LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 29

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Some little time ago, when large numbers of registered accountants were permitted to practise in* New Zealand after a few formalities had been complied with, some iittle comment was made on the fact, not only by those, who were passed througih, j bo* by those who were not put through, but who considered they should have been. The , following advertisement which appeared m ; a North Island paper may have been the ! product of one of the latter fraternity, who ; desired to Tent his spieen on his more fortunate brethren. The advertisement was: "Registered accountant wants lessons ' in book-keeping— double entry; no previous ' experience. Apply " I We understand that negotiations have for some time been in progress for the institution of a scheme of superannuation for the benefit of the shipmasters, officers, ' and engineers in the employment of the "Union Steam Ship Company, Although , such a scheme has not yet matured, it has ' 'been taken up by the Engineers' Aesoeia- ; .tion and the Merchant Officers' Guild, and the near future is likely to see its accomffrfehmerrt. It will Be. similar in- general principles to that which is ait present in force in the office service of the company, j An exciting street row occurred in Cashel Street on the evening of the 9th. Constable Proctor, of Wellington, who is doing duty J. Ib tile city during the holidays, and who j was in plain clothes at the time, heard a man using obscene language, and remon- j fltrated with him. The man resented this ; interference, and his mate struck the co.i- ! stable, who immediately closed with hi) ' assailant, the first man assisting his friend ! by using his feet vigorously. The constable J displayed urriimited pluck and science, and j gamely stuck; to his man. A third man also < took part in the scramble, and owing to the dense crowd that quickly gathered it appeared as though Constable Proctor would get the worst of the struggle. Constable Dark, of Dunedin, who was also in plain clothes, came to his assistance, and Constable Bandy, also of Dunedin, arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, and the voting officers succeeded in arresting the men and conveying them to the lock-up The crowd lem no assistance to the oflWv. While the " Globe " pictures were being displayed at His Majesty's Theatre in Auckland one of the films caught fire, and in a moment some drapery hanging ' close by was ablaze, the flames leaping up to the ceiling. The two firemen at tho theatre and ibe caretaker were instantly on the qpot, wad they directed two leacb j of water on to tibe flames in time to prevent them' from getting a hold of the buildimj. ' As it was, the damage done in the dress circle will* it is estimated, -cost about £50 i to- rapahv The incident, which cccurr -d at the end of the programme, naturally , excited the audience,' but th«re was no ; panic, the crowd leaving the building quickly but quietly. ■ j The proportion of apprentices employed in the' building and contracting trade is given as ona to 16 journeymen. There are affiliated with the Builders and Contractors' Federation 12 builders' associations, with a membership of, approximately, 650-. The report submitted by the committee at the annual meeting of the Builders and Con- t tractors' Association's Conference in Christ- ' church gives the following startling figures : ' — Builders, .contractors, etc., lE6*, 41 ap- • prentices; carpenters, 9572 and 646; car- ' penters, joiners, etc., in- sawmills, 1137 and ; 26; workers in wood, 334-7 and 333; storemasons, 286 and 12; bricklayers, 1625 and 65; plasterers, 611 and 51;— total, 18,442, , with 1179 apprentices. The Arbitration ' Court -generally allows one rjpprentioe for every three men, and the largest number j of learners that might be employed is 6147. Foe one reason or another, it is slated, a very large number of employers will not be, bothered with an apprentice. On the other hand, an employer may load himself tip in the good times with the maximum of apprentices, and a sudderr depression existing, find himself saddled wiik a heavy responsibility he cannot carry out, and of which no other tradesman can relieve him. Therefore, die report j adds, masters are naturally shy of taking ' many boys. j -The mail which was despatched from Dunedin via Naples on September 30 arrived in London on the afternoon of the 7th inst. j Our parliamentary correspondent tele- { graphs tihat, in reply to Mr Arnold's ques- , tion about shortening the time taken by j the morning and evening trains between ] Moegiel and Dunedin, the Hon. Mr Millar I on the 10th said: — "The trains running between Dunedin. and Mosgiel have to nego- } tiate very heavy grades and to make from j five to sue stops in <t journey of nine- ' miles and -a-half, in addition to crossing opposing trains. The mail train, with one possible stop, requires from 28 to 34 minutes to do the journey. It is therefore apparent that mixed trains or passenger trains, which require to stop at every station en route, could not possibly do the (journex in 30 minutes, and, as a matter of everyday experience, it is found that the trains when fully loaded have difficulty ] in running up to the existing time-table." lAbout 4 o'clock on Tuesday, 9th inst., ftmidst a hurricane of wind and rain, ' a fißice fire-gkxe shot up in the north- , horizon (writes our Bluff oorre- , spondent). It occasioned a good deal of , consternation at the Bluff, all the more in- ] fence in that the lay of the country pre- ' jntoted the site of the fire being ascerIt turned out to be « large t

wooden building^ prominent as a landmark in the approach, to the Bluff from the westward. It was made use of as a bonemill in connection with the Ocean Beach Freezing- Works, and it is known to have been fitted up with an assortment of valuable appliances. The mill and its contents were completely destroyed. One fortunate circumstanoe was the preservation of a large new boiler. It arrived from the foundry last week, and was being conveyed to the mill. It was within a few yards of the building, and had the weather on the previous day been firfs it would have been inside the mill and have suffered in the general conflagration. Our Pembroke correspondent informs us that Captain Bernard Head, accompanied by Messrs Clark and Graham (mountain guides), left Pembroke on Che 10th inst. to examine and, if possible, ascend to the summit of Mount Aspiring, a feat hitherto unaccomplished. A.. generous supply of photographic apparatus forms portion of their equipment. As a general rule the public has every reason to congratulate itself on the accuracy with which telegrams are transmitted over the Government lines of the Dominion. Occasionally, however, lapses do occur, although in these instances, as is chiefly the case in regard Jo typographical errors, the fault lies- more with the caligraphy than with its interpretation. An error made some years ago has often been quoted in temperance circles with much gusto. One day a certain prominent worker left his home to pay a visit to another town, and to apprise friends of his arrival despatched a telegram. The recipient of the wire was not unnaturally somewhat mystified and much horrified to read over the well-known signature the portentous words, " Will arrive tight ; meet me." This was a corruption of " Will arrive eight." Another instance has just occurred which produced a somewhat similar mystification. A certain gentleman in a northern town, learning of a journey to be shortly made by a southern friend, wrote him inviting him to stay a night with him. The reply was not satisfactory. It was the laconic message, " Think sold chaff; going straight home." Telegrams demanding explanation "were exchanged, official channels moved, and at 'last the original message came through as " Thanks, old chap; going straight home." In both of these instances the form of the words was such as to make it certain that the writing in the original message was mainly at fault. The Union Company's and the -HuddartParker shipping in port and the company's offices in. town and at Port Chalmers were gaily decorated with bunting on the 10th in recognition of the. additional knight:' honour conferred upon Sir James Mills, K.C.M.G., by his Majesty the King. Flags were also hoisted at Port Chalmers from the Municipal Buildings, Harbour Board Offices, and a number of the business places in honour of the occasion, and the employees of the company were granted a half-holiday. Sir James during the day was the recipient of a telegram from the borough town clerk at the Port conveying congratulations on behalf of the Mayor, councillors, and citizens. " Some years ago," said the Hon. J. B. CaUan in the Legislative Council on the 10th., "I -became impressed with the iniquities of the legal profession, and deciding thenceforward to lead a better life, I took to politics. However, I must confess that I have not derived all that spiritual comfort which I had hoped would *ollow rue change in my pursuit. Sometimes I wander whether in leaving Law for Politics I did not leave the frying pan for the fire." The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Inveroargill Branch, passed the following resolution at its last general meeting : — " That this branch protests emphatically