LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 772, 22 March 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The postal authorities advise that the Moana, which left Sydney on, Saturday, March 19, for Wellington, has on' board an Australian mail which is due here to-morrow morning. The English mails which left Wellington on February 11 pers.s ; Warrimoo connected at Sydney with the Brindisi mail per B.M.S. Persia, and arrived in London on the night of March 18. ' / ; : : ' The mails which left Wellington on February 8 by the s.s. Hauroto, connected at Papeete with the San Francisco mail steamer, and arrived in London on March 21. On account of Friday this week being a holiday (Good Friday) - .the Sydney boat —in this case the Manuka —will leave Wellington at 11 p.m. on Thursday, instead of at 5 p.m. on Friday as is usual. ; . ,

The fact that neither the Prime Minister, nor any of the other Ministers has made any by-speech relating to policy- matters since the close of the session is the subject of a good deal of comment. Usually a speech of the kind has been forthcoming before, such a lengthy period has elapsed after the | rising of Parliament. Tne only speech of any importance that has been made on. behalf of the Government during the past three months was one by Sir Joseph Ward at Hastings. r For the most part, however, it was confined to statistics. Freights and .passage-money from New Zealand to Australia have now been reduced to the original rates, so tho local office of the Union Steam Ship Company has been advised. An. increase of ton per cent., in .passage-money, and 25 per cent, in freights was announced soon after the commencement of the Newcastle strike. . A few days, ago freight rates were partly reduced, and from yesterday both freights and fares aro to revert to. what they were before the strike. V ■ . . '■■ . '■:■ Applications for enrolment in the polico force are stated to be more numerous at present .than for some time back. What .■ is., gratifying in this regard is that the applicants are, generally speaking, from a desirable class. At ■ present eighteen ■ probationers are undergoing training at the Mount Cook depot. '..-■••' ■ '.'■•' A strong Bar has already been en-' gaged for the case, being brought by the New Zealand Shipping, Company agaiDst the Auckland. Harbour Board, claiming £163,687 damages. The Harbour, Board has retained Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C., of Wellington,' to act with Messrs. Russell and Campbell, the board's solicitors, while- it is understood that the New • Zealand Shipping Company has retained Mr. J. H. Hosking, K.C., of Dunedin, to act in conjunction with Mr. George Harper, of Christchurch, and Mr. Thomas Cotter, of Auckland.- If the writ;,is. issued within a month, the case will probably be set down for trial at the-next civil sittings of the Auckland Supreme Court. .-. :

No sign of castaways .or wreckage was observed by the Government training ship Amokuraon her visit to tho southern outlying islands. A telegram was yesterday received .by the Marine Department from Commander Hooper, stating that all was, well on board. A landing was effected at all places except Disappointment Island and tho Boun-: ties, where continuous westerly weather prevented the vessel approaching too near. Fine weather was experienced to the Auckland Islands, and. a whaling party was set down at Campbell Island. Westerly gales prevailing throughout the return voyage, it was decided to make a call at Dunedin before proceeding to Bluff, where the Amokura will take in before proceeding to Dusky. Sound. " ; ■

Suburban railway passengers in Melbourne are soon to have the convenience of dining and refreshment, rooms at the points of arrival and departure. A largo section of the. central station buildings has been reserved for the purpose. Tenders will be invited for the lease of the'TOoms at £500 per annum for the period ending June 30, 1912, at a rental of £550 for tho year ending Juno 30, 1913, and £650: for the year ending June 30, .1914. The lessee will then ■• have the option of the lease of the rooms for ! another five years at a rental to bo fixed. There aro two general dining-rooms on the first floor, and. a general dining-room or tea-room on the ground floor,. These are accessible from Flinders Street. There will also be a railway refresh-ment-room accessible from; the plat forms.

Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., has written to tho Minister for Railways stating that the present guarantee system asked for by the Railway Department' to cover the loss on a new service is unfair to the guarantors. He suggests that there should bo an accurate account kept of the receipts and ox-. pendituro on any new service forming the subject of a guarantee, and that while the guarantors should pay, as at. present, the actual loss whilo | there is a loss, there should be a period, say, of ten years, within which they, should be repaid l out of the earnings in the event of the service ultimately proving profitable. "I do not know," Mr. Field wrote, "that the_ people beyond Johnsoriville would give a guarantee under any circumstances, but;l am most anxious to give. the suburban and seaside districts of Tawa Flat, Porirua, and Plimmerton a chance, of development, and with that view I should be glad to submit to the Landowners and settlers any proposals for a guarantee upon terms which may give them some hope of recovering their money." The experiment of running an early special tramcar for the benefit of Kilbirnie residents has not been, a success so far. One morning last week the cars carried only six paying passengers. There were eight others on board, all of whom were "non-payers." The car is being kept on jn the meantime to seo if tile traffic will improve. Tho Union Steam Ship Company has made arrangemems to dispatch ; tho Maori to Picton at 7.45 a.m. on Monday next, loaving the Sounds port again at 3.30 p.m. Tho return faro", will bo 6s. Afternoon tea will bo provided at city rates. . A wicket in K'blburno Park has been set apart for a cricket match between tho AVellington school teachers and the Manawatu teachers on April 2. Shampooing, Clipping, Hairdresslng, Manicuring, Face Massage, Treatment or Falling Hair and Dandruff, Combings made up. Natural Hair-pads. Mrs. Rolleston (over Carroll's), 14 .Willie 1 Street. 'Phone 1599.—Adyt

.The midnight tram which runs from Lambton Station to Nowtown continues to do good business, tho weekly figures averaging about 150. Last week's total was 161. During his visit to Napier at the close of last week, Mr. P. Hally (Conciliation Commissioner) met representatives of tho Tailoresses' Union and local omployers. A new award, applying only to Hawke's Bay, was desired by the employers, but the Workers' Union wished to maintain the existing award, which operates throughout tho Wellington industrial district. They accordingly opposed the application. The Commissioner is, therefore, asking the Court of Arbitration for its opinion as to tho propriety of having two awards applying to tho same trade in one industrial district, when the workers (as in the case under notice) are organised in one union throughout the district. Unforeseen difficulties have delayed tho proceedings in connection with tho saddlers' dispute. It turns out that ono of tJie persons elected by the Union of Workers to act as an assessor is absent from the Dominion, and tho Conciliation Council has therefore been unablo to get 'to business. Commissioner Hally states that the whole matter has now been indefinitely postponed.

The suitability of the Manawatu district for fruit-growing is being strongly urged upon tne Hon. T. Mackenzie, Minister for Agriculture, by Mr. Field, M.P. It is the opinion of the member for Otaki that the State should plant areae in the district and subsequently divide the young trees among private growers. Mr. Mackenzie has replied that any assistance possible would be gladly given by his Department. The scheme which had been brought under his notice would, however, involve a considerable outlay. ■ It was his intention to go thoroughly into the matter at an early date. ; ' ■

A divorce petition, Nettie Lena Mewhinney v. Oliver Mewhinney, was heard by the Chief Justice, Sir Robert. Stout, yesterday, in camera. Mr. A. Gray appeared for the petitioner and Mr. T. M. Wilford for the respondent.

