LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14808, 11 October 1911, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

■ * r i ■ : —— >■. * ■ A disturbance took place outside the Opera House in" June last while the police were attempting to effect an arrest", and in the subsequent Court proceedings severe sentences were imposed on ; men who were, charged with resisting the police. A man named Trevor MacLeod, who was alleged to ;;:.■• be ; , concerned as a ringleader; disappeared. He was brought to Auckland yesterday, j having • - been arrested :in Maungaturotd, and ; will be charged this morning with inciting various persons 'to resist the police. '

")The-second speech delivered .by Sir John/ Findlay in support of his candidature fof the Parnell seat Was ; listened to by-;a larg6 meeting in St. Mark's Hall, Remuera, last night; the candidate receiving a very; good hearing. :■}: His. address was in most respects on similar.lines to that given atvParnell oh the previous evening. - The only new matters dealt with at any length were the Public , Debt,-and, his scheme for- the establishment of.fruit farms in the norths of Auckland. : As . regards the former subject Sir, John's-main argument was that-xriti-cism to be quite fair should look-,£> the manner in. which borrowed money $a& expended. In connection with fruit farms he strongly advocated his scheme as a means of providing; cheap fruity for the people. Despite the opposition to the proposal to date he had not L given lip hop© of seeing it carried into operation. •At the close of ; his speech the candidate received a vote of thanks and, confidence, and the meeting broke tip wi*Bi three cheers for, himself-and .Lady Findlay.

A " petition was 'presents from a _ large number of ratepayers at last night's meeting of the Northoote Borough Council; requesting that' a poll be taken on the'question of the adoption of "Ihe system of rating on unimproved vaftes for • Northcote, in lieu of the present? method of * annual value rating. On the "motion - of .tie Mayor (Mr. H. Cadness) ; was decided to take a poll at Northcote on Wednesday November 1 : next. .- "* - •

, An. old man who appeared at the Police Court yesterday on a charge of being drunk said he came down from Ohonga "just ,to get a mouthful of fresh air," and he supposed it was too much for him, for they run him in "for the first time in 50 years." He was fined ss, with the alternative of 24 hours' imprisonment. • ~

A boy, sa|d to be some 12 years of age, made no appearance when called kat • the Juvenile Court yesterday to answer a charge of having set fire to the shelter shed at the Mount Albert public school on : September 33. His father was in attendance, and he 'said > the accused \ had i been i away from -home for a week. He had not 'seen him since the detectives called on Tuesday night.- The case was ordered to stand over until/the lad is found.

; Among the questions put to Sir John Findlay after his election speech in St. Mark's Hall, Bemuera, last night, was one whether he favoured judges of the Supreme Court who sat on Royal Commissions being i paid sums of money in addition to their ordinary * salaries. Sir John, in reply, stated that there was v a wellknown British precedent for paying judges a sum for great services done to the State in addition .to their work ■ in the Law Courts.; -He '■. thought in principle that the practice should be as limited as possible, and that our judges should shave no right,. or expectation to look, for further emolument in addition to their salary.

- Some time ago the "•* City ';' Council v had under consideration ; a proposal ': to obtain from Capetown some Maori documents in >he collection left there by Sir, George Grey. "lad no information as ■■ to the,; value or interest of the documents in quas--tion, and deferred action on that account/ A letter ; has just been ; received by the town clerk '-om Mr. S. Percy Smith, of: New Plymouth, the president of the Polynesian \ Society, referring -.■ to; the matter.-; Thanks, he writes, to the action.of Arch-' deacon H. W. Williams, of Gifborne, the society Vis in possession of detailed ~ information. : ':■■ The letter was accompanied by a copy of „ the •, journal of the society, volume XV., No. 3, in which is an article by the archdeacon, giving a list of the documents. These, remarks "Mr. r Smith, are apparently of a certain value, but probably they do not contain : any better information than is ;■■ already available from other "sources, ; their association with the name of Sir George Grey ? being their most important. characteristic. Archdeacon Williams visited Capetown about six years ago, and was then the bearer of a letter of introduction from < the; Auckland 'S City Council to ;assist him in a perusal of the documents in the collection to enable him to arrive at an estimate of their literary value.

