LONDON TO MANCHESTER BY AIR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 101, 29 April 1910, Page 4

LONDON TO MANCHESTER BY AIR.

If all the details supplied in our cahla' columns about M. Pat-ban's London-to-_fa_,chesier flight are correctly stated, the great aeronaut has apparently lost the coveted prize by twelve minutes. He started from London on April 27th at 5.20 ajn., and reached Manchester at s—_ a__. on April 28th; out, as one of the conditions laid down by the "Daily Mail" were that the flight must not take more I than M hours, Paidban seems to have

found the prize at the last moment snatched from his grasp. As the aerial line from London to M__c_es_r _s only 170 miles, this may seem at first sight a very slow rate of travel. But we have to allow in the first place ior the immense amount of deviation from the course due to contrary winds; and, further, it must be remembered that .we chief di___lty in aerial "point-to-point" flights is that it is almost impossible to see one's way at any great distance above the earth, except in the clearest and calmest weather. When -Wilbur Wright, the great American aeronaut, was asked his opinion about the probability of the "Dally Mail" prize being won at-the pre--sent stage of the development .of aviation, he replied that he did not' expect anyone to succeed at the first trial. The mere mech___al difficulties in themselves are a serious obstacle. "If one hundred automobiles should start for a psizo offered for a trip from London to Manchester at a high rate of speed, with ■only two stops en route, how many would succeed at the first attempt?" Even a casual knowledge of aeronautic records enables -us to appreciate tbe point of Mr. Wri-k*' 3 question. - But w___ier Paulhan has gained or lost the prize, he has performed a feat of marvellous endurance and skill, and the bare attempt to achieve a .task that even two vara ago was practically impo-Sibie is in itself a striking indication of the rapid progress that Man is making toward the Conquest' of the Air.

Mr Bates reports for 24 hours from 9 aJn. this day: "Winds norther'y, moderate to strong; hazy and changeable weather; probably-a very cold night; glass fall skwiy."

Some of the excuses sent by parents to the Truant Officer to explain why children have not been attending school regularly are both original and amusing. One anxious Maori mother writes from a country district, stating: "I am not quite well since l have got your summons about (say Sammy). I told him to stop from school because be is the only son I have as the others are not stopping with mc. Now, clear Sir, I tell you the reason why i i kept him from school was because my husband is dead and there is no one tc look after mc, and my only son is helping mc with home work, all days after day, and weeks after weeks." The Maori; lady closes her letter not with the fash-, ionable " __t Ora," but the benign wish for. the. Truant Officer;. "God bless yon."

The ceremony of formally opening the Grafton' bridge far tra_—: yesterdaj: afternoon was one of the most successful" public functions held in Auckland for some time. There was an astonishing crowd of people present at both ends at the bridge,- and the throng in _ymondsstreet was so dense that tram car and other traffic had to be practically suspended. The arrangements made by the City Council for keeping the crowd back and the control of the crush by the police were excellent, and, generally speaking, the proceedings were most orderly. The' only disorder that occurred was at the end. of the function, when the rope barrier parted, and a crowd o.* rather eager people scrnnmaged for pieces of the ribbon which tbe Mayoress severed when .opening the bridge.. After the ceremony the Mayor and the Mayoress entertained the co_nciUors _ai_ the officials and a few friends .in the Mayor's room in the 'Municipal Buildings, light refreshments -were served, and/the toast of the Mayor and Mayoress (proposed by Mr Myers)' was __Iy: honoured. A slight error occurred in ocx report of the ceremony yesterday afternoon. It was stated that Mrs Grey severed the ribbon with a pair of silver scissors. As a matter of -act, the __ssors used were a very dainty pair ol gold ones, presented to the Lady Mslyoress by the city engineer (Mr W. Ii Bush), and -made to his order at the late Mr A Kober_ establishment.

