NOTES FROM OTHER CENTRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 22, 21 October 1907, Page 5

NOTES FROM OTHER CENTRES.

4 AUCKLAND. [BY TEIiEGIUPH.—OWN COItKESrONDENT.] ■ . October 19: For somo considerable- time past Auckland , has been visited with a severe epidemic of I influenza, like most other pkices m the Do- [ minion. Inquiries made among medical men . were to the effect that the present was the higgest recrudescence of influenza since its , first appearance here fifteen years ago. The ! preseiic epidemic had, it was stated, been in , a very virulent form, and many deaths had ] resulted, especially among young people.- Al- , most every business house in the city had had its staff depleted, very much so in some i of the larger places; but the epidemic ap- " pcared to bo easing off a little now. Tho I climatic conditions prevailing during the last ! few months had probably caused it to assumo such a violent form. With the approach of I fine settled weather, however, the epidemic I should soon disappear. j At a. Council meeting yesterday, the Mayor, r defending the' Council from charges of inefficient control of the tramways, said tho j present Council wore not only able and willing j to carry out their obligations, but had shown J vory conclusively during the last two or three- , years that, in addition to 'recognising their \ responsibility, they had made tho tramways I company recognise theirs.. Many of the public were apparently under the impression that j matters of the .kind could be arranged with tho same expedition as occurred in private J business. In public bodies that'was impos- [ sible, but to show what had been done,-'ho . would like to say that thrco years ago the \ number of licensed cars was 47. The Council ' considered this inadequate, and called for an i augmentation of tho numbor, with the result that in 1905 eight cars were added, in 1906 , four cars, and in 1907 eleven cars, bringing I the total up to 70. At the present time two more were nearly ready for the. road, while i ten more were being procured, bringing tho 1 total to 82. Counterfeit coins aro reported to bo in cir- •" culation.in Auckland "and suburbs, and as it is believed there are a good number.,of them r scattered about, residonts are boing'adviscd ? to exercise a good'deal of care. Half-crowns are said to bo'mostly iii •'evidence, and the r specimens aro described as: very fine iniita--2 tions in every way. , .' ' . .. .' .., V In tho' Auckland country districts there is great difficulty in establishing technical cdu--3 cation classes. Mr. Georgo George; director ' of Technical' Education, has been instructed " to report to tho Education Board on this subject. / He read to the Board a letter which he had received from Mr. A. M..3ust in re--5 ferenco to the classes started at Hikurangi. " Tho writer said: "I very much regret to in--0 form you that.the technical classes here have s fizzled out. I. have gone on hoping against r hope and trusting to revive them for'weeks ' past, but to no purpose. One teacher gave up coming eleven miles to tho class and finding 1 no ono there, and tho' doctor orders nie to ' tako more rest or my health .will break, up. ; The mining class was a'complete fiasco. -For J weeks it rained every night of tho class, and ' .then* the scholars scattered in all directions. • ,1 did not know until a few weeks ago, when r one night I went up to collect the second fees. " I attended four weeks in succession, and then 0 made inquiries, and found tho class had 5 fallen through long ago." Mr. Georgo said efforts had been made to arrange for manual 1 instruction, but there was a difficulty in get- ' ting instructors to do the work. A largo ' number of school teachers wore attending the Saturday classes for manual instruction, but j then they had their annual examinations to attend to, and wore chary about taking up : tho other,-work.. Mr. C. J. Pair suggested 1 that something should bo'done in the diro'c--3 tion of suggesting to' tho Department, that " some weight bo : given to manual instruction 'in tho examinations..' '■, • • ,-'•</. ■-. Some attention has been directed to the ! fact that while th r o Union Steairjshjp Company is , running its slowest boats .on tho 5 Auckland-Sydney service, tho fastest aro kept 5 on tho southorn and tho Melbourne to Bluff ' routos. A•" Herald " representative • waited ■on Mr. Irvine .'(local, manager of tlio com--1 pany) in refeVenoe ,to the matter, and was f informed-that the company was'doing all it ■ possibly could to satisfy tho requirements of - tho public, gonoraliy. The public interest, ho ' said, was .their first consideration, and no • complaints had ■ been received: since tho Ex- - hibition, when, undor dictation from the Go- ' vernment, certain altered arrangements had i to bo carried out. If it appeared that .the i best 'boats in the company's fleet wero. not on the Sydney-Auckland service, it was only • because the'''exigencies, of the...service as a ; whole precluded any rearrangement. , It was i crtainly not because preference was'boing i shown'to any'particular port. At present '■ orders were in execution for additions to tho i fleet, thorp;being four boats in courso.of construction : at the works ,of three' different firms at Home. ,So far as-Auckland'was conv corned, "Mr. Irvino considered there was no causo v for : complaint. : '. ■' t ■'■ The Executive of the Liberal and Laoour Federation has reported upon the Coroners Bill. The executive strongly opposed-the plauso, which provides that it shall be necessary for any Coroner, ; when holding an inquest, to havo tho same taken by jurors, un- ■ less by direction of tho Attorney-General. The Secretary moved, ( emphatically disap- . proving of Mr. M'GowanV Bill. Mr. Giloa stated that.the Minister for Justice-had made : two previous attempts to knock tho bottom i out of the presontAct,rand both had failed Tlio Coroners, in each of the other three ' centres hold dual appointments, and wero ' paid salaries, but hero, he had to depend for 1 lu's living on.tho.number of inquests he held, • which was repulsive to think of.' i At 'a i special .meeting'_ of th'o City Council in connection • with the strap--1 hanging bv-law, Mr. J. L. Bag- ' nail reform! to the remarks of Coun- ' cillor M'Laren, of Wellington. He said ho felt a littlo annoyed when it was stated by a Wellington city, councillor that tho 1 Tramways-Act Amendment Bill had evidently beon brought about becauso the Auckland ■ City Council were not carrying out their ; duties in dealing with the tramway company. It seomed to. him like Wellington "cheek" ' to make such a statement. Had the speaker 1 known what lie was talking about ho p'ould i not have made such a statement. Mr. J. M. ; Mackay concurred.. Mr. M'Laren's remarks, ho said, only proved the truth of the' old ' adage that 6no had: to go from home to learn ■ news. • ./ ' The complete renovation which Government House is undergoing at the hands of the Public Works Department is to- be finished before tho arrival of Lord Plunket, who, it : is expected, will spend a four months' resii d.cnce in Auckland, dating from November , 4. Each room in the main building is being repainted, chiefly with enamel paint, and re--1 papering is also boing clone, throughout. Some now furniture has been purchased, but for tho i greater part the old furniture is being repolished and repaired. Over twenty men are at work iu tho building, including eleven painters, fivo carpenters, two polishers, two carpet-layers, and two or three plumbers. ■ Tbo staff cottago and tho guard-room aro also being similarly renovated from floor ,to ceiling, and tho old lodge (in Symorids Street), in addition to these alterations, has been raised considerably. On tho completion, of this work, a start will' be mado- with the oroction of the now caretaker's cottage in an adjoining field, tho other lodge being given over to sevoral of the retinue. Although the, outsido of .GovernmentiHouso is to bo painted, it is improbable that time will permit of this prior to His Excollency's visit. The grounds arp boing oxpeditiously brought into spic-and-span order, and a new departure, in tho shape of a vegetable gardon, is also to bo seen.

