Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

LOCAL & GENERAL.

In the ' course of a recent address at Adelaide, the Rev. C. Friend Hawkins informed the congregation that it .was in, contemplation to found a new Zion City in the ' Southern States of America. Mr Dowie, he stated, had had 1,000,000 acres %f land "offered to him for the purpose, with 23 miles of coastline, in the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico, at the low price of half a dollar an acre. It was quite possible, the preacher said, that Mr Dowie was now on his way to inspect the land, and thaf'he would close- with the offer. It was intended in the new Zion to produce all the raw material for -manufacture in the older city, and" Zionists proposed to grow their own cotton and other 'tropical products with the labour-. of. those adherents who preferred^ an open-air Jife to the work in the factories 1 and shops- of the present city. - The output from the mines of the West--port--Coal Company (Limited) 'for the mom of February was- 40,674 tons 2cwt.

The._ remedial measures taken at Mount

, Pisa in respect to the recurrence of typhoid ' there appear to have been effectual, for no further cases have been reported since Dr Ogston visited the district, the total number reported having been seven, none

of which has been, or is, it appears,

likely to prove fatal. Inspector Gladstone, of the Health Department, is at present

visiting Hawca in respect to a case of enteric there, which may or may not be connected irith the Mount Pisa outbreidt. A despondent Englishman called at the

Ohristchuroh Labour Bureau the other day

(says the Lyttelton Times). He had been - a farmer on British soil, he said, but matters had. not pi'ospered with him. Consequently he had made inquiries in London regarding the prospects in the colonies, and, relying on information given him .by the Agencygeneral for Western Australia, he had gone with his wife to that State. Failing fco settle himself there Jie had decided to try New Zealand, but by the time he reached Christchurch his resources were reduced to

ss. The officials at the bureau advised him

to take some work on the Midland railway. JEEe could take his wife with hinv--they said, " live in a tent, as other married people

did. "My wife would rather drown herself ~ than do that,'"' the gentleman farmer re-

plied,,, as he prepared to go forth again ! into the cold world. What is probably the first of this season's oats in Otago was received on the 28th ult. by the Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association in the shape of a very fine sample of Gartons, growr en Mr William Kirkland's Poplar Grove Estate, Middlemareh. Dr Ogston, district health officer, last week visited officially Mataura, Pukerau, and Gore. In the vicinity of Mataura Dr

Ogston .inspected and condemned a dwell-

ing of two rooms — one 6ft by Bft, and the othei^ 9ft by Bfr, — in which abede nine persons were living — namely, a mother and father, and seven children, the latter including four boys (two of them 16 years and 18 years of age respectively) and three girls (one of them aged 21 and another 14). The fathe." was making fair wages, and two of the boys and one of the girls were also understood to be earning wages, so poverty could not bo said to be the cause of so lamentable a state of things.

Reference was made m the annual report of the directors ot the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand to the fact that the Australasian Society continues to make awards for acts of bravery in this colony. The directors feel that the New Zealand Society has established a fair and just claim for exclusive control in the matter of making awards for life-saving in New Zealand. " When the Australasian Society, was established, ' they say, "the Royal Humane Society of England at once withdrew from Australasia, and left the work to the new iociety, and we naturally expect the came Bourtcsy to Le extended to u=-. New Zoafand is no tiart of the Commonw ealth of

Australia, and the Melbourne Society has no grounds for continuing its. operations in this colony."

Plans have been drawn by the Public Works Department, at the instigation of the Department of Industries and Commerce, for an obelisk that. is to be gilded and exhibited at- the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London, to represent the eolohy ! s total output of gold (16,626,1410z) from January 1, 1857, tc December 31, 1904. The obelisk will be 33ft high and" 7ft square at the base. Thi^ exhibit will be near the huge ton cheese that has been manufactured at the Wyndham Dairy Factory for the samp exhibition.

