LOCAL AND GENERAL

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 468, 17 June 1890, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A choice collection of fruit tress, etc , are to be sold at 11 this morning, at Messrs Graham, Pitt, and Bennett’s mart. They are from Mr Gilberd’s well known Taradale Nursery. Captain Thompson last night received the following message from Wellington :—North to west and south-west, hard gale within next ten hours, with further fall of glass, but rising after that time. In tbe little bridge near the Wainui beach there is a plank partly broken. It would only take a couple of shillings to put right, and as at present there is nothing in its appearance to warn horsemen of the danger, a broken leg and action for damages are not very improbable results. About one o’clock on Saturday an unoccupied house in Childers Road was burned to tbe ground. It was owned by Mr Daly and formerly tenanted by Mr H. E. Kenny. The origin of the fire is a complete mystery. The building was insured for £350. A conference between a deputation from the Park Club and a committee of the Poverty Bay Turf Club is to be held to try and arrange as to race meetings in the future. The series of football matches for the cup presented by Captain Winter has created a great amount of new interest in football this season, and on Saturday there was a large attendance of spectators at the ground. A curious circumstances of the fire on Saturday afternoon is that some of those people residing only a short distance from the house neither heard the bell nor knew anything of the tire until they were subsequently informed of it. The new Roman Catholic Church at Ormond was formally opened on Sunday, there being a large congregation. The Rev. Father Kehoe conducted the service and congratulated the people of Ormond on the possession of such a comfortable building for the Church work. Thera was a lull choral service. At a recent sitting of the Native Lands Court, at Hastings, Mr Carroll announced that an arrangement had been made whereby Mrs Donnelly and party take 4481 acres in the northern block and 11,891 acres in the southern block. In consequence of this agreement Mr Lewis informed the|Court that his clients would not proceed in the application for a rehearing. Last Tuesday a complimentary dinner was tendered to Mr E. F. Harris by the licensed interpreters of Hastings Mr Harris being the president of the Licensed Interpreters’ Association. The ever popular “Jimmy” Carroll occupied the chair, another old Gisbornite, Mr W. Brassey, being in the vice-chair. Besides the licensed interpreters there was also a representative gathering of native chiefs and members of the legal profession. The amount of everyday knowledge displayed by some of our contemporaries is really astounding. One of these extraordinary exhibitions appears in a late issue of a Hawke’s Bay paper, which in all seriousness comments on some remarks about the Bankruptcy laws said to have been made by Mr Justice Denniston at Auckland, when every schoolboy knows, or ought to know, that that Judge sits in the Canterbury district. It will be remembered a child recently had a narrow escape of being poisoned by eating what are known as “ thorn apples.” Mr and Mr Hammond, of Waitohi, in the Rangitikei district, have just had the misfortune to lose their child Eileen, aged three years, from a similar cause. Parents would do well to warn their children against eating these seducive looking but poisonous berries. Over Wairoa way they are thinking of asking Mr Arthur to use his endeavours to gat £lOOO placed on the estimates for main roads in their country. That ;ust shows how little the Wairoa people know of Mr Arthur. When tbe suggestion is placed before that gentleman he will more than likely raise his hands in horror at the thought of him (Mr Arthur) asking the Government for anything whatever. He will likely enough be willing to mention the matter casually to his friend Sir Harry, but as to his taking the responsibility of asking for it why the thing is simply ridiculous and we are surprised at our Wairoa friends expecting it. It is nearly, if not quite, as bad as the colossal cheek [of the Gisborne Harbour Board in desiring him to take charge of their bill!

In England recently a boy, over the necessary age, who was in the habit of selling newspapers, was attacked with influenza. His mother and the family of five were in a state of semi-starvation, and his sister, who is under ten, volunteered to deliver his papers to his customers. For permitting this the mother was prosecuted by the police under the new “Children’s Charter,’’ and although the solicitor employed to defend her urged the hardship of straining the Act to punish a starving woman, who was ignorant of its provisions, the Southampton Bench decided to fine the woman, the alternative being three days’ imprisonment. This is the first prosecution of the kind under the Act. The Borough Treasurer was in Court, and paid the fine. Mr G. L. Greenwood left on Friday on well earned leave of absence. We understand his visit to Nelson whither he has gone, is not so much on “ pleasure [rent " as for family reasons. During his absence Mr G. Johnstone takes upon his shoulders the multifarious duties which Mr Greenwood undertakes. This is the second occasion on which Mr Johnstone has been in fu'l charge, and on the last occasion he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his superiors, and, what is more important, to tbe public, This young man is a civil servant of no ordinary calibre, and wo think it is time the Departmental hosds reoognised his merits more and raised him to a position where his talents and industry would be b«tter utilised for the public benefit. [Since the above was written a telegram informs us that Mr Greenwood's father died on Sunday, a day before Mr Greenwood could have reached Nelson. General sympathy will be felt lot him in his bereavement.) The Middlesborough magistrates have bad to decide a very important question on the law of friendly societies and trades unions. The decision was appealed to the Divisional Court. The respondent had been a member of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, of which the appellant was s»eretary. The respondent summoned the appellant because he had not paid him 12.: a week whilst ha was unable to work. It appeared that the respondent had by resolution been excluded from membership, but it was said that this proceeding was illegal, because he had received no noticed it, and therefore could not be present to defend himself. The society was formed to raise funds for the advancement and protection of trade, end for the pecuniary benefit and superannuation of the members; it was registered as a trades union, and it was not registered as a friendly society. If it was a friendly society, then the magistrates would have jurisdiction over it; but if it was a trade* union, then their jurisdiction was specially excluded by statute. Their opinion was that it was an unregistered friendly society, and they ordered the appellant to pay the respondent the 12s that he claimed, and to pay also £4 2s tor costs. Thia was the decision that was appealed against, and it was submitted to their lordships that the regiitration of the society as a trades union was conclusive against tbe jurisdiction ot the magistrates. The Court held that the society was a trades union, and theretm that the justices had no power io make tiielt|order.

