NEWS NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7141, 31 May 1910, Page 5

NEWS NOTES

FAREWELL TO LOED PLUNKET. A public meeting to bid farewell to his Excellency tlio Governor will be held in tin- Town Hall to-morrow night, at 8 o'clock. BANKRUPTCY. Joseph Paul Davis, jeweller, of Wanganui, has been adjudged bankrupt. The creditors will meet on June 9th. MARINE INSURANCE LOSSES. While acknowledging the correctness of the statement that the New South Wales .Marine Underwriters' Association is alxmt to consider an increase in marine insurant-.? rates, in conformity with negotiations initiated by the underwriting bodies in England, local underwriters decline to discuss the question except in geirjral terms (says the "Telegraph"). The officials of the local association Kay that it is premature to make anv statements oil the subject, but a well-known: insurance agent did not Iwsil.ato to p»t forward tho view of the matter from the insurance companies standpoint "This movement to raise the ratos," ho said, "is tho result of repeated murine disasters, including the loss of such vessels as tho Pericles, Saturn, Waratah Minimbah, Star of Japan, and Haversham Orange. Jn each of those cases we had to fac? a total loss. Then there have also been innuinerablegeneral average claims J. can say nbsolutelythat for the last four or five years there is not a single marine insurance company that has not shown a loss on its Australasian business." TRAMWAY RETURNS. For tho week ending Sunday last tho tramway revenuo on tho city lines amounted to 0:2377 10s !%1, compared with JC2376 9s s'd for tho corresponding week in 130 a. " SPORTS BODIES' COMPLAINT. A deputation from ' various sports bodies waited on tho reserves committee, of tho City ■ Council yesterday, and asked for increased facilities in connection with tire .playing of games on tho city reserves on wet days. It was suggested that the committee had been somewhat strict and conservative in its attitude. It was desired that tho custodians of tho various grounds should be empowered i« determine- whether or n6t tho grounds were fit for play. The chairman replied that instructions had already been fc'ivet. that superintendents of reserves should exorcise a wide discretion with regard to tlio games, and, if there was any pos siblo chance of a game being played, facilities should bo given. The committee did not wish to deprive sports bodies of proper recreation consequent on the grounds being somewrhat wet. Tho grounds would not be withdrawn from use except in cases of absolute necessity. More latitude would bo allowed in future. Air S. S. Brown represented the Wellington Rugby Union, Mr 11. N. Holmes tlio Football Association, and Mr A. H. Casey the Lacrosso Association. BROOKLYN TRAMS. A deputation from tho Brooklyn Municipal Electors' Association waited -on tho tranr.vnys committee of the City Council yesterday afternoon. The speakers were Messrs J. Hopkirk and Brown. They asked for certain improvements in thi> Brooklyn service. More trams we.ro needed for the convenience of tho .travelling public. They suggested that two trams should be run every ten minutes, instead of one, tho oars to be run In I pairs. They also asked that tlio present concession tickets be made transferable, insofar that a. bolder of a ticket might be permitted l to have it "clipped" for more than one person at a. time. It was hard on a man who held a concession ticket to have .to pay full fare for his wife, when the matter could bo got over by tan -extra clip being taken off the ticket. A request was also made that conductors be allowed ,to sell concession tickets, as it was inconvenient for persons to purchase them at tho specified places. _ Tho Mayor promised that the. requests would be considered, and that a reply would be forwarded at an early date. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST PLAGUE. Every precaution is being taken by the City Council, in -conjunction with the Health Department, to -ensure cleanliness in the city as a safeguard against plague. The city engineer (Mr W. H. Morton) has given instructions to tho inspectors of the sanitary department to ace that only the regulation metal receptacles for rubbish are used by householders and others. Tho by-law in this* regard is to be strictly enforced. Tlio Health Department has written to the council asking that this safeguard be exercised. There will be a crusade against traders of tho city who lea-vo wooden boxes full of rubbish on the footpaths at night, and if tho habit is not immediately discontinued, prosecutions will follow. FOX TERRIER FANCY. A meeting is to be held to-morrow night to awaken interest in the fox terrier fancy. A circular issued in connection therewith states that "owing to lack of interest on. the part fit fox terrier fanciers, this fancy has of lato been sadly neglected in Wellington, although in other centres, as, for instance, Auckland, ChristchuTch and Dunedin, things are strongly going ahead." It is claimed that fanciers do not meet, nobody kncm'9 what dogs there arc, and nothing is done to keep up the interest of fanciers and tho. public, so for as Wellington is concerned. ANIMALS OF AFRICA. Th©_ third lecture in connection with the Y.M.C.A. educational department will be delivered this evening by Mr Percival R. Waddy, 8.A., LL.B., on '"The Animals of South Africa." ' CHILDREN'S FLOWER PAGEANT. The general committee of the Children's Flower Pageant notifies that tho date for booking reserved seats has been altered to Wednesday, July 6th. The box plan will be opened on that date at tho Dresden Piano Company. The pageant is to be held in the Town Hall on Wednesday, July 20th. AUCKLAND EAST SEAT. A supplementary "Gazette" issued yesterday -contains a notification from tho Speaker, dated'Greymouth, May 26th, declaring vacant the Auckland "East seat, through the death of Mr Baume. UNIVERSITY REFORM. Tho publio meeting called for the purpose of considering the formation of a University Reform Association will be held to-night in the Concert Chamber at tlio Town Hall. Among the speakers will bo the Mayor, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, members of Parliament and the Professorial Board of Victoria College. All citizens interested in education a.™ invited to be present, since the subject under discussion is one of very real importance to the Dominion. RINGING THE CHANGES. Much interest has been taken in Westport in a series of ringing-the-chango charges against three men with records. Tho trick was played successfully at four different hotels, in some of them on more than one occasion. In all cases the barman or barmaid was suspicious, but was unable to detect the trick. Tho modus operandi was that one man called for three drinks, and .

