LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2727, 20 June 1906, Page 59

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

During the last few weeks there has been, a gradual transfer of men engaged on the Otago Central line to other lines in the colony, such as the Midland railway. iWaipara-Cheviot,. and Nofth Island Main Trunk. The Labour Bureau has edso despatched a few men from Dunedin during the past few weeks to North Island and Cheviot railway works. The number now engaged on the formation of the LawrenceBoxburgh line ranges from 120 to 130.

The parties interested in the hotels affected by the decision of the Waikouaiti Licensing Committee have consulted Mr Solomon, who at the meeting of the committee raised the question of the committee's duty as to the number of houses to be reduced when a license had lapsed, and steps will shortly be taken in the Supreme Court to test the validity of its decision refusing the renewal of two* publicans' licenses and. one accommodation license.

The ."Women's - Christian Temperance Union has iesoed :tbroughont the colony a petition addressed to both Houses of praying,,for ,£he abolition pi the 1 license c which is at present given to the totalisatorl The petition urges that the vice- of gamblirjg is highly detrimental to the moral well-being of the community : that the Legislature has already shown its recognition of this fact by passing various enactments for the prevention and prosecution of gambling ; and that there has been an alarming increase of gambling since the toralisator was legalised, because many have supposed betting to be reputable because this instrument for gambling was under State patronage. These petitions are being very generally signed in the various churches, and a monster petition will be ready for presentation when Parliament meets. In connection with this effort the Anti-gambling Committee of the Council of the Christian Churches has requested the ministers of the city and suburbs to make a united deliverance against all forms of betting and gambling on the last Sunday of this month, the 24th. Many have already signified their readiness to adopt this proposal, and it is expected that there will be a very general protest - uttered- against this popular vice, which all moralist* worlby of the' i»me have denounced as inimical to the .moral integrity. of both individuals and States.

An interesting €xhibiir may be seen in tlie case set apart for recent additions at Canterbury Museum {says the Lyttelton Times). It i&~& collection of stone 'implements from New South Wales. The collection was found in sandhills by Mr T. Whitelegge, of Sydney, who has presented it to the museum. The implements show the degrft of skill achieved by the aboriginals. There are surgical instruments, also used by the natives for raising weals on the breas-ts; .fish spear-points, which are fixed into the top of spears with gum ; death spear-points, with barbs; gravers, used for ornamenting boomerangs ; bullroarers, gouges, knives, and other articles. The collection is a valuable one from tie ethnological point of view.

Mr Thomas Mackenzie lias given notice that at the meeting of the Education Board next week he will move — " Whereas the methods obtaining for securing appointments to city and suburban schools place country teachers (equally qualified with metropolitan) at a great disadvantage, and whereas, should the law remain unamended, the practice may seriously affect the progress .of country schools _by hindering capable teachers from hazarding a term in the country lest that should militate against their professional future, this board therefore is of opinion that this should be changed, and that preference should be given when filling such vacancies to those teachers who, being equally qualified, have taken their share in the work of education in the back country."

The survey work preparatory to the laying of the tramway in connection with the Paparca Coal Company's property on the West Coast is now well in hand, and immediately on its completion the actual formation of the tramway will be proceeded with. The reports of the present surveyors as to cost of tramway and incline fully bear out those of the original surveyors. This is estimated, approximately, to run into £39,000. From 18 months to two years should see everything in readiness for developing this huge area of coal. The first statutory meeting of the company was held at Wellington "on Tuesday last, when the following directors were appointed : — Messrs J. P. Maxwell (chairman), J. R. Blair, W. Watson, J. Duncan, H. F. Nees. J. Studholme, and the Hon. Charles Johnston.

The railway regulators regarding the issue of free school season iickets. which come into force on July 2. are gazetted. Tickets will be provided to pupils not over 15 years attending the Government primary schools from railway stations where there are no primary schools in the vicinity, and only to the station in the vicinity of the nearest primary school ; pupils not over 15 year 3 attending private schools for primary education ; pupils not over 19 years who are holders of scholarships tenable at any District Hijh School or secondary school as defined by the Education Act of 1904 to enable them to attend such District High School or fooondary school ; pupils not over 19 years who are holders of free places tenable at any Dktrict Sigh School or secondary school to jgnable them to attend the nearest school

at winch such free places are tenable; holders of free places tenable at any technical school recognised under the regulations for manual and technical instruction; pupils on the rolls of public primary schools or Distriot High Schools travelling to attend 6chool; and to pupils of classes recognised under the Manual and Technical Instruction Acts, and held in centres specially equipped for the purpose. Tickets may only be used when travelling for the purpose of "tuition for examinations, and for junior national scholarships, and from the places of examination.

