LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 643, 21 October 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Referring to the projected visit, of Lord Kitchener to tlio Dominion the Hon.-W. Beehan, of Auckland, stated in the Legislative Council yesterday'that no ..one'Would'.bo'triors' pleased than himself, if it became an accomplished fact. At Home his father'was a tenant on. Lord Kitchener's father's estate; .Fond'of sport, Lord Kitchener as a youth appeared'to take no especial interest in military matters. Although He belonged to the "upper ten". ho . was never' happier than when visiting among his father's peasantry. Jt. nas only upon the , death of his father and the sale of the estate' : tlirt. Lord Kitchener began his training for the, ' military'service. Everybody knew , the progress | that he'made 'in his studies, and the great ; success which "had marked his career. • To-day is the 104 th 'anniversary '. of the battle of Trafalgar; ' Members ■ of, the Navy ' League and friends are giving a Trafalgar celebration supper . at the Hotel Windsor, at which function naval or military officers may appear either in mess or full uniform. The annual Trafalgar Day entertainment will not be held until Friday evening of next week. On that occasion .the first part of the programme will be supplied by members of the crew of H.M.S. Challenger, and tho second part by the Mountebank Dramatio Company. Some; advice to managers of hotels was given by Dr. M'Arthur, S.M.,yesterday, in delivering judgment in a case in which a man was charged with refusing to quit licensed premises when, ordered to do so. If the manager did not'know, eaid his Worship, that it ;was his duty to remove a man under the influence of: liquor : immediately, upon his entry, into tho hotel, he had no business!to be a.manager. Both for the man's sake and for. his own. sake; the manager : had no business to , keep him 1 ;tiiere. These things; "added Dr. 'M'Arthur, ' might -be remembered when renewals: were be*. : ing asked for. ' , ; . . ' . ' \ %■ Regarding Halley's Comet, Mr. J.'T, Ward. ■ director of the Wanganui Obsorvatory, says it ; is not yot visible through tho telescope in the ; ordinary-way, and'will :uot be for some timo i to come, though a photegraphio plate can : catch it after long exposure. The comet may j be expected to be a -fairly brilliant object when 1 it approaches tho sun in May, 1910, but its i declination will be considerably - to the north i and therefore invisible for a time to southern i bbservers, as it comes within the sun's vicinity | arid 'consequently becomes of greater apparent < sire. ' Southern'observers, however, r may get i their turn after it has passed the sun and turns i once more on the outward journey : into space, ; The comet.will be a telescopic object to the south of the sun by April, but for the present 1 it i is far beyond our vision. ' f .' The Hon. G. Fowlds . considers that the 1 borough councils, town- boards, or other local I authorities shall undertake the responsibility for i the .care; of soldiers'' graves within their ljoun- 1 daries.-; At the some timo it .would, in his 1 opinion, bo a very: fitting thing if such local .1 authorities wore to arrange through the local education boards or school committees for tho ! actual, work to be done by the children of I neighbouring schools. Such work, he believes, ,1 would have its highest value as a lesson in individual civio duty, and thus ■ in fostering , patriotism, if it wero voluntarily undertaken.' . During the voyage of the steamer Uimutaka i from London, on : September 13, a third-class .' passenger, Sirs. Isabella Jones, succumbed to i heart disease., The deceased, who was' : travel- j ling with, her husband, was booked; for Wei- i iington, and was stated to havo been coming '< out to her children in New Zealand. Tho funeral service, which took place at sea, was i conducted by, Captain 11. T. Smith in the pre- i .nonce. !of tho mustered crew. . VI : The School ' Committees at. Cartel-ton arid '' Musterton are riot disposed to look favourably 1 ■upon'the proposals submitted to them by the Wellington -City School Committees that tliev 4 .ihould Join--the Wellington. School Committees' <

I Regret was expressed by Mr. G. M. Thomson, . member for Duncdin North','in tho Houso of . Representatives last evening that an "irres- ' nonsible reporter" had'drawn from Mr. Foster i Frasor ft statement that the railway officials i were discourteous. For his part, ho jiad always j found them an extremely courteous lot of offii cials, and ho regretted that a man in Mr. Foster Fraser's position should have been led ' into saying such a thine. There might havo been a word or two a little sharp, but he ■ thought that people wore very largely treated as i they behaved themselves. ! The usual number of sheep shipped in r.II . ordinary railway truck is CO. In double trucks ; 30 are at the top and 30 at the bottom. This morning (states a Carterton exchange of Tuesday last) the polico went down to the local ' railway station, and, noticing trucks appar--1 ently overloaded with ewes and lambs, or- , dered them to bo unloaded, and the number in I each truck counted. The first truck emitted 97, the second 99, and the third 112. It ia , understood that proceedings will bo taken