OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2675, 21 June 1905, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

A ladies' hookey club has been formed at Alexandra.

A small boy who appeared ?(, the Magistratp's Court, Christchurch, a fey days ago upon a charge of theft rejoiced in no fewer than five Christian names.

Captain Blackburn©, nautical adviser to J the Government, has in the press a book of i tables which will greatly facDitate the work ' of taking observations at sea. Five members of a family named O'Cou- ! nell have died at Maryborough (Queensland), within a week, of some mysterious sickness. The authorities have destroyed the house.

Mr David Crewe, J.P., Mayor of Pahiatua, has declined to call a public meeting to welcome Father Hays, on the ground that he is not satisfied that the mission is j not political.

The parish priest of Carpineto, Italy, dropped dead in church after drinking the sacramental wine during the celebration of | mass. The wine was found to have been mixed with strychnine.

Several eases of baby-farming have been made public in Hobart. In one instance five deaths have occurred in the same house, a different doctor treating each infant, and giving a certificate of death. l The Hawera Star says: — "While at the scHool on Wednesday Inspector Gray remarked that the scholars in Canadian gchools were two grades ahead of the children in Now Zealand schools."

The polics at Sydney discovered a-n illicit , still hi full work at a house in Unwin's Bridge road, St. Peters, on June 3. Thirty gallons of white spirit and other material | were also discovered. An arrest was made, j The total co=t of the celebrations in connection with the recent opening of the , Gore municipal works amounts to the very moderate sum of £32 16s 9d. This includes the cost of the luncheon, the fountain and fernery display, procession, and borough labour. ',

The number of cases of consumption which have been reported in the Southland district lately is calculated to raise an uneasy feeling (says the Southland Times). During May three new cases and three Heaths were reported, and for the current month there are already three deaths notified.

A Pongaroa settler, giving evidence before the Land Commission, said he admitted that it might be possible . to drive cattle over a certain back-blooks road in winter. He had attempted to take sheep through, and spent six hours and a-half in covering 300 yards. The Rev. G. Roger=on. vicar of Peak Forest, Derbyshire, who has just died, carved monuments to Queen Victoria and the late Duke of Devonshire, helped the farmers plough, thatch, and stack at busy times, and "dootored" the countryside for mile 3 round.

A number of residents of Timaru have subscribed sufficient funds to purchase two boxes of butter as a present for !Qr Barnardo's Homes. Captain Noakeg", of the s.s. Ruapehu, kindly assisted by giving free freight for the butter, and it is now on the way to England.

May was the wettest month in the colony sine© last October. The South Island had a mean average rainfall of 3.4-25 in, distributed over 10 days. In the North Island the figures were much higher. The mean average was 5.617 in, and the avearge number of days' rain was 14-.

President Roosevelt has sent his autographed portrait to a woman living in Bangor, U.S.A., who has become a grandmother at the age of 30. She was married at the age of 13, and her eldest daughter, a girl of 16, has just presented her husband with a fine baby boy. The heavy penalties inflicted in Sydney upon stowaways should act as deterrents. On the last trip of the Warrimoo from Wellington to Sydney three men, who wore found in the stokehole of the vessel when at sea, were each fined £10, in default three months' hard labour.

Owing to heavy rains in the Lakes district on Tuesday the Molyneux rose considerably (says the Clutha Free Press). One result was that on Wednesday the steamer Clyde was floated off the beach on which she lay at Buchanan's, and reached Balclutha at noon, none the worse for her enforced spell. When tlw annual allowance to the Mayor ed Auckland jaas incroass.d. f£°m £30Q to

£400 the Hon. E. Mitchelson, then Mayor, stated ihat he could not agree to accept more than £300. He wrote to the council last week, returning a cheque for the extra £100, and requesting that it be regarded as a conation to the Leys Institute, to be used as the nucleus of a fund to establish a gymnasium and library at that institution. The Ngatitapu tribe of the Ngactorangi has lost by death the last of its links with the older generation, in the. person of Te Paea, a chief tainess of about 80 years of age, whose only surviving son, Tamati Tv, is married to Chief Hori Ngatai's daughter. The old lady belonged to a ioyal tribe, her brother, Hamiora Tn, having served with the British troops at Gate Pa and received a pension for his services. A very large tangi has been held at Matapihi, as the deceased clneftainess was related to many tribes far and near.

A remarkable ca&e engaged the attention of the) Newcastle quarter Sessions recently. John Baird appealed against the decision of a magistrate ordering him to pay 5s per week towards the maintenance of Elizabeth Baird, who claimed to be his wife. Respondent deposed that she married Baird at Sydney 35 years ago, and lived with him two days. She next saw him at Newcastle 14years ago, but took no action against him till this year. Apellant, who married Eliza Braco in 1879, swore that he had never seem respondent till she spoke to him 14- year 3 ago. J-Ie called evidence to prove that he was not respondent's husband. The court upheld the appeal, and quashed the magistrafVs order.

