LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2718, 11 April 1906, Page 30

LOCAL & GENERAL.

While in England Mr James Miils, .managing director of .the Union Steam Ship Company, \rill arrange for fhe building of some additions to the company's fleet, one of the- most important being a steamer for the Lyttel ton- Wellington ferry service. The building- of this steamer has been delayed until the efficiency of the turbine should have been demonstrated beyond all doubt. The company has now had experience of j the Loongana and the Maheno, and the ! icsitlts obtained have been so satisfactory ! that it feels no hesitation in adopting the J turbine method of propulsion for the new j steamer which is to run between Lyttelton | and Wellington. It has beon pointed out to us that, whilst fi'oiu time to time locals appear stating what Mr T. E. Donne proposes to do for tourists, but little mention is made of work already done by that gentleman. A correspondent who has visited Mount Cook this j season is desirous of letting- the public know the excellent accommodation to be foand at tho Hermitage. Everything is scrupulously clean th-e cooking and food all that may be desired. When consideration is given to the difficulty of catering for large numbers of visitors in such an out-of-the-way place, surely ihere is no more comfortable or better managed hotel in Xe-w Zealand (han the Hermitage. Ifc is a great help to the management if visitors would kindly advise of their intended arrival a week or so in advance. If all hotels were run as is the Hermitage, the cry would be for State contfrol. Great credit is due to the Minister in charge of the Tourist Department and its capable Jiead 'Mr Donne), but the best efforts of these gentlemen can only find full fruition when seconded by such kindliness, civility, and consideration as characterise the staff at the Hermitage. Angora goatb are not a novelty in New Zealand, but it is certain that there is no adequate appreciation in the colony of the \alue of these animals. Their special utility consists ir the fart that, while they will thrive e-piendully in rough country, they enable people of limited means, to' whom they may belong, to keep themselves in meat and to make a profit from the fleece, mohair being required in the manufacture of all lustrous goods. The ordinary goat yields coarse meat and milk, but the Angora returns a meat which is regarded as- superior to mutton and good milk. The v.ay to rear tho Angora is to get a pure buck piid cross it with a common goat. The prepotency of. the breed is 'so great tba-fc 90 per cent, of the kids in such a, ease will bo pure white, and the- clip from the fifth cross is saleable in the London market as mohair. In South Australia the i breeding t\i Ar.gora goats has proved a I profitable industry but, owing to tbe death I of one of the partners, the Peake Station I flock is, as announced in our advertising columns, to be brought under the hammer on May 9 at Adelaide. The programme of the annual camp and oonferenro of the New Zealand Young Men's Presbyterian Bible Class Union, to be hold at Tahuna Park at Easter time, has been issued. The arrangements for the various meetirrgs and social functions seem to be very complete, and provided fine weather is experienced the four days at Tahuna Park should prove very enjoyable and very helpful to those taking part in iba gathering. The. annual business meeting will he held on Friday eifternoon, after which a paper will be read by Mr G. A ' Troup, of Wellington, on " Work for Young Men by Young Men : Its Need and Its Methods." In the> evening there will bo a free parliament, at which the subject for discussion will be. " Directions in Which Our Work May be Made More Efficient."' On Saturday morndng it is proposed to show thf visitors the sights of Dunedin. end in the afternoon a 6ports meeting will J be . held. Special services will take place j on Sunday, and on Monday morning a football tournament will be held, the camp breaking up in the afternoon. ' Our Wellington correspondent telegraphs: — <: There is a probability that the Meikle case will b& heard in Dunedin. The commission, consisting of his Honor Mr Justice Edwards and his Honor Mr Justice Cooper, will decide the matter on Wednesday next." James Bell, James Smail, Julia Williams. Jos.ei>hine English, and Patrick Macdonakl, patients in the Hospital, died during the post week. The patients at present receiving attention number 104, 10 less chan at the end of the week previous. During the past week 22 fresh patients i were admitted and 27 discharged. |

Visitors to Dunedin have often spoken with lapture about the view to be obtained from the hills overlooking the Town Belt, but have never been able to understand why the open spaces and approaches to the Belt should be allowed to be overgrown with grass and broom to such an extent as to become an absolute disfigurement. Within the past few days, however, the reason has been made apparent, and , denotes a most amusing instance of muni- ' cipal !op-sidedness. The City Council, ifc appears, has never declared gorse and broom to be noxious weeds, and is consequently immune from the provisions and penalties of the Noxious Weeds Act. Gorso and broom are therefore allowed to grow and flourish like a green bay tree, but the council has decreed that elderberry is a noxious woed within the city limits, and must therefore be suppressed. Singularly

enough, the position is completely reversed in the hill boroughs. In the latter (he act is strictly enforced, and property -owners

