LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15503, 9 January 1914, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

(he change to the Saturday half-holiday id Eden Terrace has apparently been accepted philosophically by the score of tradespeople who carry on business in the j district. During the past few months in' which they have carried on their business, on Saturdays these shopkeepers have en-1 joyed an appreciable increase in the weekend trade, and the inclusion of the district within the Saturday area has been strongly disapproved by soma of them. A sug-; gestion has been made that the law should be ignored, but the clause in the Shops and Offices Amendment Act is so clearly phrased that the idea has been abandoned. All shops in Eden Terrace were open on Wednesday afternoon, and, as the result of inquiries made yesterday, it was ascertained that the holiday will be observed on Saturday by all who are affected by the i new Act. ' '] A somewhat unusual offence was admitted at the Police Court yesterday by , Henry Charles James Muir, who was , aJeged to be a rogue and a vagabond, in i that he had imposed on private individuals ; by false representation, with a view to < obtaining money. Sub-Inspector Johnstone i said that the accused had Dcen travelling i the suburbs selling a substance which he described as a " universal cleaner,'' when going irom door to door he wore a placard stating that he was deaf and dumb, and iiad been so since he was 12 years of age. On Wednesday a lady in Kingsiand, touched by the story on the placard, bought one of the "cleaners" for a shil- ; ■ ling, but on opening it found that it was i only a well-known soap extract, which i ; could be bought for Is 6d a dozen. She | was so incensed that she informed the 1 police. The sub-inspector added that he . had discovered that Muir was an "old hand," and he asked for a remand until to-morrow, in order to investigate his . record. The remand was granted. The yield of peaches in the orchards * . of Otahuhu and district is the largest 1 that has been obtained for many years, ' and the fruit is being gathered in splen- ' did condition. Mr. A. Sturges, Mayor of ; j Otahuhu, one of the largest peachgrowers, I i has an enormous crop of excellent fruit. !' | Some of the tomato-growers had the mis- ] fortune to lose their plants by blight, ' j but the nurserymen and others were sue- ] . cessful in warding off the enemy by '• spraying. Altogether the season is an ' , unusually good one for Otahnhn orchard-1' ists and nurserymen. ' M The teachers attending the Educational 1 Conference yesterday showed their appre- ' ciation of the liberal hospitality they have . received at the hands of Mr. H. A. E. ] Milnes, principal of the Training College, '■ and a number of the lady student* who < assisted him, by presenting to the college ' a fine set of volumes. In reply, Mr. Milnes 1 regretted the absence of the students. ' Had they been present, they would have • made the conference a memorable one in 1 many ways. (Laughter.) On behalf of ' the students, he warmly thanked the ! teachers for their splendid gift. Loaded with nearly 10,000 tons of general merchandise, the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Otaki ' reached Auckland yesterday afternoon from London. The Otaki encountered i \ some very rough weather while steaming ! ' through the Bay of Biscay, gale after gale j being met with. During the height of one [ gale, which lasted for two days, a little damage was done to fittings on the fore- ' deck.- as a result of the heavy, seas which were shipped, and the two horses and ' heifer, located in stalls on the deck, had ' a trying time while the gale lasted, hut < escaped injury. The Otaki signalled off ' Capetown on Novembeer 29, and was ' ordered on to Durban. On arrival there ' it was learned that some difficulty would ' be experienced in securing a supply of ' bunker coal, owing to the strike amongst 1 the Natal miners. After several days' delay the OtaM was coaled, and resumed her voyage to Beauty roint (Tasmania) , and Auckland. There". was a busy scene on the railway platform at eight o'clock last. night, when the last batch of the South Island ' territorials left for home by a special train. j There were over 400 territorials and cadets ' on board, bound for Oamaru, Gore, Dun- • edin, Invercargill, and parts of Central . Otago. The whole contingent was under the command of Captain Robinson: A very large number of friends, chiefly ladies, were on the station to see the young men. away, and for some minutes before the train moved off the scene was a very animated, and a very noisy one. When the final bell went there was a good deal , of handshaking and a great deal of kissing, and with side-drums