, will be £!464 per annum. The accumulated sinking .fund in respect to this particular loan is £4500, and the balance of £2600 is to be raised by way of loan at 4 per cent. At an adjourned meeting of the Teviot and Alexandra Fruitgrowers' Association, held on Tuesday, the 13th, the advisability of the appointment of new agents was considered. Ifc was decided to appoint Messrs A. Moritzson and Co. agents for the association foi the whole output of their fruit. The crops this season promi&e to be good, and look better than they have for years back, both as to quality and quantity, blight being almost absent. The growers expect a crop of over 600 tons for the district- — chiefly strawberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, and plums. The agents have, we understand, made every arrangement for the handling of this large quantity, and no ghit in the market need be feared. Mr Edwards, who is conducting the practical musical examinations of the Trinity College, London, expects to reach Dunedin on Saturday, 24th inst. The examinations will be held on Monday, 26th inst. Mr H. S. Robinson, manager of the Union Bank at Lyttelton, will succeed Mr Kirkpalrick, the manager of the Greymouth branch, who is retiring on a pension. Mr Glasgow, of the Christcluu-ch office, will succeed Mr Robinson at Lyttelton. A lady of French extraction was (says the New Zealand Times) being examined by counsel in a debt dispute before the stipendiary magistrate. With a view to questioning her credibility, the lawyer a3ked her if it was a. fact that she was sued by his firm for money ciuc for legal service? rendered, and had been, ordered to pay the debt, although she denied having incurred it. . The witness replied: " Oh, yes; but that was because you and the other ' whipper-snapper ' told lies." The lawyer returned thanks and subsided. " In the present state of the law your onlysafe plan is to give credit to nobody," was the advice given by Mr Beetham (says the Press) to a judgment creditor in the Magistrate^ Court on the 12th. The creditor was a "landlady, who had obtained judgment against a tenant, and now sought to enforce it. The debtor admitted he received 10s 6d | per day at the Addington. workshops, that he occasionally went to the races, and that heattended a dancing class. He claimed, however, that with- a wife and family to support he was quite unable to pay the £3 lls sued for. As the debtor's ability to pay was not proved, his Worship could make no order. The creditor said she was dependent on her rents for her living, and it was hard that she could neither get her rents nor get her bad tenants out. Mr Beetham told her there was no difficulty about the latter, as, if she applied to that court, he would put them out at a. moment's notice. She should trust nobody for the rent, and if a tenant did not pay, should bundle him out at once. The attention of the police has been called to the danger of allowing boys using catapults or shanghais abotit the Northern Recreation, ground. On the 10th inst., as three cricketers were standing together on the field one sud ; denly dropped to the ground, having been, struck on the temple by a stone from a catapult. . He received a nasty cut through his cap, and had to retire. This is the second player struck on this ground quite recently. The nuisance is a serious one all over the city and suburbs, and although the police have ample powers to deal with boys using catapults, unfortunately they are not übiquitous. The. traffic on the Dunedin and Kaikorai trams has far exceeded, so far, the expectations of the promoters of the company. Since the lines were opened for traffic three weeks ago, 29,114 passengers have been carried ia the cars. The detailed numbers are: — Firsfc week, 9384 ; second week, 8575 ; third week, 11,155. The greatest number carried by the tars on any one day was 2610, on Friday, the 9th inst. Our Palmerston correspondent writes: — "At the Magistrate's Court, before Major Keddell, S.M., William Tyrone Ferrar waa brought up, on remand from Dunedin, charged with, whilst acting as clerk at Mount

Royal, falsifying the station accounts. After Che evidence of Mr Douglas and Rasman Jensen, late groom at the station, had been taken, the accused was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Cotu-t at Dunedin, on the 26th inst. Bail was allowed, accused in £40 and two sureties of £20 each. The required sureties being obtained, the accused was liberated. Mr A. P. Harper, of Christchurch, last "week accomplished the journey from the mouth of the Haast River to Christchurch, via Otago, in five days. With his bicycle he left the mouth of the Haast on Sunday morning (the 4th) for the head of Lake Wanaka, a distance of about 60 miles. The track, ■which at best is only a rough bush track 'and river bed, was in bad order, owing to