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Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 196, 18 August 1913, Page 4

The following is Mr _>. C. Bates' weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a._i. this day:—"The indications are for easterly ■wimfe, moderate to strong, with increasing haze and cloudiness. The ■night will .proba-iy be very cold. Barometer very little movement at present, .but unsteady. Tides and _ sea moderate." Mr De-veraeux, of Waihi, reported at 8 aan. as follows: —"Easterly and northerly winds, increasing, may be expected. Heavy rain may be expected by Tuesday night. Rivers rising."'

The K-afiirly Shield match between Taranaki and Auckland, on .Saturday, created tremendous excitement, and the scene on the ground at the close of tbe game will long be remembered by those who were fortunate enough to witness it. The big crowd simply ram riot, cheering the Taranaki team to -the echo, while fully half of the. visitors were carried shoulder 'high to their dressing room. The Auckland team, which battled so hard to save the trophy, were entirely overlooked, and _ stranger would have been pardiojiexl had he formed the opinio— that the local team were the victors. Such a. scene of enthusiasm 'has never previously been witnessed at Alexandra P-rk.

A sat fatality occurred at Waipori (Otago) on Wednesday night while those iv charge of the electrical works there were busy with the repairs caused by the flood. At 2 o'clock on Thursday morning Robert Patterson, a labourer, •who had been employed at the works for about eight months, was found dead •in the cellar, which had about 4ft, of water in it. He had evidently gone into the cellar lo have a look at the flood, or for some oilier unknown reason, and when crawling along a wall about sft. from .the floor, he touched one of the high tension wires, which would be in proximity to his head. Death must have been instantaneous. Notices are posted a.t the works warning eniployeenot to entcT that portion of the building unless .accompanied .by one oil the engineers in charge. About 11.30 on Wednesday night there were three short circuits on the line. One of these occurred on tlie pole line outride tbe powerhouse, and it is most likely that it 'was caused by the unfortunate man contacting the wire, so .{bat he must have been dead about three 'hours before his body was recovered. Deceased was about 25 years of age. single, and be gave his address on joining as 34. Fitzroy Street, South Dunedin.

Though the restrictions placed upon the taking of whitebait have never been explained in a manner satisfactory to a public anxious to obtain fishfoods, a seas-oil of only two months, beginning on September 1. has been per■m'rttted -by. tbe inspector of fisheries. Until recently .the "season" for whitebait ■was determined by the appeara-noe of the fi.li in tlie rivers, and its close by their depivrture. Complaints have been general that in the days when fell is a eoertly article of food, harassing regulations should be directed against a kind of fish which is characteristic by its prolific reproduction. Tlie Waikato river is the principal source of whitebait for Auckland, and the meagre supply hs due very largely to the primitive methods used to take the fish. "Maoris •have long enjoyed an uncontested privilege of netting .tlie river, and the appearance towards the close of last season of two European,*, working from a launch provoked keen rivalry.

A writer in a Wellington discussing the question of motor Tinses v. trams, says:—The 'trams 'have cost Wellington .-tiOO.000: the motor-buses can be found for £100,000, including sheds and offices to put them in. The motor-buses would be 40 horse-power, and licensed to carry 40 passenge.re. They are built so perfectly in the Old Country that 'they run with scarcely any noise and hardly any smoke. The main upkeep of them is rrnewin. the iires. and this is nol iircr-seaTy until they have run 12.000 miles, and instead of the public -having to chase the trams, the mestor-'buses are always somewihere .handy for you. The traims are very expensive to run. All the overhead wires, poles a-nd tro.mlines are unsightly in the streets, and will very shortly have to ■be rrnewerl. which will mean a very great expense. II would be a great pity for the ratepayers to allow any more money' to be spent in tram lines. As things are going now. •tbe tramways will die out to make room for the more up-to-date motor-buses.

80-me time ago the Bathurst (N.S.W.) Municipal Council sank a. well at a spot near the waterworks indicated by a divining-rod expert. It was assured that an almost inexhaustible supply of water would be struck, but when the rock was reached only a comparatively small flow was discovered. The divining-rod expert was again consulted, and he expresesd tbe opinion that tbe rock was only a granite slide, and that beneath this the "almost inexhaustible supply" 'would be found. The council 'then decided to use a diamond drill obtained from the Public Works Department to pierce the "granite slide." But, although the drill has been driven to a depth of 100 ft., it is undensfcood that there lias been no appreciable improvement. The well has cost the council a.bor.t £2000, and the city is little better off in the matter of water 6U.pply than it was before.

The '"Dunecliin Star" says:—'"Musiclovers will regret to 'bear that it has been decided not to send the Quinlan Opera Company to New Zealand, and that a vinit from the —<-wis Wallace-Madge Titheradge Company is improbable."

At a meeting last week of the Auckland ■branch of the New Zealand Federated Boot Trade Union a resolution was ■adopted strongly protesting against the proposed amendment to the Municipal Corporations Act enabling Mayors to be elected 'by councils. In .the "course of discussion it was stated that the proposal "was an insidious attempt to prevent representatives of Labour from holding office as Mayors of boroughs.

The pliysical culture class, squad A, at tbe close of the fortnight's session, took the opportunity of expressing their appreciation and pleasure at the manner in which Miss Greenwood had conducted the class, and presented her with a silver wristlet watch as a remembrance of the happy fortnight they had spent together.

It is reported that the Maori skin disease known as ake _ke is very prevalent among the natives in the Main Trunk district, and that one or two white children are affected with the ail-tea*.