Regarding the appropriation of £1000' by —le Cabinet for the prison reform farm at Topanui, tire Minister for Justice (tbe Hon. Dr. Tv—lay), in conversation -with a reporter, said the money would be devoted to the erection-of accommodation for the first •batch of prisonens. As soon as the accommodation was available and the prisoners -were housed there they would start the work of "breaking in" the farm and preparing it for the advent Of a further hatch, until the farm was in full wot_~ig vrder. when it would be capable of accommodating about 300 men. T_e result of the establis—m_it of the farm, adTfed the G-jnister, would be to relieve the pressure on other prisons, and to-enable the closing of tbe prisons already referred to to -be carried out.

The damage caused by the -outbreak of j fire in the engine-room _t tbe Kaitangata j Coal Company's mine on Monday morning was confined to lite air-compressor and the electric lighting plant. The ha_ing engines, the endless wire rope, and the main boilers were never in 'danger. The air compressor affects the dip workings only, and the output. of the mine can easily be maintained from the rise workings. Some of* the damaged machinery —_i be repaired, and it is not •possible yet to assess the actual damage done. The company is experiencing no difficulty in meeting demands of consumersi. On Tuesday some 90 railway trucks of «o_l w_re __j_t_t_ _ from -the mine.

A local .resident, .says the —Ore daxd," had an experience one evening Hast week which he is not likely to forget in a hurry. He was on _he railway —ne at _ast Gore at the time the evening express from the 'North was due;' but did not hear the approach of the train -until he -was hit in the bad.c hy the'engine and knocked over, fort—lately falling —ear of the line. He received no irrjjrties ■whatever, and aftier hrushing the dust | from his- clothes proceeded on his journey. -— < -

The following interarting paragraph the death of an old worn-J with 283 descendants, some of whom are in Kew Zealand, appears in the "Lowestoft J.o_r——l" of March 12th: "Mrs

Frances Cooke- (late of Southacre) bap r-cently passed away at Gxwick, at the age of 95. She claffiled to have 283 descendants, four of whom belong to the fifth generation. For tbe past 19 years she has lived with her daughter, Mrs Greef, of Oxwick. She had two other daughters living in Norfolk, one in Lan.casTlire, and one in 2Cew Zealand; also three sons living at Saffron Walden, in South Wales, and New Zealand. She was left a widow'3s years ago, her husb__d being gamekeeper for many years in the -employ of the late Mr Andrew Eountaine, of 2—rford Hall, a daughter of .whom kindly allowed the old lady a pension of 5/ per week for -34 years, until she becaone entitled to the State old age pension. .She was grandmother to -Ira Westwood, of the "Westwood Family" from "New Zealand, who visited this county last year with five of theii■ family. One of their sons, named Wilfred, aged 12 years, weighed 21st 6lb, and one of their daughters, Ruby, weighed 17* st. An exhibition was held at King's "Lynn. Norwich, and other places last sum-—" In the -Supreme Court ai Wellington on Monday, his Honor Mr Justice Edwards

granted probate in tbe estates of the f ol-

lowing deceased persons: Emily de Eenzy (Mr __u —•ej J 6 motion), Emily 'Ellen

Savory (Mr Colder), Eliza Ann Hegton (Mr Mbwlem), Mary Eleanor Gardiner (Mr Campbell), John Sill - (Mr Baxter),

Isidor Alexander (Mr Coleman), Charles

Johnson (Mr Gilchrist), Isabella McLean "(Mr Stewart), Fran cis Warren (Mt Bloomfield) -and James Henderson (Mr MeVeagh). Letters of administration were granted under the wills of Hector •Maedonald- (Mr _owrie) and -John Gibson (Mr -lowlem).

A small band of Socialists present, at the annual meeting of East Christ—lurch householders on Monday took violent exception to the display of military pictures on the walls _' the schoolroom in which the meeting was held. One gentleman moved: "That in the opinion of this meeting, pictures of -bloodshed, murder and war are not fitting to be displayed on the walls of the schoolroom." The motion was duly seconded, but on being put to the meeting was lost.

A writ for £750 damages has been served on the Wellington Harbour Ferries Company, Ltd- by Messrs. Oregon and Dixon, on .behalf of Emma Sellstrom, widow of Carl Frederick Sellstrom, who was a seaman employed on the steamer Dnco, which was lost on the voyage from Wellington to Chathams in September last.

