LOOAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 25

LOOAL & GENERAL.

The Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Minister of Public Works, accompanied by Mr J. A. Millar, M.H.R., and Mr J. F. Arnold, »I.H'.R., on Wednesday morning paid a visit to Maori Hill, and there heard from the Mayor and councillors a statement of the borough's requirements. In the afterndßn the Minister was conducted over the Anderson's Bay tramway in a special car, and subsequently he went for a drive to Larnach's Castle and Portobello. To-day the Minister "will leave town, proceeding to Alexandra by the Otago Central railway route and' inspecting the works at Chatto Creek on his way. From Alexandra he , proceeds to Pembroke at Lak~e Wanaka, thence to LakeHawea and over to Omarama Station by, the Ahuriri River route, and so on to - Fairlie . and x .Mount Cook Hermitage. He has been unable to fix the Lawrence tour for this fweek, but in about a month he will pay a visit to Lawrence and go over the route of the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway, when, no doubt, matters in connection with the line will be brought under his notice by th& local railway leagues*. At Kaitangata on Wednesday, bebfore • Messrs F. T. Pools and W. Wilson, J.P.'s., 'William *, North was charged i. with stealing £3 19s 6d, the property 'of* David Coulter, pleading ,"N6t guilty." Inspector O'Brien appeared to prosecute, and accused was found guilty after evidence had been given by Coulter, by the paymaster of the Kaitangata mine, 1 and by Detective Connplly. The evidence •went to show that accused and Coulter were mates in the mine, and accused, as not unusual, drew his own and his mate's wages, r and, instead of handing those of the latter r over, left the locality suddenly, being subsequently arrested on the Christchurch express at Dunedin. Accused was fined £5 [ and ordered' 'to make of the j-moneyj -money taken, "or in default to go to prison 1 for a month*. Accused subsequently paid the fine., The Bench complimented the police on the .promptitude sho.wn in effecting the arrest. The State Fire. Insurance Department commenced ' business in the four^chief centres "of Jthe colony on Wednesday/' 'Mr G. J. G. .Smart, manager for. Otago and Southland, has secured offices in the Stock^Exchange , Building, and was in attendance there on Wednesday to transact business. It is the intention of the department to make a considerable reduction in the rates at prej sent charged. A feature of the business is that the net surplus-profit will, every three years, be divided, half going to the reservo ! fund and the other half to actual insurers. : who are thus in a manner shareholders in the business. The business will be carried on under the supervision of a board, which will includa the Colonial Treasurer, the Government Insurance Commissioner, two competent persons to be appointed by the Governor, and, ex-officio, the general manager (Mr J. W. Brindley). Mr Smart has been greatly pleased by the* reoept-oa given to him by the local managers ol> various insurance companies. Local agents | are being appointed throughout Otago, and on Monday Mr Smart goes to Invercargill ! to establish a branch there. I^Jlfos' The District Health Officer considers that a case of diphtheria in Duuedin been tx-aced almost with certainty to infection : carried by a Christmas card sent from a ; locality in Invercargill where the disease ;s | prevailing. There 1 is at ( present a consider,S able number of- cases of diphtheria reported ! from a . comparatively small area of {hat ; town "Mr A. L. Herdman, M.H.R. for Mount Ida, has now completed his tour of the electorate. He, addressed 12 meetings in different parts of the district, at all of which he was given an attentive hearing, ancT accorded thanks for his remarks. Mr Herdman desires us to explain that, although he received no notification from the Premier of the right honourable gentleman's recent visit to Naseby, he did receive an intimation from the Hon. W. Hall-Jones, Minister of Publio Works, of the intended official opening of the Omakau section. Mr Herdman, who came on to Dunedin on Thursday evening, left on« Friday for the north. Our Cromwell correspondent reports that William Hutchinson, who was charged with wounding with intent a man named Denis at Cromwell, has been further remanded for eight days and admitted to bail, himself in £50 and two sureties of £25 each. Mr Hutton appeared for the defendant. M* James Horn, J.P., was the presiding justice. One of the consequences of the extraordinary high wind and a high tide at Waikcuaiti on Thursday was the flooding of the local racecourse, which presented an extraordinary appearance, and' appeared to be more suited to the sailing of the model yacht fleet which at times graces Lake Logan than for racing purposes. It is only on very rare occasions that the inrush from the sea is of such magnitude as to flood the racecourse, although what is known as the lagoon has frequently been converted from ' dry land into a sheet of water when abnormally high tides prevailed. A lot of money i has been, sp_ent in; efforts tft draiji the jg-

