LOCAL AND GENERAL.
The latest addition* to the Telephone Exchange arc No. 331. Money Order Office and 534. Mr J. S. Holloways residence. Taylorville. Last Thursday's Gazette notifies that the next Junior Civil Service and Junior National Scholarship exams, will be held in December, commencing on or abont th» 10th of the month. The Senior Civil Service exam, will follow in January, commencing on the 6th. Mr Loudon, Mayor of Dunedin, has resigned his position as member of the Fire Board in consequence of the representative of the insurance companies having been appointed to the chair. Further, the resignation of the city representatiie is rumoured. The People's Building Society held a ballot for £600 last night. A 9 the owners of the marbles first drawn (630 and 527) are in arrears, another draw took place, resulting in 533 and 958 being successful. Each of the owners being possessed of two shares, they become entitled to Jfc'3oo fre* of interest. Eighteen houses in or off Walker Street (Dunedin) were yesterday morning condemned by the liealth Department. The quarters arc for the most part occupied by Syrians, and the Health Office's inspector, Mr Gladstone, who accompanied Dr Ogstou, sjys» that the premises were surprisingly cleanly kept considering the state ef the buildings. The earner* who recently asked the Borough t'uuin tl lor a fireplace and chimney ni '' ' sl~'ls l ~'l have had their request ■ • - ..o \ the satiot action o£ a c--~~: - ■ i-r-j instead of the "twooudlc power gas oto\e" on which it was proposed to grill a certain erring councillor by the '"alow torture process.' The new arrangement >;iakco the concrete floor much drier aud the former damp atmosphere much healthier. The Chairman of the Licensing Couimitlee, when delivering the Committee's decision veaterday morning, to grant renewals ot licenses in respect to two local hotels, apparently thought that the majority of the Committee was not right in its decision, "In one respect," he said, "the Committee is not altogether unanimous. I must dissent from tue will of the majority of the Committee, whose wishes, I am, of course, bound to carry out." There were rooms in the hotels in question which were lighted and ventilated only through the roof, and he contended that no house should be licensed unless the lighting and ventilating was into open air. Ventilators in the roof, and no windows, were, in his opinion, mere traps for murder, and would result sooner or later in a holocaust for the occupantsv . The readiness^ sVrne Government Departments to "spoil thY&iip for v ha'portk of tar" is only equalWKby the peculiar methods they adopt when^ihey make up their minds to spend a little money. A clay or two ago we alluded to the filthy state of the road between the bridge and the (joods shed on tjlie wharf, all for the want of a few Loads /of gravel. Per contra the Railway Department a short time i»go decided to put up shelters at the doort of the shed for carts to load under, and fearful and wonderful things .they are. They are merely the width of the door» they serve — just sufficient for one dray to load under — and so hijyh that they are absolutely no protection from rain . With the wind in one continuous direction they might possibly be of some use, but the Wanganui winds have such a knack of blowing round corners that these so-called shelters will be quite insufficient to prevent the rain driving in, on the jroods that are being loaded on the carts. Another iustance of departmental shortsightedness was also related to us this morning in regard to tvs coal shed in the railway engine yard*. Instead of a line being taken through the centre of the shed so that the coal should be tipped from the trucks within the building itself, the line runs at the side of th» shed and outside it, so that the coal hat to be shovelled across the inside space two or three times before it finds it« heap. "It must cost them nearly two shillings a ton iv shovelling alone," remarked our informant. * When a firm make up their traveller*' sets of samples, you may be sure that only the best goods are selected. After these samples have travelled all over the colony and are finished with they are sold at special sample discounts. We have just secured a sample set of Puritan collar* in cambric and muslin embroidery and embroidered ailk, a *«ally choieeWlerfcion and at sample priced, viz.. 4d, 6d. 9d. and la eaeli.-^-Mt-Gruar aud Co.— Ac(»t.
