LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 32

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The vital statistics for the Dunedin district show that during March the births were 150, deaths 43. marriages 51. T£pv the corresponding month last year the figures were : Births 134, deaths 59, marriages 86. The great decrease in the number of marriages when the two periods are compared is supposed to be due to the fact that last year Easter was unusually early, and this year it is late— Easter being a popular pairing time. The»quarterly return's .are as follow : — For three months ending March 31. 1904: Births, 363; deaths, 190; marriages, 164. For corresponding quarter this year: Births, 377; deaths, 140; marriages,- 140. As a coincidence it will be noticed that the number of marriages for the quarter just ended is the 6ame as that of the deaths.

The patients remaining in the Hospital at the beginning of last week totalled 98; Ihere were 23 admitted during the week and 23 discharged, and there were two deaths (James Taylor and Jeremiah Nolan), leaving 96 in the institution yesterday.

In connection with the Dunedin Technical School, which will be reopened this week, arrangements have been made with Dr Marshall to undertake a course in geology suited to the requirements of the teachers in the vicinity of Dunedin. The class will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

Lawrence Clancy, who was recently fined £100 and costs on- a charge of selling liquor without a license at the Trocadero, having failed to pay up, was on Saturday haled to gaol to serve the two months' imprisonment which forms the alternative. Elizabeth Johnston, who was fined a similar amount on a similar charge, is also serving tire same term of imprisonment.

Mr Leadbeater, M.R.A.S.. lectured on Sunday to a large congregation in Victoria Hall on "Life After Death." The lecturer stated that the gloom that most people felt in regard to what was called death arose from imperfect ideas and conceptions of what the transition stage to the astral life really was. The astral life, which followed the physical existence, was a higher and happier form of existence in most cases than that of the present, and was the preparatory stage to the enjoyment of the heavenly life. The idea of "purgatory,"" stripped of its material fire and punishment by an angry Deity, and the performance of propitiatory penances, conveyed a crude idea of the astral life, which was only unhappy to the sensuous for a time — i.e., until they were freed from their sensuousness. The death which was portrayed as a gaunt skeleton with a destructive scythe in its hand should be pictured as an angel with a golden key, who opened the gate of a spiritual existence freed from the encumbrance 1 of an earthly body. The evidences collected by the Society for Psychical Research, by the Spiritualists, and by clairvoyants were advanced in support of the lecturer's contentions, and he concluded by advising mankind to cultivate the higher part of their natures, so as to better fit them for the enjoyment of the life that was to follow.

On Friday (says the Timaru Herald) the local Hospital Board received a letter from the Timaru agents of the State Fire Insurance Department soliciting business. The letter hinted that patronage should be extended them "seeing that the Government subsidised the board's expenditure." The board's present insurance policy expired on Saturday, and there was little time left for consideration. However, they decided not to have anything to do with the Government insurance. At present there is a standing resolution to insure in six offices; if they insured with the Government all these would refuse to issue policies, and that resolution would have to be rescinded. It was decided to let tho matter stand over, the Usual procedure to be followed in the meantime.

As a consequence of the death by drowning of the 15 Native children at Motu in August, 1900, a 12 months' tapu of the coastal waters from Te Kaha to Opape came into force, and for four years in the more limited arsa between Tokaputa and Whitianga Points. The following incident will (says the Opotiki correspondent of the Auckland Herald) show how strictly this law of tapu is enforced: — Some 12 months ago one of the leading chiefs at Maraenui was crossing the Motu River in his bullock dray, when, happening to feel thirsty, he took a drink from the river. The fact was immediately noted, and a Tana party took the trouble to come all tha way from Gieborne, which ended in this thoughtlessly-takwi draught of water costing the chief nearly £50. The coast water swarms with fish, and the deprivation of this source of their food supplies was a great hardship to the Maoris while- the tapu was in force.

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Otago Central Railway League was hole 1 on Monday ; present — Messrs W. Burnett (chairman). R. Gilkison, H. D. Bedford, M.H.R.. W. Ginsberg, J. Jolly, jun., and E. D'E^tene^ Apologies for absence