against any alteration in the Arbitration Act as it affects railway men, being detrimental to the best interests o. the members o£ the service, members of the A.S.R.S. numbering 5 to 1 against the other intended society, and, further, this branch has no time Eot sectionalism." The Maori witchcraft case came on at the Police Court on the 10th (wires our Auckland correspondent), when Ma-tiu Ngatimo flohepo was charged with the murder of the infant child of his son and daughter-in-law. From the evidence given this morning by Marepeka Ngatimo Hohepa it appears that there some gome half-dozen people gathered in the kitchen of Hohepa s whaire. The accused, who was among them, ordered the boy Mateara Hohepa to wash himself and then stand in the fire. The boy did so for a few moments, and then jumped off, crying that His £&ci -were burned:. Accused ordered him into the fire again, but he refused. The accused then told the boy to throw the baby on the fire. This the boy attempted, but was unable to do. The accused then seized the boy and held him on the fire, and ordered his daughter-in-law, Enia Hohepa, to put her baby on the fire, but she wept and hesitated, whereupon accused told her to be strong. She then placed the baby on the flames. It struggled end rolled off, but accused kicked it on again. He afterwards went outside, and on returning asked if the child was dead. He was told that it was. They then left the child on the fire and went into the bedroom, where accused fell on the bed and declared that he was ill. Accused was cross-examined very briefly with intent to show that he was not in his right mind at the time.

Etna Hohepa, who is at present serving T her sentence in Mount Eden Gaol, eaid I that it' was because of the accused's in- \ fluence that she put her child on the fire. Hirini Hohepa and other witnesses were also examined. The accused asked some , questions of later witnesses which bore upon his previous rational state and signs of insanity he showed at the time the ■ crimes were committed. He was committed \ to the Supreme Court for trial. t The evacuation of the Isle of Pines has commenced (says tine Sydney Herald's ■ Noumea correspondent)., It is picturesquely situated 50 miles south of Noumea. All the recidivistes or relegues— j men and women who are habitual petty j criminals — have hitherto been confined I there; also the isle got Notoriety as the horne — or prison — of political deportes who took part in the Paris Commune of 1871. Somehow or other, whatever use it may be put to in future, the little bland will . always be Associated with the history of J New Caledonia. It was there that, in 1853,-j possession was taken of New Caledonia under the very nose of H.M.S. Herald, whose commander, French history says, committed «uicide over the disappoint- j meat. It is a beautiful • island), worthy of j a higher utility. Now, what is taking'! place is the concentration in Noumea of all the 'outlying- camps — and that means the first step in the absolute extinction of criminal transportation. When returning from Wellington last week Mr J. H. Walker, chairman of the . Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, j had an interview with the chairman of the South Canterbury Board in regard to • the scheme put forward by Dr Valintine, '• Inspector-general of Hospitals, to make the new sanatorium for consumptives at Pal- j merston an institution to meet the requirements of South Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. The chairman of the South ' Canterbury Board expressed himself a3 quite in favour of ,the proposal, and he j promised to submit the scheme to his board for its consideration. Mr Walker has now j communicated with tha chairman of the Southland Board, and has placed the- pro- | posal before him, pointing out, as he did to the chairman of the South Canterbury Board, - that while such' a scheme of centralisation woidd have" the effect of decreasing the Otago Board's annual expenditure over the upkeep of consumptives that came under its charge, Mt would act similarly in regard to the Southland Boa>rd. i Mr Walker says he has every hope that • the centralisation of control and mainte- . nanoe of the Palmerston Sanatorium for Consumptives over the three districts will ', be brought into operation. j So far the season promises to be •tetter ; than the average (says our Naseby oorre- • spondent), but the high winds which are now prevailing are commencing to parch the ground. Good rain fell at the end j of last week,\but the wind has dried everything up again. The fruit crops will be considerably affected by the recent late frosts. 