LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8317, 16 May 1905, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The flag on the Christchurch Tramway Company's premises is half-mast high to-day, denoting the company's The Leader of the Opposition addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting at Stratford last night. Hi® speech was on the lines of his recent addresses. , The Government poultry expert (Mr j Hyde), speaking at a public function la Blenheim last "Wednesday, mentioned that he was moving to have a poultry column included in the papers for next census. Ha predicted that the information that would be elicited < Pould surprise most people. i The Stratford Borough Council 'has Settled privately a claim made by Mrs Montgomerie for damages for the alleged depreciation of her property owing to the erection of septic tanks on land adjoining. The claim originally was for £3400, but the sum Agreed upon in settlement was £900. A large party of Natives in waggons, buggies, and on horseback recently arrived at Clyde from the southern part of Hawke's Bay, to take part in a tangi lit Ruataniwha. One of the Natives, to whom a " Wairoa Guardian " reporter applied for information, was unable to give the name of the deceased for whom te had come to weep ! The fruit shipments to London from Hobart this season amounted to 863,426 oases, as against 575,000 last • Biason. Only fifteen steamers loaded i th/s season, the Suevic taking 46,947 I cases, the Persio 47.210 cases, and the Runic. 40,267 cases. Four steamers had reached London up to May 1. The ericas realised for the bulk of these shipments was from 8s to 12s a case. Dr Pomare, Native Health Officer, has during the past few weeks investigated a number of outbreaks of typhoid fever in various Maori settlements of the North Island. The disease appeared in every case after heavy .rain following & continuance of dry weather. Dr Pomare isolated the patients and disinfected the whares and pottages in the settlements. He states that the sickness has been stamped out In the districts which he visited. . Speaking at Picton on Thursday, the Hon C. H. Mills referred to rumours of a change in the Ministry. He said that he had- heard and read statements of late that he did not intend to come forward at the next election, and that he was likely to be relegated to a quiet seat In a corner of the Upper House. He could tell them that he was not quite j used up yet. In his own opinion, he I was a better man now than ever The was. He could emphatically state that he had no intention of retiring. Mr G. L. Barrow, writing to the Fiji "Times," on April 8, says:— "l can see much to sympathise with in the l6t of the indentured coolie. I have spent thirteen years in West Australia, where there is at present a great outcry about ill-usage of the blacks, and I must say that my honest opinion is that, in comparison with the treatment generally of the "West Australian blacks, the lot of the indentured coolie in Fiji (s not a happy one. Everyone must be shocked with the murderous assaults upon overseers which have been recorded, but the frequency of this claßs of crime would long ere now in West Australia, or in any but a "Crowngoverned " colony, have commanded a searching investigation, to make absolutely sure that there are no abußes connected with this slave labour system which are in any degree accountable for the deplorable frequency of crime. 1 A leaflet from the New South Wales, Government Statistician's office gives particulars of. the population of the Mother State. On March 31 last the population numbered 778,600 males and 691,320 females, or a total of 1,466,920 — an increase of 8387 over the total on December 31 last. This increase was made up as follows :— Excess of births over deaths, 5989; excess of arrivals over departures, by sea, 1922; by land, 496. Of the 42,824 arrivals by land and sea during the first quarter of this year, 16,081 came from Victoria, 8623 from Queensland, 6848 from South Australia, and 4264 from New Zealand. The departures numbered 40,406, and of these 16,485 went to Victoria, 7786 to Queensland, 5197 to South Australia, and 3798 to New Zealand. iThe arriving Chinese in the' period under review numbered 42, while 197 departed. v »i?,-" writeß *° * he Wellington Post : "A good device for getting voters on th« roll is being adopted in the hotels. A prominent black-and-white notice— 'Are you on the roll?'