LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13484, 10 May 1907, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A new danger appears to have arisen in connection with the removal of the refuse to the Auckland destructor, two instances '. having occurred recently in which live cartridges found their way into the refuse receptacles,: and not being detected reached the furnace, causing explosions at the destructor. The matter was reported upon by the city engineer to the Council last evening, and he drew attention to the serious consequences which might result from such a careless or wilful act. As it.was the explosions had damaged one of the iron doors of the destructor, and one of the stokers working at the time narrowly escaped ' being shot. He believed the cartridges had found their way amongst the refuse by carelessness,, rather than being wilfully thrown into the receptacles. The Mayor concurred with the engineer in his presumption that the act was one of. carelessness, but thought the publicity which would be given to the occurrence would tend to make people more cautious in the fuure. ■ ' ■■ ' *" ' • ■ : - At last night's meeting of the City Council, Mr. J. Browne, wrote expressing pleasure at the Mayor's proposal for municipal workers' dwellings, as having been a tenant of one of the Hobart Benevolent Society's cottages he had had experience of the benefits derived from living in such dwellings. After describing the dwellings, the writer said he hoped the Council would soon do something in this way. He was paying 9s a week " for an ill-venti-lated cottage, in Eden-street, which was not fit to sleep in." The letter was received, and on the motion of the Mayor, it was decided* to thank the writer for his communication.

A circular letter has been received by the Chamber of Commerce, from the Government, asking it to supply certain information relative to shipping, and particularly putting the question whether there is anything in the nature of a shipping ring in the district dealt with by the Chamber. At yesterday's meeting of the Chamber the Bailways and Shipping Committee reported that it had carefully considered the matter, and regretted that it could not obtain the information asked for. It was suggested that the Government be informed that the matter was one that could only be dealt with by a Commission with power to take evidence.; Mr. B. Kent remarked that, supposing the Chamber assumed that there was a ring in shipping in Auckland, it could only go to the shipping firms and ask, and of course the allegation would be denied. The matter was one in which only the Government, could act, and then by a Commission. The suggestion of the committee was adopted. An amusing reference to the great Russian scare of 20 years ago was made on Tuesday night by Vice-Admiral Fawkes at tho naval banquet in Wellington. Some young men in Wellington to-day must well remember, he said, the chill that went through them when their elders terrified them with a declaration that " the Russians were coming." At that time, Admiral Fawkes' old chief was the admiral in charge of a squadron at Yokohama, where a Bussian fleet was also lying, and the officers and men of both detachments were on very friendly terms. When the British admiral heard that the Russians were meditating a run towards New Zealand he did - not start for Auckland. He bought up all the coal in China.:, He. was the right man in the right place, and.he" had another advantage. A naval commander when asked what was the first requisite of an admiral replied, "a good cook," and the British admiral at Yokohama had a good cook, in the opinion of the Russian commander. , The Briton, getting information that the Russian fleet was about to depart for Nagasaki, sent an invitation to his foeman thus, "Will you dine with me at Nagasaki on Thursday?" "Yes," came the reply, "but how did you know that I was going to Nagasaki, too?" That was about as far as the Russians got in their invasion of New Zealand. Farmers in the Otahuhu district complain of the miserably low prices obtainable for oaten sheaves. This is largely attributed to the fact that an immense quantity of Australian chaff is being imported, which, compressed and mixed with bran, comes to New Zealand under the name of fodder, on which very little duty is levied. The contention is that chaff in bales should be subject to the same impost as chaff in sacks. This would give the local article a better footing. The farmers say that with the high wages they are compelled to pay, and the numerous other disadvantages they work under, they are unfairly handicapped by the present regulations. The widening oi Mount Eden Road from Eden Vine corner 'to Burleigh-street was referred to at the meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council last evening. The Mayor (Mr. Oliver Nicholson) said he understood that the City Council was prepared to grant a strip of the reservoir reserve for the purpose, to cut this down and to; form a foot- , path at a cost of from £600 to £700. He believed the City Council was further prepared to contribute towards the cost of purchasing the remaining-strip of land from a private property-owner, and from the trustees of the church at the corner of- Bur-leigh-street and Mount Eden Road. - The city engineer had;' in formed him that the private property-owner in question would be satisfied with. "£l,oo,.while thej f church ; trustees would require £550, which was not unreasonable, considering that the church building itself would! have to be* cut into. He undertook to .'recommend the Mount Eden Borough Council to contribute onehalf of the cost of these purchases, or in all £325. The Mount Eden district, he said, would benefit materially by the proposed widening, and he strongly urged the Council to contribute the amount named. > The proposal > was carried. The hearing of the tramway dispute was concluded at the Arbitration Court yesterday morning. Mr. Scott, ' addressing the Court on,behalf of the company, stated that the company was prepared to allow the firemen in charge of the three shifts at the power-house an extra shilling per day, and was also willing to try the experiment of placing glass fronts on new cars which .Were . added to : the service. ■• Mr. Rosser addressed the Court in support of the men's case.. The Court reserved its decision. in supporting the nomination of Mr. P. M. McKay to act as the City Council representative on the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, at the meeting; of i the Council last night, Dr. Stopford remarked that he, personally, would