RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 127, 29 May 1919, Page 4

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Since the Minister for Public Works is still wedded to the policy of little and 1 many in railway construction, and has t told us that work on the East Coast railway at the Gisborne end must be delayed until the engineers find a cheaper route, he is not likely to be impressed by the discussion at the Farmers' ! Union conference yesterday. But the I conference could not pass over questions jso important as railway construction policy in general, and the building of the East Coast line in particular, and the discussion of the resolution will do good by keeping alive the movement for i reform in policy and greater activity in . construction. When the mover of the remit urging the Government to push on the building of the East Coast linedescribed this railway as " the great settlement line of New Zealand," he spoke the simple truth. There is no projected line in the Dominion that will add so much to the country's wealth. At the same time the claims of the North Auckland Main Trunk must be borne in mind. These two lines stand Ifirst in order of importance among public works needed in the Auckland province, and all organisations interested in the subject should concentrate upon getting them completed as quickly as possible. It is gratifying to find speakers in yesterday's discussion condemning the policy of spreading money over main and branch lines At the same time, instead of concentrating on the mail} lines. Realisation of the essential unsoundne33 of this policy is spreading, and there is hope that what voters think to-day the Gov- . eminent may do to-morrow.

The following is the official weather forecast:—The indications are for moder-' ate to strong southerly winds, with a westerly tendency. The weather will j probably be cool and changeable, with ' scattered showers. The night will pro-; I bably be very cold. The barometer has a rising tendency. Tides poor; sea moderate. I A presentation of the Royal Humane Society's framed certificate was made at the meeting of the Devonport Borough Council last evening to Glen Vivian ! Ensor, who saved the life of a companion from drowning at Cheltenham Beach in I December, 1917. It was mentioned during ' the presentation that Devonport held a ' record, probably for the Dominion, in the matter of life-saving incidents, and thai i the present instance was one of the many I plucky actions by Devonport lads which . the Society had deemed worthy of reccg- , nition. i I '"Every night one can see scores of men and women, girls and boys, riding I bicycles without lights," said Mr. S. El McCarthy, S.M., in the Wellington MagisI trate's Court, in dealing with a man ! charged with riding a bicycle at night without a light. "I am going to start , with a tine of £1 and 7s Court costs, and raise it by increments of 5s until I see that this wholesale breaking of the law has ceased." The acute shortage of coal in Wellington has caused a heavy call on all the available supplies of firewood. The Hutt River Hoard recently decided to place on the market at a reasonable rate the fire- | wood reclaimed from the river bed, and ' to that end advertised in tlie "Post," with the result that the clerk was deluged with orders from as far afield as Wellington, Khandallali, and Eastbourne; with the result that the available sup plies were exhausted the first day. A rather novel petition was that received at the meeting of the Grammar Schools Board yesterday, when pupils of the Epsom branch of the Girls' School forwarded a request, signed by "239 members, asking for improvements to the recreation grounds. A letter accompanying the petition stated that the pupils, in addition to being limited in their own recreation, were at a disadvantage in competition with other schools. The board decided to visit the school before deciding on any permanent improvements. 1 '"If we have prepared and published a ■ black lint of those who have hidden away and shirked their duty of fighting lor their country," said Mr. J. P. Luke, Mayor of Wellington, speaking at the . farmers' banquet, '"we should also get. ' out a black list of those employers who j are failing to take back into employment the soldiers who are returning from I the war. When a man who left his I job to fight for you and mc returns from , the front, the job he left ought to be open for him to step into." I The following is the copy of a letter received from the Railway Department by a Wellington firm of auctioneers regarding the dispatch of fruit from Auckland: "In response to yours of 17th February, the matter of delay to consignments of fruit, ex Auckland district, has been inquired into, and I have to advise that a service is now in operation permitting fruit to leave Auckland at 7.15 a.m., and reach Wellington at 8.4 p.m. the following evening—37 hours. In order to avoid similar delaye to those complained of, consignors snould therefore arrange to load fruit :n time to connect "with , this service. The railway manager at Auckland is fully aware of , the position, and has been requested to ; give consignments of fruit (especially soft fruit) the beet possible dispatch. Should your clients require any information regarding the local conditions ir, regard to loading, etc., he will supply it on application." An estimate of the revenue of the Takapuna borough for 1919-1920 was presented at last night's meeting of the council. On the credit side it showed outstanding rates at £1696. The present total valuation was £1,133,291, an estimated increase of £15,000. On this basis a rate of Hd in the pound amounted to £7170, with a Government subsidy of £420. With revenue from other sources, such as the issue of licenses, water rates, etc., the total revenue was estimated at £14,818, leaving an estimated deficit as at March 31, 1920, of £0367. The liabilities included a bank overdraft of £3219, administration expenses amounting to .€I3OO, streets maintenance £1500, interest and loan charges £3227. The total liabilities were £21,135. A well attended meeting was held in the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon, to. further the establishment of a Women's Club in Auckland. The membership is already over 200, and suitable club rooms have been .acquired in Swanson Street, while at the meeting it was decided to iesue £1,000 worth of debentures to help the finances, ai number of debentures being taken up in the room. The club rooms will be formally occupied on Monday, and it is proposed that political, educational, and social questions shall all come within the activities of the new organisation. With the approval of the Minister for Lands and the Minister in Charge ot war funds, the Wanganui-Waitotara Patriotic Association unanimously decided to transfer £ 10,000 to a lana settlement fund for the purpose of co-1 operating with the Government in placing soldier settlers on farms. As a | beginning, a proposal to acquire a Westmere property for subdivMon into dairy farms for eoldiers who had applied for them was approved. A lands com mittee was authorised to complete the, transactions. ! Reference was made at the meeting of th<> Devonport Borough Council last evening to the loss the Borough had sustained in the death of Mr. Edward Bartley. The Mayor, in moving a vote of condolence with deceased's relatives:, stilted that he was one of the pioneers of the borough, and always had the welfare of the community at heart, one of his last actions being the donation of. a piece of land to the Council for street improvements. Councillor Perry Taylor, in adding a tribute of respect to the memory of Mr. Hartley, mentioned that just thirty years ago he had occupied a seat on the Council. The Mayor's motion was carried in silence. Captain Beaumont held a preliminary inquiry at Duneclin this week concerning the accident to the steamer Westmoreland when leaving BluiT on , May 21. The evidence of the master j and certain members of the crew was! taken. It frill be forwarded to the Minister for Marine, who will decide whether a magisterial inquiry ie neces-j sary. I Mr. Peter McWilliams, one of the party of men who erected the bulletproof stockade at Rutland Hill, Wanganui, has just died at the age of 90 years. Mr. McWilliams had spent 6S years ot his long life in New Zealand. Mr. C. J. Parr returned to Auckland this morning from Wellington, where he has been attending the Town Planning I Conference as president of the Auckland I Town Planning League. i

