HARBOUR BOARD CHARGES.

Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 75, 29 March 1889, Page 2

HARBOUR BOARD CHARGES.

Tho attention of the Wellington Harbour Board should be directed to the action taken by the Lyttelton Harbour Board in making reductions in wharfage charges, ranging from 25 to 50 por cent. The total reduction on tho basis of last year's trade will, it is said, amount to a loss of revenue of over £6000. It is not at all likely that the LyttoltonlHarbour can afford to lose such an amount of revenue, or has any intention of losing it. "What they calculate on, probably, is a very large increase in trade, induced by tho lower rates. They can scarcely anticipate that what may be termed the natural increase will be sufficient to make good the loss. What they do expect is, we fear, that the cheap wharfage will attract trade from other ports, Wellington especially. Th 9 reduction in wharfage will bo placed against tho geographical and other advantages which Wellington offers as a port of transhipment. Our Harbour Board must be on the look out that trade shall not bo diverted to other parts by their underbidding in such ' matters as these. Tho work can be dono more oheaply in Wellington than in Lyttelton, and the Wellington Board must be prepared to defy all competition in regard to port charges of all kinds, if it wishes to keep and increase its trade.

On our fourth page to-day will bo found a report of last niprht'o mooting of shareholders of the Equitablo Building and Investment Company, and other reading matter. Our Saturday Supplement to-morrow will contain tho following among other selected reading matter :— " The Story of a Debt," " Temperance." " Death of Prince Rudolph," " Faots Not Generally Known," " Are Men Deteriorating?" "The Primaoy," "Tit Bits," "Tho Gamo of Life," "A Unique Interview," "Kissing as a Fine Art," "Newsinßriof," "The Sunday in America." On and after the Bth April the fare by rail botween Wellington and Napier will bo £2l first olass, and £1 ?s second class, including conveyance by coach between Eketahuna and Woodville. Dr. Alexander Johnston, R.W.D.P.G.M. of the North Island of New Zealand, S.C., being about to leave for Home on a lengthened visit, the members of tho Waterloo and St. Androw's Lodgeß are taking steps to place on permanent record the high esteem in which he is held by the Masons under the Scotch Constitution in this part of the colony. Mr. R. T. N. Beasley is appointed gaoler at Wanganui, vice R. M'Nish, superseded for absence without leave. Mr. Justice Denniston is appointed a Deputy- Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court of New Zealand. The Court of Appeal is to meet in Wellington on Monday, 6th May. The New Zealand Aoademy of Fine Arts is permitted to register as a Joint Stock Company without adding tho word "Limited" to its name. Litigation is pending between the Manawatu Railway Company and the Government regarding tho Horowhenua block. Under the terms of the Aot tho Government were to complete the company's endowment out of any lands which the Government might, within five years, acquire from the natives ownors, within a certain radius, Unless the Governor should be of opinion that such land was required for some public purpose. Within the period named tho Government at least partly arranged with Major Kemp for the purchase of tho Horowhenua block, and some of tho purchase money was paid to him on account. The company claim, therefore, that this land, to the value of .£29,000, should have been given to thorn to complete tho endowmqnt they were ontitled to, the land not being required for any public purpose. Tho Government, however, contend that the actual terms of purchase were not arranged with Major Kemp until after the five years had ospired, and therefore the company had no claim to bo considered. Proceedings under tho Crown Suits Act are now being taken by the company, through their solioitor, Mr. Travers, to determine the actual dato at which tho Government legally acquired the land. A complaint having beon made to the Resident Magistrate that the hearing of criminal business caused considerable delay and great inconvenience to all parses concerned in oivil cases, Mr. Robinson, R.M., has given instructions that from Tuesday next Justices of the Peace are to be summoned for attendance at the Court to deal with criminal cases on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, on whioh days the Resident Magistrate will take the oivil coses in another Court. The Eight Hon. Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple Nugent Bridges Chandos Grenville, Duko of Buckingham and Chandos in tho Peerage of the United Kingdom, Baron Kinloss in the Peerage of Scotland, and Earl Nugent in the Peerage of Ireland, who, in spite of his numerous appellations and high-sounding titles, has gone the way of all flesh, was born 10th September, 1823, and succeeded his father as third duke 29th July, 1861. Ho represented Buckingham from 1846 to 1857 ; was a Junior Lord of the Treasury in 1852 ; Keeper of the Prince of Wales' Privy Seal, and Deputy Warden of the Stannorios. Ho was elected Chairman of the London and North-Western Railway Company in 1853, and resigned in 1861. His Grace was appointed Lord President of the Connoil under Earl Derby's third adminis- ' tration, in July, 1866, and succeeded the Earl of Carnarvon as Seoretary of State for the Colonies, 2nd March, 1867. He held the latter office until Mr. Gladstone came into power in December, 1868. In Jnly, 1875 he was appointed Governor of Madras, and he hold that post till 1880. He was eleoted Chairman of tha Buoks Quarter Sessions in 1867, and was re-elected to that post on his retnrn from India in 1881. On the death of Lord Redesdale he was ohosen Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, for which he drew a salary of £2500 a year. His estate was put down at 10,482 acres, and his rent roll at .£IB,OBO. He is suoceeded by his nephew, the Hon. Wm. T. Gore-Langton, who is 42 years of age, and likewise heir to the Earldom of Temple. The late Duke was only a short time ago spoken of as a probable successor of Sir W. D. Jervoia as Governor of New Zealand. At the Magistrate's Court this morning before Colonel M'Donnell and Messrs. J. s! M. Thompson and A. Young, Justices' a first offender waa charged with drunkenness, and with wilfully damaging a bucket valued at 14s, the property of the Government. The Bench fined the dofendant 5s for drunkenness, and Is for the other offence the amount of damage also to be paid, or in. default three days' imprisonment. Several othor caseß were adjourned at the request of parties ooncerned. A cricket match, Upper Hutt v. I^orokiwi will bo playod at the Hutt to-morrow Hutt team-Rawson (2), SayweU, Gr 6 \ gt Wright, Rouse, A. Cudby, Mabey, Wflkae (2), and Greenwood; emwgenoies, "Wilkins n.ni Brown.

The half-yearly law examination was held last week ih the Supreme Court Buildingß. rheW V/%re eight candidates, and the BfeV. ur. West aoted as supervisor, -kJjW. "WP"* >(i! &« City Council to *W° r * - thiB afte "oon, at whloh fX».J i S e bnBine s8 is to be brought Sw • : 7 To cl?nBiderc 1 ? n8ider Md *Hd with an application from Mr. A. G. Johnson, Inspector n.~ niBan , c , es . Hackney Carriages, 4c., for three months leave of absence on full pay, nffl 1 ! 18 "■fewtion of the variods offices held by him ; to make temporary appointments to the offices now held by Mr. dated 25th inrt., from Mr. J. Chappie, containing his resignation and an application to the Council ; to authorise payment in advance of salaries of officers receiving leave of absence and resigning. We learn that the steamer Kiwi, whioh left here on Wednesday evening for Castlepoint and Napier, met with aii accident to her machinery, the ekteht of which is not at present known temporary repairs were effected at Castlepoint, and she left there early this morning for Napier. „ Mr -.*i- ,Pv,H nklater ' accountant of the firm of Bell. Gully, and Izard, who is about to leave Wellington on a visit to England, wag lasst evening entertained by his past and present associates in the firm. At the invitation of Mi-. F.Wills, managing clerk of the rrm, the gathering took plac» at his residence in Hankey-street. A most convivial evening was spent, the health of the guest of the evening being toasted and drunk in bumpers, and a suitable response made. Various other toasts appropriate to the occasion were also duly hononred, the intervals being filled with songs rendered by several members of the company. Mr. Linklater will be absent from the colony for about 6 