LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13866, 28 September 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

An English mail, via Suez, arrived from Sydney by. the Moana yesterday, while the Gymeric, which arrived from San Francisco on Saturday, brought an American mail. Personal .items and other interesting news. from our London correspondent will be found elsewherein this issue. V Bullion valued at £71,500 was shipped to London by the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Tongariro on Saturday. The steamer also took a number of passengers and a.large quantity of cargo. The chief lines were 2317 bags of copra, 1674 cases of kauri gum, 1549 boxes of butter, 695 bags of ore, and 393 bales of wool. The Onelumga Wharf presented a busy appearance yesterday, no less than eight vessels being berthed. These included the steamers Takapuna, Weka, Rarawa, Torgauten, Claymore, and Waitangi, the barque • Triton, i and the auxiliary: ketch Elsie. The Triton, Claymore, ■ and Wai-tangi--wera, .[triple-banked^

In view of the possibility of President Roosevelt visiting New Zealand next year, the following from our London correspondent, under date August 21, .is interesting : -In a review of "A Week ill the White House with Theodore Roosevelt—A Study of the President with the Nation's; Business " by William Bayard Hale, note is mad© of 'the following; remarks attributed to the American President in the course of conversation with an Australian squatter; " I need not. tell you that'l am tremendously interested in Australia—and in New. Zealand, too.' You have one of the most interesting of the newer,countries;: ■/ It is tremendously important that you . should avoid one pitfall, however. It r most necessary that something should be done to populate your vast stretches of country. It would be most unfortunate, if your cities were to continue to grow out of all proportion 'to the, growth of your farm, lands and pasture lands." A suggestion has been made in business circles in the city that Auckland ahould hold an industrial exhibition on a large scale next year, about August or September 'Although there are no definite; proposals so fav, the Auckland Industrial Association.is likely to have the matter be-, fore it for* discussion at next ; general meeting. The idea, as , far as can be ascertained, is to hold an exhibition representative of the whole province, with courts for each district, 1 displaying the products, natural and manufactured, with pictures and other displays illustrative of scenery, sport, industries, etc., while the manufacturers of ■ the city and suburbs would ' be asked to make a thoroughly representative showing ; of. their manufactures, and of . the actual processes and machinery <in use. In all probability, if the proposal takes concrete form, the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be , asked t: cooperate and .make the Winter Show part of the exhibition.

The Government steamer Tutanekai returned to Auckland on Saturday evening after successfully laying the submarine cable btween the Great Barrier and the mainland. The two connecting shore points were a spot off Tryphena Bay, on the Barrier, and Port Charles, near Cape Colville, on the mainland. The. thirteen knots of cable across the intervening : sea were laid in the remarkably fast time of one hour 55 minutes, and the whole.Work, including the fixing of the ends on each side, was accomplished ' inside four hours. An interesting account, of the work' appears in another part of to-day's issue. ; .'. The Norwegian barque Triton, at present berthed at. the Ohehunga Wharf, is the object of ' much attention, as it. is many years since a vessel of her description has been seen there. The vessel, which is under the command of Captain Reinertsen, was 51 days on the run : from Reunion to the Manukau, experiencing rough weather most of the way. She >is under charter to the Kare Kare sawmill, Manukau Heads, and is to load 650,000 ft of sawn; timber for Australia. As the Triton has to '; come back again to the Manukau for more timber, it is expected that she will return laden with Newcastle coal. The first shipment of timber will include 150,00(3ft from'the Onehunga Sawmilling Company, 250,000 ft from the King Country, .and 250,000 ft from the Kare Kare mill. , v -- ■;.' A leaflet has been issued by Mr. W. Crombie, stationmaster at Auckland, ad- , dressed to "the members of the House of Representatives and the general public of New Zealand," and headed "A Captain Dreyfus in New Zealand," setting forth particulars of an act of." injustice which he alleges has been done to him by the Railway Department in connection with hie reduction from the position of district traffic manager, Greymouth, in 1902. Mr. ;• Crombie says:—"As Lam leaving the railway service in the course of a week or two, after the. long term of 31 years, I ask you to kindly peruse the accompanying cor->. respohdeuce in connection- with my disratement ' from- the position of district traffic manager at Greymouth in 1902. The correspondence speaks for itself, and shows how an old and faithful servan* can be treated in this much-vaunted 'God's Own Country.' Strange as it may r appear tohonest . people, I was reduced and sent to Auckland at a reduction in salary of no less than £55 per annum and 1 a free house .valued at £40 per annum; /and: that after two inquiries had been held :' Avithout any charge of, neglect of duty in any shape or form being made against/me; and I was not even asked to give any evidence at- the first inquiry, being informed by the gentlemen who held it that it ; was "not necessary, for me to attend; and- although asked to give evidence at the second inquiry I was not present ;to hear the evidence,': given by the other witnesses; - and I have not up till now been supplied with a copy of the evidence given at either inquiry? To give you an idea, how serious.; the unjust reduction has been to me, I have: lost in' salary alone upwards of £500, and when I retire on superannuation my allowance will be, at least, £46 per annum less than I would have received had I not been disrated,"' The correspondence referred to shows that Mr. Crombie appealed, but in vain, to Sir Joseph Ward, Mr. J. Ronayno (general manager), and Mr. / Hall-Jones for reconsideration of his case with a view to his reinstatement in his position of district traffic manager. v ' -

