THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Nelson, Thursday, June 20, 1907. SUMMARY NOTES.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11966, 20 June 1907, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Nelson, Thursday, June 20, 1907. SUMMARY NOTES.

Parliament is to open next week, on the 27th, and the Premier, who has arrived in Australia on his way home from attending the Imperial Conference, ig expected to reach the Capital on Wednesday next Arrangements are being made in Wellington with a view to according Sir Joseph Ward a hearty welcome on his arrival. The work of the session will probably be taken up in earnest within a fortnight, and many questions of considerable importance ! will engage attention. The long discussed Land Bill is not to be introduced in its original form, but the objects contemplated are to be provided for in three distinct measures. Of these the first will be i a bill to provide for a graduated land tax with the^ intention of placing such a burden on the shoulders of those holding large areas, that the owners will resort to subdivision. An assurance has been given that the ordinarry settlers will not be injurious I}'1 }' affected by the bill, and it is clearly stated that the object is not to raise additional revenue, but to burst up the big estates. Another of the three measures will provide for setting aside Crown lacd as an endowment, the rents to be devoted to providing for education, old ago pensions, and charitable aid ; while the third bill will provide for the leasing of such lands for a term of sixty-six years, with right of renewal, and with the provision that the leaseholder is to receive tbe value of his improvements. It is anticipated that the question of tariff reform will occupy the atten tion of Parliament, and a number of other matters are to be brought forward. The Government is steadily carrying out its policy of providing land for closer settlement. It was recently announced that the Government had purchased 56,009 acres between .Wanganui and Waitotara rivers foi subdivision and settlement. It] is alao intended to take, for a like? purpose, the Carrinetton Estate, Wadrarapa, containing 6178 acies, and the Culverden Estate, containing 20,000 acres. In this district the Waugapeka" Estato of some six thousand acres is about to be let in comparatively small holdings, aud it is believed that the Braeburu Estate, on the Kiver Mangles, will also be acquired shorty under the Lands for Settlement Act for subdivision. We have also been informed tnat the Government intend to drain the Piako Swamp, or a portion of it, which lies between the Thames and the Waikato, with a view to some of this great swamp being turned to account by means of flax cultivation, and other parts rendered lit for settlement. All this is in the right direction, for it means that within a comparatively short time there will be a considerable accession to the numbers of those who aro profitably occupying the soil, that the volume of our products will be increased and employment found for more people. With the exception of the last week we have had very little -wintry weather in Nelson so far, but other parts of the Colony liave been less fortunate. At the end of last month it was reported to b© very cold in

the South, while gales were e.vperi enoed on the East Coast frooi Auckland downward. At Wellington all shipping was delayed, and at Dunedin the gale stripped the ornamental work from tho 3teeDle of the First Church. t }•* Towards the end of last month the steamer Jane Douglas was towin? the schooner Eunice out of Hokitika harbor when the schooner grounded on a spit and the steamer in trying to fet her off went ashore on the opposite side of the river, but was subsequently floated. A fresh occurred in the river during the night, and this washed away the sandspit on which the Eunice was aground, and tho schooner was carried out of the harbor, but she was cast up on the beach and wrecked. The Bb ip Glenlui, bound from Adelaide to a port on the west coast of South America with a cargo of wheat, met with a terribl9 buffeting aftev leaving the Australian coast, and only just managed to make Otago Heads. She was swept by terrific seas, her bulwarks, stanchions and wheel were washed away, while the cabin was flooded and the water got down the hold. The first mate, Mr Jones, was cashed overboard, and others were injured. L By dint of hard work at the pumps the vessel was kept afloaj; till tugs from Port Chalmers drew her to the port. One of the worst cases of shipwreck that have occurred on the New Zealand coast for some time happened about three o'clock last Thursday morning when the Northern Steamship Company's s.s. Kia Ora, bound from Waitara to Kawhia, struck on the Piritoki reef during a fog, and in a short time the vessel broke in two, when some of those on board became entangled in the rigging and were drawn down by the sinking ship. By means of a boat and a raft thirty of thosb who were on the illfated steamer eventually reached the shore, but owing to the beaking surf they dared not attempt to land till after daylight. Most of the survivors were more or less injured and one man had a leg and ribs broken, besides being internally hurt. During the time the survivors were in the boat and on the raft,, which was taken in tow of the boat, their experience must have been trying in the extreme but the stewardess, Miss Keller, endeavoured to cheer them by singing, and she speaks highly of the behaviour of the shipwrecked, especially that of the women. Captain Blacklock; a popuidr and careful seaman, went down with the ship, and there is reason to fear that at. least live others perished, but there is some uncertainty as to the number of passengers on board. ' OnJSunday morning last, in consequence of a mishap which led to an oil launch, " belonging to the Maoris of the Croixelles, catching fire, three Maoris wero drowned. Pull particulars appear in another portion of this issue. Following the wheat speculations in America, tho price of wheat and flour continued to advance last month, till the price of flour rose as much as £2 103 in a fortnight, being q oted at .£l.l a ton, and wheat was quoted at 4s Gd. As a consequence the price of bread went up to seven pence, and biscuits were also advanced in price, but values soon began to recede, and flour fell ten shillings a ton. In Dundin the four pound loaf is to be reduced to 6V£d next week. - On the recommendation of his Honor, the Chief Justice, ten gentlemen of the New Zealand Bar have been appointed King's Counsel, namely, Dr. Findlay, the Attorney General, Messrs H. D. Bell, M. Chapman C. P. Skerett J. A. Tolo F. E. Baume T. J. Joynt T. W. Stringer J. H. Hosking and S. Solomon. At the swearing-in of Dr. Findlay, Mr Chapman and Mr Belli in Wellington, Mr Justice Cooper remarked that the Bar of New Zealand had been distinguishrd for a fgreat number of years for its learning, ability and, that high sense of Uonor which is one of tho traditions of the English bar, but hitherto there had been no appointments of KiDg's Counsel id the Colony. That occasion might be fairly deemed to be historical. The annual report of the Bank of New Zealand was issued recently, and an extremely gratifying report it is, for not only does it show the remarkable strides which the Bank has made; as it is at once apparent that it is the general prosperity of the Colony that has enabled the Bank under sound management to reach its present enviable position. It was shown that the profits for the period, after providing for all exponses, bad and doubtful debts, and making provision for annual donation to Provident Fund, and for bonus to staff amounted to £350,880. From this has to be deducted the interest on guaranteed stock, £4o, ooo, leaving £310,880. Of thia sum the Directors allocated £16,000 in re duction of Bank premises and furniture; £25,000 provided the 5 per cent interim dividend on the preference shares, and £25,000 provided 5 per cent interim dividend on the ordinary shares. As to the £244,880 remaining the Directors recommended that it should be disposed of as follows: — Dividend at the rate of 2j^ per cent on preference shares, making 7^j per cent for the year, £12,500; dividend at the rate of 5 per cent on ordinary shares, making JO per cent for the year, £25,500; transfer to Reserve Fund, bringing it up to £250,000, £168,705; and grant Officers Provident Fund, to £7000; leaving a balance of £31,675 to be carried forward. It is satisfactory to notice that thej Gear Meat Company have declared a dividend at the rate of six per cent for the half year. Amongst local matters, it may be mentioned that a contract has been let for the erection of a new Central School for girls in Nelson. In connection with the Maoriland Copper Company it is said nhat the ore sent to Australia for smelting, with a view to securing a practical test, has given a return of about £13 per ton, but we have not received an official statement. It is reported that Messrs Smyth'e and Co. have taken the position formerly held by the late Sr A, Cadman in respect to the Parapara Iron Leases. With increased activity on the part of the Puponga Coal Company, with cement works in Golden Bay, and with iron works also established there this portion of the Colony ought to advance rapidly.

