LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13666, 6 February 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The State school statistics for the Auckland educational district for the quarter ended December 31, 1907, show that the number of schools in the district on that date including 82 half-time schools) was 484, being an increase of two. The adult teachers consisted of 386 males and 401 females, making an increase of 787. The pupil teachers numbered 160 (45 males and 117 females, making a grand total of 947. The scholars comprised 17,451 boys and 15,723 girls, making a total of 33,174, or an increase of 30 as compared with the previous period. The average attendance of boys was 14,950, and of girls 13,198, making a total of 28,148, or an increase of 1432. The average attendance for the year 1907 was 28,057.

The report and balance-sheet of the New Zealand Insurance Company, Limited, for the year ending November 30 last, which ,will be found in another column in today's issue, show that the year's operations have resulted in a surplus of £91,416. Out of this 6um the directors recommend the payment of a dividend of 2s per share, making 10 per cent, for the year, £60,000 to be placed to the reserves, and a balance oi £21,674 to be carried forward. The net income derived from premiums, interest and rents amounted to £642,759, whilst the capital, reserves and undivided profits are stated at £696,674, after providing for the dividend recommended by the directors.

The ceremony in connection with the turning on of the electric power will be held at the power house, Freeman's Bay, on Monday next, and arrangements for the function have now been completed. Addresses will be delivered by the Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers) and others, and the Mayoress will switch on the current! After that the plant will bo in full operation and consumers who have had light or power laid on to their premises will be able to avail themselves of the full benefits fil'tlw! installation.

" A new electric Craroear of" the same pattern aa No. 72, which has given. rise, to such favourable comment since it I started running last week, will be put in commission early next week, and the Tram. way Company expect to be able to place an additional" car on the track every fortnight thereafter until some 15 or 16 new cars are engaged in the service. .Some are expected from England shot while others are being constructed locally. The woodwork of the new car was erected conjointly by Mowrsi Cousins and Cousins and the D.S.C- Yesterday it was taken from the factory, placed upon car wheels and towed to the tramway depot at Fonsouhy to have the electrical appliances fitted.

The ' extent to which school teachers should be permitted to augment their salaries by outside occupations during their spare time occupied the attention of the Education Board yesterday. It was stated that lin one case a teacher had been in the habit of publishing a periodical and canvassing for advertisements for it. "What about keeping cows''" asked Mr. J. D. McKenzie, "Or growing cabbages?" facetiously suggested Mr. A. R. Harris, "' perhaps that should bo stopped." The Board, whilst not going so far as to place any embargo on cows and cabbages, decided that the publishing of a periodical, for purposes of profit, was not a fitting method of idling in a teacher's spare tiuio.

Probate lias been granted by Mr. Justice Edwards in the estates of the following deceased persons: Robert D. L. Duff us, William W. Earl, Henry F. Seager, Hugh J. J. Hamilton. Henry A. Colson, Janet C. Aitken, Wra. Will, Donald Fraier, Archibald Stewart, Edwin Warmington, Agnes Martin, Wm. F. Hammond, Nicholas Oliver Honeycombe, John MeMulkin, Geo, F. Thorp. Letters of administration have also been granted in the estates of the following deceased persons: -—Harold K. Wallace, Walter A. Brook, Peter Dromgool, Sarah E. Harding, and Jessie McKenzie.

Over six months ago the Onehunga Sawmilling Company's scow Reliance, while on a trip from Onehunga to Raglan, timber laden, was beached for safety between the Manukau Heads and the mouth of the Waikato River. After a number of efforts to refloat her the Reliance was got off by Mr.' George Niccol yesterday, and towed to Onehunga by the tug Sterling, berthing at three p.m. It is intended to dismantle the scow at the wharf, where she now lies, after which she will be placed on the " hard" for a survey. Soon after the Reliance mishap, the scow Tramp, under charter to the Onehunga Sawinilling Company, was run ashore during a fierce gale about eight miles south of the Kaipara Heads, and despite all attempts to get her off has remained on the beach ever since. Yesterday it was reported that the Tramp was afloat, whereupon the Sterling, 20 minutes after berthing the Reliance, left to assist in getting her off, and to tow her to the Kaipara if possible.

The question of the new post office site was mentioned at last night's meeting of the Trades and Labour Coimcil. At the previous meeting it was resolved to ask the Prime Minister to reconsider his decision in choosing the railway site as a frontage for the new building. Last evening a reply was received from the Minister's secretary (Mr. D. Robertson) to the effect that the subject would receive immediate attention. The chairman (Mr. A. Rosser) said he had beex given to understand that the matter would he settled when Sir Joseph Ward arrived in Auckland this week. Ho believed a deputation was to wait on the Premier when he reached here in regard to this matter. A discussion followed as to whether the Council should be represented on the deputation, but it .was resolved to adjourn the matter for a month. "That is practically shelving it," said the chairman.

