The Timaru Herald.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 6061, 21 September 1894, Page 2

The Timaru Herald.

FBIDAY, SEPTEMBEE 21, 1894. TOWIN & COUNTRY. * It i« said m well informed political oirolei that the session will not olose till the end of next month. In reply to a question the Premier on Wednesday could not give a definite reply when the Publio Works Statement would be brought down. Theßiilways Committee hag started to inquire iuto tha alleged uneatiefaotory and aragerous condition of radons railway bridges m the South Island. The committee have resolved to summon two bridge inspectors from the south to give evidence at next meeting of tho committee on luetday. The Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society have passed a resolution reoommend* ing that the duty be taken off binder twine, and have forwarded a copy of the roiolution to the members for the district requesting them to me their influence m furthering the recommendation of the society. The MatHura Ensign lsarns that the hot is working terrible havoo among the horses on the Waimea Plains. Mr Janes Eeown (Bal(our) has lost a five-year-old draught mare; Messrs Munro Bros. (Pyramids) a draught mare nine years old ; and Mr J Z Boult his wall known horses Ladybird and Trefoil. The Aiaroa Mail says :— Mr McCartney has sucoeeded m letting out Lake Forty th again. The lake i» lower now than ever it was, and tons of peroh and eels are stranded. One man found sixty peroh m one puddle of water, some weighing aa much as Blb, and eels np to 181 b have also been added to the alimentary supplies m the Little Bive? kitchens. Very little interest was shown m the Temuka Town Board eleotions on Wednesday. The poll was deolared about 9 o'olook as follows :— R B Comer 191, James Blyth 183, Peter Ooira 160, M Soannell 158, Qt Mason 157, W G Aspinall 134, I W Miles, 181, J Davia 102, W Storey 81. The first five were declared elected. Messrs Corner and Soannell are new members. The Lunatios Aots Amendment Bill No. 2 is to provide for the prompt and economical management of estates of lunatios. It also empowers the Publio Trustee to supervise the administration of lunatics' estates by private oommittees, and tho consent of the Public Trustees is made necessary for the appoint" meat of any private committee, the object being to prevent estates of lunatios falling into improper hands. The biennial eleotion of members for the Qeraldine Town Board took place on Wednesday laet. Very little interest was taken by the ratepayers. The following was the result announced by Mr 0 B Sherratt, returning ofEoer, at the olose of tha poll :— J M Sutherland, 65 j W 8 Maslin, 64 ; J W Pye, 55 ; |H B Webster, 64; A White, 52; WH Walton, 50; G Ward, 49; J Williams, 48 ; W Berry, 45 ; J D Gore, 37 ; J Turner, 37. The first seven were declared duly elected. Thus the Evening tress discourses con* earning the railway scandal :— The Premier read a letter from Mr MoKerrow last night contradicting Sir Bobert Stout's charges with reference to the demoralisation of the Bailway Department. Mr MoYerrow can contradiot what is within his own knowledge and, of course, nothing else. Perhaps tha circumstance that the list containing tha names of persons set down for punishment and for promotion was seen by Sir Bobert Stout, aa well as by several other persons, and that subsequently (he men named on the list wera promoted or punished, as the case might be, was a mere coincidence. If it wai , ; it was one of the most remarkable known to history. A committee, it is said, is to be appointed to enquire into the matter. We ! trust .^hat it will be, and that the whole \ truth'jn connection with it will be brought lo ' l'ght.