After a period of two weeks' vacation, the primary schools in the city and suburbs re-opened to-day. [During the past fortnight -the members of the teaching staffs .have been engaged at the instructional course prepared under the direct.ion of the physical education department. In view of the undesirable after-effects of vaccination in many instances the vacation has not by any means been lost time 'for the schools.

Eighty teachers met at Masterton on Saturday to lay before Sir Walter Buchanan and Mr. G. K. Sykes, M.P.'s, the necessity for improving the conditions of New Zealand teachers. Sir Walter Buchanan was absent through illness, but Mr. Sykes promised to lay before the Minister for Education the requests of the institute.

An accident at Te Kar.ika. twenty miles from Gisborne. resulted in the loss of a valuable draught horse. A dray was passing the Council chambers, behind the dray being tied a double-furrow plough, and two leader horse? n-ere tied behind •the plough. On a nib: err c.ir approaching the two horses took frigbl. and one of them plunged forward and was impaled on the steering handle nf the plough, which entered its breast to a depth of 2ft., killing it almost instantly.

The manager of the Stratford branch of the National Bank of New Zealand, who has just returned to Stratford, after -pending a I—ree-_lonths' •'noli-.l.iy in Sydney, speaking to a friend in V.'anganui, remarked that he found thin_s painfully quiet in Sydney on account of the smallpox scare. The tramears were empty, and one of the great furnishing houses of Sydney was compelled to dismiss five | hundred of its employees a week ago, owing to the quietness of business.

The lock-up at Wellington in the early days wa3 not a very substantial structure, according to reminiscences narrated at a meeting of the Old Settlers' Association. It was stated that the wall was made of branches of trees, and if a man was put in for drunkenness be could be supplied with liquor by his friends pushing the spout of a utensil filled with liquor through the fence. The court proceedings were at times amusing. On one occasion, a settler, who was the chief of a. clan of Scotsmen that used to control a portion of Wellington, got apprehended for insobriety. The members of the clan were very put out, and consulted a solicitor on the matter. He duly gave them advice, and when the '-laird" was charged next day with imbibing too freely, the clan appeared armed with buckets. Tbe magistrate asked what the men with the buckets wanted, and the solicitor explained that they had come to '•bail" their chief out. "There is not much not., .able improvement, so far, in the condition of the local money market" (states the "Trade Review*'), "but we believe there is a tendency towards some measure of improvement. This can hardly be expected to be a very decided movement for some (little time yet at this time of year, but the outlook appears fairly promising. The Dominion's trading figures for tbe twelve months .to June 30th show a decided improvement over the precedm."? twelve months The balance of trade is much better than it was a year ago. though there is still room for improvement, and it is highly desirable that there should be a larger balance. The value of exports is keeping up splendidly, and the month of July shows further improvement. Business generally continues fairly active. ... In about another month the dairy produce will start, and the money from tins will be circulating in country districts, and assisting biijiiness generally. As far as can be seen at present the outlook for the season appears very promising."

The late arrival of the Aorangi at Wellington on Friday from San Francisco was in some measure attributable to the stopping of the engines .it sea on three occa-sions. From 0 a.m. to 3 p.m. on one day the vessel was stopped through engine-room troubles. Before arrival at Taliiti tbe Aorangi was held up through a similar cause.

A Gisborne settler has placed an acre of land at the disposal of the Department of Agriculture for seven years, and it will be used to ascertain what fruits are most suitable to the district. Two trees of each variety are to be planted.

The latest and best .-tory from outback has to do with an incident which occurred only a few days ago on a farm in the Wanganui hinterland. A young farmer, noticing the cows were eatin. and destroying some mangolds he bad heaped up in a small piddock for* his pigs in the winter, decided at once to go to work and mend the fence. Yoking up his horse and cart, and putting what wire and tools he needed into the cart, he drove through the gap in the troublesome fence, and started in earnest to work. Imagine his disgust when, having finished his four hours of wire-tight-ening, plus po=t-bo!e digging, fitting, etc., he found that he bad nvt way of getting the horse and cart out of the paddock! There was no gate. He had to pull down the fence he had just put up and re-erect it later.

A mishap of a peculiar nature occurred, in a Wellington street. The driver of a motor car. having pulled the vehicle up in that thoroughfare, dismounted and went to look at the engine. A lady passenger, tho only other occupant, also desired to get out of the car, and in so doing her dress caught in th" brake. This set the wheels free, and the motor plunged down the steep roadway. However, it did not go very far. a galvanised iron fence blocking its runaway. Neither the lady passenger nor the driver were injured, and little damage was done to the car, but a fair-sized hole was torn in the fence.

An ex-Mayor of Christchurch (Mr. C. M. Gray), who has returned from a trip to Fiji and Samoa, found a good deal to interest him there. In Suva, the mayor is a doctor, the town clerk is a lady, and one of the councillors is a wealthy Chinese gentleman, Mr. Ming Ting. There are two newspapers. "I bought one for threepence," said Mr. Gray, "and read all there was in it in five minutes." Suva has recently had its taste of the prevalent Labour unrest. The native wharf labourers, who receive 2/ a day and "tucker," decided that a rise of wages was necessary, so when the next steamer arrived they took to the woods and were not to be found. The agent for the steamship company, however, took advantage of the fact that there are no industrial unions in the South Seas. He sent to a neighbouring island, and got as many labourers as he wanted, and the first strike collapsed. Sir Robert Stout held that the Wellington Missions to Seamen Soeietv has to submit the name of the mis3ioner they desire to appoint for approval to Mrs. Williams and the other trustees of the board. If Mrs. Williams does not approve of the missioner they appoint they have no further right to oectipv the premises. New potatoes grown in the Auckland district aTe already on the Wellington market.