LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1547, 17 September 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

"Half the litigation in this Court comes about through people trusting one another said Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., at tho Auckland Magistrate's Court on Friday. "If people would only reduce their agreements to -writing I would be half mv time idle. "And," he added, "I could do with it,"

The telegraph operating room of -the new General Post Office is to be fitted throughout with a now set of Morse inBbmments, which are to be placed on tables of polished Australian maple. The w °u- ?, mstnll '"nff the wires in connection with the instruments is now proceeding.

For a long time past' protest has been' •raised m various; quarters anent the inadequacy of the shelter accommodation at the tramway waiting shed -which stands at the Courtcnay Place-Clyde Quay corner, probably the busiest stoppingplace on the whole of the city car system. The shed itself can only* contain a small portion of. the crowd which assembles at this corner, and in wet weather those who have to stand outside have a very uncomfortable time of it. The Hataitai Ratepayers' Association is moving in the matter, and is submitting suggestions to tho City Council for the erection of a shelter vcTandah which will provide some relief in the meantime, pending the ultimate provision of a more commodious waiting-shed.

According to a return presented to the City Tramways Committee yesterday afternoon, the revenue of the city electric lighting department for the month of August, 1912, amounted to £6180, an increase of £700 as compared with the corresponding period of last year, while the working expenses totalled £2575, or ,£415 more than last year. Comparing the figures for the five months to date with last year, the revenue shows an increase of £3793, and the working expenses an increase of £14-19. The net credit balance to date is £9GGS, as aeainst £7G33 last year, an increase of £2032. During the period of five months from April to August, 729 new connections were'made, the number of connections now in use totalling 7276, an increase of 1273 connections during the past twelve months.

If a meteor falls on a man's land, is it his. or does it belong to tho man who finds it? An Irish tenant found a meteorite one day, and said Miss Proctor in n lecture at Sydney recently, the owner of the laud claimed it, on the ground tlmt it had been agreed that all the minerals on the farm were his. To this the tenant replied that the meteorite was not there when that agreement was made. Then the owner of tne land claimed it as being flying game, but while ho mid tho tenant were arguing, the Customs authorities seized the meteorite as an article from a foreign country on which no duty had been paid. As o. matter of fact, the courts in America had 'held that the largest meteorite in the World, weighing 15 tons, belonged to the man on whoso land it was found.

The Sydney Prisoners' Aid Society propose to issue a newspaper in gaol for Hie benefit of the men confined there. The Minister for Justice (Mr. D. It. Hall), speaking at the last meeting' of the society, cordially approved of the proposal. There does not, he said, seem to be very much difficulty in carrying: Hie idea out. If the relations between the Speaker and the press in Parliament do not change very soon, it is possible we may havo quite a number of editors .in gaol—men from whom we shall be able to make an excellent choice to run the newspaper. (Laughter.)

At Thursday's meeting of the Miramar Borough Council, Councillor Grigg will move-.—"(1) That in future nil meetings, including committee meetings, of this council be open to the press. (2) That-tho Tramway Committee be instructed to Mibmit n scheme whereby l'oturn tickets nt a single faro be issued to apprentices and others similarly engaged who reside in the borough and arc employed in tho city."

"Hours of Measure' 1 is Hie rather curious namo which has been applied to an invention of Mr. C. Tandy, of Taranaki Street—an invention which is partly a side-show; and at tho samo time mi ingenious devico for playing various phases of football, hockey, and golf in a circumscribed area, and as nearly as possiblo under field conditions, without any of tho arduous running about. Mr. Tandy claims that gdod judgment, a quick eye, and a clever, wrist are necessary to win just as in the game, but as oiie does not have to run about, the gamo can bo played by fairly elderly people, "Just as the aperture sight has enabled me to shoot as well as I did twenty years ago," said ho, "this is going to malic hockey and football kicking as possiblo.to the man of 40 as it was at 20!" The invention has been Foen by Mr. Edward Branscombe, proprietor of the Dandies Company, Mr. Beaumont Smith, of "Tiny Town,' and other 3, who think highly of the device as a sports attraction for holiday resorts.