LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14923, 22 February 1912, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

What happily proved to be an unfounded report was responsible for an adjournment yesterday afternoon of both the Legislative Council and the House of. Representatives. It had been reported it; Wellington that the serious illness of Mr. A. R. Barclay, an ex-member for Dunedin North in the Lower House, had resulted in death, and both Houses adjourned as a mark of respect. Just before 10 o'clock last evening, however, the Prime Minister announced that he had. just received a telegram stating that thti report of Mr. Barclay's death was un'.true, and that while he was gravely ill he> was not in imminent clanger. Sir Joseph Ward added that hon. members would be pleased to know that though Mr. Barclay was gravely ill, what they had. anticipated that day had not happened.

On. her recent trip to Sydney the steamer Navua passed close to the treacherous Elizabeth reef, -which-lies some 470 miles from the New South Wales port. On the reef those on board the steamer could see part of the Norwegian ship Askoy, which was wrecked on December 20 last. On her return trip from Sydney to Auckland, via the Islands, the Navua again passed close to the reef, but the Askoy had disappeared from view. The Askoy was a vessel of 1606 tons gross, and 1543 tons net register.. At the time of her mishap she was bound from Salaverry to Sydney. The captain and the crew all escaped in the boats.

Two judges will sit in the Auckland Supreme Court in criminal jurisdiction today. Mr. Justice Edwards will sit again at 10 a.m., and Mr. Justice Chapman, who will arrive by this morning's express, will also sit at the same hour in the Arbitration Courtroom, in order to expedite the disposal of the heavy calendar. Of the 36 or 37 cases on the calendar, some 14 have already been dealt with, whilst four bills were thrown out by the grand jury. Thus about half the cases have been disposed of, but the most important cases yet remain to be taken. The charge of breaches of the Bankruptcy Act against J. S. Lennox may ;be taken to-day. . Mr. Justice Edwards will preside■> over the criminal sittings at Hamilton next week.

A slight extra charge for cooking materials to be levied •upon.' the pupils at the Technical College cookery classes was authorised by the Education Board yesterday. The director of the college explained that the pupils were allowed to take home what they cooked, and the charge was made to cover the cost of the materials, which were purchased wholesale. Since 1906, when the charge was fixed, there had been a slight increase in the cost of commodities, though not sufficient to necessitate the proposed increase. Some improvements in the class, and more practical work, necessitated the use of more material, . and the charge, hitherto Is 6d per pupil per half-year, would now be 2s. Mr. George added that the pupils received a great incentive to good work from the system of allowing them to take home their results, and the incentive was increased by the that they must not take home anything that was spoiled.

A meeting of the Auckland Drivers' Union was held last evening to hear the result of the ballot in connection with the motion to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Act. The motion was lost by a small majority. Messrs. Parry and Fraser were received as delegates from the Labourers' Union. The delegates dealt exhaustively with the labourers' dispute, and the meeting passed an informal vote of sympathy with the Labourers' Union. A special meeting to formally receive the delegates will be held on Saturday night.

An Australian mail was brought by the steamer Moana, which arrived at Wellington yesterday from Sydney. The Auckland portion of the mail, consisting of 35 bags, will arrive here this morning by the Main Trunk express.

" This sort of thing must be put a stop to, there is too much of it altogether in Auckland," said Mr. Justice Edwards at the Supreme Court yesterday, in passing sentence on two young men who were convicted of street assault and robbery. The prisoners, who each had a long record of previous convictions, were ordered to be imprisoned for 18 months. " I must try to keep the streets clear and safe," remarked His Honor in pronouncing sentence.

Tho trouble existing between the general labourers and employers lias progressed no further. So far no reply has been received by the union to its representations to the New Zealand Federation of Labour, and, as previously stated, it is quite unlikely that any drastic step will be taken unless the federation advises same. In the meantime satisfactory negotiations are in progress between the various local bodies and their men. The hope is gaining ground that a settlement of the main dispute may be arrived at without recourse to a strike on the part of the labourers.

Nominations close at noon to-day for tho offices of president and vice-president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, •also for six members of the committee in place of those who retire by rotation. Mr. Leo Myers, the present president, is not seeking re-election. So far tho only nomination received for the position is that of Mr. George Elliot, at present vice-president. To fill the latter office Mr. Sidney Nathan is, up to date, tho only nominee. As regards the vacancies on the committee, the retiring members intend to again offer their services, and it is anticipated that some fresh candidates will be contesting the seats. The annual meeting of tho Chamber is fixed for Thursday, 29th inst., when proceedings will commence with the customary luncheon. " ■' ' : f ■•■

The question of a municipal fish market will be before the City Council at its meeting to-night. The Mayor (Mr. C. J. Parr) intends; asking the Council to set up a committee to go into tho matter, ■■•: his personal view being that the establishment of such a market on the waterfront is well worthy of consideralion. If the suggested committee is appointed the members will doubtless welcome evidence from all sides,, so that, they may have an opportunity of fairly considering the practicability or otherwise of the scheme.

