CURRENT TOPICS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6177, 8 April 1907, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

AUSTRALIANS IN NEW ZEALAND,

At tho Police Court on Saturrday morning Sub-Inspector O’Donovan—when addressing Dr McArthur with reference to a case before the Court in which a young man had been found in Wellington in a destitute condition, and the polioo had made arrangements for his return to his parents in Sydney—asked his Worship’s permission to road one of tho “Current Topics” published in our issue of Friday last under the heading of “Australians in New Zealand.” Mr O’Donovan said the paragraph in question purported to describe the views of Australian visitors to this colony, and to show that tho police lost no opportunity of reflecting adversely upon the characters of such visitors, practically suggesting that many of them were criminals. Mr O’Donovan denied that any pointed attention was ever drawn by the police to persona brought before the Court as being Australians. He said tho police knew plough to be perfectly well aware that all the component parts of the population of the Australasian colonies, exclusive, of course, of the aborigines, were very similar, in general character and the^

never attempted to discriminate between Australians and Now Zealanders who happened to find their way into tho dock at the police or any other Court. But it was necessary, here os elsewhere, when convictions wore recorded, for the police to mention something as to the antecedents of tho person con. victed, and Australians were referred to ns such only when their histories might not have been known to the police for perhaps more than a few weeks or months, owing to the fact that they had only recently arrived from Australia; and that simply meant that the police could at tho time get no further information with regard to them. X)r McArthur said that his experience showed him that persons brought before that Court were dealt with precisely in the same way whether thev cam© from Australia, from Auckland, -Christchurch, Dunedin, or any other town or part of Now Zealand. Ho was absolutely certain that the police did not in anv way attempt to represent Australians as being any more criminal in character than wore Now Zealanders or any other people who came to tho colony.

A PARK FOR EASTBOURNE. Through tho foresight of the Mayor and councillors of Eastbourne borough the popular seaside resort is to be provided with a recreation ground or park four and throe-quarter acres in extent, at Muritai. This is a block of land that was set aside as a reserve, when tho property was cut up by the Cameron family. Numerous rights-of-way over tho block were granted to people taking up land in tho vicinity, which would prevent the land ever being utilised by tho owners, Mr John Cameron and Miss Jessie Cameron, unless each person having such a legal claim relinquished that right. Tho Council approached Mr and Miss Cameron and asked them to dedicate the land for the purposes of a public reserve, but as no’ satisfactory reply was received the land has been taken under tho Public Works Act, and it remains for tho Council to make an arrangement with the owners of rights-of-way over the block. This will be an easy matter, as all the property-holders, thereabouts wish to see the block invested in the Council as a public reserve. This has now been accomplished by a formal declaration in tho last "Gazette.” The Council has formally offered the owners of the land £lO for the land, merely to cover law costs, as the interest of Mr and Miss Cameron is considered to bo purely a nominal one, owing to tho fifty or so rights-of-way over tho land. As a matter of fact, their interest in the block was -assessed by the Valuation Department a few months ago at £l, which valuation was not objected to. It is the intention of the Council to level, blind, and sow tho ground with grass, fence the land in, and generally to make it presentable for recreation purposes. Applications have already been received from the Hockey Association and the Rugby Union for tho use of the ground, but nothing will bo done until the reserve is placed in order. The provision of such a fine area of land for recreation purposes is one the wisdom of which will bo emphasised in years to come.

