CURRENT TOPICS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7122, 7 May 1910, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS

- OCEAN MAIL SERVICES. Following upon the resolution passed on Monday evening by tho council of tho Wellington Chamber of Commerce on the subject of ocean mail services, a letter in which tho views of tho council wero fully set out was sent to the Postmaster-General yesterday. In it the council stated that it is strongly in favour of tho maintenance of the existing arrangement for a weekly service to the United Kingdom via Sydney and Suez, and protested against any suggestion for its abandonment. The cost of the service was moderate, and its regularity and reliability made it a valuable and satisfactory arrangement for the Dominion aa a whole. No service at longer than weekly intervals could take tho place of the oxisting arrangement. The council also stated its opinion that if tho Government contemplated tho voting of additional subsidies for the improvement of the mail services, they could not bo better bestowed than on the direct lines of steamers which had for so long carried on direct trade between New Zealand and Great Britain. It would be a great advantage if, in return for a reasonable subsidy, certain of the best of the steamers could be set aside as mail boats under responsibility to leave the port of departure and arrive at their destination on definite dates. Such a service would he attractive to touriste and immigrants aa well as shippers of cargo. ■AFTER HOUR OPPOSITIONISTS. A rather amusing and a somewhat unusual incident pceurred during Mi* Massey's recent visit to the West Coast (says tho "Otago Daily Times"). The lending citizens of Greymouth decided to banquet him, and the function was duly hold in ono of tho local 1 hotels. As it was a Saturday night) (the business people wore a little late 1 in putting in an appearance, and as ai consequence the proceedings were delayed slightly beyond tho hour fixed! fox the closing of'tire hotels. Afterwards, 'on coming out of the hotel, the guests •wore somewhat astonished to' find a constable outside the doior with! a notebook in his hand, waiting to take) tho naanrce of those who had assembled' to do honour to the leader of the Opposition, (bait had overstayed the legal) hour of closing. Among those whoso uaanes wore taken wore his Worship! the Mayor, tine Mayor-elect, the chairman of the Harbour Board, the Hon. the Speaker of tho House of Representatives, and t(he leader of the Opposition. Mr Massey, however, does not come 1 within the tetter of the law, as he happened to bo staying at the) hotel where the banquet was, given. The local residents wero inclined to look upon the "matter as a joke/but a press representative who sought information from fie police was assured that the maittcrr was regarded seriously, and that proceedings would be instituted in srae course. CANMBAMSItt TO COBmiSTIANITY. ""When I -went to the New Hebrides aver forty years ago the inhabitants wero all heathens and cannibals. Now! they are all Ghristians,' and life andi property are perfectly safe." In these words an old patriarch nearing his eighthieth birthday summed up his Jifo'a work in the islands. Eighteen years have "elapsed since he last visited Sydney, and when he stopped ashord from tho steamer Ma&ita last evening ho was unable to leoognflße tho cdty aa ho had known it (says tho "Sydney! 'Morning Herald"). The Rev. Peter Maine chose the life of a missionary when in ScotlaaKi, and left his native shores in December, 1868, in a sailing, ship, which, occupied four months on the voyage to New Zealand. He had! Wan chosen fox work 'in. the miesiocm field by the Presbyterian Church of Otago, and -was the first missionary! sent out by that body. In 1869 ho arrived at Hrromßtuga—the scene of the massacre of Join Williams—and ia the following year he setifled in Nguna, in Undine Bay, where he has remained ever since. "I am on my way to the old world," foe explained, "to suporinbend the printing of tho complete New Testament in the dialect of my district. This work is to be undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society in liondon. Then I propose to go on to Edinburgh, where other works will be printed. This will be the first timo that tho Now Testataent will be printed in the dialect of Nguna, which is understood from the south of Efato to tho south-east end of Epi, including Tongoa. Portions of bho Now Testament have been printed at different times during tho past thirty yeara." "Yea, if I am spared, I intend to again return to tho islands," he said. "I shall bo two years at home, and am getting on in years, fcn* I look forward to resuming my work. llids is but the third trip I

