LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13032, 24 November 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

J',.-:.-' .;• \.\.^i ..: .'.'"._ l ♦~■^■■:'■:;;^7V^ : :'r v ;:^ : The trial of Andrew- Campbell, a board-inghouse-keeper, on a charge of murdering Robert Hislop, at Rotorua, upon. October 26 last, was opened at the Supreme Court before H'"s Honor Mr. Justice Edwards yesterday morning. The. hearing lasted all day, and was adjourned until half-past, ten this morning, when Mr. Tole 'will crossexamine the accused, who, when the adjournment took place last night, was in the witness-box. Mr. Martin, the prisoner's counsel, intimated that he had several witnesses to call, including the accused's wife. A report of the case appears in another column. What was aptly described by a councillor as "a storm in a teacup," arose at-last night's meeting of the City Council, in connection with a decision to receive a letter which had reached the Council that evening. The regulations stipulate that-no •letters shall be dealt with after a certain time before the meeting. In this case, however, Mr. A. J. Entrican had referred to the letter, and had suggested that it sihould be read on account of the urgency of the subject matter, vie., the question of the levels of Grafton Road. It was resolved that the letter be received," where- I upon Mr. R. Tudehope waxed indignant, I and made a remark about "wire-pulling." Mr. Entrican objected to the use of the word, and at the request of the Mayor Mr. Tudehope promptly withdrew the expression, : but still maintained that an exception was being made in the case of this letter. Mr. A. E. Glover also complained i .of what he termed the irregularity of re- ] ceiving the letter. 1 Mr. Entrican explained that the urgency of the matter and the interests of the Council furnished his solo reasons for bringing up the matter, Mr. I Tudehope acknowledge Mr. lean's good intentions, and disclaimed any intention of reflecting on any 'councillor. Oil having been thrown on #he troubled waters, : the incident ended without any serious results. The electoral rolls for the coming general election, which have been in preparation . for some time, closed at midnight on Wed- : nesday. The main roll for the constituency' of Auckland Central will contain 5363 names, while about 1500 more will be on the supplementary list. The number of transfers has not yet been compiled, but approximately there will be about 6800. electors. , For Auckland East 7287 electors have been registered, 1973 being on the supplementary roll. Some 300 transfers are still to be deducted from this, and the district can be " roughly estimated as having 7000 electors. - The rolls for . Auckland ,' West will contain about ' 7430 electors. There are about 5504 names on the main roll, and 1797 on the first sup- , plementary roll, while an .additional sup- j plementary roll, carrying about 240 names, ' will also bo issued. The transfers are roughly estimated at 100, but the constituency can with fair accuracy be said to ; contain some 7400 electors. [ Petroleum-boring operations are proceeding steadily at New Plymouth. An average of 10 barrels of petroleum is. being obtained daily, and there is a good demand 1 for the product. The syndicate contem- * plates extending its field of operations l shortly..

The report of. Mr. G. Midgiey .Taylor* M.I.C.E. (of the firm of: John Taylor, Son,, 'and Santo Crimp, of Loudon), on the pro* ' postd new drainage, scheme for the City of Auckland, was presented, to the City Council :• ; a', its meeting last, evening. Subsequent to the receipt of Mr. Mestaycr's.report. las* year, recommending the adoption"; of th« septic system (with the outfall a* Cox"ji . ;, Creek), the Council decided to obtain tha opinion of an English expert. The High Commissioner (the Hon. W. P. Reeves) was communicated with on the subject, and asked to recommend an engineer. Mr. Peeves submitted the name of Mr. Taylor,, and this selection was endorsed by the Council. The report. of Mr. Mcstayer, and ail - other available data, was forwarded to Mr, Taylor,' who, in his report, goes into the ■■■'■"■ subject at length, Mr. Mestayer's report is criticised'in several respects, but Hicra are a number of points on which his views are endorsed by Mr, Taylor. An alternative . scheme is also outlined by Mr; Taylor, viz.