I against the shipper, . . Host of the steamers which were on the high ' seas early in tlio- month have having 1 seen displays of the Aurora Australia, and tho i Rimntaka, which arrived from London vesteri day, was no . exception to the rule, but the , sight was. not a very good one. With reference to a Christcliurch telegram published on Tuesday,. and ■ bearing reference to a Court of Inquiry regarding the Death of Captain Pavitt, the Chief of the General Staff (Colonel A. W, Robin, C.8.), states that in ony case a Court of Inquiry must be bold. The 1 point to: be settled is whether the deceased ; officer was on duty or not at tho time of the ,' accident. The. Defence Department's liability , for compensation, rests upon that issue. The Wanganui Education Board has decided to discontinue the practice of allowing a holiday oh' tho day after tho inspector's ; visit to a school. , At the meeting of: the' Grev Lynn Borough Council (says the Auckland "Star") Mr. Hold 51 w : orth drew attention to the fact that when a woman, was under, a tramcar in Queen Street, although six or seven cars arrived upon the scene, not one had a "jack" by which tho car could be raifeed. He moved: That the attention of the Government be called to tho' recent tram accident; on Friday afternoon last In Queen Street, and the long delay in extricating tho unfortanato woman from beneath the car owing to the absence of a''jack.' As we have had similar cases' iii tho past, wo would, urge the importance ;of making it compulsory for every car to carry a 'jack. " Mr! Murray also Suggested,that cars should slow when passing a stationary'- car. . The motion '. was then adopted. . 1 ■■ The Prime, Minister has agreed to meet a deputation, on Monday next at 11 o'clock, of those who desire advanced anti-gambling legislation. ■ V ~ ■ A gathering of watchmakers and jowollers toog', place at the Okarito Tea Rooms last evening, tho. Occasion being the presentation of the banner to. the watchmakers who recently met and defeated tho jewellers after a valiant struggle on tho football field. Captain Hill accepted tjie, banner on behalf of his team, suitably acknowledging the honours so hardly, won. In the cuchrO tournament which followed, 1 Mr. M'Lean'won ,tho first prize,. and Mr. Sniallbono.tho "booby." During a very pleasant 1 evening, recitations', were given' by- Messrs. 1 J, Moar' and R. M'Lean, and 60ngs by Messrs. T. Crouch, M'Ancran and Solomon. The October number of "The Spike," the. magazine issued by the "Victoria College Stu-' dents' Association,, is quite a brisk one.' The. Univorsity Senators', warned that, it must. arouse itself from its state of coma," and " eeo.. to it ■ that the, university provides an education that is at,onco liberal and utilitar: ian." There is a Useful plea for the cultivation of the social side of university'life, and a vast budfjet of college chronicles. The special. contributions ,aro of average merit. Five thoroughbred. 1 Clydesdales,' comprising three mares, a stallion, • and a foal, arrived from London yesterday by the Itimutaka. The animals, which come from' tho stock of Mr. Kerr, of Red Hall, Wigton, and from Messrs. A, , and W. Montgomery, of Kirkcudbright, are consigned :to Messrs. Dalgoty and Co., on account of.Mr. Ernes.t Short, of Paorangi. Ono'of the trimmers belonging to the steamer Riihutaka, a maiKnamed Sparkes, had to bo! landed'at'Cape. Town, as he was'. suffering severely from pneumonia; .: A man, who Was fined for drunkenness yes-' terdny morning,-was apprehended later in 'the day- on a charge of stealing twA £Z> notes. The polico ,havo not yet'ascertained the name' of jtho oiVney'of' money." A sitting of the Juvenile Court will-be held, this morning, whOn two boys'will; bo charged with wilfully destroying tho tiles of a house, breaking-:' windo.ws, aijd . ..building to'.'the extent of .£3. , Constable K.vno arrested a man lastnight on a charge of stealing a rug-from a bed in a boardinghousa. "• ' ■ih\. E.-J.' joiiei; journalist,, of Ohaktino,'late of Levin,' haa filed a petition of bankruptcy/ ■ The need for a nofr. children's ward, at the Wellington Hospital was montioned at- yester-' day's,,meeting of the Hospital IBoard. Mr. R. C. ICirk said that a numberi of ladies ,wcro initiating a special effort-to raise, funds for tho purpose, and ho htid ventured to'state to some of. those .interested that he: thought the board would bo ablo to divert to the cause, indicated tho sum, of .(MoOO' intended for anotljer new ward which, did not now appear , to be necessary. There wore still as many patients being treated at tho hospital, but they were not kept, in the institution to long. Tho board took no: action in the matter. f The dismissal of a patient" at the . Otakl Sanatorium on ;the ground of insubordination was reported by the matron to yesterday's mooting of the Hospital Board. The chairman (Mr. J.'P. Luke,/M.P.), said he had looked into the matter. He thought it was of importance that there should bo thorough co-operation between the, board-and the officers in such matters. - The action of tho matron was unanimously approved by the, board.' 1 , ■; The promoters of : the No-License meeting in the Town HaU, to-morrow evening state that it is exciting ;Stioh unusual interest that 11 largo number of church mMtings have been given up to enable 1 members to attend. With tho exception of, about. 