OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2674, 14 June 1905, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

A No-lioeuse League has been formed at Lawrence.

At Winton on Tuesday Mr Riddell, S.M., fined a man named Ma-son 40s for fishing in the Oreti River without a license.

The death is announced, at the age of 75, of John James Shillinglaw, one ot the authorities on the early history of Australia.

The Manavvatu Rugby Union has decided that steps should be taken to suppress all betting on grounds undel- the control of the union.

At the Pahiatua Police Court on Friday morning Claude Ernest Newport was fined £3 and costs, or 14 days, for using obscene language to a girl in a public place. In connection with Father Hays's approaching visit to Napier Mr F. "Moeller has expi - essed willingness to receive' him as a personal guest at the Masonic Hotel.

The rain on Thursday caused some dips in the cuttings on the unopened portion of the Wdipara-Cheviot railway line, and the ballast tiftin. could not get through on Friday.

At Tumut races. N.S. Wales, on May 24-, the last event was run in the dark. Tho horse Blue Eye.s fell, and the rider, Mr Chariot J. Hariison, a clerk, fractured his ekull and died.

A number of limited liability companies have notified the Wellington Employers' Association that they arc seeking registration as unions of emnloyers under the Industrial Arbitration Act.

The value of the gold exported from New Zealand since the beginning of the present year was £827,592, as compared with £811,958 for the fiist five months of last year — an increase of £15,934.

A Taranaki man, who has recently i'eturned from South Africa, informed a local paper that it was no place for a while man, and he strongly advised New Zealanders to keep away from it. Mrs Groggan. a resident of Cowra (New South Wales) recent! v gave birth to quadriplcts, three boyc and one girl. Three of the children are living. Twice previously she gave biith to twins and once to triplets. Captain Gliffe, of the wrecked barquentine Neptune, is appealing against the suspension of his certificate by the Nautical Court which inquired into the circumstances vnder which the % T essel atranded at Kaipara Heads last month.

Professor Wilson, of the American Society of Naturalists, claims w> have discovered from experiments on a man, a chicken, a dog. and a monkey that persons with long nocks <ret greater -enjoyment from their food than the possessors of short necks.

Raglan occupies a unique position just row in regard to its hotels, both of wbioh were burned down recently. One hangs out its sign over the Public Hall, whi J >c the other is located in a small storeroom adjoining the scene of the fire

New regulations as to the fees of coroners, justices of the peace and medical practitioners have been made, m hereby the Mini«ter of Justice may allow amounts additional to the scale already in operation wh^re he considers tho charges to ho reasonable.

It appears likely (says the Timaru Herald) that the supposed suicide of the man Chambers, at; Oiari, will be further heard of. as since the inquest the swag and razor of tho deceased have boon toimd more than a quarter of a »ni!o away from where the body was discovered.

Tlu> amount of gold enrered for export during the, fir^t three montlis of the present j-ear wa=! 123.97b0z. valued at £500.189. making the total to darn 16.750,1150z. valued at £65 636.837. '} he figure- for the fir,t quarter of 190?- wore 125,0330z. valued an £1-79.114.

A oentloman. who has a good deal to do with the Name racp (says the Hawera tir), gives it as hi* opinion that the Maoris aro dj-mof out in Taranaki far niore rapidly than m any other part of the North Island. Two of the causes suggested arc fe\or and tovMiniption.

Tlv> hconsi'ig mooring afc Kaiapoi on Monday was probubly a record oiw. The nine licenso in the diutwet were renewed benatim within a minute after the meeting; opened, and thei whole business was completed oncl tho reirfvuil oeilifioates in the liaadt? of tho licensees within seven minutes.

One of the most impudent thefts that lias occurred in Hawera for some time happened on Saturday week. While visiting friends in town a cyclist left his bicycle in the porch, and subsequently played cards in a room adjoining. During the evening the machine was sfolen, and all efforts at recovery have failed.

