NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 43, 16 June 1896, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAMS.

GENERAL ITEMS. Arciir..«.\r>, -Tune 1-~. At ;t meeting of the T'';ides and Labor Council, held with r>. ii*=l to the proposed reduction of miners' wages on the West tlie Council resolved 'I ii;ft this Council offers its hearty support. to the Reefron Miners' I"nion in taking a stand against a reduction of v.'i'i,"from 10s to Ns hi per shift, feeling assured ih< iv never was a time in the history of the goldlie'ds v. iien there could have been loss warrant for such reduction. This Council lrnks upon this attempt as an instalment of what may be expect": 1 in future from English and foivignliell gold-mining companies in New Zealand, and hope-; the miner of Reeftoil will resist it at the outset and successfully." It was also resolved to forward the following resolution to the Minister of Mines on the subject —" This Council deplores the action of the gold-mining syndicate on the West Coast in their contemplated intention of reducing the rate of miners' wages in that part of the colony, and requests the Minister of Mines to take into his favorable consideration the appeal of the West Coast miners already forwarded to the Government." Wellington. -Tune 15. 11.M.5. Katoomba, with the disabled war.-hip Rapid in tow, left yesterday morning for Lyttelton, where the latter vessel will be docked fer repairs. The returns from forty-six of the principal telegraph offices for the period Nth to 14th -Tune inclusive. give the following results :—Ordinary telegrams 2>>,sON, value i'los-i ; urgent telegrams 1,5/50. value £l4/5. Compared with the business done by the same otfices during the period Ist to 7th, exclusive of Sunday, there is an increase in the number of ordinary telegrams of 10 per cent., and an increase of 01 per cent, in the number of urgent telegrams. The total revenue from both ordinary and urgent telegrams decreased by 1 per cent, compared with the May period. Upwards of £l5O has been subscribed as a result of two days' canvass for a band contest to be held here during the exhibition. CurusTOTinu'H, .Tune 15. A seven-roomed house in Tuam Street, occupied by Mrs Moore, and owned by Mr S. Collett, was destroyed by fire. D<*nki>in\ June 15. The Rugby Union to-night decided definitely to -end a team to the North, and appointed a sub-committee to frame alternative programme-, one providing for a Northern tour before the Queensland team, and the other after the visit of the latter to Pnnedin. At a public meeting convened by the W.C.T.U., the following resolution was passed : " That this minting, while thoroughly approving of the national free system of education, is of opinion that the exclusion of the Hible from the State schools of the colony indicts a great wrong 14)011 the vouth of New Zealand, and tends to produce results disastrous to the State. It is further of opinion that the exclusion of the Bible is offensive to the majority of the people of the land, and it therefore calls upon the Government either to amend the present Education Act so a< to allow of the daily reading of the r-ible in public schools, with the provision of a conscience clause, or to submit the question to the householders of the colony at the next election of school committees." :