According to/the Nursing Mirror (writes our London correspondent), "the nursing arrangements of the Auckland Hospital, New Zealand, continue to be of a deplorable character. Out of a total staff of between 60 s'nd 70 nurses, :: 11 have suffered' from typhoid fever during the present year, and as fnauy more have been compelled temporarily to relinquish ; then duties on account of minor ailments arising to a large extent from overwork. The average hours of the nurses on duty are 60 per week, the diet' is indifferent, the meals have to be hurriedly consumed, and the few hours of sleep obtainable are not always unbroken. The building, in fact, is overran with rats, which not only disturb but frighten the .probationers, one of whom was awakened in the middle of the night by a rodent tugging at her hair, j This and other grievances have been brought before the Hospital Board without any appreciable changes being made in the hard lot of the nurses,: whose treatment does not supply an argument in favour of State-supported hospitals."; 1 -, . .' The '■ advent of the Jewish year 5669 was celebrated in the Auckland Synagcfgue on Saturday, when a special sermon was delivered by Rabbi Goldstein. The building was ■ crowded, and at the conclusion of his address Rabbi Goldstein reminded his auditors that it was Dominion Day, > and he spoke of the necessity of all citizens living, side by' side. He hoped that the leaders of the Dominion would be inspired with a spirit of justice, ■'. ' A short sitting of the Police Court was held on Saturday morning, when Mr. C. C. Kettle/; S.M., presided. Several persons were dealt with for drunkenness. 1 The elderly Belgian, Joseph Pinto,, who had been remanded on a charge, of having land- ; ed in New Zealand, lie being a prohibited immigrant, and who had related a remarkable story of: adventure, was have ap-' peared, but it was stated that he was too unwell, and an adjournment until Wednesday -was granted.

