LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13482, 8 May 1907, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The grievances of the tramway men were further ventilated before the Arbitral ion Court yesterday.' One witness stated that the cars in Christehurch were provided with glass fronts, which protected motormen from bad weather, and lie considered they ought to be provided here. An ex-conduc-tor detailed the results of his observations during a visit to Australia, and one conclusion he had come to was that the Auckland conductors were the hardest worked in Australasia. He pointed out that in Sydney seats were provided for motormen, while the comfort of both drivers and conductors was thought of in this I respect in Melbourne. According to the evidence, there appears to be. a great deal of suffering from varicose veins among ;■■ the employees. If seats were provided, it was urged, this trouble would disappear. In bringing up the i" subject of glass fronts for the cars the Auckland employees are simply following the lead of the tramway men in Sydney. In that city the whole question was thoroughly considered by the authorities not very long ago, but they were forced to the conclusion that, pending some invention yet unthought of, it would be inadvisable to cover in the front of cars, even : with glass, despite the complaints that the exposure of the drivers to wind and rain was responsible for widespread; lung troubles. ; The risk to passengers was considered ■, too great. The experiment had been tried in other countries and had failed. *; As against this, a motorman, who gave evidence yesterday, expressed the opinion that glass fronts would minimise the risk of accident resulting from the driver's vision being obscured by dust' 01 rain. The case of the men was concluded..;

The Conference Committee in comwdba*' with the Winter Show has drawn up'i'dfc'' finite programme for the AgricoltoKkl (£*„ 'o ference, to be held during show week.'/ qJ.':the second show day (Thursday) thj tar,.',",' ing will be devoted to dairy matters. v- ' Caddie, Chief Dairy : Commissioner, opeijjjrf with an address on " Cow .Testing A«soe& tions." In the afternoon, Mr. R«& ? , ■ M.R.C.V.S., will speak on "Contaghn i Diseases Affecting Dairy Stock.'' The Fri.* day morning will be given over to quests } relating to the fruit industry, Messrs. Kirk Boucher, and Jacques, Government expert* dealing with various branches of the intiu*! try. That afternoon Mr. Johnson, fe t ■ grader, will speak on " Hemp and He:,,,; Grading," and Mr. D. D. Hyde will deliver an address on the poultry industry. Mr. Jackson, the agricultural .instructor,- will have the Saturday morning, and will speak on "Aims and Objects of Rural Education I */, The Minister for Lands is expected to deliver an address to the conference at- a-\ early stage of the proceedings. The Auckland Weekly News, publish, ed to-day, contains a largo number of in. teresting and high-class illustration*,, Among the most prominent may be mentioned a striking panoramic view on the double-pago of Wanganui town and river, and an excellent series depicting the opening of the duck-shooting season in New Zealand. The present great activity of Ngauruhoo volcano and the reported cruii- \ tion of Mount Ruapehu are recorded in | some unique views of the two craters take j last week, whilst among the various cur. ; rent events will be found pictures of th« i floods in the Manawatu River, pheasant* ; ! shooting in New Zealand, launch of H.M.«, | Indomitable, progress of woman suffrage in ! England, scenes in the Roadless North, and : ! the Rugby Union President's Cup. The ! miscellaneous illustrations are exceedingly | varied, and noticeable amongst them are ; some highly interesting groups and views from all parts of the colony. A trackman employed by the Auckland Electric Tramways Company was giving; evidence in tho Arbitration Court yesterday, when tho following conversation took place :— How much a day are you paid?" "Seven and "sixpence. 0 "How many children have you got?" "Eight." "And! a wife?" "Yes." " Would you not like* a holiday of seven days on full«pay once a year?" "Oh, yes; but I can't have one. I dont' drink and I don't smoke; but I've got all I can do to keep my wife and family." "How much /do you-: pay; for rent?" "I'm paying nothing" for rent, because I'm paying; off my .