serve, and, after some experiments had been tried without success, a windmill was even- ' tually procured, since which time the state of things has been much better than formerly. The annual me-eting of the Kauri Timber Company was held in Melbourne recently/; In his address to the shareholders, Ivtr Sha-rp, chairman of directors, said the company was able to show a profit of £31,000, which must be regarded as satisfactory considering the quiet state of business generally throughout the "Commonwealth, which had affected the volume of business done by the company. The alteration in the position of the cash assets was accounted for by the fact that during the year ending August 31, 1903, owing to unfavourable seasons, bush operations were much interfered with, and supplies of logs to the mills greatly curtailed, resulting in bringing down the stocks of sawn timber to a very low point. This year the surplus money had been applied to bringing the stocks of both logs and sawn timber to a normal condition. In concluding, the Chairman stated that the shareholders had good reason to be satisfied with the manner in which the business of the company had been conducted, notwithstanding the scattered character of the operations. \ ,-Mr J. W. Hopkins, the only white resident on the island of Santa Cruz, arrived in Sydney a few days ago. Mr Hopkins desoribes Santa Cruz as a paradise in point of climate and vegetation. The mean temperature is 78deg, and it is seldom that the mercury goes much higher or lovyer. The island is the mostf prolific in the South Seas for foodstuffs, and is the only island Mr Hopkins has visited during a 14 years' experience 'that will yield these crops all the year round. The male natives do not work, the women being the "food-finders."' The aborigines are an intelligent people, but Mr Hopkins's experience of them for the first couple of years was not too pleasant. The natives, he says, will not brook offence, but will immediately reply with a shower of arrows. Mr Hopkins 'says - that the rainfall is something enormous, a downpour occurring every 24- hours. Santa Cruz is 500 miles east of the Solomons, and is under the protectorate of Great Britain. Planting is very profitable there, but capital is required. During the past five years only two vessels outside the regular mail steamers have called at the island. One of the ' most novel unions extant is that of renters, recently formed in Chicago. In organising to protect their rights, tenants (writes the American correspondent of the Age) are merely .following in the footsteps of factory workers, associated employers, and organised property-owners. The landlords of -Chicago are charged with conspiring with one another to maintain rents at exorbitant heights, one method being to practically refuse to accept a tenant who desires to move for the purpose of reducing his rent charges. It is an object of the Tenants' Union to expose such conspiracies. By co-operating with labour unions, it is proposed to prevent deliveries of coal and provisions to the apartments of renters who persist in living ujKm premises where alleged exorbitant rates are charged. ULher objects of the new union are to furnish legal advice to members and defend them in litigation for their rights; to promote agitation for civic improvements, such as abolishing signboards and other eyesores, for which landlords receive rent, and to enforce landlords to live up to their leases, supply heat, and make promised improvements. There would appear to be a rod in pickle for the landlords of Chicago. Sir J. G. Ward, Minister of Railways, arrived in Dunedin on Friday from Invercargill. On Thursday Sir Joseph paid a visit to Stewart Island, and subsequently officially opened the new railway station at the Bluff. The honourable gentleman proceeded north by the express on Saturday, going on to Welington by the steamer in the evening. .Ministers will assemble in Wellington probably at the end' of, this Tveek, when