LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13148, 10 April 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The quantity of butter and cheese shipped from the port of Auckland, for the fortnight ending the 7th iast. was 445 cases and 11 kegs of butter (equal to 224£cwt), and 81 cases of cheese (equal to 202cwt). Of these, 403 boxes of butter (equal to 201icwt> and 80 cases of cheese (equal to • 117cwt) were forwarded to Great Britain, and 42 cases and 11 kegs of butter (equal to 25cwt) and one case of cheese (equal to 661b) to the South' Sea Islands. For the corresponding period last year, 1054 boxes of butter and 508 cases of cheese were shipped. The total quantity of .butter held in store at the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Works and the Auckland Freezing Works at this date is 9423 cases. - __ . .

There will be publication of the New Zealand Herald "on Friday next (Good Friday).

The Attorney-General and Acting-Post-master-General and Acting-Minister for Railways (the Hon. A. Pitt) spent a busy day in Auckland yesterday. In the morning, .besides transacting Departmental business, lie received two important deputations on local matters. In the afternoon be performed the ceremony of opening the new Parnell post office, and in the evening attended a social to Mr. F. Lawry, M.H.R., at ParnelL Reports of the proceedings will be found in this issue. Today the Minister will transact- some official business, and at a-quarter past eleven this morning, he will receive a deputation from Mount Eden road district ratepayers, who desire the district converted into a borough, and i* the afternoon he will leave for the South by the New Plymouth boat.

As an instance of the increasing value of, and ready inquiry for, business premises in Queen-street, Mr. F. G. Ewington. estate agent, while giving evidence at the sitting of the Assessment Court yesterday, said that the demand for shops was greater than it had been for some years past. Property was getting so rateable that people who owned one-storeyed premises in Auckland's principal thoroughfare at the present time would have to add three and four storeys. For some of the smaller shops rents of from £5 to £8 were being obtained.

A young man named Wilford John Speary, residing with his father, John Speary, at Brighton Road, Remuera, was arrested by Constable Mackle, of Newmarket, last evening, on a charge of assaulting his father so as to cause him actual bodily harm. The father, who had his face badly cut and several of his ribs fractured, was taken to the hospital, where he was attended to.

Our Paeroa correspondent writes: Last Saturday evening a horse, ridden by Msss Smith, daughter of. Dr. Smith, was frightened by a dog,, and bolted. Miss Smith was thrown heavily to the ground, and sustained concussion of the brain, also a number of minor injuries. She remained unconscious for a long time, but is now a little better.

Nominations for the vacancy on the University College Council, caused by the retirement of Mr. F. E. Baume, through effluxion of time, closed yesterday. Mr. F. E. Baume being the only candidate nominated, he was accordingly declared re-elected.

A strange phenomenon in the form of a waterspout, hanging from low-lying black clouds, was witnessed at Te Kopuru on Wednesday last. The waterspout travelled at a terrific speed from the coast inland, and then suddenly disappeared. It is assumed that it either burst on an intervening hilt crest, or was drawn into the clouds.

A youth named Samuel MartiH, who is employed at Messrs. Watkina Bros.' Raglan sawmill, met with a very painful accident last week (writes our Raglan correspondent). He was working at a drag bench, and as he was pushing a piece of timber towards the saw his left hand slipped and came in contact with the teeth. The first finger was taken clean off, close to the- hand ; the second was so badly cut that it had also to be removed, and the third was injured in such a manner that it is likely to be of little use.

A middle-aged man named John Shepherd, residing in Eden Terrace, was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon suffering from a fractured leg. The injury was sustained by timber tailing upon him. '

The Herald' Summary, for transnrwawMi by the next outward San Francisco mail, will be published to-morrow morning. Those desirous of forwarding the Summary. to their friends in Europe, America, etc., will have ample time to do so, as the newspaper mail doses en Friday next, at 12 noon, up to winch hour papers for mailing may be obtained of runners at the post office/ This mail will be due in Lobdon on May 12.

