LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 199, 16 May 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Customs revonne collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £2092 9s. .3d. The Miramnr municipal by-election, to fill tho vacancy, caused by the resignation of Councillor Chase-Morris, will bo held on Wodnesday, May 27. Nominations are receivable up to noon of Thursday, May 21. A memorial service to the late Sergeant Richard will be held in tho Webb Street Church to-morrow morning at 11 o'clock. Tho members of the Civil Service Corps will attend to' show thoir respect for their late comrade. Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son, tourist agents, have been advised that an international exhibition is to bo held at Turin, Italy, during 1911, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of tho establishment of a "Royal Italy."

The Wellington Savage Club will hold a "korero" at the Masonic Hall this overling.

Messrs. Edwards and Son, of tliis city ( havo just signed the contract for constnic-f tion of the memorial which is .to surmount the late Mr. Scddon's gravo on Observatory Hill. The contract price is £2746, and it is expected that the monument will bo completed within twelve months.

Tho Jolinsonvillo Rifle 3on Thursday evening entertained their friends, thoHutt Valloy Rifles, at a smoko concert at Jolinsonvillo, and a very enjoyable evening was spent. Tho Companies paraded before the commencement of tho function, tho muster being—Jolinsonvillo Rifles 43, Hutt Valley Rifles 37, and tho Jolinsonvillo Band 15; total, 95. The visiting officers were Captain Ross, Surgeon-Captain Robertson, Captain Bethune, and Lieutenants Hollard and Clapham.

Good progress is being made by the contractors, Messrs. John M'Leau and Son, with the ferro-concrete Clyde Quay wharf. All tho steel required for the work, • 500 tons,. is ou tho ground in preparation for tho construction of tho piles, which should bo ready for use about August. Then mil begin tho actual construction of the first forro-concreto wharf in Wellington. About thirty men are employed on tho work at present, but more will be required when tho piles aro ready.

The second annual social and dance under tho auspices of the Te Aro Sailing Club was hold in St. Peter's Schoolroom last night. At a suitable juncture Commodore Jamiesoii presented the trophies won during the season. Following were tho winners:—Winder's trophy, E. Fenton; Rankin's trophy and the Petrel trophy, S. M'Williams; Ruihi trophy, G. Hickey. About 70 couples took part in the dancing. Messrs. H. Barrett and L. M'Williams acted as M.C.'s., and the music was supplied by Fleming's orchestra.

Tho City Tramway authorities havo made arrangements to maintain a ten minutes' service between the Kilbirnie Hot-el. and Miramar from about 1.30 p.m. to-day. Residents of Wellington South who aro inclined to walk over the Constable Street hill may depend on getting train accommodation from the bottom of the hill oil the Kilbirnio sido. to tho football and hockey grounds. During the last few weeks it has been found possible to get doubledocked cars through the Mount Victoria tunnel (when not on traffic duty), and a numbor .of these cars frill be engaged in the new football service to-day.

l'ho Wellington Tramways Department- will issue from to-day a neatly-compiled pocket time-table which cancels all previous publications of the kind. The littlo booklet contains a complete time-table of the running of the cars lucidly indexed, a complete diagram in colours of the night signals, and a mass of information with regard to tho running of Sunday, holiday, and workers' cars. The excerpts from the Tramways Bylaws and the hints to passengers on the back of the coyer should be ipf great service. Tho new timetable, which was compiled in tho Traffic Office, will be sold for the modest price of one penny by the conductors and booksellers.

■ Tho concrete improvement wall along Oriental Bay is making steady progress, in spite of tho fact that, tho construction is' proceeding under .difficulties.. Tho sea 'was : fairly rough yesterday, and this interfered witli tho work to some extent, and themes catting the 6hiiiglo were frequently splashed with spray and water; Some of the residents in the vicinity have; objected to the work', as they considered that tho wall was too high, but it is pointed : out that they must have looked at the wall wh<Jre the water is deepest, but when it reaches the beach proper only, eighteen inches will bo showing. When the, work is completed a. great difference will be observable in the general appearance of the bay'.

Sir Robert Stout, who returned from tho Auckland district yesterday, states that the work of tho Native Land Commission has been almost completed in regard to all tho areas north of Auckland.. A few details from surveyors are' being awaited befpro tho reports are sent in. At Rotorua and other places some trouble is being experienced with the titles. Sir Robert states . that there is far less good Native land in the north of Auckland than is generally supposed. Maori labour is proving very useful in some of the counties, especially on County Council. work, and generally tho Chief Justice noticed .that tho Maoris in tho northern districts had become industrious, and showed a genuine desire to improve themselves.., The Commission will devote its attention next to. Rotorua.

