NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 40, 4 October 1900, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

+ WW r E have to thank the Registrar-General for a copy of the Neio /.■aland Official Ytar-ltook for 1900. In consequence of next Wednesday being a public holiday we will have to go to press a day earlier than usual. All communications should reach this offian not later than Tuesday morning. Lady Ranfdrly, with her two daughters Lady Constance and Lady Eileen Knox, will leave New Zealand on a six months' visit to Great Britain towards the end of the year. They will probably sail from Wellington in November- The Countess hopes to be back in time for the Duke and Duchess of York's visit to New Zealand. There was an imposing ceremony last week at Napier on the occasion of the unveiling of a monument erected to the memory of the 10 men who lost their lives in the attempt to save others in the Easter flood of 1897. The mayor, the Bishop of Waipu, and Deans Hovell and Grogan were the principal speakers. The monument is .')."> ft high, and occupies a prominent position at the junction of the Marine parade and Browning street. Thk following candidates from the Convents of Mercy at Hokitika, Ross and Kumara were successful at the Trinity College examination in the theory of music held last June : — Senior Honors — Brigid Cunningham, «U. Intermediate Honors— Henry Hamer, 90 ; Mamie Moynihan, sB. Intermediate Pass— Eva Murphy, 95 ; Flonie Allan, 74. Junior Honors— Rose Healy. 88; Clare Davey, 8*1 ; Annie McDonald, su ; Katie Neville, 7G. Junior Pass— Herbert Banck«j, 100 . Nora Crowley, 99 ; Nora Moye, 96 ; Annie Moynihan, 96 , Ronnie McDonald, 91 ; Maud Rochford, 88 ; Nellie Kidd. 81 : Mary O'Donnell, 7(5. Thk following appointments to the new secular staff of the Stoke Industrial School have been made by Very Rev. Dean Mahoney • — Manager, master, and matron, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald (chief attendants Hokitika asylum) ; assistant masters, W. L. Beech (ot Ohtnu, Wellington) and F. J. Mulhill (of Thames) ; farm manager, D. Hight (manager for M'Millan, Southbridge; ; gardener, P. O'Brien (formerly of [Charleston). A cook and three general servants have also been appointed, and the positions of farm hands, tailor, aud baker have been filled by ex-inmates. The new staff take up their duties on October Ij, when the Mariat Brothers take their leave. Lord Robehts, writing under date July 22, to the Right Hon. the Premier, in reply to an invitation to visit thia Colony says : ' I can assure you that if an opportunity oifers we will avail ourselves of your kindness with the very greatest pleasure, and I beg that you will accept yourself, and tender to your colleagues and the people of New Zealand, our grateful thanks for your kindly proffered hospitality, which we appreciate, not only on account of the highly complimentary terms in which your proposal has been conveyed to us, but also because it has long been our desire to visit New Zealand. This desire has been materially strengthened of late by the opportunity we have hai of meeting the brave and capable soldiers who have come to South Africa from New Zealand to fight for those principles of liberty and justice on which the very existence of our Empire depends.' The following candidates from the Convent of Our Lady of Missions, New Plymouth, were successful at the Trinity College (London) musical examinations : — Junior Pass. — Freda Bent, 100 • May Bout, 92 ; Amy W. Cattley, 84 ; Annie M. Cave, 90 ; Mary J. Franklin, 9:5 ; Ruby George, 98. Intermediate Pass.— Lena Beamish, 86 ; Josephine Bourke, 70 ; Jeaaie Conaell, 66. Senior

Pass.— Minnie Beamish, 92. Mr. MacDiarmid, local secretary for Trinity College, London, informs us (Taranalu Herald) that Miss Freda Bent, with 100 marks, secures the prize for this year, offered by the local committee. Miss Bent, who received her musical education at the Convent, has also the honor of being the first candidate oonneoted with the New Plymouth Centre to secure the maximum number of marks in musical knowledge examinations. We congratulate this young lady on her success. SINCE the choir of St. Joseph's Church has been under the able management of Mrs Lees (write* our Waihi correspondent) there has been % marked improvement both in the number and efficiency of its members. One great drawbeick, however, has been the want Of suitable ttiu«i> and to enable the choir to raise funds for the purchase of this a social was held in the Public Hall on Friday evening, September 21. The result far exceeded the most sanguine expectations, and after paying all expenses there will be a balance of £10 in hand. Mr P. Cooney made an efficient M.C., and the musio was supplied by Messrs Morgan (piano), Hunter and Gregory (violin). During the course of the evening the following musical programme was rendered : —Pianoforte solo, 'Alice,' Miss Hilda Fortyer; song, 'She wore a wreath of roses,' Mr Ailisbie ; duet, • O'er the hill, o'er the dale, 1 Mrs Lees and Miss Stokes ; song, ' Killarney,' Miss Clara Noonan ; violin solo, ' Silvery waves, " Miss Adelaide Parkinson ; song, ' The vacant chair,' Mr Parkinson ; song, ' Break the news to mother,' Miss Stokes.