200 seats,- which have been.ressrved for. members of Parliament'and Ministers, nrfd other important guests, all ; seats will be free, It is intended t oopen tho doors at 7 p.m. ! '' : ', •" '■ ' "No sign of tho Waratah," was the report mado'by the officers of tho New;Zealaud, Shipping Company's steamer Itimutaka, which arrived from London, yesterday. Tho vessel made no special detour to look . for, the missing steameV and recoived no sailing directions at all in the matter.- • , A small fire, which occurred at (.23 p.m. 1 yesterday, had a' peculiar, origin. It appears that thero was a bird's'ilest-in the root of a tonroomed houso at 24 Ktoko Street, New.town, owned and occtiplod-by Mr.' W. Wylie, and a spark .from a cnimnoy evidently set it alight. The Firo Brigade-arrived promptly,: and only tho roof and walU sustained any damage. Tho building was insured in tho Royal Office for .£SOO, and the; contents for- .£l9O in. the samo office. ;■ .;•■S > ■■ : : \i. . ■ , ' The Christchurch Tramway Board have decided to place'with Messrs. , Turnbull and Jones, Limited, electrical engineers, an order for a complete electric storage battery, which will be capable of giving out 700 horse-power, rhe battery is of the"Tudor" make, and will weigh over, 120 tons. This is soid to be the largest battery yet installed-in New Zealand, and, by its introduction, tho Tramway Board anticipate effecting considerable saving in tho running cost of their power station. By on ingenious arrangement, known as a reversible booster, the battery is made'to givo up, automatically, power,to, tho .tramway lines at times of heavy load, and at times of light load tie dynamos charge the: battery so that the enBines, are 1 always .kept running at their ''most efficient- load.-. The. contractors have given a Jive ynfcrs guarantee with- the battery, which is costir-s J&UO. The, Wellington- BoJ-iV Institute . has been engaged in arranging . for 6ome time past a series;of "Addresses for Boy's." It is thought that much good may be done by plain little home talks by sensible people to the boys of the institute.on Sunday evenings. The first address was given last Sunday evening by Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P., of Dunedin. Others have beei) arranged as follow:—October 24, Mr. C. H: Poole, \I.P.; October 31, Mr. G. Laurenson, Af.P.j r November 7, llr. Then. Buxton, M.P.j November H, Mr. 11. A. Wright, M.P.j November 21, Mr.iJ. F. Arnold, M.P.; November 28, .Mr. 1\ K. Sidey.^l.P. A meetihg of tlio'general committed of . tho Wellington Provincial, Industrial Association w'as held last night; Mr. )3. Bull presiding. Tho director of the Technical School (Mr. W. S. La Trobe) wrote that the ehaii'mnn (Mr. Luko M.P.) was arranging for a joint committee. Tho .writer also thanked the association for tho nnniial grant of .C 25 to tho school, and for the continued interest shown by it! In I lie school. Accounts totalling .£9 10s. wero passed for payment, mid a banb balanoe of 19s. 6d. wad reported. Visits to the Technical' School and to Mr.'..E. Collie's, furniture 1 factory were reported on, and: committees for'further-visits were appointed. .. . Oranges, mandarins, lomont, and passion •fruit formed the greater part of the shipment of 3200 cases of fruit landod yesterday from the Ulimaroa.

, "For the sake of: the'future of-technical in-, f struction, the 6ooncr the Technical School ;- Board has a suitable building the better." r Such is the opinion of a committee'of the Ins diistrial Association, which lately visited the s Wellington Technical School. The committee ■ - states, that u the general attendance- at the . school is not up to that of last, year, and-this 1 in attributed largely to some students having 0 discontinued attending owing to tho crowded. » condition of the class-rooms. The ""interest. s taken by the 6tudents in their work 6eeme to bo indicated by tho fact that the school library 1 has been, more largely used than was tho case . 1 last yean , . s At a meeting of the Ohinomuri River Silting . - Aswciation at Paeroa, a petition to Parliamenc ; 1 regarding the silting wn/i eigned by an mo - members, and .Mr. Thorp was appointed to, - represent the association m the deputation, to, 1 Wellington. The socretary was instrnctcd to 1 write to oil the other local bodies asking for 3 their 00-operation. The question of the Gov- . 1. ernment appointing a R-oyal Commission to inquire into tlio silting up of the Ohinomuri and : , Waihou Rivers was fully discussed, and it was ; the unanimous opinion of the committee that Q such a oommission would cause unnecessary dc- . lay, as the matter is. urgent and. the Govern-.-' 2 mcnt havo all tho evidence before them. Tho ' committee suggested that, tlio best engineering skill should v be obtained to report.,on the beat: I means of disposing of the silt otherwise ; than. i putting it into the river.. The secretary Was ' J mstruotcd to inform tho Hon. T, Maokcnzio ' and Messrs. Poland, Taylor, and Greenslado of '' their views. The chairman and. Messrs. Brun-■ ? skill and Buchanan were nppointnd' J \wait tra ' tho Ohinemuri. County Conncil,-,i .enlist .. ® their sympathy and co-operation Tn^bringinj: ' tho matter before the. Government. . -