LOCAL As GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2803, 4 December 1907, Page 64

LOCAL As GENERAL.

Our Wellington correspondent wires that several persons are contemplating gifts of considerable value to the Victoria College library in addition to the very valuable gift which one gentleman jntends to make. There are now some 2000 volumes in the library. Mr S. S. Myers, acting deputy inspector, held an official inquiry on the 26th ult. at Seacliff into the circumstances connected with the escape of Lionel Terry. The evidence of Dr King, the two attendants who were on duty, and that of an ex-patient was taken. It was elicited that the room from which Terry escaped was provided with a window, which the ex-patient has so constructed as to be able to enter or leave at will. Terry seems to have observed this device, and to have kept the knowledge to himself, utilising it when he found it convenient to do co. The inquiry was not open to the press, and the evidence will be forwarded in due course to the Minister. A man named Joseph Hanson by some means fell off the Jetty street wharf on Nov. 26, and -was with difficulty rescued by Constable Phillips and a number of others. August Barbeau first made an attempt at rescue by slipping down one of the piles of the wharf, and the constable secured a rope which he cast to Haneon, who when he was nearly out of the water fell back again. A second attempt was more successful, and Hanson was hauled out io a very weak condition. Hanson, who is employed on the barque Irene as a seaman, could give no account of how he got into the water. The Tongariro, which arrived at Wellington from Home on Nov. 24, brought some valuable live stock, comprising six red deer for tho Tourist Department, a pen of five pheasants, 11 ewes and four stud rams, two thoroughbred horses, and a couple of coops of prize fowls. During the voyage one ram and one pheasant died. Speaking of raffles at church bazaars at the Burns Hall on the 26th ult., the Rev. A. Don waxed reminiscent. Having mentioned the case of a minister who had resigned his position at Lawrence as a protest against the practice of raffling, the speaker went on to tell of a certain pious brewer who presented the congregation with a barrel of his best YY^ to be raffled for at the church sale of work. The corpulent barrel seemed as much out of place as a fish at a flower show, and many of the elect were horrified. The situation was relfeved by the beer being won by the brewer's daughter, who took it away with her. The following pictures at the Art Exhibition have been 501d:"— 267, "A Stackyard," by Miss E. M. Every; 377, "Reflections," by J. Aehton ; 289, "On the Moors Near Loch Etive," by Mies E. M. Every; and 160, "Autumn in Wiltshire," by W. Greene. The following is the full result of the drawing of the art union which tqok place on Monday evening: —

No. 995, held by Mr Donald Miller, £12; No. 1165, Mr Geddes, £8; 817, Mr J. R. Morris, jun., £6; 1000, Mr B. Fell, £6; 17i, Mr Salmon, £5; 153, Mr J. M. Ritchie, £5; 410, Mies Thompson, £5; 1284. Mr John Mill, £5; 71, Mr Hart, £5; 1105, Mr A. A. Finch, £5, 506, Mr H. Shrimpton, £5; 1061, Mrs G. MXean, £4; 1259, Mies Bagshaw, £4; 845, Mr Usherwood, £4; 400, Miss Catherell, £4; 44, Dr L. Ferguson, £4; 1301, Mr Emery, £4; 314, Mrs J. White, £4; 945, Mr H. Law, £3; 349, Mr A. Bathgate, £3; 465, I Miss H. M. Scott, £3; 818, Mr J. R. Morris, £3; 463, Miss M. B. Scott, £3; 45, Dean Fitchett, £3. The exhibition will be concluded on Friday evening;. The success attending the opening day of the Burns Hall bazaar has exceeded even the expectations of the executive. The Burns Hall was crowded throughout the afternoon and evening, and the amount of business clone may be gauged by the fact that £360 was taken before 10 p.m. The South African colours recently presented to the New Zealand Volunteer Forces cost the Dominion £156. The cost of the colours was £145, passages and expenses of officers conveying colours to Auckland and Dunedin £10, cab hire for conveying the colours to Newtown Park £1. The following are the terms of a clause of some local interest in the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Publio Bodies Empowering Act which was passed last week:— "Whereas 'The University of! Otago Leases and Securities Act, 1898, ! Amendment Act, 1899,' recites that the land described in the schedule thereto is vested in the University of Otago : And whereas deubts have arisen as to whether the whole of the land so described, including certain disused streets and certain email parcels of land formerly covered by the Water of Leith, are so vested in the said University: Be it therefore enacted that the whole of the land described in the said schedule to the said act is hereby declared to be and to have been vested in the University of Otago as from the eixth day of October, 1899, and the provisions of the said act and of all other acts relating to the lands of the said University are and shall be deemed to have been applicable to the whole of the eaid land accordingly." Under -the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public • Bodies Empowering Act, passed -in the expiring hours of the session, - the* statutory authority was conferred on the Government to convey the site above Lake Logan,' upon which it is proposed to erect an infectious diseases hospital, to the Otago District Hospital Board with that object in view. The Minister of Lands has succeeded in disposing somewhat summarily of the objections- raised by the Gore Borough Council — a section of his constituents— to a proposal for the exchange by the Government of a triangle between Medway and Norfolk streets, Gore, for four acres of a domain site, known as "Richardson's Gardens," which it was desired to secure as a, technical school site. Under the terms of the proposed exchange the site offered by the Government would have to be held by the council as a domain and could not be- used for the purpose of pro-/ viding revenue, and the Borough Council at its last meeting declined, in these circumstances, to agree to the exchange. The Government has, however, effected its purpose by providing in the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act, passed on the last day but one of the session, for the exchange of the sites. The clause in point, after reciting the unsuitablenees of the triangular section that had been appropriated as a technical school site, enacts: — "(a) The reservation of section 1, block IIIa, Town of Gore aforesaid, is hereby cancelled, and the said land is hereby reserved for purposes of public recreation, (b) The parcel of land containing four acres, more or less, and described in the nineteenth schedule hereto, is hereby reserved as a site for a technical and high school, and the existing reservation of the same for the purposes of public recreation is hereby cancelled." "He would sooner starve than come here for relief" was the statement made by an applicant to the Benevolent Trustees concerning her husband. The trustees believed he had excellent reasons for staying away, but were concerned to learn that the woman had six children, the eldest of whom, aged 15, earned only 4s a week at learning dressmaking. 'They informed the woman that her daughter must not receive less than 5s a week according to law. " Well," replied the applicant, "sho only gets 4s. ' It's a private dressmaker she's with; and often that is all we have to depend on. My husband is given to drink, but has not been so bad lately." Mr Gallaway said it was clearly a case for a female inspector. The City Council held a special meeting on Nov. 27 to consider Messrs Noyes Bros ' claim for commission due on the Waipori works, amounting to £10,953. The council had made an offer of £7500, without prejudice, in settlement of the claim, and this offer Messrs Noyes Bros., in a letter under date November 19, declined, offeriag to settle the claim for £10,041 5s sd, this offer also being made without prejudice. At Wednesday's meeting, after consideration extending over nearly two hours in committee, it was resolved/ to adhere to the previous decision to offer £7500 in full settlement of the claim. In the event of the offer being again refused, the whole ' i question will no. doubt come before the j 1 law courta, | \