-own). house." Another trackman, receiving 7s fid a day, owned to having six children, and said he paid 14s 6d aHveek for rent. A member of the Grey; Lynn Borough Council made a naive confession at the last meeting of the Council. ,: A complaint from; a householder that he had not had his house refuse taken away was receiving sympathetic attention at the time, and the councillor in question, with fiery indignation in his eye, explained: Its disgraceful the way this dust business is managed. I know of try own certain knowledge that a dust cart-hast not been seen in. my street for the past two years; two years, gentlemen! Last week, for the first time in that period, my dust was taken away." The rest of the Council burst out laughing, for it turned out that ! the appearance of the dustman in this particular street coincided with the election of the speaker to the Council. "Now,'* reclaimed one of the older members, you self what you gel when elected."- ■:-.•'' ' A somewhat . important easel affecting shipping interests came before Mr. R. W,i; Dyer, S.M., at the Police Court yesterday*, when legal argument -heard in the «*««» in which James' Johnson i»' charged with having unlawfully engaged a seaman to I work on the s.s. Sterling in December last. The magistrate found that on the facts placed before him Johnson had engaged the.' seaman as alleged by the prosecution > Argument followed as to whether, undej section' 38 > of the Shipping and Seamei Act, the I defendant was liable in law. Counsel for both parties 1 quoted authorities, after which the magistrate reserved his decision. 'In a recent issue of the Herald Mr. W. J. Napier wrote, complaining that sand is being removed from the Admiralty Reserve, adjoining Victoria Wharf, Devonport, and that -i hen the Auckland , Harbour Board handed: the reserve over to the Borough Council they : :'did? not intend it to ]. be: used for such a purpose. The letter was mentioned at last evening's meeting ,of ; the Devonport Borough Council, and 'th*' opinion was expressed by Mr. McLean that if Mr. Napier had consulted the town clerk (Mr. "Webster), and not "rushed into print," he would have received more satisfaction. The shell and sand, which are said to be absolutely useless for growing purposes, had been laid on several of the Devonport .streets,- and had worked admirably, quite a hard coating . having - formed on the roads so treated. The. Mayor (Mr. W. Handley) said that up to ' the present time it had cost about £150 to level a portion of the reserve, whereas it: the reserve had been levelled immediately the Council took At over an expenditure off:; £1000 would have been incurred. The idea was to level the allotment and ther: sow it in grass. , "• The report* received by cablegram frotf ; London of the Imperial Conference indicatethat "Sir Joseph Ward has now come into' special prominence. ; : Though ( having refill to grant a' reciprocal tariff to the colonies, the Home Government is willing to aid the colonies in directions suggested by Sir Joseph Ward in a speech described? by Mr. Lloyd George (President .of the Board of Trade) as "extraordinarily able.':; An extended report received by the Government of Sir Joseph Ward's speech at [the Savoy/Hotel on Friday night, also Mr. George's reply, will ue found in this issue. .: Captain H. E. Pilkington, officer commanding the Permanent Force, Auckland, wrote to the Devoaport Borough Council last night to the effect that the recommendation of the district health officer (Dr. J. S. Purdy), that no further camping parties be allowed on the defence ground at Narrow Neck, would be carried out. The sanitary inspector informed the members of the Council that the ground in question: had been attended to by some members of the Permanent Force in a manner which had i secured the approval of, the healtlf officer^ The sanitary inspector to the Devonport Borough Council reported to last evening's meeting of the Council that there had i !'been six cases of scarlet fever and 19 cases of diphtheria in the borough since the beginning of tile year. The Mayor (Mr. Wm. Handley) said that such . a state; of ; things was bad enough, but it was not | so bad as some people had tried to make:out. '.■ -■ - . ■■ ■ :-■ '■ -;. -■' ■■;' •■ -.v ' ■••/■;.' ■-■ . ■; i : .:'; An application for a rebate of rates or an unused building was made to the Mount Eoskill Road Board last evening. The; chairman remarked that the granting of the request; would mean refunding 150 halfpence, while the owners were at the same time asking the Board to form 40 chains of road past their property. A movement is on • foot to .-establish 'i branch of Hie National League of New Zealand at Remuera. A meeting is to be held.; in St, Mark's Hall, on Thursday. May 23. Mr. Thomas Findlaysott will preside.