a spell of tad weather, and the creeks and rivers "were still high from the rain of the previous 10 days. The trip from the sea to Wanaka took a long two days, and of the 60 miles traversed Mr Harper reckons he only -rode from 10 to 12 miles. He had to wheel and carry the bicycle over the rest of the way, through bush, over river flats and rough mountain track, the actual asqent and descent of the Pass on the second day being most trying 1 under the circumstances. The third day was occupied in travelling down to Pembroke by the steamer on Lake Wanaka ? arriving at 6 p.m. Leaving there an hour later, Mr Harper rode all night by moonlight, and he reached Lawrence, a distance of 130 miles, in good time for the train for Dunedin, where he arrived on the evening of the fourth day, and, taking the next day's -express, he completed the journey from Haast to Christchurch in five days^ or at least three days quicker than if he had followed the usual route via Hokitika. Coming down the Queensland coast on her tray to Sydney, H.M.W. Torch was signalled for from Percy Island. When a beat was sent ashore, the inhabitants, to the number of about 20, were found to be nearly starving, their quarterly provisions being three months overdue. Nine of the men were attached to the lighthouse, and they, with others, had been living for months entirely on whSt roots could be found on the island. The Torch sent an ample supply of provisions ashore. In the midst of electioneering commonplaces (says the Spectator) the speech of Mr T. W. Russell to his constituents at Clougher comes with startling effect. His theme was the utter 'breakdown of that system of land legislation for Ireland which Mr Gladstone .various times for a period of 30 years persisted in declaring was at last to settle the Irish question. Land courts, the fixing of Tents, and all the costly and cumbrous machinery of the Land Acts have become, as Mr Russell said, intolerable in the opinion of every second man in the "country. They furjiish grievances to the Nationalists; they so exasperate # Loyalisfcs that they turn and rend their own friends in forgetfulness of the larger issue of Unionism to which they are pledged. There is no alternative but the introduction of a large measure of compulsory land purchase, and the amount necessary, Mr Russell estimates, will be £120,000,000. Into the considerations which i 1 liave led him to propose this solution, though he says he at first stood aghast at it, we i cannot enter here. The important thing is , to note that this great subject is proposed by a member of the Go% ermnent as a vital issue of the next Parliament. The magnificent sword of honour obtained | by the Town Council of Capetown to be pre- j sented 'to Field-marshal Lord Roberts lias j arrived from England. The hilt of the sword and the mountings of the sheath are of solid 18-carat gold, while the body of the j latter is covered in red plush. On one side I of the scabbard are reproductions of the re- i ■cipient's numerous orders and the Victoria j Cross, surmounted by the arms of tha city of I Capetown ; on the reverse side are Lord Hoberts's arms and the arms of the Cape of i Good Hope. The blade bears the following J inscription: — "Presented by the Mayor and I Corporation of the City of Capetown to Field- | marshal Lord Roberts, V.C., K.P., G.C.8., "' G.C.5.1., G.C.1.E., in recognition af his bril- j liant services in South Africa, 1900. Draw | for God and thy Queen, justice and truth." On the other side, are the names of the Fieldmarshal's principal South African successes — Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Paardeberg, and Kimberley. On one side of the hilt is the figure of Britannia, and on the other side that of Justice, both in relief, while Tinder the latter is the initial " R." At a meeting of the Westland County j Council a resolution was carried approving of j the steps being taken to press upon the Government the urgency of establishing one-day through communication at least twice a week between Christchurch and Hokitika, and that the local bodies and public men of Canterbury and Westland be asked to co-operate in united representations to the Minister of Railways on the matter. A local committee was formed to wait on the Government geologist on his arrival on an early date to interview him re coal measures in the Koiterangi district. It is proposed to take the geologist to report on the outcrops recently found about 12 miles from Hokitika. News has been received* of the death at Perth, Western Australia, on October 30, o£ Mr John Matheson, who was for many year 3 a well-known commercial traveller in Otago and Southland. Mr Matheson was an early arrival in Victoria, and for some years carried on business as a 3torekeeper in ! Castlemafne. He- was mayor of that town j at' 1 the time of the late Duke of Edinburgh's I vifcit to the colonies in the '70's, and took a prominent part in entertaining hi 3 Royal Highness during his sojourn at Mount Alexander. Mr Matheson shortly afterwards cam© to New Zealand, and lived for a long j time in the Glen, Mornington, where his wife died after a long illness. The remaining saembars of the family followed i-lieir father

