LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15497, 2 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

The holiday in Auckland yesterday was observed in typically fine weather conditions, and nearly everyone sought recreation away from home. There was another record gathering at Ellerslie, the sea beaches were thronged, and ample entertainment was provided for those interested in athletic games. The evening was tie best time of the day for the Exhibition, and large numbers of people finished the holiday with visits to the theatres, all of which did excellent business. The unbroken spell 01 fine weather during the holiday week continued through yesterday, and no incident occurred to mar the enjoyment of the day.

The third day's racing of the Auckland Racing Club's meeting was conducted at Ellerslie yesterday under pleasant weather conditions, while there was a record Derby Day attendance, and a record totalisator turnover of £63,780. In all, up till the present, £172,394 has been invested on the machine for the meeting (three days concluded), compared with £140,601 last year, and against last year's four days' record of £180,3555. The Great Northern Derby went to the New Zealand Derby winner Cherubini, owned by the Canterbury sportsman, Mr. G. D. Greenwood, who also won the classic race in 1911 with Danube.

Towed by the steamer Saint Paul, the once fine sailing ship Clan Macfarlane left for Noumea last night, on what, no doubt, will prove to be her last voyage. On August 20. when about 1000 miles on her way from New Caledonia to Hamburg, with a valuable cargo of nickel ore, she was struck by a sudden sqt.aU. Her sails were blown to ribbons and her foremast, mainmast, and rigging were blown away. Jury masts were fitted, and the vessel made for the nearest port—Auckland— which she reached on August 25. Her cargo was transhipped and sent to' its destination, and the vessel was condemned and sold as a hulk to a French company at Noumea.

The Exhibition was a popular objective for a large number of holiday-makers yesterday, and the visitors found it a delightful place to spend such a fine day. The weather was hot, even sultry, and the plentiful shade of the trees, as well as the shelter of the buildings, was very welcome to those whose inclination was towards music There were many, however, whose holiday spirits were proof against the heat, and they did the shows" with the same enthusiasm and energy that they might have shown on Quite a cold day.

'■ Prices were high in Auckland 50 years ago when the province "-as excited by the alarms of war and the preparations against hostile natives- In an address to the prisoners in Mount Eden gaol yesterday, Mr, F. G. Ewington said that when he arrived in Auckland in 1863 as an orderly to General Cameron, eggs were 3s per dozen, butter was 3s per lb, and milk lOd per qua. k -Horse, feed was dear, and ordinary draught horses for the military realised £90 . .each. Three-roomed houses let at 15s per week. " Though commodities were dear, land was offered as an inducement to men in Australia to enlist in tie mititia and join the forces at the front. "Some of those who had responded and received grants of land in the Waikato subsequently became rich by the j rise in the value, of the land. ' . j

The Customs Department ijas decided' to remodsl .tie form in which the yearly Bine Book is .published,' and centralise a good deal -of the clerical .work involved in, making, up the monthly and yearly returns in Wellington. In consequence, merchants ■wiD in future .fee required to furnish an extra copy of certain entries in. coma action with the export;©! goods, etc The.extra copy will be sent to Wellington for statistical purposes; and will be required in respect to the following entries at time of Warehousing, export, export ex warehouse, removal to Cook, etc., and Savage Islands. Trade with the Cook and Savage Islands must be accounted for on entries separate from, but numbered with, ordinary entries. - For instance,: imports from Tahiti and Barotonga are not to be passed on the same, form. An additional item of. information that will be required by the Department, from now on is, the country of origin of all goods, imported. ,

In view of the exceedingly fickle sttite of the, weather for a few.weeks- prior. to the Christmas holidays, Ancklanders,ha,Te every reason to congratulate themselves oa the succession of fine day 6 that have i been .experienced since' tke advent of the festive season. A -ray light shower fell I on- the evening of Chrisfcaas Day, but it ] did not in any way affect the goings and j comings of the large concourse of holidaymakers who have thronged the city since Christmas Eve, The weather has, been j warm, but for the most part the heat lbs sun has been tempered by cool breezes. i Yesterday was more oppressive than the previous few days, the atmosphere being unpleasantly hot and : close. • Most' of the evenings have been cool, but last night the temppraiure was ; higher than was consistent with personal comfort.

From a rifleman's point of view, the' conditions under which the' opening matches in connection with the annual! meeting of the Auckland Rifle Association were fired off yesterday were'almost perfect. There was practically no -wind to contend with, only a gentle easterly breeze blowing across the range in the morning, which in the aitjrnpon almost completely dropped, and then. turned round to the west. The light was on the whole very good, and was as clear as could be wished in. the afternoon, though in the morning it was at times peculiar, the mirage caused by the glare and heat of-the sun being troublesome to some of the marksmen. One disadvantage which made itself felt, more or less, in tie earlier part of the day was the intense heat. After firing his round, a rifleman would come off the mound bathed in perspiration, which must have caused, at least some discomfort. Nevertheless, several of the veterans expressed His opinion that, taking it all r< and l the day could not have been better? i.

