LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15239, 28 February 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

Tim R.M.S. Aorangi, which arrived at Wellington last evening from San Francisco, via way ports, brought European, American, Canadian, and a quantity of Island mails. The Auckland portion, consisting of 104 bags, v'll arrive by the second Main Trunk express this afternoon.

While playing about in the gravel pit at Te Rau Mauku, on Wednesday afternoon, Cecil Cater, tho 11-year-old son of Mr. C. Cater, was buried in a fall of earth (writes our Otorohanga correspondent). He was at once extricated, and, although Dr. Leeper was immediately summoned from Otorohanga, the boy died at about nine o'clock the same evening. The cause of death was fracture of the skull. Deceased was an only son.

The visiting press delegates were entertained at the residence of Mr. Henry. Trett, at Takj.puna, yesterday afternoon, an outing which was keenly appreciated. In the evening, the visitors accepted an invitation from the management of the " Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford" Company to attend the performance at His Majesty's Theatre. This horning the directors of the Press Association meet in further conference to discuss matters of interest, and they will meet finally on Saturday morning, when most of the Southern delegates to the gatherings will leave by the 11.55 express. This afternoon the proprietors of the New Zealand Herald will entertain the visitors at a harbour excursion on the Peregrine, which leaves the Northcote Ferry Tee (entrance through new Ferry Building) at 2.15 p.m. The boat will proceed up harbour to Chelsea, thence out past Rangitoto to Motutapu, returning between Motuihi and Motutapu. The Master Printers' Association of New Zealand meets this morning at 9.30 a.m. in annual conference, Mr. W. G. Somerville/ the president, will preside.

"The playground of many little Auckland children is the street," said the Rev. W. Beatty at the Kindergarten Association's meeting yesterday. " And it is not right that the children should be brought up with no other playfield than the purlieus of Freeman's Bay or the gutters of other congested parts of the city. 'Kindergarten' means 'child's garden,' and wherever* it goes the kindergarten brightens and uplifts the child-mind. Take a child from the streets, which are not conducive to a happy life, and give it the valuable moral, intellectual, physical, and artistic training of a kindergarten, aad the result is so wonderful as to be almost unbelievable to the majority of people-"

A taxicab driver named F. J. Roach pleaded guilty in the Police Court yesterday to having charged a fare greater than that allowed by the law. The distance driven was under a mile, and 2s 6d was charged instead 1 of Is- Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., saitl that the defendant was only following a regulation made by a section of the rers, but that, at the tame time, he was breaking the city by-laws, which said that Is was the minimum fare,, and not 2s 6d. A. penalty of 5s and costs was imposed.

The decision arrived at by the Union Steam Ship Company to place the steamer Maitai or: the East Coast-Auckland trade has been received with satisfaction by the public and shippers in general. It has long been recognised that the Tarawera, which has been employed in this service for some considerable time, is not able to cope with the large amount of cargo offering at Southern ports. The Maitai, although an old vessel, was employed for some considerable time in the intercolonial service, and up to a few months ago in the San Francisco.-Wellington mail service. She can steam at the rate of 16 or 17 knots an hour, and lias proved herself a favourite vessel with the travelling public. The Maitai will undoubtedly prove herself admirably suited for the East Coast trade, as, in addition to having comfortable passenger accommodation, she can carry a much larger amount of cargo than the Tarawera.

An unusual accident befel Charles Pritchard, a 14-year-old lad, at about 11.30 a.m. yesterday. Pritchard, who is employed by Messrs. T. Peacock and Son, opticians, was at work on the verandah roof, cleaning some upper windows, when he suddenly lost his footing,, and fell through a skylight on to the pavement below. The drop was one of about 15ft. Mr. Gore Gillon, Eurgeon, was soon in attendance, and ordered the lad'a removal to the hospital. His injuries are not considered to be of a serious nature. Pritchard resides in Seafield View Road.,

