OMNIUM GATHERUM

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 12

OMNIUM GATHERUM

The proposal to raise a loan of £10,000 to construct the Waimate waterworks was carried by 154 votes to 25. A boy eight years of age was arrested by Detective Cox at Christchurch on Mon- '> day, 25th ult., on a charge of stealing two bicycles. A Hamilton dentist has offered to make gratis a dental inspection of fche school children there and to instruct them on the care of the teeth. Rewanui Apa-tore Ereni te Awe Awe has asked the Palmerston North Borough Council for permission to erect a monument in the syuare to the memory of the late chief Peeti te , Awe Awe. Mr Kenrick, S.M.. recently condemned the practice of judgment debtors retaining solicitors to appear for them in court. Ec suggested that the monty thus used would be better paid to creditors. The Rolleston statue was shipped from London in the s.s. Paparoa early in August. A private 'letter received in Christchurch from L-on don states that Mr Hampton, the sculptor, has been very successful in reproducing the features of the deceased statesman. A Norwich man, who has a wife and 10 ! children, called at the house of a woman, to whose daughter he was engaged 17 years ago, and "'demanded the return of- articles which he gave tie girl while he was eouifcing her. As he did not receive fheni, he smashed the windows. A sitting of the Supreme Court was held at New Plymouth, before ths Chief Justice, on The 25th ult. There were only two criminal charges. William John Taylor, farmer, pleaded " Guilty " to an unnatural offence at Hnwera,- ■ and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. In view of the trouble between the builders and architects over the conditions of contract, ther-o is soms talk (according to the N.Z. Times) of a limited liability bu'lding company being formed in Wellington to cany out building contracts, and also build htrases to sell on terms. . It is rumoured that Lieutenant-engineer Whe&ter, of the royal navy, who was in G-reymG'uth a few days ago, has made arrangements for the collier Mercedes to go to that port and ship 1500 tons of Tynesida ooai, filling up at Wostport and Weldington, for the China station. A peculiar fatality occurred at Thcbarton .(West Australia) on t^ve 10th inst., a I,hree-year-okl boy. son of Richard Blinman, landlord of the Royal Hotel, being found by an elder brother suspended by a rope tied to a tree in the hotel yard. The tree i had been used by ohi'dren as a swing. I At the Magistrate's Court at Palmerston North on Monday Jos. Gotland, with ! several aliases, was charged with the robbery of £18 from the peison of John Lloyd, and «-as committed for trial. On the charge of theft of a greenstone pendant he was - sentenced to three months 1 imprisonment. The Rev. Sydney Baker, of Palmerston ■North, in a sermon on amtseeme-ms. said " When I bear men r.dvoeate the closing of public drinking bars I am one with them." I believing them to be the sourca of untold i sorrow and evil. Yet I ask myedf what ! attempt is be-ing made to provide -a, counter I attraction to their allur-crnenfcs." i 'The Pleasant Point, farmer who was found ! dead on the roadside, and on whem an ! inquest waf held la=t week, had been insured for about 20 r^ars for the «urn of 1 £500. but he allowed his tjol'cv to lar^o m December last, and his widew and family j will reap no benefit from the clnceas-od'sc In ceas-od's lenor pavrrcnts Miss Alice Roosevelt has surfly inherited some of her father's vigour. An Ameiican i sttttisric'an presents h^r serial ach'ovemont* | fpr 15 months in. the form of arithmetical ! convDiii'ation. He say* sbo has bepr> present jarj ar 403 din'tvers. 350 bills, and 300 sn"all dances. Her 5 cVock +ca* nrmber 6TO, and she has paid 170 D cal I*.1 *. Tt is n r act worthy cf vot" NN r >^ = f h-* | learner Tclesrrarih) ihnr v\hcn Mr M W | P-. Laac-eMe* transferred fclv cfrkin] sissienc 1 I acrencv to his sncc-s--ov xhc'n va<s noi a ', i-ina;!-*? <^^t- r .t<? ooen on o^> b-z^rs- Such a j state of things ha= i.-cvv heen known bpforo i in thp history of Hr.-.vUc's Bay. g.nd sp°ak.= ! well for the prcspor'tv of )h" r^orile. | Advice has beem "ecoi\ocl in I \Ycllin jton | thpt the auxiliary schcoi:o.- Emiia Sim?, , which a Wellington syndicate ilcspate'-od , a couple of wcolr- ago to a^crapt to ~cc"j-<^v , the bullion from the vrrcli of iho Elinj-a-I mitp afc Three Hin?:s, put ; nto Mor.goii.i'i on Friday to isp:rt. Gi''C.i favouvable weathpr conditions ■ r orations at the vir'ck should cemmenr-p this vso°k A uarty of to'Jrisi= writino- f rnm Xorwa'' to Me=;sr= TSma« Cool and So".v' ao;ont in Christchurch, slate that they bb € -\z beon