beating and bugles \ loudly blowing, the special steamed out, the territorials giving deafening cheers, and shouting loud farewells as they left the station. All the men were agreed that their short stay had been a very en- ; joyable one, and many were heard to remark that they carried away pleasant memories of the Exhibition and Auckland generally. An arrival at Auckland early yesterday morning was the Island steamer Upolu, which came from Sydney, via Fijian, Sa- . moan, and Tongan ports. A little anxiety had been felt in shipping circles as to the whereabouts of the vessel, but on her arrival it was explained that delay had been caused through the enforcement of quarantine regulations at Fiji, and the holidays intervening when she arrived at Samoa. The Upolu was carrying a number of Chinese passengers, and she was ordered to quarantine at Fiji for six days. At Tonga the fruitgrowers were eagerly awaiting the appearance of a vessel to ship their fruit, and in order to meet with their wishes Captain Beighton returned to Haapai to pick up further shipments, and then returned to Nukualofa to complete loading. A total shipment of 3500 cases and bunches of bananas was brought to Auckland, and the consignment was landed in splendid condition. The Upolu is to sail on the return voyage to South Sea Island ports and Sydney on Tuesday evening next. The proposed united conference of arbitration unions has roused considerable interest in labour circles. The idea of the conference, which was initiated by the executive of the Ohinemuri Mines and Batteries Employees' Union (comprising over 1000 members), has been favourably received by other arbitration unions, who are now sending remits to the secretary (Mr. V. H. Potter, of Waihi) for the consideration of the delegates who will comprise the conference. The principal objects of the conference will be to receive and consider remits relative to the reconstruction or alteration of the Arbitration Court; amendments to the Arbitration Act; or any proposals that may be of importance and benefit to the collective unions under arbitration. All remits are to be received not later than March 1, and in all likelihood the conference will be held at the beginning of April, and the unions are to decide whether the conference shall take place in Auckland or Wellington.

The relationship between the orfrin* members of the new waterside \£»* those members who have been JmiS since the old nnion declared *°®* : >' off are apparently all that Can £f* : aired. The men are working together % • ' various gangs, and are mixing frJS a K the waiting rooms, but the ' and the union officials have not S any signs of friction. The stevedW ' say that there is little doubt that th ' : men who have been admitted to the m» recently are very glad to get bac> 1 1 work, and are not inclined to quarrel'■ with their peaceful environment. Bitter » feeling is shown by some of the old' watersiders whose applications for membership have been rejected. They are in the habit of congregating in Lower Queen ' Street, and making objectionable remarks ' to workers coming frum the wharves bn l their threatening attitude is not regarded very seriously. In moving a vote of thanks to the Auckland Education Board for allowing the New Zealand Educational Institute the use of the Training College, a speaker said that the institute owed a great deal *q. • the Auckland Board for having introduced a satisfactory promotion scheme within* its own district, the splendid results of whica ' spurred the teachers forward in their efforts to obtain a Dominion scheme. ' Several speakers, including Mr. G. Hog. < ben, Inspector-General of Schools, have'' referred to a " delightful spice of inconrist- . ency" in the doings of the New Zealand Educational Institute at the conference just closed, but he charge was used •• mainly in respect to differences of opinion shown between one conference and another. Yesterday, however, a delegate made the somewhat surprising statement, for which he received some applause, that if the motion carried the previous day, favouring-.' a reduction but not the entire abolition | of education boards, were put to the vots-i----again, the decision would be reversed ■'- g After a lengthy absence from Auckland s of about 10 years, the steamer Cpoln hM once again in port. Her presence recahVl the days when she was an important tmit >: of the Union Company's fleet, having been'! a frequent visitor when sailing under the'familiar red-funnel flag. In those days!': the Upolu was considered to be an up-l©.' date passenger and cargo steamer, and'' maintained a regular time-table. In 1891S she entered the Eastern Pacific trade, now-; maintained by the Talune, in place of the' Richmond (now known as the