NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 294, 5 September 1908, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

(nr TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) _—) — taranaki chamber of COMMERCE. LABOUR AND THE ARBITRATION COURT. Ne . w Plymouth, September 4. Ihe Taranaki Chamber of Commerce tonight passed resolutions supporting the Auckland suggestion to appoint a commission with the view of remodelling the bankruptcy laws. It was also decidedly unanimous to enter an emphatic protest against tho attempt of the Canterbury Farm Labourers' Union to hamper by political interference with the impartial administration of tho Arbitration Court judge, such interference being subversivo to the best interests of tho State. AUCKLAND TRAMWAYS DISPUTE. Auckland, September 4. When the Supreme Court resumed this morning it was announced that a settlement had been agreed upon between the City Council and the Electric Tramway Company, in regard to a claim for £784 for not running sufficient cars until April, 1908. The defendant company pays £100 and £75 costs, which plaintiffs accept in fuli settlement. Mr. 8011, counsel for the Tramway Company, said the real difficulty was that as the action was framed' it was to assert that the City Council was the sole test, and there was no limitation to the determination by the Council of what was necessary. When it was found that the Council did not dispute that the sufficiency of cars was to be determined by a deed of delegation, defendants were only too glad to admit that it' was open to question whether until the recent acquisition of new cars they had complied with the deed of delegation.

EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS. Walroa, September 4. Three shocks of earthquake were felt this morning, the -first shock at 5.26 and the others at 6.31 and 9. " SNOW IN CANTERBURY. Tlmaru, September 4. The latest news from Mackenzie Country is to the effect that the snow (now almost ice) is slowly melting from Burke's Pass to Tekapo. There are still over four inches on the road, and its slippiness makes travelling slow. There is a good d»al of "black country" now on the sunny faces of the lower spurs. No definite estimate can yet be mado of the loss of sheep. ARBITRATION COURT./' Auckland, September 4. The Arbitration Court sittings commencing on October 8 promise to bo busy. Up to the present six disputes in as many different' trades have ben filed, and several more are expected in a few days. Unions which have filed references are: Coopers,' Mlmongers and tanners; coachbuilders, painters, enginedrivers, and electrical workers. In each caso improved conditions are sought in respect of wages and hours of labour. RECENT ASHBURTON FIRE. ' ■' Ashburton, September 4.At an adjourned inquest to-day on the bodies of Mary DoveZoueh and Arthur Petrie Pilbrow, who perished through last week's fire, the jury returned a verdict that the child Pilbrow died from suffocation and Mrs. 'Zouch from'shock, the'result of burna received in. the fire. GRAPE GROWING. Auckland, September 4. Over 150 Austrians have signed their names to a request to be allowed to take up land in Auckland for grape-growing purposes, and express their readiness to at once commence planting out the vines. These men have all had experience in their native country : in vine-growing. A petition -is also to bo presented to Parliament asking that facilities should bo given for the sale by retailers of pure New Zealand wine.