drawing comparisons between Norwegian I fiords and Milford Sound, and the onlyadvantage that could be claimed by the older country v,as the presence of a mid- ' night sun. Otherwise the New Zealand scenery, in their .estimation, was equal to that of Norway. In reply to tlie member for Otaki, the Minister of Public Health stated in the House a few days ago thafc considerable attention had been given by the department io infantile mortality among tho Maoris. To get at the- true state of affairs the Government is considering the question of introducing a system of registration of births and deaths among i'he Maoris, and also tho appointment of nurses to visit pas and givo personal advico on the elements of sanitation, nursing, clothing, -feeding of the sick and healthy, etc. What appears to have been a dastardly attempt to burn down the house of Dr Hayes, at Kakahu, occurred on Sunday and Tuesday- last (states the Temuka Leader). Mrs Hayes is staying at Kakahu, and on Tuesday morning the back door and scullery wcro found to have been soaked with kexosone, and also the front door of the house, door mat and verandah. At the back the floor was all blackened and charred, as though some person had attempted to set tit to the building. Thei matter has been placed in the hands of the police, and probably more will be heard of it. Amongst the applicants for re-lief who appeared before the "Wellington Benevolent Trustees last week was an elderly man who a i&'f-' years ago waa a prosperous tradesman in another part of the colony. He sold off his property and joined a religious organisation, and gradually his money dwindled until he and his wife found themselves f&oe to face with poverty. The couple went on to Wellington, but are unable to work owing to illness. A young relative assists thorn by paying the rent of their cottage. a.nd the Benevolent Trustees agreed to provide them with food for a time. At a meeting c-f the Bonrd of Governors of Canterbury College on the 23^-d a scheme providing for the reorganisation of the staff of the School of Art was adopted. The present position of a.rt master is to be abolished, and a director appointed at a salary of £500 per annum. * Applications for the new position a.re to be invited in England, Australia, and New Zealand, and, if necessary, the High Commissioner is to be- invited to select a director in England. Tho whole of the present staff will be given three months' notice of the termination of the'r engagements in order to allow tho new director a free hand. A daring burglary was committed at Bendigo recently on the premises of J. Thorn and L. .T. Wilks. who carry on business as gold buyers.. The two members of the 'firm and an employee named John Bryant sleep in one bedroom, and as protection against thieves both Thorn and Wilks keen loaded revolvers under their P'llows. They were not disturbed during th« night, but this morning found that thieves had paid tbem/a visit and carried off gold bullion and articles of jewellery to the value of £120. The stolen property was taken from the pockets of tho owners of the clothes. The thieves also carried off the revolvers. In connection with the mud pool at Ohinelnulu which erupted recently, we (the Hot Lak(=s Chronicle), understand the eruption was due to the presence of a bar of soap, which had been placed in the hole by a Maori— without the leave of Sir Joseph Ward, be it said — to ascertain what the j effect would be. The Maori was thoroughly i ploa-ed with the experiment, so w? shall probably have a few mare of tho mud pools j cpenms; out in the same way. On Wednes- ! day afternoon, towards 6 o'c'ofk, tlip pool nsain h^c^m-p activp. although it had been in a quiescent state from the previous after- j neon at 5 o'clock, and pent mud and water to a height of about 20ft. . ! It is reported that the railway station at Hyde ir. to be or.- 1 of the largest on the ota2o Cential lii.c. In addition to the buildings for iaib\ay purposes,, suehasgoeds sh°'.ls. rja=sen2vv station, ongino shod, etc. (the Dunsun Tiir.e-> understands), that thers £>•.-> to Vc no I'-sf, than 13 r-esidences for Government officials. The entrance 1 to the station for passenger and light traffic faces tho county buildings in Longstone street, nhile the heavy goods portion is situated at rhc northern end near tiie Clyde-Cromwell Gorge. From the general appearance of tLe whole plan it would s em that it is infc-endec 1 to make Clyde the terminus for some cone'deraMe length of time A tram conductor found an old leather bag lying- on a pathwnv in Sydney. The ba.£. which was ot considerable weight, was handed o\er to the police, and a search

