LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12239, 7 April 1903, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

There will be no publication of the Herald on Friday, being Good Friday. The second conference of New Zealand Chambers 01 Commerce will be held in the new'buildings of the Auckland Chamber on the 28th, 29th, and 30th inst. The Chambers in the larger centres are entitled to send two delegates, and those in the smaller towns one delegate. As very few replies have been received to the circulars from the Auckland Chamber, it is not yet known how many representatives will attend the conference. The conferences are to be held biennially in future. The installation of the new fire alarms along the' Karangahape and Ponsonby Roads circuit has been completed, and two circuits (the first completed being Queenstreet and Grey-street) are now in working order. The installation of the other circuits has been deferred, owing to the Telephone Department being unable to proceed further with the work at present, ill the material has been here for some time, but as the Telephone Department insists that its own men alone shall do the work, the completion of our up-to-date system of fire prevention appliances has been, and is still being, delayed. • r

Our Birkenhead correspondent states that Dr. Carolan, the health officer, was called to three houses adjoining each other, where some . children were taken suddenly ill on Sunday evening with alarming symptoms of irritant poisoning. The;cause has not yet been traced. The symptoms were constant vomiting, followed by cramps and ?coldness of the body; and extremities, accompanied by drowsiness. Yesterday ; the' children ; appeared much better. ; ' „ •

The Union Compiles s tea m » I * left for Sydney shorjly lnK?£,**Bf? I last night, taking abut 100 saW. ° d «* [ steerage passengers, and a ' * V quantity of cargo, deluded «**# I from Auckland were 8 bar^K„n-- hs «*)» 5 ; at £13,950, shipped b I ing Company, for trakipme^Bffig?fc£| i 50 cases kauri gum, ft the (wl"***** I boxes butter, *131 4« B pieces frozen beef, ant ' ore, canned mullet, an, timber, for^jjj* In connection witlj our report ., * terday's Herald of he electoral fisP Mr. Geo M. Johns on Mr. John King in his evidence «*.* ' ' his letter to Sir. Lnston, 6 £g?f* place him on; the Edi roll witw"?f * " an order of the Corn! or Sf ■ tift * * in consequence of tlWa m„j \W> *** ~ Johnston to him in Connection Jfi. ***• matter; but Mr JoJC£tsj-* | was expressly denied by him i n If *** I I mary examination, ..-Aid point, „' fi | while under cross exlinaHon J? I 1 King for an hour, the Wly q U «H„J' , • I ; him with regard to thil paE ar "** I was if he threatened t\ m£ «?.*"**• 1 trar "sit up," which Mi JoW„» >' £ and stated he had neve S?S*JH I pressiou to anyone in hi life. \Mr»■ & 8 statements were made to the cLJt*? 1 H subsequently, and while Mr Jote** t not present. 1 ""-"Mm **l Bs The Union Company's steamer Mom* H rived from Fiji last evening a* * £ of fruit, etc. It being the vish ofJ* 1 Union Steamship Company to fall itt JJ | the wishes of consignees of fruit it m-fl** H ton to get the Moura to that port SB II Easter holidays, everything /as 1 to work the Auckland cargo out as S"* 1 possible after the steamer's arrival "V 8 medical and Customs inspection t!? ■•' promptly carried out, and the stealer bS v ed at the Queen-street Wharf stovSt"-v I arrival, and the work ot discharge' at n« I gone on with, and continued un t« the £ 1 of the steamer's departure early this jgg lug. The Moura. made a very.gWSj from Auckland to Suva of under Wdin ' but the return trip was somewhat DroloS ; • .swing to strong lead winds betofenJi > tered. When south of the islan|ifsl I davu, both on her trip to Suva aid retan" the Moura steamed for about 100 S through large tracts of pumice. \ ' ,■, It is expected that the electric tram mj. vice to the Royal Oak will be stated w Thursday first, and that the Kingaltod lin« will be opened next week. With regard to the Onehunga service, Mr. Hansen,' m . ager of the Tramways Company. 1 ; states ; that unless the Onehunga Borough; Com. cil give way on the question of iron W ie , the electric trams will not go farther thi* the Royal Oak. >.. , m Cricketers and others have compjainij for some time past of pilfering from clothes left about the pavilion and Domain ground on Saturday afternoons. ' Jester, day two mites of boys named Collins were 3 X before the Police Court, charged with several thefts at the Domain, and vera remanded to enable the ponce to make . further efforts to recover certain of th? articles still missing. J > r '\ ' Although there are to be sittings oi the .^ Supreme Court at Palmerston North, it is not intended to station a deputy-regh". trar of the Court in that town. One of the officers of the Court in Wellington is to visit Palmerston whenever ■ occasion requires. The Manawatu Standard says that "such a lop-sided arrangement is justs what one would expect from the present Government." t • ' The Post states that there is a feeling' that the Wellington City Council should'. ; provide the Chief Magistrate of that city : with a private secretary, in order that ■ as little as possible of his business time' > may be sacrificed. The question of mating •■ such an appointment is to be brought \ before the new Council when elected.. At a meeting of the Wellington Amalgamated Society of Cooks and . Waitersfiat week, .correspondence was read from Auckland, announcing the formation of a'Madred society in this city, and asking foil', information as to the proceedings to be taken to bring a case before the Court.'of Arbitration. The secretary was instructed * to supply the necessary information. ' ''• ' We have received a copy of " The Newt' paper Press Directory" for 1903, being the! 58th annual issue. The general features of the directory are the same as heretofore, but the whole volume has undergone, thorough revision in order to bring it right |V up to date. The colonial supplement • contains several articles of especial interest to the commercial community. Mr. Ernest jlE. Williams, the well-known writer' on - economics, writes on "How Far is Commercial Union of the Empire Feasible,'?/. and the Hon. W. P. Reeves, the Agents -. General of New Zealand, contributes V paper on "The Australian Shipping and'' Immigration Laws." Australia receives special attention in an article entitled : "The Australian Federal Tariff." There ii : also the usual series of useful articles upon - the import trade of Australasia, South Africa, India, Canada, and the West Indies.. "The Newspapei Press Directory" is pub- ' lished by C. Mitchell and Co., 1 and % Snow Hill, Holborn Viaduct, London.

