LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 138, 5 March 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

l The partnership'existing between the Hon. i T. Kennedy Macdonald, M.L.C., and Mr. [ A.'Wilson, known as the firm of Macdonald, s Wilson, and Company, land and estate ; agents, auctioneers, ■ ctc., is ahoufc to be dissolved. It has not yet' been decided which . of tho two gentlemen will carry on the pre- ; sent business. • ' Mr. J. Doyle, the Chief Inspector for tho City Corporation, will shortly, have another > field in tho Magistrates' Court. Owners of unregistered dogs are to get into trouble this time. Over a hundred informations have been laid. . "Hilda," the leader of the team of bronchos in Wirth's circus, 'was so kicked by another horse early yesterday morning that sho succumbed :to her injuries .in tho afternoon. As' "Hilda" was a wellbred, intelligent animal, 'the loss sustained by tho proprietary through her death is a ' severe one. Who is the censor of State school songs ? Passing a public school the other day, a correspondent heard the scholars' being taught that, touching ballad "Somebody's Sweetheart I Want to Be," which was all very' well in "Mother Goose" pantomime, but it is a question if it is not just a little too advanced for a public school. At a meeting of the Committee of. the Kelburne Ratepayers' Association held on Monday evening a committee, consisting of Messrs. M'Villy,, Hodgkins, ■ and Williamson was appointed to collect subscriptions for improving' tho'track through the grounds ,of Victoria College. A committee was also set up to go into the matter of the piirchaso of tho Kelburne and Karori Tramway Co.'s property,: with instructions to; report at ■ tho next, meeting. The City Council is also to be'urged to proceed at onco with the completion of Kolburno Park,-.' in order that it may be ready for next summer; , The sessional index for the 1907 volume of fiansard is in an advanced state of preparation. The practice in the past has been' to furnish indexes for each separate volume and no general index for the session. As the debates of each session occupy \four or five volumes, the task of the editor or politician in search of shot and shell was often a. rather tedious qne. Mr. Silas Spragg, the Chief Reporter, has put the indexing of Hansard' on a' satisfactory .basis' by introducing tho card system, and compiling a sessional index in addition to tho se'parate indexes to .each volume as issued hitherto. Messrs. J. and N.,Tait have secured "The Hollanders," a concert company of > exceptional originality and ability for an Australasian tour, commencing l in. Sydney about Easter time. "The Hollanders,", who: liavo earned their sobriquet' by .dressing themselves as Dutch peasants, give a most attractive entertainment of vocal and instru-mental-music, and are one' of the;-most sought-after organisations 1 in London. Another' attraction secured' by tho Messrs. Tait is Max Schluytcr,, the: 'highly-talented young Danish .violinist, who is to appear at 1 the Melbourne Town Hall on March 14. . Australia has a law to the effect that the weight of all fruit exported shall ; be stamped on'the case in which it, is contained. Local . fruit merchants ' testify that : the cases . are stamped in a grossly careless manner that 1 is very disconcerting to their business. The [ mistake must arise either through taking the' ; weight of one case as the standard, for the • lot or in. using tho round figure';; as;in many instances lately, particularly in regard to ' recent, importations of grapes, when: it has : been found-that the weijght lias been under- 1 ■stated in, several,instances,, and the .pur/chaser has reaped tho benefit. Now, however, the auctioneers have decided that two cases 1 of each lot shall bo weighed, and the . cases will be sold on that basis. f

The Wellington Harbour Board has a rule that anything dropped overboard during tho .loading or unloading, shall' bo recovered, irrespective of its size or value, or loss in value consequent upon its .submersion. ■■ ■ As accidents will occur with the best regulated Harbour 1 Boards, ' goods not infrequently fall into tHe harbour, whereupon tho Board's diver , is callcd upon to recover the ■ same. His duties .'yesterday, entailed the recovery of a. oouple of casks of cement, must have suffered severely during their rest ,on the harbour bed. On,his rising from tho waters, alongside No. 5 berth at the Queen's Wharf, he said that there were about three, feet of soft black mud, into which ,he sank up to his thighs at each laboured step. Every ''motion ho f made caused the pitchblack ooze to well up like a dark cloud, hut lie managed to locate the'casks,by dredging in the mud with his arras—a nauseous task. After adjusting a sling round each, cask he arose, to-his natural sphere. ;