MAORI DOMESTICS. Tho question of Maori girls talcing up domestic service was discussed at the To Aute Association’s Conference at Gisborne. A letter from Rev. Dittos (cVucldand) was read, stating that ic Auckland Maori girls had been in service for a long time with success Most of them belonged'to the rangalira families, and so good had been the conduct of the girh that if there wore twice as miny looking for positions they could all bo accommodated. They worked under a rough code of rules, and were under tho personal supervision of a lady church worker. 1 It was resolved —“That this conference, believing that the future welfare of the Maori race is largely dependent on tna work of women in the management cf the hone and training of their children, would strongly advocate Maori girls seeking employment in good pake. ha homes as domestic servants, .vhero they may mo-t effectively be fitted to benefit both thomselvos and their race.” DEPARTURE OE THE JAPANESE. Hie Japanese training cruisers left tho harbour at eleven o’clock on Saturday morning very leisurely, tho flagship Itsukushima leading. There were very few people on the wharves, and no guns were fired. Tho series of flags which were run up the rigging ,of tho throe ships formed the chief item of interest. Anchors wore weighed at 10.40, and the ships disappeared from tho inner harbour at 11.20. Before departing, Lieutenant Viscount Tamura, of tho Admiral’s staff, requested us to express to tho people of Wellington, through the columns of tho “Now Zealand Times,” the gratitude of his Excellency tho Admiral and of his officers and men for tho very kind treatment which had been extended to them during their, brief stay in our port. “The officers wished,” said tho Viscount, “to remain longer at your city, and asked tho Admiral to prolong our stay, hut he was unable to do so beyond Saturday, because ho has to return to Japan to take other midshipmen into our ships. Our stay here has been very short, but it will make us ‘very long’ good friends.” Viscount Tamura further requested us to explain why so few invitations were issued for . the “at home” on the Hashidate. It was because the space available was so limited. At first it was thought to hold tho ceremony at Parliament Buildings or at tho Town "Hall, but it was pointed out that it would be much more appreciated if held on the ship. It was therefore decided to invite as many as could be accommodated—about fifty—and by way of recompense to send the midshipmen to give an exhibition of jujitsu and other displays at the evening function. In fine weather tho three ships would have been lashed together to increase the space, hut it was not safe to do this in the winds that prevailed. Admiral Tomioka has shown his appreciation of tho hospitality extended to his seamen by the Missions to Seamen by forwarding to Mr James Moore, through the Acting-Consul, Mr T. Young, a cheque for £lO for the funds of the Mission. NEWS NOTES About eighty girls and ten boys from the Wanganui High Schools will go South by the Te Anau this evening. Excursionists from tho New Plymouth and Wanganui sections will also go South to-night by tho Harare a and Te Anau.

Throe local business and professional men have purchased an area of seven-ty-three acres of river-bed gravel land at the Hutt, and intend supplying gravel for building purposes in Wellington. Those concerned consider this the best speculation made in sEellin£Jxva iot t a long .time. " ' •

The Health Department reports the following cases of infectious disease for tho week ending April sth:—Wellington citj*—Scarlet fever, 10; diphtheria, 1 : tuberculosis. 1. Hint county —Enteric fever, 1. By an inadvertence we announced on Friday last that Mr T. A. Potqrkin, who is standing for the Mayoralty of the Lower Hu It, would address tho electors of that borough that evening, whereas the date on which Mr Peicrkin will speak is Friday, the 12th inst. Wo are sorry to have caused any inconvenience to the electors or to Mr Peterkiu, who, needless to say, is in no way responsible for the mistake. Some doubt was entertained by tho members of the Eastbourne Borough Council as to when they went out of office, seeing that councillors are elect©d for two years and the borough has only been constituted during the last year. Inquiry on the part of the Mayor {Mr P. G. Bolton) has decided that the Mayor and councillors all have to retire from office on the 24th inst. Tho present Mayor and councillors will offer themselves for re-election. Wo understand that the magnificent collection of tree-ferns now in the fernery at the Christchurch Exhibition will shortly come under the auctioneer's hammer. Hero is an opportunity which ought not to bo neglected by the Municipal Council of obtaining beautiful furnishing for the dell of the Botanical Gardens and tho new park now being laid out. These ferns -have now pretty well completed and ripened their season's growth, so that if removed and carefully planted they could easily bo established in new quarters. The following resolution was carried at a meeting of tho Dunedin Seamen’s Union on Thursday evening:—“That tho Dunedin section of the Australasian Federated Seamen’s Union express their regret at the epithets applied to the Hons. J. A. Millar and Dr Findlay by tho Trades Council Conference with respect to tho recent strike of slaughtermen. While expressing sympathy with the slaughtermen in their effort to improve their conditions, we consider tho references to tho Ministers entirely unwarranted, and should bo deprecated by trade unionists generally.”

Tho big private hotel to be erected on Harbour Board leasehold land at the corner of Victoria street and Clyde quay by Mr F. G. Bolton, solicitor, will bo a three-storiod brick building having extensive frontages to both tlio thoroughfares named. Tlio structure will contain eighty-two rooms, and will, it is said, provide more accommodation than any other hotel in the city. Of tho total number of rooms, seventyeight will be bedrooms. Tho hotel will be furnished with a dining-hall capable of accommodating ono hundred and twenty-fivo people at a sitting. In addition to tho rooms mentioned nine shops will bo provided on tho ground floor frontages for different tenants. As that quarter of the city is well served by the railway and tramway systems, is in close proximity to the wharves and markets, and will bo within a chain or two of tho big dock, values aro stiffening, and a good, deal of building activity in general is noticeable.

