LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1022, 11 January 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, which left Sydney on January 7, has on'board an Australian mail. Sho should arrivo here this (AVednesday) morning, January '11. A sharp shock ,of earthquake, followed quickly..by a-minor, one, was felt in AVel--liugton and district at 5.11 a.m. yesterday.,,' Mr;; 6. Hogben. States that the'seismograph r showed that tho movement carno from the regiop of Cook, Strait. . ' Enrolment, upon the new Greater AVel- ■ lington roll is now fairly.under way. Officials in charge of the work. state that on .Monday callers wore few, but yesterday the number considerably increased. The body of a still-born child was removed to the morgue yesterday from-a house in " Newtown, and an inquest will be held at .2.'15' p:m. ; tb-day. ; - -Tho'.mother of the 'child ii'at?niesofit ail'inmate of the ATollington- Hospital. ;

Mr. K. M'Nnb'.'dehies the statement in the newspapers -that he has declined to contest- the Napier- seat; and that Mr. T. Mackenzie .will be a candidate for that seat (the Palmerston North correspondent of The Dominion telegraphs). As a matter of fact, Mr. M'Nab has not given a reply at all, not having made up his mind, yet whether lie will be a candidate for any seat. He does not know wlmt Jlr. T. Mackenzie proposes to do at the coming election.

The Hon. Dr. Findlay.- has telegraphed the secretary of the Dunedin Burns Club (savs a southern exchange) that lie will address . Dunedin Scotsmen at tho Garrison Hall on January 25, the occasion being the annual celebration of the birth of Robert Burns. '

. Tho Chinese Consnl-General, "Sir. Yungliang Hwang, states that ins'response to his recent appeal -on behalf of faminestricken inhabitants injlie Chinese provinces of Anliui and Northern Kiangsu, contributions have come to hand from Auckland, Canterbury, and Foxtori, as well as from residents' of Wellington. Mr. Hwang thanks contributors for tho response made to his appeal, and states that he will be extremely grateful for any further subscriptions forwarded not later than Friday, January 20, on which date, the' lists will, be closed. Conditions in the distressed provinces, Jlr. Hwang reiterates, are extremely bad..

. Interrogated in the south regarding tho Lake Coleridge hydro-electric scheme, tho Prime Minister remarked that nothing 'would be done till the engineer was appointed. The position of engineer under the water-power scheme will carry, a salary of- .£BOO per year, and ths applications" are not being confined to New Zealand. Applications close on February 7.

The Clinton branch of the Now Zealand Farmers' Fnion suggests that' the 'Railway Department shoiild bo approached with a view to its permitting notico boards to be placed on the walls .of rail-' way stations," so that members of unions could placa notices on them indicating what labour they required at harvesting or other times. The suggestion will bo considered at the next meeting of tho Otago Provincial -Executive, and (says a southern exchange) it would certainly be pleasant to'see it treated in a serious spirit, and given effect to by the Railway Department. More- might be done 'tb bring employers and workers conveniently into contact, and as a proposal wjth this end in view this suggestion of tho Clinton farmers appears to be excellent in its way.

Asked 'when passing through Christoli'urch on Monday what he intended to do if bis constituency (the Taieri) was abolished in the readjustment of electoral lHmndaries this year, the Hon. T. Mackenzie, Minister for Agriculture, remarked that, to begin with, the Taieri was not wiped out yet,'and it was a. puzzle to him why people bad specially selected it for Annihilation unless they were guided by the principle that every seat he was elected to must be wiped out. Taieri was the-fourth constituency he had contested anil won, and he believed that lie had now represented in Parliament almost all of Otago, except the city of Dunodin. Seriously, be thought that it was'a great pity that the constituencies were not left as they were. Tho public were tired of the changing about which had taken place. No sooner did a member know his district and the people in it, nnd no sooner did the people know him, than the whole thing was shuffled again like a pack of cards. As 'to the Taieri, he could only say once more that ho was not at all certain that it would go. ■

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The holiday season, according to tlio Hon. T; Mackenzie, Minister in Charge of the Tourist Department, has been very satisfactory, so far as the State-controlled resorts are concerned. The Hermitage at Mount' Cook had been very'well patronised, more people wishing to go there than could be accommodated. Favourable reports had also been received from the North Island, particularly from Itotorua and Waitomo. The Hon. T. Mackenzie is of opinion that a good traffic could be developed between Tc Anau and Wakatipu and the Bluff and Dunedin over the Lmdis Pass.

The Hutt County Council has fixed Wednesday as the clay for the statutory halfholiday ill the county.

The sum of ,£S Gs. was collected at the performance of the Garrison Band in Newtt.wn Park last Sunday afternoon. The money goes to the fmul fqr sending tlio band to the Palmerston contest.

A few carpenters arrived in Wellington yesterday by the Tnrakina, but so far as is known by the secretary of the local union none of them intend staying in Wellington, except one ship's carpenter, Tho number of carpenters now arriving in New Zealand from the Old Country is very small. The immigration of these tradesmen reached its maximum volume about twelve months ago. Since then there has been a steady decline in the number of ai rivals. South Africa is ■ stated ,to be at present the favourite objective of carpenters who emigrate from Great Britain, and a good many have gone to Australia, where trade conditions are reported to be good. A number of carpenters have lately left Wellington for. South Africa.

The slime which has for some tirrte been hampering tho work of trawling at Napier has now almost disappeared, but the catch of fish lias not shown any marked improvement.

Mr. S. G. lloss, a member of the Bastbourne Borough Council, states that tho report that appeared in yesterday's issue of The Dominion regarding tho action of the Petone Borough Council to cooperate with tho Eastbourne Borough Council in protesting against the practice of trawling in the harbour, did not give the position as far as his council was concerned. Mr. Ross said that neither he nor the Mayor, Mr. Shortt. and Town Clerk, had any knowledge of any communication being sent to the Petone Borough Council asking forthoir co-oporation.

The expenditure of £38,000 on permanent way material was authorised by Cabinet yesterday.

The Government has decided to invite applications for the position of Director of Geological Surveys ■ and Mining Geologist. The head .of the Geological Survey Department, Dr. Bell, intimated his intention of resigning recently, his purpose being to proceed to America.

When the Prime Minister (Sir' J. G. AVard) was passing through Oamaru at the end of last.week he was approached and asked if stock from the districts there which are at present suffering from a drought could he railed free .to parts where feed is plentiful, and the matter was considered b.y ; Cabinet yesterday, and it was decided to rail stock from the drought-stricken districts free one" way, and so enable it to reach land where there is plenty of feed.

During the hearing, of a case in tho Magistrate's Cdurt yesterday morning, a solicitor,in the course of cross-examina-tion asked a police constable to state .the name of the person who had madj ■ the complaint that led to the information being laid. Sub-Inspector Norwood' at once objected to the Question, and the magistrate (Dr. M'Artlmr) ruled that the witness need not answer, remarking that it was absolutely necessary that the Policc Department should be allowed to keep such matters secret.