By the arrival in New Zealand-waters of the Huddart-Parker's new steamer Ulimaroa, the intercolonial ■ fleet is enriched by, a vessel well up to the standard of the best steamers, running ; between the Commonwealth and the Dominion. The Ulimaroa marks a " distinct advance in the HuddartParker liners, her: decks and deck-houses

being , more in accord with the latest ideas of modern liners than • any of the other vessels. Tho old forward well-deck, so characteristic of some of the older of ; the Company's boats,is dispensed with, and a flush main' deck is'. substituted from which rises amidships a magnificent < promenade deck, and above that again the boat deck, which in .turn carries the captain's bridge (which has little shelter houses at either side). The social hall, off the promenade deck, is richly upholstered in dark green figured, stuff, and the walls are beautifully panelled The room is divided by low permanent par-

titions into small compartments for the accoramodatidn of card parties, etc. The' smok-ing-room is another comfortable apartment, calculated to convert every non-smoker to 1 love of the weed. . The cabins'are large .and airy, the lertlis aro most comfortable, and

the furnishings would not disgrace a firstclass Atlantio liner. , The trip across from Sydney partook of the'air of a fete. On Sunday , evening a concert was held in .tho largo dining saloon, and so pleased were th 3 audience with tho "quality" of the performers that £4 7s. 3d. was collected for the Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society of Now South Wales. There were, sports of all kinds during the hours of daylight, and on Monday ovening a dance was held on the promonade deck. Tho passengers who ar-' rived by the Ulimaroa pronounce her a very fine sea-boat indoed. . A lady passenger, speaking to her friend on the wharf as the vessel drew alongside yesterday aftornoon, summed up the trip by saying:—"Tho best 1 trip I've ever had in my life IShe looked as if she meant it, too.

■ For Shampooing, nil Hair, and Face,treatments, visit Mrs. Rolleston, Hair Physician, Face Specialist, and Masseuse, Certificated, Trained under medical supervision. Snecial treatment for Falling- Hair, Dandruff, GreyneßS, Face Massage, etc., personal attention, Ist Floor, 3 Willi! Street (over Carroll's). Tel. 1489. .-7152

Martini-Enfield rifles are to be issued tonight to the Boys' Institute cadets in lion of carbines, a sufficient number of which the Defence Department does not possess. The strength of tho company is , now 57, and Captain A. J. Harley is in command.

A meeting of tho Labour Representation Committee of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council was held last evening, a large number of members attending. Mr. A. H. Hindmarsh occupied'tHe chair. The main portion of the evening was devoted to the framing of the platform of the Committee, consideration of which was postponed till a further meeting.

At the statutory meeting of the Wellington and Wairarapa Charitable Aid. Board, to be held on March 17, tho /estimates, and apportionment thereof , for the year 1908-9 (as already published) will Be considered. Other business will include tho consideration of the proposed new Charitable Aid Bill and the appointment of delegates'for the conference of Boards to be held in. connection therewith. . ■ \ , ']■

Mr. Hal], M.P., states that • portions of his electorate have suffered very severely from bush fires. In some, cases settlers had lost all their stock, ninety per cent, of their grass; and in one or two instances their houses and; out-buildings. Ho is at present in Wellington asking, that speedy assistance in the way of grass-seed be granted to ehablo sowing operations to be carried out during the present favourable weather. ,

A conference between ■ representatives of the shipownirig firms of the Dominion and delegates from the Seamen's Union opened yesterday afternoon in- one of: the municipal committee rooms-at tho Town Hall, the Hon.' J, A: Millar, Minister for Marine,, presiding. Shipowners from all parts of 1 New Zealand were present. . The subject of the conference, which is closed to the Press, is the'demands made by the Seamen's Union-in regard to conditions of labour. The ■ conference wi'l be continued to-day. - .. '

The word Ulimaroa—the name of the new Huddart-Parker liner, which made her first appearance in Wellington', early; yesterday afternoon, and said to be the■ name given by the Maoris to Australia—must have been coined by, South Island Natives. The twelfth letter of the' alphabet is not used among the. tribe* of the, North Island; whereas it is fairly common inUhe extreme South insucli homes as Waihola, in which case it may. be merely a variation of the equally well-known namo Waihora, as i Tregear's Maori . dictionary, which omits the letter "I" from' consonants, says in'the' introduction:— 1 "Itis probable that formerly in- some localities the 'r' varied into '1' and 'd/ and the 'p' into 'b,' etc." ■.. . ... The Customs rovenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £2238 18s. : sd. A deputation from the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerco (Mr. Hall, M.P., .and, Mr. Dobson, Secretary of the. Chamber) ye'ster3ay interviewed the Minister for Railways (the Hon. W. HalWones); and asked for a subway to.connect both', sides' of the Dannevirke station. : The ' Minister promised to irrivo at a conclusion: as. to \ whether either i subway or an overhead bridge was necessary; and if so which' would bo preferable. Settlers, of i forsewood have been anxious 'or some time to acquire the Rakautatahi ilock of land in the vicinity of the town for iloser settlement. A jruinour\ has been, in lirculation in tiie district that' the block lad been purchased ; privately. Mr. Hall; .P., yesterday interviewed:the Native Minster to ascertain the facts of the case. ' The Native Minister informed the member that m area of about. 3200 acres of tho block was 'ecomraendcd by tho Native Land Commission or close settlement, and it would be his object o give effect to that, recommendation by ireyenting any single person securing the and by private lease. Tho block includes ome first-class land,and ,is vory suitable | tor. division into small holdings.