„' ■; a proposal to discharge the' sewage in its crude state into the tidal waters at Okahu Point, on the eastern side of Hobson's Bay. Mr. Taylor does not consider Cox s Creek suitable for the discharge of towage, : whether purified or not. The Council de- •' ferred the consideration of the report until its first meeting in. February next. An extended summary of Mr. Taylor's report appears in another column. One of the amusing instances of the tangles business transacted by Maoris sometimes gets into was illustrated by a memo, placed before the Land Board yesterday. In the document it was stated that Horo„ xnuna Te Ngahu was the holder of section 205, Ohiwa parish, under occupation with right of purchase, which was forfeited for non-payment of rent, and gazetted accordingly. Notices id forfeiture did not reach I him, as they were returned to the Land? 1 Office. He was still in possession of the ' land, and it appeared he took out post office money orders for the rent s and instead of forwarding to the Lands Office retained • them, under the impression that they were receipts for the rent. r Ranger McKay had '• inspected the section, and it. was proposed to reopen it, weighted with. - £56 in favour of Te Ngahu, and the unimproved value to be fixed sb 103 per acre. The , Commissioner - (Mr. J. Mackenzie) stated that the forfeiture was gazetted in 1898, and the Maori had been living rent frea since. The ranger's proposal was agreed to.'"':' , ■; " i At the meeting of the City Council last evening Mr. L. J. Bagnall referred to the sewerage work which was going on in Princes-street, and ' said it seemed ' that something must have been very wrong with the sewer when originally laid down. The expenditure would probably be soma hundreds of pounds, and he thought a report on the subject - should be obtained from the engineer. The Mayor said that "AM a most disgraceful state of affairs existed: in regard to the drainage of the street, id being very faulty. He said, however, that* ' the present engineer was not'in any way responsible for this, the drain having been put down many years ago. It was resolved that a. report on the subject b£ obtained from the engineer. The South British Insurance Company has, on the motion of Mr. Tusks, received the sanction of the Supreme Court to a special resolution passed by the shareholders, authorising the Board of Directors to engage on their behalf in accident ; insurance and insurance of other "descriptions. Tho company will therefore be prepared at a : very early date to accept accident risks and insurance business of otb* descriptions, of which due notice will be given. , The well-known Oucksey's . corner... Mount Eden is to be mad© another example of the progress of Auckland's suburbs. * A handsome new red . brick building of two storeys is to be erected in place of the old wooden structure, and it will have a front*, - '. ago of 165 ft to two streets. . Mr. J. M. Walker, architect, who has drawn the designs, has been instructed by Mr. Cucksey : to accept the tender of Mr. W. Firth, who will proceed at once with, the work. A prominent angler, in conversation with a Herald reporter yesterday, touching the clause in the fishing regulations limiting the catch of trout for one rod to 301b pei day, emphatically, the clause, and commended the members of the I Council of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society for the efforts made to have it repealed. The clause was, it is believed, inserted by the Tourist Department, at the suggestion of Mr. Robison, who . was the acting head of the Department during Mr. T. E. Donne's absence abroad. . The aphis pest, which made its appearance recently in the Tamworth district, New South Wales, is creating some anxiety among stockowncrs. The pest attacks the white part of animals, causing sores. - Writing to Mr. W. G. Walker on the subject, Mr. W, W. Froggatt, Government . ento- /; mologist, says that although he has seen many, horses with sores, he has never been able to find them in the first stage, when white objects are covered . with the aphis. He would very much like to see some in that state. We are informed by Mr. Percy H. Baslay, . registered patent agent, of Bradford Buildi ings, Queen-street, that the following ini vetntions for the Auckland district have been accepted and gazetted:—With complete specification: J. C. Fraser, steam tuw bine. With provisional specification: A. S. Ford, weighing attachment; W. G. Meek '* dins, fire alarm ; R. 0. Clark, straightening pipes; J. J. ■ Evans and others, kauri-gum sieve; T. {Vivian, medicinal tonic; J. Mead, kerosene gas; R. E. SmaUbone, knife* cleaner. ■■:■'■■ " .:;•? The Town Hall Committee, in reporting ; to the City Council last evening, * stated that it had considered the draft conditions for competitive designs for the proposed town hall, as submitted by the town clerk, and the city engineer's plan of the , proposed site (showing the result of boring operations). It had also considered ihe ;; plan showing the properties under offer, and those . possibly required, and after visiting the sites with Mr. E. Earle Vails, * - had requested him to secure' options over certain of the allotments. The report c-[ the committee was adopted. - ; •<■:■■ At the meeting of the Thames Borough Council last night the engineer's report on the new paths stated that they were now completed and fit for use. It was decided , to open- thorn next Thursday afternoon. New rules and regulations were drafted, and 1 a special meeting of the Council arranged ; :'; for Thursday next to confirm them. Ten- ' ders were opened for the contract for carting mullock from the Karaka Creek. Gs'y two tenders were received, namely, J. W. .Rickit, at Is 7d per load, and Chas. Short - ; at 2s 4d.per load. The tender of J. W. Rickit was accepted. It was resolved' by the Land Board yesterday to recommend the Governor to re- :. serve Block XIL, town of Matamata, cor.