WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2654, 25 January 1905, Page 49

WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINTON, January 20. Mr G. W. Seagar. of Christchurch, who has just returned from an Australian trip, had an experience of the recent bush fires in New South Wales. He was in the town of Katoomba, which seemed doomed to be overwhelmed by a torrent of fire carried up by a westerly, but at the last moment the wind changed to northerly, and the fire was diverted. The flames came within 200 yards of residences in the town, and people had to take refuge in water tanks. The temperature was HOdeg in the shade. The glass in the windows was too hot to put 6*ne'a hand against, apd the roads were almost too hot to walk on. Mr Seagar suffered a good deal physically, but is now quite himself again. Whilst working under the Jervois quay wharf this morning- a carpenter named M'Hugh saw a mail swing himself from the deck of the wharf into the water, * and swim among6t the piles. M'Hugh got a punt, went to where the man was coneealsd, and hauled him aboard. The man was subsequently handed over to the police. Hl3

\ name is Arthur Carew. He was employed on the steamer Aotea, which Ije- joined two , weeks ago at Lyttelton, and he appears to. 1 be mentally affected. The local Consular Agent for Italy has , received notification that all Italians born I in 1884 who possess the necessary qualincaI tions for performing their military service in the navy are called to the levy as from the Ist inst. All Italians in the Wellington district who come under this category must*, therefore, report themselves immediately. The disappearance of a young girl, emI ployed as a general servant by a settler at I Bulls, is causing some anxiety. She left th« j houie on Sunday afternoon, ostensibly for a j walk, but has not been seen since The I girl was about 20 years of pge. . . January 22. A large area of land ha> b s een offered to the Government for apqui.-itioii under the Land for Settlements Act by ilr Bryant of Ohariu Valley. Mr H. Beauchamp will acf as deputy chairman of the Bank of New Zealand while Mr Malet. tho pi ardent, L= in England. A new Sacred Heait Convent, costing £15,000, is to be erected at Island Bay. Tho report of the Wellington Amateur j Operatio and Dramatic Society states that ; owing to a loss on the last production of ! " Ruddigore *' its bank balance had been _ reduced fconi £225 to £10. Vigorous efforts are to be made to place the society, which has done fine work in the past 20 years, on a sound financial footing by canvassing for sufficient new honorary members to justify the undertaking of a new opera. January 23. A controvcisy is taking place in regard. j to the changes m connection with the port - I of Wellington. By sonic it is contended 1 that the shipping companies are " taking it out of th& public." The shipping peopla deny this, and state that the excellence of "Wellington as a port is somewhat ever- ! rated. One grievance of the' shipping com- | panics is that they have not got direct representation on the Harbour Board, and as they contribute nearly half the board's revenue they think this is hardly fair. It is true, they say. that the owners of sheds and the payers of dues are represented, but their interests are not iaentical. Their representation is not the representation of the shipping companies. During December 175 of the unemployed were assisted to obtain work by the Labour Department. Seventy-five of these were in the Wellington South district, and of the - total 40 were arrivals from Great Britain. At present there are 171 artisans and' 1904labourers employed by the Public WorksDepartment on railway, defence works, and public buildings, and" 1039 men employed by the Department of Roads. A largely-attended meeting of Italians resident in Wellington was held to consider the question of the' appointment of Mr R. Robertson as Italian Consul. The meeting unanimously decided to send a strong protest to the Italian Government against the. appointment on the groundthat the newly-appointed Consul is too young for the position and, unable to speak the Italian language. ' Twelve of the passengers by the Bapanui, which arrived oa Saturday evening, . took advantage of the Government-assisted passages. The smallness of this number was due to ignorance of the reduced fares. , New Zealandei-s who went to stay in / South Africa are gradually ' returning to the colony. Several have arrived lately, and there are. more to follow. A former resident of Wellington, writing from Durban, to a friend here, says: "If }'ou take my advice you will not come to Africa. This is no country for a poor man. There is absolutely nothing to do. You could di€ in the ditches, and yon would not be missed. Wages are very poor, and I don't know how anyone lives. They are paying her© £12 a month for a six-roomed house. The head, of the family with whom I anj , living is working on the railways and only getting £13 a month. People are compelled to take in boarders to make both ends meet. You have to pay £8- a month for board which is far from good. Things ar " as bad in British East Africa."