LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11878, 1 February 1902, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Suez mail which left Auckland on December 16 -was delivered in London on the 26th inst. ,

In the Arbitration Court yesterday an interesting point was raised in connection with" the application of the McGregor Steamship Company to be registered as an industrial union under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. There are two partners in the firm, and they contended that each partner is an employer, and therefore that they can be associated for a particular purpose under section 5 of the Act, and that each member of the firm is, under section 9 of the Act, a member of the society. . The registrar, on the other hand, contended that the firm is a co-partnership firm, - and is only one person within the meaning of section 5 of the Act, and that lie therefore had 110 power to register. The question was referred to the Court, and the Court upheld the registrar's ruling, Mr. Justice Cooper stating that where the " society" under the Act is not an incorporated company, there must be two firms, two separate co-partnerships before the registrar could properly register the society as an industrial union. The McGregor Company, to get the benefit of sectiou 5 of the Act, must join with another fhip- , owner. j

Yesterday evening Inspector Cullen received from Constable R. Lanigan, stationed at Papakura, a report of a fire that occurred at Drury on the afternoon of January 29, by which two houses of three and five rooms, respectively, were completely destroyed. It seems that the occupier of the five-roomed dwelling, a Mr. White, left home early in the morning, and during his absence a fire broke out in his house. The flames spread with such rapidity that the adjoining cottage occupied by Mrs. Harriet Myers Cossey, the owner of both properties, caught fire, and in a very brief space of time the two houses were burnt, to the ground. There j&jja insurance on either; of the houses. ;

Tho weekly budget of athletic notes by . •' "Lynx" will bo found on page six of th®"' 1 ■ Supplement j' published with , to-day's Herald. s ln' addition to.cricket news," thesa are items of interest on athletics, cycling,, ftfj} golf, polo, lawn tennis, and , aquatic/'' Several letters to ; the editor and law ; ani 2 ®tS" police also appear on page 6 of the Sup- ®ll§ plement. ■/ ' - ... ". ' . 'j'.-. r] - -;Vr- /.V ' ■ t ...•<?• v; • • J?.*-;: Three Ministers will be present at Neko* - on Monday next, to" take part in the celebrations'connected with the jubilee of .the provincial district, viz., tho Premier, ' Sit •' J. G. 'Ward, and the Hon. "C. H.' Mills,'' ■ - The Minister for -Railways will represent' lltl the Government at Christchurch on Satu v ■ 1 day next, when the South" Island section •"I i of - the Eighth Contingent embiri&;.stSlrWlli Joseph and Lady Ward then'go on to In'. ; 1 vercargill for a'few days. The memorial stone of St. David's Pres.' byterian Church, as re-erected in ■'KhybehlPH Pass Road, will be laid at three o'clock this afternoon, by Mrs. Peter Robertson,, -" sen. The moderator of the presbytery will " offer the dedication prayer. Mr. Georza - p Fowlds, M.H.R., and the Rev. ;R. ; Scott '' West will deliver addresses. . There will b« special music b> choir and orchestra, and 'Ka collection will be taken for the building fund. ;* ' • -;: . ' s : With reference to the letter of "Daedalus" in our issue of the 24th inst., we are f informed the Railway Department that I no advantage whatever is given to first- i J class passengers in the matter of extendingholiday exclusion tickets. A first-clas* - holiday excursion ticket can be extended i >"•, to make it available for three , months on f payment of the difference between the excursion fare and the ordinary return fare. I - The._second-class ticket can be extended on > precisely the same terms. . For example "j ! ' •' the fares from Auckland to Rotorua are*— ]''. v Ordinary return ticket, first-class £2 3 , second-class £1 8s 8d; excursion return ticket, first-class £1 8s 6d, second-class 14s 3d. The first-class passenger may have his I> . - ticket extended ,to make it available • for three months on payment of 14s' 6d. Tha second-class passenger may at any tim« ' , " after the expiry of his excursion ticket,' ; purchase a ticket for the return journey fo; fi??' 14s 4d. •i, . ~ Nominations for the vacancy on tie Harbour Board closed with the returnng officer, Mr. F. L. Prime, yesterday, when the only nomination received -vas thai; of Mr. Arthur H. Nathan, who, at the request: of a number of leading business men, con- , sented to stand for the vacancy caused by 'Vfe his own retirement a few days ago. - Mr.-i ' Nathan was therefore declared duly elected <».*-' to the office of member of the Board. • #1 At the annual conference of ' the New; ; : : Zealand United Fire Brigades' Association,, . > to be held at Hokitika on March 10,' it ig proposed to hold a public exhibition of fireescapes for the benefit of delegates .attending the conference. Several . patentees of fire-escapes throughout the colony have ex- ' pressed their intention to attend at Hoki- i tika at the time of the Conference, with' ® their appliances, to give a practical exhi- / bition of the work to be performed. A ' i*| special construction, with window open-', ■ ' ings, will be erected for the purpose of a' •" " proper trial being made in view of the public, who will be afforded every means ox 1 inspecting the advantages of the different' escapes brought under notice. ; : -Plans for the new electric tramway service for Wellington have been submitted to the City Council by M*. Wright, the engineer who recently came from England- J* 3 f and approved. - The scheme provides foi'an express service t from 'i Berhampore,' be- , s ' ' yond Newtown, right through to the Hutfc Road, at the north end of • the ' city, escaping the crowded streets by running along the harbour frontage. It "is possible slower''''- 1 r ; services will be provided through the centre' J ' of the city and to Upper Cuba-street and r'TjVsf Wallace-street, also through Upper Willis and Aro Streets to Polhill Gully. Lines will also be laid up : Moles worth-street-and finakori Road, and right around Oriental r'Mw Bay to the end of the • city • boundary;.-: This " : will mean a complete revolution in the city 'i transport service. The new order of things,. it is supposed, will be in full working ' -' order three years hence. .Wort is to com- A V mence forthwith. i -