Reference was made at the annual meeting of iho Auckland Kindergarten Association yesterday afternoon to the loss which the association had suffered through the deaths of its venerable and kindly friends, Sir John and Lady Campbell, to whose beneficence its present good position as a philantrophic institution in Auckland was mainly due. The Campbell Free Kindergarten would, the honorary secretary said, for all time be one of the many mementoes of the "Father of Auckland." Regret was also expressed at the departure of two warm friends of the association, namely, its patroness, Lady Islington, and one of the vice-presidents, Mrs. Leo Myers. The chairman announced that Her Excellency the Countess of Liverpool had consented to become patroness of the Auckland Kindergarten Association. Later in the proceedings tributes were paid to Mr. H. A. E. Milnes and to Mr. BrookeSmith, the indefatigable secretary. The chairman said that it was extremely gratifying to find such prominent educationists as Mr. Milnes and Mr. Mulgan taking an interest in kindergarten work.

Admiration for the poiicy or ibc Government in regard to railway construction was expressed by Mr. George Elliot in his presidential address at the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. He adversely criticised the decision of the Government to continue work on the railroad from Tauranga south instead of extending the open line from Waihi. Apart from this, he coram* ided its action in stopping construction in vari> ous parts of the Dominion until ii has placed its finances in order. Stoppage of works of this discription, Mr. Elliot remarked, was always unpopular, even with the Government's own supporters, but the Government had risked their displeasure in an admirable manner.

The interesting point as to wbetfcjy^ ■'■■% " mid-day waitress* * can be employed over time was the subject of a reserved info : - inenfc given by Mr. E. C. Cutten, Bjtf •' : yesterday. He held that if a waitress work ' ing between 11.30 a.m. and 2 p.. is defiiji ' by the award as " mid-day ployed to relieve the usual rush about thai time— was undue stretching of ]£/ ' gnage to suggest that a waitress workh,, '""' between 5 and 7.50 p.m. was wartfcf ■•'- overtime from her mid-day waiting. 3 a fo ment a ? therefore given against the em plovers, P. W. and A. Prior, occupier, <* ' the Strand Cafe.

Suffering from the effects of l Vsol poisoning, a married woman named Jl r , Lynch, who resides in John Street, p 0 sonby, was admitted to the hospiti v es " terday morning. Dr. Brockway waj; cJqJ in, and after attending to the tat : ordered her removal to the hospital, TT* condition is regarded as being 'rather serious. •

The large goods shed which is beio? directed on the new portion of the new Queen Street Wharf is rapidly nearby completion, and a few more days should see the- loilding covered in. "The contractors are now busy with the walkntr. in and roofing of the building, which, as in the case of the other two sheds on'the same wharf, is constructed of conrtsgaied iron. A flag-pole, similar to the one en the Railway Wharf, was placed .in position yesterday on the almost completed tower at the northern end of the shed. Tho flagstaff will be used for the purpose of signalling by flags the allotted berths t5 vessels as they come up the harbour.

Large supplies of produce are being shipped to Auckland from Southern ports ' at the presnt time, and every vessel which arrives from the South discharges lar?* quantities of oats, wheat, chaff, stra« < potatoes, etc. The Union Comply em ploys the steamer Wanaka regularly in this trade, while the vessels engaged in the Ea« Coast- Auckland service almost in 7 variably have included in their car«> hundreds of. tons of produce. The greater portion of the needful product is shipped at the Bluff, Oamaru, Timaru and Lyttelton, and a quantity is landed from Picton at Onehunga each week by the Haupiri. The Mokoia arrived at Auckland yesterday afternoon with over 1600 tons of cargo under her hatches, which includes several hundred tons of produce, while the Wanaka is due to-day from Southern ports with about 3ODO tons. ,

Testing is still being carried an at the < i high-power wireless station at Kaitaia* and the installation has been doing some -| excellent -work. The Sydney, Brisbane, "a Suva, and Wellington stations are being '|; ; called up every night, and the signals from Kaitaia have been reported strong and " clear. The Chief Telegraph Engineer M (Mr. T. Buckley) is at present at the sta." |f tion watching the tests for the Depart- i raent. and when everything is in. order, iff the fetation is to be taken over by tig _■. New Zealand authorities. It is interest-1 ing to note that when the station is iijV.y,, general use, it will be possible for the public to communicate with friends on ~:; steamers at a greater distance from ths ->; coast than in the case of either Tinakori . Hills or the Auckland station. Steamers from England approaching Hobart will', be ;'f within call several days before they reach;.- A the Tasmanian port.

