LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Tub total amount collected at the Auckland Customhouse on Wednesday last was £2839 14s sd, Customs duties accounting for £2713 Bs." On Thursday the receipts were £6141 4s lOd, of which £5940 16s 2d represented the Customs duties. Yesterday the amount collected totalled £5464 7s Id, including £5261 13s lOd collected from Customs duties.

A vein of speculation, which reminded thosse present of the fact that coming events sometimes cast their snadows before, ran through the speech of Mr. F. Lawry, M.P., at the luncheon given, to the guests of the Harbour Board on yesterday's water, excursion. In replying to the toast of "Parliament" the member for Parnell remarked, "I often thank God that ..«ere is a Legislative Council. It is a place where electors cease to trouble and weary . politicians are at rest. I am not going to say anything against the Council, because in couree of time who knows that- I may be there myself." The Hon. B. Harris, a member of the Council, in his remarks let out a "trade secret'' by stating amidst laughter that "sometimes members of the ]x>wer House ask us to throw out certain Bills which they themselves have passed." "You ebould not give the show away like that," was the gentle rebuke administered by the Hon. T. Thompson, who, like Mr. Harris, has experience of both branches of the Legislature.

Heavy railway traffic still continues. The express to Rotorua yesterday morning took away about 300 passengers, and the inward express from Rotorua brought about 250. The extra express to Wellington carried about 200 passengers, and a similar number was brought by the inward express, while the usual morning express from' Wellington carried about 250 passengers. The 9.15 express leaving Auckland last evening carried a very heavy complement, the number travelling being about 430.

There appears to be a great deal of pilfering going on at the present time on the Auckland wharves. Last, Thursday, when " B 6hed on Queen-street Wharf was opened, it was found that 35 tins o? tobacco, three dozen tins oi sardines, and a box of ginger were missing from a stack of cargo, which had been discharged from the steamer Victoria on the previous Tuesday.

Two Australian visitors, Messrs. K. W. Meiklejohn (Sydney) and Jas. Meiklejolm (Brisbane), who are at present staying at the Royal Hotel, report excellent troutfishing at Lake Taupo. In one day they secured 31 fish, weighing 2161b.

According to Mr. W. A. Prickitt, United States Consul-General for New Zealand, who has returned to Auckland after a visit to America, that country is in a very prosperous condition just now. Mr. Prickitt went so far as to say that there is no unemployment, and every man who really wants work can obtain it*

Varied and interesting reading matter in suit the tastes of all will be found in the ' M Supplement which is issued with the 1 Herald to-day. The articles published' s ■ tins wees include " .New Year Resolutions " by Tohunga; "New Wine in Old Bottles" ' by Arb,'ic:s; "The Tyranny of Dress," bv ' a Traveller; "The Three Kings," by Arthur P. Con ic; and -Religion 0 £ '• Churches and of Rationalism/' by Dr. J. Giles. Mercutio's column of "Local Gossip" appears as usual, and an amusing sketch showing the first contest for the Auckland Cud is also included. .

How did you come to' fret, drunk?' asked a presiding justice at the Police Court yesterday morning, when a y man, who admitted being under 21 years ot age, was charged with drunkenness. - He was further questioned and stated that he did not consume the linuor at hotel, but procured h and drank it off the pre'mises. Being a first offender he was con vie ted and discharged.

_ The Auckland Public Library and Art Gallery are very popular resorts at the present time, no visitor to the citv considering a sojourn here complete without a, visit to these popular institutions. The visitors' book shows the names of travellers from all parts of the Dominion, Aus! t tralia, and the Old Country entered dur- •' ing the present week. ■ An English visi- S tor in the course of a conversation with » u, reporter yesterday, expressed himself I as delighted with both , the library and the art gallery. He considered them a credit to such a young country, and said they compared very favourably with similar institutions in the older centres o£ population. "In your library," he continued, " you have a rich treasury in valuable and rare documents and books, and the city is indeed indebted to the many -spirited benefactors who have endowed the city with such precious gifts." Referring to the art gallery, the visitor said that here again Auckland was indebted to the generosity of public-spirit-ed citizens, the result being a collection of art treasures that many an older country might envy. He considered that many of the New Zealand productions contained in the collection were splendid specimens of art, and gave promise of great, future development. " I see no reason," he concluded, " why New Zealand, with its' distinctive and beautiful scenery, and its early history of exciting and epoch-making events, shoidd not quickly develop a typical artistic faculty and win fame in artistic circles in the European art world."

