LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14016, 23 March 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

In giving evidence before the Railway Appeal Board yesterday, Mr. W. Crora, bie, formerly > station master at Auckland, but now retired, alluded to the inadequacy of the staffing on .the; Auckland railway section. He stated that the reason porters were kept 'on the trains on guard's'; duty, : ; when, they were ;r not considered actually competent* to "run trains; was, because iof i, th*'.' ionic inefficiency and inadequacy of the staffing of the service. This was a recognised ■ fact, and he had made frequent appeals to his superior officers on this score, believing that in the interests of safety it was .advisable, that the state of affairs should : not be allowed to continue. Counsel for the Department (Mr. Davidson) asked if the inadequacy of the staff/ as far as numbers were concerned, was '■ not ; a result of unanticipated; increase i in business, to which Mr. Crombie replied that as;, soon ; as :■ such of affairs arose ' the - Department ';,; should have made provision i accordingly.; -Eventually he admitted that the cause was as suggested by Mr. Davidson. , '

~ A telegram was received in. Auckland last night stating that the Northern Company's steamer Aupouri, which . grounded on the western I spit inside \ the Opotiki bar on Thursday laet, was refloated:; abocf seven o'clock, and had proceeded to.Ohi'wa to unload % the remainder ; of her cargo. After discharging her freight the Aupouri will leave Ohiwa for Auckland direct, company with the s.s. Ngatiawa. It is not known whether the Aupouri has sustained any damage. " - *

';■■: The local celebration of the centenary of the .' birth of Bishop Selwyn will probably take. the: form of a -public meeting ■ in the ulird week of May, perhaps on the evening of Ascension Day, at which His Excellency the Governor has promised' to preside. ' Addresses will ? be; given by selected speakers on . the work >of 'Bishop Selwyn in New Zealand and -at Home. The local committee';purpose devoting• any, donations towards the same object as that decided upon by the English committee, viz.. to the endowment of; Selwyn College, Cambridge, and of the Patteson memorial wing, of St. John's ;College, Auckland. It is also likely that ; special '■■ Sunday services may be arranged for a date between the, birthday ; (April 5) and the holding of the public meeting.

' ~- A well-attended meeting was held under the auspices of the., Remuera. Association at Remuera last evening in the schoolroom at the corner of Brighton and Remuera Roads,! the Rev. W. ; Beatty in the chair. The following candidates were unanimously chosen as representatives 'of the Ratepayers'; Association for the forthcoming Road Board election, viz.: Messrs. G.Niccol, Percy Spencer, and A. 'T.'Pilkington. Those present formed themselves into a committee to secure the return of the .candidates. With regard to what were described ; ;i as the excessive valuations on the property of the district it was decided to insert an advertisement in the press asking all those whose ; property was overvalued to interview the local■■■ valuation officer with the object of obtaining a reduction; and that: failing' such reduction being obtained to lodge an objection at the local valuation office before the, 31st inst. A further meeting of . the association will be held in St. Mark's Hall, Remuera, on Monlay next to" appoint a legal representative of the association to appear at the Valuation! Court in support of such objections. -;

An unusual incident occurred at a meeting of the Parnell Borough Council last night. After j the ordinary business of the Council had been 'transacted v. the ; Mayor (Mr. G. W. Basley) moved that the Council should go into committee, and he requested a ratepayer who , was present to; leave the room. The ratepayer, -an elderly gentleman, demurred. Mr. F. Pitt did not approve !of the idea that a ratepayer ; should be asked to retire from a Council He considered that what the Council': had to say should be said in public. f The Mayor remarked that the matter which he desired the Council to discuss in committee was not- yet public property, and until it had been gone into it was not desirable that it should be discussed ;in-s public. Mr. J. R. Lundon said that it had been proved that no ratepayer could be forced to leave a Council meeting. He had no desire to ask the ratepayer to retire from the meeting,' but it was always considered an act of courtesy to accede to. the request. of the Mayor in a matter of this kind. The Mayor; hit the matter entirely with the ratepayer, who then retired.