CHRISTCHURCH. ,

October 19. Scientific investigation will bo carried on quite extensively during the next few months in tho Southern Seas. Apart from the Philonsopliic.il Institute's oxpediton to the Campbell and Auckland Islands, and the researches of tho Antarctic expedition in tho Endurance, there will bo lan American vessel engaged in investigations into terrestrial magnetism. Dr. Farr, of Canterbury College, has received from l)i\ Bauer, of the Carnegie Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism nt'Wnsliiji!*ton, a letter in which he announces that the Institute is sending out an expedition in its ship tho Galileo. Tho vessel will proceed from Sitka, in Alaska, to Honolulu,

thence to the Marshall Islands and then on to Lyttolton, arriving here in the first fortnight of December. Some time ago the local Inspector-of Dairies r.uggestcd that the A. and P. Association should ofl'er prizes for the best-managed cow- . sheds among; dairymen supplying creameries. 'Tho Association had agreed to arrange a competition on the lines suggested on the understanding that any prize money it offers up to £15 will lie supplemented pound for 1 pound by each of the following.:—Tho Govf eminent, the City Council, and tho Dairy . Factories in the district. , The Premier's reply regarding, the rates. , charged on tho Christcburch-Lyttelton lino 5 falls far short of satisfying those who con--3 tend that the rates unjustly penalise tho city l for its geographical position. [ Tho canal scheme- has advanced in" public . favour, and if the consulting engineer's ,re- \ port as to its feasibility is satisfactory tho 3 agitation for the construction of the canal "_ will assuredly become more general.

