LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2497, 22 January 1902, Page 79

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Mr E H. Carew. S.M . held a sittmcr of the Old-age Pensions Court on Tuesday, and as far as Dunedin dietnct is concerned granted 102 pennon- at £18. two at £17, two at £16, two at £15, two at £H, four at £13, one at £12, one at £11, two at £7, and one at £4—113 pensions altogether. From Jan.ia.ry to Decembei la-t year 992 certificates were u-ued by the deputy registrar (Mr James Tayloi). and of the»e 117 were new grants, leading 875 renewal-*. For the current morth there are 445 application*, and of these 149 are blank*, -endered j by tieath or other cau-e=. leaving 296 claims to be considered. For January of last year there weie 420 application*, of which 96 were blanks, so that 324 werJ dealt with. For ner* February the applica tions are 241, of which 76 are blanks, leaxing 165 applications to be considered. La^t February the application'- were 206; 48 blanks and 158 applications dealt with. From thi'j it will be teen thai there is a diminution of 22 for the two month". It must be borne in mind that though the applications for January and February total <61. the^e months are by far the heaviest in the year. The following additional applications, which came from Port Chalmers, were also granted by Mr Carew: — Two at £18 and one at £4. A telegram in the Melbourne Age states that the Federal Fiornier has declared in reference to Ih? ships stoic* que.-tion that if the Privy Council upset the law (and he did not think it would) it was quite likely tlv.it the Amer can law would be followed, and foreign shipping be prohibited from coastal trade altogether. There is a general feeling, he adds, that foreigners ha\e cut into the coastal tiade too deeply, and there would be nc difficulty in passing Mich an act. Mr Brockman, of tlie Westralian Tjands Depa. '.merit, has explored a good deal of the .liih-rto v; uk -low n Lemtnry between East and West Kimberley. He 4id his party fouud immense tracts of -plendid pastoral ->. it:y. highly .uitable and sheltered trom the north- .^s 1 ;oast by great ?and«tonc range". Excellent ports are handy to this part, notably Napier, Broome Bay, and Van Sittc.t Bay. The party saw this land t jlif no~a'. po iod of the year, yet it was plcudidiy grawed while wate* was \ory rbuidant. Th country was altogether ■•upcuor o anything around Kimberle-y. becau-e of it- altitude and the bettei climate He- repo-ts ha\ing pas.-cd 6.000.000 acics of fir<-t-c 11;>=1 I;>= pa-io. - al land, and tin* estimate, lie state", i- a low one. The rainfall i« estimated to be 40 inches a year. There a.re J^isoty of rivere and ryyuaL/erless ru.niiiߣ

• ?<.n . N \" t . ji :z:c "ncoi'ntered in -mal 1 o'oi-'e. v* V -lie t -r/ne noi'h of thi* t'-,ilio. V. S-oc'.-.r in loes. not .on-.der J>.-}> -: ti:_ :ic -'.;.>,. s lua.\. He believe, u'^-y r;: i 00..= ic> "on ilie Mj'i/ iii<l c-- A-'uiv-.,. 1 vvl -.c- Tliry were pcu-r t.ouble c iiie. ').i -o.na of the rock- i I-" par./ «v-- * lc"" .iiiUil"?- ~i~ i'iti\e priru- !••'?'; o n±~,c,2.'-' 'vi: I-:, jOiri 0 o.' them very le. 'I". <*ti ■> 3i3i:n"j.";:>. bird -Mid 3.1. .v . [ilc 'vK 1 oi.' pecs ».:e --..eu.ed .-. h-ch A' c pr-j. \>u '.; 'T.k.iowTi. The SiicriiP^n.'i H..c. it .Middle Creek, in SII3-L1 County, California, will •soon be '-. orked dga^n b/ ° dredger seeking the gold a".ppO3rd to have beon swept down the eieek during 50 vcarc of mining .^nd lodged in th» :-nnd it .he bottom of eddie*. and nooks n here -h- cr.-ek debouches into the river Tne / torn employed is novel. No dipper or ~coop works from the sw-ingi-ng arm A d.ver goes c'.fwn «:» his di\ ing suit and finds the =pot to b<* worked. The barge is moved o\er it and 1* Is shed firmly to piles driven in the stream. Tn the middle of the barge is an iron c, liu'ler ZOin iri dfameter and 20ft or 25ft 111 length. This 1- sunk through thp barge inti] the end rests on the bottom of the n\er. A man climbs inside, n rubber cap 1- fitted over the top, and the engine forces in an The air foico all the water out of t he cjlmler °.nd the man descends to the bottom with his mall • shovel and dorp bucket Whc-n the bucket is filled with the sediment it 1= sent up. Thus the miner works freely in the bottom sands without getting very wot. Tho ingenious Yankees -nay make .1 ss Uc-r\-s U c-r\-s of tho cylinder dredge, allhmich the -OEu'.ts obtained in Otago from a some 11 hat -imilar experiment were not too encorra^mg M. Hcrti'l >n, of •inthropoinetrical fame, is prea*]y ininress'-d with the French population statistics, and the decrease of births mo\es him to prophecy. Slowly but surely, he .