LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1361, 12 February 1912, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Mahcno, with English (via Suez) ami Australian nails, arrived at ~nd fi-pm..S.viiney at 7.30 p.m. yesterday. The Uelliurum portions of the mails will arrive by the Main Trunk express this aiteriipoii. At this evening's mooting of th" Fnoiif, JJorr.n ? !i C-uncil. Councillor Piper will move, in pursuance of notice for Cornell meeting for February 12. IDI2- "lint the memorandum from' lh» engineer's oihw, ihrcil January 23. in which I hi. i-.ii>ycr, as a lionised gash'lter, was char?...! with throe breaches of Hie lighting by-la* on one job, be officially withdrawn.'" t About twenty minutes past 7 o'clock mst evening a motor cyclist, proceeding along Lambton Quay by the liank M -\ew Zealand, endeavoured to na«s between a stationary car and two others winch were approaching him on the opposite hue. Fortunately for the cyclist, both moving cars were brought to a standi ~.. out \" f (f | u cal ' s came into slight collision with the motor evele, but the net damage appeared to ba merely a broken cycle lamp. J A certain amount of natural curiosity exist? in regard to the activities of Trades Councils-bndics which nowadays mostly conduct their deliberations in private In an address at the Opera House last evening Professor Mills let the cat out of tho bag to an extent He stated that he had read ihe minutes of one Trades Council covering its proceedings during the preceding twelve months. It had assisted in one strike and had passed fifteen resolutions (hiving the year. That was the sum total of its work. The resolutions were very good ones, and anyone who wanted to read them could borrow the secretary's berk. Later in his address Professor Mills declared that although Trades Councils had once been useful bodies they had bson left with nothing to do ami they had done it quite successfully fov a number of years. The City Council announces that a 10 per cent, penalty will be imposed on rates unpaid at the expiration of six months, fourteen days from the date of the demand. The experiment of opening a number of tie public schools at an earlier hour in the mornings, and closing them at a proportionately earlier hour in the afternoons during the summer months cv : dently has the sympathy of a large'nuinber of parents (states the Auckland "Hera.d ). At the schools where a vote was taken, the great majority of the parents expressed themselves as favourable to the innovation, and the result will be watched with interest. There were a few objections received, some of the arguments set forth being rather unique. For instance, one indignant mother wrote to the headmaster of one of the schools protesting strongly ngar.nst the new system The. argument she advanced was that the children wore out quite enough clothes already, and she objected to their bavin" more fcme allowed them to wear out their garments. Moreover, she concluded, the children ran abnut the streets quit; enough already, and she did not know what the result would bo if they wcn< sent home from school at 2.30 o'clock. In spite of the mother's emphatic protest, however, the school attended by her children will probably fall into line with the other schools. • According to the latest news received by Mr. Leon Amundsen, in Christiania, from his brother in the Antarctic (says the Melbourne "Argus"), Captain Amundsen expected to arrive on his return early this month. Ho lias decided to make for Hobart instead of Lyttclton, and come direct across to Melbourne. The historic little ship, The Fram, which took Nausea to the Arctic, when he was "a guest of the ioe for three years," will be overhauled in Hobart, and dispatched thence to Now York to await Captain Amundsen, who intends in V.113 organising an expedition to the North Pole, which the American Scientific Committee, appointed to examine Commander Peary's data, have decided has not yet been actually reached. The proceeds of Captain Amundsen's lectures in Australia, Ibighiuil, and America will be devoted to the expenses of his North Pols expedition next year. The old Anekland City Council Chamber in Welleslcy Street, which was recently vacated for the ■ transference of the Citv Council headquarters to the new Town Hnll buildings, is (states the Auckland "Star") tii be prepared for Art Gallery extension, and offered to (he Maekelvie Trusties, on condition that they give the citizens further representation of two councillors on Die board of trusle-es, which, in addition to their trusteeship, shall be a board of advice to report to the. council from lime lo time. The annual meeting of the Wellington Gas Company is to be held in the CTiambor of Commerce at noon to-morrow. St. Patrick's College. Cambridge Terrace, is to reopen on Thursday next. The clahscj iriJJ bo resumed tho following day,