LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 140, 10 December 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Members of both branches of the Legislature spent a busy day yesterday. In the House of Representatives the Naval Defence Bill, which went through its committee and final stages, produced some interesting discussions relating to "our Dreadnought" and naval bases. The Friendly Societies Bill was read a second time, on the understanding that the clause relating to actuarial valuations being required before registration shall be dropped. The Land for Settlements Administration Bill and the Naval Defence Bill were both debated at considerable length on their third reading stages. After the supper adjournment members did not display very much interest in the proceedings. Twenty (out of eighty) is a quorum, and on one occasion — which lasted for quite a long time — the attendance dropped to fifteen. In the Legislative Council the Shipping and Seamen Bill almost completed its progress through committee, and, after an interesting debate, the Land Settlements Finance Bill was read a second' time. The postal authorities advise that the Wimmera, which left Sydney on Wednesday for Auckland, has on board an English and Australian mail for Wellington, which is due here by the Main Trunk Express from Auckland on Monday afternoon next. Holiday fares on the Miramar trams were discussed at last night's meeting of the Miramar Borough Council. The subject was introduced by Councillor Muir, who moved that all fares on the borough lines be 2d on public holidays. Mr. C. J. Crawford (Mayor) objected to the proposal. .He pointed out that the Maranui line was being thrown open, and the city was bringing the sectian into prominence, and would make every effort to make it a success. The line would attract the same class of people as would travel to Seatoun, and if the fares were increased on the latter line the traffic would be lost to a great extent. He moved as an amendment that the fares on public holidays be 2d to Miramar North and Id to Seatoun. It was considered that the traffic on the former line would not be affected by the imposition of an extra penny. It was also explained that the Miramar line was half a mile longer than the Seatoun route. The amendment was carried on Mr. Crawford's casting vote. ' Good news for householders who dwell on high levels will be found in the information that storage tanks for water are to' be provided in their vicinities during the present ' summer. One has ' been completed this week, in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens, and a beginning is to be made at once with the building of one in Nairn-street Reserve. The cause of water shortage on fie higher levels is the persistent drain on the water mains which is experienced in the business portions of the city during business hours. Through the early morning and late evening there is an abundant pressure, which sends the water to the highest levels, and it is in order to take fullest advantage of this opportunity for remedy that the city engineer has induced the council to have the reserve tanks built. Mr. Morton's scheme is to have tanks so constructed that the water will flow into them by gravitation, and be retained there while the outside pressure continues but when the mains become empty, or comparatively so, a stopper will be released automatically, and the reserve in the tanks will replenish the supply in the pipes. As these reservoirs will have a capacity of about 40,000 gallons, tho inconveniences at present caused by lack of water in some parts of the city are likely to become only matters of memory in the course of a month or two. An inspection by the Public Works . Department of the Lyell Bay tramway is to be made on Wednesday of next week, and it is intended to have an official opening of the line next day. The occasion is to be made one of speech-making and celebration. The next tramway construction work to be undertaken by the city will be the deviation line from Molesworth-street by way of Charlotte-street to Tinakori-road, but it is unlikely that this will be begun before February next. By an Order-in-Council the sittings of the Court of Appeal are to be held in Wellington next year on 4th April, 4th July, and 3rd October, sittings to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday hours are to be observed on Christmas Day on the Miramar tramway route. At last night's meeting of the Borough Council it was decided to adopt the same decision as the city, and to charge double .ordinary fares.The Native Land Court opened a sitting in Wellington yesterday, after having just concluded a four months' session in Wanganui. Judge Rawson presided at the sitting here yesterday, when a number of transfers and succession cases were dealt with. The court sitting again to-day. With their new works at Kaiwarra rapidly approaching completion, Messrs Cable and Co. are dismantling their foundry on Waterloo-quay. A considerable portion of the end nearest Lambton Railway Station has already gone, and the reßt 'will be attacked as soon as opportunity permits.