-ays France is moving towards a period when the must disappear .as a nation from the map of Europe. The depopulation is a phenomenon peculiar to France, The birth rate lias been di-eliiiino; since the besrmninQ of the mnetee-itr- century, and the diminution will become grcatei in the course of iime-. The birth rate was 53. pe.c 1000 at the beginning of la>-t century; it is now only 21. Unhi IS7O the births, though decreasing. were sti'l in excess of deaths. From 1870 to 3690 births and dca-lis were equal. Since IC9O the deaths have exceeded- the birth" M Bertillon sa}-s that French families are interested financially in limiting their off«pnng\ and he proposes to tax childlesß unions, and to gi\e especial exemptions — military and fiscal — to tho-e belonging to Jarere famil'p-. A- a result of the resolution passed by the Dunedin Piopbytery gn Tuesday, the acting editor of the Outlook lias resigned his position. Another c.lvance in the pi ice of flour is notified The rates now are : — 2001b bags, £3 5s per ton: 10011> bag=, £8 15.-; 50lb bags, £9; 251b bags, £9 ss. The advance is raid to be on account of the achance in the price of wheat. Tho ie«pon-i')ihties of country school committees, though frequently numerous, aro seldom very onerous. It i»., however, at least expected that they shall exercise some sort of Mipcrwsion o\er the property committed to their charge. At the meeting of the Education Board yesterday a report was read from the architect on a school in North Otago, which had been allowed to get into a very bad ,=tate. A member alleged that a patent \entilator supplied by the board, and winch did not find favour locally, was removed and the opening closed up with sacking, tho latter being eventually replaced with sh»et iron. The \entilator. it was said, is now lying at the bottom of the Maerew honua Ri\li- ! flic weekly mooting of tho Benevolent Trustees was held on Wednesday afternoon, and attended hy Messrs P Treseder (chairman), W. Burnett, K. Wilson, R. M. Clark, W. Talboys. J Hazlett, and the Hon H. (■Jourlej . One death was repoited during the week, that of Andrew Ewart, aged 67. Accounts amounting to £241 15s 9d were passed for payment. Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs forwarded a parcel of illustrated papers, which was recehed with thanks. The election of officers for the >ear resulted as follows: — Chairman, Mr P. Tref-eder ; treasurer, Mr H M. Clark; Finance Com mittce — Messrs Talboys, Clark, and Burnett : Visiting Committee, re elected the same as la»t * ear. Lea\e of absence for three moiithi, owing to ill health, was granted to Mr Gore, and 28 cases of relief were dealt with. The far-rea<.lnng effect of the licen&in^ law sometimes catches the holder of a publican's licence iv an unexpected manner. Iv an iii«tan^e brought under our notice recently the landlord of a popular rural hosteliy, who de\otcs his spare time to art, ha<- got into trouble in thi* way: — He desired the <-ervi<:e= of a confirmed toper (against who.n a prohibition order had been issued) as a model. The stiulio was about 50 yard-> away from the bar, and the painter Ik-oiis-'o thought lie was quite safe 111 tak.ni;> hii model there. The picture was making good progie&s, when the sitting came to an abrupt termination owing to the local coii-'able ippeaunc; 011 the scene wit'i a summons, and the artist has now to face a prosecution for allowing ? prolnb tc«.l person to be on his licenced premise ■>! A meeting was h^'d in the Ratantn S'hoolroom on Monday evening for the piirpo-e of appointing representative*, to ir.eU the members of Pailnsment whe kft on a \ 1 it t. tie diot:u t n Wcdnc-d.'v. on the invitation >i th ■ C.itlins Railway League. x'hcic were about 4Q «&tiUii aud houieLoldeis

present. Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed at the absurdly slow manner in „],;,], the work of extension was being carried on. Thi following were appointed by the meeting to interview the deputation and urge upon then the necessity of pushing tho work more rapidly forward : —Messrs Cooper, Dewar, Findlater, Moir, and Stan=fiold. Now, when the weather is fine and I when the work cou'.d with most advantage be pn«hed forward, a large number of hands has been dismissed. Tools and waggons aro lying unused in the wind and sun. It is contended that no extension of railway coulO pay better, bring wealth to the colony, or benefit a community more, from its wealth of forest, than the Cathns 1 line: and yet all that is to be c-een meantime is an occasional waggon being tipped ' into some gtilly, and a solitary workman i here and there along 'he route, to mark ' where the railway is intended to be. According to the New Zealand Time=. a Chinese shopkeeper, who ie oprncd hir-mess j in Blenheim last week, issued a handbill, from which the following extracts are ! made :—" Send your children for shopping like Wellington people does. "The mother 1 often «ends her little child with a kit or basket without money. When you send your child to visit us please write down on piece slip paper, say -what jou want. You j will have the right change return safe'y without error Customers can exchange they goods for all kind« description articles within the fhop foi wholesale prices (noted this in your rninriK Orders sent through town, country, and railway stations without fault, excluding they own fares. Fruits and vegetables supplied in small or large quantity, at wholesale-, if arranged." It has been decide*! that return tickets at excursion rates — tliat is, Id second cla:s and 2d fir^t class— will be issued to those attending the Old Identities' picnic at Balclutha. The tickets will be issued on the j 22nd mst. and will be available up to the 29th. and will cover all stations between Clinton and Dunodin, including branch line'?. I Singular local stoims have been noticeable iv the watershed of tlip I'pper Pomahak.i for »ome time past (-?ys the Tapanui Courier). L.