LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 1 October 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ —, " • * — Commercial men in particular, and the community in general, will bo pleased to receivo their English mail ex Makuro, to-day. instead of at least ten days hence, which would havo been tho caso if the New Zealand- portion of tho Vancouver liner's mail had not been transhipped to H.M.S. Challenger at Suva. Ordinarily this mail would not lmvo reached Auckland until October 10 and "Wellington on Ootober 11. It was duo at Sydney on October 1, and there it would havo remained nntjl Wednesday, October 6, and it would have reached Auckland on Suuday, October 10, arid Wellington tho following day. .. The Makura's mail brings letters dated London August 28, so that only thirty-four days will havo been ocoupied in transit between London and Wellington, which is much quicker time than it is possible to receive mails by any' other of tho existing, services. As a comparison, wo havo only to quote the next best— tho Suez route. A mail timed to IcoVo London for Sydney,, via Suez, on August 27, was duo at that, port on September 50. If it caught tho steamer leaving for Auckland that day it Would reach tho northern.port on October 1 and Wellington tho next day—thirty-nino days after leaving. Loudon. If .it did not connect _at Sydney, ; the mail would have to : remain there until Saturday, October 2, in which caso it would not arrive here until October 6—forty days after leaving Loudon. 'All these facts form excellent argument-in favour of a regular connection at Suva, if it could bo arranged. Cabled advioo received yesterday by tho. Wei-, lington Post and Telegraph: Eiflc team, which competed, in the Empire Postal Match on Wednesday, 6tato,that the aggregate points scored by the Sydney. and Melbourne teams' were respectively 915 and 90V points. ' Wellington scored BSB. , , '■ ■> . ' Allwood, tho lunatic who killed a woman.at Dargaville on. Wednesday, is (saya tho ''Auckland Star") an elderly man, and is/'well known as the former nightwatchman in Dargaville. In the early part of this year ho displayed, symptoms of. insanity,' the form taken being of an impulsive character; that is, he heard voices, ho said, and'.when, those voices spoke, to him ho must obey. ■ This ■is insanity of the most dangerous description, and on nwdical advice ho was Sent to tho Mental Asylum at Avondale. ; Hero he remained until last week, wheji ho was discharged,' and- returned; homo on Thursday night.- It appears that.for two- or three days, prior to-, the., tragedy Allwood, lives, with his,wife in a' little cottage opposite Mr. Kjer's house, had been in a most melancholy condition. The day before ho sit in his chair 1 smoking all vday. Several efforts mado by his old partner in;life to : rouse him failed, and, he sat hour after 1 hour without 6peaking. Opinions differ ■ (says our Feilding .correspondent); as-to the state of tho fish in the rivers and streams of the Feildirig district; SoHio declare that the waters were s6 heavily deploted last season that very few fish will be left for this year, whilst, others declare that tho sport will be good,, and that the young fry liberated towards the end of last year have coino v?ry well. If the recent fresh has' 'not made itself felt too much, the Oroua River is expeoted to provide good sport, to-day. ;;;; ' It has been stated.in some quarters that the time is now ripe for the roll of. justices of the, peace to bo pufgeil. Questioned on the . subject yestordajv Dr.'Findlay. replied- that there was no special necessity lor this to'bo done at the present time." Ho went on to 6ay that names are removed from time to time when definito proof of misconduct is forthcoming.' Jn : •the course of; further ..remarks,'• Dr. Findlay mentioned that arrang6m»nts wore now' being pushed forward in- connection with the publication of the supplementary list of . appointments to the commission of the peace. ; ' ; It ;is .rather; a peculiar, circumstance that a i.considerable, majority of ;members of the permanent, staff of- the Christchurcli Firo ;Brigado como'. within the category of'. ; .."new . chums." Most of the men have been in the Dominion not ' ; much more than • a year, and they' comprised |. chiefly sailors and other wanderers, in search of adventure. ■ The occupation does not appear, to attract cither artisans'or average colonials,■ arid overseas arrivals must be relied upon to maintain the forco-of fire-fighters, i'Discussing other aspects of ; the question: at a meeting tho ! Firo Board '(says "The Press"). Superintendent Erck said heads of firo brigados did not ' caro.'to enrol men who . had had experience in other similar ofganisatipns, oil the.principle ; that they wero'.cither,; no, good or else (being good), they, would not stay long enough' ; to bo of any use. ' ■J:A ,'youthful ■: absconder, 1 from;-:the', -Stoke Orphanage ir.i\s found hiding in pno-'of' the life-!: Wats on the steamer. Arahura. yesterday after? noon.. The .boy, who is only eight, years : old, had boarded ,the.-:vssscl' at Kelson, and .iwould doubtless have made .fyis escape, under c.ivcr of tho piglit .hafl.ho not been : Ti.e, police.'took'.,charge of\the 'and wj'.i see that ho is returned to tho (iridmiue. • '

