LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1320, 26 December 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The directors of tho Wellington Publishing Company-entertained the n«>ds of departments tit diiinor at the lira nil Hotel cm Saturday evening, Mr. J. Dulliie, chairman of directors, presiding.A very pleasant evening was .spent. Complimentary references were made to tho success which had attended the foundation of Tim Dominion, and speeches eulo■*Mie of the work of tho stall' wore made by the directors present.' tu toasting lli« company and directors, the manager ami editor remarked on the line snirit which had prevailed between the directors and 4aff, and in fact throughout every department of the paper from the time of its inception, and which had no doubt contributed largely to its success. Thn Victoria arrived at Auckland on .Sunday evening at !l o'clock with an Australian mail. The Wellington and southern portions were brought down by Ihc second express from Auckland Yesterday. The Governor and Lady Islington have issued invitations for a garden party to lie held in the grounds of Government House on January iO. At about 7.30 a.m. on Saturday-a fire (itciirrnl in the waslihouso at Ihe residence of .Mr. W. 11. Bowden, storekeeper, Kaiwarra. As soow as tho flumes were observed a hose was connected with the street hydrant, and the outbreak was extinguished before much damage had been done. .Prizes for the best essays and impressions on "Hainlrt" arc offered in Auckland by Ihc ,1. C. Williamson, Lid., management in connection with (he H. B. Irving season. I'or school children uuder 1G years of nge,■ prizes of .£'- '-s. and XI Is. will be given, mid for students over l(j, .l;:i Us. and J~l 2s. Contributions must be tout in not later than I'riday, January 0. Yesterday Sergeant Eutledge, of Ifount Cook, and" Constable ll'.Kelvry, of Clyde Quay, paid surprise visils to houses in York Street and Tory .Place, and seized a quantity of liquor at each place. Prosecutions will follow. Although for a number of years past the non-llpiscopal churches in New Zealand and in other countries havo abstained from treating Christmas Day as an occasion for special religious observance, there arc well-informed people who hold that this comparative neglect will not much longer continue. The Rev. ,T. It. GluMon. pastor of the Terrace Congregational Church, in conversation last evening expressed an opinion that the members of the non-Episcopal bodies would ere long revive tho custom of holding services on Christmas Day. Peoplo who went from home yesterday, Christmas Dny. tli«l w> under considerable diflictilty ai\d discomfort. There was a car «ervice running, but it -was hopelessly inadequato to carry nil the people moving, and yet large, enough to cause them to° rely on it. Crowds of peoplo were, waiting in the early afternoon al; tho principal .section stops in and near the city, but tho lot of most of them was tu ite tho trams for their destination run through tho stop crowded full. Haying sot out for somewhere, mosl of (he jK'ople hud perforce to make their journey aiotit. many as far ns Island Bay. The -,vor>t experience that befell them was on the return, which had to be jna.de in pouriiig rain. Tho only people who were really pleased about tho scarce tram service we.ro the motor-car drivers, who reaped a silvern harvest.