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Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 94, 22 April 1902, Page 4

The Union Company's steamer Mara.roa left for Sydney last evening, and took from this port 155 passengers in both classes, together with her original list from the South. The cargo of the steamer was large, and included bullion valued at £17,250, shipped by the National Bank of New Zealand for transhipment to London; 812 sacks of maize, for Sydney and Newcastle; 152 cases and 115 sacks of kuari gum, for London and the Continent: 323 sacks of fungus, for China; consignments of butter, frozen fish and canned mullet, limejuice, hides, and transhipments from the Islands.

H.M.s. Royal Arthur arrived at the Great Barrier to-day from Thames. The warships Kingarooma and Lizard are to join her, and thence the fleet sail for the- Bay of Islands. On Friday Auckland will be re-visitod and after a stay of 48 hours departure will be taken for Sydney. H.M.s. Phoebe leaves Wellington for Auckland to-morrow, and is expected to arrive here on Friday.

The whole of the Queen-street traffic between Victoria and Wellesley streets has been diveVted to the as'phalte paving on the western side of the street, and the workmen have commenced pulling up the old rails and levelling the eastern side of the road. So far no inconvenience has been experienced on the asphaltc. although it has now been tested both wet and dry, and the carters regard it as a first-class roadway. The contractors for the Electric Tramway Company had their men employed to-day in lifting out the old tram rails in Rymonds-street above the corner of Karangahape Road, and when the weather is not too moist, the work proceeds at the rate of about six chains a day. ' The recent heavy rains have quite prevented the laying of asphalte, though the concrete bed is laid ready in Queen-street down as far as Wynd-ham-street.

Mrs Gudgeon, wife of Col. Gudgeon, British Resident vi Rarotonga. is amongst the passengers leaving for the Cook Islands this evening by the s.s." Ovnkiu.

•In our report of the lioyal Commission from Victoria we mentioned that Mr J. .T. Craig stated there were, between 200 and 300 tmemployed carters. This is incorrect. What Mr Craig stated was that in his opinion there were 200 or 300 unemployed men in Auckland at the present time.

.\fr Napier, M-H.R., has forwarded the Following1 letter to the Minister of Hallways:—Auckland, 21st April, l!) 02: Sir, —'T have the honour to request that you will take into consideration the desirability of reducing* the railway excursion charge from Auckland to. Waikumete Cemetery on Sundays only to the ,sum of one shilling for a second-class return. At present the fare is so high that hundreds of the poorer class of families ore prevented from regularly visiting- the graves of their departed ones. This is a sore trial to many who have the objects of their affections laid to rest in the cemetery referred to. On Sundays there is adequate rolling stock available to convey ten times the number who at present visit Waikumete, and the reduction in the railway fare would not only confer a benefit upon a large number of deserving people, but be financially profitable to the ■Hallway Department. Trusting- the matter will receive favourable consideration.—l have, etc. (Signed) W. J. Napier.

Captain Munn, of the barquentine Kate Tatham, sighted a great waterspout on his recent voyage from Napier to Newcastle. He describes it as a magnificent sight, the .water rushing up one side and apparently down the other, while part of the time the transparency enabled the water to be seen crossing and reerossino- with : tremendous velocity in its internal formation. It also had .the appearance for about a minute of an enormous volume of water revolving at a terrific rate round a transparent centre, all being visible, the near side consequently appearing to be going in an opposite direction. Tremendous rain continued for two hours, and the waterspout then burst, and the crew of the vessel were much relieved.

An obliging defendant appeared at. the Police Court this morning in the person of a. man who was charged with the theft of a pair of boots. He

first pleaded not guilty, but when Chief-Detective Grace asked for a remand until to-morrow week he said he would plead guilty, although ho did not take the boots, as he would rather be dealt with now than have to wait for a'week. A remand, he said, would have the effect of breaking1 up his home. His Worship, however, would not accept sncli a plea of guilty, and a remand until next week. was. gran ted.

It is announced that Mr W. J. Napier, M.H.K., will address his constituents in St. James' Hall, Welling-ton-street, 'on the evening- of Wednesday, 30th inst.