' .A correspondent having suggestod; that out information'-[is to 'the conditions iof "the land ballot for Te Akati sections'.(ns conveyed in a paragraph .'in yesterday's issue) wasi erroneous, a reporter made inquiries at the Lands Offico yteterdny, and ascertained that the paragraph in question , was quite, correct. • A land-seeker may apply for any number of sections in order to improve his chances'at' .the ballot,' bjit ho may. only take'up one, except' Under' circumstances which' are !not expected" to occur at To Akau. Even then; however, the limitation of v the"holding ; to 640- acres of land or 2000 acres 1 of second-class land would apply.' It may bo noted that the conditions of ' the ballot at Te Akau;are not-the-same as those under'the land for settlement system. .The To Akau land was .purchased»from the Nativo under tho Maori Land Settlement Act,, and is treated' as ordinaryi.Crown land.lf it had been purchased from! a, European owner for closer settlements the-conditions would have precluded application by any person for more than one scction.

Pair, patronage is being, accorded- the New Zealand Academy, of ;Fine Arts' very ertdi table 6how,:now being held at the Art Gallery in Whitmqro •' Street. ; To. tho sales of pictures already noted should; be added:—Mr. C. _H. Howorth's "Buller Gorge" (-CI2 125.) and Mr. G. R. jitUethly's "On the. Hills near Wellington" (M 45.). The gallery,will be open again this afternoon and evening. The tender of tho: Now -Zealand Express Company has been accepted by the Government for-th« transport of passengers" luraago between the Queen's Wharf/and the Wellington' Railway stations, jii. accordance with tho scheme by which "checked" lnggage ,is to be transmitted. bv' the Hallway Department and vUnion Steam Ship Company from loading stations in-'ono island to those iu the other without worry to the travollor aq regards its transport between train and steamer. The amount of the tender is. not yet. made public, but it is understood that tenders were submitted by eight, firms. The, now system will come into force on- October: 4. As tho' luggage will be checked, the Railway Department will bo fully responsible for its safo conduct, and an almost nominal charge .will, bo made'; to owners on account of the carriage between wharf and station. Tho innovation should prove a welcome one, though it is stated that the publio has. in the past been'very slow to: take vantage of measures that have been devised for its convenience. For. example, the "check" luggage system has been in force, for about ten 'years. There is no- charge . for-checking luggago,. and -the precaution, means than tne Department will accept responsibility , for. articles that may be lost/or damaged in transit.' . It is merely' necessary to be at tho. railway, station a few minutes before the train starts in-order 1 to check the goods, and possibly for this reason : the system has never been adopted to any great extent. Out;• of many' million parcels of luggage which, are carried yearly on the railways,; scarcely hundreds are checked by passengers. , .. . The number of: passengers arriving at Wellington from oversea ports during-the. month of September was 1441, as against 2202. for 'September' last year. The departures'during the,.month ended yesterday totalled 101!),. as against 6?6 for the'corresponding month last year. The figures for the port for the'quarter ended yesterday aro as under, tho totals for the corresponding quarter last year being given in parentheses Arrivals, 4038 (4972); departures,'273B (2743). Fourteen Chinese arrived during the quarter, and 45 took their, departure, as against 69 arrivals and 22 departures during the quarter ended September last year. . "I, don't thihk the board ought .to give charitablo aid to people- possessed of freehold property unless some security over the property is jiven by the recipients,-" observed Mr. R. C. Kirk (chairman, ot tlie Charitablo Aid Board) at its. meeting .yesterday, .when commenting.on the question of dispensing charit-i able aid to a person possessed of ft.small cottage and six acres of land. "Of course, • 1 don't .suggest that-the board would strictly exercise its rights as to the security thus obtained .over the property, but would simply prevent its alienation, 1 and so'protect 'the interests, not only of the board but of the recipient of aid." <; .... A cheque for 420 was received v yesterday from Dr. Chappie, in, England, as a donation to thounemployinoiit fund. This contribution enabled llr. George Willii:. secretary of the fundi to' engage six men for work on Mount Victoria and m Constable Street. ■ Tiieso opera-. :tions will extend over a' few: days, and- will finish tho programme which the' Unemployment* Committee took in hand.. .