A party of burglars visited a Welling' I ton house a few nights ago and had a high ] old time. They failed to locate the valuables that they yearned for, but in their ramblings they made sure of a fact which had previously only been conjecture, viz,, that the usual male occupants of the house were, not at home. They thereupon'*. went downstairs, laid out a stock of liquor and such supplies as were available, and enjoyed themselves uproariously. The servants- and members of the household* mostly juveniles— a shivery time up- 1 ' stairs until the .burglars took their depar- ; ture. One of the young ladies saw a man in her room before the banquet, but concluding that she was suffering from nightmare, turned over and went to sleep, only to be awakened by the bacchanalian reveh .referred to. In an article on Supreme Court judges, . the Lyttelton Times says:—Rumours of the impending retirement of Mr. Justice jfjs Conolly from the Supreme Court Bench VJ-; have been very frequent during the las* year or two. This is not surprising. His Honor is an old man, and no doubt finds the duties or his office increasingly arduous. We understand, too, that his health is . anything but satisfactory, the result being that the other North Island judges have . occasionally to take a double share of work. The Chief Justice, for instance, hasnot been able to enjoy more than a day" " or two of rest since his appointment. . .', '.'■* When the necessity for a fresh appointmen* does arise the Government should seize the opportunity of readjusting the . whole scheme of duties, • and more especi-! ally of salaries. ... The conditions of ■ appointment, too, ought to be reviewed. - At present, under the Act of 1882, a '{m \ '. "berate inducement is held out to a judge to continue ion the Bench until he has. ' served his 20 years, and is entitled to the. . full pension. He may retire after 10 years' service on an allowance of quarter salary, or after 15 years on a half salary allowance, but in the case of a man who££ is well on in years when be accepts appointment, this provision might keep him- j at work long after he has ceased to enjoy full bodily and mental vigour. It should not be possible for a judge to remain on the Bench indefinitely, and the Legislature ought to be asked to fix a reasonable age - limit. : ■.■■' ■'■ '-'-.■.■'■■ ...-.' ' .-.!'-',f;-. . The funeral of the late Mr. F. Dibble, of Whitford Park, took place yesterday, at the Otahuhu cemetery, and was very ' largely attended. Amongst those present We , Messrs - W. P. Massev, P. Lawrf,' - and :■ M. Kirkbride - M.HR *s. The v em- ■ ployees of Whitford Park and a very large W number of th§_ neighbouring settlers were §, also present. - .:•.-'■■•-;.-. j m Constable Sherman arrested a man named I John Henry> Norman, at Ellerslie yester- § day afternoon, on a charge of illtreating* ■ horse. : A man named Edward William* ;, was also arrested: yesterday, and chargW" with the theft: of four rings, - - V