IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 51, 23 November 1907, Page 2

IN OTHER CENTRES.

(FROM OCR SPECIAL COMtESrONDENTS.) 0 _ CHRISTCHURCH. •".'■■ November 22. ~,L ' , . n stonm' c nas na(l a chanco of rivalling Wellington so far as tho zoo in tho latter city is concerned. A Canterbury man visiting South Africa wrote to tho Acclimatisation Society, asking if it would caro to accept-'a lion and a zebra: Dr. Moornouso said he had made enquiries, and there would be a great deal of trouble, and a number of formalities would havo to bo gone through beforo they could land the animals hero., Tho animals would havo to go to England, and then,, bo quarantined on account of the rinderpest, which is. prevalent m South Africa. Ho though' theretiro that it would be better not to accept the offer, and ho bad cabled to that effect, iho Society agreed to pass tho lion and zebra It has lately lost two of the flightless ducks from the Auckland Islands that woro on view in tho aviary at the Exhibition. No trace of the birds can bo found, not even a feather, and as weasels and cats do not usually make such a. clean sweep of their prey, the Society is reluctantly compelled to believe that some two footed thief, with a tolerably good idea of the value of these raro birds, has stolen them."' School Sports. The annual children's sports organised by the Public Schools' Amateur Athletic Association to jtako placo at Lancaster Park on November 28, promise to bo even more numerously attended than usual, in spite of tho epidemics that havo ravaged the schools. TJio sixty events have drawn over IGOO entities exclusive of those in tho massed displays, and tho- military drill competitions. The snort's usually begin at nino o'clock and end about six, and the officials who have to carry them out aro assured of at least one strenuous day in tho year. • , The End of the Session Rush. Dr. Findlay's oxcuse for tho end of tho session rush that it is duo to something inherent in the system is declared by the "Press" to sound the depths of inanity. Tho fault it asserts is not in tho system of Parliamentary government, but in the way in' which it is administered, and for that the Government are solely to blame. A Dispute. '-■ ' There is promise of a dispute between tho City Council "and the Drainage Board. The latter, in the exercise of its. functions, has to break up streets now and Jdien to lay down sewers, and the Council demands that it shall restore. the thoroughfares, to their former condition. . At last night's meeting of the Hoard a letter was received from tho City Surveyor reporting that certain streets in the St Albans Ward, had been broken up by drainage works, the cost of which, ho considered,, was .chargeable to the, Board. The amount of'work to be done was forty-six chains, and the cost £333 10s. The Eugineer of the Board replied, pointing out that the damage;had been.estimated at £25, which amount had been paid by. thei contractors, and asking if the claim now mado was for indirect damage. Tho City Surveyor replied that, tho claim was for damage done other than on the exact lino of trench. Tho Works Committee of the Board recommended that no liability be acknowledged. Tho Chairman expressed the opinion that the Council was practically asking the Board to form, now streets, and the recommendation of tho Works Committee was agreed to. The Recent' Fire.' The iiro in the Kaiapoi Company's offices has ■ called attention to the value of automatic fire alarms, and also to tho methods of construction of somo largo buildings. Speaking on this latter point to a "Press" reporter, the Superintendent of tho Fire Bri'gado expressed - pleasuro that the By-laws Committee^ are taking steps .to"frame Council power of .control over the, interior-.coustruc-tion.'o'f (buildiigs. ;,xo4)avpai't," he said', " one"of-the greatest troubles.to us as a fire brigade;has-been the,existence of numerous wooden partitions in largo buildings orect'ed in the cityV Theyriot only (encourage the spread of tho fire, but are. also a great hindrahco.to us in reaching the scat of fire..;, The; result ',is, that tho, partition's have to burn through - before- wo can roach tho most serious part of the fire'. Thcso partitions should bo built of fire resisting.material, andthen'thoy would keep, tho fire principally whero it'originated. In addition, it should bo compulsoryi., particularly in largo 'ware-, houses, that they should be divided .by means of iron doors, enabling the firo'to be confined, so,as to bo more easily dealt with by the brigade. ■'. ..Another sourco of- imminent danger, in large buildings consists of wells and lifts, more particularly where they aro not protected. Every ono of tho lifts should havo a cover at each floor, so that, .is tho lift ascended, the floor below would, bo : c!osed, thus preventing the lift acting as a.funnel and, drawing up tho fire liko a. furnace.