The Dunedin Star has the following :— ?he new Qamicg Aot does not come into 'peration until the let of January, to that tote" betting c»n be continued until the nd of the year. An unueuiilly attractive display of spring nd lummer novelties is now beiog made at )a-vio3 and Murphy's. r lhe high class charaoer of the many new designs m dress material md millinery ia most pronounced, and the jrices are right, - [Adtt.] Horse-owners should note that nominations lor the North Otago Jookey Club's Spring meeting must reaoh the secretary (Mr George B Hislop) at or before 9 o'olook to-morrow evening. The programme is an exoellent one, )nd the club Bhould be rewarded with very numerous entries. Mr Dutbie it to aßk the Premier whether he ia aware that amongst the 900 passengers who are reported to have left Auckland for Sydney on Monday and Tuesday lost there was a large proportion of desirable colonists with capital, and whether this increasing exodus t) Aus'ralia has received the attention of the Government, and if they are now about to take any eteps to endeavour to induce the people to remain m New Zealand, I The Premier's reply is being awaited with interest. The quarterly meeting of the Loyal Timaru Lodge, 1.0.0.F , M.U , was held m the Barnard Street Hall, on Wednesday eveniog laet. The N.G., Bro H Dineen, presided, and there was a large attendance of membera. A quantity of correspondence was read ; and other business completed. The lodge deoided to go into mourning on account of the death of their late brother 0 Glue, and a vote of condolence was pasted to the widow. The half-yearly balance sheet was read and adopted, it showed that the Lodge was making satisfactory progrees> The reoeipts for the night amounted to £150. i Beplying to a charge m tha Lyttelton Times that the Ohristohurch police connived at breaohes of the licensing law, Inspeotor Broham says :•—" I think I am safe m saying that a more sober town than Ohristohuroh there is not m the British Empire. As for the statement that the polios connive at all sorts of breaches of the law, I oan only sup* pose tbat it was written by a strong Prohibit tioniet, whoso feelings for the time had blinded his judgment. In his healthier frame of mind I feel assured that he would not make suoh a false and scandalous accusa^ j tion." Commenting on the legislation affeoting the Bank of New Zealand, the Glasgow Herald says — " New Zealand seema to bave narrowly I escaped from a banking crisis, even more disastrous than that experienced on the Australian oontinent, by the interposition of the Government." It adds tbat " the true inwardness m the New Zealand Government m this matter has not bean officially revealed but the motive was probably a mized one." This motive, the Herald thinks, was partly to borrow under cover of the bank, and says that as far as New Zealand is concerned there is " doubtful wisdom" in '" converting a mercantile establishment at one coup into a State institution." Sir William Wasteneyg, a solicitor, writes to the Napier News as follows :— "I have been informed by a working man, who is an exoellent hand, that npon making application at a station to be placed on the list of shearers, he was met with a refusal, and confronted with a oiroular requesting sheepfarmora uut to employ anything but Native labour m shearing this season, as a reprisal against the labouring olass foe the Government legislation m favour of the working man. If it is a fact that suoh a circular hai been issued and acted upon m Eawke's Bay, it ought to be brought to the notice of the Government, If it is not a faot, you will doubtless be glad to give the squatters an opportunity of denyisg an aoousatioa of to flagrant a nature." When moving m the Oounoil an amendment on the Oaths Bill that infants under the age of 14 jean be examined without taking an oath, the Eon Mr MaoQregor quoted as follows an illustration of the absurdity of the existing law :— A little girl was asked the usual preliminary question, also the coniequenco of swearing falsely, and answered m due form, " Pleaie, sir, I bhould go to burning hell." Unluckily, however, the usual question was then put how she knew that, whioh brought the reply, " Oh, please, another girl outside told me I was to say so." Years ago the most sarcaitio of English judges put the whole matter m a nutshell* The question having been asked of a ohild witness if she knew what would | become of her when she died, she answered simply, "Don't know, su*"i whereupon the judge said, " Well, gentlemen, no more do I ; but the child's evidence cannot be taken." The Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times says :— The amendments m the Licensing Bill, of whioh notices have been given, are identical with those you have already published as being adopted by the j committee of the temperance member*, with the addition of the following : —Mr W Hntohiton to move— " That no publioan's or accommodation lioonee shall be granted hereafter to any person m respeot of premises attached to whioh there is a billiard room and a billiard table." Mr Willis will movo a provision to authorise the issue of New Zsaland wine licenses " to authorise the licensee to sell and dispose of on the premises therein specified, between the honrs of 6 m the morning and 10 at night, aay wine, cider* or perry —the produoe of fruit grown m the colony— of a strength not exceeding 20 par cent, of proof epirits, m any quantity not exceeding 2gal to any one person, provided that such licenses be granted m boroughs only." The Wellington correspondent of the Ghristohuroh Press ssjs : — The Premier, according to Mr Baiok, is the Pooh Bah of the oolony. In a telling speeoh the member for Wairausaid he could not understand why Mr Seddon wished to get on his own hands bo much power m so small a country, for his achievements m tbat direction had already been sufficient to satisfy the appetite of the most abandoned epicure. Yet, like Oliver Twift, he wanted more. Even now he has control over some 50,000 State officials, and yet, with the blandnoos of a' Mongolian, he went on to demand the 4800 railway ser* vanti should be placed m his clutoheg. Mr Buick went on to refer to the Premier's love of patronage, and to warn that gentleman that patronage must be a danger and a weakness, especially m New Zealand, where so many ere Liberal! simply for what they might get. Those who thought the banding over of the railways to the Premier was equivalent to bringing them baok to the people had no idea of the prooiivities of Mr Seddon, whose Bill meant . Ministerial oontrol without Ministerial responsibility. In conclusion, Mr Buiok askad where this growing autocracy was going to end.

