LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 10 April 1901, Page 22

LOCAL & GENERAL.

1 A special meeting of the committee of the Otago A. and P. Society ttas held on the 3rd. The President (Mr H. V. Forltonh who was in the chair, explained that as the Duke and Duchess of York would open the winter show it would be necessary to appo.nt a subcommittee to make all necessary arrangements. On the motion of Mr George Roberts, it was resolved to appoint the governors, the president, and treasurer, Messrs Andrew Todd, A. C. Stronach, Jame3 Shiel (ex-presidents), and th© mover as a reception committee. The secretary was instructed to ascertain the coat of erecting 80ft of shafting for the purpose of driving agricultural and dairy machinery during tbe show. The executive were authorised to arrange for extra accommodation for the fat and dairy cattle classes, so as to give more space for display of the various trades and industries.

Four deaths occurred at the Hospital last week, the names of the deceased persons being Nellie Le'nham, Elsie Kellett, Jessie Grant, and William Glass. The admissions to the institution were 19 and the discharges 17. There are at present 84 patients remaining, the number for the previous week being £6.

A meeting of Scotchmen who hail from the Border was convened for Saturday night in the European Hotel to discuss giving a welcome to the Duke of Roxburghc, who is visiting the colony with H R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and York. Only four or five turned tip at the meeting, and it was decided to adjourn it for a month.

The news of the death, which occurred on Sunday morning, of the Rev. D. N. Pryor will be received with deep regret by a large number of people in Otago. Twelve months ago almost to a day Mr Pryor entered on the performance of his duties as assistant minister of Knox Church, but failing health necessitated his relinquishment of the position before he had long occupied it. A protracted illness was, the Rev. W. Hewitson mentioned in the course of some touching remarks he made to the Knox Church congregation at yesterday forenoon's service, borne by Mr Pryor with exemplary patience and submission

Intimation has been received by cable of the death in England on tho 30th of March of Mrs Cargill, widow of the late- Mr John Cargill and daughter of the late Dr Featherston.

At the request of a large number of teachers of music, presented by Mr Maitland Gardner on Saturday, Mr A. Hamilton has consented to withdraw his resignation as representative of the Associated Branch of the Royal Academy and Royal College, of Music

According to the Rome correspondent of a London paper the celebrated brigand Musohno is still being hunted, but with no better success. An account of the money spent by the Italian Government in the maintenance of the two regiments of soldiers and a body of police on the Aspromonte Mountains for the pact two years engaged in the search for Musolino has just been issued. It has cost £100,000, and although the winter is nearly over on the Calabrian Mountains, Musolino is as free as ever in his movements, and he is pretty sure to be equally successful in evading the military and police during the coming spring and summer. The search on an even bigger scale has, therefore, been postponed until next year.

It appears that the frame for the addreES to be presented to the Duke of Cornwall and York by the Wellington Harbour Board is to be made from timber obtained from an old ship named the Endeavour, whose bones repose in Dusky Sound As pointed out by the Post, the impression that this vessel is Captain Cook's ship is erroneous. It was long ago proved that the Dusky Sound Endeavour was a vessel of 800 tons, commanded by Captain Bampton, which sprang a leak whilst on a voyage from Sydney to India, and was scuttled in the sound somewhere about the year 1792. Captain Cook's Endeavour fejided its d*£s ia Ney/{>art 4 Rhotte

Island (U.S.A.). After the return of Cook's first expedition into southern seas the Endeavour was condemned by the Admiralty. Afterwards she passed into the hands of French speculators, who fitted her out ss a whaler, and she roamed the seas thenceforward under a new name, La Liberte. About the time of the French Revolution she was chased into Newport by a British man of -war, but was condemned as unscaworthy, dismantled, and sold.

Friday was observed as a close holiday in the city. The weather at daybreak looked a little threatening, but the clouds that hung about the harbour and the Peninsula heights proved to be only " the pride of the morning," as it used to be termed, and about 11 o'clock the sun shone out brightly, and the atmospheric conditions were most favourable. A great many people on pleasaure bent were to be seen in the early part of the day wending their way to the wharves and railway station, while, judging by the crowds that were continually to be seen about the tram terminus at Manse street, a good many found a day's outing at St. Clair and the Ocean Beach. A large number of visitors came to town for the Easter holidays, and included in these were 600 men from the Otago Central railway. The traffic on tho railway promises to constitute a record for Easter

The north express was over two hours behind time on Thursday night. Unavoidable df lay 8 ? at several places accounted for its late airn-a'.

