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Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 121, 22 May 1917, Page 4

The Weather Isureau forecast for 24 hours from l> a.m. this day id as follows:

•Westerly winds, moderate to strong, freshening for storm, which appears to be approaching from the west, chiefly affecting the Island. The weather appears like./ to be cloudy and unsettled at times. Barometer tailing. Sea moderate. Tides good." The following resolution was passed at a meeting of the Auckland Curriers' I nion: "U'hat this union desires to enter its protest against any attempts being made to sell the State Coal Mines, but would rather urge upon the (lovernment to pxU'nd its energies in this and other directions, and thus help to bring everyday necessities within easier reach of the people of thifl Dominion."

Addressing mc r'irst Appeal Hoard, and stress-ing tlie fact that New Zealand was now approaching to a stage where very essential men were being dealt with, Mr. Hall Skelton gave some figure* which, he said, showed that, so far as the Dominion's contribution of men to the Empire was concerned. New Zealand was twelve months ahead of the other colonic*. We had sent away (58 per cent of our men. leaving .'(2 per cent at home. Australia had sent 24 per cent away, and Canada 2;! per cent, the latter countries, therefore, having n<jw respectively 7ii per cent and 77 per cent left. "Now Zealand's influence," continued Mr. Skelton. " has been much more effective in this war than we realise. , "

Tho wireless officer on an oversea liner which loft here as a transport >ome iriontlis ago writes from London a.- follows:— "We had a fine run over to Capotown. Here our troops left to go into camp at and to await the

arrival of the to parry them to Kn<*land. r'rom Capetown we carried the officers and crew of the late s>. Celeeia. She was mined off Capetown shortly after our arrival there. \\> arrived in England on , and found the weather cold—the worst winter for almost thirty years."

The "New Journal of Science." which ttio Board of Science and Art ha* decided to establish, and which the Hon. G. \V. Ruseell has approved, i< described by .Mr. Ruu.sell a.s "ii very modest undertaking." He stated hist nigbt that it will be publirthfil quarterly. It is intended as a channel of communication between the -cientiric societies of N~.-w Zealand, chiefly in the way of promoting , scientific re-tu-.irch. lie points out that the importance of thi.-v work is fully roropntfed in other part- of the Empire, notably in Australia, where the Federal (iovernment han set aside a largp sum of money for the purpose. The journal will be merely the beginning of a scheme which, he hopes. wiH be of great service to the State during the war and afterwards.

At a meeting of the Auckland University Council, held yesterday, Professor Segur brought forward the question of travelling concessions to students. He Raid that this question had hung tire for several years, but though representations had been made the Government had not taken action. The speaker had brought up the question at the last session of t.he Senate, and members had then been somewhat surprised to learn that, in the ca-se of a student residing, in Auckland and going to Ihinedin University, the year's travelling bill amounted tn £'2.">. The Senate resolved to approach the Minister of Railways and the Minister of Kdueation to consider concessions, and also to lay the matter liefore the In ion Steamship Company. The Otago University Council was forming a deputation to wait on the -Minister of Railways the yuestion of free! railway facilities. Profes&or Segar war, appointed liy the meeting as a member of the proposed deputation.

The Anglican orphanage now having its institution at Papatoctoe haa done much to assure the future of those children orphaned early in life. Since its foundation in 1860 the Anglican home has accommodated 736 children, and for f!<; lof these found situations or returned them to friends. Only four children have died and 71 are still being provided for. The Auckland Savings Hank holds £1318 belonging to the present inmate*, to whom their individual portions are paid when they become of age. The Orphan Home Trust Hoard includes in its annual report a paragraph ateting that the health of the children ha* been very satisfactory. Messrs T. Charter. C. Hay. C. J. Tunks. .1. R. Walters, K. Yates and Dr. K. Rol>erton— number* of the Board —retire this year. but offer themselves fur re-election. *

When thp Council of the New Zealand Congregational L'niooi was sitting in Wellinsjion last March, it considered th<; I position of miniate™ whose stipends I were under £250 per annum. In view of the .steadily growing cost of living, it was felt that some social effor! should t>" made to inerea.se- the remuneration of the poorer-paid men. and the Council affirmed the durability of granting a war bonus to all ministers earnitv,' under L2M). Nothing further could be done at the time owing to the state of the finances, but* shortly afterwards Mr George Wilson, of Auckland, gave £200 for this purpose. The pxpeutive of the union considered » proposal to pay a 10 per cent war honii*. but this basis was considered to be hardly equitable, and it wan decided instead ito make up all the smaller -alarie* to £200 per ■annum, including manse. Nubsrquently Mr J). A. Kwcn gave £50 to augment the fund, which enabled the executive to ciarry out its plin, so that no C-ongrega-I ti'Onal minister received less than £200 for last year. It cannot yet be said with certainty that the executive will be able to continue these payments, but it has under consideration a scheme for bringing every ministerial salary permanently up to the minimum of £225 per annum, including manse.—("N.Z. Times.")

At a. meeting of the Mamikau County Council held to-day, it was decided to merge the Mauurewa Road Hoard into the Manukau County Council.

"■ When you go to the war you will have your food and clothes, and no worry,' , said Major Conlan to an appellant to-day. " Yes, but that won't help much " came the reply from the maji in the box. who had been detailing the nature and responsibility of certain contracts which he had in hand.

