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Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 66, 17 March 1908, Page 4

The following is Capt. Edwin's weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a.m. this day: "Northerly moderate to strong winds, glass fall slowly." Gisborne Harbour Board has received a letter from Mr. Marchant regarding the report of Messrs. Coode, Son and Matthews, on the breakwater scheme. Mr. 'Marchant adheres to his estimates ot cost, and to the site located by him as being more favourable than the alternative site suggested by the consulting (engineers. Mr. Marchant furthjer explains that the curve in the breakwater which the English, engineers proposed to straighten, was made with the object of eliminating any range there might be from seas sweeping past the entrance to the breakwater. A straight wall would confine the waters more, and make the harbour more subject to the range. Mr. Marchant suggests that if the Board should desire to take further engineering advice on the points where he and Messrs. Coode, Son and Matthews are at variance, Mr. Cyrus Williams, engineer to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, should be consulted. A special meeting of the Board will be held on Monday afternoon next to consider the scheme. The sudden death took place last evening at Edendale, Mount Koskill, of Mrs. Janet Miller, mother of the Rev. A. Miller, of the Edendale Presbyterian Church. While sitting at tea with her daughter, she complained of feeling unwell, and expired almost immediately. The deceased lady had not been ill, nor had she felt any occasion to see a doctor. Dr. Rouerton was called in, but could not certify as to the cause of deatn. Mrs. Miller, who was in her 75th year, was a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and came to Auckland a little less than two years ago. There is a lady resident of Waihi who was born in Te AroLa, and although she is 30 yearrs of age nas just paid her first visit to Auckland. This seems scarcely credible in these days, but it appears that Thames can go even one further than that, in that a settler of one of her country - towns has never Deen farther north than Tararu or south than Karanga* hake, although she is a married' woman with quite a large family. Addressing a public meeting at the Thames on Saturday, the Rev. E. H. Taylor said: "Miners' complaint is contracted through working underground in constant changes of temperature. Well, would it not be wise to suggest that whereas some £200,000 has gone out of the Thames these last three years in dividends from gold raised/ the. least these shareholders of dividend paying mines could do, is to put down sufficient of their dividends to pay for the "shelters" needed for men who may have contracted this horrible disease in producing their dividends? I think so, and I should have no hesitation in making such a request. I trust, however, that in any case the "shelters" will soon be an accomplished fact." Three oil-boring experts arrived in Auckland from New Plymouth on Sunday, viz., Messrs J. Davies (late manager of Moa Petroleum Company), Simpson (who came from California for the Taranaki Petroleum Company), and Keith (manager of the Bonithon Petroleum Well). All three gentlemen speak favourably of,the indications of good oil being got in Taranaki. Mr. Keith, who has a contract in hand to carry the Bonithon bore down 3,000 ft., is very favourably impressed with the character of the strata now being penetrated, and the prospects of "striking oil" are considerably good. Mr. Simpson returned to New Plymouth yesterday, and Messrs. Keith and Davies this afternoon. At last night's meeting of the Mt. Eden Borough Council a deputation was introduced by Councillor W. Warnock to explain the position of those ratepayers living on the Epsom-Mt. Albertroad. Mr. McKinstry, who headed the, deputation, said the drainage of the Ep-som-road was such that it was fast becoming a fever hot-bed. For 25 years he had been paying rates, and the drainage had never been worse than at present. J At one time a drain did exist, but the 1 construction of a footpath blocked that. A loan had then been raised to carry the drainage through on sanitary lines,! but that proposition had come to a' standstill, two of- the residents of Epsom-1 road having refused to allow the drain to go through their property. The consequence was that he took the drainage of Mt. Eden %on his property. He was quite willing that the drain should be put through his land. The Mayor replied that the cost of running the drain over Mr. McKinstry's property would be a good deal in excess of the' original estimate. If it could not be I done with the loan money, he would oppose the work being carried out at pres- j ent. It was resolved that the Streets Committee should meet the residents of Epsom-road on the ground, and go. I thoroughly into the matter. \ At the last meeting of the Auckland City Council a letter was received from Dr. Stopford, addressed to the Mayor, resigning his seat. Dr. Stopford stated that he was . compelled to adopt this j course owing to the break-down in! health of his late partner, Dr. Stewart, I which made it necessary for him, for the j time being, at any rate, to devote the whole of his time to his practice. He I concluded by saying: "I cannot speak too I highly of you as chairman; strict im- 1 partiality has been the baton which you I have wielded. To the Councillors I bid I a regretful farewell, and to all I utter j my regrets that I am leaving so goodly a company." The resignation was accepted with regret; and in addition to the official acknowledgment sent by the \ Town Clerk, the Mayor sent a personal j reply \o Dr. Stopford's letter, in which ! he expressed the surprise and regret with \ which he had received his resignation,, though he said he could readily under-1 stand that one who had shown so much I zeal and interest in municipal affairs' would be reluctant to remain in the Council if he were unable to continue to take the same active part in its work as he had done since his election. "Where are the Dead ?" is the subject of the lecture .to be delivered in the Church of Christ, West-street, to-morrow evening, by the Rev. Geo. Aldridge. A private telegram from Napier states that circus had a record audiI ence last night, the tent being filled at j three and four shillings.

