OMNIUM GATHERUM

Otago Witness, Issue 2689, 27 September 1905, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM

Tho Government offices throughout the colony are to close on the 11th prox. (Labour Day). Mangatainoka, a small township near Pahiatua. supports a flourishing school of physical culture with 75 members. The Government has imported a number of especially handy ambulance stretchers for distribution at various tourist resorts and sanatoriums. | With th,e cessation of hostilities between Japan and Russia it is anticipated the demand for New Zealand hemp by Japan will be restored, and, incidentally^ the ' value will rise. ] " I abominate the large schools in this colony " said Inspector Hill (Hawke's 'j Bay) at the Education Boards' Conference { on Friday. He would fix the maximum j roll number at 600. ! Ten bands have entered for the Otago . and Southland Brass Bands' contest, to be held at Winton, as follow : — Milton, Balclutha, Tuapeka, Alexandra, Wyndham, Iliverton, Gore, Winton, Nightcaps, and Bluff. At a meeting of the Arrow Jockey Club held last Saturday it was decided to amal- , gamat'e with the Lake County Jockey Club and to hand over to the latter club the , racecourse and all material and funds in I hand. j A general feeling has been expressed ' that there should be a memorial to per- > petuate the memory of the iate Dean Hovell, and r the vestry of the Napier Cathedral parish has decided to take action in the matter. J A clear description of a " drunken sleep '"was supplied in courd at Christ- 1 church a few days ago by a member of I the police force. . The sober man, he said, always went to sleep in a comfortable position, whereas the inebriate fell asleep ! in a heap, and almost invariably snored. Mr A. Carnegie has acknowledged the leceipt of the Dannevirke Borough Council's application for a grant for a free library, and has asked for som? additional information according- to a schedule to be provided, to enable him to give favourable consideration to the request. This, in accordance with the Mayor's instructions, has been despatched. " I don't think," said the chairman of the Education Conference to the Premier on Friday, "that a single Education Board in this colony received a clean balance she^t from ihe Audifor-generaJ in connection with their accounts last year." "I don't get one myself," rejoined Mr Seddon. "so that is nothing new." Sir Wilfrid Lawson. well known for his temperance views, tells a story which has reference to Anglo-French relations. Two of the unemployed were occupying ihoir enforced leisure in discussing public affairs. "T say, Bill, what's this yere ententy cordiyal they talk about?" "Don't know. ij fancy it's one of them- durned teetotal ! drinks." i While some tourists w^re motoring across j a new cutting on the Rimutaka road on j Thursday th^ir ear came to a standstill, j havihsr got boewl in the mud, which ! I necessitated a delay of about two hours, i Two men had to be procured to disr the ! car out. The motorists stated that in a)' i their travels they had never experienced j anything like this I Speaking to a deputation on Saturday i morning, the Minister of Pailwavs inti- j mated Miat he was groins? to make some change in <he regulations frovcrning railway tickets. Amongs*- other things, he proncfd to make family tickets available until the trips were exhausted, in place of the nre3ent rule \,hat they must be used up within a certain period. The sitting of the TCainnoi N?tive Land . Court was concluded on Friday. The most , int-erost-ins: cape was nnc in which the question was raised whether an adopiod white child was, under a will, entitled to shave rror>erty the same a* Native children. MiBishop held an adonted child enjoyed j equal riffhts with other children, but granted leave to appeal. At a recent meeting of the Ashburton Band of Hope the Rev R Wp!]-<m- drew attention to the practice wbirh had Town ur> among young men of vni*-Hn<r a ■shiHin"" into a nool to presumably buy a fool-ball, bnt really for the purpose of buvine Honor This was a contra vonlion of <-ertion 51 of last year's act. and he warned about t]-m serious risk Hiov *?ere fnkinpr Photographs of the, clay tabV>l-<5 m-errti^n.f d in the recent, canlo m-essage concerning tne "Bailey astral relics" we--e ieee|ved (according to th« Post) br Mr J. APDonnld. "f the Holonial Museum "W-o'iling+n" from Mr T W. Stanford. An^orienn Vioo-Oorwiil in Melbourne, about- | W o years aso and "-pre handed to the rKre/^<- Mr A Han-nlton. wTr> has since placed them in the Museum

