NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 28

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

AUCKLAND. The Conciliation Council arrived at a complete settlement in regard to- the dispute among the tinsmiths and metalworkers. The rate of wages is increased a penny per hour to Is 4d; a week's work is fixed at 47 hours. Wages of apprentices are increased. A lad named J. Uaulkner saw a man fall off the Queen street wharf on the 12th. He plunged in to the rescue and found that the man had drifted under the wharf. The boy seized him and helped him to the stringers, whence both were subsequently rescued. The man rescued was G. J. Brown. He would assuredly have been drowned but for the boy's pluck.

The Auckland Magistrate's Court was pleasantly enlivened last week by an old gentleman possessing genial , and rubicund features, who appeared to explain to the magistrate the reason why he had been, unable to pay a debt. After giving a short history of his family the debtor was asked by a solicitor why he did not pay something. " Now, look here, don't you be in a hurry," said the former with a wealth of cordiality in his tone. " I'll pay as soon as I get a pound or two. Now, sir " (turning to the Bench), " just you adjourn the case for three months, and then I'll pay something off. You understand ?" His Worship having intimated that he understood, the defendant went on to say, '' I suppose I have got the worst leg any man in the world has got."—(Laughter.) " Do you go to the races?" queried the solicitor. " Oh, yes, they send me a ticket and I get in free because I am the oldest racing man in Auckland, and, bless- you, I've owned some of the best horses in the place, and when I've got & bit of money you don't find me pleading poverty. Now, then, what about that month or two adjournment? " —(Laughter.) The Solicitor : "Do you ever -put a pound on a horse?" Debtor (contemptuously): " Pooh,- I've put hundreds of pounds on 'em." —(Loud laughter.) Mr Kettle: ''With what result?" Debtor (cheerfully). " Oh, I've had a good time, sir. But it's this way : there comes a stage when the luck turns You understand " ''Yes, I understand," concluded his Worship. The case was adjourned. When digging in a garden at Whangarei on the 17th a local, resident, unearthed a human skeleton, probably that of a girl, at the depth of only 18in. Nothing is known positively connecting the discovery with a crime, but it is reported that a girl was missing from a house a number of years ago. Investigation on the 18th inst. revealed the broken remains of three other skeletons in the vicinity of yesterday's discovery. The police theory is that the skeletons were used for anatomical purposes by a doctor who resided in the house many years ago. From the beginning of February of this year up to the present no fewer than 41 new schools have been opened in the Auckland district, the largest being that at Frankton. which at present has a roll number of 60. The new schools give accommodation for an average of probably 20 pupils. Owing to the Harbour Board's refusal to open the sheds on the wharf on Sunday and the waterside workers' decision not to work on Labour Day, the Maheno was unable to leave Sydney on the 22nd.

POVERTY BAY. The Harbour Board has received a tender from Messrs Longlands and Co., Nelson, for 200 ft extension of the breakwater. The amount is £13,799. Consideration has been deferred till Monday next.

I HAWKE'S BAY. | Th'e charge against Alfred Robert Doni aldson, a lolerk in the employ of the j borough, of the theft of £570, arising out I of the recent robbery at the corporation offices, was investigated to-day by Mr S. E. M'Oarthy, S.M. After a lengthy hearing. the magistrate dismissed the information, stating that the evidence showed nothing against accused beyond mere suspicions. Accused was admitted to bail in connection j with two minor charges on which he was ' committed for trial yesterday. ! At an indignation meeting of the i Napier Branch of the "Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants a vigorous protest wao entered against the noni increase of the wages of certain sections I of the lower-paid men !

. TARANAKI. I St. John's Methodist Church at Kapanga was dedicated on the sth before a , crowded congregation by the president of the conference, the "Rev. C. W. J. Spence, of Palmerston North. The new building is a handsome structure.The total Hospital Saturday and Sunday collections amounted to £531. At a meeting of the New Plymouth High School Governors on the 18th the resignation was received of Mr W. Prideham, principal since the establishment of the school in 1881. The resignation wfil take effect at the end of the year. Applications for the new principal will be invited in Australia and New Zealand.

A well-known Maori named Ned Skipper has been missing since the 12th inst. The police want him to answer a charge of being unlawfully on licensed premises, but circumstances point to suicide or accident, as he had borrowed a neighbour's gun. A search party failed to find any trace of him.

WELLINGTON. The Chamber of Commerce to-day decided to support the Farmers' Union proposal for a through railway booking system by rail and sea throughout the - Dominion. Ah Wong,, a Chinese seaman on the tramp steamer Walkure,> was charged with assaulting another Chinaman on board the vessel during the trip from Auckland to Wellington last week. The charge was withdrawn on the 10th, as the magistrate had no jurisdiction, the alleged offence having been committed on a foreign vessel on the high seas. The Railway Department is instituting an inspectorial service, partly uniformed, in connection with the passenger- trains, and eight specially-picked men, who have been promoted from service as guards, have been appointed for the North Island, and the same number will probably be appointed for the South Island. The adjourned annual meeting of the Wellington Provincial. Industrial Association was held to-night. The secretary reported the final surplus from the recent exhibition to be £1464 7s lOd. The sum of £IOO was voted to the secretary (Mr H. F. Allen) and £IOO to be divided between the three -commissioners (Messrs T. Ballinger, L. R. Partridge, and E. Bull) for their. services. The total bonuses came to £238 17s. It was decided to place £I2OO in the bank for 12 months on fixed deposit at 4 per cent. The annual meeting of the governors of the Veterans' Home was held on the 'l9th, his Excellency the Governor in the chair. The report showed that the average number of resident veterans had been 38. The accommodation was limited to 40. Seven of the original members were still in the home. The board passed a hearty vote of thanks* to the Auckland Committee for its excellent work during the year, and to all others who had assisted. The Governor was re-elected president, Colonel R. J. Collins hon. secretary, and the Hon. E. Mitchelson hon. treasurer. The Hon. E. Mitchelson and Mr J. H. B. Coates were appointed trustees.

CANTERBURY. Grace Annie M'Taggart pleaded guilty at the Magistrate's Court on the 11th to a charge of bigamy. She was first married in 1886, but her husband left her, and she did not hear from him for 13 years, and considered she had a perfect right to marry Charles Ashby Ash by, in 1906. She was committed for sentence to the Supreme Court. Bail was allowed.

At the meeting of the Christchurch Anti-Militarist League arrangements weTe made for the distribution of peace and anti-militarist literature in the city electorates. The following motion was unanimously agreed to —"That this meeting tenders its most emphatic protest against the -scandalous admissions of the defence authorities concerning the prosecution of those who had not registered under the Defence Act. wherein it is intended to prosecute only in special cases, and is of opinion that such conduct is a deliberate prostitution of the people's ideas of equity and justice."