. At tho Mount Cook Polico Court yestorday , morning,, before.: Mr, Thomas Bland, J.P., Qharlcs Lawrie, charged witlr insobriety, was fined. 10s., in default-48 hours' imprisonment. : ' One. first 6ffend6r, for drunkenness,' was,:flncd 10s., in default 48 hours' imprisonment.- 'An- ■. other.. first offender ~'was cOnviqtcd and.discharged. \ \;' ' A_maii who was appoiritod to'the permaneht . staff of the Christcliurch Firo Brigade on Tuesday night fvcut down to tho . last trip of tho Nimrod,- Ho was stated by, tho ,'' - chairman, of the; Fire IJcard to havo been rosponsible for tho rescuo of the sledging partyi led by Mr. A. Mlntosh on ono very momorablo occasion. Tho hero in question appeared, before the board, and in,answer to a question'stated ; that he had mado application to' be included" with Captain ScoltV projected Antarctic expedition, and frankly hoped that ho would bo . . accopto'd. In the meantime, ho wai selected . • for. tho almost equally exciting occupation of, fire-fighting. ... ' , The .proportion of deaths to the 1000 of popn.lation'in the four cities for August, 1909, is as usual to the advantage of Wellington. • Tho figures are given in the Gazette ae follow:—* \\ ellington, .Gl; Auckland, ,62; Dunedin, .72; Cliristchuioh, 1.08. , , '. ■ As the result of tho industry of <«;tain clever young craftsmen attending'the (fojjen- ; try classes •at the Wellington/ Technical'' School, tho press representatives at the monthly • meetings of the Education Board and the Tech-. nieal School Board havo been provided with a conveniently designed - reporting : desk;' . fitted with shelves, and neatly finished off In most workmanlike style. " < ■■■ Replying, to tho expressions of-welcome ten-;■-■ ,'r dered liim by his new colleagues on taking 1 his seat on : the Wellington Education' Board for tho first time yesterday,' Mr. Henry Elder ', referred to certain suggestions of parochialism ; which had been raised in connection , with his election as a representative of tho Hntt-Mana-'' : watu Ward. He nished to state it the outset that parochialism would have no: place'in his '■- future policy as a member of tho Wellington • Edncation Board. As for the suggestion that' his oleotion had- been decided on parochial-- - issues, ho could only say thht he got as'many' votes in the Hutt as'he. did in- the Manawatu* section of the ward. ■ v ■■ ■. . M A A newly-formed branch oftho Political Eeform League was' held in' Huntcryillo on Wednesday night, at ;which there •was a very good attendance. ':Mr.vß.,E."Mar- 1 .tin,'..tho organising secretary, and' addressed the meeting on, the, aims and objects: Sr - ■? l e^6 ue * , ' In the course of his address, Mr.'Martin, referred to a rumour which was prevalent- in tho town to tho effect that the, >. league ivas being formed partly for .the purpoa) ' of ■ penalising tradesmen who were politically opposed, to tho