IN THE DOMINION.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 25, 16 December 1908, Page 6

IN THE DOMINION.

It is stated that seventeen ballot papers ft re missing from the Dunedin North poll, but no information is available as to the manner of their abstraction. Wanganui's new electric tramway system, which has just been installed at a cost of about £45,060, was officially opened on Friday. A shunter named Henry Crowder, aged 23. was killed al the Auckland Railway yards last week by being crush cd between two trucks. I'he Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association made a protit of £909 out of the £2.950 they took at the recent Metropolitan Show. The kauri gum trade is slack at the present time. Compared with last year’s figures, this year's output shows deficiency of over 1.800 tons. Competitive design- for the new Parliamentary Buildings at Wellington will be calk'd for by the Government, the conditions to be announced at the beginning of the new year. The Dunedin Fire Board has acquired the property in Cumberland-xtreet. on 'which the New Zealand Express Company's stables art* erected, for the purposes of a Central Fire Station. Work has been begun on the foundations of Auckland's tine new town hull. Avhirli is to gract' the corner of Queen and Grev streets. I'he foundation stone as ill probably be laid about the third aveek in January. The Department of Industries and Commerce has received from tin* British War Office forms of tender for the supply of preserved meat to the Royal Dockyard. Woolwich. These tenders are to be delivered to the War Office. Whitehall. London, by twelve noon. Ist Feb.. 1909. I'he • trade*' has lodged a petition asking that the poll m the Eden district. Auckland, might be declared invalid on ac< mint of a number of irregularities similar to those alleged in the case of the Masterton petition. It is considered likely that petitions will also be lodged in Waiiemata and Ohinemuri. 'l'he daily service (Mondays and Sundays excepted) on the W anganui River, between Taumarunui (the junction with the Main trunk Line) and Pipiriki commences from to-day. Messrs.Hatrick and Company have their tine steamers in splendid order, and the traffic this year is expected to be particularly heavy. No less than ten convictions were recorded last week at Te Kuiti and Taumarunui against persons for spiling intoxicating liquor in the prohibited area of the King Country, the tines amounting to £2lO. It ift said that a number of further charges are pending against other alleged offenders. Trains on the Southland section of the railways, or at least on those lines where there arc long stretches without telephone or telegraph stations. are .shortly to be fitted with portable telephones. so that the wires can he tapped at any sp*»t. >m-h means of being able to establish communication would Is* of great advantage in the case of a break-down. fhe scholars of the Lincoln School, Chrisiidiurch. have decided to help on the “Hands All Round* feeling, which is the spirit of the time throughout the Empire, by sending Home a big silk Inion Flag to the M.ayoi of Lincoln, nnd a-king him to give it to one of the school-, in lanr.dn. It will ls*ar the word-: ’From the >m»\- and girls of Jyim oln. New Zealand to the boys and girG of Lin*oln. England. 1908.” The -mail 'team* i Mating). which has built By M«*--r*. Logan Bros., of Auckland. f»*r tin- ferry -ervire at Dun edin. not 'ith hea\y .v< ti’ier off Mercury Bay la-t ue»-k. ahen on the way •loan. Th* Captain. H. Patterson. was thrown agairi't the railing i»y a big *ave. hail hi- oll.ir bom* fractured, ami was then wa-be | ovi rhtfMrd. A boat was faun* \ed. ,n. 1. after -»*m»* ronsid(*r.ible dini«i>lty. the ma-fcr ah* got on l«>ar<l again, and the little ve«.-a*l put into Mercury Bay. where the ma-ter's injuries were attended to by Dr. K. Gordon. Occasionally the public ha- heard of ft*-v»dentft <a»*uiring to railwaymen when they are in th* .A of ex hanging tablet« with a moving train. A slight error of judgment, o. a grip of the tablet holder U>o Ung -i»-taine<) may result in t&e rnan on th* platform being 4raggw|

