GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue XXI, 21 May 1904, Page 22

GENERAL NEWS.

-» After lae'.ing four daj-g the hearing •f the Wellington case, Chapple v. riimuier, was concluded before the Magistrate on May 13. The evidence has attracted considerable local attention. The plaintiff in the case, Dr. W. A. Chapple, claimed from John I’lim>ner, widely known as the “Father of Wellington,” the sum of £lBB for professional services, and Plimuier counter claimed for £2OO damages for alleged unskilful practice and undue influence. It was alleged in support of the counter claim that Dr. Chapple had acted in an unskilful manner in subjecting Plimmer, who is 92 years of age, to continual hypodermic injections of morphia and atrophine. Evidence was called in support of this, but on the other hand other doctors supported Dr Chapple’s treatment. It was further alleged that Dr. Chapple bad exercised undue influence over defendant in regard to certain land speculations. The evidence on all points was very voluminous. Judgment was reserved. The Auckland Harbour Board has adopted plans for the proposed wharf for the cable steamer iris at Devonport, between the Calliope Dock and the Victoria Wharf. The site originally selected was found to be too close to the dock, the western dolphin being within 300 ft of the entrance, at a point frequently sailed over by large vessels when being docked or undocked. The site was therefore moved some 300 ft to the eastward, and the construction of the jetty will be undertaken without delay. A narrow wharf, with a tec on the end, and a -shed for storing materials, provisions, ete., will be built, and the vessel will make this her permanent mooringplace, the men having the advantage of -4,lie' Admiralty Reserve as an exercise ground.

'There has been trouble among the congregation of-an-Anglican ehureh in Newtown (Wellington) over the attitude of ;thc vicar, who decided upou the lighting of caudles in the church, and eventually carried it into practice. A section of the congregation, including the vestrymen, protested against the vicar’s action, and Bishop Wallis was deputationised and memorialised with a view of bringing the clergyman into line with their views. Anxious to avoid disruption in the congregation, the bishop counselled conciliatory measures, at the same time intimating that it was a matter in which lie had no jurisdiction. The malcontents took a linn stand, and rather than follow the vicar in his alleged ritualistic practices preferred to transfer their allegiance io other churches in the district. A large following has sided with the vicar, who with a brand new set of vestrymen elected at the annual meeting of the congregation last week has got the affairs of the ehureh workingsmoothly onee more.

The recent hospital Saturday outdoor collection of £4124 in Sydney had many interesting side issues. For one thing it kept employed the whole staff of the Bank of New South Wales from early morning till after midnight. At the head office, 141 officers and eleven messengers . gave up their Saturday gratuitously to the movement; no fewer than 55 were on duty at the branch offices, making a total of 207 all told. At the head office, an aggregate of £3345 passed through the tellers’ hands; but the amount did not matter much, as the bank premises had to be kept open. An analysis of the 470,90 coins which passed from the public pocket to the collecting boxes on Saturday seems to indicate that the discerning man in the street has permanently fallen back, as a last resort, upon the copper currency. Out of the total receipts, copper coins constituted more than one-fourth, and this little lot weighed nearly three tons in the aggregate. There were a few bright new farthings in the copper department, most of which appear to have been extracted from sovereign purses, with a lordly air of munificence. The collectors found out their mistake at the bank, too late. At the other end of the scale it is recorded that cheques for £5O, £2O, £lO, £5, and £1 were deposited in the boxes, to say nothing of 2(13 separate sovereigns—real fold sovereigns. Ji-