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Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 67, 19 March 1915, Page 4

The foil owing is Mr. D. C. Bates' weather forecast for 24 hours from 0 a.m. thin day: "The indications are for moderate to -strong easterly winds. Expect changahle and showery weather, but improving shortly. The b_ran-jet-er has a rising tendency, but fulling after about 24 "yours. Tide- high. Sea rough on the coast" Another very satisfactory fall of rain ■ras registered this morning as haviug fallen^»-eM I 3| T^./ sq|-« 1 Ba« <Bl l» tbe; »ame' hour io-day- 'The' gauge" ehowa that the fall for this period wse 93 points, which is 20 pointe greater than I the previous fall on .Wednesday. This brings the total' fair fdr ' the " present i month up to the satisfactory figure of ! j -~1 in.Jies, and it is probable that the several short but heavy showers since I . the observations were made this r.ioro- ' | ing will bring these figures well up to the three inch mark. The ram appcar-i j to have been fairly general over the ! | whole of the North Island, and, together with Wednesday's downpour, should hiw very pleasing effects upon tbe iiu|ii in all districts. A boy named Nicholl Joyce, 14 years of age. has been missed b\- his parents, who reside in Wellington Street, since eleven o'clock yesterday morning. At that time he left home, and he has not since been seen. He is described as having fair hair, and when ne left home was dressed in. a. -blue. Jeraoy _nd .dark, trousers. He was., barefooted. >~- v ... - An apprentice at. the Steel Garn-jt---uc-tion Company's works in Custom's Street , met with a painful accident "at 'about' a quarter to "wclre o'clock ' this "' mornihg. He was working at a mac'hir.'e. when by some mean-", his right arm became caught tin the wvwkingis. his elbow being badly lacerated. He received medical a.ttcn- I I'tion at the hospital, and his progress is ' I reported to bo satiefat-tory. The lad haß lately been living w'rtth Mrs. Leaihey. j at "Kia Ora,"' Cnion Street. ' On board the Sonoma, which arrived j at Sydney from San Francisco last week, were fifty expert steel workers —chiefly! bosses and rollers—horn the Pittsburg and Baltimore steel mills. They were accompanied by their families, and will undertake the instruction of Australian workmen for the new industry in the steel mill= at Newcastle. It is' expected that they will get the work started within a few weeks, and attention will be paid first to the making of steel railsand girders. Another contingent of steel workers from America will arrive shortly. The cutting . off, of > tbhe *■ supply 'pf Siberian'fHtft"-*- by tlie which has been issued by the Russian Government, the news of which has come to hand, is likely to have a beneficial effect on the price of New Zealand butter in London. Latest advices from England state that the recent advance from 140/ to 142/ per* cwt in the value of New Zealand butter has been maintained, with every prospect of tbe high prices continuing. The secretary of the Labour Representation Committee has been instructed to write to the secretary of the Patriotic Committee, protesting against the undermining of the principles for which trades unionism was lought in the past, by suggesting that the "rate of wages should be cut down in connection with the improvement work at the Domain. Several members, in speaking of the suggestion, expressed the opinion that it ill became people who were already engaged in mercantile pursuits and were raising the prices of foodstuffs, to advo-] cate the cutting down of workers'! wages. The argument was also advanced that a great proportiftn of the money subscribed was especially earmarked for the relief of local distress occasioned by the exigencies of the war. and that this money should be expended in accordance with the wishes of the subscribers, a great number of whom were w-orkers themselves. The maritime strike was a failure, according to the latest monthly report of the Amalgamated Society of"Carpenters and Joiners, "and," adds that publication, "that is how most strikes end—no good to the worker, no good to the employer, both suffer.

