LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho MakW, with ail English and Australian mail, arrived at Auckland at 11 a.m. yesterday. The majl is duo in Wellington, by the Main Trunk express this evening.

Ono of the cases to bo heard in tho Magistrate's Court this morning is that in which tho Marine Department is proceeding against the master of a steam trawler on a charge of trawling in a prohibited area of Port Nicholson.

A man was arrested on Saturday by Detective Hammond on a charge ol theft of a silver cigarette case, tho property of Mr. C. J. Orawford.

Among the questions brought up by the deputation from the Standing Committee of tho Secondary Schools' Association, which waited upon the Hon. G. Fowlds (Minister for Education) on Saturday, was that of length of service in connection with the superannuation scheme. Mr. J. P. Firth remarked that tho secondary teachers would like the time of sorvice for males reduced from 40 years to 35 years, and in the case of females from 30 years to 25 years. Ho considered that the existing term entailed disadvantages, especially with the age limit at 65 years. Mr. Fowlds said that if the request were to bo acceded to an amocdment of the law would be necessary. Ab the matter involved "backward benefits," he was not very hopeful as to anything being done to apply to such cases.

Tho polico, acting on behalf of tbe Post and Telegraph Department, • are instituting proceedings against Edward John Falkiner, telegraph operator, for alleged breaches of the Post Office Act. Falkiner stood his trial last week upon a series of charges of theft and forgery in conncetion with transactions carried' out by him as Wellington agent for the London and Berlin Piano Company, of Auckland; During the trial postal clerks gave evidence to the effect that Falkiner had recovered letters, received in tho Dead Letter Office, which

had been sent out by the 'Piano Company to bogus addresses, supplied by Falkiner. The latter admitted that the evidence of the postal officers was true, and his Honour the Chief Justice, in commenting on these proceedings, said that Falkiner had deceived his felloe officers in getting them to deliver to him letters which did not belong to him, but which were the property of, tho Auckland company

The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court have now occupied a fortnight, and it is unlikely that all of the remaining cases on tbe list will be disposed of this week. The bailiff, Robert Corkill, will stand his trial to-day upon a murder charge, and the other cases are: John Henry Ireson, charged with breaking and entering and theft; Eberhardt Ferdinand Renncr, charged with arson; Percival M'Koman Braithwaite, charged with theft; Alice Mary All- - charged with a serious offence; and John Morris Schapiro, charged with failing to keep proper, hooks of account. The civil sittings of the Supremo Court, which were to have opened last Monday, have had to be adjourned because no judge was available.

The trial of Robert CorkiU upon a charge.of murder will be proceeded with in the Supreme Court j at 11 a.m. today. At 10.30 o'clock his Honour the Chief Justice will pass sentence upon Joseph Paul Dayis and Martin Haines (found guilty of. arson ih connection with the Rutland Hotel fire), Edward John Falkiner (found guilty of theft in

connection with transactions in pianos), James Cummings and John Fonnessy (found guilty of assault and robbery), and Edward William Kelly and Alexander Driscoll (found guilty of assault with intent to rob).

The usual weekly meeting of St. John's Literary and Debating- Society was held in the classroom, Willis Street, on Friday evening, the subject being; "That tho airship will not prove a dccisivo factor in the warfare of the future." Tho motion was moved by Mr. H. B. Heid, seconded by Mr. 1. Crawford, and opposed by Mr. L. Andrew, seconded by Mr. D. Douglas, but

on being pu£ to tho meeting was negatived. Dr. Gribb placed the five most effective speakers in the following order:—Messrs. D. Douglas, A. Howitt, H. 13. lteid and L. Andrew equal, and, G. H. Robertson.. Tho subject for debato next Friday will bo "That the execution of Charles I was unjustifiable." Speaking at the final meeting of the Tramways Commission in Dunedin, Mr. J. O'Shea, solicitor to the' Wellington City Council, said that the commission had travelled through the whole of New Zealand, and seen' the tramway operations in the four centres, and lie doubted if any commission had ever gone through New Zealand to investigate any subject which had in its proI gross found such a high stato of excellence throughout each department

of every servico. Most commissions that had gono through New Zealand had been met with abuses, weaknesses, defects of every description, but, so far as he could judge from the evidence and from his own personal observations, the commission must have found that tramway conditions in New Zealand ware in a far better conditio/!) than thoyl had ever dreamed.