The Paris correspondent of the London Express telegraphed on April 23: — "Mr E. E. Whitney, of Montreal, Canada, has presented £20,000 to Miss Anna Bennett, a telephone girl, to whom he is about to be married in Paris. He has also ordered a motor ear, costing £1800, for her and a large sunburst of diamonds as betrothal gifts. Mis? Bennett was until recently employed at the switchboard of the Grand Union Hotel, Paris, and it was there that Mr Whitney met her. Mr Whitney is engaged in the asphali, business at Montreal, and has been a widower for two years. He has presented Miss Ida Schwindt, another telephone girl and lifelong friend of Miss Bennett, with £100 to purchase a dress to be worn by her as bridesmaid at the weddirg, and a diamond cluster ring. Mr Whitney's son will be best man '*

The fishermen and fish carters of Nugget Bay, Port Molyneux, labour under certain disabilities compared with their brethren living nearer to the chief markets, and they intend petitioning Sir J. G. Ward, Minister of Railways, on the subject. The petition sets forth these as — (1) The high cost of carriage on fish from Romahapa Railway Station to ChrLstchuroh ; (2) the regulation recently introduced which prevents Friday's catch of fish reaching Ohristchuroh in timei for Monday's sale, as formerly; (3) being debarred from a market in Dunedin by reascn of the competition of the trawling industry. The petitioners point out that the present freightage! to Christchurch, approximately 2s 2Jd per cwl, leaves scarcely any margin of profit — is, in fact, nearly prohibitive, and with a lower tariff they would be able to continue the trade later in the season when prices are lower.

"The timber trade is not too brisk,'' said a liigh authority on the subject to a Post representative, and he added, when asked the reason, that it was partly due to the fact that there are not so many small wooden cottages being built as formerly. He thought, however, that the trade would recover again, in a few months, as more land is being parted with in small areas, andmost of the owners will build on their sections. Regarding the question of competition from outside with New Zealand timbers, the authority in question stated that Oregon pine was not an active competitor. Jarrah, however, is competing against our totara, and is being largely used in its stead for such purposes as foundations, plates, joints, and so on. " Some people say it is better than totara." said the expert. <£ I don't think it is better, but at anyrate I think it is equal to totara." NTo, he did not think the opening-up of the large areas of totara in the North Island would make any difference in the price. Freight waa very dear, and would always handicap totava in competition, with tlig imported iarrah. As to whita

pin&, he had heard that tho demand for ifc had decreased in Australia, whore they are now trying their own -white pine; but th-re was alnays a big demand for it in Now Zealand, and that part of the timber trade was not lik«ly to suffer.

TFAIEEMO COUSTY COUNCIL. The ordinary meeting of the Waiheruo County Council, held on Saturday in the Council Chambers, Palmerston, was attended by Messrs J. Ross (chairman), D. Ross, T. Muir, D. M. Philip, R. Cameron, G. Clark, M. J. Isbister, and W. E. Griffin.

Gco. Cruickshank (inspector) reported that he had inspected the road along Highlay Ridge to the Sisters Peaks, in Macraes R°ding, and had found it very wet and rutted, and also boggy, with volcanic boulders underneath. The road, he stated, was at a high altitude, and he suggested that the track past Mr John Matheson's would make a much better road. The culverts on the last-mentioned track were in good order, aud all that was required was to have the wateiworn ruts filled m, a work he cou.d attend to when the frost disappeared. — Approved.

Th"c inspector reported that the roads in Goodwood Riding were soft, that the gravelling on the Village Settlement road had been finished, and that some gravelling on the road from the bridge to the glairy factory had been done. Seme damage was being caused to the load near Mr J. Sutherland's farm by the overflow of concrete tanks and the trespassing of stock on the roadway. — Received; Mr Matheson to be informed that the flow of water on the road from his property, together with trespass of his cattle on roadway, is responsible for the condition of the road near his property.

W. and G. Donaldson wrote calling attention to the state of the road leading from behind Station Hill for some distance past the iron gate at the Sisters. The writers stated that owing to the bad condition of the road 10 horses were required to pull a lead of three tons over it, and unless something was done m the way of improvement a five-ton boiler which the writers wished to have delivered to them could not be carted over the road.— Received, and dealt with in inspector's report. W. E. Gladstone, District Health Officer, wrote calling attention to the drainage at Pukeriti Hotel, and requesting the council to have a drain in front of Mr Fraser's house pit in a sanitary state. — The local health inspector to visit locality and to have nuisance abated.

The Treasury Department notified that the sums of £2 (fines, etc.) and £5 17s and £4 4s lid (goldfieids' revenue) had been paid into the bank to the credit of the council. — Received.

R. A. Johnston, secretary to the Otago Land Board, forwarded a statement of "thirds " and

" fourths" for the period 4th January to 31st Maroh, 1905. — The allocation as submitted was approved.

The county clerk submitted an estimate of receipts for the incoming year as follows- — General rate of fd in the pound on the rateable property of- the several ridings in tha county, £1124 2s lOd; Government subsidy on, rates collected £500; other sources of revenue, £590;— total, £2214 2s 10d. The expenditure was estimated at the total amount of the receipts. — Cr Cameron, referring to the statement, remarked that the roads in the county were in as good condition with a |d rate as they were with a |d rate, and Cr Philip gave formal notice that he would move that the rate for the ensuing year be gd as heretofore.

Cr Isbister stated that the road rear the Government lime kilns v v as in a' very bad condition, and that although application had been made to the Government for a grant towards repairs nothing had been done. — It was resolved to call for tenders for 150 yards of gravel for the road referred to.

Cr W. E. Griffin called attention to the case of an. old miner, Gver 70 years of age, who had resided at Macraes for 40 years, and whose allowance from the Benevolent Institution had been stopped. He pointed out that the man was in absolute want of food, and was in a destitute condition. He moved that the Benevolent tiuttees he asked to grant him 6s per week until such time as he could ba admitted to the institution.

The Chairman remarked that farmers hail not made application at the Council Chambers for sample bagg of poisoned grain which had been left there for distribution, and at his suggestion the samples werft ordered to he delivered at the dairy factory and distributed to settlers, and that settlers who used tha gram be requested to report to the factory manager as to its effects on small birds.

The clerk was instructed to write to th* Palmerston Borough* Council re gravelling required on the boundary road between the county and the borough. Accounts amounting to £115 16s lid were passed for payment.