LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11366, 8 May 1900, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

rilE R.M.s. Moana is due from San Francisco to-day with the English mails which left London on April 7. The colonial mailswhich left Auckland by the R.M.s. Alameda on April 16, reached San Francisco on Friday last, time-table date. The colonial mails which left Melbourne by the R.M.s. Ormu* on April 4 were delivered in London on Saturday last, one day early. The police domiciliary visits to the premises of householders is 'still going on. They have just about finished die North Ward, and it is expected to he completed to-day, when the East Ward inspection will be jjoue on with, and then the South Ward will taker, in hand. The police have been inspecting tilt; Ponsonby and Karangahape Ward , districts. The* cases yesterday before the Police Court, and in which the defendants were fined, arose out of the police visits.

There have been over a score of dwellings condemned by the authorities in Auckland! five have been pulled down in Swansoii and Lome Streets; one in Newton has been repaired to the satisfaction of the Court; in two other cases the properties have changed bands, and the ownership will have to be further investigated. In two oilier cases it has been notified that if the buildings are repaired to tie satisfaction of the health authorities, that wili suffice. In the case M Mrs. Winifred Dervan, who was stated to have a cottage objected to, it has been ascertained that Mrs. Dervau's property in Ade-laide-street is a vacant section, consequent the medical men must have been misinformed as to the ownership of the cottage. "l most of the cases, no replies have been received to the orders given, but in the event of their not being attended to, further proceedings will be instituted through tie, Court.

Now that the weather is becoming broken, the attendance at the Free Library and pewr, room bolow is steadily increasing.' The con-, veniences provided are keenly appreciate* not only as regards tho literature provided, but in games which are permitted to be W. dulgcd in—chess, draughts, etc.—which enable some men to while away the evening s . in a very pleasant and recreative manner. Yesterday Mr. A. E. Glover received. information from Rarotonga that the mm do not intend to ship any more fruit » Auckland unless on the understanding »» they will be paid in British gold.'» X alleged that though payments are made » Auckland in gold, they have been trpMffig to the natives in Chilian coin, which h.'3 many years been eo'mmqn in the I slauds - A "• is intended to bring the matter : under "" notice of the Chamber of Commerce. v-.^

, K^^ have become so much accustomed I fe n 'Sence of the water being shut ;'| 9 {i -u that for sour- weeks there lias i 'te»£?co-"'nt regarding the [LJt <>n - _„„ tU „ experiment was A>. riei'it'-mlf- thought that a few nights -■•' :^S' the city ' over the dry season. ?■■ WJAhms the tolerably steady ram -•' Kot *IS it B«d not affected the Western MSffit was the best day's rainfall, p - : S P nn? «tlv ' that we have had this year. No : spr iTil citv authorities will be better able >- dO ' J i o .its benefit to-day. as it takes ■-a '? iv 94 hours' time for the rain to pereofSoSSrings; Ho far, during the past ; at L, the record has not been encourag- . ■ There was not the saving last Saturday ' in Sj SiirdaT which might have been antici- '"?■| and til" week's consumption exceeded -Water supply, by a quarter of a million lt !„n notwithstanding that the city supIS cut off each night, It was thought mW.t .i,„ Western Springs had reached bed- §{ Sen the inflow got down to 1.600.000 '-2linns daily, but the water pumped lias £ Sen to under 1,400.000 gallons daily | l • ,|[ sources, and it was contemplated i one time to make further restrictions. I Sic readings' of the rain-gauge are taken in M morm v at the Museum, and it will be ' .Sown this morning the total rainfall of yesSrday As soon as the state of the Wes- ■ Springs will justify it, it is intended to I Store! the water-power for using the lifts L' the warehouses. The preliminary arl••• Snaeinents for the auxiliary water supply • from Canty's and Henderson Creeks are now :■•' ear ing completion, and it is expected that Morrow the Waterworks Committee of the ' Cjij Council will resolve to call for tenders \ ; for'pumps. '

,)n Saturday afternoon a lad named Dare, of Mount Pleasant. Thames, was accidentally shot in the arm and ribs by his brother. Jrho fis 'shooting at sparrows, The sufferer tf as"at oncg placed under Dr. Lapraik's treatment. The wounds are not of a very lerious character.

'A petition signed by 43 nurses, was sent to'the Hospital Board yesterday, expressing deep regret at the resignation of the medical superintendent. Dr. Baldwin, and asking the Board; if possible, to endeavour to induce him "to reconsider his determination to leave us."

