LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 81

LOCAL & GENERAL.

During the fortnight ended Saturday; March 18, the corporation tramway receipt; totalled £1955 11s 2d, against £1550 11s 9d for the corresponding period of last year; ■while the mileage run by the cars was 35,012 miles 37 chains, as compared with 34,161 miles 2* chains. The Gore papers state that the young man Bellaney, who was sentenced to six months* imprisonment at last sittings of the lnvereargill Supreme Court for gold-stealing, ■was removed to Seacliff for medical treatment after serving a fortnight of his term. There is now under construction across the St. Lawrence, at Quebec '(says the Scientific American), a cantilever bridge which, when completed, will contain the longest span of any bridge yet erected, not even excluding the great cantilevers of the Forth bridge, in Scotland. The structure is of the cantilever type, and consists of two approach spans of 210 ft each, two shore arms, each 500 ft in length, and a great central span 1800 ft in length. The total length of the bridge is f22oft, .and, although in extreme dimensions it does not compare with the jJirth of Forth bridge, which is about one mile in total length, it has the distinction of having the longest span in the world by QOfi, ,the two .cantilevers of the Forth bridge being each' l/10ft in length. The total width of 'the floor is 80ft, and provision is made for a double-track railway, two roadways- for vehicles, and two sidewalks. In a cantilever of this magnitude the* individual members are n-eoessarily of huge proportions, the main posts, for instance, being, 325 ft in length, and each weighing 750 tons. An extraordinary case of mistaken identity lias been brought to light at Beaufort {Victoria}. It appears that on March 16 the dead body of a man was found lying on the Beaufort to Ballarat road, and investigation led to the belief that deceased * v/as a labourer- named James Hellyer, alias Hilliard.' The police secured the attendance of Hellyer's relatives, and eventually the body was positively identified by two brothers, a daughter-in-law, and a nephe.w. Senior-constable Nicholson, who also knew Bellyer well, was quite certain on the question of identity. Hellyer's relatives made preparations for the funeral; but on tke- following- Saturday tthe- attention of Senior -constable Nicholson was "attracted by a paragraph, in one of the papers stating that Hellyer, alias Halliard, an old offender, had been sentenced to a month's imprisonment at Ballarat for drunkenness. Inquiry showed that Hellyer 'was in custody at Ballarat, where he was identified by one of his- brothers. There is uneasiness in some circles in 'Wellington (says the Post) regarding the frequency of fires recently, and a strong suspicion is felt that the incendiary is abroad. It has even been suggested that it would be well for citizens to urge the police to special efforts, and supplement such efforts by the formation of a Vigilance Committee. Apropos, peculiarly suspicious circumstances surrounded an incipient -fire in the Adelaide road porch of St. James's Presbyterian Church, Newtown, last Friday evening. The front door of the church had jusfc been opened, shortly after 7 o'clock, for a special service which was to be held that evening. The officer of the church who opened the door passed into the building, and when the next comer arrived the porch was found to be full of smoke, and a streak of fir© was seen in one of the corners of the porch. Examination, showed that a cotton umbrella, whish had hung on a hook in the porch for several weeks, had caught alight; by some mysterious means, and the flames had been so fierce as to burn well into the wall. On the floor beneath where the umbrella, hning a spent wax vesta- of more than the usual inch length, wa3 found. It was suspected thai some mischievoua, person slipped Into the porch, and set alight to the umbrella. A member of the church recollected that as he approached the grounds he saw a match struct behind the schoolroom. An examina- j tion of the spot led to the discovery of j another spent match similar to the one found in the church poroh. In connection with the destruction of th» Rocky Point Hotel by fire on Thursday night, the Cromwell Argus states that the building- was occupied by Mr Paterson. The origin of the fire is unknown. The family and several boarders had retired to rest, and had been asleep some time when it was discovered that the building was ablaze and already partially demolished. The 'terrified inmates had joist time to escape in their night clothes. As there were no appliances at- hand nothing could be done to check the progress of the fire. A detached cottage was saved, in which the family is now established. It is stated that the premises, furniture, anJ stock were insured for £700, but the piano was not covered by the policy. The loss, however, will be considerably over the amount insured forThe Gieat International Railway Conference which is to meet at Washington, U.S.A., in May, and will be attended by the general manager of the New Zealand railways, is one of the world's most representative gatherings. This year the delegates will speak on behalf of interests equalling . the stupendous total of £5,400,000,000. The conferences are held at five-yearly intervals, and are practically representative of all civilised countries in the globe. The headquarters are at Brussels, the convening body being the Belgian Government- This j^ear's gathering is more important ir^ai the fact that it will be the A