Some short time ago an interesting paragraph appeared in these columns, quoted from the Westport Times. It was to the effect that on the authority of Professor Black, the metal osmium, said to be 10 (imp» as valuable «« ?o!d, had been discovered in nitrate of strontium taken from the Wareatfta Dredging Company's ground. It would now be quite as interesting to discover the origin of this statement. Shortly after the appearance- of the paragraph one of the Dunedin directors of the company wa3 asked concerning this remarkable find, but he knew nothing of it, and attached no importance to it That of itßelf was poracwhat singular, but what is still more remarkable, under the circumstances, is that Dr Black has only just returned from a four months' visit to America. He arrived here on Sunday last, and was greatly, and by no means pleasantly, astonished to find that he WA3 named as the- authority for the statement made in the paragraph mentioned. Dr Black is very greatly annoyed at such a use having been made of his name. He was at sea, when the discovery was supposed to ha\e been made, and he desires the fact to be made public that the statements in the- paragraph are utterly baseless. Nitrate of strontium, Dr Black cays, is soluble in water, a-nd he should never expect to fine' it as a mineral. Why such palpable mis statements should have been made he is a' a loss to understand, and he considers th' matter one that calls for- the strictest investigation by those responsible for the writing or circulation of the paragr'ph. It is, of course, just possible that theie may be s> local " professor " who follows some comparatively harmless occupation on the We B f Coast, a "professor" ivho may bo prepared to find anything for anybody at any time aond under any cirunrstances, but it is very annoying to find the matter published in such a manner that everyone naturally considers Dr Black, of the Otago University, responsible for statements which are untrue and absurd.

The Agricultural department is issuing a circular to flax merchant* snd millers stating that Mr C. ,7. Fi:l*c-u. (^ovtnnment hemp c:adf»r at the port of TVcTMrisjton, v. ill commence 'ho work of grading at an early date. It is proposed that the rate payable for grating shall bf 3d per bale (in addition to tho Harbour Board's charges for opening, etrO. This race will cover a grader's certifies tp for the shipper and a grader's report for the millei-, also a parchment tag for affixing to each bale to indicate the grade. v Merchants and millers are asked to say whether they are agreeable t^ pay the amount mentioned.

At a meeting of the committee of the Dunedin Technical Classes Association on Wednesday (Mr A. Burt presiding) it was reported that, as a result of Mr Arnold's recent visit to Wellington, the sum of £2400 had been placed to the credit of the association. Of this amount £2000 will be earmarked for building extension. Mr A. Marshall was appointed teacher of junior Engli=h It wa 1 ? decided to authorise the committee at Port Chalmers to fit the classes there with apparatus, etc. The recommendations of the Appointments Committee with reference to the future salaries of the teaching staff were agreed to.

Regarding the discovery of an illicit still in the Coromandel district the other day, the New Zealand Herald states that the building in which the still was found \va3 beside a pig-sty. It was provided with a pump which drew water from the adjacent creek into a small water race, which -con-

veyed the water into the building. To the> casual observer from outside the wliolo arrangement appeared to be excellently adapted for the boiling and preparation of pigs' food. The existence of a still in this district has been suspected by the Customs department for some time, and two unsuccessful searches have been made in the last two year=. Recent information obtained by the police led to the expedition which resulted in the seizure of the still.

On Tuesday night last there was a meeting of the Presbyterian inhabitants of Roslyn, in the Roslyn Presbyterian Church, to consider the proposals of the Dunedin Presbytery to erect Roslyn into a church extension charge, and to appoint the Rev. James Chisholm as minister for one year. The Rev. I. Jolly presided. The Revs. Borrie and Cameron were also present. The meeting was opened with devotional exercises. Mr A. Matheson then moved — ""That this meeting heartily approves of the action of the Dunedin Presbytery." T h is was seconded by Mr Crawford, and carried unanimously. Mr A. Chisholm has since then signified his acceptance of the appointment, and his induction at Roslyn will take place in about a fortnight. As Mr Chisholm's late congregation at Palmerdton North are offering him a unanimous call to come back to them, the Roslyn people are to be congratulated that a minister of his culture and gifts has agreed to accept the appointment. Ere long there will be an important church, in this popular suburb.

