General News.

Southern Cross, Volume 3, Issue 3, 20 April 1895, Page 8

General News.

The hew/occupants 'oh the 1 well-known i“ :Oorner,?*; .'Messrs. • rLees,’ Wade: and ■ .C.o:j opened their drapery establishment on Saturday 1a5t,,...-: They are about(to enhance the appearance of the building by the’erection of a’* neat' and substantial' ■verandah 'along the Dee and Esk street frontages. : ■i i: ■■: c;;

"Messrs' J. Lennie and Sons,- the -wellknown horticulturists, have: just issued a list of bulbs in stock for 1895. have,a varied stock from which tp choose, audit is evident- that the' owners of the Nurseries mean to be up-to-date' in ’ this as in other departments. ■ ■c- . From December, , 18.92, to ' December, 1894, the gold returns of Victoria show that the sum of L 2,830,000 has disappeared without leaving a record behind. The Argus thinks the bulk, of the money has been,exported without entries being passed 1 through the Customs. It hasn’t come this way. Tuesday next, St. George’s Day, is a bank holiday; ' - The members of the newly-formed women’s Court, A.O.F. (Queen of the South) meet every alternate Wednesday evening. The first regular meeting was Held last Wednesday, when five candidates were proposed for initiation. ■■ We arc informed -that' the officers of the Court conducted the business admirably. ■ .; ,

The following. Southland Lodges were represented at the Grand Lodge, Session, 1.0.G.T., held in Dunedin this week Southern Cross, Bro. ,J. Stead ; Hope of Winton, Bro. H. Bowler; Forward' (W'yndham), Bro.:J. GB. Smellie; Southern Light, Bro. Rev. W. Woollass,; Harbour . Light, Bro. Eev. W. C. Woodward:; Waianiwa, Bro. D. McDermid ; Lumsdcn to the Front, Sis. J. G. McKenzie Mataura, Sis. ,M. A. Gunnell; New '• River Pioneer, Bro. W. Wailtori ; Pride of. Southland, Bro. R. Donnelly ; Undaunted, Bro. J.,Lyons.- ' , ■■ i

Mr E. McKenzie," of 'the firm of Godward and, McKenzie, has succeeded in lowering the Dunedin to .Outram and Dunedin to Henley records, viz : —Outram, about 19 miles,.49-2-minutes ; Henley, one hour Smins. ,2Jsecs. — beating previous best by 3mins. 40secs. Speaking.of'the gentleman xvhb addresses Invercargill audiences next week; Baron " Sir F. Yon Mueller,. F. E. S., President of . the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, says :—“Among all the splendid, lectures to which I have listened during a long series of years those of Mr Herbert-Jones were particularly brilliant. This gentleman is by natural gift quite an orator. He hasmastered the subjects on which he. speaks . by. very lengthened personal travels and observation.” A prison is about the last place , in, the world to which one.would look for' fun, and yet one of Her Majesty's’ colonial gaols' was riot long ago the scene of a delightful little comedy. A man charged with an offence had been brought in, and it was necessary that he should be fully identified by the witnesses before trial. The usual practice is for the arrested One to be placed in a row of six or eight prisoners, all dressed in ordinary attire. Now it so happened that the supply of roatterial had run short, and two policemen wore introduced, and fell .into line -with, the ordinary inmates of the establishment. One of them was a young tellovv not long in,' and one, moreover; who had good reason 1 to dislike the men in blue. His face was a picture when he saw two of them take their places among the prisoners. Craning -his rieck in the direction of the nearest, he whispered ‘Good .heavens! You are the last man I would have expected to see here. What on earth'are you in for Entering into the humour of the situation, the, policeman answered diplomatically—‘ Oh. well, you kno v,.the.best of men make mistakes sometimes. But .how do you like the place ? ’ ‘Oil, it’s not bad; if the tucker was only a little better I could stay here all my life.’ This l ended the l conversation, hut every now and again the .prisoner stole a , glance at , the ‘ bobby;’ and chuckled with, delight. He was only enlightened' when, the process of ’ identification ovCr, the-two emergency men departed,' :