At the recent land surveyors' examination, conducted- by the Board of Surveyors, there were fourteen carididates in New Zealand, four of whom completed their examination.. The .successful candidates were: —Messrs Robert Black (Wellington), A. H. Bridge (Christehurch), H. '. Godfrey -.(Port Levy), and J. B. Cutlibert (Napier). The Australian results .'will not .be known for some little: time. . These examinations are held simultaneously; in New Zealand,- and the six Australian capitals, the seven surveyors'. boards being federated for the purpose of ex-, amining .candidates, all. those .candidates who are successful henceforth holding the.same status in any of the Australian States. The boards take it in turn to-set the examination papers and this year the papers were set. by the New Zealand Board. ■ -. . : In-the King's Bench, London, on January 24 last, judgment was- given for the Railway Passengers' Assurance Company, in an action; by Mrs. Jane Walker, who claimed £500 under an insurance policy on the death of her' husband. The latter's body was found at the foot of St. Margaret's Cliff, Dover, the widow's case being that deceased was looking for orchids and. accidentally fell over. .The.umpire in the arbitration held that deceased lost his life by negligently exposing, himself to unnecessary danger, the company therefore not being liable The cash receipts on the trams for Saturday and Sunday were £741 3s. 10d., an increase of £37 14s. 9d. as against, the figures for the same two days'-lasfcryeaf.-:: The takings on Saturday ,wer0..£522 8s: ,4d.,, and on Sunday £218 -15s. 6d.' was' taken. '■,. A total of 636, adults and 30 ohildfen was registered on the special Sunday morning cars. The 9.50 special from Constable Street carried 91 passengers, and the 10 p.m. special from Newtown 1 carried 96.-' ■■■.■'.-■ '■■■■■' ..'"■ •

Assisted immigrants to the number of 90, and other passengers who .intend to make their homes in the Dominion, arrived at Auckland bv the. steamer Cornwall on Friday evening. About 34 were for Auckland, the remainder going to Napier, iWellington, Dunedin, and to various. country districts. The new arrivals. are .a very presentable lot of people, and are likely to make desirable citizens (says, the "Herald"). The pursuits of the men are represented by a variety of occupations, amongst, them .being farm hands, 'dentists, compositors, clerks, shop assist-, ants, etc. Some have already got, situations awaiting them through previous arrangement. . j Others, are desirous of going on the land, and most of them seem very, optimistic. about obtaining employment. Included, among the women are several , domestic servants, and they, of course, will havo no difficulty in getting situation's'. , : . .

The. new time-tables issued by the Tramway Department were sold out last week, and an order has'had to be placed for a second supply.

Inquiries made in Wellington yes-, tcrday did not elicit any corroboration of the Auckland and Australian reports of a great falling-ofr' in the sale-of-Bibles. The largest business in this line; so far as this city is concerned, is; done by the New, Zealand Bible, Tract, and Book Depot, and the manager of that institution (Mr. Reitli) stated.that sales had been keeping up exceedingly well. A representative of one of the principal publishers of Bibles (who ■ had just called upon him) had informed him that there had been no decrease so far as the Australasian business of his firm was concerned. In fact, he ridiculed tho idea. Mr. Reitli added that le understood that the output of the British and' Foreign Bible Society had decreased, and this might have given rise to the erroneous supposition that the general sales of the Scriptures had been similarly aSected. Two leading general booksellers were also interviewed. One admitted a slight falling-off in the sale of Bibles, hymh- ' books, and prayer-books. The other, who has made this class of books rather a feature of his window displays, had found. Ithom selling, just as well as ever. . ', .-■■■■■

At Christmas, about -thirty members of tho Wellington Navals journeyed to Wanganui to fire a rifle match with the Irish Rifle's, and while there photographs were taken of the combined companies at a picnic party which was held 20.miles up the river. C.P.O. Martin has just received a beautiful enlargement, on behalf of the Navals from the Irish Rifles, presented to the company. This picture will be hung in a conspicuous place in !the Navals' boatshed. .

Whilst admitting the Navy to : be the first line of defence, the Hon. J. A. Millar remarked jocularly at :■' last night's dinner to Rifleman Halliday that thero was another sound lino of defence in tho national debt. ■ As long as New Zealand owed a largo amount of monoy tho Mother Country. would take fine care that she .was protected.

Mosquitoes are'proving a source of worry' to many Wellington residents. It is quite a.novelty for this irritating little insect to l>o found in tho- city at all, but that it should still bo ac-. tire a3 lato as tlie end of March seems to indicate that an unusually warm summer is 'highly favourable to the production of tho pests. A number of chemists havo had . inquiries for mos-quito-resistants, tlio most effective of which are citronolla and oil of lavender.