LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3014, 20 December 1911, Page 10

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The preliminary work in connection with the opening up of a new field of coal is now being steadily pushed forward by the Kaitangata Coal Company. The main drive to open up this new field, which lies to the south of the Kaitangata No. 1 mine, and is to be known as the Kaitangata No. 2 mine, has been extended for a distance of 350 ft, and has to be driven another 1050 ft. A prospecting drive was put down in July last, and it is expected that when the new field' is opened up, which should be in August of next year, very extensive developments will follow, and that a very big impetus will be given to the coal mining industry at Kaitangata. At the present time there are 350 men engaged et the company's two mines—Kaitangata No. 1 and Castlehill. The output last year amounted to over 130,000 tons, and it is hoped to exceed that this year. A youth named Robert Girvin was to have come before his Honor Mr Justice Williams in the Supreme Court on the 12th for sentence on a charge, to which he had pleaded guilty, of uttering a valueless cheque for £3 10s at Oamaru. When the papers from the court at Oamaru reached the registrar of the Supreme Court at Dunedin it was discovered that they were not in order, the magistrate having .failed to make an endorsement of the accused'e guilt on the information as required by law. "For this reason, when the accused answered to- his bail yesterday, there was no power to deal with him, and, after consulting with his solicitor, he left the court. It is probable that a fresh information will be laid against him. When the Clutha River Board's new steamer Clutha made her first trip up the river some time ago it was found that her rudders did not work satisfactorily, and she was taken out of the running in order to have the defect attended to, the oH steamer Clyde continuing to carry en the service. The alterations to the Clutha'j steering gear having been completed, it was announced that she would take a trial trip up the river on the 12th ins.tn.nt, with a general cargo, but she had proceeded only a little past the Balclutha triffic bridge when a sandbank was encountered. This was negotiated, and the Clutha went up the river for about a mile, whein she was again held up, but once more she got on her way. It was intended to give the Clyde an exterrsive overhaul, in order that she may be ready for the grain season, but this will depend on how the oew steamer behaves. There is a substantial rise in the r^ver. A matter which has been causing a lot of disruption lately amongst miners at Kaitangata and throughout Otago is to be brought to a head shortly, writes the Kaitangata correspondent oif the Clutha Leader. A large section of workers are joined individually to the New Zealand Federation of Labour, which is agitating at the behest of leaders of that body for a breakaway from the Arbitration Court. But the majoriCy, being under an award of that court, cannot break away, and a number are agitating for a ballot to determine the position when time of each award expires. The ballot is to be taken during the course of this week, and it is predicted that the Arbitration Court will shortly be a thing of the past as faar as the Otago coal miners are concerned. The annual election of officers will take place at the end of the month, and evidently only those opposed to the Arbitration Court and who favour the cancellation of registration have any prospect, of being elected by ballot throughout the Otago district.

On the Bth a number of Clufcha ladies worked at the Balclutha show and on the streets leading- to it in the interest of the Hospital Saturday Association of Otago. Owing- to the wet weather their task was ,not a pleasant one, but they were rewarded by receiving donations which totalled £lB 10s Id.

A Press Association telegram from Napier states that a man named Arthur Roland Hill, who has been wanted by the police for the last 10 or 11 years, was arrested at Puketapu on Monday.' He is accused of having, at Ashburton on August 4, 1900, broken into and entered the premises of J. Watson, painter and decorator.

Mi- Frederick George Duncan (of the firm of Messrs Duncan and MacGregor, Dunedin), solicitor, was on the 12th admitted by his Honor Mr Justice Williams as a barrister of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

The Kaitangata school children, showing a kindly thought for other little ones not so fortunately blessed as themselves, have forwarded the sum of 20s, collected in pennies, to the Dunedin Hospital to provide toys for the Christmas tree in the children's ward..

The prize for most points in hacks at the Palmerston Show was won by Mr Robert Riddle, Palmerston. In tho class for draught entires, three years old, T. RendaJl secured second place, instead of F. T. Newall, and in the Pony Trot, over 13 and not exceeding 14 hands, the result wa s James Payne 1.