At the last meeting of the Auckland Waterside Workers' Union, it v/as decided to donate £5 5s to the Hulton colliery relief fund. The money will be sent to Sip William Hall-Jones, New Zealand's High Commissioner in . London.

Comment has frequently been made oa the practice of exposing meat for sale in open windows. In the past the Auckland butchers' shops have been cpen to much criticism in this respect, but a reform, has been gradually taking place, and now a fair number of butchers' shops have been fitted up with perforated doors and windows. This, while, allowing for sufficient ventilation, affords adequate protection from the dust and fly nuisances. A visit to any of the shops that have been supplied with this me*n3 of protection will ■amply demonstrate the success of the innovation.

The Christmas tournament of the Auckland Provincial Bowling Association, which has been proceeding since Tuesday, has been favoured with delightfully fine weather conditions. . An important stage in the proceedings was reached yesterday, when the final of the pennant maicfe-. was played, the winners of which are declared the champion rink for the season and receive the pennant, shield and trophies. Sixty full rinks of four entered and competed, . the match, being into six sections. The sectional play was completed on Thursday evening, and yesterday the semi-final and final matches were played 'at the Auckland green. The pennant was won by a Ponsonby rink skipped by Maiwell Walker., the runner-up being an. Auckland Club rink skipped by Tyler. Some very fine bowling was done in tha> finals yesterday, the green being very ; keen as the result of the week's fine weather. "The champion pairs, in which, over v 60 pairs are competing, will be concluded to-day. The champion singles will be* commenced on Monday.

People who send telegrams have; tmdes the regulations now in force, to receive* stamps for the amount, paid for the sending of the telegram, and stick them on thai message. This system, introduced as. at check to protect both the senders and the clerks, is the cause of considerable annoyance to people who are in a hurry, for not everyone keeps a supply of tamps on hand to put the requisite number on the form before handing it in. But the delay caused by the compulsory stampsticking is much less than that which afc certain hours is caused in the Auckland office when a large number of people aw sending away messages. • At these times, only one clerk will take the messages, and if an official near the other receiving windows is appealed to, he refers the appellant to his already over-burdened colleague. In such cases, of course, the' delay caused by the stamping rule is greatlv increased. It could be relieved entirely if a second clerk received messages whenever one window became congested, or even if stamps could be purchased at another part of the counter by those who can safely compute the cost of a message.

The re-survey of the. Auckland Harbour which was determined on. some time ago, and -which is- to be carried out by the Admiralty, was referred to by the chapman of the Harbour Board (Mr. A. J* Entrican) yesterday during the tour mad© by the Hon, J. A. Millar round the harbour works. Mr. Entrican stated that fresh soundings were to be taken of the whole area, and that the work would j j commence about the end of January. ;

The nearest approach to a "trek" that • we have encountered . (says a aikaio exchange) was seen in Hamilton one day last week, when an old trap, containing a man, his wife, and son, a wheelbarrow, 40 fowls, and a miscellaneous assortment of household gods, and drawn by a tired- i looking horse, passed through. The settier had driven right through from the .■ lower end of Taranaki, • and was on his j way to Mangonui, away in the north, at j the rate of about a mile an hour. '"One of our greatest difficulties in thfl ■ financial management of the union, 18* ' marked i*. Shannon at the General • Labourers' Conference in Wellington on

Wednesday, "is the defaulter—the man who refuses to pay his union fees oi only, pays under compulsion. The Act makes provision for dealing with the«>e cases, but' - so far the executive has been .loth to have recourse to these potent- measures for the;; recovery of debt. Still, the man who J**liberately refuses to pay his union subscription has no claim to fraternal favour. . In a union like this, with a large bership extending over tho city and vi.nces, these elusive gentlemen aro very hard to locate. Indeed, in many' when located, they lapse into a state impersonalism and deny, thsi? ° ? 4 names,'- .. - ' t'i