■ An issue of 66 debentures of £100 each by • the Otago Harbour Board, representing tin balance of the old loan, has met with a • ready acceptance. Tenders for the debeu< tures were opened by the hoard on October > 26, and the whole parcel of 66 was placed f at £109 17s 6d each. '. The English mail despatched from Wei. Imgton on October 18 arrived^in London oa the 26th mat. The following motion was carried unani- , mously at the last meeting of the City Council, on the motion of Cr J. E. White, seconded by Cr Tapley »— " That the couni oil tenders to Mr and Mrs G. Lawrence and family its eineereet sympathy and f condolence in their cad . bereavement ! through the Ices of a son and brother; . and that this resolution be recorded in . the minutes of the council, and a copj ; thereof forwarded to Mr Lawrence." ! The New- Zealand Times' correspondent at Mahgaia (Cook bland) writes, under data . November 12: "A short 1 time back a fur • seal, which had no doubt found its way ; from the frozen regions of the Antarctic I over a vast expanse of landless ocean, , landed on Mangaia, near the settlement of Tamarua, and was promptly despatched, : in accordance perhaps with the ancient custom of the Mangaians to treat all foreign visitors putting foot on their ter* ritory as enemies. The last pelagian of ' | this kind seen on thia island waa about j 30 yean ago, I understand, during the time : j the Rev. W. Wyatt Gill was resident misj sionary here. He mentions in his work on the coral islands that the native who first saw the animal was so alarmed' and astonished at its appearance that B« came running to the missionary, saying that the devil had landed on Mangaia. However, the natives soon made meat of thi« visitor from the nether regions. These people have no name for the teal. The Maoris call it kekeno, but the Mangaian* simply allude to it as a eea-dog, ' Ekuri no te moana.'" At a meeting of the Special Committee of the Master Bakers' Association. Held on the 27th November to consider the pneo of bread, it was decided, after exhaustive inquiry and in view of the present bi?h price of bread, to reduce the coat of the 41b loaf.frtfm 8d to 7|d, ahhough it was shown, by figures produced by several members of the trade, that this reduction leaves a very slender profit. -The redaction took effect on December 2. The wall at the north tp»t at the Heads is being steadily raised in height. During the last few weeks the sand ban accumulated to the height of the wall between the pile on the main wall and the shore, and endeavours are being made to increase the height of the wall in order to hold as much «and aa possible during the summer months, and thui secure the beach between the wall and the mole. To secure the beach on the harbour side an apron of atone is being deposited on the beaoh near the gauge-house jetty. Two distressing eases of consumption in Dunedin have Been brought tinder our notice by the officers of philanthropic societies that have interested tihemselvee in the patients, in the hope that the effect of the publicity which we are able to give to the orronmstanees may induce some of our kind-hearted citizens to *«sist them with funds for the provision of cueh com* forts as will brighten the remaining days of the sufferers' existence. One case u> that of a woman, whose husband m alt work earning 42s per week, out of which he has to pay 12s 6d for rent and 10s for the employment of a nurse— -the latter an inadequate sum for service thai ie rendered day and night,— leaving less than 20s for the maintenance of toe three. It is represented to us in this case that, in order that the services of the none may be retained, it will be necessary to oay her a higher wage than the patient's hue* band is able to provide out of his slender resources. The other case is a most* pitiable one. The sufferer is a boy of 16 years of age, who is now .so ill that he is unable to work, while bis mother ie /laid aside with cancer in the stomach, and 1 his father has reached an age at which he is unable to do much work. In this case the patient U, there is reason to fear, insufficiently nourished, despite the fact" that aympathisers do what they can to help the family. On the above facts beinjt made public in the Daily Times subscriptions -were «»nt io the editor of that paper as follows:— £s from D.C., £2 2s from Messrs A. and T. Inglis, and £1 Is from "Sympathiser" for the relief of the sufferers in the two cases referred to, and £2 from A. F., for the assistance of the boy. As a result of the legislation of the past session cooks and waiters throughout New Zealand are to have a boon which has been enjoyed for eight or nine years by Australian States. Section 20 of the Shops and Offices Act of 1904 has been - amended to read: ''AH assistants in hotel* shall have a half-holiday, from 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on one working day in each week." Save the necessity for some final calculations, the rentals have now been fixed I for the various sections into which the Otekaike Estate has been divided for purposes of settlement. The figures arrived a< (writes our Oamaru correspondent) run from 2s to 12s 6d, with the exception that a 30-acre section will carry a rental of 16s 1 per acre. One section of about 1000 acres in extent has been valued at 2s per acre, and the higher portiona of the country runfrom that figure to about 3s. To each of the five runs into which the highest area/ has been divided will be attached a portion of low country, which, though nojl