The Union Bank of Australia will j SS ce to-day a new £1 bank note, bearing on the obverse side a figure of Britannia in the centre, and a portrait of Queen Victoria, assfaa appeared in 1837, on the left band. The reverse side has a very beautiful design, printed in green, with the coats of arm? of the Australian State*

Our Norfolk Island correspondent states that the Bishop of Melanesia confirmed 25 young people in the Anglican Town Church on the afternoon of Sunday. March 25. Thj Bishop was assisted in the ceremony by Archdeacons Cullwick and Cumin-. the Revs. YVaint, Durrad, and Bollen. The wr vice was most interesting and impressive. Bishop and Mrs. Wilson were the :e ipieats of much sympathy from the community on. the- death of their youngest daughter, a child, who died, after a few days' illness, en March 12.

Towards the end of lust year a s:ben» was placed before the Auckland House Painters' Union by one of its members for the federation of the whole of the house painters' unions in New Zealand. Alter bein:: carefully considered by the union, it was decided to circularise the other unions in the colony in order to ascertain their views on the question. This was done, and favourable replies were received from ail the painters" unions (10), except Dnnedm. It has now been decided to call a conference of delegates, to be held at Wellington on Tuesday, April 17. At a meeting ot the local union, held in St George's Hall recently, Mr. Philip T. Birch (vice-presi-dent) was chosen to represent the union at the conference. He leaves for Wellington on Friday next

Farinas in the \Yaika;n district and some other parts of the Auckland province a« by do means satisfied with the recent valuations of their properties, and the matter is likely to receive attention at the next mating of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and also at the forthcoming conference of the New Zealand Farmers* Union. When seen on the subject yesterday, Mr. R. Hall, president of the Auckland Association, said that while he bad no desire to reflect in any way on 'the Assessment Court itself, the valuations had certainly caused great dissatisfaction among settlers. He thought it was most inconsistent to expect settlers living so far away as Awitu to attend the Court at Otahuhu to object to their assessments. They were practically shut out from pealing against- the valuations. Mr. Hall made it clear that he attached no political significance to the valuations, but thought that in? society would fully consider the proposals of Messrs. Kirkbride and Rutherford in Parliament that local bodies should have represei.tation on tie district Courts in future. The. haphazard and irregular valuations, observed Mr. Hall, which had been recently made emphasised the seed for a ebaisge in this direction.

Thoee interested in the " Empire Day'' movement wiil be pleased to learn that up to the present date some 25,000 scliooss throughout the Empire have been reported as having last year observed May 24. or as intending to do so this year. The following are the number of schools in Hit Mother Country and dependencies, which ;

have so reported:— Mother Country,

6115; Ontario, 5369; Cape Colony, 5000; Victoria (Australia). 2500: Nova. Scotia, 2300 New Zealand, 1377: New Brunswick, 1800; Ceylon, 550;. Tasmania. 560; British Columbia, 350: West Australia, 521; Mauritius, 206; . Bahamas, 60 ..Bermuda, .50; Natal, 45; British '-Honduras, 7 - 59: Southern Rhodesia, 13. -If 100 scholars be calculated as the - average number attending each of these schools, the. total number of children officially reported, as coming under the influence of the movement may be calculated as 2,500,000. The number of echo«ls reported as baring observed or going to obserre Empire Day'' in the future must also be far below the actual number.

.Another old Auckland resident, in the person of Mrs. Jane Whittington. died on Saturday last after a long and painful illness. The deceased lady arrived in the colonies with her husband, the late Sergeant Whittington, in the early sixties, in the ship Swiftsure. Sergeant Whittington fought in the Maori war, and had charge of a company at the Whau blockhouse. Mrs. Whittington, who was 78 years of age, leaves one son, Mr. William J. Whittington, who served with the Fifth Contingent in the Boer war, and is still in South Africa, also two daughters, Mr?. L. Peterson, of Kuaotunu, and Mrs. J. Graham, of Victoria-street. The funeral will leave the residence of Mrs. Graham, Victoria-street, for Purewa, at half-past two this afternoon.