Mr Joyce was about town yesterday, after being severely “ gripped ” for nearly a fortnight. The Ta Anau etruck on a mud bank near the Lyttelton breakwater on Friday night. She is expected in Gisborne to-night.

In the Argentine Republic instead of “ fining ” the drunks they set them to sweep the footpaths. Second convictions arc rare. The Universal Dining Rooms business, which was started by Messrs Budd and Edwards, is now conducted solely by Mr Budd.

At the meeting of the Borough Council yesterday Cr McLernon said that a wharf would not be required for the proposed erection, as an excavation would be made for the vessels to lie in. This seemed to tickle the fancy of Councillors.

At noon on Saturday the Public Works Committee of ths Borough Council received ths following tenders for breaking about 100 yards metal: —J. Colbert 2s 5d per yard, J. Chute 2s per yard, Gregg and Hooper (accepted) 2s 6d per yard, J. Boyd 2s 91 per yard. E. Hughes’ tender was informal. Messrs C. D. Bennett and G. Matthewson were the Justices who presided at the Police Court yesterday morning. An elderly man nameu'Daniel Heeney,bootmaker, was charged wi h the larceny of a pair of boots valued at 16s 61, from the shop of Mr A. J. Cooper. After hearing the evidence of the informant, tbe Bench sentenced the prisoner to 30 days’ imprisoopaent with hard labor. The officers of the Gisborne branch of the Post and Telegraph Department intend presenting Mr F. H. Barnard with a handsome oane, the knob of which is infer sliced with various kinds of New Zealand woods, as is also the upper portion of it, ou which there is a silver ring, the inscription on which indicates the nature of the presentation. At the Mutual Improvement Society last night Mr F. J. Oatridgo read an essay on “ Looking Outward and Forward,” dealing with the various social problems that are engrossing the thought of the day. The essay was well composed and took a very comprehensive view of the subject, the criticisms which followed being highly complimentary to the paper. Owing to the non arrival of ths steamer Judge Edwards could not be present at the Commission Court yesterday. Mr Commissioner Ormsby took his seat and adjourned ths case until Wednesday morning. Mr Sheet made no objection to an adjournment, but Mr Howarth questioned whether the case must not lapse, the Act not appearing to give one Commissioner power to act without the other. It wat then decided to adjourn until to morrow morning, when Mr Howarth will argue the legal point before Judge Edwards.

Messrs Finn and' Chrisp, Harbor Board solicitor?, have written to the Board expressing an opinion that the lease of the foreshore to Common, Shelton and Co. is ultra vires, and advise the Board not to sign it. The reason given for this opinion was that the lease provides that during the first year buildings to the value of twenty years’ rental should be erected by the lessees. No buildings or other erections can be placed on the foreshore without the assent of the Governor in Council, and therefore a contract could not be entered into for the erection of buildings which it might subsequently turn out would bo vetoed by the Governor in Council, while on the other hand there was a clause permitting re-entry by the Board in case of non-compliance with the covenant contained in the lease. In the June number of Zealandia there is an article headed *• Good Night,” of which the following is an extract: —“ This is not an obituary notice; for while the present number not only completes Zealandia’s first year, but terminates its existence, we trust that it is by no means a final farewell which we are taking of our readers. A combination of unfortunate circumstances compels us to cease publication for the present; but we have no reason to complain of any lack of popular support. The lowest point our circulation has ever reached is more than double the highest number attained by any previous venture of a similar kind. True, had the very large number of people who were favourably disposed towards u& —but withheld their support because ' no literary venture can succeed in New Zealand’—come to our assistance, we should have weathered the storm; but we do not know that we have any right to deprive them of the luxury of being true prophets of evil. The complaisant * I told you so’ will be heard in the land, beyond all doubt. The causes of a stoppage which dashed so many bright hopes are:—lnsufficient capital, lack of advertising support, the extraordinary amount of credit which the large majority of agents and booksellers seem to consider they have a right to, the inability of the editor to continue to devote his time to the work, insufficient advertising on our part, and the too early increase in the size of our uagazine. wanted to run before we could walk, in fact. The writers of New Zealand have given us all the support we could ex pect, and more. The liberal patronage of the public we have already mentioned, while to the Press of the colony we owe a heavy debt of gratitude we are not likely to forget.”