CURRENT TOPICS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7029, 18 January 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

1 : . - : ■ OUR GROWING , PORT. An illustration of the great develop--1 meat of the port of Wellington during i the last twenty-eight years is contained in a comparative return prepared by the Harbour Board. Tho net amount of Cus--3 toms duties collected in 1881, after der ducting refunds, amounted to .£188,979, . while last jyear the figures had risen to _ i£713,484. Imports in 1881 amounted to f .£1,022,040; in. 1909, *£4,532,112. The ex- . ports for the same years were .£837,212 and •83,642,871 respectively. The total tonnage of ships arriving In 1882 was fc 344,814 tons, in 1909 2,841,049 tons; Welf ling-ton has now over three miles of berthage accommodation, and more than five and a quarter million cubic feet, of - storage accommodation. Tho floor area 5 of the board's twenty-nine stores is j 270,943 square i feot. 1 THE LORD NO ZOO. j The Right Hon. George W. E. Euseeill writes in. the "Nation";—-When. Toby > Clruzzlewit lay a-dying he ,was ; asked I this solemn question, "Who'wae *. your . grandfather ?!' He. replied, .? "The - Lord No Zoo," whereupon the chronicler re--1 marks,; "It may bo said—-it has been } said, for human wickedness has no limits —that there is no Lord of .that name, and that''among the titles'which , have become extinct none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered.' If this , be so wo must, I fear, dismiss ■ Mr Chuzzlewit's vaunted ancestor to the [ realm of myth and fable; but a careful • study’ (such as existing/ circumstances c have induced some publicists to make) i of the roll of the House of Lords reveals the existence of a good many peers ? of "whom little more is known than * known of Lord No Zoo. . . .. Lord No 3 Zoo and his friends are inaccessible, i They live in the remotest wilds, where 1 they are paramount. They never : coni sort with their equaLsl never knowi what is going on in the world. . . Let us, in order to avoid personalities, expand c the name of No Zoo,-till it covers aIL tho i Backwoodsmen, past and present. There was Lord No Zoo the dipsomaniac, and * Lord No Zoo the kleptomaniac, and Lord f No Zoo whose keeper had to conduct him to the door of the .House; and, Lord . No Zoo ‘who was a parton of forty liv--3 ings and died in a house of ill-ram©; i and Lord No Zoo who beat his wife, and y .Lord No Zoo who cheated at cards; and ' Lord No Zoo who fought his footman; 5 and ; Lord , No Zoo, who, according to a - recent bock of memoirs, i exhibited his - dead wife's decayed teeth to a bachelor y friendbesides a host of-No Zoos who 3 , were mere nonentities. I have deliber--3' ately used the .past tense, and said _ "was"; but let no on© dream that the ■ ■ House of No Zoo is extinct. ■ I • ■ 3 .-,v, ./ * THE MARVELS OF WIRELESS. - . On. 1 her trip to England from Australia 3 in November last the P. and 0. mail ! liner Mantua, which arrived at Adelaide , from London. on Saturday, accomplished ■ the remarkable feat of communicating • by wireless telegraphy with the English 3 station, at North Foreland from Malta, r a distance of over 2000 miles. On New Year's Day the liner was in oommunica--5 tion with H.M.S. Powerful in connection with , the New South Wales colliery strike. During the run from Fremantle a game of chess was conducted between the passengers aboard and those on the N.D.L, steamer Friedrich der Grosse, which sailed from the Outer Harbour, Sydney, homeward bound on Monday week last, and Has an installation of the Marconi system. The gain® was won i by the Mantua's representatives after six 3 hours' play in 21 moves. CAPTAIN SCOTT'S EXPEDITION. Good progress is being made in the preparations for the Scott Antarctic Expedition (writes our London correspon- ; dent on -December 10th). Captain Scott has only this week been relieved of his appointment at the Admiralty in order that ho may devote the : whole of his time to the work of his expedition. ■ Minor work has already commenced on x tho ship Terranova. The of all the members of the scientific staff • has not yet been made, but it is gradually getting into shape. Dr M uson, • chief of the scientific staff, will also 3 zoologist and artist. It is anticipated i that three geologists will he taken with the expedition. One-of them .is _Mr 1 Mackintosh 8011, Director of the Geoi logical Survey of New Zealand, who haa j volunteered his services, which wilhbe accepted if his Government grants him ■. the necessary leave. The second geolo- .. frist. it is hoped, will be secured in Aurc tralia through Professor David,, of Alftl- * bourne University. The third geologist ;i will be selected in this country. Mr_U. Simpson, of the Indian Survey Do- “ partment, will be the physicist of r nedition, and is now on his way to Lns* c land from Simla. A second physicist will also be taken, but: final, arrange •" menfcg with regard to wilL only be. made after consultation witb Mr bimp- . son. i Two, and possibly three, ® will accompany. , the ’ expedition, amv I steps are being taken to e?/Jure gentle v men having special knowledge of marine y biology. With Dr Wilson will be , elated a second doctor, who will' study - botany and bacteriology, giving particular attention to the investigation. oMdood ** parasites. The services-of Mr C. It.

