LOCAL & GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 31

LOCAL & GENERAL.

The Hon. R. Oliver has sent a donation of ■ 3525 to the Hockea Library Endowment Fund, which has now reached £876. Of this amount, however, some of the £SO subscriptions are conditional on 10 of that amount being- obtained, and two are still required to complete tho number. The "twenty-eighth annual meeting of the Sixpenny Clothing Club was held in the Moray Place Congregational Church on October 25. There was an attendance of some 12 members, and Mrs W. H. Reynolds (president) occupied the chair. The balance sheet showed that at the commencement of the year the three branches Cavers-ham, Middle District, and North Dunedin —had cash in hand amounting to £3l 9s 2d, while the collections Cor 1909-10 had totalled £9O is Bd. Tho disbursements for the past 12 months came to £75 12s 7d. leaving credit balances to the three districts as follows:—Caversham, 8s 6d; Middle District, £1 18s 8d; North Dunedin, £43 lis 9d ;—total, £45 18s lid. A discussion took place as to whether the club ghould discontinue its operations, but Mrs Ansell and Mrs Reynolds strongly deprecated any such procedure, giving illustrations -where the. funds had proved cf great service in helping to purchase clothes, blankets, etc., for those *in needy circumstances, and it was unanimously decided that the club continue its sphere of usefulness. There was no election of officers, the presidents of thf. branches remaining as- follows:—Middle District, Mrs Reynolds (general president); Caversham, Mrs Hancock; North End, Mira Black. At last week's meeting of tho -St. Kilda Borough Council tenders were received for the taking up of tho recently authorised loan of £9OOO, the loan-being placed with a Dunedin gentleman at interest of 4£ per cent. £2OOO of the loan is to bo payable immaediately, £3OOO within 12 months, and the balance of £4OOO is to be arranged for late.

Maggie Papakura, the well-known guide, has evidently found satisfaction from I;er xeoent experiment in taking- a troupe of Maori entertainers to Sydney. An • Auckland message states tihat another troupe 32 strong left by the Maheno on Monday under the earn* guidance. Their idea is to establish a Maori village in Sydney. From .there they travel to the other big towns of Australia, and, if circumstances warrant, proajed on to London, and back home via Russia and China. A circular has been issued by the Railway Department to stationmasters, guards, end other officials in reference to the necessity for exercising vigilance in respect of the regulations governing railway fares and age limits. Under the regulations children under three years of age travel free, from three years to 12 yeans the fare is equal to half the adult fare, and in the case of persons over 12 years of age the full fare is demanded. It is believed that cases of evasion of these regulations have become rather frequent, and for that rca6on it has been considered necessary to re-issue to officials a circular embodying the regulations. ; A deputation representing the Sydenham Working Men's Olub, accompanied by Mr Beabtie (solicitor), waited upon the Hon. Mr Buddo on October 25 regarding the commissioner's report upon the club as recently published. The deputation was hsld in secret (says our Wellington correspondent), the press being excluded. Our Wellington correspondent informs us that Mr Scott, M.P., has given- notice to move that there be laid before the House all papers and correspondence, together with the report of the Inspector of Mines, connected with the granting by the warden at Naseby in June last of 100 heads -if water from the Loganburn. He has also given notice to ask the Minister of Mines whether Mr M'lntosh (late Inspector «>f Mines) asked for an inquiry into the circumstances which necessitated his sending in his resignation, and, if so, has his request been refused? Our Wellington correspondent states that the Government has made arrangements to obtain some motor cars for the purpose of making experiments as to their suitability for the requirements of the New Zealand railways. The first experiments will be made on those which will best test the utility of the cars, and enable the department to obtain reliable data from the financial point of view. After this is done the question of further extending the uee of" the cars to other branches of our railway eastern will be considered. The question of instituting a senior grade for those constables who have good records and who have service extending over 30 years will (says our Wellington correspondent) be considered in connection with the proposals cc-.corning the pay of the force which are now engaging the attention of the department. A Christchurch message states that the North Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board decided on October 26 to pay to the Ashburton Hospital Board £1350 in full satisfaction of the claims of the latter board on the value of the united board, which previously administered charitable aid in North Canterbury and Ashburton. Wo understand that at a meeting of a special committee of the Hospital Board set up in connection with the secondary hospital question, and other matter?, hc-ld on Monday, Oct. 24, several important recommendations were decided upon. The first of these was:—"That, in the opinion of this oommittee it will be necessary at a later date to remove the Benevolent Institution

