The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1898. LICENSING REPORTS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9388, 15 March 1898, Page 2

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1898.

LICENSING REPORTS.

The report furnished the Licensing Committee at its last quarterly meeting by the officer in charge of the police here has given rise to much adverse criticism and consider able annoyance to some of those whose hotels have been either condemned as being out of repair, poorly furnished, or only moderately well kept. Out of nineteen hotels in this licensing district the inspector, in his report, says only, three are " well conducted." The rest are " fairly conducted " (whatever that may mean) and " middling," or have had no complaints made against them. Among the hotels classified as being " fairly well " conducted are at least three or four which are and have for years been kept in the very best possible manner, and have never had a black mark made against them. Yet we are told by the Sergeant of Police, who, by the way, has only lately oome here, that these houses are only fairly well conducted. If we understand the English language even "fairly well," this means that they are not as well conducted aa they should be. If they are not it is the inspector's duty to point out to the Licensing Committee wherein he deems the licensees in question have failed to conduct their houses as well as they might have done. The same remark applies with even more force to those hotels the conduct of which he says has only been " middling." In some instances he has contented himself with stating that there have been no complaints, and consequently, we suppose, that it may be granted that the hotels in question have been "fairly well" conducted. This is not tho kind of report a Licensing Committee should receive. What such a body requires is a short, exact statement as to how each hotel within its boundaries is kept,;, its state ot repair, furnishings and general fitness for the requirements of those using it. Unfortunately, the law does not allow the Committee to engage and pay for expert evidence as to the latter matters, with the result that a police officer is called upon to deal with questions which only builders, architects, and housefurnishers can be expected to give reliable information upon. Sergeant Ellison, in his report, stated that the building of the Rutland Hotel is very old and the worse for wear, and that the furniture was only fairly good. The owner, who has spent a lot of money on the building within the last three years, naturally took objection to this report, and asked the Licensing Committee to appoint an expert to examine the building, and report on its stability and state of repair. The chairman told him the Committee would gladly do so, but that it had no funds out of which to pay for such services. Mr Parsons at once offered to be at the cost, and when it became necessary to appoint another expert to assist in the matter he readily agreed to bear the further necessary expense. Messrs Tawse and Russell were selected by the Committee to examine and report on the Rutland, and they state that, " taking the house as a whole, the stability of the building is in fanorder. The foundations, cellar, and principal parts of the house are comparatively new, being all thoroughly overhauled and put in a good state of repair about three years a*o." This is the report of two experts of undoubted ability. Yet the Sergeant qf Police says the house is very old and the worse for wear, whilst one member df the Committee in his editorial capacity went so far as to assert that the house is unfit for its present purpose, and should be pulled down, and rebuilt from top to bottom and back tofront. A largeordertruly, in the present aspect of the licensing question, as may well be conceded. It is not so long since a Wanganuj licensing committee ordered the owner Qf an hotel to rebuild, and after the order nad been obeyed at a heavy cost, cancelled the license, inflicting great loss on both the owner and the lioensee, on the grounds that the house was not wanted ! If it was not why did fchay order the owner to re-build? This by ihe way. To return to the matter under discussion. The report of Messrs Tawse and Russell .condemns the present culinary ftqcpmmodation of the Rutland Hotel,' -and states that it should be replaced by a new building of adequate size. It also advises that pertain minor repairs ' and ft}£ejf(itj,9£3 should be carried out about fcjip p^m}?osi ; and' l con v clu,des by stating thai; the hops jg exceptionally we'l furnished, an opinion that will be endorsed by every visitor who has stayed there during the last few years. Yet the inspector saf s |he furniture is only " fairly good." The (Qprninitliee were entirely satisfied with the repopt qf Mpssrs Taw.se and Russell, and with the ftfl?HFftß<;e of the .owner that he would bare 'jhe pegoiutnsndaJiJQns therein contained carried oftt to |b.e satisfaction of the Committee before its next annual meeting. There are other owners and licensees who, if fi# opportunity had been afforded thorn, 'ft? 3)jQjjld ; could have successfully proved th# unsatisfactory character of the inspector's repoit on the Jjotela of the Wanganui licensing 4istr}gt, TJjg report is a slipshod perfunctory profjuctfan jjjiat is in marked contrast to those of Ellison's predecessor, which were modglfi Qf terseness and acactness. Woareaowy to have to write in con* demnation of the new (nspegjiop's fjpt report on the hotels of this djstif 't, but we cannot do otherwise in fairness to those who ar& suffering from the undeserved stigma of only o<saducting their hotels "fairly well," whilst it is known to the residents and travelling public that most of the" houses thus reported on by Sergeant E'J'Bon are exceptionally w.ejf gopjqiucted, and that HO expense or trouble fs m,f(4 ty th eir proprietors Jo cMep for $,c pflblig fipmfort and convec^enpe. i-Suph # rep,or£ should be thougntfilHy and impartially drawn up, and not compiled j# a slipshod manner in ambigaousf language, as its contents are of the

most vital importance to owners and licensees and of great interest to the general public. We feel certain that Sergeant Ellison had no wish to act unjustly to those t on whose hotels he reported; but it is beyond dispute that the document itself bears indisputable evidenoe of either haste, carelessness, or incapacity to compile such an important public record. No doubt another time its will be more careful to clearly express his meaning, and less ready in expressing opinions on matters which require expert examination before being reported on.