adjoining, wiU be regarded, for the pur- ' poses of settlement, as forming portions of 'the otibetß. The precaution should ' -ensure these blocks being readily taken up. It is expected t&at the ballot will take place early in February-. i Lionel Terry, on arrival at Lamb Hill | on November -22 was hatless and cladonlv n shirt, trousers, .and sandals. A resident offered him a. hat and then a cap, .both of which were politely but firmly declined. Ha quietly told them who he was; also that he had made his way ihitber from Seaoliff across some rough- country, inclosing -&c Silver Peaks. He was tired, he raid, of the monotony of Seacliff, and . intended to take a fortnight's change. The fact of his having traversed such a difficult stretch of country in a lew hours j did not -seem to strike him as being a feat. He partook of some food, and walked away up the road. Another resident, anxious for a-n interview, attempted to head him off, seeing which Terry turned aside into a gully, and disappeared as unexpectedly as he had arrived. Martin Willis, licensee of the Ontram Hotel, was on .Nov. 27* -charged, before Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S-M.,. with, celling liquor to a person already in a state of intoxication. The evidence was that the man wxs found drunk on the roadside, not very far from defendant'^ hotel, about , «n hour after he had left it, and that he had not called at the other hotel in the township. Defendant's servants swore that on each occasion the man was served with liquor he was perfectly sober. Mr Hanlon, who appeared for defendant, submitted that the case should be dismissed, and the magistrate agreeing with this view, the ease was dismissed accordingly. An appeal Is being made for the preservation of a famous historical house, Battersea- Rise Houbb, which has been designated the " Birthplace of Freedom." l There stands on the verge of CHapham Common a fine old house, which was for many years the residence of William Wilberforce, the famous emancipator. lis chief room is a beautiful library, designed by William Pitt, who was a frequent visitor. This xoom was Hie regulars meetingplace of the -Anti-Slavery Committee, which included Henry Thornton, Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, Zachary M&esnlay,. and his, more famous son (Lord Macaulay). These, with Wi)ber£oro© as their leader, carried en for 20 years the "unwearied, unostentatious, and inglorious crueade," which the historian Xecky has ennraezated among the ."three or four perfectly virtuous >eodrded in &c history of nations." The estate on which the house stands is about to "be built upen, and unless steps be taken this fine memorial will be swept away. , To avert this a sum of about £8000 is necessary, and at a public meeting: at Battenea on July 19 -it was resolved to recognise a public; voluntary subscription. One <donor who has (riven £1000 is Dr L, S. M'Maaue, who is chairman of the Collecting Committee. Subscriptions may be cent to Mr F. G. Satmtiers. London and South- Western Bank (Ltd.), Clapham Junction, London, S.W. Daring bis visit to Cromwell on Novem'vr 22-*, /tays the Argus), the services of Mr M. Fraer, J.P., were availed ,of to sit on the bench to grant a prohibition order, iln conversation with a reporter afterwards, Mr Fraer related some of the early history of the borough elections, and stated he was gazetted as J.P. by virtue of holding? office as Mayor of Cromwell in 1872. The few old residents of the early seventies will remember the great contest for the mayoralty of that year between the late Mr John Marsh and Mr Fraer, the Tesult ending in a tie. At that time there was no casting vote, so it meant another election, in which Mr Fraer was successful. We understand that a breach-of -promise case of no small interest will be heard at the next session at Invercargill. Plaintiff, a spinster of Lorell's Flat, claims £2000 damages from defendant, who is in the eromkty of the Otaeo School Commissioners.Speaking at the Catlins-Tahakopa Railway League meeting on Nov. 28, Mr J. TP. Arnold, M.P., said that the sums voted by the Government this year for expenditure in and around ' Dunedin total something approaching £130,000. This amount includes the following items: — Otago School of Mines, £250; Mining School, £4000; erection of warders' cottages, £600; Post Office, Dunedin (alterations), £500; Post Office, North Dunedin, £1000; Poet Office, Rbslyn (new building), £1500; new ward Dunedin Hospital, £500; Deeds Office (strong-room), £100-; new building on Court's Hotel site, to give accommodation to various departments, £8000; new Training College, £8500 ; and duplication of Dvn 1 edin?Mosgiel railway line (continuation of work), £100,000. With treatment such as this, Mr Arnold* cays that he, as a city member, cannot but give the Government considerable credit for its action. Allan Garth Macgregor, who, it will be remembered, was tried for the attempted murder of Mr W. E. Sargood some two years ago, and who on being found not guilty on the ground of insanity was ordered to be confined during, the pleasure of the Colonial Secretary, was on November 28 set at liberty. It is understood he intends to proceed to America. Mr Sargood is now resident in Australia. In response to the request of a number of- ratepayers, a pell was taken at St. Kilda on Nov. 28 in- regard to the introduction to the borough of the system of rating on unimproved values. Only a shade over one- ' third- of the ratepayers, of whom there are about 900, exercised their voting powers. The votintr resulted as follows: — For the

J proposal, 152 votes; against, 223; informal, 1. The proposal was accordingly declared i rejected by 71 votes. In one particular, the > rejection of the proposal is of more import ftjan actually appears on the surface. In other words, had it been carried the effect of the new system would nave been such that Forbury Park would, we are assured, have had to undergo subdivision for disposal, which would mean that the possibility of obtaining a .splendid playground would be lost to the people of Dunedin for ever. The owners of Forbury Park at present pay in rates something like £90 per annum, and' the rating on unimproved values system would have meant the doubling of that amount. The payment, therefore of £180 a year in rates was regarded as altogether out of the question, and there I would have been no other course open but to out the land up and dispose of it. "Those interested will doubtless note the following front our correspondent at Wellington: — The sum of £3000 having been voted by Parliament for distribution to public libraries, the- .distribution will take place on. February 4 next. No claim will be entitled io consideration that shall not have been sent in in due form, and received by the Secretary for Education, Wellington, on or before January 27, 1908. Councillor, Patricic Kinney, of Hyde, has been unanimously elected chairman of the M'aniototo County Council for the ensuing year. At the Magistrate's Court on Thursday morning, Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., made reference to a number of cases in which the defendants resided at Christchurch, Invercargill, and other places distant from Dunedin. Many .of these defendants, ne said, were evidently persons who were in comparatively poor circumstances and unable probably to attend the court, and were ignorant that they could apply for a change of venue or other court procedure. The amounts involved did not warrant in some caees the taking of legal ; advice, and he felt strongly that in such cases an -injustice was being done. Mr Burnard, who appeared for plaintiffs, urged that the causes of action arose in Dunedin, * where the goods were supplied from, and 1 from where delivery was taken- To [ counsel's contention Iris Worship replied j that the papers before the court did not | show this, and no doubt counsel would admit that orders for the goods were in ; most instances given to travelling canvassers. Had he seen the summonses before issue he certainly would have refused to allow them to issue from the Dunedin i Court, and in future he did not intend i that cases similarly brought should go through as lightly as had been the practice hitherto. In one of the cases referred to the magistrate, at a later stage, read a letter in which documentary evidence was given that the amount claimed had been settled, and an adjournment being asked for, it was granted, but his "Worship intimated that if the case came on again it would be referred to the Christchurch Court. In the