LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 January 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

' The Newtown Band will give a performance at Newtown Park to-morrow afternoon. The annual meeting of. the Wellington Gas Company is to bo hold at noon on Monday, Fobruary 1, in the Chamber of Commerce. It is.likely (says our Shannon correspondent) that the Hon. R. M'Nab; will act as ■managing director of tho Makerua Estate Company during. Dr. Chappie's absence" aA Homo. Tho authorities of the Roman Catholic, parish of Thorndon hrve purchased half an acre of land in Wadostown, on tho main road between Princes and Woodward Streets, on which to erect a church. /The D Battery, which,proceeded to Pigeon Bush on Thursday, will carry out' its ■ annual class-ifiring under .service, conditions to-day. A number, of officers of the Headquarters and District Staffs will be present. ■. . A ..new patent electric fire alarm and .temperature recorder is to be tested on: Monday 1 next between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Queen's Chambers. ' The patent' is said to be applicable to ship's holds, : ware-, houses, wool stores, flax and woolleu mills) etc. ■ ".'..':•

The following are the.returns.of the expenses of some of the candidates, who contested the Wellington Suburbs seat at the General Elections-.—First ballot—J. W. Braithwaite, £52:. 7s. 6d.; J., E. Fitzgerald, £176 15s: 6d.: J. P. Luke, £166 os. 6d.; F. J. Moore, £104 lis. 9d.; W; F. Young,; £58 75.. 6d. Second ballot—J.-E. Fitzgerald, £49 19s. ,7d.;.,J. P. Luk«,;£49 4s. ■■;;.-: _ ,;.- : ', ; Tho'Wanganui Education Board has resolved : "That in future the minimum quali- 1 ncatipns for tho headmastefship'of a district high school shall bo;B. 1. certificate, and; that headmasters".at present in charge of : such schools, be informed that they are ex.peoted to give' some proof that within the next.. twelve .months tlioy. are . taking '.steps • to conform to this standard, or to givo sufn- : ciont reasons for not■ doing so." •:■ •■.'■.■.-■''•

The,annual instructional camp nf. tho Wellington Navals'ahd the Electric Light Corps came to -ah end yesterday. :'■• The'. 6-pouhder Q.F. ..service class-firing .was carried .oiit-iri the morning, each'.'of the"four detachments' firing twenty-rounds, _with excellent* results. The. instructional, scerios for' the 6-pdundoro was ■ fired ■ the previous evening. The; camp .has been a most successful one iri: every way, the progress made by the new Electric Light 'Corps (Captain A. G. Hume) being veryj.good indeed. ':

■'■ The firebrigade reoeived two calls yesterday.', At 12.22 p.m. it was summoned.'tb' : 33 Cpiirtonay Place, where it was' found an outbreak had occurred in a wash-house.'at the rear of a dwelling occupied, by Mr. H. J. Harris.:, Only slight damage was wrought. At 7.50 p.m. a call was received from 205 Lainbton Quay, an office. in the Commercial Union Building. Some rubbish was 'found to be .alight in a room occupied by.-; Mr .; Jas. W. M'Kay. No damage resulted. '• ■"

; Colonel It. K. Dayios, C.8., InspectorGeneral of the New Zealand Defence Forces,' will formally inspect" No. 2 Company, Wellington Garrison Artillery Division (Petone' Navals) at Fort Kelburne on Tuesday' evening next. The other two companies' of the division (the Wellington Navals and the Electric Light Section) were inspeeted">during the recent ,camp at Mahanga Bay, opportunity being ; taken by the colonel v on that occasion, to present the long-service medal, which had, been awarded -to Lieut.Colonel G. F. C. Campbell, Officer Commanding tho division.