a meeting of the Cabinet will be held. It i& safe to say that one of the questions that will com© up for consideration will be the appointment of the members of the Lands Commission. A peculiar position in connection with 'the clause in the Counties Act providing against any councillor speaking or voting on any subject in which lie was personally concerned otherwise tha-n his interest as a ratepayer of the county cropped up at the Taieri County Council meeting on Friday, when Cr Samson moved that all persons having gates or other obstructions across any of the county roads should receive notice to at once remove such obstruction. It turned out that there were no less than 210 gates across road lines in the county, and one-half the members of the council, including the chairman, were interested. This left but a bare quorum to deal with the matter, and the motion was not seconded. Cr Samson intimated his intention of moving the Supreme Court in the matter, as he held that in the case of most of the obstructions the proper legal permission had not been obtained. The Taieri County Council, at a special meeting on Friday, decided, according to the Shops and Offices Act, to fix Thursday as the day on which the half-holiday should be observed in the county. Chatting over recent events in South Africa with Mr James Christie, who returned from Pretoria last week, the question of Chinese indentured labour on the Rand cropped up (says the Balclutha Free Press). Mr Christie is of opinion that the experiment will prove a very expensive one, and is not likely, he thinks, to be carried to its origiiutllj-devised conclusion. Of t!U&. BOJ3QQ

coolies who were to be on the Rand by the end of the last year only about 20,000 have arrived. The question of feeding the Chinese is a very heavy one, practically all their food having to be imported from China. As compared with the cost of feeding native labour, which subsists principally on the locally-grown mealie, the imported article is very heavy. The recruiting of native labour is now going on briskly, as Mr Christie is of opinion it might have done all along had it been seriously desired. The Bruce Herald understands that the Milton Potteries will be re-started at an early date, Mr Johnston, lat& foreman, having secured a lease of the works from' Mr H. B. Black. Great hopes are entertained of the works being a success, as Mr Johnston has had a large colonial experience of the industry, and also acted as manager for a number of years to the firm of James Stiff and Sons, Lambeth, London. It is understood that Mr # A. Wilson is associated with Mr Johnston in the venture. A veritable plague-spot (says the Wanga- ' nui Herald) appears to exist in the shanties on the sandhills near the cemetery, where a number of okl vagabonds are drinking themselves into delirium tremens. These worthies do no work, and how they live at ; all is a mystery. No less than seven of ; them are old-age pensioners, and their , companions spend most of their time ] sponging on them and inducing them to waste their pensions in liquor. Only last night one of the police found it necessary to go over and hunt one of these latter out j and put out the lamp in one of the huts, as ho was fearful of the occupants being : burnt to death, such was their drunken j condition. The shanties are indescribably ! dirty, and the whole locality is a disgrace to the town. Two of these- precious rogues were before the magistrate this morning, j one getting three months' hard labour and j the other being remanded for medical treat- • ment. The latter was in 'a shocking state, ' and his whole frame was shaking from the j effects of drink — so much so that he was | quite unable to sign his evidence, and had j to make a cross. It is to be hoped the ] police will lose no time in clearing out this i nest of vagabonds. It' is stated that Mr It. B. Cunningham Graham is about to claim the earldom of Monteith. It is difficult to beli&v© (writes a London correspondent) that one who has been ranked among the Socialists, who -has had his head beaten by the police^ for addressing a proclaimed meeting in Trafal- ! gar square, and who has suffered imprison- j ment for defiance of the law, should 'aspire j to enter the peerage. No man has a greater dislike to show and public functions than ' 'Mr Graham. When he was a member of ] Parliament he. complained that life in the ', Commons was most tedious ; what , will he ! find it to be in the House of Peers? Mr ; Graham is one of the handsomest, most kindly, and generous men in England. He has been a great traveller, and his. wanderings in Morocco, when he endeavoured to reach the mysterious city of Tarudant; almost cost him his life. He has been led to claim the dormant earldom of Mont&i,th as head of the Grahams of Gartmore, and because the title is also being claimed by Mr Barclay-'Allardice, the Mayor of Lostw^thiel. The title was last borne by the- " beggar-earl," a medical student in Edinburgh in 1744, who was found starved to death by the roadside near Bonhill. The Earls of Monteith claimed descent from ■ David, first Earl of Stratherne, who was a descendant of Robert II of Scotland. If such is the case, it is quite cle-ar that Mr

