LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 778, 30 March 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

• The mails which' left Wellington'; oil February 18, jer . Manuka, .and' connected at-Sydney.- with the .Orient Steamer .Ostcrlejv arrived in .'London on the. night of March,;l6.■ Tho mads which left Brisbane per Maitai (via .Vancouver) arrived' in ,London' Oil the night of March ,26. \ . ' , ; The post office advise that' owing to the ■ alteration . in - ■ the railway . timetables, snails for the New i Plymouth express' as from April 1, will' close at Wellington at 6.30 a.m., and those by the Napier express at 1 8 a.m. mails hitherto dispatched :by ~ the. Wairarapa train, for - places beyond . Wood., villc, on the Napier line,' will now be (dispatched by the Napier express, v,.;'. V The gate receipts in connection, with the Test' cricket 'matchyesterday amounted io' only £33. • :Thi& ■'gives. .a • total for: the match of £324 165.,. £145 16s. having been, taken on Monday , and £146 'on Saturday. .'When tKf expenses which are expected to aggregate £160 are deducted there will be a surplus of about £165, v which, is hardly as much as had been anticipated. " ; ... . The: Wellington Stock Exchange- will resume business, to-day after the Easter vacation. Owing to the fact: that rifle bullets were known to fall. close ,to the corporation quarry at Brooklyn on/March 12 and 19 the Polhill Gully rifle range has been closed till further, notice pending inquiries into, the circumstances., : ' Rumour was current, here on Monday (says our Otaki correspondent) that the escaped prisoner l'owelka; had been seen in' Manakau, camped in ! a cluuip yof. bush. On investigation a rug and meat-tin were found, but no man. Two burglaries have also been committed—one at Mr. W. Beyan's, and the other at a ; Native's I ,'place, by, some persons unknown. ,_The : pojice have searched without avail,' and it is thought that 1 , if the man was Powelka, ho has now quitted the district. Some delay, has boon experienced in the compilation of tho results of the New Zealand field artillery, shooting, competition for tho Rhodes Cup , owing to the fact that the Auckland Battery was unable to complete its firing during the training' season, it being impossible to do so in the face of the prohibition of the Defence Minister (Sir Joseph WarQ), on the subject of Sunday shooting. As soon as it can be conveniently arranged, the battery will fire its final series, and the re r suits of .the competition will bo' 'announced immediately after. A touching case came before the Benevolent Trustees yesterday - afternoon, when relief was asked by. a young mother, in poor health. Tho story was one of desertion by the husband and extreme privations experienced by tho children: The trustees expressed ah emphatic opinion that - the "long arm -of the law'' should be .invoked "to bring the husband to his bearings," as tho chairman put it, • Eventually, it was decided that the best courso would be for the children to bo committed to a State receiving home, in order that the mother, who would receive aid from tho trusteed, might more quickly recover health. Tho unfortunate applicant did not approve of the proposal at first, but at length consented to_ be .parted . from her children, on its- being explained to her that she might rejoin them as soon as s'lio found herself in a position to maintain them. • . It is estimated that sinco' the beginning of the Easter holidays about £2000 a day has been spent in Itotorua by visitors.

A gentleman, who recently returned from a visit to the Hot Lakes District, says that the trout in Lakes Okataina and Roto-lihu aro in extremely good condition. The fishing is comparablo to that of Lake Taupo a few years ago. Eight-pound fish, "nearly as broad as they are long," nave been caught,, and appoar to be plentiful. There is abundance of food for them, and our informant has no doubt that in a few years 20-lb, trout will bo obtainable there.