: So lion'/is-it to get carpenters at present en the West Coast or' the South Island, owing to so many being employed building pontoons for dredges, that one contractor on the'Buller River, uho is paying the men he has" from 12 s to 14s per day, recently expressed his willingness (the Press says) to pay 18s per day to experienced shipwrights from Olago.'

Aypun/man named Ernest Neaber, who is serving a- month's imprisonment in Mount Eden Gaol, for escaping from the custody of (he police, will be token to Ptipakura this morning to answer a charge preferred against bun at that township.

The Auckland Charitable Aid Board spend about £11 per month on tobacco for the inmates of the Old Men's Home at Epsom. gome of the old dames are also, it is stated, similarly indulged in snuff.

i A man named Win. Ecdeston was admitted to /the Thames Hospital last night, suffering from severe gash on the left foot, which he accidentally inflicted with an axe while .engaged in working in the Matatoke busli." ,

A meeting of the Newmarket Borough Council was held last evening in the Borough Ghainoers, Newmarket, at which the representatives of the Electric Tramway Company were present, with Mr. W. Coleman, solicitor for the company, and Mr. S. Hesfceth, solicitor for the Council. Nothing definite was agreed to as regards the points in dispute, pending the arrival of Mr. Bingham. It'may,,however) bo stated that Mr. Hanten accepted the Council's proposal regarding workmen's,cars, but subject to Mr. Bing- '(• ham's approval.

' The Church' of St. Joseph, Helensville, ■ was opened and dedicated last Sunday. The ..re-erection and renovation was placed in Mr. llecroft's h'ands, and tiie work was successfully carried out. The sacred edifice now occupies a frontal position on Commer- ; rial Road, having been enlarged by the : addition'of a sacristy and porch. For the occasion, the interior of the church was tastefully .decorated. The Very Rev. Dean O'Reilly performed the opening ceremony, .assisted by the energetic priest in charge, the * Rev. Father Brodie. A procession, in which ■ a large number of children took part, walked round the' church. After the blessing and dedication, High Mass was sung by the Rev. Father Brodie, the Dean being present in the sanctuary, The latter preached an excellent sermon, in which he very clearly explained the ceremony of the day's function, »n'd made a very effective appeal to arouse the" generosity of those present, and so lighten the burden on their fine church. The Parnell choir, under the conductorship of Miss Annie Lorrigan, rendered very efficiently the solemn music of the mass. At the evening devotions, Dean O'Reilly again preached of the Divine origin of the Catholic Church. The Dean congratulated the zealous young pastor and his congregation on the improvement effected by the removal .of the church to a central and more suitable site,' and'added that it was quite an orna- ' ment to' the township. He also thanked all those who subscribed so liberally towards the fund for carrying out these improvements. * A special collection was taken up, and the handsome sum of £50 was contributed, which leaves but £30 necessary to free the church from debt. The Roman Catholics of the district are to be congratulated upon the possession of such an ce chinch. Quite a , number of visitors from the city assisted at the ceremony.

i One of the pupils of the Chapel-street school picked up a sum of money in the street, yesterday, and with a commendable spirit '■. handed it over to the headmaster, with a view to the owner recovering the money.

Our Pacroa correspondent writes :—Mr. Small, truant officer for Auckland, has been visiting this portion of the district, and as a result a number of parents were to-day brought before the Court to answer for the non-attendance of their children at school. Fines of 2s and costs lis 6d were imposed. In the course of the proceedings Mr. 'Small remarked that he alone was responsible for bringing the cases before the Court, and though the headmasters were compelled to give evidence they Wive not to be blamed in any way for the' pro»;cutions. Messrs. J. McAmliW and Colclough, J.l'.'s, «'ho presided, intimated that these were the first rases of the kind in Ohinemuri. Heavier lines would be imposed next time, as it was disgraceful that such « Mute of affairs should «ist as had been evidenced that day. namely, children attaining the age of 11 and 12 years, without having passed any standard whatever, especially when this: country was blessed with so many educational privileges.