disclosed a small bag, among som© old clothing, containing 650 sovereigns. The owner turned out to be an elderly Frenchman named Frederick Mitehefcts,' who had come from Newcastle. He showed the police deposit slips for £290, and he « explained that he lay down to sleep beside a trceguard, and somehow lost his bag. As lie behaved in a strange manner, and was apparently suffering from paralysis of the tongue, he was detained for protection and subsequently removed to the reception house. A late issue of the Fiji Times states that October 10 (the thirty-first anniversary of the annexation of the colony) has been selected for the opening of the next meeting of the Fijian Legislative Council. The session is to be a three-day one_, provided the agenda paper proves equal to the strain. The business to be transacted is the passing of the 1905 Estimates, and a measure for reorganising the police, and the effacement of the so-called rural police which, for some years past, has been dangerously near creating a scandal in the polony. In the proosss we gather that it is the intention of Government to absorb the Armed Native Constabulary — and so do away with the forceas a distinct unit in the administration of the internal economy of the colony. Evidently humour and honesty are not yet defunct virtues (says the Christchurch Prsss). A few days ago a young lady dropped a threepenny piece in Cathedral square, and gave the matter no further thought till she received the following unconventional letter from someone who witnessed the little tragedy and became a participant in it: — "Cathedral square, 3 minutes past 2 p.m., close "to Post Office, Monday. Ssptember 11. Found and forwarded (the threepenny piece is here stuck) on the paper). Miss , since when has money become so plentiful that you can afford to east it away at pleasure? In 'high society' it is not considered good form to show off your %vealth in the presence of the less foruicats. — (Signed) 'Honesty.' " A peculiar rase came before the Magistrate's Court in Auckland last week. A lady who po?3«vwed a [rood deal of jewellery was in ih-o habit of hiding some of it under the linoleum in her house. She Hold a man who was sent to the house by a local furnishing firm that she had lost a diamond ring which he might perhaps find under the linoleum. Before he left he told her that he had not b-3sn successful in his search, and he advised her to advertise for the article. She did advertise, and the man then told her he knew a man who had bough fc the ring. On- the advice of the police she met the linoleum-layer, who produced the ring, and just at that moment two detectives appeared and took him into cusitodv. Accused was committed for trial. Mr E. Ewing has just received f.rom Itaiy the carved figures of two Hone, which ha intends placing on an outsida stairway leading to his residence at Boss street. Eoslyn. The figures were designed to the order of Mr E\vin.g by Messrs Bergamini and Reid, of Dnnodin. and were sculptured at a studio in Italy from separate blocks of white Carrara* warble. Tho design of one animal is that of the king of beasts in, an attitude of repose, and that of the other where he. has V'ccn roused from slumter and is prepared for any ooca.aion that may arise for offensive or defensive action. The figures have been exceedingly well executed by tho srii'ptor to whom the work was entrusted. The dimensions of thp figuivs are — Hoisjlvt 21in, breadth 15in. and length oft 2m. ami when they are placed in position on Miih'blo pedestals they will present an imposing effect. When Dr Pomare wont recently to Pamapuria, in the Far North, to investigate a supposed outbreak of typhoid amonasfc Moon*, he found thnt a young man had died. Is"c man's fmhor had told him ha. was bewitched, and he promptly " 'aid uv> and dVI. Four other members of the family were ill. The father himself who was p?rfecHy healthy, bad sono without food for four or fiv-c days, and was lying weak and emaciated in his whare. He also declared that h^ was bewitched. "By way of getting over tho difficulty, Dr Pomarc had some chicken broth prepared, and took it to th© patient, saying he had performed the necessary incantations over it, and it would settle the witchcraft. The uatient swallowed the broth, nn«l immediately admitted that " he could feel the light going all through his body." He recovered at once. In tho same pa was an old tohunga of 70 years suffering from rheumatism and a bad " cold." He had quite recently been curing his ftountrym?n of ills by biting them on tho abdomen and the head ' The outbreak at Psimapuria. was not typhoid, but merely influenza, with complications.