Juvenile Court on November 28 a youth was brought , before Mr C. C. Graham, 6.M., charged with carrying an' air-gun, and firing the same at some children who where playing in Elm row. One of them was struck, but not seriously i injured. Mr Bedford, who appeared for ; the youth, said that the gun was used to frighten the children without any intention to harm them. His Worship said the offence was a very teerious one, and fined the boy 10s, with 9s costs, and 3s ■to be paid for expenses. The gun was confiscated. The arduous task of oyoling round the world by a lady is unusual, but a .Liverpool lady, Mrs A. G. Homewood, who is at present in Auckland, is engaged in this undertaking. She cycled about 1500 miles in America, and then, owing to pressure of time, hit! to take the train for the remainder of t the. journey to the Pacific Coast, -where she caught the steamer for New Zealand. After- cycling as far south as Dunedin, she- will cross over to Australia, and continue her tour there, finishing up at Adelaide: It was her original intention to proceed from Adelaide to Japan, and thence across Siberia and Europe to England, but this latter and most interesting part of the journey may have to be deleted. Dr Pomare, Chief Native, Health Officer, says that there will be no more Te Whitis. He believes that the general verdict is that the Parihaka organisation breathed its lust with its great exponent. The candle of the old conservative Maori party has been guttering in its socket for many years, and is now flickering out. Dr Pomare doe 3 not agree that the progress of the Young Maori party broke the old chief's heart. "He had no more broken heart than you or I," he remarked to a North Island reporter. Questioned about the alleged suppressed excitement among ihe Maoris, Dr Pomare said it was all " bunkum " ; there was absolutely nothing except a natural general interest in the tangi. He also ridiouled a report that the Maoris believed that Te Whiti would rise on the third day. Te Whiti never made that claim for himself.' The old chief predicted his own death-, and added : " The time is coming when, peace will be declared, and after it has come the question will be asked, 'Who is the author of peace?' and the little children will answer, ' Te Whiti." " , That prophecy, says Dr Pomare, has prac- ! tically been fulfilled. People can say what they like, but there is no doubt that Te Whiti has been the cause of peace in Taranald. Only for him war would have broken out long ago. When Titokowaru was very anxious to fight, he said to Te Whiti: "If the mosquito bites my leg, I elan it." Te Whiti answered j "Were

not your ears singed?" referring to the rebel's previous defeat. Mr A. H. Vile 'brought tip the question of substituting pads "for slates in schools at the Wellington Education Board's meeting on Thursday. Mr Vile wnsidered that the Government should be asked to do something in the matter of supplying schools with such apparatus as was required. It would be an expensive item in a child's school equipment if pads had constantly to be purchased. He moved that teachers in the employ of the board bo informed that -writing pads should not be substituted for -elates unless with the consent of the parents: Mr Hogg seconded the motion, and in the course of his remarks said that where slates were indiscriminately handed about there was serious danger of infection from unhealthy children. So long as each child was permitted to keep for its sole trse the same slate there could not be that danger. A child should keep - its slat* just as the Maori kept his land. The motion, wae carried. Tardy justice has at length overtaken an English firm named Dorey Luster and Co., whose advertisements -of cheap watches end jewellery, sent out in countless circulars, have (says the Dominion) victimised among others,- many hundreds of credulous New Zealandera, anxious to get something for nothing, or nearly nothing. These people were induced to send their money Home by offers of tempting bargains, and, when nothing came to 'them in return, they often oomnlained to the police, who have received the confidences of such" - ■victims every month of the year. - When jewellery was sent out in return for money forwarded, those who desired cheap value got? something greatly cheaper than their expectations. Now the Police Department has received word that the head of ihis enterprising firm, Dorey Luster, has been declared a bankrupt and sentenced to throe years' imprisonment on several charges of fraud, so that those people who ' are still expecting parcels can abandon hope. X* Romance, under the guidance of the London County Council, has visited the Mile-end road. , At No. 88,. the ' eyes of all lovers of adventure are arrested by a tablet which announces that Captain Cook lived there. Cook's first house after Ins marriage was in Shad well. Mt' where, no^ man of to-day knows. No. 88, however, has been identified beyond all doubt as his second residence, known in Cook's time as No. 7 Assembly row. It was while ,ihe lived there, that Cook .took command, of £ho Endeavour, chartered to observe the transit of Venus, from the Pacific Ocean. In the interval "between two of hie great voyages he spent over a year at his modest Eastend house. Mile-end saw the last of. the brave explorer in July, 1776, for in that year he started on the expedition that ended in ' his death .at Hawaii. Three years after Elizabeth Cook wa» <still living at the old house Speaking of the coal strike, which then seemed imminent, the Sydney Daily Telegraph says: — "Fish and potatoes seem as far apart from the present coal crisis as the , poles are distant, but they had a' good deal to do with prolonging the big strike of 1896. The fact is recalled by a statement that the strikers proposed to go. out to Lake Mecquarie to camp. Eleven years ago, when the Newcastle collieries were out, the shores of the lake were dotted with tents, bark humpies, and bush nouses, tenanted by whole families. On the tent poles were suspended strings of dried or smoked fish, and these, with potatoes, fortunately for the menu cheap at that time, formed the means of subsistence eked out while the fun lasted by 10s a week strike pay. Since then, however, Lake Macquarie has been denuded of fish, ' but at present potatoes are £2 per ton, so that a vegetable diet seems probable." A New South Wales judge holds that there are degrees in embezzlement. At the Mudgee Quarter Sessions, Acting Juctge Browning stated that he considered stealing from the Government was a crime of much greater magnitude than stealing the property of . an ordinary citizen. A prisoner who pleaded guilty of embezzling £LSO from his employers was sentenced to imprisonment for one year, whilst for embezzling. £20, the property x>f the Post-master-general, another prisoner was sentenced to two years. Both were liberated under the provisions of the First Offenders Act. ■ . The latest idea is to break the tedium of the solitary honeymoon by taking, it m company with other couples on the same sweet errand. From a duet the honeymoon is to be turned into a chorus (observes the Manchester Despatch). In the middle of November three smart weddings are to take place on three consecutive days. On the fourth all three couples, who are, of course, intimate friends, all moving in the same set, are" to meet in Paris, and to travel together to Egypt. From Cairo their purpose is to hire a dahabeah (houseboat) to sail up the Nile as far as the second cataract. Maids and valets will accompany the party. The three happy couples have imposed but one restriction on their perfect freedom. It is, "no bridge before breakfast." The statement that New Zealand hemp is being utilised in Japan for the manufacture of silk handkerchiefs, etc., is ridiculed by Mr M. Cohen, of Palmerston North, who has devoted considerable attention to the study of the hemp trade in all its branches, and who visited Japan last year. He procured samples of some of the articles suDDosed to be made in Janan

