LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1704, 22 March 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho Minister for Marine has undertaken to havo a beacon placed at the southern end of D'Urvillo Island, a spot whero several wrccks have occurred.'' "Shure an' there's too many of them t'ings about!" .was tho exclamation of an elderly gentleman on Thursday morning as he riished to the assistance of a lady who had been ran down by a motor-oyclo in front of tho Courtenay Place, tram rest. Fortunately the cyclist was not goin§ at a fast pace, but the impact was sufficient' to caufeo him to somersault' 'heavily over tho handle-bars of his machine. The lady, who 'was momentarily stunned, was taken into tho post office near by, ana it was found that she was suffering from nothing worse than tho' shock of a bad shaking. Tho motor-cyclist, who rendered every assistance, sustained a severelybruised wrist. ,

The illuminated address presented to the Hon. 1?. M. B. Fisher by the Government Printing Office employees i 3 a beautiful production. It is in book form, bound in blue leather, with a cover sign and- inscription, in .gold. The address itself 'is . designed and illuminated with great skill.' Inr itial lettew and tfw text are admirably executed, and beautifully onriched with gold and ookrars. Tho address reads;— To the Hon. S l . M. B. lusher, Minister in charge of the Government Printing and Stationery Department.—Dear Sir, - We, the -undersigned, on behalf of the members of tho. Government Printing Offico Association, -desire to express to you our sincere appreciation of, and l gratitude for, the sympathetic consideration given by you. to representations mad© in the interests of the employees of tho Government Printing and Stationery Department During the period you have had control of this Department you havo manifested a, desire for our betterment, and have effected reforms making for tho increased well-being, contentment, and efficiency of your officers. Among these informs we would mention with satisfaction increased salaries, the establishment of minima and maxima- in salaries of permanent officers and_ the abolition of tho grade system! Again thanking you for your kindly con, sideration, and wislijng you a long term of office as Ministerial head of this Department.—Wo beg to si-bsiribe ouwelves lor tho Government Printing Offico Association, yours most sniccrely, H president; W. G. M'Cartip, seore^-vy." The Tourist Department was notified on Ihurstlay by a telegram from Mr. S. lurner, F.lt.G.b., who has dgne lv good .deal of mountaineering in New Zealand, that he had led a local party to the summit of Mount Asmriug by a now route. .1 hero have been about three previous successful ascents of Mount Aspiring, which, lies between Lake Wanaka and Lako W alvutipu.

A correspondent writes complaining that lie was put to inconvenience by reason of the fact that tho 7.50 a.m. Larnb-ton-Woodvillo train did not Eton at any station short of Masterton. This departure from normal running, lie states, was not sufficiently made known by publio announcement, and was not advertised until Thursday. This last statement is incorrect; the Easter train arrangements, inclining tho alteration in running of the train mentioned, wero advertised in The Dominion on Monday last, and were also 'inado widely known by an official booklet which was'distributed broadcast, and was. mentioned in the newspapers! Mr. T. l?onavno (general manager of railways) remarked, when the matter whs mentioned to him last evening, that tho trouble was that some people would not read tho railway advertisements. The Department duplicated and sometimes triplicated Us advertisements, and vet «i certain number of travellers complained that time-laliie alterations were not sufficiently nun!" known. Mr, Ttnuayne also referred tu the special booklet issued bv his Department

The case of a post office employes at Nelson who was accused of theft from the parcels post room but was acquitted, the Judge remarking that tho accused left tho Court without a. stain on his character, has been brought under tho notice of tho Government by Mr, H. Atinore, M.P., Mr. Atmoro is strongly of opinion that uudcr the circumstances tho official in question should not have to bear tho heavy costs incurred, amounting to some ,£250. Tho Hon. A. L. Herdman, Minister for Justice, has promised to look into the matter. An interesting religious ceremony will take placo at evensong at St. Mark's Church on Sunday CToninp, in tho form of the service of "The Dismissal of ft Priest to tho Mission Field." The Eov, W. ]?. Long, who arrived on Monday last in the Tainui, has oomo out from England to represent tho congregation .of St. Mark s Church, Wellington, in tho Melanesian Mission. Ho is staying in Wellington over Easter, and is to be tho preacher at St. Mark's on Sunday _ evening. A social evening is to be held on Tuesday to welcome Mr. Long and to wish him Godspeed on his journey to Auckland, where he joins tho Bishop of Melanesia and sails in the mission 6hip, tho Southern Cross, on April 7.

In the statistical returns printed by the Wellington Sunday Schools' Union in connection with the , annual report, St. James's School, Newtown, i 9 shown, as losing 64 scholars during 1912. This is incorroot, as the school fully maintained its position. The error arose through tho returns for 1911 showing a larger number of scholars on tho roll thou ootually existed. In its annual report, the Wellington Chamber of Commerce commends the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts for the success of its endeavours to establish a National Art Gallery, and expresses its appreciation of the support accorded by members to rho movement in .the monetary assistance given towards the purchase of a pioturo by tho Chamber for the collection. The' picture selected was "The Tower Bridge, by James fl. Hill, . which was appropriate and popular. Eegulationa governing the purchase of tho fee-simple of a lease-m-perpetuity uiv der the' Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, are published in the ourrent "Gazette." The Act provides that the tenant of a. Icaso-in-perpetuity may acquire tho foo simple of his holding at the original capital value, plus one per oent, per .iTiTnira on that amount during the period of hia lease, and compound interest on the one percent, during tho same period. Lessees purchasing on the deferred payment system &to required to pay within three months of giving notice of intention to purchase a sum equal to ten per cent, of tho price, together with all accrued and accruing rent under the lease. The balance of the purchase price is to bo paid by equal instalments extending over a period of nine years. ' Lessees nave the option of purchasing for cash. The Publio Works Department reoently accepted the tender of Patrick Treanor, of Paeroa, for the construction of a stopbank at Paeroa, in connection with the Waihou River improvement works. The contract price is *62053. The following tenders were declined i—Piako Contract Company, Te Aroha, ii 2104; M. Gojack, Paeroa, JB2109; Brenan and Co., Paeroa, <£2259. . ■ .

