LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 10 April 1899, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Licdertafel practice as usual to-night. A full attendance is requested. The members of Iho Boyal Arclf Chapter, U.A.O.D , meet it 7-30 this evening. The ordinary monthly meeting of tho Education Board commences tbiß evening. The Hon. John McKenzie leaves for England about Thursday next. His Excellency the Governor left Auckland by the Mildura for Raratonga yesterday afternoon. • Mr Charles Faincs, special correspondent of the Wairarapa Daily Times, is at present ou a visit to Wangauui. Tho* Tyser Line steamer Lcitrinf* completed her loading of frozen meat, tallow, pelts, etc., and sailed for Timaru on Saturday night at 10.30. If onr readers will turn the third page upside down thai will find tome interesting Information in the Citizens' Life Insurance Company's advertisement. We understand tbat Messrs Mitchell and Co. expect a steamship in the bay hourly to load frozen meat from the Aramoho Works, and that the Thistle will lender her. a t the Police Court on Saturday a young man named James, a prohibited.'pfcrson, pleaded guilty to illegally entering a iicemed house. He was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence- when called on General Booth, interviewed at Sydney, said he was highly gratified with his reception and with the progress of the Army in New Zealand. The Government had promised to give reformatory boys to the Army, and grants for carrying out on every side social work. Mrs Lee lecturos to nicjht in the Odd* feliows' Hall on a subject whi jli will apt eal to a very large proportion of onr residents — " Wedding Bells." The stage will be appropriately decorated, and we understard that the preceed'mgs will bo of a very circumstantial character. Vocal selections will 1 c given during the evening. In ttt'o months the Union S.S. Company alone transported 12,000 sheep from Wellington to Lyttelton, besides those taken by the Huddart Parker Line. On Friday 2050 went down. The export of pigs is also very large, 1559 being sent to Canterbury in two months. ? " Mr Andrew Kininmunt, an old colonist, and for many years a resident of Timaru, and late of Pipiriki, passed away on Saturday. The deceased was a native of Fifeshire, Scotland, and came to the colony in 1859. Tho deceased's large cit cle of friends at Timaru, by w^hom he waa greaily respected, will leanf yvith regret of his death. , A man named Alvarez, a relative of a former Mexican President of that name, who has just died near Vera Cruz, is believed to have been ttie last survivor of the firing pirty who 'shot the Emperor Maximilian Z0 years ago: Alrarcz, it is said, protestel ugaiusc being selected for such a duty.but was informed by a superior that he would be shot himself if he did not obey orde s. Cases of piracy are still rfported in Chinese waters. Nob" long ago pirates boarded the steamer Kwong ; hen at pasas passengers, aud shortly afterwards took cha.gc, robbing the crew and passengers of ail valuables in their possession. They got about 2000 dols in cash, and a quantity of jewellery and silk clothine. They then, with a steamer iv their possession, turned their attention to capturing other vessels, and succeeded in boarding and ovei powering the steamer Lee On, where they were more successful in obtaining plunder, for they netted from her 8000 dols in cash, and more jewellery and silk clothing. A cioss-action for assault between James Pureheon and Alice Henman occupied the attention of the Magistrate's Court on Saturday last. Mr Treadwell appeared for the latter. & ccording to tbe evidence Mr and Mrs Henman rented a room from Purshcon, that some dii-pute occurred ns to the rent, and that iii the absence of Henman, Pureheon entered the room and endeavoured to forcibly eject Mrs Henman, with the object, he alleged, of taking possession. Ho was mot with the contents of a pan i f water, for which he took out a summons for assault against her. In return Mrs Honinau took out a similar summons against Pnroheon. After hearing tho evidence Mr Kettle dismissed ihe case against the female defendant, und fined Pureheon 5s and costs „ - ■ With the loading of the Lcitrim, Captain Connor proved what the Freezing Com pany's lighter Thistle is capable of doing, as within forty hours the following cargo was put on board the big steamer iv six loads : —263 quarters beef, 550 crates pieces mutton, 4030 sheep, 276 lambs, 3818 legs mutton — equal to about 7000 carcases of sheep— and 214 casks tallow and pelts. When it is considered that the average time for loading is nearly three hours, and two hours for discharging, the crew in the hold of the lighter had very little time for sleep, and had lo take their meals on the way out or coming in from the big ship, which, by the way, laid fully three miles out in the bay ; two miles further than occasion needed. This loading is a record, and veilecls credit on all concerned, and shows what can really be done with favourablo weather in our big bay. There will be another boat here towards the end of the week for the compuny — the S.i Licitaniayo. Argument in the cose Police v. Stuart, licensee of the Newmarket Hotel, was heard by Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M,, at the Courthouse on Saturday. Tho defendant was cbarged with unlawfully allotting liquor to to consumed by, and unlawfully selling liquor to, Robert Seaton and Thos. Atkinson on Bunday, 20th March. Mr Barnicoat, for defendont, contended that (1) there was no sale, but a gift ; (2) that allowing liquor to le consumed was not an offence ; and (3) that tbe defendant was not liable for the unauthorised act of his servant. Mr Kettle said h« would take time to consider on tho last point raised by Mr Barnicoat. He was satisfied that what took place was in the nature of a sale. The intention was that the liquor shou'd be paid for, the passing of money only being prevented by the appearance of the police. Ib had not been proved that the barman was authorised to sell, and there was no evidence to justify him in thinking the men were drinking. There was no evidence that Mr Stu.*rt was a party lo the sale or to have in any way countenanced it. The only point was whether the lice see was liahle for the act of hjs servant.

