LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14005, 10 March 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Considerable interest was taken in the election of the Auckland Licensing Bench yesterday, and v the posting of the returns outside the Herald 'Office last night was watched by a dense crowd." The Citizen's League ''ticket'.'/was returned by a substantial majority, and those on x, the "ticket" will replace ; the old licencing bench. Full particulars relating to the election will be found elsewhere in » this issue.: - •,:. . . ! •., ', -

The united fire brigades' demonstration will be commenced at the Domain to-day, when the ; five men" ladder, arid manual event will \be decided. An exhibition will be given by the Auckland City Fire Brigade in turning out with horses and reel in response to an alarm. The competition will be continued "on Friday amd Saturday. All firemen must be on the ground at 8.30 a.m. to get their boots examined. To-morrow the visiting firemen will be entertained at a harbour excursion - ■"■'••.-■• . ' \ _ ■■ _

. The \ duplicate;'tram line -which v is ? being

laid from

Terrace,

to Dominion. Road, is now nearly completed, and is expected to be finished next week.,. The sleepers, have all been laid with the exception :of about four chains, and the rails are in V position fori about five or ; six : chains. ■: All i. the ,' excavation work has been s completed;* and the laying of the rails is being carried out as quick-; ly as ; possible. ; The total; length ;of -• the duplication will be about 33 or 34 chains. The work has/ up to the present time, been• in progress ; a little over three weeks. Ihe > rails are being : laid on. sleepers instead of concrete,! and this is considered to be a great advantage, as with a foundation '■[ of large; metal a filter is formed for the water to :■ get away;; instead <: of,; as is < the . case where ■ the rails <; are -= laid ion concrete, getting underneath and ■remaining, thereby causing trouble.

In order that officers of ■{ the Post and Telegraph ' Department may ' be v given every facility to qualify for Civil Service examinations, the Department has -established classes' at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedih. The classes at Auckland are being held in the Normal School, Wellteley-street, where \ the candidates attend three nights a week. These classes commenced on Monday night, and the number enrolled ■ from the Post ' and Telegraph Departments combined totals 55, of whom 31 are studying; for the Civil Service junior, and 24 for the sixth standard certificates. ; ''-'•..

The ; supply ,of fruit ! in .; Auckland, which has been very, plentiful : right through the hot weather, fortunately shows no sign of lessening, although the varieties are not so ; great now as -they were a few weeks ago. The barrowmen': yesterday;.* did a. thriving trade in ■ the luscious Bon Chretien pear, which they were retailing at the moderate price of 3d per lb, as against 4d charged by ■ the shopkeepers. ; Apples and bananas, ■ together with a: few early grapes, comprise the other fruits now obtainable. Plums and nectarines are practically done with. In a week or two grapes should be on the market, and: it is expected that the hawkers will sell them at from 6d per lb. : t In th© meantime pears will probably become scarcer. A large number of .city workers nowadays go in for fruit lunches, and this assists in keeping the demand up. A water famine,is being ; experienced at .Hutjtly owing to the continued spell of dry weather.

Commenting upon the frequent charges of forgery against natives throughout the Dominion, His Honor Mr. Justice Edwards remarked (telegraphs our Gisborne correspondent) that to the Maori the natural use i of the pen and' ink was to forge some- [ thing, while with those who could neither read nor write the natural inclination was Ito steal a horse. ' While riding a bicycle ; along Custom- ! street West yesterday a youth named Alj bert Price met with an accident. He was i endeavouring to pass one 1 of: Ley land and i O'Brien's lorries when a pedestrian bump;ed into him, knocking him down. The vehicle, while grazing Price's legs, passed over the machine, smashing it completely. Price, after being attended to, was able to proceed to ■ his home. There has been (writes oar London correspondent) ■ a chorus of approval throughout the English press of the good resolutions formed by the Auckland licensed victuallers. A great number of newspapers have commented on the incident, and they I have unanimously held up the üblicans of I New- Zealand;' as <an ; example for those of Great Britain ,to emulate. The Remuera Road Board's ) proposal - to establish a public library in .the district will ,be submitted to a poll of ratepayers to-morrow. The hours of .polling will be from nine a.m. to six p.m. : ,

