Page 6 Advertisements Column 4

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 79, 5 April 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL, * The reclamation of the Hauraki Plains, in the Auckland district, formerly known as the Piako Swamp, has been carried on so successfully that about the middle of May an area of some 17,000 acres will be opened for public competition on the optional system, tho tections varying iii area from 50 to 350 acres. Thj total area of the swamp is between 80,000 and 90,000 acres, and the idea is that some two or three thousand acres of additional land shall be made available for selection every six months or so. To carry out the reclamation, 170 miles of drains have been cut, radiating from the main canal, which is about fifteen miles in length, 40ft wide, and of a depth sufficient to carry a Priestman dredge. This main canal will serve as the means of communication for the settlers on the block. Both from an engineering and land for settlement point of view the progress of the scheme of reclamation has been watched during the past two and a-half years with great interest, and it is anticipated that there will be a large number of applicants for the various sections. His Majesty the King has, in consequence of representations mad© by the New Zealand Government, approved of the judges of the Supreme Court of the Dominion bearing in future the title of "Honourable" throughout the whole of the British Empire. This will also apply to those retired judges who have already received permission to bear the title of "Honourable" within the Dominion. The annual meeting of householders for the election of school committees will be held on Monday, the 25th inst. The formal winding-up meeting of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company will be held at the Chamber of Commerce on the 25th inst. Mr. R. A. P^ke, who has repurchased the Bruce Herald, has sold the Waikato Independent to Messrs. T. H. Willsone and A. E. Havelock-Green. The examinations held under the direction of the New Zealand Pharmacy Board will take place at the Chamber of Commerce on the 20th, 21st a and 22nd inst. The first sod of the new East Coast railway will be turned by the Minister of Public Works at Tauranga early next week. In connection with the work, it is proposed to constitute a new public works district, to be known as the Tauranga district, and it will be in charge of Mr. G. L. Cook, at present district engineer at Stratford. Mr. C. J. M'Kenzie, assistant engineer, has been promoted to the position of resident engineer at Stratford. Mr. S. J. Harding, assistant engineer at Nelson, has been promoted to the position of resident engineer. Among tne questions likely to come before th© City Council at its next meeting on Thursday evening is the improvement of the corner between Cuba and Manners streets. When Mr. George Winder's prernit.es on the opposite corner wero rebuilt- the shaipness of the turn was removed by cutting off the point of the angle. As a result of an interview with the Wesleyan trustees, owners of the property on the south-west corner of the <;ros»ing the Mayor will again bring the matter before the Finance Committee, which is likely to result in definite proposals beiug submitted to the council. Notice has been given by Councillor Devine to move at the next meeting of the City Council : — "That this council considers the time has fully arrived when -a general railway station adequate to the requirements of Wellington and suburbs should be erected by the Government in a suitable position in the city ; that the co-operation of tJie adjoining borough councils, the Chamber of Commerce, other local tepresentative bodies and leading citizens generally be sought with the view of uniting with the council in making a vigorous representation to the Government on tho subject." The death of Mr. John Jones, of "Thornleigh," Baulcott-street, occurred on Sunday. Tho deceased was born in Staffordshire 65 years ago, and arrived in Canterbury with his parents when he was 18 years of age. He lived in Christchurch for some time, and then removed to Kaikoura, wnere he married. H© carried on a contracting business in the latter district until ten years ago, when he came up to Wellington with his wife and family. For the past two years he had been in indifferent health, but had been confined lo bed fov only a week before his death. He has left a widow and a family of two sons (Messrs. Bert and Edwin Jones) and five daughtcis, two of whom are married (Mrs. Tj. Anderson a.nd Mrs.. Wm. Hill).