On Monday evening last a number of ladies and gentlemen interested in the"! Missions tolSeamen met to hid farewell to Mr. Ralph, who is leaving to take up | Church work in the South. Several speakers, including the Re v. Mr. Yo uiigr, in the course of their remarks, i—erred to the excellent work, done by Mr. Ralph, and the kindly relations existing between him and the workers.' Mr. Arscott, on behalf of the ladies and gentlemen, connected with the movement, presented Mr. Ralph with a travelling bag, which he was asked to accept as an expression of their kindly feelings towards him. Mr. Ralph, in replying, thanked the donors for the gift, and expressed regret at having to leave those who had so faithfully supported him daring his labours in Auckland.

Week-end shopping. Central shop (opp. H—_ Arcade) and lower shop (opp.i 8.N.Z.) are both open ———rdays —U a

p.m. John Court, Ltd., ft— atreet.— (M-L

The question of the autonomy of the -Chui-eh of Jgrtgl-na _n 'Stem Zeal and •was/ referred .Id by -he __v. T: _L Sprott (vicar of St. faults, W-Qingi—n) at a parishion_cs' _n—_ing. He regretted that a T_so—da—n in _a~_ur -of New —___iid . autonomy was lost at the last Synod,' but pointed -wit that the position would ;be ahnplified if the growing —seling in __igland in Javour of di-establishment je-, suited in that being brought about.

At a special meeting of the 'Birkenhead 'Bonwigh Council, held last night, to cons4_er the —damates _or _le ensuing year, tbe Council decided before making any -llocat—_ of metal for _ew woTk throughout -the h oro—gh tor the cnrreut year, to make an __ipec—on of _ms different *oads .so as .to enable them to decide as io the most urgent require—-«_ts. It was decided to make tbe visit «on Wednesday ne_t.

Professor Scott and Mt. A. L. Beattie, the -Con-riissioners appointed to inquire into -and report -tpon the suit _bflity and ___ieney of the braking system in use -on tbe _.—;—( and trams, have been occupied during the last few days '_—tking exhaustive tests. As the _lectric Tramway C—tnpany h_ve .-intimated their willingness to replace. -he e__>—ng brakes, the 'Go-unission-cs have flirected their —tientian to the .air brakes, which —be 'Company is preps-'ed"t— __i:_l and the ■_io—n_Q_i -strongly reconanend should be -adopted. _te—lanical appli-., ances have been brought into jreguisition for getting the ;cn_rect weight of the cars, and ascertaining the speed. Tbe cars have been taken to the steepest gradients to be found in the service, jiotably the Parnell Tise, with a grade -oi a fraction over one in eighty and College Hill ;(tme in eleven), and on these "the air-brake, m conjunction -witbthe present hand-brake, has been subjected to ~ery severe tests. The stops made in pra____lly ev_ry instanne have been particularly good, and the air-, brake shown to _c "very effective. The final test is to be made on the "W____.eystreet _—st line, where the grade is _ne in thirteen,_t 6 d*_oi_; tm 'S_-key morning. —bis "wiU ■comp_E-e- —»c- _tvestigations to be made in -——-land-; and the Commissioners leave for Wellington _n Sunday night.

The Assessment •_—urt to hear ---jep-' tiohs to the -v-10-t-M- at Axch-E-wa-' the shortest _n record this year. __n__ was only one objectimt—that of J. —SoY litis, for wham __Er. John Ale—nider ,ip- ' peared—and this was disposed of yesterday afternoon hy Mr. 15. C. Uutten in »

few minutes, the assessment being re-

duced from _>15 to £12. Mr. John Franklin, tfae valuer, appeared for :t_e "Eoad BoaTd.

_eferring to the release —rom prison of _L S. Coburn, manager nf *■ "New Zealan u Truth, 3 ' who -was .sentence- to four months for drcula—ng ■nbseene _t___ure, -be' ______r for "J-sfcee -aid to _ "*i —ftf —jorter: -'__b ' M_r tence passed upon _oT>i__ «uln_re__y <asB_r_ed the law;, jand _lade it _—_rly and publicly known -hat —w ~—ch _» offence even a—am of good ■•__——ter, ■who —erived no benefit from, the offence, _ray he imprisoned."