'A Press Association tjelegram from Hokitika states that the Westland County Coun- ! cil adopted a motion on fche # 10th urging the Govenun©n,t to amend the Hospitals ; and Charitable Institutions Bill in the ! direction of placing the responsibility of raising revenue directly on the boards administering the act, instead of t»n contri- , buting local bodies, which under the measure have paid m»ney and have no representation. The principle of taxation "without representation was strongly dissented from. Advice has been received by the Wellington office of the New Zealand Shipping Company (sa3's a Press Association telegram) to the effect that the new twinscrew mail and' passenger liner Ruahino, which was recently launched from the yards of Messrs William Denny and Bros., of Dumbarton, has been d-elivered by the builders to her owners. During her trials a few weeks ago the vessel attained a speed of 16 knots an hour. This is considered an excellent performance, and is a couple of knots higher than contract specd — vi?., 13 knots easily at sea on a fully leaded d<rau;rht, <or, sa.y, 14 knots under average conditions. The new liner is to sail from Plymouth on her maiden voyage to Wellington on the 27th inst., and is due at Cape Town on December 18, at Hobart on' January 6, an£ at Wellington on January 11. I " The action of the Tax Department In this case is vicious and vindictive," said : Mr W. D. Stewart on the Ith in the Magis.rate's Court. " They tax us at £9, and because we refuse to pay on bona fide grounds the commissioner discontinues his first action, and arbitrarily raises our tax j to £35 in the hope apparently of terrorising defendant into payment of the smaller J amount." A man named Robert Pearson wa3 charged at Clyde on the 10th inst., before Messrs Smart and Wilkinson, J.P.s, with the theft of timber and iron, value 10s, from a building: in course of alteration for the Dunstan Times printing office. After evidence accused was convicted and discharged on the charge of theft of the timber, and was fined 20s, and 2s costs, for theft of the iron. ' At the October sitting of the Milton I Magistrate's Court a claim was made by '. the trustees of the late Daniel Allison, of j Milton, against Mr H. G. Coombe (Milton) for £4 10s, for the hire of vehicles where- . with to take voters to the licensing poll at i Waitahunat It will be remembered that I Mr Allison was killed on election morning by being thrown out of the trap he was driving. Mr Coombe contested the claim . on the ground that he was only acting on .

the instructions of Mr John Airey, of Lawrence, when he engaged the traps. He applied to have Airey's name substituted' as defendant, or at least to be joined with his, and this was done. The matter was to have been heard at the Milton Court yesterday, but the case was settled out of court by Mr Airey paying the amount of the claim. A return presented to Parliament shows (says our Wellington correspondent) that the cost of conducting the last licensing polls in the chief centres was as follows? — Auckland, £455; Wellington, £353; Christchurch, £260; Dunedin, £325. Damage to the extent of £25 was done at Cromwell on the 7th met. by a fire in an outbuilding of the old Commercial Hotel. The outbuilding, which was insured' in the Guardian office for £100, was occupied by a man named Edward Pickerman, who retired to bed at 11.30 p.m. on the 6th, and who was awakened at 3 a.m. by the glare of fire. The hose attached to the stable was used by those on the scene to keep the fire in subjection until the Fire Brigade arrived, when it was speedily extinguished. A cablegram from England announces that Queen Alexandra has been graciously pleased to accept a copy 'of the "Life of Melba^" by Miss Agnes Murphy, which has just been published in London and New York. An exquisitely-bound copy had been prepared for her Majesty, who has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the great Australian. . According to. a Press Association 'message, the Mayor cf Christchurch (Mr C. Allison) has received a cheque for £50 from Madame Melba to be devoted to charitable purposes. In connection with the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bill, which was under discussion in Parliament on the 12th, the Hon. G. Fowlds has- given notiqe to move some- important amendments. He proposes (says our own correspondent) to drop the pound for pound Government subsidy on amounts levied by Hospital Boards from their contributory local bodies, and for it to substitute one based on a sliding scale, according, to the rateable value per head of the population. Three elaborate tables are to be submitted to the House showing the rate of subsidy computed in fractions of a penny in the pound. A Christchurch telegram says