presented in payment half a sovereign, tho barman plating the change (8s lid) Oil the counter. Tho customer then remarked that ho had too much loose silver, and asked tlio baiman. to give lum back the half-sovureisu, and, pulling out Is Gd from his pocket, added it to the 8s fid, and, pushing the 10s in silver and half-sovereign back to the_ barman, asked him for a pound-note in their place, which request was complied with in all cases. Tho barman, of course, lost 10.-, by ea/-h transaction. In one hotel the trick was nlayed on the unsuspecting barman three times. He thought, so the story runs, that he was doing good business, when to his surprise the registering machine refused to discharge any more money. A MYSTERY. Tho "Chronicle" reports that an extraordinary signt was witnessed by several Levin le-.idents who were making their way to "Uho Heights," between Levin and Shannon, on Sunday morning. An expanse of wing-* seemed to skim out of the distance from near Otaki, until it reached Levin. Then the strange object fell to a lower' place in the air, moved out to the sea coast, and finally irisaopeared cither out to sea or by dropping on to the beach. Its appearance wad very much like that which a hock of starlings presents when it ilies in its military formations, but the fact that the object was tome seven miles away entirely disposes of any suggestion that birds were concerned in it. Tho great prcpability is that someone between Levin and the southward has per- . fected a, workable aeroplane, which was being fiown on Sunday. The time of tho occurrence was 1 o'clock. The party that saw it was somewhat divided in opinion as to what the object actually was, but the fact that it was something phenomenal was made clear when they reached the; summit of tho hill half-an-hour later, and found that tho members of one. of the two families who reside on the hilltop had observed it and had been greatly astonished by the gyrations of the strange craft. ■MESSAGE-OR HOAX? A bottle found on Cheltenham Beach, Auckland, contained .what purports to be a message from a passenger by the ill-fated Waratah. It reads: "Let friends communicate with my sister, Miss . street, Sydney. Let her know I am alive and well. Two of us are cast on an island. Our boat lias gone down." Tho letter is blurred, and signed "Bert." No importance is attached to the message, which is regarded as a hoax. EKETAHUNA COAL FIELD. Mr F. Cassin, representing the syndicate who have secured options over" coal 'aroas in the neighbourhood of Ekctahuna, returned from that town on Friday night, having been engaged in looking over the field in company with Mr John Poppelwell, who has , bosu prospecting the locality for the last two years (savs the Napier " Telegraph "). The syndicate have acquired option over some 201)0 acres, all adjoining the railway line, and coal has been traced along tho flat country for eight miles and up into the hills. Mr Cassin has brought back a small sample of beautiful looking coal. Professor Maclaufin has analysed a sample submitted to him, and has announced that it is what is known as " black" coal. The syndicate is composed of fiViS pcrsous, and it has been decided to commence ' boring immediately on the fiat, and, if all goes as well as is anticipated, it is expected that coal winning will be commenced in about eighteen months. The area is within less than half a mile from Eketahuraa, and the mine works can bo erected right alongside the railway line. BOARD v. DEPARTMENT. Among the Auckland Harbour Board's by-laws, recently transmitted to tho Marine Department for approval, was ono requiring the harbourmaster's cei-i tificate before boats were licensed. The Marine Department demanded a modification of this, on the ground that it was covered by the Shipping and Seamen's Act. After taking legal advice, the boarddeclined to modify the by-law, holding that under the Harbours Act they could ■refuse a license when modern and requisite accommodation for was not provided. HALLEY'S COMET. The officers on the Ruahino report that Halley's comet was seen very distinctly several mornings after leaving Capetown. The comet was very bright and the tail measured over It) degrees in length. THE .THEORIST'S TAINT. "When you become tainted with a theory that causes you to be spoken of as a faddist," said Professor Bickerton, of ChristchuTch, in his lecturo on "The Theory of the Third Body" beforo the Philosophical