The Governor-in-Council has appointed the Auckland City Council as the Epsom Domain Board in place of the Epsom Road Board, -which no longer exists. The Epsom Domain adjoins the Epsom and Mount EJen Domain, which is the proposed site for the new Auckland University buildings. At its last meeting the City Council agreed to the request of the Government to associate itself with representatives of the Mount Eden Borough as a Domain Board for the Epsom ami Mount Eden Domain. This reserve has an approximate area of forty acres, and there will thus be two reserves adjoining each other, each being controlled by a separate body.

The secretary of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce I Mr. H. Antil'l Adley) has been advised by the Russian Vice-Consul at Wellington that Dr. Khvtahko, who i< attached to the Russian Consulate at Melbourne, purposes vieifcing New Zealand shortly to hold meetings in the principal cities in connection witli the Bureau of Commerce and Information recently established between Russia and Australia, his object being to extend the sphere of influence of the Bureau to New Zealand. Dr. Klatchko has been deputed by the Executive Council to visit New Zealand, anrl will arrive in the Dominion about the beginning of next month. The chamber i« asked to eeswrt in forwarding Dr. Klatchkos mission.

Referring to the question o f compensation to hotelkeepers, during the course of an address at VVanganui on the earlier closing of hotels, the R»?v. J. Dawson said hv would be in favour of a scale of compensation bas«l on the number of hours during which the license would be curtailed. For instance, the hotelkeeper paid £40 per year for his license, which entitled him to carry on hi.s business Hi hours per day. for six days i>er week. Spread over !2 months the" licensee was paying about twopence per hour for the right to keep hu bar open. If earlier closing were brought in, thereby reducing the publicans' hours trom 16 to 10 per iljy. the speaker would be in favour of paying compensation on the cix hours' lout business per day. at the rate of 2d per hour, which th* hotolkeeyver waa paying for hi* licence. This would mean that ho would reoeiro 1-. p.-r day as compensation under the earlier closing svetem.

Three large black fish made their appearance in the harbour this morning, and passengers by the ferries watched their movements with interest while crossing the water. Some question as to what kind of fish they were seemed to exist even among the" waterfront men. some saying they were sharks, others thrasher whales, porpoise* and black fish, but they were evidently the latter. They took great pleasure in remaining on the top of the water, though they soon dived ajid made progress up harbour in the manner of porpoises. The larger of the three threw itself almost clear of the water several times, revealing a fin of 4ft or sft in length, and a body of between 25ft and 30ft long. Some people thought them to be a species of whale, because of their spouting, but this was not frequent, and of a very thin vapour, visible only at close quarters. The three blacklist made tlieir way to among the hulks in Shoal Buy. but later swam to deeper wuter and back down the harbour. The trawlers report numbers of black fish :us being seen out in the gitlf recently.

I The housing problem in Wellington remains a- acute as ever—indeed, from all accounts seem- to be steadily growing worse i>ays the "Times")'. The demand for hou.-aes is out of all proportion to the supply, and little is being done to increase the supply. As a consequence high rents are easily got, and people are driven to all sorts of devk-es to secure houses—from getting up early |in the morning to ottering bonuses to people who will secure them some kind of ;i shelter not. three miles from the General Post Oflice. Mr .1. McKcnzie. .secretary of the Rentpnyer*' Association, in an interview said that the recentlypassed law providing that the rent of a house should not exceed S per cent of its valuation had not been taken advantage of to any extent, as working people did not care to engage a lawyer to get their cjsc in court on the chance of getting a favourable verdict, but usually preferred to pay the increase asked. Tlie present oondhJons led to the evil of -übletting, a potrcit factor in social and moral degradation. As examples of the extent to which rents had l>een advanced he cited three cases. One wa.s n Sydney Street house, formerly let at .T2/(>, which had been rawed to 47./H, or 42/<i if paid in advance. Another was a four-roomed hou.se in Adelaide Road, the rent of which had been raised from 13/ to 15/ in March last year, and is now let at 20/. A fourroomed house in Upland Street, formerly let at 10/fi, had been raised to 20, in March. IHIG. In Pirie Street a house ot seven rooms, in bad repair, formerly let at 25/, now returned 30/ a week.

"One of the most interesting features of the recent conference at Wellington between the MineTs' Federation and representatives of the coal mine owners." says the Dunedin "Star," was the fact that several prominent delegates for the men were agit-atore who bad been released front custody, their relpase being one of the amazing terms of the remarkable Ministerial settlement of the seditious strike! It ie stated that the employers had been given to understand from a high authority that the men in question would show that their experience in gaol or court iiad chastened them in spirit and in truth. That understanding merely proved that on occasions even greal statesmen may have a childlike faith."

iSonie people who come to the city for a holiday take chances. A man who wan arrested in Durham Street yesterday evening for drunkenness was foundon the usual search at the police station, to have in his pockets the sum of £86. On the face of it he was lucky to have fallen into the hands of the p»lice instead of having got among the many "friendn" that make a specialty of drunk men with money.

Great laughter was raised at the meeting of the Onehunga Borough Council last night when Cr. Dilliear asked the Mayor. Mr. A. ,}. Boyd. to state who U the Borough Engineer at the present time. The Mayor replied, "Me."

The cup presented by the (.'amp Commandant at Keatheraton (Colonel X. I". Adams) for the best-kept lines has been awarded to the 28th New Zealand Field Artillery for the week ending May 19th. b '

The trawlers bring home some unusual denizens of the deep. To-day a lo<al shop displayed in addition to 'the usual table lisli, an octopus, two pi-,' fiell, a ling and a flying fish.