In order that the public may be a' o - to distinguish eggs graded at the Govern..'--, mont poultry depot in future, a novel svg.' tem of stamping has now been adopted ' In the past the .officiate have been unable '■•< to brand the eggs with the ordinary hand ' stamp, owing to the amount of time in. ■• volved, but Mr. T. H. Leihy, manager of ''•!■ the local depot, lias now hit upon a happy :* plan, whereby this can be overcome. Re;', has caused stamps to be inserted in the •! lids of the . ink-pad cases, and has had 5 these cases hung up on the walls with the '■■! pads suspended so that the grader can ' brand the eggs with expedition, and when the ink on .the letters requires replenishinsr "'' this can be readily accomplished by slap. ■>! ping the suspended pad up against them 1 The work, as will be' seen, can be executed with expedition, and at the, same : time at a minimum of cost. But this }j'||! not all. As a check upon the work of the ' graders, ,Mr. Leihy has caused the number of each man to be put on his respective stamp, and is \ also making arrangement* whereby the ink used can be changed every few days, and in the event'of complaints : - the offender can not only be brought to account by his number, but the date upon which he passed the faulty egg or eg™ y can be told to a nicety. The system = which will be brought, into operation from the beginning of October, will, no doubt be greatly appreciated by the public, who will thus have the means of ascertaining for themselves whether they are getting ', graded eggs or not, /'. It is satisfactory to I note that the majority of those engege'd in the poultry'■industry., are now sending theirS I eggs to the depot to be graded. ',' Writing on August 21, our London cor- f respondent says:—The famous old clipper/ ship Mersey, which hay been turned into A': 1 floating nautical college by the White Star •■ Line, has just sailed, from Liverpool on a ■ I voyage to Australia with .40 cadets. The I scheme was' originated by Mr. • J. Bruce Ismay, on account of the growing shortage .of British officers, and when the boy)? have , finished a lour years' course of training and obtained their certificates, they will have the preference for appointment on the White Star liners. The Board of Trade , has issued a special regulation allowing the I: boys to qualify as if they were apprenticed in,. the 'ordinary' way. The boys range in age from 14 to 17 years. They have been drawn chiefly from the inland counties, and ' many of them are the sons of gentlemen $ farmers, and clergymen. The cost of the four.. years' course is £20. The cadets : will be divided into watches, and they will : : have to take their sihare of the work of the ; ! ship with the ten able seamen whom she carries. In; addition to the commander, the ship carries three navigating, officers and two schoolmasters. A Press Association message from I Christchurch states that Messrs. W. E. I Hutchison and R. Farrell, members of;; ; the Auckland City Council, and Mr. W. . E. ! Bush, city engineer for Auckland,' inspected a number of buildings in Christchurch on Saturday, the Christchureh city surveyor conducting them round. The object of the inspection is the furnishing of a report; the most suitable stone for use in the Auckland Town Hall building. The ,t, major portion of the stone in the buildings inspected in Christchurch came free; Mount. Somers and Oamaru. 1 A man had an alarming experience in. trying to mount a tramcar in Lower Queen-street at a busy hour on Saturday. The car had: not pulled up when he at- s tempted to get on board, and, missing'his . footing, he swung round in front of the s car and was flung heavily across the rails. Considerable difficulty was experienced in ' rescuing- him from his position between,* the life-guard and the wheels, but when' 1 extricated he was found to be.. unharmed/ ; and, after carefully dusting his clothes, : he boarded another car, and made for § home. The London Financial News of August ; ; 21 has the following reference to New , Zea- ( land:—"The new Arbitration Bill which 1 has been introduced into ■ the Dominion .; Parliament by the Government of New Zealand is described by the Labour representatives as a 'most tyrannical measure.' j Evidently what antipodean socialism re- . i quires is arbitration which doesn't arbi- . trate." " Mr Thomas Hodgson, of the Northern Boot. j Company, has received the following mes- { | sage from the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister "] i in charge of the Arbitration Bill:"Many | thanks for kind congratulations on the passage of the Arbitration- Bill through the [House of Representatives. With yourself, ; I earnestly trust. the measure will have the : : | effect we all desire, namely, to promote | industrial peace and the prosperity of our :"> country. * * ■ - It is intended to take the steamer Weka . off the Onejhunga,-Waiuku running for a day or two, in order that she may undergo an I overhaul. During this time the time-table n will be kept" up by the Claymore, which ! will resume her running to Hokianga on Thursday.: , The : Rimu will take .-■ up the '' Claymore's run to Raglan and Kawhia today, while the Waitangi is due to leave.-to-morrow for Raglan, Kawhia, and Waitara. ,''" An election was held in Eden Terras | Road Board district on Saturday, to fill ! one vacancy on the Board: Four candidates were nominated the previous week, and the voting on Saturday was as follows.-— Henry Clayton, jun., 81 George Croft, 62; William Moor, 24; and John; Shaw, 18 informal 1. Mr. Clayton was, ;•; therefore, declared elected. The local examinations in accountancy, etc., commencing during the first week in November, promise to be of interest to a v ■large number, of • students. Applications '■ for leave to sit at the examinations closed on ' Saturday, add by noon Mr. J. H. ' Mackie had received notices from 105 candidates. This number is expected to be . increased when the district mails, bearing Saturday's date stamp, are"all received. An attempt at burglary is reported: to _'. have taken place on Thursday night in a« boardinghouse in a right-of-way off Queen-;,', street, and it is stated that a man in one of the bedrooms was • chloroformed. The 4 burglar, however—if burglar there was— ■'•$ must have been disturbed, as nothing was missing next morning. Fellow-boarders of the man who reported the occurrence aver > that he was dreaming, but he stands stoutly by his story. Our London correspondent writes:—-'., Londoners are told that some New Zea- ~: land kauri logs, which have been lying in the Admiralty pond at Portsmouth since . the year 1851, were fished out the other day, when they were found to be in a • splendid state of preservation after their saturation of the last 57 years. Some of .H the timber' has been worked into the new : yacht which is being built for the King. ■■■ ■ .:■ \ ■..,■•'■..■:■■■■ ■■.■■..■..'■■■ . ..■ : ■ ■_'■ "i The new regulations in connection with the netting of fish have just been gazetted, 1 requiring persons who fix or place poles or | other appliances in tidal waters for the ■*( purpose of fastening fishing-nets thereto to ;i so place them that they will be visible ,-j above the water at high water, and to re- j move them upon ceasing fishing operation? ■ t For breach of this regulation, the penalty is * \* fine not exceeding £IC. : It the poles or '■ other appliances are not removed as requir- " ed, any Collector of Customs or inspector vf r of fisheries maj remove them, and rccoTcr coe£ of doing 'so in Court.. / " " ■■ ■■■-■ -.-■. ■"■■ ' :. :; ": : >'.' '':; : :v ; :l. : :;:^:'S?il