LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 947, 14 October 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

"It is a very sad thing to see a boy of fourteen come into Court and swear that which I believe to bo untrue," said the Magistrate (Mr. ~W. E. Haselden) during the hearing of a case in the Court yesterday morniug. The caso was one in which a butcher was charged with employing boy .labour. The boy, who had been ou the cart, was called as a witness, and swore that he had only delivered meat to one house, while two witnesses on the other side testified to seeing him deliver, to more than one house. The Mag-, istrate said that the lad's coming to Court and giving such evidence was worse than any breach of the award.

. A'return is being asked for by Mr. D. M'La.ven, M.P., showing :~(1) The articles of clothing supplied to the State employees iu the several Government Departments; (2) the total quantities of ■sach such articles procured and .supplied; (3) the prices paid for such.ar-ticles'-of clothing; (i) the total cost' to the State of the whole supplies of .clothing herein referred to.

A number of Ministerial decisions under the. Customs Duties Act are gazetted. The following list of. tenders'received by the Public Works Department for the earthen dam contract, Kumara wafer-race extension, is gazetted:—?, and J. OTlaherty, Dillmaiistown, : .£559 14s. 2d. (accepted); T. O'Donnell, Cobden, .£987 35.; J. Mllahon and party, Kumara, JS79B 55.; J. and J. Gilbert, Kumara, 4768 Bs.; J. Steel, Kumara, MSi 165.. -

The rain on Labour Day made a serious difference, to. the tramway returns, which are usually very, large on holidays. Last year, when it !was fine, the returns totalled..£sßl Bs. 2d. On Wednesday last they only "amounted to' ss. Bd., a drop of £2Si'2s. 6d. . : '. .. -'."'.

'.■': Sausages was. the very interesting subject, whichcropped up during'the hearing of a case in. the-Magistrates Court yesterday, when a local firm , was . being charged with.'a breach .of the Butchers' Award,,-in that. they . employed a'non-. unionist when there , ; were competent unionists available for .employment. One of the unionists, that had been -available/ was placed in the witness-box by the inspector. . Mr. Grenfell (Employers' Association) questioned'him as to his knowledge of the small, goods business, and witness said he had made all his own small 'goods in: his own business- for a period of :fourteen- years.;.. "Have-you ever made Cambridge sausages?" inquired Mr. Grenfell. "Oh,. I never, put: any special names on \them,". said, the .witness. This caused the : Magistrate (Mr. Haselden) to remark, "It might he Bpping sausage without your being- aware of it.', (Laughter.) ' The cross-examination then turned to, the question of. specialising, Mr. Grenfell asking' the witness if it' was reasonable to suppose that a man,, who had only been a few months in the small goods' department,' could be as competent as a man who had been.five years at;the business. The;, Magistrate here remarked that. because a man. had'; been .making, sausages and black puddings for years', it did not necessarily follow" that, he would, be more, competent than a, man who had only.been at the business three months. A good deal would depend, on the intelligence of the individual. ■ , .

Three -prisoners will be brought before the Chief Justice (Sir; Eobert Stout) for sentence at 10.30 a.m. to-uiorrow,-.as. follow:—Harry M'Clelland, breaking and entering and theft at' .Wairoaj JohnCicel,. theft, at Wellington;; Albert Bartoldy,. theft,, at Napier.-,;'.-.

. Two Supreme > Court . cases—Gualter, .Dykes, and l Company v. Beggs, and J.. A. Pike, and others v. the Wellington City Corporation—are , Bet down to be taken to-day. by . the '. .'Full','■'•■..Court. > :.The Court of Appeal, which' has only- one more • case on,'. : its list'' (re "John James Patterson, '.solicitor,' a case' under . the Law, . Practitioners Act, 1908), .has..adjourned until' 10.30 a.m. on, Monday..:.

