LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15482, 13 December 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

The postal, authorities advise that the steamer Indrapura left Sydney at noon yesterday for Auckland, having on board 1212 bags of European, American, and Australian mails, of which 361 bags are for Auckland, and the remainder for Southern ports. Had the Maheno been running, this mail would have reached Auckland to-morrow. It should now be delivered on Tuesday next. The R.M.S. Niagara is expected to arrive late on Tuesday night from Vancouver and way ports, with a large quantity of European, American, and Canadian mail matter, while the Manuka, due from Sydney, on Friday, December 19, will also bring a large Australian, mail. The Japanese steamer Kwanto Maru, which sails from Auckland for Newcastle this morning, is taking New Zealand mails for Australia. A boy of 15 came before. Mr. E. 0. Cutten, S.M., at the Juvenile Court yesterday charged that at Whangarei, while a post office employee, he stole a letter containing 13s in postal notes, the property of the Postmaster-General. He was remanded for a Week.' An expected arrival at Auckland this evening is the well-known Melanesian Mission steamer Southern Cross, from Sydney and Norfolk Island. This vessel left Auckland in April last on her periodical visit to the various mission stations in the New Hebrides and other islands. She afterwards proceeded to Brisbane and then to Sydney, and after a lengthy stay at the latter port left on the return voyage on October 22. It is expected that the Southern' Cross will remain at Auckland for several months.

The library collection presented by Sir George Grey to Capetown contains some valuable books and manuscripts dealing with the early history of New Zealand. In the Grey collection in the Auckland Public Library are several books and manuscripts dealing with the early history of South Africa. Referring to this matter at the opening of the Grey and Shaw annexe yesterday, the Hon. Seymour Thome George, M.L.C., expressed the opinion that it would be well if an exchange of these volumes, etc., could be arranged. He also thought it would be a good thing if the Thurlow collection possessed by the Auckland Library, and dealing with early English history, could be exchanged with the British Museum for something of more value to New Zealanders. Speaking at a later stage, Mr. T. W. Leys, a member of the Library Committee, said that the proposed exchange with the Capetown Library had been the subject of correspondence, but no agreement had been como to. Nevertheless he thought a steady endeavour should be made to effect an exchange. As regards the Thurlow' collection, Mr. Leys said the British Museum some years ago applied to Sir George Grey for it, but the request was declined. He doubted whether there would bo justification for handing the collection over under those circumstances. The seven concerts given by the band of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on its journey from Dunedin to the Auckland Exhibition, produced a very satisfactory result. The gross takings at the two concerts in Dunedin were £493, the performance in Timarn realised £144. a return of £363 was obtained from the two concerts in Christchurch. and the performances in Wellington realised £469, the aggregate takings being £1469. A sum of £191 was paid away in expenses incidental to the concerts, and the cost of steamer and train fares and accommodation for the members of the band was £450. of which a considerable proportion would have been spent if the band had travelled direct to Auckland. The net profit from the Southern tour was, therefore, £828. This information was given to members of the Exhibition executive yesterday, and they passed a resolution warmly complimenting the secretary (Mr. W. R. Holmes) on the competent manner in which he managed the tour.

In connection with the schemes now under consideration for increasing the fares on the Sydney trams, the State Treasurer (Mr. Cann) said last week that the loss on the tramways last year, was £26,000. During the four months of this current financial year there was a loss of £12,000, making a deficit of £38,000 for 16 months.

The supplement published; with Si Herald contains much interests £', \ Tohunga's contribution this week i 3 "TV-lit Song of the Sirens," while J. Giles 1 ""• a-column of "Mixed Musings." . oil ■ articles include "On the .Nihotf Ranges,' Lawry Burns; "Woman !S Her Work," Isabel Maud See? V J "Luck " W. H. P. Marsdon, 3™ .. Gymkhana in Malay," by M Vhnv - Mercutio's "Local Gossip" > usual. ', " s?l| The decision to close the Chapel Street school, at which the Education Board arrived about a year ago, excited a good deal of interest, and efforts were made to 3 persuade that authority to allow the school ''l to continue the work which had been 1 carried on for more than a-quarter of 1 century. The buildings were offered 'for sale yesterday, the suggestion being mad" that they might be utilised for a shirt '1 or boot factory or motor garage, but n buyer came forward. They stand on a ' ' section leased from the Auckland Grammar School Board for 40 years from February 19, 1883, at £33 per annum, with onethird compensation at the end of th term, so that the lease has a Ijtt] longer than nine years to run. The pro , perty will be offered for sale by auction again early next year, unless it is m privately in the meantime.

