OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

It is estimated that fully 1000 hands are .employed in the sawmilling and flaxmilling industries on the West Coast.

A company with a capital of £400 is about to bo started in Orepuki for the purpose of prospecting in the district. Tohungaism is stated on leliable authority to be in greater" repute among the Natives of the Huntlv district than ever.

Operations at che petroleum prospecting works in Taranalci are still being pushed on, and indications continue favourable.

The Royal Humane Society of New Zealand has made 36 awards for bravery during the present 3 T ear, as compared with 25 last year. The statue of Sir George Grey has been placed in position at Auckland, and the unveiling ceremony has been fixed for the 22nd inst.

A tailor in Auckland was fined £5 and costs taking orders for garments and having them made up at other than his own premises. It has been proposed amongst New Zealand footballers to laise a monument, by shilling subscriptions, in memory of the late T. R. Ellison.

At a meeting at Milton on Tuesday evening it was decided to hold an early settlers' picnic there on Wednesday, February 8, if that date is suitable.

The election commission of Kansas has passed a rule that women voters are not obliged io state their exact age, but must swear that they are at least 21 years. The model for the Grigg memorial, which is to be erected in Ashburton, is now ready, and will be inspected by the committee which has charge of the matter. Diphtheria is prevalent in Invercargill, and some severe cases are reported. On Friday the 12-year-old daughter of Mr John Crowther, contractor, succumbed to the disease.

The Clutha. Leader understands that the legal costs on the publicans' side in connection with the upsetting of the licensing poll and restoration of licenses in Bruce amcrant to about £1000.

The pipe organ for Chalmers Church, Timaru, towards the cost of whidh Mr Carnegie has provided a contribution of onehalf, is expected to arrive early next year, and to be opened in March.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 26th, 27£h, and 28th inst., and Monday and Tuesday, 2nd and 3rd January, 1905, will be ob=ei-vod as holidays in the public offices of the Government of New Zealand.

Splendid progress is being made with the work of erecting the new railway station in Gore. The framework is now in position, and gives a. fair idea of the large and handeome proportions of the new building.

The New Zealand Times states that the Premier has been informed that the Sparrow, which is to com© to New Zealand as a training ship, is now lying at Sydney, ready to sail, and will probably leave in a few days. Mr Kenvick, S.M., said at the Buller Licensing Committee meeting last week that he was not quite as satisfied as Dr M' Arthur, S.M., at Wellington, that there was no :i bona fide traveller " under the new Licensing Act. Thei-e are now 304-7 men engaged on co-opera-tive works in New Zealand. Of these, 1902 are on railway construction, and 114 on public buildings under the Public Works Department, and 1031 are engaged by the Eoads Department.

Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R., informs the Taran-aki Herald that a Melbourne firm, who have been experimenting with some success with Taranaki ironsand, have sent for a shipment of 100 tons of ore, which will be forwarded from New Plymouth. The Acting Chief Justice of Weefc Australia has recommended that John Behan, who is undergoing five years' imprisonment in connection with a safe robbery at the Governor Broome Hotel, be released, as there is considerable doubt whether he is guilty. On Saturday night, the Inveroa^gill police visited a local hotel after 10 p.m., and found one person on the premises who did not satisfactorily explain why he was there. A police court case will eventuate on Thursday, an information having been laid under section 42 of the new act.

A man named David Dyke, a notorious ■-.-^-^i 26 years of age, \rlio escaped from

prison while serving a long sentence for breaking into a warehouse, was recaptured at Adelaide recently. He was sentenced to be kept in irons for a year, with three months' separate confinement.

A Christchurch syndicate, which- has taken up the Ngakawau* coal area in the Buller district, is apparently well satisfied with the prospects before it. Last week ft lodged a.n application for a second block of land, a square mile in extent, on the north-west boundary of their present lease.

The police made a surprise visit to all hotels in and adjacent to Blenheim on Sunday, but found none except boarders on the premises. The experience ot the local police is that the clauses relating to Sunday' trading are being well observd by liensees, and so far have proved very satisfactory.

The date of the big "hui" to be held at Otaki in honour of the visit to New Zealand of the Hon. Huia Onslow, son of Lord and Lady Onslow, has been fixed for Boxing Day. The Premier and the Native Minister will attend the meeting and deliver speeches befitting the occasion. An unprecedented position has arisen in connection with tho Wanganui Education Board scholarships. Every candidate who qualified will receive a scholarship, while there is £160 of the money available which cannot be utilised. Of 32 candidates for junior scholarships, only four qualified. The inspector o f the- Wellington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals now appears in a distinctive black uniform, much similar to that worn by police inspectors, with the name " Inspector " worked on the collar. Mr Seed is stated to be the first person occupying such a position in New Zealand to wear a uniform.

The competing bands have chosen Mr Sidney Wolf to be judge at the band contest to be held at Oamaru at New Year.

The Premier received a cablegram from London on Friday stating that the Natal loan had failed. One and a-half per cent, was taken up by the Sinking Fund Commissioners and the rest by the underwriters.

The Waimate, Times understands that if matters shape themselves favourably there is to be an effort made to erect a consumptive sanatorium in the local borough. The piece of land at present in view is a section of about nine acres situated on the Mill road, and commonly known as ''Hayes' Plantation."