1 Cunningham Graham has a higher claim than any other descendant of James I to the throno of England ! A return of the city tramway traffic for the holidays shoMs that on Saturday. 3156 December (New Year's Eve), the number cf passengers carried was 37,194, and the receipts were £211 Is lOd ; on Sunday (New. Year's Day), 11,803 passengers, and £71 7s ■2d in fares ; Monday, 35,667 passengers, and £219 11s lid in fares; Tuesday, 28,799 passengers, and £165 Is 6£d in fares ; while Wednesday's receipts (the number of passengers is not available) were £169 5s lld r or a total of 113,463 passengers carried in four days, and £837 8s 4^d taken in fare 3 on five -days. The returns for the three days preceding" the New Year festival ara also interesting. On Wednesday 30,854passengers were carried, and the fare 3 amounted to £177 lls 6d ; on Thursday, 31,510 passengers, and £188 lls lOd in fares; and on Friday, 30,159 passeng-ers, returning £171 17s 3^d iv fares, making a grand ] total for seven days' traffic from WednesJ day, 28th December, to Tuesday, 3rd January, of 206,956 passengers, and (reckoning in eight days' receipts) £1375 9s in fares. Add to this the receipts of the Christmas season, the total stands at 327,391 passen gers, returning £2062 9s in fares. ; The number .of patients in . Dunedia. i Hospital at the end of -last week was 105; | the number, admitted during -the week t>ejug '28 and the number discharged 10. Two deaths occurred during the period — viz., Jane Thomas and William Hodgson. Bishop Clarke, of Melbourne, preached in St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday morning. With the view of emphasising the importance of faith in God, the right rev. gentleman showed that, as unbelief prevented ih<> Almighty Saviour's ''first disciples from, healing a diseased person whose evil spirit I was cast out by Jesus Christ, so many I philanthropists failed in their efforts to ! suppress sin and suffering because they did ; not see that Gcd's work must be done in. I God's way. In great cities there was rejoiei ing because splendid streets were built on j sites which had represented sin and suffeu1 ing, but little good resulted therefrom unless the spirit of " evil was expelled from the hearts of the citizens. Faith should ba increased. Before special gifts of healing j were bestowed the Saviour showed that prayer \and fasting must be exercised./ Thethree disciples who saw the Saviour's, glory "'in 'His ' transfiguration^ also - witnessed """His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. The preacher, who possesses a clear, sympathetic _voioe, fully described the notable picture of i " The Transfiguration " in the Vatican i library at Borne. ! The remains of the lato Mr 'Bendix 1 Hallenstein were conveyed to their last .restI ing-place, the Jewish portion of the ' Southern Cemetery, on Sunday, the rabbi,. I the R&r. A. T. Chodowski, officiating at .be grave. The funeral was attended by the relatives of the deceased," a very large number of the Jewish community in Dunedin, and *he heads of the departments of the various businesses with which Mr Hallenstein had been connected. While on his visit to Stewarfcslsland lastveek Sir Joseph Ward received deputations on various subjects in respect to votes on last parliamentary session's Estimates andr various local requirements. One of shemost important (says the Southland News) was the question of land tenure.' In regard to this the -chairman of the local County Council (Mr A. W. Traill) explained that the island is, at present, deemed to be a goldfields area, and that, in- consequence,