During February 6745 books were constilted in the Auckland reference library, the daily average being 241, as against 191 consulted in February last year. Tlie number of visitors to the annexe was 430, while the books issued during the month from the lending library totalled 2692, a daily average of 112. as compared "with 124 in February. 1914. The Grafton branch issued 1063 books, and the Parnell branch 608 books during the month. Two men named Nelson and Sutton, who left Wairau Bar last week on their return to Wellington in a fishing boat, reached their destination yesterday. They ran out of engine oil, and were blown up the coast. They landed at the White Rocks Station, near Cape Palliser, whence they came overland to Wellington. The city electrical plant generated 2.13.080 units during the fortnight ended March 7. The Council's customers nowtotal 1804. The electrical engineer reports that Home inspectors advise that the manufacture of the new plant i= progressing steadily, and that they are doing all possible to push it, forward, but that some delays in delivery will be inevitable, lie points out that owing to the present conditions, the output for the past three or lour months has not reached the quantity anticipated. The addition of customers durino- the past year has gone on at the usual rate, but recently there has been a general economy all round, and some of the factories have been slack. The Alhambra Theatre, at the Grafton Bridge end of Karangahape Road, has recently changed hands, and will be hereafter known as the Grafton. The lease of the theatre has been obtained by the Fraser Films Company, of Australasia, and the new management announce that they will present nightly a complete programme commencing at 8 p.m.. and concluding at 10.15 p.m. The fii-st of those programmes under the new management will be submitted on Monday evening next, when a special aeries of films will be screened The expenditure on the outer Domain improvements up to tbe Oth March was £.'i.onS, the whole of this money being wages for six months for 80 or 90 men, who have been employed for three days a week. This work, the Mayor explained to the Council last night, has not cost the Council a penny, the money having bee., found, two-thirds by the Exhibition Committee and one-third by the Patriotic Committee. He was afraid that tlie Patriotic Committee was not in a position to go much further in this connection, but he hoped that the joint Works and , Exhibition Committee would be able to-'carry on. The estimate was £8000, and* th« -work had been well done so far. The question was referred to the joint committee for consideration. Mr. T. W. Leys, in a letter to the Council last night, stated that he was sending for inspection a large water colour entitled "Fishing Boats at Boulogne," by V. de Paredez, which he bought in Paris, and which he would have gTeat pleasure in presenting to the Auckland City Gallery if the Council approved of it. Another coloured plate of the '"Auckland Regatta in 1862,'' showing the Maori canoe race, and H.M.s. Faun and Miranda at anchor in the harbour, by F. R. Slack, was now in the hands of ; i the 1 piatw-pe cframers,. and when ready '■would, fie hoped, prove'acceptable to the Oity Council for the Old Colonists' I Museum. If so, it would give him pleaI sure to contribute it to that worthy I undertaking, wrote Mr. Leys. The I Council accepted the offers with thanks. At Wellington yesterday the Labour Department proceeded against J. and A. i Wilson for an alleacd breach of the Building Trades Labourers' Union award by employing a non-unionist when there j wae a unionist available to take his place. Edward Kennedy, secretary of the union, said that the question to j be settled was whether the union was' entitled to claim arrears in subscriptions incurr-Kl by a member who had I paid his entrance fee. or whether the man who had paid his entrance fee, but not his subscription, and was consequently struck off for being twelve, months in arrears could again become a member entitled to all privileges -by paying another entrance fee. It was J agreed to' state a case for the Arbitra-1 tion'Court, and judgment on the present prosecution was reserved. J The regulations under the Iron and ' Steel. Industries Act, passed by Parliament last year,- and which is designed to encourage the iron industry, appear in I this week's "Gazette.