At ■Rii-bane- on May 24- James Wavton v.ds fou.il atuicr on a cluirg-e of having

| murdered Win. Munday, at Toowong, and was sentenced to death Counsel lor the accused asked his Honor to reserve a question of law in connection with the admission of certain evidence for the consideration of the Full Court. At Christchurch on Monday night Father Hays recommended for general adoption a rule he had learned as a boy. "My mother used to say," he said, "that it was a sign of noble breeding never to .speak against any person with whom you are not personally acquainted. I think that rule should be remembered by tho newspapers of New Zealand and by a groat many other people." Government fire insurance statistics just published show tha.t tho losses from fire" last year m Canada amounted to 14,111,200 dollars, an increase of 8,240,484 dollars over the previous yc-a.r. The net receipts for premiums were 13.174,918 dollars, being an increase of 1,790,057 dollars over the l-eceipts of the year 1903. British companies received 8.341.175 dollars, and paid v cfut 9.164.855 dollars. A commission from the North Canterbury Charitable Aid Board, consisting of Mesdanies Black and Wo'ls and Messrs Radchffo, Harris, Scott, and Horrell. with the secretary (Mr H. Norn's), arrived in Invereagill by the midnight express on Thursday. Their object was to inquiiei into the administration of charitable aid in Southland, more particularly as to the methods adopted in deserving cat-es. j Mr Brabant, stipendiary magistrate at j Napier, said last week : " I do not know i whether too much leniency has been shown by the bench in oa?es of juvenile offenders, but it certainly .seems to me that cases of theft by young people are on the increase, I and I suppose that if the increase is maintained both judges and magistrates will have, as examples to others, to send young 1 , people to prison in future." At a meeting; of the Auckland City Council last week Mr 0». B. Osmond wrote offering a piC'Oo of land in Wanganui . avenue, on the Jervois Estate, as a gift to . ihe council for the construction of swimmitig and pri\ate baths. The offer was made subject to the work being put in hand within six months from May 17 (the \ date of the- letter). The matter was re- , ferred to the Streets Committee. A most unusual sight was witnessed at the Frankton Railway Station on Satur- | , day, when an elderly woman was found > rolling about in an incapable condition, i , She foil in between the carriages, but, ; fortunately, the tram was at a standstill. ! She was arrested by Constable Ryan, who ' found that Mie carried mvr £21 and a flask lof whisky. She wa« liberated on bail, and ' failing to put in an appearance at the , Hamilton Police Court was ordered to forfeit, her bail. G. Compere. Government Entomologist of West Australia, who returned on May 25 from a visit to America, states that tho Californian Government proposes to ! make the Governments of tho various Australian States a business offer in connection with the introduction of the codlin moth parasite. Each State would be asked to p«y £1000. and for that money the parasite would be established in the country. If the patasite did not prove a success the Government could cry off the bargain. At tho Mvji-tritr^s Court at Waihi. durJ inj>' tho hearing of a ease in which a prohibited person wa= charged with being on lioensed premise, Mr Bush, S M., stated that, he vyas not g-crnq; to waste any more of his time in dealing with prohibited persons Hr was tiled of it. It was a. m?rs waste of time issuing prohibition orders. Addressing the defendant, he said: "Do not come here again wiithout a fivepound note in your pocket, because I intend to impose a fine of £5." The defendant was fin&d £1. At Timaru on Monday an elderly man named Blinden was "pnleneed to six mouths' bard ls/>our for thefts, three months on of two charges. Goinground people's premi-es early in the morning on pretevte of collecting empty bottles, he took fr/m one house carpenter's tool's worth 30s/which lie sold for 8d ; and from another, 'two dozen small bottles of beer, mo-t of which he drank himself within a few days. He had a long list o f previous convictions for petty thefts recorded against him at Dunedm and Invercargi'l. Responding to the toast of ""The Parliament of New Zealand" at the banquet to Mi- Massey at Masterton, Mr Buchanan, member for Wairarapa, said there wore only five members, including himself, now in Parliament who were returned when he first stood in 1881. They had only 13 men in the House representing the agricultural interests; and be regretted there were not

more. He hopod the farmers would h& better represented in tl.e future. He believed that the next e'.ect'on would see a revolution as far as the constitution of Parliament was concerned, and they would have a healthy Parliament. The Nelson Colonist states that on Saturday Mr Jesse Piper teceived a letter from a friend at ICaramea, in which it was stated that the settlers of that district were in much difficulty for want of stores. The little vessel the Tekapo, which traded to ICaramea, is ashore at Okorito, and no vessel had been at Karamea fcr seven weeks. The potato crop is a failure, and therefore thee is no substitute for flour, and the pinch is being felt so much that a. telegram had been sent to the Premier asking him to arrange for a. vessel to call. The only means of carrying stores to this isolated settlement is by sea. It is claimed (says the Argus) that the oldest locomotive engine-dmer in the world is living at Tunstall, in the person of Mr Thomas Main, previously of the Jolimont Foundry. George street. East Melbourne, and betore that of Glasgow, Scotland. The London papers recently announced the death, at tho age of 85 years, of Mr John Watchworth, who in 1847 had charge of the train which carried Queen Victoria back, by way of Fleetwood, from her first vis-it to Scot'ajid. Mr Wa.tehworth was the oldest locomotive engine driver. That distinction now belongs to Mr Main, who in 1847, during the si me visit of Queen Victoria to Scotland, was tho driver of the pilot engine running before the royal train between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Mr Main has been in Australia sinoe 1852. Certain Spanish patriots have been toiling to crenro a floating commercial school. They hope to make a school that shall nob teach youths to be clerks merely, but to turn out men who may to-morrow manage Spain's great enterprises ; may direct her finances and figure at Hie head of the movement of political economy of that kingdom For this purpose a vessel is to be oquipred, and will first voyage along tho coast of Spain, that tho students may learn the geography of that shore. At each, important port they will go ashore to study the chief inchistiies there to be found, as the cork business at Palamos. agriculture at Tarragon and Andalusia, salt-making at Torrevieja and Cadiz, fisheries in Asturias and Galieia, shoemakmg in Minorca — in short, the productions, the industries, and the requirements of each region. After that voyage- shall be completed the ship is to visit South America. then North America, then the East and Asia, and finally the countries of northern Europe.