from hemp imported -from Australia or New Zealand, and took them over with him, but on submitting them to expert examination in that country found that they were not a Japanese product at all. A successful 'experiment was made last week at Whangarei by Mr Trevor, in the presence of the Mayor and other leading townsmen, of extracting illuminating gas from gum swamp soil. After half an hour's application of heat to a retort a steady, bright illumination^ was produced. The process, it is claimed (says the New Zealand Herald), seems to offer a prospect of revolutionising lighting by gas. .Ail the raw material is procurable cheapiy and in illimitable quantities. Speaking, of Gaelic before the class on Nov. 29, Rev. D. Maclennan explained how pupils had learned it from short sentences on the blackboard. He wondered at the frequent repetition of certain sentences, they wished to be translated. He steo marvelled that these sentences contained terms of endearment. It transpired, however, that many young ladies and gentlemen' of the class were in the habit of corresponding, and (said the speaker) more Gaelio passsed through- the post office that Christmas" than' ever before. ".J was starving in London, air!" Such was tiie reply made io Constable White by a bright, intelligent-looking' lad of 17 years, who, along with three others, was arrested on Nov. 29 on a charge -of having stowed away on board the Kaikonra in London. The eldest of the quartet was 26 years of age, and had taken the step in order to return to „ his -native land? which, he declared, he would not leave again in a hurry. v They had all «towed away amongst the coal, -and subsisted for three days before showing themselves on, board. Although not asked -to work, the lads assisted the coal trimmers, and it was really refreshing to hear the genuine and hearty good wishes for their future welfare as their shipmates assisted them over the side into tie police launch, which was waiting below. Their combined luggage was stowed away comfortably in two handkerchiefs, and it transpired that these representatives of England's "submerged tenth" were indebted to the crew for the few trifles which constituted their sole worldly effects. At the Magistrate's Court at Owaka on JNov. 27 before Mr Cruickshank, S.M.; and Mr J. Craig, J.P., five .settflers were charged with failing, to take proper means to keep down rabbits. After all ihe cases had been heard, ihe Bench dealt with them as follows: — Canning would be fined £2 and 19s coots, Johnstone £2 and 15s costs, Eaeon £2^ and 19s, and Donald £2 and 17s. In regard io Garry's case, although the rabbits were a "bit numerous, they certainly thought«*4hafc in the words of the act Be had taken reasonable and diligent steps. The case would be dismissed. They disapproved «trongly of the tone of the letter he had sent to the inspector, who was simply doing his duty, and had there been any doubt in their minds this would have weighed with %hem in convicting. A telegraph receiving office has been opened afrthe Railway Station in charge of the bookstall-keeper. Telegrams may be presented there for transmission between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. "A land flowing with milk and honey" is the accepted and orthodox notion of a oountry for which the title "God's Own Country" has been claimed. A correspondent wants to know whether "milk and 'honey" is not sufficiently comprehensive to include apples. It appears he purchased apples in Jhinedin on the 29th, and for his modest 6d received three apples of moderate size ! According to advice received by the police, a Naw Zealander named Fred St. Clair, v "wJip had control of Messrs Cohen Bros.' business at Auckland, ' has been arrested in Sydney on a warrant issued at Wellington on a charge ofj>he theft of £15 from his late employers. Detective Connolly will leave for Sydney to bring accused back to New Zealand. j The following pictures at the Art Society's Exhibition have found buyers: — No. 1, by W. A. Bollard, "A Summer's Day, Otago Harbour" (£6 6s) ; No. 57, " Oamara from Quarry Hill," by W. A. Bollard (£5 sb) ;• No. 66, "A Sleepy Day," by W. Greene (£4 4s) ; No. 96, " Low Tide, Brighton," by Miss Meadowcroft (£4 4s); No. 177, "The . Flood Tide," by H. H. Pattle (£8 &); No. 205, " Stormy Weather," by C. H. Howorth (£6 6s); No. 221, "A Village Forge," by Miss E. M. Every (£4 4s); No. 321, "On the Risdoa River, Hobart," by A_ Hanson (£7 7s) ; No. 381, " Mahinapua Creek, West Coast," by W. M. Gibb {£3 3b); No. 36, " The Bristol Channel, England," by G. E. Butler, (£s ss); Nc. 124. "Seven Bells," by H. H. Pattl© (£ls Ms); Na 198, "The Drinking Pod, Essex,"', by W. Greene (£l2 12s); No. 201, "An Old Village Church, Wiltshire," by W. Greene (£7 7a) ; No. 236, "Little Buttercup" (pastel), by Miss F. M. Wimperie (£5 sa); No. 242, "A Quiet Road," by E. Waymouth (£lO 1Q&) ; No. 336, "A Young Australian," by A. Hanson (£6 6s); No. 302, "On the Milford Track, Arthur Valley,", by C. H. Howorth <£5 ss); No. 379, "Autumn Tints," by Mies G. Weleter (£3 3e) ; No. 388, '•' The Artist," by Julian Ashto.i (£4 4e) : and No. 430. ' " Low Tide," by Mabel Hill (£5 ss). j XThe word " Ao-tea-roa," which Mr Reeves has vjsed for the title to his history of New Zealand, p.nd which he translates as "The Long White Cloud," has giv<-n ike to some discussion in the Po6t. Mr Henry M. StowelL the most recent '.-ontributor on the subject, e&ys that " Ao" means world. Ho believes that there is not in the English isLmrnncrn A mnro nrrfpct cauivaletit for

world in its- fullest 'sense. "Ao," lie ears, primarily speaks of world, atmosphere, region, light. .It is equally true that "tea. 1 " speaks of brightness and clearness, not oJ whitenees, which is " rua." The atmospheric brightness of this South. Hemisphere can scarcely be -better enforced than, by the terms "Ao-tea." A study of the word leads him to the following conclusion : The term '' Ao-tea" is highly descriptive,; it is proper to the southern skies; for ages it has bean the name of the brightest "Magellan Cloud; for some 28 known generations, or 784- years, it has been -a name of the North Island ; and it never embraced the. whole. New Zealand group. A four-roomed house, valued at £175, owned by Mr H. Hitchon and occupied by Mr J. Sheehan, was burnt down at Kaitangata on Nov. 29. The furniture was insured for £150 in the United office, but there was no insurance on the house. The fire is. supposed to have been caused by a defective chimney. . TBe compilation of the ~City Corporation tramway returns on Friday (People's Day of the A. and P. Society's show) discloses the fact that the number of special round trips made between the Post Office and Tahuna Park from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. was 170. The;- cash fares taken amounted to £314 15s Bd, .as compared with £376 17s 2d for the same day of last year, the total' receipts being .