LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 306, 19 September 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A penny collection for Roman Catholic schools made in the To Aro parish during August amounted to £33. Tho Very Rev. Father Clune, and Rev. Fathers Loivham and MacDermott, of the lledemptorist Order, commenced a mission in tho 'l'horndon Roman Catholic parish yesterday. Tho Wellington Savage Club will give a "Parliamentarians' and Lawyers' Night" at tho Masonic Hall this evening. Tho programme has been arranged by Messrs. ill. Myers and G. Toogood. A deputation from the, Hutt River Board and tho Hutt and Pctono Borough Councils is to wait upon the Prime Minister and the Minister for Railways regarding the purchase of tho Hutt Park railway. - Tlio following prisoners await sentence by the Supreme Court William Richter, for breaking, entering, and theft, and breaking out of dwelling after haviug entered to commit a crime, at Dannevirke, also, for theft from a dwelling at Woodvillo; and Edward Thomas Hughes, alias Saule, for forgery and uttering at Wellington.. At tho meeting of the Harbour Board, to be hold on Thursday next, the following motion, by Mr. J. W. M'Ewan, will bo considered:—"That the acting-engineer be instructed to prepare estimates of cost of laying a light lino of railway upon the Petono Wharf, with and without false decking, to connect with the Hutt Park Railway." A man who is alleged to havo assaulted another man with an axe in North Street last evening, and inflicted a wound on his head which necessitated three stitches being put in by Dr. Henry, who was summoned by tho polico, was arrosted by Constable Belcher. Tho man will appear before tho Court to-day charged with tho olfcnce. After being medically attendod to, tho wounded man was ablo to return to his home. Although tho construction of tho Northern Main Trunk line may not bo finished before Christmas, tho coach service will bo discontinued, and a regular train service run between Wellington and Auckland, from November 1. It will not, however, be the nineteen hours' service, which i 3 ultimately intended. Tho time-table is now in course of preparation, and ponding its completion it is not known how long tho trip will take. From October 10 to 16 will bo a week of increased work and decreased nutriment to Salvationist officers. It is the Army's selfdenial week, when all its members are required to stint themselves of some habitual comfort, for healthful discipline, and tho augmentation of the Army's funds. Self-denial month, during which is made a systematic canvass of tno public for funds, will last from September 22 to October 22. Tho proceeds of tho canvass are devoted to thoArmy's social work. The final round of the . fourth annual tournament held undor the auspices of tho Wellington Provincial Literary and Debating Societies' Union will take place in the Town Hall, Concert Chamber, on Thursday noxt, at 8 p.m., when tho Kent Terraco Literary and Debating Society will meet the Victoria College Literary and Debating Socioty to discuss the question, "That the expansion of tho British Kmpiro is due rather to colonising power than to military prowess." Tho tirst-namcd society will take tho affirmative. Keen competition for the diploma is looked for. The debato is open to tho public. Tho members of the Opaki Rifle Club's representative team, which fired in the "Daily Mail" Empire Day Cup match in May last, will be pleased to hear that information has boon received from the organising secretary of tho "Daily Mail" Empire Rifle Club Contost, that silver spoons will be dispatched to_ the eight members of the Opaki Defence Rifle Club team, whose score, 776, was the highest received from New Zealand. "--It is also stated in the secretary's letter that associations in connection with tho volunteer forces are eligible for entry in the contest. All correspondence relating thereto must bo forwarded through headquarters. The latecomer wao very much in evidence at the Choral Society's concert last evening, a circumstanco which assisted not a little to mar the enjoyment- of those seated near the doors in the gallery, in which part of the hall the nuisance was very pronounced. The annoyance would be considerably modified if the dpors were kept shut during the performance of an item. Encores, too, were too numerous. The programme was a generous one, and, although the audience might be pardoned for desiring to hear moro of Mr. Saunders, a line should have been drawn somewhere. There were originally fifteen items, but this was swelled to twenty-four by the timo the concert was finished. Elaborate arrangements for an effective display by the children of tho public schools at tho Basin Reservo in tho forenoon on Dominion Day aro being made. It is expected that from 3000 to 4000 school children will take part in the display, a striking feature of which will bo a "living flag." Tho children will bo supplied with small flags, and at a given signal will hold them up in tho air, the colour scheme being so arranged as to form a representation of tho Now-Zealand flag, with the Southern Cross. His Excellency the Governor and the Prime Minister (Sir J. G. Ward) will be present, and tlio children attending all priyato schools aro also to bo invited to attend. Three battalions of school cadets, with tlio Woreroa School cadets' brass and pipe bands, will also bo on parade. After inspection, His Excellency will address the children, and present tho Dominion medals to tho head teachers,' by