LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 173, 15 April 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted' to £2087 18s. 9d. The Secretary of the St. John Ambulance Association (Mr. J. D. Avery) states that the ambulance classes.will be organised after Easter. The .office of the Supremo Court will be closed during the Easter holidays as follows Thursday, April 16, at 1 p.m., until Tuesday, April 21, inclusive, and; excepting from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from Wednesday, April 22, to Saturday, April 25, inclusive. A sale of work was held yesterday afternoon and levelling' in the Mitcholltown School for tlio purpose of raising'the sum of monoy required for tlio improvement of the new portion of the playground taken from the town belt by permission of the City Council. Tho object of tho little function will very likely bo achievod. Tho Bank of New Zealand has experienced another successful year, states tho chairman of direotors, Mr. H, Beauchamp. The financial period closed on March 31, and tho bnlanco-slicet will not b« available until written evidenca comen t» hand confirmatory »f the Bank's English transactions. Cabled information has been received that this business at Homo has been very satisfactory. When the details are. received tho complete balance-sheet will be audited and published. This, it ia oxpootod, will bo towards tho end fii May.

The examination!) for chemists are at present being hold at the Pharmacy Board's Rooms, near the Bank of New Zealand, There are not so many entrants as there were for tile last examinations, Messrs. lioubo and Hurrell, coach and tram-car builders, have decided to vacate their present promises in Courtenay Placc, and the big building that lias been an industrial landmark in Te Aro district for so long is to bo converted into shops, factories, etc., according to arrangements that may be made with tenants: At the meeting of the Wellington Indus-: trial Association last evening, the secretary reported a credit balance of £29 14s. 4d. , Messrs. "VY. Cable, G. Winder,, and P. D. Haworth were appointed as the visiting committee for industries, and Messrs. J. P. Luke, J. Danks, and d. Palliser for the technical school. ■ Another batch of immigrants from England is duo to arrive in Wellington,by the ShawSavill liner lonic from London next week. There are 309 third-class passengers out of the total of 881 on board the vessel. Of this number, 100 are booked for Wellington, 97 for Auckland, 46 for Lyttelton, 38 for Dunedin, 22 for Bluff, and the balance aro for various ports.. At a sitting of the Magistrate's Cojirt at the, Upper Hutt on Mrndav, before Dr. M'Arthur, S.M., H. V. • Benge was convicted on a chargo of using a dirty milk cart, and fined 55., and costs 75., with solicitor's fee, i £1 lis. - 6d. Six parents were convicted under the Truancy Act, and fined 1 2s. and Court ifees, and a number of other eases were also dealt with. The speed of motor cars was referred, to in a letter from Mr. J. Kilmister, read at the meeting of the Hutt County Council yesterday. Some of the Councillors expressed the opinion that cars often droveat an excessive' speed., and it was decided to notify the roadman on the western Hutt. Road to. take the numbers of motor cars which he considered to be,.travelling.at .a dangerous .rate of speed. Colonel Saunders, the Salvation Army architect, is at present in Wellington. A few days. ago he visited the'site at Eltham which has been offered by a local resident for a home for boys. Colonel Saunders was delighted with the site. lie also expressed approval of the timber that, has been cut for the home. In regard to new barracks at Eltham, it is proposed to erect a building 60ft. by 33ft., to accommodate 400 persons: The tender of Mr. J. A. Stringer, of Nelson, has been accepted for tho erection of a now Customhouse at Nelson. Tho contract price is £2100. The only, other' tender received, was that' of Messrs. Chamberlain and Stannard, .of Nelson (£2190). . ; Mr. J. Charlesworth : has : completed the plans for a three-story brick building for Messrs. Herdman and; Kirkcaldio, to he erected in Ballance {Street, near the' Courthouse. ' ' ' ■' ' The: dispute between the Karori Borough Council and Messrs. M'Williams and Andrews, contractors for. certain road construction works . within the borough, with'' respect to tho amount claimed by tho . contractors, in : payment for the work, has been settled by arbitration. The points in dispute were referred to Mr. Gerald Fitzgerald, who' has ■ decided that Messrs M'Williams arid Andrews shall bo ontitlod to the sum of £330 13s. 6d. ■ in respect of their claim,' and that the costs of the action shall be borne by each party. The area of Wellington Harbour, according to a report'submitted to the Industrial Association last' evening,-' is - about • 20,000 I acres, arid it has/ varying depths of : : from six to" fourteen fathoms. The following are' th.v cranes at present' erected One to raise 10 tons, five of 2 tons'; 12 cwt. (doublepowered), sixteen of 2 tons; 12cwt. (doublepowered, movable), 'ten of ; 2 tons'- 15cwt. (double-powered, movable), ten of '2 tons, one: of 20 tons, one of 40 tons (derrick crane). 