In future meetings of the Wellington Land Board will be held on the lasf Thursday in the month. Reports on tho rural lands of Wesl* land, and on the rural lands of South* land, appear in the Gazette this week. In reply to an application by th« Inspector of Awards for an interpretation of clause 1 of the Wellington Plumbers' Award, 1907, his Honour Mr. Justice Sim has decided that roof metal work does not include the fixing of cotrugated iron on roofs of buildings. Burglars got less than they hoped foil when they broke into the premises o£ the Wellington Cleaning Company last night, for, after forcing the lock of a cupboard and scattering the contents about the premises, they secured only a shillingsworth of stamps by way of pluni der. The Minister of Railways, replying to the protest of the Chamber of Com-, merce against the non-stopping of thS Main Trunk trains at Feilding, 6ays there is "misapprehension," as it is only, the extra Trunk trains that are on the provisional non-stop list. Feilding wants the "misapprenhension" removed by deeds, telegraphs our local correspondent. x The City Council's new fire motor-can is expected here early in the New Year. This will enable a car to be kept in reserve at the central station. Councillor Ballinger, in replying to a deputation from Kilbirnie to the Fire Brigade Committee last night, stated that recently one of the cars was in the repair shopa for over a week. Fortunately, its services were not required during that time, but on the very day it was returned to the station it was called to a fire. A muster of 328 was recorded at lasii night's parade of the Wellington Rifia Battalion. Guards were posted "at vari-. oiis parts of the city, and subsequently Lieut-Colonel Duthie and staff made a round of the posts. The best company muster was that of the City Rifles, who paraded 50 strong. The Guards had 30, Kelburne Rifles 30, Pest and Telegraph Rifles 40,- College Rifles 25, Zealandia Rifles 45, Highland Rifles 44, Civil Service Rifles 42, Cycle Corps 17, and staff 5. When asked by counsel, at the Auckland Supreme Court, to fix a case for hearing on the last day before the long vacation, his Honour Mr. Justice Ed-v wards said he must positively refuse. The Herald reports that in commenting on the pressure of work thrown on the Judges in New Zealand, especially in the North Island, his Honour said that the labour of Judges in New Zealand, as compared with the Old Country, was increased by the fact that they, had to know everything, there being no specialising, as obtained in Great Britain. , At last night's social held by tfhe Missions to Seamen, Mr. James Moore confessed that in all his travels he had never seen such strongly-developed nomadic habits as are possessed by the people of New Zealand. Large numbers of the inhabitants of these islands, he said, are constantly wandering ; here one, day and gone the next. Even his own workers are often suddenly missed, and he finds that they 'have gone north or\ south, or may be are on ' the' way ta Sydney. No other country could show such a stream of travellers in proportion to the population as New Zealand. In a communication .to his Excellency^ the Governor, Lord Crewe, referring to previous despatches enclosing the regulations which have been approved for tha award of long-service medals to men of the Royal Naval Reserve, states that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have decided that the restriction of the award of long service medals to mea who were on the active list on Ist Jann-i ary, 1908, is to' be removed. The medals will therefore be awarded to any men living at the present time who satisfy the other conditions respecting length of service. Regarding a draft agreement for* warded by the Wellington Gas Company to the Miramar Borough ■Council in, connection with the proposal to lay tram rails from the Muamar WnaTf to the (boundary of the company's property, the Mayor (Mr. C. J. Crawford) at last t night's meeting of the Borough Council, explained that the council would lay the rails. A license, which would not be exclusive, would be granted to tha company for 21 years. The tramway would be used for the carriage of coals, and also for the use of any other in-i dustry that might be established in tha borough. Discussion an ' the full terms of the agreement was deferred. Mr. Vernon Reed, jnember for Bay, of Islands, is moving in the direction, of having certain historic ground at Waitangi purchased and set aside as a reserve by the Crown. The site in question is an area of between five and ten acres, and contains the historic residence of the first British settler in New Zealand, the late Mr. John Busby's. The house still stands, and the adjacent