Meares, the : well-known traveller, who lately completed a most interesting journey on the China-Tibetan border, have been: seemed for the expedition. He is leaving England presently for Eastern Siberia, to: obtain 1 ponies and dogs for „ the expedition. lie —will collect his 'A animals at Vladivostock, whence they will bo seat to Kobe and transhipped 'for . Australia and New Zealand. Mr Mearei will join the Terranova in New Zealand. An improved motor sledge of n typo tried" successfully last year in Norway is being constructed for the expedition, and will undergo further trials under Caxitain Scott’s supervision in • Norway during Pebruary or March, when the sun should be in fit condition.

COLONLVL ART IN LONDON. An exhibition of the work of living artists from all parts of the Empire will ho a special feature of the Festival or Empire at the Crystal Palace next summer.: It is being arranged under the auspices of the Royal British Colonial Society of Artists, and should afford colonial artists an excellent opportunity of bringing their work under the notice of a multitude of people in this country to whom it has hitherto been absolutely unknown. Vlf,” says Lord Plymouth, the president of the’ Festival or Empire, “we could get the best examples sent to us, strengthened by th© work of colonial artists in England and Pans, we should have an exhibition pf unusual interest anjl, perhaps, unexpected excellence. ‘Whether that ho so or not, wo should hedoing a real to tha colonies by bringing their artists and our critics into, closer touch', and in giving them. some standard' of comparison beyond what they can find in their own. country. If their pictures oould bo gathered together',' and if with them' could be exhibited the works of others, who sent pictures to Paris in 1900, the Glasgow, International Exhibition in 1901, the Canadian'section of St. Louis Exhibition in 1901, or to the. exhibition of Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1906-7, wo-might he giving a. helping hand to those who are worthy of being much better known in the Mother Country than they arc now.” ; J ‘

