LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14929, 29 February 1912, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

This trial ballot to test the feelings of the ratepayers of Takapuna on the proposal made for the Waitemata County Council to purchase the Takapuna tramways closed yesterday. The count will be made within the nest few days.

An Australian mail reached Wellington from Svdnev by the Warrimoo yesterday morning. The "Auckland portion, consisting of 25 bage, will arrive here by the Main Trunk express this morning. The R.M.S. Maitai is due at Wellington to-day from San Francisco with European and American mails. Should the vessel arrive in time to connect with the express the Auckland portion of the mail will reach here to-morrow morning. A small boy, aged 13 years, came before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., in the Juvenile Court yesterday charged that being under the ago of 15 years he smoked a cigarette. A constable discovered the lad smoking in Commercial Road, no doubt aware of what would happen if his parents knew, but blissfully unconscious of the fact that he placed himself amenable to the law. After pointing out the serious harm done to their growth by boys indulging in the cigarette habit. His Worship admonished and discharged the boy. An accident occurred at the Cement Worts at Warkworth yesterday to a man named Richard Rawlingson, some machinery falling and breaking Rawlingsons jaw. After being attended to locally, he was put on a boat, and brought to the Auckland Hospital. His condition is not regarded as serious. The Manukau No-license League decided at a meeting held on Tuesday evening, in Onehunga, not to nominate any candidate for the Manukau Licensing Committee at. the forthcoming election. Messrs. John Row© and Daniel Nielson (Onehunga), Walter Davies (Epsom), William H. Gavin (EUerslie), and John Brady (Otahuhu) have been nominated, and no opposition is anticipated.

To-day is a day of considerable importance in the calendar. The 29th of February, which comes only once in every four years, is the feature of leap year that distinguishes it from ordinary years. A leap year contains 366, instead of 365 days. Its name is derived from the fact that it leaps over a day more than a common year, thus giving February 29 days, and adjusting the calendar to almost the exact lime that the earth takes to travel round the sun in its annual course. Her Excellency Lady Islington gave a small dinner party at Government House last night, to which the following had the honour of being invited t-rThe Mayor, and Mayoress (Mr. and Mrs..C. J. Parr), General Godley, Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Bloomfield, and Captain Spencer Smith, AD.C, to General Godley. A lorry with some heavy, iron girders was being driven along the bottom of Queen-street yesterday, when the horse drawing the vehicle slipped, and a girder swung into the front of a passing tramcar, smashing a portion of the wood work, and breaking some glass. Fortunately the car was empty, and no one was the worse for the accident. The damage to the car was trivial.

The Drainage Board has removed to its new quarters in the Town Hall, and the first meeting of the Board in its new room was held last night. Comfortable provision has been made v for the conduct, of business. A tab'.e at which the chairman, the secretary, t.nd the engineer'sit is surrounded by a long semi-circular one for the members, who all face directly towards the chairman.

The steamer Banffshire, which arrived at Auckland yesterday morning from Liverpool, brought eight first and 45 thirdclass passengers. Several families are included in the latter class, and the men appear to be of a desirable stamp. Seventeen of the passengers landed at Auckland, the remainder being booked to various Southern ports.

The proposal in the Governor's Speech to nationalise the iron industry of New Zealand has not met with the approval of the Auckland branch of the Labour party, which at its meeting last night emphasised the opinion that better use could be found for the money which the establishment of the monopoly would cost. It was unanimously resolved, "That Messrs. Hindmarsh and Veitch be urged to obtain an investigation into the cost of living (and a return of the comparative wages and costs of living at present, 10 years and 20 years ago), and that they urge upon whatever Administration may be in office the necessity of nationalising all good monopolies with the money which it is proposed to waste on an experiment with iron." It was decided to strongly oppose the proposed legislation regarding the Upper House as reactionary and a betrayal of democracy, and that, pending the abolition of the Upper House, it should be made elective on the popular franchise.

The waterside workers' dispute engaged tho attention of the Conciliation Council all day yesterday in committee, and in tho evening the conference adjourned, still in committee, without reporting progress. It will i« resumed to-morrow, and will probba.lv be concluded at the same sitting. Although no official statement is available, it is understood that good progress was made, and that the terms of the agreement which are being reached are very favourable to tho worker*. The position of the union in connection with the dispute is peculiar, for it is an unwilling party. It decided some time ago to cancel its registration under the Arbitration Act, and forthwith entered into an independent agreement with a number of important shipping companies. The cancellation of the registration of the union was not, however, effected in time for the union to avoid citation under the Act, and tho union is likely to be faced with the peculiar position of having made an agreement, and then being made a party to a new award as well. If, as Is said to .be' likely, the ternws of tho award are more favourable to tho union than those embodied in its own agreement, there is likely to be some trouble within the union, though at this stage it in impossible- to pay ffhat will be ■ the result* •■" .<•<■, v

