LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2529, 3 September 1902, Page 54

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The many friends and well-wisher 3of Lieutenant Hickey. who has just returned from the war, have decided to entertain him at a conversazione and smoke- concert in recognition of his gallant services in South Africa. A Provisional Committee Las been formed, consisting of Messrs R. Chis-

holm (chairman), G. Fenwick, A. Thomson, J. B. M-Callum, C. Speight, M. Cohen, M. Coghlan, C. Rattray, A. Stronach, J. Loudon, Dr Fulton, Councillors Braithwaite and M'Donald, Mr J. Samson (president of the Caledonian Society), Mr D. M"Pherson (chief of tire Gaelic Society), and Mr J. J. Ramsay (president of the Burns Club). These gentlemen have taken the matter up with great enthusiasm. It is intended to hold the function in the Victoria Hall on Monday, Sop-ember B,' at 8 p.m. His Worship the Mayor has been waited on, and has kindly consented to preside. Mr J. F. Kirby will act as honorary secretary.

The criminal fittings of lha Supreme Court were continued on Wednesday morning. The ciue against the five young men charged with assault and robbery in Cargill road was f'Tst taken, and lasted up to about 3 o'clock, at which time the jury retired to consider their verdict. After an absence of over three and a-half hours they returned to the court lor certain instructions, retired again for about 20 minutes, and on returning found Phimister, Geddes, M-Donald, and Willis "Guilty" on the second ceujit — assault with intent to rob. Sparrow they found " Not guilty." His Honor deferred passing sentence. Jane Brown and Cecilia Chatttrly were indicted on a charge of stealing £6 10s from a fireman named Edward RaDkin, ond the jury, after a retirement of half an hour, returned a verdict of " Not guilty " against each of the prisoners.

At Wednesday's meeting of the Otago Land Board the follow ing resolution was carried : "That "the members of the board desire to place on record 1 an expression of regret at the death of Mr James Pillans Maitland, who for so many years held the position of Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Otago land district with honour to himself and acceptance to the board' and the public in general, and that a letter of condolence be Eent by the chairman to the surviving members of the late Mr Maitland' s family."

One of the collectors of the Bible-in-schoola plebiscite papers in tho north end of the city reports that out of the 90 houses allotted to him only nine papers in the negative were returned, while six declined to vote.

The Bennrolenfc Trustee* .held their usual meeting on Wednesday afternoon wben there were present— itesers P. Tresed«r (in the chair), R. M. Clark, B. Wilson, J. Green, W. Burnett, and James Gore. The Secretary reported the death during the week of James Mahone, aged 83. Accounts amounting to £122 13s 4d were passed for payment, and 33 cases of relief were dealt with. A letter wa» received from the Inspectorgeneral thanking the trustees fov bringing the case of the destitute arrival from Tasmania under his notice, and stating that the matter was under consideration. The Carersham Council wrote declining all responsibility in regard to the recent flooding o? the grounds of the institution. The letter was received, and the trustees decided to point out to the council that the pipes provided were not largo enough to carry off the surface water. The question of cla ; m for damage* was allowed to drop. A parcel of clothing from Mr G. Searle was received with thanks. The meeting then terminated.

A Wellington telegram states that the arrivals in the colony during July numbered 1532 and the departures 1314, against 2185 and 1271 respectively in July r 1901.

The trustees of the fund for the benefit of the widow of the late Mr Daw-son, of Kabul ka, whose husband, it will be remembered, was drowned, have forwarded to us a statement of accounts for the year ending the 31st inst., which shows that they hare a balance in hand of £100 14s Id. The total amount in cash, received during the year was £210 12s 3d. Against this there are dis^ bursements to the extent of £109 18s 2d, the principal items being £60 4s, expended in building a cowshed, dairy, and in wages and fencing; £23 6s for relief paid to Mrs Dawson, ami £18 Gs lid, which is the' amount paid out in liquidation of debts-. In addition to the relief paid by the trustees, she received the income from nine cows, £12 from the sale of stock, and £12 wages due- to her late husband, besides many gifts o f clothing, etc., from sympathetic friends, to 'whom and the pubiic in general who in ctner ways lent assistance the trustees tender their sincere thanks on behalf of Mrs Dawson and family. J\*The death is reported from Oakland, San Francisco, of Mr L. G. Cole, who will ba remembered by old residents as one of the introducers here of Cobb and Co 's coaches. Mr Cole, with his brother, u-rived in Australia in 1859. On the discovery of gold in Otago the brothers, with Mr Hoyt, started the firm of Cobb and Co. here, and soon extended operations to Im ercargill. In 1864 Mr L. G. Cole went to Canterbury and established Cobb and Co. 'a business there. In 1876 he sold out his interest and went to America, residing m Oakland till his death.