ALL EYES ON THE EMPARE. • One of the most remarkable feature® of the present time,- said Sir Robert Perks at the annual meeting of tho British Empire League, was the extent to which public attention was being directed .to our, dominions beyond the sea. British investors' were looking ; to the. . British colonies for wliait was said to be—though he did not pledge himself to tho accu- . racy of the statement—a safer field of investment than nearer homo. The attention directed to the supreme importance of Imperial defence, and the ; policy we were pursuing, of autonomy and independent, government, in all narts of our Empire, were indications that our thoughts and brains were being directed to, those important questions.. Replying to Sir Reginald Talbot, , tho Duke or . Devonshire said the council would give a most sympathetic hearing to any proposal bo extend the scone oY the Duke of, Devonshire Prize to boys, in-colonial schools. This is a prize of Jl2O offered , annually for : the best essay on an Imperial subject. It; was ' won this year ; by a Rugby boy with an essay on* "Tho : 1 Importance of a United hlmiiir© *to th« Future of; this Country." NEWS NOTES' A brand, of the Union Bank of Aug. tralia is now open at Wairoa, Hawke’, B-ay. R.M.S. Moana> which left Brisbane with mails on December 22nd, arrived at Vancouver- on the 14th inst.. one day late. ■ • 1 Charlotte Castondyk, boardinKhous* , keeper, of Wellington, was yesterday adjudged bankrupt on her own petition. . The first meeting of creditors will, take- ■ j place at 11 a.m. on tho 26th inst. *. Preparations are being made to transfer the Labour Department to its new quarters at To . Aro post office in. Glmz- i nee street. The department- will he installed,in the new offices by Wedncedny, tho 26th inst. , ' , The agreement arrived at between th. Slaughtermen’s Federation and the employers of tho various meat companies camo into force'yesterday and _will con- 1 tinue in existence as an industrial award for a period of i three years,, . j ; The probability of good rain oventuat* i ■ jug within, three or four days has already been to a certain extent fulfilled, and the forecast now; is that the present unsettled and cle«udy weather with rain at times is likely to-continue for; a few days, with a low barometer. A definite rise is expected, on or.after-Friday next. Press Associations record welcome rain- 1 falls at Christchurch'ahd Oamaru. , During the twelve months ending!Sop. tenibor 30th* last -the Wellington liarhour Board paid claims for goods amounting to Jtß3, Is Id; as compared rvith J 6153 and . -411.93 during the two . ' previous years. Of the, Jtß3 Is Id the sum of JSS2 17s 9d-was due to accidents; i 9 3s lid to loss of goods; .£l9 6s lid to pilfering, and £2l 12s Gd to errors by ■ board’s employees-! , ; ’ i; ~: : During, thoi-yCar just ,ended the Har- ; ; hour Board carried out extensive improvements to the Civile quay boat harbour, and tho efforts of the board have : been greatly appreciated by the yachting and boating-community. The? harbour . has: been partially dredged, l ; and this necessary work will be completed as soon bias the dredge can bo spared from more urgebt works'. In' addition the boat . sheds have been, .roofed’ with-'malthoid; latrines and urinals installed, moorings allotted, regulations drawn up,- and a caretaker appointed by the hoard. The following extract from the annual; report of tho engineer to the Welling-. ton Harbour Board gives some idea of the magnitude of the wofks undertaken in the:Wellington harbour:—The lia-; bilities on account of contracts let previous to October Ist,-1908, amounted to .£245,904 15s lOd. During the past year contracts were let’ for various , works for a total amount of .163,511 19s Gd, Additions to contracts during ,the year were ,£96 ■ 12s 6d; while deductions amounted ", to £l5O 14g -2d. Payments were made amounting to £49,768 4s, so that the liabilities on .September 30th, 1909, were £259,594 9s 2d. - The principal harbour works now. in hand, and on which a comparatively ~, large expenditure will he incurred dur- , ing the ensuing year, are the Waterloo qunv sea.wall and culverts contract; the, Waterloo quay reclamation, including filling, constructions of streets,' storm water and sanitary-drainage,; and reticulation of water mains; the graying d-aok Contract; completion of Clyde quay wharf; the Miramar reclamation and sea wall -contract, and ’ tho : ■ Miramar wharf extension contract. In addition to these works liabilities will be ■ incurred for the rebuilding of the "3". shed in permanent materials: rebuilding, or heavy repairs, of portion of the CfceenV wharf; re-arrangement of offices, and provision for electric lighting plant. Alternative plans are being - prepared for improving and-increasing: tfie office accommodation for the various departments. and will bo submitted to the board when completed, says the Harbour Board engineer in his annual report. One scheme provides for : transferring the bond to the present “ P ” , store, and utilising the present: bond for,. office purposes altogether. The altcrnative is to transform “ F ” store into an office building. • Provision is being made for a larger board room, and particularly for better accommodation for the accountant's. staff, which is at present :; very much cramped for room, and is working under great disadvantage.- As endeavour will be made to find room t| provide’baths for; the. men employed o» tho 'wharves,’, the. intention being io install a number of hot showeirs. It will : not, I think, he possible to put this work in hand until the rebuilding of ‘ 3 1 store is well advanced.

Tho Deputy Official A-signee at Nupicr | has accepted tho offer oi Messrs Niven i ami Co., engineers, for the i»lant xuid f goodwill in the bankrupt estate- 'A Messrs Alason Bros., Hastings. Xhe price wtw ikUOO.

AKitthew licmlrehan, a single man, residjig at No. J, Emmett street, whiht ■working at tho site f >\ the new fevei hospital yesterday, engaged in cutting a tree, was severely injured in the head. Ho was admitted to tho hospital.