; The:, arrangements in; cpnnectipn .with a recent inquest did ■■ not meet, with!' approval of the.Miramarßorough.Council. The ' body was brought s in' from the borough and placed :at the .morgue at Clydo.Quay/ and the inquest: was'.hejd, there. The Mayor-(Mr, J. Brodie) brought the matter .up.at the.council meeting last night,.'and the general opinion-at the council table was, that the, inquest should have been held;at Miramar. , It'was deJcided to . niak6 representations to the, authorities.' .. '■ '■■' '■'-■_■■;■■".': ■■■ ?'~ : l '; '■'''

The City Electrical Department has closed down its., show-room. ;'in ; .-: Willis. Street,; and the appliances :and .material, it contained have heen removed to the Tramway ; Department's building; in Harris Street.' The Willis-Street shop,".;it.appears, has beon 'leVbythe corporation to a private tenant. -,'. .

- 'The City Corporation'yesterday 'accepted the tender of' Messrs. Mace'and Nicholson to erect a public convenience in Courtenay Place for■: the sum; of ~£BlO. Unsuccessful tenderers', -Were:: Messrs, Mever and: Hlingworth,'■< ,£768;.. J. Wood, .£823 s Howie' and Matthews, . .£891; > and .G.,'Priddy, '.£1356.105. ; : The lowest tender 'was ro]'ected ; as.informal, 'no deposit being lodged;:' '■:",'.'.' : . ':< : -. : The tramway .poles that now- line the centre of the route from ; Clyde Quay to Oriental Bay are to be removed, and replaced by poles standing •on \each side of the:.roadway.. Along' the sea front ornamental iron 'standards-'are to: ,bel erected, and on the inner side of the esplanade'.iron-bark p'oles, The alteration'will remove the risk that.'noyr-asists of passengers : alighting';: coming into collision with ; the central poles.; The work has been/commenced at Clyde: Quay.. ..

'■' The character of, the new V.M.O.A. building at Auckland, which 'is, to be erected, on the site, opposite the Free Library, was decided upon at a meeting of the trustees of the assopjation onTuesday.' The building will be of five stories in brick, and it is'intended to _equip.it in an :up-to4ato manner, including/bedrooms and other conveniences essential tp residential -. purposes. The, .'building--:, wju have a handsome and.imposing, appear arice, and will bB well :.worthy, it is stated, 1 of the fine site that it will occupy. It was decided'to/instruct .the:arohitect (Mr. Wiseman) •■' to prepare the working plans and specifications, and when these are completed tenders will: be called for the building. The-present building has not yet been sold, but this fact will not interfere with the new building scheme

The following '• motions ' Trill bo' mbveu at hextTuesday's meeting of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board:— By Mr. 'F. 'T. the medical superintendent, report, upon the need or otherwise ol effective '■ measures -for';the isolation of all cases' of pulmonary consumption in the community." By Mr. 8,. K. Gardener—"That the medical superintendent report, next meeting as to tho: advisability "of moving the Seddpii Shelters .froiirr Wellington grounds to ' the Otaki Sanatorium :grounds." :...-'•■■ . . The Minister :for. Public . Worts is being asked by Mr. D. M'Laren, M.P., if. he. will give the reason why in the.case of George .Campbell, killed whilst bush-, felling for the Government at Waitatau, the'widow, who is left with three children to provide for, was granted only .£4OB by way./of compensation from the Government instead of. .£500,' which is the amount the-. widow ■ could have claimed from., a private employer under similar circumstances according to the provisions of the Workers'' Compensation/for Accidents Act. 'Campbell lived at Taihdpe, and the accident occurred on. August 13,, 1909. .' :■ -:;.-.,

The committee of the Builders' and Contractors'. Association stated in their annual' report (presented' last evening) that.in the latter part of the previous year it came to the knowledge of the association that members of the Carpenters' Union were taking contracts to erect buildings. As it was believed that one, at least, of these was a leading memi ber'of the union, a protest was made tq that body. : It was ■ manifestly unfair, the association suggested,' that members of the union should be able to assist in securing au award that would bind competitors to pay stipulated wages and observe other conditions, while unionists, by becoming partners, could avoid these restrictions which they had assisted to make binding upon employers of labour. The Carpenters' Union replied to this protest that the members, referred 'to had been removed from its committee.

Cancellation of tho registration of the Marton branch of tho Amalgamated Society of and JoineTs' Industrial Uuion o£ Workers is gazetted. .