0h,,.t0, be one-aud-lwenby ” . sang , t'be poet of olden time. Tile revised version will be “ Obi to, be fifty.” The’ 'lndependent Labour : Conference at ’ Newcastle‘fN.S.VV.) have resolved in favor' of the - payment of State pensions of fiv.e . shillings: . .per; bveek, to everyone, aged fifty. ~ . , .. Dean, ;of Sydney, sentenced fo death |or attempting to. ppisou bis wife,: has had the sentence feomUmfed; to imprisonment .for life. -• ’' ■ ! ■ 1 '

Mr Thomas Cass died at Christchurch on' . April 17. in his ; 7.Bth year. ■' He had been in . , the colonies since 1844, and .was present at, the sack of Korororeka. He assisted ,in,the survey of Canterbury before the arrival of ■ thb Pilgrims, 1 and was' Chief Surveyor.of the province till 1 867. ■ • : ’ : . Messrs Bodgefs -Bros, have opened the Britannia skating rink, and ' as •they iha've. spared no pains to ensure the ; comfort! and ; enjoyment of their patrons,They may; reasonably look for a successful season. rParlieulafs- as to prices, efc. : , afp advertised. ' ' Austria and Italy have been visited- by 1 setere'earthquake shocks. ‘ Great alarm yras •'caused" ■ in Trieste, 1 arid : the streets l “ wbre blocked-with people; kneeling in; prayer; n '<v ! ’ Meetings !p£ householders- for the • election , ,of.; coipmitfees { iwill ; be held.; ;in the various { school .districts op ~Monday.,evening^22nd InstV' ' '' l • ' ' ” v " 1 ' " :

Another a instalment ' bf ! Ohi-Timfe iEchoes l and Musical Notes are crowded out of thisissue- > y ■ ICM fiae::;jspecimen of the; wMantidse famijf l was found among some raspberry canes at the residence of i Mr /Hi Howells, Waianiwa., a few days ago. The insect, which looks for all the world like a piece of raspberry cane, measures nine; inches from'ipoint to point,, and is a veritable walking ” stick. Japan ifrbm r China .the cession of" a considerable area of .territory and the payment of an indemnity of over thirty millionssterling; w iThe Trades , aihd ( Labour Conference at .Christchurch . recommends each ! Labour Council in 'the' colphy td ruh'at 'leasf'ohd bona fide working ;man candidate :: a ; t’ the next elections. • - The Glenham estate, in the Wyndham district, was’ put • up to auction ‘bh Thursday by Messrs .Tothill, ’ Watson’ ahd-’Co.,‘trader instructions from. • .the! Registrar,-. and f ell, tothe mortgagee's bid of,LIOO. ... p ( . ; The J. .G'. : Ward.' Earmers’: Association hold ; a clearing , sale of, stock at : Qatlan;ds farm, Wallacetown, on,'Wednesday. Some first-class horses, ’ cattle and sheep will’be offered. : . .i. A two-storeyed house in 'Deferoh' street', occupied ’by Mr! M. Walsh;;: was almdst completely, destroyed Iby fire.; ;on .Easter Afpnday. T)?e building, which, .was, erecr ted 31 years, ago as ah hotel,, was insured for £200,' 'and the furniture ; 'for' ;,i • New. Tprjs has a - sunken mortar battery of 500 feet square for defending the' entrance to the harbor. ■ Sixteen ' inortars can be Used, each worked by electricity, and they will project. 1000 pounds .a: distance ; pf six--miles ■. .The Easter .‘holidays-,in’. Invercargill were marked by, a gentle.but none , the, lessiaggravating drizzle., This,was i unpleasapt, .b.ut nothing compared ,tp the weather experienced in the North. In Canterbury show fell, and in Wellington a; hurricane 1 faged, ancE’caiised the suspension ,of all shipping [movements and. holiday [events.... At-. Addison’s Elat (West Coast) "a man . wap killed, through,a triee.falling bn his tent. ‘ ’ A widow named Quinn and her five ehih drehV with Mrs Terry; a’sister of. Mrs Quinn,, were suffocated : ih a fire which destroyed a house at -Park’es (N.S.Wi); Mr# : Quinn’s brother and, another,man ■ escaped with great difficulty. .Several of the doors and windows .were nailed up as a protection against burglars, otherwise ’ more lives' might’ have been, saved. : -o ■. ■■ , ;

