LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Thames Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 10566, 12 June 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Talismans are fir™ ->"th sales at 33s 9d, Tairua Broken Hills are steady and exchanges; have been made at 4s 4d. May Queens are in fair demand, but at slightly reduced prices, sales being reported to-day a*. Is Id, RisingSuns (Owharoa) are steady at 7id. Other lines show no change.

New baths were opened at the Helensville Hot Springs yesterday.

Mr Bert Dunlop reports good business at) the sale of Mrs Patterson's furniture at Tarani yesterday.

A new Ashford of the latest type has been obtained foi- the Grand Junction. Company.

Biishop Neligan hns returned to Aiuokland «d'tei' his visit to tlxe goldfielda distinct. Next week he visits the Wlaikiato.

Alcn*>rding to a deoisiohi of the Defence Council, a^l volunteer ".-Sunday parades are to be abolished'; Svith the exdept.i«oni of church parades.

Captain EMwin, wired to-day as follows : "Northerly strfrag Svinds to. gale'; glass• fall;; tides, high; sea h«a.vyj rain probably heavy."

"'lt is stated that the demand for N-ew Zealand flax is increasing steadily. It has been, found to •be superior in fibre and constitution to most other flaxes. ;

We understand that the special report of Mr B. F. Adamsi on-the questtdon, of power for electric lighting of the Borough will soon be in the hands of- 'the Couinoil. .. - .1 '.

Members of tlie"' CharleW r'Br- r£fi:ii anct,' Waikirto; Lodges are requeS ltecl r t4 a§■semblfli at the residence,- Taii'ai'u, to. follow the refriains(; of "the "relict of the laW Bro." Beninetab to-the Tararu cemetery.-- ;- .■ - . - :'-.•'-■ ■•■ .

Our Paeroavoort'esporadent writes: "The ' team selected to represent Paeroa im the match aeainst Wadkiiio a,t iPaeroa n-ext Saturdaiy is as'-fod-lows: Full-bacik, Clarke; three-quar-t«m RiokityPercy, and Keating; fiveeighths, JRoyal; half, Griffiths; wing forwards, Silcook a,nd MloGuire; forwards, Thorburn, %an, Bukutai, W. Sprensen, Whitmore, Penaiell and Youmr; „ emergenoies, Bolton (2), Hutton, Duldly and Coe."

The Hamilton police visited the bakehouses and shons, in Hamilton,, with the result that im all probability a ohiarge of selling short weight bread, will, be preferred against one of the ownerfi.

At lasti nighfs. meeting of tiie-Harbor Board the Harbounmaster (Capti T. O. ißayldon) stated that he heard that the Tptara Timber Company is not likely to go' on! with the construction of H-he proposed wharf at Kopu, of which details Wave been submitted to and approved of, by the Board.

me norr springs a* Helensville are. said to be on a par with -l'-&w at T? Arohni The Hon. Geo. Fowlds, who opened them, said he hoped the day would come when the Tourist Deparment would take over the springs, when the poor of Auckland as well as others could make week-end stays a. Helensville.

Separate tenders will be received by the Borough Council up to 4 p.m. of Thursday/ June '20th, for mentioned material and services for a period of 12 months from! July Ist of the present year: —. Cartage, -removal of refuse, timber, ironmongery, water work'sl material. Specifications may be seen' at the office of the Council.

At last night's .meeting of the Thames: Harbour Board it was decided to write off the books of the Board over £70 of what were described as "uncollectible debts.". In the majority of cases the Board was barred from proceeding 1 by the §tattfcite of limitflr tion,'and it was considered better to wipe ,the aiccounitsl off rather than have them remainingl on the books.