To the great 'majority of New Zealand ' I a trip Home to England appears ae booj*. f■? thing quito unattainable. - Even a\ thplll § lowest the steamer fares and. incidental: ■"'-;- j expenses of the voyage make it too expen. : ■- I sive a luxury to be lightly indulged ■»""''?s; jit However, in this week's issue of the Atrcx! I land Weekly News, published to-day, the iI '■ entire voyage may be undertaken in a meet I realistic manner, a unique series of view* 1; specially taken ? depicting ; all the incident* of a trip to London via the Suez route, f Starting from Auckland, the reader is VM taken to Sydney, Melbourne, and ' Fre- Uif I mantle, and thence onward to Colombo r f through the famous Suez Canal ito Port I Said, visiting in turn from this point the?) 1 cities of Naples and Marseilles, touching at i I the mighty rock of Gibraltar, onward past' -I i historical Cape St. Vincent, and so on to '1 | the River Thames, and the wonderful City I of London. Apart from this special 'feaJl [,• ture the number contains! a striking:' double- I Is page picture of the fine ship Forrest Hill ] ashore in the breakers near Cape * Maria *'- I; Van Diemen, while a group of the ship's ! jj company, a portrait of the captain, and ' numerous other interesting scenes in connection with the wreck are also given. §1 The New Zealand Marathon race lias been fully dealt with, from the start at Howick % m to the exciting finish in the Auckland Do- J main, where a fine picture was secured > showing G. N. Hill breasting the tape after ■ l his great performance. Among the numer. •- ous other current events included in the number may be mentioned the church parade of visiting fire brigadeemon/1 the cadet encampment at Papakura, recent big' fire at Taihape, the Trentham rifle meeting - '. and some pictures of the terrible devastation wrought by the great Italian earth- ; ' f quake. ,:■ . .: , ■' . :;j j A handsome honours board has been made to the order of the United Fire il Brigades' Association of , New ' Zealjad" " \ and will be used for displaying the names of recipients of valour medals presented Vl I Iby the association. At present there are iV | [ only three names on the board, those of ; ' ? Messrs. J. Robb, Dunedin Fire Brigade 'V' l ! I'? 1882; T. E. Thompson, Wanganui Fire* 1 Brigade, 1891, and A. Ashworth, Alex- ' fit; andra Fire Brigade, 1908. The first award was made to Mr. Robb, for re- -= '1 covering three murdered bodies from a "I house in Cumberland-street, Dunedin, arid " \, I for extinguishing the flames which f tha"'- | perpetrator of the crime had lighted .to '' fl conceal his guilt. Mr. Thompson was -~ 'm awarded the medal for saving the lives ' - H;! of several children at a fire at Wangamai, ' j$ i and Mr. A. Ashworth gained the coveted .' " pP1 honour for saving the lives of two of Lis''l 1comrades at the recent fire at the Ales- ' - I] andra Coal Company's mine. , 1 • ' ' : | : j Writing under date January 2&, our * London correspondent says The ■ Im- • ; | perial Colonial Club assisted Lord Ro- j berts' Boys materially in presenting a J union flag ("Loyal Canada") to the junior ' ■ ; 1 Canadian ; schoolboy .marksmen. ' Lord - ;j P Kosmead,; who was a boy of -13 attending ,- [ M school in New Zealand at the time when ' ' ft his father (Sir Hercules Robinson) was | Governor, heads the list of: subscribers. J P He was a drummer in the New Zealand ■■■■■'%! 1 ■ i ■■■ ' i.!ii...|..■:.:'■: , ' , i..^ l ■» *- Bill' cadets. < I| An interesting theory relative', to' the Penguin disaster has been advanced by ' Captain Farquhar, a well-known Auckland; II coastal master. Captain Farquhar Mm aiders it probable that the steamer struck x ; a submerged vessel, perhaps the Rio Loge, 'HW and not rocks at all. ~ ' fcM An automobile' tour of the Dominion a iZWk •at present being made by Miss E. C. ' j| Walker, of Sydney,. and .Mr.* and ; Mrs;': De'..'•; ; la v Salle, of •'- Hants, England. 