LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13055, 21 December 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

■ .',-•■■■■ -..■-... -:'■....•■■,-■■.■: ■'■',:■:•••■."'■■■ *'"-■- ■-■..■-''.."'V-' : ". ; .i*-S! .--, ■ -■■ '':' ■-. ..: ...:■ !-' : '■■ ■-' - -<- ..' ■-v" , "-rt TmatE will be rip.'-,- publication ..of th* Herald on Monday next, Christmas Day, With to-morrow's Herald will be : published an eight-page illustrated Christmas Supplement, containing a great variety of ; interesting reading matter suitable for this -special season of the year. The Supple- $; ment has been carefully compiled, with a J view to affording all classes, both old and ' young, amusement and interest, and will bo found exceptionally attractive by our lady lreaders. A man named Ross was found dead in bed at ,'■' The ; Willows" boardbighousc, Wyni yard-street, yesterday morning. Ho is not . [ known in Auckland, but the proprietress ohI the boardinghouse : (Miss Thomas) .staled that he is a married man, with a family..-? He arrived from Duuedin about three months ago for the .benefit of his health, and went to ltotorua for some time, return-:.; ing to " The Willows"' three weeks ago. An inquest will be .held this morning. _ '] The Suez mail which left Auckland on ■ November 6 ,was delivered in London on' the night of December 15. Speaking at the Fire Brigade social last ? evening the Mayor (Mi. A. M. Myers) said ) he hoped that before long the advantages of. the improvements which had been made ir»'j| cur system of fire prevention would not be' i, confined to Ihe present restricted area of the city. It was a manifest absurdity for ; what was practically one city to have half-a-dozen independent fire brigades, with dif- - ferent systems and different and non-inter-changeable appliances. No matter how efficient they might all be, it was impossibh for them to. accomplish their work as tho- ■ roughly as they could do if they all formed part of one organisation, managed on one - system. There had been several striking instances lately of losses by fire for which - this lack of uniformity was responsible, . and among the benefits which the adoption of a Greater Auckland scheme would bring • with it, not the least would be that of hav- ? ing one fire brigade for the whole of Auck- : ' land. " ..■;.-. / . ' - " J The Post Office -authorities notify the ; ..; following arrangements for Christmas arit. New Year holidays:— Saturdays, .De-/1 cember 23 and 30, letter-carriers will make A a special delivery in the afternoon. The Post Office will also be open from seven to eight p.m. for overcounter delivery of cor- -| respondence, including registered . let-; ■'; ters. On Mondays, December -25 / (Christmas Day) and January 1 (New- £ Year's Day), the Post Office will be closed. Inward mails arriving over Sunday, and' i| before eight a.m. on Monday, will be sorted %. into private boxes. Outward mails usually '- closing after eight a.m. on Monday will" j be closed at that hour. On Tuesday, Decern- :s ber 26 (Boxing Day), the Post Office will 1 be open in all its branches, excepting money:: order and savings bank, between nine audi :■ ten a.m. Letter-carriers will make one com- J plete delivery, 'starting at eight a.m. All '* mails usually closing after eight a.m. en Tuesday will be closed at that hour. All receiving-boxes will be cleared as usual at . midnight on Sundays, December 24, and De- : - cember 31, also on Monday, December 25.

The tourist traffic from Australia has set in this year somewhat earlier than ' usual. The pleasure of travelling on the magnificent new : turbine steamer of the Union Steam Ship Company is probably to some extent responsible' for this (states the, Otago Daily Times), for if is ah exceptional" occur-* ; rehce'thafc in the beginning of December considerably 0ver.,300 tourists should have landed' in the colony from the Commonwealth, as has .been the case this week. But it is expected that, as the outcome of the return of prosperity in Australia, there will be a heavy stream of passenger traffic this season, and it is significant that, before ; the Maheno left Melbourne, the Moerakii' following her in a fortnight's time, was a' full ship. ' .

With reference to the selection by j the Epsom School, Committee of Mr. Isemonger for the position of headmaster at Epsom, the chairman of the committee desires it stated that, on the occasion when he gave J his casting vote in favour of Mr. Isemonger as against another applicant, Mr. Munro,"} the member of the committee who was absent on a- visit to Australia had left a letter} appointing the chairman as proxy to vote : for Mr. Isemonger. The chairman, with.!, full knowledge, having regard to the ex- ■ pressed wish of the absent member, that live out of the nine on the committee wer» in favour of Mr. Isemonger, deemed himself} bound, in the face of so clear an indication ">. of the desire of the majority, to give hi*' casting vote for Mr. Isemonger. The Act} not permitting proxies, the proxy forwarded was not used. - "' * <■?-

