NEW ZEALAND: GENERAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 21, 26 May 1904, Page 19

NEW ZEALAND: GENERAL

Mr. Jackson Palmer, who represented Ohinemuri in the last Parliament, is appointed additional judge to the Native Land Court.

The estate of the late Mr. John A. Ewen, of Dunedin. and a member of the firm of Sargood, Son, ynd Ewen, has been finally certified for stamp duty at £203,110. y

The proposed Wellington exhibition has beer definitely postponed until November, 1905, the principal reason being the uncertainty of the date on which the Town Hall would be ready for the purpose.

The Chief Government Veterinarian states that the black quarter disease which plays havoc among calves is spreading rapidly in Taranaki, and fears it will in time involve the whole of the North Island. He thinks Taranaki should be a quarantine area for young stock.

At a meeting of the Newtown Licensing Committee on Monday licenses were renewed to the Newtown and Grosvenor Hotels. This action restored the licenses to all the hotels in the district which had been closed pending the appeal to the Privy Council.

A Taranaki doctor was once riding over a wild stretch of country, and asked the lonely milker how he managed to gel medical assistance for his wife in the isolated cottage where they lived. ' Well, sir,' replied the farmer, in all good faith, 'we don't ha' no doctor ; we just dies a natural death.'

The Premner, who had been staying at Sir George Grey's old house at Kawau, left on Monday in the ' Hinemoa.' for the nortJhern lighthouses, and expects to take a fortnight to reach Manukau. He is due in Wellington on June 8. The rest and sea air are doing him great good.

The head master of one of the largest of Wellington city schools states that so great is the demand among employers for boys in Wellington that the sujpply fails to meet it. A great jrumber of lads leave school directly they have passed the Fifth Standard to go to work Requests for boys come to head masters of schools at a rate that cannot be satisfied.

Kauri gum has been discovered in large quantities right on the Aotea beach, Kawhia. Several Maoris are engaged in securing this valuable product, which cannot be got excepting at low water, it being submerged at any other tame of the tide. The gum is of fair equality, estimated to be worth nearly £100 pcx ton, and is procured in large pieces.

IL is a fiequently expressed opinion that Taranaki farmers are paying too much ior their lajnd, when they j!i\e moie than" £15 or £16 per acre for it. An Eltham resident (says the local paper), who is in an excellent position to iudge, expresses the opinion that with butter scilma, as low as 8d per lb, Taranaki farmers can safely pay £25 an acre for good land, and still make money. He makes the provision, however, that the farmer must ha\e the necessary labor within his own family. If he has to pay for labor at the current rate of wages, then his outlook is not a bright one

It, is understood (says the Wellington correspondent of the ' Evening Star ') that the Bank of New Zealand has had a more piospeious year t'hap ever. When the figures are disclosed in due course the profit for the \e.ir will be shown at £200,000, which is some thousands in advance of last year's profit, although last year was looked on as a phenomenal year. This is legarded as a splendid result, as although times are prosperous, money has been tighter during the past twehe months than in the preceding year.

There was a very good attendance at the first social gathering of the season held on Wednesday evening, May 18 in St. Mary's Hall (says the Nelson 'Colonist '), and the function was most enjoyable, The concert portion of the programme, was most excellent, songs bring contributed by Misses I. Driscoll (encored), Garrard, and Hanron (encored), Messrs. Hosiea.ux, Sunny (encored), and Jackson, and instrumental mvusic by Miss Greenfield (piano) and Mr. Owen (man/doline). An abundan-.e of refreshments was provided.

A (freymouth message states that after an extraordinarily long spell of fine weather heavy rain set in on !->atuiday, and no less than sin fell within 24 hours. The rivers and creeks are all in high flood, and rising. The lower end of Cfreymouth is under water. A great deal of damage has been occasioned to roads, railways, antd bridges through slips and subsidences. A most extraordinary accident took place on the Grey-Otira railway. The morning train had passed Stillwater about a mile, and was running along a sidling when a large slip occurred just in front, which capsisefl t/he engine, carry-

ing it down about 40ft. Two trucks, which separated the engine from the passenger carriages, were also derailed, but the latter kept on the line, and no injury was sustained by any of the passengers. The driver, when the engine turned over, was thrown quite dear, and. sustained but little injury The fireman (M'Meekin), however, was less fortunate, being earned down with the engine, and ultimately pinned underneath it, his head being almost wedged between (.he cover of the engine and the solid ground. As steam was escaping all lound Ins a'M,ut wa-> nut an ca^y ta/J>, raid it too. a con^ideiable time to get him released. He was then insensible, and sutler ing fio'in hevdc shock, being mtcinally injured The slip is rather extensive, and it will take a I least two days to clear it away. During the hearing of a charge of using obscene language in the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on Saturday, the very high character and respectable portion or t lie accused person was pleaded in mitigah in, and as a reason for making the penalty not a se\cie ( ne Mr. \V. R Haselden, S.M , who occupied tihe bench, said . ' I will put a problem before you. Why should a gentleman who uses language as bad as could po . ibly be used by any stoker escape the punishment that would be meted out to a stoker ?1 Counsel ••ould ml but admit the justice of this, and the court marked its sense of gravity of the offence by inflicting a line oi £10.