The proposed purchase by the Government of the small pataka, or Maori food storehouse, now in the Auckland Museum, for removal to the Wellington Museum, would (says the Auckland Herald) remove one of the most interesting features of the fine Maori collection, which is one of Auckland's proudest possessions. The house would be very difficult to replace, for it is' doubtful if there is another in existence possessing its characteristics and associations. It was carved so far back as 1825, although the front gable boards were evidently carved at a later date. The house stood on t-he shores of Lake Rotoiti, and belonged to the Arawa chief, Haerao Huka,who murdered the chief of the Ngatihaus^ in consequence of which particularly sanguinary battles raged between the two tribes from 1835 to 1840. The decoration cf the house i 3 conspicuously Maori in feeling, there being no «race in the artist's work of any European influences, which are perceptible in carvings of a later date. The house was the property of the late Judge Fenion, and was 'lent by him to the museum. Its loss to Auckland would be irreparable, and the Herald hopes that the citizens of Auckland will allow no financial -consideration to hinder its retention.

The Hon. Mr Hall-Jones, Acting-Pre-mier, wired on Sunday afternoon intimating that the funeral of the late Prime Minister will take place at Wellington on Thursday next at 2.30 p.m.

The Public Library for Dunedin has been advanced another stage. The Finance Committee will recommend the City Council to accept the tender of Messrs Crawford and Watson (£9085) fo/ the erection of the building. Operations are to be commenced without loss of time, and the contractors are allowed nine months in which to carry out the work.

Mr JB. R. Short, the district secretary, advises that the recent election for three directors of the A.M.P. Society's Board at headquarters resulted as follows : — Senator the Hon. J. T. Walker, 16,061 voters — 73,344 votes; Benjamin Short, 13,642 voters— 63.oo4 votes; Rollo A. Cape, 11,003 voters— s4,6oß votes.

There were 34 patients admitted to the Hospital during the past week and 26 discharged. Four deaths occurred, the names of the patients being Edward M'Hugh, Edith Berry, Robert Leckie, and John Garre,tt. The number of inmates remaining in the institution is 128, which is four in excess of the number at the close of the week previous.

Our Oamaru correspondent wires : — " The discovery in North Otago of a deposit of granite of the same quality as the Orepuki granite has created a good deal of interest here. The deposit is on the farm of Mr A. Shand, near Enfield, a mile and a-half only from the Ngapara line of railway, and is of considerable extent. A sample has been polished by a local stonemason, and was exhibited to Dr Marshall when in Oamaru on Saturday", a piece being taken by him to Dunedin for testing purposes. Mr J. Crombie, the mason referred to, says the stone is of finer grain than Aberdeen, is very hard, and polishes easily. The result of Dr Marshall's test is awaited with interest, the more so as Mr Shand is already receiving inquiries on the subject."

The police arrested a man named ilarry Anderson at Balclutha on Saturday on a charge of breaking iuto Mrs Giller's house in Stafford street on the 30th of May. Two other men who are alleged to have been implicated in the offence have already been before the court. One of them pleaded " Guilty " and the other " Not guilty.'' The polioe have been searching for Anderson for a week or two.

It has been left to a trades union to dispose of the public business for which its meeting was called (occupying two hours) before any reference was made or resolution moved with regard to the services rendered the colony, and trade unionism in particular, by the late Right Hon. R. J. Seddon. This occurred at a union meeting on Saturday night. In the case of all other meetings since the Premier's death, no matter what the nature of the gathering or political creed of those constituting the gathering, the resolution of regret and sympathy was placed in the forefront, and frequently' after its adoption the regular business was postponed to a future occasion. Trades unionists, however, in such matters, as in some others, are apparently a law unto themselves.

The Drainage Board report* that rain fell on two days last week, a* follovr« : — June 15. .030 in! 16th, .140 in :— total. .220 in. The total rainfall for 1906 to date i<11.595in.

'•I have no objection to a l.inn being deprived of his work if he is not a unionist. It is quite right. Ho iei c only a thief tiding privileges to which he is not cniiilcd.'"- Statement by a '" free and independent " demociat at a meeting of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners oa Saturday night. Another

interesting piece of unionist debate was the following: "Americans Ere generally in the front," said a speaker, to which a member interjected, "At killing men, especially." " Some of them need to be killed, too,"' retorted the first speaker. " They are better killed than be eating good food and cumbering the earth."

