LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14402, 22 June 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

An■: inquest :> was held : yesterday ;by f; Mr. T.' Gresham ; (district,; Coroner) '£ into ? ; ; the death of Percy F. Lloyd, a married man of 25, ; manager of • the Waitemata billiard saloon, who'; died whilst \ visiting ; relatives in Abbott's Road, Mount Eden, :on Sunday evening. Deceased, who appeared, to be in perfect health, was engaged in conversation, when *he gave a deep gasp. His wife ; rushed :, : to his side to inquire what was the matter, but deceased did not reply, and expired almost immediately. Dr. Bull, who made a postmortem examination, found the mitrae valve of the heart, diseased. : There were also signs of hypostatic pneumonia of both lungs. The jury found that " death was due to; syncope, v r -, The ' Mayor of;' Auckland (Mr. L. J. Bagnall) received yesterday the following message from the Hon. J. A. Millar, Miriister for Railways,* with reference to the Parnell Tunnel duplication question:— "Preparation of information re tunnel is being expedited; 'will be forwarded to you as early as possible. (Sgd.) ■> J. A. Millar." The Costley : Home Committee of; the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board recommended to the Board', at its meeting last night, that a brick building of two storeys be built on a site to the westward of the main Costley Home building, containing about 20 rooms— rooms' on the ground floor ,to be occupied : by married couples, and those upstairs iby the female staff. It was also recommended that the committee Be empowered to ; prepare sketch plans. The recommendations were adopted..

Several preliminary meetings have been held with regard to the formation of : a • Chamber of Commerce on ; the northern side of the harbour, and, as a result, the first business meeting of the Waitemata Chamber of Commerce will be held this evening at Devonport,: when officers will be elected, and general business done. It is expected that Mr. J. H. Gunson, president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and several other leading commercial men will be present.

In '~ consequence ... of ::. the .finding ' of an umbrella belonging ,to Henry Smith, an old man living in Ponsonby Road, at , the end of, the Ponsonby Wharf on Monday, the; police [to-day dragged the harbour in the vicinity of the wharf:«; A careful search was also made along portion, of ■; the foreshore, but without result; J,;; Smith, who was suffering from t insomnia; left a private hospital ; on Monday afternoon, and has not been heard Of since.:

While clear, frosty weather has been ex-: perienced in : the city ... for; some days past,' it is of .interest to learn from Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, . curator of the Auckland Museum, that the lowest temperature registered by the terrestrial thermometer in the Albert Park has been 34, or two degrees above freezing point. At ; the same timo districts further * removed from the sea, such as Mangere and Papakura, have experienced sharp frosts. ' • i

';< The /superintendent of coast defences (Lieutenant J. H. Price) wrote to the Auckland Harbour Board yesterday that further defence works might be erected oh'; Burton's; Point, and it was desired to know whether the navigation of that part of the harbour had been interfered with by any obstacle, alteration in course, etc., ; which " might check the speed of a Teasel when J passing in.; front or within, Isay,- 8000 yds of Burton's Point. The harbourmaster (Captain Duder) reported that there were no obstructions to prevent any vessel steaming in at full speed during clear weather, day or night, provided * her draught was ; suitable for the channel. A reply will be sent ? to ~ thiseffect.

. The committee appointed in February last to inquire '= into ■< the administration of the several departments of the 'Auckland Harbour Board, more particularly: the engineer's and harbour departments, are sitting from time to time, and will pro bably present their report some time next month. The committee consists of J Messrs.;. J. H. Bradney, J. W. Napier, J. H. Gunson, J. K. Kneen, and Captain McKenzie.