The number of calls received by the Wellington Fire Brigade during 1913 was 296, as compared with 181 received by the Auckland brigade. Fifty-eight were false alarms (Auckland had 83) and 71 arose from unswept chimneys, gorge, grass, and rubbish fifes, of which the Auckland brigade had 46. The number of actual fires dealt with by the Wellington brigade was therefore 167, or just double the number in Auckland (83). On 19 occa sions within 23 days the Wellington brigade was called out to chimney fires. Two deaths were caused in one fire, though only, one room in the house was seriously damaged. During tie coming year the brigade plant will be made more efficient .than . at present. by the addition of a 65-horse-power Thorneycroft engine.

An hour's entertainment was given to the patients in the Auckland Hospital yesterday morning by the band of the Salvation Army. A bright programme of mutlc was played, and greatly appreciated by the patients..

The arrest of the young man Alf«4 1 Eobert Curtis, on New Year's Eve, on tfiji charge of stealing a portmanteau andV-11l quantity of mercery, was effected under >M*lf somewhat unusual circumstances. Curtail!® was suspected of having been concerned ''3fft in a burglary at a mercer's shop ': Karangahape Road on Christmas Day. << % The detectives set to work, and hitting If Wk upon a clue, made a search of Curtis'sHllS rooms., where they found what was con-%*4| sidered to be the st"'i portmanteau, '4 tightly packed with a. s such as sflk llS| shirts, decorative waistcoat*, and o*W ' ■"''iff | goods. It came to the ears of the aothon- % /MM ties that accused was to entertain a WBt theatre party at a champagne supper at a t/rl well-known local restaurant on New Year's Eve. Detectives kept a v,gi&nt '-v£* watch at the restaurant, and on th 3 party r» ;$ seating themselves for the feast, the '."l 11 officers drew Curtis aside, and informed ''-M him that they desired him to go with'.JVM! them. He did so, and the sapper was fIS postponed sine die. Curtis ap,. eared ?n '*- the Police Court yesterday, and was re- „ v ?k manded for a week. WBk _ 'Mm The various sports meetings in and '.'?Ps| about Auckland claimed the attention of -J|S a large number of holiday -makers yester- " il| dav. There was a large attendance at the fm Hemuera tennk courts, where the Exhi- " 1 biticn tournament, unc'ei the auspices of "'# the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association, ' ''l was continued. For over 10 hours, play : { ,1 proceeded without an interval, and soma ■ '";• of the matches were full of interest. Over ";T,i 80 matches took place, and to-day the 111 majority of the events should teach tfcs S semi-final stage. The Exhibition bowling i A tournament attracted a large number of <« spectators to the various greens, and there £-%| was also a fair attendance at Eden Park, : . where the New Zealand Nomads played a one-day match against the Eden Cricket \ : 1 Club. A crowded excursion steamer on "., til Wednesday night took a large number to ||| the Whangarei regatta, which was held 11 yesterday, while the variots athletic meet- 'r~M ings in the country districts had their #11 full complement of competitors and spec- AS? tatora. ■ wis i'l|||f The annual picnic of St. James's Presby- Wffl terian Church was held yesterday in the v.-Mil children's playground, Cornwall Park. -SM About 200 scholars joined in the oetiag, \*Sm travelling by special tramcars from Wet : .||||| Engton Street to Green Lane. As ia* I'mprevious years, an invitation was given 'MsA to the children of the Leslie Presbyterian '111 Orphanage to join the picnic, and 30 ot mm them in charge of two ladies were drives '!;%§ to the pcfk, and later taken to the home -tim in motor-cars provided by Sirs. A. Moore I § and Messrs. C. Rhodes, V. J. Lamer, and * * A. J. Enirican. During the afternoon -* many members of St. James's congregation iv'f j joined the party, and the Bev. G, B. |S Monro, chairman of the trustees of the '* orphanage, was also a visitor. In perfect ifal weather conditions, the children 'spent a /I very happy day. V"&J The splendid success whim attended iae'lill opuiiing of the Rifle Association's • \ • annual meeting at Penrose yesterday more '. 