The preliminary prograjnme in connection with the BjiM • contest is now in the hands of th:e Secreta.ry, Mr George Buokland, and^wiill be oirctulated ait once. Tha programnie consists of A/, and D. grade test selectionsf and quick-step competitions, whale the solo competitions are as under: Soprano comet, B flat cornet, E flalt horn, baritone, B flat tirombone, bass trombone, euphonium. BBfflat 'blass, E flat horn, trombone trio,' and quartettes. , ,_

"There aire plenty of ducks on the Piako." said a Thames resident the other day after returning 1 * from a shootingi expedition ;. "there; are plenty of duoks—in facto I have never seen them, in greater niumibers, but as I reniia^ked before they were uis'ually where we were not; or rather, where they were, the ducks were nott'We might have had splendid bags had" there been several parties to )£&p them on the move/-but we had no luck to speak

Ofui* Waifcato oon-esipondenti writes : "A half-caste T>' <v-^<v^ i; OSanainete was admitted, to the ■_ Waikato : hospital, suffering from a gunshot wound. It appears that he wasi out in tihe afternoon shooting, at Taupiri. In getting over ai fence he plaoed his gun on tihe opposite Slide, and resting his right hand on tihe .muzzle, vaulted over. The gun went off, blowing, the hand off, just aibove the wrist. The unfortunate man wasconveyed to Hamilton, "where the hospital surgeon amputated tfee arm between tlie elbow and wrist.*"

Our Te Airoha coiTespondeut writes —"A, quiet wedding took place at St. Mark's, Te Ajroha, yesterday, when Miss Etlsa. Sophia Fredg:a was married to Mb Geoi-ge Frederiok McGirr, of the Tourist Department. Tliere wasi'a. lai*ge number of friends and wellwishers present. The .ceremony was conducted Iby the Riev. E. Mj. Cowie.' The bride, who was given away by Dr. Kenny, wore a dress of brown glassy silk, velvet trimmings, and glace silk, velvet trimmings, and ried a lovely shower bouquet

The Battalion Band undei' Bandmaster Clarke, will* play the' undei--nientioned programme of .music at the corner of Mary ,aiid Pollen Street®.on Saturday. Evening, nestl, eoiinnenoing at 7.30 p.m., weaitlier ipei'iiiittiftg:—■ March, "With .Sword- and Lance," (Starke); waltz, "Flower's of Australiai," (T. EL B'liidii); .grand selection', "Vei'di," (H. Round); march, 'Thames Navals," (Bandmlaster Clarke) ; waiHz. "Spring Bdossonis," '(T. E. Builtah); fantasia, "Songs of the Sea," (arranged ,by T. EL Buldh) ; march, "O.H.M.S" (J. Ord Hume) ; "God 'Save the King."

Local footlballersi may be interested to learm that at a, meeting 1 of '. the Management Conwniittee of the New Zealand 'R;ug!by Union, the Wellington Union wrote asking 1 "can a professional take.part, im thsi management of a football organisaition, and, if so, can he vote?" It was resolved to reply as .follows-: "Thlat this committee is of opinion' that ai person who has been dec-laired a. professional under the rules as to professionalism, can not take part in the igpvernment of foot ball under the jurisdiction of the NWw Zeafand Rugiby .Football Union."

... ,Oair cmresponde^t writes: — "Having in viw the projected early departure from Waihi of Mr Henry L. Simmons,, the superintendent of the Grand Junction 'Gold Company, Limited, *and. that gentleman's high, position in public esteem in our town.', a meeting of influential citizens was held for the purwsei of arranging a public valedictory function to mark the occasion of liis. departure. Tlie of the meeting; was that a strong conuiiittee was formed to a,rrange matiter», and. make fitting recognition of the uaio^feaitaitious^hutLsterliug; citizenship of the ■respectwsuperintendent." ' " '

. A s{>e<,-;al meetbc .of- the Thames Borough Caundl will" >be held this evening; to consider the reiiort;. of the Mayor- on the questions, of purchasing a rook-breaker and street roller, also the nighteoil oontraot < and siuESgeeted improvemente in connection therewith. Mr Burns recently paid 'a- ; visit to Akitokland and Devonport to inquire specially into tho matter of a rookbreaker and roller .mid while at Devonport was sliown the rook-breaker ait .wtork and its advantages demonstrated- .. The Town Oerk of Devonport. stafed 1. fcha,ti with the rook-breaker the costi of meeto.l was - reduced ■ 'b- onehalf; and that the amount expended in thi.e.purc§iasie oif the .breaker was boon eaived by the Council.