'•Petrifite" is the name of a white, finely-ground magnesia cement having extraordinary properties possessed by no other cement, and is a product that New Zealand will (says the New Zealand Times) hear a good deal of in the future. It is absolutely refractory and fireproof, and will bind almost any material. Clay, earth, loam, unwashed sea and other sand, destructor refuse, stone and quarry waste, sawdust, jute and fibre waste, and even chopped straw and shavings, when mixed with " petrifite." can be moulded without pressure into bricks, briquettes, or tiles suitable for buildings, flooring, side-walks, partitions, and numberless other purposes. If a brick composed of cemmon sawdust and "petrifite'' be placed in a furnace the sawdust becomes slowly calcined, but the remaining ash, with the addition of a little water, binds into a hard stone, which is fireproai^rfftud vermin proof. A series of tests has been made with briquettes made of " petrifite " and the sawdust of totara, kauri, matai, rimu. and white pine timber, and in every case the result was practically the same. The briquettes suffered in no way, except being slightly blackened, when submitted to the furnao? test, and an especially shaped one with an inch neck stood a pull of over 5001b pressure before, breaking. The briquettes have been submitted to the inspection of several engineei'3 in Wellington, and the unanimous opinion is that there is a wide field m this colony for the utilisation in this way of many waste products.

The new Pacific cable recently completed by Germany extending from Shanghai in China to Yap in the Caroline Islands, a distance of 2000 miles, closes the gap and gives Germany a cable encircling the globe. It is the first continuous nonEnglish line round the world. The cable is laid at the greatest ocean depth on record— 2s,247ft at the lowest point, in the vicinity of the Linkin Islands. The American cable in the Pacific did not reach a greater depth than 20,469 ft. Up to a few years ago there was no cable in the ocean at a depth below 16,404 ft.

" Draw Anderson's Bay," was a subject set a Second Standard class of one of the city schools last weak by an Education Board inspector in the course of the annual examination. It is hardly necessary to say that no child in the class could comply. How many of the adults of the city could do so off-hand ?

The Dunedin Fanciers' Club announces that owing to an unprecedented demand the prize schedules have run out, notwithstanding that an unusually large number was printed this year. The interest displayed indicates that the show should prove unusually successful.

At the meeting of the Dunedin Progressive Society on Sunday evening Mr G. A. Rawson delivered an address on the blood relationship of man and apes, his remarks being based on an article by Dr Paul Uhlenhuth in the April number of the Monthly Review. After dealing fully with the subject matter of his address, Mr Rawson concluded by stating that the truth of the theory of Evolution had never been absolutely proved according to the strict canons of logic, but the very nature of the subject rendered it incapable of such proof. There was, however, a great balance of evidence in its favour, which might be called strong presumptive proof, and the theory found its support not only in direct observation of the phenomena of Nature, but in the difficulty of forming any satisfactory alternative hypothesis. It was not enough for a man simply to say that he did not believe in the principle of Evolution. One had a right to ask him to give a more satisfactory explanation of the facts of Nature on some other hypothesis than that of the doctrine of Evolution which he rejected, and if he could not give a better explanation on other lines then, logically, he admitted by his failure to do so that the theory be opposed offered a better explanation of the facts than any other theory he could bring to his aid.

A lively meeting of the South Canterbury Rugby Union was held in Timaru on Thursday night, when the union took up a firm stand against " hooliganism " on the part of players under its jurisdiction. As the result of complaints against the conduct of Third Grade teams when returning by train to Timaru on a recent date, three of the players implicated were found guilty of drunkenness, and were suspended for one month, two others being severely censured. In the case of another team all the members (15) are required to appear before the union at its next meeting in order that charges of drunkenness and foul language preferred against them may be fully investigated. The bad conduct complained of is said to ha^e taken place in a train, and in the presenco of ladies. Several members of the union gave evidence in the cases dealt with on rhur«day night, and the union has determined to u«o every means at its disposal to keep the sport pure.

I Mr J. J. Nivcn. managing director of the Napier Fish Supply Company, who has left fox- England to purchase a new trawler for the company, intends to inquire into the latest methods of deep-sea fishing in the North Sea and on the coast of Iceland, and on the strength of experi- ' eace thus sained the first new steamer will

be built. The company has at present five trawlers fishing in Hawke's Bay waters, but as these vessels are not altogether up to date, and are consequently unable to maintain a sufficiently regular supply of fish, it is felt that the employment of vessels of newer type and larger dimensions will enhance the company's business, and at the same time tend towards the supply of fish to the public at cheaper rates. Should the new boat prove satisfactory, more vessels of a similar type will be obtained, and the coasts of New Zealand prospected in a comprehensive way, tor the company will not confine its operations to Hawke's Bay.