The White Star liner Gothic loaded the, following lines of dairy produce at New Zealand ports for London:—Auckland:! 9119 cases and 415 kegs butter, and'll9 cases' cheese. New Plymouth: 12,707; cases butter and! 1284 cases cheese.' Pate'a:| : 10,157: cases butter and 420 cases cheese., Wellington: 13,841 cases and 128 kegs" butter, and 1069 cases cheese. Lyttelton:; 2146 cases butter and! 308 cases cheese..! Duncdin: 2150 cases butter and 416 cases cheese. Bluff: 1941 cases cheese. This represents a total of 50,120* cases and 537-: .kegs of butter, weighing 1279 tons 17cwt, and 5557 cases cheese, weighing 348 tons 17i-cwfc. ' :}

With the approach of the festive season,} the mail bags generally bulge a little more": than on ordinary occasions, and in Christ-. mas week the flow of seasonable greetings by postcard and pictorial design, keeps the post office ■ staff hard at work. ?, The cards reaching this office by yesterday's mail conveyed greetings to the editor and 1 staff from the Mayor, councillors, and muni-} cipal staff of Auckland, enclosing a pretty view of Albert Park ; from the staff of the Taranaki Herald, the officers of the General Post Office, and the Children's Home, Remuera, the latter in the form of a neat little card, bearing the appropriate words, ' Lest We Forget," surrounded by sprays of forget-me-nots. ,;}:•'

! A Gazette notice of December 14 states that- His Excellency the Governor has been ■ pleased to appoint the following gentlemen ; ; as chief enumerators for the census of 1906, ; in conformity with the Census Act, 1877:! For the counties of Rodney, Waitemata* and Eden, including the boroughs of Devonport, Birkenhead, and Onehunga, Mr. Joshua Jackson; for the boroughs of Auckland, Grey Lynn, Pamell, and Newmarket, Mr. W. R. Holmes. The offices of each of these officials are in this city, where all information can be obtained' regarding flic districts in question. The County of Manu- ; kau, with the islands in the Gulf of Hauraki,pwill be dealt with by Mr. West, of. Otahuhu..- - ' ' •■■"' The Government artillery instructor, Major Johnston-, will arrive in Auckland to-day, and after the holidays he will inspect and instruct" the artillery companies in Auckland. The "A" Battery, Nos. 8 and 9 Garrison Artillery, and Engineers all will be in camp during the early part d January. Master Gunner Richardson, who is at present in Chmtchurch, will probably' : be in attendance on the major during the . camps. ; ; {