had can - only bo taken up under goldields' leases. "What was desired was ability to take up an occupation lease with right i>f purchase as an inducement to people to erect good residences and make -improvements of a 'permanent nature. Sir Joseph, In reply, said ho would be glad to have the matter brought up for consideration. A. Royal Commission would, he informed the .deputation, shortly be sitting to go into the whole matter of land tenures in tho colony,- and he would undertake that the ease of Stewart Island should be brought before it. To another deputation of local residents, who stated that the principal want of the island .was better communication with the Bluff, and expressed a hope that an improved steam service might be Established through the agency of the . Tourist Department, Sir Joseph replied that lie could hold out no hope of that being cjoner— It was purely a matter to be undertaken by private enterprise, and, when any such proposition as that came forward, there would arise for consideration the question of the Government subsidising the jier-vice. ' ■ "The '"following statistics bearing on the Chinese element in New Zealand are interesting. In 1881, when a poll tax -was first imposed, there were 5004' Chinese in .the colony, and the number gradually dropped io_3?il in 1896/ The numbers in New Zea- 1 land on December 31 of the -years 1898, 1899; 1900,-1901, 1902, and 1903 were respectively 3464, 3263, 3077, 2846, 2792, and 2800. The following figures show the arrivals during 1898, 1899, 1900,-1901, 1902, and 1903: 28, 26, 27, 75, 69, and 132. The arrivals during, the first 11 months of 1904 were 199, -which indicate thaf'the colony .is becoming increasingly popular in China. From August 5 to .December 14 no -fevrer-than 102 Chines* arrived in Wellington, of whom 67 paid the poll tax, _ the remaining 35 being on a return visit. Considering (says} the Lyttel- t ton Times) that the Chinese cheerfully parts* with his £100 as his price o£ New .Zealaad. soil, he is evidently of opinion that the colony will prove a- ,gold mine to him. The Patea Press states that by the last San Francisco .mail Mr Rutherford, i>f ;Wav«rley, received a letter from his brother, Professor Jlutherford, in~ which ho stated lie had accepted an invitation from the Yale University to deliver the JKUerman lectures. These* consist of 13 "lectures, -which are subsequently published in hook -form. A salary, of 2500d0l is attached to the position. 'The lectures hays to- be given in April and May, and in consequence Rutherford has postponed' bis "visit to New Zealand, _^ It is reported (says the Western Star) that »' man took the, preliminary steps..to breaking" into the Orepuki railway and post offices on New Year's Eve, but owing to the smartness of the local constable bis little plot was nipped" in the "bud. It' appears that duplicates" of the keys of the safe's _and drawers are kept by the s chief clerk as well as tho stationmaster. The former resides 'in a small cottage, ajid i-e- ' tired to rest as usual, the keys being safely in- 'his possession. In the morning he missed the keys and also a cheque took. Apprehensive of robbery, he immediately! informed -the stationmaster and the police. The former r lost no time in changing all the locks, a timely action that would have ■foiled the would-be burgler had ,he been • given a chance. to try his- -'prentice hand .at "the .art of "Bill -Sykesj which; howeyor, the alertness of the police prevented him from doing. -On receipt at information, < Constable Ferguson, got on the warpath, and, as "a result" of his search, he found ' an individual- calmly sleeping off .the effects of his previous night's enjoyment. Protruding from his pocket was the* identical cheque book that was missing, and the possesion of this led to the sleeper's arrest. He was "taken to" the lock-up, .and thus -the, officials were relieved- from all . f urfc'iar ] . *nxiety. ! The successful operation of the_ wireless, telegraph system in- Hawaii may result' (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) -in the appli- ' cation of the wireless, principle in securingeo^nmunTcation between the islands' of the ■' , South Seas,- whick r are operated extensively^ by the Pacifio' Islands Phosphate Company. ■While that company's chartered steamer v singer was at Honolulu recently, Mr Afun- - del," representing the company, made careful - inquiry into—- the -working of the Hawaii ; 6ystem, and will submit Ms recommendations to the Home offices of -the company. According to a Honolulu paper, Mr Arundel jwent out with the manager, Mr 'Cross, to Barber's Point, and saw how the sending and taking of messages over a distance of more than 200 miles was done withoiit a kitch. In the group of islands which the company wishes to connect by wireless telegraphy the_greatest distances are le«s 1 than 200 mile 