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Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2681, 10 December 1909, Page 4

The 'Cook 'County Council calls for tenders for widening and clearing the main drain -at IBatutahi. A laugh "was raised in the House the other day when Mr. Glover, member for Auckland Central, gave notice to move a New Zealand Capital Site Bill. It is notified that no persons other than licensed .plumbers are permitted to interfere with the town water rt*rvice. Any person doing so will be ijo- • scouted. Palmerston North, like Gisborne, desires to have its progress recognised by the erection of a gaol in the town, and the local member, Mr. BuicTt. is : •petitioning Parliament in the matter. A tale of mishaps to a motor car was being unfolded at the Wellington Supreme Court when Mr. Justice Chapman remarked: “Don’t motor cars always break down!? I may be unfortunate, but my experience is that they break down every time one goes out in them.”

The lyre badges to be presented to the winners of the different musical •competitions ;at .the Exhibition are of extremely pretty design. They have been manufactured by Mr. H. J. Grieve, and are at present on view in the window of his establishment in Gladstone R-oad. “Under the Money Lenders Act, .your Honor will probably remember,” said counsel in the Auckland Supreme .Court. “No I don’t,” replied His Honor Air. Justice .Edwards. “I have never borrowed money from a moneylender, I have never .had occasion to 'look -at dhe Act.”

A party of 60 Maoris left Auckland by the Maheno on Monday night to take part in a series of .Native entertainments at Manly (a leading Sydney seaside resort) during -the holiday season. They came mostly from Rotorua, and were in charge of .Maggie Papakura, the well-known guide, under (whose direction the entertainments were organised.

It is persistently rumoured (says the •“Dominion”) that the High Commissioner (the Hon. W. Hall-Jones) will probably resign his 'Office ; and return to New Zealand in the course of a few months. It is suggested that ’he (will then {probably be appointed to the Legislative Council. Mr. Hall-Jones’ health has not been .good in London, .aud it is probable that the New Zealand climate would agree with him better. Replying to the neq.n.es,t that the new species of shark which was discovered at Kaikoura should be designated after himself His Excellency the Governor, in a humorous note, said: “I have much pleasure in, .accepting .the honor of having your new shark named after me. Should a portrait or description of the shark he published, should much value a copy.. Trust he will not meet me when bathing and claim relationship,” Says the.. “Dominion.” —The House has got into a bad habit, and there .are many members who would find it very difficult to adopt a wholesome timetable. The member who for years has been accustomed to muddle through the aftrnoou, and, bginning to work at 7.30 p.m./ to retire to the lobby soon after supper—returning to the House only when the division bell rings—is as bad a subject as can be imagined for the application of a 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. day. He has abandoned almost every function save the function of waking aip when the hell rings and recording the vote directed by the Whips. He would be bewildered by the freshness of morning. '/; • ‘ ' V “ ’

In reply to a question by an .“Otago Daily Times” reporter bn the subject of the depision of the Government that its various officers were in future not to divulge any. departmental information, the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, Minister for Agriculture, stated that there was never any suggestion that the Government experts who undertook tho duties of judges at agricultural show's, should refrain from giving their criticism .on the exhibits. To place such a construction on the position was quite absurd, and it w r as never intended that it should be so. _ There was no. question, said the Minister, speaking on the general aspect of the matter, that departmental offipers had in the past been giving away mformation which they had no right to give, and it had been found absolutely necessary to introduce some such regulation as that now in force. - .

A public meeting of the ratepayers of the borough will be held in His Majesty’s Theatre at 8 ip.m. to-day to consider the borough loan proposals.

' To-morrow, Saturday, the train which usually leaves Gisborne at 9.30 p.m. for Te liara'ka will leave at 10.30 p.m. It will run through to Waikohu and back to Gisborne.

Yesterday Constable Dandy arrested, on a warrant, a woman in Gisborne, who is wanted in .Dunedin for noncompliance with a maintenance order. The prisoner will be taken south by Sunday’s boat. The South British Insurance Company 'has forwarded to this office, per Mr. F. H. W. Traill, local manager, a handsome wall-almanac for the ensuing year. The company is also advertising its business by means of neat and serviceable inkstands. Considerable delay was caused to the counsel at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, owing to one of the justices who should have been in attendance failing to arrive. After a good deal of trouble a substitute was arranged for, and matters were proceeded with.

On account of the loan proposals meeting at the Theatre to-night the Bathe Pictures are unable to show. They will give a matinee to-morrow afternoon at 2.30, and the usual performance in the evening. A grand change of programme has been arranged and includes “The Exploits of Buffalo Bill” and “Mick Carter in Danger.”

A meeting of sheepfarmers will he held at the Union Rooms, Masonic Buildings, Lowe Street, at 2 ,p.m. to-morrow, to consider the question of impoving the control and regulating the sales of meat at London, and also the question of freight charges from London to New Zealand. All sheepfarmers, whether members of the Union or not, are invited. An interesting game will be played at <the Victoria Billiard Saloon this evening in connection with the tournament for the championship of Gisborne, when. Te Kani Fere meets E. Austen. Should the former prove v.etorious, lie will annex the championship cup, while a victory to Austen will place' him level with Te Kani, and a play-off will be necessary to-morrow night. Both men are at present in good form, and a most interesting contest should result. A gentleman received a letter yesterday from Mr. Hwang, the Chinese Consul, in AVellington, stating that Mr. •Lin Yun-Cbao has been appointed Chinese Consul at Samoa. The new Consul visited German Samoa a little over twelve months ago, to enquire into the condition of the Chinese laborers there, and report to the Government. Mr. Lin Yun-Chao is a barrister and is educated in English law. The appointment is considered! by the receiver of the letter to be evidence that China is at last awakening to her interests, and is determined to protect her people wherever they are. Apropos of the abolition of kissing the Bible in British Courts, and the substitution of the Scottish form of oath, it is interesting to note that not only are sanitary considerations all against kissing the Book, but it is not considered effective as a deterrent to perjury. Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M., at all events has not found it so. Tn speaking to a “New Zealand Herald” representative, Mr Kettle said his experience was that perjury, of which, there was a deplorable. amount. was not stopped_by the present oath. The man who made up his mind to commit perjury would do so on 40 Bibles. Chinese laundrymen resident in Wellington are petitioning Parliament against the Factories Act Amendment Bill, 'which, they state, is designed to prevent them from carrying on bandwashing, unless at such prices as will be paid to steam laundries for the so-called washing of clothes. The limitation to work only 8| hours a day would press hardly upon them, seeing that on certain days of the week there is a great rush of work. A petition, signed by a number of wage-earning men, has also been received, asking that the restrictions should not he put upon the Chinese laundries. There was a very narrow escape from drowning at Sumner on Friday, says a Christchurch paper. A child of four or five years of age was paddling in the shallow water just above the pier, when it stepped over a ledge and was soon being carried away by tlie receding tide. A lady who had been sitting on the sands succeeded in attracting the attention of some young men who were fishing from the pier to the perilous position of the child, and one of them, accompanied by an older man, who, in the meantime, had made his way to the scene of the accident, plunged into the water and managed to get hold of the little one in time to save it from any serious consequences.

Whatever may be said concerning the vote which struck out Mr. Reeves’ £4OO a year (says the Napier “Telegraph”), there i.s no doubt whatever that considerable stress obtains in the ranks of Government supporters. The Land Bill is the cause of this. Ever since Mr. McNab “nailed his colors to the mast,” and then ignominiously chopped through the mast and let it and the flag attached go overboard- together, trouble has been brewing on the land question. The men who acquired land owing to. the leasehold policy of the Government in the past, and with land a competency, in their desires to kick down the ladder by which they climbed—or up which they were pushed by State aid—have made a fairly strenuous campaign against the leasehold principle. The Government seems to have succumbed to this, and is now somewhat in the position of the “wobbler” described in the fable of the Old Man and his Ass. He tried to please everybody, pleased nobody—not even himself —and in the end he lost his donkey. Mr WatkTn Mills, the eminent bass singer, writing to Mr William Miller, from London, says' that he will probably commence another tour of New Zealand and Australia next Ootober, with a specially selected concert company. During his last visit to Gisborne, while in conversation with the local entrepeneur, Mr. Mills remarked that the chimes of the Gisborne town clock could be classed with the climes of the very few clocks in the world that were in tune, and it was a. ! .‘easure to hear them. That night in the theatre, when the great singer pad his audience almost spellbound at his beautiful rendering of “The Sweetest Flower that Blooms,” the clock chimed the full hour, and started to strike ten. ' The singer struggled heavily against the opposition', until -the clock ha/d got in the first four-of the ten strokes, when the ; singer suddenly stopped and good humoredly remarked to tne packed audience “It’s no v"e ,\ we’ll wait,” and they did. Those who remember tho incident will fully appreciate the quiet humor of bis ic mark that he is looking forward to the pleasure of again hearing the sweet chimes of the Gisborne town clock. ;\

