Local and General.

Thames Star, Volume XXXX, Issue 10502, 25 November 1902, Page 4

Local and General.

, An animated discussion took pace at the Church Congress at Northampton ota October 10th upom the authenticity of the Bible. Dr. King declared that it was iiO' longer possible to accept fhei Old Testament as a standard of morals. Prebendary GibS'Oto, of Wells, said, that it was wrong to continue teaching the Bible in the old way. The discussion ' indicated a 'marked tendency to modify the theories with regard to the Divine inspiration of the Bible as a result of the new criticism.

1 Our Waihi correspondent- writes: "Colonel (1. W. Bell, who delighted a Waihi aud:ence by an oration On 'The World's Workers,' concluded 'hU visit to-day (Saturday)i and left for llot(v rua. where, after the elections, ho purposes delivering one or two 1 lectures. This morning the- Colonel was conducted through the underground workings of the Waihi Company's mine. Needless to say he was .greatly impressed by the magnitude of the reefs in the mine. He was also impressed with the excellent ventilation, of the lower levels. lie is delighted with his 'vi.-'it here."

At one of the political meeting in Wellington, Dr. Chappie referred to ' the btreams of unhealthy literature that constantly flow into the hands of our young people from other eoiur | tries. There were thousands of pounds extorted from youngs men by this means, their minds were distracted, their consciences poisoned, -and their , tastes depraved by nnwholesome pamphlets, leaflets, and booklets, whose statements were false, amd whose teaching was demoralising. He had lectured to young mea ofn this subject very frequently, and ■ had tried to counteract the evil teaching that charlatans and impo-ters thrust upon. them. People had no conception of the extent to which this pernicious evil had grown, and it should be stopped by legislat-ion,-

There was a"., large attendance at the cornier ■'of % Mary, and Pjoilten streets last- evening when, an open- air "no■license" meeting was held. Several addresses were given and listened to with attention.

Tlie''' trade done by New Zealand in suppling! ,e)oaiL foil* "*tl).ej Briitish squadron in. the China .stationi is steadily in-creasing. Mr Bingham, of the -Naval Department, who watches the interests of the Admiralty in this colony, states that the present order amounts to 68,000 tons a year,- all of which comes from the Granity manes of the We-stp-ort Oo'al Company. Next year there will pr<ybably be a, large increase in the Admiralty order. A regular transport service hais been, arranged, and it is probable that!-the Adjmirbllity. '.wilL ultimately have a. proper collier. fleet for the service., Steps are being taken to improve the West-pert bar with a view of enabling large colliers to e'ear for China, direct as full-aihips, without as at present having to finish loading at Wellington.

At the Centra;! Hall"last night the Hon. James McGowam addressed a crowded meeting of •electors. Mr McGowan dealt at. length with, rebutting the statements made by Mr Lucas regarding his attitude on the question of mining legislation, which.- he dealt with in detail, referring to the introduction, of the eight hours' labour and wages clauses of the Act. He spoke at length of the besdficial effect of isuch legislation on labour and capital, and at the conclusion of his address, which was listened to with attention,he was accorded a unani--mous vote of confidence., /

New Zealand fruitgrowers will be interested in ihe results of a series of experiments oil' the cold' storage of fruit which hare been carried out at the Ontario Agricultural College (writes the London correspondent of "The Press"). Apples and pears are found to keep best when wrapped singly in paper, and' packed in a shallow box not larger than a bushel. They shCp b"sl when, ;m addition, they are packed in layers with "excelsior" between. Apples keep better at a higher temperature, but tha experiments did not show what is the best temperature for pears. Cold storage cannot make bad fruit good, nor can it prevent b:id fruit from becoming worse. OnV good specimensl will keep for any length of time in coild storage, or 1 wiiill( pay for 1 storaigo. When long storage is desired it pays to select the best fruit and toi pack it in the'"besfc manner- 'known.

At St. George's Behoolroorai Jast evening Mr W. H. Lucas addressed a meeting of the ©lectoris. The hall was well filled-and t:he candidate was listened to with attention throughout his address. He dealt at length, with the statements contained in pamphlets issued under the norn, de plume of . "Elector," and quoted Hansard with, the object of rebutting the comments of the orator. He also spoke on mining legislation and at the conolusio'n of \\\% address was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks.

The Dunedin. correspondent of the Wellington 'Post writes :—"The Prohibit: oniste are girding their loins for

a supreme effort, and I venture this early to predict that the no-license bannea'. will be. hoisted in the electorates of Matarua,' Clutha, and. Bruce, lv the Taieria the moderates will win,' but by a narrow majority. Caversliam will de^are for continuance by a considerable majority, and I incline to tie belief thai Chalmers will also vote the status quo; but Wnikouaiti and Oauiaru are almo-'t certain to declare for no license. In Dunedin itself, though the prohibitionists are very sanguine of carying the poll, T think they will have ten be content with, securing a reduction of the existing licenses."

A highly complimentary article in an American paper concerning New Zea'and contains the following interesting itenii-, which may be news to some:—'"Everybody is polite, extremely, almost painfully polite, down, New Zealand way. Alphonso and Gaston of the comic opera supplement realms are real characters here. A train steams into the commodious depot at Well:ngton, the island-,' capital, 'Wcllingtou please,' the conductor gently announces toi "his passengers, who thank him, for getting them, safely to their destination. The policeman carries neither club nor firearm. Whenever he finds himself compelled to 1 n^ake an arrest the bluecoafc ailmost begs the prisoner's pai'don, and invariably takes him to gaol in a cab!"