. The introduction into New Zealand of any fruit infected with the apple-scab or black-spot (foskladinm dendriticum), or any potatoes or tomatoes affected by the Irish potato disease or late blight (phytephthora infestans), or in or on which any such disease is or has been present in any form cr stage of has been prohibited by His Excellency the Governor, in a proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette dated March 22, 1906. This is done under the Orchard and Garden Pests Act, 1503. The proclamation, we understand, will be rigidly enforced by the Department of Agriculture.

There were several New Zealar.ders staying at the Grand Central Hot-el, Sydney, a: the time of the disastrous fire on March 31. amongst them being Mr. G. A. Ewiag, of Stratford, and his mother; Mr. J. E. Anger, of Onehunga; and Mr. S. Pelham. of Fungarehu. There were about 203 guests is the hotel at the time, and the lift worked continuously, crammed to its utmost with people anxious to get away with their belongings. Outside the hot-el the police kept a clear space for some distance, but on passing the barriers crowds of larrikins pressed round ottering to carry baggage. tk>me may, perhaps, have done so with benevolent intentions, but, more probably were trying to make a rise. Nobody was hurt, although some of the boarders were roused with difficulty. The whole of the Metropolitan and Suburban Brigades were present, and worked magnificently. Mr. Pelham, who has written to the above effect, adds: "I had long heard the Sydney Fire Brigade mentioned as one of the hue*: it) the world, and on this occasion it did credit to its reputation. Eight steam fir* engines were working, one of them being a Shand-Mason engine, of very latest pattern, capable of throwing 1000 gallons per minute. The remainder of the engines throw about 550 gallons each per minute. The Sydney Brigade consists of about 150 permanent men. and a large number ot partial!y-3«id men, who work at their ordinary avocations, but are subsidised to attend the fires when necessary." Mr. Pelham left for England by the steamer Bremen on the oat* - of the tire' {March 51).

When at Quecsstowa recently Mr. T. E. Donne, superintendent of tourist resorts, was waited on by a, deputation headed by the Mayor (Mr. L. Hotop), who brought up the question of the Government taking over the whole of Queenstown, as was done at Retorua. He (the Mayor) did not know the opinion of the borough councillors on the matter, but he thought there should he two tourist centres in the colony—Rotorua in the North, and Quecnstown in the South Island. The future of Queenstown as a tourist resort depended to a large extent on a drainage system and electric lighting, and it would be utterly impossible with the present revenue to do anything in those directions. As long as the residents were not. rated to any extra extent he thought it would be very satisfactory, to them and to t ], e Government if the town were taken over. Mr. Donne replied that the question would be submitted to the Government on the first opportunity.

Departmental judgment is sometimes faulty, but it may be doubted whether it was ever more so than with respect to the country east of Stratford 15 or 20 years ago. At the VYhaaigamomona gathering last week Mr. Symes, M.H.R., related how on one occasion lie formed part of a deputation which waited on the late Mr. Ballauce to urge the Government to open up that country. Mr. Ballance informed the deputation tlia.t the land was reported upon by the Lands Department as too rough for settlement, and only lit for a forest reserve. "Forest reserve!'' said Mr. Symes, '"does the Government intend to plant trees';"' Mr. Ballance did not understand; it was, he was led to suppose, rough impenetrable bush, and he was astonished when Mr. Symes. told him that there were thousands of acres of level open country. To-day there are sheep and cattle runs and dairy farms, carrying a large population, where the officers of the Land Department saw only rough country unfit for settlement.

