LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLVII, Issue 12270, 2 September 1904, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

• There as a westerly gale, raging on the ,N.S."W. coa^t, and there is a very rough sea. . ,

Weightman, the Philadelphia "Quinion King," has left his daughter ten million sterling. * .': ..'... ,

The> Woman's Christian, Temperance Union meets in St. Paul's Classroom this afternoon at 3 o'clock.

A first offender for drunkenness was convicted and discharged at tihe Police Court yesterday morning. Mi- J. G. Browne, J.P., occupied the Beach.

At 9 o'clock yesterday morning the temperature readings at the following places were —Auckland 60, Gisborne 63, Napier 48> New Plymouth 55, Wanganui 55, Wellington 56, Nelson, 51, Westport 54, Greymouth 48, Christchurch. 48, Dunedih 51, and Invercargill 45.

Marx, a septragenarian Polish Jew farmer at Colchester, Connecticut, has been arrested for murdering ten persons, mostly employees, to avoid paying them their wages'. His wife was also arrested for helping to bury them. Three bodies have been unearthed, and the police are still digging.

A Taihape ivire says that enthusiastic preparations are being made for the opening of the line, and a large committee is at work. There will be a dinner ■and a public meeting in- tiie evening, aaid a haka will b© aiu'anged for if possible. Subscriptions are now being canvassed for.

A meeting of representatives of the Nonconformist Churches of Wellington and suburbs has resulted in the formation of a Council of the Churches on ths lines of the Dunedm Council. The Rev. JDr. Gtfbb was the organiser of the movement, -which emanated from the Ministers' Association. A public meeting for the election of officers is to be held at the end of the present month.

A Hawera wire supplies the following news —Ai patient named William Grant, 27 years of age, is missing: from the Patea Hospital. A: hat and. slipper were found in the Patea River. Grant suffered from jnelancholia, .and is supposed to have drowned hjiinself. Robert Yandle, •a resident of Otakeiio foa-22 -years, aged 70,. was killed while. riding, home from •Manada on .Tuesday1: . : Th.e_ horse shied, and deceased wae ~thro;wn., wi^i gi-eat violence to the ground. The Daii-y Produce Exchange project has been cordially received. Ten buying houses1 have signiified their inTenition of being present at the opening of the Exchange on the Bth inst.

The construction of a tremendous barrage,' a-ivalling even the recently-ccmplet-ed Assouan dam on the Nile, is shortly to be commenced upon the Tunga Barda 1 River, near Hbspet, in the extreme western corner of the Madras Presidency, British India. The sources of the Tunga Barda are in the Western Ghats, and the course of the river is eastward across India flowing 400 -miles to the *ea. Hi© scope of this project > to construct a dam nearly a mile long by about loOit. in height, thereby -forming a huge reservoir approximately 40 miles ny length, and covering an area of 150 square miles. By means of this project some 200,000,000,000 cubic feet of water—about five times the capacity of the Assouan, reservoir, and equal in area to about three times that on the Nile—-will be available for irrigation. The cost is estimated at three, and a half wares ot rupees; ihut. owing to the extent or country it will be able to irrigate, it -is anticipated tlhat the schemo will be a most paying one.

Our usual weekly Supplement will be published with to-morrow morning's "Chronicle." As in the (past, the Supplement will l>e found of a very inter, esting chairacter. The hero* figuring in the "Imperial Etoll ,oal' J is Lotrd Kitch-, enor, to whom two columns of letter- J press is devoted. The "Man on the Look-out"' has a lot to say on matters of icurrent interest. Amongst the short stories published are "The Little Oome- . dian," and "A Maltiter of Eyes." "The' Lady's World" &,_ ais usual, crammed full! of dtemsifa/'terestiing to the fair Bex. The usual budget of wit and humour, ; poetry, etc., will also be found. j A meeting of the Shooting Committee of the Irish Rifles is to fee held, at Charannes r Hotel at 8 o'clock this evening. TSie Brisbane Health authorities, as a precautionary measure, burned the rag factory where the recent plague patient was employed. . ' The net Customs duties collected at Auckland during August amounted to £76,989, which is considered a record for one month lor the colony. The members of the Chamber of Com- ' merce are reminded of the annual meeting, which takes place at the office, Wicksteed Plaoe, tcnnight (Friday) at 8 o'clock. ' ' The Indian ooolie is now firmly established as a labourer in the Fijis, where i during the last decade he has ousted the local native from employment, as a re- j suit of the native's indolence. The coolies! return to their native land after a few . years' service; 370 left Suva for Calcutta i in the ship Ems on August 18. (, The other afternoon a fine specimen of barracoota was caught about three miles off Newcastle, New South Wales. The circumstanoe is remarkable., inasmuch as \ this species of fish 'have not hitherto been 'known to go so far north. On the Victorian and Tasmanian coasts they are •very plentiful, and occasionally a few' get as far as Sydney. j

