LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16097, 10 December 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Intending travellers by train in Wellington are able to purchase tickets at a central office in that city ; it is contended that the same privilege should be extended to people residing in Auckland and other cities In connection with the holiday excurebj season, which extends from December 17 to January 3, a Wellington resident can purchase a ticket for a contemplated journey at any time during that period and need not use his ticket until he desires to do so. In Auckland the only facility afforded is that an intending tram passenger can book his ticket on the day before he proposes to travel. It is explained by i the local railway authorities that the cen--1 tral office in Wellington is an experiment. ! It has proved successful and it is hoped in ! course of time to establish similar city 1 offices in the other centres. In all proba i bflity thero would have been an office in ' I Auckland now, but, owing to the war, it 'had been deemed wise to postpone con;sideration of the proposal. It is stated > that confusion would arise if tickets available for use some time ahead were issued at the local railway booking office. The area of land within the Dominion to bo thrown open for selection by tho Lands Department in the month of Decern ber is 29,443 acres. It is also announced that 18,685 acres will be made available in January. Of this, ajjout 6600 acres are ' situated in the Auckland district. Under ' the optional system there are 587 acres in 1 j the Hukerenui Survey District, 51 acres lin the Tutamoo S.D., 125 acres in OruaII wharo Parish, 144 acres in the Piako S.D., > ' (Hauraki Plains), 200 acres in Maungamajngero S.D., 626 acres in tho Whareorino j S.D., 102 acres in Rotorua S.D., 618 acres ' in Waiawa S.D., 924 acres in Russell S.D., 1 1 and 24 acres in Ruakaka Parish. Pastoral ■ | licenses to the extent of 3196 acres will ' jbe offered in the Hauraki mining district < ' and tenders will bo received for a reserve 1 lease of 13 perches in the town of Rawene. The tragic story of a girl who studied. [ too hard was told by Dr R. M. Beattie, , superintendent of tho Auckland Mental [ Hospital, at St. Andrew's Hall, last even- , ing, when prizes were distributed to pupils . of St. Cuthbert's College. "Prizes," he [ said, "should be given only to those who » are physically, as well as intellectually, [ capable. A girl in endeavouring to secure . a prize or a scholarship is very apt on 5 occasions to study too hard, with the reI suit that she ruins her health. An in- ' stance of this kind came to my notice . about 21 years ago. A girl won a junior, ! . and a year later a senior, scholarship. r Congratulations were showered upon her 1 on all sides, and her friends urged her to r go on with her studies. She worked at i her' studies seven days a week* and often L started them at four in the morning and - completed them very late at night. I t found the girl was determined to win. In t another year she gained a University , scholarship Two years later she came - under my care hopelessly insane. The > test to be applied as to whether a girl is 5 studying too much is: Does she sleep t well, does she cat well, is she looking s well, and is she feeling well. If not, her r studies should be curtailed." . The old big pump at the Thames—the . Moanataiari Creek pump, as distinguished from the Waiokaraka pump that has been , active in recent years passing through another phase of its eventful history. Sunk to a depth of 640 ft in the early "' seventies," and long the deepest shaft , on the field, the old pump has at different stages been under company, municipal, county, and board management. Since . the cessation of its active operations, it has been held in trust by Messrs. H. A. . Gordon, G. S. Kissling, and J. M. . I Lennox, and been vested for working pur- | poses in the Thames Drainage Board. The j trustees have for some time desired to be i relieved of their responsibility, but they I objected to the Drainage Board appoint-

ing their successors. It has, however, been arranged that the property shall be transferred to the Government, to be held in trust for any future mining operations at the Thames. A resolution affirming this principle was passed by the Drainage Board yesterday, and the seal of the board was attached to a deed of transfer already executed by the late trustees, and approved by the Mines Department. All that now remains to ensure giving legal effect to the scheme is to obtain execution of the deed by the Thames" Borough and County Councils, and the Waiotahi Company, the sole survivors of the former contributing bodies, and this is understood to have been assured.

A pleasant sequel to the Queen Carnival took place at the Centreway Tearooms yesterday, when the. chairman of the Central Committee of the Professions and Commerce group, Mr. R. E. Isaacs, entertained members of the working committees to afternoon tea. Mr. Isaacs spoke in enthusiastic terms of those who had been actively associated with him in the furtherance of Mrs. E. R. N. Russell's candidature. Presentations were made to Messrs. D. Hay, hon. secretary, and W. Gorrio, hon. treasurer. Mr. Hay was the recipient of a water jug, suitably inscribed, and Mr. Gorrio of a silver cigarette case. Reference was made to the valuable services these gentlemen had rendered during the campaign. A woman named Jane Leask, about 50 years of age, was found dead at 10 a.m. yesterday in her dwelling in East Street, Newton. Deceased, who was known to have been ailing for some considerable time, was living in a three-roomed house, two rooms of which had been let recently. An inquest will be held at the mortuary at half-past nine o'clock this morning. English, Egyptian, and Australian mails which arrived at Wellington by the Wimmera are duo to reach Auckland by the 6.43 a.m. train to-day. The mail comprises 92 bags from the United Kingdom, six bags from Egypt, and 16 from Australia. Tho ability of tho Maori boys a St. Stephen's School in opposite accomplishments, gymnastic and musical, is most marked. Those present at the prizegivincr yesterday afternoon had an opportunity of witnessing a remarkably clever display of physical exercises. The exhibition Riven by the boys on the parallel bars was splendid, and testified to their excellent training. The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, Dr. A. W. Averill, expressed himself as being much impressed with the graceful manner in which the exercises were gone through. "I was much struck in the finish displayed," he remarked, " and, after all, it is the finish which is ( the real test." Tho vocal programme submitted was very much enjoyed. The rendering of the National Anthems of the allies and various part songs was of such a character as to convince those present that the natural ability of the boys had been well developed by careful training. In connection with the proposed distribution of toys to the inmates of the children's ward at tho District Hospital at Christmas, the following additional donations have been acknowledged by the house manager, Captain Thomas :—Mr. G. Hutchinson, ss; Mrs. Wilson, £5; Sharland and Company, £2 2s; Mr. F. Renshaw, £1 Is; Auckland Meat Company, £3 3s; Mr, F. Williams, 10s 6d. This make* a total to date of £26 15s 61

An important auction sale in connection with the Patriotic Fund will be conducted in the concert chamber of the Town Hall to-night, when many bargains will be offered. Mr. Thos. B. Arthur is the honorary auctioneer, and all gift* will be put up without reserve. They include valuable freehold properties at Titirangi, Hobsonville, Birkenhead, and Whangarei. Other items include an Encyclopedia Britannica in Indian paper, valuable pictures, gramaphones, greenstono curios, pedigree bulldog, pair of cream ponies, and one waggonette. The committee is anxious to realise on all gifts.

A model home will, according to a statement made by Miss Macdonald, the principal of St. Cuthbert's College on the occasion of the first annual prize-giving last night, be in operation in connection with the school work in tho near future. It is the intention of the governors to utilise a cottage on the grounds for this purpose. A fully experienced domestic mistress is to bo engaged, and the girls will be taught cookery, laundry work, dressmaking, needlework, and housewifery. Miss Macdonald told the audience that she had asked for a definition of the word " housewifery" and was informed that it meant anything from the care of a baby to attending to a drain-pipe. The girls will be allowed to tako the whole of the domestic course or special subjects in I connection with it.

It is expected that grass seed will not be in great demand this year. The war has resulted in a scarcity of male labour for farm purposes, and consequently a smaller area of bush has been felled and very little ploughing has been done in comparison with former years. The present position with regard to the supply of labour may also account for the fact that few are desirous of purchasing unimproved land. On the othar hand there seems to bo a steady demand for im>proved country properties.

Mr. Justice Cooper, who is engaged on circuit work at Gisborne, is expected to return to Auckland about December 20. The only engagements he has yet made hero apply to sittings in Chambers.