^t we ok, during the hot, dry j weather clown on the plains, the hea\ \~ I storm= on the Whitet-omb continued, and on . Saturday the Poma'iaka was in flood owing to the rainfall in the mountains. Thc=e j storms were purely local, and cxmld bo ! plainly seen miles away. On the West j Coa-3t — only 120 miles f r nn the Whitceomb — there is a sc\ere di< tight. The Auckland Star relates an incident in the life of a back-blocks settler — a storekeeper on the route of the trunk railway I eight miles beyond Taurnaranui. A child of his died, anei he wis 'nformed by the nearest constable — 24- miles distant — that tho body would ha*e to be taken to Te Awamutu for burial. He had to drive across the WangJiiuu and other unbrtdged rner» and creeks; in one of these, at 11 o'clock, at night, the horses and buggy were stuck up, ihe cofnn floated about in the buggy, and Mr Sterling and the driver were placed in considerable peril. On arrival at Te Awamutu le taw the coroner, who at one-i -gave him an order foi burial. Then he had to convey the body three miles to the Roman Catholic cemetery, where the interment finally took place This, one would have thought, was the end of hi* troubles, but events proved otherwise. Soon atter the burial he was presented with a summons, charged with not registering the birth of the child. Brought before two justices of th" peace, Mr Sterling declared that the child was registered at Coromandcl, but despite hi statement he was fined la and mulcted in l?.a court costs. Mr Sterling has submitted the matter to Mr Martin, solicitor, on whose advice he intends to lay the facts befoio the Minister of Justice. Two £40 scholar.- hips are given every vcar in connection with the Catholic primary schools of Otagc and .Southland. One is gnen by the Bishop, the other by the Dominican nuns. Tho results for the past >ear me now known. The Bkhop's scholarship, we lear.i from the Tablet, has been won by Mis,, Katie M"Court, of Oamaru ; the nuns' scholarship by Miss Gladys Melluk, of the North East Valley Catholic School. I'll" (iovnimcnt have received a «tronglyworclocl resolution from the C'aiiterbury Tra'le^ Council protesting against the do veriimont <iupoftiug .steel bridges from America. Tie Premier has replied: — " There is no foundation whatever for the otatement that it 13 intended to make btieh a purchase. '' An eight roomed tyro storey house in Brunei street, Mormngton, jiu-t below the tramway sheds, on the extension line, was completely destroyed hy fire Him, morning, together with the contents. The house i» occupied by Mr Craig, of Helean and Craig, tailor^, and his famih' had a narrow escape, only being got out in their night clothes. Mr Ciaig had been attending a meeting, I and reached his home about lam. On j opening the door he observed that the place ! was full of smoke. He at once aroused hrs wife, who, with the youngest child, was I K !eepiog in the front bedroom He then rushed through to a back bedroom, where two children ucic bleeping, and put them outride thtough a. window. By this time the glass in one of the windows had broken, and this giving the ffctfirs vent they spread with turpribing rapiciVj, so that no effort could be wade to gave any of the furniture or valuables. Fortunately, the morning was calm, and by the efforts of the neighbours the iiie v. us prevcated from spie.idmg, but the building in which it started was couipletely destroyed, only the chimney remain- •

ing M~ Crai'' lo^t evfrjtlr'ng, including «onie cash he had m the house. The furniture was insured for £j.50 in the New Zealand office. The house is bel Wed to be insured by the mortgagee for £400 in ths South British office. It is suraiised t l ~%b the fire was caused by the upsetting of a small kerosene lamp which was alwnys kept lighted on the floor of the children's bedroom. Mrs Craig states that some time during the night one of the boys canie to herbedroom, and then returned to his own room. It is probable that in doing so he accidentally upset the lamp. Mr Carew was occupied all day on Thursday with a sitting of the Old-age Pensions Court. Six new pensions were granted for the full amount (£18) and one for £16 and. cae for £13. Renewals were granted as follows: — Ninety-seven for £18, two for £17, one for £16, one for £15, one for £14, three for £13, three