IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 41, 12 November 1907, Page 2

IN OTHER CENTRES.

AUCKLAND. (BY TELEGRArJI —SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS.) ■ November 11. The Tramways. There has been no development of the threatened tramways troublo yet. ;111 conversation with some of the employees your representative, however, learnt sufficient tc confirm the statements already made on'thf subject. It appears that the Employees Union is awaiting the outcome of the prosecuticu of the conductor, who is to bo charged on Friday with stealing 4d,, before deciding what action shall bo taken regarding the dismissal of Conductor Holden, Pressed to indicate what was likely to happen in tho event of these two matters ter< initiating in a manner unsatisfactory to thi Union, one employee said: "There will btf serious trouble." I understand that a meeting of tho Union will be held this, week Apropos of tramway matters, "Mercutio" 1 in the.; "Herald" • has the following: "Mr. Poole,. in his new role of Mr. llosser's factotum, seoms to take a hugs delight in crying stinking fish so far- as Auckland is concerned. If the Tramway B.'il becomes' law, its operations will probably lio restricted to Auckland, largely owing to the efforts of -Mr. Poole. • One would hiiagine from the darksome picture which the hon. gentleman paints for the delectation of the enemies of Auckland, that we were a parcel of poor crushed serfs, held iii bondage by the Tramways Company, and without the intelligence or power to watch over .our own interests. Mr. Poole has got Auckland trams on the bVam. A fatal accident: is magnified into'a wholesale slaughter. If a motorman get? a cold in the nose, it becomes at once, a virulentepidemic. If the services of a conductor are disponsed with we are immediately told that we are with some mysterious but tremendous-explosiom Because there aire no glass fronts to the cars our climate'is forthwith described as Arctic, and Sir. Poola makes the House shiver by his harrowing accounts of tho sleet and snow which wo 4ucklanders have to face every winter. I suppose a member must do something for his £300 a year; but I wonder what sort of a Parliament it would be if there were 7fl Pooles in the House." Yachting. Tho yachting season, in. Auckland opened on Saturday in unfavourable weather. Nevertheless a large number of boats participated in the initial cruise. The number of boats returning to their '" moorings between a quarter to throe und a quarter to seven o'clock on Sunday nigfyt was 67 yachts and 49 oil launches. Largo as these figures aro, they represent only a small portion of our pleasure boats, which, when the season is well advanced, may be counted in their hundreds on any week' end. The Steam.Trawler. Tho steam trawler Nora Nivon, which is lying at the Onehunga "Wharf, will'leave for New Plymouth to-morrow morning. "On the way along the coast trawling operations will bo conducted. During the trip from Cape Maria van Dieman to Onelmnpa, a fair haul was made, principally of terakihi, .kingfish, dories,'and snapper. '■ " '. : ' Thick . Weather. Very thick weather is reported along tho coast by all vessels arriving at- Auckland on Saturday and yesterday. When tho Union Company's steamer Manuka entered the Bay of Plenty on Saturday evening on her way from Gisborne to Auckland, she ran in-, to a 1 very dense fog, during which her engines' had to be put at reduced speed for ■ • some; hours. The fog lasted . all the way,, up to; Cape Colvillo, and consequently the steamer did' not reach port until several hours after the timo'She was'expffctid,' The ffiwea and tho Mokoia experienced 'heavy rain on tjie coast last"'night.. "■ ■ Friction. : There has 'been' friction between' the ,pail-v way Department' and the Auckland Harbour Board as 'to ° tho control of ■'the" , Wharf. Mr. Waite, District r Traffic; 1 Manager, attended at Friday's meeting of. the': , Board to confer upon the matter. -The chairman said it' was important that tho Board should know whether it could hayo some control over all it property. Mr. Burgess, the Board's Traffic sa,id tho railway officials claimed the sole use', of that . portion of the wharf between the'five sheds and the water. It would be a serioufe ttatter if vessels were loading or discharging within that area. The Chairman suggested that the Railway Department bo asked to consent'to the railway lines; being vested in the Board as a private siding, the Board then doing' the necessary shunting. The Board .should have some control,.and he thought a satisfactory arrangement could be made with the' Department. It would affect the'lines on ail the wharves. Mr. Waite agreed that 'dual control would not work satisfactorily, and' that the lines would also be awkward to. work as a private siding. Mr. Napier, who' is going to AVcllington, was instructed to interview the General Manager on the subject,Shortage of Railway Waggons. Owing to a shortage of railway waggons (writes the "Herald's" Huntly correspondent) Ralph's mine was on Wednesday obliged ■to stop work before four o'clock. Compared with the Extended, the inen in Ralph s mine have a good time: - Two hours on Tuesday, two hours oil Thursday, and a full day on Friday is the tally of time lost during the present woek. To this must be added Saturday, which, under the late award, is a' minor's holiday. The company was Just getting'nicely ahead of their orders when this block occurred. Messrs. Massey and Greenslado, M.H.R.'s, ,may have-something, more, to say in the. House on the matter. While no good may roward their efforts, the atteh-. tion of the Dominion will bo focussed on'.the management, which not only leads to a partial paralysis of the'local trade, but wl)i?h ; tends to force moiley out of the country. CHRISTCHURCH. ; November 10. Manawatu Railway.The "Press," referring to tho Govern ment's intention to take over the Wellington and Manawatu "Railway, remarks that in acquiring it the Government will- be placed in possession of ah exceedingly well managed and very jirofitabie undertaking.. . ' cordanco with the provisions in the Act, it continues, " the prico is to be settled by arbitration, but no compensation is to be paid for the goodwill. Tho Act provides that if the railway is taken over in tho period between fourteen and twenty-one years after the construction of the railway ail additional, 10 per cent.-is to be paid,, but that ponod will have expired when (he Government actu- • ally acquires the lino, and there is some difference of opinion, we 'believe as to whether, upon a strict reading or-. the Act, tho shareholders do not lose the right to any percentage at al), ill addition to tho actual value of the railway computed in the manner laid down in the Act. Whatever tho technical (position may bo, it will bp generally admitted, we think, that this would bo treat- - in" very unfairly thoso who invested'their money in the line, and thus aided so much in the development of the country at.a-timo when the Government refused to undortako the work. Mr. G. W. Woods, president of the .New Zealand Athletic Union, points out t0... a " Press " interviewer that the now movoniont in Auckland, where a so-called Provincial District Athletic Association has been formed, has been sot on foot by a sports syndicate, which has been carrying on gaslight athletic meetings at Auckland and Wellington.. Tho Now Zealand Athletic Union disqualified all the competitors . who competed at thoso meetings, with the result that tho proprietary syndicate is endeavouring to organise au opposition to the Union. Mr. Woods satf'fhe felt sure'that if tho new Gaining Bill nowbefore Parliament is passed, it will have tho effect of-wiping this proprietary syndjeato out of oxistence. "It is run," ho said,-"by a- syndicate of bookmakers, aud betting on events, is tho broath of its existence-it was in 'urder to prevent the carrying on of this betting that, wo disqualifiedtho competitors at-thoso gaslight.meetings." .