Sneaking at tho annual meeting of tho company in Loudon of the running oi V and 0. boats to Auckland, the chanman, Sir Thomas Sutherland, described the new departure as “a tentative and Bxperimontai extension of certain voyage* from Australia to Now Zealand winch t venture to hope will at all event* w a popular movement in New Zealand. At tho Mount Cook Police Court yesterday, before Mr Horace Baker, Jd., Michael Keating, for drunkenness,. was fined 20s, in default four days imprisonment. For similar offences Ed warn. Carlson was fined 10s, or forty-eight hours in gaol, and George Moore was convicted and discharged. William I rancis Lowman, for being drunk and dnoideily, was fined 40s, in default fourteen days imprisonment. Mr J. P. Luke, ALP,,. yesterday interviewed the Prime Minister walk relcnenoe to tho operation of the bUto Guaranteed Advances Act. He out that local authorities were a { l ‘ to know when they wou d able to participate in the benefits pf Lhc Act. Tho Prime .Minister assured Mr Luko that matters would be sufficiently advanced in about a couple ot week* to enable 'local bodies to avail themsehcb of tho provisions of the Act. Following are tho names of tho officers of tho Hutt No-Liceoso League for tho ensuing year, elected last night at the annual meeting of the league, presided over by tho Bov. B. F. Rothwcll; -President, R©v, A. J. Seamer; vice-presidents, Eevs. Rothwell, Russell, Thomson, Sharp, Harris, McCruckett. AlcCaw, Captain Simpson, Messrs McEwon, Loigh, R. A. Wright, M.P., J. J. Woods, B. A. Warnes. T. Waugh; secretary, Rev. Sharp; treasurer, Air A. Wright. Tho first examination conducted by the New, Zealand Society, of Accountants, :he body formed under the provisions of the New Zealand Society of Accountants Act, 1908, will take place in the four chief centres in October of this year. This examination , will, in all pro* Lability, supersede the examinations previously held by the Institute of Accountants and tho Accountants' and Auditors Association. Full particulars and copies of tho syllabus may be obtained on application to Air Ernest IV. Hunt, secretary, Feathorston street, Wellington, The harbour works, either continued or completed during last year included construction and carrying out of the following :—Thc Petone wharf, the lung s ■wharf and stores, the Clyde quay wharf and stores, the graving dock, the dredging of the Falcon shoal. Urn Waterloo nuay reclamation and extension of sea wall and culverts, and the erection of a largo timber w'ool shed adjacent to King's wharf. A contract was let for a sea wall and earthworks at Miramar, and one for tho extension of the Miramar wharf.

“I would again draw attention to the fact, emphasised in tho last three annual reports,” says the secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board in his annual statement, “that the large increase ot <voal transhipped overside at wharves means additional congestion at the "berths. At present coal so dealt with roaya no wharfage, nor are the hulks charged berthage rate when lying at the wharf or alongside a vessel at a wnari. 1 would suggest that the board consider the advisability of charging a wharfage rate on coal transhipepd overside at wharves and berthage rates to hulks at wharves.”

The City Council's electricity, department is developing an enterprise that spells business in the near future, xesrtorday was " discount day, and as each customer was handed, his or her receipt an invitation was extended to step -upstairs and the demonstration. aLany did so, and were initiated by the deipartmenfe staff of ©xperta into the my_steries of roasting joints in an electric cooker, heating irons, boiling the billy and performing a hundred and one domestic operations with the aid of neither coal nor gas., The cooker on exhibition was of a new composite metal styled silundun, which will stand heating .up ■to 2500 degrees centigrade. Good work was done last year by the Harbour Board’s dredge Whakarire in removing the Falcon shoal, which impeddd the progress of the deepest vessels entering the Wellington harbour. The dredge worked at the shoal for nearly ten months, and a channel 800 foot wide was formed, the depth being seven, fathoms at low water; and in addition another cut 200 foot wide was made. °Tf tho present rate of progress is continued," reports tho hoard’s engineer, "I anticipate that at tho close of tho ensuing year a channel 2000 feet wide will he well advanced towards completion; this will effect a groat improvement in tho navigation of large vessels visiting the port. Tho shoal is lighted by a Wigham patent lamp, which gives a good, clear light. Mr H. E. Nicholls, secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board, spins ' xtp the leading events of the past year in the following brief manner: —"Tho year, though lacking in the events of prime importance rwhich characterised tho previous year, has not been without its own difficulties and interests. The outstanding features have been the heavy decline of imports; the depression in tho hemp and timber trades: the destruction by fire of the Waterloo quay wool shed "j’ J - the appointment of Mr James Marohbanks, M. Inst. C.B. as the hoard’s engineer; the commencement of the Evans Bay reclamation, and the extension of the Miramar wharf; the establishment of an appeal committee; the installation of tho Morse signalling system in conjunction with the Board’s night signalling system for berthing vessels; the alteration of by-laws dealing with suburban whatves; the retirement of Mr D. T. Stuart. F.X.A.N.Z., after twenty years of service, from the office of sinking fund commissioner, and the appointment ot Mr O. S. Watkins, F.N.Z.A.A., as his successor; and the holding in Wellington of the fourth conference of th© Harbours Association of Hew Zealand.’’ The failure of tho Orient mail steamer Orvieto to catch the steamer for Auckland recently, caused considerable complaint to >be mudo by the new arrivals at Sydney, who wanted to connect with the New Zealand steamer. Captain Eutliren, E.N.E., commander of the Orvieto, in answer to inquiries made by a representative of the Sydney “Telegraph" concerning tho delay of the liner, said that lit was absolutely impossible to make up the time lost in the fog. Tho company, in any case, does not guarantee to catch tho steamers of other lines, but always makes a special effort to do so. At Melbourne h strenuous effort was made to get away, on account of the passengers intending to tranship to New Zealand on Saturday, and considerable expense was .incurred in, discharging cargo into lighters, instead of- going up to the wharf. On leaving Melbourne, Captain Enthvon expected to berth ‘at Circular Quay at 1.30 on the Saturday afternoon, and would have done so had the ship not encountered the worst fog he had ever experienced on that part of tho coast. "The safety of tho ship was my first care,” said Captain Euthven, “‘and during part of the fog I considered it necessary to steam dead slow, and. even to proceed, towards Melbourne again. To have acted otherwise, I consider, would have been a criminal act on) my part ” The people who missed tho New' Zealand steamer on Saturday, the captain of tho Orvieto explained, may stay, if they wish, on that vessel until she sailed for Brisbane. Most of them, he understood, were bound for Auckland, and would! therefore, not lUive left on) Saturday, but on the Wednesday, ,