3. However, Mr Arundel ' ta 7 ked ambitiously of connecting the phosphate islands with the Fiji group, reaching th-o cable. . This distance is over 1000 miles, and would require a powerful plant for the sending of wireless messages. - By the completion at .Queeßstown (Ireland) on November 1 of the laying of ' a submerged main, at a depth of 86ft, across the channel in Cork Harbour which se-pa-rltes Queenstown .frojn the Government, island of Haulbowline, a record in hydraulic engineering has been established. In no part of the world, ' it is stated, have pipes been laid at suih a depth, for a similar purpose". The work was canriad out for the Queenstown Urban District Council, which undertook, at the request of the A-dmiralty, to give an ample supply of pure water to the naval dockyard of Haulbowline, where upwards of 500 men are emnkured. When the engineers first desismed

Ihe work it was thought by experts to b© impracticable owing to the great depth of water in the channel, and because of the exceedingly irregular nature of the botrora, which chiefly consisted of hard, jagged limestone rocks. The submerged main i* about 2000 ft in length, and consists of specially oast 6in internal diameter ball and socket jointed pipes. In one of the New York papers a short .time since an advertisement appeared setting forth that a young French nobleman was anxious to make the acquaintance rf 9, rich and beautiful American girl with a -view to marriage. It added that on a certain day he would, at 10 in the morning, take up a' position near Grant's Tomb, wearing a bunch of violets in his buttonhole. Any lady who was disposed to take pity on his loneliness was requested to meet him there, and to wear a similar nosegay that they might recognise each other. At the appointed hour more than' 50 women, of varied ages and conditions, put in an appearance, much to the surprise of the custodian of the monument. But the young nobleman- did not turn up. As subsequently appeared, there was an excellent reason .for "this. The advertisement had been inserted "by a photographer, who wished to obtain a novel subject for the cinematograph." And now (adds the Manchester Guardian, which, tells the story), the American music halls> are. tumbling over each other to obtain such & "cure draw" in the way of " turns." The result of the vote of shopkeepers in Oamaru on the question of Thursday or "Saturday half-holiday is not very conclusive, as the figures .here mentioned will show: — One hundred and six voting papers •were sent out, and 61 only returned, of which 40 are in favour of Thursday and 21 in favour of Saturday. It may be quite lair io assume (says the Oamaru Mail) that 'those tradesmen- who have not recorded .their votes .are indifferent about the day to be kept as -half-holiday. In view of the forthcoming general election those members of .Parliament "who have been onore closely identified with the land movement intend during the present recess to visit a nambet of country districts and towns which they were unable to reach last recess. They hope to put before the public the absolute necessity of stopping the sale of any more of the Crown freehold or of granting any more 999 .years' leases " without a revaluation clause. They also propose to continue their agitation in favour of an increase of taxation on the large estates. Further-,' they hope to rouse the Labour party to the paramount importance of the land question, on the solution of which, they contend, depends almost all -future social progress. It will be remembered that last recess Mr Fowlds, Mr Laurenson, and Mr Taylor, M.H.R.'s, addressed meetings in different parts of the country, and this year these gentlemen will -Tie reinforced by a number of other members, among whom are Messrs Bedford, Eli; and Hogg. - 1 The concrete work at the Lee Stream tunnel is progressing. T?he concrete is composed of schist rook, obtained from the Lee Stream, mixed with sand from the Taieri River, and Portland cement. The Government. Fire Insurance Office was opened for .business in Dunedin on the 4th inst., and since that date the number of proposals and risks offered .and accepted has exceeded the expectations of the management. Mr Smart, the local manager, -left on Tuesday for Invercargill to appoint .agents for the Southland district, and next week he will visit Gentral Otago with the same object. The management of the Union Steam Ship Company requests us to state that there is no -foundation for the rumour that the company had been negotiating with the .Commonwealth line "with a view to