LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15566, 25 March 1914, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

A mamjscrift copy of one of his poems was given by the patriotic German poet, Arndt, to Sir George Grey, the copy for some years past having been in the Grey collection m the Auckland Library- A request has been received through Mr. Carl Seegner (the German Consul) from the Kaiser for a photographic copy of this maruscript, and the Mayor has given his consent to the taking of the necessary photograph. Arndt, who died in 1860 at the age of 91, was in the habit of giving copies of his poems to people he admired. The poem in question is " Was ist das Deutscher Vaterland?" (What"* the German's Fatherland?). The Germans are keen collectors of everything relating to their country, and it is said, that sevI era! offers were refused by Sir George Grey for the original manuscript. .

The new direct cargo service between New Zealand ports and Hull will be inaugurated by the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Rakaia, which arrived at Auckland yesterday morning from Sydney to commence loading. The Rakaia will lift a large shipment of frozen meat, butter, cheese, wool and other products at Auckland, Tokomaru Bay, Napier, Wellington and Lyttelton, leaving the latter port finally about April 11 for Hull and London.

A severe criticism of the lessons contained in the text books />f the primary classes in the public schools of New Zealand was made by Dr. Florence Keller at the inaugural meeting of the Civic League last night. " How much better it would be," she said, "if instead of the usual sentences met with in- the primer text books'the cat caught the mouse' —

there were little stories telling of acts of gentle gallantry on the part of brothers to their little sisters, or of kindnesses shown by girls to their little brothers. We hear of many sad cases of little children being run over in the streets, but where, in all the school text-books, is there a lesson which tells a child that it is wrong to attempt to cross the road when there is a tramcar coming? Every sensible child knows that 'the cat caught the mouse,' and it seems to mo to be waste of time trying to teach it the obvious. One of the things the women of this country need to do is to rise up and take an active part in reforming the school books of children attending the primary schools."

The accommodation of the hotels and boavdinghouses of the city is likely to be fully taxed during the Easter holidays. The continuation of the Exhibition, the racing carnival, and other outdoor gatherings should all draw their quota of visitor?. The proprietors of leading hotels and boardinghouseu state that the applications for rooms are much greater in number this season than in any previous year. It is said that many Southerners delayed their visit to the Exhibition until the Easter holidays rather than face the inconvenience of travelling in the crowded trains at Christmas'arid New Year. ■ 'Any theft is mean and contemptible, but to steal from a blind person is to sink about as low as possible," said Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., to a juvenile offender brought before him yesterday. This boy, whose age was 15 years, was employed in January last in- Dunedin as a blind man s guide. The pair visited a blind woman together, and it was from the woman that the boy stole a watch and chain valued at ,245. 'The lad, who admitted his offence, was remanded, pending arrangements being made to have him placed on probation.

There was a change •in the weather conditions* yesterday, when the sky was overcast throughout tEe day, and a strong ■wind was blowing from the ■ north-east. Very little rain fell, however. Ihe conditions were still unsettled at an early hour' this morning, and gave every indication of approaching stormy weath?r. The weather appears to be very rough on the coast, and several of the coastal steamers were later than usual in reachiog port last night. The,, small coastal steamer Gael is -weather-bound at Mercury Bay. She wad due back at Auckland last evening, butt is not expected here until some time to-day. The Manaia, from Whangaiei, wasi delayed, for nearly an hour on the trip from the northern port yesterday afternoon, having to contend with strong heail winds on the run down the coast. The Tasman also encountered bad weather on the trip from Tauranga, as she occupied 19 hours on the run from the Bay of Plenty port. - '- r •A protracted dispute over a claim and counter-claim in which farmers were concerned in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, gave rise to a remark by Mr, C. C 7 Reiljtle, S.M., that it was a pity disputes between farmers over comparatively small matters could not be settled by referring thej matter to the arbitration of some other fanjner in whom the parties had mutual conjfidence, instead of the time of the Cowrt being occupied for the best part of the' day in deciding the matter. The plaintiff Robert Moore (West Tamaki) v sued William, Appleton (St. Helier's Bay) for £31 for the cutting and raking of a field

of jhav; £2 10s for labour on the stacks; £l;10s ft>r the hire of a horse and 8s for extra labour of a boy. The counter-claim was for £24 for six tons of hay at £4. which' it was alleged plaintiff had spoiled by bad workmanship. Farmers called on behalf <4 plaintiff (represented by Mr. A. G. Pilkirngton) asserted that the work done was very satisfactory. The evidence for defendant (Mr. F- G. Massey) was to the effect that g«'.ps were left in the hay all over the field,' and that about six tons of it was spoiled. His Worship said the weight of evidence was in favour of the contention that the Cutting of the hay was satisfactorily done, though it was not all raked in an adequate manner. He gave judgment, with coats, for plaintiff, for £5 16s, which included £2 10s for the cutting of the hay, £2 for labour on the stacks, £1 for hire of horiie, and 6s tor the labour of an extra hand. The counter-claim was dismissed. *