The Mount Wellington Road Board has appointed ' Messrs. Wymer, Hamlin and Kay a deputation to wait onvthe-Otahuhu Road Board.to-morrow night with a view of I joint action.; being ■: taken against > the Hospital and. Charitable Aid I Board erect; ing 'a ■ home for ; incurables v rin? the vicinity of i the -Mount ' Wellington and v} Otahuhu Road Boards' districts. T-, :,

Possibly a "policeman's lot is not a happy but the gallant firemen; comprising the Northcote Fire Brigade," taking one consideration, with another," appear to be in a similar unenviable position. Whether the'. members of : 'i the""• Borough Council were in a-, facetious mood' in dealing with brigade " wants " last night was not clear, but in view of ;- the : Council adopting- the Finance Committee's report against the payment ■of £9 for "boot money," and holding over 'an item of 19s for attendance ;at the Sulphur Beach fire until .the Council were in possession of fuller details of the brigade's movements on that occasion, certainly/ gave a colour of seriousness to the proceedings. When the brigade was formed, shortly after the inception of ;the borough, the Council promised an annual donation of £1 a member per annum, for.' boot money," and a scale per' hour for attendances at fires, and these have been defrayed from time to time, until - the ; present occasion but doubtless the many urgent claims for other necessary works v had considerable weight in the Council's 'decision. .; 'One' councillor, with economical design, jocularly suggested that the firemen might be asked to get last year's boots half-soled! Another suggestion was that the brigade should be reconstructed, and still another ; that it should be ■ "wiped out of existence!'.'

-■'>'A' farce that will, very soon ;•' fizzle but was the opinion expressed by a:member of 1 the committee of the Industrial Association at the meeting yesterday in regard to tfe statistical " returns from merchants aid traders demanded by the Government.-'Jhe president said he had; gathered -that; a nanber of the questions on the ■ forms 'provided were such that ; they : could ne> be answered - -by many people. It wa? suggested by one member that if the Government - desired returns of the soit they should give business men adequate notice of what was required, and allow them to be given on broad lines. <y -' ■ ' .; • ; The difficulty between the > drainage contractor and his men at Onehunis. was satisfactorily settled yesterday, $x. Coulsqn conceding the. demands ofM|e employees, who then went back to work . ■_■■-''.' ■■ ..'"\ ~* ■-. . ■- ■/. ..)■■ ■ ■■I,'"., 1 '.:;. "■■' ■ :: ';' - "'■■

j The consistent bad luck of the lUflicinl?; i Company cargo steamer Taviimx has once' more asserted itself, and the vessel;k>3-f: under water at the side of the Margaret;^,•'? street Wharf, Sydney, as the result of Jk | collision with the Mcssaeeries' Maritime! mail steamer Nera. This week's issue of the Auckland Weebxt News, which appears to-day, contains a striking full. page illustration of the vessel as she lies - submerged, .with only part of 'her deck ' and .upper parts'showing. There is; another smaller picture, showing the vessel.' as she appears from the stern. The New Zealand ladies' golf championship, held last week at Trentham links, Wellington, attracted about 60 competitors frota all * .parts of the Dominion. The issue contains 1 a. very fine page of snapshots of compel;. tors, together with a panoramic view o| ; the links, and a large group of Jkt the'? aspirants for championship honours. TII9 i spring racing season is now in full swing, tie principal meetings of the past week .; being, those at Napier and -WangajiU. -both of which are dealt with in a: seriesl ■of snapshots. Amongst other, events * of . - current interest illustrated are the laying of the foundation of the new- Huk,.rere Girls' School at Napier by the. Go- : : verhor, the opening of the new Wanganui Technical School by the Hon. G. FowSds,

a remarkable swimming performance by an. Englishwoman (Miss Lily, Smith), prepay.* tions for the boating season at Auckland, the installation of automatic telephones in Auckland, the annual Synod of the] Waiapu diocese at Napier, the arrival of a big shipment of Oregon pine at Auckland, a kapa Maori on the W'aipapakauri gumfields, and the opening of the beautiful new Roman Catholic Church at Tiinaxit^

The double-page contains some beautiful". pictures - of .the;' Hokianga 5. district, North Auckland, while other interesting pictures -'. are those of the great Randfonteiii gold "V batteries' at Johannesburg, a panoramic*. view of Remnera, and a big timber boom at Mechanics' Bay, Auckland. The forthcoming licensing poll is humorously *f ore- *

