LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 81, 3 October 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A sequel to the accident to Mr. W. Cable and. his son, near the Tborndon Esplanade, on the 13th September, -was shown at the Magistrate's Court this morning, before Mr. W. G. Riddeil, S.M., when Charles Harris was prosecated. by the police for unlawfully obstructing the free passage of persons passing along Thorndon Esplanade by placing a wire rope across the road. Defendant admitted the charge. S«b-In-spector Norwood detailed the circumstances of the accident, and stated thai the information was laid under the Public Works Act. Harris was employed' as foreman for the contractors at the reclamation works, and the wire, stretching across the road, was six feet off the ground. It cut Mr. Cable, sen., across the face, and injured two others who were also travelling in the motor-car. No warning was given to vehicles, nor was there any one on the look-out while the wire was stretched across the road. Defendant stated that the derrick to ■which the wire rope was attached bad been left for only ten minutes; ( be himself and three other men were 'on the look-out when Mr. Cable's car came sharply round the corner from the Kaiwarraroad, though at the particular moment he was looking the other way. Harris was convicted and fined 20s, with costs 15s, default of payment being 48 hours' imprisonment. In opening the Academy of Arts Exhibition on Saturday, Lady Islington told a funny little story against the "impressionist" school. A Frenchman, she said, made a bet that he would have accepted a picture painted by a donkey. He succeeded in tying a brush to the tail of a donkey, and placing a canvas where, paint-laden, the brush could reach it, .he tickled the donkey's nose with a thistle, and when the experiment was completed, it was dubbed a seascape, and as such was accepted by the authorities, who were very angry when they learned of the trick that had been played upon them. Sir Joseph Ward was interviewed j this afternoon by a deputation which directed his attention to certain difficulties that had occurred in connection with a. piece of land at Marton, which many years ago was given, to the Rechabites. All the original trustees were dead, and it was considered that it would be better to appoint new trustees by legislation. Sir Joseph Ward said he would undertake to see that the difficulty was got over in a Bill. The life-saving reel and accessories ordered from Sydney by the Wellington Amateur Swimming Club have arrived here, and will shortly be installed afc Lyall Bay. On the whole, the opening of the fishing season was not remarkable for any large bags, but this is mainly attributable to the weather, rather than any lack of fish. The best bags on record appear to have been on on the Mungaroa, where 48 fish were landed by two anglers in two days. Wadka-nae and AkataraVwa were not in good order, evidently owing to rain at the higher levels. The "takes" from the Hutt were also disappointing. The largest reported was seven fish, all small. "It seems to us," comments the Feilding Star, "that the law rather strained its sense of justice when the Magistrate at Hawera fined Puna, a Maori nurse, £10 for an alleged j-ractice of tohungaism. We think that, under the circumstances, a fine of 10s would have met the case, for it was proved that Puna had done really good work amongst her people as a nurse. It was charged against her that she consulted the spirits of her dead sisters in the treatment of sick natives; yet it was shown that when a case was beyond her knowledge, Puna sent for the pakeha doctor. It is strange that the police should prosecute a Maori woman who is doing much good amongst her own people and yet allow white folks who are practising upon the credulity of the general public to do it openly. Wo are not apologists for tohungaism, but we do not see why a useful nurse should bs so heavily fined whilst she is doing good work." ''The man from the country" loomed large in a discussion among delegates at the V.M.C.A. Conference to-day. How to get hold of him, how to pick him oxit in a crowd, and .how to discover where he is to be found, ware some of the problems that the existence of his species brought up. Certain delegates had been urging the necessity of paying increased attention to the arrivals from oversea, when another member led those present into a different train of thought with an earnest exhortation "to get hold of the man from the back-blocks, who presents a far greater problem than the immigrant." At certain times, continued the speaker, men flocked from rural to urban districts, and the only hospitality offering was that of a cheap boairdinghouse. Tho back-blocks man, unless he came into contact with some refining influence such, aa, for instance that of the V.M.C.A., wandered aimlessly about the town, and eventually "wound-up" by a visit to a publichouse, or some other rendezvous where the companionship was not of the honest quality. According to a visiting delegate, a good idea woulo. be for the V.M.C.A. officials to make friends of the public boardingbouse-keepers, with the idea of being posted with the rews ' of any new arrival from the country..! Nothing definite was done in the matter. Hand-knitted sports coat in green heather mixtures, belted plain collar and finishings, at 455. Kirkcaldie and $fcaias, Ltd.— Advfc.