It has been announced that his Excellency the Governor has accepted an invitation to visit Te Whiti at Parihaka, the well-known Native village in Taranaki. Commenting on this fact, the Havvera Star, a reliable authority on such matters, saya : " The true policy in relation to Te Whiti is to let him severely alone In time his mana may be expected to diminish, but visits by Miigh officers of State not only minister to the personal vanity of the man, but tend to preserve his influence, which in the past has been most harmful to Natives and Europeans, and at present, judging by complaints frequently heard from persons who speak with a senso of responsibility, is not conducive to the best interests of the Nativfe

Although the Nonconformist conscience is no longer in it= first youth (writes the London Gossip correspondent of the Melbourne Argus), it was possible that it might wake up some day and rebuke our new King for his patronage of the turf. By a judicious arrangement, therefore, the Duke of Devonshire, who i 3 quite sermon -proof, is to "lease" his Majesty's horses in training, they continuing under Marsh's charge at Egerton House. The custom, of leasing racehorses is to come before the law courts hortly in the matter of Lady Meux versus "jily, Duchess of Marlborough. The plaintiff seeks to restrain the Duchess from selling, parting with, or otherwise disposingof certain racehorses, including the favouritefor the Derby, which she declare* she had 'cased to the late Lord William Bi reaford under special conditions. Lady Meux became a widow la't year. She is a very lenarkable woman, and her husband, the . hird baronet, who owned Meux and Co.. and died childless, loft her about £55,000 a j ear and old Temple Bar. which is reelected at Theobald's Park gates.

The traffic over the city tram lines for Good Friday. Saturday, and Sunday shows a, decided increase on that of last Easter time. Last Friday 21,191 persons travelled by the trum=, and on Saturday and Sunday there wrro respectively 1 ?.MQ- and 12,250 pas.-en-pciv. The numbers of pa^enqcr> for thecorresponding days la-it year wore 20,875, 13,420, and 7757. Monday's traffic was not very large, owing no doubt to the inclement weather. With regard to the traffic on. the railways 600 persons went by the OamaruChristchurch tra.ns on Thursday night, 1500 up to 11 o'clock on Friday, 550 on Saturday, and 1000 on Monday. On Thursday night the south trains took away about 4-00 passengers, on Friday about 1200 travelled, and on Saturday the bookings were about 550. Monday morning's trains south carried somo 700 passengers, and 650 went to theTaieri races by rail. Oi the whole, the railway traffic this Eastei shows an increase. All the local, or short-distance, trains were well patronised.

A eix-roomed wooden house at Ri vert on, occupied by Mr T. C. White and owned by Mr O. Cassels, was destroyed by fire on Saturday. It was valued .it £220 and insured for £150.

A gruesome find was made at Earnscleugh Flat, near Alexandra, on Monday. While Messrs Weaver and party were engaged in. sluicing operations t!^ey came across the skull, thigh bones, and pelvis of a man. It is supposed the man was buried there about 30 years ago, but it ha 3 not been pos-ibl© so far to throw any light on his identity.

Although still confined to his bed, and likely to be for some little time, it is satisfactory to learn that Mr J. J. Ramsay, who was hurled through a brick wall on to the loof of an adjoining building by a gas ex-

plosion on Sunday night, is not likely to Buffer any permanent ill-effects from the accident. The report of his medical adviser J3 of a favourable character. Mr Ramsay is suffering a good deal of pain, owing to the muscles of his back being injured, but beyond that he is progressing as well a3 can be expected. That his escape was a marvellous one everyone admits and he has received congratulations on all sides on having come »ut of it so well. Although it could not be definitely ascertained yesterday, it is believed that Mr Ramsay's firm has the office furniture insured to the extant of about £150.. The building, we are informed, is insured in the Standard office for £900 and in the Commercial Union for £500.

Mr C. Ferris, who had in hand the task of compiling the Maori census in Povecty Bay, relates some of his experiences^^^ Some of the Natives," he says, " were reluctant to give any particulars regarding their ages', stock, etc., believing I was obtaining the information for the sake of taxing them hereafter. Others, again, concluded I was enlisting them for some future war, but I always overcame the difficulty by narrating come story or by giving them particulars of my experience in Australia, and how greatly the duskies were admired by the Bluegum wahines. The majority of the elderly Natives had very vague ideas of their ages, and I had to form an idea by comparing notes with Mr Brooking, registrar of the Native Land Court, and other old identities, or by the date of the Waerenga<i.-hika massacre. One old lady in particular was very indignant because I fixed b,€r age at 70, she calculating it at about 200."