Cabinet vestordav authorised, under the heading of railways, an expenditure of <£28,9.70, and ATISG for roads. A man was yesterday brought down from Napier in custody. He is charged with having forged the name of A. L. O'Neale to a cneqiio for .£l2 15s and uttering it to the D-X-C. .Tosc. Panto de Mondonca, who was cook on the. steamer Aparima, was convicted at Dunedin yesterday of concealing uncustomed cigars and silk of a total value of AG 13s, and was fined A2O and cods. . The fine was paid. 1 young woman was arrested yesterday by Detective Cassells charge of having obtained drapery to the value of 19s by false pretences from, the Union Clothing Company. She will be brought before the Magistrate's Court in the morning.

At a meeting of the Grocers' Assistants’ Union last, evening it was decided, with a view to preventing misunderstanding, to insist on Saturday being observed as tho anniversary holiday, as it is tho actual date of tiro anniversary. Thisdecision was arrived at. owing to tho uncertainty among tho employers as ’to whether they will observe Saturday or Monday, and tho fact that the Alayor lias not boon able to make a definite declaration on the subject. The Government also, it is pointed out, will observe Saturday as tho holiday. "Tho Triad” for January is again a sparkling number, full of things which tickle tho wit and stir the imagination. Tho proprietor thinks ho will raise the price to fourpence, to pay for the pretty paper, tho clear black ink, and the growing bulk. Frank Morton is at his best in a variety of specials, and in "Things Visible” produces a masterpiece of retrospect. Ho also discourses on the mysteries of men's etiquette, and awards tho sonnet palm to Lord Alfred Douglas with apt quotations, Elbert Hubbard is given a corner for his quaint philosophy, and several poets of the major order fill the corners and interstices. Real literature finds a place in the reproduction of Frederick Wedijiore's sketch " Orgeas and Miradon.” A morceau by Helen Jerome is piquant to the palate. A number of local performers are done to a turn, and an amateur casual from Invercargill out-Herods the Triadical Herod in scathing a local performance of "The Messiah.” Somebody called Selwyn Eider lets himself out on G. B. Lancaster with disastrous results to the striker, and with many adjectival animadversions upon A. G., Stephens and "The Bulletin "—but even the stars have specks, and "Tho Triad” is, nevertheless, a goodly number. Tho Lux Light Company wish It known that the Lux Incandescent Kcroseno Gas Lamps give the Cheapest and Most Brilliant Light on Earth. See Te Aro House, Bates and Lees’, Wardell Bros.’, Leyden and Co., Caterer and Carey, E. Pearce and Co., R. Hannah and Co., Petone Workshops (where Lux replaced the latest devices in lighting). House Lamps 22s Gd. Lamps up to 2000 candlepower. 35, 37, 39, -Old Customhouse street (back of Opera House), Wellington. , *