have had since I commenced my labours in Nguna forty years ago." I THE COMETS TAIL. Opinions as to the length of the tail of HalU-y's comet vary considerably. Writing to the Sydney "Daily Telegraph" on April 22nd, Mr E. H. Ueattio, of West Point Observatory, said:—"lt is not at all likely from present appearances that the tail will be moro than one million nvles in length at tho time of passing the earth on .May I,9th, so that there is no danger of its coming into contact with it. Hut what is that danger? It has been said that tho matter composing a comet could be rolled into a small parcel, but this is an exaggeration. A few figures will prove that if tho tail of tho comet extended to tho earth, and it would not bo unduly largo to do so, it would be possible to assign to it a maximum weight, exclnsivo of the head or nucleus, of 400 million million tons, and this weight could not bo much exceeded; and even then, owing to its enormous \ volume, its mean density would be 580 thousand times less than that of earth's atmosphoro at soa-lovel. and that would be equivalent to tho atmospheric density at a height of sixty miles above tho surface of tho earth. As, however, tho extremity of tho tail i« much less dense than tho mean, it is not probable that any portion of the comet could penetrate within 100 miles of the oarth's surface, tho atmosphere acting as a heavy armourplate does to a battleship." THE SLUMP IN WAJHIS. Confidence in the Waihi mi-no has not, as a result of >tho recent panic, suffered much here, the position being better understood from a mining point of view. Consequently the undue alarm as ovidenced in Auckland is not apparent here (telegraphs the Waihi correspondent of tho "Auckland Star. ) A few montlis ago some extra timbering was necessary in ono of the stoping areas, which no doubt gave birth to the rumour that a creep existed. Tho action of tho Auckland Stock Exchange has not been commended here. It was not likely that tho usually astute management of the Waihi Company would be so shortsighted as to embrace a comprehensive oicotrical scheme just when the bottom was supposed to bo dropping out of tho mine. When that electrical scheme ooraos into full operation, low grade ore, hitherto unpayable, will bo. treated, and the prospects of the mine, taken altogether, soam to be. enhanced rather than depreciated. Few people realise the immense area of tho Waihi Company's property (775 acres) which includes the Silverton and tTnion mines. Then there are the possibilities in the low levels of the mine itself, as yet unreached. The general opinion hero is that shares heretofore have maintained too high a price. Mine fluctuations, as well as market fluctuations, must be expected in the Waihi, as well as in any other mine. .Regarding the matter of unloading shares, the opinion locally is to the effect that any individual, official or non-official, has a perfect right to soil when ho likes or to take advantage of first-hand knowledge. UPPER HOUSES OVERSEAS. Mr W. Pember Reeves, New Zealand's late High Commissioner, was the guest of the evening recently at a dinner of the Liberal Colonial Club. He addressed the club on. "Legislative "Second Chambers in the British Empire Oversea." Mr Reeves pointed out that the most striking feature of the senates of the colonies was their variety. Like the British Constitution, tho colonies were in this position, that a great deal of their constitutions never was written, and was the outcome of custom and convention. The power of Legislative Councils with regard to Money Bills, for instance, varied to an extraordinary degree. So far, however, as a written constitutKm. went, one thing -was found universal throughout the ooloniee, and that was that all Money Bills must originate in the Lower House. For the most part tho Upper Houses in the colonies might be divided into three classes —those who were elected by a limited constituency of superior persons who owned a little more property than, the poorest of the people; those who were elected by the same constituency as the Lower House; and those who were nominated. If the colonies might furnish one more lesson than another to the Home Country, said Mr Reeves, it was this —to have nothing to do with senators nominated for fife. 'As compared with the liritish House of Lords, which was a fairly Conservative body, he was J not sure that certain colonial bodies that were nominated for life were not pig-headed, abstina-te, and obscurantist. (Cheers.) A. - ■ for those elected on a r&sfcridtied franchise, they were perhaps more Conservative, unreasonable, and obnoxious than even the nominated chambers. (Laughter.) Another drawback of the system of nomination was that it was apt to produce a conflict between a constitutional Sovereign and his responsible advisers. The experience of Australia, where the Senate was elected on the same franchise as the Lower House, had been that the Senate had been one of considerable ability, of a Democratic character, which did not often come into conflict with the Lower House, but on the other hand did not differ from that House in any striking way.

