AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13268, 27 April 1905, Page 8

AUCKLAND.

' tFaOM. OCB bwirCoiMOTOHMHT.) >' . >■■■ ■April 17. . lliere as ono absorbing question in Auckland at present—namely, t-lio evil l smells 'arising from the city refuse "tip." The destructor is , under, construction, but • its still two, or threo months off, and meantime the newspapers arfe full of protests and complaints 'regarding tho tip.' A fortnight ago the nuisance was in Mechanics' Bay, and the aid of a paternal Premier was invoked, with the result that the: Railway Department promptly stopped the : council from; depositing rubbish in the bay, and a promise was given that the bay will be reclaimed when the duplication of tho railway to Penrose is undertaken. But then the city had to find a "tip," and Grafton road was selected, with the result Mat the Graftonites are up in arms. The Hon. J. M'Gowan was to, but the Minister was entirely unsympathetic. He visited tho "tip," stirred it up with his vt'alking-stick, and declared it to be inoffensive. • Canon Nelson arrived, and declared that tho smell had mado him throw up his dinner; but the Minister concluded that the Canon's stomach must be out of order, and generally poured.cold water on tho protests which are filling several .newspaper columns daily, and which &ro so loud and numerous that the Council is anxiously searching for another eito to dencsit the city rubbish. Perhaps ncx euro .will" Bo found until the destructor is in working order.' With three candidates out for the mayoralty and a big field of candidates for scats on the; City Council, tho municipal elections are -proving unusually interesting. The chances for tho mayoralty lie between MiArthur Myers and Mr John M'Lcod—tho former being most likely to win, though the latter has a large workincclass following and is pretty certain to poll well. In view of Ml- Myers-'s connection with the liquor trade, Mr M'Lcod is likely also to get afairly big prohibition vote. The Tramways Company has been experiencing endless difficulty in keeping up the permanent- way in Queen street. The whole of the lower portion of Queen streot is reclaimed land, and when tho asphalt was laid it was soon found that tho foundation, which was good enough for ordinary traffic, gave way under the const-ant running 'of tho trams. Tho rails and a portion of the asphalt sank, and was torn up and a better concrete foundation was provided. This, however, was of no avail, and tho company laid sleepers under the rails, thinking it would thus end its troubles. Experience has proved, however, that even the sleepers sink, and the latest experiment is the driving of piles to a depth of about 21ft for a solid foundation and carryin? the rails on sleepers on top of the piles. This operation is nongoing on. Tlie experiments have been expensive, and tho manager of the Tramways Company has addressed a letter to tho City Council contending tliat. as the trouble has been caused by the bad foundation and faulty construction of tho street tho city ought- to bear tho cost. ThoJ3ity Council, however, lias not taken very kindly to the suggestion. An interesting judgment was given the other day by Mr M'Carthy, S.M., in which tho respective rights and responsibilities of , tram driver and sheep drover, when a tram- | car meets a drove of sheep on the road, i were defined 1 . In the particular case under consideration the magistrate found i tho tramway motorman to be more at fault than the drover, but lie held that the drover was also guilty of negligence, and he stated that whatever might be sufficient on country roads, drovers on roads where traction is conducted at a high rate of speed ought to rarry a red flag by day and a coloured light, by night in front and behind' tho sheep. • The cars had the privilege of travelling at a high rato of speed, but they had also responsibilities, and in this case tho ■accident would never liavo happened had tho motorman kept a sharp lookout. Sportsmen in the Auckland district are much concerned' about tho wholesale poaching which is going on. They have subscribed £20, which tho Acclimatisation Society has subsidised £ for £, so that rangers may bo employed to keep the poachers in check for tho remainder of the season. The Acclimatisation Society is finding itself unusually rich this year. The revenue from fishing licenses has already amounted l to nearly £500, or a good deal more than twice the amount collected last season, when the total only reached £234. Harbour affairs have been quiet recently, the board having decided to ask the engineer to criticise tho criticism passed on his scheme by Messrs Ferguson and Hay. Until this is presented matters will bo allowed to drift. Meantime a section of the members of tho board is concorncd about the lack of for the ferro-concrote work which has a big place in the new scheme. Tho Forro-concrete Company hold the patents, and in consequence tho competition is limited. Some members of the board held that the validity- of the patents should bo tested in the law courts at the expense of tho board, but a majority decided against this, and the matter lias practically been dropped. ' Preparations aro being mado by a num- • ber of Auckland artists for the first exhibition in the new art gallerv. which will be opened about July. Mr C. F. Goldie-has in hand several fine Maori studies, jfr Walter Wright is interpreting the. burning of the Boyd, an incident which happened 100 years ago at Whangaroa; and Mr Frank Wright is busy with some local rural scones. In view of the opening of the new building members of tho Society of Arts will endeavour to mate tho exhibition a specially fine one.

A good deal of complaint is being mado at the want of shed accommodation at the Auckland Railway Station and tho delay in taking delivery of goods. The merchants and carters blame tho lack of accommodation and antiquated methods followed at tho station, while the officers of the Railway Department blame the merchants and carters for leaving the whole of their' railway work till the tail-end of the day, with the result that the railway men are mostly idle during tho day and much overworked towards evening, when the rush of carting comes along. The Auckland Board of Education is protesting to the Minister of Education -against the eontinuancc of the system of paying teachers according to average attendance only, and is urging that length of service and the classification of the teacher should also be taken into account. An instance has been' quoted of the closing down-of a gold mine reducing the average attendance at Opitonui from S3 to 11, which resulted in the teacher's salary droppine from £168 15s to £65. . -The visit of the Hon. .T. Rigg in the interests of the Political Labour League lias not aroused much enthusiasm in Aucldand. A branch of tho league was formed, but the Labour party as a whole has not caught on; in fact, tho league seems to have found much less favour in Labour circles in Auckland than in any other part' of tile colony.

The long-standing Mount Eden tramway difficulty seems likely to be settled. One of the earliest proposals of the, company was to carry tramlines along Mount Roskill road, which is within the Mount- Eden Road Board's' district. The Road Board however, insisted on a line along- Mount Eden road also, and as the Tramways Company refused to do this the board refused P-,1 nt il ; Passion to run on Mount; Jvoskil! road. Several elections were fought on tno question, and the Road Board's policy was supported every time, in spite of protests from the residents in the Mount Roskill side of the district. After voars of squabbling over the matter, the Road Board and tho Tramways Company have at last come to an agreement, the company undertaking to run _ tramways on both roads. 1110 agreement is subjeot to tho sanction of the directors of the Tramway Company in London, but it is understood that this will bo forthcoming soon, and that the work of laying the tramlines will bo commenced at an. early date.