OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2604, 10 February 1904, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Work on the Wellington v-harves is just now very brisk, rud it is said thct there is a scarcity of labourers in consequence. The Alexandra baksrs have reduced the price of bread to 7d the 41b loaf, taking effect; from. Monday last.

The Rotorua coi respondent of the Auckland Herald reports that smoke or steam ha; been seen issuing from Mount Tarawera during the past few days. At the close of last year the Colliery Employees' Federation of the Northern District of New South Wales had a membershia of 6024-, and funds aggregating £7981 18s." A house and furniture belonging to Mr M'Elliarott, Kawarau Gorge, was totally destroyed by fire on Tuesday, 28th ult. The house and effects were insured for £170.

The Ashburton Borough Council has approved of a new by-law, making the license fee charged for circuses visiting the town £5 for the first day, and £1 per day thereafter.

A considerable number of unemployed — most of them sincle men who have recently arrived in Christchurch — are (says the Preps) applying for work at the Labour DepartLieutenant Herd, conductor of the Wellington Garrison Band, has been appointed judge for the band contest to be held at the Rotorua Carnival towards the- end of February.

A little girl at Leongatha, Victoria, named Treman. was running- through a paddock io meet her father, who was burning 0,1 timber, when a large tree fell, crushing her to death.

A report has been received at Town=iille. Queensland, stating that owing to floods the Trans-Pacific Mininpr and Exploration Company's dredge had been capsized, and two of the crew drowr-ed.

A house, owned and occupied by John Barry, was destroyed by fire at Orepuki on lursday night, 2nd. Only a few of' the content.? weie saved. The property was insured for about £3CO.

As a result of tho recent Gore fire, the local firo brigade has received donations to the extent of £18 from tradespeople who-.e pi em. 1--51 --5 were, by the efforts of the brigade, aavod fr'im dea i ru'..tion.

The^ Public Wciks Department has- infoim>=d tho promoters of the proposed trcmway between Gisborne and the Matu forest that the rails, metals, bolts, -etc., for the hvr- would cost £560 per mile.

Tub Sou'hland Times states thai a contract for jC4?O hag been let for the bu.ldini} of a Presbyterian church in Stewart Inland. Ilia c'lurc'i h to be built of wood, with a spire, and is to seat 150 persons.

A »chocl for the convenience of the rl.ildron of the wo.-kmen on the Otago Ccrtial railway works between Poolbvrn and C'hitto Creek is shortly to be ostabli'h^il in the vicinity of Chatto Creel:. Messrs Bauchop and Co., of Port Chalmrr-. are the s-uccc-ssfnl tenderer? for the erection of the factory for the Talpo Explosive Syndicate at Deborah Bay. A start wijl be made with the building on Monday. In connection, with the next New Zealand fire brigade demonstration, to be held In Dunedin this time next year, the City Fire Brigade intends holding a carnhal m November for the purpose of raising the necessary funds.

The influx of visitors to Rotorua during the carnival tc be held at the end of the present month r-rorahes to be co great that hotel proprietors and others are making arrangements fcr a libpral supply of tents for gnuersency accoimaoaacion.

I According to the latest statistics, tho Christian Endeavour Union comprises 64,020

branch societies, which have a total membership of 3,822,300 young people. The great popularity of the movement is generally ascribed by its promoters to the fact that 1 it appeals to young people. "I do not consider it proper to have Government servants on a criminal jury," said tlie Chief Justice at Wellington on

Monday, and he excused several persons in Government employ who had been s-um-motied for jury service. Civil servants, he added, ought to give notice to the sheriff

when they sec their names on tho jury list. j Thero was a heavy thunder shower last week at Bannockburn, and some very large hailstones fell, breaking windows and knocking tho fruit about. Shepherd's Crock was socn in high flood. Tho Cromwell dredge pulled right acroes the river or ehe would have run the risk of being silted up. The Nevis road is badly damaged. — Ciomwell Argus. A fire broke out in tho house of Mr Thomas M'Tagart at Ratanui, Cathn", on Thursday, 28lhult., resulting in ihe complete demolition of the houee and furniture. The occupiers of tho house were absent all day, and re-turning at 4- p.m. found nothing remaining but the chimney. Tho loss is estimated at £2QO, and the origin of the firo is a mystery. The recent burning of a stack at Mr J. Hesson's farm was the subject of an inquiry Tst the Alexandra courthouse before Mr James Rivers, J.P., and a jury, of whom Mr R. Strong was chosen foreman. After hearing the evidence, the jury returned a , verdict to the effect that the stack was burned, but by whom or by what meaii3 , there was no evidence to shew. The new clock for the Eaiapoi Post Office is being manufactured by Messrs Stewart Dawson and Co., Christchurch, at a cost of £300. The bell will be 8701b in weight, and the clock will have four dials, each sft in diameter, which can be illuminated if necesi sary. It is expected that the sound will •H, l i eard all °ver the town. The clock i will be completed in eight months. j An Australian Proprietary Medicine On D-ecrmb&r 12 Mr G. Hudson, manufa.*- , tunng c.mist, of Ipswich, Queensland, , shipped by the R.M.S. China to London a j large shipment of " Eumenthol jujubes." j and has pppointed an agent there for th&.r j sale. We understand that this is the first ; occasion on which an Australian proprietary j medicine has been shipped to London in i any quantity.