The attention of the Supreme Court was pretty well entirely occupied on Thursday in hearing the charges against William Frederick Lowry of assault on a young woman, with intent. The defence set up was that accused could not have been near the place ■where the alleged offence was committed at the time it was stated to have taken place. - Thm iygZt altar * tetk_ejaea<i o£ four liququ

were unable to agree, and were discharged. In the case of Joseph Williams, who received a sentence of 12 months for theft from the person, his Honor directed that the money (£7) placed by prisoner in the hands of Miss Cornish for safe keeping be returned to the complainant Glass. Ensign G. W. Law, of Port Chalmers, who went to prison in preference to paying a fine of 5s and costs for holding an openair service in Ashburton, was released on Thursday morning. He was mot and heartily congratulated by a number of other Salvation Army officers. j Mr Hawkins, S.M., gave judgment at Greymouth oo the 25th iust. in a case of Byrne v. Peck, which has gained some | rotoriety owing to rhe S.M. imposing a fine I ou plaintiff — an engine-driver- on the rail- j ways — for refusing to produce the working time-table, under instructions from his superiors. Th:: plaintiff claimed damages for tho loss of cattle killed uy the engine of which Peck was the driver. In giving judgment for Byrne for £24. and costs, his Worship, in an elaborate judgmerrtt held that defendant drove the- train over the JCew River bridge at a speed too great for safety to road traffic. Peck, in his evidence, had stated " when crossing the—track was -the first time I saw the cattle. . It xvtxe quite possible to have pulled up the train — a light train — before I got to the bridge." His T\ orship thought that he should have done so, and in not doing so he was guilty of negligence, which caused injury to plaintiffs - cattle. On the- defendant's behalf it was , set up that the cattle were trespasser? on j the line, but his Worship on this point said : I "I find that they did not of themselves stray on to the line, But were driven by their terror on to it — terror caused by the negligent driving of the defendant. In support of bis judgment the Magistrate quoted, , a number of important legal decisions bear- i •rig on the question. Dealing with the de- J fence that the New River bridge was not a gnzetted combined railway and traffic bridge, J and that notices were put up warning the I'ublio against trespass, his Worship quoted j the ease of Dublin and Wicklow Railway Company v. Slattery, in which it was held that, despite tho warnings and notices, et«., ; the duty was cast on the company of using i reasonable care and stilf to prevent a collision with persons known to be in the practice of crossing. It has been decided to make Southland a separate police district in future, and it is > believed it will be placed under the charge of Sub- inspector Mitchell, at present in I Auckland, who will be promoted to be an i inspector. l " It .has been pointed- out to the Postmastergeneral of the Commonwealth that the rates of postage- on newspapers to Great Britain are very higk — «o. high, indeed, &s to fee almost prohibitive. The weekly illustrated papers issued in the principal cities of Australia cost from 3d to 4d each, to post. They are usually sent by people in Australia, to friends in the Old Country, who thus get a good idea of colonial affairs. The heavy postage rate, it is urged, falls upon a class of people who would highly appreciate a reduction, and if the charge were made more- reasonable a greatly increased busi- j iigss would result. Mr Drake has promised, j to see what can bo done to arrange for a ; reduction of the rate, it being necessary to secure the concurrence of the Imperial postal authorities. j At the meeting of the Dunedin Amateur I Boating Club on Thursday, the chairman (Mr , S. Solomon) drew attention to the desirableness of members contributing to the Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Fund. The- club had contributed well to the roll di the contingents^ He was pleased to say that the retiring president (Mr C. F. Greenslade) had started the list with. £5 ss. Although he has- not been much abroad o f late years, Me Bstlfour is, like- Lord Salisbury and Lord Rosebery, » travelled Premier. In 1875 -he went for S tour rot»nd the world. In December, 1876-, he delighted the villager* of Whittinghame by a lecture on thia journey, which he delivered in the parish church* He sailed fcGm Liverpool toNew- York, and then proceeded to Montreal' and other town* in Canada. The Pacific 1 railway next tooli him to Salt Lake City and San Francisco, and then he joined the steamer for the Sandwich Islands and New Zealand, returning by Melbourne, Sydney, Ceylon, Aden, and Alexandria. There was a peculiar appropriateness in the nature of the present tendered on Friday to a returned trooper of the Eighth. New , Zealand Contingent. On receiving with . characteristic- modesty an elaborately-in-Ecribed walkingrstick, the young trooper said that, having, as a result of the unpleasant journey home on the overcrowded troopship, contracted a touch of rheumatics, " the stick would come in handy." The Caledonian Society's annual ball was held in the Victoria Hall last evening, some GO' couples taking part in the dancing, led off by the president (Mr Samson). Greetings were forwarded for the occasion by Mr D. A. M'Nicoll, vice-president, now in Scotland, in the shape of Scottish heather. The Supreme Court criminal sittings were practically concluded on Friday, all that remains being th© re-hearing of the charge of assault, with, intent, preferred against William Frederick Lowry. This lias been adjourned to Monday fortnight, prisoner being liberated on bail. The young man Jumes Piper, indicted on a charge of assaulting Henry Coughlan, was found not | guilty by the jury after about 15 minutes' I deliberation and discharged. His Honor, in sentencing Phimister, Geddes, M'Donald, | and Willis, four of the five young, men [ charged in connection with the assault and 1 tgbl&a. cafSgg. tft tiirjt. ¥?«*' imprison- [