■ ■ to Western Australia, whither he went at ' . the height of the mining boom. Three sons I and four daughters survive. Mr Mathcson j . was 67 at the time of his death. Of a kindly, j genial, and generous disposition, lus memory j | will be warmly cherished by a large circle of j old friends. The ship for the next year's South Pole expedition is now being built in the Howaldt j Dockyard, at Kiel, writes the Berlin corre- ! spondent of ihe Standard under date Septem- I ber 25. It is a wooden three-masted schooner, I with strong ribs and triple woodwork of oak, pitch pine, and green heart, for protection against the ice pressure. It is hoped by this j to obtain sufficient strength without the form of the body of- the vessel being so oblique as was the case with the Fram, which proved to j be of great disadvantage as regards sea- I 1 j worthiness. The expedition will consist of i j five savants, five ship's. officers, including the J j engineer, and about 20 men. The ship will have a triple-expansion engine capable of an J average speed of seven knots. The space ' under the forecastle will be prepared for about 50 draught dogs. All the available ' space will be turned into coal bunkers. Besides five ordinary boats, an oak naphtha boat will be taken, six metres long and two broad, and capable of holding 14 to 20 per- | sons, or 2500 kilogrammes. The engine, of | four-horse power, will give the boat a speed , of from four to five knots. A captive 'bal- . loon, with the necessery filling apparatus, i i will also be taken ; also a windmill for the I working of the dynamo engine when the j boiler is not under »team. Termination I Island, geographically still little known, will j probably form the first objective of the ex- j pedition, whence the vessel will proceed east till about the nineteenth longitude, before • sailing south, as the .sounding" for this route ! t have not yet been made. The west side of j ; "Victoria Land is then to be visited, and the ' { question of its connection with Kemp Land j ! and Enderby Land settled. The South ! Polar Sea will then be traversed on the At- i lantic side. On tho return, South Georgia , and Tristan d'Acunha will be visited. The ' expedition will co-operato with the English and American expeditions, and also with a Scotch one. J^-The death of Lord Howe reminds Literature that it was probably his estates in Birmingham which were involved in the suit made famous by Dickens as "Jarndyce v. ! Jarndyce." The case has been before the ! court at frequent intervals during the present ! : century, and the property in litigation be- j i longed, it is understood, originally to William t ! Jennens, who died in London in 1798, at the j ripe age of 97. Ten years ago the number ' of claimants to the estates was given as about 400. So Dickens. was not far out. News comes from New York that Mr William K. Vanderbilt has given £500,000 to his j daughter, the Duchess of Marlborough, tho > I gift being a thank-offering- for the Duke's i safe return from the war. The Duke and {. Duchess (telegraphs the; Daily News Paris , correspondent) ore now in Paris investing the , ;' money in antique furniture and decorations for the house which is being built for them , in Mayfair. I Many and various are the means which go 1 towards filling the coffers of charitable in- , slilutions. But the ladies of Wurtemberg | have hit upon a manner of raising funds j which has tho charm of novelty, if it is not } otherwise fascinating. " Collect women's ! hair," is the head of one of theii leaflets, and j { explains that every woman may contribute j j something towards helping the sick and the ', \ poor by sending useless '" combings " to cer- ! tain depots, whence they will be forwarded j to a Stuttgart hairdresser, who utilises them j j for making the imisible hair nets now so • ! much worn. Up to quite recently it was \ China which supplied nearly all the hair used j { for this purpose ; but at the beginning of ! j the present crisis the exportation of hair was I prohibited. It seems that the result of this 1 [ novel method of contributing to charitable I has, so far, been highly satisfactory, i j A correspondent writing to the Auckland i | j Herald from the New Hebrides says it is I rumoured in the group that at least 20 French ! families are being brought out from France, with ,the evident intention of swamping the 1 British and over-running the group at all costs. "In the meantime," writes the correspondent, " they