first time the conference has been held in the » Western world, and the United States Government and the Railway Association are ' endeavouring to make the occasion specially . attractive. The proceedings are to be conl ducted in English. j A successful trial exhibition of a new ' j grate, of which Miss B. J. Mouat, post- - mistress at South Dunedin. is the inventress, took place on Tuesday forenoon at Messrs f Cossens and Black's foundry in the presence : I of a number of representatives from the > r leading engineering and ironmongery firms ,' in town. The inventress has unquestion- ■ ably struck a simple, original, yet ingenious idea which bids fair to revolutionise the ( grate business and gladden the hearts of , thrifty housewives and their spouses who may have occasion to grumble at heavy : j coal bills in winter time. Briefly described, ■ 1 Miss Mouat's patent is a box-l'ke projection ' in the centre of the fireplace, formed oi • i bars or openings, with a damper and j butterfly valve underneath, which regulate . ! and shut off the draught at the will of the : I'sojourner by the domestic hearth. The > new invention should be a splendid fuel i economiser, and as the grate can be made 1 j inexpensively and with little trouble, the 1 , inventra-s may reasonably cypect to reap ■ considerable pecuniary benefit as the result of her original conception. The grate will , again be -on- exhibition at Messrs Cossens ' and Black's foundry between the hours of , 12 and 1 to-morrow, when Miss Mouat will be in attendance to explain the working of the Invention to those- interested. '. The weekly meeting of the Otago Benevolent Trustees, held on Wednesday afternoon, was attended by Mr W. T. Talboys (actingchairman), and Messrs Tapper, Thomson, J. Green, Burnett, and R. Wilson. The Secretary reported that Susan Stark, aged ( 6b years, an inmate of the institution, died jon the 25th insfc. A letter was received j from Sister Rerfart, a certificated nurse, .•asking permission- to attend iho maternity ward in the institution when a vacancy occurred, and it was resolved to add the | name to the list. Accounts amounting bo i £61 2s 3d were passed for payment, and ! 33 outdoor relief oases were dealt with. A movement is on foot in Dunedin to form a -league to promote active measures in support^'of the prosecution of the Law-rence-Roxburgh railway extension; and, [ with that qbjecjfc. ftL.Yi§ ll Y r >^to- co-operate with I the leagues already in existence in Lawrence and Roxburgh. j At the City Council meeting on Wednesday it was mentioned by Or Loudon that he j and his Worship the Mayor had been working for some time in connection with the superannuation and accident insurance schemes with regard to the council's employees, and they hoped to submit a proposition dealing with the matter to the | council at an early date. A private telegram was received on i i Wednesday stating that the body of , Mr Arthur Morrison. who with two ( , others was drowned at " Stewart j Island as the result of a boat , f accident on the Ist inst., had been re- ( „ covered. The deceased was well known and i ! greatly liked in lnvereargill, where he nas . lived since 1893. His father was the late ' Rev. R. C. Morrison, who died some l^me i ago. His widowed mother is a daughter of , ( the Rev. Charles Connor, well known , , throughout Otago and Southland, and nmch I sympathy is felt for her at the loss of so , bright and promising a son. The young j man was on a visit to Stewart Island to • i inspect a ftaxmill in which he had pur- ] chased an interest when the sad accident occurred. Our Naseby correspondent write? :— " A mean theft of fish was committed a few j nights ago. At present there is a s-carcity | of -water for mining in the district, and j the mining dams, which have- for some year=> past been annually stocked with fry by the Acclimatisation Society, are very low, and j notwithstanding the many endeavours by i local anglers to catch them a great many ! trout remained. A few nights ago some creatures without sporting instinct, but with a good deal of meanness in their composition, without any permission from the owner of the dam, let out what water theTe vas in two of the dams, and captured the fish. The matter has been reported to the Acclimatisation Society, and doubtless more will be heaxd of the matter. The carpenter of the steamer Tongariro was on Wednesday arrested on a charge of stealing 221.} of tobacco and a box of cigars. At a meeting between the committee of the Southland Acclimatisation Society and representatives of the Flaxmillers' Association at Invercargil! on Tuesday Mr I. W. Raymond said he did not think he was far out in stating that next season 40 per cent, of the flaxmills now in operation would not reopen. The sole reason for this was the diminution of the supply of flax caused by the activity in the industry during past years. Mr Raymond also stated that he had planted flax for cultivation at Parrawa, on the site of his mill there, and it was coming away nicely. A man travelling in a train from Napier towards Wellington the other day was painfully reminded that he should not always practice what he preaches Conversing wiLh a fellow passenger, he enlarged on the glories of the philosophy of " nothing for nothing." No man should do anything for nothing, he urged, give anything for nothing, nor receive anything for nothing. The person addressed noticed a flask of whisky peeping from one of the orator s pockets, and made overtures for a nip. He ' tendered 6d for a taste, rema^kin^ that the . \

