NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8612, 24 December 1913, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

A wireless message received last night from the Maunganui, en route from Sydney, reported that the vessel is expected to arrive at Wellington at 3 o’clock this afternoon. The vessel is to berth at' No. 4, Queen’s wharf. An Auckland Press Association telegram records the destruction by fire yesterday morning of a seven-roomed house belonging to Mr E. C. Bolton, at Makauri. The building was insured for £3OO and furniture for £l5O in the Commercial Union office. Mr J. Piper, chairman of the Hutt and Petono Distress Committee, desires to acknowledge the following special donations made in aid of the children’s treat:—Mr Oakley (Petone), 401bs of cake; Wellington Housewives’ Union, £2; Mr A. M. Samuel, £l. A distribution will bo made to-day. The Wellington Harbour Board “Year Book” for 1913-14, a copy of which has just oome to hand, is a most creditable production. It is packed with interesting information in respect to the port, its resources and its wonderful growth, The book is freely illustrated with an excellent series of reproductions of recent photographs. The following vessels are expected to be within wireless range of Wellington this evening:—Maori, Wahine, Maunganui, Makura, and Corinthic. The Remuora will be in touch with Chatham Island. The list for tomorrow night comprises:—Maori, Wahine, Maunganui, Corinthic, and Remuera, the last-mentioned with Chatham Island. Over five hundred children attended at the Salvation Army Citadel last evening for a free Christmas treat. Tiro ceremony was opened by Commissioner Richards in a short speech of welcome. The hall was prettily decorated with foliage, and the happy faces of the children helped further to cheer the surroundings. Santa Claus, mounted on a dais on wheels, steered a perilous passage around the room, dispensing the presents as he went. Pretty baskets filled with good things were much appreciated by the little ones. During the evening the Salvation Army Band gave various selections. It will now bo necessary for all master butchers to keep their premises closed on Saturday unless they are prepared to take tho risk of a heavy penalty. At a meeting of the Wellington Operative Butchers’ Union last nighi. tho secretary reported that he had deposited with the Labour Department the document in connection with the agreement with tho employers for the observance of Saturday as a full holiday, the agreement thus becoming part of the trade award. Several members of the union stated that certain employers intended to defy the agreement by keeping their shops open on Saturday, and a spb-committeo was set up to assist the Labour Department in detecting any such breaches. Mr It. W Shallcrass, general 'secretary of the New Zealand Sports Protection League, has recently returned from visits to Feilding and Woodvillo in connection with tho work of the league. In both places very successful meetings of the respective branches were held, and the secretary reports that generally throughout the country districts sporting clubs are haying a successful time, the public feeling dc ing that there should be even an extension of the privileges enjoyed by the more fortunate. In Wellington several public movements with which the league has been identified have had to bo deferred owing to tho industrial crisis engaging so much attention, and on account of the approaching holiday season. A meeting of representatives of all sports bodies will bo held early in the New Year for the purpose of considering the question of rating on privately-owned sports grounds used exclusively for out-door sport and not for profit or gain. The City Council will probably be approached again <n, the subject, and a good deal of in tores* in the question will no doubt bs aroused before the next Mayoral election. The league has also been asked to assist in a movement to secure the Day’s Bay grounds and bush as a reserve for public purposes. Mr Shallcrass will spend Christmas and New Year in Auckland on business in connection with the league.

This afternoon the children of strikers are to be given a Christmas treat at tho Vivian street skating rink. The Shaw, Savill, and Albion liner Mamari, which has a large number of passengers to land at V ellington, was signalled off Hobart at 10 a.m. yesterday. Tho vessel is expected to roach 'Wellington next Sunday. Payments of old age, widows’, and military pensions are now being made, instead of at tho end of the month. Recent amendments to the law permit of tho January instalments of pensions being paid before the holidays begin. Arrangements have been mad© to ensure that the municipal tramway employees will receive their fortnightly wages to-day, instead of having to wait until after Christmas. Tho wages are usually paid on Friday. As announced in the “New Zealand Times” yesterday, an attempt is to be made to organise the farm labourers throughout New Zealand and got u registered award under tho Arbitration Court. With this object in view, a meeting will be held in tho Shearers’ Union Office at 7.80 p.m. on Saturday next. Killing at the Gear Company’s works, Potono, is approaching tho average for the height of the season. The daily kill is over sis thousand sheep and lambs and every hook in the old slaughterhouse is filled. Provision is being made for additional butchers and accommodation has already been, provided in the new slaughterhouse, that is almost completed. Heavy passenger traffic by steamer and train was experienced yesterday, the Christmas rush having fairly set in. All the trains were reported to be running quite full, the traffic to Auckland being particularly heavy. Th© ferry steamers have carried big loads. Yesterday the Maori brought about 650 passengers from south and in the evening took away some 700 for Lyttelton. To-night’s ferry traffic is expected to he very heavy. An interesting page in the Harbour Board’s new “Year Book” is that, devoted to the Queen’s wharf, and an illustration of how it has grown. Tho original wharf was built by the Provincial Council in 1862 and tho first extension was made three years later. The wharf was then a comparatively narrow structure with three short tees, tho inner of which is now incorporated in tho breastwork. Successive extensions at frequent intervals gradually lengthened and broadened tbe wharf; to its present proportions. Mitchelltown householders do not favour tho suggestion of tho education authorities to either reduce the number of scholars attending the school to suit tho accommodation provided or to amalgamate the school with the Te Aro district. At a meeting of residents a resolution was carried protesting against the reduction in status of the school, and calling upon the Education Board to rebuild at Mitchelltown and make it a first-grade school. The school committee was instructed to prepare a petition on these lines for presentation to the Education Board. An inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs Temple White, aged thirty-three years, who resided at 19, Cnarlotto avenue, Brooklyn, and whose body was found floating near the Glasgow wharf on Monday night, was held by'Mr J. S. Evans, S.M. (coroner), yesterday afternoon. Evidence was given to the effect that the deceased had been suffering from a nervous breakdown, and had recently undergone an operation for an internal complaint. Subsequently, she developed a description of mental depression and had become peculiar in her ideas. Between 8 and 9 o’clock on the evening of December 12th, she was missed from her home and was not seen again alive. A verdict was returned by tbo coroner that deceased was drowned by her own act whilst temporarily insane. In the Harbour Board “Tear Book” for 1913-14 mention was made of tho great new wharf which is to be built to the east of King’s wharf. The new wharf will provide ample accommodation for the largest ocean-going vessels visiting tho port. It will be 948 feet long on the east side and 764 feet long on tho west, ,with a width of 186 feet over all. Provision is made for shed accommodation to handle large import cargoes, which is is proposed to deal with inside the shed by means of electric overhead cranes, while outside the sheds it is intended to use semi-portal hydraulic cranes. Two lines of railway track will run down on either side of the wharf, so that it may be used for export purposes if found necessary. The “Year Book’ says that the board will probably soon have to take into consideration the construction of an additional wharf to the eastward of tho Taranaki street wharf to provide for the growing necessities of the port. A proved cur© for Dandruff is found in Virginian Hair and Scalp Food. This remedy is recommended by Mrs Rnlleston, 256, Lambton quay, and has become remarkably popular. •