According to the GTeymotrth eorresponde—t of the CShristchurch "Press," a notification appears in the Greymouth Magfetrate's' Courthouse -which ~—.tea that Messrs David Ziinan and Telix

Campbell have been granted a min-nd prbspe—ang"Bten3ef over' -SajMO 'sates '& and adja—mt fi) Kotuk-j —rthey purpose boring for oi_"'-he "' btb_r s^6-: heensea granted- for this purpose are held "byMr Joseph Taylor' (2000 _-d-the Hon. J. D. Ormond and Mr —- D. _>.; McLean, of Hawke's Bay (2000 _er_s)., It is _id-rstood _tat Mr l)_via'_3_—n

has had pla*ed at his command a capital of two millions for _ie"-' development of the oil area in Wes———L

. An application was received »t last night's -meeting of the 'Birkenhead Borough Council'from Mt. Ernest .Roberts (scoutmaster Birkenhead Troop Boy Scouts) for permission to erect a hall for the use of the scouts on the reserve

overlook—ig the newferTb-eo—crete wharf, lit being proposed to plant ormuDental .shrubs and otherwise, beautify the grounds.- On the motion of Cr.—too. Had-: field, the request was granted, subject

±p _te approval —f a co__t—tee eon_sting of the __yor, Coon——ors Tom __—field, J. G. Kay,-Wm. Wallace, and E. G. Ske-tes.

■ One of the results of the recent hu__cane in Fiji is that there will.be a shortage of bananas for the- next few months, and as this is one of .the main standby

fruits Jor the winter,'it is an. unpleasant

matter from a -cons—herte point of view. It is, however, much more serious when • considered from the. grower* standpoint. In some districts hot _ tree _as been iCeft standing, with the -exception of suckers that cannot fruit for at least four months, and even then the crop —ennot come up to the standard -of '--hat from older trees. It is, therefore, considered likely by those in the. Island fruit trade that bananas -will rule higher in Auckland this.winter than they have' for the last SO years, more especially as Tonga is shipping less of this fruit, and it is understood that Cook Islands cannot ship at all this season. Great damage has also been done to the sugar cane. In the Rewa district one writer estimates the loss at as high as £50,000. .. . Shipping has been inconvenience- "for

the past three days, owing to tele-

graphic communication with Cape i Maria Van Diemen "being suspended, in consequence of the breakage of the wire between, the island on which the lighthouse is built sad- the nminlan d. Workmen have made repeated attempts to repair the line, but owing to the rough " weather, they had to desist in their efforts, having only a small boat at their disposal, The line was still unworkable to-day. With the near approach of winter, and the consequent increased demand for coal, the trouble with regard; to the shortage in the supply of railway trucks has again become acute. .On Wednesday the Taupiri Company's Extended mine had to stop work at 1.30, and yesterday Ralph's had to knock off at 2—o, and the —attended at 3.30, all for the want of trades. A coal-dealer having shown telegrams from the mine to that* effect from the manager, a representative of the Auckland " Star " waited upon the chairman of directors (Mr. E. W. Allison), who remarked: "Yes, it's quite'true that trade is being disorganised owing to the want of railway trucks. At the same time, in fairness to the Hon.. J. A. Millar, it is only right to state that during the past year,-since he has been in charge of the Railway Department, there has been a marked improvement in the supply of tracks as compared with- what we bad to suffer before. Within the last three months, however, the trouble has again set in. It is a bad thing not only j for the company, but for the men in the mine, as, while w_ lose business, they lose wages When the work has to stop for want of trucks to carry away the coal. We have had a very large number of orders for delivery on the Main Trunk line i earncelled, because we were not in. a po—--1 tion to deliver the coal simply on account lof trucks not being _-_b-_*."