A Wellington contemporary, in describing a recent trial of the Holmes and Allen automatic non-fouling swivelling trolley-head, made by the Wellington Corporation Tramways officials, says:—To the astonishment of inotormen and conductors., and to the great delight of the two young Wellington inventors, the trolley-head negotiated every obstacle with such ease that the motormen were able to increase the speed of the cars during the whole of their journey, and were never once late at any station. In the few cases of obstruction which occurred (created by the guiding rope entanglement) during the 800 miles of travel, the trolley-head automatically and instantaneously fell into an out-of-action position, clearing the overhead wire entanglements without the slightest mishap, and on each occasion the inventors were the recipients of hearty congratulations from inspectors, motormen, conductors, and passengers. The automatic nonfouling properties of this new invention is one of its chief features, and it was gratifying to all those who witnessed its performance to observe how readily the trolley-head fell clear of all obstruction, thereby saving breakage, wear and tear, and inconvenience to the travelling public, which too often takes place with the present solid head system, which latter has already involved very serious loss of life in several cities throughout the world, with corresponding heavy financial loss to theii respective corporations. A number of skeletons have been discovered amongst the sandhills facing the Waihi Beach. The skeletons were found lying in rows', some of them being almost complete, and the bones are in a splendid state of preservation. It is supposed that the skeletons are relics of old lighting days, and the sand which hid them so long has at last blown away, revealing the bones.

The Loudon Daily Chronicle of March 2 has the following paragraph: —Henry Carter, of Wellington, New Zealand, who is making a tour of the world on foot, has arrived at Dunkirk, France, having walked 27.000 miles since January 21, 1902. He was- arrested in Russia and Turkey as a spy, and elsewhere has been fired at and attacked by wolves and bears.

The following is the state of His Majesty's prison, Auckland, for the week ending April 7:—On remand, 8 males; awaiting trial, 13 males, 2 females; penal servitude for life, 3 miles ; hard labour, 220 males; 20 females; imprisonment, 3 males; received during the week, 33 males, 2 females; discharged, 26 males 2 females. Total in prison: 247 males, 22 females.

A singular loss lias just been reported (says the Wairoa Guardian). The Ramlose Brothers were cutting chaff, when Mr. V. Ramlose took off his coat, in the pocket of which there was about £40 in notes and cheques, and laid it on the oats. Forgetting he had done so the coat was fed into the chaff-cutter along with the sheaves, and it was not until the missing coat was required that he realised how " rich" the feed had become. Only that the chaff was cut up so fine no doubt there would be mamanxious to purchase that particular brand of chaff.

It was stated at the meeting of the Wellington branch of the Anti-Opium Association, held last Tuesday evening, that the Home society is very hopeful that the new British Administration will free China from her treat v obligations to receive Indian opium. Mr. Morley, Secretary of State for India, and Mr. Ellis, Under-Sec-retary of State, are strong anti-opium advocates, and Sir Henry Oampbell-B-vnner-inan and at least seven members of his Cabinet are reckoned on the same side. At the same meeting, a letter was read from the Women Christian Temperance Union, enclosing a resolution of sympathy with the objects of the society.

Wholesale aggregation of landed estates is said to be going on in the Tapanui district, Otago. The local paper, in an editorial, declares that although large estates have been frequently opened in the district for closer settlement, there is no actual increase in the population, simply because the purchase of adjoining farms or small holdings is going on steadily, and the *' big "men", are " eating up" the little ones'. Some families have ''dummied" in a wholesale manner, and hold several sections without homesteads on any of them; and the Land for Settlement Act is generally infringed without interference by the"Land Board, which ought to declare forfeited some of the sections that have been taken up for speculative purposes.

At an inquest on the body of a girl, aged 17 years, who was found drowned at Hobart, it transpired that she committed suicide because she could not face the disgrace which threatened her for having embezzled money from her employers. The jury said the salary paid to deceased (7s 6d per week) for the responsible position of cashier, handling £100 daily, was a scandal, and that the Government should be asked to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the rates of wages paid to young women by several firms in the city.

The only inmate of the police cells last night was a man arrested upon charges of drunkenness and refusing to leave licensed premises. > # ..,-,'.'