The hearing of the charges brought against- officers connected with the Lauds Department by Mr. McKnight has been concluded by Mr. T. Hutchison, S.M., who sat as a Royal Commission. A number of -witnesses were examined in Dargaville. The commissioner will report to the Government. On Saturday evening last the members of the Hamilton post office staff assembled together to say good-bye to their late chief, Mr Long, who has been in charge of the office for the past six years, and who has recently been promoted to the postmaster ship of Onehunga. On behalf of the staff Mr McCrea'congratulated Mr Long on his promotion, which' they who knew him best felt to be well deserved, and at the same time expressed regret at his departure from amongst them after an association of (several years. Mr Long was then presented with a handsome silver inkstand from the staff. The flagship Eoyal Arthur left Thames this morning for Port Fitzroy (Great Barrier). St. John Ambulance Association, Auckland Centre, tenth annual report, just issiied, after referring to the excellent work accomplished during the year, says:-—"For some time past the necessity of providing better . appliance 'for the removal of the sick and injured has been very strongly felt by the Committee, as the ambulance waggon, a consider-, able portion of the cost of which was raised by this Centre, is universally admitted to be quite unfit for use in any serious case. After mature consideration, the Committee have come to the conclusion that the best mode of attaining this desirable object would be by procuring a dozen As'hford litters, with the latest improvements, including rubber tyres, and having them placed in various stations in the city and suburbs. They believe that this would be preferable to procuring a new ambulance waggon, as, in accident cases, the patient could usually be placed on a litter and Well on the way to j the hospital before the ambulance waggon could reach the scene of the accident. in order to attain this very desirable object, the Committee confidently appeal to the past and present members of the Association and the general public for the sum of J£2oO. Of course, if this appeal meets with a generous response, and a larger sum i.« provided, the public will receive the benefit in the form of a larger number of litters. While gratefully acknowledging the splendid work done by the members of the Auckland Bearer Co., many of whom are also members of the St. .John Ambulance Brigade, the Committee are much pleased to learn that the Auckland Corps of the Brigade is being re-formed as a separate institution, and will be pi'epnred to co-operaite with" the Committee in the care and use of the Ashford litters it is proposed to procure."

Mr Coles, one of th<? witnesses before the Victorian Commission, yesterday, rather startled the members by informing them that twothirds of the American boots sold in Auckland were m;Jde here- He stated that .the Americans put on a comfortable and attractive article on the market, and this had drawn the trade. They now had the American machines here, and Were turning out a, similar boot. This would in time again hold the market, but in the meantime, the course mentioned was followed.

Several properties in the neighbourhood of Swanson and Henderson have changed hands within the last twelve months. A block of 45 acres, opposite the railway station at Swanson, purchased by Mr R. Burrow;, has been surveyed and the frontage cut up into twenty township allotments, on one of which a new Congregational Church has recently been erected. A few days since another building allotment was purchased by Mr Latrobe, storekeeper, of Henderson, who intends shortly opening up a branch business thereon. A section of about 20 acres of the 45 acres referred to is likely- soon to be cleared and planted with the best kinds of outdoor vines.

The closing- date of the "Graphic" photographic competition is now drawing near, and it is time that those who have not made up their minds to try for the splendid prizes offered should take action if they are to be in the running-. We would remind our readers of the excellent offer the journal makes. A sum of twenty-five pounds sterling is offered in prizes ranging from £?> to 10/ for photographs. There are three £3 prizes, five £2 prizes, five £1 prizes, and two 10/ prizes. The competition is open to evei'y one. No one who has a camera should fail to try, and for those who can take a decent picture the chance of getting £3 for it is much too good to lie .disdained. 'It is threfc pounds easily earned; and if you do not get, a first prize you have still the chance of a second and of a third. Taking all the classes of the competition together, there are fifteen chances of a prize, the lowest of which is worth more money than tAvo or three photos ecuilcl command in tlie ordinary market. The amount of grain in the Southland district (says' the "Southland Times") may be estimated with more approximate accuracy by a guess at hazard. A fair forecast of the traffic for the approaching season would be 000,000 sacks of four bushels, or 2,400,000 bushels. The price which hay prevailed during late years has averaged 1/3, while'this season the average at the lowest has been 2ft A. simple sum will show that an advance of 9d per bushel on 2,400,000 bushels is equivalent to an aggregate increase of £90,000 in the value of the crop. It would not be over-bold to reckon that the rise in the value of oats will return £100,000 to the farmers of Southland this year, a sum which shonld very largely compensate for the depression in the wool market at sale time.

The Borough of Birkenhead offer 3d each for all rats delivered at Chelsea works. The rats must be deliverer! in small bags between 2 and 3 p.mi The i dice extends to May 5.

A special meeting o f Court Zealandia, A.0.F., is called for to-mor-i row evening, to consider the report of A.tF.F. Societies' Conference re a dispensary. ■ *

A meeting of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners will be held this evening in the Tailoresses' HaTT, Cook-street.