The Gisborne Defence Cadets under Captain Zachariah will parade m * l ' on ' b of the Drill Hall this evening, when they will be inspected by Staff Sergt.Major McNair. The adjourned special meeting of the Civil Service and Citizens’ Co-operative Bakery Company, Limited, will be held in Townley’s Hall, on Tuesday next, December 14, instead of Monday next, as originally arranged. A man who was summoned for debt at the Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, informed the Magistrate that he was a fisherman, and his average weekly earnings were 17s 6d. He >as married, and had two children, and his rent was 10s a week. The Magistrate declined to make an order.

Tho Salvation Army Sunday School anniversary will be celebrated on Bunday next. In the afternoon there will be special singing by the children, and in the evening a service of song entitled “True as Steel” will be rendered in tho Citadel. Next Wednesday, Dec. ember 15,, the “Flower Queen’s Court” will be performed. Sunday, December 19, will be the corps anniversary. Staff Captain Orams will lead the services. The anniversary tea will be held on December 21st.

On a complicated matter at last meeting of the Wellington City Council, Cr Hindmarsh refused to vote. “I refuse to vote,” he said, “No power will make ime vote.” “Cr. Hindmai’sh must vote,” returned the Mayor firmly. “I shall not vote,” stoutly declared the irate councillor, “not if I have to resign my position on the council. The position is an absurd one.” The Mayor: “Cr. Hindmarsh will resume his seat. The Act is perfectly clear that members sitting in the Council Chamber must vote.” Cr. Hindmarsh: “I do not care about the Act. I am not going to vote” There was a pause while the division was taken. The Mayor said he was clear as to the necessity of voting, but he did not know what the penalty was for refusing to vote. He would look into the matter and rex>ort to tho next meeting of the council. A Chinaman ambling Upper Willis Street on Monday morning with his baskets of fruit and vegetables, stumbled and upset the contents of one on the middle of the road. The oranges, “all ripe and juicee,” the apples, the bananas, and the plums, some of the first of the season, rolled across the tram lines. A car was coming up from town, and the Chinaman, after gathering up one or two survivors, stood by with truly Oriental resignation to see the cruel wheels complete the wreck of his fortunes. But the motorman was full of compassion for the unfortunate. To the surprise of many of the passers-by. hurrying down te business, be pulled up the car short of the debris. “Pick em up,” he saki te the Chinaman. And the Chinaman, more astonished than anybody, and. infinitely grateful te the considerate “god in the car,” scooped the rest of liis fallen treasures off the lines and departed rejoicing.

Holy Trinity Schoolroom was crowded last evening, the occasion being a social given by the members of the Young Maori Party, as a conclusion to this year’s meetings. The Rev. F. W. Chatterton presided, and in an m : teresting speech on the Young Maori Party, referred to the feat that the Hon. A. T. Ngata had been the first travelling secretary of the party, which was then known as the Te Aute Students’ Association. Dr. Wi Repa also gave an interesting address on the doings of the party. Gapes and competitions were indulged in during the evening, and an excellent musical programme was given, contributed to by the following: Overture, Miss R. Ferris: trio, College students; violin solo, Mr. J .Halbert; song, Mrs. McKay; song, Mr. A. 0. Stewart; song, Miss Ferris; glees, students; song. Mr. Makaore; kakas, students. Refreshments were handed round, and at a late 'hour the gathering concluded, the Rev. W. Grant wishing the Maori Party -every success, and tlianirhig them on behalf of the visitors present for the very enjoyable evening.