LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 320, 6 October 1908, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The foundation stone of the new Anglican Church at Wadcstown will be laid next Saturday by Archdeacon Fancourt. The church wiil probably bo called-St. Luke's. At a meeting of tho Wellington Architects Association last evening Dr. Hay > was appointed as tho third assessor in connection with tho Wellington Hospital building competition. , In response to a special appeal by the vicar (tho Rev. T. G. Kay), the. congregation of St. Anne's Church, Northland, gave £51 12s. sd. in offertories on Sunday to defray the church debt. The members of tho Court of Arbitration loave Wellington to-day for Auckland,-where a sitting will commence on Thursday next. After a brief sitting at Gisborne, commencing on October 29, the Court will then return, to Wellington. The values of'exports from Wellington for the month of September were:—Wool, £19,919; frozen mutton, £45,256; tallow, £18,780: frozen beef, £12,119; frozen lamb, £13,498: flax, £12,-174; skins, £10,138; hides, £6340; butter, £4429; cheese, £990. The Hon. It, M'Nab, Minister for Agriculture, is to meet deputation to-morrow after- 1 noon, representing Wairarapa institutions, for the purpose of discussing Mr. W. C. Buchanan's offer of £0000 for the establishment of an experiment dairy farm in that district. The meeting of the Ikaroa Maori Land Hoard, which was to have been held in the Departmental Buildings to-day, has been postponed till to-morrow, owing to the fact that the Maori member of tho board, Mr. Ihaia Hutana, of Waipawa, is also chairman of the Maori Council, which is to meet today at Hastings. , ; Tho number of passengers arriving at Wellington from oversea ports last month Was 2202, including 33 Chinese. .New ■' South Wales contributed 1210 of the total, the United Kingdom 972. Capetown 13, and Tasmania 7. Tho number leaving tho port,for overseas was 086, 063 booking for Now South Wales, 22 for the United Kingdom, and 1 for Queensland. No Chinese left during the mouth. Speaking to a deputation at New 'Plymouth, Mr. Armstrong, railway traffic manager for tho New Plymouth district, stated that under the proposed new time-table, framed to meet tho new conditions to bo imposed by tho opening of tho Main Trunk Railway, tho expresß train from Wellington would leave there about 9 a.m. and reach New Plymouth about 9.30 p.m. The mail train would run very much as now. as far as speed and stoppages were concerned. Probably the sailing of the steamers from Now-Plymouth would be altered accordingly. At any rate, most of tho passenger traffic would go by the Main Trunk. He thought that very few people from tho southward of Hawera would go via New Plymouth. A tew weeks ago, Mr. J. Pommeroy, of Invercargill, gavo a demonstration at the Polhill Gully rifle range, Wellington, of a now explosive he had invented, which invention interested a number of military officials who wero invited to be present. Mr. Pommoroy was to have been given a trial with a field-piece, but the Defence Department put hiin off until ho had made u\) his mind to proceed to Melbourne, to submit his explosive to tho American naval authorities. w l ith tho United States fleet. In Melbourne Mr. l'ornmoroy's inventions were taken up by an influential syndicate, headed by Messrs. Hemery, Dimant, and Wood, who arranged a test before several of the American officers,'including Commander Grant, Chief of Staff on the battleship Connecticut. A further trial was given before Major Danger, Chief Ordnance Staff of tho Commonwealth, who was rnucli interested in tho qualities of the new explosive. Very littlo has been said about tho tests, but it is known that Mr. Pommeroy has been supplied witli letters of introduction to the highest military authorities in tho United States, and that ho has made arrangements to leavo almost immediately for that country. In tho meantime tho results of tho t PS t_made with a Martini-Henri rifle—havo boon forwarded in advance to America. At the tost given in Wellington- somo three months ago, Sir. Pommoroy, using an M.-H. riflo (will: a littlo of tho explosive inserted in a holo in the r.ose of tho bullet) fired si c kerosene tin full of water. Tho ofTect of tbo shot was that tho water was thrown high int« tho. air, and the tin was almost cut through nil round by tho explosive.