£542 -2 a Bd, as- compared with £414 lls Id for the previous year. The Corporation Gasworks report for the fortnight ending * Sunday, November 24, shows that 3,851,609 cubic feet of coal gas and 26,000 cubic feet of water gas were made. The coal carbonised- was 312 tons scwt, giving a yield of 12,335 -cubic feet of gas, with an illuminating power equal to 16.2 candles, per ton. The viral statistics for the pact marrtft, show that <luring November 137 births, -SS - deaths, - »nd' 51 marriages were recorded * for the Duoedan district, the figures for the corresponding month of last year beinjr 151 births, 85 deaths, and 59 marriages. The decrease in the number of deaths for the month is satisfactory, but notwithstanding ibis, it is quite evident thai 1907 is going to be a record year for deaths as . far «s this district is concerned. That it ■ must be so ie demonstrated by - the fact thai tip to the present 808, deaths have been recorded this; year .at the registrar's office,, to which, of course, the figures for : December have yet to-iie added to make -• up the year's total, while the largest number of deaths recorded in any previous year since the opening of .the office was . 815, - which w-as -the . total, for 1903. While indications point to an increase in iho • number of marriages for the year, the record of births is ' somewhat leas satis* ' factory. The Tramways Committee will on Wed* - nesday night recommend to' the City Council that 'the various brass bands in the '. city he subsidised to the amount of £150, . to be divided equally, half- of such amount to be ' paid by the municipal department and half by the tramways department the town clerk and the tramway manager, to -draft conditions to which the bands are . to conform. " Thirty-five patients were admitted to th» Hospital last week and 30 were discharged. Two deaths occurred, the names of 'the - deceased being Mary Besiieaux and James HilL The number of patients remaining in the Hospital is 122. The traffic returns for the city tramways : ' for the fortnight ended November 23, 1907; J as compared -with the corresponding period j for last year, were as follow: — Receipts — 1907, £2208 7s lid; 1806, £2010 9s 10d.. Mileage— l9o7, 42,046 mike 79 chains ?, 1906, 42,498 miles 12 -chains. In connection with the two cases of consumption mentioned elsewhere, we have received the following contributions to date:— D. C, £5; A; and T. Inglw, £2 2s;, Sympathiser, £1 1b; "Gore," 10s; Wctlwisher, No. 1, 2s; Wellwisher, No. 2, £2 2s; Helper, £1 Is; T. 8., £2. The fol- ' lowing Amounts have been handed to ua , for the assistance of the consumptive boy :— « ! A. ¥„ £2; Sympathiser, 10s; Sympathiser, £1; Fatner, 10s; Mother, 10s; "Sympathiser," Cromwell, 20b; ** A 1 Father," 10s; ' "A Sympathiser," 10s; "A Mother," 10s. "Gore" has sent us 10s in aid of both cases. A Press Association telegram from Invercargill states that the scientific expedition brought back to New Zealand a number of interesting specimens from the southern islands which were visited. There are now stored in Inveroargill 12 cages - of birds, including 10 flightless ducks and 24 parrakeete, some of which are the Auckland Island species, while some are specimens of one of the rarest birds in the world — the Antipodes parrakeet. The scientists also had fern birds and robio and snipe from the Snares, but notwithstanding every care taken during the stay, on Auckland Island, they finally all died. ' The present birds are in excellent condition, and Dr Cockayne has great hopes of landing the entire cargo by Thursday or Friday on Kapiti Isiand — a plant and animal sanctuary in Cook Sti-ait. Theso experiments of transferring bird* to one. . of the sanctuaries from a distance are the first of their kind, and if sucoeesful it « Loped that they will bo followed by of her similar expeditions. The field day of ihe Itt Ba-lialicuj, pootponetl fiom the week before last, took place on Ratiuday afternoon. The parade was uiainly hold to permit of the second in command (Major Crawford) passing hi* examination in practical subjects. Battalion drill took place near ths Central Battery, and then skirmishin? and advanced and rear guards and flank patrol work were practised.

Outpost duty was practised on the Sandbills near Lawyer's Head, sentries, groups, pickets, an 3 .supports being posted and visiting rounds detailed. The battalion was dismissed between 5 and 6 o'clock. The parade was commanded by Lieutenantcolonel Stoneham. The Otago Art Society's very successful exhibition was brought to a close on Saturday night. An excellent attendance was maintained throughout the day and evening, and the general comment was that the exhibition is the best ever held by the Otago Society. The gallery came in for a gnat deal of praise, and one exhibitor, who has seen all the best galleries, mentioned to a Times reporter during the evening" |QM he had not seen a better-lighted gtSLerj anywhere in the world,, and he highly complimented Mr Burneide, the architect, on the success he had achieved. The proceedings in the evening w.ere enlivened by a very enjoyable pianoforte programme contributed by Mr Pacey. The following additional sales were recorded: — No. 287, "A Peep of the Taieri River" fMiss G. M. Webster), £3 3s; 215, "Morning Effect" (Julian Ashton), £5 ss; 207, "Wahine Belle" (Mies E. yon Meyern), £2 10» ; 231, "The Bathing Place, Brighton" (Mabel Hill), £2 2s; 173, "Stormed i>y Cromwell, Knaresboro' Castle" (W. Greene), £6; 307, "At Richmond, Yorkahire" (Miss Sale), £4 4e; 292, 'Snow-clad Mountains, Queenatown" (Miss G. M. Webster), £2 2s; 10, "The River Heathcote" XW. M. Gibb), £5 ss; 11, "Summer Time" 'tMiss Sale), £7 7s. - - The well-known Five Rivers Estate, one 'of the largest runs in Southland, has been JBisposed of by sale. The estate, which comprises 38,000 acres of freehold land and 32,000 acres of leasehold, has been purchased from the late owners (Messrs Ellis Bros.) by a syndicate of Canterbury and Southland buyers. It is understood that the new owners intend to subdivide the property into several areas. An unusual sight was witnessed on Friday on H.M.C.S. Iris, which was ihen in the Calliope Dock at Devonport {cays the Press Association agent at Auckland). A swarm of bees took possession of a box, in the bow of the ship, and Respite the efforts of the officers and the fsrew the bees refused to budge. They avere at length dislodged from their position by being flooded out by water frem fhe ship's hose, and although numbers tP«re drowned, many returned and continued buzzing about the ship during the test of the day. On Saturday evening Chief Detectivo Herbert arrested a man named James Patrick Bushbridge, who is wanted from Wellington on an alleged charge of having, on November 15, forged the name | *>f Thomas Haining to a Post Office pavings Bank withdrawal receipt for £22 tOf, with the intention that it should be acted upon as genuine, and of uttering the flame to Henry Bringezu. John Hunter, stho is alleged to have stolen a horse trained at £10 and a saddle and bridle valued at £3, the property of James Jeffs, livery stablekeeper, was arrested at 10.30 tfelock on Saturday night by Detective Hunt and lodged in the cells. There are said to be still living some of Ihe Cape settlers who went to Africa, in j 1820. At Harriamith lives a man named James Palmer, who went out with the 1820 •ettlera, being then aged 13 years, and being now a few months over the age of 