New Zealand exported 320,225]b.s of butter in 1906, valued at J: 1.500,235. There are 72,338 occupied holdings in Hew Zealand. The population of New Zealand, excluding Maoris, on December 31st last, -was 908,726. During the year ended December 31st, 154,384,5681bs of wool, valued at ,£6,763,633 was exported from New Zealand. Mr J. T. Hogan, M.H.R., will give a pre-Aessional address to his constituents in the Opera House on Tuesday, June 25th. An effort is beinfj made to match B. R. Day, the English professional running Champion, now in Auckland, against an Auckland runner. The record price of 22s 6d was obtained for a line of 170 breeding ewes at Mr Geo. Burling's sale, held by Messrs Abraham and Williams, Ltd., at Pongaroa, on Friday last. An area of two acres in the Kauangaroa Block, Waugaehu, is gazetted as having been purchased from the Maoris by the Government for a public school, and vested in the Education Board. Apparently trade with Gibraltar is to be opened up, for the Kaikoura which left Lyttelton for London on Tuesday night is calling there to land a trial shipment of New Zealand meat. At Hemvock, Devonshire, there is a ■mall farm which carries 6ix votes. Part of the farm is in the Tiverton division, part in the Honiton, and part in the Wellington, and the landlord and tenant get votes in each. v According to the Dunedin Star, the standard number of 41b loaves from a sack of flour is 68, thus the product from one ton of flour is 680 loaves, which at 8d apiece, would return .£22 13s 4d. A correspondent, writing to a friend, remarks that "the school world is disturbed over infants and the schools where they are and where they are not welcome. Developments are expected as a result of a j conference betwetn Board and committees, j Will forward paper later." j Dunedin hotelkeepcr* strongly favour tht { retention of barmaids, telegraphs the I Dunedin correspondent of the Post. "It is j represented that the barmaids in Dunedin are in the main clean-living, high-minded girls, with a capacity for busiucss aud un- j sentimental. " Complimentary reference was made at the meeting of the Pohangina County Council on Saturday to the lact that ot close on .£SOOO general rates, the county j clerk, Mr J. Coyle, had collected all but Is 9d, amount due on sections owned by i persons unknown. One of the great aims that the South African Premiers had in view when they arrived iv London was the development ol th« Anglo-African fruit trade. A scheme has now been devised for bringing fruits from Natal to Coveut Garden. It seems that an arrangement ha 9 been made between the Government and the Natal fruitgrowers to place these fruits on the London maiket next month by way of an experiment. • ' j A gang of Borough workmen are at pretent engaged putting in a drain to take the soakage from tue sections in Wall's paddock, at the upper end of the Avenue. Another gang aie at the work of replacing the present inch and a half gas main to the top of St. John's Hill with a threeincb pipe, which will more adequately serve the needs of *he growing number ol consumers in that locality. An Adelaide telegram to a Melbourne paper states that there are large numbers of donkeys running wild in the country round Yudnainutana Hill. They have apparently no owners, and as they are grazing on Crown lands within an area of about 400 square miles, the Government determined to sell them by auction to anybody who cared to undertake the task of capturing them. A sale took place at the Lands Office, Adelaide, a few days ago, when an auctioneer offered ail unbranded don-keys above the age of twelve months. It was agreed that the purchaser ehould receive a permit to enter upon Crown lands for that purpose, such permit to remain in force for three months. The upset price for the unknown number of donkeys was .£5. They were knocked down to Mr J. R. Corry for .£lO ss. Mr Corry intends to catch the animals by fences niilw long converging to % trap, as in kangaroo drives. He believes there are 2000 donkeys there. Something in the nature of a strike in Westland is told as follows by a correspondent of the "Hokitika * Guardian" — "With eleven others, 1 was engaged by the Land Board in response to an advertisement to proceed to vVataroa for the purpose of forming roads under the direction of Mr Butler, the roadman. We started work at the end of January, and continued until 25th March. We paid our own travelling expenses, amouning to Mo 3s per man. On arrival, I was more than surprised to find the "Yellow Peril" in existence, and a Chinaman working under the Land Department, but put up with it for some time, until Mr Butler astounded us all by putting the Chinaman in charge of the work when he was absent. This occurred several times, notwithstanding our strong complaints. The position grew so irksome and vexatious that we were compelled to resign in a body, and return to Hokitika, and laid our complaints beiore the Land Board, but got no satisfaction. I therefore, Mr Editor, place the facts before the public of Westlaud that they may learn that the white men of the disrict are being ruled by a Chinaman." Tbc Maori Land Boards are some day going to find themselves up against a problem in the paymeut ol rents to native owners of land leased to Europeans. The moneys received have to be split into so many shares, that while some individuals may receive .£IOO, others may get less than as many farthings, in fact amounts a« low as Is 6d have already been paid out in Wanganui. Another matter that causes worry to the payer out is that if a man having a share equal to, say, £5 dies, leaving children, the -£3 must be divided up among them. Later on these must die. and their heirs will of course j multiply tho u umber of shares, so that ' some day the amount to be received by some beneficiaries will probably equal the amount expressed by the algebraical symbol. By that time, however, we may have found a less intricate way of daling -with the matter, aud the suggestion has already been put forward that instead of making individual payments the money should be placed in tho hands of the Public Trustee who will disburse it io the various families for the joint benefit of their members.