ground is the exact spot where most of the signatures were secured to the famous -Treaty of Waitangi. The full facts of the case have been put before the Hon. T. Mackenzie (Minister in charge of tourist resorts) by Mr. Reed, and Cabinet now has the matter under consideration. In the course of his remarks at the Missions to Seamen social last evening, Mr. Poole, M.P., gave an interesting dissertation on the meaning of the word "shanghaied" — a term of dread import to all self-respecting sailors. He reminded those of his hearers who had read "The Grain Carriers" of Mr. Noble's realistic description of how an overloaded and unseaworthy ship at San Franciscohad been supplied with a crew of a dozen or so of drugged men, who broke out in open mutiny when they awoke to their true situation. "It amounts to the stealing of men," remarked M-\ Poole, and he explained bow men had been rendered insensible and bundled on board a ship wanting hands by unscrupulous crimps, who fraudulently secured advance money and any premium offered for procuring seamen. Even dead men had been put into a ship's forecastle to supply the article requirements. The "shanghaied" man gets little to eat, and draws little or no money wages at the end of the voyage. There are still some doubts as to the value of the steam turbine in all but special branches of marine propulsion. It has been successful in the high-speed warship, the cross-Channel and transAtlantic ferry boat, and also as an auxiliary third screw economiser of lowpressure steam in long-distance ocean voyages. The Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company is contemplating its application to the ordinary tramp steamer, and with that object in view is conducting experiments. The company has purchased the steamer Vespasian and tested her steam and coal consumption with her triple-expansion recriproeatins; engines. These have been removed, and are to be replaced by turbine machinery which will be similarly tested. Data will thus be obtained to settle the question of the most suitable arrangement of the turbine for the commercial ■ tramp. If the experiment pioves a success, it snould be the beginning of • another revolution in steamship design and construction.

Experiments with a view to reducing the cost of the fire alarm system are being carried on at the Central- Fire Brigade Station. It is hoped that the cost -will be reduced by two-thirds. The local fruit marts were to-day replenished with bananas, brought from Suva by the Navua yesterday afternoon. There were 6622 cases and 1570 bunches in the shipment, as well as forty-three cases of pineapples. A Gazette notice states that the New Zealand Surveyors' Board, in conjunction with the Australian Surveyors* Board, will hold examinations for licenses to survey on 7th March next. The examination will be held at the Dominion Museum. According to the Auckland Herald, only one candidate has entered for nomination from the Auckland province for the Rhodes Scholarship this year. The Professorial Board of the Auckland University College is to meet to-day to make the nomination, and this will be forwarded on to Wellington, to be considered with nominations from other provinces. Non-observance of closing hours was responsible for several cases heard by Mr. Riddell, S.M., to-day. For failing to close his shop at 8 p.m. Arthur Hobson, chemist, was fined 20s, with costs 7s. Two Chinese — Chow Kee and Joe Lee Bros. — for selling cigarettes after the time fixed for the closing of tobacconists' shops, were each fined 10s with costs 7s. Sydney Drqmgool and Co., mercers, who failed "to close their shop at 9 p.m., were fined 20s, with costs 7s. As a sequel to a recent street collision, Julian Allan, the driver of a taxicab, was called upon in the Magistrate's Court to answer a charge of driving a motor-car round a -corner at other than a walking pace. Defendant pleaded not guilty. In evidence it was stated that defendant drove round the Taranaki-street-Vivian-street intersection at a rate of about seven, or eight miles an hour, and in rounding the corner the motorcar collided with a tramcar. In defence it was contended that the pace was slower than alleged, and that the collision was slight. The magistrate was of the opinion that there was some doubt about the matter and accordingly he dismissed the information. Mr. Daniel Grove, whose father was a battery-owner at the Thames in the early days, and a member of the Auckland Provincial Council, has been elected first president of the South African Union Club, which has been formed to promote the union of the white race throughout South Africa. In a letter to Mr. AY. J. Napier, of Auckland, Mr. Grove, who was born in Auckland and educated at