leagne, and- h6 went on to stow that, as organiser, he desired to Kivo that ruriiour an emphatic denial,: and, furthermore, .: he trusted .that .politics would not bo allowed to interfere, with the; business relationship of v the local tradespeople in, any. shape or form. Mr. .Hockly- and others 6poke in tho same - . strain, and the' meeting unanimously endorsed-. ' their remarks,: About 40 new members were. - enrolled. . „ Tho death '. occurred yesterday:' of, Mrs.',v • Stringer, wife of: Captain. Stringer, assistant . ' superintedent .'of Mercantile, Marine.' 1 The do-;: »*•" oeased lady had 'been seriously- ill for some . weeks past. ■ _ ' , ' , . ) ■ Mr.' L. 'L. Levy, secretary of tho Auckland. Veterans' Association,-, has received a letter' from tho general manager of railways that, free passes will .bo;issued as hitherto to; veterans . -- ■ travelling, by. rail for .tho purpose, of attending : ; military reviews, and siinuar. .functions. .:■ •> , ; There are, itatM Mr. J. Dineenj truant'ofE-.'," ;.cer to the Wellington-Education-Board,' half, a / dozen- very bad.'truants : at, present roaming. about the oity,'. quite, incorrigible, and fit sut • J )ects for a truant school, ■ But there is no truant school in Wellington.,• , The New' Zealand Trades snd Labour jCoun-i' . oils' Conference is, to; bo:,hold:, nt Wellington ... oa Monday, October 25.. ; -A union official, who'is in close, touch with tho labour market, has informed'' a Christ-,' church reporter , that conditions in' that / city •, have returned to'normal. There were still u - few unemployed, to bo found, bit no more than- ■ previous .produced-, at this period. Things were: incalculably better than they wore a month. or '• two' back. • Apparently there, is, still mucli room for improvement in Dunedin. ' It is.a, very , significant fact (records vtlio. . , "Times" of, that city) that for a tiro days' lab- >. ourisg jobjVfor.i.which- six.:nien. wero required ,-, on Monday lnst,'no'fowor than 70 men ; tho seo-,. - "retary. of-tho. GeniSral. Labourers' 5 Union states, .mado personal application; It is:;highly prob-, , . -table'tliat''a ; men were nqLtiTio.., r ilatiourersr but 'stilUit.gois': to ; ;is a good deal'of : unskilled'labour lriDunodrn ; at tho'present time'uiiemployed.' There are tho".. names of,. about 20. men onV tho - books of the union who are .out of work; and: 10 who had : been out-of -work have juet been placed... The organising secretary of the union statosjthat hi is approached every, week',by a large. pum- , .be; of young .men,' most of them ,singly, and - recent who have been iu .quest of work,'and who desired-to ;become ; members, of tho union, but- he has 'declined, to actept, their. subscription, knowing that he cannot find work for them. -Theto is : not .'sufficient work".for thoso nlrpa'dy in tho city, and' he" has advised these now-comers to .move on, elsewhere.