. meni with. hard, labour, indicated that if - ■' there- was- a continuance of that class of fc offence he would have no hesitation in ordert ' ing the offenders-,, if found guilty, to. b» ; flogged. The Crown offered, no further cvii deuce against James Sparrow, and he was discharged, having been found not guilty on, the charge heard in the early part of ' the sitting?. The other four prisoners 1 pleaded " GuiJty" to assaulting and- robbing Maynard, Douglas, and M'Phip, three counts in each case, and were sentenced as stated*. The remaining- case on the criminal lisfc I was one in which a returned contingenti |. man named Lund was charged with steal- ; , ing two Crimean war me-dals. The sentence of the court in his case was two months* ! , imprisonment with hard labour. I The promotion of Sub-inspector Mitchell, , ' of Auckland, to be inspector, and his trans- . iec to Invereargill to take charge of the '. new police district of Southland, has re- • suited in the transfer of some- of the other sib-inspectors. Sub-inspector Black, of Christ church, will proceed to Auckland, and bis place at Ckristchurch will be taken by Sub-inspector Dwyer, of Duuedin, whos» place will be- filled by Sub-inspector Green, of InvereargiLL Evidently a police officer must -not think of making a home anywhere. Sub-inspector Dwyer, 'for instance, has within the past few years been transferred- from Oamaru' to Clyde, from Clyde to Christchurch, Wanganur to Dunedin, and now h« goes back to Christelturch. N ( - The- following are some particulars concerning the old-age pensions granted last I month : —Renewals, 41 ; new claims— ll a* j Aj.a, 1 at £12, and 1 at £7;— total,7 ;— total, 13, represeating £217. This, amount does-not include the renewals which, averaged at £12, would , bring the total of renewals and new claims \i\> to £709 for the month. During th« month eight recipient.? of the pension died, I representing £144. For August last year tho renewals were 40, the. new claims 12, ' and the number of penwoners who- died 10j Averaging" the claims granted last year afc '' £12, would bring a total of £624- ; somewba* ', less than the total amount for the past month. The Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages supplies the following returns for tb« i past mouth:— Births, 107; deaths, 60; m»rliagee, 35. For August of last year tho figures were : Births, 120 ; deaths, Eft^ marriage* 32. The decrease in. the number ol deaths- is accounted for by the- mildness of the weather which has prevailed of lat« in comparison with tho bitterly cold weather wf> were experiencing about this time last year. ( I The Hospital returns forvthe past wefek sliow that 27 patients were admitted and' 25 discharged, while there were two deaths — • those of Lizzie Doig and James Pleece. Th» total number of inmates now in- the institution 20 103. The Vicar of St. MattheVa (the Rev. W. Carzon-Siggers) completed his sixth, year of ' r.iiniptration on the 23rrl ult The New Zealand Guardian states that in the course of an address he announced that he had declined two positions of high ecclesiastical dignity rather than leave them, and had refused offers which carried stipends varying from £50 to £150 a year more than they I gave him. He had refused such in another ! part of the world, where* he wotrkl rrmef* j hove liked to have worked, with an old j friend, only recently, carrying — together j with what clergymen generally considered j high honour — a very large stipend. He had j long, ago made up his mind to stay in St. j Matthew's a.a its vicar, for, he hoped 1 , three times »b long as he? had been with them, in order that he might carry out the on© object for which lie had laboured amongst them — viz., the spread of the Gospel amongsfe the heathen, and the making of St. "Matthew's a sti'ong missionary centre. This work was his main endeavour. Everything else was of importance only as it aided that. He thought, in justice to tkem, that heshould state publicly that the reason why hi» stipend was £150 less than one city' dergymau and £200 less than- the offier wasr because he preferred that the money, whichwould otherwise go to his stipend, should . be given to missions; aaul. he hoped they, would always ■• allow that arrangement to remain. It was better that the' money shouUf go from the parish to missions, and that; they should all be contributors' to missionary w ( ork than that he should have the increased stipend, which he knew so many of them wished him to receive. This explanations would make it quite clear that it was no fault of theirs that they did not pay him afc the same rate as the other city clergy — a facfe which had been often commented on, and 1 hence it was necessary for him to justify them. He did not say he- could not fimf good use for money, but for their sake and* I the church's it was better that their misI eionary work chould go on. The London Chronicle says: — One of the 1 proudest men taking part in the parade of colonial troops was Mr Scavth, whose handsome blue uniform, with red facings, puzzled" curioua spectators. Inquiries showed that he was the only Klondyke representative among the colonial troops in Engsand. He belongs to the Dawson City Volunteers, a body which was formed only a few months Ago. He travelled night and day for. a. couple of months in order to attend: the Coronation, as the official delegate, and reached the Mersey on the day news of the postpone* ment was published. He should have crossed with, the Canadian Contingent, but missed hi* boat at Montreal. In the annual report of the Evangelical Council of New South Wales appears the following clause:— "A determined attempt waa being made by the Church of Rome to subvert to sectarian purposes their muchprized public school system, and they had boen, and must be, strenuously resisted. 1 A «chem« fo? sy«Jte»atic teaching in eclwola