Society last night, "you are not looked upon as fit to be on scientific committees, to be on the Senate, or, finally, to teach even boys the elements of science." This, he said, was the real reason why his reading on astronomical matters was not so up-to-date as be would have liked it to be. NEW RIFLE CLUB. The Government has accepted the services of the Chatham Islands Defence Rifle Club. This is the initial movement of defence matters in the islands. The club has undertaken to train .the cadets there. PASSENGERS FROM HOME. The Ruahine, from London, yesterday bi ought 313 passengers. Of this number, 140 were in tho third-class, and 30 assisted. Among the latter were twelve domestics and eight wives who came out to rejoin their husbands. Eighteen were nominated by relatives in the Dominion. The new arrivals were met by the Immigration 'Officer, Mr Danby. A HOCKEN COLLECTION. Tho Maori canoes and books on Egypt and Japan, donated by the late Dr Hocken to tho Hockon wing at the Dunedin musoum, have been received. The Maori goods include portions of tho carved house seen at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition; also very old and beautifully carved canoo prows, and paddles and cooking utensils, weapons, etc., of a primitive nature.- At a meeting at Dunedin yesterday attended by a number of prominent citizens it was decided to establish an endowment fund, tho income from _ which, will be available for future maintenance in a fitting manner of tho valuablo collections which Dr Hocken has given to the people of the Dominion. TOWN HALL FOR DUNEDIN. It is understood that during Mr Cole's year of office as Mayor proposals will be taken up for the erection of .a substan tial town hall in Dunedin. WAIROA A. AND .P. ASSOCIATION. At tho annual meeting of the Wairoa (Hawke's Bay-) County A. and P. Association' on Saturday, a deputation from the District Association attended and discussed terms of amalgamation. Th» delegates were met in a generous spirit, and there is every prospect of the formation of ono strong society, which will bo largely supported. KING'S BIRTHDAY. Circular instructions have been issued by the Labour Department to its officers throughout the -Dominion in reference to the observance of King's Birthday on Friday next. It is pointed out tha'fc the wish of the King for non-observance of the holiday does not and cannot override -any Act or industrial award in J.

force, so that the day must, under th" Factories Act, be kept as the Sovereign s Birthdav. So far as shops and shop assistants are concerned, occupiers will have the option of remaining open on th 9 statutory- weekly half-holiday and closing on the Fridnv, or closing on the ordinary half-day and remaining open all dav Friday. It is understood that it is the general intention of 'Wellington shopkeepers to observe a holiday on l-'ridav, as a large number of them are bound" by award and must close on the Sovereign's Birthday in any case. The Wellington 'Warehousemen's Association vcs-lerdav decided to observe a holidayon Friday, King's Birthday. Though a bank holiday it is not being observed bv the Government departments tins year, though it mav be recognised next vear, by which time legislation will probably have been passed to deal with tho whole question of holidays. Solicitors" offices will bo closed on Friday. KNOCKED OVER BY TAXI. Mr P. J. Fogarty, of Jessie street, who who was a little uncertain about his path when crossing Willis street, near the Britannia Hotel last night, was knocked -down by taxicab No. 1219. Tlio driver of tho car applied tho brakes in sufficient time to prevent serious injury, the pedestrian escaping with a low bruises and scratches on the head. He was attended to bv 'Dr Ewart, and walked home without assistance. INTERESTING GIFT. A Press Association message states that at a meeting of the Board of Governors of Canterbury Collcgo yesterday, a letter was received from Mr J. A. Anson, England, stating that he intended to present to tho Christ-church Museum, the original log of the ship Piruki, which visited Sew Zealand early last century. ONLY. FOUR FOREIGNERS. Very few foreigners arrive in New Zealand by the direct liners from London. Of tho 213 passengers who landed from the Ruahiile at Wellington yesterday only four are foreigners—two Swedes and two Danes. They are all men, and were able to pass rne education test put beforo them by the Customs authorities.