are compelled to keep their land, and also ' adjoining road-lines, clear of gorse and r broom, but are permitted to grow as much elderberry as they chocse. Now comes the \ most amusing- part of the business. During the past few days workmen have been [ busy clearing gorse and broom off the corI poration reserves m Maori Hill Borough under pressure of the noxious weeds inspect tor, but leave the elderberry severely alone. Within the city boundary ifc is \ incumbent upon them to eradicate th©_ latter, whilst the former is allowed to ' flourish vigorously. The existing state of affairs is a most peculiar anomaly. Some attempt should be made to bring the city into line with the outer area in order io '■ rid the Town Bell and other places of the ' gorse and broom which now disfigure these reserves. Thirteen witnesses were called befof© the Taieri Drainage Commission on Sarur-' ' day at Outram. So far 29 witnesses have- \ been examined. The commission has \ adjourned until the 18th inst. owing- to its \ members having important engagements to fulfil in other capacities. It would have • been possible to resume sittings, .toward* tbe end of the week, but the Easter holidays necessitated the fixing ,of a day next week. It is then intended to hold a sitting at Henley, another at Mosgiel. and ' one in Dunedin. A number of witnesses 1 representing North Taieri have been summoned to attend before the commission. The itinerary for the remainder of the sittings has not yet been agreed upon, though it is settled that the meeting at Henley will take place on the 18th inst. Speaking nt the meeting o£ the Dunedin. Progressive Society on Sunday, Mr A. R. Barclay, M.H.R., in referring to the Arbitration Court, said:— "My dual position as a representative and as a lawyer, practising often before the Arbitration Court, makes it very difficult for me to speak either in praise or blame of its general work and its . • decisions. But this much I must say: I give it as my firm conviction that the honour, integrity, and what I might term _ the patriotism — a fervent desire to do what ( is best and most right-eons in the interest? of our colony as a whole — of each and every member of the Arbitration Court is absolutely unimpeachable. So it is of all our judges; but the best intentions in tbe world, will not prevent mistakes occurring." Mr Barclay went on to sajr that, to his mind, a mistake of the gravest character had lately • been made hy the court in the case of the seamen's dispute. The Wakatipu Mail says:— "ft is rumoured that the Government intends taking over Queenstown in the interests of the tourist traffic." During his recent visit to the Urewera Country the Native Minister (tho Hon. J. Carroll) spent two nights in discussing with the leading Maoris the question of allowing their lands to be thrown open to gold prospectors. At fiist the chiefs were disinclined to allow prospecting to go on, bat they were ready to listen to reason, and when it was pointed out to them that if gold did exist it would be more useful in their pockets than in the bowels of tho carth — that successful mining meant food and clothing.— they fell in with the Minister's proposal, and consented to the opening of their lands to prospectors, with the provision that their rights should be maintained. This Mr Carroll informed them would be. done by drawing up regulations, which would be submitted to the principal ' chiefs, so that they might be protected, and might themselves embrace the opportunity of prospecting and pegging-off goldbearing areas. These regulations will be framed after conference between Cabinet and Natives, and then the Urewera will bo properly and practically tested. This will be undertaken at once, and within a year the regulations will, in all probability, b» j gazetted. I The Argu* reports that a New Zealand farmer named Thomas i?ooke arrived vi I Melbourne from Sydney on March 26 in the R.M.S. Orontes. He was on his way to London, and had obtained a bank draft for £3600 on the National Bank, London, and a draft for £65 on the Commercial Bank, London. With theee drafts in his pockets, and £31 in gold. Pcoke and a friend visited a number of hotels in Melbourne- and the northern suburbs. At halfpasrt 2 in the afternoon his valuables were safe, but when ho looked for them again at half-past 10 at night Pooke found that they had all disappeared. He reported his loss to the police, but stated that both he and tis fr^nd irere tco drank to remember the hotels they visited. Detectives Bannon and Mercer had noticed them in Lonsdalo street behaving in a hilarious manner with, a number of women, but Pcoke could not remember who the women were. Tho Orontes continued her voyage next afternoon, and Pooke went with hor. Payment of the draft was, of course, stoppra, so that the ihioAcs would realite nothing 'lejonci the cash they received. In connpetion with the G<\ernm< v nt's scheme for providing workmen's homes, iliJohn Campbell, Government Architect, Ja (ears the New Zealand Times) making prepai'aUons for calling for tenders next week;' for the-orection of 25 five-roomed homes or* the Heretaunga Block, Petone, in accordance with the competitive plans approved:by the Governrrent. The etyle of ihr> houses is to be varied as much as possible, and as many as seven designs will be utili&ed in the first cluster of homes to be erected at Petone. Of tbepe houses^ 23 wi] 8

