LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 186, 1 May 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Government Meteorologist (Rev. D. 0. Bates) reports that the rainfall for March in Wellington was 2.37 inches.

It is expected that the Appeal Court case between George Scott and the Crown will be concluded this morning; The nest'case on the list is Reed versus Simpson. ,

Mr. W: E. Hughes has been elected to fill the extraordinary, vacancy in the Lower Hutt Borough Council. Ho polled 349 votes, as against-208 by Mr. A. H. Vile, his opponent. Thero was one informal' voto.

Mossrs. A. ; H. Cooper, E. J. Carey, W. H. Hampton, M. J. Iteardon, D. M'Laron, W. H. Wcstbrooke, and G. H. Lightfoot wore last night elected to represent the Wellington Trades Council as dolegates to the annual conference of Trades Councils to bo held, in this city in tho month of June.,

The number of passengors carried over the Wellington-Napier-Now Plymouth section of tho Government railways for tho four weeks ended March 31 shows a decrease in comparison with the number carried during tho corresponding poriod last year. The total number carried was 262,795, as against 273,133 for March, 1907. Tho numbor of parcels carricd was 23,719, as compared with 23,612; packages of .goods, 292,478, .is compared with 345,338, and 72,187 tons, as against 62,469 tons. Tho revenue for last month was £72,231 14s.j as against £70,781 ,12s. Bd. f"» Mareh of last yoaf.

Two womon wore arrested by Detective Broberg last night on charges of shoplifting at different establishments in the city. Both women will appear at the Magistrate's Court this morning. Tlio weekly meetings of the Wellington .Shakespeare Club are to commence next week when the study of 1,1 King John " will be put in hand. Tlie first class will bo held on Monday next, and the sccond to-morrow (Saturday) week, both at the Chamber of Commerce. . "I have onJy been in this country about a fortnight," said Colonel Denny yesterday to tho marine engineers and their frionds. "Of course that's quite . long enough to write a book about it—but not long enough to acquire any great knowledge of. tho country." ' The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Mr. flodgkins) reports . that there wore 162 births, 35 der.ths, and'll6 marriages registered in Wellington during March, a distinct advance on the. same month of last year, when 148 births, 68 deaths, "and 93 marriages were recorded. ' ' • • . The Government has been invited to send a representative to a conference of meteorologists of the British Empire to be held at Ottawa in July. The conference was originally to have been held this month,, but ijas postponed out of consideration for those who would not have had time to ' prepare their annual reports ■ and - attend: the conferonce. It is considered., that a representative gathering of experts in meteorology and climatology from all parts of . tho Empire would effect a good deal of scientific -and practical good. ■■ . ' ■ lii acknowledging a vote of thanks at yesterday's meeting of the Wairarapa A. and P. Association for tho challenge shield pi esonted by himself and Mr. H. R. Bunny to tho Wairarapa District schools for competition in farm experiments, Mr. Buchanan said that the young generations of to-day vero the future farmers of tho years to como, and it was wise to , fit them with the knowledge and advantages - which had, not been possessed by the farmers of to-day. The speaker declared that New. Zoalanders could not afford to lag behind in the advance which was bomamado in all parts of the world with reference to scientific farming.

Nervous ■ visitors from Christchurch to Sumner are alleged to breathe a sigh of thankfulness when a certain portion of the journey where beotling cliffs overhang. the lind is safely passed. Theirfears will hardly bo allayed to any extent by a report'presented at the last meeting of the Sumner Borough Council, in which it. was stated, that certain lamps were required along the, tram lino by , the cliffs in order to minimise the danger of falling rock. /_ A councillor pointed, out that ; from thereport the erroneous impression might be gathered that avalanches bf . rock, were expected, and he suggested.- that the . wording. of •; the, report should bo altered.to prevent any•'such misconception. The Council agreed to omit altogether the words having reference to the rocks. . ■ •■ • . •„•