. AUCKLAND. , , . . i , ...',. November, 22. In eohneotion with a largo reservoir being erected to supplement Auckland's water supply, a very strong masonry dam is being constructed/at', the Waitakerei falls. This will cover an area of no less than fifty-six acres, and will have sin impounding capacity, of about 180,000,000 gallons. 'Another dam,which is being located about a mile above the big dam,, is being constructed of. timber. This will .cover about eight acres, and will bo capable of storing about 50,000,000 gallons, making a total storago capacity 'of 230,000,000' gallons. Tho. masonry dam .'will be a very fine structure, rising about 63ft. abovo. the-foundation level, whilst the spill way will be about 50ft. abovo tho bottom of tho creek., The dim will hayo a width of about 36ft. in tho widest part at tho base, narrowing tg. 3ft. 6in. at the top. It will be 640 ft.-in length, and will bo built in a ciirvo up. stream. The foundations aro now being excavated. For the purposo of keeping tho foundations clear of water, two temporary dams, have been erected, and a Tangyo -pump and an engine liavo beoir installed.- Some 16,000 yards of concrete will bo used in the construction of the dam. A very fine qunlity of stone for concreto. purposes has been discovered about a mile away. Thero is an abundance of tho stono, which is a hard basalt) and tho contractors have erected stone-breakers on tho spot for tho purposo of" Tcducing it to the required sizes. Tho. construction of tho dam will occupy about fifteen or eighteen months. Intolerant Dictation. Tho attitude the Trades and Labour Council of Auckland has been taking-up ,of late in relation to civic affairs has savoured a good deal of intolerant dictation towards a far more responsible body—the City Council. In a letter laid before tho City Council last night tuo secretary (Mr. Arthur Rossor) conveyed this resolution:—" That tho Trades and Labour Courcil strongly denounces the action of tho City Council in spending the ratepayers' money to send tho Mayor* and Mr. Bagn'all to Wellington to' opposo tho Tramways Amendment' Bill, which Hill is in the'best interests,of the peoplo of Auckland." The letter; went on to say:-—" In forwarding this 'resolution, may I bo permitted to add that tho deservedly chill reception accorded to the pair of delegates by the Minister, r-s evidenced by iiis replies to their representations, has not enhanced the prestige of Auckland City in tho eyes of the Dominion, and tho ratepayers' money could easily have been hotter spent' on the footpaths of the city.". When the letter was laid beforo the Council, tho Mayor said ho would not have allowed it to bo read had it not been that 'it conveyed a resolution—(hear, hear)—and ho must confess it was oven then with great hesitation ho allowed it to bo brought beforo t-hp Council. Tho add-mda oudontly emanated from the fertile brain of the secretary to the Trades and Labour Council, who had deemed it fit, in a most impertinent and impudent manner, to refer to tho actions of the Citv-Council. (Hear, hear.) Ho (tho Mayor) further deemed it right to bring tho,. letter up, if only for' tho. reason of lotting the citizens sco how intolerant a section of the community could bo if this letter was tho voico of that section. Surely Mr. Rosser and tho Trades and Labour Council must forget, that tho Citv Council was olected by tho people of. Auckland, and without making any comment' in regard to the reception of the

Council's representatives by the Minister, lie (tlio Mayor) thought the 'Trades and Labour Council was going a long way, and presuming a very great deal, in using "such insulting language to tho City Council. He therefore moved that tho letter bo not received. The motion was carried unanimously. Strap-hangers' By-law. At last night's meeting of the City Council a letter was read from Mr. Arthur Rosscr (Secretary to the Tramways Union of Employees) enclosing a report from conductor Parker to say that on Nov. 5, on the trip of a Kingsland car from town, a man refused to leave tho car, all the seats being then occupied, and the particular car.not..being licensed to carry strap-hangers. Mr. Rosscr forwarded the names of witnesses and.asked v the Council to take action to enforce the by-laws. He asked for an early re'ply, as failing action by the proper authorities the Union, would havo to once more take tile matter,in band. The City Traffic Inspector, in reporting, said tho man in question admitted that the facts were as stated." The Tramways Company knew nothing of'' the circumstances, its servants not- having reported to it. As this did not como underlie City By-laws it only remained for; tho Tramways Union to take action as in previous cases. The matter was referred, to : th« Finance Committee to go into the question of'the by-laws! .' :,; ' . The late season has had some effect on'the' grape crop in' Auckland this year, but the last week or two of warm -weather has mado a wonderful difference, and ithe fruit is expected to be available locally atthe usual time. A. curious idea seems to be held in' some of the southern centres that Auckland grapes i.ro availablo at tho.end of October, and frequent inquiries and orders have been loniing ' through from-.Dunedin and:elsewhere, while as a matter of fact no grapes of any.description aro available here, nor arc there likely, to be any for some considerable time.

