Cairns Post (Qld. : 1884 - 1893), Saturday 25 February 1888, page 2


Local Items.

We ure pleased to be able to state that the report of Mr. Daniel Murphy, who has recently been appointed leader in No. 0 tunnel, on the second section, having been seriously injured w:ts untrue, the injuries he sustained to his back being so trilling as not to interfere with active duty.

A moonlight excursion on board the Victory has been arranged to take place on Wednesday evening 20th February in aid of the funds for the School of Arts. The Secretary, Mr. French, assures us that no pains will be hpared by the Committee to make the affair us attractive as possible. The Cairns Town Hand will accompany the party ; and during the trip a concert will lie given in which many of the leading amateurs of Oajrus have promised to take part. Tickets have been fixed at the ex-tremely moderate price of 2s lid, and doubt-less the excursion will he very largely patronised.

In t!he Police Court on Thursday, before Mr. M. O'Malley, P.M., Dr. Mackenzie de-posed that he was called in on the 20th inst, to examine the body of Jeremiah Hayes, deceased, at Dillon's Hotel, Redlynch. Next day he made a post mortem. The right lung

had adhesions to it. The chest wall was

ingorged with blood, and the right lung in

much the same condition. The liver was enlarged andl fatty ; the heart flabby, with the tissue indicating signs or fatty degenora tion. There 'was a little blood in the right ventricle. The kidneys were congested, also the brain. The cause of death the doctor certified to be sanguineous apoplexy.'Wm. Anderten, carter, of Redlynch, also deposed to having carried deceased to his tent and laid him on his stretcher. Deceased had been drinking to excess for a week before. He was 50 years of age, an Irishman by birth, and had a few pounds in the bank.

Mr. Thos. Dolphin, Queensland repre-sentative of Messrs. John Laird and Co., the world-renowned shipbuilders, of Glasgow, left Cairns on Thursday night en route for Brisbane. During his sojourn this time in Cairns he made inquiries, on belialf of his firm, with reference to the suitability of timbers grown in Cairns ¡ind Herberton districts for shipbuilding purposes. In this investigation Mr. Dolphin has been to a certain extent guided by the report recently issued by Messrs. Geo. Phillips, C. S. M'Giiie, and A. Miller, on their return to Brisbane after specially visiting Cairns, and testing thc railway timbers, in which labour, the Commissioners were ably assisted by Mr. J. G. Gwynneth, junior. Mr. Dolphin is inclined, we understand, to conclude that the exact qualities in.. timber which the Messrs. Laird are os the lookout for are tobe found in the products of Cairns district, und he has been encouraged to prosecute further and full inquiries without delay. Mr. Dolphin expects to return to Cairns shortly. In the meantime, should any persons resident in the country leave specimens of suitable timber at thc office of the CAIHNS POST we shall be happy to take charge of them on Mr. Dolphin's behalf. Any letters bearing on the subject will also be welcome, and can be left for Mr. Dolphin, under onr

cate . - ,

The Divisional'Board has decided on Mr. Tills' motion, seconded hy Mr. Fallon, to apply to Government for a loan of Ü3Ü0 for makin* new roads in No. 1 Sub-division,

j Mr. Mackey dissented.

1 With reference to the petition to the Hon. W. 0. Hodgkinson re bridges >ver the Mul-grave "Koad, we are informed hy Msssrs. Collinson and Mackay that in stating they convey 1000 bullicks per annum over the mad in question ,we were much under tho mark. Last year over- 2200 bullocks were brought down by this firm, and during the present year the number will probably

amount to 23C0.. .

Mr. Arthur Jessup, who was formerly in

the Cairns branch of the Bank of Austra-lasia, and more recently in the employ of Mr. E. J. Gorton, leaves this town to-day for Brisbane en route for Melbourne, where

he has accepted au appointment. We wish Mr. Jessup success in his new sphere., and we hope that if ho makes his pile down south he will not neglect to invest a few odd

thousands in the North of Bananaland.

As announced in another column, Mr. A. H. Richards, who represents the A.M.l\ Society, is again iu Cairns, staying at Hides and M'Coll's, and will' be happy to take proposals for life policies, endowments, and

annuities. Mr. Richards ia so well and favourahly known that it is unnecessary for us to refer at greater length to one who has the good fortune to represent the premier insurance sccietfT of Australasia. _

In reply to a telegram from the secretary, asking for the postponement of the date of opening the Herlierton-Georgetown tenders to the date fixed for opening the Hughenden tenders, the following telegram has been received by Mr. Severin, the Mayor, from the Postmaster-General : " Brisbane, Feb. Ï2.-Ile your wire of yester-day, there is no objection to postponing date for receiving tenders tor Herberton and Georgetown mail, as desired." Confirma-tory telegrams to the above have been re-ceived from the members for the district.

An impression being prevalent that there has I «en a large anount of money expended on the Cairns floating-baths owing to the design proving defective, we find upon en-quiry that such is not the case. On the baths itself no extra of any kind has been done, but the architect finding that if the baths »Tere placed nearer thc shore the water would be muddy and unpleasant, wisely resolved to place them in the deep water where the scour of the tides always keeps the water clean. In order to do this the

gang-way had to he extended about 120 feet longer, and in order to make matters still more secure he added another anchor and chain, these two items being the total

extras.