‘ A terrible accident occurred in the air chamber on”'a section of the Hobson’s 'Bay main sewerage system in. Melbourne on April 15 th. Six men were working in the .chamber when dn inrush of water occurred. .Mr Watson, engineer, was about to enter the chamber when Burke (boss of the shift) who was inside, pushed Inin back'and shut the door. .Looking through the glass : dn; the, dpor • Mr ■Watson saw the water,.rising,, . Burke,,apte,d: like a hero, for, seeing that apparently thereSvas no chance of saving ; Kis 'own' life’ 'ap’dthose of others in the chamber, he closed-'th'e door to save the dives >of- the men -in the tunnel. The narpes-of the drowned arei-

Buchanan (civil engineer), Burke, Johnson, 'Gabriel,' Jackson, and' Foster 1’ ' f Sp( runs "a recent-’ cable 'message 1 . ; He' closed ’ the door to save 'the lives of -the xh'en' ■ in 'the ■ tdriheL’ These words form the 'grandest,epitapEuthat mortal; could desire; like redeem our age from the commonplace. Brave Burke well' deserved to be ‘ boss, of the shift.’

Miss Ada Geddes, with whose’ability( as, a vocalist we are'all familiar;'has been'delighting the people-of Oai'naru.- ’ She took ! pa*r : t : id. . the concert, given by the Hibernian ‘Society on the evening of,Easter Mondays and,, this.!is .what the N.O.,,Times has to say regarding, her singing:;— The musical pari'of the pro—- ; gfamihe was bpened by Miks Ada Geddes,' ’of Invercargill. This young. >T'ady ; 'has • "been.! appropriately termed ‘ the. • t.of Bouthland,’,. and assuredly; she, deserves it.. There-is an indescribable charm about Miss- ’ Gedde's’ 'singing that captivates an audience... Her voice is of rare quality?ol'edr-and 1 mfeilow. i its 1 - power ’ and I stvectnessj btop# t .‘were 1 <ade- . quately. displayed; in .her : pinging ofMona . (Ada,pis), ■sentiment'. Needless ltd say'.’Miss 'Geddes,. ' -who had been in'dst(heartily* ieceived? bvdkbd r a storm of-appla'use( and in ''response-' tb ! d,n encore she sang ‘.Eileen Allanah,’ which iwas ..as- ,warmly. applauded, ,BpichnagaiV.as fs.ung .by Geddes,..would touch i the , hearts -of the Scottish hi' the 1 ' audlehqe, and' Although. ’• hot so modern- as' 1 'Mona r \Va's its- 'faultle'ssiy ■ rendered; : Her encore ! sougv; was- ■ Twickenham Eerry.’ :; d- , :-a dir; u ';i --m

''in l 'the ab'sencd'of'‘a' v public ‘abba'fpir’ .for Invercargill;' R‘ ‘Merreif,■’butcher, 1 has'decided! to leave ibis ’.yards'-open i to: the jpublie to- inspect f his , stock at,' any ~time ]b«{oi’e,&r' duripg mises in (3bnbn street he will be' pleased.to .give anyone’’the’ opportunity" : dt' inspecting all mieat offered ‘for ’stile; —AS a ; matter ‘ of policy as well: as: :striet iprinciplej Mr, Merrctt buys only the very best Stpek ( procurable.. j; ln that way, and he endeavors to meet the wants of customers' iri all 'paris' bf‘ ’ the! 'town } arid ’suburbs. run'ddily.—&.dvt. ; 'i , letters stand for Mr Baxter’s!’ ’fambtis ’business' ',mbtt6 — ’“'Small 'Profits;' ; Quick' 'tteturhs.’’'. He ; ‘ hM' ! al'w4ys conducted’his business'-on' these iihes/.aud.he i$ sticking, rpostifaithfolly.to ithetprincipie, ashe s elling ,at .ajej simply astonishing.—Ai>. ■’ "*