*. ; taining 9 acres 3 roods 4 perches, as & reI creation reserve, and lot 82, Block 11., Te , Papa survey district, containing under an •- acre, as a cemetery reserve. I * :f:' :: 4:^"4^ ; '::^:::^s::^ . Two persons, charged with drunkenness, i| were the only occupants of the police colls ; ,[ last evening.: ' ':" : i■■•'.; .',- .- :/ . :-'y'-\., .''.•':'"'

.. A report was received by the Laud Beard yesterday from District-Surveyor Haszard m the scale of rent charges under Hauraki pastoral . regulations, and the Board was asked to consider if this scale of charges should be amended. ' Mr. Rcnsbaw said he bad looked into this matter, and thought the scale of charges was a fair awl : reason."' . able one. On Mr. Ren*=haw's motion, it •was resolved that the Board could not sea its way to "depart from its present schedule, which it considered fair and reasonable, and :_ that to alter the schedule Would tend to- £■:■■'■■■ wards the .'- picking out of. the best of tile T: r country, • , - The Land Board yesterday agreed to the following schemes for the "expenditure of thirds for payment to local bodies:'—Ahuroa - Road Board, £2 9s' 6d ; llikurangi Road ■■-.' Board, £10 -9s; Kirikiriroa Road Board, £93 16.- 2d ; Mareretu Road Board, £13 13s 4d; Mauku Road Board, £11. 15s 6d; To Puke Road Board, £26'3s'6d; Parua Road Board, £3 ISs 9d ; Wharehine Road Board, 9s 3d; Coromandcl County Council, £53 '19s 4d; Hokianga County -Council, £9 r ' - Is fid. _ . ' The question of , the right of advertising on telephone poles was raised by Mr. C. Grey at. last night's meeting of the City Council. He said he had noticed that the Government were advertising on the poles, • and if this were to be allowed he thought other persons should be allowed the same i privilege. It was pointed out by Mr. A. j J." Entrican that the poles were the pro- I ■• ' perty of the Government, but the Mayor [ ■■■'■ (Mr. A. M. Myers) said he thought a pro- : tost" should be entered against the practice, ■ If they did not protest, the Government, or some other person, might go further and placard the poles with various advertisements of a character which would not, per-: baps, 'be appreciated by the citizens. They had no legal authority to compel the' Government to abandon the use of the poles for. advertising.purpose*, but they had a' right to enter a protest. It was agreed to j forward a protest on Hie subject to the' Telegraph ' Department. ._'.'" '.'•■■■' : A Kaukapakapa correspondent writes-.—- , While returning from work on Monday evening on a railway jigger Mr. K. Drinnan met with a painful accident through the jigger coming off the rails. ,Ho got. his wrist dislocated. He was attended at lie!lensvilb, and is getting on all right. j A' resolution urging the .Postmaster- J General to allow the use of code addresses ! . in telegrams within tire colony has been , passed by the council of the Wellington i Chamber of Commerce. The council will j ask other Chambers for their support. The j International Board of Foreign Trade of i .New York wrote, appointing, the secretary j of the Chamber (Mr. S. Carroll) an honor- j ary member of the Board, and asking for : *.' such business courtesies as may tend to the j promotion and advancement of our mutual j . interests and co-operation with you along 'such lines as may be- of profit and advantage." : At a recent meeting at Wellington of the executive of the Employers' Association, the "■ ' federation. secretary informed the association that its suggestion that a definite state-. . meat of the basis of representation of the association at the proposed. Labour Conference, be obtained from the Labour Department, had been followed, the president receiving a reply, "That the bids of representation was being worked out, and would hi forwarded' o» the Premier's return," The federation is now asking all the associations in the colony nob to move further in the matter until the .Premier's reply is received, and a definite course decided.upon for concerted action. A number of Parliamentary candidates replied to a circular letter .' f roM tteassocratioii,: relating to hasty' legis- • lation. The methods adopted in the House were strongly condemned by several candidates. Que writer emphasised the : necessity for recasting our political system, and re- ' marked that -*' Bills are forced through all stages at'one sitting, the decisions and findings of' Committees arc ignored, and the whole spirit of the Standing Orders of the House over-ridden without any compunction-" ■'"■' • ''- '