were ivc&ived from Me-srs T. K. Sicley., iI.H.R.. H. F. Necs. G. Fen wick, and Tonkin. Tho chairman reported that he had waited on Mr Barroii to ask him to reconsider his resignation, but in vain. It was then decided to accept Mr Barron's. resignation v. ith regret. The sub-commit-tee appointed at last meeting reported that tho Lawrence-Roxburgh and Gatlins River Railway Leagues tuid been communicated with regarding the proposed conference of tho leagues, but tho Roxburgh section of the Lowrence-Koxburgh League had decided not to co-operate with any league not having for its sole object tho promotion of the Lawrence-Roxburgh line. A member of the sub-committee &aid the Roxburgh body had evidently not idealised that the object of the proposed conference was, to assist Otago railway*- aa a whole. The chairman leported that Mr A. C. Iversen, who was to have given a vletw'led report of work on tho Chatlo Creek-Alexandra section of tho Otago Central, had unexpectedly been recalled to Alexandra. Mr Gilkison said Mr Iversen had re m irked to him that tho Premier, when in the district, had said the way . to get a railway was to agitate, and keep on agitatmg, and vet, said Mr Gilkison, when the le-ague agitated it was told it was a party organisation. The chairman said Mr Iverse-.i had mentioned to him that it would take two years to construct the retaining wall along the river by the present system of working, whereas if done in section the whole thing might be carried out in six months. It woiild take 18 months to construct f he embankment between the Manorburn and Alexandra, but on Galloway Flat a mile a w&e-k could be constructed. £>ud there were five miles of such easy formation Mr Gilkison reported that Mr Laurenson, M.H.R. for Lyttelton, had visited the district, and had returned convinced that Central Otago country would be a great asset to the colony. « .Suggestions were made as to an exhibit from Ce-ntnal Otago at the forthcoming winter show, and the chairman undertook to eoinmui.icato with ~ representative men in Centrul Otago on the matter.

A meeting of the preliminary committee called by his Worship the Mayor in connection with the formation of the Advance Otago League is being convened for Thursday evening at 8 o'clock, at the Town Hall, when the draft constitution, as amended by tho sub-committee will be considered. In all likelihood the matter of arranging for a deputation of Dunedin public and com* mercial men to proceed to Roxburgh on April 11 to oombat the efforts of the Southland depvrtation in its endeavour to convert the Roxburgh people to the idea of a railway from Edievale to Roxburgh in place of one from Lawrence to Roxburgh will be brought before the meeting by his Worship the Mayor. As tho meeting will be an important one the Mayor requests a full attendance.

At Port Chilmers on Monday a cripple named Robert Green was brought up before Messrs D. A. De Maus and C. Duke, J.P.s, charged with having no visible means of support. According to Sergeant Geerin accused was in the habit of paying periodical visits to Port Chalmers. He paid one of these visits on Saturday, and at 1 a.m. on Sunday was found asleep in the railway tunnel by Constable M'Gregor. The :erigeant suggested that if the accused would go to the Benevolent Institution the Bench might convict him and order him to come up for sentence when called on. Accused eaid he had friends in Timaru, and as he agreed to enter the home there he was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upA on condition that he entered the home at Timaru.

The rehearing of the. Flaxbourrie Estate compensation case has been fixed to open at Blenheim on either the 10th or 11th ins*., be-fore the- Chief Justice and Messrs Gilbert A.nder®on (Chrisichiu-eh), as assessor for the claimants, and T. Cross (Kumeroa), as assessor for the Government. Sir Robent Stout leaves for Blenheim on Friday next, and he win devote Saturday, and possibly Monday, to inspecting the i roperty.

A fine of £100 (which was afterwards mitigated to £25), with £3 10s costs, was imposed on a Chinese named Ah Chun at theWellington Magistrate's Court on "Friday morning for having knowingly harboured and acquired possession of loz of opiuni, such being restricted goods. Mr Herdman, who appeared for the .defendant, explained that his client was 70 years of age, and had smoked opium for the last 40 or 50 years. He came from the back-blocks of Otago recently, and counsel submitted that a small fine would meet the ends of justice. Mr Myers, on behalf of the Collector of Customs, stated that the informations were laid under the Customs Law Consolidation Act, which prescribed a penalty of £100, but permitted the magistrate, if he saw fit, to mitigate it to £25.

Two natives, laki and Kauko, have been arrested by order of Judge Robinson at Goanbari Islands, New Guinea, for being concerned in the murders of the Revs. Oliver Tomkins and James Chalmers, in 1901. The skull of Mr Tomkins has recently been discovered, and is now in the possession of Mr Riley, at Daru. From examination it appears that Mr Tomkins was not clubbed, as at first supposed. According to the natives he was shot with arrows in the back as he was making his way to a whaleboat ; as he turned round ho was shot in the chest, and later on overpowered.

Mr John Hay, Commissioner of Lands for Southland, is taking the evidence of tenants of the Otago School Commissioners at Waikaia. Wondonsid«, and Waikaka as to the grievances under which they labour. These grievance* wore to a extent -ventilated by the evidence giwn. before the Laud Coru-

miv-ion. Pom-ff of the mrttor* complained of will bo put right in tho new form of leases to bo adopted. Mr Hay took evidence at Waikaia on Friday. Tho commissioners, it was pointed out, paid nothing towards roading. They got all the rents, goldfields revenue and royalty, and rents for coal loas-es, yet contributed nothing towards the roads which were damaged by coal carting. The manner in which the lands w-ere administered was adversely criticised.

According to the London Times, tho Board of Trade Advisory Committee on Commercial Intelligence has in contemplation the despatch of a commercial mission to Australia and New Zealand on similar lines to those recently undertaken to South Africa and other destinations. The principal objects of the mission will be to ascertain the extent and degree of effectiveness of the competition which British goods have to meet in the Australian market, with a view to the indication of such further openings as may exist for British trade in that quarter ; but the commissioner to be appointed will also be charged with the duLy of nominating, for the consideration of the department, Miitable persons in th© different colonial centres to act as permanent correspondents of the commercial branch of the Board of Trade. Precise «nd detailed instructions tinder both heads will, of course, be furnished to the commissioner. It is anticipateJ that the conduct of the mission will occupy about 12 months, and that the cost, including travelling expenses and remuneration to the commissioner, will not exceed £1250. Two French aeronauts, 3f. Jacques Fauro and M. Hubert Latham, lefc th© Crystal Palace Ground in a balloon at a quarter to 7 on Saturday nig^it, February 11, and landed at St. Denis, in the environs of Paris (135 mil&s), after a voyage of six hours and a-quarter. It takes seven hours or more to go from London to Paris by express and boat. After the ascent the balloon main-tamed an elevation of 800 yds. These* was reached at Hastings at 8.10, and the» Channel was crossed in a high north-wesc wind at a speed of 70 miles an hour. The balloon was lowered to enable the aeronauts to test a sea anchor. After passing Diepp* an altitude of 2000 yds was maintained until St. Denis was reached. Several aeronauts have crossed the Chxnnel by balloon, but this was the first balloon voyage from the suburbs of London to the environs of Paris. Mr J. G. Jenkins, the South Australian

Agent-general, speaking recently at a banquet tendered by the citizens of Adelaide, said that he had at first been sceptical as regarded the possibilities of the Northern Territory, but lie was now convinced that they possessed there the largest and be-st undeveloped tract of country in the British. Empire. He would not deal with the question of coloured labour, but he believed t-hat the time would come when the people of Australia would recognise ihat the northern and southern parts of Australia were two different countries, and if they were not willing to develop the former country themselves they would see the justice of allcwingother people to do so — under proper conditions and proper, care. He was not an alarmist, but when they reflected on the great tragedy being perpetrated in tbe Far East we could realise that some day perhaps Australia nii^hc be faced with the possibility of the Northern Territory being populated by a coloured race without their assistance.

A third member of the race of Anak has just been added to the House of Commons. Tho other two. I need hardly say (writes our Home correspondent by last mail), are the gigantic brothers Wason. The new one is Mr John O'Connor, who has just been returned for Kildare, and was introduced yesterday. He stands 6ft sin in his socks, but is so well proportioned that his great height does not strike one at first. I have long known him personally, and can vouch for him as one of the most pleasant and genial of Fenians and ex-rebels. He lost his seat for Parliament in 1892, owing to the great Parnellite schism in the Irish party, MrO'Connor being a whole-hearted Parnellite. His political confessions before the Parnell Commission in 1889, when he attended as a. prisoner under the plan of campaign prosecutions, were di&tinotly interesting. At the age of 15 he joined the Fenian Organisation. in Cork, taking the oath of allegiance to the Irish Republic, and swearing to tak-e up .arms at a moment's notice. He remained an active Fenian till 1879. when he took the advice of another prominent Fenian leader to come out of "the ratholes of conspiracy," and join the constitutional movement led by Parnell. The present Attorney-general for Ireland, crossexamining Mr O'Connor as to his Fenian activitiy between 1866 and 1879, asked : "Did you take any part in the distribution of arms?" "AH the time during ray connection," was Mr O'Connor's candid reply. The rifles, which bore no distinctive mark, were distributed to Fenians who paid for them. Strong attempls were made to induce Mr O'Connor to divulge information about the personnel and doings of the Feniana. but he firmly pleaded his Fenian, oath. Mr O'Connor is about 54 .years of age, and is an eloquent speaker. His varied prison experience as a political "suspect" in 1881 and 1882 included two terms in tho prison of Naas, where he was returned to Parliament yesterday. He is a member of the English Bar. and one of his experiences has been that of counsel for the defence of Jabez Ba'fo;tr. Altogether a noteworthy accession to the House, he will be. helu'd of in Irish debates.

The weather turned quite wintry on Monday, and heavy showers of hail and rairf fell during the day in the city. On Maun" gatua snow fell, but it did not remain oa the ground long. Mr W. G. T. Goodman, who was returning from a visit to thel Waipori Falls works, informs us that m crossing the range the cold experienced was intense, and it was with trouble that hig horse could be «ot to face the sleet "showera whirh fell. V\ r e Ikivc to ackno-vvleclsp leci-in* «>t Stone's - Otaso aikl Southland ABC Gaida" i^« Ajpul,