LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12722, 6 February 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Borough Council meets this evening.

Tho new bridgo across tho Hautapu at Torero is now opan for traffic.

The action ■ Fisher' v. "New Zealand Times," :in which £1000 is claimed for 1 alleged libel, is set down-for hearing on February 12.

An agent is wanted to. push the sale in this district of Scott's milk fever cure. Particulars will bo found in another column. -

Tenders are' invited for the oonstrucf tion of a concrete weir across the Waingoifgora River. Particulars appear in another column. '

Three women have been charged in Wellington with .shop-lifting during the P'.x>greas of a cheap.tsale at Kirkcaldie and Stains'. .

The competitions at the Feilding Shoif to-morrow should provide good sport. The average number of entries totals no less ttan 27 for each competition.

The Oamaru Borough Council contemplates the erection of a Town Hall and i'ew municipal offices, and is offering to architects a premium of £50 for tho best design for a building. .

A mysterious disease is attacking the horses on the West Coast. What it is, is not known (says the Grey "Star"), but several horses have of late dropped; dead in their stalls.

Trains were run over the new railway deviation yesterday for the first time. The line having not yet received tho final touches,, the trains are running at reduced speed.

A conference of New Zealand master bakers commences in Wanganui to-day. The conference will be held in the Fine Brigado Hail, and on Thursday the delegates will be taken for a picnic upriver.

We ("Poverty Bay Herald") learn that a petition is in course of signature praying tho Government to acquire under the I/ands for Settlement Act the Rangatira, the balance of tho Puhatikotiko, and other blocks of land in this district.

As evidencing the popularity of the Wanganui Girls' College as a soholastic institution, wo may mention that there arj twenty-four new students this year, their homes ranging from Whangarei in the north to Ducedin in the south. ■

At the Police Court yesterday morning, a man named James Byrne was made to pay for having indulged in the "social glass." For having been found drunk he was fined ss. and costs, in default 24 hours, and for using obscene language ho was fined 10s., with the alternative of 14 days.

.. Elections under the .Maori Councils Act, 1900,- for twelve Maoris to represent tho Wanganui and Kurahaupo districts,- will be. held at the Runanga Honw, Putiki, and the Courthouse, Marton, on the Bth and 27th February respectively. Mr. John Bates has been appointed returning officer for both districts

Three bankruptcies occurred in Dannevirke one*day~last week. Eliza 'Dumas Larson, music seller, assets £700, liabilities £800 6s Id. • Henry Cammook, •farmer, Oringi, assets, £68, liabilities £108 9i.:- William Hill, grocer, assets £896, liabilities £1023 3s. 2d. The 'creditors are mostly Dannevirke, Wellington, Napier, and Wanganui business men.

A requisition, which is being largely signed, is Loing circulated in tovm requesting In 3 Worship the Mayor to invite the townspeople to close their business places, at 12 o'clock noon on Thurs"day., 1-lth. instant, the. occasion being tho secoiid.day,of-the match Wanganui and West-Coast vv Melbourne.Cricket Club. . * .

- The following is the • in conneefcioh withl Lady Plunket's visit to AVanganui, on Thursday; 15th instant:— Her ladyship will arrive by-.-the midday .txuin from' >tho north.' Should'- the father- he-fin^ the presentation of prizes won at the District High School and thel 'Queer's Park' School last year • will take'place in' Moutoa Gardens £bout 2.30 o'clock. If the weather be . unfavourable, the function-will be held' m' the Drill Hall. ■

A smart piecb of farming is recorded' by. tho "MHrlborough" Express." A stack of o'ati oh'Fridley'a farm was tackled on Thursday morning and cut into chaff, returning .over 500 bags. These were placed on the steamer Nguuguru, outwnrd bound from Blenheim, and by six o'clock next morning the chaff was at Wellington. The transference of a stack of oats from a Marlborough farm to the horse stalls of Wellington within twenty-four hours is quick work.

Speaking to a Wellington reporter, Sir Joseph Ward said: "We have now under order new equipments of multiple switchboards for Gisbome, Napier, New Plymouth^ Wanganui, Palmerston North, Nelson, and Invercargill. When these arc installed, it is intended to, continue the work of replacing tho single wires used at these places by metallic circuit overhead cables similar to thoi-e now being erected 'in < Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunodin."

My. W. G. T. Goodman, who to ipport fully on electrio light installation for the city of Auckland, wined to tho Auckland City Council on Friday briefly estimating the first cost of installation at £20,200: and the net profit at the end of the second year at £360. He mentioned that Christchurch last year made a profit of £800 in six months. The Mayor said, the full report would probably arrive next week, and tho whole subject would then be dealt with.

Captain Edwin wired at 12.51 p.m. yesterday: Strong southerly winds; g.ass rise slowly; tides high; sea heavy.

Photography class will be hold at the Technical School this evening. A dark room will be prov-ided lor the use of the students.

Tho average attendance at the Queen's Park .School last week was 330. Tho attendance at th«v District High School on the opening day was 384, whik« at tho end oi the week it had risen to 435.