3 r, t ' '• » - DUNEDIN.

a October 19. Whilst bakers complain of the falling-off , in • their trado owing to fewer loaves being - wanted,-the grocers report, an active demand a for 501b bags of flour. Apparently families t are relying on scones. i Mr. A. Hill Jack, for some years General b Manager of the National Insurance Company, r and \i-ho has for the last fifteen or sixteen s years acted as the company's manage! in - London, has now retired from the company's t service, and l-'eturned with his family to?live i again at lloslyn. 3 Mr. J. D. Cameron, in the Westport Coal ■ Company's service here, has invented a dew 3 coal-screening, machine which is , now ln- | stalled .in tho company's yard. Over 70tons 1 of coal can be screened in a day by the new 1 arrangement. „ iThe convenor of tho Residential College ° Committee (the Rev. Andrew Cameron, of = Anderson's Bay) reports. having received a ° lotter from Mr. G. '-F-. Bullen, Kaikoura, ® promising to pay as soon as required the sum of £000 to the College endowment fund. , This is Mr. Bullen's second.gift of £S00;to- '/ wards the College, the first £500' going to , -tho building fund. The committee aro aiming '} at raising £15,000 for the endowment of ' the College, and hope to be able +p report to the Assem bly,who -meet in "Wellington on November 5, that, one-third, of this amount has been received or' promised. To date, the promises and gifts total '£723.' ■ ■ Poultry is" scarce: and dear. On Wednesr day young roosters brought from ; 6s. to 7s. j Cd. a pair, and'hens realised from 45.-to ss: ■ a pair. Ducks, old ones at that, were sold j at from (is. 6d. to 6s. 10d. .' /. . .- ' At Wes.ley Church, , Cargill, Hoad, ;during the coursb. of tlio jubilee "celebrations, the . chairman'stated that it had been resolved , to a linstall a pipe organ in tho church at a t cost of £41)0, and towards 'this amount over s .£IOO, was promised in.the room. ", . '' ? ' On themiDtiou of tho Roy. P. B. Fraseri t tho Education Board" unanimously Agreed: 0 '" That short lessons on the subject.of , alcohol, ~ its nature and effects, might with advantage r be added to our syllabus.", -..' '■'■■ 1 As a result of the State circulars inquiries . are mado here from Vienna as to tho possii bility of exporting New Zealand timber there . at a profit. , j Building is going on briskly in Dunedin v ■ A caso brought before' Mr. Widdbwson, j S.M., at the Police Court yesterday may procure a decision which may be of use in inter- " preting the statute for the suppression of a smoking by --juveniles. Alex. Johnston,' cm- , l ployed uy Air. S. Jacobs, was charged with ■ supplying tobacco to a youth named Stuart 5 Little, under tho ago of fifteen years. Mr. j Hay defended, denying oifonce. He . stated that the boy was sent to the shop j. by a man who resided in tho boarding-house j- where ho stayed. Tho man was unable to go himself, and ho had arranged with Mr. John j stqn to obtain a supply by tho, boy. The man paid for the tobacco and smoked it, ;and j tho boy was only a messenger. He took it i that tho Act was framed to suppress juvenile f smoking, and consequently did not apply iii a : caso of that sort. Tho sub-inspector contended that* the Act in such a case did dir- , ectly apply. The boy had entered the shop, t been supplied with the tobacco/ and .paid' for 1 f it, and to all intents and purposes an actual 5 salo had taken'place. The Magistratei said he j believed the intention of.the Act was'to.prfr- . vent boys entering shops and beiiig'lsupplied . with' tobacco; any exception to, that rule I would lend itself to abuse. Ho would, hqw- > ever, deliver his judgmont on Tuesday next. ; Tho Hairdressers Assistants' Union decided r last .night to ask the Unions of, Auckland, t Wellington, and.Christ-church lo federate with i the Dunedin Union with a view- 'to subse- ; quont fedoration with tho Commonwealth ; Unions. I A starling got into tho electrical works at ■ Waipori the other day and caused a stop- ; page of power for a littlo over, a,minute. , Many who have seen Mr. Beck's picture i incline to the opinion that it is ,-. genuine. Turner, others, including tho well-known •. artists Messrs. Bollard, O'Kecfo, and- W. i Green, say it is hot. < \ i It is understood that the tenders for the ■ erection of an infectious diseases hospital ex- ■• coed tho amount proposed to be oxpended on the building by over £1000. Two hundred and thirty-eight men'are now employed on the Mosgiel Railway Duplication i Works. The cutting at Cav.ersham is a long i way below the level of tho present station, i tho present staff at work being taken off from . a point abreast of tho Caversham gasworks. ' ! ilepresentatives of firms interested in,the' i bottle trado met yesterday and camo, to an ' agreement about a tariff, tho following rates being fixed: —Brandy and whisky bottles, Is. per .dozen; Old Tom and Gilby gin bottles, ' Bd.; Dumps, Gd.; Schnapps, Vinegar Hock, ■ and claret, bottles, Bd.; pint chainpagno - bottles, 9d.; half-pint champagne bottles, ,4d.; ■ pint claret and wine bottles, Cd.; sauce and coffee essence bottles, 3d.; plain aerated water bottles, Is.; aerated water bottles (branded), i 4d.; trade mark champagne bottles, Is.; quart straw envelopes, 2d.; pints, Id.; quart ale bottles, Is. . , . . ....