At present building allotments in the One-tree Hill district must have a minimum frontage of 66ft, with an area of a-quarter of an acre. It is felt by some residents that many workmen are unable to buy such a large section, and that ; as a consequence settlement in the ■; district is being hindered. At last night's meeting of the Road "Board, ■• Mr. M. R. Creagh t moved.; that the by-law fixing■' this v mini-. mum area be rescinded, with, a' view, ; to passing a by-law reducing the minimum to 50ft frontage by 175 ft deep, with, an area of one-fifth of an acre, the Board to have the power to consider any case on its merits. 1 Upon the suggestion of t the chairman (Mr. E. A. Craig), Mr. Creagh added that all. estates cut up into ninetynines to be divided into 49ft 6in." r. Considerable discussion ensued, the chairman mentioning that the Epsom Road Board had a similar motion before it. There was a question of One-tree Hill amalgamating with Epsom, and if they were wise i they would consult Epsom \' on the matter. Eventually ; it was resolved "a to shelve Mr. ; Creagh's motion until the next meeting, and upon the) motion : of ; the chairman it was decided to leave the matter in the meantime with a sub-committee consisting of ; the ■ chairman ' and Messre. Burton and ; Creagh, who were instructed to meet the Epsom Road Board and discuss the matter with them when' considering the formation of the proposed borough. The New Zealand Government steamer Hinemoa, Captain Bollons, left Onehunga yesterday for* Manukau Heads, where she will inspect the lighthouses and .deliver stores, afterwards proceeding to Waitara, where she will endeavour to locate the "Waitara shoal." The drainage scheme adopted by the Remuera Road Board in; respect of No. , 1 area, extending westward ■'■.. from ' Arney Road to the Newmarket Borough j boundary, is to be proceeded with as soon as the loan of £8500 under the State-guaran- - teed Advances Act has been? secured = from, the Government, the Board having finally . authorised the signing of the debentures. The district health" officer, who has > recently undertaken the duties of police and prisons medical officer, has received ' the permission of the Justice Department to delegate these duties to other medical men when absent?.- from ; his headquarters. Dr. Murray has consented to represent the district health officer in tlje city, and Dr. Guinness at Devonport. I With a view to securing a more, equitable arrangement of the intervals between the running of cars through the Eden Terrace district the local Road Board last evening appointed a deputation to wait upon the manager of the Tramways ;' Company (Mr. J. J. Walklate) to ask that the timetable should = be adjusted in regard to Dominion Road : and rKingsland care. - jt was pointed out that under the, present system cars or* either section follow upon each other very closely from Queen-street .to the Dominion Road terminus ..; •; : . |

