OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 4

OMNI UM GATHERUM.

The Taranaki Farmers' Union insurance scheme is to be put into operation almost immediately. The W>est Coast Times is informed that I the Right Hon. the Premier intends to pay a visit to the West Coast before the session commences. A young man named Turner was sentenced to -seven days' imprisonment at Hobart r-ee-ently for -striking the umpire in the course of a football match. Indications are not wanting; (says the Clutha Leader) that a strong demand will spring up in the near future .for the construotion of a light railway up the river. At the Auckland Police -Court on Mon- J day last two men were convicted on charges j of betting 1 on horse xaces by laying- total isa- . tor odds, and each ; -was <fined £20, with costs. It has been decided that the Crown Law Office shall now be separated from the Justice Department, and placed under the control of the Attorney-general, as it was some years ago. At the Napier Magistrate's Court last J week, before Mr H. W. Brabant, S.M., ' Samuel and Harry Bean, convicted of stealing a, fowl on the previous day, were fined £2 10a each. Certain Victorians claim that by Jthe aid of a patent steriliser -they will bj? able to manufacture a, perfect -non-alcoholic drink. This will be simply unfermented grape juice, sterilised in the must. P. J. Mulaliy appeared at the Brisbane Police Court last week on a charge of the ; larceny of the racehorse Satire, late Valiant, valued at 500 guineas. He was remanded for a week, bail being allowed. Lieutenant Holdernes3, of the First Ghoorka Regiment, who was injured in the Dharmsala -earthquake, and • whose wife was killed, aj-rived at Perth, recently in the Ville de la Ciotat, en route to New Zealand. The people of "Waikaia are moving with others districts in the matter of getting iailway facilities provided (says the Standard), and a meeting to ■ddscußS -the -quesi tion is to be held at Waikaia on Saturday night. A number ©f F-eilding people Interested in the licensing movement is at present on a tour round the various hotels in the back country, with a view to working up interest of an anti-prohibition character in the coming election. At the New South Wales Presbyterian General Aesembly on May 18 the Rev. John Walker, Commissioner of the Assembly, stated -that the amount, -promised to the centenary thanksgiving fund was £61,985, ; of which over £46,000 had been paid. 1 Thomas Pollock and James Ferguson, employed at the South mine, Broken Hill, j were boring in a winze in an old hole, ' which had missed fire. An explosion occurred, and Pollock was blown to_ pieces and the other man died in a few minutes. / j "To writing one love-letter, 55," was the singular subject of a. civil action in the Magistrate's Court at Auckland last week. The defendant was a, foreigner whose limited knowledge of English prevented him from cai'rying on his own love-naakiug correspondence, Two years ago the Defence Department held an inquiry in connection with certain remarks made by two Volunteer officers in j Auckland criticising the methods of the department. It is now announced that the department has called upon both officers to tender their resignations. A railway platelayer jjazrowlj- gg\>a-ped_