Messrs A. Morrison and Co. have just completed" a variety' of brasswork to be used ,in connection with the forthcoming fire brigades' demonstration,-. and the work reflects .the utmost credit on the firm. The plant manufactured by Messrs Morrison and Co. consists of four hydrants, -.three unions, three union pieces, v six branches, and 40 sets of couplings. The" firm, it may be mentioned, made the plant for the competitions held at Auckland, and also at Napier, so that this is the third time they have been entrusted with such work. Captain Mitchell has seen the latest work turned out by the firm, and expresses himself as highly pleased with it.

j A remarkable story is circulating inartietic circles in Copenhagen. Professor luxen, the celebrated Danish painter, returned from St. Petersburg, where he had been for the purpose of handing over to the Czar a copy of his large picture of the coronation of 1 King Edward, which had been ordered by i*his Imperial Majesty. The Czar gave to the 1 artist an order for the payment cf 12,000

roubles. When Professor Tuxen presented the order at the Chamberlain's office (says the Daily Telegraph's correspondent), an

official said,r "You know, we never pay the full amount of the Czar's orders." The

artist could not obtain more than 8000 roubles. Professor Tuxen had another audience of the Czar, who inquired whether he had received his money. Upon this direct question, Professor Tuxen related to his Imperial Majesty the whole story. The Czar — who, it is said, was vexed, but not surprised — gave the artist 4000 roubles ; this time in hard cash.

. At a recent meeting of the commission of experts appoin+ed by the German Government to investigate the relations between bovine and human tuberculosis bacilli (says the Scientific American), Dr Weber, one of the most eminent members of tLe commission, reported on the work already done.

Investigations so far show that bovine and human bacilli are absolutely distinct biologically. Th-e ' one never develops or changes into the ot-her. The commission

examine 1 the bodies of 56 persons who died

j from tuberculosis. In 50 oases only human ! bacilli could be discovered. In six cases

: the bovine bacilli were found. Three of I these cases were young children, ?rd the ' surmise is permissible that they received ] the bacilli from the milk of a diseased i cow. Two other cases which Dr Weber ; regards, as most important are those where ' the corpses showed bovine bacilli in the I glands and human bacilli in all other p°r- ' tions of the body <■ They were distract cases of double infection. Another most important case is one of lung tuberculosis, where in the diseased lung both bovine and j human bacilli were associated. The con- '• elusion of the commission, in general terms, ' is that tuberculosis in human beings is caused by the humau bacillus, but that it behoves us to be careful, and to use all prescribed measures to secure ourselves against infection from bovine bacillus.

A sensational development occurred in a

I case at the Metropolitan Quarter Sessions ' at Sydney the other day, and its ternima- ' tion was the committal to DarJiu *hurst ' Gaol for contempt of court of a girl named Josephine Kelly, about 16 or jl7 years of age. The troub'e arose I over the di^appjaiiUiLe of a uturot fiom tho

yard of a North Sydney resident, for which a youth, who engages in bottle-collecting, was arrested. At th© Police Court the girl

swore than she saw the boy take the bird, and it was mainly on her evidence that he was committed for trial at the higher court. The girl, who was, of course, the principal witness for the prosecution, surprised every one by promptly stating that she had never seen th© accusod prior to the Police Court

proceedings, that ah she had previously stated was untrue, and that she had said it at the instance of her mistress, whose emploj» she had since left. Judge Rogers immediately ordered the lady to be sent for, and she gave an emphatic denial to the girl's remarkable statement. In answer to the judge, the jury subsequently stated that they did not believe anything the girl had said". His Honor thereupon sentenced her to be imprisoned for three days, and an exciting scene followed. The girl burst into tears, and fainted, and her former mistrces, after appealing to the judge not to impose imprisonment, swooned. Both were removed from the court. Judge Rogers spoke in strong terms of the girl's action in bearing false witness, and said that an example must be made. He eventually, however, altered the sentence to imprisonment till 10 o'clock next morning.

