OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2479, 18 September 1901, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

[ ,'" Mrs Sullivan died at Kingower (Victoria) on September 2 at the great age of 109. I An exhaustive geological survey of all the opal fields in Queensland will be commenced very shortly. I A child named Ellen Hoey, aged Three years, died at Melbourne on August 30 from burns, her clothes having taken fire.. It is calculated that on Sunday some £10,000 worth of cycles were on the beach at New Brighton, near Ohristchurch. Nearly £000 has had to be written off the Wellington City Council'!, books owing to the po\erty of the persons responsible. A girl named Miles, aged three, was burnt to death at Kempsey (New South Wales) on August 30, her clothes catching fire. The depth of water on the bar at Greymouth when soundings were taken on MonI day week at high tide was found to be 27 feet. Last week there were three bankruptcies in the colony — a cycle dealer at Wanganui, a thresher afc Riverton, and a female (not described) at Parnell. There is quite a potato famine at Te Whaiti and the Urewera Country (=ays the Rotorua Chronicle). Potatoes are now being sent there at a cost of £6 a ton for cartage alone. . A school teacher in a coal district up Mokau way, who offered a prize to the pupil who came to school with the cleanest face, was unable to recognise some of his pupils next day. At the close of the Presbyterian Sunday School at St. Andrews on Sunday last Mrs Mackie was presented with a silver cakebasket as a small token of the esteem in which she is held. The following postmasters have been appointed to take and receive statutory declarations under the Justices of the Peace Act : — George Keys, Mosgiel ; Henry Edser, Clyde; Joseph Holt, Ophir. A number oi residents of Orepuki intend trying to raise sufficient funds to get up a test case with a view to preventing the alleged destruction of property that is at present caused by the fumes from the shale works. The Bruce Herald understands that satisfactory arrangements have been made between the Taratu Company and the contractors, and that the work which was recently discontinued will be put in hand again immediately. "The sawmilling industry in the Buller district is on a very sound footing, due to the strong demand for West Coast timber and sleepers. The growth of the industry has been responsible for the employment of a large number of men. The administrator of the Tongku district of China, which resembles the deserts of West Australia, has written to the Government of that State, making inquiries with a view of securing saltbush for planting in order to prevent the shifting of sand. A man named William Chambers wa« committed for trial at Perth on August 27 on a charge of attempting to murder a woman named Bernie Thornton. Chambers attempted to cut her throat with a razor in the public gardens about 1 o'clock one afternoon. An action, in which Harold M'Keown olaims £200 damages from the Sydney Wool Scouring Company for alleged breach ot agreement, has been blocked after five day->' hearing by the death of Thoma« Renouff. one of the* jurymen. The ca=c will have to be reheard. W. Hattorsley. a minor of Totnora, Xew South Wales, recently made des-pprate but unsuccessful cft'oits to extricate a inpte from a fall of earth in c shaft 90ft der>p, and has been awarded by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia with a bionze medal for his In a very. Work has been started on the (hi li of the Taupo Timber Company, r.car Lake Taupo. This bush i> rpuoried to be one ol the finest in New Zealand, and contain" large quantities of rotara timber. It is proposed to float -hort length:; down the Waikato River to Cambudge. In order to prefers o thr> pesre and wellbeinj? of the Cook Inlands, the chief of tho I'ederal Government, with the consent of the British Resident at Rarotouga, may order any man who lias ben an habitual offender against ihe law- to join a. labour party for 12 months. i Xo peivou haung taken out admlni«traj tion the Public Trustee has filed an election in the Supreme Court, Wellington, to administer the inleuote estate* of the following 'lecea.-ed per=ons : — John Wilson, Nevis ; Henry H. Andrews, Maheno ; Robert M 'Clintock, R n er lon. The harbourmaster at Greymouth recommends that a charge of dynamite be placed 1 under the stern of the wreck of the £iUipo,