•nd elsewhere of the fundamental principles of Protestantism had been prepared, but the rush of wort in connection with the missions hacl "hindered j±e full development. It •was trusted that ere long it would be mattered and Applied. It would appear from the above that the fundamental principles of Protestantism are not Tegardetl us sectarian by the council, but the resolution carried >on the esbject stated itbat the -council " declare -our intelligent and unswerving allegssztce fto fcbe system of. public instraction tea at present -established in -the State ef New -South Wales. We regard its broad itu&sctaxjaii basis as the -only one to which the support of the State' can legitimately be given* and declare that the claim «# by ♦he heirarcby -of the Roman Catholic Church - Tinder the specious name of ' Freedom of Education ' for subsidising its ecclesiastical ii-etrtntions from the public treasury is an attempt to disrupt i>he natisnal and unsecte.rian system with a view of reverting to a costly and unsatisfactory method, which Would place additional power in the hands of a vast (ecclesiastical organisation at the expense of the- State, and to th* detriment «f education generally. This claim we deelara our steadfast purpos?© to resist in every legitimate way."

The corjsespon'knc© received at Monday's meeting of tha Olago Central Railway Ijeague was something in the sbape of a record as to quantity, being mostly evoked "hy a clreoiar #s«'t to the various district authorities interested. The replies showed that at Alexandra, Clyde, and elsewhere pubiio meetings had been held and resolutions passed, to be forwarded to members concerned, advocating the furtherance of the line with vigour. The circular has evidently had good effect.-

The Arbitration Court held a -deliberative sitting at the l«aw Courts on Monday. In addition to dotes of hearing already fixed the court has acrangod the following: — R'eid v. the Lady Charlton Gold Dredjjing Company, a compensation claim, to be heard on September 12, at 2 pjm*, in the Gore Courthouse ; Southland Butchc-rs' T~nion v. Cox, summons for enforcement of an award, same time and place; Ready v. the -Clutha Borough Council -and others, compensation claim, to be heard on September 15, at 11 a.m. ; M"Cluskey v. the Success Gold Dredging 'Company, and Hutching-s v. Jopp, compensation claims, to be heard at Lawrence on' September 17, at 10.30; Little v. the Dunedin Cfty Corporation,, compensation claim, to be beard on September 19.

Honor Mr Justice Williams left for JnvercargiH by the express on Monday lo take the criminal and cadi sittings of the Supreme Court. Eis Honor is not expected back till the end of the tveek. On Friday lost probate was granted in the Avills of Jane Thomson and John Hamilton (deceaseds), on the motion of Mr James. Letters of administration, with will annexed, were granted in tlie estate of Henry Bornm-stle (deceased), also on the application of Mr James.

At Monday's meeting of the Otago Central Railway League- an instance was shown of how Otago members are hampered in tJicdr efforts to farther the construction of the Otago Central line. Mr J. A. Millar, M.H.8.., forwarded to the chairman a copy of an acrimonious .attack on the line, Tepublished -from the Tapanui Courier of August 6. Mr Millar added the ironical footnote : " This is the .sort of support to push on the line — each member has received a copy of this." As .a member of the league remarked, imagine the delight with which northern -members -would avail themselves of such a weapon as this hostile criticism of the line coining from where it did.

The body of a newly-born infant was discovered on the shore at Maeandrew Tiay on Monday. It had evidently been in the •water some little time. The body was wrapped up in brown paper.