The new time-table in connection with the Canterbury, Otago, and Southland" railways, inaugurated on Wednesday, has so far been worked without a hitch, and apparently tlie new arrangements have proved satisfactory to the travelling public.

We are informed by Mr R. T. Wheeler, hon. secretary of the Queen "Victoria Memorial Statue Committee, that on Thursday ho received a reply from the Righ^Hori. the Premier, Auckland, intimating that on communicating with his Excellency the Governor asking him if he could unveil the statue, his Excellency had replied that he would have much pleisure in acceding to the request. The Premier congratulates the committee on securing his Excellency . to perform the ceremony, and adds: — "I will endeavour to be in attendance myself, but if not, I will arrange to have the Government represented by another Minister." The statue of the late Queen Victoria will therefore be unveiled on Anniversary Day. Thursday, 23rd insfc. As the, statue and bronze figures have been lande# from the D&lphio, Mr Wheeler does not anticipate any difficulty m having everything ready for the ceremony on that date.

The news items -.under the heading of ! " Navy League Notes," in another column, are of more than usual interest on this occasion, and both old and young should peruse- them. One of the most gratifying things that has happened since the . inauguration of the Navy League here is the fact that our working men are taking a genuine interest in it, several having recently joined, and only yesterday one distinguished himself by becoming a life member, paying for that privilege 10 guineas. \ This is the best evidence of a really patriotic spirit and of a true desire, practically demonstrated, to assist the Navy League in -the supremely . important and Imperial wdTk it has undertaken. It is not within every person's means to act thus generously, but it is an incumbent duty on the part of every loyal British subject to do what he can to make- our navy in the future what it has been in the, days of old — the nation's most perfect and efficient weapon of defence. y | The Rotorua Chronicle says that the pent-up force> in the vicinity of Waimangu found vent on the evening of February 20, when a geyser broke out on Fryingpau Flat, and sent water and other material to a height of 300 ft. The site of the new eruption is near the bath on Fryingpan Fiat, which is only a short distance from the famous Waimang'U geyser — in fact, adjoins the big geyser. ' If it is true that the engines of the Sirius, the first English steamship to cross the Atlantic, have been brought to the shore off the coast ofCork, after an immersion in the sea of over 50 years, they ought to have an honoured place in some British museum, for the voyage of the Sirius from Queenstown to New Fork in 1838 has been widely and not inaptly compared to the voyage of Columbus in 1492. The little vessel — she was no larger than an ordinary tug-boat — met strong head winds off the Irish coast, and the crew finally mutinied at what it considered the mad pioject of cross-ing the Atlantic in a steamship. Lieutenant Roberts, of the British Navy> however, enforced disoipline at the muzzle of the pistol, and the dangerous voyage was completed in 18£ days.

Speaking to a representative of the Lyttelton Times, the Hon. J. Rigg, who travelled recently through Otago and Southland, said that he had been confirmed in hJs opinion, expressed in Parliament, that an alliance between the Prohibition and 1 Labour parties would sweep the polls at the next eleotion. "The most striking feature of th© next election," he stated, " will be the large nolicense vote that will bo recorded, with a considerable increase in the number of no-license districts. From what I have heard from men who can be depended on, and confirmed by my own observation, the only place in the south where prohibition is weak is Taieri. From Oamaru southwards the No-license party's organisation is very complete. Oamaru is almost a certainty for prohibition. Bruce, of course, will vote no-license, and Mount Ida, Tuareka, and Wakatipu may be expected to follow Bruce's example."

