LOCAL AND GENERAL,

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 59, 7 September 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL,

The mails which left 'Wellington on the 30th July, by the s.s. Ulimaroa, and connected at Sydney with the Brindisi mails per the 'R.M.S. Mantua, arrived in London on the night of the 4th inst j one day early. New Zealand will probably be represented at the Australasian amateur rowing championships regatta at Hobart next February. The council of the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association proposes that the winner of the senior four-oared race at its next championship regatta should be sent to compete at the Tasmanian championship, and at its meeting last night it had before it a letter from the association which controls amateur rowing in that State, enclosing the latter body's definition of an amateur oarsman. The definition differs somewhat from that adopted in New Zealand, but it is not expected that there will be any bar to a crew from New Zealand talcing part in the races on the Derwent. The Telegraph Department advises us that the Kelburne telephone office will, from to-morrow, be closed at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays. Glimpse of a silver lining to the cloud that shadows art in Wellington was afforded at yesterday afternoon's meeting of the council of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. The president reported that the asphalt approach to the Art Gallery had been completed. ,Six artists submitted specimens of th©»-" work as qualification for membership, and five were admitted* together with about fourteen new members. On Thurs- 1 day, 16th September, the council will j sit as a Selection Committee on more ' examples of the handicraft, when it is anticipated that there will be a further increase in membership. The "At Home" recently tendered visiting artists -was a very successful affair, the ladies of the society providing afternoon tea. It was decided that in future on such occasions the ladies should be relieved of thio duty, and the work delegated to a caterer. It might be pointed out that the last day for receiving work is the 15th September.- The annual exhibition opens on Saturday, 25th inst. The Postal authorities advise that the Manuka, which left Sydney on Saturday last for Wellington, nas on board English and Australian mails, which are due here on Wednesday next. Judgment was given by Dr. A. M 'Arthur, S.M., to-day, in the case Charles R. Peatce v. William Agate, a claim for return of a boat, or for its value (£6) in case possession cannot be obtained, and for £10 damages. The Magistrate said that this was eminently a case for decision under the "Equity and good conscience" section of the , Magistrate's Court Act. He stated that defendant had allowed the boat to go out of his possession and into that of plaintiff, although the terms were for j cash on delivery. Plaintiff did not pay, and has not paid, for the boat acqord- | ing to the terms of purchase, and ' defendant thereupon recovered possession, 1 and declined to give up the boat. "Any j work done by plaintiff on the boat," remarked Dr. M'Arthur, "has been trifling, and his claim for £10 damages is absurd. lam not going fb give judgment for plaintiff, and thus require defendant to bring another action to recover the purchase money. Belying on the section referred to, I give judgment for defendant, but each party shall pay his own costs. ' ' Yesterday afternoon Dr. M'Arthur, S.M., City Coroner, held an enquiry with respect to the death of William Higginson, aged 40, a ship's steward and hotel waiter, who died suddenly at a boardinghouse in Dixon-street. The deceased had previously suffered from a severe cold. A verdict of death from heart failure as the result of pneumonia, was returned. Following on the recent deputation to the Acting-Minister of Defence (Hon. G. Fowlds) regarding the observance of Dominion Day, amended orders have been issued by the Chief of the General Staff (Col. llobin) to officers commanding districts." "It has now been decided,"' says the circular, "that the observance of Dominion l)ay_ by the Defence Forces of the Dominion shall take j the form of church parades held during the ordinary hours of divine service in the morning in the various churches." Like every intelligent critic who visus us (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph), Mr. Foster Fraser declares that our special need is population to 'develop our vast territory. While deploring the tenuity of our population, he confesses himself deeply perplexed by the fact that this country does uot attract more outside capital. Millions are