It has for some time been known that Dr Aver yon Welsbach, the celebrated Viennese inventor of incandescent gaslight; was making efforts to construct a similar incandescent lamp for electric light. He has now succeeded, and calls his. new invention the Osmium lamp. For years he carried on difficult and expensive experiments in order to obtain osmium in a thread-like form. Hitherto it had been known as a powder, small, crystalline, fungus-like, or, after melting, a brittle, hard metal, unworkable. In its new form it ie a good conductor of electricity. The consequence is that, b'ke the carbon threads of the incandescent lamp, it can immediately be made to glow merely by attaching it to aa electric current. The advantages of a material which will resist high temperatures are that with the same consumption of electricity the osmium lamp will give more light than the carbon 'lamp, or if the intensity of light remain the same the osmium lamp will consume less electricity than the carbon lamp. As the new lamp requires" only a weak current it -will be possible to feed it from accumulators, and that will open up to it regions hitherto inaccessible for electric light, or difficult of access for it.

A. curious tradition is Associated with a. royal occupation of the historic Linlithgow Palace, the restoration of which Lord Rosebery suggests as a memorial to Queen Victoria. Jame3 IV, while residing in the palace, left by the royal private door, and proceeded to the adjacent church to attend mass. In his pew, according to the historian Pittscottie, -the - monarch was surprised to find beside him a middle-aged man clad in a "blew gowne," 'who warned him against his approaching expedition to England, and then disappeared like a flash of lightning. The admonition was rejected, and James and the flower of his army were slain at Flodden. In " Marmion," Sir Walter Scott puts this uncanny story into the mouth of Sir David Lyndsay, of The Mount, Lyon King of Arms. The theory has been put forward that this was a scheme of certain Scottish nobles to dissuade James from his purpose. George Buchanan, the historian, gives credence »to the weird tales which he heard direct from the lips of Sir David: — "A man," writes Buchanan, " of approved worth and honesty, and of a learned education, who in the whole course of his life abhorred lying. If I had not received this story from him as a certain truth, I should have omitted it a3 a romance of the vulgar."

Several very pathetic matters have occurred in reference to the removal of the remains of former residents of New South Wales from the Devonshire street Cemetery. Among other? were those of Allan Cunningham, the botanist and explorer, which Mr Maiden, the Director of Parks and Gardens, wishes to have interred near "the obelisk in the Botanical Gardens. Other remains are those of John Oxley, explorer, and first Surveyorgeneral of New South Wales, who died in May, 1828. There is some doubt now as to where these are buried, but Lieutenant Oxley, R.N., his descendant, has offered to compromise with the Government by erecting a tablet to the memory of the explorer, and, should his remains be indisputably discovered, the lieutenant will remove them at his own expense. The remains of Judge Dcwling, Judge Forbes, George Robert Nicholls, and many other one-time celebrities have already bee" removed.

The Timaru Harbour Board invite applications for the purchase of the unallotted balance of mortgage debentures for £50,000, being part of the loan authorised for the enlargement and improvement of the Timaru harbour and meeting tmde requirements. The debentures will bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent, pel annum, payable halfyearly.

The official list containing the names of all justices of the peace shows that there are about 2700 justices of the peace in New Zealand.

The King" of Siam having successfully inaugurated the State's first railway,^ writes the Bangkok correspondent of the .London Daily Express, the Government is now turning its attention to large projects m the direction of water supply and drainage. So far as the latter scheme is concerned, reform ■^ aot besn bsgua before it .was needed,

for our present drains are simply open ditches running along the sides of the Bangkok streets just as they do in the interior towns of China. These open drains are put to strange uses by the Siamese. Quite a number of them dam them tip with clay, and, converting them in this fashion into cesspools, breed mosquitoes in them. This surprising method of earning a living is not adopted out of any love for the mosquito, but for the sak^, of the trade m mosquito larvee, which aro in great rcque-t for the feeding of the famous "fighting fish" of the country, and command a good price in the market. The " Triad " for April is to hand. The series of South Sea Island lllu&Trations are continued The reading matter appears to be carefully selected and interesting.