that Sir Joseph Ward stated on the 12th that in regard to the Dreadnought to be .presented by New Zealand to the Motherland he had made arrangements 'with the Admiralty to invite tenders for the building of it *in the same manner that i£s own vessels were constructed. On receipt of the tenders they _ would be cabled out by the High Commissioner to the New Zealand Government, which would then decide which tender should bs accepted. The 12th saw placed on the local fruit market the first of the new season's strawberries from the Roxburgh and Alexandra districts. The fruit arrived in fair condition, and was quitted at Is 7d per lb. The. new season's cherries are also now forward, and are fetching at the auction rooms from 5d to Is 2d per Ib, according to quality. The magistrate at Gisborne. decided on the 12th (says a Press' Association telegram) that a husband is liable for payment of medical expenses necessarily incurred by his wife, although he may be already contributing the amount fixed by a maintenance order. - A gratifying indication of the increased interest in the educational work of the Navy League (Otago Branch) is that furnished by the number of competitors who recently sat for the league's school essay competitions. The subjects chosen by the league were " The Elizabethan Seamen and their Work " for junior, and " What is Meant by the Command of the Sea and Why Must Britain Retain It?" for senior scholars. There were 630 competitors in the primary schools, and of this number 148 papers were selected -by the head masters and sent to the examiner (Mr Nicolson, of Maheno) for final adjudication. Mr Nicolson also examines the essays from the Otago and the Waitaki Boys' High Schools. There were 268 competitors in the Otago Boys' High School, of whom 46 have had thoir papers sent on ; Waitaki sends forward 30 essays to the judge. Owing to the large number of entrants and pressure of other duties, Mr Nicolson is not able to judge the essays from the girls' secondary schools (Braemar House, Girton College, St. Andruw's and StHilda's Cologiate Schoob, and the Otago Girls' High School), which will be j examined by Mr J. Joffery, cf Anderson's j Bay, a.nd the secretary of the Otago Branch. Much interest is also being taken in the ; league's echonl Cadet shooting, signalling, ] and bugling competitions, which will be j ■clecided towards the end of the month. Ten specially-designed eilver medals will be given to the 10 best shots from the three Dunodin district battalions, five each to ] the North and South Otago battalions, four j to the best signallers, and two to the two j bujrlers securing the highest number of ■ marks. These medals are now on view in the window of Messrs R. J. Stark and Co.'s new premises. Members (of the Police Force of all j ranks object to the proposal to merge the , Police Superannuation Fund in the Public | Service Fund, and especially to the disre- ' garding of the force in the matter (says the Lyttelton Times). A person interested ; in the welfare of the Police Fund states ', that every penny of the fund belongs to the force. He says it would be vei" unfair to amalgamate the two funds, as the Public Service Fund is 'paying very higb

pensions, and there will be heavy calk upon it. The age at which civil servants may enter the fund* is 14 years, while the average age at which members of the Police Force are enrolled is 25 years A policeman, therefore, after serving 40 years would be about 65 years of age The following Otago candidates were successful in the October examinations of the New Zealand Pharmacy Board : — Section A: Messrs Thomson, Prentice, Donnelley, and Brett. Section B: Messrs Outram, M'Dougall. Brett, Dodds, Simpson, and Broad. - A Press Association telegram from Christchurch states that a young man named Charl«3 Brown, residing with his mother at Springfield road, at an early hour on Saturday morning suddenly developed homicidal mania, and attacked his mother " with a carving knife in a -violent, determined manner. His elder v brother was present, and saved his mother from serious injury. The police were sent for, and Charles Brown fled. - They have not yet captured him. Th« Tramways Committee of the City Council is proposing to extend direct encouragement to the enterprise of Boy Scouts by providing that' on Saturdays, public holidays, and when. on. parade, if in full uniform, they be carried over any, three sections of the tramways for the sum of - one penny. " • - • , It is intended to make the juvenile section of the Public Library a lending department with tine proviso, howeveT, that such books as the librarian shall deem to be too valuable for circulation shall remain on the shelves. It is