IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 70, 16 December 1907, Page 5

IN OTHER CENTRES.

;| '(bT TELEGnArir—STECIATi COIinESrOXDEXTS.) ■■'■'li'-'- ■'■■ . .— : — '—9 . T,;3 AUCKLAND; ...' ' Docembp.r 14. ";: ArJrlitional' particulars regarding the, cost "nf; tho now Orphans'' Home nt Papntoetoo, fhich have Ijeon supplied by the hon. trrnsiifbr of'>thc. trust-Board, show that when the 'cost of the land is taken into account, tiio total, expenditure to be faced in conniption, with ■ thp first instalment of the scheme'will' bn about £13.000, against which {if-'Archdeacon S. Williams's £1000 be earned), t-hore will be avnilable about £6900. leaving about £6500 to be .borrowed from the capital account. This will moan a temporary, loss in income, of about £325 a • year, arid tho Board appeals to the people: of Auckland, and. of New Zealand generally, for (donations towards tho £740 required to o.arn Archdeacon' AVilliams's £1000,' and'also for , annual subscriptions. Post Office We, . ■ ■■: .■ - 'I'ho. Auckland Trades and Labour Council disapproves- of the Prime Minister's choice of a post office site, and' has passed a resolution to that effect, and calling upon Sir' Joseph Ward-to reconsider'his-decision. In-the discussion preceding the adoption of the ■motion, Mr.. W. . Peake, the mover, thought that considering the : now -Post-Office was to be.for. the nest fifty or sixty years, a more central site-might have been selected in>. the, Interests of the'city-us a whole,, and particularly for the commercial portion of the-community. The Press advocated the Victpria Arcade as.the* best site,-and he (tho speaker),, also advocated that silo as the best For the city and the, community generally; Home people said that, it would he a ■.'considerable expense to tnke n building like-'the. Victoria Arca/le nnd-pull it-down to erect a'Post Office, but it must he remembered that the new Post Office was not for •the:-present only, but for the benefit of.fut-urei-generat-ions. To have a post officej at the-'extremo. enrl of. the town would be: inconvenient■ to the public, and-very much against' the 'interests o( ,the city generally. Many of the commercinl men of Auckland liiml- stated that it would bo. very inconvenient to- have the ,post office and telegraph office separate. -.Theu again, the railway station land should all he. retained for . a railway station, in keeping with Auckland's fjii'ure , requirements. The- site , selected would, not only interfere with ' the > present station, but. it- would not suit the public, generally.-> .Mr. A. Pratt, in seconding the motion ,said it would bo ridjculnus .to build motion, sa'idi t would be-' ridiculous to huild Upyernijieht, becansa iill the accommodation was required, there.for railway purposes. He would like .to support a site further up, as it ;was the convenience of the general, body of, the. citizens that ought to bo suited. The Government' had been a bit too Riidden-■ in soleflting the site, arid a big mistake in'hisopiiiioii had been- made. Personally, he favoured a. site in Upper Queen Street.'Mr. l'-'Reeves-Jthojighf tfiat'if the Cpnnbil pnased thisf resolution they would be making'.a grive; mistake. . ■ If they put opposition, in thje'j'way, tlipy would give the .Government a \very;good, chance of shelving, the matter; the', erection of the new post office for.some years. . . ■ ...

'Ftfsiie Mail Service. : ;Mr.-. v .J. C Spedding states that he has, rp.nd-a, cahlf , ■conirinmication to the effect, tjiat; no. arrangement has .been made for the resumption - of the San Francisco mail ser- ' vice..: ; '•■■■'. - . ■ .- ■' ■

A Man in the Water, When the ferry steamer Albatross was' half way between-Nort-hcote and' the coal Imlks on her, way back to the wharf shortly after nine o'clock on Tuesday evening, a cry was hoard, evidently, coming from some one in ! the water' a - considerable distance off. Cap'taln Poole at once stopped the boat, and brought her round to withm 30 fe'pt- of what proved to he, a man in the water, floating with the assistance of a piece of wood, about 2. feet long. He was much .-xnausted, and was assisted on board with as little .delay as possible.. The man proved to be a stoker named -Simpson,'- belonging to H.M.S. Pegasus. He' says he fell overboard niid was in the water-for over-an hour, and, although a strong swimmer, .was unable, to make'any headway against the tide .The water' was vory .cold, ; and he was giving up hope 'when. Ins call 'for-help was heard by those onboard the Albatross. DUNEDIN. ' December 14. i The 25 per cent, extra on freights from the Commonwealth-, imposed by shipping companies on November 18, when, the coal strike looked .serioUs, has jerl to some, if , not an extensive, disarrangement of trade. '. 1 saw to-day advice that a enrgo of palings from Hobart was .being held back until freights retiirned to normal. Probably that will soon come about,, for I do not think the shipping companies bought very large quantities of coal, at the strike price. Anyway, there-is, it is said, already some reduction amounting to 10 per cent, off the 25 per cent, on freight and 5, per cent, off the 10 per cent, on fares, leaving 15 and 5 per cent, respectively to be taken, off some other day: TJie,. Dunedin Post Office is to be lit by clf-'ctricity. ,■ The new organ being built for First Church by' Mr. H. A. Tiistin (the representative of Norman ; and Beard in the' Dominion), who ereqted the, Wellington Town Hall organ, 'will he-,.ready for use in about twelve days if all . well. It will be the largest church 1 organ in, New Zealand. * ~ The annual rateable value of property in the' Dunedin and district drainage area is within- about £12,000 of £500,000, and it is Cxpect.ed that before next year is out the half million sterling will bo reached. A Fearsome' 1 Experienoe. • lOn.a recent Saturday Horr Scherok was piloting .through the Manawatu Gorge the Dutch singer, Alida Lonian and'her husband, accompanied by Mrs. Scherek and Mr. Poore. In order - to. thoroughly see the Gorge thov alighted, at Ashhura't, and walked on the opposite: side of the river to the Gorge sta-tion..-On the way they had a fearsome experience, They negotiated several ugly .land-slips;',-and then suddenly'came upon one that h'ad: broken away the road, leaving only a narrow-ledge against the nerpindicularrock, with "a--sheer , drop of 200 feet at their very tpesiThey came upon this awful trap -before they realised the peril, and then could not''get back. With screwed-up nerves, but quaking: hearts, they picked their way through, flattened against the rock, breaking .away the fragments of the ledge as they used.--, it, and often compelled to halt and support; one another. The awful experience last-editor the-best part of an hour. It took' them" all that time - to cross about 60 ■ feet. Her.r. Scherek says that several times he abandoned all hope of getting through, and ivheii' the- party did reach solid ground and come "to. a settlement, the Swedish resident t'hey mot refused to believe that they had • crossed, the block, as he had tried it and knew, it to be impassable. Coal for the Wavy. . J .The'; Komata loaves Wcstport this , woek with a. cargo of coal for the Navy stores at Sydney and Melbourne. v : ' -NELSON. Decombor 11. Encouraging reports continue to come in with'..regard, to the prospects of the. new. freezing company, but it will bo somo time yet. tkrforo it can bo positively assorted that the success of the venture is assured: The matter rests with the farmers, and already much enthusiasm has been shown. On Friday last a well-attended meeting of those, interested was held at Richmond, when an address was given by Mr. 11. B. Grange, who has had experience of more than-500. freezing works, extending over a period of twenty years. The -Mayor of Richmond was in tho chair, and Messrs. Corrigan and Rollet also spoko. A. Nelson Ministers' Association has been formed by, the ministers of all the nonepiscopal religious bodies in the city. It is understood that the new organisation is in no way antagonistic, to the Anglican Church, but has been formed solely to assist in making more etf&otivo tho work of the fhurebpt. rr-