Several broaches of the Factories' Act were dealt with by Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., yesterday. Eong Wing, a Chinese laundry-keeper, was fined • 10s ' and costs for failing to keep a time-book, and £1 and costs on each of two other charges of employing men after seven p.m. Charles B. Cave was fined £1 and costs for failing to keep a holiday book, and Messrs. Smith and Brown wore fined £1 and 7s costs for employing a youth under 16 years without obtaining a certificate.

A number of children, whose parents reside at Arahiwi, near Rotorua, attend school, at Ptftaruru, and owing to the inconvenience of the, train service they are absent from their home* nearly 12 hours each day. They travel to school by a train at 7.30 a.m., and are returned to their home station at 6.45 p.m. Mr. J. A. Young, the member for Waikato, has suggested to the general manager ot railways that the Rotorua express should stop at Arahiwi for the convenience of these school children, and has been given a promise that inquiries will bo made to ascertain whether tho proposed- arrangement is practicable. ,'

A proposal has been made that Victoria Square, in Cambridge, . should _ be vested in the municipality as a recreation reserve. At present it is Crown land, and Mr. J. A. Young, the member for the district, has been informed (our Wellington correspondent telegraphs) that the transfer can only be made by legislation, Mr. Young will take steps to have the necessary authority conferred by the first "washing-up" Bill that comes before Parliament.

The duplication of the tramway lines in the Manukau Road has caused the roadway to be detrimentally affected, according to a statement, made by the chairman of the One-tree Hill Road Board. In one part, he said, the new line had been placed on the left-hand side of the existing line; in, another on the right. The added lines came so close to tho roadside that vehicles had but little room to pass. The chairman, with the approval of the Board, has arranged to have the footpaths in such parts, between Greenwood's corner and the Royal Oak, reduced in width a foot.

The Auckland Acclimatisation Society has been waiting for about a year and a-half for £100. The amount was v«ted for the society's game farm at Tapapa, but it did not come to hand and when letters were written to the Government the officials wrote back that the matter was receiving consideration. The council of the society decided a few days ago *that the Minister' should be telegraphed to in person. Mr. Buddo promptly replied that the sum had not been re-voted. He would at once make inquiries as to whether the money could be provided out of general appropriation.

It was stated in the Police Court yesterday that a man who felt he wanted a cigarette deliberately broke a(" window in Queen-street to procure one. James, Patrick Mooney : was charged before Mr. E» C. Cutten, S.M., with wilfully damaging a plate-glass .window, the property of Martelli and Co. ' The police said-that the'man went up "to the shop y window and seeing some cigarettes exposed there said, "I want some cigarettes." Then, it was alleged, he deliberately slashed the window, but he was arrested before he got an opportunity ,to take anything. The man was remanded until to-morrow. The Royal Humane Society's bronze medal and certificate were presented to Master J. S. Faulkner by -the Mayor of Devonport (Mr. Wm.< Handley) at >. the Municipal Chambers on Tuesday ; evening. There was a good attendance, the number including the No.' 3 Troop of Boy Scouts (under Rev. Scoutmaster Maclean), of which organisation Master Faulkner is a member. The presentations were made .in recognition of the bravery shown ■' by'the recipient in rescuing Mr. Taylor from drowning last October. The Conciliation Council is still hearing the dispute between the waterside workers and the .shipping companies and stevedores,. and good progress [was made at a sitting held in committees-yesterday. The proceedings were adjourned ; till to-morrow, and will probably last for some time. ■ The question of allotting grounds for the various winter sporting organisations iat Devonport has caused much discussion in past seasons, and judging by .Tuesday evening's meeting of the Domain Board this season will be no exception. The Board controls the playing areas of; the borough, and as there are only four grounds for four rival clubs, Rugby, Northern Union, and Association football, and hockey, each with two or more teams, the position is acute. The-Rugby and Association Clubs demand prior right by reason of their long occupation, while the Northern Union Football ! and Hockey Club members their rights as ratepayers and sons of ratepayers to a share of the grounds. The Board members received and heard rival deputations on Tuesday night, and the hour of midnight was close at hand before the matter was referred to a sub-committee to investigate the claims of; the applicants and report. Anyone who wishes to learn something about curing fish, by smoking and salting, may consult a little handbook which has been procured by the Marine Department, and a copy of which has bee deposited with the Collector of Customs for perusal. As the number of people likely to derive benefit from the book is but email, the Government does not propose to reprint it. In any case/the work deals specially with Scottish conditions. .. The Waihou stream above Okoroire is a waterway which has been well stocked by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society but the wholesale way in which trout have been brought out by fishers with minnow and spoon bait led the society to fear that it would soon be cleaned out. A few months ago the society asked for an Order-in-Council declaring the stream closed to all except fly-fishing. Much to their surprise, instead of a long, interval, only a few days elapsed before all the forces of the law were embodied in a gazetted document, and nobody dared drop a minnow into the stream. The people who had been fishing there were surprised and angry, and they have spent their fishing time in writing letters of protest to the society. They stated, among other arguments, that it was unfair to make such a prohibition in the middle of the season, when licenses had beon taken out. Although there are other streams in the neighbourhood, such as the Oraka, in which minnow-fishing & legal, the complaint was felt by the society to be just, and at a special meeting of the council it was resolved to ask -the Minister for Internal Affairs to •suspend! the operation of the regulation until the close -of the present season,. /' j

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