LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13768, 5 June 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A financial statement in relation to the administration of the affaire of the city of Auckland was brought down at the Council meeting last evening by the Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers). He referred to. the wonderful progress the city was milking in all lines, and dealt exhaustively with the estimates, which were also laid before the Council. The Finance Committee had recommended loan proposals aggregating £100,000, including £40,000 for reservoirs, £32.000 for street works, and £15,000 for Custom-street alterations, and the Mayor referred in detail to these matters and proposed to spend £45,200 on the streets, £10,000 for supplementing trunk water mains, £3700 on parks and reserves, £3000 on the fire brigade and various other sums," all out of revenue, and without increasing the rates. Objection to the loan proposals was raised by several members who had not attended the Finance Committee meeting when the questions were discussed, and i* was noticeable that when the matter was under debate last night eight councillors and the Mayor were all that remained in the Chamber to listen. The rates were struck at a later stage .if the, meeting, and in the aggregate they remain as before. A summary oi the proceedings appears je this issue.

The supply of domestic servants in Auckland continues to be very short, a "bate market" being reported by the registry office keepers. *' There are plenty of lady helps and cooks, especially the former," a Herald reporter was informed yesterdaf, "but good 'generals' are still very hard to obtain. I could find several places for go>d girls at £1 a week, but even with this inducement they are very scarce." <

The statement made by :S* Joseph Ward at Dunedin that he wj willing to adjust the electoral, boundaries so lis to leave the Sooth Island as « present, with an additional six feats for he North Island, provided the Leader of he Opposition agreed to the proposal, was sub-mitted,-to Mr. W. F. Mjisiy by a HEiiAto representative yc&tjriny. Mr.. Masscy replied that he v.as not going to express any opinion on tie Subject at present, but," he added,) aughingly, it's a pretty good ndmisum on the part of the Prime Minister pit he cannot get any important legislJion .through the House without my consul, in pile of his large majority." i The Mayor {Mr. A. M. MyeL the town clerk, and the city engine*! »« engaged with the city solicitor yestetda| it discussing the draft Bill of the prop*e4 comprehensive drainage' Scheme, whifi is to he submitted to Parliament. Tit* will have another conference to-day on th??ame subject, and it i? understood that, the draft Bill will be published at an earl; date. During the tramway strike all tV electric bells on the cars woe overhauled and put' in order. This was reported tot he City Council last evening by the traffic nspector, who Aim slid that on various lates on which observations were made tine: was a sufficiency of tramears on the ?onsonby and Grey Lynn routes, and an iiuilliciency on all others, while there was sill much congestion between five p.m. and six p.m. There were still 25 yellow cars and four red cars running, and every car beforebeiug repainted was overhauled, but the Tramways Company could give no idea of Ihe probable time it "would take u repaint then all. The original "spot"' map. shoving the incidence of typhoid, which was exhibited at the drainage conference early in the year, has- now been brought up to date. In addition to the use of flags showing the number of cases of disease, various colours have been introduced in the map. TJie flogs are placed as near as possible lo the places where the cases were first notified, and the colours used arc of various intensity, corresponding with Hie intensity of the disease in the different districts. Archhill, for instance, where no typhoid occurred during the period tinder consideration, is snown in white, but its near neighbom', Eden 'terrace, is coloured a murky black, and'so is Newmarket. The map takes in a. period from April 1, 1907, to March 31, of the present year. During that period the district., most affected by typhoid were the city proper, with 88 cases, Mould Eden 18, Newmarket 23, Eden Terrace 19, Mount Albert 11. The map was prepared by Mr. Henry Syinons, of the Auckland Health Department. j The tenders for the new Town Hall wen to have been opened at last night's meet ing of the City Council, but ;us a telj gram and ~ cable were received from We lington and Adelaide, respectively, adv? ing the despatch of two separate tendeb and as it was uncertain whether .Iwi tenders had arrived or not, it was resoled to authorise the Town Hall Committorto open all tenders on Monday next, a! 11 a.m. Up to the present three toilers have been received. j The appointment of Mr. Ernest wile Cave to be returning officer uridej the provisions of section 52 of the Inditrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1905, for the conduct of the election « f the members of the Special Hoard of Ceciliators for the hearing of the dispro between the Auckland Electric, Trfftways Industrial Union of Workers a'd cmployers has been gazetted. J| i ...