11l addition to these, there are ■ movable winches for working cargo by 'means of tackle frpriii ships' yard-arms on derricks, together with sundry smaller hydraulic iplant in the . Harbour, Board's sheds and stores;- " 1 The borough of Karori'. is, by the amalgamation of the Northland portion with thq city of Wellington, growing smaller by .degrees and visibly less, and there aire how, as a direct result of the . amalgamation, three vacant chairs at the Council ta,ble—those formorly occupied by Councillors' Putnam, Clark, .and' Murdoch.' In a letter to the Council, one of the; late , representatives ■ of 1 the Northland district ,(ex-Councillrir Putnam) urged the repair and formation of the Northland road, which was; a matter of urgency, and should not .he, affected by the ■ recent amalgamation.; The letter was received.; The Council placed on record its appreciation of ' the services rendered -to the borough by the ox-councillors.:-. ' ■' 'At a special: meeting of the Wellington branch, of the Amalgamated : Society of Railway Servants at Petono, presided over by Mr. A. Bailey, the following' resolutions were carried unanimously:—-(1) That a vow of confidence be passed in Mr. Moore and Mr. Leo, our delegates to the late conference, and that this branch has full confidence in the executive council as constituted; (2) That this branch wishes to thank Mr- Hornsby for his past services to the Society, but regrets the slurs cast by him on our delegates in the last issue of the "Railway Review." Between sixty... and seventy members of/ the Society were present at the meeting, which lasted' for three and a half hours. : Each delegate made a lengthy statement regarding- conferonce proceedings and their attitude, upon the several questions at issue. Quito a large number of ratepayers in the Karori borough have overlooked tho fact that the progress and'financial stability of that municipality depends to some considerable' extent on their contributions to the borough's exchequer. At last night's meeting. of the Council, the Town Clerk referred to the amount of overdue rates—£l3o9 14s. sd_!l Ho desired authority to,take the list of, defaulters in alphabetical order, and to distribute sundry ndtices, inscribed on blue-coloyred paper, inviting tho aforpsaid ratepayers to attend a reception to be held at. the Magistrate's Court in; their honour. Councillors wrinkled their brows and took thought over tho matter, finally deciding that tho delinquents bo given 14 days' grace wherein to ; make amends for their sins of omission: It was suggested by one of the Councillors that' the ratepayers resident in Northland, might, probably bo under the impression that their inclusion within the city boundaries had relieved them from their late obligations, and it was decided that a reminder be inserted ill' the noticc to the effcct that they wore still liable. ■Mm. Etliel IT. (Te Costa, LL.B. (nor Mi"* Ethel R. Benjamin, of Dunedin), after practising for some years in 'that city, hns commenced practice as a barrister and solicitor jn No. B Nathan's Buildings, corner Grey and , Featherston Streets. Wellington. Mrs. De'Costn has the distinction of bein? the only lady • practising at tho Bar in tno Dominion. In- ( tending ollenta can depend on prompt and . Mtwfu attention Vn. Be Costa's hand*. 1

. Owing to tho fact that a number of cases have yet to bo dealt with by the Court of Appeal, it has been found necessary to adjourn the Criminal .Sittings of the Supreme Conrt from May 11 to May 18. Yesterday afternoon, H.M.S. Pegusas, from Melbourne, arrived in the harbour. The vessel had an uneventful voyage, lasting seven. days, in crossing the Tasmau Sea. On Monday some big gun practice was hold the other side of Farewell Spit; then tho vessel headed for WelliiiEton, Those residents of Northland arid; tho vicinity of the Kelburne Viaduct who havo had' occasion to wait for the tram-cars at> the stopping-placo near , tho tunnel will bo pleased to . hear that the Karori Borough Council has decided to expand the sum of £30 on the