Mr Leslie Reynolds, C.E., has now formulated a scheme, or, rather, has drawn up four different proposals for <a modified drainage system and water supply for Hokitika. These he will submit to the Borough Council early in January. The estimates for each proposal are different, and it is considered that from Mr Reynolds's plans a satisfactory scheme will yet be evolved.

The Education Department has a queer way of rewarding industry (says the Wanganui Chronicle). The Wanganui Education Board has been informed that if a teacher is employed at relieving w-cyk when his school is closed his salary will not be paid by Government. If the teacher enjoys the luxury of idleness the money will be paid.

Prohibition has now been in force in Mataura for almost 18 rnontlis, during which time the residents of the place have evidently been very temperate. A case of drunknness was brought before the court on Monday for the first time since the abolition of licenses. The accused, who was fined 10a for being drunk and for resisting the police, admitted having gone to Woodlauds an Friday for drink, and having sent for it on Saturday. A "spo*t" not many miles from Waverley went to a race meeting lately and had £1 on the winner of the last race, which paid £3. While going up for his money some friends asked him to get their " divs.". which he did. After paying them their money he put th*e £3 in his pocket and went home. About a week later he put on the same suit, and feeling in his pocket he pulled out the three notes, one of which he found was for £10.

At the Wanganui Police Court last week a man named Martin Malone was fined £10 for procuring liquor for a prohibited person named Kershaw. Defendant swore positively that ho did not give Kershaw drink, and the latter also denied having any. Constable Tssel declared he saw Malone hand Kershaw a bottle of beer and th 9 latter Ijfcfae a, drink therefrom. Jhe

magistrate said he believed the constable* evidence before that given for the defence. A a public meeting at Invercargill convened by the Southland Railway League the following resolution was carried unanimously:—" That this meeting views with extreme regret the continued inaction of the Government with regard to the longpromised survey of the route of the Seaward Bush extension from Waimahaka, and the delay in the fulfilment of the promise of the Minister of Public Works that the extension would be proceeded with with all possible despatch." At a meeting of the Southland Sawmill Workers' Union, held at Invercargill on Saturday evening, it was decided to congratulate the Premier on the passing of the Shope and Offices Act, which was regarded as an advance in the right direction, thonarh ! the timber industry was not affected by it. j Several members regretted that the operation of the act did not embrace Invercargill, andl it was stated that there were mercers in Invercargill who kept tTieir shops open till 9 o'clock on four nights in the week, and till 10.30 on Saturdays, which showed the necessity for pressure being brought to bear. ' A bush desperado, Gustave Wolff, who has been defying the Victorian police for five years, was arrested near Bairnsdale on December 3. Five years ago Wolff was wanted for infringement of the Game Act in regard to the killing of kangaroos. A constable rode out to his lonely camp in the wilds of Tabberabbera, and informed him of his mission. Wolff grabbed his rifle, and was on the point of shooting the constable when the latter closed with ~him, and succeeded, after a fierce struggle, in wresting the weapon from his clutches; but the man disappeared into the bush. He had remained securely in hiding ever since. | Mr Job Osborne has just completed the sinking of a well to supply water for the boiler and condenser of the Atlas flourmill at Timaru. Two bores were put down. The first was sunk to a depth of 4-84-ft in the hope of obtaining an artesian supply, but this reached hard rock without the hope being realised. Water rises in the pipe to about 2£ft above ground level, but it " provides a very small stream at lower levels. The second bore was put down to 81ft only into a gravel stratum beneath the dolerite rock, and this gives a good supply by pumping. The water rises to about 16ft below the surface, and it is evidently a free percolation, as the level is slightly affected oy the tide. Tamate Kapua, the great meeting-house of the Maoris at Ohmemutu, has been undergoing extensive repairs and renovation for many months past, and is now about completed (says the Hot Lakes Chronicle). The chiefs of the Rotorua tribes have held one or two informal meetings lately with the view of considering what arrangements should be made for the reopening of Tamate Kapua, and the advisability of inviting his Excellency the Governor to perform the opening ceremony has been discussed. As Lord Plunket visits Rotorua officially next month, the opening will probably be fixed to take place then. Thei Tamate Kapua is named after a great ancestor of the Arawa tribe, and is said to contain some of the oldest historical carvings of ' the Maori race. Wjhat has been described as a wave of prosperity is passing over Colao" Bay. There are no empty houses, and at present not enough houses to nieet the demand. Several additions are in course of progress, And improvements generally are being effected. The sawmills are making good time, while the hum of the flaxmill is heard from early morn till late at s night. At Pukititiri recently an example 'of the freedom from red tape with which justice can be carried out practically beyond the reach of courts and S.M.s was in evidence. In the evening it was found that a 'swagger had called at a roadman's whare, and loft, taking with him the owner's best suit. With the aid of the newly-erected telephone the absconder was seized by an irate brother roadman within two hours. He was arrayed in the " borrowed " suit. Promptly he was marched into the Pukititiri town square, in front of the local post office, and made to strip to his shirt. In this airy costume he left Pukititiri, but was later seen in his original suit, which he had, as events proved, wisely planted in the scrub.