Though flour has risen £1 : 10s.' per ton within the last few days, the Wellington Master Bakers' Association, at its mooting on Thursday evening, decided not to raise the price of bread. This decision was arrived at because of the recent successful initiation of the cash coupon system, which is reported to bo working splendidly v This decision on the part of the Wellington bakers is commendablo, as according to the sliding scale adopted at the recent conferenco of the New Zealand Association, the price of bread, as regulated by, the price of flour, should be 4d. per loaf. If there is any further change in the price of flour a meeting to be held next week will decide what action shall be taken by the Association. It should be stated that the recent rise in flour came as a complete surprise to the local bakers. ; Complaints are still occasionally heard concerning trouble caused by the re-number-ing of the houses in t(ie streets of Wellington. When it was discovered that the houses were being numbered consecutively from Wellington Terrace right through Woolcombe Street, some people jumped to the conclusion that the name of Woolcombo Street had been abolished. This is not so. Similarly, the new numbers are consecutive through Ingestre. Street and Vivian Street as though these were one and the same street, as they are in fact; but the names liavo not been changed. The City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) considers that this method is really the most convenient for strangers and others trying to find a house of a particular nurabor in a thoroughfare which looks just like a single street, howover it may bo named. Ho points out that it does not matter to anybody whether the numbers in any street begin at one, provided that a uniform scheme is carried out. Ho suggests that some day there will bo a demand for a further instalment of reform, when Vivian Street and Ingestro Street, Riddiford Street and Rovans Street,'Woolcombe Street and Wellington Terrace, will bo deprived of their superfluity of nomenclature.

On. Monday, at 10.30 a.m., Mr.- Justico Cooper will deliver judgment in the following cases: —Oldham v. Lyons; in re the Land Transfer Act and dedication by Howell and others; and M'Guinness and auother v. Mills and Co. jW

a meet i'.g of creditors in the estate of R. T. Wearnc, storekeeper; of Bulls, held in the office of the Official Assignee yesterday morning, resolutions were passed to the effect that the Deputy Official Assignee he requested to examine and rcpott on the books of bankrupt with a view to his being publicly examined.

It has been ascertained that the registration of the Domestic Workers' Union, which hold its annual meeting on Thursday evening, has been automatically cancelled! owing to the failure of the Union to send in its annual return of membership. The usual notice was sent to the last kiiown address of the Union, but no response was forthcoming.

Mr. T. W. Braithwaite, auctioneer, of Johnsonville, was asked by an influential deputation last week if he would contest the Wellington Suburbs seat at the next general election. Mr. Braithwaite thanked the deputation for the confidence which prompted the request, and announced that he would place himself in the hands of the electors. Mr. Braithwaite is a supporter of the Government.

The collections to date for the Sir James Hector memorial fund amount to £218. The hon. treasurer of the fund (Dr. Mason) has received, in addition, promises of subscriptions to the value of £30, and the Wellington and Duncdin Philosophical Societies have also - v promised to assist. Altogether, Dr. Mason does not expect any difficulty in raising , £300 in subscriptions.

The sale of the library of the late Mr. C. W. Benbow concluded last evening. Tins sale, which was conducted by Messrs. A. L. Wilson and Co.; occupied three days and two ovenings. Upon" selling the final lot last evening Mr. Wilson, auctioneer, thanked the large number of buyers for their attendance, and referred to, the sale as the' best book salo that liad ever been held in the Dominion. Mr. C. Wilson, Parliamentary Librarian, said that he had been asked by a number of those present to express their appreciation of the way tho sale had been conducted. It bad been a splendid sale for tho vendors, and the purchasers also thought that they liad secured good bargains. (Applause.) Mr. Wilson had done his, best for his clients and his best for the public, / and things had gone excellently throughout. He thought they should show their approval with a round of applause. Loud applause followed; arid in replying Mr. A. L. Wilson expressed his gratification at such an unusual proceeding as applause for an auctioneer, and also his pleasure at the excellent result of tile sale from the vendors' point of view. (Applause.)

In presenting the statement of the Auckland Harbour Board's/accounts for the year 1907 ■to . the. meeting of the Board on Tuesday, the chairman (Hon. E. Mitchelson) said ho regretted that a tag had been attached to the. balance-sheet by the AuditorGeneral,' taking exception to certain pay-, ments made.tp'Mr.ijW.iil. Napier, (a member of the Board) and Mr. J. M. Brigham (secretary/to tho Board). - In tho first matter referred to, the payments were to cover travelling expenses incurred by Messrs. Napier'and "Brigham iii attending' the Harbour Boards' Conference at Wellington. Similar -payments, he said; had beeli'made' in previous years, and they liad never been questioned by the Auditor-General. Another payment made to Mr. Napier, and also objected to, was for expenses incurred in collecting (at the request of the Board) valuable information in Europe in relation 'to reinforccd concrete works, and was solely for out-of-pocket expenses. It was in. no sense, as, implied in the Auditor-General's certificate, an allowance for time and trouble. Tho chairman moved a resolution formally setting out the facts as stated by him, and this was carried.