Some time ago, it will be recollected, , David Sullivan; rescued from drowning in Auckland a man named Edmund Johnson,* - and in consequence of his plucky act the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand has forwarded to the City Council a vellum certificate, requesting the Mayor. to ' pre- . ' sent the certificate publicly, which instructions will be carried out at the meeting of the Council on Thursday iiext. I In order to facilitate the business in con* v?' fg 1 nection with the tourist traffic, the Depart-! 1 ment of Tourist and Health Resorts are at - present making the necessary arrangements> for the purpose of fitting up in Queenstreet, next to Waters' restaurant, an in-' ''•:■■■ formation bureau and inquiry office. The '<-)■ proposal has been entrusted to Mr. T. E. Donne, who has selected Mr. E. H. Montgomery as agent for Auckland. ' .:; . , -, : ' Mr. Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens, thfi J ' ' '■ youngest son of Charles Dickens, the novelist, and formerly the member for Wilcannia in the New South Wales Legislative As« sembly, died at Moree on December 24. The deceased gentleman was for the last 't>; ; two years a conditional purchase inspector V in the Moree land district, and was much liked. Mr. A. J. Hill, of Surrey-street, writes :] ■ " Before the Right Hon. the Premier 1 leaves Auckland an endeavour should, I *V think, be made to get him to give a political address. Several matters require ex- 1 ' plan at ion. The volunteers who ' went to y»>\y Christ-church in June have not yet been paid. The men have been discharged from § the railway works without reason. The 1 Labour laws of the last session require xT"' comment, and so on. Could not the Iv | Mayor move in this matter?". - The body of Mr. R. N. C. Tennent, theological student, who was drowned on Mon- ' day, in the Waikato River, has been found * jj in the river between Ngaruawahia and Tau- • piri. . The poll of ratepayers as to borrowing £5000 for establishing a water supply , for : the borough of Hamilton, was taken yes- ■ ''I terday and resulted in the affirmative by ' 131 to 34. The following is the return of the numbei of births and deaths in the undermentioned boroughs, during the month of January: ,V- J , ~ , Births. Deaths. , Auckland 93 . 30 . Birkenhead ... ... ... 3 1 Devonport ... 9 4 Grey Lynn • ... 8 5 Newmarket ... 4 3 ■ . "• , Parnell ... ... " ..10 2 . The deaths of persons not residents of thtf borough, occurring at hospitals, are not included. Eighty marriage notices werf ' issued. A young woman named Annie McGuire was arrested yesterday by Detective Kennedy, on a charge of the larceny of a pair „ of boots, an apron, and a brooch, belonging to Ellen Moeller. ■ _ The commissioner of the Railway League South of Auckland reports:—"About 150 men to be discharged from railway works to-morrow, leaving only about 100, Some of the staff are being discharged also." - , ~ The San Francisco, mail, which leaves . this morning, affords a good opportunity of posting copies of the Auckland Weekl' News to friends abroad. The illustrations this week are even better than usual, and : , include some magnificent panoramas of Auckland harbour and city. Commissioner McKie, who has recently - been appointed by General Booth to succeed , Commandant Booth in the leadership of the Salvation Array operations ia Australasia* is about to pay a visit to Auckland, and will', conduct a series of meetings in the Choral-' Hall. Mrs. McKie accompanies the Com* - l|| missioner.. •