The Farmery' Union picnic at the Ruakura State farm, which it was proposed to hold about the end of this month, has been postponed. It will probably be held next month during the visit of the Prime Minister (Right Hon. W. F. Massey) to the 'Auckland district. There will be a attendance of farmers, and advantage .'will be taken of the occasion to present/ to the farmers who acted as special constables during the recent strike the medallions donated by the Auckland Citizens' / Committee. Luncheon for the special Constables will be. provided by a Hamilton committee.

With; the object of encouraging an interest in animals and their welfare, this year's prize competition instituted by the New %aland Society for the Protection of Women and Children and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals takes the form of an essay on "Kindness to Animals." The competition, which was open to all children 16 years of age and under residing in the Auckland Province, closed yesterday, the gratifying number of 439 contributions being received. The names of the winners wijl be announced on April 18. The judge fort the senior division is the Rev. Knowlea Hampton, for the intermediate ~ division the Rev. S. A. Goldstein, and for the junior, division Miss I. Outhwaite, " '*?

Several pictures of a" sensational natcra * are included amongst the illustrations appearing in to-day's issue of the Atck-v land Weekly News. The shocking rail2l way accident at Exeter, New Soutli| Wales, in which 14 people lost their lives,; is covered by a view of the wrecked carriages taken some few hours after the disaster. The flight and fall of the Schaef; monoplane at Wellington when on its last trial, prior to its total destruction by fire, are also reproduced. Another aviation picture is of Mr. Scotland's recent successful flight over Christchurch. The annual regatta and Maori carnival held at Ngaruawahia on St. Patrick's Day is illustrated in attractive manner, the various canoe races and poi dances being especially interesting. Two splendid panoramas of reclamatioh work on the Auckland waterfroufc also appear. Some sidelights on the martial education of New Zealand's boy scouts are depicted in a splendid collection of prints. A remarkably picturesque view of Ri ap»hu occupies the ■ central pages. The. other illustrations include views of the I'lunket

nurse fete held last Saturday, the State opening of the British Parliament, Day's Bay, Wellington, which has been acquired as a public park for that city, scent s on Mount Cyk showing the Linda Glacier, which was the cause of the recent Alpine tragedy; the annual regatta of the Wellington Rowing Association, improvements to the town of Wairoa (H. 8.), the first hurling match in Auckland, Gillies Estate, Parnell, delegates to the conference of local government engineers, the Prime Minister's visit to the Pelcrus Sound, an axemen's carnival in the King Country, and Dune'din's new technical college. Other scenes and occurrences are illustrated, and several portraits of prominent people also appear. ■'

In regard to "he services rendered by members of the Harbour Board's staff who were sworn in as special constables during the recent strike, the board in committee recommended that the services of such members should te further recognised, and that bonuses, in accordance with the recommendation of the chairman (Mr. J. H. Gunson) be granted. At yesterday's meeting of the board the chairman explained that the proposed recognition was somewhat belated, but it had transpired that while some of the board's men had received overtime for services rendered and the services of others had been duly recognised, others had been overlooked. It, however, was never too late to do the right thing, and by the recommendations of the board in committee bonuses of £10 would be granted to heads of departments ; £5 to responsible officers of the board; and a further scale of £3 and £2 respectively to others who had given services at a critical time. The recommendations were adopted.

A discussion in regard to Laki. Takapuna and its water supply took place at a meeting of the executive of the Takapuna Citizens' League, held on Monday evening. The continuous lowering of the level of the water in the lake vras said to be partly due to leakage, but more especially to the large consumption of water by the residents of Devon] It was stated that Northcote and Birkenhead averaged between 15 and 20 gallons per head per day, whereas . the average for Devonport was about 70 gallons per ' head. It was resolved to draw the attention of the board of control to the clauses which forbid the erection of buildings on the shores of the lake, without specifying how far off thgy may be, and which forbid any private persons, to draw water.from, the lake. The first of these two clauses was considered to be too drastic and the second one unreasonable. It was suggested that the - water- supply,-; of the neighbourhood might be augmented by boring. The Wairau stream, it was said, could be diverted into the lake, but its waters would have to be passed through filter beds.

