LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13839, 27 August 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

With the remarkable progress that Auckland is making along all lines of industry, and the rapid development of the resources of the country districts, the necessity for the opening up of more land for settlement is being keenly felt from Mangonui down tc the Mokau. As will be noted from an article in this issue, the lands now being thrown open to settlement are the worst sections in the possession of the Crown, and while the poorer lots must, of course, be made .available, there is a growing feeling throughout the province that a more rapid scheme of settlement of all the Crown lands is a pressing need. Wherever good land is opened on tho optional system there is such a rush of applicant's that it is plain the land hunger in Auckland is a long way from being satisfied, and the fact that Auckland, with the largest area and the largest population of any provincial district in New inland, has under 5.000,000 acres opened, m against over 10.000,000 in one Southern province and over 8,000,000 in anothet, speaks for itself.

Business in shipping circles has been fairly quiet .this week, especially toand the wharves. Queen-street Wharf yesterday, however, presented quite a deserted appearance, the mi«.ion steamer Southern Cross being the only vessel berthed at thin wharf. To-day'« expected arrivals will put a different aspect on the matter. The Kaipura is due from London, the Xavu.i from the Eastern Pacific, the Cevic from New York and Australia, and the Moraowai and the Wanaka from the South, while, on Sunday the Mokoia is expected from Sydney, and on Monday the Jeanara, also from Sydney. Other steamers ere also expected during the week.

The negotiations for the purchase by the Salvation Army of Blithe'* Hand "have not yet been completed. It is some weeks since Colonel Hosfcin, the Australasian ; sec-■ retary of tin* Army, viaiuiid the island, .which it was proposed to acquire and use for treating inebriates. P.ikatci having been found too small for the purpose, A hitch occurred at the M moment, and up to last evening the difficulty had not been o.Texcouw,

' ■;. A ; correspondent , writ** in reference to ike article .which 'Mppe&ted in the UmAU> of yesterday oa-2»«* Zealand win**, drawing attention to'the price charged in leading city hotels for the wine produced on the Government experimental farm at Waereaga..' In hi* optn«3p f 2* a pint bottle is an altogether execute price to pay. "I do .know wk. is responsible/" he writes, *" but if the Government » telling it* wine at such ft pi ice that it cannot be retailed "at lew than 2*, the Government is rot going the right way to establish the wine industry in New Zealand. The only way to do that i* to produce a good pjdfttible wine, and induce the people who take alcoholic ■beverages to drink it by selling it, a* cheaply a* they can bay other liquor?This has been,realised in Victoria, where several of the lead'"? growers have started first-clas* wine saloons for the sale of their own produce, At •; these ■■ place* one can obtain a gl«*a of drinkable wine—quite equal, if not belter, than the Waercnga claret—for 3d. m a really first-clans win* for 6d. If the New Zealand Government

wants to establish the infant wine industry of New Zealand it will have to do j something *intii.i!.'' The Government steamer Tutanektd, at 1 present in Wellington Harbour, is having j alterations made to her cable-laying ma I chinery, and when these are completed *he will proceed to Auckland, and lay the new cable between the Great Barrier el and and the ma inland. The cable will arrive from London at Auckland towards the end of next month by the steamer Kia Ora. It is a eingle-core' cable, weighing six tons fo the knot, and about 15 knots will be rej quired for the work. It will run from ] Trvphcns. on the south-western end of titi Great Barrier, to Port Charles, which '» ! about 40 miles from the Thames, and wilt ! connect by land line? via Ceromandel u. Thames. Telegraphic communication, both for use to shipping and the settler? on the island, has been teccomnieuded for some time. ! • Mr. A. A. Preeee, native interpreter, i* I inclined to. doubt the statement*, .that have I been made to the effect that the rabbit* have invaded the Hawke's Bay district. Mr Picece has recently been through the Urewera district on foot and on horseback, and saw very lew rabbits indeed—for miles none at all. Other good judges," who know the district thoroughly, say there are no rabbits within 40 miles of the Hawked Bay boundary. Rabbits are met with beyond this distance, but they air on the west bank of the YVaikato River, which should prove a fairly effectual barrier to their further progress. In fact, experts who have had experience of the rabbit pest in Australia say there is not the slightest, tear of the rabbits in the North Island getting across to the Hawke's Bay district. The Department has men constantly at work keeping the rabbit* down. At Galalea, where there is another outcry about/ the increase in rabbit.-, ft local resident, who should be in a position to know, stales that they have been so rigorously coped with by the Department's officers, that, if not eradicated, they have been given a check from which they cannot recover for many years.