1 -.The J I party left this • city on February ' 14, < " J and. are now at Wellington. Mr... •De la Salle, who has motored *£ | at different times over the' whole it- I '/ 1 England, informed a Dominion representa- ) -. H tive that the run from Taupo to .Napier;. was magnificent—in fact, the finest be had" / ever attempted. As a set-off, however,; ; he says that the roads between Okoroire j and Rotorua, and then on to Taupo, ■W,'; <\ shocking, very rough, very 6andy,*; and *( I; with bad corners. Speaking of the country , f from a tourist point -of view, Mr.,Do*la .. I ' Salle stated that there was a tendency in | some quarters to underrate various scenic ;: J areas because they were not controlled by ' l the Government. He instanced Wainkei: gg as a case in point, and declared' that this I £.] thermal district "was one of the best hi the | Dominion. "I can quite understand the -1 ■ j reason why the Government Tourist D** B partment takes up its present attitude on . | the question," said Mr. De la Salle, Vstpl, "•. || when people come over to New Zealand, (| they naturally like to see everything which ;, jj is worth seeing." If An interesting sight was seen at has- 1 i ton a few days ago, when at the month II of the river a black cloud of mutton birds ■ ;■"•;; i approached from the bay. The Southland ,|; Times correspondent says that the birds 3 , -n | were like a swarm of bees. -there were;,! ; | 40 acres of water with a bird en every t ) 1 square foot. This was from the traffic i I bridge to the bar, which is at least -40 .v ; | chains long by 10 chains wide. They did ; | not go above the bridge. One of the birds struck the battlements of the-bridge **« r f j fell back into the water. This seemed to j b3 sufficient to cause v a retreat of thews ll ; j swarm. When they rose to retire they shut out the" view of North Riverton from.»« ~~= j south. Immediately after their. departnrt the banks and beaches were strewn with ,v| j sardines, which the birds squeeze theoii | | from and store. for the purpose of feeding v j their young birds on the islands. | There are not wanting evidences-|lai ; -- "l the Maoris of; this ' district are becoming » | rather more wealthy people than. has been ; the position with them in the past, ana ,\ | probably is the position with natives else- < | where (remarks the Wairarapa Age). ;;<; | There were several' hundred Maora v | gathered at To Ore Ore on thr - 1 occasion of the visit of i the Hon.. A- ,j j T. Ngata, and there were many mdubi-- ; - | ' able signs of ' prosperity, even affluence, | while of indications of poverty there were . j positively none. Motor cars "darted up to . | the pa at frequent intervals, crowded whs , | Maori folk, whose general appearance be- | | tokened that they , were well provided wittt | worldly wealth. Whether thi-' satisfactory-j g state of things for the race is attributable , $ !to increased thrift, increased land values, ;| or increased industry, is a matter for con- | jecture, but it is certainly a very impc-" 8 "' ; j matter for the native community. x, I The dry weather now being experienced ~ i is causing a shortage of feed and a coasf ; quent falling-off in the milk supply (says .. ; ; | the Hawcra Star). The manager of tn» ,5 % Hawera : '- Dairy■■= Company : informed :; a lS|! | porter that since the heavy .winds of abc-uu | a fortnight ago the milk/supply had fallen .<* off considerably and was still decreasing ;» | The manager, however,^considers.tl»^. : j| . sent supply: very satisfactory, as it » ■• j long way ahead of what is was about W*. | I time last year, when we were in *•."#.•** s t of. "a big drought." On the whole b*,., I believes that the companies have uao .=; *; * satisfactory year, being greatly he W t & il j the good * spring. Tho supply of- *»?.s | Hawek, Dairy Company's five £ * the present time is, roughly. 7600 l«g£. .$ | of milk per day, making about 9& *». cheeses. • -. " n. jf A collection was taken up atthe;|«| , ; j ;.. Brigades' Conference yesterday in *\°_- *\j | 1 the boy Hefford, who was knocked (WTO? : f I I ■■ by & cab ; en Sunday during in 6 *®Jgg I gades' precession. The sum .&Sh%MM was obtained. ". ; >*. ijAMI