It ie impossible to look your be»t unleae you have a well-fitting drees. Dressmaking is a science that very few can undertake with any satisfaction to themselves. You must get a specialist to do it well. Mi«t Callistpr, who now ha« charge of Littlejoku'f dressmaking room, can be recommended to give «v^ry satisfaction both iv fit and style. Prices moderate.
Mr Alfred Atkins, A.M.1. C.E., Authorised Surveyor, desires to introduce Mr A. 6. Muir, B.Sc., Civil Engineer, and Authorised Surveyor, as his successor in the Engineering and Surveying Branches of hi* practice in this district. Mr Muir's offices are in the same building as those of Messrs Atkins and Bacon, Architects, Ridgway Street.
The pi osenl -p"ll <>i linn weather has had the effect ol diving up the streets of the town, a change much appreciated by those having oceaHoji to use tlie River Bank and the roads in the western portion of the town. Most oi the tree ierift planted a year o»lwo back on the slope of St. John's Jl ill between the Avenue and Harrison Street have come foiward well, and .some ot them are beginning to show a <jood growth of fronds. Some of the stumps of those which have faiied might, however, be taken up, while 'the removal of the unsightly piles of dead branches Iyinjj here and there on the slope would make the place more attractive. No doubt when the Borough Gardener's staff lias finished with the work it is now busy at, the St. John's Hill slope will receive due attentiou. The* number of subscribers to the telephone in a particular town or city should be a good index of the r>osition the place occupies as a commercial centre. Wanganui comes fifth on the list in this reapect. Wellington ha 3 the largest number of subscribers, Auckland, . Christchurch and Dunedin following in the order mentioned, other towns in order being Wanganui, Napier. Invercargill, Palmerston North and Gisborne. There are about 550 subscribers in Wanganui, an increase of 70 since last year, when the figures were Wanganui 480, Napier 445, lnvercargill 413, Palmerston 396, Gisborne 395. Some time ago some of the residents of St. John's Hill asked the Borough Council to attend to the open drain which discharges down the face of the Victoria Park slope, near the water trough. The matter has, we believe, been 1 also pressed by the Health Department, but the drain is still unattended to and discharging its nastiness into the open light of day. A "Herald" reporter had a look at it this morning and found that, unpleasant a 9 is the sight of the slimy gray trickle, its appalling stench was still worse, while at night, we are informed, it is quite intoler§ble. If an outbreak of fever should occur in consequence someone will have to pay for it, and it behoves all interested to Temedy matters as soon as possible, even if it be by a temporary arrangement pending the establishment of the proposed Drainage Board. A considerable amount of broom and furze has gained a footing on the River Bank Esplanade between "Plymouth and Glasgow Street, and unless shortly grubbed out will completely spoil the look of this favourite promenade. On the other hand, a few wattles have taken vigorous root in two or three places, and their yellow blooms and feathery foliage should* in two or three years' time prove decidedly attractive. Apropos of the bcautin'cation of the Esplanade — a long-newlected matter — an erstwhile resident of Wanganui some time ago put forward a simple but very practical suggestion, his idea being that a quantity of mixed verbena seed should be scattered along the face of the river banks. It would strike easily, ar>d the rich masses of varicoloured bloom, when the plants came to flower, would certainly provide a si^ht well worth the small outlay and trouble. Speaking to two Volunteer officers yesterday morning, a member of our staff found both were agreed in condemning .1 recently made regulation forbidding enrolment of any youth under the age of 18. The former age was 17, and ac one of them remarked, ''that wjis a good age to catch them." After then, he aaid they found other attractions and volunteering suffered accordingly. He telt sure that tho new regulation would have a considerable effect in smaller rolls and poorer musters. The other officer remarked on the fact that officers'of mounted corps were often put to expense in travelling between different points where the various sections of their corps paraded and got absolutely nothing for it. "Only one thing for it," said the first — and the other gave his hearty assent — make it compulsory on every young man to join the volunteers. The Government do it with their employees, and wliv should not the principle be extended to private persons."" Compulsory military training has often been alluded to iv our columns as the only remedy for the present unsatisfactory state of our defence forces, and it is certainly significant that those experienced in such matters should be of the opinion that one night a week's compulsory attendance at drill would do no harm to auy young man aud go far to raise the efficiency of the force.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXI, Issue 12190, 11 June 1907, Page 4
Word Count
2,738LOCAL AND GENERAL. Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXI, Issue 12190, 11 June 1907, Page 4
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