WORKERS' DWELLINGS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13484, 26 July 1907, Page 4

WORKERS' DWELLINGS.

A report on workers', dwellings* has been submitted to Parliament, together with a return showing the number of dwellings erected, the area and value, of the land on .which they are built, cost of buildings and fencing, " the number 6f dwellings leased, rent received, and so on. From this it appears that up to the 31st Maroti last sevontyrone dwellings had been erected at Auckland, Welling*-' ton, Christchurch l and Dunedin, at a cost for buildings and" 'fencings of £26,896.. The. land occupied. was just under thirteen acres, and wad 'valued at £6965, making ar. total, of £33,861 for, land and buUdj'ngs,. "" , At th© end of March fif ty-twp tif tlife Rouses were ocqu-, pied and eightlhavo been taken \tp shied then. The monthly reni. of fhe fiftj'-two' dwellings leased at" tho end of March amounted to £112, or at the ratf* -)f £1344 a 'year. The tepar£ states that the stylo of the houses' fias beerr generally, approved , and considerable astonishment has been' expressed that such comfortable a,nd . .pretentious houses could be erected- the thfe 'mdney^and let at such low rentals.. Photographs at-, tached to the report shbw^that-s'bme. of the hoijfees arc Unnecessarily pretentious—of t66 noricf a style of architecture, wh'fle at Petqne. com plaints have 'been marTo tftat the rents too 1 high." The latter are-dn a' five "per cent, basis, a rate whirl) every"' house-owrrer will declare to bo too low, and which will allow too little margin for loss^ of rent through 1 ouses being unoccupied occasionally or through tenants "skipping by the light of the moon" and omitting to pay up the rent. Then there is too little provision for pa-inting, repairs, and depreciation, especially upOn the wooder. houses, so that the experiment is likely to result in a loss, and this loss will be thrown upon the country at large. The Minister for Public Works some time ago eaid he couftl hot asKf tlie city people to. submit- to taxation for the benefit o£ the back-blocks, ..but there seems to be, no Hesitation on the part of the Government* to tax the country in, order to .make things comfortable in the cities. Take the Petone workers' homes for example. The State is providing these at an actual loss, and is spending a huge sum of money on the duplication of the railway line into Wellington, so that tenants may get into the city at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour. The dwellers in the back-blocks, on the other hand, have to submit to all sorts of hardships and inconveniences because the Government has no money to make roads. The Hon. Mr Millar expresses bis intention to largely extend the workers' homes scheme and give still cheaper houses, but the first duty of the Government, we contend, is, to do justice to the people they have induced to take up the land in the back-blocks, before^ taxing the 'country to make things easy and* pleasant in the cities. .

Owing to a typographical error, Mr Fred .Bayly's name was omitted from the list of subscribers of 10s to the Marsland Hill Memorial. . - Some sections at Ohakimo, on the Main Trjurik- Line, have been sold at a considerable ' advance oh upset prices. Competition is lieen. &me town sections recently realised £51$*10sf: Captain Ed\vin telegraphed the following weather forecast at 1 p.m. *• »- day: — Strong winds to gale from the East after twelve hour's. Glass will fall soon. Tides high. Sea heavy. Rain probable. A big opening for. the export of Queensland beef has been found at Vladivostock. Rearing in Siberia is l>ein^ seriously affected by drought and disease, and it is anticipated that Queensland will be able to retain the trade. The output of the Eltham Dairy Factory for the past season, the Argus reports, constituted a record. Altogether 807£, tons" of. butter were manufactured and £67,0f9 paid out to suppliers. The year's working leaves a balance of £2000 still to be distributed, and this .will bring th© amount paid for butter-fat up to KXJd per lb, as against 10.24 d last year. The busiest month' was December, when 122* tons of butter was manufactured and £10,644 paid out. The ravages of sleeping sickness in Central Africa \rere described by Dr. Wollaston,. an explorer, on his return to London recently. He said that from Lake Tanganyika through' the Mairyuoma the country was devastated by this terrible plague. He describes the sights as being fearful. The dead .and dying are seen on the roadside. Almost every village presented a revolting spectacle, for it is the custom of these people to turn out the stricken to die. In this country the population are dying by thousands, and are absolutely, without any medical attention. In Uganda alone over a quarter ,of a million have succumbed to sleeping sickness since it broke out a few'years ago. • There will be some big bargains »n ladies' felts at Ward's to-morrow. Hats worth 10s 6d will be sold for Is lid. Why wait for that hoarseness to "wear off," when Zymole Trokeys will stop it so much quicker? Disagreeable coughs are often, avoided by the use of Zymole Trokeys. . - . 9