front Patrick street— the central thoroughfare through, the block, — and the other two jwili be round the corner from thaL street on the esplanade. Each house will stand detached on -a section having 40ft frontage hy 100 ft depth. The designs vary greatly. •even to the extent of some having two floors— the idea being to avoid altogether a *' Government brand." Tenders are to be Called for the erection of workmen's homes in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin ibefore the end of the month. Commissioner MTLie, who directs the Salvation Army's affairs in Australasia, has ibeen interviewing the Premier in respect to certain proposals for extending the Army's social operations. He gave a Wellington Post reporter Ims opinion with regard to the present social conditions as compared with those of 10 years ago. He said the Army found no actual improvement in the conditions in these southern lands- during the term mentioned, although

fcoth in Australia and New Zealand the

iridustrial • conditions were -vastly improved. "He said.: '.'.Whilst in .this colony there ha? "been a decrease -in-. poverty, the "calls- upon the Army are by no means lessened, but, on the other hand; are appreciably greater, for, despite the fact that our homes for

men -haTe iseen- extended; the acoommoda-

iion S still inadequate, both »'n respect to inebriate cases and prison discharges. Dursng the past 10 years, too, we have found it necessary to open new institutions for ■women — maternity and rescue homes, — and liera we find no diminution in the number of case 3 handled. There,, has been a decided- increase in inebriate- case* dealt with by us both among men and women, so much so that we have under consideration the erection of two large institutions in the Australian States for dealing specifically with such cases." The ' Drainage Board reports that rain fell on three days last week, as follows: — 2nd, .090 in- 6th, .115 in; 7th, .115in;— j total, .320 in. The total Tainfall for 1906 j to date has been 7.665 in. j The secretary of St. John Ambulance '. Association desires to acknowledge the fol- , lowing additional subscriptions for the district nursing scheme: — Mr J. J«ffs, £5^ ss; Messrs J. Robin and Co., £1 Is; Mrs" Colquhoun, £1; Mr C. Butterworth, £1; per Miss" Crow, £1 Is. We, have to acknowledge receipt of 5s from " Sympathiser" for the Beadle Relief Fund. We-liate received from "Wild Cat" 5s towards the Dr . Barnardo'a Home Fund. • Mr PaulinV weather- forecast, received

ample . fulfilment on Monday afternoon. -Shortly after -noon, dense, ominous-looking Ciclouds rolled up to the south, their huge mass presenting a magnificent cloud effect in <ie direction of St. Clair between 1 and 2 p.m. At 2 p.m. the atmesphere was thick with dust and flying leavse, and a ibrisic sou**- wester, made the telegraph wires hum for a few minutes, after which a

cold, heavy rain set in, and continued for about a couple of hours. When the rain ceased -and the sky cleared it was seen that the higher levels were covered with a slight fall of snow. Our Naseb'y correspondent wired at 4.20 p.m. that snow wa« falling heavily there.

Mr R. J. Jeffray, representative of the British Board of Trade, whose mission it is to visit the colonies in the interests of their trade with the Mother Country, is at present, in Dunedin. Mr Jeffray comes to the colonies at the instance. of the Commercial Intelligence Department of the Board of Trade to inquire and report: — (1) Whether and to what extent business m diverted from th« colonies to foreign countries; (2) what the causes of this diversion are; and (3) by what nieans this diversion can be stopped and the current , of -trade- made to run in its natural channel. Mr Jeffray is well known in Australia, where he resided for many years, and his intimate acquaintance with the people there fits him admirably for the position now entrusted to him. He has already visited the chief cities in Australia, and everywhere it has been apparent that as a result of his visit the, trade relations between the Mother Country and the colonies will derive great benefit.

An Otago Central correspondent, writing to the Otago Central Railway League, expresses the opinion that " with but a little ' push ' on the part of the Public Works Department the line should be open to Clyde for traffic by the end of the 'present year."

Our Oamaru correspondent wires that

*rhen the time closed on Monday afternoon for the Teceipfc of applications for the sections on the Waitaki Plains Settlement 320 applications had been received. This does not include the 41 put in at Dunedin. The Land Board sits at Oamaru on Thursday morning, when the ballot will take place. A somewhat big undertaking was successfully accomplished by Mr Kane, foreman of railway works, and hie staff early on Sunday morning. The work referred to involved the removal bodily of the large carshed which formerly stood at the north «nd of the present passenger platform to a point 450 yards nearer Hanover street. The building is 200 ft long by 40ft wide, and accommodated four rows of carriages at one time. The structure was securely braced, and ' was afterwards raised by nieans of screw-jacks and placed upon strong iron■bark beams secured at right angles beneath. Everything being in readiness, two powerful locomotives were attached by means of stout wire cables at 5.30 on Sunday morning, and by 9.30 a.m. the shed had been tJxifted 450 yards aud removed clear of the

lines to a temporary position to allow the - work in connection with the new eidingsto be taken in hand forthwith. When these are completed the carshed will be once more placed in a permanent position. The carpenters, painters, and blacksmiths shops now being used by the maintenance department at the rear of the present station are also to be removed this week.