possessor of the liquor had now a good opportunity of illustrating his theory. The money was accepted, ths whisky was drunk by tho purchaser, and presently the train stoppod at a station. Noticing a policeman on tha platform, the individual who had bought the refreshment approached the officer and lard a charge against the vendor for having unlawfully sold alcoholic liquor on the train. The unlicensed victualler was apprehended, and it was only after lor g argument and explanation that ho was allowed to go in peace.

An Auckland Association message received on Thursday afternoon says: — "Mr Masscy had an enthusiastic demonstration on entering the hall on Wednesday evening, also on rising to speak. He was frequently applauded during his speech. There were occasional expressions of disapproval, but on the whole the meeting was orderly. At hs conclusion the following was carried by acclamation : ' This meeting places on record its appreciation of the services to the colony of the Leader of the Opposition, and bogs to thank him for his able and statesmanlike address.' "

For poibo time past an evilly-disposed person has been prowling round the city at night, and his special mania appears to be the hurling of metal stones through the windows of business premises and private houses. On Saturday night a large plateglass lettered window in Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co.'s warehouse in High street was broken, and on Wednesday night the window adjoining was broken in the same mannpr, and when the office was opened on Thursday morning o piece of 1 cad-metal was fou.id on one of the desks. Thac night, about 10.30, a window in iho residence of the Rev. W. Saunders, "View street, was broken with a stone, and a quarter of an hour later a. fairly-large metal stone was hurled through the window of a house in. Bishop's road, off Rattray street, and narrowly missed the head of one of the ladies sitting in the room. At the last-mentionqd house the intruder jumped a 6ft fence, and immediately after throwing the stone he was observed decamping at a rapid pace down some steps into Rattray street. The miscreant or lunatic, or whatever he may be, is described as a tall man who wears .a t " Dr Jim " hat, and it is to be hoped he will shortly fall into the hands of the police authorities and receive a punishment he richly deserves.

Amongst the recommendations which the Trades Councils of the colony are sending for the consideration of delegates at the annual Easter conference are the following: — That the Government be urged to mate it compulsory that all goods manufactured in the -colony bear a stamp, " Made in New Zealand ; that the Government be urged to introduce an Elective Executive Bill; that the Government be urged to introduce legislation to provide that the parliamentary franchise shall apply to the election of all public bodies ; that a uniform set of school books should be adopted by the Education Department for the schools of the colony, such books to be manufactured by the Government and sold at cost price; that- full civil and political rights be secured to State and municipal employees ; that the Government be urged to introduce legislation providing that; where male and female workers are employed they receive equal pay for equal work: that the Government be urged to introduce legislation to restrict the importation of labour, eitner male or female, under contract ; that the Government be urged to ineieajse the land and income tax, with a reduction of the exemption to £200, also a progressive income and absentee tax.

