LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14556, 19 December 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

An exceptionally large Suez mail, via Suez, and an Australian mail, consisting of 713 bags for New Zealand, arrived her© by the Maheno from Sydney last night. The total number of bags for Auckland is 520. The Southern portion will be despatched by the extra express leaving for Wellington this morning. Personal items and other interesting notes from our London correspondent, together with the usual budget of Australian mail news, will be found elsewhere in this issue.

The urgency of the proposed alterations and extensions to the Auckland Deeds Office, for which the sum of £500 has been voted by Parliament, has been pressed upon the Government by Mr. Arthur M. Myers, M.P. The matter has been brought under the notice of the Attorney-General (Dr. Findlay), who has communicated on the subject with the Hon. J. Carroll, Minister in charge of the Department. The latter, in his reply (which has been forwarded to Mr. Myers) states that he recognises the urgency of the work, and that he intends to bring the matter before the Cabinet without delay, with the view of having authority passed "for the immediate carrying out of the work.

The total receipts collected at the Auckland Customhouse during last week amounted to £16,165 18s Id, Customs duties accounting for £13,916 lis sd. The beer duty amounted to £750 16s Bd, and the gold duty to £893 lis 9d. On Saturday tho sum of £1449 19s 8d was received, of which £1444 10s lid was received from Customs duties.

Following the usual custom, the Mayor (Mr. L. J. Bagnall) and the town clerk (Mr. H. W. Wilson) last week visited H.M.S. Powerful (lying in the stream) and made an official call on Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Poore, commander of the fleet.

A metallic circuit trunk wire has just been erected by the Telegraph Department between Auckland and Waiwera, and it is now available for the transmission of bureau. messages.

The second instalment of the new serial story The Nine Bears," is published in to-day's issue. A synopsis of the opening chapters, which appeared on Saturday, accompanies to-day's instalment, so that readers who missed the commencement will be able to pick up the thread of the narrative.

At the Magistrates Court, on Saturday, Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., made an order confirming the resolution of the electors of the city of Auckland that an unnamed street through allotment 6, section 8, off Short-street, should be closed. The magistrate also made an order removing 61 names from the electoral roll of Auckland East,

In connection with the Pitt-street Methodist Church great external and internal alterations are taking place. The internal alterations have commenced. The pulpit has been removed, and a gallery is being erected in its place for the new organ and the choir. The preacher will occupy a platform until the alterations are completed. The new organ, which is being built by Mr. Croft, will be erected about April next..

That the holiday season is at handT indicated by the proportions that J' now being assumed by the railway an! steamer traffic. Large numbers are 3 riving in the city daily, and though tht outward traffic is also heavy, the balanc seems to he with the arrivals. The ex! press which arrived at Auckland roa < Wellington on Saturday morning carri3 about 500 people, and the one which 3 rived yesterday morning brought nord 250 to 300 passengers. The first of q] extra expresses, which left Wellington on Friday nighc, was fairly well patronised! the bulk of the passengers joining atTj termediate stations. The train "arrived at Auckland sharp on time. The m i ward traffic assumed its heaviest dimenj sions last night, when about 500 personj left for the South. The trains to "and from Rotorua were heavy on Friday and Saturday, but traffic on this line will notf reach its greatest proportions; till j Us 3 before Christmas. .The hotels and hoard] inghouses in the city are all doing gOO J business, and at some the whole oftha accommodation has been booked for thi holiday season. In the shops the Christ mas trade has already made itself nj and very good business was done on SaturJ day. The evening was threatening, and; this kept numbers out of the city. b'J the streets were well filled with people who seemed to have plenty of money to spend. - '

