IN OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 91, 10 January 1908, Page 5

IN OTHER CENTRES.

(BT TELEGRArn—SrECIAL CORKEfITOKDEXTS.) AUCKLAND January 8. Management of Manakau Harbour. A discussion regarding the presont management of tho Manukau Harbour took place at the meeting of tho Auckland Harbour Board yesterday, when Mr. W. J. Napier inovod "that tho attention of the Minister for Marine bo drawn to the Board's communication to him in reference to tho Board assuming the control of tho Manukau Harbour, and that be be asked for an early decision on tho question." The mover said that the present position at Onehunga. was very acute. The Board had passed a resolution in favour of taking over the control of the Manukau Harbour. The Government, lie believed, was not indisposed to give them control, but an agitation was on foot amongst a few people at Onehunga for the formation of a local Board, and they were endeavouring to secure a Government grant in order to enable thorn to start the now Board. It would be quite impossible, howover, for the Onehunga people to manage the harbour even as well as the Railway Department had done, as they had'no funds. The Manukau was ah appendage of Auckland, and it was desirable that tho Auckland Board should have control of both harbours. His motion, however,, only affirmed tho reasonableness of a reply to the Board's communication which the Minister had received four months and a half ago. Mr. C. C. Dacre seconded the motion, and said lie bolieved it was tho intention of the Government to hand over the control of the harbour to tho Board. Mr. H. J. Bradney said it was a question of what endowments the Board would get if it took over the harbour. Mr. A. Keyes said that if the Onehunga people wished-, to take over t.he control of their own harbour ho'did not think tho Auckland Board should interfere. Mr. Napier said that all that tho Board had expressed in its previous resolution on tho subject was a willingness to take over the harbour if the Onehunga people failed to do so. Something should be done, as the merchants were suffering very keenly'at present from tho existing state of. affairs. Mr. Keyes said lie understood that negotiations were still going on iu regard to the formation of a local Board. Mr. Napier said he did not think the Government would give the Onehunga people what they wanted. Mr. J. IS. M'Farlane considered something should certainly be done to improve the management of tho Manukau Harbour. Mr. J. K. lineen said that the Board should endeavour to do something to effect a change. Tho people of Onehunga seomod to be acting tho part of the dog in the manger. They did not wish the Auckland Board to have control, and thev would not improve matters themselves. The motion was carried. The Presbytery. At last night's meeting of - tho Auckland Presbytery no less than Jivo ordinations and inductions were arranged for. The Rev. A. Miller referred to the fact with much gratification. He thought it was. a record, not only for tho Auckland Presbytery,, but for any other Presbytery. " AVo have," ho said, " been moaning over the vacancies in the Auckland district/ but wo aro .filling them up now, and I, for one, feel very happy about it." Tho vacancies filled will" provide new ministers for St. Andrew's Church, Knox Church (Parnell), Epsom, Rotorua, and Waihi. Sunday Work. During a discussion at- tho Presbytery upon the question of Sunday desecration, a' Pultekoho representative (Mr. Stevenson) declared that; this fjuestion was n troublo to him in his own district as a superintendent of a Sunday school. He deplored the fact that on a Sunday, as lie passed along the road to teach 111 the Sunday school, he . saw a reaper and binder at work. The reapers and binders wero, ho said, working all through the iplace. Ihoy would not have been but for tho starting of the creameries. That was the thin end of the wedge. Now they., went even further, and carted hay on Sundays. Ho knew of old people in Pukekoho who had opposed Sunday labour bitterly at ono time, but who were now falling iu with it. Art Gallery. During the Christmas and New Year holidays a/remarkable number of people visited thoAuckland Art Gallery. In tlie eight days during which tho gallery was open, from Boxing.Day to January 3, tho total visitors numbered 1767, as against 16S1 for the same period of last year. Tho biggest attendance for ono day was 254, recorded on tho last day of tho old year. On Boxing Day 215 visitors inspected the art treasures, as ct-mpaiod with 10J on the previous Boxiiw Day. Throughout tho whole of tho week suceeding Christmas last the daily - attendance uas larger than that of the corresponding week in 1906, but on Januarv 2 and 3 (224 and 223) it fell to below that of tho first two days oil which tho gallery was open in 1907 (330 and 315). Disappointed Philatelists. Tho philatelists and souvenir hunters who forwarded reply-paid mossages to Lieut. Dnackletoii, leader of tho Antarctic Polar Expedition, on the eve of his departure for tho frozen south, in tho hope of scouring specimens of the King Edward VII Land stamps, havo not been so successful as thev hoped to be. A number of senders of these messages in Auckland havo received replies from Mr. A. Reid, manager of the expedition, stating that Lieut. Shackle-to.-i was unablo to look at any of the letters. There were, it is stated, many hundreds of applications for the stamps but, it being "impossible to sell the same,"' tho remittances havo been returned to tho senders. Some of these remittances were addressed to Lieutenant Sliackloton at King Edward VII Land by post from Lyttelton, but they havo been returned from the latter, port, and havo not- thus completed the interesting journey which they were expected to maka when despatched. Goal. Active'preparations are being made to prospect for coal in tho neighbourhood of I'ukcte, near Hamilton. Options havo been obtained over all but two'of the properties in the district, and it is proposed to procure a boring plant. On one property a good outcrop has been discovered, and on tho bank of the Waikato River a fine seam of lignite .is Visible. Arrangements aro also being mado to open up tho coal area in tho vicinity of the Akatea, where splendid coal has been discovered about four miles distant from Ngaruawahia. Who Should Bury Them? An amusing instance of how some peoplo look to the governing local body to perform all sorts of odd jobs is related by tho "Herald." The other day a Ponsonby lady discovered ui>on her premises a small parcel which, on being opened, proved to contain tho last remains of a family of kittens. They had evidently been unsuccessful in their initial attempt at swimming. Tho obvious tiling to do was to lmrv tho gruesomo parcel, but the owner of tho property upon which it was found had doubts as to whether sho might- perform the funeral rites. She feared that by doing so she might be breaking a bylaw. Sho wroto to tho City Council and asked that august body to como and remove tho corpses on behalf of the municipality. The Town Clerk, however, jibbed. Ho wroto to tho lady to inform her that sho was legally responsible for the removal of any nuisance from her premises. Post-mortem Examinations. The question of medical men holding postmortem examinations without the authority of the Coroner cropped up yostorday\it the. inquest on the body of an infant, it transpired that Dr. Bardie Neil, who was called in at the death of the child, was asked by the mother to ascertain the eauso of death by taking the. body away and holding a postmortem. Tho doctor, in total ignorance that there wore or were likely to arise any suspicious circumstances in connection with the ease, consented. The police, however, informed the Coroner (Mr. Gresham) of the death. He thereupon ordered an inquest,