The Technical School was open un Thursday for the enrolme-nfc of nev l.i'pils, and quite a number of in-ter-ding students joined the ciassc=. So far, however, tho- applications have been almost entirely for the commercial classes. An examination of the prospectus shows that provision is made for five classes in English, three in commercial arithmetic, four in mathematics, six in shorthand, three in typewriting, and for the usual number in Latin. French, Maoii, correspondence, commercial law, bookkeeping, chemistry, physics, practical electricity, mechanical engineering, plumbing, painter^' work, tailors' cutting, drawing, woodcarving, dresemaking, cookery, etc.

A little scheme, which seemed remarkably hke an attempt to work off a confidence trick on a large warehouse firm in tho city, was tried the other morning by a new arrival in Dunedin. He appeared in the warehouse, and, stating he was a hawker, commenced to buy various articles. When he had selected a pretty fair purchase, he desired the smiling salesman to " put them down" to him. The salesman's smile faded into a stony impassiveness as he gently pointed out that this could not be done, as the customer was unknown to the firm. The bland customer replied that he dealt very largely with the firm's branch in another centre. Still the counterman was dubious, and the purchaser then offered to procure a guarantee from a highly-respectable city firm. This course commended itself to the warehouse staff, and the stranger departed. Very soon afterwards there was a telephone call in the warehouse office, and the \ oio© at tho other end gave the name of the firm which the customer mentioned as able to guarantee him, and stated that ho, the aforesaid customer, was '* all sound."' Presently a boy ran in for the panel. Questioned as to who sent him, the lad replied that a man had met him in the street and had given him 6d to go for the parcel and take it to a back street, where he (the man) had a shop. The warehouse staff, howe\or, «.■,>.%»•< nirmd. unkindly suspicion, and called

up on the telephone the firm alleged to

have given the guarantee, and inquired if

it was actually given by a responsible member of the firm. An astonished answer

came back that no one there had ever

heard of the customer. Then another boy came in for the parcel, and he also admitted he had been met in the street by a man who had given him 6d to fetch tho parcel ; but by this time there was no parcel, and the goods were being restored to their fixtures and the incident was chalked un as "another trick that failed."

The Government on the Ist took over the catering on the southern railway linos, and

the various bars for the sale of liquor at railway stations -were closed. At the door of the Oamaru refreshment room on Fridaj- the following amusing notice, written on a bit of brown cardboard, was

posted: — "'The dispensaiy closes to-day, March 31, by order of the Czar. No more medicine."

An account headed '" From the Corporation of the Mayor, Councillors, and Citizens of the City of Dunedin " was presented to the Waikouaiti County Council, at Friday's meeting as follows: — "For morgue fees on the body of the late H-cnry Jamieson, killed on the railway at Deborah Bay tunnel £1 10s, account rendered £1 10s, tot-il £3." The account rendered was in connection with a body found on the railway near Sawyers' Bay. How the corporation staff came to the conclusion that the county council is the controlling authority for railway lines and the insides of tunnels does not appear on the surface, because if the reasoning were sound, the Dunedin City Corporation must control the railway yards in Dunedin, which it is very far from doing-. The county council repudiated liability m the matter of the " account rendered " months ago, but the bill still comes along with the faithful regularity of an old friend.

A mishap resulting in the destruction of two horses, valued at over £50 each, occurred on Friday at Maori Hill. On the site of the new reservoir several shafts .have been sunk A team of horses engaged in ploughing the land got too near the edge of cne of these, with the result that one of the animals slipped in, dragging the other one with it. The shaft contained a few feet of water, and the weight of the second animal kept tho head of the first one under water, with the "re"sult that it was drowned". Tho other animal was dragged out by the combined efforts of three other horses, but expired shortly afterwards. The horses were owned by Mr E. M'Kewen, who is therefore a heavy loser.