Two more colleges, one at Masterton and the other at Wellington, will, in the course of a month or two, be added to the list of three colleges at present under the control of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand. The college at Wellington will be opened in February, and will be the only one of the five for boys. The whole number have been opened within the past two years.

Owing mainly to the fact that its numbers have dwindled considerably of late it has been decided to cancel the registration of the Auckland Master Pork Butchers' Industrial Union of Employers. Arrangements have been made for the cancellation to take effect within six weeks from the publication of a notice regarding the same in the Gazette.

"I wish tho day would come when they would go back to the blade-shearing arain, for then we could shear with greater safety," recently declared Mr. J. C. Field, a Poverty Bay grazier, in referring to the mortality amongst sheep if there happened to be a cold snap at shearing time. He said his sheep, that- died in the recent storm were ewes in good condition, which had just been shorn. This experience, he explained, bore out what he has always contended in regard to machine shearng, that the risk is far greater as coinp*r>] to blade-shearing. "It would nay us much better," he stated, "to give 5s a 100 more to get the sheep shorn by blades. Nothing of this kind was known of in the old days." Mr. Field pointed out that the machine took every v vestige of wool off the sheep, whereas the blade left on practically half an inch of wooL It was a singular thing, too, that it was the high-condition sheep that suffered most; more than the sheep in moderate condition. He did not know why. It was not only the risk of so little wool being left on by machines, but the sharp combs that were used injured the sheep by scoring. If a sheep was killed within three weeks of being shorn, the pelts in the majority of cases were found to be seriously injured. " So," he added, " this is a case where machinery is not a blessing." Mr. Field added that he believed some farmers in Australia were going back to the blade-shearing again.

Somj of the Australians who looked forward with eager anticipation to the pleasures and benefits of a holiday visit to New Zealand this summer find themselves blocked by the question of passports, which, as the cablegrams state, i$ causing some difficulty to New Zealanders in Sydney. No males of military age— to 45 years — are allowed to leave the Commonwealth without a passport. To secure a passport, special satisfactory reasons have to be given, and it appears that the authorities are very chary about granting passports when applied for on grounds of recuperation of health only. " Some of us here," states a Sydney correspondent, " have found that there is nothing like a run across to the Dominion to rehabilitate nerves, brains, and digestions that have run down after a year or two of bard work in a hot Australian climate. The suggestion has been made that it would be a good thing not only for the conservation of the valuable asset of sound physical health, but also more in accord with a proper Imperial sentiment, if some exception could be made which would not leave New Zealand in tho same category as America as a refuge for shirkers. It is further suggested that some arrangement could be made between tho Commonwealth and Dominion authorities, wherebv visitors from Australia to New Zealand "could be debarred from embarking for other than the return voyage to Australia."

Complaint* of parsimony in the. matter of lubricants on engines are made by the Loco- Record, the journal of the Sew Zealand Locomotive Enginedrivers, Firemen and Cleaners' Association. The paper remark that "economy in oil on our railways has just about reached the limit, and seems to have gono beyond all reason.' The oil is doled out to each driver according to the number of miles he has to run on his schedule for the day. The result is that when a driver has to go beyond his destination for the day, ho has to run the engine without any oil for that journey. Consequently the cylinders and valves are getting worn out badly, and if it is cheaper to renew valves and cylinders than it is to pay for a few pints of oil, well, our idea of railway management must bo very much astray."

New South Wales is face to ace with another butter famine. For weeks past there has been no rain on the north coast, and bush fires havo been raging throughout the dairying districts. Butter production has in consequence been seriously interfered with, and so great has been the falling off in the quantity coming forward that the other day some Sydney agents were unable to fill their customers' requirements. One or two houses wero short only a few hoses, but others were unable to supply more than 80 per cent of their orders. "Should rain fail in the dairying districts soon," says the Svdnev Morning Herald, "the position may hi considerably relieved, but should the drought continue the outlook is extremely gloomy, as the other States are very little ass sirs " *" da *• output Of butter than w© are.