In responee to the circular issued by the [Janterbury Frozen Meat Company m July a ast, inviting applications for upaco for cost q lummer's freezing, no fewer than 254,000 »heep hare (says the Lyttelton Times) been £ booked for freezing between Deoember end f June. For two months, viz., January and February, tho booking exceeds 64,000 per month. These are the largest numbers erer booked for this period einoe the formation of the company, and those for the two months i above specified approsoh very nearly to the full capacity of tho Belfast works. As showing the growth of the industry it may be stated that the company's first year's freezing, i m 1883, was only 61,000 carcases. From a paper submitted to Parliament it I appears that the New Plymouth Harbour i Board, owing to an increase m the revenue from rataa, is not only able to pay ourrent interest, but also to pay off old arrears, whioh at one time amounted to two years' interest;. To do thie, however, there is not sufficient snrplus left to provide for an efficient staff, dredging, and repair*. The Board therefore appealed to the Government to aseiit m reducing the annual oharge, either by guaranteeing a loßn for £172,000 at 4 per cent., to enable tho 6 per cent, bonds to be converted, or to lend Government trusi funds to the same amount to purchase the bonds whioh it is thought would be given up at par. The reply of the Treasury was to the effect that m view of the enormous liabilities of many kindred Boards it would be invidious to assist any particular body while refusing assistance to others with equally strong olaima. The earnest efforts of the Board to meet its obligations are reoognhed. The following paragraph from the Evening Post is of great interest to owners and masters of vessels: —Captain Henderson, of the barque Excelsior, now m port, published m our columns some months since a letter pointing out the great advantage of having fixed sea oilera m rough weather as cam pored with the ordinary oiUbsgs. Captain Hender! son had no ocoasion to bring them into practical use until bis recent voyage from Newcastle to Wellington, when the weather was unusually severe. (The results were eminently satisfactory. The oilers are affixed on the port and starboard sides of both bow and quarter. From them the oil is turned on through a leaden pipe, and when the vessel was running before the wind it produced a wonderful effoot m keeping down the scan. No trouble or attention was required after the apparatus was fixed—an advantage over the oil-bagß commonly m übo, inasmuch at it is not subjeot to shifting with the action of the waves. Captain Henderson is confident after his late experiences that the advantages of fixed oilere to small deeply-laden vessels m bad weather would be very great. He also recommends the adoption of a like system m lifeboat work. At a meeting m Auckland of shareholders m the New Zealand and Biver Plate Com. pany a letter, embraoing the following points, was unanimously adopted, to ecoompany proxies—(l) That the shareholders should be oonsulted and give their consent prior to any increase m Argentine investments; (2) that m giving a mortgage and floating oharge on the assets to debenture holders a lower rate of interest should be stipulated for; (3) that facility should b» given m the new company for the transfer of share! (o the London register; (4) that the limiting of debenture stock to one-half the subscribed capital should be retained m the new company (this would mean £500,000 worth of debentures to £180,000 of shareholders' capital with the probable profit on realising the aseeta (£100,000), ia all £780,000) ; (5) that such investments as those on the London list should be rigidly esohewed by the new com* pany j (6) that where not desirous that the proxies should remain in-operative if effeot cannot be given to these vi6ws, yet if any voting takes place on these points, proxies to be vied m their favour. It was further resolved that Mr Clarke be requested to represent these views at the Board and that to enable other shareholders to sign the letter a supplementary copy should be sent to London. About 14.000 shares were repre* sented at the meeting.