GENERAL NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5769, 13 January 1897, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

* THE SOUTH CASE. By their resignations (the outcome of the South case) Sergeants Gamble and M'Mahon, of Auokland, will bo enabled to apply for compensation for past service, which is one month's pay for each year of service. Sergeant Gamble has thirty-one years' service, and Sergeant M'Mahon about twenty years. This is an after consideration *or the -Grovernment, but there is reason to believe (says the Auckland Herald) that in the case of these two officers, on account of long and honourable service in the past, the application will not be "unfavourably entertained. VICTIMISING THE RATEPAYERS. A correspondent in the country sends to the Auckland Herald an illustration of how the charitable aid system is worked. A man found himself in the dock with the knotty question to decide, " Shall I pay a fine of £5 and return to the bosom of my family, or take a month's holiday at Mount Eden Gaol P " He did what all men should do in difficult crises pf life— he consulted with his wife. Her advice was thoroughly practical and businesslike — namely, that he should go to Mount Eden, and meanwhile she would be supported by the Charitable Aid Board. The ' programme was carried out, the chief sufferers being the unfortunate ratepayers. THE COCKSFOOT HARVEST. The Akaroa Mail says :— Cutting has commenced nearly all over the Peninsula, last week's heat having ripened large breadths, 'of seed. As far as we can judge, labour does not seem to be any too plentiful; but in saying this, we do not wish to induce great numbers of men from the <■ Plains to visit the Peninsula, for even as we write the present want may have been supplied. So far, however, all men who have arrived have been eagerly caught up, and we hear of constant inquiries for others. The cutting will bo over quite as wide an area as last year, but there will not be anything like so large a yield, crops generally being much lighter, having been developed too rapidly by the intense heat. For the same reason the paddocks look very clean, .there not having been sufficient moisture to fully develop the fog ; goose-grass, however, is fairly plentiful. We think that another reason for the crop , not being so thick this year lies in the fact * of the extreme severity of last winter. Feed was so scarce that the paddocks were not Shut off till the very last possible moment, and the cocksfoot stools had not time enough to recover and send out strong heads till the season was too far advanced. If the crop is small, however, and in some cases rather light, it promises to bo a very bright, sound sample, with full germinating power. A VALUABLE TESTIMONIAL. Lord Brassey, the Governor of Victoria, has been "doing" Lake Wakatipu, and, like all others who have seen the picturesque regions in that vicinity, is absolutely charmed with the wild beauty of the scenery. He is (says the Olago Daily Times) so much delighted with what he has seen of Wakatipu that he expresses his intention of visiting the other lakes— Manapouri and To Anau — on his return from the Sounds. Lord Brassey is one of the most accessible of noblemen, and he is not by any means a chatterer, so that it may be concluded that he will carry his favourable impression _of New Zealand scenery everywhere with him, with a result that a summer visit to New Zealand will become quite tlio thing in Victoria. . CHARITABLE AID. The following aro the statistics of relief in connection with the North Canterbury and Ashburton United Charitable Aid Board for the month of December:— Institution Relief: Ashburton Home, cost .£B2 16s 3d, persons relieved 66; Female Refuge, cost £25 16s Bd, persons relioved 24; Memorial Home, cost .663 6s Bd, persons relioved 44; Orphanage (maintenance -624 12s 3d, boarded out -626), cost .£SO 12s 3d, persons relieved 28; Samaritan Home, cost .£33 6s Bd, persons relieved 47 ; Armagh Street P ft p6t*s cost £9 IBs 4A, persons relieved 16— total cost -2265 10s lOd. Outdoor relief: Number of cases relieved 449, comprising 1491 persons; money allowances, -6254 15s 9d; rations, .£287 Is Id; fuel, 12s 3d; drugs and medical attendance £14 lis Sd; total, £568 lis 6d. Maintenance of 49 destitute children (other than Orphanage), boarded out, £53 16s ; maintenance of 4 infirm and invalid persons, boarded out, £6 6s ; maintenance of 46 children at industrial schools, £63 ; office expenses, £56 12s ; miscellaneous items, £9 5s 3d ; total number of persons relieved 1815 ; relief works, £4 8s j total expenditure, £1027 15s Bd. SERVANTS' REGISTRY OFFICES, A telegram from Auckland states that at the Police Court yesterday Andrew M'Leod was charged, on the information of Mr Ferguson, Inspoctor of Factories, with having, as keeper of a servants' registry office, committed a breach of the Servants' Registry Office Act, by receiving from Albert J. Lock a greater fee than allowed by the Act. Defendant admitted that he received 10s. As for charging 10s instead of 7s 6d, ho did not demand 10s, Lock gave it voluntarily. The Magistrate said that he looked upon tliis as a serious matter. A scale of foes had beon explicitly laid down by the Act for the protection of thoso who dealt with keepers of registry offices, and each keeper knew very well what he should charge. A fine of 40s, with 36s costs, was inflicted, and defendant's license was endorsed.