LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8678, 19 July 1906, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Captain Edwin's weather forecast telegraphed at noon to-day, is as foil .tows:—-* Strong winds to galo 'from between north ? nd east and south-east 1 ; glass farther fall; tides high- sea heavy 0n coast; ram probably heavy." „ 9_ . tb _ c Corinthic's immigrants, thirty-eight will prpceed immediately to -the 2vorth Island Trunk ''K^hray ivories. Many of the immigrants have expressed a desire for farm work, with' lelvff^ re* * e '* ta^ n % 'w' ■&?#' tliemAt the weakly meeting of the Christchurch Socialist Party Mr Ecroyd gave a very interesting 'address'"' oii '" Individqsilism and Socialism," and a debate followed. Professor Bickerton will give an address to-morrow evening on ' ■ Some Indisputable Truths of Socialism. ' - y ••-.-- • A carriage on the second express Wft. fo * r W$ south $his mprning was reserved for a large party of men. 4_hey were come forty employees of : the Union Steamship Company, who had been working temporarily at Lyttelton and were returning to their hq-mes in Dunedin. An entertainment in aid of the funds of Holy Trinity Church was given 'in tha Lyttelton .Oddfellows' Hall last night, when there was. a good attendance, and. a miscellaineous pipgramme was rendered. .During the evening the vjea-r, the Rev E. Fitzgerald, th_iiked th© performers for their assistance and the audience fox their patronage. • Mr C. Ferriear, J.P., pre^id'ed at a sittwig of the Lyttelton. Police Court «"* nwraing. A man named Daniel Callagjhan, who had been arrested for druntenness on Wedfnestjay afternopn, was fined 10s and 2s costs, with fortyeight hours' imprisonment in default, far having resisted Constable Mahoiiey. On the charge of drunkenness he'wiis convicted and discharged. The Christchurch branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineer? has passed' a resolution approving pf ?'the stand taken by the Hon thiß Premier in regard to the - unwarranted attack by the Employers' Federation en Mr. Tregear." Not being able to .find fyult with the able administration of his official duties, they seek to attack him on. a private expression of opinion." At one o'clock this afternoon Serr geant Rogers aCTested two ypung men, residents of Rangiora,, on a' charge of being ooncea-ned in the burglaoy at the Junction Hotel and at Mr V. H. PulV.ley's shop, on Monday night. A plant* of a box of cigars and several bottles of wine in ia sttrawetack supplied a clue which 3-ed to the •Jw-st. A watch similar to one stolen. frwm Redf era's Arcade was also found' uyxm one of the accused. Information has been received; in &jdnsJ that the large rice-millers and merchants of Rangoon have! formed tthiemsel-yes iiitp a company], which _ss been registered id Lp,_don with a capital of £200,000. These repreW' the controlling influences of the <rice sectfpoi of tyang^n, a.»d _bjirff comparted efforts will naturally be ddreeted towards controlling popductioin, supplies, wnd prices; TOfuoJi in the saan© manner as the currant combine has done in Gregce, with a-yiew to benefit jihe.|rac!<> of that counter. Tb«i effieet pf tfus concerted; actiou h-a^ already been, ielt in th* market, inasmuch tjjjat since its inceptMMi th© pnioe of rice jji Rfogpon has materially advanced-. . •-..-•-. As an indication of the iuducementa now offered in the work, pif rabbi^trappJL^g, the r^gprt pf flfne pf ijjfjf district jßspepfcors pf schools in New South Wales to •the Department is instructive ,:— -V> At the present juncture," he says, "it is a difficult task to get children to dp »ny hpmerjesepnis. T%.& high price of rabbit skins induces pwrentji jtp employ their children fpr, half, the night in trapping rabbits. M^n^ families in this district are earning as "much, as! fjem £12 to £2Q per week at the busir new. In many of the towns there is, a fa^nine,* it being impossible to find carters willing; tpi 'wiste. ' drawing wood w#ep tftpy p «irn so much at trapping rabbits. $\rom this % cause, also, the aij^idance at the t country, schools during tike, quarter now *•• ending will be greatly reduced,'*