bring liberated convicts . of a very bad type as labour for the sulphur mines at Samoa Lava. Finding out the fearful sickness and great mortality in that place, these librea naturally object to stay, and they are dumped down in the midst of this community (Port Vila), with vory little regard for the ensuing eon&equeuces. All sorts of , vague menaces, threats, etc., are being held out to the English, and the words are openly expressed that very soon all the English will have to pack up and ' clear out.' ' Wait until Christmas time, and you will see,' is j the remark. ' You English have had your j innings ; it is now our turn.' These, and j others of a kind, are continually being heard, j What does it all mean? That Sir William j Lyne and Mr Seddon have moved in the i i matter is causing some hope to spring up ; but matters have reached that pitch that some- i thing must be done soon. Had the English kept their eyes open for opportunities the large trade in the islands in this way would have been kept entirely in their own hands. So that if the French seize the opportunity, no blame is attachable on this score." From Brisbane files to hand it appears that ■ Wise's Directory Company obtained a perpetual injunction against H. Pole and Co., printers, Brisbane, for an infringement of copyright of the Queensland Post Office and Official Directory. Mr Justice Cooper .on tbo 29th of October made an order granting- a perpetual injunction, and | directed that there should be delivered to the ' registrar of tho court, for destruction, that portion of the defendant's work and printed ' sheets, also that the type should be dis-

tributed in presence of a person appointed hy the plaintiffs, within one week. | His Excellency the Governor arrived at | Nightcaps, Southland, on Thursday evening, I and was entertained at supper, about 60 of the leading residents of the district being present. Later there was a really excellent display of fireworks. On Friday Lord Ranfurly I visited the Nightcaps coal mine and the local ■ school. He left in the afternoon for Orepuki. He reaches Invercargill on Monday, and re- ! mains there till Wednesday, 21st inst., when I he proceeds to Tapanui, arriving there at 2.30 p.m. that day. He leaves Tapanui lor DuriI edin on Friday, 23rd inst. I The inquest on the body of Kin Ha5 r , who was killed in the Roslyn tramway accident, ; was concluded on Friday. A great deal of expert evidence was given concerning the appliances and various tests made in connection with the brakes and picking tip the rope near the transfer table. The jury retired after 5 o'clock, and returned shortly before 6 with, the verdict that deceased met his death through the car bolting owing to its not being attached to the cable before starting. The driver was exonerated from all blame, on the grounds that he followed the usual practice. The railway returns for the four-weekly period ending October 13 shows that the revenue was £116,196 and the expenditure £82,126. The North Island revenue was £44,250 and the expenditure £30,423; while the revenue from the South Island lines wa= £71,906 and the expenditure £51,702. In the Supreme Court in Chambers on Friday morning Mr James had a motion for an appointment to proceed with the accounts and inquiries in the fiction of Aitchison v. the Kaitangata Railway and Coal Company, and the judge ordered the case to proceed on the sth of December. In accordance with the decree of the court, the defendant company have now to discharge themselves in re spect of coal which is alleged to have been produced from the corporation property, the onus being- thrown on them by the previous decree of the court. Referring to the Jklendale poisoning case, the Wyadham Herald states that Milne, one of the victims, never so fully realised how near he was to death tintil the last few days. As a matter of fact, when stretched out by the spasms, he heard an onlooker say that it was of no use to persevere with remedial measures, a=s he was dead. It seems that Milne at once noticed a peculiarity about the tea, and tried three different pannikinfuls, remarking that he believed it was poisoned. As emetics he took salt and water, mustard and water, a quantity of neatsfoot oil, and tobacco juice. It was so difficult to get anything to have the desired effect on him. He is still shaken from the effects of the poisoning. The number of witnesses engaged in the case against Arnett is estimated at not less than 15. The Fiji Times of October 31, in the course of an article on '' Federation," says :—": — " Since Fiji is assured of the support of New Zealand, the next step for the citizens of this colony is to prepare a memorial to the Queen praying thot the wishes of colonists may be given effect to. This memorial will require to be presetted for signature to each colonist, &o< far as