In connection with the arrangements for the Wellington Industrial Exhibition, which is to be held in "U" shed in July next, the secretary of "the Industrial Association (Mr. H. P. Allen) Jias issued circulars inviting persons to become guarantors to the extent of from £10 to £20. It is stated in the circular that the previous exhibition returned a profit of £1600. Of that amount, £1500, plus the Government subsidy, was expended in the building of the Victoria Street wing of the Wellington Technical School. New Zealand appears to. have anticipated the Mother Country in the mattor .of service practice for the field artillery companies.- In the recentlyissued "Instructions for the Training' of Artillery, 1910," the Imperial authorities direct that special. attention is to be; paid to night firing. When undergoing their annual service practice at, Featherston, in January last, D Battery'..successfully carried out a practice at night, with live shell, this being the first. occasion upon which field firing at night has been attempted in New Zealand. In many of the towns in the Dominion the railway employees have started small Library Societies, and by. paying a nominal subscription;' have, a few years,. formed worthy institutions, which provide both instructive and leisure literature for the members. Several years ago the Manawatii Railway .employees started .one of these libraries at the Thorndon Station,: which flourished under the control of, its promoter (Mr; A. .Cassie), who held the ofSce of secretary for a number .of years, <until.it. was handed .over to the New Zealand Railway Department in 1908, .at which time there was a very valuable collection of close on ; 4000 volumes, including a large number of up-to-date engineering and technical books for all- brances of; the service. Since the'.Government took over the Manawatu, line the library has been standing idle, but employees interested along the line will be pleased to learn that Mr. Cassie has been appointed by the trustees, to put the library in order, ,and arrange for the opening at an earlydate. • 1 ■ ■ . The desire to be placed on tlie'"casnal list" impelled, an inmate of the Obiro Home to call on the Benevolent Trustees yesterday afternoon. ; -The applicant was quite voluble concerning his troubles, but the chairman of the trustees explained that tho board had business to do, and could not listen to, private grievances.- Ho learned that the applicant wished to be allowed out from the home to look for work; At present (as p tho master of : the' institution explained) he was at liberty one day a week, besides'. Sundays.- The 'old mm volunteered the information that he had a few days', .light work offering, and he desired still to call the home 1 his! headquarters! ' Trustees" pointed out that the applicant must not look upon ■the home : merely as an hotel. They decided that it was quite contrary to the objects . of 1 the -institution to ..allow. men to go,put jind earn living wages.while still residing at . the home, and they told the old .mall that he could not continue as an inmate while working, but agreed to :put him . on' the "casual list", for forty-eight hours, so that he might .be' free; to inquire, for, employment.';An eclipse.'of the sun will be yisiblo ,at! Hobart:'(Tasmania): on May 9.... ' ' The Wellington branch pf tie Y.M.C.A. broke camp': at. Otaki yesterday after a successful and enjoyable' holiday. On' Monday various competitions were held in conjunction with the Levin boys, and in these tho town. : lads, asserted a' marked superiority. On Sunday evening service was hqld in the Otaki Town Hall. . ~ ...

•' Consideration will shortly be given by a committee of the employers concerned tg the statement of claims filed at the office of tho. Conciliation Commissioner in connection with the .Engineers'. Award.- ' The old award expired in January, last.. , , :i The final meeting of the Benevolent Trustees, held yesterday - afternoon, .was attended by Mr. D. Robertson (in the chair), Sir. J. Wakeham, Miss Richmond, and the Rev. W. A. Evans. IThe.superintendent reported that, last, week, there-were 100 inmates at the' Ohiro Homo —71 males and .29 females. .During the week one elderly female inmate had-died, after having been at the home for many years—longer than:any other inmate.' Another female- inmate had left the institution. ;The difficulty of securing teachers for country, schools will, in the opinion of the Minister,for Education tfhe Hon. Geo. Fowlds),' decrease'when the pro-visions-of the last Act ar.e in proper working operation. The number,- of scholars requiring a second'teacher, for a school had been altered'from 41 to 36, and the salaries now paid to teachers in New Zealand, he said, were far more liberal than those of . any country in the world,' and particularly was this !so in regard to smaller schools.. - An increase had also beon made in . the number. of students admitted to the, training colleges, and that should also have the effect of making more teachors available. . > . The Hon. R, M'Kenzie, Minister for Public Works,. 'made an important statement at Auckland, on Saturday regarding the JBast,,Coast railway.. He intimated that he would turn the first' sod of the new section, between Tauranga and Te Puke, in a week or two. Engineers had already started work on the new line: He decidedly objected to .building isolated sections of ■'railway : as a rule, but this one should be pushgd : on : without delay. There was a large tract of very fine country between Opotiki and Tauranga- waiting .to be opened up by rail, besides which tho section afforded the very easiest facilities'for construction. Mr. M'Kcnzie said he had no doubt the Department would commence working north from Tauranga, as well as south, •thus connecting with.Waihi at an early date. The Tauranga-Te 'Puke extension would bring'the railway to within about 30 miles of llotorua, after which that important centre could oasiiy be linked up with the East Coast. Tho. line from Gisborne to Motu was being pushed ahead with all speed. The Minister also said that tho Government had under consideration the question of extending •the railway, from Gisborne to Napier, so linking up tho whole of the East Ooasit from Auckland to 'Wellington, but at present -lie could say nothingdefinite on this point. Court Sir George Grey, A.0.D., held its. quarterly summoned meeting last -evening. I3ro. C. Roberts, C.R., presided over a large attendance of members. Routine business was transacted. It was . resolved to entertain tho members and friends at the next meeting. The Tournament Committee announced that the half-yearly tourney, Oddfellows v. Foresters, would tako' placo at the Forester's Hall, on Anr'! 7. One new member was proposed.