to another site." It was also resolved that the board's architect be instructed to prepare a block plan showing the completed buildings for a secondary hospital, also that that portion for chronic, incurable. 3 bo erected at an early date. We understand that the question of erecting a roof garden over the Plunket ward at the Dunedin Hospital will be brought before the next meeting of the board for its consideration. On Tuesday, October 25, a conference was held between representatives of the Finance Committee of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board and of the- Otago University Council, in reference to the bacteriological department at the Duncdin Hospital. An agreement was some time ago entered into that the Government should contribute onehalf and the Hospital Board and the University Council one-quarter each of the cost of establishment and upkeep of the bacteriological department at the Hospital, but from this agreement the Government has now withdrawn. The meeting, after con- ! sidering the position, resolved that a joint I letter be forwarded from the Otago Hos- : pital and Charitable Aid Board and tho J Otago University Council to Dr Valintino i (Inspector-general of Hospitals) insisting ! upon the Government adhering to the pre- ! vious arrangement that it should pay its share of the cost in connection with the bacteriological dcrartment by way of special grant. It was also decided to forward a copy of the letter to the Hon. J. A. Millar, and Messrs Allen, Sidey, and Arnold, M.P.'s, and that they be asked to wait upon the Prime Minister on the subject. If the Government persists in refusing to pay the contribution originally agreed upon the Hospital Board will be placed in the position of having to make a speical levy on the whole of the contributing bodies in Otago to meet this extra cost. When the board made its levy for the present year it was given out that it would be sufficient for requirements, and now that the Government has seen fit to depart from a specific agreement entered into by it, the board is placed in an awkward position. The church militant found a mouthpiece in the Rev. G. Knowles Smith (president of the Council of Churches) on Oct. 26, who, speaking at the Mornington Methodistr Church anniversary, said he hoped his hearers were alive on the Licensing Bill. It had been rumoured that Sir Joseph Ward and the members of his Government were not in earnest, and if that was tho case it was the province of the Churches to teach him and his Government a lesson they would never forget. A well-known minister, speaking last week proudly claimed among his fleck " the cup-winners of last season's football." Football, ho said, had not spoilt them in the least, and ho believed it had been a help to them to feel that tho minister of their church was in sympathy with them. If the churches did not recognise and countenance the physical and recreative side of the young people's lives someone else would. - Tho day had gone by for ever when young people were going to eit in the ohurches with faces as long as doublebass fiddles. The young man Daniel Connor, who, on October 24, pleaded " Guilty " to a charge of stealing £l9 10s- by " ringing tho changes " on the North Otago Jockey Club, was on October 26 admitted to I probation for six months and ordered to , pay costs (£1 8s) in connection with tho j case. In giving hie decision (says tho I Mail) the magistrate (Mr T. Hutchison, j S.M.) told accused he was really going further than he should, as tho probation officer did not recommend probation. This leniency was extended to defendant on account of his extreme youth and the fact : that this was his fir6t offence; but ho should understand that he had had a very | narrow escape from being sent to gaol. I His Worship hoped that it would be a lesson to him. "I think it will be, your Worship," remarked Mr Hjorring (defendant's counsel); "ho feels his position very keenly." The meat market still shows no improvement, and at tho Burnsidc sales on Oct. 26 was, if anything, a little dearer than on ; the previous Wednesday. Beef was selling I at from 35s to 40s per 1001 b, and the ' highest price por head realised for cattle" | was £l7 10s. Tho yarding was again very ! limited, only about 120 head coming forward. Several of tho local butchers last week obtained their supplies from Canterbury, and if that had not been done prioas on Wednesday, with the short supplier? available, might have been even higher than they were. Fat cows, for killing, realised £l3, £l3 ss, and. £l4 ss. There was no alteration in respect of the sheep offering as compared with the previous week, but prices were, if anything, a sliade firmer, and the quality not as good. The executive of the Tobacconists' Asso- : ciation waited upon Dr Findlay at Wel- ; ling-ton on Oct. 26 and complained of Sun- ■ day trading in tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes by restaurant-keepers and other persons who make a business of selling summer drinks on Sunday. The Minister, ■ in reply (reports a Press Association mes- ' sage), said that the official files contained | a number of police reports from different i parts of New Zealand. Those showed that there was a considerable amount of illicit trading by restaurant-keepers The provision in the Police Offenders Act, under , which oases of tho kind could bo brought, | was not a satisfactory one, and ho promised j to confer with his colleagues with a view

to seeing what could be done. He agreed | with the deputation that the penalty of , 20s was quite inadequate to deal with the j evil. j There are those who say that religion j is a "pawky" thing, whatever that may mean; that it makes a man soft, and robs him of the inclination even to defend himself against insult (says the Timaru Herald). But a little incident which occurred in Timaru on October 22 when the Anglican mission meeting was being held in , the main street of the town put quite a ! different asr>ect on the matter. A young man who ought to have known better brushed roughly against the Rev. S. Trerice Adams, acting-vicar of St. Mary's (than whom probably there is no more courteous or inoffensive man in Timaru), ; and deliberately blew tobacco smoke in his face. The rev. gentleman submitted quietly to the insult, but gave the young man to understand that it must not bo repeated. Disregarding the caution, however, and with a lack of the sense of decency, the young man deliberately repeated the push and the puff of smoke, with the result that he got the surprise of his life, as he received the same instant a stinging baek-hander which made him look more sheepish than could be described by anything on paper. The vicar was warmly applauded by those who saw the incident for his manly action in .dealing so well-deserved a rebuke. Our Greymouth correspondent states that the reason advanced by the Government for declining to establish a daily (service between Greymouth and Christeburch is that the amount of traffic likely to be dealt with would not justify the 6tcp. The first imeeting of tho newly-elected Outram Town Board was- held on October 22; present—Messrs Bathgate, Chisholm, Neill, and White. The clerk (Mr John Grant) presided, and asked for nominations for chairman. Mr Neill moved, and Mr Bathgate seconded, that Mr Chisholm be appointed chairman, this being carried unanimously. Mr Chisholm then took the chair, and expressed thanks to the members for their confidence in him by appointing him ohaixman. He made feeling reference to the loss which the board and district had sustained by the death of their late chairman (Mr Snow), and went on to say he hoped they would continue to work amicably together for the good of the town district. The members feelingly endorsed Mr Chisholm's remarks with reference to Mr Snow. Mr Chisholm then moved that the Outram Town Board desires to place on record, by insertion in the minutes, its deep regret at the death of William Snow, the oldest member of the board, its high appreciation of his long and faithful services as chairman and member of the board, also to express its deepest sympathy with his widow and family, and that a copy of :his minute bo sent to Mrs Snow and family. The motion was seconded by Mr Bathgate, and carried unanimously. Mr John Neill was appointed treasurer, and Mr John Grant clerk and collector. A few accounts were passed for payment. The new First Church about to be built in Tay street, Invercargill, will lead cho Dominion in the return to the campanile. Provision is made (says the Southlaud Times) in the plane for a bell-tower (at the north-eastern corner of the church) 95£E in height. Inside will be a staircase, and at the level of about 65ft will be a look-out space. Whiie the campanile will add distinction to tho architecture of the church, the look-out will provide vantage for a fi.no panoramic view of the town, and it will no doubt, on this account, attract conisiderale attention from residents and visitors. Tho designs of the church provide for separate men's and women's cloak rooms (with toilet conveniences) for the congregation; an auditorium, with a gallery all round, capable of seating 800 people in comfort; choir gallery; organ apace sufficiently large for a pipe organ of tho value of £3000; separate retiring rooms for tho choirmen and women; a minister's study; and a commodious prayer room, suitable also* for Bible class meet inge. Behind tho cburoh will be a Sunday school with a hall to seat 450 pupils; a kitchen; infant and primary rooms; and a gaPery divided into class rooms and provided with one large meeting room. The raised floor of the auditorium is a new feature in church architecture. The Waikouaiti County Council last week considered a loiter- from the Inspector of Rabbits and Noxious Weeds asking what steps the council was taking to comply with the provisions of the act. It was decided to instruct the clerk to reply stating what the council was doing. At the last meeting of the Waikouaiti County Council tho inspector was instructed to erect- notices at the lower end o: tho Lower Harbour road prohibiting motor traffic. An extraordinary case came before Judge Heydon at Sydney on October 18. The secretary of the Undertakers' Employees Union proceeded against John Crockill, Phillip Gosselin, Thomas Card well, and William Avery, for having performed work on a Sunday in connection with a funeral. After evidence had boen taken, his Honor said he was rather surprised at tho attitude taken up in the case. He saw from the cortificat9 of death that the unfortunate man was four years ill from phthisis, that ho was 48 years of age, had four children, and had been engaged in the occupation of a Venetian blind maker. These circumstances themselves told a rather pathetic story. He died on Saturday, which was only half a cky. Must he than be hurried

f into his grave at onoe without giving any , child who might bo at a distanco an op- | portunity to see his father's face? He must say ho did not sympathise with the posi- ' tion of those who came and asked that the i people assisting in the burial on Sunday | should be punished by the court. However, as the case had not to be decided on sympathy, the question was: Had the offence been made out? It must be proved that these people were employees, and as this j had not been proved to hie satisfaction he j must dismiss the case. As he remarked j before, the case was not to be decided on a point of sympathy, but if it were his sympathy would be entirely on the side of the people in the house. The case was dismissed, with £2 2s costs. « The Southland News reports that a rumour is current in Invercargill that an Orepuki mining syndicate has struck something rich, but it lacks confirmation. Samples of the stone, sand, or whatever it is are said to have been forwarded to a School of Mines in the north and gone through the assay with flying colours. At a meeting of the North Canterbury Hcspital Board on October 26 Mrs Cunnington asked for information in regard to the sudden death of a nurse. She said that the nurse had been a very stalwart, strong-looking woman. The chairman of the Hospital Committee (Mr W. W. Tanner) said that ho had obtained a report from the matron, in which she stated that the nurse was last on duty from 6 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. on August 24, in the women's accident ward. She was then apparently in good health and made no complaint of any kind. The nurse had leave till 1.30 p.m. on the following day, but in the morning the matron received a telegram stating that the nurse was ill, and on the morning of August 26 the matron learned that the nurse had pneumonia Arrangements were made for her removal to tho hospital, but in the afternoon the nurse had a severe hemorrhage and died in a few minutes. The nurse's mother was admitted to the hospital, also suffering from pneu j monia, and she died a few hours later. Not a plume or feather adorned the hats of members of tho Women's Political Association at a meeting at Melbourne on October 18 to protest against the destruction of bird life for__the adornment of women's headwear. Miss Vida Goldstein, who presided, said women were always attacked when the question of bird life destruction came up. It was said that the vanity of women was responsible. She maintained that it was mainly due to the insensate desire to profit on the part of those who provided women's hats. If women only considered what a slaughter of birds resulted they would not degrade themselves by wearing such hate. The following resolution was carried:—"That this association pledges itself to assist the Ornithologists' Union and the Bird Observers' Club in the protection of bird life, and urges that legislation should be introduced against firms for offering for sale such barbarous millinery, as well as against the women who wear it. The tourist season opened on Tuesday, November 1. The steamer service from Te Anau to Glade Housa in connection with tho overland trip to Milford Sound was then instituted. The Government guides have some time since oommef.oed their m--spection of the overland track, but up bo the present no advice has been received as to what condition it is in. A fair number of inquiries have already been made in connection, with this trip. It is to be noted that from November 1 there will be a daily service to Queenstown, while during tho month of November special excursions at reduced rates are to be run in connection