Members of the Kaierau Football Club (especially those who intend journeying to Petone) are requested to meet for praotice in the Drill Hall to-morrow evening. The cost of the field battery the Government has decided to obtain will be about £8000. The total amount to be spent in improving the New Zealand defences is £25,000. The seven o'clock trafn from Wellington yesfceiday collided with a sheep train at Mangamahoe, owing to tho brake of the latter not working. Tho stock train engine was disabled, but the mail train went on. Flannagan, of Paeroa, nearly poisoned himself by eating match heads, owing, it is said, to family troubles. Dr Buckly i attended and administered an emetic, and after a considerable time succeeded in relieving the sufferer. There was keen competition for the fruit submitted at tho Taupo Quay Auction Mart by Mr T. B. Williams this morning. Prime peaches brought 12s the case of 241bs, and plums Cs the case of 301bs. Mr Blundell, Government Inspector of Stock for this district returned on Saturday last from a visit to the Waimarmo, During hia stay there he nad occasion to condemn two beasts suffering from tuberculosis, these being the first condemned in that district. From a private source we learn that on Friday la9t Mr Thompson's whare on the Pipiriki-Raetihi road was burnt to the ground and tho contents destroyed. The loss is estimated at £40 and there was no insurance. There was a bush fire raging round the township of Raetihi on Friday night. John Brown, a young man, waa sentenced to five years at the Auckland Supreme Court sessions yesterday for indecently assaulting a married woman with intent to commit rape. The Judge said he could sentence Brown to be flogged as well, but had a disinclination to flogging as a punishment. Mr and Mrs Healey were charged at the Wellington Supremo Court with ill-treat-ing a boy named Albert Green, who was placed in their charge, The trial has been deferred for several sessions to enable a certificate of the boy's birth to be procured from England. This showed he was 14 on January Ist, and consequently came within the scope of the Aot. It has transpired in regard to tho suicide of James B. Fairs at Auckland, that the threatened execution of a judgment summons in connection with the Warden's Court and an impending difficulty with regard to the purchase and re-sale of mining shaies brought matters to a climax, and deceased, who appears to have long since meditated self-destruction, had not tho courage to face his troubles. An extraordinary shooting affair took place lecently at Keystone, West Virginia. During a dance at a ball Vance Vaughan, an akwaic! country youth, accidently trod on the foot of Miss Laura Snapp, a girl of ununullygoodlooks.andtheacknowle'dged belle of the ball. She called upon him to apologise, but he declined, as he was unconscious of having touched her foot. She thereupon whipped a revolver out of her pocket and shot him dead. Miss Snapp, who was promptly arrested and placed in gaol, said she was glad she shot him. At a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Girls' College this morning, it was decided, on the motion of Mr Pirani, that in future scholarship-holders attending the Wanganui Girls' College will not be charged the ordinary tuition fees if they boaid at the College. Mr Bridge stated that it bad been found necessary not only to put up additional cubicules at tho Collego, but also an additional sitting-room and a bicycle-room. Mr A. Atkins, the Board's architect, was in attendance, and produced a plan of the proposed alterations and additions. Tho Board adopted the plans, and decided to carry out the altoiations and additions during the holidays. A very successful rehearsal of the hymns to be sung^ at the anniversary ser\\pft of $h|S Wesfeyan Sunday S,cl>oplnext Sunday was hgld ia,st eyenJHg. T-he final rehoar»al w[H be hpjf} QP Pnday eyening next, by whloh time the spepjal gajlory for the accommodation of the laryp choir of children and friends will have been erected in the church. The Rev. W.J Williams, of Auckland, a former popular pastor of the church here, will conduct three services on Sunday. On the following Tuesday a public tea will be held. For many years it has been the in ten. tion of the Primitive Methodist Conference to station a minister in Wanganui, but owing to a scarcity of ministers and tho extra work of following up settlement in new districts, the opening of services in this town has been indefinitely postponed from year to year. At the Conference held in Dunedin in January last it was decided that the Rev. J. Cocker should commence services as soon as suitable arrangements