Messrs Norman -Heath and Co., the Now Zealand representatives for Messrs Heenan and Fronde, have received advice from their principals that tho authorities of New York city have placed an order with the firm for a refuse destructor and boiler, etc., complete. . The' destructor' will have a capacity of sixty tons of refuse per twenty-four hours, and the boiler and its appurtenances will be largo enough to absorb the whole of tho heat from the combustion, of the refuse. 1 The contract was obtained under keen competition on both sides of the Atlantic. If the results are according to expectation, tlio New York authorities intend erecting three or four of Messrs Hoonan and ■ Frondes’ installations. The plant is to be erected at Staten Island, New York. The destructor for which tho Wellington City Council has placed a contract is of tho same typo and manufacture. It is expected that tho Wellington plant will very shortly be shipped from England. . Mr W. Turnbull has prepared plans for Mr J. R. Blair of a building to replace the warehouse occupied by Messrs Whitcombo and Tombs, destroyed in tho big fire on Lambton quay in October last. Tho new building will bo one of four stories, instead ,of three, as formerly, with floors 16ft, 14ft, 12ft, and 12ft respectively, giving a perpendicular measurement of 72i't from pavement to parapet. Tho building will occupy tho same area as the ono destroyed, but the advance in architectural ideas since the old building was erected will account for a substantial modern, and in every way up-toidato building, particular at tontion being given to lighting facilities. A novel feature of the building will bo the face work, which will be of Brocatslla marble. The old notion of dividing the front space on the ground floor into wholesale and retail departments is to bo dispensed with, so that the whole of tho front will he available for show-windows. Tho various offices will be partitioned off by low glass screens, so as to give tho maximum air space inside. There will be a cart-dock at tho northern end, running into a lift that will serve all floors. On Friday last a seaman named Charles Woolley was sent to prison for a month on a charge of having stolen certain personal effects from a shipmate named Thomas Cus&ens. The action taken by Cnssens in laying tho information against Woolley seems not to have met the approval of other men down on tho wharves, and during a discussion which took place on Friday afternoon a man named Robert McKay struck Cusscns a heavy blow on the face. A struggle ensued, during which McKay came very near to falling into tho water. A policeman happily came up in time to. prevent anything so serious happening, and ho took both men into custody. At the Police Courton Saturday morning they were charged before Dr McArthur, S.M., with having behaved in such a manner as to cause a breach of the peace. McKay was convicted and discharged, but his Worship accepted Cussens’s plea that ho had only acted in self-defence, and the police withdrew tho case. A young man named Robert Dow was charged with having acted in a disorderly manner, in Charlotte street while under tho influence of liquor. Mr Lynch, who appeared for tho accused, said that his client had become exuberant over tho opening of tho football season, and having taken too much liquor became unduly hilarious. Tho defendant was discharged with a caution. His Worship also held a Juvenile Offenders’ Court on Saturday morning, when a boy named Arthur Herbert Grecring, charged with the theft of 345, the property of John McLeod, was ordered to receive six strokes of a birch.

Tho Greek flag was flown over ths Vice-Consul's office on Saturday, the occasion being the anniversary of tho National Fete. Ihe attendance at tho Exhibition for last week was 120.650. making the aggregate to date 1,805.165, says a Press Association message. The Mayor (Hon. T. W. Hislop) is to address residents of Kilbirnio tomorrow night in support of his candidature for a fresh term of MnyoraX office. The performance of the Tramways' Band at Island Bay yesterday afternoon was enjoyed by a very large number of people. The carrying capacity of the trams was taxed to its utmost to cope with tho traffic. Mr J. Southey, representative in Australasia for tho China Inland Mission is at present in Wellington. On Saturday night ho addressed a meeting at tho Y.M.C.A. rooms oi% "Prayer,” and yesterday spoke at tha morning service at tho Vivian street Baptist Church. To-morrow night Mr Southey will give an address at th* missionary prayer mooting at tho same church, and on Wednesday night at tho Kent Terraco Presbyterian Church. Tho supplementary district electors'' roll will close on Wednesday next, 10th inst. Ratepayers desirous of recording their votes at the comingmunicipal elections will do well to inspect the roll, in order that their names may he included in it. Forms may he obtained at the Town Hall. Both husband and wife (tenant and suo-tonant) aro equally entitled to enrolment under tho qualifications possessed by either. Nominations for Mayor and for Councillors close on the 18th inst. The Wellington and Hanawatu Kailway Company will issue holiday excursion tickets to Levin for the Horowhcnua A. and P. Show on Wednesday. Several valuable properties are offerees for sale by A. Warburton and Co. Silver photo frames at low price® are obtainable at Pringle’s, Lambton quay. Swainson and Bevan. Ltd., will hold a sale of draught and harncea ' homes and hacks at Lovin on Thursday. A five-roomed cottage and outbuildings will bo sold at auction for removal fay Harcourt and Co., at their rooms, Lamblon quay, at noon to-morrow. The property is situated in Wingfield street, Thorndon, and is known as “Argyle Coth