LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1242, 26 September 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The following additional subscriptions have been received at The Dominion Office towards the Poareo fund, in aid of the widow and family of the Ia to Mr. I'MTce, jeweller, of Brooklyn, who were left destitute by his death:—Sympathiser, 55.; Sympathiser, 10s.; Sympathiser, 55.; E.B.HT., 55.; A.8.C., .«.

The Government . steamer Hincmoa, which left tho Bluff on Friday last on her periodical cruise to tho" southern lighthouse.? and tho West Coast Sounds, had on board a largo quantity of salmon ova. This is in charge of Mr. Ayson, of Hakafaraniea, and will be liberated in a number of the strongly-flowing rivers which run into the AVest Coast Sounds. It is not tho first consignment that the Hinemoa has taken in that direction, but the results of the previous tests of these rivers are something of a mystery, and it is hoped (says the "Southland Times") that thellinemoa's present trip will produco something definite in tho successful acclimatisation or otherwise of salmon in New Zealand waters.

In his address to -his Synod last week the Anglican Bishop of Waianu (the Right Rev. A. W. Averill) made reference to the Papal decreof'Ne Teincre." He also stated that "wherever an Anglican is marrying a Roma;': Catholic and desires to have the Anglican marriage service as a preliminary to marriage by tho Roman Church, the caso must bo submitted to me before any servico is held,"

The Anglican Bishop of Waiapu reports a larce increase in tho number of English people confirmed. Since (ho last meeting of the Synod 145 males and 257 females amongst the English, mid 38 mules and 51 females amongst tho Maoris, havo received tho rite. A largo porcwitai;e of tho candidates wcro adults, and tho fruit of the recent mission.

A linguistic curiosity, in tho person of ii Rarofongan who cannot speak English, and whom neither Maoris nor Pijians can understand, is at present an inimito of thn Auckland Hospital, states tho "Herald." Hn lias been suffering from bronchitis, and, as ho has now recovered, the hospital authorities applied to have him admitted to tho Coslle-y Home. The Costley Homo. Commit lee did not consider him a suitable person, ns he is nblc-lndied. However,' as thore is an inmnie of (ho homo who is .mere Tit for the hospital, tho committee decided to exchiuign him for the Rnrotoiißim, wlin is destitute, the hospital agreeing to this course- being taken.

To-night ITataitai residents meet to nrrang,-" for relief of sufferers by tho recent fire in that suburb.