To the fertile islands lying scattered about in the South Seas the colonies of New Zealand and Australia have, in the natural order of their own development, been compelled to devote increasing attention. Consequent on the recent course of events in the Far East, which have directed the eyes of all nations to the Pacific, the future of these islands becomes of vital importance to us, yet it is a remarkable fact that, speaking generally, the people of the colonies know very little from personal observation about even the most important groups that lie at our very doors — viz.. Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, etc., what they are capable of becoming commercially or politically, their fertility, climate, scenery, or what manner of people inhabit them. This cannot be said to be owing to want of opportunity, as for several years past regular steamer services have been maintained with well-equipped vessels by the U.S.S. Co. from Auckland and from Sydney. The company has now decided to offer still further inducements to visit these "sunny southern isles ' by placing their large new steamer Navua for one trip in the round run from Auckland to Sydney via the Friendly, Samoa, and Fiji Groups. As announced elsewhere, the Navua is a twin screw steamer of 3000 tons, built specially for the company's island services, with all her passenger accommodation on deck; and fitted with every up-tc-date appliance For anyone thinking of taking an island trip for pleasure, for health, or for the purpose of observing the business possibilities the opportunity is one not to bo missed.

Our attention has been drawn (says the Alexandra Herald) to the unsatisfactory manner in which goods are delivered at Omakau from Dunediu by the Otago Central railway. A leading merchant in Alexandra received a consignment note, dated 24-th inst., that his goods had been despatched from Dunedin on that date. On the 27th he sent his team out to the terminus for the goods, but, to his chagrin, they had not arrived, and he was compelled to return without them. On the 28th he sent a wire to the forwarding agent at Omakau, inquiring if they were there, and received a reply to the effect that no goods had yet arrived. Evidently the truck in which tho gods were being conveyed had been shunted off at a wayside station and had not been broug'it on. If this occurred m the winter time, when the frost and snow hindered the progress of the railway, there would be some excuse fcr the dc'ay ; but at the present time, when there is nothing to prevent the goods from coming through in one day, there must be something radically wrong when it takes from four to five days before the goods are landed al th-» terminus.

A. new mineral, valued at £30 per evst, has been discovered in Ceylon. The fact ! is recorded in the report on the results of ' tho mineral survey in the island in 1903-4, ' ju^>t issued, which states that a sample, which was supposed to bo urauinite. or pitchblende, proves on complete analysis to be a now mineral, which it is proposed to name " Thorianite." Its principal con '

otituent is oxide of thorium, of which if; contains 76.22 per cent. — an amount far h'gher than that of any other mineral hitherto known. Thorium, which is usad in the manufacture of incandescent gas rnant'es, is scarce, and is at pre=ent chiefly cxti acted from the monazite sands of Biasil. Thorianite, adds Professor Dunstan in his report, is al=o radio-active, and a footnote to the roport states, on the authority of Sir William Ramsay, that radium is present in the mineral, and that it furnishes considerable quantities of helium. Several offers have been received to work the deposit, but down to October only small quantities of thorianite were in sight.

The news that Prince Edward and Prince Albert of Wales are to be ?ent, before long, to the .Koyal Naval Cr" at Osborne is a significant proof i\]< etch thinks) of the value which both ... Kingand Prince of Wales attach to the training afforded by the sea service. Our failor King., William IV, was fond of saying that there was no better place in the worlc' than tho quarter-deck of a British man-of-war for turning a boy into an Fncl'sh. gentleman. Doubtle-ss Prince Eclv. - 'vll have to enter tHe army later oi> , 'me Prince Albert is to adept the navy as his profession, in the same thorough manner as did his father, and his younger brothers could not do better than follow his example. It is pleasing to think thai' tho young Princes will receive their naval tra ning at Osborne, so long and so intimately connected with Queen "Victoria.