stop the cutting ,of -freights between -Calcutta and New Zealand ports. In connection with the Union Steam Ship Qompany's annual steamer -excursion trip to the West Coast Sounds, the local agent -of the -Government Tourist Office has arranged-to issue track coupons to those of the Waikare's' passengers who intend making the return trip overland -from Milford Sound. This will enable the necessary arrangement to be made for the steamers and coaches to bring tourists from the Te Anau Lake. There has been for some time more litigation conducted .each, year at the Wellington .Magistrate's Court than at any other court in the colony. Last, year there were no less than 4042 plaints entered, being about 1000 more than either Auckland or Christchurch, and about 2000 more than Dunedin. Wellington, by reason of its central position and the large amount of shipping done at the port, also exceeds any other centre in criminal work. The court records show that there were 4845 cases dealt with during the year. The civil returns for the quarter ended 31st December, 1904, show that the amount sued for was £12,008 14s sd, and the amount recovered £5936 17s 6d. The number of plaints' entered was 964, distress warrants issued 182, judgment summonses 102, orders on judgment summonses 19, warrants of committals 3, and writs on orders 1. The total revenue derived from civil court fees .amounted to £574 11s. A stacking machine that is likely to meet with favour among warehousemen and others has been introduced to Dunedin by Messrs Sargood, Son, and Bwen, who are the sole agents. ■ for the patent in New Zealand. An exhibition of its powers was given in -the firm's bulk store on the reclaimed laud yesterday afternoon in the presence of a number of business people. It can elevate cases and bales weighing from

3001b to 10001b any height from 9ft 6in to 12ft, and whereas under circumstances five men would be required, only two are needed when the aid of this machine is invoked. The patent, which is built of structural steel, oecupving a floor space of 3ft by 4ft 6in, is really an elevating portable truck, and it is claimed for it that by a simple contrivance it can raise 5001b about 30ft in one minute. Another result achieved is that space is .economised f»y allowing goods !to be piled high. Everybody who inspected ! the machine on Monday was well pleased with its working. The accumulated funds of the railway superannuation fund now amount to £60,000. The amount now being paid out per annum as superannuation is £16,000. A Suva oable states that no serious . damage is reported from the cyclone. | Lsvuka escaped. The banana plantations were damaged. The Yarella was repaired, and has arrived at Levuka. The Pilburra has also arrived. There have been persistent rumours in circulation in Christchurch recently that a compromise had been arrived at in the Seddon v. Taylor case. Mr T. E. Taylor, M.H.R., gave a representative of the Press to understand on Saturday that the rumour was inoorrect. As the result of a visit to Australia, Mr Basil Seth-Smith -shipped on Saturday, through Messrs Todd and Douglass, per e.s. Wimmera to Melbourne, a very fine line of 100 Shropshire flock rams. They were avery even lot of two-tooths, and should give good satisfaction to the purchasers. The president of the Canterbury Branch of the" Navy League (Mr W. D. Meares) recently wrote to his Excellency "Vice-admiral Sir Arthur Fanshawe, X.C.8., Commander- | in-Chief of the Australian station, offering I for his Excellency's acceptance the challenge S shield to be presented to the Australasian squadron by the ladies' section of the branch. A reply has been received to the effect that Vice-admiral Fanshawe will be very pleased to accept, on behalf of the squadron, the offer to present a challenge shield in connection with the. annual j gunnery practice of the squadron. There is already a challenge shield for the squadron rifle practice, but not for heavy gun firing, though the latter is of far- greater importance. The TCuryalus will be at Lyttelton about February 15, and will be remaining some four or five days, and ! arrangements will possibly be made for presenting the challenge shield then. It is understood .that the Orokonui Home, which has 'been utilised "for the past three years as an institution for the treatment of inebriates, is now being transformed into an additional hospital for -mental diseases, to be worked °in conjunction with the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. The Hot Lakes Chronicle states that the water in Lake Rotomahana