CHRISTCHURCH NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 317, 2 October 1908, Page 8

CHRISTCHURCH NOTES.

(by telegr irH—special correspondents.) • September 30. Commenting on the passage through the House of tho Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Bill, tho "Press" remarks: "Though we still adhere to tho opinion that a mistake has been made, in retaining tho principle of compulsory arbitration, we liavo no hesitation in giving crcdit to the Government, especially Mr. Millar, for the painstaking manner in'which they have-patched up tho measure with the object of giving tho principle another trial under more favourable circumstances. The chief merit in tho new Bill is that, although, it retains a form of compulsion which has not been enforceable in tho past, and in our opinion will hot bo enforceable in the future, yet it gives the principle of' conciliation a better chance 'of being effectively, used. The important provision that the assessors must be or have been actively engaged or, employed either as employers or as workers in tlio industry affected by the dispute will, to a large extent, cut away the ground from under the roet of the professional agitator, who gets his not by taking part in any industry, but in stirring up discontent and promoting disputes among bona, fide-industrial workers. A great deal will'no doubt depend upon, the men selected as conciliation commissioners as to how.far tho.Act is successful in settling disputes in a friendly way; but if they are men of tact, fair-minded instincts, and patience, one may hope that thoir efforts to bring about conciliation may be successful in a large proportion of the cases that come before them." Regarding tho new penalties provided-for. strikes and lock-outs, the "Press" points ;out that "the old objection as to the one-sidedness of these penalties still remains, inasmuch as they are only enforceable by civil process, and although effective enough so far as employers are concerned they will be as- powerless as wisps of straw to restrain men- from striking when they have once made up their minds to, do so. If the new Bill is successful in its main object, that of materially lessening the work of the Arbitration Court, the question will naturally arise whether, it is desirable to retain tho latter. The Bill appears to us, therefore, to bo merely a l 'useful steppingstone to the ultimate adoption of the Canadian system. Personally, we think it would have been frankly to'have made the alteration at once, but that view does not prevent us from paying a tribute to the obvious sincerity of the attempt to place a very difficult question on a more satisfactory footing." Tha Okarito Whale. Somo doubt has been •. expressed as to the accuracy of the statement that the Okarito whale is tho largest whale known to have existed. , Mr. AVaite, the. curator of ■ the museum, says that as far iis the accepted records show the statement is quite correct. It has been asserted,' however', that in the South Kensington , Museum there is a whale nearly. 90ft. long. The "Guido" to the museum shows that: the large sperm whale there ia _50ft., and a spccinjcn of. blue ■whale, which- is tho same . species- as the Okarito whalo, is .only 52ft. Tho most authoritative work on the' subject, Professor Beddard's ".Book on Wha}cs t " states that tho blue whalo is the largest whale, and that its limit is-80 or 85ft : "It is an unquestionable fact-," Professor.' says, "that- no creature known to science ever existed which was larger than' tho; largest whale." Further evidence 1 * :'is -supplied ■by Sir W. F. Lower and Mr. Richard Lydekker, who state that- the; "blue whalo, the largest of all animals, attains'a length of 80 or even sometimes 85ft." As to -the allegation that in-the Jardin des Plantes at Paris there are two skeletons claimed to. be. 90ft. long, Mr. Waito points out that if the statement was correct the- fact could hardly have escaped the notice of three of -'the' most eminent wrjtors on zoology of.ihoj day,, :who ,aro not likely ito make unqualified assertions without ( ;implei grounds. The Okarito whale,: with its 87ft., therefore.-holds tho premier position.' Another Wliale. " . At about ten o'clock on, Saturday morning Mr. 6."Armstrong's sons saw,'a large whale, estimated at 60ft. in length, pass round by .Red Point in Akaroa Harbour, and on to Green's Point. Some road board men also saw the whale, which'came so close in shore that they were able to see' that it carried a large number of barnacles, and was of a slatey colour. A child, who was with them, called out in great'excitement, and this or some other cause made' the animal turn round and journey down the harbour and back out to sea.

Tho Ward System. Tho City Council, debated the question of the abolition of the, ward'system on a motion that tho question of the representation of tbe different wards be left to tho depart-': mental committee, with a.view to ascertaining whether St. .Albans is entitled to another member. _ Councillor . Otloy said . the time had arrived, when the ward system could. with advantage be abolished. The whole, of the representatives ; of' the city should, be elected from one '-centre, and every ratepayer should have the right to jvote, for any. candidate.; The matter would have to be gone into sooner or later, and ho did not think, there were'.'any insuperable difficulties in the way of. the abolition of the ward system. Aether councillor said that since, he had been on the council all the bickerings that had taken place had been due to one ward being'pitted ugaiust the other. If it were" possible to get rid of that it would be'a good thiiig for ' the city. Eventually Councillor Otloy moved: "That the departmental' committee be requested to consider the question whether it is desirable to abolish the ward system." An amendment was thereupon moved, "Thiit the committee should' consider the question whether it would not be better to go'back to tho old Boroujrh Council system." ..The Mayor ruled that tnat was not a legitimate": amendment. A icouncillor said the matter should bo left to the ratepayers to decide.'Had' the abolition of the ward system'been .proposed the amalgamation scheme would never'have been agreed to. The motion was lost by 8 votes to 7. • A Strange Story from America. A curious story comes to "tho Christchurch "Press" from America. The " editor has rocoived a letter from Mr.' Peter M. Williams of Hillsborough, Indiana, asking for assistance in discovering liis brother Harry Herbert' Williams. The writer states tl'iat he reoeived a letter from his brother Harry dated Christchurch, May 25,1906, in which Harry stated that he was working for the Continental Wool and Supply Company, of Christchurch, and that his letters. should be addressed-to tho company's, care: at 524 Wellington Avenue, in this city. Mr. Williams says ho has written, and has discovered there is no such company, and no such avenue or street in Christchurch. Before Harry Williams started for the Islands he was living in Indianapolis, whore he had been working •as shorthand writer and typist .for-about four years. Mr. "Williams goes oa-to say:—"Tho last word wo got before he sailed was a brief letter from him at San Francisco, saying ho would sail in tho Sonoma,,.which was to leave on April 19. On April 18',tho great earthquake tore up the city, and about two weeks after that we saw in.tho 'Indianapolis News' that tho vessel did. not sail. Wo had about concluded lie had been killed in the quako when we received his,letter dated Christchurch, May 25, 1906,, saying ,he had arrived there O.K;, and was at. work for tho company mentioned above. We have investigated tho sailing of'vessels, but cannot find where any vessel sailed from Frisco from April 7 to tho date of the' quake. Now,! it occurred to us that he may have been shanghaied, shipped to some island, and allowed to write this letter which could have been taken ,to your city and mailed, to us to make it appear that he was there. His father, Mr. A. J. Williams, died on May 26 through grief for his lost son, and his mother is now also dying through grief. Harry is aged 24 years, about oft. Bin. in height, would weigh about 10st., has a fair complexion light brown hair, and large brown eyes. His front teeth were rather broad and somewhat prominent when he was laughing .or talking and it seemed that he slightly lisped." '