A gentleman who recently spent a few months in Christohurch. (states the Timaru Post) was asked on his return to England to delner an address on New Zealand to the members of a club in his native

town. He readily complied with the request, and appears, from the* account of his remarks supplied by a correspondent, to have i-epresented some colonial characteristics rather quaintly. " New Zealand," he is reported to have said, is a place where things arc upside down. Labourers turned out every morning to their work on horseback, while the employers followed on foot. Bishops rode on bicycles and bank managers and members of Parliament went to business wearing caps and duty shoos. Many farmers had an annual clearing sale, and sold house and home, and everyone turned up and made a picnic of it. The same people living at Homo would leave their homesteads only at tho point of the bayonet, but a colonial would sell his grandmother if he could make a profit out of her. In the country wealtJiy farmers might be seen working in dungarees, with bits of flax for laces, and, in the town, clerks and shop girls dressed like dukes and duchesses, but never thought of paying for their clothes." •^Virginia Dare was the name of "the first English child bom in America, and a movement is on foot in Norfolk, Virginia, to erect an appropriate monument to mark her last resting-place on Roanokc Island, North Carolina. Mr H. L. Uaynard, the representative in Congress for Norfolk, Virginia, will next session petition the American Government for money to erect the memorial. The Taranaki Herald suggests that New Plymouth, a Plymouth settlement, should, on b&half of the first child born locally, contribute to <he memorial to the firstborn of that other Plymouth settlement in the United States. It would be a graceful act, the Herald thinks, and one not without advantages. >The Drainage Board leports that the total rainfall for February was 2.006 in, and that the number of days on which rain fell was 10. The heaviest fall occurred between February 7 and 8, when .581 in was recorded. The total fall (for 1905) to February 28 was 6.2 in. The itinerary of the Land Commission in the immediate future is published. The commissioa proceed to Winton on Wednesday, and after taking evidence, will leave the same afternoon for Invercargill. Evidence will be taken in Invercargill on Thursday, on which afternoon the commission will leave for Wyndham. The two following days will be spent in taking evidence at Wyndham, visiting the country and travelling to Gore. On March 6 evidence will be taken in Gore, and on the morning of the 7th the commission will go to Riversdale. After hearing evidence at Riversdale the commission will proceed to Waikaia, andthence to Lumsden. The travelling public are reminded that the alterations' that have been decided on in connection with the railway- time-table come into operation on March. ljP^ The expresses for the north will leave TDunedin at 8 a.m. and 1.26 p.m. respectively, the former connecting with the ferry steamer for Wellington. The first express will leave Christchurch at 8 a.m., and the second at 11.55 a.m., these trains being due at D\medin at 5.13 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. respectively. The first express for Invercargill will leave Dunedin at 8.25 a.m., and the second at 5.45 p.m., and will arrive at Invercargill at 2.20 p.m. and 11.5 p.m. respectively. The first express from Invercargill, which leaves at 8 a.m., is due here at 1 p.m., and the second, which starts at 1.35 p.m., is due at Dunedin at 7.5 p.m. Sir Joseph Ward (telegraphs our Wellington correspondent) has received a report from the Agent-general in connection with the latter's visit to the Colonial Exhibition at Liverpool. Mr Reeves states that the New Zealand court held its own very well, though nothing like the amount of money was spent on it that was expended by Canada and Rhodesia. The arrangement by Messrs H. C. Cameron and Hooper of the New Zealand exhibits was more than creditable, and the experience they have gained at Liverpool will be of great us© to them in making arrangements at the Crystal Palace in May next. The Agent-general was much struck with the way in which leaflets, pamphlets, and papers relating to the colony were carried off by the visitors. r ±Tie interest taken in the iiosgiel rugs and blankets was very marked, and seemed to indicate that trade openings for these manufactures might be found at Home. The New Zealand stand occupied the largest individual space in the Exhibition, and attracted as much, if not more, attention than any other exhibit. It gave the visitor an impression of wealth in staple raw products, while the exhibit of woollen goods, besides embellishing the show, gave a strong touch of manufacturing industry to balance the primary material. In Mr Reexes's opinion there will be business in several of the lesser known New Zealand timbers as the result of our exhibit. The Otago University Council at its meeting on Monday afternoon appointed as registrar to the University Mr William Arthur Mason, at present in the employ of the Dunedin Drainage/ and Sewerage Board. There were some 58 applicants for the position, the number being reduced to six by a sub-committee of the council, and the council in committee then, making a selection. Th-e entries for tlie forthcoming fire brigades' demonstration came to UancJ on Monday from Napier, and in every class are very satisfactory. The total number" of entries is 398, and there are 73 brigades represented in these. The members of some of the. North Inland brigades fyave already arrived in Dunedin, and yesterday morning, at an early hour wore hard at work pi'ag-