A fire broke out in a two-storey wooden house ... occupied by Mr. T. ,1. . Ogden, in Manukau Road, Parnell, on Tuesday night, at 10.45 p.m. The exact origin is not known, but Mr. W. W. Richardson, who leased two of the upstairs rooms, left shortly before the outbreak without- extinguishing a kerosene lamp which was in his apartments, and it is believed that the curtains caught alight. The Parnell- Fire Brigade was quickly on the spot and confined the actual fire to the upper storey. Mr. Richardson's books, some oil paintings, and personal effects, which were insured in the Phcenix office for £125, were destroyed, and he estimates his loss at £15 over that amount. About £100 worth of damage was done to the house, which is owned by Mary M. Mullins, of Ardmore, Papakura, and insured in the National office for £350. Mr. Ogden had no insurance on his furniture and effects, and will be a considerable loser through damage caused by water.

The vacant section at the corner of Wyndham and Federal Streets has been cleared for the foundations of a handsome eightstorey building for Messrs. Collins Brothers. The structure, which has been designed by Mr. A. Wiseman, will have a frontage of 75ft to Wyndham-street and 80ft to Fede-ral-street, while its height will be about 100 ft. Being situated on the rise, ib will afford a striking feature amongst the many tall buildings in this quarter. The front will be in Australian pressed brick, with cement dressing, the whole being after the modem Italian style. The base is to be constructed of granite, obtained from Moehau, at Coromandel, and the flooring will be supported throughout by steel stanchions and girders. In addition to a main staircase and a rear fire-escape, which may be used as. a passage way, the floors are to be served by two commodious lifts. The ground and first floor will be subdivided for office purposes, and the remainder utilised for ordinary warehouse requirements. Mr. J. D. Jones is the contractor, and the price is,said to be about £13.000.

lu. previous years the Education Board has allowed teachers attending the summer school, in connection with the Technichal College, additional holidays in consideration of such attendance. This year the teachers were required to attend the classes, if they desired to do" so, out of their own time. A report submitted to the Education Board yesterday by Mr. George George (director of technical education) showed that under the new arrangement 19 teachers had attended the classes for agriculture, as compared with 24 in 1907, whilst the handwork classes had been attended- by 35 teachers, as against 104 last year.

Exceptional interest attaches to the election of a member of the Auckland Crown Lands Board to represent the Crown tenants of the district. In all, there are 15 candidates, and some 500 of the voting papers distributed amongst those entitled to vote have been received by the return, ing officer, the secretary to the 'Board, The dosing time for receipt of voting papers is four p.m. on February 24, three days after which the counting will commence. It is expected that some 4000 votes will be recorded.

The new electric sprinkler was out yesterday morning and again in the afternoon watering several of the city and suburban streets, and was most efficacious in laying the dust, the results' being particularly uoticeablo in I'onsonby and Karanjrahape Koacte, . '■. ' .

'".A short discussion look pkte at hsi , . ' ; evening's meeting of the Trade© arid LabottJ. Council in regard to the statements mag, by employer* as to the scarcity of girJ labour for factories. Mr. Tiwhler, or,« of the delegates, expressed the opinion th-i*. ; some of the employers bad exaggerated things. ' The cry for factory girls, he ' : wid, only took • 'place , two'or thrc v :. months before Christmas, and ho vestured to say that if any factory bands were. ]& |f|'|| port<>d from England, as suggested, the? wouikl be walking . the streets for u;p."> moaiiha of the year. He was * native of London, and it seemed a hard thing to say, ■'■\4}i£ but he considered the colonial "a bit above'" the- .English hand. ■: Mr. Aggers supported : . ':;■•. Mr. Tischler's remarks, and it wa« resolved that a strong protest should be mack against the proposal to obtain Governmca' aid to import labour into the Dominion; The Central Fire Brigade was called to Grafton Road at about eight o'clock last evening, a fire having broken out in u house owned and occupied by Mrs. H. ( . Brewer. Clothes were being dried rouiid a stove in one of the rooms, and probably a spark alighting on some dry linen caused the outbreak. Mr. Brewer had the fire well in hand when the brigade arrived. The damage is estimated at £100, including about £30 worth of clothes which were burned, The building is insured for £700 in the South British ! office, and the furniture for £200 with ill* •■■ ,;■.. New Zealand Insurance Company.

The need for police protection along tint waterfront baa again been exemplified, The well-known yacht Queenie was taken '. from her moorings off Messrs. Logan Bros,' yards, near the Auckland Freezing Com-,;, pany's works, to the eastward of Um Railway Wharf, on Tuesday, and wa* found on the beach off Stanley Bay yester- V day morning. The scow Curlew, which ' was at anchor off the Kauri Timber Com- : pany's mills, Custom-street- West, v?«g -% boarded yesterday, and some of the be- ' longings of the master disturbed, though ; very little was taken away.