At':;the'monthly meeting of the •\\ elbngtnn. and Wattartipa ..Charitable Aid . Board,, held.. -.-- yesterday,«there : wer6.'proient: 'The' chair- . man (Mr. R. C. Kirk), and Messrs; D. M'Larcn, M.P.,'- M.,' Murdoch,; and-A. Coles.. ;• Apologies for absence were received from-Messrs. W. H. Morrah' and- F. ; Cohen:': ,Tho.. monthly state- '~ ment of finance showed a credit balance of . X 2133' 17s. '3d.,• prospective payments amount-.,• ing to' 41078 125." 10a. ■ reduced this amounHto 41055 *9--' 5d.. winch represents . the . credit,.' balanco for - ttie. half-year. - .-.• . '."Tliei. expenses must have been enormous," said the'. Official. Assignee yesterday to a bank- - rupt who stated ■ that over 4500 won in racing ■ ■ > stakes which- ho could n6t otherwise account for had ' been - BW'aliowed lip in racing expenses. "B\it you have never- kept; a' race- • horse/'. ; remarked a creditor: "I ,aiu . happy to :say 1, havo, hot,"'replied Mr.i, Simpson.;. v "f have never put money ou a horse-race, and . T have never been on ,-tho: : .Wellington;: race- , .course."\ ..." ~. ".., ' ■-; It proposed to h6ld'a .conference'for mem-, bcrs of tho Anglican Church-in Mnsterton on > Thursday,- November' 18. ■' 'TheU'ull programme is; not yet-arranged, but it is'suggested (says..-' tho "Church Chronicle") that'there bo a cole- -. .. bration of tho Holy Communion in St., Matthew's; Cliuroh, and - that, tho . conference• be held in-the. schoolroom during, tho after-. ' 1 noon and evening.;: Tho bishbp ■ has: promised to bo "present, , and; will : spoak on "Christian ■ 4 Science aiid Mental Healing." Other Subjects proposed aro: "Tho Church's Work-Among Young Women;" "How to Win Men- to' Active in' the-Church," and "The Teach- ' ing the. Church with Regard'to tlio Acquisition and Possession bf . ,' Stipends and vicarages *Are : tho • great needs of tho native-Maori clergy, according to vari- • ous at the .last meeting., of. tho Waiupu Dioocsan Synod.. • It was pointed- ' out ■ that: tho' Nativo /clergymenwere handicapped by having to 6pcnd so much time in, 1 :', cultivating their lands to , provide themselves with food. .. The' Young' Maori -party felt '. that ho progress , was being made in', church life. One speaker told .how a Maori; spout, 4300.'at a wedding -breakfast, in- his district, while his vicar had-np house. , It-was not so ■- muoh that the Maoris were illiberal; but many... 'had the'same fault of illiborality as existed . amongst' the- pakehas. Another member told; how no had received 41G04; during the year; towards tho Nativo pastorate -funds, but not a farthing from tho Natives themselves. 1 From : tho'general discission,.that ensued later, it wonld ' scem : that tho vicarage trouble wai; more apparent '.than veal." The troublo in : many districts' was the disagreement, as (o , the location 1 of tho site.' And'-it had happened in more than one instanco that, tho vicarage providedVwas not, used by ,'the pastor, ..who eviuocd .more, of-a liking' for/the tent oi whare.■■ ; A question', of, 6omo. importance to local' . bodies was'the; subject ,of la deputation from the HoroWhcnua County. Counoil, Hon. . D.' Buddo, Minister for Internal AlW 8 > ' terda'v. It was explained that a .. area south of tho OWki River haft- ,been irrigated, by means of v;ater-races provided-out of , tnoney raised by, loan;, 'Certain settlers, who had not obtained, substantial benefit, ■ subse.;' quently sought and obtained compensation for '. land used in .'connection "with the scheme.. It was now desired to rai6o.; a .further.' loan te'':-. meet the nmoun!s;due as comiieiiEatioh lotalliuß . upwards cf .£7OO, but it had been found: that tho law would"llot permit tho; appropriation .of loan moneys for. the. purpose' m ; qticetion., ,• The deputation requested that tliere, should. . be' an amendment 1 ; of; tho Jaw,, either of a . general character, or to meet the case in question.. Mr. Buddo, in 'reply,', said that there ; was away from . the fact that tlx;. cost nf the scheme had been uudor-eslimoted Ho thought '. that' the deputation; should con fine "itsi request to a local Bill. , If that wer« ■ done, he would not bo opposed to it.: It was ~ apparent that tho money, eonld, not be raisei out of tho rates. He would hot, look-favour- ' , ■ ably on a proposal to alter the Act as A ' ; wholo, as it would, no doubt,, lead to inilucnees;, when other-schenies wero,suggested that.would \" not bo benefloial to the. proposal. ; The matlei would b'o brought under tho'notice of Cabinet, together with a suggestion; that it shnuld be dealt with ,in a clause to bo; inserted<,)q what was known, as the "'Washing-up, BiU." .'.. -/