LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1318, 22 December 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Postal authorities advise Hint this s.s. Victoria, which left Sydney at iidiiii . mi December L'l), fur Auc'klanil. lias on , l>:nml an Australian mail, The Wellington portion is due to arrive hum hy Main Trunk on Monday next, !)<•- ■ cemher 2. r i. An amended syllabus for the examination for iirolmlioiuiry entrants to tlie engineering branch of the I'<»i anil Telei graph DejiM'tmcnl is gawHlcd. New tonus of declaration for ad valorem goods under tho Customs liinv Act, ■ It'OS, arc gazetted. liegulations concerning admission lo ■ tho Civil Service of India arc republish- . cd in the current New Zealand (iawlte. i This welt's Gazette uonlains tho ■ Mngisl rule's Court criminnl cuitistics lor . the whole of Nlcw Zealand, lor the quur- . tcr ended last September. : Tho notice to the wharf labourers of Wellington, culling upon litem to abstain ■ from seeking employment yesterday aflernoon, when the funeral of : their comrade, W. Wrixon, who died from injuries received in an l accident on tho wharf, took place, did not , result in any serious interruption of work. Only about twelve Harbour Board men were absent fruni duty, and work went on as usual, but at the 'Caranaki ■ Street Wharf, where the Morayshire «as i lying, there was a shortage of men, four i instead of six gangs being employed. The highest rainfall registered in the North Island tor thu month of Novemi her was I'J.5!) inches, at Wnitomo Cave-, and the lowest was .91 inches, at Wnirou (Uawko's tiny). Tho extreme records for tho South Island were 23.83 at Olira anil '■ 1.10 at Clyde. 1 During last month 5218 persons arrived i in New Zealand port* irom overseas, and 2051 departed. The arrivals and departures in November, mil), were 1521 and 1i77 respectively. Sistv-lhrco C'hiV cse arrive dlast month and'CO depurted. The vital statistics Tor the, month of Novoiuber, Kill, shew the followingdeothratos per KIOl) of the. imputation in the lour chief cities, of New JCeulnud-.-Auck-hied, (Mill: Wellington, 0.52; Christchurch, 0.70; Uunedin, l.no. If the suburban boroughs are included, the rales work out somewhat dill'crcntlv, being as fallow (with tho rates for 'November, 1010, shown in parentheses for comparison :--Aucklnnd (0.72), O.KS; Wellington , ((MSI), 0.52; Chrislcluircli (O.Kl), 0.71: Duncdtn (o.7i>). 0.88. Tho total births in bo four chief eitie,-; and I heir suburban boroughs amounts! to CIO, n."aint' H7:i ■ " : n Octoher-a decrease of f;l. Tho deaths in November were 22!1--a dor.rca«e of •'« as compared with October. Of the tula'l '„.,,„ !"" Ics wutrihuted 121, females 10,1. Ihirly-cight of (he deaths were of e.luldrcn under live years of age, being 10. J. per cent, of tlw whole lutmher; 28 . ot those were under one year of arc thero vci-o 73 deaths of irersons of «5 years and upwards in the four chief cities and their suburban boroughs us against m in October. " " ' About 5 p.m. yesterday the fire brigade received a call to Cuba Street Intension. A barrel, ol oil had taken-fire, but the lames were extinguished without anv damage resulting. . In our report of the meeting of creditors in tho bankrupt estate of Mrs. Kli/.abeth lock, pastrycook, of Kitbirnie. held helore tho Otlicial Assignee on Wednesday ii was stated, as per the bankrupt's sworn statement of her affairs (a) that l.ho business wys ■ purchased through the agency of .1). W. Virtue and Co; and <b) it had been, recommended to them. Tho mn. through ils representative, cninliatieally denied at: Ihe mcetiug that tho business was purchased through their iisency, or that it wiw reeommonilc-.l bv bom to the bankrupt. Tho bankrupt's uislKuid was merely informed of tho faet tbat the business was for sale. He inspected it, bought it, and for some time at tcr the purchase expressed himself well Satisfied with it. Unfortunately the firm's statement did not appear in tho report of tlio meeting. Archdeacon Harper, of Tininru, who shortly leaves lit:* Dominion to reyMo in I'.ngland, was entertained at a. farewell Inaction at Bishopseourt, Christchureh, yesterday. Bishon Julius, in presenting Archdeacon Hnrner" with a. small pnKi ol money froni his friends outside limnru, referred in feeling mid appropHate terms to his long .services to tho Church of New Zealand, and to the uuiyersabaflcclinn and esteem in which ho is he Id Archdeacon Harper suilablv acknowledged.— I'ress Association. Dclectivo Andrews yesterday arrested a man, named tins Bcrgstrouii, who was wanted on a. charge of deserting from tho steamer Kaikoura. The Commissioner for Crown Lands Olr. Mackenzie) held a ballot vesterdav alierneon for 351 acres of iirst-c'hiss laud near Akitio, capital value .£3125. There were US applicants, who wore reduced to . :„ -","1 action was drawn by Harriet jl Donald. Christmas Day (next 'Monday) and the two following days, and January 1 and 2, will be holidays in all Government oliiees. Tho Government Printing Office will be closed from Monday next unlil Saturday, January (i, both inclusive, and except ii) ease of emergency there wilt he no publication of the Gazette during lh-.it period. "Ju Sympathy" writes:—""With regard to your local about the assault of a cabman on it lxjy, which your correspondent witnessed yesterday, 'l might suggest that if the cabby's number was ascertained mi example might profitably he made, for tho benefit of the 'small' 'public." Publicity was given in Tin: Dominion yesterday to charges, made by Mr. J. Glover, sen-ctnry of the New" Zealand Federation of Labour, and reflecting scrioudy upon (ho methods followed in workin.',' tho Stale coal mines at Point Elizabeth. A reporter yesterday sought nn interview with the Hou. 1!. M'Ko'nzie, in order (hat. he might be invited to make a statement hi reference to the charges. The Minister declined to be interviewed, slating that he had not then perused the article containing the charges, and that, in any ease, he would have to obtain a Departmental report before making any reply. The Salvation Army purpose providing, as usual, the free, dinner to the men in their Shelter Dining Room. Buckle Street, at 1 p.m. on Christina.-! Day. A meeting of the committee of (lie Wellington Broach of tho Now Zealand Institute of Journalists was held yesterday siftern >on. There were present: Messrs. K. Sehwabe (chairman), Bracher. Harding. Jfceves. Marshall, Walsh, end \\ hit:-. Several new members were elected. Two were admitted to full membership, one as a senior associate, one as a junior associate, and one associate was admitted to full membership, lit reply lo a communication received, it was decided to ;idvis« the council of the institute that the committee were willing to co-opera!,■ with (lie council in an endeavour to resuscitate tho Auckland Branch. A committee consisting of Hie chairman and Messrs. fteoves and White was appointed (o confer with the conned on the_ subject. It was resolved that th." council he stromrlv recommended lo revise the rules, anil (■. do <o in time to submit the amended rules at (he annual ntoMing. An announcement appears elsewhere in this issue giving particular, of Ihe Christmas holiday tram arrangements.