' Speaking at tho Thames, Mr. F. H. Has'elden, an Opposition can'didato for the Thames seat, said.that he regretted the. resignation of tho Hon. J. M ! Gowan and selection of the 1 Hon. R. .M'Kenzie as Minister for .'Mines;' Ho maintained that it was time the Government left office. It would not'be long before Mr Massey was Prime Minister, with Mr. Herries as Minister for Lands, and himself as Minister for Mines. (Laughter.); He' spoke of the neglect of the gold-mining industry, and said that of the.£l6,ooo put'on the Estimates for prospecting, £6500 only had been spent. Referring to, railways he ridiculed tho idea of the Government claiming credit for pushing on the railways. They had retarded railways instead of assisting them. He spoke of the slowness with which some of the linos (mainly the North Island Main, trunk) had been constructed, and advocated a railway from Paorea, to Pokeno, which' would assist the. settlement of the Piako lands, and would bring Auckland'4o miles nearer Paeroa, Mr. Haselden received a'vote of thanks at the close of his address.

The Hon. T. Mackenzie, speaking to a deputation at Cromwell, said that ho' was strongly in favour of the lands being opened up where suitable, and he promised to - assist the oountry settlers and districts as far as he cetild. as by doing bo they made the cities prosperous. _ In regard to-railway.ex-tension he recognised the importance of it, but he could not say anything with regard to the prosecution of the railway line for the reason that since, he had been in the Cabinet the railway policy, of .the Government, had. not been: brought np for consideration. If railway extension into the interior of Otago was to be prosecuted, a system of narrow-gauge light railway would suit all the requirements of the back country.- The Minister described the haulage capacity o of various cnginfes and their rates of speed on different gauges, aiid said ho considered siich a'system eminently suited to a . sparsely-, populated country. . Personally ho thought the cost of tho construction of a railway from Clyde to Cromwell was so great that the only solution of the difficulty ho could see was a light line-of railway through the gorge, continued up. to Hawea. This class of railway could bo constructed at a third of tho cost of the ordinary line. The objection of additional loading and unloading was one that, of course, had to be contended with at tho present time. These light linos, if laid, must be regarded really as feeders to the main lines., ' '"':*'-

For instructions on tho latest and most becoming style of Hairdressing,-for Hair Treatment, Face Massage and Shampooing, , visit Mrs. Rolleston,Willis: Street (over 'Carroll's). Personal attention, .advice free. Tel. .1599.: C 739 Thero are'more ways tha none of blendin° tea, but there's only one honest and right way 0 ! and that is to blend for quality. Many .teas are blbfldcd for value—that is, .teas-'of* certain prices' are lumped together in order, to.-take certain of profit.' Crescent.Blend Tea is blended for quality, irrespective of the .'prices'-of the teas required to make the blend. It ip a scientific combination of tho strong' robust ,teas. of BMjapliliß and tho fine delicate teas of Ceylon. Two ahiiluiga per lb. from oil utorca,—Advc,

A:Navy League announcement appears in another column in reference to Lieutenant Knox's illustrated lecturo at the Town Hall on Tuesday host.. In addition to a number of lantern slides of British and foroign Warships and dockyards,- there is to ho shown for the first time in Wellington entirely new pictures of tho Russo-Japanese War. His Excellency tho Governor and the Dofenco Council and Captain Miller, R.N., and a number of local officers havo intimated their intention- of being present. Admission is free, but some seats are being reserved for adult subscribers, and young nicn aro desired to wear their Navy League badges and to bring their parents. "\_ Tho "Weekly Scotsman" of December. 12 states:—Wo havo received the following letter from a correspondent who proposes going out to New Zealand. We had already advised him in a matter relating thereto. His letter seems to somewhat qualify the evidence in the letter on New Zealand which we published last week as to a working man's chances out there. Ho says:—l thank you very much for your kind advice received in your letter. By the same post I received from tie Secretary of Labour, Wellington, New Zealand, a nice pamphlet entitled "Department of Labour—lts Organisation and Work.'.' It is very interesting. There are some excellent facts and.photos in the booklet.'ln a letter to me the secretary emphasises the fact that I can do better in New Zealand than in tho Old Country. Further, he state's what a job they had to secure the moulders last month for Napier. Now, I have not the slightest idea of contradicting the correspondent whose letter I have read with an'unusual interest in last week's Club, but I must tell you how frank this man at headquarters :is. He says:— "There is always room here for a man who is prepared to tackle the first job that comes along. Such is the statement I have received from the Secretary of Labour, Wei-' lington, New Zealand; He wrote on October 1 to me, so his advice is comparatively fresh. —A.N, :.■'•.■