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The foundation-stone of the new Kilbirmo Presbyterian Church, Seatoun Road, will bo laid at 2.30 p.m. to-morrow., "An agitator is a man who dares to differ from men who aro less sane than himself," observed Mr. D. M'Laren ill the courso of his political address at Clyde Quay School last night. Tho annual meeting of tlioN. Z. Employers' Federation coinmcnces at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, and will probably conclude on the following day. Tho list of delegates was published on Saturday. The mails which left 'Wellington on August 2S per the s.s. Malienq, and connected at Sydney with tho Brindisi mails per tho R.M.S. Mongolia, arrived in London oil tho night of October 2, two days early. Tho annual, conference of tho Now Zealand Federated Builders' and Contractors' Association will be held at Invercargill on November 4 and 5. "Wellington will bo represented by Messrs. W. H. Bennett (president), W. Grenfell (secretary), W. L. Thompson, and D. M'Lcan. A conference of delegates from tho various miners' unions in the Dominion will bo held in Wellington on October 19. The questions discussed will includo ono in regard to federation, and tho unions hope to como to some arrangement ill order to act in concert at tho general election. Most of the Jewish business houses wcro closed yesterday, the occasion being the Day of Atonement. Tho Feast of Tabernacles will bo observed on Saturday and Sunday next. Spccial services are being held at the Synagoguo in connection with\ these special days of religious observance. If a man accepts a promissory note, docs it debar him from holding a lien on an estate? Tho point cropped ( up at a meeting of creditors yesterday morning, and tho ] Official Assignee (Mr. A. Simpson) remarked that it had not been raised before, but legal advice could be obtained on the 'matter. In the Wellington Physical Training School's carnival programme lasf week, mention was made of tho fact that the display of foil-fencing by the ladies' class was new to New Zealand. "Fair Fencer" challenges this statement, which was referred to in our report of the first night's performance, and says that Messrs. Harrison and Juriss, in their gymnastic carnival of 1906, gave an exhibition of drill and musical foils combined by a team of forty ladies, and also a ladies' bout by two well-known lady fencers. The attention of the polico is called to tho latest small boy nuisanco, which takes the' form of throwing small packets of explosive matter at everyone aud everything. These "bombs" consist of a paper-covered packet of what looks like quartz grit and an indiscovorable modicum of explosive matter, enough, however, to explode with nearly as much noise as a rifle-shot on concussion. The "bombs"' aro a Chinese product and may be purchased at a penny a box, which is trouble at tho lowest rate. It is becoming a favourite habit with some galleryites at the theatre to drop theso bits of danger on to the stago or stalls. Such a practice needs tho prompt attention of the police. • .Civil Servants are not 'by any means entirely satisfied with the Bill to amend the Classification and Superannuation Acts, now before Parliament. As the result of a meeting held yesterday, it was decided to send the following telegram to the' Premier (Sir Joseph Ward): —"Tho executive of the Civil Service Association earnestly and respectfully urges that a provision be made in Clause 58 of tho Public Service Superannuation Bill for interest being paid on contributions of officers coinpulsorily retired, otherwise officers of honourable record will be in the same position as officers dismissed for misconduct." It is also hoped that provision will be made in the Bill for an Appeal Board in Connection with tho classification scheme. Referring to the Surrey-Essex county cricket match in which tho ex-Queenslander A. Marslial'took five wickets for 28 runs, the "Daily Mail" of August 22, says"Bringing the ball down from a height and getting oil plenty of finger spin, Marshal is a very difficult bowler to hit, and having regard to the number of wickets he took in the early part of the season it is surprising that more use is not made of him. He dismissed tho last three Essex batsmen in four balls for no runs, and altogether lie now claims fortyseven wickets in the season. Later in tho' day he supplemented his last week's scores of 70 against Yorkshire and 167 against Kent with a 50, making his aggregate 1838. As in addition ho is one of the most brilliant fieldsmen in the country it will readily be conceded that Surrey wore fortunate when they ncquired the services of this giant young Australian." ■ Probably never before in Wellington havo there been five professional shows performing at tho one time", one good reason being that until the last few years the number of suit-, able theatres and halls wero not available. The erection of the Town Hall made it pos-' sible, and last evening, for tho first time on record, both halls in the big municipal building, the Opera House, Theatre Royal, and' His Majesty's Theatre were all in full swing for tho amusement of the public. There' has been a lot said recently about tightness of _ money, but so far it has not mado tho 'slightest impression on tho show business in Wellington. Tho "Scarlet Troubadours" packed the Concert Chamber, and West's Pictures drew an enormous audienco to the Town Hall last evening, whilst the Bland Holt Company filled the Opera House, and there were good houses to the picturo shows at tho Thcatro Royal and His Majesty's Theatre. At a rough estimate thero must' have been between 5000 and 6000 peoplo attending city theatres last evening.