There is every probability (says the Nyndham Farmer) of three adjoining parishes in the lower end of Mataura Presbytery each requiring a miniate, in die near future. Toi Toi charge is at present vacant; Wyndham will be in a Hce position within the next few weeks ; and the new charge that in all probability will shortly bo constituted with headquarters at Edcndalo will also require n. pastor. It v.as stated the othc day that tho candidate for a Junior National Scholarship who passed first in the colony was a year below tho age limit. Tho samo remark applies to the two boys from the Ashburton Borough School, who headed the list of scholarship winners in the North Canterbury district, both being i.nclor 13 years of age, though they might have competed for a National Scholarship up to the aa;e of 14. Owing to the partial failure in the tobacco crop in Amtrioa there is likely (says the New Zealand Times) to be a sharp rise in prices shortly. There has already been one rise, and there are strong indications that an! other is imminent. A few weeks ago a line of 2000 hogsheads of leaf was purchased at Liverpool at an advance in pnoe fcr shipment back to the United States— which looks a-3 ominous as if coals were bein"fehippod to Westport.

Tho survey of the proposed canal from the Waitcmata to the Manukau, Auckland, is noaring completion, and everything looks hopeful for the ultimata succecs of the scheme. The country is reported to bo a soft sandstone formation all the way, &o that the cutting would not be a seaious matter, and on the Waitcmata side thero i& a natural channel cf good width which would assist in cheapening tlie oaaal when the work 10 undertaken.

Tha Government co-operative works employed 14-4- artisan.3 and 2646 labourers during last month. Of these, all tho artisans and^l777 labourers were employed by the Public Works Department on railways, roads, defence works, and public buildings! and the Department cf Roads absorbed tho remainder. On the Noith Island Main Tuink lailway 751 men were employed; on the Otago Central, 220; on the Midland 160; and on the Paeroa- Waihi, 140. ' The Chinese leper who was deported to Semes Island some time ago from N&wtown is (says tho Wellington Post) reported to be making a recovery. This is somewhat unusual, even though, a3 in the present case, the dissa-e is not of a virulent type. Since tho man has been detained on Somes Island he has been well fed and looked after, and has been made to xtmler^o a course of set bathing, all of which ha? contributed towards improving his physioal condition. The health authorities believe that he will "Umately make a good recovery. 1

Sergeant Siddells, a member of the New Zealand Police Force, is publishing a book on " Tho Now Zealand Law of Licensed" HotelkeepDi-3." Noticing an advance copy of the work, tho Poverty Buy Kerakl say? it is an exceedingly creditable- production, evidently the result of a great dekl of study and research. The book will soon be ready for delivery to sub&crib&rs.

Professor Eiselsberg, of Vi&nna, has performed- an interesting operation on a young student who was struck on the head by an iron ball 10 months ago at Salonika. "Tho frontal bone wa3 smashed, and after tho wound had healed it was discovered that a plcc& cf bone the size of a shilling waa missing. According tho surgeon removed: a pieco_ of tho patient's shin bone and insorted it in his skull The student has entirely recovered, and it as well as ever.

Among the many stories of prosontimantg that turn out to b& trustworthy muse noffl be included the strange caso of Mrs Elvc-y, the wife of a Col&ford iron miner. She begged her husband not to go to work tha other day, as sho feared ha would be killed. It was the last day before the mino was closed down. Elvey was her second husband, and the first had been killed by an accidant^at another mine on what was to be) the last day of hie em.ploym.ont there. E'vey mado light of fearj, went to work, and was killed by the fall of a mass of iron oro.

For the first time in his experience an, up-country vit'culturi3t has found his grapes attacked by rats (says the Wellington Po-sO. Tho depredator found a holo m the hc£housc, and went from bunch to bunch campling. Then he settled down alongside tho one of hi* choice, and the ground bslov/ was strewn with the skins and small <?tone9 of the fruit. The owner rogrots that a rodant squatting philosophically on a vin-e-stalk, spitting out grape-skino and swallowing the- succulent interior, could not have been snapshotted ; further, ho bewails tb,Q loss of about 10s worth of grapes in a single night.