months. About 5 minutes to 7 o'clock last evening a fire broko out in a Bir.all three-roomed cottage owned and occupied by Mr. E. Cnllen, a labourer, and situated in a right-of-way off Eoxburgh-street. The outbreak was first noticed by Mrs. Moran, whose residence adjoins, and who saw flames bursting from oneof the windows. A small boy conveyed the intelligence to the Central Fire Brlpade Station, and an alarm was rung out on the bell, aid the Brigade promptly proceeded to the scene, where, after about a quarter of an hour's work, the firo was extinguished. The cottage, however, was much damaged, the front room being quite gutted, while the otherß were more or less charred. Captain Page is of opinion that the fire originated in the front bedroom. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cullon were away from homo at the time of the fire, Mr. Cullen having left for Petone about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He atatoß that everything then appealed to be perfectly safe, and that no fire had been lighted in the house Bince n'doh. The furniture, which was almost completely destroyed, was insured in the Union office for .£5O, bnt Mr. Cullon estimates that this amount will not cover his loss. There is an insurance of £100 in the same office on the builddin?. A female boarder in the house lost about iBlO worth of property. The police rendered the Brigade assistance in keeping back the large crowd of people who assembled in the street to watoh the fire. The following new patents have been applied for : — William John Marshall, boilormaker, and James Ford, tailor, both of Newcastle, for improvements in the fastening of tubes such as steam boiler tubes in their tube plates ; Bobert Edward Evenden, of Lambton-quay, for a new or improved apparatus for washing and separating gold and some other minerals and substances ; Tottenham Lee Richardson, of Now South AVales, grazier, for improvements in sheepshearing machines and in flexible shaftconnections therefor, and for other purposes, Edward Motcalf Smith, of New Plymouth, engineer, for certain improvements in the manufacture of artificial or compound ores of iron, by the combination of magnetic ironsand with other materials, into bricks or blocks of any desired form suitable for Emelting in an ordinary blast furnace, and the nse of such ores for that purpose; William Butlor and Joseph Butler, of Groyraouth, contractors, for " Butlers' Archimedean Valvo." The Tramway Company advertise to-day a new tariff of fares. It will be seen that the system of penny sections will be in force before 7 a.m., botween 9 and 11 a.m., and after 11 p.m., and that during the remainder of the day the through fares will be one halfpenny to coupon ticket-holders, and one penny to passengers without them. The greater portion of the drugs required for the Hospital during the next 12 months are to be obtained from Burgoyne, Burbidges & Co., of London, and it is expected that a saving of at least JJIOO per annum will be effected by dealing with that firm. Drugs required in retail quantities are to be obtained from Sharland & Co., of Wellington and Auokland. Dr. Branting, of Otaki, has furnished to the police the vestilt of a p'6st mortem examination held upon the body of Walter Grant, the third victim whose death was oaused by the rocket explosion at Otaki on St. Patrick's Day. The doctor statos that tho body was somowhat emaoiated, and he fonnd the lower lobe of the right lung engorgod and slightly flabby. The heart was found to contain several largo ante-mortem dots, being the ultimato cause of death. The abdomen was ponetrated from left to right by a largo wound, rupturing the peritoneum. A considerable piece of tho anterior part of the liver was found laoorated. The intestines were uninjured, but tympanitic. The primary cause of death was this injury, and secondary the engorgement of the lung and the clots in the heart. Grant's funoral takos place at Otaki this afternoon. The second application by Mr. W. A. Young for a patent for an improved palace car was heard by the Patent Officer yesterday afternoon. Mr. Traverß, on behalf of Mr. P. Bartholomew, sawmiller, of Feilding, contested tho oUim, and Mr. Hasolden deferred his decision until this morning, when he granted the application made by Mr. Young. As we stated