and requested Dr. Bull to make a postmortem. Dr. Noil in the meantime had commenced his examination, but suspended the same on being informed that there was to ho an inquest. Tho Coroner during yesterday's proceedings brtiught out these facts, and took occasion to point out that. in medical law it was improper for a body, to be removed for post -mortem purposes Vif; tliore wore any suspicious icircumstances. Hewas aware that in the present case Dr. Hardie Neil did not know any suspicion had been aroused, and was satisfied that that gentleman would do nothing to defeat the ends of justice. If, however, lie (Mr. Gresham) were to allow this removal of a body to bo a precedent, there was a risk that some medical practitioner might, without justification, destroy all traces of a crime. Railway Traffic. ' Although tho Christmas and New Year holidays have concluded, there still remains a heavy traffic on the railways, and the arriving. and departing/ trains for long distance runs are all c'arrying- a fairly largo number of passengers. Monday's and Tuesday's trains inward from Rotorua, the Thames, and Helcnsville, brought large numbers of . returning , holiday-makers. . The Rotorua train .especially on Monday, was very crowded, A number of complaints have been made by passengers of the great inconvenience and discomfort occasioned,on board that train by the overcrowding of a number of carriages. Some of, the passengers' who boarded,the train at wayside stations were obliged to stand, while a number were seated on boxes along the gangways. , ' Vaccination. Tho existence of a compulsory Vaccination Act in New Zealand was animadverted upon in strong terms yesterday by Mr. 'Edwin Cox, who is well known as an antivaccinationist. When addressing the members of the Dental Association at the luncheon given by the Hon. George Fowlds, he con-' tended, that it was idle to deplore the decay of children's teeth and to take no cognisance of the system under which they introduced a substance which, he claimed, was injurious to the blood of infants at tho very age when their teeth were ill process of developments "This substance," he said, "is honoured by the name of lymph, but I would rather call it a 'brutal miasma.'- The introduction of such a foreign substance into the body during the genesis of teeth formation must be a disturbing element." He entreated the Minister for Public Health to take some steps towards removing such a danger to the rising generation. Mr. Fowlds said he would endeavour to bear the suggestions of Mr. Cox in mind, and, he added, "I am suro that as long as I am alive he. will not allow me to forget them. (Laughter.) If I do not do my duty in the matter no blame will rest upon Mr. Cox's shoulders. The fault will be mine, and mine aloni." Tho number of tourists visiting Auckland and district this year is exceptionally large, and even the less prominent resorts are filled to overflowing. At Rotorua and some of the other places accommodation is at a promium, and travellers have beeif compelled to sleep in tho open or take refuge in the railway carriages or elsewhere.