I ' - ~ J The latest article of every-day household consumption in which a rise in price. u reported is bacon. A Herald reporter 'IS was informed yesterday that the supply of ' bacon pigs is now so limited tbat within " the last throe months the wholesale price of bacon has advanced 25 per cent., with more than a possibility of a still further advance, even as high as from Is Id to Is 2d per lb. The economical housewife therefore, need not be surprised should the appetising rasher be shortly found to bo somewhat of a luxury. The firmness of the bacon market, it is stated, will be more than maintained unless there is a more systematic rearing of bacon pigs. This is a matter that should not present, any great difficulty, seeing that in almost every district a creamery i:; in existence. At present the supply of jngs is very short indeed, and those farmers who are fortunate enough to have baconers to dispose of may den pend on receiving good prices. Whilst engaged lifting a bag of poultry food out of a boat at Rivcrhead yesterday, Thomas Riley slipped and fell back on to the rowlock of the boat, the rowlock piercing his cheek. He was brought to town by a launch, and taken to the hospital, where he is progressing favourably. • Employers of domestic servants are now, bound by the Workers' Compensation Act Amendment Act of last session to paycompensation to domestic servants who suffer injury arising from their employ-, mem. The amendment comes into fore* to-morrow. In the Magistrate's Court yesterday be* fore Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., Mrs. Jessie .'.' Tucker (Mr. A. E. Skelton) claimed from - George Blanchard (Mr. Grundy) the sunt of £17 for board and lodging. The do- '"'■■' fence was that defendant worked for the plaintiff's husband, and that his board had been deducted from his wages. Mr. Kettle held that plaintiff carried on, & ; ■ business altogether separate from her m*» > band's, and gave judgment for Mrs, Tucker for the full amount claimed. Experiments in wireless telegraphy - ari{V still being carried on by a few enthusiasts in Christchurch. , The mum -ber of experimenters was sadly re< '-. duced by the enforcement of the Gov-« eminent regulation requiring the dkmanti ling of private stations. This regulation was relaxed in the case of Departmental officers, and three of these officers are now carrying on experiments. No fewer than 15 private stations had to be dismantled, and the owners are petitioning Parliament to recall the regulation. In. the meantime it is understood that (ha regulation is being enforced only' in Christchurch, a complaint having been *jS made that a, commercial message from a steamer had been intercepted. The am** teur wireless operator had picked up the message and he was so proud of his aceom* plishment that he informed the recipient of the message of what he had done. His communication was received with indignation instead of pleasure, and the result ' of the complaint was that notions were served requiring amateur wireless men to go out of business. Some re , markably good work in " wireless" , , is being done by the few enthusiasts - in Christchurch who are conducting private experiments. Messages have been received by one operator from a distance - of 900 miles, the sender being on a steamer < well out at sea The effective sending range, as far as the local private stations •are concerned, seems to be about 10 miles. - The stations can get vessels at Lytteltott without any trouble, and for a few miles out to sea, if the conditions are good. ' ' Mr. Jesse Huett, who was or many years' chief- messenger in the Government Buildings at Wellington, died recently at , the age of 88. At the age of 18 he enlisted j; v in the 58th Regiment, and two years later came with the regiment to New Zealand, where he took part in Hone Hese'J war. In 1855 Mr. Huett was appointed ' orderly sergeant at Government Home, ,- Auckland, to Governor Gore Brown, of whom he had many interesting reminis- ; ;- cences. After being in that position for . over three yearo, he got his discharge from the army in October, 1858, after ore 15 years' service. He joined the Government service in January, 1859, being first ': attached to the Attorney-General's office, and among other duties he claimed to be the first librarian appointed by the Government, but with little to look after. He went to Wellington when the seat of Government was removed from Auckland, and ; finally retired from the : service in 1900, __ being at tba> time assistant officer-iiH , '- charge of the Government Buildings. He; married at Auckland in January, 1859, Miss Mary Graham, third daughter of Mr. James Graham, of Edinburgh. His wife) predeceased him some nine years. The announcement that the Government! will fulfil a promise it seems to havei made to tbe Wellington Arts Club to es- / tablish a national art gallery in the capital city has aroused some feeling in Christ- ; church. Inquiries made by alyttel-" ton Times reporter show that the* is an opinion that if a national g»U lery is established anywhere it ought* , to be established in Christchnrch, ; ; 0 but the general idea evidently * tllM. g it would be a mistake to have a permanent national gallery in a community which * so as: the population of New Zealand, and that it would be much bettor . to have some kind of travelling exhibition, which could be shown in each centre m turn. In an interview Mr. P, Herdman Smitfc',;, (director of the School of Art) strongly sup* ported the proposal for a travelling collection. He said that when a r*rm»nens national gallery was discussed Chrat- ,y church certainly could claim first conside- ; ration. This city had an art atmosphere that did not exist in any other New Zealand centre. It was an atmosphere thajgl was further from Wellington than - front ; ; any other place in the Dominion. At an extraordinary meeting <A . the Gisborno Co-operative Bakery a resolution to wind-up the company wrtflfl;.. piesent was carried. Comment was made ... upon the enormous loss the company baa suffered, and the chairman remarked thatt the shareholders would get nothing outt of the concern. Some would lose h«Wj two of the guarantors as much as £1000 each. \

Comment is now frequently mad*, (say* our Northern Wairoa correspondent) upon the productivity of the territory ending , southward from Maunganui Bluff to tftfl Kaipara North Head, an area of about* 250 square miles of kauri gum producing, ; sandstone formation, which, by intelligent; treatment, is fast coming into pastoral country. It is bordered by about 50 mile* bv the Tasuian Sea. and it is in a great measure owing to this that settlers are ~ enabled to secure the excellent- result* . they do. It is a truism that in tho n*»g&- • bourliood of the sea, rain water contains an appreciable quality of sah^"? 01 ??: 'thing over a grain to the gallon—ana wis | is essentially "so in tho district under re. view, for the prevailing wind M.from J M ocean. At the rate of one gram to wo | gallon the yearly deposit of salt on tne . -\ foil amounts to about iewt of salt .Jgg; acre, an amount sufficient to # meet tne needs of almost all crops. Tins tends W attract moisture from the atmosphere* j keeps the soil moist, and destroys n*g:\j forms of pests. The productivity of th« whole Northern Wairoa and Otamatea dun .- i tricU is thus enhanced, farmersi art ~ now realising the value of a fertilising , asset which, in the past was uahec&d, j " " "'"' " ■" ■" •'.■■'•■..' ■':■;?..\Mm ■. " ■ '■'■-. ':■''■". ,-■■.■'•- (i ' :''': ! ;Ti i :C^ : :%'';h#|i&