the scattered nature of the settlers will then permit of, and transmitted tc the Imperial authorities through his Excellency the Governor. It is much to bo desired that the committee who have interested themselves in the matter lose as little time as possible in making the wishes of the colonists known to the Home authorities in the manner indicated." It is rumoured (says the Matavira Ensign) that the police have obtained a clue to the perpetrators of the sensational safe robbery at Mataura some six years ago. It will l>e I remembered by some that on a Christmas morning the Mataura Post Office safe, containing cash, si amps, etc., was discovered to be missing. Despite the vigorous and persistent search made by the wolice, no trace I of the safe was found until some three or four | years • ago, the door being discovered at the j bottom of the freezing- works water-race. Interest in the mystery has been revived by the circulation of the rumour we have mentioned, and it is probable that something more will be heard of the matter shortly. The Oamaru Mail complains strongly that a number of birds from the Government poultry farm, v hich were exhibited at the Canter- j bury Show, suffered from roup. That paper j says: — These birds attracted considerable at- | tention, not, however, so much because of ! their superiouty over the ordinary barn-door varieties, bred and brought up by ordinary methods, but because amongst them were seve rol that were afflicted with roup. An Indian game hen was very bad with this distressingand obnoxious disease, and a Leghorn hen wos no better, whilst several other birds of other breeds were ' sickening for it. This was a most extraordinary state of affairs. If the birds had been sent to the show by a private breeder, thei- co-idUion would doubtless have been cited as a shocking example of the necessity for strict attention to the instruction of tho Government poultry expert and for a scrupulous State inspection. Mr Bellringer, a leading resident of NewPlymouth, who has just returned from a visit to Great Britain, states that while in London he was particularly struck with the absence of anything in the Agent-general's office to indicate the products of the colony. At tho Imperial In&tituLe, too, he was much surprised to find that the New Zealand exhibits were relegated to n space about 10ft square, and consisted of a small sample of flax, a few pieces of wood, and a bundle of wool. Ho saw nothing that indicated that an3^ steps were being taken to push the colony on. At a sitting of the District Court at Ashburton on Tuesday, an order was granted aunulikig the bankruptcy of Hubert Gifforc' Moore, who filed .some years ago, and who has since paid all his creditors 20s in the pound.

i His Honor commented on the honourable way in which Mr Moore had behaved towards his creditors. A duel with shot-guns between two miner? named Gaudion and Lamble, at the Stockman's mine, on the Big River, Victoria, on the sth inst , resulted in the former being I slightly wounded in the hands and legs, and ] in the latter being arrested by Constable j Tucker, of Marysville. The affray, which was j the outcome of jealousy, caused considerable I excitement in the locality, which is about 25 1 miles from Marysville. Word having been ! brought to the police station there, Constable Tucker went out, and brought both men to Healesville, where Gaudion received medical j treatment. Lamble was brought before the local bench, and remanded for a week. On Thursday night, in the Oddfellows' Hall, Mosgiel, a few pleasant hours were spent by the members and friends of the Mosgiel , Choral Association, to the number of about 80, in holding a, soiree to mark the close of the year's work. Inclement as the weather wa&, it seemed powerless to depress the spirits of those inside, so that a most pleasuraVe time was spent in feasting and merrymaking. • It having been intimated that Mr James B. Fergusson, the conductor, was about to remove to Oamaru, great regret was expressed at the | lo&s of so able a conductor and teacher. The ' chairman, with a few remarks, presented Mr . Fergusson with, a cheque from the -members. ' and said he believed that great success awaited t Mr Fergusson in thp future, for he had proved i himself a capable music teacher and efficient i wielder of the baton and a personal friend to ' all. i The Hon. Mr Ward, Minister of Railways, , left for Invercargill on Saturday morning. , Before the hon. gentleman returns to Dun- ' edin, in about a week's time, lie ,vill make I an inspection of the Otago Central lino and i its proposed route. Subsequent to the Otago i Metropolitan show next week Mr Ward will j visit other railways in North Otago and South . Canterbury. Messrs T. Ronayne (genera,! manager of j railways), A. L. Beattie (locomotive superJ intendenl). and J. Coom (chief engineer) went south on Saturday morning on business conl nected with the erection of railway workshops at Invercargill. They will accompany the , Minister of Railways on his Otago Central , trip before returning to Dunedin. At the inquest which was held on Saturday on the body of George Arundel, an inmate of j the Benevolent Institution, who was found 1 in .a dying state in the Northern Cemetery" j on. Thursday last, the jury returned a verdict • to the effect that the deceased died from- ( hemorrhage from wounds self-inflicted while in a state of temporary insanity. It appears ! from the evidence given at the inquest that the man who first discovered the deceased did not take any steps to ascertain what were the nature of his injuries, but sitniDly went straight away as soon as he found him, and told the sexton. When the sexton, accompanied by others, went to where the deceased was lying. ! he was in an unconscious state, but his heart was still beating. Notwithstanding this, nothing was done by any of the men to render I first aid. It is probable, from the medical j evidence, that the man was beyond all human aid when he was first discovered. The I coroner, however, took occasion to refer to i the matter, and said the idea seemed to pre- | vail generally that when one discovered any- | body in a similar condition to that in which | Ih6 deceased was found he should wait i till the police arrived. In the meantime valuable time was wasted, and a man's life ebbed away, when a little timely assistance might save it. The idea that one should wait till I the arrival of the police before doing anything in a case of this kind was a very foolish one, and it was as well that it should be dispelled. Mr Walter Thomas Maryatt, one of the staff of tho local telegraph office, died very sudI denly on Sunday morning. He was coming into the city to his duty a little before 10 o'clock, and, being a minule or two late, he was walking rather fast along the Hillside road, when he was observed to drop. He was quickly removed to the Kensington Hotel and medical aid summoned, but life was extinct. The deceased had been under the care of a medical man for some considerable time for heart disease, and his sudden death was not altogether an unexpected event. He was an expert telegraphist, probably one of the most expert in the colony. He was 32 years of age, and leaves a widow and & family of three children. The Government have decided to construct a salmon-roaring station in the Hakataramea Stream, where an area of 20 acres has been acquired on Robert Campbell and Co.'s Station Peak property, and also a temporary station on Lake Ohau. The Agent-general will send out regular supplies of ova, which will bo hatched at the station, and tho fish kepi ! until they are three '/ears old before being j liberated. The first consignment of £00,000 I is expected from America shortly, being the I gift of the United States Fis-.li Commission j and the Canadian Government. I The hospital authorities supply the following returns for the past week: — Number of patients in the institution at the beginning of the week, 103 ; admitted during the week, 24- ; discharged, 21 ; deaths (James Lawloi and Mary Ann Murphy), 2 ; number remaining in the institution, 103. Mr S. C. Phillips, gaoler atr Dunedin, is at present enjoying a well-deserved holiday in the north, and Mr A. Armstrong, principal warder, is temporarily filling his position. A case of assault occurred at the prisoners' barracks at Otago Heads on Sunday morning. While tho prisoners were in the exercise yard, about 10 o'clock in the morning, one of them, Charles M'Lennan, picked up a broom and hit a fellow prisoner named William Saunders a blow on the head, inflicting a nasty wound on the scalp. It it said Saunders gave no provocation for the assault. Saunders was brought to town in the afternoon,

and at the gaol the wound was attended to by the gaol surgeon. The annual "business meeting of the Mosgiel Presbyterian Church was held on Thursday evening (says the Taieri Advocate), when there was only a moderate attendance. The annual report contains nothing calling for special mention, but shows that the affairs o£ the church have progressed favourably. The financial position of the church is better by about £30 than was the case last year. On the motion of Mr J. C. Hodges, teconded by Mr D. Kennedy, the report and balance sheet were adopted. It was decided to place the matter of individual communion cups before the congregation and have a vote taken as to whether it was wanted in the church. Mr J. Rowan paid he knew some members who had not attended the service for some time because chey were smokers, and they thought the ladies did not care to take the cup after them on that account. It has often been alleged, and as often, denied (says the Christchurch