■ p Trior to leaving for Wellingto| yesterday the Hon. Ceo. Fovvlds w* interviewed by a deputation from tfe Point Chevalier' Road Hoard, headed by Mr.. Dignan. A request was madeihat the Government should contribute towards the Board's proportion of the '*>' of the proposed drainage scheme, Iheurgument used being the fact that thcro/s a great deal of Covernment property p the district, including the Mental IJoMtal. Mr. Fowlds stated that it was ulikely that the Government would acced to such a request, seeing that it. was jn accepted principle throughout the wo/d that the Government was not liable local rates. jln response to a request to?'a telephone bureau in the district, Mr. jnvlds stated I that if the application was fade in writ- | ing he would forward it j> the Post-master-General, with a reommendation j i for its favourable 'consideratpn. < \ Referring to the feubjectif overworked Ministers of the Crown, ir. Homsby, M.P.. it: a letter to I lie Wellington Evening Post, states that Mjniier*, when absent from Wellington.' cknr. on their Departmental work, and as: ad to a correspondence that would Ptigir any two or--1 diuaiy men. The peoph demand that | Ministers .shall not sUyjiii Wellington, land if the affairs of this country are. to I be properly adniiniistetcdjMinisters must i travel about. He suggest that power be ; taken to appoint four or tie Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, who coal relieve Ministers of much work of a Detailcharactei, and points out that it is 10 new proposal, Sir Geo. Grey having sen tho necessity for some, such arrarigemnt in m day, while the late Sir Frodcwk Whitaker advocated the same thing. -The cost to the country of (say) five tinder-secretaries would, he. contends, bo less than £'1000 per annum. Speaking at Darga.vije on* Tuesday evening, Mr. W. F. Massy (Leader of the Opposition) said the A lit ration Act wa« ; the great question of the day, and it was ; exercising the minds d the (electors throughout the Dominion So far as the country was concerned, somnulsory arbitration had been a fa ire. The tendency of the Act was to bring workmen down to the same level, which was not fair to good men. Appe.J from the finding of the Court should lc provided for, perhaps not on facts, but oi. points of law. He instanced Mr. Dixon's case as one affected by tho operation o; a clause that should not be tolerated in <'.ny free country. It was the bouueien duty of the Government to give Parliament an opportunity to revise tho Arbitration Act. He believed in the underlying principles <jf the Act, but there should be more cojtiliation. f Each succeeding month sees an increase in the quantity of poultry graded at the Government Poultry Department as com ; pared with the same month of the previous year. For May, 1907, 4592 birds were pi through, and last month 6095 came forwaib The quantity of eggs handled also shows in average increase of about 25 per cent. / The proposal that the Southern W^roa Falls arid surrounding property of 614 £res j should be purchased by the City of ,uek- , land as a reserve supply of water ant as a, , scenic area, at a cost of £5000, was firown ' out by the City Council last evening it be- ■ ing thought by members that tin price i asked was a ridiculous sum for thedUtriet ; in which the falls are situated. ; f } The upper storage reservoir, : Jfiown as . the timber dam, on the Waitake,ei Creek, has been completed, and is in* .full of water. This; reservoir is the lee*r for the big reservoir, which >& in coufic of construction at the Waitakerei Falls, and i which will hold upwards of IgC'mUUoo gallons when completed. U 1 I

\ report was revived by the City CoW til last ©renin* from the city engince* ~i» relation to the suggestion that memorial tablet* should be placed on th Grafton bridge across Cemetery Gttffi\ He stated that in bis opinion, the bait form of me- ! mortal would be a statue to Governor Hobton, m the wirth side of lite bridge and a ffnmp «' statutory or Embolics! figure to the other pioneers, on tie north side, th« cost of from £1000 upwards to be rawed ,; bv public subscription. The engineer w.** requested to further repf on the propyl to attach platen to the bridge, bearing suitable inscription*. / . \ nautical inquiry An connection with tho wreck of the f. Muritai will be hold in the MagtttWe's Court thu afternoon, before Distri;* dodge Kettle and Captains Heed end/Crawford (assessors). Mr S Mays will appear for the Lu?- ( 'oms Department, Mr. M.. O. McGregor for Captain R. Hopkins and Mr. I. l>atherby (chief .officer}, and Mr. J. R. Reed for Mr. \/. E. Allen (second officer) Mr. Clayton will appear for the Northern S.S. Company, owners of the wrecked steanyr. In a letter /» the City Council recently the district lybltli officer. Dr. l»«rdy, said these was uiJoubtedly some connection h ■■- twe-n the kfpmg of poultry and outbreak* of diphther/. and suggested that where diphtheria foke out poultry-keeping nhuuhl be abolish/1 within the city area. I he. Finance f/minittee recommended that, in view of tfc letter from the district health officer, If provision of the by-laws dealing with Witty yards should be strictly enforced. /The Council agreed to (he recommendatf'n. / Rciting to the City Council last evenin„ L electrical engineer state-' that, m. orde/to meet the requirement* of the \ uc Ld Harbour Hoard, it would be necJfearv to add two feeders in Quay-street ;ll a «i of £2650. and provide drtnbn or, : i Quav-strect at « c*t of £2*50, add.: generator, switches and ioundi.tton WD2500. making a total of £7900. H« Junmended that tenders should be mvld, the engine, dynamo, and swtt.lu- 1.,jLthe same as those already installed, and iU plant, being (he minimum amount p«- ' Jo to cam- on until the, work, were ct,M,ed on'the new site. The, WeetricK ummittce. in recommending the Council } invite tenders, staled that the expend-.. (re on the loan account to date of opening ] the works totalled £26.000, and £6000 (ad been sanctioned since, while- £7900 was ,oposed, thus requiring £15,800 Unit ot the Lew loan authorial, vi/.