At the: annual. meeting of parishioners of St. Thomas's last evening, the assistant curate, the Rev. W- Fancoiirfc, referred to the Palm Grove Churchroom at Berhampore, and urged the people to take it over. He moved in that direction. Mr., Salmon seconded the. motion. J. Walker) explained that if, the, parish took, the building over 1 it' I ,'would mean a liability of £40' a, year! ;'- The motion 'v;as.'altered toU'ead r that the'meeting .approved of tho purchase, and that it, empowered the vestry to .make the necossary .negotiations. The, motion as 'amended .was ..carried. . The vicar, mentioned that .the bishop had paid £10 towards tho first year's, interest, but 'for- the last two. years tho speaker had been called upon to pay £40 per year. Tho total sum involved was about £600. ' . ' ' ' '

' A burning question among tho householders of the Johiisonville School district'-is the • insufficiency of the accommodation, at the local school., At the annual election of the School Committee on ; Monday last resolutions wore' passed 'with reference to: the matter, and the question came up for settlement at" tho .'Education Board's • : meeting' yesterday afternoon. 1 After some discussion tlio Chairman (Mr. E. Leo) suggested that tlio simplest way out of the difficulty was to convert the present school buildiiVg into''an'irifaht : school on tho completion of tho r.ew main school building. It was decided, on the motion ,of Mr. Field, seconded by Captain M'Donald, that a report'as to the condition of tho present building be obtained from tlie clerk 1 of works, -with, a . view 'to giving effect to the Chairman's suggestion. •'

The South Wellington School Committee is desirous of establishing a miniature rifle range at the school, and an application has beon made to i the. Education Board for a grant in aid of the same. The matter was considered by, the Education /Board ,at its meeting' yesterday, when it was. mentioned that the .Government had previously announced , its intention .of allowing grants in aid up to £50' for this purposo. It had since modified its offer, indicating that such grants would bo mado for miniature rifle-ranges at local centres. As the . matter was one for the Department to deal with, the application was accordingly forwarded on. It was stated that the committee, considered that the substitution of tho sub-target machine for the miniature range would be detrimental to, good shooting. . This drew from Captain M'Donald the remark .that the sub-target machine was the best device yet invented for the instruction ;of shooting, and had beon tried with success at Wanganui College.' ; . ,

The Governor of Hawaii (Mr. W. F. Frear) has written to the Premier of NewZealand stating that he has authorised the Territorial Transportation . Committee of Hawaii to enter into correspondence with the New Zealand Tourist Bureau in regard to joint effort ,on the parts of Hawaii and Now Zealand in placing before American tourists and emigrants the'advantages of the tropical and Southern Pacific Islands. "We stand here,"' he says, " at the cross roads, so that your cause is our cause, and if a united Pacific' Bureau is to be established in our American citios, Hawaii would take pleasure in introducing Australasia to America. Financially combined effort would prove the ofiiciency of such a servico whilst vastly reducing the individual expense of eachStato. I trust that you will, co-operate to the extent- of requesting your Tourist Bureau to exchang'o. suggestions -with our Transportation Committee, so that if. wo got to a working basis the whole matter may be placed before our Legislature and people here for conclusive action." Sir Joseph' Ward has replied that he will be only too glad to fall in with the suggestion.

Mrs. Etliel R. <ro Costa, LT,.B. (neo Mlm Rtticl It. Benjamin, ofDunetKn), nftor practising for somo years' in that citT, has com. menccd practice as a barrister "and solicitor in No. 6 Nathan's Buildings, corner Grey anil Feathcrston Streets, Wellington. Mrs. Do Costa lias • tho distinction of beins the only lady practising at the Bar in tho Dominion. Intending olionts can depend on prompt and oaroful attention at Mrs. Da Costa's hands.

