OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2513, 14 May 1902, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

The Westport Coal Co.'s output of coal last week was 13,311 tons. +On Friday evening Mataura wa3, for the first time, lighted up with the electric light.

The skeleton of a man 12ft long has been discovered! in a large cave near Mesa Reco, New Mexico.

The Lawrence Brass Band has received from Birmingham the last instalment of their new instruments.

The Brunner Coal Co. shipped 2007 tons coal from Greymoutlt last week, the Blackball Co. 1555 tons.

The Canterbury Hall shareholders declined to sanction the proposal to convert the concert hall into a theatre.

The Halfway House Hotel, near Clyde, was offered at auction on Saturday, but the property was passed in at £1200.

The firat lOOgal of water sold from the Coolgardie water scheme was purchased by a Northam resident on April 25. The sixpence tendered in payment will be suitably mounted as a watch chain pendant, and sent to Sir John Forrest, it being the first direct revenue from his great work.

The Ejrst Taicri Rifles entertained Captain f'arncross at a smoke concert in. the local Volunteer Hall, and presented him with a solid silver cigar case, beautifully chased, and bearing a suitable inscription." The member for the Taieri is to be entertained at Mosgiel on Monday night by the Mayor and members of the Borough Council. He leaves for the north on Tuesday.

The introduction of oil launches haa greatly facilitated travelling in the Marlborough Sounds. Several settlers have obtained Llicse handy little vessels for journeys whioh occupied a day or pait of a day when rowing boats were used, and are now pleasantly done in a few horns, and ncit rammer "the Sounds uill possess (-ays the Po=t) quite a fleet of inotoi-drl\eu \c.->sels. According to the Rev. W. Hewitson, there are some pprtons for \\ hce souls it would be better if tlirr r.->tr'ned the sums they ' onntributed to rclitjioui obiec^. Hhey coniplained of being bind, iileoclin^, ho said, \.a ""^ mirTpt'-'in 'or s.',vcll"d hsp.d : it we jio i i-i 'vi Cl" i t.i.i p/Micro^ity. 'Jh^y liarl .better I ocp tli- .r contribution' — liiey v/ere co -1.1.1U i-irl ?n wn-.clgingly given. The other day a small storekeeper in Ciitistchurcli found, after the departure of a would-be customer, who had aslccd for

some article ho was pretty certain the storekeeper had not in stock, that' prior to lvs coming into the- t'uop iho easterner had i n ?'hed over the counter, f pruned the till, .•iid taken 5s in tma'l fhaupre The thief

[ Two women, one of whom was carrying a baby, narrowly escaped being killed at I the Onehunga railway station one day last week. They both attempted to board a train while it was in motion, but missed their footing and fell on to the platform with their legs between the platform and the train: But for the guard's prompt assistance, one of the women would most certainly (write*--the Herald) have rolled right underneath' the train. . J Messrs Hardley Bros, of Ashburton, re« cently applied for letters patent for an improved spouting bracket which is a great improvement on the old system of fixing spouting. No puncture is made-; the spouting ia firmly fixed in the bracket by a clasp device, and a stay is also led from the top end of the clasp to the roof. The firm have successfully defended 16 objections, but the registrar has eventually granted the patent rights applied for. Slowly but surely the sea is encroaching upon this East Coast of Now Zealand (says the Poverty Bay Herald). Evidence of the erosion that has taken -place is seen in the numerous jagged rocks that appear along the beaches, once the base and foundation of what must have appeared to the early aboriginals as substantial hills. The bills*, on the §ea face are of a very soft and slippery nature, and the maintenance _ef roads' along them is no~ easy 'matter,- whilst at several." points where the road skirts the base of the cliffs much money has been fruitlessly spent in endeavouring to protect the highway from the ravages of the sea.

At the meeting of the Bruce County, Council on the 6th the members seemed muoli amused at a communication from the railway traffic superintendent to the effect thatr he had inquired into a complaint from the council regarding delay in forwarding trucks of metal from Logan's Point, but had found that no delay had taken place as f ar as the department was concerned. A member said he had seen trucks, which were consigned to Stirling, frequently standing in sidings between Milton and Dunedin. Some of the metal had taken three or four days on the railway journey. Whenever a train, was getting a bit heavy the metal trucks were shunted aside for another train, and so the delay occurred.