could be made. According to advertisement he invites anyone desirous of helping in the services to meet him at the residence of Mr W. Coe, Bell-street, from 1 to 2 p.m or from 6 to 8 p.m. To-morrow (Wednesday), at 2 o'clock, Maseru I/i/Ijton arid Nixon will offer at their Rutland Chambers, some valuable leases of educational reserves, in the Manganui, Mangawhero, Mangakaretu, Omahine, Wairoa, Momolmki, and Makotuku districts. One of the sections to be offered is about 10 to 11 miles from Pipirlkl, on the m'f^H i,6ad, and has a lot of valuablo sawing timber on it.' l The con- j ditions are liberal— no residential clause, ! and no covenants for improvements. It may also be noted that all improvements except the grassing are protected. Plans ' and full particulars may be seen at Messrs Lifilton and N^on.'s'JihaAbei's. l l j Sittingin civil jurisdiction at tho Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Mr Cr C. Kettl?,'S.M., gaye judgment for plaintiffs in the following undefended cases; — Joneß aj)d Co, v Vfal'i Topia, fij Bi, costs Al 3s ; T, DfSfcsqn y 49fcrW,' £3 fa jGd, costs be { A, Bronte v J?: A- $£cl£en?ie, ss, costs ss. In the judgment summons case of J. L. Stevenson v F. Beeves, claim £25 9s lid, the amount was ordered to be paid forthwith, in default two months' imprisonmeut, order to be suspended proVfdgrJ defendant pays 2s per week. In the casi? of Bristflf ijucj Oolemau v F. R. Reeves, His Worship orcjer^d amount to paid forthwith, jn default'chree wqeks' imprisonment, older to be suspended providjs<| defendant gays JOs 'per week. GiiQlm/Bnflflljj- and B/aueryG. King, £4 18s 3d : amount pq foe pajyi witljjn j.4 days, in default U (Jays' Imprisonment; f|). IJjpkson v W. Rliodgg, £2 Js j a Bfinilar order to the above made. The Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung (Vienna) speaks of the Dreyfus affair as an unparalleled and most melancholy Bpeotaole, " jSrsf^wJiiph a hundred years ago Bhone for ih as beadori'ce all tjjs nations of the earth, to-day shows horrifying symptoms of decay and a decline of public spfrjf, The Republic, which had already stooped fo.' if self.-basement before the autooratio G?ar, fs daffy manifest jng a greater laok of self -respect. All tjaat now seems left to it is the theatrical pose, in whjcj) the French foaye always displayed excpfltlmal telfiiiti Tfig PrQseputfqn of Major Esterpagy vsms if m«tg targe, wfjich was onfr rendered more atymrd wljen the pijbljc' greeted fhja verdict wijh sljouta of P ¥ JVP }ft F r ftßfi§ !" '' f'A-nnee !'l and when his broths flfflfipffl frfflk |}}§ff MS off to the>r comrade as though he were a, mapjyr. Tho manner in w}hqT> Major beesme involved in the Dreyfus affajrs has not in the opiqlou at the 2ettung,b B en oloarod up by the mock trial that has jqst taken Dkwe, Those jtfooefldinfls only ghowefl'that thecbiefeof tha Freno|a may \ had reason to protect him. Until light has been thrown upon that point, however, the suspicions against the Minister of WWwiH.bacontLii/Jfid, The conclusion of tha ZeituVis H&tWery tiling oonneoted witfc the trial and'tfi&'inattnei' ie'wjuch it was flopped was v wftjjout brecedenttaa well nigh facredjWe,

A meeting of the Orchestral Club will bo held in St Paul's Hall this evening. Captain Edwin wires :— Barometer fall ; sea heavy, tides high ; northerly gales, with tain, may be expected. The Hawera Borough Council last night authorised a poll on the proposal to borrow £4000 for street improvements. A very heavy frost in the Waimarino district about a month ago destroyed the potato orop. This is a great hardship on the settlers who were reckoning on the product for their winter use. The Waitotara County Council notifies that the Kai Iwi bridge on the main road is unsafe for heavy traffic, and cattle drovers are warned that they must use the foivl durjng the rebuilding of the bridge. Miss Kuapp.'B.A., of the Campbell Street School (Palmerston) was this morning appointed assistant at the Wanganui Girls' College. There were a large number of applicants for the position, Attention is directed to the Economi Building Society's advertisement in another column. Members of the Society requiring small loans on easy terms will do well to note that the Society will dis1 pose of £300 by salo on the 21st inst. We hava been asked to mention that tho public tea-room of the LadieB 1 Club will remain open on Thursday afternoon next (Regatta day), and any ladies or gentlemen may obtain a cup of tea there at any hour on that afternoon. To-morrow Mr J. H. Keesing holds an important sale of merchandise consisting of fire-proof safes, fenders, clocks, violins, accordeons, flute, saws, bicycle bells and wrenches, cntlery, electro-plate cruets, and a large lot of tools and small goods, also linoleum, and floor cloths. The sale starts at 1.30. 