LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7583, 23 December 1902, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

,At Stratford, to-day, Francis Norman j Johnston, a returned trooper; a member of Brabant's Horse, pleaded guilty to the theft |of «j cheque of £25 -at Midhirst, and«.was committed for trial. , j A large number of excursionists arrived from Wellington by the Rotomahana this morning, and many of them went on south 9>y ttain. ('Two heavy, expresses were despatched for Timaru and Dunedin. i The children of the Prebbletdn School, 'with, their teachers and friends, went to fliytteltoni to-day for a picnic. On account !of the rain, they had to find what enjoy'.ment they could in the shelter of the 'Drillshed. I A telegram from Timaru states that the . '-annual Flower Show, after being postponed lor a^eek, on account of the lateness of the summer, was held to-day. The show is a j'air one. Fruit and flowers are both backward, but the display/of vegetables is good. The Christchurch Telegraph Office will fee open on Christmas Day from 9.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 .p.m. to 5.30 p.m. On Boxing Day and New Year's Day the office will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. >nd from 7 p.m. to midnight. The Telephone Exchange will be open as usual. A number of residents of, Christchurcih *rho were cycling in from Kaiapoi on Anniversary Day came across a ibaxr piece of road at Belfast, and maturallyMook adVantage of the good footpath. A constable, yrho was lying in wait, however, appeared «m the scene,- stopped them, and took their Raines, with a view to future proceedings.' At the Christohurch Magnetic Observatory at 9.30 a.m. to-day, the barometer >tood at 29.739, its tendency being to fall ilowly The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded, during the preceding ■cweniv-fcar hours were 62.3 and 50 re■nectively. Th 6 \ maximum temperature in -ftriUL was 140.5, and the minimum thermometer on the grass 48.7. The rainfall •Recorded during the preceding twenty-iour jliouw was .093 of an inch. A telegram from Auckland states that the flate Mr Richard Bertram bequeathed £275 each to St George's Church, Thames, St George's Sunday School, the Thames Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, the Old Men's Refuge, the Thames and Auckland. Benevolent Sooieties, the Blind Ingtitwte, the Society for the Protection of Women and Children and the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. The total of <tib« bequests is about £2220. i • {The Wellington! correspondent of the *Pelorus Guardian" understands that the Cabinet has decided to proceed no further with the Main Jjrunk line from Seddon until the question of the acquisition of the FlaxSonrne Brtate has been settled, as the owners of the estate have not informed the Government as to the amount they are prepared to accept for it. The Land Purchase Board has been instructed to enter Jnto further aaegotiations with them. ■ ' ''

The City Council offices will be closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the present we.ek. The Dunedin correspondent of this paper telegraphs that «• man named Lloyd Evans has been committed for trial on a charge of forging and ■uttering a cheque for £30 on i tho National Bank at- Ohristchurch on Sept. 5. -, Mr Sydney Neate, Edgeware Road, St Albans, whilo rabbiting in "Stewart's Gully, Kaiapoi district, with two companions yesterday, came across a human, skull halfburied in the sand. It had been laid bare by the wind drifting the sand away, and had evidently been many years buried. Mr Neate brought the skull to the Police Station this morning. At Auckland to-day Mr Hutchison, S.M., gave judgment in the charges against John King, the Auckland Registrar -of Electors, for breaches' of the Electoral Act in failing to enrol electors without a valid objection. He found that the Registrar's action in one case was based on grounds, and in thio other cases wais open to criticism, but ; he accepted' the explanations, and dismissed all the informations. Technical examinations in scientific telegraphy were held under the auspices of the Post "and Telegraph Department out the colony in October last, when thirtyfive candidates presented themselves. Ten were successful in passing the examination and of these four belong to Christchurch., They arep-L. W. Bourke, who was first on the list, J.. Alexander, J. E. Green and J. A. Russell. Suspicious circumstances (says the " Nelson Colonist ") have surrounded the deaths of several foals and ,- horses, the property of Wakapuaka residents. Animals apparently in the best of health on the previous evening have been found dead next morning, and we are informed that one animal was discovered with a wound in the groin as though it had been stabbed, while yet another had its throat gashed. Our informant states that the horses have been found at intervals of perhaps a fortnight between each, and he says it is causing sc-niji considerable anxiety to residents. One resident lost a couple of dogs in. one night, and poison is suspected as the agent.