Mr E T. Code, conductor of Code's Melbourno Brass Eand, has been tJectrd by tho bands competing at the Palmer-ston contest to act as judge of the content, wlvioh is to commtno? on February 29. Messrs Havrkca and Son, instrument manufaccurcra, of London, have orl&red to present a. valuable trophy, in the shape of a sterling silver challenge cup, to ba competed for by bands affiliated to the North Island Brase Banda' Association. Tho cup will be competed for at tho ISOS conr&st, which 1a to ba held ai; Auckland. The cup is to ba the property of the association, and is a spontaneous gift from the firm, which, by the way, is presenting a, trombone for competition this year. It appears that the Waihi Gold Mimng Company is determined to enforce the laws of the Arbitration Court in regard to the employment of unionists (writes tho Waihi Daily Telegraph), and in order that all its members should be members of ths Waihi ?.Ime-r&' and Workers' Union, instructions have been issued that ail the men employed in the batteries and mLie shall forthwith, becomo members of the union, end these orders are of so imperative a nature tW< unless the men produce the momharship fee-book of tho union when called upon by the foreman in chargo -of the diffsrent works they aro to be discharged. Tho praacat membership of the union :'s approximately between 600 and 700.

Dr Zooger yon Mantcuffel, of the University of Dorpat, one of tha most skilful practitioners in Russia, has juet performed an operation which probably stands alcna in the annaJe of stirgery. A few days ago a young girl was brought) to him who had! boc-n accidentally shot with a revolver, the bullet penetrating the heart. Dr Manteuffel chloroformed her, and the^n cut opon tho breast, laying bare- tho throbbing heart. The bail had lodged in the wall of the Grgan, happily without injuring any cf the cavities. Tho surgeon grasped tho heart, and with a slight prersure of bo+h thumbs removed the bullet, causing only a fewdrops of blood to Sow. Tho wound was then sewn up, and a f&w days later the girl was discharged completely well. The Wellington correspondent ef theAuckland Star write©: "It is probable thai; a colonial zoo will be established in Wellington beforo many months are over. Tho movement has the hearty support and corperation of the Premier, who has long considered the possibility of establishing suoh an institution, which, to his rnin-J, would prove an interesting educational leeson for the -i oung. Mr Seddon and Sir Joseph Ward discussed the subject with Mr Tom Fitzgerald. The upshot of it is, I believe, an intention on the part of xhe> Fitzg-erslda to put the project into practical shape ai.tl on similar lines 10 that in vogue in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Tho Premier and Sir Joseph Ward are prepared to givo every assistance in their power in furtherance of the scheme."

Settlement in the P&lorus Sound has made groat progress during the past year or two. Sheep are. doing remarkably well, and frurs was nover so plentiful in the district a3 it ia at the. prese-nt ■time. Thirty oil birao!>« are now owned by eofctlors in the sound, and orders for otliors hay© been givon. ilany cr i ho hamlets are now connected by telephone with the ou.or world, and tho establishment of the. system has proved a groat boon to the settlers. Durin.3 the prwrvs summer Pelorus Sound has been vialfead by quite a largo number of peoplo from distant parts of the colony, and also' from Aiwtr^ia, all of whom have bran eharmrJ with tlie soene.ry of tho district. Tho Hon. C. H. Mills who has just compl&tcd a tour of -ho sounds, states that a number ot tha settlers pro enlarging their residences in orefcr to proyido accommodation for Tisitois, and Mr -Viills lv confident thai before- long the district will become brto of tr_© most popular tourist resorts in the colony. The smallpox scare hos brought th« veteran Dr Bskewoil, of Auckland, but 0110 time of Dunedin, crab ci>ee more. Thdoctor claims to b e almost t.he only n*?-dical man in the colony who h-ae a thorough practical knowledge of tho di«?as>o "I have been asked to write on the ■uibjficr. of smallpox," he says, " but I do not f»«t inclined to throw away the knowledge I have acquired by 55 years of practice, and" my experience as a rae-cucrvl officer of health in a colony where we had ovor 20,000 c~ees, besides tho result of my own i^v&sLisjat: tms as physician to tho smallpox hospital, before a public that has never once asJrecS for my opinion on the many cases that hay** presented thpivsehes durmsj my 30 year* in Now Zealand. . . My first ca,*e I ea.v in June, 184-8. I don't want to refer to books about smallpox. I have my doubts whether this Christohiireh pffair is genuine smallpox Bur, anyhow, it is best to be on the safe ciJo, 'uid gel vaccinated or rw ■varcmafcod."

The first pile for the jetty in connection with tho Nelson Harbour improvement works at the Boulder Bank was driven last ''Tr c

There were 206 old-age pensioners in the Lawrence Magistrate's Court district in 1903, who drew pensions amounting to