casted in a cartoon, while numerous other lj scenic and industrial pictures go to maka up a particularly complete and interesting issue. '_.' - : - r: '' : £\,^'. At a meeting in His Majesty's Theatre * ; last Thursday the Rev. R. B. S. Hammond 9 stated that the bill for alcohol consumed" yi by Guy's Hospital only amounted to about ;„' £9 per annum. This statement,, Sir. j Leo 1 Myers declares is incorrect. ! Speaking on jgj the subject yesterday Mr* Myers said the -'* trade had often had reason to doubt tha > . accuracy of prohibitionist statements as to ii|: what was occurring- in l other parts of th«i m world, and the Auckland Provincial Council had determined, as far as possible, tef I ascertain the truth of them by independent .>' inquiries. They had received a cable from U the Guy's Hospital authorities,.London, in ?j reply to T an inquiry, ■in which they stated |j§| that the amount is not £9 but .£2oo* Mr. :ji : Myers ' also points-out that. Guy's is-, not » §li« fever hospital, and is devoted largely to -,j surgery, in which, ; for obvious reasons, . & alcohol is not so much used; moreover, he ' * added, all the great London hospitals -receive large quantities of wines and spirits mU .as gifts, * and the amount' so disposed ,Of ■is not taken into account. , r Recently^a request fromtth£*J£¥drthcote School Committee that the Northcote Borough Council shoul dcontribute £200 towards a manual training school for the district met with a reply that the Council could not see its way to use tie borough funds for this purpose. Further representations, from the committee led - Mr. J. B. Tonar to move at last night's meeting

of the Council to rescind the Council's decision with a. view to placing loan proposals before the ratepayers, { embracing £200 for this purpose. Mr. De Luen sec-. onded." Messrs. Daniel, Mowlem,. Fraser, and Campbell opposed the motion on the ground that the proposal would necessitate an increase in the rates,.and the Con

were at present being rightly besieged with . requests for improvements, to roads at.the back, portion of . the'district, which the Council were at their wits' end to satisfy. The motion to rescind the previous resold- ~ tion was lost on. the voices. ,■•--■ : A remarkable- freak chicken was-recently hatched amongst a sitting of Leghorn] eggs set by Constable Smith, -of; St. Albans. The chick was well formed and had a fairly good crop of feathers. ' It > had four bills on its one head, and 'had three eyes, one in. the centre of the bead and two in the usual position- The re- ■'._•• mainder of the brood v/ere all normal chickens ? "A resident of Hobsonvilk-, Richard Greenwood, was knocked down -by a Heme Bay traancar in Patteson-stree.t about eight o'clock last evening. / As a result he received a scalp wound . which . was not of a serious nature. » ' The requisition of local bodies for a* clause to be inserted in the Auckland HarLour Board's -Manukau' Harbour Control BUI, regarding: the provision' for - inland navigation, was referred to at- a minting of fM'S the Mount Wellington' Road i ßl4xd on . Monday. The chairman (Mr.' =Wymer) re-' ported that he, j along with Mr. Harbutt, whilst in Wellington* had been advised not to press the question, because;the "Hariv*;-j bour Board's engineer contended when the ... time arrived /he''-had a more - economical '/#& scheme for the canal to be constructed, by way of St. Ann's" Bridge, which,would only require the Construction .of one lock, and would' therefore be leek expensive. -- Under the circumstances they deemed -it 'yjv" policy to accede to : the request; The rfr* port was received. ' ''■■■-'■. - *■. :• I'.'i ■ ■■■■ ; V''"' ''"■>■ ' "; ; .''..'"•'.■■'■ ■ ■ -' y ':-'- v .-~'■' . v ''si;ii The congested state of the Auckland' "■ Mental Hospital, which has recently been r I the occasion' of much adverse. comment, j i will probably be remedied in the near future. Tenders for the No. 2 auxiliary I to- the hospital are now being invited .bygiifs the Public Works Office, and th'tse will : 3 be received up to November 20. - "'" " r According to a story that is now going- -- the rounds, and is published in a Waira--■.'"' rapa paper, Powelka, the escaped prisoner, has crossed the Tasman Sea. It is stated s#i that the police authorities have' received good information that Powelka is in Australia., but no effort has been made to bring him back. The general opinion is that 1 he is better out of the country, and that if hi is going to cause trouble it will be cheaper for New Zealand if it . happens where .else. There is no doubt that some prison clothes washed up from the h&rbour were those belonging to the „„t escaped criminal, and the general opinion fe that he got away on a timber ship trad- - ; ing between the West Coast and Sydney that was in the harbour on the night '? Powelka broke gaol. The - boat was " searched- on arrival at Sydney.; but "SI Powelka was not on board."v. One of the ?;* crew admitted he was put ashore in a | boat along the coast. .' "' ' A meeting of the general committee of the *£ Auckland Industrial Association was held yesterday. Present: Messrs. B. Buttle -j (president), R. S. Abel, W. H. Aitken, S. J. Harbutt, J. Wilson, C. Clark, and " G. C. Gariick. It was decided to write to the Chamber, of Commerce intimating that the association desired to keep the ' matter of an industrial exhibition, to be. held not earlier than 1913, alive, and would be willing, to join with the chamber in writing a letter to the Mayor on the subject. Twelve new members were .- j elected, and;business of a routine natura :! i was transacted. - - .■• ■ ■ .. ~ ;<m