being poured into Canada by British investors, and millions more into the Argentine ; and Mr. Fraser wants to know wny Mome of these millions do not find their way into Australia. The question is difficult to answer satisfactorily. We have had our share of British capital in the mining and pastoral industries, but rhese seem to. be about the only Australian fields capable of catching the eye of the British investor. As a general rule, he lets us develop our other industries with our own capital. It may bs that capital is shy of coming here for the same reason which has side-tracked Au* tralia as a field for immigration, because, that is, ive have not placarded the legitimate attractions of Australia, in the right way and in the right places. However unwillingly, it must be admitted that another explanation of the want of interest which is displayed in Australia by the outside capitalist is because the idea has got rouni that Australia is not a good place for private enterprise. We have undertaken to construct and carry on . by a system of State Socialism nearly all the great coi\cerns which, in other countries, are the creation of private enterprise. British syndicates and companies apparently deHght in providing millions • to finance great railway schemes abroad, and, incidentally, are led to take an interest in the countries so developed. Tint opportunity, by a steadfast policy to which this country stands committed, is demc.l to capital here, and the lack of an opportunity to speculate in "rails" in Australia is perhaps amongst the chief reasons why British capital does no* come here, as it eoes to Canada and the Argentine. Similarly, our tramways bridges, and harbour works are barred to private enterprise. State control, while it has its advantages, also has its penalties. To-morrow (Wednesday), special offer of twenty Eton costumes, worth three and four guineas, at 21s and 29s — for. , to-morrow only. — Kirkcaldio and Stains, LtcL-Advt.

A conference is to be held in Welling, ton of delegates of various furniture trades unions to discuss federation of unions. Mrs. K. L. Stevenson will lecture m the^ Wesley Church, Taranaki-street, at 8 o clock. to-night, on aspects 'of the temperance question. An address in connection with tha Keswick mission was delivered by Bey. A. S. Wilson, of Wanganui, at the Vivian-street Baptist Church, last evening. The subject dealt with was " Tha Clean Heart. In the Magistrate's Court to-day, four} hrst offending inebriates were charged. One, who had been admitted to bail, was fined 10s, and two were mulcted in tha sum of ss, twenty-four hours' imprisonment being the alternative. The fourth* offender was convicted and discharged. At a meeting of the Council of the* New Zealand Amateur Rowing AssoeiaZ tion last night, at which Messrs. R. M, Isaacs, W. Coffey, G. Lauchlan, W. j'. Gsudin, Hammond, and A. D. Bayfield (secretary) were present, the report and balance-sheet to bo presented at tha annual meeting of delegates were adopted, after they had been slightly amend« od. The Southland Rowing Association wrote asking whether a maiden oarsman could row in a maiden race after winning a junior race at the same regatt* on the same day. The council referred tho matter to a sub-committee for creport. At a civic welcome in the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday last, Mr. Jon* Foster Fraser, the well-known author, said that what little he had seen of the city had filled him with admiration. He had been told that the rates in Melbourne were only 3s in the £. When he heard that he felt like telegraphing for his family straight away. (Laughter.) In the little village where he .resided there were as many people as all Australia possessed, and the rates were 7» 6d in ths £. One of the things which filled him with admiration was when he was told that the municipal life was above suspicion. Wellington's conquering hockey eleven, with the championship shield in their possession, returned from Auckland by the mail train yesterday even* ing. They were met at the station by a number of enthusiasts, on whose behalf Mr. M. Luckie extended congratulations. In replying, Mr. W. J. Organ paid a high tribute to the Aucklanders. Expecting to win, they had accepted their beating like men and real sports. "If the shield is taken from us," added Mr. Organ, "I* hope it will be by Auckland." On tho trophy is inscribed : "Auckland, 1907." "Auckland, 1908,"and now there has to be added, "Wei. lington, 1909.' Sydney University has just driven tha last nail into the Fisher Library, which, has taken eight years to build and has cost £72,000. The hall is to accommodate the Fisher bequest of a library to