thing in Filleul street. Very keen interest is being displayed in the competitions, and some record tnnc-i are sure to be put up .on the Caledonian Ground next week. . Excursion fares are being granted on the j railways, starting from Thursday, March 2, ' and extending: to March 18, so that intending visitors will have full opportunity of getting to Duiiedin at ch-eap rates and being 1 present at the whole week's functions. ] The Daily Mail says that a London gentleman recently wrote a facetious letter to the ; Postmaster-general in response to a requests : for further particulars concerning a grey j hen missing from a parcel of game and j poultry sent from Scotland. The hen. he ' said, was posted at Culshabbin, Galloway, at 3 p.m. on November 1. Then followed a description of the village, the number of its inhabitants, and other de-tails concerning the drainage, water supply, and hotel ! accommodation. The parcel, th-a writer went .on to say, vias posted by a gamekeeper, | and minute details followed concerning the I man, with expressions of regret for inability j to- state his chest measurement, the «iae of his feet, and tlic n*mes and asj--s of bis ' children. Finally, says St. Martin's-le-Grand, the writer offered to supply further particulars, including the reason why the gamekeeper always wore knickerbockers. The annual general meeting of the Invercargill v Branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants was held at Invercargill jon Saturday night. Mr W. A. C. Walker ■ was elected chairman. The branch membership was never higher than it is at present, the registered number of members being j 397. The contributions for the year ' amounted to £310 lls 9d, the sum of £138 j9s 4d was remitted to the executive, and ( the branch expenditure totalled £119 18s 1 30d — leaving a balance in the bank of £52 3s 7d. I The Premier states that the Government j intends next session to make appropriations for the establishment of a marine survey lof the colony. Preliminary arrangements ' are now being made. I At Cheviot, on Thursday, before Mr if. R. Dyer, S.M., D. J. Scott, jun. (Mr Bates), was charged with selling liquor without a license. The case was mainly concerned with the purchase of a gramaphone from defendant by one Jair>es Barrett, who was said to have paid a deposit of 10s, and at the- same time received the gift of a bottle of whisky. Two days later Barrett cancelled his order for the gramaphone, agreeing to let Scott have the 10s deposit if he would declare the bargain off. Mr Dyer, disbelieving the gramaphone story, con- — vieted Scott, fining him £10 and costs (£3 SMs 9d). Notice of appeal was given. i At the Congregational Union meeting it * was reported that the number of church ' members on the rolls at the end of 1904j wa9 204-2, compared with 2033 at the end of i 1903. There had been small increases in all ', districts except Wellington, in which there ; had been a slight decrease. The number of children attending Congregational Sunday . schools had fallen from 3456 in 1903 to 2278 i in 1904; the decreases had been in all districts except Canterbury. At the beginning of 1904 the debt on church property had been £6588, but during the year this had been reduced by £388. On manse properties, at the commencement of the year, the debt had been £3891, which had been lowered to £3451, making a total of £1578 raised to assist in the liquidation of debt. The estimated value of church property was £48,315, an increase of £500 on the amount for 1903. The church property was, covered by insurance policies representing £26,070, and the manse properties by policies representing £5920. The number of Sunday schools was 27, with 288 teachers. The Hon. J. M'Gowan, Minister of Mines and Justice, is ex-ppcted to be in Dunedin on Monday next, and visits Naseby and other places. The discussion of political questions 19 again coming to the front in the Southland district. It is generally regarded as settled that the representatives of the Awarua and Mataura seats — the Hon. Sir J. G. Ward and Mr R. M'Nab — will have no opposition. Mr J. A. Hanan, member for Invercargill, will be opposed by Mr William A. Morris, wiio is standing in the Liberal interest, but the widely-expressed opinion is that Mr Hanan, who has a strong hold in his constituency, will be returned against all comers. Mr J. C. Thomson, member for Wallace, will have, at anyrate, two opponents in the field — Mr M. Gilfedder, exmember for the district, and Mr Carmiohael, — and current talk indicates that the chances are altogether in Mr Thomson & favour. It is probable, therefore, that -ho representation of Southland in the next Parliament of New Zealand will be unaiteied. In the light of the very close, vote at the last local option poll the question of license or no-license will excite much interest at th© forthcoming poll, and throughout Southland the Temperance party is working strenuously, though in a quiet way, to wiu further support for its cans-e. So much energy, indeed, is being de.voted to -the organ isaton of the party with a view to securing prohibition, particularly in Invereargill and Awarua, that the\ parliamentary election really takes a secondary place. Mrs Holden, who lives uear Aceiington, very narrowly escaped («ays the London correspondent of the- Melbourne Argus) being buriejj alive. She is the wife of a labourer. To all appearance she had died, though i& does not «eem clear that the doctor had seen her after her supposed death. Tli-o undertaker armed, and while lie \vu» arra.igi'ig to place the body in tl.o comn ho noticed a. slight twitch of the 630. He instantly carried the woman in his arms downstairs, laid