orection of a waiting-shed at that point on. the Northland' end of the seotion where the cars draw up. , ' A burgess complained to the Mayor at' his Northland meeting;last night .that; tho workers' tram ears were usurped by pleasure-seeker? and others. Once he had counted thirty-five ladies on , one of these cars. " I should think that would be all the pleasanter for tho workers,'' said the Mayor. Ho added that the conductors; had orders to give preference to workers, of botlj soxes. , ■ ■ The Federal Government has had under consideration for some time an immigration schema having for its principal object tho bringing to Australia of Imperial naval and military pensioners. Referring to the mattei Inst week; Mr. Doak;in said that at first tha British Government ■ thought, the scheme was impracticable, but they appeared to have'now assumed a more open-minded attitude, which he hoped portended favourable consideration^ The secretary of the Wellington Industrial Association (Mr. H, F. Allen) stated at last night's meeting that tKe questioii was. often asked, "Are wo a manufacturing country?".' In respect .of,-the " industries week V proposal he . had sent out 203 circulars to', manufacturers., He'had discovered, that tliere were 57 classes of manufacturers in Wellington. Mr. H. H. Soaton, President of tho New Zealand Shopkeepers' Association',' stated lateH that thoro aro 730, shops in the city. The rainfall figures in Victoria-jduring tho first three months of tho year, as contrasted in average for the firgt quarter of last year, show a general deficiency. This is specially marked in the central .(listricts,, north of the-Dividing'Range, in the central noith, the.north-east, central highlands and ranges, the south central districts, eastern, ranges, and , south Gippsland, the : southeastern districts .by tho extreme east , coast: At'all those: centres not a. single reports an increaso.in fall, but a decrease is noted in each case,'and in many instances the, deficiency is most marked. The import-, ance of tho figures is accentuated by the,.reports from nearly all pastoral-districts that grass is extremely scarce, • and stock are; it starving condition. .: ,'!•'•■ 4 meeting of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty, to Animals was held last evening. . The members present .were Mr. J.; S. Jameson (chairman), Rovi/ J." R' Glasson, Mr. Watson, and Mesdames, Christie and Simpson. . Donations were acknowledged asfollow:—Messrs. Sargood, Son, and Ewen, Mrs. T. G., Macarthy, Messrs. Kempthbrno, ..Procser,.' and Co., .Professor M'Kenzie, each £1 ;: is.; 'Mr; H. D. 'Crawford, £1; Dr. -H. G:! M'Lean, Dr.: J.: S., Elliott, Ifrs, Dean; ,-Mrs. Wilford, Mrs. Tiller,-. Messrsj A, R. 'Meek,/ E. Richardson, B.- li. Burgess,; and Thompson Bros., eaoh' ss.'Maggie, 1 3s. ftLf'Mrp. ;R! 'Parker, ; Messrs. ;W. Dentice, G. Humphries, !'A. N v Robertson,- and Friend, 2s. 6d. each ; J.N., Is.; total, £8 lis. A, letter was received ■from Mastorton in regard to a , suggestion to start a branch of the Society there, arid Inspector Seed: was .instructed; to communicate with Mr. W. Davidson, of Masterton, "who had stated his willingness, to act as honorary inspector. .'" v The state of the labour market forroed the subject for Bome . : discussion at" tho :meeting, of-.the Benevolent .Trustees yesterday afternoon. An applicant, who'stated his age to bo 65, but looked much youncror, wished -to gain' adriiission to' tho - Ohiro Home. He was, apparently, still-hale and hearty, but the trouble was, as stated by the Secretary; that he" bad been used only to nawying, work,' and could not turn his hand successfully to lighter jobs, such as gardening, '.' Mr. Hogg;suggested, that he should apply at the Labour .Department, but the man replied that he had-alreadyvdone so without success.' At'this point,' Mr. R. Smith asked—Why had the man not' been sent up the country, whero he would, no doubt, easily earn 'sufficient to keep, himself. "Would you be willing to go to Pahiatua, if wo found you employment thoro?" quoried ; Mr; Evans. "Certainly," replied the applicant. . '"You., ought, to have, got work from the Labour, Department. That is,, what it is for," interjected Mr. Hogg. In reply, the applicant gave it as his opinjon that there were too many unskilled labourers out of work. Only the other week, he said, he had applied at the Gas Company's works at Miramar, and . had been told that they had recoivcd more than IQO applications, within a week. Eventually the matter was left in ,the hands of Mr. Smith, who" would endeavour to find tho man a job, and then communicato with tho Secretary. . . .