LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14302, 23 February 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

The resolution passed by the Kaiparn Chamber.of. Commerce belittling the North Auckland Railway League as being merely a Whangarei institution, is deprecated by Mr. G. L. Peacoeke, chairman of the Auckland Railways League. Mr. Peacocke says the North Auckland League is not merely confined to Whangarei, and i's -action in urging that the Royal Commission to be appointed to consider the North Auckland Trunk line should take into consideration the proposed deviation south of McCarroH's Gap, is not inimical to the North of Auckland. The Auckland Railways League was in favour of the ecope of the Commission being oxtended to include that, and this < attitude was quite consistent with its neutrality on the question of route.

A young man named John Turvey met with a very unpleasant accident at- Bombay yesterday morning. He was attending to a threshing-machine, when the couplings broke, causing a compound fyae tare of one of his legs. Turvcy was admitted to the Auckland Hospital last evening. »

Probates in the estates of the following deceased persons were granted yesterday by Mr. Justice Edwards, sitting in Chambers Charles Tomlinson (Mr. Thomson), New Plymouth; Thomas Jury (Mr. Townsend), New Plymouth; and Patrick O'Connor (Mr. Anderson), New Plymouth. Letters of administration were granted in the estate of Henry Partington,(Mr. Mann), Gifeborne. ; : ; ...'...

The danger of allowing boys , to., play with firearms was again exemplified on Monday afternoon. A lad named Raymond Ibbertson, residing with his,parents at Epsom, was examining a pistol lent him by a. friond, when he pulled the trigger, and the pistol went off. . The weapon being turned towards himself, the bullet IVifced through Ibbertson's hand, and sirring one of the upper buttons of his coat glanced off and passed through his arm. The' boy was attended by Dr. Williams, and is now progressing favourably.

In submitting a report to the City | Schools Committee last evening, the headmaster of the ' Federal-street school mad-) some comment on the growing tendency to remove children from school at an early age. "I should like to point out," he wrote, "ci weak spot in the system of transfer adopted by the Department. A certificate of transfer is, for instance, demanded and obtained by a parent on behalf; of a child, and the name is removed from the school roll. That practically ends' the matter in many instances, and the child is not sent to another echoo', and so the provisions of the Act are evaded. It appears desirable that provision should be made for a portion of every transfer certificate to be signed by tho idmilting head teacher, and detached and forwarded to the teacher who issued the transfer. , There is a growing tendency on the part of a section of the community to remove their children from school !:<•- fore they are 14, or have passed the standard of exemption, and send them to work. Should they be discovered, the fine imposed does not nearly amount to the sum earned, and it pays to keep the child at work in defiance of the law." It was decided to forward this part of the letter to the Education Board.

A wash-house attached ■to a house in Ardmore Road, Ponsonby, owned by Cashmoro Bros., and occupied :by Mr. Horsley, caught fire yesterday, about 12.46 a.m., and was destroyed despite the efforts of the brigade to save'it. The outhouse-was not insured though ' the house is. " ; .

Complaints are made of the lack of railway trucks'on the Whangarei line by reason of which the coal trade is hampered. The Northern Coal Company is reported to have lost as ; much as. £10 some days during the last fortnight. Sometimes men have been obliged to stop work for a short time, owing to the lack of trucks, and others have had to be taken off the face and put on shift work. The trouble has arisen owing to the supply of trucks, which was never too generous, being reduced by. trucks having been taken for other uses. Some dissatisfaction is expressed by farmers at the action of the Railway Department in refusing to supply trucks unless due notice :is given. This regulation is not a new one, but it has not hitherto been etrictly enforced.

A petition .is in circulation amongst legal firms in Auckland protesting against the insufficient accommodation provided at the Deeds Registry and -Land Transfer Office. The petition states that the accommodation is utterly inadequate, and with the constantly increasing business done the office is constantly overcrowded. . Furthermore, there is not ■ sufficient room. for the efficient storage of documents. ■ .The result, say the petitioners, is that there is 1 not only serious inconvenience to . the public and" the Departmental officers, but there must"-."also" be a grave risk of the records being lost or. damaged.

Aremark in regard to "some of the officials on the* wharf," ' was' mad© at »the meeting of the Auckland Harbour Board yesterday afternoon ' by Mr. J. K. Kneen. He said these officers appeared to be getting as numerous as the occupants of the Sultan's ' harem, and there were many complaints '. of vessels being subjected to unnecessary annoyance by trie large staff. He expressed a hope that this matter would ,be looked into. The ; chairman (Mr. A. J. Entrican) said a committee already appointed would inquire into the matter. ' •.

The question of how many names the Education Board should 'send; on to committees when recommending; the appointment of a teacher was discussed at the City Schools Committee meeting ;■, last night. The Board sent op.one' name only that of Mr. J. Masefield— for the committee to consider for , the position .of second- assistant to the Nelson-street school. The 'chairman expressed it as his opinion that the. meaning of the Act was that in cases where it was not a mere case of transfer from one school-to another, the Board should send four 'names to the committee to select from. The Education Band was, he considered, practically usurping the functions of the committee in sending only one name. The Act said that the committee was to be consulted, and how could anybody call this a consultation? It was decided that the chairman be authorised to. communicate with the Education Board on the matter.

Everyone will bo interested in .securing a record of the'visit of the famous FieldMarshal Lord Kitchener to i New Zealand, and in this repect nothing better could be obtained than the striking full-page, coloured presentation portrait, which is given away with this week's issue of the Auckland Weekly News, published today. The portrait is one of the best yet published of the Empire's foremost soldier, and being printed on art paper, is eminently suitable for framing. The landing of Lord Kitchener at the Bluff, and the subsequent receptions at Invercargill and Dunedin, are fully, illustrated in the number, while some highly-interest-ing and characteristic snapshots of the famous Field-Marshal aleo appear. A series that should prove of wide general interest, in ' view of Lord Kitchener's visit, consists of some rare" historical photographs illustrating the gallant work performed by the Imperial troops in the early days of the Dominion's history, while a stirring picture of the defence of New Zealand Hill against the Boers during the South African war brilliantly records New Zealand's answer to the call of the .Mother . Country. Among the numerous current events dealt with in the number will bo found pictures of the New Zealand championship swimming meeting, the cricket match between the Australian and Auckland team?, the garden party to Mr. W. F. Massey, M.P. (Leader of the Opposition), at Paerata, and the arrival and departure" of the R.M.S. Malwa, the first of the magnificent P. and 0. steamers to visit New Zealand. Other events illustrated include the Piotorua bowling tournament, opening of the Waikato County Council's new offices at Hamilton, a field clay with the Northcote boy scouts, together with a highly-topical cartoon, and a wide variety of interesting miscellaneous pictures.