A Rugby team, representing the four Universities of New Zealand, will visit Sydney during the coming season, leaving the Dominion on July 2f». Three matcneswill be played, two against Sydney University. An open verdict was returned by the jury in an inquest touching the death of an unknown man, whose body was found floating in the harbour on Sunday morning. With regard to the evidence given by Dr. Moir, who condemned the practice of bringing derjomposcd bodies ncross the harbour to Auckland, the jury added a rider, requesting the coroner to forward the e? l«'i_.3 to the Auckland and Devonport Councils and to the Health Department. A number of delegates of boot Importing firms in New Zealand are about to meet in Wellington to consider the tariff in regard to slippers. The duty charged by the Customs in various places has varied by reason of divergence of view as to when a slipper is not a slipper, and if it does not sometimes become a shoe for duty purposes. The want of a precise definition of a slipper is sorely felt by importers, hence the meeting. The Minister of Customs (Hon. J. A. Millar) is to be asked to settle the matter once and for all, by having the nature of the goods clearly defined. It is held by importers that the definition sometimes applied to slippers by the Customs is one that is at least 40 years old, but that the split lift and top piece of to-day, in other words the slight heel of from one-eighth to a-quarter of an inch high, should not be deemed to constitute a slipper a shoe. Last week Mr. Frank Lawry, M.P. for Parnell, took a party of friends for a run up to Waerenga, to enable them to obtain an idea) from personal observation, respecting the kind of work being done on the Government experimental farm, and vineyard, and Mr. A If. Kidd, M.P., intends taking a party up on Thursday next. Some misconception has gained ground to the effect that the expenses connected with these excursions are being borne by the Government. This is entirely erroneous, no concessions whatever having been made beyond the j ordinary railway concession that is made to a travelling party exceeding twelve in number. The time for lodging objections to the values fixed by the valuer of the One-1 hunga Borough Council expired yesterday. No fewer than 122 objections have been lodged, and it is expected that there I will be a protracted sitting of the assesv irent court, which is to be held before Mr. H. W. Northcroft, S.M., on a date | i yet to be fixed. Over a thousand pounds is at present j I owing to the Thames Hospital Board for unpaid fees. Yesterday was the anniversary of the great hurricane at Samoa, where the Calliope's memorable feat in steaming out to sea in the face of the tremendous gale was performed. Five years ago yesterday, the great massacre at St. Petersburg (Red Sunday) took place. Care is being taken by the Education Department (says the "Melbourne Argus") to make the special issue of the "School Paper," which is now being prepared for distribution at the FrancoBritish Exhibition, a thoroughly Australian production. The articles and lessons which have been composed for it all come from the hands of Australians, many of the authors being Victorian teachers. For instance, there is an article which describes the lower portion of the Yarra and the dock accommodation of Melbourne ports. Another deals in a bright manner with a visit to a shearing shed. Other authors explain the nature of a Victorian butter factory and an Australian hop plantation. There are interesting lessons upon the production of wheat in the Mallee and raisins at Mildura. Mining is not forgotten, for there is a good children's article upon a visit to a Bendigo gold mine. Children over the seas will also be able to learn in the paper about Victorian maize, and Gippsland trees, and the coming of spring. The paper is well illustrated, and it contains numerous quotations from the works of Australian poets. It is understood that the marble bust of the late Mr. Seddon, for which Air. Nelson Illingworth, the well-known sculptor, received his first commission from the New Zealand Government, will be delivered during the next few days (says the "Dominion") The sculptor-was unable to secure any sittings from Mr. Seddon, though the bust was ordered before the late Premier's death; but Mr. Illlingworth has worked from personal recollection and from photographs, and