The Council of the New Zealand Fire Underwriters is at present holding its annual meeting in Wellington. Mr. Buttle,' general manager of tho New Zealand Insurance Company, is presiding. Factory registrations in the Wellington district are gradually being, completed, but there aro still a large number of owners who have failed to register. Default notices will shortly bo issued by the Labour Department as a preliminary to prosecutions. Regarding tho mistake in the copies of the drivers' award issued by the Labour Department on Tuesday, it is explained "that tho error was purely typographical. Fresh copies will be issued to-day to all parties interested, containing the clause that was omitted. . ' ■ : . Tho Customs revenue collected at Wellington for tho month ended yesterday shows a falling off of . £18,535 14s. Gd. as - ■ mpared with tho ; revenue collected during April 1907. The net Customs revenue for the month just closc-d totalled £55,517 Ms. lOd., and the beer duty amounted to iI24S 18s. lOd. as compared with £74,053 9s. -Id. and £1089 2s. 3d. respectively for April ISO 7. Yesterday', 3 ; Customs duty amounted ' to £987,105. < . , ' An incident possibly not contemplated by the W.C.T.U. when it urged the election of women to school committees occurred at Kaiapoi on the' occasion of the local elections; Soon after the nomination of a householder for a seat on the school committee, his wife was proposed as a candidate. The husband thereupon, amid peals of laughter, wished to retire on the ground that one of them must.stay at home to mind the children. The householders refused to hear of his withdrawal, and at tho poll he was returned, while his wife was not. . . ." Ono of the Wellington Land Board's rangers reported yesterday that he ; had heard that certain. auctioneers and land agents contemplated purchasing the) freeholds of a number of Crown sections in .a certain locality with the intention of cutting them up and selling them' in small holdings..; This was being done under the selling clauses of/the Act of last year. Without going into details the Board considered it had an .effective remedy' by instructing the Ranger when revaluing tho sections to take into consideration 'the fact that if the sect-ions, were sufficiently valuable to be .cut up-into small holdings such value should be placed upon them.

The deliberations of tho Sumner Borough Council tho other night were rudely disturbed by tho sound of' a heavy head of water pounding against' l the 1 window; panes of: the Council .' Chamber, and the spurting of several jets through openings in the window threatened to flood the room.-. When the members of the Council recovered from the amazement occasioned by this proceeding, they sent tho Town Clerk' out to investigate. On his return he reported'' that' the Borough Fire ,Brigade had turned but ' to wash' the Council Chamber windows. Ho had, however, asked them to Why tho time for;these ablutions should; have been chosen when the Council was sitting was a problem t<i'which'ho: solution was given. •. ■~>.■■■

; Sarah Bernhardt, incensed .< at tho Paris 1 theatrical daily 1 ''Comoedia" announcing • her iintention to:- appear in . the character of '•'Faust," had ;the, entire : French , capital placarded .with a notice of which this is a trarislation,: , | I '-'Mme: >, Sarahri Bernhardt has • tho , hbniiifr vttA ttflfitJithe information ■''regarding ' lier ''theatre Jgiven-' in; the newspaper 'Comobdia,'. being for tho most part inaccurate and- misleading; ;sho warns the, public, against' ev'erything/that •henceforth may appear- in. ' that newspaper "egarding tho' Theatre • Sarah- Bernhardt." "Comoedia," in reply, professes she highest admiration for'Mme. Bernhardts genius, and says it is . attacked simply : because it tells ihe. public the truth, ivherqas other journals, .which aro -subventipued; print- only what themanagers' wish: the public to' know.' ■

Mr. H. Dillon, of Mongatiti, waited upon the Education Board at its meeting. yesterday, with roferenf.o to the proposal to remove tho Mangutiti-School te: a. site 011 the Range Road, y Onthe matter being brought up, Mr; A. ■H. Vile' explained that while tho .Board had previously decided to remove the school, it had .since' been, represented to him that serious injustice would' •be; ; caused; to the settlers concerned, and,', in. .fact, .some .'of thrai would: be compelled to relinquish their holdings... Several.' of them . had . taken iip land in the district because-the.school was there, and a! creamery had later been established. The removal'of'the.school, il was contended, would be a serious menace to the prosperity of'.the district. Mr. Dillon then briefly addressed .the Board in support of tho petition. Mr. Lee (chairman): said that the Board had previously , come to , a decision jn tho matter, but was prepared to. reconsider tho whole question. Subsequently, it" was decided to. adhere to the original scheme, viz,, that the school'b© removed to tho proposed now site. •<

