LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13278, 18 January 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is time Eoxlon woke up to the fact that it is not Palmerston’s door-mat,— Manawatu Herald.

The latest addition to the Telephone Exchange is No. 719, Mr C. C. Rasmussen's residence, Araraoho. A New York cable states that phosphate beds, believed to be of great commercial value, have been idscovercd in Western Montana. The London Daily Telegraph's Singapore correspondent stales that the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co. struck oil in large quantities at a depth of 8(10 feet at Sarawak. The census gives Vienna a population of 2,t0D,291. exclusive of the garrison. The slowness of increase is due to the decline of the birth-rate to 20 per 1000. The Weather Bureau reports as follows; —Westerly winds moderate to strong variable probably squally, and unsettled and cloudy weather at times, probably showers: glass fall slowly; tides good; sea rough. Good fruit in Sydney to-day is selling at starvation prices. Peaches are anything up to 4d each, apples 2d cadi, apricots (small, with a big stone inside) id each, medium size (with very little flavour, from Victorian irrigated orchards) Id to 2d each, grapes 9d to Is per lb, tomatoes (id to Is (id per dozen. A Sydney cable stales that a hawker, a carman, and a labourer have been sentenced to three years' servitude and 29 and 18 months' ■ respectively, for the Cathedral robbery at Southwark (N.S.W.), Articles of great antiquity were broken for melting. The London Board of 'Trades’ report on Labour for 1910 states that the turns relating to 709,000 members or Trades Unions show the mean of the monthly percentages of unemployed as 4.7. The net effect of all the changes reported to Hie Department is an increase of .1113,891 per week in 435,119 workpeople's wages. Lloyd's Register states that 473 steamers, of 1,137,738 tons: 27 sailers, of 4531 tons; 45 warships, of 134,(545 tons, were launched in the United Kingdom last year. The tonnage launched for abroad was 223,465, or 19J per cent, of the total output, compared with 25 2-5 per cent, in 1909. Tho colonies provided the largest amount of work for the shipbuilders of flic United Kingdom. When referring, at, the Council table some months ago, to the damage done to the streets by heavy loads on vehicles, Cr. Ljffiton, quoted figures which were thought by some of his colleagues to he excessive. Last evening he brought the same matter up again, taken from the borough weigh bridge records, relative to the loads sometimes carted over the streets:—2 tons, 0 cwt, 3 qrs; 1 ton. 13 cwt; 2 tons, 1 cwt, 3 qrs; 1 ton 17 eyt; 1 ton 19 ewt, 1 qur: 2 tons, 1 ewt, I qr. "We are borrowing money to make roads,” he commented, “and as fast as wc make them, we cut them up." An old and respected resident, discussing the “Herald’s’' suggestion that much of Hie Corporation wort should he done by contract in place of day labour, informed one of our representatives to-day that when he was on the Council, years ag", all vvoi’k over the value of £2O was let by contract. He is confident that a big saving would bo effected if the contract system were put into operation. In connection with this suggestion, it is interesting to note that the Gisborne Borough Council, after an all-night sitting last week, decided to complete their drainage works y (which so far nave been done by day la- ’ hour) by contract. The Mayor stated that the septic tank had cost ,£3300, while the engineer’s statement was that on a liberal estimate it should have been done for ,£2OOO.

Recently it leaked out that Dr. Dougla* Mawson, who gained fame for himself as a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition to the South Bole, and later again as a discoverer of radium-boaring ore in South Australia, is engaged 1o be married. This may be said to bo an engagement of the singularly appropriate order. It may be regarded as an alliance of science and silver. There is much in common between the two parties to the projected contract. Dr. Mawson is a scientist of the highest repute, and his fiancee, who is a daughter of Mr G. D. Delprat, the general manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is a lady of high intellectual attainments, and. among other things, .lias taken a medical degree at the Adelaide University,

According (o a correspondent, in (ho Southland Daily News, farmers fear (hat, will) (lie early advent of the rahbit-trap-ping season, harvesting operations will snflcr iron) a dearth of Jabour, which the former industry is bound to attract. Writing on the subject, hje i states; “Rabbit-trapping is to commence in the Wvndham district this week, and rabbits will be received by exporters as from the Wth inst. This, to my mind, opens up a very serious question, and one which materially affects the farmer. l>ast year trapping started on the 7th March, which was fully three weeks earlier than the previous year, and its affect on the labour market was very marked, as it happened that we were right in the middle of harvest when trapping commenced, with the result that all available' ll casual'labour, winch should have been available for h»"\est, was attracted by , the good - prices ottering for bunny, .aad.the: farmer w«f, left lamenting. In Ihe interests of parties it would lie advisable if- trappln .- <onld be delayed until after the bulk of the crop was m stack,"

Th Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner is raising the commencing salary of telegraphic messengers from .£126 to £39 ])er annum.

