LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8054, 5 July 1904, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The best offer ieeeived by the Auckland Harbour Board for the lease of Admiralty House is £200 per annum.

A shallow artesian well is to be sunk at the top bf Lonsdale Street, New Brighton, for flushing purposes. Tire Mayor has received £5 from Messrs Pyne and Co.jjas a contribution towards the Coal and Blanket Fund. At the sitting of the Rangiora Magistrate's Court this morning, Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., gave judgment in the case of alleged cruelty to a- horse, heard, last Court day. The information was dismissed.

The steamer Waitoa, 58 tons, owned by Mr Jagger, Auckland, sprung a l&ak and eank olf ' Mangonui while being ..towed foy the as. Ohinemiuri from Hokiangi to Russell. The. crew were taken to Russell by the Ohinemuri.

The New Brighton Borough Council has decided to take steps to eject the campers who have taken possession of the river-bed domain. A fortnight's grace has been allowed the old man who has so reeolutoly .refused to move, the concession being in view of his ill-health. /

The Defence authorities Lave made no further progress in their efforts to secure the reopening of the ftiunner rifle range. Mr R. M. Morten, who owns the adjoining property, still maintains his obj&etioa to the use of the range as endangering his stock and servants, and he refuses either to sell the land or let it to the Government.

At the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory the readings 'at 9.30 a.m. to-day we're: — Barometer 30.278, and rising; Maximum temperature during preceding twenty-four hours 48.9, minimum during the same period 27.0, temperature at 9.30 a.m.-- dry bulb 36.8, wet bulb 33.8. Humidity per cent 75 ; minimum thermometer on the grass 22.5. The eky Aras clear, .the wind was south-west, and the rainfall nil. ■.'•-■

The conveyance of road metal from ths Heathcote quarries to New 'Brighton by the old New Brighton Road has resulted in serious damage to the road, and the Heathcote Road Board has already spent £70 or £80 in repairs. The Board has therefore approached the New Brighton Borough Council in the matter, that body decided last night to request the contractor to discontinue using a- traction engine to deliver the metal.

The New Zealand "Loan and Mercantile Agency Company's Act, 1904, passed'Xby the imperial Parliament, has received the Royal assent. Under the Act, each -of the 10,000 trustees preference shares of £1 of the company is converted into two fully paid ordinary, shares of 10s each, forming one series, ana ranking in all respects paripassu with the 40,000 fully* paid ordinary fihar^s of the company at 10s c * each, and ranking for dividend as from June 30, 1903.

A question was referred to the Wairau Hospital Boai-d-'as to .whether it should keep alive an insurance policy of £200 on the life of a man who has been committed to an institution suitable for his ailment, and to the support of whose wife and children the Board is contributing. The man is forty-three years of age, and to all appearances permanently disabled, and two half-yearly premiums are owing. The matter was left to the chairman to decide after consulting the medical -officer. / Increasing interest is being taken in the picture puzzle competition, which is now running in the "Canterbury Times." One reason for its popularity undoubtedly, lies in the ■■ iri.de range pJ subjects which the puzzles deal with. This \week the pictures are devoted; to vegetables, concerning which everyone can claim some knowledge. The puzzles- provide a very pleasant way o| passing the winter evenings, while- the profit attaching to their successful solution will compensate for any labour involved ia connection with, them. In all £50 is being distributed in prizes, the first prize being £25. ~