The committee of ' the Anniversary Regatta met .yesterday afternoon in" the rooms ,«f the Australian Institute of Marine Engi- ' neers, Queen-street. -In the absence, of Mr. T. T. Masefield, the chair was occu- ' ■ pled by Mr. W. C. Somers. The programme for the regatta was further considered, and prize-money amounting to : . nearly £300 allocated to the various events. -The officials to carry out the details will be appointed, subject to alteration, at a meeting to be held on Wednesday afternoon ' next. Some discussion took place regard- ;; ing the race for trading vessels (all-comers), and it was finally decided to make inquiries ps to the scows eligible, a report to come ;, : up at the next meeting on the subject.- It -! Was decided that the handicaps be prepared for this race, one for once round the course, t ' and the other for twice 1 round. The com-!, — mittee also resolved that all races not- • finished at seven p.m. on the day of the regatta must be resailed at a time to be. fixed by the committee. An interim dividend at tho rate of 10 per cent, per annum for the half-year ended October ol last will be payable at the office of the Devouport Steam Ferry Company on and after to-morrow. The transfer books of the compauy will be closed to-day ami to-morrow. A man, whose name was. given as James '•'.. Haxdon, was admitted to the hospital about .: six o'clock last evening, sniftering from a - v fracture of the leg below the knee, but with fS regard to the patient's place of residence, or cause of the injury, no information could ?•.■'..'■ be obtained at the institution. ; Our Cambridge correspondent states that j h- Mr. George Price, a settler, of Karapiro, ! was driving along in his waggon yesterday, when the horses suddenly shied and threw him heavily on to the road, his leg being broken. He was conveyed to Victoria ';!■ House Nursing Home, where Dr. Roberts set the broken limb. .; , A young man employed at Mr. J. C. \" Speddiug's warehouse, when cycling round the corner of Queen and Custom Streets, yesterday, collided with a vehicle loaded with scaffold poles, and was thrown against the horse, but fortunately he sustained no further injury than a few bruisesThe following is a copy of the illuminat- - ed address to be presented to the Premier by the old age pensioners: —" To the Right ' Hon. It. J. Seddon, P.C., LL.D., Cantab, et Edin., Premier of New Zealand.Sir, —We, the undersigned, representing the pensioners ;of the Auckland.province, beg your accept- ! ance of this address as a slight expression " of our gratitude to you in your unceasing ; : .efforts to ameliorate the condition of the aged poor. More especially do we deisire to' recognise your humane forethought in ; placing on the Statutes of the colony a . measure enlarging the benefits under the \k Old Age Pensions Act. Trusting that you '/ may be spared many' years to carry on your ?!. good.-. work, and wishing yourself, Mrs. * Seddon and family health and prosperity, .! we beg to subscribe ourselves."- Signed by ! 14 old age pensioners on behalf of the pen- . sioners. Dated Auckland, December 22, 1905. .* A very successful launch of another vessel from Messrs. Brown and Sons' shipbuilding yard at Te Kopuru took place on December v 13 at noon. Quite a number of young folkIF- assembled to witness the launch. Mies Cul- !; performed the ceremony, christening the ; :vessel the . Dawn. The vessel is built to §| the order of Messrs. Thomas Borthwick.and 'Sons, their freezing works,:at Waitara, "to convey frozen meat to the large steamers. f Only last week tie firm sent a very nice ! launch down to Wellington. So far the firm have been able to keep their men busy, ; chiefly on orders from outside. . . • A well-attended meeting of shareholders ; in' the Auckland Co-operative Terminating I Building Society was held last' evening at |5 St. jj James' HalL Four appropriations were disposed of by ballot and three by sale. In No/l group, ballot of £400, share No. 738 wai drawn, and the holder, haying more • than one share paid up to date, took the , whole amount. In No. 2 group ballot of £400 the first draw was 521, but that being J: a withdrawn share, another draw was taken, and share 895 was successful, the holder having more than one share, and being financial, taking the £400. No. 3 group was a I['■: sale of £400, arid the highest tender was :£6O •' for £200, and the next tender was £50 10s 6d for £200, and requiring another . ■ ; £2OO, consequently, under the rules, that > tenderer took £400, making £600 in that group; No. 4 group was a sale of £400, ; and r the highest tender, at £50 10s 6d for £200, took the £400; No. 7 group was another sale of £400, and the highest tender, £60 for £200, took the lot. Group No. ' 8, a ballot of £400, was drawn by No. 649, but the holder, having only one share, was : only entitled to £200, and another ballot : ■ was taken lor the balance, No. 474 being : '. ! successful, and the holder of this, having two shares, and being financial, claimed ' - : another £200, making £400, or a total for J the group of £600 .and group No. 9, ballot of £400, went to share 194, and the holder, 1 having more than one share, and being • . financial, took the total. . '. The " promenade concert "is ever a popu- • f "air institution with the public, and the public are exceptionally well favoured in having ' ; so beautiful an open space as Albert Park for band concerts. Last evening the paths were thronged by very large numbers of young people when, the -..First Battalion Band occupied the rotunda, and played a . number of beautiful;selections. Amongst <the items :on - the programme were: — March, "The Cossack," W. Rimmer; waltz, "Genevieve," Alex. Paul; selection ; - (contest), "Robert II Diavolo/.' Meyerbeer ' intermezzo, " II Cavalleria Rusticana," Mas cagri; waltz, "Smiles and Tears," ' H. Round and quickstep, " Reliance," E. A. Homanm -. < , ; . One of the ways in which the good old " Merrie Monarch " Charles 11. showed his merriment was to assent to an Act under which anyone who worked on the. Sabbath | Day could be put into gaol. Recently, says the Melbourne Argus, Mr. Warde, M.L.A., suggested that this Act should be put into force, in order to punish the New Zealand loan and Mercantile Agency Company for . having,, as it was alleged, recently - com- • ( pelled its employees to work all day on : ; Sunday. Sir Samuel Gillott, to whom a : question on the subject was addressed, admitted that the. Sabbath Day Observance .Act - was in force in Australia, but he knew :( nothing as to the facts in the case referred (to by Mr. Warde. Mr. Lemmon reminded ((the House that the punishment provided was a period in the stocks, and asked if the necessary . equipment would be supplied. r( Well, a lot of ; Chinamen in the Premier's constituency were fined for working on Sun- , days, and I do not see why good Presby- ' , terians should not be fined also," remarked Mr. Warde. The 'chief secretary promised to make inquiries. ; ;/. The successful candidates at the Auckland '■ Shorthand Writers'., Association examina- , tions yesterday were Miss M. Carruth, Miss i 1 A.'.Heath, and Miss K. Micky, all at 80 ] .words a minute. - - i A boy was arrested - yesterday on two ( charges of theft and two charges of forging receipts. Other inmates of the police cells ] 1 *«t night were two persons ~ charged wit* ] I feeing illegally on premises. , [ ' : --!H-'\ ■!■ ;(.V- ;; '!(-■ - : '' ; -. W&k : \'J.-'S< -' ':■■( :■■/;,■ !"/ ■ ia ! . ■„ ■: