WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, April 17.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 25

WELLINGTON NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, April 17.

There is a shortage of labour here for ■wharf -nrork, and- several vessels have been hampered in the working of cargo. One of the labour foremen to-day stated that there was a capital opening for good men just now. The State Coal Department was opened for business this morning, and a large num- • ber of orders were booked. Mamy people, who were quite content to order Westport Coal Company's ccal from the same depot while it was in private hands, are continuing to give their orders to the depot now that it is in Government hands — in short, the State Department has stepped into a ready-made trade. At the marine engineers' luncheon here the other day it was mentioned by Mr Jas. Mills that the Union Company carried the State coal to Wellington at as low a rate as 5s per ton, whereat an official of the company, who lives in the city, remarked that it cost him 8s a ton to get the coal delivered at his house from the wharf. Tbo traffic on the Wellington section of the Government railways during Easter is reported to have been larger than has ever been experienced at this season of fche year. The trains ran well up to time till yesterday, when an accident happened to the mail train from Wellington to Napier. The Native Minister (the Hon. J. Carroll), who has been confined to his bed for about a week, is now able to move about a. little, a.ud he hopes to be at his office again before the end of the week. Mr Hone Heke, M.H.R., is translating the most interesting and valuable "portions of the Government Year Book into Maori for tho benefit of the Native race. Mr Heke thinks that che Maoris are decreasing in numbers in most places, and,~ further, that it will be impossible to v get an accurate census of them even this year. Many of the Maoris object to giving the Government the necessary information, and fome of the enumerators do their -work in a very casual way. Mr .John Dutlue, ex-M.H.R., writing about the surplus for the past year, says: " There is included in it £65,000 of loan money amd £261,026 from last year, which has already. done duty as part of the surplus of that year. I might add that, while the Treasurer tells of an increase of revenue amounting to £280,430, he is discreetly fiitent over the inorease on expenditure, which amounted to £503,498 as cdmpared with the previous year — an abnormal increase such as is not as usual a precursor of increased taxation. rt Last evening Mr Joseph Bradley, manager at Petone for the New Zealand Manu- j facturing and Importing Company, -.was found in an unconscious state in a boarding j house in that township, at which he had been staying for some time. He was removed, to the hospital, and has now. \ - ecovered consciousness. So far as can be learned* Mr Bradley appears to have umder- j estimated the strength of a drug he was takipg, ,'ancl, accidentally; administered ( i,o hiniself aY overdose.- ' ■ : • . -"■ { ' April 23. The Wellington City Corporation has been bftjssed," or rather cursed,- with" a 1 superfluous lion, and a number- of "nußjguided people are endeavouring to -add j to him with the object of forming a " zoo." The lion, it is true, is only a cub, but he will grow. The advocates of the "zoo argue that it will be a fine thing for Wellington educationally, but the New Zealand Times makes fun of the whole business. It says:— "We are perfectly certain that any 'zoo' worthy of the name would be a permanent , charge on tho city, and the city has more than enough "to do with its spare money without indulging in any extraneous luxuries. Already it has saddled itself with the maintenance of a lion, and ridiculous as it may be to confine our ' zoo ' to one totally useless and very hungry wild beast, it will be wiser to do so than to squander money on a quite unnecessary and certainly risky venture. As for the lion, he will not be seriously missed if he is given away to the next menagerie that comes along." The Superintendent of the Tourist Department received information on Saturday that there are over 3000 visitors at Rotorua at the present time — an unusual number at such a late period of the season. As a consequence there is a great demand for accommodation, every hotel and board-ine-house being full. The Tourist Department has sent to the Westland Acclimatisation Society at Hokitika 10 pairs of opossums (Tasmanian black and Australian grey) and eight young rod deer. The deer were presented to the Tourist Department by Miss Audrey Chirnside, of Werribee Park, Victoria. Migs Chirnside was recently a visitor to New Zealand. The deer will be liberated in the vicinity of Lake Kanicri. The quantity of hemp graded for export last year was 146,082 "bales, as compared with 156.120 bales the previous year. The quantities from different parts were as follow:— Auckland, 47,210 bales; Napier, 2979 bales; Wellington, 60,383 bales; Picton, 2605 bales; Lyttelton. 2236 bales; Dunedin, 6869 bales; Bluff. 23.660 bales. The family of the late Sir Julius Vogel have recently come in for some bequests under the will of the late Mr Benjamin Isaac, of the firm of Isp.ac and Samuel, commission merchants, 22 Great Winchester fitreet, London, who died on December 15, 1905, aged 82, and left an estate of the gross value of £359,327. Under the will the testator bequeathed £6000 in trust for Phcebe Vogel, £6000 to Frances Vogel, £3000 to Henry B. Vogel, and £5000 to Julius Vogol.

Hearing from Chmtehurch manufacturers that Southland birch was largely used in the manufacture of many articles, Mr H. G. Ell, M.H.R., communicated with the Minister of Lamds, urging that some permanent reservation be made in ordor to conserve that class of timber. Mi* Ell has jusfc received a reply from the Minister stating that the Commissioner of Crown Lands in Southland has been communicated with in order that arrangements may be made to reserve birch forests in that district for the purposes mentioned. Mr Ell also wrote to the Minister suggesting fhat steps be taken to prevent wasteful destruction of manuka timber. In reply, Mr Duncan stated that he was making inquiries to ascertain whether the timber h beinjj so destroyed, and, if what steps had best b« taken t*> prevent ii.it il&irviictiaii.