C. Gilbert, who is running second in tho third class competition at the local draughts tournamont, is a boy of fourteen years. Under the will of tho late Mr. John Close, of Napier, a hundredweight of coal is to be given to every poor person in that town every 21st ofi Juno, in commemoration of the birthday of the late Mrs. Closo. At the annual meeting' of the Nelson" branch of the Navy League yesterday a resolution was carried approving of the Governments proposal to increase the naval subsidy rather than establish a colonial navy. Mr. It. J. Deare, of the Boot Arcade, has been granted permission by the Education Board to erect large advertisement boards over tho verandah .of his now promises, provided he places them in such a position as not to interfere with the lighting of the offices. Mr Brockett has written to the Town Clerk stating that the leak in the clock tower at the Post Office will be attended to. He assures the Council that fche clock is in no danger whatever of being damaged eten if nothing were done a remedy the. defect. f . Tho Ashburtqn Mail states since April the County Council has paid for 17,452 small birds' heads: For the corresponding period last year thejiumber of heads paid for was only 2871. In several districts there is a marked decrease in the number of birds to be seen — the result "f poisoned grain. A youth — a novice apparently — was to handle a bird at the New lymouth show, and thero was a riskf its plumage being somewhat damped. Suddenly, however, a man rushed p in an excited state of mind, exclaimlg, "Now, then, can't you let . the irds alone ? Do you. want to spoil their jliage?" On Wednesday a branch of the New e'aland Civil Service Association was >fmed in this district, thus falling into no with tho other _ centres of the Dolinion..- Tho matter was enthusiasticlly taken up, all present becoming memers, while several unable to attend, ignified their intention to join. A reresentative committeo was elected, and j ho new branch bids fair to be a " live " no. The Wellington City Corporation proosos to spend £80,000 on duplicating he Wainui water main, for which cast fon pipes will "be required. The extrauty imposed by the new tariff' will incase the cost by £12,000. For elecric lighting it is importing ,£26,000 rorth of appliances, and on this the dded duty will be £2,000, and the Counil has to borrow tho money to, pay these, harges. ~ . . . „ - .' * - , . , , , The Musical Society whiclTwas formd abdut' three weeks'* af|o lias held two ohearsals for a concert to' be given this o'ason. . A strong and, , representative, ommittee is going carefully into the rganisation of the Society and will «n-. ieavour to ensure its success. The >*:- earsals have been well attended, but apre alto and tenor vocalists are retired. The lion, secretary, Mr Banister, will be pleased to receive the tames of persons desiring to be enrolled & members of the Society. "The Marsden Cross"- is the title of neat little pamphlet, printed by «h^ Irett , Printing Company, 'Auckland, nd containing an account of the uneiling of the cross erected on the spot rhere the Rev. Samuel Marsden held he first Christian service held in New* iealand, at Oihi, Bay of Islands. Tharo 3 an excellent illustration of the Cf bss\ he erection of whioh was mainly dus o the -efforts of the Yen. Jirchdeaeon Valsh, and a full list of subscribers 1o he cost is appended. In a communication to the Town Jlerk Mr C. P. Brockett states that he as received instructions to furnish a eport as to 'the lighting of the townj lock. Ho suggests, seeing that the orough is supplying the current, that he engineer should accompany him so hat they might confer on the subject. *he present arrangement, he points ut, is only a temporary one, . and » o dubt can bo improved. At the same ime to prevent disappointment he adds nat the percentage of light absorbed y opal glass of which this dial and all imilar dials are constructed amounts uo between §0 and 60 per cent. Some ships' biscuits of a very hard variety were brought to the Nautical Court in Auckland to illustrate the alleged fare, the survivors' of- the s.s. Kia Ora existed upon. They were very large square biscuits, and one is said to be sufficient for a number of men for one day. Mr Earl, solicitor for the first officer, held up one, and remarked : "If mjMieafrned friend, Mr Mays, will eat one ,of these I'll forgive him everytningT rt *A" biscuit was handed to each, member of the Bench, and the chairman,, after rapping one on his desk for a while, cautiously bit off a corner. Mr Mays suggested that two or three of the biscuits would have done for a raft. Yesterday the children attending tho Fitzroy Schools assembled and spent tho afternoon in planting a number of useful trees in celebration of Arbor Day!, The -planting was carried out under., tka supervision of Mr Johnson, the headmaster^ and- at the ccftbclusion-the ch^ii^man of the School ComiiiitteV*; Mr IWh',' addressed a few words to the scholars. Subsequently refreshments and lollies were distributed: Cheers were calted for Mr Tisch, the headjoastejr, ffcn ] others. The committee desires to thank Mr Stephenson, of t&a".*Jftftdhsn&m Ntirsery, who donated the trees, and Mr Weller who ,f or 3©me, years was see- ;- rctary of the School Committee, * iVr preparing for the planting. i• ' • > The partnership : be^weeh Messrs. Bellringer Bros, ironmongers* has been dis-: solved as from June I. Mr." C. E. Bellringer carries on the business under the same name and style. *' ■ - ' • In this issue the New Zealand representative for Messrs. Sntton & Sons, Royal seedsmen, announces having appointed, Messrs. E. Griffiths & Co. sole agents in Taranaki for Sutton's farm seeds. j To-night Messrs. Sole Bros, will give a fine display of fat spring lambs — the first of the season. These are from Mr. |S. Salway's flock of South Downs. Pretty new shapes in ladies' felt hats, all latest shades, worth from 5s to 10s, now Is lid each, at Ward's, Cash I Draper. [ Those who are well posted as to th« best means of relieving pain and curing sores, wounds, or burns, always use Chamberlain's Pain Balm. They insist there is nothing like it. For sal« by all [dealers. '