beneath the wheels, and this unfortunately' has happened. To obviate this in future, and, in fact, to remove all danger of accident in connection with the exchanging of tablets, the Railway Department is placing automatic exchanging appliances at every tablet station on the New Zealand railways. At present the Auckland section is being e<piipped, and within a week the work of placing them on the Wellington-Long-burn section will commence*. 'The appliance was invented by Mr. 11. J. Wynne, signal engineer to the New Zealand railways, and about fifty installations are already working successfully in the South Island, all tablet stations between Christchurch and Invercargill being equipped. Record Butter Shipment. The largest quantity of butter entered for export in any one fortnight in the history of Auckland's dairy business was that received at the grading depot for the fortnight ending on the 9th. The quantity entered for export was 17,319 boxes, or 432 tons, valued at £42,000. I'he Ruapehu takes 10.346 boxes to London. the Devon 843 boxes to the West of England, and there are 50 boxes for South Africa, and 70 boxes for the South Sea Islands. 'This shows an increase of 69 tons o'ver 1 he corresponding fortnight of last year. I'he output of cheese for the fortnight for export totals 648 cases, which is an increase over 1907 of 223 boxes. Settling tlie Land. A new suburb for Wellington, comprising about 126 acres on the northern outskirts of Johnsonville, is being opened lor selection on renewable lease by the Lands Department, applications being received at the Wellington Uw.ds Office up to 4 p.iu. on Friday, December 18. The Haw trey Settlement, as the block is named, is subdivided by streets, and has 102 sections ranging in area from 38 perches up to 17 acres. 'The areas are mostly small. The land is situated only 12 chains from Johnsonville railway station. A section of 325 acres in the Okauia Settlement, Block IV.j Tapapa Survey District. Piako County, is being thrown open by the Auckland Lands Department. applications being received until Monday, December 21. The halfyearly rental is £32 12/6. School of Journalism. A proposal that as far as this country is concerned is in the nature of an innovation. is likely to come before the Canterbury College authorities shortly. This is a suggestion by Dr. Hight, professor of economies at the college, that a school of journalism should bp established by the board of governors. He has written at considerable length on the subject, and his communication will probably come up for discussion at the meeting of the board, to be held in a fortnight’s time. Saving the Drunkard. Captain Arnott, of the Salvation Army’ at Auckland, last week explained the comprehensive scheme launched by the Army for assisting in dealing with the difficult problem of insobriety. They were, he -tated, taking advantage of the Habitual Drunkards Act, which provided • bat wlo r* a man had been convicted of diunkenmsH four times within nine months he may bo termed an inebriate, and -ent to a registered institution for tie purpose. I’hr* accommodation on Pakatoa 1-land was now no longer sufthient, and after careful consideration i. had been decided to purchase a much larger island, where 100 could be received at one time, ami the present island Pakatoa i u-*ed for women in*liiat<*-. 'They had been fortunate in curing Rut he’s Island for the men, whence tlo*v would Im if'inoved when the building- were r<*a<ly. This island had br»*n -eciired in faith, ami they were mntideßt the* people of the Dominion oulel vo operate with them in such a national scheme. A work of this kiiol meant money. The* islaml cost £ buildings £l5OO, Pakatoa expenses C 1560; total, £7500. The scheme of finance wa*, Captain Arnott went ou to state, to endeavour

to secure three donors of £1,600, four donors of £250; b 5 at £100; 20 at £5O, and the balance to be made up in other amounts. Among those who had come to their assistance up to the present were: — Estate of late Mr. Samuel Wilson: .£lOOO Auckland Brewers' Association .600 E. Mitchelxon 100 Messrs. Wilson 100 T. Peacock 100 A. Clark and Sons 50 D. M. Dingwirll 50 S. Jackson 50 J. J. Craig 50 H. Brett 50 Auckland Friend 50 Cheaper Cables. : e Prime inister, intevriewed hist week at Invercargill, made an important statement with regard to the proposition put forward for penny-a-word cables. He said he had been making investigations as to cable rates, and how they would apply at a perrny a word as between New Zealand and Australia. This had, said Sir Joseph Ward, a general bearing upon the question which had been so ably advocated in a wilier sense by Mr Henniker Heaton. “I find,” said Sir Joseph, “that about 6000 words per diem pass over the cables between Australia and New Zealand. The revenue on New Zealand business is 4Ad. per word, amounting to £16,496 per anmrni. It is probably useless thinking of any reduction so long as a private company controls the most direct cable. The only way to reduce the rate would be for the New Zealand and Commonwealth Governments to lay down a direct cable of their own. The expense would work out as follows: — Interest on £250,000, at 3J per cent £8,750 Depreciation, renewals, and repairs, 4 per cent 10,000 Cable staff. New Zealand and New South Wales .. .... 4,000 Total £22,750 “These figures are throughout on a fairly extravagant basis,” said Sir Joseph, “particularly as regards the cost of the cable itself, which, from inquiry I have made, I think can be put down at nearer £200,000 than £250,000. A single cable, such as proposed, would easily take 40,000 words a day for 300 days in the year, which, at -a penny a word, would give an income of £50,000. This, of course, shows the maximum capacity of cable taking. The present business amounts to 1,800,000 words but it would be a very short time before the business reached 5,000,000 words a year, which, at a penny per word, would amount to £21,000. “I do not wish to convey the impression that the private cable owners, with the responsibility upon their shoulderx, have not pursued a right course, but the returns from Empire-owned cables would not have to be great, and the wise policy of low charges that exist on State-owned telegraphs could, with safety, be applied if the cables within the Empire were State-owned.” Drifting Sand. Dr. Cockayne has been instructed by the Government to make a comprehensive report on the best way of dealing with drifting sand, which has in some places threatened to become a serious danger, especially on the coast between Patea ami Paekakariki, just north of Wellington. Il is estimated that over 90,000 acres in Wellington alone are threatened with destruction. Something has been done with marama grass, lupins and iceplant, Lut it is not comprehensive enough. The planting <>f pines, especially jack pines, has* hern found effective in America. Dr. Cocksvne is at work near Bulls, and, after completing investigations in Manawatu district, h»* will go further north. Agricultural College at Hamilton. Iho Agricull nral Department having granted the sum of £ 3,500, the A ticklainl Education Board intends proceeding with the erection of an Agricultural College at Hamilton, on the Mite worth about £1,200, generously given by the people of Hamilton. The Chairman of the Board, Mr. C. J. Parr, remarked at the meeting of the. Board last week that iho establishment <»f the college would mark an epoch in the agricultural hlfltoiy of the district*