presented. Tlio Itev. J. Crump Was elected president," and the Rev. Stanley Jenkiii, secretary. Mr. Mucmahon, who lias boon elected chairman'of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, is » well-known and popular member of tho Wiiimen County Council. • Bv bis election the country.is represented in this important' office, which has hitherto 'been held by members of Ihe City Council. There is a measure of justice in the new appointment, as the country is the largest contributor to the Hospital 'funds, but., altogether apart from this. Mr. .Macmahou's ability is known and recognised bnrii in .town and country., On Thursday afternoon the Girl's College annual garden party was hold. The new honours board- was unveiled by Mr. J. H. Cock, and a number of tennis matches were played. The honours hoard is the gift of the Old' Girls' Association. The sudden death of Mr. T. M. Grant, -the Acting Chief Surveyor at Nelson, came as a shock to a large number of friends in the city. Tho deceased- gentleman lind his leg broken in a trap accident a few weeks ago, but until tho. news of his death, reached Nelson it was understood that, he was making excellent progress towards recovery. ■ Mr. Grant had boen about eighteen months 111 Nelson, and during.that time bad interested himself greatly in several local Societies. The funeral of the late Rov. J. C. Andrew, who died at Masterton last Saturday,,took place, oil •Monday, the body having been brought to Nelson to .be interred at.St. Barnabas' Churchyard. Stoke. Tho funeral was. very largely attended; the name ... of "Parson Andrew " being a household word in the city. Ho was a former Principal'of the Boys' College, and'the pupils of that institution, were drawn up in line, opposite tho building as; the funeral procession pnissed. A short service was conducted in the Cathedral by . tho Bishop and the Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, and tho Bishop read the servico at the graveside. • The annual gymnastic display at the Boys' College was held on Tuesday evening. The Senior Cup was won by h. w. Hughes," and the Junior Cup by ,15. King. The annual distribution of prizes in . connection with the college will .lie held nest week in the Assembly Hall of the Boys' College. The Minister for Plication will' preside. The two' chief Nelson factories ' are' very greatly handicappsd owing to the difficulty'of' finding' sufficient, hands. Employment- could lie found at highly remunerative, wages .for several hundred girls.'' , ' ;■ ■ napier ; ~ . '..December- 13. In answer to, an inquiry at a-meeting of the Hawke's Bay Land Board this-morning j Mr. Trent, Commissioner of Crown' Lands, said he had been instructed.by.the-Under.-Soc-retary for Lands that the'survey of the' Waimarama block should he proceeded with, as soon as possible. This would be done early next year, and it.was probable that the.hiock would be ready for settlement about the'end of September.. . . ... Judge Cooper has notified the Deputy Registrar of the: Napier' Suprem'e Court to the effect that the next session of .the Supreme Court here has been altered from March i 6 to Marclv2, the dates being transposed with those fixed -for .the opening of the Court .t. Palmerston North.. This will avoid a sitting of the-Supreme' Court being" held in Napier-during Carnival - week. • A petition is being" promoted here by the legal fraternity asking that Mr. E. C. Cutton, S.M., should. Ha retained in his present charge, it being the intention of the Government to appoint Mr. M'Cartbv, of Invercargill, n*. senior magistrate, at Napier. ; A Progress Committee formed in the rising township of Matftman has made an endeavour to improve thin:;s'in the district, but. has met with scant success. An- application to the Railway Department to x incroase the station accommodation in view of the fact, that some 10,000 feet of. timber, in addition to the ordinary traffic, was being trucked per day. was met with a refusal. The Dcpnitment also intimated that it could not sec its way to stop .the expross train at Matumau, although residents claim that, owing to the numb'er of trains crossing, it is a. nfticb more suitable place for this purpose • than Makotuku, where the mail train at present pulls "P-