Speaking at Thursday night's meeting of Ihe Wellington Trades and Labour Council a delegate, who is a recent arrival from Christchurch, said that in Wellington the responsible officer of the Labour Department appeared to consider that it was optional whether the department should 1-rosecute in cases of breaches of awards, whilst in Christchurch the inspector read the act as a clear instruction to prosecute. The subject had been discussed at the Easter conference, and it had been decided to ask the Government to make the duty of prosecuting compulsory on the part of the department, that the word " may " in the act be changed to " shall:''

By way of showing what is being dona to inform the people of the United States regarding this country, it may be stated that in an American publication just to hand it is advertised that the Rev. Donald MacDougall, 8.D., is prepared to deliver illustrated lectures on New Zealand. t Hig syllabus embraces the following I ' subjects: — (1) New Zealand, its characteristics, its social progress and reforms; (2) New Zealand, its government, its religion, and education, and people; (3) New Zealand! scenery, resources, and promise; (4) the conversion of the Maoris of New Zealand, and the Maoris of to-day. -Mr, MacDougall is editor of " The Caledonian," a ScottishAmerican magazine, published in New York. The Premier's surplus-making system, says Mr Meredith, M.H.R., may be compared to a farmer with a mortgage, behind in his payments, who 'raised a second one of say, £3000, of which. -he spent £1000 in paying liabilities, and placed £2000 in the bank. Then he drew up^a statement, showing his sons how he had comevoutf atthe end of the year with £2000 _to his credit. " A Thi9. clever son would probably point oufr" that the statement was all very .well on paper, but in order to have a credit in- the-'barik of £2000 he had taken up a mortgaged £3000, which sooner or later would Tiavo to -be* met, and that the father was in a" worse position by £1000 than he "was a year ago.- Thus it was with the finances of the colony. In the House of Commons <:Tecentljr Mr Alfred Davis asked th& Secretary of. War to state the total amount of indebtedness to Messrs Houlder- Brothers, incurred by his department during." the South" African war. Lord Stanley said .thg^-amounts paid to Messrs Houlder Broih^re were as follow : — Freight for tforseg carried,-to South Africa in their own ships or ships chartered Tjy them, £1,572,3+7 ; purchase' of alfalfa, including extra freight, , £70,473 ; ' passage o£ discharged horse attendants' to the United States or elsewhere, £10,272. Jfc must be remembered that that.£rm acted. as brokers for other firms, and that in consequence the above sums included many "sums -paid by Messrs Houlder Brothers to others. Those charges were incurred between Nov •nber., 1899, and April, 1901 c Mr.Arnpld \ - 3 ter, answering the same hon." member, saicl that no percentage had been paid by the Admiralty to Messrs Houlder Brothers v on transports hired by the Government or on any other transactions.

Mr A. J. Park, Patent and Trade-mark Agent, Manse street, Dunedin (authorised by the New Zealand Government), supplies the following list of New Zealand applications for patents, compiled from the New Zealand Gazette of May 1: — Auckland — R ' Montalk, fireproof floors; H. Droutledge, recording machino; D. Galbraith, treating iion oxides; R. Gibbons, gauge glass. Canterbury — J. Thomas, hedgecutter; Sellars and Coxhead, bread-toaster; H. Bell, bottle. Marlborough — J*. Vorbach. potatodigger. Nelson — J. Rose, protecting river banks. Otago — J. Thompson, drying clothes ; J. Friend, digger for dredges; Seymour and Wardrop, hat fastener. Southland — R. Jones, knife-cleaner; J. Pomeroy, cooking pots ; Henderson and Robinson, door-catch. Taranaki — H. Jones, seal cover. Wellington — P. Russell, making leggings; I. Harrison, drawing off liquids; R. Garnham. nonrefillable bottle ; _ March and Thompson, carriage lamp. "Handbook on Patents," published by authority of the New Zealand Government, with sitpplement by A. J. Park, may be obtained at his offices. Manso street, Dunedin; 203 Herefcid street, Christohurch : 26 Fhortlaml street. Auc&-. loicl: and 53 E*k street, fnvercargil!. _

" Homo "Rule,"' once very much discussed,, Is laid r-ic!o and left to rmt. Old C^acMorce, ppite of all his eklll, Failed to pa-=s thi* famous Bill. How often do the greatest fail? And eov.ghs malcG ill the strceig and haTe^ Unlp~- the remedy they procure — JV. Ji. poems' CaEE-vr Prrrsßicsx OusSt

«i

A rather remarkable difference was thown in the amounts of tenders for one contract dealt with by the Bruce County Council •last week. One tender totalled £123 and finother £96 4s, while the successful tenderer's price was £31 and the engineer's Sriuuite lor th* work was £27 10*

On Wednesday evening (writes the Alexandra Herald) the employees of the Coal Company met to Rive Mr Barclay, their late manager, a send-off and to present him with a small token of their esteem, he having obtained a similar pojutiqo at Forti- \ £fia,tioM»