OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Orchards suffered severely by a heavy gale which blew in the Auckland district on Wednesday week. _ In many instances trees were stripped completely of their, fruit. j The question of whether the military is liable for prosecution for being oh licensed j premises during prohibited hours is likely } to be brought before the magistrate at i Eketahuna. ) When the Mayor of New Plymouth went j round- the town to secure guarantees for the .exhibition he jjot signatures ior £2000 in two days, and there were only two refusals to subscribe. • Growers of cherries in Christchurch and suburbs report that small birds are unusually , plentiful, this year, and the crop is suffering. In. spite of the lateness of the season, the crop is a good one. -« The Westport police did not find it necessary to make - a single arrest during the Christmas holidays. There has been very little drunkenness, , and visitors of bad ; character have bee-n, scarce. j A' man named Campbell, while drunk, ,j staggered out of a Collingwood (Victoria)/; hotel on December 26 and fell on his head. I He was removed to the hospital, and died froni concussion of the brain. - The fund' started in Nelson with the object of raising sufficient money to build a hospital for consumptives has reached a total of about £500, and further money is expected from thG out districts. It is understood that the survey of the , subdivision of the Flaxbourne Estate has ' been completed, and that the estate should be open -for selection under the Lands for Settlement Act in March or April next. It is expected that the survey of the proposed Culverden-Hanmer railway will be . completed in a fortnight. The surveyors are at present engaged on the site of the proposed railway station yards at Hanmer. A live lizard has been found at Kokomo, Indiana, encased in solid rock. .To all appearance it was hermetically^ sealed from light, air, warmth, and the moisture, and is believed to be many thousands of years old.' There is considered to be a fair prosp&ct of refloating the barque Kinclune, stranded south of Kaipara. The hull is practically undamaged, and all the gear, except tho lower masts, have been sent down. Further salvage operations are now awaiting fair weather. ■ A young man named O'Neil who was wanted in connection with a, charge of incendiarism in the Woodville district, was arrested in the Waikato last week. It is reported that the police had a- good chase after the accused," but eventually he was captured in the swamp near Ohaupo. Mr F. W. Mansfield, registrar of electors, Wellington, has commenced his work of instructing registrars in other centres in his^ card' system of making up the electoral rolls. Mr Mansfield will first visit the different electorates in th© North Island, and is expected in Christchurch in February. It is not generally known tlunfc Port Arthur was named after Lieutenant-com-mander Arthur, of the British navy, who anchored his ship in the bay one day about 50 years ago. His -ship was the first foreign vessel that had ever visited that harbour, and the name was given in honour of the occasion. •Y'Thore is abundant evidence (says the Southland News) to prove that a large Maori camping ground existed at a late period in the vicinity of Otapiri Gorge. Many valuable relics have been unearthed thereabouts, and, one day last week, while harrowing, Mr A. Jamieson turned up a greenstone ear-ring, correct in shape, and measuring 2in by l£in. The nurses who went to Japan (says the New York Record) were received with courtesy, but the medical department of the Japanese army has been frightfully embarrassed by their attentions. Their inability to eat Japanese food, or to live in Japanese style has proved an almost complete bar to their usefulness. > A youth named George Marshall achieved an event not often attained — viz., eight years unbroken attendance at Sunday School, — attending the Roslyn Piesbyterian School, where, at the annual distribution of prizes on Sunday, 18th ult., he received an extra prize as a special mark of distinction on Jiis completing his eighth year of regular attendance.— Outlook. ' | A young man named Leonard Sutherland was struck by lightning: at Tinwald on Sun- , day at about 11.20 ana was rendered eemiunconscious. It appears be was^reaching for ' a can of milk through a wire fence, and in doing so he. held one of the wires for suppbfjfc Both his hands are considerably blackened by the electrical shock, but oth-er-W*& M, fes sustained no permanent; injury.