The Primate (Bishop Nevill) has now completed, his consultations with the architects, Messrs Sedding and Wheatly, of Plymouth, regarding the plans for the proposed Cathedral in Dunedin, and the plans, as approved by him, will go forward immediately to the Cathedral Building Board in Dunedin. Until they are approved by that body it is, of course (says our London correspondent) premature to say anything about the proposed plans. Generally speaking, they provide for an edifice something

after the style of Bath Abbey, with a central tower, but no 6pire. It will have both triforiiun and clerestory, and will come distinctly within the cathedral category. Bishop Nevill has secured £IO,OOO of the £20,000 which is required before the bequest of £27,000 from the Harrop estate can be claimed, and he publishes in the Morning Post an appeal for further subscriptions, pointing out that the Anglican Church in Otago was quite unendowed. "My good people," he says, "have very self denyingly raised £IO,OOO towards this object, and have obtained promises for the payment by instalments of about £SOOO more, but as the resources of the diocese for this purpose are now almost exhausted, I venture to address myself to my fellowcountrymen in the hope that I may be able to orown my 40 years of episcopal service by being put into a position to lay the foundation stone of this cathedral on my return to Dunedin.''

A Hastings telegram says: —"Mr Stevenson, the speaker at an anti-militarist meeting held here two Sundays ago, at which an unruly section created some disturbance, protests against the Press Association message stating that he escaped by the back door, and requests the association to publish his version. He states that he did not escape through the back door, but told the lads following him that if they persisted he would oall the police. This warning failed, and he went to the nearest telephone, and then proceeded home unmolested. >

At last week's meeting of the City Council Messrs- G. L. Denniston, D. E. Theomin, and W. Burnett were appointed sinking fund commissioners for the ensuing year. •

Replying to a question at his meeting on the 13th, the Hon. Mr Millar said that the land at Ravensbourne reserved for workers' homes had been purchased from Sir Robert Stout. The Government had bought 17 acres for £SOO. He believed it had obtained a bargain on behalf of the workers, and that being so. he dkL not care whether the land was bought from Sir Robert Stout or anybody else. The Minister's reply met with the approval of the meeting. Last week the Otago Education Board appointed Miss Susie How-Johns instructor in cookery, at a salarj of £l2O a year, and Miss Ei R. Burgess instructor in dressmaking, at a salary of £9O a year. The instructors will teach at Dunedin or other centres of the district as occasion requires.

That the people of Central Otago are intensely interested in tihe matter of rural education was proved at the meeting of the Otago Education Board on the 13th, when guarantees amounting to £l5O for three years from the various centres approached were laid before the board. The board was thus enabled to proceed to the appointment of a third instructor in rural science, and selected Mr C. S. Ridley, of the Yanco Experimental Farm, New South Wales, for the position, at a salary of £3OO per annum, together with actual travelling expenses. Mr Ridley, whose age is 25 years, served his apprenticeship as a pupil teacher • and went through the Sydney Training College, and on the completion of his training there secured a scholarship tenable for a year at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College. He was then appointed science master at Mudgee School, and was afterwards selected by the New South Wales Department of Education to take up the work of experimentalist at the Yanco Experimental Farm, under the Department of Agriculture, where he is at present employed. For some time past he has been engaged in experiments with lucerne at that centre, and the experience gained by him in connection with the extensive Burrinjuck irrigation scheme there should be advantageous to him in his work in Central Otago. The Education Board, particularly Mr M'Kerrow (chairman) and Mr Fleming, is to be congratulated on the success that has crowned its efforts in this matter. *

In connection with the recent general election, returns were successfully brought in from the bush districts by pigeons belonging to the Magfcerton Homing Club (says the Wairarapa Times). The birds were despatched to their various districts by Mr W. Gillespie, the returning officer, several days prior to the election, and immediately the poll was closed and the returns made they were liberated with the correct returns, and in each instance the little homers brought their messages in successfully. It is interesting to note that some of the stations are in rather isolated places, and accessible only by rough bridle tracks, consequently delaying returns getting in by ordinary methods until a late hour. But with the aid of the birds these results were among the first to be in the hands of the returning officer this election. Rua's " latest" takes a somewhat queer form (says the Whakatane Press). It appears that on the outskirts of the Ruatoki pa there exists a stately building, which the prophet until lately used as. a prayerhouse, forbidding anyone to enter unless under extenuating circumstances. But th© sanctity of the "church" has now been broken, giving way to the sound of the hammer and the saw And here comes the incongruity. Rua has informed all and sundry that his sacred prayer-house may be used as a dancing hall, and between 20 and 30 Natives are now engaged in putting in the necessary flooring. Critics have remarked that as the only opening in the building is a small door of the kennel style, dancing will not be carried on under the best conditions of ventilation.