In next Saturday's issue- of the' "Star" will appear the first instalment of the autobiography of Richard Burgess, lha ringleader of the gang of criminals who were guilty of= the atrocious Maungatapw murders, an account of which, along with a narrative of the search for the bodies and the arrest of the murderers, as well as the report, of their trial and execution, are appearing aerially hi the Saturday's issue of the evening paper. The autobiography was written by Burgess in gaol, ■ : and isj>erhaps the fullest and most exhaustitfe document of the kind ever written within^ the walls of a prison. , The report °* tne London and Liverpool land Grlobe Insurance Company, for the year 1903, presented in Liverpool on May 10, states that the fire premiums reached" the high net total of £2,067,194, while the losses were £1,043,512. c The surplus was £337,742, of which " £100,000 was added to the fire reinsurance fund, thus increased to .£900,000, and £100,000 to the general reserve fund, thus raised to fiI^OO.OOO. In the life department, the new policies issued werfe for £486,923, and a reversionary bonus of 35s per cent per annum was given participating policy-holders. The dividend for the year was 3a 6d per £2 share. • The total funds l of the company \ amounted to £10,401,149. The .New Brighton Beautifying Association has written to the Borough Council protesting against the unsightly advertisements on the, pier, and asking whether "some steps cannot be taken to prevent the continuance of what is undoubtedly an eyesore/ The Mayor stated at yesterday's meeting that the Council was making provision to prevent the display N>f Eiich advertisements in' the future. The Beautifying Association has obtained permission to plant a double row of trees along the centre of George Street, and to erect two small enclosures on the .beach near the ends of Hawke's Street and High "Street> in which to plant trees. At Invercargilj yesterday, Mr M'Carthy, S.M., convictel M'Robie, • of the Shamrock .Hotel, for allowing ' drunkenness on; his premises, he having permitted a ipan named) Carr (whom he said was drunk when he entered the house, al-, though it is alleged he got no liquor there)' •to remain. Tfoey should have ejected him, his Worship said. It had not been 'proved that Carr got the liquor in the hotel or in. bottles, of which he had two." >Carr admitted that he was drunk— so drunk that it would be unsafe to> found a conviction on his evidence. The barmaid said that - she sold only two bottles of beer that evening, but Carr had been out in the interval and might have got the liquor at another house. A fine of £2 was inflicted, and the license was endorsed. Counsel said he would appeal on a law point. At the Rangiora Magistrate's Court this morning, before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., ■MfiMr E. R. Good, J.P., John P. Andrews, flax-mill proprietor,' Waikuku, adr MQitted. having committed a breach of the Factories Act in ,havin<j employed three .lads, Henry Stokes 2 John Stokes and Richard Boyens, after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jane 4.' He was fined 20s and costs £2 14s- On a second charge of having allowed John Stokes, Richard Boyens /and Dominic Lee to be employed for more than - five hours continuously without an interval .of at least three-quarters of an hour for 'amealon June 4 and 10 contrary to section 18, clause C, of the factories Act, he admitted the offence, but stated that it was the lads' own fault. A fine of 20s, with 7s cbstSj was inflicted. The charges were laid by John Lomas, Inspector of SVtoriei

The New Brighton Borough Council has decided to declare gorse and broom to be noxious weeds within the borough. The Marine Department 'has adopted a regulation providing fctfati a white light, in a globular lantern, of not less than eight inches in diameter, shall be exhibited by every vessel at anchor in harbour. At a largely attended meeting of the Christchiirch Ministers' Association held last evening it wa-s unanimously resolved to protest against the proposed introduction of liquor into Raratonga and Niue. A sitting of- the Lyttelton Police Court was held before Mr S. R. Webb', J.P., this morning. Andrew Cogte, who has several previous convictions, was fined 40s. with, seven days' imprisonment in. default ot paymeat, for drunkennees. The Union Steamship Company lias settled the claim made against it for the sinking of the Jessie Niccol, in Wellington Harbour, by the Rotomahana. Mr William Cook, who owned the schooner at the time she sank, and in whose favour the jury gave judgment, has been paid £1000 in full settlement of his claim.

This afternoon, the By-laws Committee of. -the City, Council visited a number of churches in connection with 'the- recent report of Chief Inspector Maspey. The inspector recommended various alterations, mainly in regard to exits,' and some of 'the churches have objected to carrying these into- effect. The members of the committee, therefore, decided to make a personal inspection. The churches visited were as follow:— Cathedral, Catholic Cathedral, Trinity Congregational, St John's, Oxford Terrace Baptist, Stanmore Road Methodist, Salvation Array Barracks (Victoria Street and Fitzgerald Avenue)] Sydenhaffi Salvation Army Schoolroom, St Saviour's, Sydenham Presbyterian, St Andrew's, St Michael's, Durham Street Methodist, and the Synagogue. i