*" They provide that the Government bounty- shall be paid on a j minimum quantity of 1,000 tons of pig | iron made from New Zealand iron ore or iron-sand. The minimum quantity of ! locally-made steel upon which bounty is I to be paid is 100 tons, and on puddled bar-iron a minimum quantity of 250 tons; the pig iron must contain not less than 00 per cent of pure iron. The Japanese Consul (Mr. T. Young) has been advised that the Japanese Trade Commissioners will reach Wellington on March 30 from Australia, where they are now inquiring into the possibilities of extending martets for Japanese goods. They will psend about a fortnight in Xew I Zealand, and their itinerary is as follows: -Arrive in Wellington on March 30, leave for Christchurch the same day; return to Wellington on April 2, leave for Auckland on April 7: and remaining there till April I J.,3, when they will return to Sydney. '''A claim' was before the' City Council j last night on behalf of Messrs. W. j Dimock and Co.. "Ltd.. for £025S as com-' pensation respecting land taken for! widening Beach Road and Jermyn Street. A claim for £8000 has also been lodged by Messrs. Dufaur and Biss on behalf of the executors of the late Mr. Wm. Mackenzie in connection with land taken for the same purpose. The Council decided to contest the claims. At the Arbitration Court, Wellington, yesterday, James Harris was awarded £309 as compensation for the loss of the use of his right hand and arm as a result of an accident at the corporation power station, where he came into contact with the automatic coal conveyer j about.a year ago. The. Mayor and the rhairman of the City Council Legal and Finance Committee have been authorised to obtain legal advice in the matter of the power of the Council to levy rates in the | Remuera district from March 31. to cover I the period until the city rates are i struck. The values of the New Zealand products exported during the week ended March 111 gazetted as follows: — Butter. £74.1:53: cheese. £51.718;. frozen lamb, £36.841; frozen mutton. £39,953: frozen beef, etc.. £40.929: grain and pulse. £7708: hides and skins. £25.778; flax and tow. £12.903: tallow. £37.722; timber, £2024: wool. £683,222. The official inauguration of the Auckland Waterside Workers' Union Motor | Ambulance Service will be performed by • the Mayor (Mi*. C. J. Parr', at the No. 2 jetty, Quay Street, on Saturday next, March 20, at 2.30 pj_,

j Prisoners who have been committed j-for sentence since the last sitting of j the Supreme Court will come before his [Honor Mr. Justice Hocking on Monday ,'next. Afterwards his Honor will take,' 1 ! independent divorce cases and will sit iin banco. On Tuesday the judge will i leave to resume the interrupted session at Hamilton. This morning his Honor held a short sitting in chambers, all business that was ready being taken. "'According to a divining rod my place is a natural reservoir of twenty acres' of solid water." wrote Mr. Robert Knox, n of Swanson. to the City Council last r night, offering it as a supplementary fc supply. He added that he possessed a ; bore, which, by being enlarged, would jj. furnish about half a million gallons of _ water per hour, and he was willing to sell his rights or accept a small royalty y by results. Mr. Jas. Carlaw, city water engineer, in reporting on the offer, said, = "I am very sceptical about water divining, but as Mr. Knox seems much impressed with his find, I shall visit J Swanson and endeavour to determine the watershed, as my opinion will be v based pntirely upon that." The Council t referred the* offer to the Electric and i Water Committee for consideration and s report. f At the conclusion of the weekly r parade last night of the Birkenhead pla- r toon of the National Reserve, Sergt.- J Major Turner, who has acted as instruc- < tor since the formation of the Birken- i head branch, was presented with a silver- t mounted walking stick, suitably in- t scribed. In making the presentation on t behalf of the Birkenhead members of the £ Reserve, Mr. J. Leonard referred to the , efficient and interesting manner in ( which Sergt.-ilajor Turner imparted the T instruction, and the great appreciation , the memebrs felt for the zeal and devotion to the cause displayed by him in gratuitously allowing such inroads to be made upon his time in the service f of the branch. Sergt.