serious injury at Ellerslie (Auckland) a few days ago. While -walking along the line on | his way to work he suddenly heard a gun report and a bullet whizzed past within an inch or so of his eyes. It is supposed that someone in the vicinity was shooting birds j with a pea rifle. Dr Bell, the Government Geologist, has concluded .his work in Westland for the pr-esent, having established, camps and got the scientific prospecting fairly under way. He will now leave for Auckland province to. open up the work there, leaving Messrs Adams and Fraser to prosecute the initial work in Westland. A petition, which has been signed by the majority of the drapers, clothiers, and mercers in Invercargill, asking that the hours of closing be fixed at 6 o'clock on four days in the week, 1 o'clock on the Wednesday half-holiday, and 10 p.m. on Saturday, has been forwarded to the Minister of Labour. The members of the Eltham School Committee had a " night out " on Tuesday last while holding an inquiry into the working of the school. Business was commenced shortly before 8 o'clock, and the meeting was not finished until 2 o'clock on Wednesday morning, the majority of the committee sitting it out until the bitter end. According to the. American motoring papers, Salt Lake City has imposed a 10 ; miles-speed limit for motors, on the ground that one motor accident in a Mormon community may create half a. dozen widows, and convert an entire sehoolhouse into an ' orphanage. Killing a Mormon, they claim, j entails consequences which do not apply to an average man. : An amusing demand has been made on I the Premier of Victoria by a lady. The fair claimant points out that her husband ' was killed -whilst on duty on the railways. , She either wants compensation for his loss ! or else requires that another man, whom j eh© is prepared to marry, should receive a j permanent appointment. Mr Bent states that he will have to consider the matter, j When the Minister of Mines was lagt on | the West Coast it was represented . to him | that students of geology in New Zealand J were at a disadvantage in having to -study from English text-books, as there *was no New .Zealand book. The matter has been, brought under the notice of the Minister of Education, and a reply has been sent to the "West Coast that it will receive attention. The value r.i the scheme put forward by Mr W. Fraser,, MJ3L-2J., for securing < the -speedy construction of district .rail- j ways has become -widely recognised (says ike Mataura Ensign). At its meeting <on -Thursday last the Drummond-Heddon Bush Railway League resolved to consult Mr ] Fraaer with the object of preparing a ' scheme similar to that he had recently - launched in connection with the Gore-Wai-1 kaka railway. Speaking to a representative of the Lyttelton Times. Mr T. Archey. director of the Burnham Indxistrial School, said that there, was an amegont of over dEJBDOO in 'the Savings Bank to the credit of past and present inmates of the .school. The money is in -wur-ious sums, varying from a few shillings up to £70 and £80, and each boy lias a separate account. The repr-e-«ents a j>arfc -of the boys' earnings prior to their final discharge The istate of the laws dealing with Native lands came in for some criticism and animadversion at the iiands of the Chief Justice a. few days ago. He said : " We have_ a new Native Lands Bill almost every session, and the lesult is reduction of the Native land laws to the most chaotic condition that .can be imagined. The fact , is that whenever a special -case arises they pass a general law, instead of passing a special bill to apply to the special case." A «adet named Stanley Ashton was accidentally shot At Ararat (Victoria) by a comrade. A number of cadets were going through a course of nmsketry instruction, and Ashton and another lad named Johnson started to walk homo together, Johnson's rifle being slung over his shoulder. On the way honip the rile, which contained an tin-exploded cartridge, went eff, and the bullet entered Ashton's chest. He lies in a critical condition in a private hospital at AraratIn reference to a paragraph recently appearing- in these columns, stating that the cost of Marseilles tiles used for the roof of the Gore railway Station was 7d each, Messrs Briscoe and Company. a.s sole- agents for these tiles, write to say that the -figure mentioned is more than twice the market value. They further state that ties are not an expensive luxury, being about equal to the value of ordinary roofing iron, painted, and less than the cost of elates. An ancient Maori adze was recently found on Mr T. W. Adams's estate at Greenclale {Oanterktiry). Oih-er implements of the Stone Age have been unearthed in that locality, and it is thought that at one time there must have been a large Maori village on the edge of the forest that once covered the land there. A large number of Maori implements has also been found near the gawking Riveg_ Theje. sire &Iso indicationa i

that moas were plentiful in the district in days gone by. With reference to the saurian which was lost in the Glenmark while on its way to the London- Museum, a correspondent writes to the Christchurch Press that the creature was shown to a good many persons in Christchurch by Messrs John Innes and — Hood. It was an Ichthyosaurus, some 25ft long, and an almost perfect specimen. About a quarter of a mile above the crossing place on the middle branch of the Waipara, on the old bridle track from Heathstock, are two or three boulders, in which the vertebras of some large creature are distinctly visible. At the Magistrate's Court, Timaru, on Saturday last, a. man named Preston, who was arrested in Dunedin, pleaded " Guilty" to a charge of having stolen a ring, and was sentenced to a month's imprisonment with hard labour. The evidence showed! that the accussd and another man purchased a gold ring each at a jeweller's shop, the rings being left at the shop to be inscribed. One of the men was afterwards arrested for drunkenness and the accused, taking advantage of the other's detention, went to the shop and got both rings. . When spoken to regarding the matter the accused denied all knowledge of It, and he left fcr Dunedin, -where he pawned the ring (which cost 26s)s, for 85. , A "man going by tEe name of Alfred Nelson, having several aliases, was charged at Waixn&te, before Messrs Meredith and Beckett, JJP.'s, .with obtaining goods by false nrstenoes by means of valueless cheques for £2. £1 Is, £1, and £1 11s on April 11" and May 1, 1905. Accused was convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment on each charge, the sentence^ to be cumulative. In connection with this case it transpires that the accused, did his business in a very off-hand manner, and seemed to delight in making a "deal." He is stated to have purchased a. farm at Alcaroa and to have bought several horses which took his fancy by means of valueless cheques, disposing of the animals again for solid cash.