NEWS IN BRIEF.

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 28

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Dr Thaoker has received a letter from Sir William Fraser stating that the Union Steam Ship Company has agreed to members of Parliament travelling between Wellington and Lyttelton free on the production of their passes. In the Auckland Divorce Oourt George Augustus Reid versus Thelma. Reid and Alexander Do.v (co-respondent), a decree nisi was granted on the wife's admission of misconduct during her husband's absence at the war. The jury awarded £3OO damages against the co-respondent. Rose May Dolphin was committed for trial on a charge of bigamy, in that, having been married at Whangarei in April, 1915, to a school teacher, D. E. Dolphin, she, in December, 1917, went through the form of marriage at Auckland with D. S. Cattanach, a commercial traveller. Harry Leonard Malthus, postmaster at Edendale. was oharged with the theft of £3OO, paid him by a farmer to invest in a War Loan. Acoused admitted the offence, stating that he had been heavily involved through betting, and would replace the amount. Ho was committed for sentence. The minimum subscription necessary to secure the notation of the Waikohu Hydroelectric Company, a local enterprise, which is prepared to supply Gisborne and district with 8000 h.p. electrical energy, lias been secured, and immediate steps will bo taken to obtain the license promised by the Minister of Publio Works,

At Wellington several burglaries and attempted burglaries have been reported during the last few days, also thefts, including goods to the value oi £IOO from a tailor's shop, and goods to the value of £2CO from a millinery establishment. In another case an unsuccessful attempt was made to dynamite the safe in a butcher's shop. The conference of delegates to the District Council meeting of the Independent Order of Rechabites is sitting at Palmerston North. A publio reception was accorded the delegates on the 24th. Replying, Sister Kennedy said that of 2500 male members of the order in the dominion 600 answered the country's call, and 101 made the supreme sacrifice. A daring jewellery theft occurred on the 23rd in a Queen street (Auckland) jeweller's shop. A weil-dressed Maori entered the shop and asked to see certain articles, and subsequently the jeweller missed a gold watch and an opal ring. The missing ring was discovered in a pawnbroker's shop, together with an opal necklace valued at £65, the loss of which had not been reported. The police have arrested a Maori, who is alleged to be the offender. • Oscar Strangeby escaped from Wanganui Gaol by scaling the wall on the 24th. A vigorous search was prosecuted, but Without success so far. Strangeby was under remand on a _ charge of breaking and entering and theft at Wanganui, and was to appear at the Magistrate's Court to-morrow. He was arrested in ■ Auckland, where he was recently sentenced to two years' imprisonment and declared to be a habitual criminal for similar offences.

At Wanganui, under the Act of 1919, Hori Tapa pleaded guilty to. a charge that ho did unlawfully, without colour of right, but not so as to be guilty of theft, take a motor oar, the property of another native. Counsel stated that the owner of the car was the defendant's cousin and had previously given him permission to use the car. One day last month defendant saw-the car in the street and went for a ride. He then took his friends to Feilding. The magistrate imposed a fine of £5.

Further information is available regarding the purchase of the Beddingfield Ranch, west of High River, Alberta, br the Prince of Wales. The ranch is one of the oldest in" the country, having been taken up first in 1883 as a homestead. It consists of 1600 acres of freehold and leases. Mr George Lane, proprietor of the "Bar U" ranch, in making an official statement with regard to the purchase, said that most of the present stock on the ranch will be disposed of. A member of Mr Lane's staff, now on his way to England with a shipment of Percheron horses, will help to select some suitable animals, which will consist of purebred Shorthorn cattle, purebred Shropshire sheep, and a few thoroughbred horses from one of the Prince's farms in England to stock the ne\v ranch. Ex-Ser-vice men, both Imnerial and Canadian, will be employed on the ranch.