A recent visitor to Swanson was much impressed with the productiveness of a £■ piece of gum land. On this property,, ;]■; which had been well cultivated, a patch | of maize had grown to an average Light, of Bft, soma of the heads being 10ft high. Turnips also seemed'to flourish well, some ; of-thise. vegetables being from 9uv to.l2in; ; through. On many appla trees the ,\ branches were 'laden with large and good "■ quality fruit.

The advantages of extending the Puta- ~; ruru-Fokai private railway to Lake Taupo " r are fully appreciated by Mr. George - , Elliot. In his address, prior to his retire- • ment from the chair of the Chamber of ;i

Commerce yesterday, he remarked that '.; the completion of the line would be of ,«| immense value to the province. It would ;- open up a large tract of virgin ; country 5 several million acres in extent, and would, ,g bring Taupo, ono of the greatest scenic - of the Dominion, within ID hours',

assets of the Dominion, within lu hours journey of Auckland. It had be>' : '/ abundantly proved that the great stretch , , of country extending from £&ke Tanpo to the Waikato is amenable to sdenti&J cultivation, and the purchase of the railway by the Government would give a tremendous impetus to the whole district 'a"''" A plea for technical education was maw by Mr. G. J. Garland, chairman of tta. Auckland Education Board, at a meeting of the Auckland Grammar School Board yesterday. It had been stated that tfes ' number of pupils attending the Gramma* School this year was 667, and this drew forth comments from Mr. Garland as to what might happen when the roll nnm> ber ran into four figures. Mr. Gadaad; . suggested that in future, instead of ■ mating so many of the board's scholarship*. :: tenable at the Grammar School, soma M should be made tenable only at the Tech-; nical College. The speaker said that ho « had been informed by working men that they would rather have their children taught the rudiments of a trade than re- -.-, ceive higher education, and there was no v: doubt that it was better to teach a scholar who was net brilliant a good trade at . which ho might bo very successful. Th 9-■■;;; Education Board, said Mr. Garland, had : ; discussed the matter, and there was. * probability that next year it would a£«* a number of scholarships tenable only a* the Technical College. There was ;no discussion on the matter. ..--'...,■ ~^<:£-t':^-'-The consolidation of some important ■ legislation is proposed by the Miniate* for Marine as part of his programme for - nest session. He informed a deputa- v tion of shipowners yesterday that thongnit would have to be undertaken 500b,.& Shipping and Seamen Act and ib amendments could not be consolidated this session. He had undertaken to consolidate the pensions legislation and the Custom?.;• Act. ' ■ ','

A large amount, of coal is > bang ; brought to Auckland from Newcastle sad Westport at the present time, and •al- ■'■. though it has been suggested in' some quarters that this is the rceori ofa short- ; $ age in the supplies from New Zealand mines inquiries show that this is not tha;';■"': case. A greater portion of the Newcasuo : | coal is for the Railway Department,/ | which, is laying in heavy stock 3. Most ; § of the Westport coal is "for local dealers, | and for the Union Company's own use. > | Alrcadv this week something like 7500 ™ D 3 i | of coal has been brought to Auckland--* 5500 tons by the Katoa from Westport, 1200 tons bv the Ngahere from WW*** j| mouth, and* 2700 tons by the Rakaaoa from Newcastle. The collier Whang»3» ia g due at Auckland from Newcastle on ban- *| day with about 4500 tons. Both the Bar .> : kanoa and Whangape will return to m** % castle to load again for New Zealand. ■£ The Auckland Exhibition Executive '* 4 still making efforts to secure &e services ; | of a regimental band from England Jar ; , the Exhibition season. The H^*" 1 * I cablegram, from the Hon. James Mea» r ri| who is now in England, was received &J M the executive yesterday:—" Re iV fH VM about pending ■■ band am still urgwj^*?* ■ ■M matter." The executive is hopeful tK> 1. as a result of Mr. Allen's efforts a reg*> :fc mental band will : . add to the musical ***:\]|