Those responsible for the movement to provide a motor-ambulance for the Auckland Hospital requested the : Harbour Board to make a donation towards the fund. At a meeting of the board yesterday, the chairman (Mr. J. H. Gun son) «*; said it devolved upon the board to render assistance. Among the board's many em-, j ployees accidents were of frequent occurrence. Only last week a serious; accident surrounded with sad oircumstanc-es occur- £ red on the wharves, and delay arose in 7 $ giving attention "to the injured man. 'If ••Alan. ambulance were sicti as that >i; proposed, it would prove of material '.as- >3 sistaiioe when accidents occurred on the# waterfront. He proposed that the sum §»< of . lOgns should be given towards the ambulance. ' After some discus ion, tie.*:/ chairman agreed to withdraw Bis' motion zk in . favour of one submitted by Mr. J. (H. !?' Bradney, that 20gns should be . donated. : The suggestion was adopted. ' ■ sT Five boys, all about 14 years of age, j; escaped from the Takapuna Industrial School yesterday morning about* nine : o'clock. One was caught by the Devonport police on Cheltenham beach and the -, other four by Constables Tobin and Shearman on one of the Auckland jetties" ' at six o'clock. ,

Referring to the cost of maintenance of -f city parks yesterday th» ! Mayor (Mr. C. ,5] J. Parr) said that more than one news- ~ paper correspondent had recently alleged that, too much was being spent in this # direction, some putting the annual amount ,"?■ at over £10,000. The city treasurer had supplied him with the actual which showed that £5699 per annum wasjjg tue average cost of the maintenance of thejps whole of the city parks during the past g five years. Surely, said Mr. Parr, thiswas not a large sum for a city with.aA;j| revenue of over a quarter of a million. -isSg The following additional j| to the fund that is being raised to provide^J| a motor ambulance for the Auckland Hoppital have been received by the organiser §| (Captain Thomas): Auckland Harbour g|| Board, £21 Mrs. L. Myers, £3 3s Messrs. Hutchinson Bros., £2 2s; Mr. E-lp Le Roy's staff, £2 10s; Mrs. J. 'Moi&SI risby, £1 Is; Waitemata Masonic Lodge, E.C., £1 Is; "W.T.," £1; Takapun*|| Tramway Co.'a staff, £4; Messrs. John if Burns and Co., Ltd., £3 ss; D.S.C. aild Cousins and Cousins' staff, £2 ss; Mr. A. A. Corban, 151; Messrs. J. Court, Ltd. y :sis 132 2s; Mr. A. C. Udy, £1 Is; Mr. Wal- j ter Buchanan, £2 2s; Mr. Walter v|| Buchanan's staff, £1 ss; Mrs. J. George, || '£1 . Is; " Isobel, Marjorie, Beryl, and% George," ss; Mr. L. Symes, £1 Is; Mr...£? R. E. Pudney, £1 Is, and Mr. John;|f Walker (hospital employee), 10s. The Jj total amount received is £256. ' Jp§ Reporting on the arrivals and depar- : tures at the Port of Auckland for w®y| fortnight ended on March 19, the harbour-vp master states that the arrivals consisted of two Royal Mail steamers, five large cargo steamers, eight inter-colonial or land traders, and seven coastal vesf§f»||| from Southern porta, an aggregate ot 86,545 gross tons and 53,769 net tons; also, 283 local coasters of 41,987 grow tons and 23,844 net tons; together, fjg grand total of 128,532 grosn tons affislp 77,613 net tons. ■ The dejmrtures cd||g sis ted of two Royal Mail steamers, - lavge cargo steamers, nine " inter-colonj||||| or Island traders, six coastal vessels, oris - sailing vessel, and the Gisborne ' dvedgcf Maui, an aggregate of 109,502 . gross tOBJ&i and 66,812 :aet tons; together with 291 1 • "local' coasters of 43,030 gross tons and j 24,170 net tons; ? together a grand total | of 152,532 gross" tons and 90.5&! net totf*' /