for £12, one for £9, one for £3, two for £6. and one for £3 — making the total number dealt with, 121. In connection with the approaching \isifc of Commissioner and Mis M'Kie, nearly all the Salvation Army officers in the colony are having a change of appointment. In Dunedin City, Ensign and Mrs Cross are being superseded by Ensign Fred Burton, from Napier, Captain Mary Law is appointed to South, Dunedin, and Captain and Mrs Johnson to" the Nortli-T-a=t Valley district. A number of new officers airhed from the MelbourneTraining Homo this week, and they are being distributed throughout the colouy. In England the adoptic.i of gardening as a profession by women hao for so\eral years found a good deal of fa\our, mainly owing to the fiicntios .'or instruction afforded by tho School of Gardening for Women founded by the Countess of Warwick, and at the Horticultural College at Swanley. Two ladies — Miss Barker and Miss Morison — holding the diploma of the Swanley College, have now decided to break ground in, Scofand, and the first school of the kind in that country will shortly be opened at Invere-k, near Mu^selburgh. Scotland has alwayo been famous foi it.s male gardeners; we doubt not that iv the future it will be equally famous for i t -> women gardeners. As evidence of the popularity cf ihe warm mineral broths at Rotorua, it may be mentioned that tic ie\enuo from tickets issued during the four weeks ending January 4 amounted to just under £196 In addition to this the baths were freely used by returned hoopers -ent to Rotorua to recuperate, and patients at the Go\ouimc«k Sanatorium, neither of whom was charged fees. The m,w "Duchess" bath, opened by the Dnehess of Cornwall wlicn she \isited Rotorua, i~ one of the ino'-t popular, over 500 baths being taken m it during the montb named. M. Suliy-Piudhoinme, the French poet, who ha 5 been awarded the Nobel prize of £8000 for literary merit, was born in 1839, acid has been a member of the Academy binoe 1881. It was the Academy that nominated him, according to the stipulations in M. Nobel's will, for the prize. He was one of the "Parnassians," a society of poets, long since broken up, which included among its members Francois Coppee, Catulle Mendoi, Stpphane Mallarme, and Veriaine. It ia announced by the Gaulois that he intends to set aside a portion of his prize to help poor authors to pay for the printing of the books which they .-end in for the literary competitions which tho Academy holds every year. A picnic is to be held at Baklutha on the 22nd inst. by the early settlers. A strong committee has been formed to carry out the necessary arrangements Suitable train arrangements have been made at excursion rates. A large number from the Taieri and Bruce districts have intimated their intention of being present, and everything points to a successful outing, should the weather permit. It is intended to make this an annual outing for the Bruce, Clutha, and surrounding districts, to be held this year at Balclutha, as intimated, and at Milton ne\t year Mr Joseph Gibbs, who was manager for Jean Gerar^ly, has ani\cd in Dunedin, in advaooe of the Alice Hollander Concert Company. They will ope.) at the Garrison Hall on the 23rd in.-.t. The company is a very strong one, comprising Miss Alice Hollander (contralto). Mr Neal M'C'ay (tenor), (by arrangement with Mr J. C. Williamson), Herr Gerard Vollmar (\ .oloncellist), and Mr Erneat Fan-ell (solo pianist). Our Outram coneapondent reports that the heavy thunder showers of Wednesday night and Thursday have done a lot of damage to the crop', which, though late, were lookiug magnificent a few days ago. At the City Police Court on the 14t!i Thomas C.Simon (on remand) was charged with on Decemlier 24, at Dunedin, obtaining from Alexander Itobb one suit of clothes, valued at £4 TO3, by Jicp.m of false pretences — Accused elected tc be dealt with summarily, and pleaded not gui'ty. -Mr Woodhoufce appeared for the prosecution, and stated that since the information had been laid and had come before the :ourt in a preliminary way the previous day further inquiries had been made, with the result that the prosecutor had been advised that it *-as very doubtful if he could sustain the charge of obtaining goods by false pretences, and he therefore proposed to ask the permii=ion of the court to withdraw the information —Mr Payne, who appeared for the defence, said he had no objection to this. — Chief-detective Campbell I strongly protest against the criminal jaw being used to collect debts. --Mi Payne- But Detective Campbell wante to go on. — Detective Campbell- The police *-ere quite ready to gc on, but tb* ' case had been placed in the hands of a solicitor, with the result that the matter had been settled in some way.— The case was withdrawn accordingly The Waikouaiti County Council has fixed the registration fee for collie dogs at 2s 6d, and for alf other dogs at 3s per head. Tenders are called foi the toLecUou of the dog registration ieca.