Mr. Peter Aldridge, having returned from Brisbane to Cairns, called at this olllee to give his account of the picture transaction, which runs as nearly as possible in the fol-lowing words :-" The picture was originally bought for Ü80 from Mr. Joyce. There is a balance on account of the picture due to Mr. Joyce of -£4J. When I presented thc picture to Mr. Kingsford on behalf of the Council, Ï explained to Mr. Kingsford, who was then Mayor, that this amount was due on the picture, but that a few friends had promised to assist me in raising this amount by sub. scription. It was never intended that the Coiiucil should pay it, As a matter of fact, no friends have assisted me, and I am not able at present to pay it ont of my own pockot, It is not the ¿15 whiflli tho people down south now want-it ¡a tho picture. Mr. Joyce told me that if ho had had it at the last

Exhibition ho coulil bitvo gat at loant OOO or £000 far it. »nd tbat ho could get that now for it. He told 'mo this when I wns in

Brisbane this time. As for the picture having been offered for £2, I do not believe it. The intention now is to depreciate the value of the picture in order to get posses>-ion of it. I value the picture at MM). I pro-test against the Council giving it to anyone, and if they don't wish to keep it they should give it to me. If they keep it, I will endea-vour to raise the balance of Ü K5, for which.1 have rendered myself responsible to Mr. Joyce hy my p.n."

The magisterial inquiry held before Mr. O'Malley, P.M., in the Cairns Police Court on Thursday, into the circumstances of the death of Patrick Stapleton, on the second section of the Cairns-Herberton railway, elicited nothing further beyond that already published in our columns. Maurice Mur-phy, labourer, of Stoney Creak, gave a lucid account of the sad affair, stating that Stapleton had tried a hole, which missed fire, and he then was handed some dynamite, after jumping out the powder. The fatal report, however, seemed to show that there was a residuum of powder in the hole. Witness was severely hit on the head with a stone. On returning to the shot he found Stapleton lying on his back. He could not speak, but still breathed, and shortly after-wards expired. The poor fellow's eyes and nose were completely blown away. James M'Donald, navvy, who was picking that day, deposed that Stapleton did not use a ham-mer with the jumper ; he used water. The report was that of powder. Martin Kain was in the habit of firing the shots, but was not at work that day. Dr. Mackenzie de-posed to meeting Stapleton near Wright's boarding-house. Found he was dead. Ordered the men to carry him to Kamer-unga. His face was unrecognisable, and black as if from powder marks. He must have died shortly after receiving the injuries. The papers with the evidence will be forwarded in due course to the Attorney General.

On Wednesday afternoon the Cairns floating swimming bath was formally opened by the Mayor, L. Severin Esq, in the presence of a large assembly. The bath it we believe unique nf ita kind and reflecta considerable cv.*lit-on th«aMi«ner Mr. J. 'V. French und the contractors Messrs. O'Hanlon and Stewart;.and that it answer* ita re-

quirements in u satisfactory manner is evi-denced by the strong support it has re-ceived during the week I rom all classes of the community. On the occasion of the opening ceremony, Mr. Severin, after a short speech announcing that the bath was now opened, plunged in and amid great cheering showed that he was no mean per-former in the art of natation. One of the secrets of the Mayor's great popularity is 'the fact that he displays a practical interest, and good feeling with every scheme tending to advance the interests of the dis-trict and the.comfort of the inhabitants. After Mr. Sererin's initiatory plunge a pro-gramme of «vents for prizes was speedily commenced, many of the races producing keen contests, and one and all causing greut amusement to the spectators. The boys' nice was particularly noticeable for producing a very close finish between Masters Walsh and Mitchell who finished in

the order named and in the gamest pos-

sible manner. , In the men's : races Mr. Johanson one of the proprietors of the Great United Circus, captured a brace of prizes, but .os this gentleman formerly held thc swimming championship of New Zealand it was no'disgrace that oar local talent should go down before bim, andas it was Mr. J. H. Forbes nude un exceedingly tight fit for one race.^ On Thursday afternoon the tenders for leasing the bath were opened and that of Messrs. M'Laiurhlin and Watson of

j£95 cash down for one year was accepted.

This sum will enable the directors to de-clare a dividend of 10 per cent, on the capital of 4300. to write 7{ per cent off for depreciation, and 2\ for repairs. So far the investment can be deemed a highly satis-factory one,

Mr. Geo. Fox contests the Normanby as I an independent supporter of the Opposition. I

Thc Divisional Board on Thursday tendered , Mr. F. L. Morris, the clerk, their thanks for the able wanner in which be had performed his duties during the past year.

We regret to karn that Mr. Alfred Street, formerly ot' Cairns, and now residing at Woollahra, near Sydney, has lost an iufant child from whooping-cough.

The work of the Cairns committee re the Georgetown-Hcrberton itail service is al-ready bearing fruit. Date of receiving tenders has been altered to 27th March.

As notified in another column, the Bev. T. B. Begg will hold Diviue service at the Provisional School, Kamerunga, to-morrow evening at half-past 7 o'clock. Service will

he held in St. John's Church to-morrow

morning And evening, n% usual.

Andrew Leon, io the Police Court on Thursday before Mr. O'Malley, interpreted the evidence of Ah Yip, keeper of a cookabop in Chinatown, Cairns, who had seeu the dead body of Sum Quee on 1 Uh inst, outside a fence rear the shop. Witcess saw black spots on the breast of deceased, fiHMSi ty washing his breast with fresh water and salt, and then rubbing it with a silver coin to cure the pain. Deceased was a tailor, aged 30, a native of Macao, near Hong Kong, China ; and was a heavy opium smoker. Dr. J. G. Brown deposed to having examined the hody, which waa very euiitciated, huving all the appearance of suffering from an illness of loug standing. Consumption was probably, in the doctor's opinion, th* canse

of death.