J It has been decided to form a league of professional athletes in Auckland. Tho New Zealund Polo team, with 20 ponies, left for Sydney by the Mokoia, on Saturday. The team are : A. J. and W. Strang, A. S. Baker, and O. Robinson. -MM The Emperor of Germany is just forty. Among the 18 European kings he has 12 , seniors and five juniors. The average age of the Sovereigns of Europe is 51 ; and their average length of reign, 22 years. The oldest is the King of jJenmurk, who is 81 this April ; the Queen has enjoyed the longest reign, and she is second.in point of age, being 80 this year. There are three monurchs who are in the seventies, three in the sixties, six iv the forties, and two in the thirties. There are only two monarchs who have reigned over 50 years. An old story is revived of Mr. Huntley ' Wright, the actor. In Johannesburg he was arrested by an over zealous policeman for infringing v trivial by-law. fle treated the whole mutter as a joke, got the right side of the police inspector, organised a smoking concert at the police station, sent out for whiskey and cigars, and kept the whole night-watch in roars of laughter till 3 in the morning with songs, funny stories, and buffoonrry. The police almost wept when he left them, and implored him lo permit himself -to be run in , every night for a week on the same terms. A Russian paper the Viedomosti, which I used to be frequeuty quoted in our cablegrams as a semi-official journal, has been stopped by the authorities. Its editor is Prince Utchtomsky, and it appears that the Prince has given umbrage to the authorities by publishing reports of a. district judge' containing a, detailed account of the terrible stato of the peasantry — their ignorance, poverty and superstition. The Prince has also got into bad odour by taking up the cause of the oppressed Stundists, Molokani, Doukhobortsi, . and other persecuted sects. He has by his noble efforts brought on himself the wrath of the Black Clergy, the v Orthodox Church, and the reactionist party in the Government, which seems to have even more power than the Tsar. The famine in Russia is terrible, and in some places worse than in 1891-1892 ; but the Government officials did not wish the real state of things to be made public, fearing it might lead to popular discontent. Mr. E. T. Walker, a lawyer's clerk, recently obtained, a divorce in ngland, on the ground of his wife's misconduct. His counsel stated that petitioner was married in New Zealand, under most peculiar circumsances. Mr Walker visited New Zealand and was about to return home on a ship leaving on December 29, 1894. He was a young man, and on Christmas Eve of that year he spent a festive evening with somo friends, all of whom were more or less the worse for drink. , At two o'clock in the morning they all went upstairs to bed, and, in a stupid fit of tolly, two friends pushed the petitioner into a bedroom in the corridor, which happened to bo the room occupied by the lady who was the respondent in this case. She raised an outcry, which resulted in Mr Walker being turned out of the hotel. Next morning the respondent came to him, and said he had deeply compromised her character^ and that he should marry her, and he did so on the day that he left for England. He did not take his wife with him, and soon after reaching Home he learned that she was a bad character, und eventually he was able to prove it. Tho draft report of the English Royal Licensing Commission has been issued to the members of the Commission. Among tho reforms sketched out (according to a London correspondent) ac the following : — A reduction of licenses. Should this be affected there will be a time limit granted o! from three to five years befoie any public house is closed. No interference with the hours is likely to take place, but it is recommended that the licensing authorities be given power to issue six-day .licenses only. Sunday closing is not proposed for England further than it is in force at present, but it is possible that the bona-fide traveller will bo able to obtain liquor south of the : Tweed at specially licensed hotels only during the Sabbatical hours when publichouses are shut. This is the law in Scot- ' land, and it will probably be extended scuth of the Tweed. The Gothenburg sys- , tern has found .no favour in the sight of the Commission, and there is no liklihood i of its introduction over here, except as an ■ option of local veto. Experiments with ' local -veto may be recommended over sel- \ ected areas in Scotland and Wales. The 1 present custom under which two magistrates ' may grant occasional licenses on private ■ application will be changed, and all applications for icenses will have to be made 'ill 'open court. „ There will be a, tightening ', up of the system of transfers, blank trans- [ fers probably not being permitted in the future. All clubs will have to be register- , cd.and safe-guards are proposed against . public-houses whicli have been closed by , the licensing authorities immediately reopening as clubs, and thus evading tho law. It will most probably be proposed that the age limit of minors to whom ' it is lawful to sell liquor be fixed at 16. Grocers and chemists may in the near-fut- , uio not allowed to sell iquor. The cectivo element will most probably be introduced into all licensing boards, and local authorities may be given greater power i than in the past to control the liquor traf--1 s.ttiij Suisuaoii aqj, *spia;s;p Jiaift it; og of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are treated in separate reports, on account of -the different legislation in the different "countries. Viscount Peel's draft will, it is understood, be received' with generat a'ceeptane'e by the moderate members of the Commission, and will be issued without any material alterations, with the signature of the majority attached ; but two minority reports are most likely to be attended by the extremists, one signed by the extreme liquor men, the other by the extreme temperance men.