at the- present time is very .high, so much so that the boatshed placed there by the Tourist Depart--me~nt has not been available, owing to the inroad of the water. The break that is causing Lake Tarawera to empty itself into the river was no doubt caused by the height of the- water in that lake, and it is rather a significant fact that at present the water in Lake Taupo is higher than it. has been known to have been for 30 years. The secretary of the New Zealand Chess Association Jias (says the Christchurch Press) received a letter from a prominent member of the Melbourne Chess Club, asking if it would be possible for the New Zealand Association to arrange, in conjunction with the Australian colonies, for the visit of a well-known English chess player for a 20 weeks' tour of the colonies, this colony's portion of the expenses to be about £50 or £60. The matter was discussed at a meeting held on Thursday evening, and it was considered that there would be no difficulty in raising the sum required. Should the tour be arranged, an itinerary -will he drawn up for .the colony, and visits will be made to centres which subscribe the necessary apportionment of the sum required. It was current talk in insurance circles in Christehuirch on Saturday (says the Lyttelton Times) that the State Fire Insurance Department was offering jbo take fire risks at premiums which were 10 per cent. below those offering by the companies acting under the tariff wiich was universally agreed to at a conference of all companies some years ago. A Lyttelton Times representative who saw ' Mr J. R. G. Wilkinson, the manager of the department in Christchurch, was informed that the rumour was quite correct, and that the charges made by tit© department upon all ordinary risks were based upon a -tariff that was 10 per cent, below that ruling elsewhere. Mr Wilkinson added that the department was proving most successful in 'Christchurch, and was making steady progress. j In the course of a letter written by a New Zealander in Durban to a gentleman in Christchuroh, the writer says: — "We have had a long period of depression^ but the veil is lifting, and people are becoming more optimistic over the future. Lace Diamonds, which were 15s 6d a few months ago, are now selling at 60s. . . . Huge buildings are going up in all directions in Durban, in spite- of the commercial bad times. The harbour is being improved and developed in various ways. The steamer JEverton Grange came in last midnight, drawing 27ft, which is a record crossing of the bar. A big scheme for the ex-

tension of the wharves was submitted to the Government some time ago by the consulting engineers, Sir Wolfe Barry and Sir Charles Hartley, of English fame. As tho cour.-e decided on by the Natal Government ignored an essential part of the scheme proposed by~ithese eminent men, they have resigned their positions as consulting engineers to the Natal Government, and the latter takes upon itself to carry out a plan opposed to the opinion expressed by the exports. But that is the way things are done here by men who hardly know the difference between a ship's manifest and her rudder!" Hote Tamehana, eldest son of the onetime celebrated Maori chief Wiremu Tanaehana (William Thompson)— the principal leader in the Maori King movement over 40 years ago, — died lately in the Waikato. Hote, who belonged to the Ngatihaua tribe, was a rather fiery character in his day. He fought in the Taranaki war when a yovith, and afterwards in the Waikato war, and was with his father when that patriotic chief, finally realising the hopelessness of resisting the pakeha, -submitted to General Carey at Tamahere, near the present town of Hamilton, in 1865. Hote had a reputation as a warrior, and was noted as being skilled in the use of the-Native weapon the "taiaha." In 1884, at the time of the campaign in the Soudan, when a New South Wales contingent was sent to the «aat of war, he created some amusement in the Waikato by wiring to the New Zealand Government offering the services of. himself and the fighting men of the Ngatihaua tribe to help vanquish the enemies of Queen "Victoria. Hote's offer — which was * " reluctantly declined " — was, however, not seriously entertained by his tribe, who had no burning desire to go to foreign lands to fight for the Queen or anyone, else, and who, in fact, took the impulsive Hote severely to task for his excessive loyalty. His younger brother, Tana Taingakawa te Waharoa, is Mahuta's • chief henchman and adviser, and is styled the " Premier " of the Waikato Maori " kingdom."