SOUTHLAND

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 21

SOUTHLAND

Although a very wet nig-ht, an audience of 1200 assembled to hear Mr William Thomson in repl,^ to Father Hays's address at Imercargill on Thursday night last. Mr Thomson spoice in favour of temperance, either total abstinence or temperance, according to the conscience of the individual ; and condemned prohibition from Christian, historical, patriotic, and individual standpoints. At the close Mr Bernard Nicholls, organising ageni for the Nt<\v Zealand Alliance, almost created a disturbance by attempting to address the meeting. But the liall-ke-eper interfered on. the ground that the hall had been engaged by the lecturer.

There is a great difference of opinion in tho Southland boroughs as to whether the mayoral polls close at 6or 7 o'clock. Acting- on legal advioe, the town clerk for North Invercargill has advertised to close at 61 and Riverton the same The Invercargill City and Gore polls wiH close at 7. Where the boroug-hs close at 7 without ex-tension by Order-in-Council there are. fears of protests, which will hare to be dealt with by the stipendiary magistrate without further appeal to the Supreme Court. Tln-ee men are in custody for a series of alleged assaults on women on Friday. In two cases it is said they assaulted in an indecent manner married women accompanied by their husands on the East road. It is alleged that they then went to the house of Mrs O'Shannessy, East Inveroargill. and a scene of depravity was enacted, ending in the rape of the woman, who is frail and in delicate health. One of the accused then, with a bar of iron, smashed everything in tho houso that was breakable. Albert Prentice and Thomas B. Finnerty are in custody, charged with rape, and the third man for assault. Others are svipposed to be implicated.