The necessity for a light, with an efficient fog- signal, on' the Three Kinga Islands was well illustrated on the last trip of the Wimmera from Sydney. She left Sydney six hours late, but made good running, and it was expected that she would arrive in Auckland at 4 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday evening, when about 50 miles to the westward of the Kings, the weather gradually set in thick. At 10.30 p.m. the distance to abreast of the islands was run. The engines were then slowed down and soundings taken. Soundings were struck in 130 fathoms, and from then on to 2.30 a.m. on Sunday the vessel was slowed, down and soundings frequently taken with decreasing depth. At 2.30 a.m. the fog lifted, and the Cape Maria Van Diemen light was sighted. Had there been a lighthouse with fog signals on the Three Kings it would have been of great value in helping to define the vessel's position, as the sound would have been heard a good distance off, the weather, though thick, being *f avouaable for the transmission -A sound.

At the welcome social given to Mr Roderick Mackenzie at the Excelsior Hotel on the ]3th. the president of the Caledonian Society (Mr- J. M'Donald) stated that arrangements were in progress for the erection of a Scottish hall for Dunedin, and he hoped that the jubilee of the foundation of the Caledonian Society would be commemorated by ths l laying of a foundation stone. *

Extraordinary interest was manifested in the city on the 14th on the outcome of the second ballots, and the crowd that assembled in front of the Daily Times office to watch the posting up of the results must at one stage of the night have equalled in size the tremendous crowd that gathered together on the night of Thursday week. The crowd was extremely orderly and waited with the utmost eagerness for trio returns. The result of the Dunedin West election was received with enthusiasm mingled with dissent, and each of the candidates received an ovation. As the results came to hand they were thrown on the screen and then posted on the platform, and tlii enthusiasm of the crowd grew as ths cliange in the strength of the parties became more and more apparent. At frequent intervals snapshots of a number of the successful and unsuccessful candidates were thrown on the sheet, and in some cases elicited anything but a cordial reception. The returns came to hand early, and the crowd, which e-fseswisid over the breadth of Lower High street and for a considerable distance up Dowling street, dwindled away as the night wore on, and by a little after 11 o'clock the lantern had shut down and the streets were quiet.

At the present time when electrical disturbances are both numerous and alarming an explanation of the attendant phenomena will be found interesting:—lt has usually been thought that the noise of thunder is caused by. the closing up of the vacuum created by the passage* of the lightning, the air rushing in from all sides with a clap; but the intensity of the noise is rather disproportionate, and it is now supposed that thunder is due to the intense heating of gases, especially the gas of water vapour along the line of electrio discharge, and the consequent conversion of suspended moisture into steam at enormous pressure. la this way the crackle with which a peal of thunder sometimes begins might be rego,rded as the sound of steam explosion on a small scale caused by discharges before the main flash. The rumble would be the overlapping steam explosions, and the final clap, which sounds loudest, would be thg steam explosion nearest to the auditor. In the case of rumbling thunder the lightning is passing from cloud to cloud. When the flash passes from the earth to the clouds the clap is loudest at the beginning. Trowbridge gave substance to these suppositions by causing electrio flashes to pass from point to point through terminals clothed in soaked cotton wool, and he succeeded ;n magnifying the crack of the electric spark to a terrifying extent.

At the monthly sitting of the Magistrate's Court at Balclutha on the 13th, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., Percy Childs was charged with having on the 28th November, at Dunedin, given an order for liquor intended to be taken into the nolicense area of Clutha without notifying the vendor that the liquor was for a nolicense area. Constables Lopdell (Balclutha), and M'Kenzie (Owaka) gave evidence, the former stating that he saw Childs going on to the Owaka train at Balclutha carrying a sugar bag, which contained groceries and'a bottle of whisky and two bottles of beer. Defendant had probably been led astray by the mistaken idea, which prevailed that liquor up to a certain quantity could be carried into a no-license area without being labelled. Section 147 of the Licensing Act allowed for a quart of whisky or a gallon of beer to be carried without the vendor being notified, hut two kinds of liquor could not be taken at once. The meaning of the act hinged on the word "or," which was commonly confounded with "and." Defendant, who did not appear, was fined 10s, with costs (lis 6d). The defendant was also charged with having "delivered" a package of liquor without having it labelled, but the Magistrate held that as there was no evidence that the liquor was not for Childs himself, he could not be convicted for "delivering." This charge was dismissed. Jas. Shand and Co , Christehurch, who sent liquor into Clutha on November 3, and wrote notifying the clerk of the court, Balclutha, on November 9, were fined 20s, with £1 18s 6d costs. The excuse was that owing to Carnival Week the matter had been overlooked.