with the motor service between Fairiio and the Hermitage, Mount Cook. • A 6ample of ore sent from the Bullfinch mine, Western Australia, has been received by a Dunedin resident, and is now on view in the window of Messrs J. Wilkio and Sons' shop, in 'Princes street. An, assay of the quartz showed it to carry 60oz of gold to the ton. Tho gold is quite visible, being scattered in specks over the surface of the stone. Tho final examinations in connection with the evening classes at the Dunedin Technical School have now been completed, and tho winter session practically conoluded Oast week. Most of the examinations aro conducted by outeide examiners, who work in conjunction with the class teacher, and as some of the lists, which have to pass through the hands of both examiners, are somewhat lengthy, it is expected that the names of the certificate-holders will not bo made known for at least another week. In order to pass on to consumers the recent reduction in the wholesale price of sugar made by tho Colonial Sugar Company, the grocers of Dunedin will reduce tho retail price of sugar by Jd' per lbmaking it 2d per lb—on Oct. 31. Recently the soap manufacturers found it necessary on account of the increased eo.st of raw material to the price of soaps by £2 per ton. To adjust this alteration the grocers have made the requisite advance in the retail prices of soap 3. The report of the sanitary inspector, on the oondition of the Kaikorai Stream brought before the Taieri County Council An Friday the whole question of the control and supervision of the stream. Cr Freeman said that, as tho council had so very little interest in it, ho thought they should instruct their inspector to desist, from inspecting the stream. It would be better if Green Island would naav« in the

matter, and get the- control of the stream.. The chairman said it was still vested in the Taieri County Council. Members generally agreed that it was desirable to get rid of all responsibility in connection, with th« stream, and it was left with the chairman and the clerk to ascertain what steps wer« neceseary to attain this end. The following alteration in. the rates of postage for registered magazines is announced, and will come into operation as from to-day:—For each copy not exceeding' { Boz, id; every additional Boz or fractions, thereof, jd^ The Taieri County Council on Friday re* oeived a letter from-the Public Works Do« partment with regard to the expenditure of £75 for the Castlehill-Ba.rewood road an<{ of £49 for the Barewcod Runs road. Th 4 letter stated that the amounts available for expenditure on these roads were tco insig' nificant to justify the council in committing: itself to any expenditure. In the circumstances the available balances on these votes would b 9 allowed to lapse. The excursion tickets to Christchurch which members of the General Assembly or the Presbyterian Church were requested to take will be extended so as to be available for return journey till November 26, instead of November 19. The Assembly concludes on November 23. Our Greymouth correspondent reports that the Grey No-license League has forwarded telegrams to Sir Joseph Ward and •the Hon. A. R. Guinness, urging in respect to the new Licensing Bill the simpl« majority, a Dominion vote, and two ballot papers —one for the local and the other fo* the Dominion vote. It also urges the passing of such a bill this session. / A statement received by the Taieri County Council on Friday of tho revenue' and expenditure on the Outram-Clark'a telephone line for the year ended July 31j last showed a deficiency of no less than £4O 6s Id. The expenditure amounted to' £SB 19s, and the receipts were made up of £7 14s 4d from Clark's, £5 2s lOd from Lee \ Stream, and £5 15s 9d from Traquair. The amount of the subsidy due by the County Council was £26 10s. The clerk reported that the receipts had gone up £2 at Clark's' and £2 at Lee Stream as compared with the previous year. A young man named Frederick Alexander Urquhart, employed at the Dunedin Post Office, was arrested by Detective Ward on Friday morning on a charge that, on or about September 27, he did steal a letter containing a postal note, valued at £l, the property of the Postmaster-general. In the afternoon he was -.brought before Mr Bartholomew, S.M., and remanded until November 2, bail being allowed —himself in £2OO and two eureties of £IOO each. The sureties were forthcoming. During the past week 41 patients were admitted to the Hospital, and 30 were discharged. Two patients (Elizabeth Connor" and Margaret M'lndoe) died during the week, and the inmates remaining numbei 134, which is one less than at the end of the preceding week. '' Whatever you do, if you light a fire bo sure you put it out again." These words were spoken on Saturday by an old grey-haired man to a picnic party ascending Mount Cargill, and when the circumstances are known have behind them a pathos all their own. Dwellers in the city will have noticed that lately