't<{ than justifies the action of the association .. * in deciding not to merge into the group I system, which was suggested* by tie Government two' years ago, and which / was done or all the other associations in A % New eZaland. This association has kd-"v"-'j the way in marksmanship for many years, and the fact thai is has been 40 years in ' existence is alone sufficient evidence of th? * \ enthusiasm -which distinguishes its mem Iff! ' u hers. There, were present yesterday r- H» presentatives "fKan many elites ,in hoik W the North and South Islands, some commit mm from as far south, as Dnnedhi, and rromJ|||i Whangaroa in the north,. The competitors "-j were of all. ages, from those -who have >-'*t belonged to the association for a' quarter. :rM ,of a century to youths yet in their teens. £|§a Amongst the latter there are some very £ J ■promising -shots'; ■' in fact, the' majority ofSjfj the successes of the day -were placed to v ' 4 the credit of tie junior marksmen. - 15 It is stated that an important mov e . is ~ t,i afoot in connection with the New-Zealand' I Shearers and Woolshed Employees' ' Association, the principal object being amalgamation with the Australian Workeis* Union, a strong industrial body of conn- ;'" ' i try unionists,, whose: headquarters are " f;;i|8l Sydney. A balks paper has" been issued J>J to each member 'of the. union, one of the "' 't$ questions, (in effect) to be answered beic- Sf|| Are you in favora of amalgamation wfth " s the Australian Workers' Union? The - " other 'two queries (also in effect):' en the " , :' paper are .—Are yon.in favour of joining.' $& j the Social Democratic Party" and ■ tie ' reUnited Federation of Labour?- Ale you in favour of-accepting £1 per 100 "for '/pM shearing fox a i farther term 1 of three years' I'< at the conclusion of the present, season! : w< The ballot papers are to be sent in to &*om returning officer;: before March 31 of nest *."•;'? year. The opinion among the ofgeisk ox ; 'i the -anion is feat the proposal to amalga- - '; mate" Australia will be earn i by & la ?e '■ majority, ih 6 suggestion. having '. "- generally found favour among the nnioo&ta.* ' ; ''• -. '''■■- d "\^' Twelve members of the Legislative • v i3| Council, dire; to -retire on January': 22, r;!ff and ten ofvth&Eu : are not very likely to be" iSBg reappointed,', says the New Zealand; Times, nfg^ This is shov^by-a nptificataon they have Jffl received from toe - Government, which, :'■'') after reminding them tha.t their term will,. ; |S es:pire on the .date named, proceeds :— .;J|fi " I desire to inform you that the Govern-" |§| ment has decided that it is inadvisable'to :-,;',; 1 | determine the question of a new appoint- |f | iment, until .-shortly before next session. J||| ! Exceptions are being made in the cases' of ; „:' '..tbfi Hon. J. Barr and the Hon. J. T. '°r 1 ' i Paul." The twelve whose terms are about !j to expire are the Eons. J. Anstey, J. pi , Barr, J. B. Oallac, W. E. Collins, E. ' l ;i I Gilmer, C. M. Luke, W. W. McC&rdle, i|# : J. T. Paul, 0. Samuel, J. R. Sinclair, G. M| > J. Smith, and W. H. Tucker. |f| •, - •& Strong opposition to the syndicalistic .'* tactics displayed in the New Zealand JM ' strike was expressed at a meeting of the M ' Independent Workers' Industrial Council, - > 1 j held on December 18, at Melbourne, aid 'MS ' I the following resolution was passed : "That : this Council of Victorian Unionists, repre- ' orgaai«ed workers unaffiliated with \^l| the syndicalistic and socialistic Trades |||| Hall Council, sends its heartiest greetings -^^ to the Arbitraticnist unionists of New -,:>'ij Zealand who have been fighting such a. t< ' plucky fight against the syndicalistic and '.. / revolutionary unionists for the right '.to'^ij work and the right to organise, and, fur- £ft| tier, we view with pleasure the deter- r pM mined attitude against this extreme sec- ",'_:" tion being taken by severa! Labour poli- ',-•"; ticians and union leaders in tie D 0.... .... - "f minion." .; > .5 A new wharf is to be built at Wellington to provide ample accommodation for > x the largest ocean-going vessels visiting the port. It will be Q4Sft long on the east ■/: side and 764 ft long oa the west, wi<b the i width of 186 ft overall. Provision is made s|tMß for shed accommodation to handle large ,'." i import cargoes, which it is proposed tojgjl! deal with inside the shed by means of electrie overhead cranes, while outside the, l , sheds it is intended to use semi-portal hydraulic cranes. Two lines cf railway track will run down on either-side <?t' the wharf,-so that, it may be used fox -expat*!? [ purposes if found necessary. - ■.■",' ' ' { |||§| ■ ':Kftevs