her on the hearth before the fire, plied her •with stimulant, and got the services of a medical man. Mrs Holden is now rapidly • returning to health. This seems to have been the third time that she has been " laid cut" for dead. She- tells remarkable experiences She states that prior to her supposed death, she saw what appeared to be a, white bird hoyering over her bed, and also what seenied to be a coffin on her bedroom table. She regarded them as porienfc tsf-her end. She remembered her husband kissing her a tearful farewell. She beard what was being said around her, but was unable to give utterance- to her thoughts. All became dark and a complete blank, -frill she felt the undertaker carry her downstairs. The doctor who gave the death certificate comes in for much publio criticism. The vital statistics for the month of February for Dunedin district were: Births, 107; deaths, 4-7; marriages, 49. The figures for January were : Births, 120 ; deaths, 50 ; marriages.. 44-; and for the month of February last year: Births, 112; deaths, 63; and marriages, 38. The marriages for the month of February are the highest for that month since the office has been"opened. Mr Justice Willianis was engaged a» Invercargill on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in- hearing the divorce case William James Kidd v. Ann Kidd and E. E. Wallis, a husband's petition for divorce on the ground of adultery, and a claim *or £500 damages. A counter-petition was filad by tho ' respondent, . applying for a divorce on the grounds qf adultery and cruelty. Mr W.. F. Inder is appearing for petitioner, Mr J. Macalister for respondent, and Messrs Sim and E. R. Bowler for co-respondent (Wallis), who was under examination when tbe court rose on Saturday. He has denied the allegations made by the petitioner, and gave an explanation of his meetings wilh the respondent. Our Naseby correspondent reports that the quarterly meeting of the Mount Ida Licensing Committee was fixed for the 3rd inst., but was adjourned until next day, when there were present: Mr James M'Ennis, S.M. (chairman), and Messrs R. F. Indor and James Mitchell. Tho only business was an application by Mrs Louisa Fisher, as executrix of the will of William Fisher (deceased), to transfer the accommodation license for White Horse Hotel, Becks, io herself, freed from the trusts of the will of deceased. Mr Kirk supported the application, which was granted, as was also a certificate in the same matter under section 28 of " The Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act, 1895." The Hospital returns for the past weak Bhow that at the beginning of the week there were 110 patients in the institution, and that daring that period 21 patients Trere admitted and 14 discharged, while the deaths of five persons — namely, of Isabella Carter, Margaret Sinclair, Sophia Harland, Dugald Jofies, and Elizabeth Jones — are reported, -the number of patients now in the Hospital being 112. ' The Railway Hotel premises at Balclutha, occupied by W. MAuley, an-1 Knipe's Criterion Hotel, in the main street of Balclutha, were raided on Saturday ni*ht by six constables, three of whom were from Dunedin and two from country stations. A quantity of liquor was discovered at tha Criterion, but only a little at the Railway Hotel. Prosecutions are expected to follow in due course. An important committee meeting of gentlemen, representative of all interests in tbe city, selected by his Worship the Mayor to assist in the formation of the league for the advancement of the commercial and general interests of the province has been called for Thursday evening at the Town Hall. Mr G. J. Roberts, Commissioner of Crown Lands for Westland, in the course of an interview with a Lyttelton Times representative, said: — "As soon as the Scenery Preservation Commission reaches Westland it will be asked to set down several places in its list of sanctuaries. The most important of these is Open Bay Island, which is off Jackson's Bay. Mr Roberts states that some native birds, especially sea birds, may bo seen on the island in very large numbers. He has seen the little laughing owl there, and has been told that the island is the home of a swamp rail, while Maoris stat-e that it also possesses a small species of tho woodhen. It is also proposed to make sanctuaries at Lake Brunner, Kangaroo Lake, Lady Lake, Mount Kekeinga, and Mahinapua Lake, and some steps will probably_b© taken in regard to the famous Lake Kanieri. Other spots selected are tha Oka-