'Havelook Town Hall.— «To-niorrow evening a ball will be held at Havelock to celebrate the opening of the new Town Hall. Nelson Cribbage Association— Last night a match was played between the Old Navals and the Nelson Rifles, when the latter wan, the scores being: Nelson Rifles, 14 games; Old Navals, 11. A match was also played between the Maitai Bowling Club and the Fire Brigade. The former won, scoring 14 games to tbe Fire Brigade 11 games. The Chamber of Commerce. — The: monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce will be held^this* leveningI evening in the Oddfellows' Hall. With the large accession of members of late, the attendance should be much greater than tbe reading-room Would accommodate. The business will j include the revision of rules; the advisability of adopting a scale of mercantile charges and the reading of a paper on Imperial Preferential Trade, by Mr Wm. Spencer Hampson. Methodists and Their Amusements —The Methodist Conference at Sydney, by a large j majority, passed a resolution stating that in view of the great moral and 'spiritual peril attaching to dancing theatre-going and other amusements of a questionable nature the members and adherents of the Churcn be strongly and affectionately urged to abstain entirely from such amusements and not allow themselves to take part or encourage others in any practices however alluring or fashionable which tended to lower the tone of their Christian experiences or lessen their influence for good. Ocean Routes. — For the present, until the Panama Canal is completed and ready for traffic, the new route for the world's commerce that has now been opened across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is by far the shortest and most practicable in existence. Its promoters have all along pointed out the striking fact that this isthmus is the nearest to what may be termed the axial line of the world's trade, which is a line drawn from Hongkong to Yokohama, thence across the Pacific to San Francisco and across the United States to New York, and finally across the Atlantic to Liverpool. Mesrss W. Rout and Sons report having sold property at Collingwood belonging to Mr Cottier, the purchaser being Mr Keith McKinna. Magistrate's Court. — The action reported in yesterday's issue, J. D. Clancy v. M. Tewhena, was brou ht by the Rev. Father Clancy as legal manager of the Stoke Orphanage, to recover wages due to a lioensed out inmate of that institution. Ladies and Gentlemen, — We stock everything in good class materials, and give tbe best style and workmanship at moderate rates. — tiarford and Daly, Trafalgar-street. Woods' Great Peppermint Cure for Coughs and Colds never fails. Is 6d and 2s 6d. The public are informed that there is plenty of Victory Butter obtainable at 1/1 pei 10. Ask your grooer for this choice brand. Encourage local industry, and take no other. . • ' «. Selecting an Okgan — We understand that recently a committee of musical gentlemen was set up to make the selection of an organ for the West Oxford Anglican Church, Canterbury, and that they unanimously decided to recommend one made by the Carpenter Company. These organs are being sold in this city by Mr Lock, who receives them direct from the Carpenter Company, U.S.A. The makers claim that for the styles of organs there are no better instruments in the world to-day, the tone quality especially being unsurpassed. Mr Lock is also importing some really up-to-date arid stylish pianos from some of the leading London and Continental makers, which he is selling at low prices and easy terms. Mr Lock has also just to hand, direct from the factories, COO pairs of curtains, and a shipment of lL.e wonderful Atlas sewing machines. An immense stock of furniturp is also on sale, Thj Tempebatuke. — At; three o'clock this miming the thermometer outside this ofLe^ registered 32 degrees.