yesterday tho first application by Mr. Young has been adjourned for a month. The Wellington Orchestral Society has now definitely fixed as the date of its first concert Monday, the 15th April. The society has established its permanent praotioe room at Messrs. Baker Bros.' auotion mart, whioh answers their purpose admirably. Last night's rehearsal was a particularly enjoyable one, the more so as tho orchestra was very complete in the wind department, only the second oboe being absent. This haE induced the committee to replace the Haydn Symphony by the larghetto,, scherzo, and trio from Beethoven's Seoond Symphony, be as to take full advantage of its resonrces, The orchestra received a welcome addition in Mr. Love, an oboe player of the first rank, We understand that the society would gladly welcome additional members to the strings, and those desirous of joining should at once communicato with the committee (Messrs, Connolly, Hill, Mosch, and Schwartz), The programme finally determined upon is as follows :— Weber's "Jubel" overture; Suppcs' " Banditen Streiche " ; larghetto, scherzo, and trio Beethoven's Second Synv phony; Kont sky's " Be veil da Lion ">, Lumbyes' " Dream Visions " \ Lunge's " Orchestral Suito " 5 Gnngl's " Jungherren Tinze " valse. The eleventh half-yearly meeting of sub scribers of the Petone Institute was held last evening at the Institute, Mr. G. Cartel being in the chair. The report and balancesheet were adopted. The latter showed the receipts to be ,£lB 17s, of which .£9 16s was brought forward from the previous term, and £9 Is was received as subscriptions, whilst tho expenditure amounted to jBI7 17e lOd. The assets are .£Bl 12s 2d, and the liabilities £9 155. Office-bearers were then eleotcd as follows :— Committee, Messrs. D, P. Fisher (re-elected), G. London (re-elected), J. Curtis, Harrower. Sewell, Hartfgcra, and Farquharson 5 Secretary, Mr. E. H. Nayloi (ra-elected) ; Auditors, Messrs. Home and F. London. In Order to make the Institute moro attractive, tt was decided to hold entertainments> lectures, dobates, and social evenings ; also card, chess, and domino tournaments. It was suggested that a drawing class, undor the supervision of Mr. Eiley (of Wei lington), should bo started. Votes of thankf wore passed to the Hon. E. Richardson, Mr, W. J. Kirk, Mr. J. Homo. Major Mes> senger, and Mr W. A. Comber for having regularly supplied weekly and illustrated newspapers ; also to the proprietors of the Evening Post, the Hutc and Petone Chroniole, the Evening Press, and the Otagc Witness for placing tho Institute oh the free list, and to the rotiring Chairman, tho retiring Committee and tho Secretary for theii services during tho past term. At the com mittee meeting subsequently held, Mr. D. P, Fishor was elected chairman The Poneke Football Club have deolined a proposal made by the Sydsinam Club thai tho annual match, whioh is fo take place at Christchuroh during Easter *eek, should be played at night-time with -he aid of the eleotric light.-aa they consider that a game under snch conditions wouldf not be a fail test of each other's strength. The Grey River Argus is no; at all satisfied as to the position, prospects, jr intentions of the Midland Bailway Company, and remarks : —"We can only come to i, conclusion by grouping the facts of the caje ; and the result is that we have not the ilighfcest doubt that the company will lie on iheir oars until Parliament meets and then make an appeal for further concessions, just as if they had made the contract in a hurry and entered into a bargain whioh wonld entail a heavy loss upon them. In any case it seems quite clear to us from the developments of the case that the Eeefton-Belgrove branch of the railway is in danger. Svidentiy that ib considered the Jonah of the enterprise, and, if indications go for anything, tho company will try to treat that »art of the line as Jonah was treated." The London correspondent, of the Auckland Herald says :— A very erroneous impression appears to prevail in New Zealand »s to Mr. Thomas Bussell's piesent financial position. I received a letter from Auokland on Monday, in which the -rater »ays:1 am sorry to learn tint Tom Enssell is all but penniless." My correspondent and Mr. Eussell's fri-nds generally may oonsole themselves. He oan still keep the wolf from the door. Only the other day, for example, he took Lord Knutsford's country home for three months at the insignificant rental of lOOgs a month. He has, besides, a house in Eaton-square for which he gave .