cl. A (IfnuUilioii of Olago members waitet t . U]K/:i llic Minister for Public Works yes terday, to urgo lipn him the necossitj •" of going on with (lie irrigation scheme ii .V Central Otapo. Mr. HuderieU M'Keiizn d stated that tlio Government were consul 11 cring Hellenics for four legalities in Con I nil Otago. They wore now practically ready to s>l art o-n the Ida A'nlley scheme The Government intended to examine tin l 0 four schemes referred to, and put then all in hand if they were found practical 1L Ho recognised that without irrigatioi '■ Central Otago was practically worked out d The .deputation expressed themselves a; is ve 'Y satisfied with the Minister's reply. c- What is expected to bo the final sit )f ting of the Native Affairs.Committee ii [ s the Mokau Inquiry, so far ns Hie takini of evidence is concerned, will commcnci •° at 10.30 a.m. to-day. The only remain LS ing witness is Mr. Joshua Jones, who ii )f to make ii statement. 10 An extraordinary general meeting o iy the Wellington Opera. House Compan: 2- was held yesterday afternoon. It was de i e cided to confirm the resolutions passed a a mooting of the company on September 4 to increase the capital from .£20,000 b 12 .£30,000. Hospital Saturday was not observe! d in Wellington last' year owing to tin 3- heavy coll mado on the public purse il ie aid of the Children's Hcspital. This - year the street collection in aid of th< I hospital will be revived. It is to b( lG taken up by a band of lady collectors or J- Saturday and Sunday (October 7 and 8) Lt The Mayoress (Mrs. Wilford) is conven y ing a meeting of the ladies of Wellingtoi '•l in the Mayor's room at tho Town Hal! . on Thursday evening next at 8 o'clock IS Collectors will then bo appointed, ant is other necessary arrangements made. '"■ To-day | will see. the opening of tin lc Wesley Sunday School Convention. Dele it gates from all parts of the Domiuioi J will bq in attendance, and the confer enoo will extend from this evening unti Thursday. This evening the president": *> inaugnral address will bo given, and this I- will bo followed by an address by th< 1- Rev. T. T. Thomas, 8.A., on "Sundaj n Sohool and Church Attendance." To ■ morrow afternoon nddresses will l>? givei ,is by tho Rev. A. B. Chappell and Mr.. A J" 11. lieed. In the evening there will hi 11 a. conversazione. The proceedings on tin n final day. (Thursday) will bo takrii nj ;£ with discussions on various subjects anr a "blackboard demonstration," which i. one of tho newer features in Chnrcl: activities. .e At a recent meeting of tho Dunedir n Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, Mr L j Myers mudo the somewhat startling statement, in referring to tho increasing '"J number of children being admitted to tin K Industrial School, that every d<?sti(ut< '■- infant committed (o the. institution cosl if the board approximately .£3oo' b?foro il y reached tho ugo at which it could be dis- ,. charged. For the last quarter the board ii had to pay to tho Government, the St II Mary's Orphanage, the Presbyterian' Social e Service Association, St. Mnry's (Kelson), " and the St. Vincent de Paul Society o ,t total of £MG for the children committed ,f to these various homes; while the total , amount it had to di?burse last year in •> the sumo direction came to a sum of no D less than JUIOI. o Whilst a small coastal vessel was in .1 dock a day or two ago at Port Chalmers :- (says tho "Otago Daily Times") j. a local engineering firm was entrusted with the task of annealing the .steering--0 gear chains, and a mechanic with over & forty years' experience in that particular 0 line took the gear adrift. Meanwhile C the ship's crew ran. out the anchor-chains ' on tho floor of tho dock for inspection beforo steam was blown from the li'nil- '' ers. Everything was done, so lt is said, G iii accordance with custom; but when ' some carpenters were asked to do some ;- repairs on the vessel they all declined, on ,_ the ground that tho work referred to was, j under their trades union rules, regarded 1 as bi'ing strictly carpouter's work. Those - in charge of the vessel Rot over the diffit culty by handing the job over to a local shipwright's firm. One reason given for .' the strike was that carpenters are oni trusted with , the work of handling' ships' • cables on the Union Company's boats, and t the Carpenters' Union evidently adopted that course to assist in bringing other 'shipowners into line. 3 There has been much heard about tho 5 liability of the farmers' lads to eervo |r in the Territorials under the Compulsory 8 Military Training Act, but little has been 3 heard of tho firemen's liability (says , tiio ! Dunedin "Star"). In liis annual report to t tho Dunedin Fire Board on Wednesday, j Superintendent Mitchell mado mention of . this. He pointed out that under the old Act firemen were exempt from service in I tho militia, their duties being considered necessary to protect tho property from fire in event of war. As most of t'he men composing brigades were of ages which : render them liable to serve, it was appaienfc that the fire prevention force would t in time of war bo absolutely .disorganised , by reason of so many men being taken I frcm. it. Maoris in the back-blocks (says I'he • "11 awko's Bay Herald") appear to use i strango methods when calculating what is i duo to them. Kecently a Maori youth re- ■ ccived notice to attend a doctor for niedi- • cal examination. To reach the place of > examination it was necessary for the Maori . to go some distance on horseback. The ! journey there and back took one day, but , the ambitious youth determined to lose : nothing by it. Accordingly he debited the ICOlb. at Bs.), two days' rabbiting at 75., one extra feed for his horse, nnd'(herc is . where tho unselfishness conies in) ono meal ; for himself. Tho Department, naturally. ■ viewed tho account with somewhat mixed feelings—they don't know which to admire mest, tho man's unselfishness or tho hcrso's gastronomical feat. On August 18 (writes the Argentine correspondent of tho Christchurch "Press"), n much quicker mail service than now frcm South America to Australia, New Zealand, etc., will be inaugurated, leaving Valparaiso, Chile, the letters, etc., from Argentine, Uruguay, and Paraguay, being taken-by rail via tho Transandine tunnel. Tho first steamer on this run is Knight of the Garter. Letters by this routo are expected to reach Australia in 2C days. A curious old family Bible, purchased from a city bookseller by a Melbourne citizen, has a most interesting history, says the "Argus." It was bought by Mr. E. W. Cole at Gemmell and Tuckett's auction rooms shortly after the end of the Boer War. On coining into possesyon of the book, the customer, who does not wish his namo made public, caused the inscription on the By-leaf to be translated,' and discovered that tho Biblo - was tho property of an old Dutch family, who had been anions tho first emigrants' to tho Cape. Tho Cape Minister for Homo Affairs was communicated with, and after some difficulty this original owner of the book was traced. The namo and address were forwarded to Melbourne, and the Bible was immediately returned to its original owner. On her voyage from an American port to Sydney recently, the barquentine Amazon was seriously injured by heavy gales, and had to put in to Fanning Island for temporary repairs. Only scanty appliances wore available, and tho crew and a few helpers had to patch up the vessel as best they could. Tho necessity for examining the hull presented a serious difficulty in the absence of any apparatus for tho use of a diver, but this problem was solved by the construction of a unique diving dress by Mr. Nutt, a member of the cable staff, and Mr. Brenicr. the mate of tho Amazon. Tho helmet portion of tho dress, was constructed out ot a galvanised iron bucket, and a piece of glass, attached to which was a roughly mado canvas, jacket. The armholes were big, ond left open to allow the inrushing air at the top of tho helmet lo escape, while the jacket was lashed securely to the' waist. The water roso inside the jacket, to the diver's neck, whero it was arrested by the air pressure from above. Mnjor-General Godley, in a letter to Mr. A. Boyle, which Mr. Boyle quoted at tho meeting on Thursday night when lie Canterbury branch of the Sports Protection League was formed, referred to the requirements of the Defcnco Act with respect to tho'attendance of Territorials at parades. General Godley wrote that tho requirements wore that each man shall do, yearly, six whole day parades, each of which lasts six hours; or twelve hnlf-day parades, each of which lasts throe hours. lor tho ensuing summer," ho continued 'as our scheme is' starting when half the military year (which ends on May 31) has already gone, the requirement's will Iμ only half the above nniount— namely, three whole day parados or six half-day parades. These, may not necessarily all bo on a Saturday, but oven supposing they were you will sco from what I havo said that your young cricketers would only be asked to ijive us throe or four Saturday afternoons during tho ensuing season, and I think you will agree with me that this is not au unreasonable demand."