also hoped to make the reference library available to the public on the 22nd inst. A strenuous Saturday was passed by the Dunedin Navals now in camp under the. , command of Captain Fredric. Out of 2* hours 20 were devoted to work. The usual camp routine, with its attendant parados and classes, commenced at daybreak, and in the afternoon the company proceeded to T&iaroa Heads 'for ■preliminary gunnery practice. The salient feature of the programme at the Heads was night^firiag at Hongkong targets foougsed by searchlight. Brilliant work was done with the 6in gun, the Signal Station Battery scoring three consecutive hits from as many rounds, Major Strong and Captain Gard'nor were umpires. On Sunday afternoon the Navals' camp a« the Central Battery was open to the public, and a number of people availed themselves of- the opportunity of visiting it. There .was a strong muster at divine service at St. Matthew's Church in the morning. The Garrison Band, under the command of Lieutenant George, played the company to and .from; church. SpeaSing at the after function in connection with -the launching of the Waikftnaon Saturday 'afternoon, Mr J. Loudon,. a member of the Otago Harbour Board, n» referring to the fact- that the event had - appealed to* him as much more than th« mere launching of a vessel, gave expression to a very optimistic sentiment. He said he lived in hopes, though it might be a far ciy, to one day seeing comprehensive shipbuilding yards located on the foreshore racing the Gasworks. They all knew that the U.S.S. Company, which commenced as a harbour company, had done a great deal for the Dominion and Dunedin, but it would certainly place the coping stone on its popularity if *it was to lay down a vessel of 3000 or 4000 tons in Dunedin. Why, he asked, should they go outsida of Dunedin for what they wanted? At this" point Mr T. Gillies, of Messrs M'Gregor and Co., happily interjected, " Well, give us your tug to build," at which those present laughed heartily. Continuing, Mr Loudon said they bad the timbers here, and there; was no reason why they should not build a 3000 oc 4000 ton boat here a» well as on the Clyde. He hoped the day was not far distant when the Government and the people would encourage shipbuilding as it should be encouraged. During last week 41 patients were ad< . mitted to jfche Dunedin. Hospital and 29 discharged, leaving 142 remaining at the clos« of the week. There were two deaths in the institution— namely, Robert Hill and Al'bert\Eyre. Information has been received by th< police at Dunedin that a man named John Skipmore, aged 76 years, an old-age pen' sioner, was found dead in his hut at Table Hill, near Milton, on Saturday moming. He had lived alone in the district for years, and was a goldminer by occupation. His health was good, but he was reported t have been strange in mind of late. Th« coroner has been informed with a view ta an inquest being held. It' is (rumoured (says the X"e-w Zealand Times) that burglars entered the Central Police • Station at Larabton quay a night ' or two ago and removed a oonsideraibla sum of money placed there for the payment of the wages of the force. Detectives are making investigations into the occurrence, but no arrests- have been recorded. ! The Palmerston and Waikouaiti Timea gives an amusing account of an experience enjoyed by a local farmer, who was persuaded by a stock agent to take a rida- ■ upon the latfcer's motor cycle. From a ! running start the stock agent pulled a levee and the machine literally " jumped " for, Dunback at the rate of 40 miles an hour< The farmer's nature being naturally opposed to speed of any Ttind, revolted at 40" I miles an hour, and be made frantic en-

deavours to stop the machine. He turned every handle and pulled every lever, but each manipulation appeared to increase the epeed. At last, having travelled some three miles in about an equal number of minutes his mind became as a dean slate. For an instant he poised himself on the pedals, emitted a frantic yell, and threw himself into a goise bush, where he remained until rescued by the stock agent, who arrived on iho scene about an hour later. In referring to the incident the stock agent admits that it would not be advisable for hirn^ to m >roich the farmer for his wool clip this

A tu-y high prices were realised at auction on Saturday for the supply o£ Central Otago e^rawberries aad cherries Which came forward. y The fruit, packed in pound punnetts, arrived in fine condition, and as a result Btrawbcrries brought up to 2s 9d per lb, •while the cherries went as high as Is 7d per lb. Every day should now see further and increased supplies coming forward, whioh will probably reduce prices.