rita Lagoon, Paringa Lake, and the Tauwherikiki lakes and swamps." The seal rookery at Cascade, just south of Jackson's Bay, is getting on very well, the seals increasing in- numbers. On Open Bay Island, also, Mr Roberts saw a number of seals whe^n he visited there some years ago. Tho cpnference of the United Fire Brigades' Association of New Zealand occupied all day at the Choral Hall on Monday, and all the business was not then concluded. Invitations for the holding of next year's conference were received from Nelson and Temuka, and by a majority of 73 votes to 8 Nelson was the locality decided on. 1 Captain Toomey, of Lyttelton, was elected ■ president for the ensuing year, and is well known in the fire service of the colony I Captain Toomey first became identified with j fire- brigade work in 1876, when he joined the Lyttelton Brigade as its secretary. In 1883 he 'was raised to the rank of foreman, and in 1891 was appointed captain of the brigade, a position ivhich he still holds. Captain Toomey has had a lengthy experience of the working of the association, having since 1883, when he attended his first conference, made a point of attending the annual gathering. The election was a very .popular one. Our Oamaru correspondent reports: — The large store at Maheno, owned by Messrs W. C. Clark and Co., was completely destroyed by fire on Saturday night. At 11 o'clock Mr Clark, who was sleepingalone in the dwelling attached, looked round and saw everything right, but he was awakened at 3 a.m. on Sunday by the noise of articles falling in the- shop, and going out found the place ablaze. .He managed to save his books, receipts, cash, and cheque's, but nothing could be done to stop the progress of the fire, and the shop " and dwelling, which were divided by a stone wall, were quickly gutted. The insurances were : £14"05 in the Phcsnix office, a portion of which was reinsured. A Press Association telegram from Wellington says: — In connection with the decision of the Medical Conference to form a medical naval rcsei-ve, the registrar of the University has received a letter from Admiral Fanshawe tirging the desirableness of forming such a reserve. The purpose of the reserve is to provide men to serve as naval surgeons afloat in the event of hostilities arising. The Admiral points out that in an emergency involving the safety of the Australasian States and New Zealand there would fee such a strain on the regular naval meelical service that some such lcserve is urgently required. ; General Booth, head of the Salvation ! Army, is expected to arrive at Invercargill on Tuesday, April 18. He will be in Dunedin on the two following days, and will then proceed north. JlfThe old Maori chief Honana Maioha, whose death at Mangere^ Auckland, was announced on Friday last?tock a prominent part in tho setting-up of the first Maori King, Potatau, in 1858. Honana was one , of the Waikato emissaries sent round to j the various tribes in the North Island to urge the union of the tribes, under a king, in order to preserve the Maori nationality. He assisted his brother Potai-a te Tuhi — the much photographed and painted' — in the printing of the Kingite Gazette, called the Hokioi, at Ng-aruawahia, prior to the outbreak of the Waikato war. The paper was printed on a press presented to the Maoris i by the Emperor of Austria after the Austrian cruiser Novara had returned from a visit to New Zealand. Honana did not fight in the Waikato war, but Potara, who is still alive, dropped the editorial pen and shouldered his double-barrelled gun thiough- ! out the campaign. j Some years ago an enterprising American I entomologist had sent to him for examination a few specimens of the gipsy motil, and he accidentally allowed some halfdozen to escape. These increased and mulj tiplied in such an alarming fashion that | the moths spread over a certain locality, I in which they wrought considerable d-amage. It has cost the Staf-e of Massachusetts quite , £100,000 in ibe attempt to suppress them; I and it is estimated that it will take another , £25,000 per annum to keep them from travelling outside the area which they at present devastate. Admiral Rozhdestvensky has just been rather badly shown up as regards his credij bility. It now seems that he started on his I brilliant career as a reckless romancer — to j put the case very mildly indeed — sonic 27 I years ago. He was chen a subordinate officer on board a Russian gunboat, and in that capacity he fabricated and wrote, for the benefit of his immediate chief, a highly sensational account of a purely imaginary battle between that little vc^^l and an enormous Turkish ironclad, which latter was alleged to have been defeated and sunk jby her tiny antagonist. TLis remarkable