j as the sea has failed to shift it, and if an accident happened to anothei vessel the wreck might prevent her getting washed clear of the channel. So plentiful has oil become in the newlydiscovered , fields in Texas that it is being used in different parts of the State for laying the dust on the highways instead of water. Half a barrel a mile is sprinkled each clay, and is expelled from the carts hot. It cements the dust without creating any mud. Charles Woollams, a corporal in the Federal military service, has secured a verdict for £850 damages against the N S.W. Railway Commissioners for injuries sustained by him owing to the alleged negligence ot the department^ servants in the management and control of a tramcar. All things taken into consideration, one niay jmtly describe King Oscar of Sweden as the most accomplished King in the world. He is an excellent musician, he is a great traveller, he is a doctor of philosophy, he is a popular poet, and a splendid speaker. He has the reputation also of being a wit. The Westport Timerf of the 3rd inst. says that the members of the commission appointed with regard to the purchase of a State coal mine having completed the work, they had in hand in the Mokihiuui Valley, are now camped at Mine Creek, Millerton, and are examining the ooal country on the boundary of the Westport Coal Company's Granity lease. The Tapanui Courier states that a mo3t destructive buslr fire was started near the borough reservoir on Monday, and swept up the face *of Whisky Gully, burning very fiercely for some time. A man was seen to start the fire. Only a few days ago the faces of Black and Brandy- G allies were, served the same w ay. and the foothills of the mountain are now pretty well denuded of their beautiful native trees and shrubs. During the Hearing of a divorce case in Wellington ft was stated that a train running between Cape Foulwind was stopped on one occasion to enable some money to be recovered which had been thrown out of the train by a drunken man. Mr Wilford supplemented general knowledge on the subject by stating that recently a train was stopped in the vicinity of Mangaweka to enable those in charge to witness a dog fight. A congregational meeting of the Stirling and Inohclutha Presbyterian Church was held on Monday last, when it was decided to ask the Clutha Presbytery to moderate in a call with a view to filling the vacancy in the charge. Three names were proposed, but Mr Ramsay, of Knapdale, having a majority it was agreed to make the a-e-que&t m fa's our of moderation for him unanimous. During the month of August the estates of the following deceased persons v. - ere placed under the charge of the Public Trustee for management: — Henry Andrews, Maheuo ; Edward Teschner, Maori Hill ; Helen Sievsvright, Balclutha ; John Wilson and Thomas Norris, Nevis ; John Bruce, Bannockburn : Carl Christian, , Waipon ; Johanna Black, Oamaru; Richard Bartlett. Kurow ; Henry Berryman, Wyndham. It is the custom in the States for the minister who performs a marriage ceremony to hand over to his wife the honorarium I received for the service. Some wives get considerable "pin money' m this way. The current has just begun to flow in the other direction. A woman minister in Pennsylvania was recently called to officiate at a marriage, and, with sensitive regard to the long-established precedent, scrupulously turned her fee over to her husband. The births registered in South Australia in 1900 numbered 9143, being fewer by 254than tlio--e recorde-d in 1899, and, with one p.vcepricii, being the lo,\est number registered in any year miu-c 1877. The deaths lcgistored dining the 'amc period numbered 3T74-, being fewer by 632 than those of the pre\ ious year, and being the lowest number recorded in any year since 1892. The number of deaths from ca-ncer, 210, was the highest e\er recorded m one year in the State. A Compensation Court to decide on tho compensation to be giscn the owners of the Kumeroa. and Forest Gate piopcitio^. ■which are being acquired for settlement purpo-cs Ly the Go\ernment, will sit at Xapier under the presidency of Mv Justice Edwards about the 19th ni^-t. (^ays the Htuvke's Bay Herald). Mr J. C. M'Kerrow will be the assessor for the Government in each case. The a^se^sor for the owner of Kumeroa (Mr Crosse) will be Mr H. Baker, of Napier, and for the owners of Forest Gate (the Hcrrick family) Mr C. Elder, of Featherston. The mate of the Clyde had a narrow escape i from di.Qwn,irig wliils oft a try? t% Gf^- j

mouth a few day^ ago (says the Grey River Argus). While he was engaged in. hauling in the log the vessel gave a violent lurch, and he was carried overboard. Fortunately his leg was caught by a loop of the line, so that he was being towed by his leg when the man at the wheel sang out the dread alarm of '" Man overboard " The mate> was soon hauled on board again, little the worse except for his leg being pinched and scraped a little by the log line A dog that was aboard was missed shortly afterwards, and has not been seen since. It is supposed that the poor brute jumped after the mate when he was drawn o\ erboard. Details concerning the fire at Orepuki on Saturday morning, whereby a two-storey temperance hotel, containing 19 rooms, was completely destroyed, 'show that the outbreak was discovered by Mrs Powell, the occupier, about o'clock, at which hour she was awak ned by the sound of something falling. On going to the kitchen to see what had happened she found it full of smoke, ond flames coming from the chaffhouse, which was built against the hotel. When she fii-t s,aw the fire she could have extinguished it with- a couple of buckets of water, but she thought it better to call the children. A piano and several aritcles of furniture were saved. The structure was valued at £600, and insured for £450 in the Standard office, and the furniture for £200 in the South British. . Another stone-throwing mystery is re1 ported^ from Glenbarro, near Manilla. (X.S.W.), where the home of Andrew Michic, a boundary rider, is nightly bombarded. A special watch has been kept, and although alert watchers simultaneously rushed from several doors they could not discover aay thing. Tiie house, which ii situated on a grassy plain in a lonely spot, and is fronted by a, small watercourse, fringed with clustering oak trees, is being ■ disfigured by the stones, some of which are of unusual size. A door has been smashed off its hinge->, windows have been broken, the iron roof debited, and slabs splintered, and still the bombardment continues. On one occasion a missile shot through the front door, striking one of the daughters ore I the head, and inflicting a nasty abrasion. I The «fforts of the police and black trackers have proved unavailing. A pair of trousers and a comb were left outside one nighi. On the following morning half the trousers and half the comb were missing. The articles, however, were returned a few evenings later. They descended on the roof, attached to a large stone. A. J. Park, patent and trade marks agent (authorised by New Zealand Government), Manae street, Dunedin. reports the filing of tbe following New Zealand applications for patents for fortnight ended 4th inst. : — Auckland : Rees and Mason, envelope-fast-ener; A. H. Light, treadle machines; R. Caldwell, fire escape ; R. Tanton. cue tip ;) J. Baird, fire escape. Canterbury: J. Speight, motor ; Moller, Tomline, and Greig. brand : J. Jone«, table rackets ; Gilbey and Harrow, siphon. Hawke's Bay: Corkill and Morgan, acetylene gas "enerator; J. and R. Mil burn, fumfgator;! A Deane and M'Lean, cycle tyre. Mailborough: J. Vorbach, pan-hanger. Otago • J Rooney, draught pre\ enter; £. Bow mar, seed-sower ; E. Cameron, spark arrester • J. H. A. M'Phee, gold-sa-s ci ; A. C, Murray, pan hd; J. M-Regg, top-dressing aiul portable handle Southland: J. Shepheid hie escape: Trapski and Clarke, pins;'; Kincliey and Haggerty, pump plunge*- W Lambert, *in liandle. Taranaki : T. Rawhnson, fuel economises Wellington- S E \\ right, cycles; Mary Johnson, cattle truck;' I). Hendnksen, door handles. Westland ■ h. Uicke*. bu--h; Hainc. and M'Neil. swinging screen. All questions relating to patents and -trade inaiks may be addressed to A J. Park, patent agent", Maiiau j-tieet. Duncc.m..^