At tho Feilding Court yesterday morning, before Messns. L. Goodbehere and Hay bit tie, J.P.s, Daniel Bennett was sentenced to 14 days' hard labour for committing an indeoant offence. Michael MaeMillan was charged with attempting theft, and was remanded til! Friday, bail being allowed in two sureties of £10

]f tho number of birds to be seen on the wing can be taken as a criterion, the mutton bird season, which opens about March, ought to be highly successful (says the Southland "News"). On Sunday, from soon after dawn till nearly dusk, a never-ending procession made its flight, closely skiming the ourface of the*water of Fo\ eaux Straits, off Riverton Beach.

Tba Technical School had a very sue- - cessful opening last night. There is still room for a limited number of studente in the free classes, and application should be made at once to the Director. To-night classes in elocution and advanced English, art, machine construction, building construction, dookery, electric lighting and power transmission, Latin and photography. Wo are hoping to hear that all these classes are as successful as they deserve to be. Espaeially do we urge young people to attend the e'ocution classes.

Tho following have been nominated for the nine seats on the District High School Council:—A. Barton, R. Brown, R. Buckrell; Georgina Chatwin, H. Dickie, M. Edwards, Lulu Fester, Lucy Flavell, F. Gower, D. Henderson, D. Murchie, G. Paterson, W. Pinches, F. Pearce, W. Smith, P. Spurdle, S. Sommerville, A. Townsand, F. Tairant, D. Taylor, and V Williams. There are 21 candidates for the nine seats, three of them being girls.. For the Mayoralty only one nomination was received—that of \V. J. Melody. The election takes place to-day.

At 2 o'clock yesterday morning a fire was discovered by one of the empkxyees in a detached shed owned by the Wanganui Meat Freezing Company at their works, Castlecliff. The fire signal was given, and the company's Fife Brigade turned out very smartly, and in the space of a few minutes had two good jets of water playing on the building. The fire had too good a hold to allow of "its foaing saved, but the fire was prevented" from spreading to another small bitilding only a few feet away. Fortunately very little was „stored in the. shed, consequently the damage was small. ' <

The board of directors of the Bank of New Zealand have granted Mr. W. 15. 13uller, manager at Auckland, 12 months' leave of absence, during which time Mr. TH. Buckleton; acting chief inspector, will take up the duties of manager at Auckland. Mi\ A. E. Mills, manager at Blenheim, has been appointed an inspector of the bank, and will reside in Wellington. It may be added that the statement, persistently repeated by "our contemporary, that Mr. Michie, the new general manager, .will sever his connection with the bank, and leave for England at the end ©1 tha year, is without foundation^:

The young man Llewellyn Price, who was captured by Sergeant Norwood and Constable Fitzpatrick on Saturday afternoon, was brought before the PolFce Court yesterday morning For the theft of a rug, valued at £1, the accused was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment. He was dealt with similarly on each of two chax-ges of having stolen two shirts and a pair of trousers, tho sentences totalling 42 days' imprisonment On two charges of-break-ing and filtering he was remanded -till February Z,! and on two charges ■ of forging and uttering he was remanded till February 12

A traveller who was. a passenger i<m the Manawatu Railway Oampa(ny/s Jine last week writes to iia.:e»mplaimng,'of the "casual" manner in; which-the; corix?. pany undertakes the. checking :of r.liiggage. "" He states -that before .boarding: tho train he desired to ''check" his luggage, but that on application- at-jthe offico he was politely informed; that they were, noty checking tha'tc-day,'.pre-sumably, for the-reason, that, they ;wer^ somewhat moro than usually; busy; The result; was that the passenger's, portniaiileaux "went, astray." 'and was: not trace<l for some days., 'Apparently tho Manawatu Company l&ok upbri checking ao a. past-imoyonly to be indulged in in leisure hours Passengers, however, aro apt to take a'more serious view of thu matter.

Mr H. W. BisKop, S.M., is usually r. paragon of politeness towards the " other sex. On Friday, however, he carao for once parilously near to being ungallant. During the Orphanage inquiry, Mrs. Black, a member of the Charitablo Aid Board, stated that there was a desiro to keep Mrs. "Wells off the Institutions Committee. "I offei'sd to resign in favour of Mrs Wei's," saxi! Mrs. Black, "b\it tho chairman war* very pertui'bed, and said, 'Oh, don't do that'" The Commissioner looked up with a twinkle in his eye. "I see, he preferred the—er—person ha knew to the person he didn't," he observed dryly. This was such a thin disguiso of tho old adage, "Better the devil wo know than the aovil wo know not," that the.lady's face flamed a vivid verrnillion, and the male persons present grinned wickedly."—"Press." A correspondent from Marton, who is frequently on the railway station, complain.': of the way the platform porter is worked. Besides having to work r. longer day than he should, he has to accomplish sufficient work for two men. This is only done by .over-work, the assistance of tha stationmaster, the clerks, and tho town carriers. The {jorter in question is withal particulary civil and obliging to aravellers*. An- , other cause of complaint is the situation of tho refreshment rooms, to reach which patrons have to pass what can only bo described as an evil-smelling nuisance. Tho matter should receive tho attention-both of the Railway and Health Departments, and the former sco that not a day is lest in removing cither the rooms or the nuisance.