LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12783, 23 April 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A chimney on fire was th-e cause of an alarm being raised at 5.15 on Saturday afternoon.

Owing to the inclemency cf the weather, there was no play on the bowling green on Saturday afternoon.

The Wangariui Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society intend to stage at an early date the corned v drama "Liberty Hall.".

The Chrysanthemum Shew will be held in the Museum Hall on Wednesday, May 2, instead of Thursday next, as previously arranged.

A heavy gale was experienced at Gisborne yesterday. It caused a poi*tion of the 'balcony verandah of the Albion Hot-el to collapse.

Members of the Wanganui Economic and Co-operative Building Societies are reminded that to-night is the Societies' pay night.

The members of the Chamber of Commerce are notified of the monthly meeting to be held at the office, 14 Wicksteed Place, on Tuesday, 24th inetant, at 3.30 p.m.

Tho annual meeting of householders will be held in the' Borough Counc.l Chambers at 8 o'clock this evening. The Mayor will preside.

We wish to notify the farmers that Nixon, • Baddeley, and Forlong in future will'offer the sheep first at their yards, for convenience of farmers who wish to get their stock away.

Captain Edwin wired at 12.25 on Saturday:—Strong winds from between west and south-west and south; glass rise; tides high; sea considerable: weather much colder.

The weather on Saturday was very wintry and culminated at night in one of the fiercest gales and heaviest downl>ours experienced for some time. Yesterday awas again very boisterous, the inclement conditions interfering considerably with the congregations at tile various churches.

Messrs. Nodine and Go., the well known ladies' tailors, Wellington,, will visit Wanganui about May oth, with samples and made-up styles of dresses, coats, etc. Ladies are invited to inspect these and to place their orders.' The high quality, excellent sayle, fit and workmanship of the firm is well known all ovetr the colony, . and our lady readers should take this opportunity'of seeing Mr. Nodine.

Band selections, a comedietta, vocal and instrumental solos, recitations, and ©conic songs are included in the programme to be presented at the Technical School concert on May 3rd Tina concert is being eagerly looked forward to, and it goes without saying that the Opera House will be filled to overflowing.

The Telegraph Office has received the following:—' 'Vancouver advises—All Dusinetss for San Francisco is subject to indefinite delay, as there is no wire to that city. 1800 on hand at Seattle, /500 at Chicago for San Francisco Bay points. ' A further advice says that cables and other business for San Francisco are being mailed to Oakland frora Portland.

New Zealand will «ba interested to lean;n thai the family of Lh© late Sir Julius Vogel have recently come in for some bequests under the will of the late Mi 1. Benjamin Isaac, of the firm of Isaac and Samuel, commission merchants, 22 Great Winchester street, aged 82, and left estate of the gross value of £359,327. Under the will, the testator bequeathed £6000 in trust for Phoebe Vogel, £6000 to Frances Vogel,--£3OOO to Henry B. Vogel, and £5000 to Julius Vogel.

Cliff House, one of San Francisco's most elaborate and popular seaside hotels, which is reported to have slipped into the ocean, was, when Mr. A. D- Willis was there some ten months ago, managed by a New Zealander, Mr. MendeLson, formerly of Hawera. Miss Mendelson, who resided ab Cliff House with her brother, asked after old Taranaki friends, aud particularly those with whom she wag at school at Hawera. Curiously enough, among thosa she inquired about, as having been an old school mate of hers, was Mr. Willis's daughter-in-law. We feel sure that alj her old friends in the colony will join with us in the hope that Miss Mendelson and her brother have escaped the calamity wiiich has involved the destruction of Cliff House.

A novel method of landing a lady passenger at Lo_ Bon's Bay was adopted by the captain of the John Anderson last week (says the Lyttelton "Times"). The tide was too low and the sea too rough to allow of the vessel getting,alongside the wharf, and so the young lady consented to being landed by means of the sling used for the oargo. There did not happen to be a basket on board, so the rope was fastened round her waist; and she was hoisted aloft. On the wharf a number of men were waiting to make a grab at her as she swung shoreward, and one of them in_ his eagerness was knocked, right off his feet. Apart from a little inconvenience caused by" the rope tightening . somewhat, the young lady landed as safely as though the orthodox gangway had been used.

The Americans have no love for Scotch songs. They cannot make head or tail of tha language, and they are frank enough to confess it. In Chicago, .Watkin Mills was called upon by a handfu} of Scotchmen to sing Hattbn'a rollicking ditty, "The Marriage of Shon Maclean," but when the song was over the applause came exclusively from the men who had demanded it. The other members of tho audience looked blankly at the singer, and wondered to gracious what on eai*th he had been "taalking about " "What does he mean by 'every piper was fu' ?" asked a puzzled Chicagoan of one of the Scotchmen in the interval. " 'Fu' means 'full,' " was the reply. "Well/ snapped the practical and uiipicturesque native of the pork country, "and what's the matter with the whole word, anyhow ?"

