LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 139, 6 March 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In regard to our announcement yesterday that Messrs. T. K. Macdonald and, A.' L. Wilson (Macdonald, 'Wilson, and Company) are about .to dissplve partnership, it'has, been arranged that the Hon., T. K. Macdonald, who is'-senior partner, will, buy Mr. Wilson'B interest in the firm. A formal announcement to that effect will be mado in a few days. ■ '

The Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £2513 ,18s.'- 6d.

Yesterday,"William Henry Belfit, of Upper Hutt, saddler, was adjudged' bankrupt oil liis own petition. The first meeting of creditors in'his estate will be '. held, 011, Tuesday, March 17, at 1;1 a.m. . '■

Two men named' Mark Sullivan and James. Q'.Neill were severely burned about tho' faco and .hands .yesterday through : some 1 ' loose powder igniting thoy were preparing l a blast .on the "railway' duplication ;' works at Kgahauranga.; Both men wore removed to tho Hospital, but their injuries aro not considered to be serious. | "■ .

Notwithstanding all its progress,. Wellington has not yet outgrown the time when .rabbits inhabited Te Aro fiat. A representative of Tiif. Dominion was going home between 12' and 1 o'clock yesterday morning' when, he saw two rabbits in tlib middle of the, road,/; opposite To Aro railway station. They scuttled away towards tho destructor. . Only about', a fortnight ago two small boys' were splaying amongst some stones near the Thorncion Baths .when they: came across a rabbit, which thoy eventually laid low with a stone. ■ ■ ■

One of the best yarns about old 1 David Syme (says the /'Bulletin") was that of the early,-days,'lylien'tbo "Age" was fighting for its life. A big contractor found David ill,a very doleful; mood.. Ho was one,of.the few, that were intimate with- tho "Age" boss, and he extracted the information that Syme was financially embarrassed, so bo offered to throw V rope. "It would take thousands,':' said Symo, gloomily. "Well, you can havp \yhat you want," said tho othpr Scot. ' Tho money ; Jenfc soon. repaid, j iYears after David found that contractor in tho soup, and offered help. would'take tens/ of thousands," said; the' •.-busted magnate,. '.'Well,", said David, calmly, "you'can have what you .want.",'. ""/• '

The quips of a circus audience arc frequently'picturesque, if not resplendent', with polish. . Tho aroma of tobacco smoko obviously distressed a lady in the audience at Wirth's Circus, and she mado it clear by her indignant sniffing,that .she was eagei/to' .express her pent-up .feelings"; •' The situation amused , tho audience, which was thick in the vicinity,' and* at length the male offender turned round to the boiling complainant and asked quietlj;: " Do. you' : object to ' smoke, madanip" " \'U most certainly . do—l' thifik it, is disgusting," was tho reply. Quick as a flash; came the. retort from' tho " gentleman": ".Well, . will, you kindly keep your knees out of my .back, lady!',' . One.'has; to havo sat in a circus family-circle seat to realise, the point of the last retort.' /'■'.' -

As the outcome of considerable local; indignation at what appeared to be an altogether unnecessary delay in commencing the Oriental Bay improvement, works, a deputation from the Bay's Vigilance ".Committee,' consisting, of Councillor Hales,-. Messrs. G. S- Hill,: G. Adams, and W; .on the.Mayor yesterday morning. His Worship expressed, his. regret .that 1 the promised, work had not been put ■in hand o)ving to great demand on the Engineer's Department, but stated that. the plans, and tho money allocated (£1500),-were now ready, and that tho Engineer, would be asked to report af the nest '.'meeting. of - .'the,' Council when lie proposed to initiato the work. Mr. Hislop further' intimated that,'the 1 citizens might confidently; look'forward to the Oriental-Bay improvement being now taken in -Jiand without further delay. , ,

The tramway trolley-head, invented' by Messrs. Holmes aud Allen, of Wellington, lias reached. Gjasgow. 1 Tho following paragraph' appears in the " Glasgow Newsof January 13:—"Interesting trials are being made in Glasgow just now with a new'type of tramway trolley-head, a . New Zealand-in-vention, the -object of which is to prevent tho trolley jumping, tho wirolat ourves. The secret of the new trolley-heaii is that .instead of the wheel being mounted on the rigid spindle in the ordinary fork at the upper end of tho polej 'it is on a spindle carried 911' two blocks. These are free to move up and down in two slots slightly inclined downwards towards tho .rear, with buffer springs behind, which toiid to keep the wheel in a straight line with tho wire at all irregularities, instead of.it having to swivel in the wheel, which is 0110 of the chief causes of the trolley leaving the wire. "The'new head is the invention of a firm ill Wellington, Now Zealand. For some six weeks back the Tramways Department have been testing it, during which timo a distance of 5600 miles has been covered by tho oars on which tho now trolloy-heads are being tried. The present system,' as is obvious from the frequency with which the pole leaves tho wire and causes damage, is still far from perfect, and accordingly the results of tile present trials will be learned with, interest."