1 The Patea and Whenuakurasohool children, together with their relatives, friends and guardians— numbering about 330 in all, — arrived in town by excursion train this morning, and evidently enjoyed the outing. The number would have been considerably augmented but for the threatening state of the weather. Politicians in Victoria evidently waste less time in talk than our legislators. In New Zealand it costs £7308 a year for printing Hansard, and in Victoria only £2748. Considering the difference in expenditure, it is somewhat of a paradox that they have no time limit in the Victorian House whilst we have it in New Zealand. — Bruce Herald. Mr A. 3: Daly, representing tho Austral Cycle Agency, Limited, is at present in town, and will be pleased to show cyclists and others at Mr w. s L. Coe's local agency the following high-olaBS English bicycles : — Bee3ton Humber, ladies' and gents' Dunlops. also the latest Swifts. All the above makes are 1897-8 models, and fitted with Dunlop tyres. The rain which fell yesterday made no appreciable difference in the state of the river up till 10 o'clock this morning. The liver is down to dead summer level; in faot, for many yeais past it has not been known to be so low. Tho Manuwai and Wairere, which were loaded up yesterday, will consequently be unable to proceed on their journey until the river rises. The Ohura left for Pipiriki this morning, taking passengers and tho mails. The statement of accounts in the estate of W. J. Cameron, labourer, of Turakina, as filed with Mr John Notman, D.0.A., shows assets 111'/, liabilities £103 3s, made up as follows:— Ellis Bros, and Valder, Huntorville, £80, R. J. Smith Estate (Turnbull and Co.) £22, J. MoEldowney, Marton, £14, Longbuin Freezing Co. £16 9s, W. A. Floyd Estate, Hnnterville, £0, Chronicle £3 15s, Herald £5, Now Zealand Farmer £2 103, W. Meldrum (Huntei-ville) £1 17s, J, Bennie £1 12s, W. Mo Alloy (Hunterville) £50. A man in Machiasport, Maino, claims to have discovered the supposed lost art •f making D.unacus steel. He has convinced his friends that his claim is well founded by numerous tests he has successfully carried out. He Bays that although he has made some wonderful discoveries, he is confident that they are but the beginning of a great serios that must follow as a part of these. He claims no credit for what discoveries ho has made but says that the secret is at the elbow of every copper and every brass worker who understands his business. We understand that early an April the combined Board school? will give a monster entertainment in aid of the funds of the School Committee, to enable that body to supplement the carotaker's salary and meet other incidental expenses. The children will contribute eight items, and amongst them will be some specially attractive pieces by the Boys' and Girls' Schools. Something very pretty is also promised by tho little toddlers under the care of Mrs Hoey and Mrs Brown. Local amateurs will supply several items, and a " surprise " item from outside will bo included in the programme. We have no doubt the entertainment will be largely attended. Alj!jeP.qlice Gqurt tljiß naming, before Mr G. O. fjettle, S,.ty., a native named Hori Rang)ao, was charged wjth maliciousjy wounding a g°w th.B property of E. Sutherland at If auangarqa, Mr Marshall conducted the case for the proseautjon. Evidence was given to the effeot that on several occasions the aoausedshotat cattle, which he stated had trospassed in his enclosure and eaten all his feed, potatoes, cabbages, carrots and other vegetables in the cultivation. The information was subsequently amended to a charge of cruelty to animals and accused was found guilty and. fined £5 and ordered to pay £3 as compensation to the prosecutor, as also costs, Petty thefts from the town station of the Castlecliff Railway still continue, to tho loss and annoyance of those whose goods are pilfered. A band of youngsters play about the station during most of the day, and plunder any parcels containing eatables that are left there whilst the train is away. It is a pity some of these young pilferers could not be caught ard punished. A vitii by the Truant Inspector to the place in question might do some good, but he will have to be sure he is not deceived, as these youngsters never give their right names if called upon to tell them 1 . They aro growing up in habits of idleness and dishonesty, and will become confirmed oriminal »'f not ppeedily convinced of tho error of thoir present ways.