A two-storied brick building is to ■be erected at Feildmg for a technical stehool. The price iis slijrhtly below £3000.

A monster petition for presentation to Parliament isi now beingl signed throughout New Zealand against gaimlbling;.

The death is announced after a longi and painful illness of Mrs Eyai Bennett, of Tararu. The deceased lady, who has been invalided for sonic oonsideraWe time, passed away at her home yesfcerdav. awd th« .funeral-^ 11 take place to-morrow.

At, Taßranga. a young, lad named 'Robert Mansel was badly bitten by a dog. It appears that, he was endeavouring to prevent* two canines fight* ing, when one of them, bit Mm on the righ'ti' wrist, inflict ing a severe wound.

As Minister for Public Health Mr Fowlds said, in a speech at the Richmond Cruising Club s social, he would encourage aquatics.- It was: a very great factor in building up strong and vigorous manhood, which) would ibe of immense value: to the colony in the days to come.

Ait thie Water Police Court, Sidney. last week, Alexander Fraser, a photographer, was charged with conspiracy in connection wiith an alleged mining; swindle. It was alleged 'that various person® had beeft defrauded through the Big Hole Exploit atton Syndicate. Aoqusfed was committed for.trial. '

A sister of Major yon Tenxpsky rereisently paid iai visit to the battlefield of Te Ngutu a te Manu, where the distinguished Prussian lost his life !in" a<!itioni against Tito. Kowaru's mfen!. During; her visit she was presented with a greenstone axe, which was dug out of tifoe ground near the sport where her brother was killed.

From the Observer: "A writ of £.1000 for alleged slander has been: issued "by Mrs, Angela Elizabeth Simr' son, of Havelock, against- David Chas. Thorley, of Hasting)*. The plaintiff in this cub© is the wife of Horace lan Simeon, formerly am auctioneer of Auckland, and a son; of Mkl Hector Norman Simson, of whisky and poli-' tical f amie. No parfcioulars have reach.-' ed usi.of the cause of the action, but! judging by the amount claimed, the lady's feelings have beeni pretity oon-! siderably hurt." . • J

The careerl of Mirl' Solomon, one of the new King's, Counselj. is described as being an apt illustration of the benefits' to be oibtainied froniliNew Zealaind'si generous educational scheme. Commencing! .his studies at a State School, he.passedijn: 1869 to the Ota,go Boys' Highi School by the aid of a Provincial i Government scholarship. He becalm© dux of thaiti sohbol in 1871, and thence passed* by a colonial scholarship to Otago University College, of wMchl institution he amd the late . '>fr.,R. Si. Hay were the first graduates."

'•' K:tiher<3ourse of has annual report the.yoibptroller-Geneval of New South Wales Prisons, Oaptaini F. WL" NeitenSBtem,,staitedlfiatiduring 1906 the vast majority of those under sentence found themselves in gaol not so much for committing offences as because they did not pay the fines imposed upon them. "I cannot help thinking that, this indicates there is unnecessary gaoling," the Comptroller-General adds "and that alternatives might be devised to take the place, of so much imprisonment. The "Wanting of longer time to pay.-of- payment !by- instalments, would possibly decrease the number of prisoners and prevent! the losei of employment .following unon imprisonment." .

We understand thlat is ai probability of no further steps being taken in connection, with the charges preferred against a mill-owner on the Piaiko' for depositing in the river the debris from the flax mill, so as to impede navigation. T*. -will be remiembered that the case was called on at a recent sitfeing of tile Court, ait Thames, when, the fii-st informations were withdrawn and two others substituted, while the Magistrate held over the question of allowing, cost® to the defendant and witnesses' against t>he Department. Mr Clendom urged that in all fairness the defendant and witnesses' should be recompensed, while Mr FalJon (who a,ppea,red for the prosecution) held that it was not customary for the Court, to mulct, the Department! in costs.