£9OOO, and on which he tells people he has expended £3000, and horses »nd carnages gahre. Mr. EuEsell'g offices in this city give evidence of plentiful business, and he 1a brown to be a heavy cperator on the btook Exchange, but whether Baccegsful or unsuccessful deponent sayeth not. To tell the truth, Mr. Eussell'a prosperity in one of the things which make unfortunate sh»reholders in the Bank of New Zealand bitter, borne little time ago it was givsn out that he had lost fabulous sums, and vonld have to retrench right and left. Carriages and horses were to be sold, his tovn house let, and other drastic domestic reforms carried out. The taking of a Secretary of Btate's family mansion at 300gs a quarter do«s not, however, look quite like starvation, does itP Joseph Kitchen, of the Pantheon, nohfite thtt he is able to continue his coat price f»lo of crootery and ironmongery during *£c attentions to- the building. To-morrow a hiry aW of French and Dresden vases and ebctroplaie will be hold,

We axe re 4 uested,to ,klc that another of those SSPfcP*? wK V& ?e? e Aro Hou "> wso weU known rfll take place in the windows and doorways this evening. The latest fashiona in autumn and winter materials mil be artistfoally draped and firroU^» Z ' M tM effeot by sashgbt will no doubt Be Striking and attractive. E. Pearee, of the Boot Arcade, Cnba-street, wishes us to call our readers' attention to hiu first shipment of warm winter slippers ; also, a special line of lasting boots for ladies. Cuninghain, Badham & Co. will sell to-morrow, at the rear of the New Zealander Hotel, horses, carriages, harness, &c. Noble CamobeU ft Co. will seU to-morrow, fruit, hones, Sec. Rosenberg & Co. \rill sell to-morrow, furniture, merchandise, &c. Ode fancy department is now fully stocked with all the necessary and fashionable requirements for the present season, at Te Aro House. We have opened out an excellent assortment of ladies' umbrellas, in durable silk and satin de Chine, also a specially cheap lot of about 156, bought nnder usual prices by our Home buyer, admirably adapted to withstand Wellington zephyrß, and as ornamental as useful, having elegant sticks and mountings. See them at Te Aro House. Otjb imports of kid gloves are of noted, fashionable, and apDroved makes, comprising Florence, Orient, Marie, and Celice. Our choice of silk, taffeta, cashmere, and Milanese silk, with kid tips, is really superb, and forms ono of the chief attractions of the fancy counter, at To Aro House. Op the favourite and extremely fashionable leather belts, for ladies' wear, we have a magniffcent Bupply of all descriptions. We have opened out alßo a small, but very choice, selection of ladies' bags, in plush, Russian and lizard leather, crocodile, Ac, with some very charming things in feather and hand-painted fans, at Te Aro House. Our advertisement of other choice goods, on the first page of this paper, should be carefully perused by the public, and more especially by the numerous body of ladies who intend to pay an early vißit to Te Aro House. — Advt. Hitherto all persons who have ever started a reform in either business or social circles have been persecuted by their fellows, and all sorts of damaging reports spread about, calculated to injure their business. This sort of thing is being done by Bomo of my fellow-trade3men, who see before them some of their fat profits cut down to a reasonable amount. One of the reports is that the extra pair of trousers are very inferior, and soon wear out. This, I need hardly say, is the result of trade jealousy, and is without the slightest truth. The suits purchased at any of my branches are made by the best olass of hands obtainable, and of the beat tweeds in the market, the only difference in my systom is that I halve my profit with my otstomers by giving an extra pair of tronsers with eaoh Buit, and of the same material, if desired, or any other of the same value Everybody knows that a coat and vest will wear out two pair ot trousers, and that is my reason for giving an extra pair of trousers with eaoh suit. J. H. Dalton, tailor, 43, Cuba-street. — Advt