Some time ago the naval authorities were inclined to consider that the police authorities were not sufficiently active in tracing out anil apprehending deserters from H.M. chips ol > this station, an opinion which arose out of a considerable number ot men fr.-m H.M.s. Royalist and H.M.s. Tanranga having left * wit ships, and were not accounted for. On Reside of the police authorities it was confided that insufficient, misleading, and im- ■•■, Perfect.descriptions of deserters were furnished to tjicra, and that through the men getting away to the gumflelda, or sparsely settled country districts, the police were r: greatly handicapped in their work. It Yip pointed out that as the men got £5 from tlie . ,olonial Government, and £3 from the ship, tor every man recaptured, the police had Wry stimulus to do their duly. As a mat.ttr of fact, nianv of the men who absconded 'fom the Royalist and Tauranga, etc., have since been recaptured, showing that the .. Police authorities are alert and vigilant. - The hearing of an application by the City :,;. Wiincil for an order of the Magistrate's ■:.'-:' , ou -!'t m the demolition of a house in New- ■, l ?- condemned hv the Sanitary Commis- '• ? and owned'by Robert Sadgrovc, was ... Mm adjourned vesterday hv Mi. H. W. - ftati nt 'i I- * till Monday next. Mr. Cotter j"\ l,n K that certain repahs were being ef- '■* the ccana s ° n thc P ro Pcrty, which would meet .-■'»■" v '-V.. rt , Ve /y pleasing donation towards the '-'.-. ■ v 'Jtr i ( ' f m terrible distress in India wan ;;.;.,j,g ,a l.;«stday by Mr. Geo. Fowlds, •'--'ttiui Cilßllrcl " tllc Unmcil of Evil"- '" JfT n"'" " f Auckland. The scholars ■ : ''»;„„!■- ev °P° rt Wesloyaii Sunday-school m m gut £5 /Is 6d, and this generosity Kl dtsm ' es notice, as their prizes rewS ';tl|c successful result of a ear ' §Bfe<

In our yesterday's issue appeared a letter complaining of clerks in warehouses being overworked; and haying to work exceedingly long hours. As this was not the first letter which had been published in our columns of late upon this subject, 'we have made some inquiry into the matter, and find that Mr. Ferguson is not able to act in the matter. In the main Act, the on? passed in 1894, provision is made in the 19th clause as follows--" Offices shall be excepted from the operations of the last preceding section during two periods of four weeks each in every year, for the purpose of the half-yearly balances." No time is fixed for these periods, and of course he is unable to interfere. In the amending Act of 1896, a provision is made by which clerks are required to come back after the regular hours for three hours in each of ten days per month. No time in the month is fixed for these ten davs. and the inspector has nothing thus to guide him even though he may see an office lighted up, as it i 3 not necessary that each firm shall use the same days as another firm does. These ten davs in 'every month make 120 days in the year, together with the two periods of four weeks each for balance-making, practically making at least one-half of the year when longer hours may bo demanded from the clerks employed in commercial establishments.. If there are any real cases of hardship, Mr. Ferguson would be willing to bear of them ; and, if he deemed the cases reported breaches of the law, would set the law in motion, and keep the name of tho one who gave the information secret. So far he has no clear evidence of a breach of the Act in the case of clerks, and stated that some time ago one waited upon him in the matter, but when an explanation was made of the hours of work observed, Mr. Ferguson saw that there was no breach of the terms of tho Act.

It will be seen from our obituary column that a very old colonist lias passed away in the person of Mr. J. Friar Clarke, sharebroker, who died at Lis residence, Carleton Gore Road, 'last night, at the comparatively early age of 59. He was a native of Norwich, was for some time in the service of the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Company, and came to the colony in " the sixties," (fnd started farming. Some years afterwards he abandoned farming, and commenced business in mining and sharebroking, in partnership with Mr. DuMoulin, under the style of DuMoulin and Clarke, sharebrokers and legal managers. 'In later years his son, Mr. Win. Clarke, had been associated with him in business. Deceased was a member of the Auckland Sharebrokers' Association, and of the Thames Drainage Board, for years, was also director of numerous mining companies, and tfas formerly connected with the Monowai gold mine. The deceased gentleman was also a trustee of the estate of the late Captain Reed, of Poverty Bay, and in that way became well known in the Poverty Bay district. In the early days Mr. Clarke held a commission in the volunteers, and was a noted shot. Mr. Clarke had been suffering from a heart affection for two years, and went away for a trip and felt better, but had a relapse, and the medical men recommended that he should give up business. In his last illness he was attended by Drs. Mackellar and Reid, the latter being brought in in consultation. The deceased was very much respected and esteemed for his commercial probity. He leaves a widow, a, son, and daughter, the latter being married to Mr. W. R. Bloomfield. Interment is private.