has been guided by the late Prime Minister's family in his task. The natives of Papawai, near Greytown, some time since bethought them of the purchase of a piano for their meeting house, and as an instrument would cost a large amount of "utu," the patriarchs of the race put their heads together and evolved a scheme whereby the money could be raised in a pleasing and easy manner. The plan hit upon (says the local "News") was to hold a series of original concerts in the meeting house, the performers being of the younger Maori generation. Careful schooling brought the performers into a state of proficiency, and the first performance, which included theatrical items, proved a huge sucess. Each Friday night from that time a concert has been held, and now the tribe has the pleasure of owning a fine instrument, and has a credit balance in hand. The show business had caught on, however, and the natives showed no signs of tiring of the weekly programmes, so it was decided that the concerts should be kept up, the funds from which would go towards the purchase of frills and fripperies for the actresses. Consequently each • Friday night at Papawai sees a large muster of natives and a goodly sprinkling of pakehas to witness the performance. The Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company has now almost completed arrangements for the erection of a very large condensed milk factory in the Taranaki district. The cost of building a factory of this kind sufficiently | large enough to supply the whole of New Zealand, and with modern condensing i machinery, means investing no less a | sum than £70,000. The company manufactures the well-known brands of , "Nestles," "Milkmaid" condensed milk, ' "Ideal" unsweetened cream, and is also a large manufacturer of cocoa and choco- j lates. It is the opinion of experts that it is only a matter of a few years when Australia and New Zealand will be supplying nearly the whole world with milk condensed in these countries; and, with the trade in the hands of a wealthy company like "Nestles," New Zealand, with its abundant supply of milk, would be in a position (says an exchange) to co|ppete with other countries for the world's trade, >

At an early hour this morning a fire broke out in the premises occupied by Mr. Ferdinand Borgolta, of Park-road. Everything appeared safe last night when Mr. Borgolta retired, but this morning he was awakened by his wife, and found the stable and washhouse in flames. He gave the alarm, and the brigade, which soon arrived, managed to confine the fire to the outbuildings, which were destroyed, together with a cart and a gig. The damage is estimated at about £155, but the whole property, with the exception of the vehicles, is covered by insurances totalling £400 with the United Insurance Company. The fact was mentioned by Mr. A. Creamer at a special meeting of the Grey Lynn Borough Council last night that Henry Donald, son of Councillor A. Donald, had his thigh broken on Sunday. The youth was sitting on the handrail of the bridge at Cox's Creek, when a horse that was passing shied, and, as a result, came into collision with young Donald. One reason why grocers sometimes do not sue for long-standing debts is that the New Zealand law requires (failing an acknowledgment of indebtedness) that a fully detailed account shall accompany the summons. This rule applies even to a case in which a customer may always have been behind in his payments. In such a case, if the tradesman wishes to recover the balance due by the process of the Court, he must furnish particulars of all the goods supplied, including those which may be taken to have been paid for. At a meeting of the Napier Grocers' and Produce Dealers' Association, it was stated that the law on the point was different in Victoria. There, it was asserted, a bill, if not disputed by the customer within a certain period, was accepted by the Court wtihout details. There is some talk of petitioning the New Zealand Parliament for an alteration of the law to bring it into line with the Victorian practice. Mr." David Lusk, well-known in the Ashburton district as clerk of works for many important public buildings, died suddenly on Saturday night, as the. result of bursting a blood vessel. Mr. Lusk was only married on Wednesdov last. Shakespear and Co.'s annual sale, Thursday, 19th March, at 10 a.m. Hia Majesty's Arcade.—(Ad.)