TAISANAKI OIL 1 FIELDS. Commenting upon the oil industry, the Taranaki '"Herald" remarks: —"It has been reported during the last week or two that capitalists have taken up laTge areas of supposed oil-bearing country in the Poverty Bay district, and at Kotuku on the West Coast, while the fact that two or three large concerns have opened negotiations with the ~ Taranaki Petroleum Company for the purchase of its property is significant At the time of writing wo are not abto to eay whether a definite conclusion ha« been arrived at in regard to,these offers, but that they have been, made is sufficient evidence of the importance which is now attached in the oil world to the prospects of an extensive field being developed in this neighbourhood. Apart from these particular negotiations, it is no secret now that other large oil concerns are interesting themselves in this field; rights are being acquired by various parties in all directions, and we hope very soon to bo able to make important announcements as to the progress of negotiations in several directions Wbenwe say that the total value of the town, of New Plymouth is less than a million and a quarter sterling, including all land and improvements, it will help people to realise what it will mean if two or three companies come in with tax aggregate capital of .£500,000 to spend in developing the oil field. And thia is taking a very conservative view of the near future." NEWS NOTES Tho Uliinaroa, which left Wellington last night for Sydney, took 3GO passengers from Now Zealand. A number of tho passengers are on their way to England. A performance will bo given by the Garrison Band in tne Botanical Gardens to-morrow. afternoon. A lad named Harris pleaded guilty at Dunedin yesterday to a charge of having possession of counterfeit coin at Palmerston South. He was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. ,

As No. 1 ground at Day's Bay will not be readv for play to-day. the senior hockey match between Y.M.C.A and Victoria College has been transferred from that ground to No. 2, and the junior match United v. Gregg's has been postjKmed.

A report has been circulated that typhoid was prevalent in Porirua mental hospital, and, as a consequence, no admissions are being allowed. This turns out to be incorrect, foi there has been only one case, and the patient is thoroughly convalescent. Tho Court of Appeal adjourned yesterday until June 10th. Written argument, in the case of Holt v. Holt, a Hawke's Bay will case, will be delivered to the judges on Monday, and judgment will bo delivered as soon after that date as possible.

Robert Ready, aged sixteen, employed at Messrs Myer ami Illingworth's works in Taranaki street, met with a nasty accident yesterday. His left arm got caught in a planing machine and two of tho fingers were cut oif and the remainder badly lacerated. Ready, who lives at Soatoun, was removed to the hospital. The executive council of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants interviewed the Hon. J. A. Millar (Minister of Railways) yesterday morning. Representatives of the press attended at tho desire of the society, but withdrew when it was pointed out by the Minister that ho was being interviewed on a number of subjects which had not previously been brought before him, therefore he would not give a reply except at a later date, in writing. The deputation agreed to go on with the interview in private, as was previously the custom. Mrs Lee, who is a daughter of the late John Gully, and a member of the Wellington Art Club, has presented the club with a very fine landscape by the famous artist. The walls of the club will also be adorned by three other pictures by the late Mr Gully, lont by Mrs Lee. Two are studies of New Zealand trees and will be of great value to students, and the other is a seascape displaying in a marked degree tho fine artistic feeling usually found in the work of the artist, who may bo considered a pioneer in colonial art.

Steady progress is being made with the establishment of the southern whale enterprise (says the " Southland Daily News"). Hananui, the native name of Mount Anglem (Stewart Island) is the appelation bestowed upon the capture vessel, which has been built at Home for the company. The vessel is now on the way to New Zealand. A steam craft to ply between Campbell Island and the rjl'uff is at Auckland, and will be ready for service by the time tho capture steamer arrives. Captain Mcßryde, late skipper of tho schooner Jessie Niccol, will probably take command of the carrier.

The Y.M.C.A. Debating Society held the first debate of the present season last evening, tho subject being: '"That a Second Legislative Chamber is "Unnecessary and Undesirable." Messrs Dickenson, Parton and Macklin took the affirmative, and Messra Budd, Waddy and Caughley spoke in the negative. On a vote being taken, the verdict went in favour of the negative by ten votes to eight. The chairman, Mr Brown, stated that there would be an "elocution night" on Friday next, and intimated that all persons wishing to become members of the society could do so by handing in their names to the secretary. Informations have been laid charging. six persons with having used the Kil-; birmo tunnel for pedestrian traffic on' the morning of April 17th. When the cases were mentioned at yesterday's sitting of the S.M. Court, Mr O'Shea, city solicitor, asked that thoy oe vemanded for a fortnight pending definite directions from the City Council. Upon one of the . defendants coming forward! and pleading guilty to the charge, Mr O'Shea intimated that his present instructions were not to ask for the infliction of a fine. A eonvictioiv -was therefore recorded, and defendant was ordered to pay lis costs. The remaining cases were adjourned.