The cadot movement is very popular with schoolboys, and at least one schoolmaster in Tnranaki finds that even the little fellows liko to shoulder the toy rifle and look martial (says the Taranaki "Daily News"). Hence, although he has only about twenty of the required ago and stature, lie has au active cadet company of about 'double that number. . The small boys are a sort of recruiting ground, and the rocruits are allowed to ■ join in the "manoeuvres." The other day the cadots at this school had a field-day. Lieutenant Throe-feet-six was left in chargo of a point of vantage, and the schoolmaster, who is also captain of tho company, led the attacking party. Leaving a reserve, he and his merrio men advanced in skirmishing order. The captain' himself was cautiously, proceeding alono down a crook beu, with a, view op spying out tho land. Ho was getting along very nicely, and congratulating himself upon the success of Jus, detour, when a small voice piped out., "You're my prisoner, sir!" Looking up quickly j he found himself gazing; at the end of a toy rifle,, where the. ban-el ought to be. The youngster was the smallest of the recruits, and. he was posted in a tree to watch foe scouts. The captain called his wardogs off, and the defenders won tin) day-

Shampooing. Clipping, Hairdressing. Manicuring, Face Mawap. Tiyatment of Falling Hair, and Dandruff. Combings made up. Natural Hair-pads. Mrs. Kolleston (over Carroll's), 11 Willis Stroot. 'Phtmo 15M.—Advt.

The Palmerston North sub-committee of tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society .makes reference in its annual report to tho stocking with trout of tho ornamental ponds made in tho Squaro Last year. The report says:--"The trout fry put into tho fountain pond in tho Squaro prospered beyond all expectation. It was then estimated that about 230 were put 'in; bnt when tho time came for transferring them it was found that there went over 900 yearlings, some of which were over in weight. These yearlings were, with the'exception of a number put into the now lakelet .in the Squaro at tho request of the borough council, liberated iri tho streams in tho district. Tho trout put into tho lakciot and also 4000 fry put into the fountain pond are doing well, the latter proving a great attraction, to people when tho fish are being fed. It was proposed to liberate tho fry put into tho fountain pond, but as they were doing so well it was decided to allow them to remain and grow larger and stronger before doing fo."

Tho Ekotahuna sub-comnutteo of tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society, in its annual report, aays:—"During tho pa-st year, deer, pheasants, mallard ducks, ana trout have been liberated. Trout aro plentiful in tho rivers of tho district, but they do not appear to grow as fast as they did in years gone by. Anglers complain of the absence of 'big fishj' but some good baskets have been secured, aad it has been no uncommon thing for an angler to return from his day's sport' with tho 'limit' in his creel. It is yet too soon to judge of the success (or otherwise) of restricting tho Makakahi River to the users_ of artificial lures. Deer are increasing fast in the ranges. There is now a large herd at the head of tho Mangatainoka River. Some of £Eb stags are carrying magnificent antlers."

The Supreme Court offices were closed all day on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the proclamation of British sovereignty over New Zealand. Commenting on a bad language caso at the Kaikoura Court, the presiding magistrate spoke strongly on the prevalence of tins habit (says'the "Star"), and stated thai, in the future he intended to put it down with. a firm hand. Under groat provocation an oath might be excusable, but foul language was not to be condoned. It would be a good thing if all employers of labour, when thoy heard any of their employees swearing, would fine tho offender, say, Is., and devote the sums thus accrued to tho poor box, or some other charitable purpose.

At the Mount Cook Police Conrt, on Saturday, before Mr. T. S. Lambert, J.P., John l'ryse pleaded guilty to being drnnk in Vivian Street. Accused had been five days in gaol undergoing.medical treatment, costing 12s. 6d., and this ho was ordered to pay within three hours, in default 48 hours' imprisonment ; if paid he would bo convicted and discharged. James Neville pleaded guilty to drunkenness in Sussex Square, for which he was fined 10s., or 48 hours' incarceration. Edward Ma-sden pleaded guilty to being helplessly drunk in Martin Square. He was convicted and discharged after being ordered to pay 2s. cab hire. Walter Smith, charged with insobriety in Willis Street, pleaded guilty, and was convicted and discharged with a caution. Kahuwai are very plentiful just now in the harbour,and local.yachtsmen have been making large hauls. Yesterday ono launch returned to the Boat Harbour with as many as 40 of these fish, and tlie yachts also returned with good supplies.