The Ashburton Guardian reports that some daring robberies were committed^ at Westerfield during or previous to Saturday night. Five bales of wool were taken from Westerfield railway station, three bales from another siding in the vicinity, and one bale from a shed belonging to a settler in the district. Tho branded bales were left behind, and empty bales taken to re-bale the wool. An old wooden storeroom in the occupation of Mes3rs Wesney 8r05.., Invercargill, was the scene of a fire on Saturday evening, and when the flames had been extinguished it was found that the contents^ piano, bicycle, school books, crockery, etc., had been totally destroyed. The damage is, estimated at £500, and goods and premises were insured. No reason can ba assigned for the outbreak. A resident of Ballarat has had an -unfortunate experience. He holds a good position in that town, but on December 20 he was arrested and taken to Efendigo on a charge of deserting his illegitimate child. The prosecutrix. on seeing -him,- however, at once declared that ho was not -the man wanted," although he bore the same name, and was strikingly like him. His immediate discharge was at once granted. Owing to some difficulty being expressed in getting contractors to insure their workmen, and realising that a local body is responsible for a contractor in the matter of insurance, the Gisborne County, Council ha.s decided to , take out an insurance of £5000 on contractors and workmen. Th© proportion to be paid by contractors is to be fixed by the clerk in accordance with the time and amount of the contract. A private cable message announces that Mr G. R. Haydon, # eldest son of Mr Joseph Haydon, of " Virginia Country," Canterbury, was accidentally drowned on Wednesday, at "La Virginia," Cardobu. in the Argentine Republic. Mr G. Haydon left New Zealand about six months ago to take up a property which his father bad-, bought at Alberdi, in the Argentine, and was married shortly before he departed from tho colony. There was a narrow escape from a shocking fatality at the Westport Exhibition on Boxing Night. A Volunteer was describing a Mauser rifle to visitors. "By some mearis he put in a loaded cartridge and accidentally fired the rifle. The bullet went through the crowded room, smashed a model, and buried itself in tEe wall 2in above the h&ad of Captairr- Irvine, who was sitting in a chair. Two or three people had a close shave. The ammunition was at once removed from the building. The Rev. Joseph King, the London Missionary Society's organising agent of Australasia, has received a cable message, informing him that the Papuan Industries Company (Limited) has been floated in London.' The managing director of the company in New Guinea and Torres Straits will be the Rev. F. W. Walker. While the first object of the company will be the permanent good of the natives rather than mere profitmaking, it is believed that a reasonable profit may be earned by a trading company working on "phristian principles. A singular occurrence is reported from Gisborne. Some men working in the ""bush near to one of the local creameries lit a fire the other day to boil their billy, and used for the cross-piece, from which to hang the billy, a rusty old musket barrel, which had been lying about in the vicinity for some time. Just as the water was nicely boiling, and the men were about to make tea, -Jhey weie startled by a loud explosion, a cartridge, which had been lodged in the barrel, having gone off, sending a shot through the wall of the creamery. Fortunately nobody was hvirt. The Mataura Ensign states that a fivevoomed cottage owned by Mrs J. M. Davidson, and occupied by Mr J. Henry, was, with its contents, completely destroyed by fire at Gore about 11 o'clock on Friday morning. Mrs Henry and her family were absent from home at the time, and when Mr Henry left the housa in the morning he banked the fire up carefully. It is assumed, however, that some of the embers threw out sparks which ignited the carpet. Mr Henry was unable to rescue any of his furniture or clothing, and as he was insured for only £50 his loss will probably amount to another £50. A man najned Charles Cleverly, 23 years of age, and a native of Oamaru, was on Tuesday charged with disorderly conduct, assaulting Constable Cassidy while in the execution of his duty, and using ob=cene language — all occurring at the Caledonian sports. The accused, who said lie did not remember anything about the incident, was fined £3, in default 14_ days' imprisonment, iqr resisting the polke^-s&d £5, ia default

on© month's nnprj£onm.ent, for assaulting Constable Cassidy; while for using obscene language he was sentenced to three months' hard labour in Dunedin Gaol, all" the sentences to be cumulative. A curious case ha 3 just been dealt with at the Goulburn Police Court, New South Wales. On arrival of the Cooma train four passengers were taken charge of by the ; police — three for travelling without having paid their fare, and the fourth for dninken- : ness. While one of the three way bains; questioned at the lock-up as to how much | money be had, he threw a bundle of note 3 1 on the counter, saying it was £6. The conj. stable found a £10 note amongst them. ! While this waYgoing on a constable brought ' .another man , in, who said he had been, robbed of £14- 'while travelling on the Cooma ; train. The outcome was that the first- ; named was charged with larceny, and., received a sentence of three months, rl Mr Bates, of the Meteorological Office at i the Museum, states that the raini fall during the past year in Wellington was \ considerably above the average for 40 years. ; (There were two very wet months. Th© ] ?ainfall for March was 9.94 in, and that for } October was exacdy 3in greater, and coti- • stitutexl a "record month's rainfall, for the i city. The mean annual rainfall up to 1904j was 50.75 in; last year's total was 60.41 in. The maximum annual fall was recorded in 1892, and amounted to 67.656 in, and the^ minimum, under 32in, was in 1889. In the month qf December i;ain ieR on 17 days, and the total rainfall was 5.38 in.i The mean for previous observations show that December is usually one of thci driest in the year. Last month the rainfall was 2in over the> •average, and the weather pn the whole rather unseasonable. The Btfblic Works Department has arranged for the, employment of 25 mere men. on the Waipara-Cheviot railway works with the object of pushing the line- as far as the -HuEunui with all possible speed: The number of competent labourers .^out of employment appears to be small, as considerable difficulty has been experienced, in securing men in the Canterbury district. When the men are obtained the total number engaged on the works will be about 160. -A burglary h stated to have taken place . in Christchurch between midnight on Monday and 4> o'clock on Tuesday morning. An entrance was effected by breaking a window, and as the family were absent the burglar proceeded to his work leisurely, and stopped halfway to partake of sonta wine ho found. The burglar is said, to have taken away plate and other valuables* of an estimated value of £200. A ooristablo passing- the house about a-quarter to 5 o'clock noticed two sacks on the verandah, and found a lot of miscellaneous goods in. them. •