Commenting upon Sir Joseph Ward's proposals for reciprocity with America^ the " : " Auckland Star" says:— At the present time kauri gum is admitted free cf duty into the "United States; in fabt there has never beeni an itnport duty on '' this product _aye : at the time of the Spanish-American- war, when a war tax of IQ ' cents on ' the pound was imposed, biit was 'removed after the signature of peace' terms: jiast year 3489 tons of glim were' exfofted to America from rfew, Zealand he' appro__mate value of this _emg £2&9,340. It has. been praptically decide,d to have the ode written- by Mr j. C: Andersen and eet to mueic by Mr A. Hill performed at tho opening ceremony of the New Zealand International Exhibition, instead 'of being give_. later' on. Sir 4-rthur Sullivan's "Te Deum" was the Work chosen for the occasion, it being thought that the ode could not he got "ready in time. Mr Hill, , however, has completed his task, and he oonfidcptiy asserts that the hiusio Tie' ha's composed is his best work. I}r Bradshaw, conductcfr of the Musical Union, has suggested that Mr Hill should be accorded the honour of conducting his own work, and Mr' Hill will probably control the whole of the rehearsals of the choir and orchestra and conduct the ode on the opening day. The drink Question has come to- the fro,nt in Scotland recently. The Health Committee, of the Corpoi'ation of Glasgow issued a report cohd«im_pir|g the abuse of aicoholi^ stimulantß • ! ' a most potent and deadly agent,' introducing phy«ica'l deterioration !" So.me interestiiig details^ ' which have their humorous' as well as "t-i-feii* serious side, are fouu<3 in the report of tie United Free Presbyte-i-y "of LiriUthgow arid Falkirk, isisued in April. The inquirers of the Church attribute, the "spiritual iii-differerice' '' of the ' Pr eSDyterdari population of ' Scotland and the fallirig-off in the attendahce at> kirk to over-in-dulgence in liquor on Saturday night*' " PTeasure-seekiiig," the time-'honci'Uired scapegoat of Calvinistic are,' is mentioned as a second caiiee of the depressing state of affair- The charge, ia made against the towns of Grange-mC-uth and Falkirk "that one in eyery seventeen of the population lias been convicted of drunken-ncES. The case of Grangemouth is ' considered especially , renwklible in this report, sdnoe, while troubled with an inprddnate thirst, it shows an attendance a^' church of 90 pea' cent. A facetious student, of the report remarked that it appeard as though. G-rangemputh's* eaturriialia ori Satui^day' night ihust be followed regularly by sihaT-p panjgs of repentance on the following day. - Inyf>r4tp.rs the world oyer hay€> bee m devoting themselves for 3>ears to the task of providing efScient and econoniical means of preyeriting the/ great loss of : life which happens annually '" upon the great railway' systenis tlirdugh cpllisiohg and "other accidents. Bveij iri Nejw Zealand the probi§hi has recciyeicl softie atte.ht'io.^,' r and, fudging from experiments. : which Svitiies^ed in Wellington 'by T a "riiember of " the < v ßpst^ staff, it would appear a : s if a very"" simple-' ' and satisfactpry ' solutipn has 'been arrived at" : Tliose who liaye (in^ertai-cn '^o 'solve the 'prphiom pf railway safety are Messsrs ID. W- and .GV HI Buckerid'ge, of Auckland, botbi of whom are weli-knpwh J h Nelson. For' eight ' yearis these brothers ' haye f Been testing "their ideas' and putting them into practical &#•s,■ ah 4 now they have prptected throughout the world their automatic means of preventing railway accidents. By meanis of wires placed betwefri^'the rails on the permanent way' and'ah equipment in the cab of each engine, automatic warnings can be conveyed 'to ' engine-drivers, either by the ringing of a bell, the blowing pf a whistle b.y fteam, or other signals. The system "% electrical, and the warning' is cpnyeyed by mgansj p9 direct "cohtiiiudus currents. > A danger airie can' be pranged, within -'which' it wpiiid he. injp^ible'fpr tWP n^ine§ to coirie 'iijftc. ccHisiori', and the giyirig way of ' a girder on " a bridge', the cpll'apß^ of any. pprtion of a tnhnel, the washing away of part'of the permanent ii'dy, arid the displacipg; of ppints would all be" autonjatically' "intimatect oii an altb prpachiig erigiri^.