100 years. He has been with Mr Kxiei I now 41 years, and for the last 13 yean his wife has nursed him like a ohild. He has been blind for the last four years, . and fcannot distinguish night from day. She baa to prop him up in bed and feed him %rith a spoon. He has never drunk spirituous liquor or smoked in his life. He has fell his senses about him, and >talk* quite •ensibly, but just a little childish. An old lady named Lake, who went out to Port ffflizabeth in the year named, died lately «t. Durban, aged 97. The huia is becoming a rare bird in thk fountry. owing to indiscriminate shooting. It T is satisfactory to note that in the Animals Protection Act, passed last session, provision is made for protecting, amongst fbther native birds, the fast-disappearing huia. Any person who wilfully destroys the eggs of the huia is liable to a fine <not exceeding £10. "Of late years," says. the Hon. J. Carroll, "there has been a /growing business done in the sale of huia feathers, and, of course, one oannot get liuia feathers to sell without destroying Ihe birds; and if there is any bird in tfew Zealand that should be protected it is the huia. Furthermore, I think there jmght to be a sum placed on the Estimates toe the capture of huias alive, in order that they might be transported to other sanotuariee where it ie believed they would breed—say, for instance, the Little Barrier *>r the Urewera country, or they might be vent to other forests that we have preferred. I believe the huia would thrive |n these places just as well as he does in |tis own recognised habitat. Even now be jb extending over the Ruahine Range to Patea, and that in itself i* evidence that lie can live in other localities." " Hospital Saturday " was the uppermost theme of a largely-attended meeting of ladies and gentlemen on the 2nd in the City Council Chambers., The object of the meeting was the furtherance of the movepient for the collection of funds on Saturday, Deoember 14, for the Dunedin Hospital, the St. John Ambulance Association, the Patients and Prisoners' Aid Society, and the Victoria Convalescent Homo. Several speeches were made enforcing the need that exists for augmenting the funds of the various bodies partiei-

* pating in the proceeds of the Hc~pital Saturday collection. There is every reason to believe that the canvass will be as energetically carried out this year as in > previous years, and that, notwithstanding the many calls made recently on the finances of citizens, the takings this year will constitute a record for the movement. Up till now, Dunedin has easily held the pride of position in the van of generosity as regards the communities of the Dominion. As was the case last year, the Government has intimated its intention of giving a special donation of £200 as a subsidy on the amount of the collection allocated to the participating bodies apart from the Hospital, which, according to law, receives a subsidy of 24s for every pound donated. At a meeting of the Professorial Board of the University of Otago, held on Saturday last, .Professor Gilray in the chair, Alexander Moncrieff Finlayson, M.Sc, with first-class honours in physical science (electricity and magnetism), and also in natural science (geology), was nominated as the Otago University candidate for the Rhodes, scholarship (1908), and the chairman of the board was appointed a member of the committee of selection. The Hon. R. M'Nab, Minister of Lands, returned to Dunedin from the south by the mid-day express on Monday. A deputation was to have waited on the honourable gentleman in the afternoon from the Otago Branch of the Farmers' Union, with a view to bringing under his attention the importance of calcium nitrates in agriculture, but two members of the deputation having been called out of town, the proposed meeting with the Minister was abandoned. •■ During the day the Hon. Mr M'Nab was very busy with departmental work,' and in the evening he attended the Sunday School Union's gathering in Knox Church Sunday Sohool Hall, where he presented the prizes to the young people. All attempts to ascertain the whereabouts of Lionel Terry have so far proved abortive. A rumour has got abroad that someone closely resembling him was encountered by a constable the other night in Dunedin, but this lacks confirmation. The University Counoil on the 2nd decided to erect the new building for the Sohool of Mines on a site between the present building and the Water of Leith. It will face Union street, and will consist of two storeys and a basement. The sum of £4000 was voted on the Supplementary Estimates this year for the building. Competitive designs are to be called for, details of the competition being left to the Mines Committee. The well-known Otekaike Estate, on the Waitaki River, near Oarnaru,' which -was acquired by the Government a short time ago, is to be opened for selection early next year. The Hon. R. M'Nab, Minister of Land*, informed one of our reporters on the 2nd that the estate will be opened under the Land Laws Act of this year. Eighteen farms, comprising 15,551 acres, or, roughly speaking, one-third of the total acreage, are set apart for landless married people with children; to landless unsuccessful applicants at previous ballots 15 farms are allotted, the aggregate of the area being 3042 acres ; and the portion to be -opened for general selection comprises 22 farms, with an acreage of 30,051 acres. The gross total of the 55 farms is 48,675 acres,, and -the capital value is put down at £106,494. Applications from employees who have lost their employment owing to the cutting up of the estate number six, and these will be duly considered by the Otago Land /Board. All the leases will,under the new act, be for a term of 33 years, with perpetual renewal. The railway to Kurow runs through the property. It is anticipated that the ballot will take place next February. j The southern tour of the Hon. R. M'Nab, j Minister of Lands, commenced on the 3rd. j The programme the honourable gentleman j has mapped out for himself shows that in j the next fortnight he intends to undertake j some most important public duties and to take part in a number of functions of the greatest interest to the parties more immediately concerned with them. The Minister's itinerary is as follows : —Tuesday, Visit Milton Poultry Farm and the Tokomairiro show; Wednesday, visit Gore show; Thursday, visit Waikaia to receive deputations from the tenant* of the Otago School Commissioners and inspect the Waikaia railway and 1 the district it Is to feed; Friday, visit Olutha show; Monday, 1 9th, at Gore, lay the foundation stone of the Gore Hospital; Wednesday, llih. visit Invercargill show; Thursday, attend complimentary social at Otautau and receive deputations in regard to local matters; Friday, 13th, lay the foundation stone of St. Paul's Schoolroom at Invercargill and, in the evening, present the prizes at the break-up of the Boy6 f and Girls' High Sohools. On Saturday, the 14th, the Hon. Mr M'Nab will leave Invercargill and go right through to Christohurch, en route to Wellington. We have reoeived the following additional subscriptions on behalf of the two consumptive cases : — J. F., £1 ; H. G., £1 ; A. A. C, 10s. We have reoeived the following donations for the consumptive boy: M. F., 10s; S. W. V., 10s; Mater, £1; F. 8., 10a. " At the Hospital Saturday meeting on the 2nd, Mr J. H. Hosking, X.0., mentioned that sinoe the formation of the local St. John Ambulance Association over 5000 students had taken the three years' course of lectures. Of this number 2645 were men and 2399 were women. Medallions had been received by 198 men and 244 women. It was specially mentioned that