In the course of a speech at Balclutba on Thursday evening, Mr. A. S. Malcolm, M.P;, recommended that the Standing Orders of Parliament be amended so as to provide that no Bills could bo introduced after the first

week of the session. This would give the members, as well as tho country, time to become acquainted with the proposed measures, and would help to prevent that congestion of work which :at present followed on the introduction of Bills in tlno last stages of the session. He also urged that Parliament should be allowed at least a fortnight in which' to discuss tlio work of thq great public Departments. At the present time the only opportunity given to members in this respect was while tho Estimates were under consideration, and as each speaker discussed some particular point the debate was ragged and unsatisfactory- If a day or more were sot aside, each session for a review of the working of each of the Departments the discussion might be focussed and much more good result.

The dismantling operations at the old gaol at Invercargill (says the Southland "News") resulted in some rather startling discoveries regarding the ravages of the omnipotent white pine borer. -The building was erected in 1863, and through the agency of tho all-devouring grub beams actually crumbled into powder on being hurled on to the ground.. A "News", reporter inspected various kinds* of timber at the gaol, and found that the borer had eaten into every variety of timber used on. the premises—white pine, red pine, black pine, totara, and oven 6in. x 2in. bluegum studs. The defection of the bluegum will cause considerable regret in the minds of those who have regarded bluegum as exempt from the ravages of the borer, but what will they say of the latest discovery—that the borer has actually eaten, into solid concrete. A ■ piece of extra hard blue concrete, which had adjoined woodwork, was pierced by dozens of borers, despite the fact that the concrete had the durability and colour of blue, metal. The tender of Messrs. Shields and Andrews, of Invercargill, at £12,380 has been accented by the Public Works Department ior tlic erection of auditions to the Departmental buildings at Invercargill.

"If we were asked to provide care in Wellington to givo every man a seat in the cars at u o'clock, wo should bo met with an expenditure of £80,000 to £100,000. Now, in Christchurch, whero they havo trailers, that is not nearly so important an item, but in Wellington it would be ruinous."—Mr. John O'Sliea during his address at the Tramways' Brakes Commission, in Duneclin.

"We, in Wellington, know of no brake tbat in tho past lias been so efficient as tho magnetic brake, and we know of no brake now that at tho present time presents so many possibilities of improvement," said Mr. J. O'Shea ill ,his address before the Tramways' Brakes Commission, at Dunedin. Later, Mr. O'Shea said:—"l have mentioned before the new development in the magnetic brake, and I nave no doubt that if our conditions -'of traffic in Wellington become any more difficult, that wo will gradually introduce the mora powerful brake; but it must be remembered in discussing Wellington's position, that Wellington is really tho most difficult tramway system in tho Dominion to work, and in Wellington the management is satisfied with its brakes, tho motormen arc satisfied, and the public arc satisfied also.'

After the football match, St. James v. Melrose, at the Hutt Ground, on Saturday, a disgraceful scene occurred. It appears that Charles Ryder (St, James), while waiting for tlie dressingroom door to bo opened, was assaulted by another player, it is alleged, and received a blow on the chin. He was knocked against the dressing-room wall, and rendered unconscious. Mr. Peters ministered first aid, and medical assistance was summoned. It was discovered tliat Ryder was suffering from concussion. Tho police were comlmmicatcd with, and they Will uives-l tigate the matter. Ryder was subsequently removed, to the residence of Air. Daly. Last night he was improving.

A now system of check seems to havq been installed in connection with tha running of the New Zealand railways, and it is no unusual thing now for a train to be held np outsido a station) while an official goes through the carriages and checks the tickets (says tha "Eketahuna Express"). The train from Masterton was the other evening stopped before reaching Eketahuna, and "all tickets please" was demanded by. an official of passengers who had already handed their passes to the guard, and those who iad not, and a delay ol ten to fifteen minutes was occasioned. An irate passenger, who stated his ticket had been scrutinised about thirty times between Wellington and Eketahuna, was heard to remark that if the Department was as keen in running tho trains to time-table as it was in checking tickets, the people who own tho railways would be better served and much more satisfied.

Commenting upon the article in The Dominion on ilay 17, in which the

"saving" effected by the Government was shown to be due to causes outsido the Government's control, the Christchurch "Evening News" observes: "No one has ever accused Sir Joseph Ward of practising economies but himself, and he is too old a political proflligate to commence now. It is only right, however, that the public should know what a bogus business the alleged retrenchment really was, and in view of Sir Joseph "Ward's declaration that there is no further need to retrench, it can rest assured that there will never be anything in the shape of prudence and economy in regard to the public) expenditure while he remains in office."