the Thames, says :—": — " This country is on the eve of vast developments, both with regard to mining, agriculture, and stock fanning, and I think that in ten years' time the last trace of racial animosity will have disappeared through the intelligent awakening of all classes to a sense of the importance of a united nationality." As recorded in our telegrams last night, the Jiyttelton Navals yesterday morning, in competitive practice with a six-pounder quickfirer, established a record for the Dominion in rapid fire, with a high percentage of hits. Of twenty shots, eighteen made hits, and the whole of the series was fired in 49sec. In connection with this feat a very interesting reason is given for the rapidity of the fireing, telegraphs our Chnstchurch correspondent. One of the members of the gun crew who was told off to place cartridges in the guns is a left-handed man, and it is stated that the fact that ho worked with the opposite hand to the opposite members of the crew gave him greater freedom of action, and so enabled him to work more quickly. Amongst the present visitors to New Zealand is Mr. W. A. Pillers, of the Keynsham Stud, Bristol, England. Speaking to a Waikato Times representative last week he said that he was so much impressed with the management of the Ruakura State Farm that he intended to induce his son to come out from Home and study New Zealand agricultural methods there. Asked as to the difference between farming in England and Xow Zealand, Mr. Pillers said that there was an idea in the colonial mind that Englishmen were unable to farm. He wanted to put that right. There were farmers in England as good as any in the world, who knew exactly how to go about their business. The crux of the position between this and the Old Country was the increasing value of real estate. A man might buy a farm for £5000 in England and farm it half his life. At the end of that time it would still be worth £5000, but with the same amount of money and same work for the same time tho farmer in New Zealand would be much better off; his land would be worth five or ten times the sum originally paid. "That is the difference," he said in concluding, "a difference in the increasing value of teal estate:" Xmas parcels for abroad. Get us to forward them. Our , service is' most reliable. We pack in cases and send direct by steamer. The New Zealand express Co.. Ltd.— Advt. The business man, the working man, the large and small land owner, have been seriously thinking of the radical changes to be brought about should the present Budget go through the House this session. That the Budget will please the majority or the minority is a debatable question, but wo have no hesitation in saying that the ladieir of Wellington would be amply repaid by inspecting a line of white embroidered blouses now on display at C. Smith's, Ltd., Cuba-street. These new and desirable goods have just arrived direct from London for tho New Zealand holiday season. White muslin blouses trimmed embroidery and tuck 6, now designs, 3s lid, 4s 6d; cream delaino blouses, tucked and turn-down collars, 6s 6d; cool and comfortable for summer wear. — Advt. # During tho next few weeks ladies will have an opportunity of securing' smart costumcß and dresses at special reductions C. Adams and Co., 108-110, Cuba-street, announce that Us 6d will purchase a tweed costume. Special attention is also drawn to the milinery, underclothing, and corset departments. — Advt. Messrs. Levien^Shallcrass and Co. will hold a sale at the Central Auction Rooms to-morrow, commencing at 11 a.m. Several gold watches and a Yost typewriter\ will be sold without reserve, to wind up a deceased person's 1 estate, and a quantity of greenstone goods, electroplate, jewellery, etc., will be disposed of. At Messrs James Smith's to-morrow, 2000 yards of new cambrics and prints are to be sold at a special price. An electric light display will be made at The New House this evening-. Under instructions from Messrs. C. H. Harris and Co., Messrs. A. L. Wilson and Co. will hold a sale on. Tuesday, commencing at 11 a.m., of furniture, particulars of which.- arc- advertised in this issue. Reductions in costumes and millinery form the subject of a business announcement in this issue by Messrs. C Adams End Co. An auction sale of boots and shoes will bfe held by Messrs. Pearson and Co., Manners-street, to-morrow afternoon. Ladies' summer shoes in tail styles aro specially advertised by Messrs. R. Hannah and Co., Ltd., Lambton^quay and Cuba-street. To-morrow at 1 o'clock Messrß. J. W. Braithvvaito and Co. will hold a sale of furniture at their City Auotion Mart. Dressing tables, duohesse chests, Italian brass bedsteads, etc., are includpd in the crt-'ogue.