the 'Varsity. From the architects' poinfi of view, the most striking feature of H, is the* roof — constructed throughout, of solid cedar, on the hammer-beam prin-i ciple, of which Westminster Hall, London, built as a Parliament House in. 1397, is the most famous example. It is claimed that the Fisher Library roof is only second in the world to this, though only half ite length and 50ft wide, as against Westminster Hall's 68ft. It was found as the work went on thai; there was not enough suitable cedar in, New South Wales to complete the job, and latterly the logs have been dragged a: great expense from almost inaccessible places in Queensland. Yet (comments the Bulletin) many people can remember cutting down great New South Wales cedar trees and burning them to make room for a few blades of grass and .a cow. The recent prosecution of motorists in connection with' various cases of collision iin Napier has, says the Hawkes Bay Herald, aroused a great deal of interest among the owners and drivers of motor cars, and naturally enough, a good deal of dissatisfaction. We believe, however, that they are not justified ia regarding themselves as the subjects o$ persecution, and that on cooler refleo tiou they will probably come to the conclusion that no other result was pos-. sible. The motor car has come to stay, but it has not yet acquired the exclusive use of the road, and tho driver* of cars must conform to the ordinary law, which makes it wrong for them to do anything to endanger the safety of others, who are, equally with them,' entitled to the use of the roads. A car properly equipped with brilliant light* and powerful Drakes should be more able to avoid collision than afty other kind of vehicle if a proper look-out i* kept, and a safe speed maintained. Indeed, in a recent case evidence was given that these lights would illumine a road for twenty or thirty feet, and that these brakes could puU up a car in ten feet. Under such conditions an accident should be practically impossible The "Bisley nose" is a comic novelty now attracting some attention in London, wrote the correspondent of the Melbourne Age under date 23rd July. It has developed unexpectedly, like the I peculiar expression of the motorist. The Bisley nose bears a patch of sticking plaster near its bridge, about the size of a shilling. It is the result of a vicious little kick from the new back sight affixed to the army service rifle, and marksmen at the annual competitions of the N.R.A. seem to have found it very difficult to avoid being hurt in t.hia way. An extraordinary number of ttieni have had unpleasant experiences of the new sight. At every range oh the ground during the matches men were to be seen with patches on their noses, while others showed bjood from fresh wounds not yet treated. But the offending rifle sight remained in position in all cases. Jt was indispensable, and the injured shooters usually admitted with a laugh that they ought to have been more careful as to their manner of hugging their rifles when taking aim. Some of the later competitors who had been witnesses of these accidents put protecting plaster on their noses before firing, realising that prevention was better than cure. To the ladies who joined in a few of the matches a "barked" nose would have seemed a serious disfigurement. They were very cautious, and so escaped the common penalty. Apart from the inconvenience of its sight the service rifle has shown good results Lhis 1 year at Bisley. It has been successfully used in several important contests. In the match for the Prince of Wales's Prize it scored a brilliant win for a Canadian, who preferred H to the Ross rifle, which most of his compatriots have used this year. Drawings for next Saturday's games in tho Public Services Rugby tourney are :— Tax v. Valuation, Lands and Surveys v. Advances, Education and Audit v. Railways. The Public Trust has a bye. Storage wanted? Right; we have it! The very best in Wellington— brick stores, convenient, commodious. Lowest tarilf rates. The N. Z. Express Coy. Tel. 1333.— Advt, The startling news has reached us that the North Polo has at last been discovered, and though tha report* may be true, it will no doubt be accepted with caution. While waiting- for further eonfirmiitictn and still keep interest ifi the theme, visit the dress department of C. Smith, Ltd., and Bee tho new fabrics that are tc be worn for tho spring and summer season, one of the latest being a striped Dir.cctoire Balm in navy, peacock, Danube, etc., at 17s od tho robe. Special prominence will be given a line of plain Direotoire satin, a rtibUt desirable weave for this season, 15s, in n*vy, reseda, Copenhagen, efft.— Advt