The City Fire Brigade was called - out twice yesterday, but, fortunately, its services were not required on either occasion. The first call was received at 11.57 a.m., a wash-house owned by Mr. Lees, in Upper Queen-street, having caught fire, but the brigade, on ' arriving', on the scene, found ]t-hat the flames had already, been put outi, scarcely any damage resulting. The second call was received at 7.29 p.m., Some liquid which • had been ; spilt in a house occupied by Mrs. Ascal, in Greystreet, had ignited, and the brigade wad summoned. The flames, however, were subdued before the brigade arrived, ; very little damage being done.

The Mayor of Onehunga (Mr. John Howe) : announced J last evening that the Seddon memorial at the Royal Oak was' now finished, and that arrangements would be made by the committee .for the. unveiling' ceremony, at an early date. 1 ; The Prime Minister is to'be asked to perforin the ceremony. '.'■ r .;

A meeting of ladies was held in the Citt Council Chambers yesterday afternoon, ,tliMp!?: Mayor (Mr. C. Grey) presiding; to cornice? .:■ a proposal emanating from Wellington to ;■; : establish and maintain a stewardesses' be<i '?' in the hospital, the bed to be called tha Hope-Jacobs bed, as a memorial of the- •(••?" bravery of both Mrs. Hope and Mrs, Jacobs, the stewardesses? on board 'the"' steamer Penguin, at the time of the wreck. I The Wellington meeting- thought that if- |1 £40 ; could .be collected in each of the large •• 1 towns, the bed could be "established mft|§ each local hospital. Subscriptions in Wet- • I lington had been fixed at a.minimum of Is' I and a maximum of 26 6d. Tho meeting I yesterday formed itself into a committee 1 to raise funds for the endowment of af®R| in the Auckland Hospital. . Those present undertook to collect in the. city and subur- ' ban districts. Only 10 ladies attended the' meet Trig. ,t» % :-v- ■■■'.-":' ■..' ? -'"»V;''':■■■'/ //■ :■'" ; ''■' ■ ;' : ;>;/^ : ,1^'|l-|lf|: .: The new post office which is i 0 -.& ,■?'■ erected in Mount Eden Road, on a vacant . allotment opposite Gordon Road, will be an exact replica of the post office to be bnflf •' at Epsom. <" It will be > a two-storey brick f building, having >. frontage ; of 28ft to Mount Eden Road, with a depth of 36ft In the front" the upper portion will •bo brought out in relief by red cement facings, ' with a gjtjble and a. tiled roof. There will be two front entrances, one at on- side leading to the ; private boxes and one at the other leading to the public'room. The ■ upper storey will be devoted exclusively to residential purposes. Tenders, which are now being invited by the Public " Works | Department, close on April 1. Tenders ai* j being invited at the same . time for & j ' post office at Ngaruawahia. The buildimr there will be much upon the same lines as those at Mount Eden and Epsom, but will [ have a greater depth. i. !" • - At last night's mating of the Grey Lynn Borough Council the Mayor (Mr. G. Savers) complained strongly of the manner in -which" some of the committees had neglected their work during the past year. He stated that the committee meetings had not been at.tended as they should have been Members came, to the Council meetings and passed resolutions to put work in the. hand? of committees. It was easy enough.to,da that, but that was not; the proper thing todo. A member of the Council remarkedV that they,had their private business to at- ; tend to, and often they were unable to at •' tend the meetings. The Mayor: " I set ' : the same faces again and again at these '. meetings. Councillors have their duties to -the'ratepayers to perform, and should try to carry out their work conscientiously. \ I ;■;■''•/ i have every reason to complain about the attendances at committee meetings. They have not been attended :as ■ they ought to have been." The Mayor gave one instance amongst several of calling a special meet- v.7,\ii S ing to discuss an important question with & gentleman from Onehunga, and there had '."'■.'. ':'-, been no quorum. -"'. . . ■* v. A letter was received by the Onehungai,;V;| Borough Council' last night intimating that Mr. K. W. Sutherland • was willing 'to fall-' ; in with the proposals submitted in connect. ; tion with the esplanade to connect One- [''■;'?