numerous bush fires have raged on the slopes of Pine Hill and Mount Oargill, and the old man's words received abundant point from the fact that his home and property had been swept away thereby. Tho party gleaned that two houses, miles of 'fencing, and & stable had been destroyed. Though this .'oss \va3 nit said to be chargeable to picnickers' fire 3, being due in point of fact to clearing operations by a settler, the necessity for caution by such parties in rela* tion to fires cannot' bo over-estimated, especially in view of tho very dry season so far experienced. A Press Association telegram from Wei-. lington states that an important point; cropped up in the Supreme Court on Friday in an appeal against a decision <-f Mr A. D. Thomson, S.M., who had dismissed a charge against Charles Crabbe of hav ing fished in the Otaki River without a license, contrary to Regulation 13. His Honor Mr Justice Cooper dismissed the appeal, holding, as the magistrate had held, that the regulation was ultra vires. Tho regulation, said Lis Honor, applied to all salt water fish in New Zealand, whereas it was only intended to protect'perch and trout; it was therefore contrary to tha statute and ultra vires. Mr L. J. Wild, 8.A.. of Otago Univer« sit'y, has (say 6 Wellington Post) been appointed an assistant master at Wellington Boys' College, vice Mr IT. W. Monaghan, who has decided to study for the Church. Mr Wild will enter upon his nej* duties on February 1. The secretary of the Dunedin Choral Society has received word from the society's president (Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P.), that his Excellency tha Governor (Lord Islington) has been pleased to accept the office of patron of the society. It is interesting to note that at the pre sent time choice Tasmanian apples are available on *he. local market at prices much below ihosc which have obtained in past years. This is due to the fact that in Tasmania there was a very heavy crop of this fruit last season—some 2,000,000 cases,—thus producing a surfeit in the market. In past years prices for the best duality of Hobart apples ranged at this

1 season from lis to 15s per case of 401 b, but I as against that, this year the price is as low as 7s to 8s 6d. Owing to this reduced price the shipment of fine American apples which recently came to hand is difficult to dispose of. This fruit has in the past realised from 12s to 16s without difficulty, but on this occasion a reserve of 12s 6d per case has been put on the fruit. The result of this is that out of a shipment of some 150 cases to one broker, so far only some 10 cases have been disposed of. j We (Western Star) understand that Mr ' Johnston, an expert representing the direcI tors of the Shale Company at Home, accompanied by Mr Lee, the New Zealand manager, paid a visit to the scene of the I boring operations at Orepuki on Saturday J week. He inspected the material being ! brought up, and pronounced it the finest ; shale he had seen. The shale is on top j of the hard shale, and is supposed to be 27ft thick. In Scotland they are working : a seam from 4in to 18in of the same quality at a profit. The fortnightly meeting of the Benevolent Committee of tho Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was held on Monday afternoon, there being present—Messrs W. j T. Talboys (chairman), S. S. Myers, J. H. : F. Hamol, and J. J. Clark. Forty-one I cases of relief were dealt with. The j deaths at the institution sinoe last meeting i were those of Maria Jackson, Stephen Bell, I William Morrison, and Joseph Bennett. The gardener of the Dunedin Hospital re- | ported upon the condition of the garden ; at tho Benevolent Home, Caversham. He : first congratulated Mr Mee upon the wellkept condition of the grounds, but suggested that agricultural drain pipes should take the place of the open ditches. He considered that the ground available could with systematic planting grow enough green vegetables to supply the institutions (the Dunedin Hospital as well) during the summer, but he would recommend that potatoes and turnips should be grown at Palmerston, where thero was more land. A subcommittee was appointed to consider the matter. During the month of October Mr MaxI well (registrar at Dunedin) registered j 141 births, 66 marriages, and 69 deaths. For the corresponding month «f Oast year tho figures were 142, ■ 52, and 77 -respectively. So far as the year has gone the births and marriages are maintaining their numbers. For the 10 months of this year which have expired there have been 1450 births and 539 marriages, the figures for tho corresponding period of last year being 1445 and. 505 respectively. There has, however, been a much greater mortality, chiefly of old per- | sons, this year, the deaths to date numoer- ! ing 747 as against 667 last year. At Monday's meeting -of the Otago University Council Dr Fitchett was appointed successor to the late Dr Blomfield as lecturer on materia medica. • A Press Association telegram from