Sjieh prominent events of ' last week as the Government House ball, the Ayondale,. race meeting, the departure of -the Tenth Contingent from Wellington, and the Chrysanthemum Show, make the leading features of this? week's "Graphic," which jfe a mail number. On no previous occasion has* a Government House ball received such attention from the paper. There is a magnificent double-page picture of the ballroom when the dancing was at its heights and another page one of a similar subject. The scenes, which were taken from life, give excellent likenesses of thos,e present. The ]ist of guests and the description of the dresses worn, and of the ball, are also given in the issue. The departure of the Tenth Contingent from Wellington ■is fully illustrate ', and the number commences a very amusing illustrated skit purporting to be the Premier's diary,- as kept' by him on board the Dra-yton Grange. Special interest attaches to the Avondale race 'meeting, as it is the first held since the entire renovation of. the course. The latter is now quite a model in all its appointments, and second to none ■: in the colony. "Whalebone's" notes on the meeting and very latest anticipations for tomorrow, will be found in the racing news. Yachtsmen will be particularly interested in the fine series of illustrations entitled "A Halcyon Cruise." In its literary features that issue is excellent. *

The firmness of holders of wheat in the South has resulted in a further advance in /the price of flour. The rise this time is 5/ per ton, bringing lip the quotation for the locallymanufactured article to £11 5/ per ton, which is still* 5/ under Dunedin quotations.

The annual meeting of the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children takes place next Thursday. A concert is to be given in aid of the funds of this society on the 17th of May. His Excellency Lord "Ranfurly has kindly offered the use of the, ballroom at Government House for the occasion. Dr. Thomas has undertaken the position of musical director for the concert.

The friends of Mr W. Tate will b<? pleased to hear of his promotion from guard on the New Zealand Government railways to officer in charge of Manntahi station, near Patea. ' It will be remembered that whilst superintending- the arrangements of shunting at Frankton Junction, prior to the Hamilton Show, Mr Tate smashed his kneecap, and the department, considering- his misfortune and capabilities, selected him for the position named. Owing to a, bereavement in his familj' his fellow-officers were xmable to give him an intended souvenir, but a handsome memento has been forw-arded to him.

According to Dr. Pomare, Native Health Officer, the idea of having- a special hospital for treatmient of cases from the native tribes is favourably supported by the natives themselves. He explains that members of the native race have an objection to going to European hospitals,, hence they favour the idea of having a special institution for their* benefit, where chronic cases in particular,could be received for treatment. Among- the offers of assistance received by Dr. Pomare is one from a chief, who says he would iise his influence to have a thousand acres of land set apart as an endowment for the proposed hospital.

Devonport Methodist Church anniversary services were held on Sunday, and were conducted by the Revs. CIT. Garland and Chapman. Appropriate sermons were preached, and were much enjoyed by large congregations. Vocal and instrumental items were rendered by Miss Snaith, Mrs Allen, Messrs LeYs, A. Bartley, F. Gribbin and the choir. Tne collections for the day amounted to £17 13/.

The cantata "Under the Palms" is to be rendered to-morrow evening in the Grafton Road Wesleyan Oliurch by the choir ) and elder scholars, with the assistance of an efficient orchestra, the occasion being the anniversary of the Sunday School., Several leading amateurs are taking part. In order that the audience may not be inconvenienced a platform is being erected in front.

Miss Flossie Quinn, well known in musical circles in Auckland, left for, Sydney by the s.s. Mararoa last even-1 ing,, en route to Bendigo, Victoria,1 where she is to remain for a year or so for the purpose pi voice cultivation, and the study of singinal. The choir of.. St." Patrick's Cathedral (of which Miss Quinn was a highly valued member) assembled in th,e saloon of the Mararoa yesterday afternoon, and presented her with a very complimentary address and a gold bangle, suitably inscribed", in, * token- of their esteem, and expressed warm wishes for her success in- her art. The address was read by Miss Donovan, and was responded to,,.oh,,behalf of Miss Quinn,' by her brother, Mr Fred Quinn, who accompanies her on her journey. Miss Quin"n s;on arrival at Bendigo is to. go irti'der the tuition of Professor Bindley, who was the first to bring out Miss Amy Castles. Besides the presentation by the choir, the young lady was the recipient of numerous farewell souvenirs from other friends. On Thursday Mr Louis Lewis offers by auction some choice villa residences at his rooms,-Fort-street. The Ferry Company' notify an excursion to Rangitoto Island" to-mor-row. . We direct attention to the ad. of the "M.L.A." (Mutual Life Association); 1901 proved a "record year." Substantial progress was made in every desirable direction. The funds, all securely invested, are now over £1,500,000. Results show the "M.L.A." to be a well-managed and progressive institution. Mr. Will Lam- , bert is local secretary. '' We are asked to draw the attention of intending subscribers to the Auckland Liedertafel. to a notice in our advertising columns. _WADS'S WORM -FIGS-The Wonderful Worm Worners-are always effective. II boxes everywhere. " Women worried with househoid cares will find a dose of Phosphorton occasionally nn invaluable pick-me-up and tonic. All chemists and, storekeepers.—Ad. Ask for Phospaor-ton and take nothing else. It is the ideal tonic for run-down men and women. Cures brain fag. All chemists and storekeepers.—Ad.