A sheep killed at the Chrastchurch Meat Company's Smithfield works a few days ago was founy. to have a piece of wocd several inches long embedded in its side, one end of it ■■'having entered the liver. The skin had grown over the ■wood, and a round hole was worn in the liver, ibut the sheep appeared to be thoroughly healthy. Here ia a Woo-Sung milk "ad." from the Shanghai' "Times": "We open at Wee-Sung in the south of the telegraph company for sale the foreign milk, the taste are sweet, the milk are pm-e and the price are just. W,e haven't put any water in it, if examine out, won't, pay a single cash. If you want to buy so you will know the foreign cows shop. Gen "Sun Kee." ■ Tha advent of Mr Reid to power (says the iMelbounre "Age") gives to the defence administration question fresh interest. It remains to. be seen whether the determination of the late Government to abolish the office of G.0.C., and to create a Council of Defence and an Inspector-General of Forces, will be endorsed. iMr Reid1 is believed to be nnxious to retain General Hutton in Australia "for another three years. In answer to inquiries, Mr F. R. Field sa3 rs that he estimates the closing up of the side channels' of the river to low water level will enable the middle channel to maintain a depth of from 9 to 10 feet at lowest water, and he believes {he whole of that depth can be produced .."by water steour. He points out that when ships lake the Lady Denniston and Malay, drawing 13ft. of water, used to vk'ifc this port forty years, ago the river was then in a condition somewhat similar to that to -which has work, done up to low water level, ought to restore it. On Wednesday evening the Advance Wanganui Lodge held its usual weekly meeting in the Templar Hall, a fsir attendance of members and visitors being present. The committee appointed, to secure a suitable lodge-room reported that they had been successful in securing a large new room at the Fire Brigade Station, meetings to commence there on November 3. It was also decided to engage the Fire Brigade Hall for a Templar re-union to be held on October 6, •when all past Templars will be invited to be present. Bro. R. Readj who had visited'Wostport, conveyed the greetings of the Westport Lodge. During the evening refreshments; were handed round by the Sisters, and a sociable evening concluded Avith the usual ceremonies. Next Wednesday evening will be an open night, when any friends wishing to spend a pleasant evening are cordially1 invited to be present. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Purua Road Board was held on Wednesday. Mr Sonwiiea-ville reported that he saw the Town Clerk, who had promised to attend to the gas drains at Dunetown, arid he . understood it. had been done Messrs 'Sommerville and Bam'ber reported on Wallace's pit and the access thereto. The chairman reported that the cost of improving Rees Street, as. requested by Messrs Stevenson and Gordon, would Iba about £30; that he had seen them and informed them that if they vere willing to pay foiv the \vork it would be done. It was resoled that a ■ claim "be 'made against Me'isrs Baddelej and Forlong for metal *m--th* ;™a<l tc fhe:r yards. It was decided 'that it..t±« Kaukatea Board would contribute £-7 10s Mrs Prujean's road 'be repaired anc that the .matter be left in the hands ©I Mr Kurth. Decided that a general ratt of 3d in the £ be made over th© whok of tiie rateable property of the Bum Road District. It was resolved that on( member of the Board inspect the whol< of the roads once a month and repor ■os to their condition, and necessary work for the ending month at the followm! meeting. It was decided to dispense wit] the Board's ranger. JAtecoimts to th, amount of £26 were passed for pay meht. The meeting then adjourned

Harbour Board meets this afternoon. In our report of the annual meeting of the Wangamui Freezing Company, it was stated that the amount written off tihis year. /was £500. .This should liave been £1500. The auditors elected were Messrs IV. Hall and Selby Morton. The sale of work in aid of St. Laurence Church organ fund was continued yesterday afternoon and evening. . Though counter-attractions interfered somewhat with the attendance of the public, good business was nevertheless done. The quarterly meeting of the Rangi-' tikei Licensing Bench was helid in the Hunterville Courthouse at noon yester- j day. The transfer of the license of the ' Bridge Hotel, Wangaehu, from W. PI. Anderson to John Furly was granted! This was the only business. Messrs A. D. Thomson, S.M. (chairman), Chubb in, Simpson, Coltman, Stewart, and Georgetti were on the Bench. ~ . , " On Wednesday last the1 .'District High School Municipal Council considered the cases of tKree boys who.had infringed the school Uye-laws. The charge against one boy was dismissed, but the other offenders were ordered (for the next fortnight) tfco leave the playground immediately school is dismissed. The Council have a'dopted a resolution that Mr Carnegie be approached with a. view to obtaining a grant for an up-to-date school library. The letter ■containing the request left by yesterday's TViseo mail.