NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10956, 26 April 1907, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

(Per Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, this day. ! An indication of the growth of trade at the port of Auckland is furnished by a return just compiled by the Customs Department. During tlie quarter ended March 31st last the total value of exports was £1,008,766, which is easily a record, oxceeding the previous best quarter (which ended on December 31st last) by £56,033. '• The value of imports was £1,012,510, as compared with the previous record total of £1,121,070 of the last December quarter, being a decrease of £108,560, although the duty collected (£197,766) ex.eods that of the previous quaiter by £60C0. A case in which n fireman named Robert Kerr sued M. G. McGregor, as executor of the will of the late William Alexander McGregor, for £31 18s, alleged balance' of wages, was befoie Mr Kettle, S.M. 1 His Worship said this was a case in which • the plaintiff had been engaged at a rate of wages lower than that fixed by the awards. The plaintiff, in bringing the action, had tajcen advantage of a Supreme Court decision, to the effect that when, a workman agreed to accept less than the amount fixed by the award he could at any time afterwards sue for the balance. He (Mr Kettle) held that such a claim was void, and that no person who entered into such an agreement as referred to could recover the full award wages in that Court. He refused to hear the case, upholding the contention that proceedings should .have been taken in a court of summary jurisdiction, and that the Magistrate's Court was not such a Court. Thirty-three candidates sought election to 15 seats on the City Council. . Twelve outgoing Councillors, who by special resolution last month increased the membership to 15, stood in a body on one ticket, and as a different ticket was noniinuted by the labor party, a sharp line of distinction was drawn, with a gap between the two filled in by eight independent candidates, the remaining three, Messrs. McKay, Peacocke, and Patterson, • being added to the Council ticket as nominees of the Liberal and Labor Fedetition. The result was a triumph for the policy of the existing Council each o. the members being re-electea. The three additional seats were filled by the election of Dr. Stopford, one of, the nominees nf the Labor party, but who also 'had '.he support of other sections of the comnitinity. Mr P. M. McKay, who has previoasly held office on a number of local bodies, and Mr W. O. Somers, shipping age.it. who stood independently of the warty. With the exception of Dr. Stopford, Mr A.Rosser headed the poll as far as tho Labor ticket was concerned, being twentieth on the list. With so many candidates and so many seats to fill, the counting of votes was a lengthy process, and it was luilf-past three" before the final 'returns were made up. PALMERSTON N., this day. The North Island Brass*Band Executive met last night, Mr M. Cohen presiding. It was decided that the next contest be. held in New . Plymouth ; that selections be procured from Boosev and Co. and R. Smith and Co., and the march from Mr O. Tinssel; that for the purpose of creating a standard inauguration of B grade contests all winners of first, second aud third prizes for the past three years shall not compete at B grade competitions at the 1908 contest or subsequent to the 1908 contest. A notice of motion was tabled that two judges be appointed for the contests, as' it was unfair to keep men wait-in,-* when the contests extended over three days. - WELLINGTON, this day. Several unusually heavy thunderstorms passed over the city last evening. Tlie display, of lightning was particularly vivid, lighting up at times the whole of the harbor and surrounding hills.'.' Rain fell at tinics in torrents. The storm played' havoc with the telephone service. The s.s. Athenic, which sailed for London last evening, took 14,507 boxes of butter. . At the annual meeting of the Wellington Patent Slip Company a dividend of 6 per cent. Svas declared. - A summary of the working of the port of Wellington for the half-year ended March 31st was presented to the Harbor Board to. day. This showed that compared with the corresponding period ,of the previous year, there had been an. increase of 359 in the number of vessels arriving, the total tonmvze being 2,659,338, an in-- ; crease of 360,658. There was an increase for the twelve months of outward foreign shipments of 17,343 tons, and of colonial I and coastal shipments of 9.716 tons j Wool shipments increased by 2887 bales,, I and hemp by 12,854 bales. The imports ! increased from 120,311 tons to 134,930 tons.NELSON, this d«y. H.M.S. Prometheus arrived from