' The Daily Mail' states that Dr. Kuvper, the Netherlands Premier, suggests that a Safe coiduct should be given to a Dutch Commission to assure the Boers in the field that European intervention is hopeless and the struggle futile. The general feeling is that nothing in the way of restoring peace carl be done until the Boer belligerents intimate theic desire to negotiate for terms. The Lord Chancellor, in a speech at Putney, said the Government were determined to end the. vf'f but to end it so that it could never recur. ' • He referred to the offer of help from the Maoris as a tribute to Britain's kindness to every race under the flag. It is stated that the Germans are making great preparations to capture the South African trade. It is rumoured that the visit of Prince Henry of Prussia to America is in connection with Germany's desire to purchase the Philippines. The modus yivendi in connection with the French fisheries in Newfoundland is to be renewed. America has slightly increased the countervailing duty on Austro-Hungarian sugar.

It is a matter for congratulation that the annual report of one of our local companies, the New Zealand Accident Insurance Companythe premier accident insurance .company of the colony—should show such a gratifying state of affairs as does the one published elsewhere in this issue. ■ The prosperity of the company in question speaks well for the business acumen which has guided its affairs into the smooth channel of success. It will be seen that the profit for the past year amounts to £3911, notwithstanding the heavy payments made against claims. A pleasing feature of the report is the declaration of l sixpenny dividend addition!,l to that paid for the first six months of the year. Furthermore, shareholders are to receive a bonus in the shape of 1£ shares (paid up to 10s) for every one held on January. 23 last, provision for this distribution to be made by the issue of 30,000 out of the 80,000 unallotted shares. The new issue will rank equal to the old issue, and carry dividend from June' 30 last. ' £

A number of judgment summons cases Were called yesterday forenoon at the Magistrate's Court, but no orders were made. '

Our Parua Bay correspondent writes: — 'An accident, which narrowly escaped a fatal termination, happened to Mr. J. A. Jagger (our local storekeeper) the other day, •while returning from Wliangarei. He was driving in his sulky, accompanied by his little daughter, and when coming down Grahamtown Hill, the horse, not liking the breeching, became somewhat unmanageable. Mr. Jagger, fearing an upset, put the little girl out on to the road. The child's screams attracted the attention of Messrs. Thorburn and Bradshaw, who were working not far c.stant. ■ When they arrived on the scene they advised Mr. Jagger to get out, and lead the horse down the hill. This ho did, but could not quieten the animal, which continued to plunge until he rolled over the bank, dragging Mr.' Jagger with him into a lot of supplejacks, where he eventually throw him down and rolled on him. Had it not been for the timely assistance of the two onlookers, who rushed in and rescued Mr. Jagger from his unhappy position, he would most likely have been killed. As it was, he received some very nasty bruises, and will probably feel the effects of his mishap for a long time. The Wellington Post says:"Very little Is heard in the city of the fog-signal apparatus which has been placed at Pencarrow Head to warn mariners in thick weather of their approach to the harbour; but whenever the haze descends over the waters of Cook Strait a dull booming may be heard at the entrance to the channel every quarter of an hour, as the gun-cotton cartridges are lifted by the endless chain out of the barrels of the revolving mechanism and discharged by electric agency on reaching the end of the iron jib that extends above the detonatorhouse. Since the system was established about two years ago, something over a thousand cartridges have been exploded. The apparatus has been improved in some of its details by Mr. Cunningham, the light-house-keeper, and it now serves its purpose • admirably." • v-.r--