Plans axe now completed for laying the railway tracks and switches in the Dunedin passenger yard to meet the requirements of traffic when the new station is completed. Between 80 and SO points will fee required, all of which will be operated by compressed air controlled by electric levers. These levers will be placed in two signal cabins — one at each end of the yard, and by simply pulling over a small lever the signalman will be able to open or clo^e any switch within his circuit. The whole of the system will be interlocking, and the electro-pneumatic apparatus which is now bsing manufactured -will not only obviate the necessity for manual labour for it* effective accomplishment, but will also increase- the .efficiency of each, signal cabin ,50 per- cent, as compared with the present system of hand levers.

Our'-Naseby correspondent wires that at the Police Court on Monday Jas. Spedderi (of Gimmerburn) and Michael Graham (of Waipiata) appeared before Mr J. M'Erinis, S.M., to answer charges of having exposed in the yards of the Waipfiata Saleya'rda Company last sale day sheep affected with lice. Both accused, who were not represented by counsel, pleaded " Guilty," and each was fined £2 and costs (10s*. Inspector Shaw, representing the Stock Depa-rtment, stated that accused had subsequently dipped the sheep, and otherwise had earned out h : 6 orders. Spedderi 6tated that previously he had had no water for dipping, and Graham pleaded that he was ignorant that his sheep were affected. His Worship said that in future cases of the kind he would inflict a heavier penalty. The offence -wae a serious one, and farmers must be particular to see that the law relating to it was strictly observed.

Before leaving Dunedin for Levin a group photograph was taken of the Caversbam Industrial School Band, and another of all the boys in the school who had been taught to swim. Theee photographs were enlarged by Mr Armstrong in quite an artistic manner, aud in suitable frames look really well. Yesterday afternoon, at- the request of Mr Burlinson and the staff of the school, Mr P. Miller, chairman of the Board of Advice, handed over the enlarged photograph of the hand to Mr T. Dallas, who for 20 years acted as conductor and taught the boys. At the same time he handed- to SMr H. Thompson, of George street, the enlarged photograph of the swimming elaes, that gentleman having for some years taught the boys to swim. In making the presentation Mr Miller said it '•vac but a slight recognition of the service which Messrs Dallas and Thompson had so ungrudgingly given to the instruction of the boys. H« felt sure that the photographs would serve as pleasant reminders to the recipients of the esteem in which they were held by the boys and the staff with whom they had been so long associated, and it gave him much pleasure to be the nieans of making the presentation Messrs Dallas and Thompson briefly acknowledged the presentations.

The Union Bank of Australia is about to issue a new £1 note, the design having a figure of Britannia in the centre, s and of Quean Victoria at the left hand. The new notes will be iesued on April 10, and new notes of other denominations will be issued later."

As already announced^ Mr John Hayes, M.E., has tendered his resignation as inspecting engineer to the Mines Department. We now understand he hae accepted au offer of the position of mining engineer and general manager to the Puponga Coal and Gold Mining Co. (New Zealand), Ltd., an English company holding a lease of some 1400 acres of coal-bearing land at Pupong a, near Collingwcod, Nelson province, and also an undeveloped "gold mining claim in the same district. The company's colliery is situated about a mile and a-half from a well-sheltered portion of Golden Bay, and has been producing coal on a somewhat limited scale for the past two years, shipments being made from the company's own wharf, which is connected with the mine by a light railway. The quality of the coal is said to be unexcelled in the colony for domestic purposes, and readily commands good prices owing to its freedom from soot and black smoke. Somewhat extensive works for the development of the property aud the improvement of chipping facilities are now under consideration. Mr Hayes was trained at large collieries in Lancashire, England, and held the responsible charge of a group 1 of collieries near Maryport, Cumberland, prior to accepting an offer to come to New Zealand in 1890. In addition to his new duties he will also practise professionally to some extent as a consulting engineer. Mr A. H. Taylor, manager of the Ngunguru Colliery (Northern Collieries, Ltd.), near Whangarei, will be the mine manager at Pujvonga, and MiHayes's headquarters will be at Nelson.

The Fiji Times says:— "We understand that the Government, after mature deliberation, has finally resolved to encourage the resuscitation of cotton production in thi3 country, to the extent of providing seed and the erection and maintenance of a gin-house at Suva. It is the desire of the Department of Agriculture that planters interested in the matter and wishing to teat the suitability of their district for cotton will apply for seed, stating how much land they desire to plant. It is recommended that at least one acre should ha planted vi each locality."