j A_ss Amy Murphy and Mr. Horace Hlint's-_ongand piano roe—— on Monday next, "May _nd, pr_m__b to he a brilliant .success. Mi-i Murphy comes _rcHh from her Sydney and Melbourne triumph-, where critics ate ~-__b__—;t_ orer her vocal and artistic excellence. _n Sydney :_ie -was engaged with Mr. Andrew _lack, for the -Royal Phil—armanie Society's pexior_ance —f " The Prying Itatchman," and was the soprano soloist in no Jess than jour of the So— concerts 'last year, -diss Murphy and Mr. Hunt will be heard in the programme of some of the finest -and most beautiful works in tne liteT-ture of music. It —— he absolutely impossible lor these two artists to give a second recital in Auckland, as Alias Murphy leaves on Tinss-ay next lor Christchureh, where she is due to appear in "E__if" the following week. Mr. H. Barry Coney mSt be the aaskt.ing vocalist at the A——land recital, and Auckland—'s will w—-ome the -opportunity of again rheaTing the favourite singer, -tooting for tbe i—_tal is _t Wildman and ' Arey- " '

A — inrple and TBefj4.eDptri«]n_ce for dealing -with they pest has been inwente- by Mr. Charles .hi_ls, watchmaker, of Victoria-street, Christchureh, says the " Press." The apparatus is a very compact clockwork —Iffi, lnng anns ! —f wire. to which streamers are attached revolving in a manner which makes it impossible tor flies to -sttle. The apparatus,: which can —c placed in -bop •windows, on perambulators, _r in any mother posi—on that is thought desirable, has been the subject of testimonials from medical men,, hotelkeepers, __d others.

Tbe annual meeting of the thphan Home Trust Beard is being held at the Diocesan Office this afternoon. This year is somewhat 'interesting in the history of the institution inasmuch as it mairks the _ftiefh year eff _s existence. Starting originally on _n _ipretentious scale, merely a cottage in which three orphans j-__v_a -riendly "shelter, She movement __s_e—doped during the intervening -baleen tury into quite an imp*—taut institution, . accomplishiteg _n _iest—naWamount of good in educating and training children who. have teen Tabbed ~eS . lawful gua.rdi-_B_ip. It is in—n—tting "to 1 recall the circ_m_t__e_3 under which the movement -was first =_t_rtad: In the C—•• ing mouths i_f -he year __» *. another, occupying — —n__l cottage _—_ Syansnils_tre_t, was _ro«___ mc hrar.-nfl t~ks 3—ax at fl» _u__re —r __r. -tree young chiidren, and a crJnferen_e'_etw—ai __ 3_v. John T-oyd, -hen T—sx —t 6— l__r*,«_- JDr.._,' -. -tenderme, reßultetf in these two gen-em*, gu-rai(teeing __ Tent —: _ cofti^ge'__l the east —! _n -*- iend__t, bo that the j_pfc_n~ would he properly cared for. $——i ± h_ ——ill hs•ghmi_g the Orphan -tame grafi-aUy em_'ge_ _oto __-_stft_tra_. of.great "value in relieving a, _pS-E evil which rap-ily increased as the populat—_ -I the _ra_liygrew. W-h -o_ed -wcessity for larger premises the home was xemov__ to Parnell, where it was -maiatai-ed 4-1 —e_fcroy—l -y*-* —i-l-JOS.- A «—«-©*———ty acres was then -obtained »t Jtapatoeto*, and a connnodiwis hrick"b_l__g erectej to _~S—_m———e «i_ty _n_a*es, "ait h pro--vision for exb__>__ «s Teguireui—rt» nesesSit-te, una *_—s permit Sot hon_ing' at ___t one hundred and twenty orphans j the intention 'of the manage--oent _tso-being *_ mate the iastit-tion ;_s—_f-s_pp_rt—lg aspo——-— The pressing heD-'for a home of t_e _iii«L is 'de--| ihohstrated in the tact that the present |

accommodation .._Kinad«juat_:..f»-accept

all the _pp_e_nt6 *aiws«—_, and-mumeroi— tit* serving-.iskwfc.lujw;*ad tbibe.—ini—l-way 1 ; ,_/.>:-.--'■:.'-;>' _sl

Saturday shoppers-are we_ <_fcered-for •in -Queen-street -Ay John-Cto-Af itd. Central shop and lower .shop open till-6 p-n.' every Saturday.—(Ad.)