A Press Association message mentions that the nine-ton yawl Pandora, bonnd around the wodd, left Auckland vaster-, -day for Pitcairn and Easter Islands. Waitara-'s new high-pressure watee) supply was satisfactorily turned on to-, ■day (according to a Press Association, telegram). The installation cofili £16,000. There are at present twenty-three men, -and two women in the indeterminato sentence prisoners' wing of the Newi Plymouth Prison, says the Taeanaki News. The conduct of the "indeterrßTnafces" in gaol is reported to be very good, much better than the conduct o£ ordinary long-sentence prisoners. Practice wickets were available oa Saturday at the Basin Reserve for tho. first time this season, and fliere was alarge attendance of players. J. V. Saunders was in attendance, and had a turn at each net, giving batsneo. some idea of his attack. The aecsoa will open, it is anfckapeted, next Saterdaj) with cup matches. "Wha* is yonr idea of the speed of the Hutt team?' 4 asked coonseJ erf a hostile witness during the hearing of a •case in the Lowe? Court to-day, when a yoong man wbs charged •with riding •a, motor-bicycle-at an excessive speed, and witness had instituted a oonipsnsoD with defendant's rate and that of the suburban train. "Oh, I suppose about thirty-five to forty miles an boar," was the naive reply, to the accompaniment ■of ironical laughter among the coarfc loungers. "It is the easiest thing out to rush four or five hundred new members iato a V.M.C.A. buflding," sadd Mr. J. J. Virgo on Saturday, "but it is another thing to keep ttem there." It was when the first twelve months of their membership had expired, he added, that large numbers of men were inclined to drop out and not renew. It was here tint the need for proper organisation extttod. Past experience went to tfcow that the most difficult man to get to come along to the Y.M.O.A. was the person who joined the society on a previous occasion, only to be eventoafly allowed to drift away from its ranks. Much good would, he believed, accrue from a ays* tematised campaign for membership. Standing orders govern tfce procedora of any deliberate body and that body has to abide by them. In the case of the City Council, the standing orders have frequently drawn from the Mawor (Mr. T. M. Wtfford) whimsical comments on their character and constitnfcion. He has described them as unique in Mb ex-i perience. Now, at last, they have been, revised and amended to bring them, into line with modern procedure. In this form they have b«en referred to Jfa. Ofc. terson, Cleric of the House of Repre^ ■seniatives, for expert criticism and review. It is expected that they ■wtifl. do something to facilitate the proceedings of municipal government and enable 9xn conaalfcatrve work to be despatched by a> reasonable hour of the evening. A Minister oi the Crown, the Bjon, R. M'Kesnie, had a> shot or two ati the State town of Botorna on Sa&tsds^, when a deputation from, the Hot Lakes district was petitioning for a railajray. He was glad to know, he remarked, that Boiorna intended doing something for itself. For years they had been living on the rest of the taxpayers. "No," interjected a depufcationist. "I ■would like to know how much you pay in Tates," retorted Mt. M'Kenzie, I propose to give you an opportunity this year of doing something for yourselwes» Rotorua will be put back into the T*uxanga county or it will have to form. >a ntow county. Mr. Raw said that fh« Minister overlooked the indirect benefit which Rotorua did for the rest of the country. But for Rotorua thousands of people who now come to New Zealand would never visit here. "That is all very well," declared the Minister. "Thousands of people come to Wellington who nevex go to Rotorua, and Wellington has to maintain its own roads.* 1 ' Success would probably attend all athletic bodies were they to follow th« precepts laid down by the Wellington. Amateur Swimming Club in the concluding words of the report to be submitted to the annual meeting week. After remarking on the general prosperity enjoyed, the report says :— "The club has to-day reached a position it has never before attained. It is due (1) to haj-d work by officials, (2) to the splendid feeling existing amongst all its members, and (3) to the special endeavour made to make new members (particularly strangers), and junior members feel that they were amongst swimmers who desired to welcome them within their ranks, make them feel that they had known us all for years; in short, to make them re'aliso that membership of the club, was a real pleasure in every sense of the word. We have set ourselves a high standard, we must h>e up to it, and when our time comes to 'mark time' and make way for the younger men, we shall look back to those days as marking one of the most enjoyable periods in our lives." The Taita Cemetery Trustees have d«-^ cided that it is better for the management of the cemetery to continue underits present control. Endeavours h»v« been made to shift the responsibility ok to the shoulders of the various local bodies interested, but without success. Oa» of the main paints in connection, with tho proposed change of control, use: "That the controlling parties b© bound by agreement to continue to contribute towards the upkeep cf the o6metery for a term of five years before being entitled to withdraw from such joint control." To this clause in the suggested agreement, the Petone Borough Council decidid to extend its approval, but the Hntt Borough Council adopted another attitude, declining to ratify it. The latter body held that parties to the cemetery control mu&t be parties for all time. No settlement ha-ving been arrived at, the system of central will remain unaltered, and the three ceuncils m the valley are to be asked to vote a sum towards the maintenance of the cemetery. According to the statement submitted at the last meeting of the trustees, the total deficiency on the working of the cemetery at present amounts to £15 17s. About fifty members of the Loyal Orange Institution attended the Thorndon Methodist Church last night. An appropriate sermon was preached by th* Rev. T. Fee. Shortly after noon on Saturday the Fir© Brigade was called to Hollowayroad, Mitchelltown, where an outbreak occurred in a four-roomed dwelling, occupied by Mr. Albert Cooley and owned by Mr. David Andrews. The kitchen and contents were" rather badly damaged before the brigade arrived, but the flames were then promptly suppressed. The building is insured in the South Britieh, office j the furniture was not insured. Never travel without checking you* t >a g?age throuffh us. It costs no morej* saves all trouble. Wo collect, check, deliver immediately at other end. The K.Z. Express Co., Ltd. — AdvtThe Harbour Board is to be congratulated on haring arrived at a solution of the dock problem, for the present, at any rate, though the question will doubtlea have to be faced again at no very distant date. Another problem which concerns many Wellington ladies is: "Where can ; the best value be obtained whoa gloves are required?" C. Smith, Ltd.. can promptly solve this. They *re now chowing- a special purchase of kid gloves, tans and browns, at 2s 6d per pair, and tans, white, brown, beaver, at 2s lid. Theso a-re grand value, and should be seen, at once in the glove department at C. Smith's, Ltd., Cuba-street.— Advt,

THE £tOO,OOO LOAN. tORIWATER-MAIN DUPLICATION Inierriewed to-day as to the present Dositicn of the Wainui main duplication scheme and the £100,000 loan, the Mayor (Mr. T. M. WiKord) stated that the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton} had all matters connected with it well in hand, and in a very short time would be prepared to announce the date for the commencement of the work. In regard to the loan, Mr. "Wilford said he wao not in a position to give particulars of the offers received at present, but the details would be made public after consideration by the Finance Committee and council.