whom they will he distributed. In tho July numbor of tho " Library Journal," a New York and London publication, appears a report of the Lake Minuotouka Librarians' Conference, in which is included tho following paragraph:—A greeting from New Zealand was then extended to the A.L.A. in a paper, " Work in a Library in New Zealand," by Mr. Herbert Baillie ( librarian of tho Public Library of Wellington, Now Zealand. Mr. Baillio was granted by tho Wellington Library Committee 400 dollars and live months' leave of abscnce to attend tho Minnotonka Conference, and study library conditions in the United States. Air. Baillio has boon tho moving spirit in library progress in New Zealand, and contributed a previous paper to an A.L.A. conference, being represented on tho programme of tbo. St. Louis Conforenco (1904), with a paper, "Libraries of Now Zealand," though personally unablo to be present. The Wellington Public Library is run as a department under the City Council, and has open access and free lectures arranged for each winter. It is a subscription library; five shillings per annum being charged to borrowers. Uut of a population of 63,000 tho library has 2311 subscribers, and issued during tho last yoar 128,000 books. Tho salaries of tho assistants aro averaged at £100. The library's administration is along broad and progressive lines, and promises opportunity for futuro development. Tho accommodation of New Zealand schools is so unsatisfactory that, according to ono member of the Wellington Educational Institute, it is a wonder that more deaths of children havo not been traced to this cruse. A great deficiency of the schools is the absence of sheltered accommodation for the children during lunch hour and playing timo in rough weather. Tho children havo either to get wet or frozen, or to eat their food in tho rooms which they must occupy all day, and which should bo undergoing ventilation during tlicso periods. Tho inadequate heating arrangements are another defect. The English standard of schoolroom heating is Go degrees, but in most Wellington schools, apparently, this teuiperatnro is not nearly attainable in cold weather. A master stated at tho mesting of tho institute that the new syllabus had aona ono goo'd scrvicc in introducing the .thermometer into schoolrooms. When his school began work on a certain morning tlio tcmperaturß of tho room was 32, and when it closed for tho day tlio temperature was no more than 39, though ho bi.d built up such a fire as caused the mantelpioee to burn. Tlio South Wellington School boasts of modernity, and it has radiators to dispense warmth, but, according to a representative of that school, they do not raiso the temperaturo abovo 4-5 degrees. It was statad that an American visitor, after inspecting the South Wellington School, had declared it " milos behind" tho American average in point of equipment. " I liopo he did not see Mount Cook, said another teacher. " Ho would noTor got back to America if he did."

The Mayor (Hon. T, V/. Hislop), by advertisement in this issue, invites the citizens of Wellington to observe a holiday on Dominion Day, Saturday, September 2G. Tho wandering of cattlo in tho suburbs continues as persistently as ever, and Mr. J. Doyle (City Inspector) has issued a uutnbcr of summonses. The cases will bo beard on Wednesday. Detectives Williams and Kemp yesterday arrested a man, who was employed as a butcher's assistant twelve months ago, on four charges of theft of money belonging to his lato employer. Tlio Government Buildings, on Lambton Quay, will ho brilliantly illuminated .on the evening of Dominion Day. Au attractive device —a representation of the' rising sun, a symbol of the country's future—has been designed. Parliament House and tlic General Post Office will also be ablaze with lights. Tlio Post and Telegraph Officers' Conference should conclude to-uay, when it will ba decided what is to bo brought. before the Postmaster-General. A resolution has been adoptod, protesting emphatically against tho employment of women in the Department except as typist-es or exchange cadettes. A love for (lowers is inherent in most people, and it is stated that spring flowers have more attraction in them than those of other seasons. If this be so, the Spring Flower Show to bo opened at the Town Hall, Lower Hutt, on Wednesday next, will doubtless draw a largo number of visitors. The Hutfc Valley Horticultural Society's exhibitions have a high reputation as regards both quality and quantity, and, as this year's blooms are said to bo as fine as those of past seasons, thero is likely to be keen competition amongst the growers of narcissi and daffodils. Tho show is to be opened by Sir Joseph Ward at 3 p.m. Tho Technical School old boys and presentboys united at a dinner held at the Okareta Private Hotel last night. Mr. La Trobe, who presided, referred to the question of forming an old boys' association, and stated that tho matter was being kept steadily, in view. The following list of toasts was honoured " Technical School Football Team," coupled with the name of Mr. S. J. Binning, proposed by Mr. Johnson; "Technical School Old Boys," coupled with the name of Mr. J. Boyle, proposed by Mr. Williamson; "Secondary School Sports," coupled with the name of Mr. J. Lynskey, proposed by Mr. Bolton; "Wellington School Sports Association," coupled with tho name of Mr. Hompleman; "New Zealand Rugby Union," coupfcd sritli tho name of Mr. J. Laughton; " Wellington Rugby Union," and "Tho Chairman," proposed by Mr. Graham.