NEWS SUMMARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15562, 20 March 1914, Page 6

NEWS SUMMARY.

Auckland: e It is proposed to have the beautiful it lake of Tananui, in North Auckland, do- a; clared a scenic reserve. " By a premature explosion of gelignite at Kauorangi, near Thames, yesterday, a labourer was somewhat sevcroly injured. Tho paving of Hobson Street is to be proceeded with, the City Council to decide the material to be used at its next meeting. The question of town-planning was dis- " cussed yesterday at the conference of the ( New Zealand Institute of Local Government Engineers. The amount of " unauthorised" expenditure, allowed large local bodies by law is inadequate in the opinion of members of ° the City Council, who discussed the mattor last night. A system of submarine signaling, with a light on the Big King, is suggested as an alternative to the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher's scheme of a wireless warning station on the Three Kings. A protest has been forwarded to the Major objecting to tftie obstruction of trarti. by vehicles standing across Fort Street, and by the practice of depositing merchandise on the footpaths. The Whangarei Chamber of Commerce, being asked by the Northern Steamship 1 Company to protest against tho installation of wireless on the Manaia, decided ] that it could do nothing in the matter. At the annual conference of the New i Zealand Institute of Local Government * Engineers, commenced in Auckland yes ' terday, it was decided to widen the scope of the institute, and to apply for incorporation as tho New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers. A poll on the proposal to adopt the system of rating on unimproved values will be taken in Ctabuhu to-morrow. The Auckland Golf Club's rates will be greatly increased if the proposal is carried, and the suggestion is made that it and similar bodies should be relieved by special legislation. Proposals involving the raising of a £100,000 loan for tho improvement of Grey Lynn are to be placet! before the ratepayers by the Borough Council. A poll on the proposals is to be taken on April 29, on which date, also, the ratepayers will be asked to vote on the Greater Auckland question. New Zealand: The Prime Minister received an enthusiastic reception in Greymouth yesterday. Five cases of infantile paralysis have been reported in the Wellington district. The Manawatu flaxmillers propose to sever their connection with the Federation of Labour. Tho Wellington aeroplane., owned by Mr. A. W. Schaef, was totally destroyed by fire on Wednesday. A Nelson traveller, who has just returned from the Solomon Islands, tells an interesting story about " blackbirding.'' The Australian cricketers had an easy win against a Nelson team yesterday. < Armstrong took seven wicket* for 14 runs. The- church organisations of Dunedin an strongly protesting against the decision of the Bakers' Union to hold its annual picnic on a Sunday. Australia: Postal works havo been planned at a cost cf £4,000,000. A man named David Norman has been arrested in West Australia on a charee of murder. b . The growing demands on shipowners by industrial organisations were referred to °" J Y e s n^ d ? y b J" the chairman of the Huddart-Parker Company. British Empire: The British ravenue for tho year is estimated at £200,000,000. - The ranges at Bisley are to be open in ' future to riflemen on Sundays. The British Army and Territorial Force now number 6*8,000 officers and men. A Swedish steamer has foundered in the English Channel with the loss of 10 lives. • The Duke of Devonshire has sold a small portion of his library, including four ' folios of Sliakcspere. The price is said to have been £200,000. ' British emigrants to the colonies during January and February showed a remarkable falling off as compared with the same period of the previous year. Three people have . been found on a lonely farm in Wales poisoned by carbon monoxide from the fumes, of a canldroa used to heat one of the rooms. New matter is contained in the charges formulated by tho committee of the House of Lords against Lord Murray in connection with his Marconi share transactions. The Labour Party, which asked for a mandate against the deportations of the South African strike leaders, has carried tho Transvaal Provincial Council elections. During his speech in the House of Commons on the Naval Estimates, Mr. Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty) expressed doubts as to whether big battleships «ero not approaching their limit. The intelligence and dash of the Ulster volunteers are greatly praised by a military expert. The opinion is expressed that they could be mobilised more quickly than the Regular Army. Ammunition is being sent to the various military centres throughout Ireland. Foreign: The Duchess of Brunswick has given birth to a son. Turkey has assured Britain that she does not intend to engage in a war of revenge. The Russian Reform Bill, promised ry fhe Tsar in 1905, has been passed by the Duma. The skeleton of a man, said to be 150,000 years old. has been discovered in German East Africa. General Huerta, realising the seriousness of the Mexican situation, is said to be preparing to reopen negotiations with the United States. The Hamburg-Amenka liner Batavia, with 296 passengers aboard, is drifting helplessly in the Atlantic, owing to her steering gear breaking down. The victims by the disaster on the shores of the Sea of Azof! number about 2000. Ofrer 150 boats have been lout on tuo Caspian Sea during a gale. The policy of President Wilson in regard to the question of the Panama Canal tolls was stigmatised a day ago in the American Senate as cowardly and craven to the last degree. Tho absence of the United States from the field of Polar exploration was commented on by Admiral Peary at a lecture given by Commander Evans on the work of Captain Scott. The excitement in Paris over the shooting of the editor of the Figaro by the wife of M. Gaillaux, surpasses that produced by the Steinheil case, and almost equals that of the 'Dreyfus affair.