The directors of the Hibberd Prepayment Machine Syndicate, Limited, have received an important letter from the syndicate',, British attorney, intimating that he fad* j entered into provisional arrangements with a director of a large and prominent linn of gas meter manufacturers for au option of purchase of the patent rights, as affecting gas only, in each of the following countries, via.:—Holland, Belgium, Germany, and France. The terms stated provide for cash payments of a lump sum and royalty of so much upon every meter fitted with the syndicate's patent. The conditions arranged further provide that the proposed purchasing firm shall defray all expenses in - connection with the option and the Helling ; - of the machines, thus leaving the syndicate absolutely free of any liability.

Dr. Armstrong, the Sydney city health officer, states that plague rats continue to be found at intervals in the Darling Bathour area, the focus of infection from the introduction of the disease in Sydney. The Harbour Trust has done good work in concreting parts of the water frontage, but it is the firm opinion of those best able to judge that until the whole work is completed and the harbourage of the rats destroyed there will be a recurrence of plague.

At the meeting of the Auckland Trade* and Labour Council last evening a letter was received from the Rev. A. Robertson, of the Onehunga Congregational Church, in which he mentioned the desirableness of striking but on new lines of work, and teaching in harmony with (1) the now theology, (2) the best ideals of trade unionism, and (3) the ethical spirit of the social movement. It was resolved to* tek the writer to address the .Council at an "early date.. '". ■■'"" ; ' "' '. ■

A six-roomed house owned and occupied by Mrs. Mary Bkixham, in Station Road, Avondale, was totally destroyed bj fire yesterday morning. The outbreak apparently started in the dining-room, where a fire was burning. Mrs. Blo*h»m was engaged in the washhouse at the time ' she saw the flames coming through the roof. There being no fire brigade nothing IK:| could be done to save the building, which was destroyed with its contents. The house was insured for £300, and the furniture for £170 in the State and London * and Lancashire offices, and the owner fi# estimates her loss at £100 over t&«l< amount/

Further advice© from the manager of the Kapowai mine at. Gumtown state that the bush fires in that district are burning as fiercely as ever in a gully that had hitherto escaped. Writing under date «t\ the 3rd inst., he -says: —"This gully is §£!/ on the west side of the battery, and as it stood bo long, I did.not think it was like-', ly to catch. However, the high -wind*-f on Thursday night blew »parks from a distance, and Ket the thing going. The scrub and dead wood for a good width between ' the fire and the battery have all been «- moved, and any tall trees likely to throw, sparks towards the battery bare been; • felled. With these precautions Ido not ' think there is any danger to the company* property."

The scow Hawk. Captain Anderson, fev . | made some smart trips on the west coast since being chartered by the Onohung* Sawrailiing Company, but her last trip is * % considered the best performance to her credit. Chi Tuesday the Hawk left Onft- [■ hunga at noon, bound for Hokianga, and ij arrived at the latter port yesterday morning at 10.30. ■ ■ * ■ . " >• $

All New Zealand time is token from ,'d Wellington mean, time, which is notified each morning to every telegraph office ■■..',' throughout the" Dominion. Therefore, ....: if they are properly regulated, all tb# ;#|f town clocks in New Zealand would strike '",'■','- simultaneously. The difference in natural time varies to the extent of four minutes for every degree of longitude, so that if there were no regulation there would be a difference of about 15 minutes, for «'- : , ample, between Wellington and Dunedin : time. '^M$M

The high prices ruling for poulti'J ,' > locally have given a marked impetus to the industry, and the Government depot is being kept exceedingly busy preparing birds for the market. A largo number oi ducks are now coming forward for export, though the egg season is pretty well ovet.X^'jti Beferring to the future at Lionel Terry, the Wairarapa Times gays:lntercourse with his fellow men, converse- with persons of equal or. superior intelligence, ami with different vie —it is in this alone that there is any hope- of Terry's wind regaining its balance. And it is not in these colonies that this can" be- effected. For the air is full of the anti-Asiatic sentiment. Let the Government ship him off Home to hiss friends! T here he may begin life again, with the cobwebs cleared from hie brain. If ho is to be ... i kept here, he should be metaphorically tied by the legj but <va should much pre- mffM 'ei to see him vanish. -'■'■.. .'•■. .'■■■■. ....:, •■■ '■ ■■'* -■> J The Northern Company's steamer 'A\.iitangi, which arrived at Onehunga from -Raglan and Kawhia yesterday, went upon tl» "hard," near •Geildes* Basin, for treatment ;? ; : to her propeller. ....••■ ; . ;', Anglers at llotorua have riot been qui'? . so numerous during the past cv dive *.. they were at She beginning of Wl week, but those who Wc been out en the lake* "\ have eccum! good baskets.