Improving Napier* The Napier Borough Council is tftl submit to the ratepayers a scheme fol! borrowing over £130,000 for the improvement of this beautiful seaside, town. The principal items on the lists are £35,000 for tramways, a similar amount for drainage, £25,000 for a mu.nicipal theatre, £15,000 for a destructor. and the duplication of the water* works, and £ 15,500 for road works* Charity and Crime. ’ At a meeting of representatives of local bodies at Dunedin, re charitable aid, it was resolved that if any pensioner is convicted of drunkenness or any offence punishable by imprisonment for not less than a month, the convicting Court shall order every instalment falling due after conviction to be paid to the local charitable aid board, but shall be in duty bound to apply such instalments for the benefit of the pensioner and his dependents. St. Johns Collegiate School* The annual distribution of school and athletic prizes took place at St. John’s Collegiate School, Auckland, on Friday. Despite the rain, there was a large attendance of visitors. The Rev. W. Ea Gillum presided, and gave an address to the boys on the importance of making the most of I lie opportunities afforded by school life. The school prizes were distributed by the chairman, the cadet corps trophies by Capt. Levien, and the athletic sports prizes by Mrs I’roude. Special Prizes.—Mi* Aitken s Prizes: First prize, Crawford; second prize, S. Hanna. Mrs Bailey’s prize for English: E. W. Boucher. Mrs Fronde’s prize for elocution: S. Hanna. Mr Barnett’s prize for general excellence: Turner. Mr Barnett's prize for genera! improvement: C. White. Mr Hobbs’ prize for general neatness: N. Boucher. Miss Bent’s prize for mathematics: Hull. Mr Hunt’s prizes for geometrical drawing: First prize, Paterson; second prize, N. Forde. Cadet Corps’ Trophies.—Challenge cup: Sergeant Smallfield. Challenge belt: Private Bent. Barry shooting cup: First prize. Private Bent; second prize. Sergeant Smalllield. Modal for the best drilled section, presented by Mrs Proude: Sergeant Hanna. Athletics.—Senior Victor Ludonnn cup: E. .1. Smallfield. Junior Victor .Ludoruna cun: IL Fronde. Form V. —Divinity, Proude. Geography, aßdeley. History. Robson. Latin, E. Rowley, French. E. Rowley. Form 4?—Divinity, V. Barry. English, Archer, i.atin and French, upper division. Turner: lower division. Roche. History and Geography. Archer. Mathematics, Hayr. Drawing, A. V. Barry. Science, T. Hayr. Bookkeeping, C. E. Barry. Form lll.—Divinity, P. W. Smallfield. English, c. Flaw. Geography and History, I’. W. Smallfield. Arithmetic. P. W. SmaHiield. Drawing, Self. Science, P. W. Sinallfield. Form IT.—Divinity. N. Boucher. English, Goo<*b. Geography and History, N. Boucher. Drawing, N. Boucher. Tfee Timber Trade. According to result of inquiries prosecuted by a “Wellington Post” reporter, the timber trade appears to be in a critical state at present, and its condition is indicated pretty clearly by the estimate that Wellington merchants have made bad debts to the extent of over £5090 dining the past six months. That dullness overspreads the milling industry is obvious. All the Westland mills are closing down a fortnight earlier this Christmas than last, and there ig no more definite date given than “some time after the New Year” for their reopening. The same condition of affairs applies to the North Island mills, and some, at least 25 per cent., it is believed, will not reopen at all. Fully 35 mills on the \\ est Coast will be closed down.