The marriage of the Marquis of Graham to Lady Mary Hamilton, which was celebrated last week, is one of considerable interest. Both parties belong to great Scotch houses, Lady Mary being the daughter of the twelfth Duke of Hamilton (the premier Duke of Scotland), and the Marquis of Graham being the eldest son of the Duke of Montrose. LadyMary, when she came of age last year, was the richest heiress in Great Britain. The Marquis of Graham has had an extraordinarily adventurous career, considering his years, which number only 27. Like Lord Brassey, he wanted to know the real business of sea life, so he shipped as a common sailor, served a full apprenticeship in the mercantile marine, got his master's certificate when he was 21, and was for some time an officer on Lord Brassey's yacht the Sunbeam. He did come good service in South Africa, working with the ■ Naval Brigade and the Volunteer Army Service Corps, and acting for a time as press censor in Capetown. During the famous hunt of De Wet he was in action 29 times in 31 consecutive days— something of a record even during those days of endless skirmishes. Lady Mary and the Marquis were very prominently before *t he public recently when the Marquis stood for Parliament, and Lady Mary and the wife of the other candidate worked so hard that the whole interest of the election centred upon them.

The barricades have been removed from the front of the new Railway Station, throwing the whole of the Castle street elevation open to view. The impression given by the appearance of the building is one quite favourable, and confirms the opinion previously formed when the work was in progress. Before the iron fence was removed, aJ*d when only the upper portion of the front was visible, the structure had a somewhat stunted look, but that is now 4> roved to have been an illusion. The wort of making up the square in front of the station is being pushed on, and, generally, the precincts are taking on a somewhat finished aspect. On the railway side the laying down of the platforms is being proceeded with, and everything is practically in order for putting up portions of the verandah, the sections of which are being n-ade at the Hillside Workshop?.

In connection with a paragraph which appeared in the Daily Times of Thursday last commenting on a case heard in the Magistrate's Court, Port Chalmers, Mr Alexander Dick, the employer of the lads who were before the court on a charge of stealing rabbitskins, says the rabbits which the lads were employed to trap were sold to the freezing works at Port Chalmers, the skins, of course, remaining on. The proceeds were divided between himself and the two lads, Mr Dick receiving one-third of the amount. Mr Dick furnished a number of the traps, and aleo the horse and cart to take the rabbits to Fortobello. Under the arrangement the lads could have earned really good wages if they had chosen to work. As to the assertion that the lads were fed on rabbits. Mr Dick says the statement is absolutely unfounded. Their food was exactly -the same as he himself got, and comprised tea, porridge, soup, meat, bread, jam, etc.

Qur Cromwell correspondent writes that the delegates from the different Upper Clutha branches of the Railway League who attended the meeting of the .Otago Central Railway League during show week are much, disappointed at the manner in which a number of leading citizens of Dunedin are opposing the immediate extension of the railway from Clyde to Lake Hawea. The old residents of the district are much surprised at the opposition of Mr George Fenwick. He is remembered as the pioneer of journalism in Central Otago, having founded the Cromwell Argus in 1869. Few are more conversant with the route of the railway or the capabilities o' the great Clutha Valley, and it was hoped that his influence vvo.ild have been used in pushing on the line. It is believed in the district that if the line is allowed to stop at Clyd« for a time, as suggested in Mr Fenwick's speech, great difficulty will be experienced in getting the construction of the railway s-tarted again. Not a word iheard in the I'pper Clutha district against the construction of the Catlins or the Law rence Roxburgh line, and it cannot be in derstood why a number of Dunprh. people wish to construct these by stoppluj. the Otago Central. The speeches of Messrs Bathgate and J. Allen are favourably com mented on in this respect.

Our Waikouaiti correspondent writes"On Wednesday and 'fbuis'iay last ■neeV the Domain Board had some men employer digging a ditch to let out the flood w.itei from the lagoon, but the hea\y sea? afi-ci wards filled up the cutting and washed <>\< ■ into the lagoon channe l , making in.ui<" worse than before. Meantime the i.'i" course is flooded, and rho v.ork of reclaim. tiou that 13 going on in the r<ric»iii ground is niterfcicd with. Tho boaid i;i fiimDly ta wit U-3 with to .^vijo: l^". v Z.

drawback until a better means is devised Ito cope with the flood* from rain on or*. hand and the flooding from heavy eeas on the other."

The Very Rev. Dean Fitchett has received from an anonymous donor £50 for St. Mary's Orphanage.

According 'to the Csylon Observer 55,084,8481b of black tea and 1,048,3751b of green tea were exported from Ceylon between January 1 and May 14 of this year; — in both cases a substantial iccrease on, the quantity for the corresponding period last year. Of these amounts 37,843,7351b of black tea and 193,0051b of green were exported to the United Kingdom, "and 8,209,6841b of black tea and 25,0261b of. green to Australia (which presumably- includes this colony). America is the largest consumer of green tea, with 644,2341b to its credit — more than half the total quan* tity exported.

" Zadkiel," in his predictions f0r...J906* mentioned that New Zealand would receive a shock, and that there would be « political crisis.