Press), that many of the remarkable "moa" stories, etc., of the younger Maoris are no other than echoes of what they, have heard from tho pakeha, or have been -suggested by leading questions. A good example occurs in a recent New Zealand Herald. Hone Wi Kaitaia, of Peria, Mangonui, contributes, apparently iff good faith, an" article -entitled <r A Tbhunga. Evokes a Spirit," on the authority of " an ancient Maori chief." The narrative thus headed is a manifest "crib" from Maning's " Old New Zealand," of which book it constitutes one of the best known and most vivid chapters. Much of the phraseology of the original is retained. Here is evidently a story recorded by a European, read or re lated to a Native, and retailed to the pakeha later on as an original experience. Gre_at was the disappointment of a number of Wellington residents who arose from their beds before sunrise en Thursday with the object of witnessing the showei of Leonid meteors, which, pccoiding to calculations, should have been visible about 4 o'clock, 3ays the Post. -The sky was obscured hy the- S clouds, and the display, if it did take place, could not be observed in Wellington. In this connection it is interesting to recall some remarks made by Sir James Hector before the Philosophical Society in 1898. He then stated that about a hundred thousand meteors fell into our atmosphere nearly every week in the year, and they hardly evei reached the earth's surface. An. occasional one did get down. There was one at the Museum here which fell at Masterton. It weighed only- 91b, and consisted- of -aluminium,, iron, nickel, and one or two other of the basic ores. This was the only one as yet found -in. New Zealand. The resistance of the 'earth's atmosphere usually reduced them to dust before they reached the earth. On Friday, 9th inst., a two-store 3* weatherboard residence at Waitahuna West, the property 3f Mr D. Fraser, Tuapeka West, was burned to the ground, the furniture and everything it contained" being destroyed. The fire was discovered about 10 a.m., but nothingcould be done to stay its progress. The fire 1 appeared to have originated in one of the bedrooms occupied by Mr Fraser and his son during the previous night, Tout as to its cause nothing could be ascertained. Both the building and furniture were insured. The Lyttelton Times states that as the express train was leaving for Dunedin on Friday a young lady was seen to come out of a carriage and attempt to jump on to the platform under the station verandah, having evidently stayed too late seeing some friends off. In this, however, she was prevented by some people on the carriage, and, as the train passed the end of the station buildings, she waved her arms to a portei and cried out, " Stop the train." The porter shook his head to indicate thai the train could not bo stopped, and the bystanders naturally concluded the lady would make up her mind ,to the inevitable and be carried on to "Rakaia. TJie .train was meanwhile getting up speed, and was going at a good rate by th& time -the carriage on which was the unwilling passenger was -approaching the end of the 300 ft extension which has recently been added to the platform. Then the watchers, on the train and station were startled to see . the girl leap from the train and fall in a. huddled posture near the end of the exten- • sion, her fall being backwards, as. she had jumped the wrong way from the train. The stationmaster, porters, and public hurried down expecting to find her with a broken leg, but, though very severely shaken, she had sustained no injury beyond a few cuts- and bruises. She was taken into the station by the stationmaster, and after a rest she was able to proceed Lo her home in a cab. A peculiar question if Maori etiquette cropped up at tKe meeting of the Jubilee Maori Entertainment Committee (says the Press). It was mentioned that the committee proposed that the Maoris should arrive on a Friday, and the formal reception take placo on the Sattu-day. Mj Hastings, the master of the Native School at Raupoki, said the South Island Maoris took exception to that, as in accordance with Maori stiquette if the reception did not take place on the. Friday it would be equivalent to the North Island Maoris taking possession of the land, and ifc would be the duty of the North Island Natives to receive the South Island Natives on the Saturday. We have to acknowledge a subscription of £3 3s from Mr J. R. Sinclair for the Mrs Thomas East fund. The inquest on Edward Edwards, who cut his throat with a razor at Kaitangata on the 3rd inst., having previously inflicted serious injury on his Avife, was to have been resumed on Monday before Mr Poole,' acting-coroner, but on the application of the police it was adjourned for another fortnight, Mrs Edwards not having recovered sufficiently to leave the* hospital,