Haipiri). For some time after her withdrawal frc-oS Ihe Eastern Pacific service, the Upolu was employed in the New Zealand coastaltrade. She was then sold to Australian! buyers, and traded between Sydney and various Pacific islands for Messrs. Lever Bros. Sowe time later the Upohi wa* purchased by her present owners, tbflfS Brisbane Milling Company, and until re|| cently had been employed in the trade oe-:'| tween Sydney and the Gilbert Islands. When the recent labour troubles di**" organised the Sydney-South Sea Isknd-. Auckland service, the Sydney agent* for the Upolu despatched her with passengeaf and cargo for island ports and Auckland. She is under the command of Captain J. Beighton, who was for many years in *-* - Union Company's employ. ?;.:|§ On board the steamer Otaki, which.';' arrived at Auckland yesterday afternoon from London, are a number of pedigree animals. The consignment consists of:rat!? brood mare, a Clydesdale stallion, ami a Shorthorn heifer. The animals came from Scotland, and are consigned to Auckland. They are is the pink of condition, and were under the car© of Mr. A. Whyte, otji Edinburgh. The animals will be tiaij® shipped to Motuihi Island to-day, wl--a thev will remain until the necesi»rs quarantine period has expired. ' The Otaki; also brought a large consignment. of pheasants, sent out by the High Commissioner for the Auckland Acclimatjsati«|s| Society. The consignment comprised 203 birds when shipped, but 28 died on.the voyage. Three prize oolonr-fed canaries' were also brought out by the Otaki. ; ' '£*lif> There were some amusing incidents "aJ" the Exhibition turnstiles on Boxing Night when the record crowd was. passing in. Every official who could be spared was busy taking money at the gates, end even the president and secretary lent-a? hand- They had some funny expertetoj|rS| to relate to the meeting of the executive : yesterday. Mr. Holmes said that three WBoi-r who had apparently been at the races and bad done well, gave him sovereigns for ; shillings, and did not wait for clir.=r. Mr. Elliot related how a man who wanted to get out and could not, on account of ''is : crush, threatened, "I will get you*thl»g sack to-morrow, or my name's not Smith!" " I wish you would get me the sack now," replied the president, wearily. A wamaji«! who was afraid to negotiate the crowd with her infant in her arms pushed it througis the hole from which tickets were being issued' into the arms of the astonish-M attendant. It was a small hole, but the ■ infant was a very small one, too. Having got past the turnstiles, the mother cams to claim her baby. ■ ■■ « •' -i'llif The condition of the residences provided for stationmasters has recently been examined by the General Manager of Bailways (Mr.'E. H. Hiley), to whom representations were made on the matter by officers of the Department. Mr. ffiley|q|| states that he fully recognises that st:. 1 3' of the houses are not as convenient as they ; might be, but those recently built hjM been erected on up-to-date lines. Many ;» the houses, he adds, would not stall alteration, and for financial reasons ]■- finds it impossible to erect new dwelling As the houses become uninhabitable, it '* Mr. Hiley's intention to see that newosea are erected with up-to-date accommoda-,, tion. ■''•'■pas tion. ■;,!» The third annual prize meeting of f«« Auckland District Rifle .Association takes place at Penrose on January 29 and'&next. This meeting is restricted to those within the Auckland military trict. There are 21 matches on the programme, nine of which are open only|| senior cadets. In addition, a miniate rifle and pistol match will be fired, each * a range of 25yds. Entries for any of '-!» competitions will be received by the set*' Ury, Captain J. A Wallingford, mi; ketry instructor, up to January 15. _' ;: A satisfactory report has been receiw l from the London representative $J||| National Dairy Association of New |j| land in regard to the shipments of bultC and cheese sent home by the steau* Athenic. This vessel was the first to New Zealand with dairy produce a!it< r j commencement of the recent strike. & butter arrived in good condition, but *. > cheese was a. little heated, having to some extent through delay in trai '' before being put aboard the steamer. M ■■ damage was not serious, and the reportconsidered Tery satisfactory by the t" office. >i®AP "A:'"" If present arrangements mature asjjM pected. the Premiers of the six AustttWJS. Stales will confer in Melbourne in-a ; weeks' time with representatives m l "_ Commonwealth Ministry. The waters question, uniformity of rs^?*- } ■ gauge, the overlaying in the .Banbanks, and other pluses of national a<F' v ties which interest both the CP»'; wealth and the States require to be G-' cufised. :g