The Bishop of Waiapu. who has re-l turned to Opot'iki from a tour of the) coastal settlements towards . East Cape, has expressed himself surprised at the amount of country that is not being, used. Ho thought the natives were bene-' firing where the country was being used,, as it was supplying them with work. He, saw nearly all the native schools, andi was much struck with the brightness and' intelligence of the children.' The work , of the schoolmasters and schoolmistresses was one of the best works that were going on amongst the Maoris. It would be a good thing, the bishop thought, to keep some of the bush along the coast, and preserve the scenery. In his opinion, if, land were opened for settlement, it I should be cut into blocks of from about [ 2000 acres upwards. Last evening the Socialists party gave a social and conversazione at their •rooms, Manners street, to celebrate May Day. Comrade G. Glover presided, and a very enjoyable programme was contributed by Misses Oliver, Mary Hogg, Messrs Robertson, Mason, Williams, and Clay. Comrade Eobert Hogg, secretary, gave a short address, and referred <to the progress of the party. He stated that the local branch had a membership of about 350. The income for the halfyear was J 8352 15s BJd. the expenditure X 352 15s 4d. The assets were valued at ,£225 13s 41d. and the balance over liabilities amounted to .£l3B 19s 4sd. There are four paid organisers at present in New Zealand-Messrs R. P. Way, J. Pox, Scott-Bennett (late M.L.A. of New South Wales), and Robert Hogg. Dancing was kept up till a late hour.

Although there are several New Zealand inventors engaged in constructing flying machines, so far, apparently, none of them have succeeded in actual flight. In order that inventors, and those interested, may have some idea of the different typos of aeroplanes which have proved successful, Messrs Baldwin and Bay ward aie importing to the Dominion a large number of models, which will be shortly on exhibition to the public. These models have been made in aeroplane factories in France and England, and are said to be exact reproductions, to true scale, of the several machines they are designed to represent. Everyone of- them is adapted for flight, so that their relative merits may, in some degree, be tested. Among the models are reproductions of tho following aeroplanes which have been frequently heard of through the medium of press messages -.—Astra, Smilk, Aerien, Olimpia, L.L., Mignon, Curva, Zephyr, Swift. H.M.S. Pioneer returned to Auckland on Thursday from Eussell. There were 170 men on board, of whom ninety were New Zenlanders born, and a .most enjoyable time was spent, the weather being delightful throughout the trip. Every day. (says the Auckland "Star"), the boys were shown something new in either gunnery or seamanship, and profited by the lesson, while the daily routine observed in the Navy was gone through religiously. The Pioneer called at the Great Barrier, Whanjramumu, Russell, and Whangaroa, and when opportunity offered boat's parties were sent out on fishing excursions, which were thoroughly enjoyed. A particularly good haul was made at Eussell on last week-end. Here also the half-yearly burning of gun-cot-ton took place, and the crew entered into the proceedings, which in the Navy is described as " sweeping and creeping," with great zest. Fourteen reservists accompanied the- crew, and twelve left the Pioneer at Eussell. The Lux Light Company wish it known that tho Lux Incandescent Kerosene Gas Lamps give the Cheapest and Most Brilliant Light on Earth. See Te Aro House, Bates and Lees', Wardell Bros.', Leydon and Co., Caterer and Carey, E. Poaroe and Co., E. Hannah and Co., Petono Workshops (where Lux replaced the latest devices in lighting). House Lamps 22s 6d. Lamps up to 2000 candlepower. 35, 37, 39, Old Customhouse street (back of Opera House), Wellington. '

The Ministering Children's League entertainment and sale of work will tie opened at St. Mark's schoolroom by Miss Coates on Thursday afternoon next. Mr P- B. Watts, of Wellington, shipped to Sydney yesterday, on behalf of several dealers, a line ot sevonrj'-hve draught horses.

' The R.M.S. Makura, which left Brisbane on April 23th, arrived at Vancouver at 9 p.m. on the 3rd mst., one day early.

The matter of establishes a district high school is under consideration at likotahuna, and a conference ot chairmen of the various school committees in tho district is to be held on May 20th for the purpose of discussing the subject.