I At a meeting addressed by Mr J. T. Hogan at Wanganui great amusement was caused by a question as to whether he favoured publicans being ' put under the Weights and Measures Act, the questioner complaining that he had to pay 6d no matter whether he called for a pint, a halfpint, or a "pony." Mr Hogan, in reply, said he saw-no reason why publicans should not sell beer at 3d for a half-pint. ; 1 Messrs Wm. Nees and Sons (Limited) who ; have just completed the installation of i fittings for the new Bank of New South i Wales, Wellington, Kayo now received adj vice that their tender has been accepted ' for fittings for rhe new Bank of Aus- ., tralasia in the same city. The fittings r I will all be constructed, of Australian black- j { wood to richly-ornamented designs by j | Messrs Crichtoh and M'Kay, architects, i Wellington. I i Regulations for the protection of kauri trees from destruction by "bleeding" and other methods are published in last week's Gazette. Any person convicted of " bleed- , ing" shalP be liable to a fine of £25 for i each offence, in addition to payment of ' damages. Payment of the fine will not ' I prevent prosecution for theft of gum. Other ' J timber trees are protected from unlawful injury by the provision of a fine not exceedj injj £5. " ' i The most noted chieftainess of the Arawas i — Hurebana, wife of Terarahu Keharoa— j died at Maketu, on th-e East Coast, recently, i The deceased's husband, a>n old and loyal ! chief, who fought with the British against J the Hauhau rebels, survives her. The tangi will be one of the most extensive held in ! the Bay of Plenty for some years past, and j j will last some weeks, as mourners will come i from all parts of the North Island to attend the obsequies. ! With a view to combating Sunday lawlessness and suppressing Sunday entertainments, the Broken Hill police have notified the owners of the respective, places of entertainment that under an Imperial statute of George 111, which is still in force in New South Wales, every person holding a license for a building for public entertainment is liable to a penalty of £200 for every day that such place is open and I used on the Lord's Day j One of the pressing needs of the settlers j at the lower end of Greenfield Settlement is a school. The nearest institution of the "kind is at Clydevale, on the other side of the river, and the distance is too great for insr children, not to speak of the inconvenience of having to cross the river in the punt. An attendance of about 22 children could be guaranteed at present, and the settlers interested intend to petition the Minister of Educatior on the subject. — Free Press. Switzerland on August 1 last celebrated j the anniversary of its inauguration under a | Federal Government, which stamps the j country, as th*» oldest Republic in the world. | Tho Swiss Confederation had its origin in ! a league composed foj; purposes of defence j by the men of the three cantons of Uri, • Schwyz, and Unterwalden so far back as ! 1291. As years went on other cantons i joined the confederation, some of the latest j being the cantons of Geneva, Valaie, and Neuehafcel. I The genealogy of Pohipi te Hau, a Maori of aristocratic birth descended from those I who made the conquest of New Zealand, ! when proved in the Kaiapoi Maori Lands Court covered a sheet of paper 7ft in 'length. This was unrolled with due solemnity and discussed with, great gravity. His line was traced until the date of 184-0, when New Zealand was ceded by the Maoris to Gr.eat Britain. Pohipi himself, when he j died -som-e years ago, had all but attained \ his century. It is btated (says the Huntly correspondent of the Auckland Star) that an Australian syndicate which is backed by subsiantial capital is exploiting Ihe coal-; bearing areas in the Pukemiro district. _ A survey pariv is at present at work laying off the land, and look in a- for the best and easiest grade for a light railway to HunTly. The whole district has long been known to be rich in minerals. Coal of excellent duality txists in abundance, while iron, limestone, and bauxite sre present in large I ci!3nnti<-io-> | Tho Cl'ristcburc-h Charitable Ah 3 Board, s'tting In committee, resumed an inquiry last ! week into a report of ill-treatment to whioh, it is stated, two young girls, sisters, hare been subjected at the orphanage at Wal- ' tham. formerly at Lyttelton. The children arc Catholios, and they have complained that the matron of the institution has held th?m up to rideule on account of their religion and that they have been repeatedly beaten when they have done nothing to deserve punishment. The investigation was \ noj c£P.?U}ckci. and the board adjourned.

At a meeting of cyclists at Christchurch on Monday evening several speakers spoke appreciatively of the good work done by the local force in recovering stolen bicycles. Mr M'Ciurg, dropping into statistics, stated that during the year ended 31st March last no fewer than 219 bicycles were stolen in Christchurchr— nearly one for every working day. Of these the police recovered 197, and 21 were left unclaimed. - From April Ist bo September 16 of this year 80 bicycles had been feloniously appropriated, and 68 had been recovered by the police.

Sir T. H. Grattan Esmonde, Bart., M.P., senior, whip of the Irish party, writing to a friend in Auckland by letter received on Friday, says: — "We have just now come to the end of a long, tiresome mission, in whioh we have not obtained anything verysubstantial for Ireland ; but all the earne the Home Rule cause is progressing, slowly, perhaps, but still jjrogfessing, and a further instalment of self-government is not far off. This Ministry will remain in until next year, but when the general election comes in the Liberals will have a big majority. I hop© ifc won't bo too big a maiority. Whatever happens, Ireland will, profit undoubtedly."

Speaking at a meeting of unemployed at Adelaide recently, tho Rev. W. A. Potts said there were scores of so-called homes in Adelaide where the furniture consisted of a few boxes, and where the inmates had not sufficient bread to eat. or- enough clothing to keep thepi warm. He was satisfied that in many instances the distress was as great as in any of the slums of London. While on the one hand there was dire poverty, however, there was much waste in other directions. One of the Ipading J citizens of Adelaide the other day — he could mention his name if necessary — said in a ballroom — " I don't know a Christian in Adelaide. I know I am not one, because I am not prepared to pay the price. How can I profess to be a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus and yet spend my money as T am spending it, when so many of my fellow-citizens are starving?" That gentleman asked a lady attending- the same ball why sh© spent £5 on a dress, whea many other women were on the verge of starvation, and she had since expressed a desire to work among the poor.