— is put up in the bar, and attached to It is a copy of the roll. If, on examining the roll, a casual observer finds his name not on it, there are forms of application for enrolment ready to his hand, and all he has to do is to write, j and then leave the form behind him; / the filled-in forms are duly collected and sent to the Registrar's office. This is just the sort of thing for the casual man, who would not be dragged on a formal visit to the Registrar's office even by wild horses, but who is willing to do the simple thing when it is placed right under his nose. And there are quite a number of these unregistered «. casual men to be met every day, not only in bars, but everywhere. By the way, why should not the Government . Imitate the brewers in this cheap and nseful idea, and erect notice, roll, and forms, in, say, the post offices?" A conference^ convened by. the Christchurch Prison Gate Mission, will be held in the City Council Chambers at 2 p.m. to-morrow to meet members of Parliament. Mr C. M. Gray, the Mayor, will preside, and the Children's Aid Society, the Prison Gate Mission, St Saviour's Guild, the Salvation Army, the Samaritan Home trustees and the Women's Institute will be represented. A very comprehensive or-der-paper has been drawn up. The items are as follow: — (1) The punishment of. first offenders and the treatment of juvenile offenders, and reasons for an alteration of the Act, to be introduced by Mr T. I. Smail, Staff Captain Williams/ Mrs Guise and Mr P. Pender ; (2) the Government to be asked to amend the law with reference to importuning, in the direction that fines should be abolished, and that on second dffences a sentence of imprisonment of. not less than three months should be given, introduced by Messrs Borensen, Pender .and Hayes; (3) the law relating to tampering with girls under the age of consent, introduced by a letter from Mr C. Hastings Bridge, who will move that the limit of time for laying information should be extended to three months; (4) Mr O. Hastings Bridge will bring before the meeting an amendment required in the law relating to the laying of information against a putative father to prevent desertion by his leaving the country; (5) a home for imbecile chil-, firen, introduced by the Children's Aid Society; (6) clearing of the Supreme Court of young persons on certain occasions, introduced by the Children's Aid Society; (7) the co-operation of kindred societies should be enlisted in other centres in forwarding the objects sought in the directions set forth.

The Waikare, from Melbourne and Hobart, arrived at the Bluff this morning. Her mails will probably reach Christchurch to-day. ' The San Francisco mail is expected at Wellin-yton at 9.30 to-nitrht, and will be brought south by the Pateena, leaving shortly after that hour. A sitting of the lyttelton Police Court was held this morning, Mr J. T. Brice, J.P., being on the bench. A ■ ale first offender was convicted of drunkenness and discharged with a caution. - * At Kaiapoi, on Monday, Mr V. G. Day, S.M., renewed five pension* cf £18, two of £16 and two of £13. At Rbngiora to-day he granted a new pension of £17, also one or-»£13 3 and. one in full, subject to the production >. of proof of age. At the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, the readings at O.^O a.m. today were: — Barometer 29,859, and rising ; maximum temperature during the preceding twenty-four hours 57, minimum during the same period 33.2; wet bulb 47.3, dry bulb 45.6, humidity per cent 88, maximum temperature in the sun 62.8. minimum thermometer on the grass 29.1. Cloud (0-10) 2. The wind was west, and the rainfall had been nil. At the Rangiora Magistrate's Court to-day, before' Mr V. G. Day, S.M., and Mr E. R. Good, J.P., P. Doherty was fined 5s and costs 7s, for riding a bicycle at night with out a light, and a prohibition order was issued against a man on the application of his son. Watkins and Webber (Mr Van Asch) claimed £18 from P. Stewart, and were given judgment by default, with costs £1 13s 6d. In the case of Whitelock and Alexander v. T. R. Anderson (Mr Van Asch) claim £5 17s, the evidence of defendant was taken to forward to Taranaki. The claim was for newspapers ("The Egmont Settler,") which defendant sold on commission, and for i advertising. He paid 13s and proved an I error of £1 in the figures. The balance he disputed on the ground that owing to the'difficulties of transit to his store in the backblo-cks the papers on many occasions never reached him.