AUCKLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 310, 24 September 1908, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

September 23. Tho Auckland Hospital has now become a very largo and important, institution,- and it is felt that the time lias arrived when a fourth resident nicdical officer should bo appointed. The matter was referred to by a deputation from tho honorary medical staff at a meeting of the Hospital' Committee of tho board, the •deputation pointing out that th ( e hospital now contains 240 general beds and 32 beds for infectious cases. ° The institution has at present one senior resident medical officer, ( whose duties are., administrative and superintending, and aiding tho resident wqrk, and two-resident medical officers, who, it was pointed out, have thus 136 beds each to attend to. The honorary stalf, stated the deputation, had agreed upon the desirableness of another resident being obtained. It was suggested that the appointment of a junior resident , medical officer should dato from April, 1909. The matter will come before tho Hospital Board at the next meeting,

" Starving Maoris." ■' Rather an amusing incident is alleged to have takeu-place at Tapuahaeruru the other day. A launch owner took down some potatoes kindly donated 'to the " starving Maoris " there for seed purposes. Tho potatoes. were free, but the Maoris had to pay' carriage of one shilling a bag. Then came the trouble, for the wealthy paltcha launch owner found himself unable to change the "fivers" presented by the indignant Maoris paying freight on their potatoes.

Wanted, a Clock. The imposing appearance of the new post office in course of . construction at Newmarket has impressed'upon the Newmarket Borough Council the fact that the tower portion would be greatly improved by the erection of. a public clock. The council has, therefore, decided to request the Remuera Road Board, in whose district the .building really is, to co-operate with Newmarket in urging tne' Postmaster-General to provide a clock for the building.

The Deadly Air Gun. i .Two boys under the age of 16 years were charged with beingj in possession of "firearms." They had, it appears, been following up the ancient pastime of " ratting " with air guns, when they unexpectedly ran into the amis of a vigilant officer. One of tho accused' confidently, expressed the opinion that an'air gun was not a firearm, but Mr. Kettle, S.M., explained that the weapon ■came within the meaning of tho Act. The boys were convicted and discharged, the air guns to bo held by the police until the lads : are 16 years of age. :

Pearls In Auckland Oysters. During the present oyster; season' quite a number of small pearls have been found in oysters fished from tho local beds in tho Hauraki Gulf or the Bay of Islands, but it is stated that these have no intrinsic value. They are . mostly little/black pearls streaked with white, and are quite worthless from a jeweller's standpoint. On Monday an in-, teresting discovery of pearls was made.by an employee of an Auckland fish and • oyster firm. Four were found in three oysters from tho Ponui beds, which have just been opened for the season. This last find is interesting in view of'the fact that one of tho pearls conforms in two respects to the requirements of a good marketable pearl. It is a perfect pearshape and is white. Its "orient" is also tolerable. It is as big as a pea, but has its fault.. Viewed.from one side it is. a .nice, lustrous. pearl,. but on the. other. side has' a greyish black' speck which detracts greatly from any . value it may have possessed. It is the intention of the. finder' to have.''it set' ; intg;',B-scarf y ,pjn. -..A leading Auckland jeweller was' enthusiastic about tho potentialities ' of-', the. local . pearl. ... The little white-streaked black pearl is, it 'ap-' pears, not infrequently found by oysterconsumers, who immediately-dash off to a jowellor'sunder the 'impression-that they have-found' a pearl of great price,-and-fex-pect to receivo a fabulous - sum for it.- 'To convince, them that they are mistaken is sometimes a dillicult task.-for a pearl td'tlicm is a pearl, and they will have no other explanation.

Old Age Pensions. «' During the last month 29. new pensions were J granted for the Auckland district, while 97 were renewed.' There is, however, very little actual increase in the number of applications _ for " pensions. Of tho' people in the Dominion qualified by residence 'and age, 32 per _ cent, are iu receipt of pension. Of tho pensions granted last month, 22 were of £26 per annum, one of £25, two of £20, one of £18, one of £15, and two of £6.

Humane Miners. Some minors from the Tairua district arrived at tho Waihi Hospital last evening,, bringing with them a comrade named John M'Laughlin, who was suffering from - pneumonia, with complications. The circumstances under which the patient was brought in were somewhat remarkablo. At Tairua : the manager of the Golden Hills mine acquainted tho men with the condition of tho unfortunate many and intimated' that volunteers were required to convey hint to Puriri, a distance of some '18 ' miles over mountainous ' country] with nothing beyond a rough bridle track on which to travel. There was' a ready response to the oall,and just-on fifty volunteers started off with the- patient for Puriri, where he was first seen by Dr. Lapraik, and was then brought on to Waihi by rail. The men worked in short relays of four, , and carrying M'Laughlin on an improvised litter, covered the 18 miles in the fast time of rather under - four - hours and three:quarters.. '

Government Buildings Good progress is being made .with the' construction of the additional buildings to the Government offices in Custom Street. The-addition, which'is costing £17,000, was bflgun a year ago, and will probably be-com-' plet'ed' about Christmas time. Most of the various' Government. Departments now scattered in various parts of tho city will, early nest year, be grouped in the one block.

Tha Maori Prophet. Nothing further has been heard of Rua's promised visit to Auckland,' so' possibly ' the prophet has abandoned his- intention of favouring the northern, city. , Dr. Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa), the Native Health Officer for ■Auckland, who has just returned' from' a visit to the Bay of Plenty and Taupo districts, said the Natives near Rua's territory did not seem .to know anything about his previously announced intention of visiting Auckland. He did. hear, however, on. very good authority, that the Ureweras are getting tired of-' their allegiance to Rjia, and are breaking away from him in large numbers. Speaking generally of the health conditions of the Maoris in the districts he had visited, Dr. Buck said he found tbem excellent.