-Major Turner suit- ' ably responded. < At last night's meeting of the City I Council the Mayor (Mr. C. J. Parr), in i referring to the fact that he would soon t be numbered among outsiders, so far as c the Council was concerned, eupressed a - wish to become one of the outside mem- j bers of the "Library and Art Gallery Committee. He would later on, there- j* fore, esteem it a favour if the Council j. would appoint him to the committee, in the work of which he was keenly • interested. Councillors promised to I remember the request, although one or " two suggested that they also might be ] outsiders in a little while. "Never,"' i declared the Mayor, "with the remark- . üble record which you have to show to the citizens." In future the Sydney boat will leave Wellington on Thursday of each week instead of Friday,-as at present. The newarrangement will come into force with the Manuka next week, and has been decided upon by the Union Cmpany in order to give the boat's more time at * Hobart. Arrival from Sydney direct J will be made on Tuesday, the boat going j '' to Lyttelton the same night. She will * return on the Thursday, sailing at 5 p.m. r the same day for Sydney. " Among the additional tramway regu- . lations proposed is one which eontem- , plates the removal of the electric bells from the car's, and the substitution ot '? beil pulls. The proposals were before * 'the City.Co-iadl;"!"£_nigJJt, together With ,! a Tecommendat'Tin fi-6_f thig Electric Cora- » ;Vnittee that the Traffic Inspector be ' instructed to furnish a proper report J j on tlie* draft regulation with any]P comments or recommendations he may 1 2 r-ee fit to place before the committee, s The committee also recommended that r exception be taken to the objectionable i= bell pull clause. If the public were .to , a be allowed to pull the cord in the cars, ii then it might lead to confusion, and | c would, in his opinion, be a retrograde jh step, commented the Mayor. The com- £ millee's suggestions were adopted. Through his horse being charged by d a bull, a dvover named Stanley Danb-|* ney met with an accident in the Remuera * district early yesterday morning. He * was driving a herd of cattle, when he "; was attacked by one of the animals. ' and'was thrown heavily to the ground, receiving a slight injury to the head. J He was removed to tha Auckland Hos- * pital. Danbney is a single man, twenty- * nine years of age, and resides in St. Mark's Road, Remuera. ! A letter, which a Wellington resident | j has received from an ex-Palmerstonian in ! Canada, confirms what has been already ' j published regarding the present "hard j _ times" there. The correspondent writes: L '"In Vancouver married men are working i , for six shillings a day, single men for j four shillings, if they can get it: and! there are besides many hundreds out of ~ work in Vancouver alone, and the city is f. full of soup kitchens. Hundreds have j i been ruined' in Canada by over-specula- i t tion." The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners urged in a letter to the City Council last night that there was immediate need of work being pro- j i vided for carpenters, and that the in*'f tention to call for competitive designs!'! for the workers' municipal dwellings I c would cause unnecessary delay. The same : r -question was brought up for consideration ! c in a motion brought forward by Mr. i Brinsden to rescind the previous re j solution of the Council that competitive < designs be invited for the erection of i workers' homes. After considerable dis- < cu-oion the motion was lost. j 1 By permission of Major Wynvard, tbe ' band of H.M. I Auckland) Mounted 'Bines ' | (conductor Mr. H. Seymour) w'll play • j the following programme on the Ellers- j I lie racecourse c'n Sunday afternoon, at j* 3 p.m.:—March, " Your King and Coun- • try "A ant iou" (Rubens); overt :re, ■ "Crown Diamonds*' (Auber); waltz! 1 •'Ensueno Seductor" (Rosas); s c ec : ' tion. "Lucia d e Lammermoor" (Doni- ' zetti); piccolo solo. '* Golden Sparks "j ■ Musician Forrest); Prelude in C Minor ' (\ ooonnski); Variations on " Home,' 1 Sweet Home" (Short). God Save tne i King. tt , T « i ,Li^ ra " 7 Committee submitted to thei City Council last night a resolution, < mat the Council be recommended to 1 appoint a committee to investigate the present condition of the Grey Collection < of Maori relics in the Library and Art < Gallery building, and to consider means tor their future care and preservation." < the recommendation was adopted by the ' Council. ' On Wednesday evening a house and ! its contents at Te Aroha W"est. owned ■ by Mr. T V J. Hickey. was burned down. * Finishing prices at the Bis Store , Karangahape Road, to-night, till 9.— t (Ad.) "" . Our premises will remain open till nine '" oclock as usual this (Friday) evening- "• imith and Caughey. Ltd.—'( id ) = RifL that £ ' eft Clears to " ni S h t at the 7 fill 9°- l A d a ) angahap - Road " toni - ht Sn , PremUc3 *, r 'a?oe 1 "" iU remain °P en tiU nine 1 Smith ,^ Ual this ,Frida -"» evening.- ) Smith and Causrhev, Ltd.—(Ad ) a Unfe'V 3 " 11 S u' J " price8 ' at »c Big i-Ti.«_] r arang pc Road ' 1 - 7 to <