„ £50,000. lh» Council agreed to invite tenders foi the ad '/ditional plant required. For the fortnight ended MWy 31. the. „nits generated at tho city'electrical inmcrhouse totalled 9311, the machinery running for 1514 hours. During that time 9550 gallons of water were used and sis tons of coal, and tho wages paid amounted to *M 12- Tho number of light consumers ivan , increased bv two, bringing tho total to 69. For the whole month 19,421 units were generated, and. 13,623 were «old, BM9 being described as "lighting" and 5174 ... " power." Messrs. L. J. Ba«miU and C. J. Van were appointed by the City Council last evening to act as delegate to the Mumcipal Conference in Wellington. In « remit to the conference, the Auckland Council is urging that the MunieiiKiJ Corporations Act- should be amended to permit, of the ex-Mayor whose term of office preceded that of "the Mayor, having a seat in the Council, with the full right*, privileges, and responsibilities of councillors. "I think that, the Government is a humbug—that in what I think about it." Such, was the emphatic declaration made by the proprietress of an Auckland registry < office, in the course of a candid expression of opinion yesterday regarding the action of tho Government in opening p. women's labour bureau in the city. '"It i* a hate ful, abominable thing to do; and I cannot tell you what a contempt I feel for thorn, said the indignant lady, a* she continued to pour .i recital of Lor grievances into the j"' ear of a Huulii reporter. "They want {to hound us oil' the face of the earth ; I wonder if they will provide lis with \ coffins?" she asked, but this was a query to which the pressman was riot prepared off-hand to hazard a reply. "I hope that you will put it in hot for them," wa* the lady's parting shot as the interviewer took , ; | hi.* leave. .':*> Home people who are still not latis- : lied that the recent outbreak of typhoid —happily now at an end occurred »• cer- . ■: tain areas through failure, to comply with the requirements of modern :-anit;i lion .have suggested that these areas have been affected .coin their topographical jiosdtioii under the influence of the westerly wind that is .'so prevalent in Auckland. The wind, coming up Archhill gully, which i-, acknowledged to be practically an open sewer, is alleged 10 have blown the typhoid back into the districts affected. Tim fact that the area controlled by the irclihill Road Board was free from the epidemic rather give* colour to this theory. The district health officer, when seen/yesterday with regard to the suggestion/ said that undoubtedly there might be something in if, although the people of Archhill might claim with justice that tlie sanitary arrangements of their area tfere as well carried out as they could possibly he in the circumstances. The' Health Department, on the occasion of /l-s house to house inspection, had been a/de lb make a satisfactory report on Archhill. Another interesting point about the recent epidemic was that it began/to disappear with the appearance of rain/ The rain caused a Hushing of the severs. Still more interesting is it. to i/r>te that coincident with the disappearance of the fever there was practically a disappearance of the Hies, which had been more abundant than usual this season. Dining the first outbreak the diyase was spread by these. inserts to thi immediate localities, and cases direct1/ attributable to this source of infection were investigated by the Health Department, the contamination being rallied by flies from an insanitary box that tad been left in a. house after the fever patient was removed to the hospital. The wet weather did not materially affect the attendances at the Society of Arts' exhibition yesterday, and the gallery was well patronised both afternoon and evening. The exhibition has been sc successful that it will not be closed to-morrow night as originally intended, but will be continued for some days of next week. The art union, which is filling up rapidly, will be drawn on Wednesday night. Housewives who are is: the habit of leaving clothes on the lines in their yards at night should beware, at the " snow - droppers" appear to be on the warpath. Two or three instances of clothes disappearing from the lines have lately occurred iu the Ponsonby district. A tew months ago a newly-married lady in the same locality lost (V considerable portion oi her wedding trousseau owing i.. one (l these unwelcome visitations. On Wednesday afternoon a five-year-old son of Captain Champion, while id tying in Albert Park, fell from one oi the cannon and broke his arm. He was taken tc Mr-Eccle-s' chemis* shop and was attended to by Drs. Theirner and Lowe '.■"■.'■■'■.'■.. J **i^'lß ■"■ "'•■ ! '' :■■■-■:' :'•■• "■'■ ' =' : ' : " "■■:'■ ■■'. : .