Mrs. Etliel It. Do Costa, LL.B. (neo Miss Elhel B. -Benjamin, of Dunedin), after praotisjug for somo_ years in that city, has commenced practice as a barrister and solicitor in No. 6 Nathan's Buildinßs, corner Grey anil Fc-nthorston Streets, Wellington. Mrß. Do Costa lins the distinction of beins tho only lady practising at the Bar in tho Dominion. Inlendinc clients can depend on prompt aud weful attention at Mrs. Djb Costa b nanus, .

St.-Patrick's Day, March 17, is gazetted a holiday for all public offices. , It is stated that tho damage done to the Shaw Savill steamer Aiwa, which was run into by tho To Anau on Wednesday morning, will cost between £600 and £700 to repair. As some doubt exists as to'the opening dates of tho coining deer stalking season,, stalkers will bo interested to learn that the Wellington Acclimatisation Society has 'recommended the following dates to the Go-; vernment, viz.:—April 1 to May 5, both dates inclusive. ... At a meeting of suffragettes held in Glas-. gov." in January, speeches were delivered per medium of the gramaphono by Lady Har r ' burton, 'Mrs. SnoVden, Mr. George Bernard Shaw, and Mr. '■ Jsra'el' Zangwill. Eyidontly suliragetto meetings do not ensure to speakers the greatest .. platform comfort) ' 111 : last night's Gazette a notification is published that the restrictions forbidding any postal packet being .fpnyaj-ded to Dr. Kempster, M.R.C.S., the freeman and Wallace Electro-Medical Institute, Sydney , and Melbourne, have been removed by order of thp Postmaster-General. : The Geological Department denies a report from Now Plymouth'to tho effect that an officer of that Department has submitted a highly satisfactory report on gold reefs in tho Mount Egmont ranges. No such officer, has yet prospected in that locality, but it is intended that ono shall do so in tho near future. ' The Wellington Professional Orchestra has arranged to give an open-air concert at the Ohiro Home on Sunday afternoon. Tho programme is . to includeNi few ne)v items entitled ''Spring Song." (Mendelssohn) and; the! lino. march " Distant Greeting." If it •is. found to be'too. windy to; play outside,: .the ''orchestra, lyill play in, thp large' dining-; room of tho Homo. , ■ ■' Tho trustee's of thq Wellington Convalescent Home met at Mrs. Newman's residence Oil Thursday, when tilery were present Mesdames Moorhouse ' (in the chair), Grady; Brandon,' Newman, and' Barron (treasurer)'. Tho matron reported that eleven patients had been repeived and ten discharged dur-' iiig the'month. The matron acknowledges with thanks- gifts from-.Mesdamos Joseph, Newman, Snaddon, Watkins, and Johnson. A> preliminary inquiry was held by the' Collector of Customs, yesterday, into the circumstances connected with the marine accident .in".which,.tho steamer Te Anau collided with the stpaiiier Arawa. The,evidence of the master of the Te Anau, also that of the first and third officers, the chief/engineer, lamptrimmer, two A.Bi.'s, and Mr. Calvert, Government Inspector of Shipping, .was,'taken.- The papers have been forwarded on to tho Marine Department."

, When Madamo Clara Butt and Mr. Kennerley Rumford wero in Wsnganui last week an arrangement: was made for tho performance of a poi dance .by. a number, of Maori niaidens for' their edification. . The visitors were immensely pleased with, the remarkable rhythm of the poi's twirlings and twistings, v and ■ agreed that. the Maoris. must have .the most perfect idea of time on earth. The •performance enabled Mr. Rumford to gain a good idea of tho inner meaning or . sentiment of Mr. Alfred Hill's song, which lie sings so well. •1 The following notice to mariners received, from tho Board of Trade; London, is pub- '■ .lished in the Now Zealand Gazette by tho Minister for Marine (the Hon. J. A. Millar): —" Several, instances having been reported recently in which merchant vessels have omitted to answer signals made'to theni'by H.M. ships, the Board' of Trade desire to pall the attentjon, of. masters to the importance to merchant vessels of answering signals made ,by • warships and of practising communicating with wars|iips.' Masters are reminded that when the red ensign is hoisted on", a warship it\ pieanp.. tjiat the .warship wishes, to communicate with a merchant ye*: sol." ■ . y The • taximotor has materialised in Glasgow. ;.At a .meeting of the Magistrates on January 13 an application for the licensing of taximotor cabs to ply for;hire in Glasgow \vas considered anft granted. The Magis-' trates inspected the first of the ."taxie's"-to bo licensed in the quadrangle of the City Chambers! Bailies M'lnnes Shaw and Maxwell went inside,, and- Bailie Arclid. ; Campbell mounted the box. The chauffeur exhibited tho Spaces of tho cab, and tho complete control he' possessed of the 1 mechanism for starting and quick stopping, 'The taximotor is''of .-the landau brougham type,- seated for two persons, but' thero.is.no apparent provision ;forluggage.' The Magistrates, after consulting' in committee, agreed to license fifty, as application is made, each, cab being subject to individual examination, the. rato to bo charged' being Is. for the first mile,, and 6d. for each additional mile: As a precautionary safeguard there is a small fireextiiiguishing apparatus,, which can be used instantly in case of" accident. The taximotor.. is placed ,so. that the driver' and the faro, oan each note the distance travelled.