In response to Inquiries addressed/ to tho Public Works Department on Thursday it was stated that there was no surplus labour of the character required by the Department anywhere in- Nere Zealand so far as was known, and that in some placcs ft shortage existed which made it impossible to obtain labourers at less thaiv twelvu shillings a day. Under tha piece-work rates paid by the Department in its .contracts with co-oporative labourers, tho\ standard wage is about nine shillings a day. It hag been decided by the Government to reduco tho period of quarantine to sixty days of dogs imported into New Zealand from tho United Kingdom, dating from tho time of removal of the animal to tho quarantine station. This ■ concession, applying only to dogs coming from tho United. Kingdom, is subject to the furnishing by, the shipper of a declaration ,to tho effect that the animal has been domiciled in tho United Kingdom for not' less than nine months (or, it under nine months of ago, from birth), ond that it is hie belief that it is froe from disease, and has not during tho preceding njno . months been in .contact with , any dog suffering from disease. ' Tha last portion of the declaration must bo oertafied to by ft qualified veterinary surgeon practising in tlie immediate neighbourhood of tho dog's 'domicile. In addition to the shippers declaration, tho usual certificate issued at the, port ,of shipment by tho veterinarian aoting'for the New Zealand Government must also be obtained. Both declaration and veterinary certificate must accompany the animal to Now Zealand. A police raid on a suspected houso in Martin Street resulted in the steizure by Sergeant Rutledge and Constablo MTCeivio of a quantity of liquor. The matter will be further inquired into by the magistrate.

Mr. J. M. Daweon, architect, has accepted the tender of Mr. J. L. M'Millaa for the erection of a blook of brick buildings la Wakefield Street (at the rear of the Opera House, now. in course of construction) for the Publia Trustee (representing the estate of tho late Mr. T. G. Macarthy). The building, whioh is being leased by Messrs. Magnus, Sanderson, ana 00,, motor and cycle importers, will consist of a three-story l brick building of modern design, embracing a. large ana up-to-date motor garago and showrooms, The contract price is jCSCOO. Tho Departmental inquiry into allegations that excessive corporal ipunishment has been inflicted upon boys belonging to the Government training ship Amokura was oontinued on Thursday evening, Mr. G. AJlport (Secretary for Marine) presiding. The of Mr. J. G. Harp, of Frankton Junction, who made the allegations which gavo rise to tho inquiry, was taken, but Mr. Campbell, late second officer of the Amokura, lias not yet given evidence. Tho inquiry will be resumeu at D a.m. to-day in the . Amokura schoolroom,. and any witnesses prepared to give evidence aTB invited to attend and do so. Mr. Harp intends to call some of the Amokura boys and other Witnesses. It Is hoped that the taking ofevidenoe will be oompleted to-day. Full particulars of Sunday services will bo found on jjage lof this issue. The Rev., G.' T.: B. Davis, of the ChapmanAlexander Mission, will preach at the Terrace Congregational Churoh in the morning and pt the Wesley Churoh, Taranaki btreet, in the evening.

THE "TRIUMPH" STILL ON TOR, Tho Christchuroh-Kaiko ura-and-baok reoord still stands to the oredit of Mr. G. B. Brown and his full roadster "Triumph," and the new reoord mado last Thursday has been buried almost as soon as .it was born under the orushing weight of two hours and twentv-one minutes; The prinoipal features of Mr. G. B. Brown's groat rido on Saturday have been given full publicity. On Bth Fobru. nry he rode alone. Some capital was made out of the faot that "on a previous occasion he was accompanied by another rider, and, though tho precedent thus set has been followed in the subsequent attempts upon the reoord hy riders of machines other than the "Triumph," Mr. Brown decided to demonstrate his faith in "Triumph" reliability by riding alone. Ho Todo tho same full roadster threospeed "Triumph" as- ho rode when lie established the reoord on January 17. The oniv difference in the conditions was that ho know tho road. It must bo remembered that this Christclmrch-Kaikom'rt rido was suggested by "Triumph" competitors presumably as a course, on which their machines had a better chance against the "Trinbiph" than any other. Tho course evidently does suit their machine—when their maohino is. going well—but it quito as evidently- suits tho "Triumph" just as woll, and a great deal better. So the resiilt of this little 'sporting controversy has been to ostablish the "Triumph" as tho best "orosn-coimtry" motor-cycle, as well as the best speed machine, tho best machine for reliability, and tho best for hill-climbing. Tho latest "Triumphs" aro now to hand; prices: fixed engine, ,£7O; free engine, .£80; threc-sjjcecl, .£B7 10s. Adams, Limited., Christohurch. Branches, Wanganul, Palmcrston North. Agents, Sutherland and Kankine, Wellington, and Tourist Motor Co., Hastings.Advt.