NELSON. ~ . ■ / November 2U During the past week, Nelson has enjoyed . its usual summer weather, with, unbroken sunshine, light breezes, and cloudless skies. Tho city is at .its very best. -Everywhere the gardens are gay with flowers, and the' surrounding hills are still fresh and green. At tho monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce held on Monday evening there was considerable discussion with regard to the failure of tho Government, to make due provision for the continuance of work at the Nelson end of the Midland.Railway. .Complaint was made that, after the rdirect assurance of the Premier that. there'would be no Authorisation Bill introduced this year,. such a measure had been introduced in which several lines were provided for to. the exclusion of the claims of Nelson. .The! 1 . Chamber protested against this unfair treat-.', ment, and urged the local members to do. all in their power to havo tho'defect in the . Bill remedied before it became, law.. '■"....",;.. At tho same meeting attention was drawn.;' l' to the present state of tho. harbour '.works, : and, whilo it, was admitted on all sides that, the new cut had proved a benefit ..to the . coastal trade, several members : desired the." report of a Government expert on. the!work ;' that had been done, in order that it might'!, be authoritatively stated whether tho.channel - .was capable of boing used by such vessels,. as those of the Shaw-Savill line. The matter,: was referred "to' the Council of the Chamheri!, Tho drainago;schemo of the City Council' is once more being freely discussed.'' The , now trouble, has arisen through the',' report-'' of the City-Engineer, in which 'ho''attempts" to show that the estimates of Mr. Mestayer are'too low. Opinion is largely divided bit the question. Should tho local engineer, provo correct, tho matter will bo a serious' ono, as it will bo found impossible to carry.', through the scheme, for the .amount autho-. riscd ]jy Either the work,. must be confined to a portion of the city, only, or an additional loan must'be sanctioned. , . ! ."

It is freely .stated that three candidates. will bein the.field.fltothe jiqxt Parliamentary ' gonoral v and. Moffat.,, i.O(ihoj men-j tioned, as tJ)os,o;,|6f l ; l T)ossjj)j.o <tor.r. the Nelson-.seat.; v. '■'■.■•;.,''-!-i't'i.':.-.-'' Rifloman .Milroy,. ex-champion,, ~roturneq.. from Australia;a few days ago! ;Hc attributes:.' bis lack, of success-to' the" light,' which, wasentirely.different from that f 'to ..whichr.m.ajks-. men are accustomed" 'Zealand,/..!/''He Y saysjho was in,his heit form, and' Went,to, Australia, confident of success,', and, .ho'. yen'-',, tur'es the'opinion that, on any New,: Zealand' range . i tho team would have proved. victorious. - i

The entries for , the Nelson. .Agricultural,. and Pastoral Association's annual show, to. bo held on November.26'.,and.27, total'9oo. A return of the staple exports,during the September quarter furnished' to the Chain-.i ber of Commerce shows a total of £7633. On Wednesday and Thursday the first show ~ of flowers, fruit, and vegetables was held in the Provincial Hall under the auspices, of the recently-formed Horticultural Society, • Tho exhibition was most'popular, and in every way succcssful y Exhibits were numerous, and.included somo from Blenheim, Picton, and .the Waimeas.. Roses were par- , ticularly in evidence. .A, committee of ladies provided tea each afternoon, and the Garrir • son and Citizens' Bands played outside the building. There was a large attendance of,, the public. . "... , • ■■-. " .-. Nelson grows steadily. Now constantly going up; and the residential area is boing extended. Tho motor 'bus service is " working satisfactorily, and will no. doubt J contribute to the oxpansion of the city.