The traffic returns for the tramvrays for 410 fortnight ended November 6, ISO 9, as compared with tiw correspondn>g period for JastVar, are:— l9o9: Receipts, £2366 13s '• I; mileage. 42.584- miles 17 chains. 1908: Receipts, £2215 7s 3d; mileage, 41,878 miles •S chains. '

A meeting of the executive of the Sunday School Union was held on Thursday 11th inst., when further preparations were made for the visitation campaign to be earned out here in March. The undertaking involves the visitation of all the homes in Dunedin and suburbs for the purpose of giving a cordial invitation to any young people not alreedy attending Sunday school to join a school or Bible class of any denomination. The Otago Sunday School Union and Presbyterian Association have now been joined by the Anglican Sunday School Union, and on Thursday evening Archdeacon Gould, the Rev. R. Bray, and Messrs Holdernew and Goodridge were added to the Executive Committee as representatives of the latter body.

At the Magistrate's Court in Wellington on Friday, before Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M., a traveller named John M. Laing, employed by Messrs Gordon and Gotoh, was charged, on t^vo counts, with having stolen aonie bales of paper, the property, of the firm. It was stated that paper to tie value of £60 or £70 had been taken in three years. A fine of £10 was imposed for each offence, with costs (£3). Defendant was allowed 7A hours in which to pay. .. Traffic on the railway immediately south of Dunedin was completely disorganised on Monday morning. ..Shortly , after - 8 o'clock a small locomotive, in use in connection with the duplication works, jumped the siding rails a little beyond Abbotsford:, and twisted round to a position almost at Tight angles to the main line." A gang of men waa promptly on the spot with levers and ©crew- jacks, but the work of lifting the helpless engine was attended .with many difficulties, and it was 11 o'clock before the line was signalled clear. .

Tenders for the principal work in connection with the drainage of' the Taieri Plain, that of cutting a straight channel for th« Silverstream, were recently received hy the Taieri Drainage Board, -but consideration was iheld over until the annual election of members had taken place. The tenders came before the board again yesterday, and the board indicated that it •was not sure that it was justified in proceeding with the work according to speci•fications, until it was reasonably certain the work would fit in with a compreliensive and satisfactory scheme affecting the whole di6triot. On Mr lurkert's motion it was resolved ■that no tender be accepted. "Tenders had fieen received from four firms, and the amounts mentioned ranged from £11,000 to considerably over £26, C00.

Streams flowing from rocky hills into m. plain where the surface soil is of a loamy or sandy nature lose quite a surprising amount of water by percolation.