these figures applied not to residents of Dunedin only, but also to other parts of Otago. The good that the St^ John Ambulance Association was doing was thus of provinoial Importance, and this was a further claim on the generosities of the people for a liberal response on Hospital Saturday, December 14. Poised on wide pinions over the ocean, the albatross has always been a graceful white mystery. Few knew where it hatched ite young, and even now certain sailors believe each albatross to be the reincarnation of a mariner drowned at sea. Dr Marshall told one of our reporters on the 2nd that Campbell Island was full of albatrosses nesting. He spoke of them as being most lovable birds ashore. They were seen mingling in the friendliest way with tho sheep, and they would let a man come close up to them before they would make an attempt to get out of the way. They were easily captured, and when turned over on their backs could not regain their footing till some one inverted them again. Several members of the Waikouaiti County Council made a trip up Ihe Leith Valley on ' the 2nd inst. for the purpose of inspecting from the lower levels the portion of the North Ward of Maori Hill borough that a section of the ratepayers desire to be annexed to the county. Several petitioners explained their views to the county visitors subsequent to the inspection, and gave all the information in their possession. The loan of £617 hanging round the neck of the North Ward ratepayers, with no sinking fund to provide for ite extinction, was regarded by the county visitors as a somewhat heavy disability, particularly as no one oould tell them how it was to be liquidated without casting * burden on the county. When the county councillors are supplied with more light on the subject the proposal will be deliberated upon. The question of the proposed Veterinary School in connection with the Otago University came up at Monday's meeting of the University Counoil, when a letter was received from Mr Clifton (Chief Inspector of Stock), asking whenjbhe sohool would be established. Mr James Allen, M.P. (vice-chancellor), said that during the recent session of- Parliament Mr T. K. Sidey and he had had a number of interviews with the Minister of Agriculture on the subject. Students for a four : year course had been applied for, but there had. been no response, and after consultation with the Minister they had come to the Yxmolusion that they ought to try an abridged course of training, not for skilled veterinaries, but suitable for stock and* dairy inspectors. Those negotiations were still going on. He had recommended to the Minister t^at they should give a two years' course, with a. certificate in animal hygiene, and had asked the Minister to arrange that all inspectors under the Agricultural Department should be drawn from, the students who had undergone a course of instruction in animal hygiene. Mr Allen was authorised to interview the Hon. Mr M'Nab during his present visit to Otago with the view of ascertaining what the intention of the Government was on the subject. The scientists at Campbell Island were fortunate in their cook, one of the castaways from the ill-fated Dundonald. After seven months spent in emulating Robinson Crusoe, the sailor had become a past master in the gentle art of, desert island housekeeping, and cheerfully placed his valuable services at the disposal of % the party. He was not only an excellent cook, but was full of genial good humour, that privation and hardship seemed only to have intensified. He was a regular maritime Mark Tapley, and appeared to think cooking for the scientists was a huge joke. He confided to Dr Marshall that he was having the time of his life. While in Dunedin on Thursday, Nov. 28, the Hon. Mr M'Nab was waited upon by a deputation from the Coal Miners' Union, consisting of Messrs Howie, Cairns, Crow, and Weston, and introduced by Mr W. D. Mason. The deputation sought information from the Hon. Mr M'Nab in regard to the bank-to-bank clause of the Mining Act. Mr Weston, on behalf of the deputation, expressed regret at not being able to see the Hon. Mr Millar, Minister of Labour, as he knew mining was out of Mr M'Nab's department, but trusted that gentleman oould give them a little information on the matter, as they were in a peculiar position, for the reason that come mines were Working under the amended hours at present. It was pointed out that they as a body, representing the executive of the Otago Miners' Union, had received word that the act was not in operation at present as it had not yet been signed by his Excellency the Governor. It was also explained that it might involve an injustice and danger to employees if they, as individuals, were allowed to set the act in motion. The opinion of the deputation was that the proper way was for the Inspector of Mines to put the new act in motion. Mr M'Nab courteously received the deputation, and expressed his regret that the matter was out of his department, and suggested applying direct to the Hon. J. A. Miljar. In all probability the act had not yet left the hands of the printer, and the course he thought Mr Millar would pursue would be to forward copies of it to the Inspector of Mines as soon as it was in circulation, and instruct him to notify all managers in Otego, whose duty it would then be to have the amended conditions carried into effect. At a conference of delegates of the Otago Coal Miners' Union " held in Dunedin on November 27 the question of affiliation,

with the Otago Trades and Labour Council was discussed at great length, but owing to the proposed federation of all the coal miners' unions in the Dominion, it was decided to defer coming to a decision on the matter under discussion. The secretary was instructed to write to Mr R. t Breen, secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, thanking that body for ite assistance in bringing about the inquiry into the recent disaster at the Nightcaps coal mine, in which three lives were lost. During last month 44 cases of zymotic diseases were reported to the District Health Officer, 32 originating in the country and 12 in the town. The total was made up as follows: — Tuberculosis, 20; scarlet fever, 16; diphtheria, 4; enteric fever, 2; and blood poisoning, 2. The pictures exhibited at the Art Gallery Exhibition continue to "move off" in a satisfactory manner. The following additional sales have been effected :— No. 9, "Morning Light," by A. EL O'Keeffe, £3; No. 24, "Second Beach," by the same artist, £2; No. 161, "Pepa," by W. Hounson Byles, R.8.A., £21; No. 164, "A Bush Clearing," by W. A. Bollard, £5 ss; No. 180, "Lee Bay, Stewart Island," by G. W. Carrington, £5 ss. A telegram has been received in the United States from Professor David Todd, -=the well-known astronomer, who went to Northern Chili to make observations of the planet Mars, and who is now on his way home. The professor says: — "I am reasonably certain that Mars is inhabited. I am bringing home 7000 photographs taken during my observations. Twenty of these photographs plainly show the double canals." Professor Todd has had great experience in astronomy, and has headed two United States expeditions, and is a member of most of the foreign astronomical societies.