LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 158, 28 March 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A number of' letters to the Editor are 1 unavoidably-crowded'out of this issue, and mil appear oil Monday.' 1 Tho Customs revenue '■ collected at Wellington yesterday amounted'to £3625 6s. 4d? Detective Andrews arrested n. youth yesterday on a charge of .stealing, various pieces of harness from tho stablo at - the Porirua Mental Hospital. . During February 4567 persons arrived in the Dominion, as comparod with 3610 during, the same month last year ; and 2956 left Now Zealand's shores, as compared, with 3176 in February, 1907. ' !-■ ' ;The sittings, of tho, Arbitration Court at Wellington Concluded . yosterday afternoon. On Monday morning,' the members' of- the Court,proceed to Wanganui, where, on Tuesday, applications for enforcements' will be heard. A meeting of the 1 committee of the Wellington Branch of • the New Zealand Institute of Journalists was held at the rooms ' of the Press Association yesterday afternoon, Mr. C. E»rle,' president, in the chair. Ten new members were elected. The question of forming a Press Club was discussed, and considered impracticable. It was decided •to hold a dinner-in connection with the annual meeting, the date of ■ which is to bo fixed by the secretary. t Mr. J. S. Larke, the Canadian Trade Commissioner, has. a _ pretty .turn for political aphorisms. Here, are a fow which occurred in his speech to the Chamber of Commerce last. evening The sharp publig man is the one that can see a little further than the people—only a little." "There isn't a more helpless body in the world than a Government in a British community." "Little peoples are made great by big schemes." "There never 'was but one nation in the world that, was a good mother, and, thank God, that mother is ours." . ... .. r > The annual meeting of subscribers to the Boys' Institute will be held next Tuesday. The report states that about 150 boys wero dealt with last year, of whom 100 are still members. Last year 100 were enrolled for gymnasium work; 68 : beginners were givon swimming lessons; 26 were in tho life-sav-ing 'class; 50 wore interested'in cricket; 75 took part in the sports meeting 'on Labour Day; 55 woro enrolled as defence cadets; and 40 entered various educational classes. A . squad S from the. " first aid " class won first prise at the Piilmorston North milil- - tournament. An averago of 26 a week attended Bible classes, and an average of ovor 49 per night attended tho Sunday' services. The receipts (including subscriptions and donations £19 10s. 6d., concerts, benefits, etc. £70 4s. Id., and collections for salary fnnd £175 Bs. 6d.) totalled £265 3s. Id., and the expenditure was £175 12s. lid., leaving a balance in hand of £89 lßs. 2d. Mrs. Ethel It. do Costa, LL.B. (neo Miss Ethel R. Benjamin, of Dunedin), after practising for some years in that city, has commenced practice as a barrister and solicitor ' ih No. 0 Nathan's Buildings, corner Grey ami ' Featherston Streets, Wellington. Mrs. De Costa has the distinction of being tho only lady practising at the Bar in the Dominion. Intending olients can depend on prompt and careful attention at Mrs. Be Costa a hands.

A meeting of the Now Zealand Defence Council was held yesterday, when routine business was transacted. By advertisement elsewhere in this issuo the Wellington Young Men's Christian Association invites applications for the position of caretaker Ito their new building.' . The Swifts Amateur Swimming Club will hold a mile handicap race at To Aro Baths this,afternoon. Seven entries have been received, the starters including B. C. Freyberg and J. Lynch.. • Advico received by the police states that tho body of a man named Lindsay, cook on the steamer Waitara, who had been missing since Wednesday, was found in the Waitara River yesterday. It is stated that Lindsay's mother resides in Wellington. On behalf of tho professorial Board of the Victoria College, Professor H. Mackenzie has written to the Hon. G. Fowlds (Minister for Education) conveying a resolution of' hearty thanks and appreciation for his scheme of research scholarships. A cyclist, who was riding down-Charlotte Street about 5.30 yesterday evening) met, with an accident when turning into Lambton Quay. As he rounded tho corner ho collided; with another cyelist who was about to go up the hill. The man who was turning in to the Quay was thrown from;his machine a distance of about ten yards, and received a severe shaking and some wounds about the body and head. The Arbitration Court, for the. purpose of remedying a defect in tho Cooks' and Waiters' award, has ordered that in Clause 1, under the heading "waiters," the words " third, £1 7s. Gd." shall be struck out, and the following words substituted, " third and others, £1 7s. 6d." In so doing, the Court pointed out that, previously, no provision was made in tho award in regird to the wages of waiters other than tho first,. Second, and , third • grades in hotels whichi employ more than three waiters. When tho matter was 'brought under the notice of the Court, the' employers/asked that the rate for "other" waiters should be fixed at 225. 6d,, but the Union strongly objected. The employers' ; application to mako. general 'the clause ..relating to the employment of probationers, instead of limiting the scope of\tke clause to waiters and waitresses in hotels, has' been refused by the Court. With regard ; to this clause the Union held that it had been found to be inapplicable. . The little Wadcstown Schoolroom wds •filled .-with from sixty to seventy ratepayers last evening. The ' meeting; was called in connection with tho proposal to extend..; the city tramways to the hill suburb. Mr. J, Lambert was elected chairman,, and Mr.. Larkin, an ox-Councillor of the Onslow Borough Council,' who; had advertised'the meeting, was called- upon to move a resolution. Mr. Larkin, however, explained that -since the City Council the previous ovening had decided to call a meeting of ratepayers of -, the district and> put" the schemes before ' them' .■there. s was" little for .thorn to :do. 'Ho had called the present meeting at the request of a- number of residents. The ,whole desire was to have 'a poll taken, and' he felt sure'' their action in calling a meeting had hastened the-de-cision of the City Council to this end. Having pointed this out, lie would only move that the meeting express satisfaction at the 'decision of the; City Council to tako /a poll of the Wade'stown ratepayers, arid hope that such poll would be lield at' the earliest possible' moment.- . The motion was seconded by Mr. Morrell, arid carried. This.concluded tho meeting," Mr. Larkin' remarking that a good deaf that would have been said , being useless under the circumstances. Tho meeting lasted fifteen minutes. - V.V.• In connection; with the military tournament held at Napier on Wednesday last,-the success attained by; the two- teams of > the Post and [Telegraph Rifles .in the signalling competitions is worthy of. more than a passing notice. In the first event (tho Morse competition)'.'' A " team finished , first with the filio score of 197 points out'of a possible 200, while tho "B" team was a close second with 196:7 points, only three-tenths of a point behind. The Porisonby Naval Artillery team finished third with .192.7 points. In' the second event" (the' Semaphore) the " A " team again showed its superiority over the other competing teams by winning l with the- score of 196.5 ' out of a possible 200. The "B" team again ran a close second with 195.7, only four-fifths of a' point btv hind,, the Ponsonby Garrison Artillery team finishing third with 192.7 points.. In bach competition the ; test was ;to send' and recoivo four riiessages, each 200 words' long, the- time allowed for each message' being six minutes, points being deducted', for 'ex-