Our Pollok correspondent writes:— feeling of deep regret pervaded our community when it became known that the wife of Mr. Thomas Cochrane, of "The Grange," Pollok, had passed away from our midst, on the 29th nit., at the early age of 39 years, after a very short illness, in connection with child-birth. She was carefully attended to by Dr. Clouston, of .Waitiku. The deceased was tho eldest daughter of Mr. Hayter, of Kqhekohe, and came to this colony at an early age from Wiltshire, England. She was highly esteemed for Iter many kindly virtues, and her death will leave quite a blank in the social life of our district. She leaves a husband and a family of six daughters and three sons Much sympathy is felt for them in their sad bereavement. On May 2 her remains were followed to the Pollok Cemetery by a large concourse of people, who came from all .parts of the peninsula. The Rev. Robert Barr conducted the funeral service in a very impressive manner, and numerous floral wreaths were placed on the grave as tokens of respect to the departed. The supplementary catalogue of Messrs. D. Hav and Son, of the Montpelber Nurseries, has been issued, and is both useful and attractive in appearance. It has been printed at the Herald establishment, and is a very creditable piece of work. In addition to the catalogue proper, Messrs. Hay and Son have added a very complete set of directions for transplanting, which are very opportune, as the planting season is close at hand. These directions will be found a useful help to many rural settlers, and will give this catalogue a permanent value to them. As to the contents of the catalogue proper, there are some special features which deserve the attention of our readers. It will be seen that, the list of roses is very large, the list of new ones amounting to 35. Tho other sections of the rose class arc all well filled, the tea-scented ones being exceedingly numerous. There are few catalogues in the colonies which can show a belter list of this favourite class .of flowers. Of the Loganberry there is a beautiful lithographed representation. The list of fruit-bearing plants is ample and good, and so far as peaches are concerned, it is surprising, for there are no fewer than 16 new varieties catalogued. These have all been proved here, and their quality and hardiness can fairly well he depended upon, for a description of each is given. Some of the new peaches are importations from America, while not a few are New Zealand seedlings, which have been proved to be exceptionally good. Copies of the catalogue may be obtained from Messrs. Hay and Son, or 'from their town agents, Messrs. A. Yates and Co., Queen-street.

The Typographical Societv yesterday filed a notice with Mr. R. Coring Thomas, clerk of awards, requesting him to refer the dispute in the printing trade, which was recently bcfoi* the Conciliation Hoard, to the Arbitration Court for settlement.

The large grocery warehouse in Fort-street for Mr. Schischka, merchant, is now so far advanced ..y the contractor. Mr. Ellingham, that the brickwork is finished, and a start is being made with the roofing. The extensive warehouse in Lower Albert-street for Kemp home, Prosser, and Co., is now built up to the fourth storey, and is a conspicuous building from all parts of the town, and will, from its huge proportions, dominate the neighbourhood in which it is built.

It will lie remembered that in the early stages of the Boer war the children of the Opawa school devoted £20, the amount of their picnic fund, to the purposes of the patriotic fund. Their Belt-denying action was cabled to England, and a gentleman there, who desired that his name should not be disclosed, promptly intimated that he would reimburse the picnic fund to the extent of (he donation made by the children in the cause of the Empire and her soldiers. The Education Department last week made arrangements (the Lyttelton Times reports) for paying over to the school the Money received from the anonymous donor. The reason for the delay that has occurred in the matter is that the action of the Opawa school was imitated, and its priority of claim had on that account tc be fully established.

When it was proposed at the meeting of St. Thomas' parishioners at Wellington the other night that the Synod should be recommended to support female franchise in church matters, a lady rose in the "body of the school and emphatically protested against the motion. One of her erounda of objection was that the grant of the franchise would be used as a lever to engineer the few men interested in church matters out of the work altogether. The New Zealand Times says that the motion was carried, however, with one dissenting voice, which rang out like a warning note amidst a chorus of laughter.

It may not be generally known (a correspondent of the Timaru Post says) that whilst in Wellington recently, and prior to the departure of the Fifth Contingent, the mother of one of the members of the contingent, having lived and reared her family in a remote part of Westland, where the services of a clcrgvnum are not always available, desired that her son should have the sacred rites of baptism conferred upon him. M/- Seddon, the wife of the Premier, being acquainted with the wish of the mother, at once proceeded to the camp at Newtown, sought cut the soldier of the Queen, a young man of 22 years of age, and Had the necessary ceremony performed, Mrs. Seddon acting as godmother. .-■■—.♦,