A week ago yesterday the Japanese steamer Kwanto Main arrived at Auckland from Newcastle, under somewhat seny. tional circumstances. This vessel was reported to have ailed from the New South Wales coal port for Java, in company with the Union Company's steamer Waihora ami an Australian paper, commenting 0 a the fact, stated that an interesting race would probably result between the vessels as they were of about the same speed' However, the Waihora proceeded to Java' and the Kwanto Maru sailed under sealed orders, and onco clear of the Newcastle bar, shaped a course for Auckland, so that her arrival here no doubt created soma surpriso in Australian shipping circles. The Kwanto Maru berthed at the King's ' Wharf, and started to discharge at 11 a.m. on Saturday last, having on board 5508 ' tons of coal for a local firm. The whole of this big cargo has now been discharged and distributed in the city and suburbs, in the record time of 5J days. The best day's work was 1160 tons. Discharging operations were supervised by Mr. Dinglev and Captain White. The Kwanto Maru' is to sail this morning for Newcastle, where sty will take up her original charter for Java. Six thousand children visited the Auckland Exhibition on December 5, and enjoyed themselves immensely. The visit by the little folks was equally appreciated by the authorities, and at its meeting j yesterday, the executive agreed that the result of the experiment was so satisfac-' tory that it should be made a permanent feature of the big show. Accordingly it 'i was decided that a "Children's Day" should be arranged once every fortnight,, and that on those days the price of admission for children should be reduced to one-fourth of the adult rate. Another V concession proposed at the meeting' was ; > the opening of the art gallery on certain • days without charge. Every Wednesday : afternoon the art gallery at the Christ- > church Exhibition was " free." The matter was entrusted to the president (Mr. .; George Elliot). Treatment under the equity and good '■-' conscience clause was asked for by a tern- : perance advocate who appeared at the f| Police Court yesterday upon the charge of ;r a breach of the city by-law which pro- ' hibits the distribution of handbills in e'er. -.-; tain streets. He stated that his pamphlets were scientific and instructive, which fact, he claimed, ensured their being taken - home by those receiving them, aud not. being thrown down on the street. He was : also convinced that the by-law was never intended to include such literature. Mr. V E. C. Cutten said he was inclined to think j that because the pamphlets were abstruse'; scientific treatises, they would be thrown away, and he added that the equity and r good conscience clause did not operate in V-; the Police Court, where a magistrate had .[& to act on the law and facts before him. A conviction was entered. . ,-;£;-:

Some months aeo the Victoria Ministry announced its intention to send two departmental officers to America to study the K Taylor system of economising effort with a view to securing greater efficiency in the K Public Service. It is now proposed ujjfj send an officer from the Public' Work!;-' Department and an officer from the Kail-& ways Department to the United States to make themselves familiar with the system. m A selection will be made from the officers |J of the two departments in the course of V a few days. - V? |p

Colour music was discovered simultane-;.' ously by Mr. A. B. Hector, of Sydney,|| and Professor Remington, of London, aid ;; a month or two ago they met in England : ; and discussed the fact. Mr. Hector, .'whohas returned to Australia! explained that he saw also a number of scientists, ■-.;who - were intensely interested. The discovery... harmonises colour and sound, and this is.;.; brought about by electrically connecting >? the keys of an organ or a piano, with V; scale of colour. ''There is a definite corelation between sound and colour," said '- Mr. Hector, "and the discovery will so|| revolutionise music that in the concert of;/. the future people will ask for colour';• simultaneously with sound just as readily as they now ask for jelly on top of a piece of cake. It will be of great benefit, g| as it will give a new interest to music, a r; new beauty to it, and it will give a meansjp to certain persons to enjoy music who have || hitherto not enjoyed it. They will be j£ able more or less to visualise it, and .will, m see the rythmic movement of it." -$£|p Hector has made the scheme his hobby, and when he has sufficient spare time be|| intends to demonstrate the charm of it.',. m "I have long been impressed with the- ; value of fruit as food," Dr. BenjafieH ;.'; told the Tasmanian Fruitgrowers' Union ._-;.. last week. "That was really the origin - of my orchard. I came to the conclu- ::. sion that I could do people more good: by growing apples and pears than by dis- .;: tributing physic." Referring to the attitude of the Church toward social problems, the president of >■>, the South Australian Methodist Conference : (the Rev. H. Howard) said last week that, - it was a grave question as to whether in . ; dealing with social disorders the palliative 1 treatment of mere symptoms had not diverted the mind of the Church from P*:M fact of sin, the real seat of the disease; ■; whether the very eagerness with which she;;-. had thrown herself into movements that made for the mitigation of evil effects had ,v not tended to distract her attention from their evil causes; and whether, in propor- - tion to their success those empirical methods had resulted in masking the real trouble, - or, what was just as fatal, in inducing it» ; toleration. Thus it came to pass that the best-intentioned efforts were found to work ;: disastrously and to neutralise the moral -ends to which all human suffering had been divinely directed, so that the chances-rf/.; recovery were immeasurably reduced or indefinitely postponed. They must beware ;■ of being thus cleverly side-tracked fro lll ; the only permanent way of mora! recover/ bv the devil's pointsmen. In all the work-.--., of that mission the objective would .^-:■;[' salvation of the human soul '