ceeding the. time limit, while points wen awarded for style, accuracy, and speed.' h should not be : assumed'.that because the members of-the ■teams are officers ,of the Post and Telegraph Department that they are also telegraphists, for out'of the eight comprising the- teams, seven are employed' in clerical duties in the accountant's office of the G.P.0., while the eighth'is employed in the mail-room. One would- not think it, but Tonga, with all its native population, has labour ■ troublos. The Hon. T. E, Roberts,) AuditorGeneral for the Tongan Government, Bays that it is a difficult matter, to get labour'for public works in Tonga, because of the very satisfactory price of the island's principal product—copra; A native does not have to work more than threo months out of the twelve to provide for a life of ease, and, indeed, comparative luxury, for himself, wife, , and family. . Having planted his block of land—there is a oompulsory "on the land" system that compels every native to plant a certain area with cocoanut .trees —• and the trees having arrived at the age of maturity (seven years), he merely has to gather up the nuts as they fall and'take them to the trader, who, to-day, is paying £17 10s. for the copra (the fruit of the nut, | out of which is extracted the oil which forms one of the chief .ingredients in all the best soaps in the world). It is in prosecuting its policy of road construction that the Government i has met with this troublo. Thore is no metal in Tonga, and the roads aro macadamised with broken coral, ■ which has to be'dug) from the roefs, placed in a boat, and landed on the beach, then broken and laid on the road, by which time it costs between ss. and 6s. per yard. The natives are offered 4s. to 6s. per day to do this work, but they do not get agitated over it —copra is too high. The new Government buildings at Tonga are built of squares of coral, which is soft and easily out when taken out of the sea, but which gets as hard as limestone with a fow years' exposure. For Hair and Face Treatments visit Mrs. Rollcston, Ilnir Physician, Face Specialist and Mnsseusf-, certificated, who has the distinction of medical training, being-qualified under Dr. Kenloi E. Kofcli, M.R.C.S., Eng. Courses of treatment, including necessary . lotions, from 30s. Advice t'reo. Personal attention'only. Evening appointment's arranged . First Floor, II Willis Street (over Carroll's). Telephone' 1593. 7152

A fireman on the Now Zealand Shipping Co.'s steamer Rakaia was arrested by Detectives Lewis and Bailey yesterday on a charge of cargo broaching. ; The official staff of the "Red" or Defending Forco nt the Easter manoeuvres will visit Johnso'nvillo to-day for the purpose of making an inspection of tho 'mobilisation base and its neighbourhood. , ) A meeting of the Catholic Young Men's ' Club was held last night at St. Patrick's Hall. 'The meeting was called for the pur-' , pose of discussing the plan, which has been , under consideration for some time, of build- j ( ing larger club-rooms. The work is too big to bo undertaken oh a fitting - scale by tho ' f Club as it now stands, and a meeting of all Catholics tfho are willing to help or join the . Club will be called on Sunday.. It is proposed- j when the Club is established to" appoint , sub-committees for a ladies' .club, a ' men's j club, and a young men's clui). The young 1 men do not wish altogether to lose their! ' identity as a club, as they have "been cstab- : lished.for some years, but will bo satisfied - if given, their own committee. It is understood that a number of, Civil Servants who have reached the retiring, age of G5 "yoa'rs, fixed by the Public Servico. Superannuation Act of. last session, have received polite reminder's from tho Government, convoyed in a circular, that they' nave reached the limit. ' Presumably, the circular is to be regarded as a graceful in- . vitation to give notice of retirement.- Tho Act states Every male contributor whose length of- servico is not less than 40 years, or whose age is not less than 65 . years, and every, female contributor whoso length of service is not less than 30 years, or. whose age is not loss than 65 years, may at any time retire from the Public Service at, the> expiration of three months' notice of; his'or her intention bo to do, and shall thereupon. be entitled to receive from the fund an* annual retiring-allowance for the rest of his : or her lifo,; Provided that the Minis-., ter in charge of the Department in which a contributor' is Employed may extend the provisions of this section:;to .'-any', case in which the age of a male contributor is uot less than 60 years or the age' of a female contributor is not less than 50 years.