A premature explosion of gelignite in a sewer shaft at Fernhill, near Sydney, killed a miner and slightly injured two others yesterday. We hear that Mr E. N. Liffiton. the senior councillor, will be a candidate for the Mayoralty of Wanganui at the municipal elections in April next. -«v Mr Beehy, Minister of Labour and Education in New South Wales, has decided to prohibit the employment of boys and girls where dangerous machinery is used.

A formal meeting of the GonvillcCasllecliff Tramway Board lapsed last

evening for want of a quorum. A meeting is called for Friday next at 2 o’clock. ' l* r -Although not selected as'the Labour •Party’s candidate for the borough by-elec-.tion/Mr G. L. Bridges states that he will still contest the seat in the interests of . Aramoho.

Tile Attorney-General of New South Wales has instructed Magistrates to inform prisoners when cbffiniittiug them for trial that they may apply for GovcruIftient aid towards their defence. , typographical error crept into the : Caledonian handicaps, published in Monday’s “Herald," it being made to appear that L. S. Corby was allotted 20 yards’ start in the 440 Yards Handicap, whereas the start really allotted was 18 yards. Mr W. Kerr. S.M.. presided at the •Magistrate’s Court this rooming. A native was fined 10s and 4s costs for drunkenness. Five cyclists were each fined 5s and 7s costs for riding their bicyc’cs on , the footpaths at Aramoho. Messrs A. C. Lennard and Co., represented by Air W. •I. -Treadwell, were fined 10s for not keeping the drivers’ time-book initialled, and £1 on a charge of employing three assistants more than 52 hours a week. A deputation from the Castlecliff SurfBathing Club waited on the Borough Council last evening with a request for assistance towards the Club's work. Tbe Mayor agreed that the burgesses of Wanganui would perhaps benefit more than any one els© by the proposed bathing sheds and life-saving gear, and moved that a donation of .£ls be made to the Club. This was seconded by Cr. Burgess aud carried unaui- ■ moiif-ly. “The moment Aramoho goes out of the borough all those using the Okoliu water—and we hope to connect it to houses there shortly—will, instead of getting it free, have to pay at least £3 for a meter, ami then pay for every gallon they use. In addition, tho price of gas will be at once raised to at least 7s, as at Wanganui East. This will mean a heavy burden on residents there. Moreover, if Aramoho secedes and forms a separate borough, it will be at least three years before they are in a . position to instal water and drainage, while we are now ready to go straight ahead with this work. The result will be that, in the race for expansion with other suburbs, Aramoho will be left behind.” —• Extract from the .Mayor’s reply to an Aramoho deputation last evening. The Queen's Park Domain Board met .last evening to consider the question of offering a site for the proposed new Courthouse, and passed the following resolution;—“ That the Board offer the Government sufficie.it land in Queen’s Park, at the junction of Eidgway Street with the entrance to the park, for the erection of a Courthouse and the necessary buildings connected with the same, on 'condition that the Government, on completion of the building, hand over the site of the present Courthouse to the borough, whose property ’■ it is.’” Cr. Holloway urged the Board to’ • utilise the remainder of the Eidgway Street frontage of the park for business purposes, which would bring a good revenue to the Board, but no action was taken in regard to tbe suggestion. The matter of over-crowding was brought up at the Wanganui Borough Council meeting last evening by Cr. Williams, who said the Council should keep an eye on it aud at once put a stop to any tendency towards herding buildings together. He knew of one particular place, just outside the borough boundary, whore the houses were so close together that “it is almost possible to pass a "biscuit from door to door for a quarter of a mile.”-The Council had, of course, no power over anything outside the boundary, said Cr. Williams, bitt such a state of things should not be allowed anywhere, and the Council should certainly exercise its powers within the borough. It was resolved that thcWorks Committee go into the matter. Pursuant to notice, Cr. Liffiton moved at the Council meeting last night as follows:—No person shall, at any time after . a., date to be fixed, use or drive in any strcct within the borough any two-whcclcd vehicle for carrying a load exceeding 20 cwt. in weight, or any two-wheeled vehicle for carrying a load exceeding 35 cwt. in weight, unless the tryes of such bchiclcs be "at least four inches in width, in which case such vehicles may carry a weight not exceeding 30 cwt. in the case of a twowheeled vehicle, aud 50 cwt. in the case of a four-wheeled vehicle.” In the course cl {JIC .short discussion which followed, the Mayor said that Air Russell, tho late Borough Engineer, had tho new by-lays—-which dealt with this matter—practically drawn up at the time of his death. His Worship suggested that the matter be referred to the Works Committee, to report at next meeting of the Council, and Cr. Liffiton being agreeable to such a course, ’ this was agreed to.