An interesting discussion is expected at the Builders' Associations monthly meeting this afternoon, as notice of motion ha* been given for consideration of the proposal to increase the duty on imported building . timber. Mr. S. Clarke has intimated that he will move, " That the Federated Builders' Association be requested to oh lain the necessary information to enable. ii, to effectively urge such amendment of the Municipal Corporations Act/ as will secure for Borough Councils a greater control in the matter of the value, design, and' upkeep of buildings and fences abutting on streets under municipal control." Some of the leading local firms, whose, staffs wese working under great pressure j during Fleet Week,, have generously voted j bonuses to their employees. One wellknown transport company whose return* were greatly augmented by the presence of the American battleships in the waters of the Waitemata, gave each of their employees a bonus of £1 as a practical appreciation of the manner iii which they assisted the officials of the company to cope with the heavy traffic of the week. At a meeting of the Mount Eden School i Committee, held on Monday evening, a letter was received from the Board of j Education stating its intention, in view • of the overcrowded state of the school, I to enlarge it to provide accommodation for jOO additional scholars, the proposal of I the Board aroused a good deal of adverse i criticism, the outcome of which was the following resolution;—" The Mount Eden Committee unanimously regret the ffrcision of the Board to enlarge the Mount Eden . 'school, seeing that) the Board has maintained that the now school at Edendale would relieve the one at, Mount Eden ; the committee protests against the enlargement, believing that the number on the roll is- a* many its any headmaster can look „ftcr; the. committee considers the only solution of the difficulty is to build another school near Dominion Road, at th« far end of the district."

The danger constantly created by j drivers of vehicles coming out from one street into another at other than * walking pace, and cutting comers on the I wrong side of the road, wa again in eviI dence along Ponsonby Road yesterday. A ! tradesman's cart, travelling at a good paw?, I was suddenly turned ink one of the side j streets, and on the wrong side. Round j the corner was a dray, and the collision I which followed resulted in a. broken shaft for the tradesman cart and some broken harness for the driver of the dray to mend. By-law prosecutions occasionally warn drivers of the duty they owe to the public in this respect, but the warnings are rarely heeded, and .nothing short of a rigorous campaign against offenders seems' likely to provide any effective check.

In the course of his examination of a witness at the Supreme Court yesterday, Mr. J.lt. Lundon was again brought up sharply on several occasious by Mr. Justice Ed-, wards. '• You really ought to know, Ml. Lundon," said His Honor in ruling one question inadmissible, " that- you ought not to put the words into the mouth of thet witness. You have been doing that all th? morning." Subsequently His Honor asked the accused when he was in the box if, before pleading guilliy to one of the counts, he had consulted Mr. Lundon. The accused had barely time to answer when Mr. Lundon observed; "1 should prefer this man to tell his own story, in his own style, as to what really happened." This produced another remoustranc& from His Honor, who , said: "If you think I am going to allow this sort of thing tin happen you are very much mistaken, indeed, sir—very much mistaken indeed."

During the trial of Daniel Munro, at the Supreme Court yealmday, on a charge of being an incorrigibly rogue, the question as to the. credibility of his evidence, a , against another man"*, came «p. The hi ter party had sworn that Munro had aided and abetted Imu in torging iv .\ uttering cheques, but Munro it 0„; denied the imputation, and pointed out that when kikunvJ with complicity..he was acquitted ' But his oath is a* good as your.,, 1 sunpose?" inquired Mr 1,4,, ■■ Aw i - ' totted .Uunro, amid laughter* '«* .ippw" «ww UttfiNd oa his,.'* - .f™