i The heavy fall of snow which signalised * *.: the setting in of winter atOhakune, and*! ; at other centres along the route "of the?! ■ North Island Main Trunk line,; is strik-l^ • ingly recorded in a splendid; series':of fit B photographs appearing in this week's issue i*| 1 of . the Auckland Weekly :f News, pub- 111 • listed to-day. The double -page' is de-' ■ j 3 voted to some highly-interesting scenes at •? ? Ohakune, among them being a novel snapy shot of the guard of the overland express f signalling through the storm, while a * ; " .snowed-up home, and views of the coun-- , • try under its mantle of white, testify to ■ ":. the severity of the weather conditions. §1 At Rangataua the snowdrifts ; lay deep, \ i '. '- and photographs of some exciting snow- : 'M balling contests were secured, while viewsill of a south-bound train" running along the --V: 1 snowbound track, and of settlers clearing \") , s away the drift from the vicinity of their V3i homes, also appear. Some magnificent ;§ ; photographs of the huge Savaii volcano im r in eruption form a special -feature of the Jl . number, which contains among other pic- .'?•*s 5 tures of topical interest the raising of the -AM . capsized scow Hautura, cutting in half ;V----5 of a steamer in an Auckland shipbuilding ) yard, proclaiming King George V. at ' Windsor, and a fine full-page of views of Lord Islington's beautiful English home. In addition may be mentioned photo- v -""■' -. graphs of the world's greatest gambling '■■:' ■;/ • centre, the latest group of the-Royal ; Family, and a page of views recording "a > trip up the Nile from Cairo, showing some * of the centres of deep historic and Bibli- - • cal interest touched at. -. ' ' ,; ~; t Thursday being the birthday oft: , Duke of Cornwall, the heir-apparent, the banks, legal offices, and fire insurance offices will close for the day. v The holi- ; - day will not, however, be observed :*byl>|3 shopkeepers or other'employers of labour.'V' \ The Prince of Wales' Birthday is a holi- ■;' day under many awards, hut as the Duke ) ■ of Cornwall has not yet been created Prince ;', of Wales there is, legally, no such holiday ■'■ to observe, nor will there be until the .;- 1) ■ patent is conferred on him. The Duke of ~i ' Cornwall will, on Thursday, be 16 years of ..'•'; age. The anniversary of the King's Birthday, which falls on June 3, will be '[ officially celebrated in Great Britain on ..'; Friday, 24th. inst. The University College Council has ap- . pointed a committee to consider the ques- :. tion of the allocation of fees and generally . : -'; to report upon the desirability of obtain- '■}'. ing 'amendment of the Auckland Uni- . ; versity.- College Act. - ' The action is the:. :A result of a discussion at the last meeting of f. the council, in the course of -which, it was pointed out that the professors were at present entitled to the fees paid by students" in, addition to their salaries, and in the ;. | case of students from the Training College > alone the professor of English received "fees '.'.?: amounting to about £200 over and.above 1 his salary. It was mentioned that at the -. Wellington and Canterbury Colleges, the ■■■'> professors were solely dependent upon- •_ their salaries so far as their remuneration .; was concerned. ':■.'-. = ' : • : - - • , . -- - ">' .The time of letter-carriers • being to a' ■ ,' great extent wasted through the failure :; of the public to provide letter-boxes or apertures ha doors for the reception of \ i correspondence, the Postal Department is;.;.: .; again appealing to householders.; and: ' others to provide same. In order "to assist the public the Department has made arrangements for letter-boxes to be provided at* a moderate charge upon applica-'.--.'•'.' tion, and numerous applications are now being received. / . In view of the recent burglaries an interesting paragraph appears in the Auckland Bowling Club's report last evening. It referred to the fact that some time ago ; Mr. Win. Elliot's (the club's president) residence was rifled, and among the booty i secured was the ; president of the Auckland'" Bowling Club's gold collar. This lias •] , never been recovered, and Mr. Elliot dc- / cided that the club should be at no loss,' ♦and at his own cost he has replaced that ornament with one of greater beauty and . value. Some years ago about 2000 specimens of .'■' ■ rocks, comprising .two . sets, were..taken >.-' from the Coromandel Peninsula; One set ■ was sent to the Cambridge ' University, ' i and has formed the subject of, a valuable; professorial lecture. The duplicate . . set is stored m. a cellar of the.Dominion Museum, at Wellington, and at yester- . ' day's meeting of the Auckland' Univer- 1 ; sity Council Mr.. T. U. Wells suggested . that the Government be requested to lend ' ; the set to the Auckland University Col--lege, so that students might study the specimens conjointly with the professorial report which had come rom. Cambridge. . It was mentioned by.Mr. G. L. Peacocke, '.; however, that the Auckland Institute had ; already moved in ; the direction of; procur- '■ ';; ing the set from Wellington, and Mr. ■ N Wells accordingly withdrew • his . sugges- ; tion..,; ' ■ ■-; . Another link in the chain of civic amal- :■; gamation is likely to be forged by Epsom . and One-tree Hill. At last night's meet- \ ; ing, of the One-tree Hill Road Board a ; letter was received from the Epsom Road ,_ Board stating that a deputation had been : appointed to confer with a deputation from the One-tree Hill Board to consider. .> the question/of forming a borough of the ? two districts. Mr. E. W. Burton said '' they were all agreed that the time had % '- come when they must either form a ; ; borough themselves or coalesce with some ' other body for such purposes.; The chair"-'. '• i man (Mr. E. A. Craig)' concurred with " ' this view, and on the motion of Mr. ;; Brookes it was resolved to appoint a sub- i committee, consisting of the chairman ;; ; (Mr. E. A. Craig) and Mr. Burton, to 5 confer with the Epsom deputation on the "J'-Ji matter, and subsequently report to the 1 Board. 3 Speaking at the capping ceremony at !-: Canterbury College, the chairman of the ' College Board of Governors, Mr. J. C. J.Adams, said he congratulated the college " on the success which had attended the | formation of the Officers' Training Corps. He regretted that the Board had not been . ''"'- able to establish a chair of military science, M as it had hoped. As soon as the proposal v:!? had been mooted, Lieutenant-Colonel R. " ! Heaton Rhodes had made a most liberal .; offer to subsidise the chair. The Board's '; ; finances, however, were not strong enough .: ;; to bear the expense of the additional pro- '-.$ fessorship, and the Minister for Defence m had not seen his way to give any. assist- •"-,• ,| ancc. There was a democratic spiriii abroad that led' everyone to regard himself is being ;■ as good or better than anyone • else, but ''f that spirit should be foreign to the training 'i; : ; corps. If the students desired the corps {| ' to succeed, they must give their loyalty • < and obedience to their officers and the com- -.".'. missions held by them. : .-.-. •" ••. ,v '■■■■■' •;-:'}j\i An argument, with a practical illustra- :; tion, for the use of shell in blinding our ■•'•• roads was stated to a Herald representa- . ■ A tive yesterday by a gentleman whose .-> duties take him; ovA nearly; every road-;',>-, in the city and suburbs. There was - no; '; ' doubt, he said, that all the roads at One- •_• ', hunga which had been"blinded \ with : shell V ; had, at any rate for ordinary light traffic, "■'. kept their surface better! than J others not > so treated. Park Road, just by the Hos- •, ;.j pital, was another illustration of , the ad» vantages of shell blinding. This load \ was keeping its surface splendidly. The : : : :h contrast, between .the roads so treated and those,-for instance, in the Mount Roskdl v>; district, vfhkh were only ' blinded ... w*{M scoria, was-very marked at this time «* ; | ■ ■, , , , MA i j'tm