Christchurch states that two young American botanists have come to New Zealand to make special investigations into scientific questions here. Dr L. Cockayne, of Christchurch, has been informed of thejr visit by Professor E. A. Jeffrey, of Harvard, an eminent botanist in the field of microI scopical plant fossils, who has recently ! obtained a great deal of information re- ! garding the development and relationship of New Zealand pines to the fossil pines in the early geological periods in other countries. He has sent out two botanists —Messrs Sinnott and Eames who are students at Harvard. They will study living pines from every standpoint, but will study specially New Zealand fossil plants, notably pines and ferns, from anatomy of stems. Professor Jeffrey recently discovered methods by which it is possible to examine fossils from lignite that could not be investigated previously. Tho visitors at present are in the Waipoua kauri forest, in the North of Auckland district. They intend to remain in New Zealand for some months, examining collections in museums and fossils in coalfields. In Canterbury they will spend some time at the Mount Potts beds, in the Rangitata district. The average daily attendance at the Carnegie Public Library for tho week ended Saturday, October 29, was 654 persons. Acting under instructions of the Minister of Railways the chief mechanical engineer (Mr A. L. Beattie) has visited the Newmarket Railway Workshops and has personally investigated the allegations that "sweating" exists. He has now reported to the Minister that there is no ground for the allegation, and that the workmen employed at the shops are generally efficient' and industrious, and coercive measures are not needed or used. There is admittedly no dissatisfaction amongst tho men as a body and no sweating or unfair conditions. The New Zealand training ship Amokura, Captain Hooper, R.N.R., which left I Bluff last week for the outlying islands, ; will be away from that port for about i four weeks. She will visit the Auckland Islands first and then go on to Campbell Islands, the Antipodes, and the Bounties in that order. She is taking provisions in case it is necessary to replenish the depots for castaways, which the Government has established on tho principal islands, and Captain Hooper has also been instructed to repair any of the huts and erect new finger-posts to replace those which have become decayed. The Amokura will return to Wellington - at the end of Novem- ! ber or beginning of December, and after ' ». ohort stay there she will le»v*» £or the

Kermadecs, where she will search for castaways, and, if necessary, replenish the food depots. On Monday 43 men applied at tho Government Labour Bureau for employment, as against 37 on Monday of last week. During the week a few quarrymen were sent away to the Catlins River railway construction works, and an endeavoiir is being made to have some more men placed there this week. Labour conditions at the present time are not altogether favourable. The female labour bureau, which has been located in Moray place, is being transferred to the Labour Department's Offices in Dowling street. Tho petition that is being forwarded to the Presbyterian Assembly in connection with the invitation extended to the Rev. Graham Balfour, M.A., 8.D., to fill the vacancy at First Church, has been very largely signed. Fifty out of a total of 51 officers of the church, 457 members, and over 100 adherents have subscribed their names to the petition. Speaking at Wellington last week in reply to a toast at the complimentary luncheon tendered the visiting delegates to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Employers' Federation, the Hon. C. M. Luke, in a reference to the falling off in tho numbers of factory hands in the Dominion, declared it was a matter which called for serious reflection. What they svanted to-day was confidence in one another So that development might proceed along those lines which would benefit the people and country as a whole. The war of the future would be an industrial war, common to Great Britain, Europe, and Canada. There was a problem to be solved, and ho who could solve it was deserving of nothing short of a kingdom. He hoped the Government would see that the employers were carrying just about as big a burden as they well could bear. They must sink their differences, and bo loyal to the federation and the executive, and so make the federation strong enough to command the respect of the powers that be. A very numerously-signed petition of Southland members has been presented to Parliament by the member for Mataura (Mr G. J. Anderson) asking for a searching inquiry into the validity of the titles of Mr H. A. Massey to certain State forest reserves, and for the amendment of the State Forest Act, to provide for an appeal to the Supreme Court in all future cases, where any person may consider himself aggrieved by any decision given under the authority of the act. The petition sets