At the Police Court on Saturday morning a lad named Thomas Tapp, aged 16 years, was brought up on remand, charged with breaking and entering the dwelling house of, Chas. Coleman, and stealing therefrom one gold filled -watch (£10), one silver watch chain and greenstone pendant (10s. 6d.), one pocket knife (10s. 6d.), silk handkerchief (55.), and a riding whip (12s. 6d.), the property of Chas. Coleman. The evidence showed that tho youth, who was a stable hand at Ellerslie, was induced by a man named Kerwin to take a- key from the house and rifle a chest of drawers. While doing so he came upon the key of a drawer in which, the valuables stolen were kept. He gave the bulk of the stolen property to Kerwin, who had now cleared to Australia. The riding whip had been given to a jockey in Napier, and other articles had also been given away. It was undei'stood that efforts would be made to arrest Kerwin. The accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence. He was also ordered to report himself to the Ellerslie police once a month, to remain indoor a at night time, and to pay within a year by monthly instalments half the value of the stolen articles, viz., £5 19s. 3d. x

Mi*. W. Fraser, M.H.R., an accepted authority (by both eides in politics) on the finance of the colony, has given the following opinion to the "Otago Daily Times' " .Wellington correspondent on the surplus-, which the Premier has claimed as a record one:—-The credit balance for the year 1904-5 was £761,----036. The amount of former year's credit balance not transferred was £49,740, making an excess of revenue over expenditure of £711,296. The present estimated credit balance for 1905----96 is £775,000. The amount of former year's credit balance untransferred was £261,000, making an excess of revenue over expenditure for this year of £514,000, showing that the excess of revenue over expenditure for the past year is £197,296 less than the excess for 1904-5. The revenue for the year ended 31st March, 1905, was £7,347.,----197, shewing: a very satisfactory increase for the year just ended of £306,103. The expenditure for the year 3905-6, as stated/ is £7,139.300. The expenditure for the year 1904-5 was £6,635.901, 'showing ,an increase of expenditure over the .former year of no less than £503,399, which, even considering the increase in the revenue, is anything but satisfactory, and shows the reason for the abovefitated decrease in the excess cf revenue over expenditure for the year just closed. The claim for a record surplus, as distinguished from a credit balance, is thus disposed of.

A company is being floated in Shannon under the title of "The Shannon Land and Sawmilling Company." The object is to <acquire an area of 6023 acres of land in the Waiopehu and Mount Robinson survey district for milling purposes.

Mr. Bignell's committee meets this (Monday) evening at the Fire Brigade Hall at 3 o'clock. A full attendance ia requested. Supporters willing to lend vehicles on the election day— next Wednesday—are requested to advise the executive as soon as convenient.

Messrs. C. F. Millward and Co., agents for the magnificent steamer Dorset, 11,000 tons, advise they are prepared to give all particulars on application as to tho enormous reduction in both passages and freight by this fine steamer. Only a limited number of berths are now available. Cargo space is also rapidly filling up.

The last sailing race of the season was sailed on Saturday afternoon. The Dottrell and JBonito were the only starters. The""result was a rather easy win for the Dottrell, beating the Bonito by fivo minutes. By winning this race the Dottrell becomes the possesor of the Studholme Challenge Cup anad Mr. Yarrow's Challenge Penant.

Code addresses may now be used on telegrams originating within New Zealand. No unregistered code adress will bo accepted.* The fee for registration of an inland oodo address is, when the 'address is the same as that for telegrams from beyond New Zealand, 10s. per annum; when it is different from that on telegrams from places beyond New Zealand, £1 per annum.

A memorial to. tho late Dean Kirk has been erected in front of St. Mary's Church. It consists of a marble column surmounted by a Celtic cress. The column bears the following inscription: "In loving memory of the Very Rev. C. H. Kirk, S.M. Dean, who wag pastor of St. Mary's, Wanganui, for 29 years, and died March 22nd, 1904.— R.1.P."

The Minister for Justice is having enquiries made into the truth of the report that a batch of long-sentence prisoners were recently 6ent from Wellington to Onehunga and were allowed to roam.the Takapuna, only one warder being in charge, and misconducted themselves on board to such an extent that the captain refused to take them beyond New Plymouth.

The modern Maori is proverbially cute, and there ia a story current of a Taranaki native who "let in" the local brewers and spirit merchants for a considerable sum. He had bought considerable quantities of beer and spirits, but refused to vnv the bills. When the tradesmen sought to recover they found they could not succeed, because tho cute young Maori has previously taken out a prohibition order against himself, and it is illegal for any person to supply liquor to a prohibited person.