With ■ reference .to the fact that public subscriptions towards the new. chemical laboratory at Canterbury Collego amounted to; only £81—a matter on which some comment has been made in Christchurch—-Dr. Evans, professor of chemistry, writes to the "Press" explaining on behalf of the citizens' committee''that as a matter of fact, beyond the distribution of a preliminary circular, no, definite attempt has : beeir made to canvass for subscriptions, "for the following reasons: firstly, wo were not certain how much'money would be required, as we did not then know the actual value of the Coldstream Reserve; or when it would' bo handed over to us; secondly, the people, of Christ*church as represented by tho majority of the leading ratepayers were in favour of the City Council helping us by means of the rates; thirdly, certain legal questions .referring to subsidios, etc., bad to .be settled, and have now been settled in our favour. As soon as we can stato quite definitely, how much aid; we need, we shall come forward to ask openly and urgently, for it." ,

In the course of his reply to a presentation yesterday by the staff ' of tho District Lands Office Mr. J. Strauchon, Commissioner of CroWD Lands, mentioned that-during < the 'six or seven years, ho had been connected with : the Wellington office there had been seventeen or eighteen .'changes in tho staff in that time. Several of those who had left wero promising yoiing moil, who: woro lost to tho service of the. Dominion because dissatisfied: with their pay.. This was a matter for rogrot. Young fellows whom the Department could woll do with were ''spotted" for their brightness and, ability by firms outside, and they recoived' offers that induced them to leave. He was sure, if tho salaries were larger, they would , havo many'more capable young men. No" doubt the Government had many difficulties in this way to contend with. Tho. pay was good at tho start, but when the cadetship was passed promotion and increase in wages were. slow. Yet at- this stago the men wore more useful than ever to the Government, and worth far more than they received. Many times the office was hampered by first-class young men leaving.

The Board of Conciliation partly con-, sidered its recommendations in the General j<• Labourers' dispute in country districts yesterday. Additional evidence-, will be heard. this morning. The Board, cxpects to Tie its recommendations on Saturday;. Colonel Denny, who was for some yeara M.P. for Kilmarnock, spoke feelingly of the terrors of 'electioneering. This ivas at a . social gathering yesterday morning, and-the • .visitor was proposing the health- of the- Hon. J. A. Millar. "I assure Colonel Denny," , said -tho Minister in a. jocular reply, "that elections are quit© a pleasure in this country. But we would rathor havci them only once in ten years. 4 ' v The outward and visible signs of proopority in a community are many, and one .of ' the most satisfactory of theso indications is the ster.dy increase in the- local school roll. : This is the case at Levin, whore, within quite' a recent period,; the attendance Ins increased' by about-40: 1 To provide foi the accommodation of these the Education Board has now decided to apply to the Department - for a grant towards the erection of two additional class-rooms. •" One.of'the most difficult problems which educationalists hare to face" is that of truancy. In Wellington,- incorrigible truant's are ; usually, after all other methci* of curative treatment- have proved unsuccessful, sent to an industrial school. -This, according to Captain ; M'Donald,who; referred to the matter at the Education Board meeting yesterday, is not right;- It' surprised him very much to learn that; this was' the only method - of dealing with the problem. - It . amounted to-the fact, ho-said, that-the truant who was sent to ■ the -industrial Bchool was 'practically made . a criminal.; , In moving the adoption of tho truant officer's report, in-which there was some - reference to the v question)' Captain M'Donald wished- to. add : that the matter be referred to tho iWorks Committee for consideration. This 1 was agreed-to. '