out that the sawmill licenses granted under the regulations of 1886 comprise several thousands of acres, certainly more than 15,000, and nearly the whole of this area, and the most extensive and valuable part of it, was originally granted to Horatio A. Massey, of Invercargill. At least, SCOO aores, it is stated, have not been worked by him but retained as virgin forest, and the sawmilling industry of Southland is being retarded and settlement in bush areas prevented. This land, once comparatively useless, is now said to be greatly enhanced in valua by the unearned increment. The petitioners have been advised that the licenses long ago expired, and they have made repeated applications for sawmill licenses, but they have been refused or declined consideration on the ground that the reserves are held under a good title. The Supreme Court declined to review the Commissioner's decision on the ground that his jurisdiction was absolute and the act does not admit of an appeal. The petitioners also claim that further areas and reserves in the Spar Bush forest have also expired by effluxion of time, but no appeal is allowed. Mr C. Holdsworth, general manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, who arrived in Sydney by the Manuka last week, informed a Daily Telegraph reporter that the company had in hand a new passenger steamer for the intercolonial trade, which will be larger and faster than thei Marama. The contract for this ship has been let to the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company. In addition, the company has purchased a cargo steamer, and placed an order for a second cargo steamer of 2700 tons for the trade between Tasmania and Sydney. An Invercargill telegram states that, though the police have been actively searching, no trace has been found of M'Queen and Gordon, the two prisoners who escaped from the Liffcy street prison on Friday afternoon. Among those who have devoted their lives to the developing and perfecting of the X-ray system there have been some eminent men who have met an untimely end as the result of X-ray burns caused while experimenting, and who Have thereby made themselves martyrs to the cause of science. The practical results of their experimenting are to be found in tho frequent introductions of improvements which have, in most instances, had for their object tho minimising of the risks to the patient attendant upon the X-ray treatment. Among the latest of these, and admittedly an important one,is an invention by the application of which to an X-ray system the time of exposure of the patient to the rays can be very greatly reduced, without in any way affecting the success of the operation. Mr D. Edwin Booth, masseur, medical electrician, and radiologist, of Dunedin, and honorary masseur to the Dunedin Hospital, has just added to an already extensive plant of a new invention, which takes the form of a special intensifying screen, which, worked in coniunction

with his X-ray installation, enables him £o reduce the length of exposure to the X-rays of a limb or any part of the body the condition of which is to be ascertained, to the extent of 95 per cent. An idea, of the effectiveness of this screen may be gained from a negative, which clearly shows the outlines of a man's ankle. The negative was obtained from an exposure of six seconds, and, placed beside a negative obtained without the screen and from En exposure that lasted' for two minutes, shows practically equaJly as good results. Negatives required of internal parts of the body, ordinarily requiring a 10-minutes' exposure, and sometimes longer, may be obtained through the agency of the intensifying screen in two minutes. Quite naturally this has its many advantages, for it not only means a great saving of time to the operator, but, most important of all, it means that the person being operated on is not subjected to an exposure of any duration, and the risks of burning are accordingly reduced to a minimum. The introduction of this improvement will serve as an assuranoa to intending patients that the danger of burning is infinitesimal, and should tend to a much wider application of the X-ray treatment. Some person or persons of a destructive or malicious disposition on Sunday night cut the la*ge black signal ball adrift at the Port Chalmers signallingstation and rolled the ball down the precipitous face of Flagstaff Hill. Climbing up the flagstaff he (or they) cut the halyards through, with the result that no signals could be made to incoming shipping that Victoria Channel was clear or otherwise for navigation. Fortunately there was no inward shipping on Monday for the Upper Harbour, and the possibility of a collision through no signals being available was thus minimised. There are occasions, however, when an act of the kind might have far-reaching consequences, and should the offender be discovered it is hoped'; he will be severely dealt with. The matter has been reported to the pojice, who are making inquiries.