LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 96, 16 January 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

* The Customs revenue collected at Welling ton yesterday amounted to £973 6s. 2d. Two Cbinamen arrived from Sydney byth Maheno yosterday; one of tliem had pre viously resided in the Dominion. -, The Public Works Department has accej ted the tender of Mr. W. A. Clarke, for th construction of a new Police Station at Nev market. The amount is nearly £2000. During last month 4651 persons arrive in the Dominion, as against 5259 for tt same month of last year, and 2296 left tt country, as against 2596 in December, 1901 A bull, imported by Mr. Bernard Chan bcrs, of Havelook, recently, re-acted aft< the tuberculin test on the Wellington qua antino island, aYid has beon retained thoro t the authorities. In order to complete the specified numbt of battalion parades for the year ending Fol ruary 29, 1908, the Wellington Rifle Batti lion will hold parades on January 24 an February 12, and also, some time in Febri ary, a muster parade. The police report on the fire at tho Pa linmontary Buildings and statements of wi nesses thorcon, which wore laid before Cat not on Monday, wero handed to tho Press 1 the Premier yesterday. Little that is nev is contained, and no further light of any co: sequence is thrown upon the origin of tl outbreak. Mrs. Ethel E. Do Costa, LL.B. (neo Mi Ethel It. Benjamin, of Dunedin), after practi ing for 6omo years in that city, has coi menced practice as a barrister and solicit in No. C Nathan's Buildings,-corner Grey at Foatherston Street, Wellington. Mrs. Do Cos has the distinction of being tho only lac practising at tho Bar in tho Dominion. I tending clients can depend on prompt ai cnrcful attention at Mrs, Do Costa's hands.

' A clothing :■ Merino ' ram, shipped ; \by ■ Cooper aild Nophow, of Sydney, arrived by " tho'Maheno yesterday, consigned to Messrs.. o Murray, Roberts, and Company,: to bo for.- .-■■■ worded to Monte Video by the Paparoa. . - Fifteen Corridalo rams, arrived by tho r: Maori yesterday, from Messrs. Pino andCbln- ~ pany, Christchurch, consigned -a to Messrs; Murray, Roberts, and Oompany, by whotn they Wore forwarded on to Mr. W. J. Birch, of Marton, r tho- purohaser. .. > ■ • A letter dated from London, December 6, v was received by itho Premier yesterday from tho Hon. Wi> Hall-Jones.; Tho absent Minister mentions the joy ho takes ,in tho pro- 11 spect of his oarly roturn to Now - Zoaland. He also statos that ho is well, and has a very pleasant time. < i The' Tutanekai,': which arrivod from tho 1 South on Monday in order, to effect certain 1 cable-repairing work, did not leavo for the * Straits tiutil: yesterday. Thero are two disabled cables requiring attention,; the noil- 1 'efficiency of'which has-been vory inconvoni- 1 ent'for some time-past.. • .-. : Fivo brake-loads of happy people, constituting tho staff of To Aro House, Bpent a 1 highly enjoyable afternoon in tho picturesque £ grotinds' at tho Lower Hutt :known :as t Mason's Gardens. The drive to and from <■ the Lower . Hutt,, the natural beauties of .the - gardens, aiid' thei enjoyable ■ afternoon :tea c were each part, of, a perfect .outing. .: ' 'The Public Service Co-operative Associa- •< tion, of Braii'don Street, .intend, at tho an? nual meeting to be held: this, month, to askthe shareholders' permission to write down . its £1 shares (4000 out'of 10,000 Shares have been issued and are in the majority of cases fully paid up) to 65., and .issue. another , £1000 worth of scrip.at tho latter value. ( "For ways that are dark, and for tricks that aro' vain," 'the heathen- Chinee - is not "peculiar," despito Bret llarto. • There ■ are white men who can run him very closo, aft two ladies found who paid for eight pounds and two pounds of peaches respectively, at a white fruiterer's hand-cart the other evening. When they reached homo and weighed their fruit, one, had fivo pounds and' tho , other a pound. -. As the Pateena, bound for Picton, was , ; nearing Wellington Hoads on Monday, it was observed that, an open sailing boat had cap- ' r sized and left the occupant, a, young man, ' struggling in tho . water. The Pateena was : speedily brought to, and a boat was lowered [with prohiptitude, and the man rescued from • his unpleasant and dangerous position. : A boat from the shore, which had put off, took him over from the ship's boat,; and) with his own boat in tow, made off for tho shore. . There 1 are at present : vacancies,; for, eight or .nino patients in incipient stages of con-, sumption- at the Otaki',Sanatorium.. It was stated at yesterday's ineeting.of the Hospital Board that there had been only , one . application for admission during the last two nionths. Six 'patients were discharged during December, 1 , four of thorn, being pronounced cured, and two much . improved. There are now eight female and, twelve male , patients under treatment. 1 It is a bad summer for the. trout." The practioal cessation of the overflow at the Wainui reservoir. has sUspehded the osist- , once of the Wainui stream below the basin for a time, and the trout aro having a bad : time. A recont visitor says that there is still a chain of pools along'the bed of tho > which, f the trout have, made their ■ 'Bbiding 1 pfioa'. 1 ' off iii the smaller pools, and as these have dried : up under the influence of the blazing sun, or become over-warm, the trout have died, : \several dead having been.,noticed, in the : bed of the stream. Two elevators are to bo placcd in the Departmental one at each end. They ■ Will bo a boon to weary people who have ; business on' the third'floor of the large buildi ing, which is years out of date in respect of ; the absence of these conveniences, \ Somo • elderly folk, it is said, have rofused to climb Ito the 1 top floor 'on learning that a' dop.art- ' ment with which they have-business is there |, situated. They have, explained that they would : rather make known their wants by 1 letter. Plans are now being prepared for ' tho elevators, and the Public Works Departs ment hopes to be ready to invito tenders | for their' installation in the course of two or three weeks. [ A new election is to be held for a member to represent tho grouped districts Of Ekotahuna, Akitio, Castlepoint, Mauriceville, t Pahiatua County, and Pahiatua Borough, on the Wellington and Wairarapa Charitable ' Aid Board,, Objootion was taken to tho ret cent election of Mr. J. Smith, on the ground . that the meeting of delegates was held at- ' noon, instoad of at 2.15 p.m., and that one s of tho local bodies was unrepresented at the t, meeting. The seoretary of tho Board (Mr. t, G. Willis) has,been advised that the Govj. ernor has signed a notice declaring tho elecj tion void, and appointing a to bo J held for tho purpose of a fresh election, at t the Pahiatua County Counoil offices, at 2.16 J p.m. on January 29. : 0 .Incidentally Brigadier Albiston, of tho Salvation Array, told a good story yesterday, which illustrates how seriously the dairying industry is taken- in Taranaki. The Brigadier was holding a meeting quite recently at Eltham; with him was Major Dutton, Provincial Secretary. A Salvationist was ;- praying, and without a thought of anything incongruous in his words, he said: "Thank the Lord, I had a rich blessing when I was f 'teat-squeezing', yesterday." The term mu^t he in Taranaki a common synonym for milk-ing,-from which any original idea of hum-j our has departed, for not a member of ; the 'O i argo attendance smiled. The Brigadier, v ~ keeping a stern grip of his features, glanced at tho other city man, Major Dutton, who id appeared deeply engrossed counting the lace!o holes in his boots.