Lyttelton at 5 o'clock last evening. A shipment of four hundred: cases of Motueka-grown apples go to London by the Athenic 'from Wellington. CHRISTCHURCH, this day. A large number of entries have been received in connection with the re-judg-ing of the wines and spirits exhibits at the recent Exhibition. The valuable meteorological instruments which formed part ,of the British Government's exhibit at -the. International-Exhi-bition have been secured by the Victorian Government, and will be shipped to Melbourne -forthwith. '■■' . Mr .G. Laurenson, M.H.R., has been in communication with the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister 0 i Marine, with regard to pushing on the Harbor Board's Consolidation Bill, and has received a- reply from the Minister to the effect that he hopes to .put. the Bill through Parliament next session. . ' • DUNEDIN. this day. ..'«U a meeting of the Otago Harbor Board, it wii6 resolved to incorporate in the new by-laws the following clause: — "The, maximum charge on any one vessel for port charges, .pilotage, and harbormaster's fees, both inwards and Outwards, shall not exceed £180 on any one visit, and in tlie case of foreign 'steamers calling twice at the port on one voyage such charge shall not exceed £200." At. a meeting, of the Acclimatisation Society the depredations of deer on the crops in the Rankleburn district (Tapanui) was considered. Mr R. Cliisholm reported as his visit to the . district, and saw the only remedy was the,,erection of a deer-proof fence, which would require to be 6ft high. It was proposed by the executive that if the Government paid half the society would 'contribute the other half (about £400) of the cost o! this fence. They thought it was policy to spend £400, with a view to getting £200 annually from licenses. It was stated there weije only two alternatives, either the killing of the deer or the erection of the fence. The executive's recommendation, which was , -confirmed, read : "That the Government be strongly recommended t 0 declare tho area in question as a deer forest, and that to protect the adjacent settlers from the Cluthii side of the said area, a fence be' erected, the Government to be asked to contribute half the 'cost, the society and settlers to provide the other half." In the city elections out of 10,106 electors on the rolls for the six wards 5855 voted for the two Mayoral candidates. Out of eleven of the old councillors w*u sought re-election as councillors, four v^rc defeated. Tlie Independent- Political Labor League put forward seven candidates, but only one secured a seat. The monthly meeting of the Committee of the* Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society was held' yesterday. 'Lhe Nil"-" tir.nal Shccpbrceders' Association. I«)ivln... wrote a.skiug the society to nominate ono delegate to attend a conference lo be held in liondun in June. Mr D. McFarlane (late of Teviot station) was appointed, to represent the society. , y „ His . Excellency * the Governor"-, leftQueenstown yesterday morning, and travelled by steamer and train to Lunisden, receiving several addresses on the way expressing the warmest loyalty to the King. His Excellency's tour of the interior of Otago ends to-day, when he returns to Dunedin, going on to Christchuirch on Saturday. (Special to Herald.) When Dan Boyd, the first trombone player of the Kaikorai band, had to lay up in Dunedin hospital instead of going with his band to the Exhibition contest, Mr 'Harold Oakes, of Taranaki, kindly offered to take his place. Mr Oakes has now come to Dunedin as a member of the Exhibition orchestra, and' it is somewhat a coincidence that when he was taken ill on Tuesday Boyd was chosen to fill his place in the orchestra. An old grievance by fruit importers is revived by a. wire received by Mr A. Moritzson that fruit brought from Tonga to Auckland by the Navua has been found infected by the fruit fly and condemned. There is no hardship as far as that goes. Where the hardship i.s lies in the fact that Dunedin fruit on the same steamer ' will probably be condemned here. The • point is why not condemn it at Auckland ! right away, and save the freight down the coast, or. better still, have it inspected at Tonga before it is .shipped. The attendance at Dr Findlay's exposition of the Land Bill and other -matters of Government policy last night reflected a- good deal 0 f credit on Palmerston South, for in this part of the colony it has not been anything like approached' by the attendances drawn by other speakers taking part in the laud campaign. He had not, and admitted frankly tliat he had not, an audience wholly in sympathy with the principles of the measure lie was cliam- .. pioning, but he had their undivided attention. '-: ■■.';■■■ ; f