have been pleased to serve on that body, but at present he could not undertake the duties. He asked Mr. McKay, however, to give some attention to the death-rate at the hosDital. In connection with the lighting of Otahuhu large numbers of .gas mains are arriving daily, and are. being. placed in the various streets ready: for connecting with the works on the Great South Road. , , Comments have, been passed as to the rapid progress Otahuhu has made within the past 12 months, and that some people are determined to lose no time in availing themselves thfi advantages the township has to offer, was strikingly illustrated upon a recent occasion. The purchaser of a section had the timber for a house carted on to the ground and had commenced operations within 24 hours of the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, which probably constitutes a record. -; A collision took place in Symonds-street on Wednesday evening, between two cars bound citywards, which were heavily freighted with passengers returning from the Captain Cook sports ground. One car overtook the other near the cemetery, and the bump which occurred caused the breaking of window glass in one of the vehicles, besides giving the passengers something of a.; scare. , '.•■/:■'■■ ! . -The official opening of the Waitakerei waterworks extension scheme will be performed by the Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers), at the Ponsonby Reservoir, 'at twelve o'clock to-day. It is expected that there will be a large gathering of representatives of local bodies and citizens to witness the turning on of the new pressure. "A Surveyor" writes: —ln the Herald the Hon. Mr. Millar is reported to have stated, in speaking at the banquet held at, the Royal Hotel last evening, " That the Government could do with the services of 20 more - surveyors, but could not obtain them." But the hon. gentleman omitted to add the words, " at a starvation salary." If the Government would offer a salary that a surveyor could live on, and maintain his family, there are plenty of good men to be had, as shown by the fact that the City Council rpceived 16 applications quite recently for an 18 months' appointment. A chemical society has been established in connection with Victoria College, ■ Wellington. ;: Students of Victoria College, graduates of the New Zealand University, 1 fellows of the Chemical Society of London and the Chemical Institute of Great Britain, are eligible tor membership.

—g————— II I ■■■» ===::al Through, trying to hoard a tnoviag tan oft the College Hill route yesterday tw>3 ing, a young man named Joseph Xboam" of Ireland-street, Ponsonby, met with »"' serious accident. Ho jumped for the ite» but missed it, and fell heavily on the road* Thomas received immediate attention, and Dr. Hanley, who was communicated witK temporarily relieved the injuries sustained' which comprised painful wounds on the bead and hand, concussion, and a gesend shaking. The sufferer was subscqutatW taken, to his home. The City Coroner (Mr. Thos. Gresh»m) held an inquest at the Alexandra: Hot*! IV^-v yesterday morning, concerning tho death of a "three-weeks-old ■'son of Caroline Barclay of Durham-street. Dr. J. Moir, who had I made, a post-mortem examination. stated ! in his evidence that all the organs of the I body were healthy, and death Mas caused by heart failure as the result of an enlarge thymus gland. A verdict in accordance [ wua this evidence, was returned by the | jury. I The City Council decided last night, on | the recommendation of the Streets Comj mittee, that in future the minimum wage j for casual labourers employed by the Coun- ! cil be fixed at 8s a day. The recommends, tion was made in regard to an application | from 10 casual labourers, employed at Po n . " ! sonby reservoir, for an increase of wages ! from 7s 6d to 8s per day. The tender cf Messrs. Turnbull and j Jones has been accepted by the City Conn, cil for the supply, delivery, and installation of the underground cables in connection with the proposed electrical plant. The amount of the tender is £3970, includ- --■•■ ing a sum of £77 for an extra neutral wire which has been insisted upon as necessary by the Board of Control at Wellington. i The work is to be completed bv October 11. ;. " I ... " | The inartistic manner in which the painting of fences opposite fire plugs is sometimes carried out was referred to bv Mr. R. Tudehope at last night's meeting !of the City Council. He specially complained of black paint when used on white v j fences being allowed to run. "Hear;. hear,'" exclaimed Mr. C. J. Parr, "they ! have done it to my fence." It was decidj ed to take steps to secure an improvement j of the method of carrying out this work.-§4l I . The Importers and Manufacturers* Committees of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, have recommended to the Council ! that it should convey, to tho proper authorities, the opinion that, in the interests of fair trade, the terms of ( the Brussels Sugar Convention should be renewed. Ths recommendation was yesterday adopted by the Council. _. - ''. ■' ~ '■.'-.,-.-,'•';■:'' '■■■ :;'• '. : \ } ;S It will no doubt surprise many people to learn that a number of the officers of • the New Zealand contingents which served Si in the South African war have not yet received the whole of the pay to which they were entitled. The matter is being brought under the notice of the present defence authorities in New Zealand, and ii'S strong appeal is being made to them to settle the grievance without further delay. It is understood by tho Wellington Post that the question of appointing a second magistrate in that city is engaging the atj tent ion of the Government, and that the announcement of an appointment may baKS expected almost immediately. ' , " Notes on Reinforced Concrete,"- by Mr. W. J. Napier, a member of the Auckland Harbour Board, is a 'comprehensive treatise dealing with this most modern of building materials. The author states that the \ work is not written from an engineering , standpoint DMruiff^j«ijtj»wJ»«g»(*iJjM Mr. Napier commenced his inquiries with reference to reinforced concrete, [ and notes his observations since in cities throughout the world. In all the leading towns the principal engineering works are carried out in ferro-concrete, : and the employment of this material has enormously _ stimulated the Portland cement industry. Numerous instances are given of the reliability of ferro-concrete to stand strain and the stress of weather, etc. The book, which is- handsomely turned out, was print- , ed at the New Zealand Herald Printing i Works.