■% hunga with Hillsboro' and the Mount Reskill districts. It was thereupon resolved . that the several plans and deeds be drawn up by the engineer and solicitors, on re- ■ /• ceipt of which, and the guarantee from iae i,• committee, tenders would be called for car* -..- 1 rying out the work. - , ■ ' v;.'-" " ' '" ' - . c A couple of mishaps, fortunately with* out serious consequences, occurred during- ft| Wirth's Circus, performance'.last night. - Little May Christie, after cleverly somersaulting on a cantering horse, misjudged .- v • her spring on one occasion, and fell. under the .horse's feet. After bowing' to the audience she limped > out. The chaimpioa jockey, John ;Welby - Cooke, s sustained & fall in the ring a little later, and slightly cut the side of his face against the wooden .. : railing. Both performers were soon all a right again. % ? .'.'■•' A . prophetic incident - has > just, been re- >-£ '' vealed in connection with the late Mr. A .' E. Bone, one of the victims of the illfated Penguin. Shortly before entering on his unfortunate voyage, L Mr. Bone was .',. ; spending an evening with some ' friends, and was presented by a lady with one,. ' ; of Lett's diaries, in which, in response '] to a jocular remark, he wrote the ad- ''"•'.; dress of his wife in case he should forget it. The diary contained an insurance '■'/■-, coupon for £100. Mr. Bone said that.;T-;' he did not wast to meet with an accident, ;•> and so had no desire to sign the coupon. .V'i He preferred to make . £100 by a better -'i; method. The lady, however, pressed \ati " to sign the coupon/.and Mr, Bone, in J spirit of good humour, complied. His next . ;; journey was in the Penguin, and the sad result is generally . known. The coincidence is that the insurance coupon has ;V been presented and honoured by the firm V. responsible for it. 1 While journeying through a portion of the Urewera Country Mr. Charles Garlicky . :: -; a resident of Opotiki, picked up several... piecw, of what he considered quartz, from ,the surface of the ground. Owing to the conflicting rumours regarding the goldbearing qualities of the Urewera Country, " J and to satisfy his own ■ curiosity on the question, Mr. Garlick forwarded the specimens to a friend ,at Waihi, in order to have them tested. Mr. Garlick has re-. ceived a reply from his friend, to the effect fgMk that No. 1 specimen. contained no gold; No. 2, traces: No. 3, 16 grains. This was sufficient to satisfy him that gold did /. exist in that country, and he immediately set to work to' make inquiries 'as to the-j||l|| result of the. finds of certain prospectors. | As a result of his investigations he was in* 1 formed, on good authority, that one pros-" g pector had found several extensive reefs of j| gold-bearing quartz, the specimens from § which had been assayed and found to con- \- tain gold in very profitable proportions. ' J^j The deep-laid schemes of land-seekers to " avoid, the irritating letter of the law are v" many and various. - The definition " landless" often stands in the ; way of business,,' and causes many who would otherwise take a " dip in' the lucky " bag :/ to 'be merely ; lookers-on. However, a North Otago man, ' who held too .large a holding, found a )V?y||ffl of removing this disqualification. He en-;-,: tered : into an agreement : with his; neighbour to purchase 1 the property he: already; had. with' the stipulation that he was to hand it back if ; unsuccessful ;at the tall ° t; - V This ' arrangement v come : to,:- he appeared. before the examiners, and was passed, and figured .; amongst those who drew prizes. It was very shrewd and very ingenious, but (says the Oamaru Mail) we,are not convinced that;it/ was exactly legal or perfectly honest in the strictest acceptation of the term. ,|.| ; The sentencing of Hermann Langs.dorf»j|||| convicted of false pretences, at the Supreme Court at Napier : on , Friday, led to fo|f||| counsel,; Mr. Westall, making a" request. Mr. Westall said that the prisoner was a Jew, unci desired to be -comv/. t>> mitted to the gaol at Wellington, which;'-> was the only place- of confinement whore ;^- : he could receive treatment according to his religion. Judge Edwards did not"*fS|i eider the request, as he sentenced the soncr to three years' hard labour at they-M j Napier gaol. '• ;*i