In order to afford facilities for the transmission by telegraph of Christmas and New Year's greetings, special prints forms may be obtained at the telegraph' office for use on and between December 20, 24, 27, and 31. Such telegrams will be delivered at the principal telegraph offices on cards bearing views of New Zealand scenery, etc. ■ At other offices the telegrams will be written on ordinary! forms. A uniform charge of 6d for each] such telegram will be made, provided thai addresses and signature do not contain) more than 11 words. If, however, the text as printed is in any way varied, or' other words added thereto, the tele^am. 1 will be treated as an ordinary one and charged for accordingly. ; A large number of the wires over which* the telephone business of Auckland is conducted will shortly be placed underground, and this process will be continued till all the wires in the busy parts of the city and suburbs are buried in the earth. The! wires are run through ducts, and three main lines of ducts have been constructed,' one as far as Newmarket, and one to! Karangahape Road, and one (which is still) being extended) to College Hill. A start: will be made about the commencement of the new year to draw the wires through the ducts, and as they are extended the overhead system of wires will be still. fur. ther encroached on. j

A find has been made by Mr. H.i Bourne, on the hilltops near Pipiriki, and! his description suggests fossil remains ofi an ancient marine monster. According to' Mr. Bourne's indications, the bones of the! creature are there in their entirety, and cover a distance of 40ft or 50ft, but there 1 is so far no information on which to form any conclusion as to its shape or species. 1 A tooth is now being exhibited in Raetihi in moderate preservation. The following donations to the Schaffer fund were received at the Herald Office on Saturday :—Previously acknowledged, £68 IBs 6d; John Whitney, Waiwera, £1; A.8., 10s; Mrs. L. L. Cubitt, 10s ; J. S. Harrison, ss; A Sympathiser, 2s 6d. Total, £71 6s.

At the fortnightly meeting of the Auckland Harbour Board to-morrow, the chairman (Mr. A. J. Entrican) will move that tie question of the revision of the standing orders, necessitated by the coming into force of the new Act; and the matter of making by-laws regulating the charges for the use of the Board's fire appliances, etc., be referred to the Finance and legal Committee, and Mr. Entrican will also move that the -engineer be instructed to proceed with the •erection of the small slip. Applications fop the position of clerk in the headmaster's office will also be opened.

Commenting on the recent meeting of the Auckland Tramways Company, the Electrical Industries says—ln more senses than one there is a whole world between the Auckland electric tramways and the traction system of Great Britain. No tramway manager can fail to envy the results recorded by the New Zealand undertaking for the last financial period* Compared" witE~an English line of similar size, the Auckland tramways carried a million more passengers in six months and earned £4663 more in traffic receipts.

Many of the remarks made by Lady Stout, as to the results of female suffrage in New Zealand, at a demonstration held in St. James's Theatre on November 8, were (says our London correspondent) received with much, applause, and the speaker had a very good reception. The meeting was held under the auspices d the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association, and Lady Selborne was in the chair. In New Zealand, said Lady Stout, it was found that the rote' was not only a factor in itself, but it had the added power of the responsible and moral influence it exerted upon the men voters. It was because the women of Australasia realised that there was a white woman's burden as well as a white man's burden that they supported compulsory military trainingthey understood that their sons must be trained to defend their homes; the women organised meetings and signed petitions in favour of the measure, and even the women inclined to spend their leisure in bridge and golf entered enthusiastically into the campaign and gave up their time to propaganda work for the cause of compulsory military training. It waS time that England woke up and studied the results of the women's vote in other lands. Surely for this cause, which was "the cause of children, home, and Empire, one should set aside all considerations and claims of party so as to secure the power to make England a place of safety, happiness and react: fot the children to come after. Every me*, sure of importance in New Zealand was considered irrespective of party. In spite of the prophesies of evil of its opponents, the women of New Zealand had not deteriorated In appearance, health, or morals, nor had the men suffered in consequence of the absence of their wives during the one hour in three years that had been devoted to voting.

Speaking on the subject of "oratory at a dinner given at the Ma-rot Bros. U|o Boys' Club rooms on Saturday evening "> the members of the club who had been victors in the debate at the recent competitions, Mr. C. J. Parr complained « the number of irresponsible "gas-bag* who posed as orators. He impressed on the Young men present the value of debating societies as a training for them in public speaking. In the societies they would learn that mere words were not U» onlv essentials to become a speaker, but careful thought, reflection, and preparation were necessary, and would have to w cultivated if a man wanted to excel a debate. Mr. Parr concluded by «>«« that debating societies should be couraged by the general public, as;. ™ only by such training that the mulUpbc* tion of "gas-bags" could be avoided, -.