early effort in sensational fiction met with, immediate and absolute success. Rozhdestvensky's chief was promptly promoted, and rewarded, and feted, and decorated as a national hero, and, naturally, all his associates, including the gifted young author, shared some measure of his highly factitious glory. Naturally, when Hobart Pasha heard about this affair, which was not for some little time, he was a good deal annoyed, and took the earliest, opportunity of denouncing the entire story as a fulsome and blatant lie of the most disreputable character. But it is an old and true saying that if a lie once gets a really gcod start it is not easily overtaken, and so the event proved. Even the Russian Government could not resist the strength of the evidence furnished to them, but it was not convenient or popular to unhero a hero, arid so, after a merely nominal correction, of which the outside world had no inkling, the distinguished officer, to whoso lion Rozhdestvensky had played the jackal, received rapid and continuous promotion, as also did his very useful and highly imaginative subordinate, who, now more than a quarter of a century later, has given another brilliant specimen of his signal capacity as a writer of fiction by his report on the North Sea affair.

A meeting of gangers and surfacemen wa 3 held at Milton on Saturday. February 25, to consider a circular issued from the engineer's office, Dunedin, ordering men to discontinue the use of trolleys while going to and returning from work. Several men stated that they were workin.g on lengths from 6 a.m. till 7 p.m. for 7s a day. The gangers stated that it was impossible __to keep their lengths in running order under present conditions. It was decided to ask the head office to give the men the use of the trolleys at once, otherwise they would be forced to seek employment elsewhere.

We have to acknowledge receipt of Stone's Otago and Southland ABC Guide and Diary. All the a'.teratic-ns in the railway service are noted, and the promptitude with which ihe Guide makes its appearance will be much appreciated.

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19050308.2.213

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 66

Word Count
6,129

LOCAL & GENERAL. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 66

LOCAL & GENERAL. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 66