Th® Taieri Drainage Board was informed by its engineer on Monday that if the water coming from tihe hills around the plain were caught and conveyed in concrete channelling to lower levels there would be no Taiexi drainage problem. He mentioned that, a few days previously, he had been inspecting Lee Creek, and, at one spot on I the level plain he had noticed that there ■ was practically no flow of water., except ' when the tide was low, when there was a. 1 perceptible movement Yet he had asceri tamed that that day the creek was bringing 2000 ft of water per minute from the hills into the plain. This meant, of course, | that the water was soaking away through the soil. In Victoria, he added, they had had instances of the percolation varying j fiom 6 per cent, to 34 per cent.- of the initial flow per mile. Great quaplities of ice and water, drifting slowly during past ages from the hills to the sea made the Taieri Plain one of t>ie most fertile areas in New Zealand. Watsr still flows sluggishly over the Taieri Plain, but whether or not it continues its fertilising process is not a matter of great concern to the farmers of that locality. The latter are more troubled in "trying 1 to ascertain how the velocity of the water's flow is to be accelerated, and how it is to be persuaded to keep to well-defined courses, instead of spreading itself over their low-lying lands. That, in fact, is the Taieri drainage problem. The Drainage Board's engineer (Mr M. Elliott) has attacked the question, energetically, and has submitted quite"* a number of scheme* whereby to dry the plain. One that appears j feasible is to cut off Little Lake from Lake Waipori, and deepen a portion of it to act as a catchment basin. This would rrovide a very necessary fall, and tho drainage of the district, being 1 run into the lake, could be pumped away into the lower part of the Taieri River. Tho work of pumping, suggests Mr Elliott, might be done by electrical energy supplied by Dunedin during the sleek load hours — midnight to 6 a.m. — which, for a 50 horsepower plant, would cost about £60 per annum. A portion of this scheme would bo the blocking off of the Lee Creek, which, coming 1 down from the hills,, •meanders over the pljiin to Little Lake in a straggling fashion. Mr Elliott proposes to secure tho oreok before it leaves the hills, and lead it to its outfall by means of concrete channelling, which would prevent any possibility of percolation taking place. | It has been decided to form in Auckland (says our correspondent) a branch of the Victoria League, the non-party organisation of Britesh m«ir and women formed for tha general purpose of promoting knowledge omongst the colonies of the needs of the Empire and inculcating patriotism. A lady living at Wanganui is at present i engaged in a long fast (says a Press Association telegram). For 65 days she has eaten no focd, her sole nutriment consisting of the squeezed-out juice of one lemon or one orange daily, and for one week a tea^poonful of malted milk d«ail3 T . The fast is being undertaken for catarrh ! and rheumatism of life-Long standing. The ' latter ha« quite disappeared, and the former is much lessened. The lady is in excellent spirits, and takes daily exercise. , In order to show the extreme sluggishness of the streams that flow over the Taieri ! Plain, the Taieri Drainage Board's engineer, in a report on Monday, mentioned that he had ascertained, by observation ' and comparison, that the water of one creek took three days to travel four mile 3. A Press Association message from Wel- | lington says that a deputation waited upon the Prime Minister on Monday in connection bush tramways. The deputation submitted that Ihe period (five years) for which the Public Works Act at present allowed them to operate their lines was ' insufficient, and they desired that niagis- j t rates be given the power to grant ext-en- : eions after the expiratior of that term, the applicant to provide compensation to the owner or occupier of tiie lend trane- < ferred. Sir Joseph Ward, ir reply, i pointed out the difficulty of interfering

with private property in such a connection, especially when that interference concerned not a portion, but the whole of the Dominion, but he promised that the representation of the deputation would be Eully and carefully considered. The deputation was introduced by Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P. In connection with the dispute in Auckland province between the respective merits of the eastern and western routes for ths North Auckland railway, a Press Association message states that advocates of the latter route waited on Monday upon the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. M'Kenzie) in order to press home their claims. The Minister, in reply, said that any impartial judge would favour their route. Work had been begun on the deviation, and he intended to push on with it as fast as possible. At Monday night's meeting of the Temperanoe party the following points were emphasised— (l) "That what the No-license party had now accepted was widely different from the clause 9 proposed by Mr Seddon. Clause 9 would have made the possession of alcoholic liquor in any quantity whatever in a local no-license area a breach of the law. What has now been agreed to merely states that it shall not bo legal to import, sell, ' or manufacture for sale alcoholic liquors. (2) Under clause 9 constables were given tbe power of search in private houses without warrant. Needless to say, the No-license party is not perpetrating any such a-bsurdity. (3) What we (No-license party) have now agreed to is what we have always been asking for during the whole of the last 20 yeans. On one occasion a bill giving us this same Dominion vote, with exclusion of liquor, actually • got through the Lower House, but was thrown out in the Upper Chamber* There is nothing novel about it, and, big as it is, we have always been ready to attempt the task."