"The fate of remits sent to the Dominion Conference formed the subject of discussion at the Auckland Provincial Conference of the Farmers' Union yesterday afternoon, when the delegate from Matahuru moved that three times ; yearly the provincial secretary send to | each branch in the Auckland province ■ the final result of each remit passed at | this conference, in co far as is then j I known, until all are finally dealt with, and that a concise report of the proceedings at the meetings of the executive be sent to the secretary of the branch in each provincial district. It waa pointed out by the chairman that once the remite were sent to the Dominion executive the matter was no longer in the hands of the provincial executive. "They are an amazing and useless body," remarked a member, amid laughter. The motion was carried, another member pointing out that it might be three or four years before they got the information they. , wanted. "This is one of the most important subjects that we can give a strong expression of opinion on," said Mr J. Boddie at the conference of the Farmers' Union last evening, in discussing a remit that it is essential to the proper development of our latent resources that no effort should be 6 pared to attract thoee men of other parts of the Empire who may wish to emigrate and become primary producers to our Dominion, and that a proper immigration policy should at once be initiated to further this. "It seems to mc," he continued, "inconceivable that we should have any Minister of the Crown who would hesitate for one moment in inaugurating a policy that will induce immigration to this country.'' Those present held a similar view, and approved the remit. Something in the nature of a souvenir of the Main Body came to light at the office of the Shaw-Savill and Albion Shipping Co. the other day, when a leather case of surgical instruments was handed over by a returned medical officer. These j particular instruments formed part of i the medical appliances on the liner Waimana, which took part of the original volunteers for the great struggle in 1914. Before the troops were disembarked at Egypt the case was missed, and no trace could be found of it. Apparently it was taken to one of the base hospitals in! Egypt, where it did yeoman service. ] Eventually it was recognised as the long-' loet "mystery" of the Waimana, and it was decided that it should be returned to its old surroundings. The triennial meetings of the Aus-. tralasian and New Zealand Congrega tional Union are to be held in Melbourne next September. The Eev. Frederic Warner, Pa6tor of Beresrord Street Congregational Church, who was formerly at the Collin Street Church, Melbourne, has received a letter inviting him to deliver the eulogium on the ( soldiers who have fallen during the war. "Camp Fires on the Pacific Coast: A Tale of the War," is the title of a lecture by Mr- C. H. Poole, M-P., at Leys Institute, Ponsonby, to-night. A necessary garment Tor wet days—a well-cut raincoat for 45/6, at Snedden's, "The Corner," Symonds Street.—(Ad.) < Visitors and lady residents please note that a Colossal Millinery Sale is now on at The Bon Marche, 142, 144, 146, Karangahape Road, Auckland, also at i Victoria Street. Hamilton.—(Ad.) ' ! Don't forget to buy to-day J. CravenBurleigh's Hair GSrower. It is the only hair preparation; that, has proved to be of any good to"tlie nairl— (Ad.) f ■ Insist on having none but J. CravenBurleigh's Hair preparation, which ha 3 proved throughout the world to.be the beet hair remedy ever placed on the mar-1 ket.—(Ad.) ' , Colossal "Peace" Clearing Sale of up- : to-the-minute ladies', misses', and children's hats, at end of season's prices. The Bon Marche, Karangahape Road, Auckland, and Victoria Street, Hamilton (Ad.) New shipments of the celebrated S. and C. hot water bags. Excellent value.—Smith and Caughey, Ltd.—(Ad.) ■ The children will thrive if fed on Doctors' Cream' o' Groats. Pure, nutritious, and appetising. All grocers.— (Ad.) | A few only left of wonderful value! navy serge costumes. Usual price, £5 19/6, clearing .at £3 19/6, S.W. and women's size only, at Snedden'e, "The Corner," Symonds Street.—(Ad.)