OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

The total quantity of timber railed from Orepuki for November was 350,500 ft. The Commissioner of Customs at "Wellington has received £3 conscience monsy j from " Doubtful." 1 - The Bruce Herald understands that a ! movement is on foot to establish a haelc > racing club at Glenore. _ I It -is estimated that the gain to South ! Canterbury through the enhanced "pr^ce of j. wool will ampunTfc- to £100,000. ' { The sum 'oil f£27:odo was raised in this j colony and Australia' by the Salvation Army during the', recent €elf-denial week. ; It -is stated ~ that several attempts have j been made of late to pass gilded sixpences 1 for half - sovereigns on out-of-way suburban . i storekeepers in Southland district. { During the past two months (October and November) there have been no occupants in the Ashburton lock-up, while in the pre- ! ceding month only one person was incarcerated. , j The publican's booth privilege for the Blacks races, to be held on January 1 and 2 next, was sold recently at Ophir. and was ! purchased by Mr Arch. Fraser, of Omakau, for £112 — four and a-half times the ' licence j fee for a year. The men -engaged at the coal mines at Brunner were always entitled to dhange under sixpences, and hare decided in | future to allow the company to retain these j odd amounts on their behalf, and give them ; as a donation to the Greymouth Hospital. I The boisterous weather last montn inter- j fered considerably with the school attend- : ance throughout the Southland district. .At j one school the truant inspector found the ! teacher rf>nly, the pupils having been pre- j vented from attending by a violent -storm, i A cheque for £13,362 16s 8d was paid ' last week in Melbourne ,as probate duty on j the estate of the late Mr Andrew Halley ] Knight, gentleman, who, besides an English estate of considerable value,- left property : in Victoria estimated to be worth £133.840. Two youths who stowed-away from Lon- ' .don to Auckland, were fined £5 each at ! the • Auckland Police Court on Saturday, j They were allowec? a month to get work ] and pay the money. They explained they s were nearly starving when they boarded the 1 boat. - < ~\ The chairman of the ELiwitea (Feilding) County Council, in hjs report to a late j meeting, -stated that the year had been a j most disastrous one for the county, the flood j damage -amounting to £3959, and it was i with the utmost difficulty the roads had been kept open. A letter received by the Wellington | Chamber of Commerce from the London j Decimal Association expresses strong hope that a bill in favour of the introduction J of the metric system of weights and j measures will be passed by the British , Parliament ere long. At a meeting held at Heriot on the 26th i ult. it was resolved to erect a public hall, ( the capital, £200 or £250, to bp raised by means of shares of £1 each. It is proposed to pay back the capital thus advanced out of the proceeds of a bazaar and other enter- | tainments to be held on future dates. ! At the Magistrate's Court, Ashburton. m ! Friday, S. B. Robinson, a Tinwald storekeeper, was fined 5s and costs for refusing to allow the Inspector of Shops and Factories to inspect his premises. The evidenrc showed that defendant " hustled " the inspector off his premises, and locked llie door on him. At the Magistrate's Court. Timaru, on Wednesday, the young man George Gibb, who recently served a sentence of a month's" imprisonment for robbery from m-eat safe 3, was sentenced to another month's detention for the theft of a loaf of bread, value 6d. from the Crown Hotel. During the hearing of a charge of opiunv smoking against a Chinaman at Orepuki on the 2nd inst., it was urged for the defence that the defendant had formerly been a heavy opium smoker, and was now trying j to break off the habit by smoking opi'nn I ashes which have the appearances of cinders or dried blacking. These ashes can be | smoked several times, and as opium is now i unprocurable inveterate smokers are compelled to smoke the substitute or dross, in order to satisfy their craving. A light t.tib was imposed. The Sahation Army has been awarded the Grand Prize in Group 138 at the St. T ouia Exhibition. Gi"ouD 138 ig a lar^e

one, comprising institutions for the betterment of social conditions, industrial betterment of workers, betterment in hospita'.-s club rooms, theatres, libraries, playground*, lunch and rest rooms, religion, and all other ! conditions to raise the general standard -of j working- people. In addition to securing j the Grand Prize in this group, gold medals 1 have been gained by Commander BootbI Tucker and the national secretary. • ! A writer to the Nelson Colonist advisos j.that when a sheep is killed if a bottle of | the blood is secured aifd administered to j a horse suffering from "bots," it will effect a cure. The tots are said to !ei go tholr ; hold on the walls of the stomach" in order j to take the blood, and the bran mash* or other purgative then removes them out • f , the animal in a natural way. A eontribu- ! tor to a northern exchange states that starlings do considerable good in keeping down fcbe f" bof' 'i>est. as they destroy the ! grubs of the fly in horse manure before they mature. i With regard to the transfer of five attendant* at Sunnyside Asylum to other institutions, the Lytteltoa Times saya it is I understood that the position has arisen owing to the action of several attendants i who were not concerned in the. recent agitation. They repi^esented that, on ' account of their attitude, their lives were being niade unhappy by their fellow attendants who j took part in the agitation. They appealed j to the authorities, and Dr Hay was sent ; to Ohristcbureh to hold an inquiry, with the j result that the men mentioned yesterday j have been transferred. ■ A case connected with the finding of the | body of William 1 Curry in the .harbour at • Akaroa was brought by the police on j Wednesday against A. W. Hills, the licensee I of the Criterion Hotel, .Akaroa. who "was ; charged with selling liquor to deceased while j intoxicated, and with allowing him to rej main on his licensed premises while intoxicated. Evident was given for the prosecution to the effect that Curry was drunk throughout the afternoon. After being rei fused drink at the Bruce Hotel, deceased, ■ with a friend, went to the Criterion Hotel. ] where -lie was served with Ihre-e glasses of j beer. While there he was under the inj fluence of drink, and was unable to fill his i p^pe or light it. The defendant was con*j vieted, and fined £5 and costs, and the J license endorsed. j Stowaways sometimes have very unl nleaeant experiences. There was one on J board the mail steamer Ventura, which left j Auckland for San Francisco' on Friday last. j Bfis presence was discovered on board the | sieamer shortly after she had rounded the I North Head, and Cautain C. F. Herriman immediately stopped the vessel and sent the j stowaway ashore at Rangiioto. The man , was picked up from the island next morning I '■•■<- the Harbour Board's big dredge. He j stated that he was left on the island with j nothing to eat or drink, and that he tramped about throughout the night, suffer- ( ing terribly from exposure and want of food and drink. He searched incessantly, but failed to find water. The dredge, having noticed the steamer stop in the vicinity jlhe I previous day, went next morning to asccr- ! tain the cause, and observed the stowaway j making signals with a handkerchief.