LOCAL AND GENDERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 491, 26 April 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENDERAL.

| The Mokoia, witll an English and Austra- ' lian mail oil board, reached Auckland in tihie to connect with the Main Trunk traili last night. • The Wellington mails are therefore expected to arrive at 4.25 p.m. to-day. The members of the. Timber Comiliissioh arrived in Wellington yesterday from Nelson and tho West . Coast, and leave by this morning's express for Taihape, where the commission will .t-ako,evidence to-morrow. By instruction of , the Hon. R, M'lvenzie, Minister for Public Works, a number of unemployed are to be sent from Cbristchurch to-day to work oh tho C.iss-Waimakariri section of the Midland railway works. The Health Department reports the following cases of infectious diseases for the week ending April 24:—Wellington City: Scarlet fever live, enteric two; diphtheria one, tuberculosis one. Karori Borough: Scarlet fever four. Onslow Borough : Diphtheria one, scarlet fever one. Hutt Borough: Diphtheria one. Petone Borough: Scarlet fever one. Eastbourne Borough: Entorio one. The Welsh Society held their meeting in Godber's Rooms, Cuba Street, oh Friday evening,' the president (Mr. Rees Watkins) occupying the chair. The principal business Was tho election of a' secretary, Bro. R. W. Barber being chosen. This meeting was to have been ttioi arinual m<3eting, But as a number of members were away a postponement was made until May. . In running to fourteen performances, "The Merry Widow," as played by the Royal Comic Opera Company, established a record for an opera hi Wellington—probably in Now Zealand. Not only, ; however was this tho longest run for an opera or musical corticdy, but the business done was also a record for a Williamson Company iil this city, In so establishing its record-breaking propensities l! Tho Merry, Widow" 'is only showing . her consistency.. The opera was first produced in London on June 8, 1907j aiid is.still,running. It also .beat all previous theatrical records in New York by running 419 nights. Mr. Murdoch M'Lean,i of M'Leati; Bros.; the Otira TulWol contractorsjstates that a grossly incorrect assertion appeared to have been made at the Trades Council last Thursday evening, during a discussion on the "exertion wage." One of tho speakers was reported to have said that if tho system alluded to were npt in operation at Otira more men wotald be employed tlifere. Mr. M'L'eah, ill rebuttal of this.ftsSßrtioti, states that tho bonus is orily 'givcn to the men working at the heading; where there, is ho spac& for more workers thaii are there at present, and life considers it blest for. all parties to have '.the work carried oh at a good rate. Some interesting remarks concerning the city abattoirs ivere made recently by. Mr: Smith,, a member of tho Dunedin City Council. .He stated that far, more money : had been spent there than tlicro was any necessity for, and that, notwithstanding what had been done, ■ tlie meat that came from them was not nearly in such good condition as it was when it was killed in the old primitive style before the abattoirs were built. The Dunedin butchers had grounds on which ,to raise very strong complaints, and they bad justification for demanding better provision thaii was made for them at tho present time/ Ho'believed that before long, apart froili the important question of drainage and tho complaints that had been: made by Government officers, the City. Council would have to expend a considerable sum in'effecting necessary alterations and improvements. One'of tho two new railway, mail vans rcceittly cohstrUcted, each ' 50ft. in length, wis run oii thd-nbrth lino yesterday. (states the, "Press" of Saturday). These have been specially biiilt to fneot the fiist increasing work of the postal service. : They liavo been fitted with special conveiiichces aiid incandescent lighting; with' 'lamps,gas being likewise Supplied to the waS-heat-ing pin, and to a smaller jet dlso used for melting the sealing-wax.; The sdrters' .table is replete, with every requirement,. ahd there ire plenty of pigeon-lioM for, the reception of letters for the many , stations at which iiisiils sire left. Special brovision has been made to protect the windows with guards, and to seoUre tlie .locking of, thp entrances. Th 6 public will fihd the posting-boxes niucli easier oKaccess, than was the l case with ,tho. old mail vans, tho boxes being now placed in the. certtro of the van. All through superior workmanship has beeh showii in,the building and. finishing of the hew vehicles, which makes them quite up to date. , A young lady passenger by the Auckland to Wellington express on a recent trip had an alarming experience and a very narrow escape from an ugly accident. Athbout3'a.m.; after tho usual liumber of unsuccessful attempts to coax herself into forgotfulness; she was just dropping into a ddzo wlibn with a terrific crash the carriage window within, a few inches of her head flew into a thotlsand pieces, and. she was smothered in broken glass. One sharp fragment struck her. just below tlie right eye and embedded itself about ■ a quarter of an inch ihto the flesh. A copious stream of blood potircd frdm the wound, to tho wild dismiy of two or three other , lady passengers who were in tho carriage, However) after a good deal of trouble, the flow was stopped, and the guard, whb had been called in, Went through the train to see if ho could ascertain the cause of the, accident. In the cdr dii-ectly in ■ front ho discovered a lloneymooh couple; who, had just been enjoying some harmless., midnight refreshment. Tho new-made "hubby,", after draining , a lemonade bottle, had hurled it into, the darkness, thinking it would drop clear of tho train. But the train happened to be passing through a cutting, aud the .bottle had rebounded on tt) tho window of the succeeding car, with the alarming result already stated. Ho was a very much disconcerted "hubby" who offered his apologies to the young lady, who forgave' hilitj fthich, hbttever, is more than thp guard did, for he hat! to part with fiftfc'eil shillings for a hew window.—"MaiiaWatli.Standard." A trial exhibition of a miniature rifle range, constructed by, tllo pupils in the carpentry class at the Wellington Technical School from plans prepared in tho Cadet '.branch of the Education Department, was given on Saturday morning in tho presence of the Hon. D. Buddo, Minister for Internal Affairs, Sir E. O. Gibbes; Secretary for,.. Education, Lieut.Colonel L. W. Loveday, Officer Coinmandmg the Public School Cadets, Messrs. J. G. W. Aitken and > William Allan, and Ciiptain M'Donald, members of thb Education Board, nearly all the city headmasters, and officers of i the ciidet battalions. ~.Tllb cohtrivance, tvllicii is ail improved tyjie based oil ths model of. the Australian hiiiiiatiire frfleranges, is a slihplb arrailgementj and economical in construction. Two 9-inch, boards, upright, with a span botween, aro placed at the, firing-point, thus obviating tho risk of angle fire, while a loop-hole arrangement provides apertures between tho .boards for tho threo positions of standing, kheelihg', and lyiilg. Tho target; in size proportional to the reduction of the distance by oiie-foUrth, is so constructed and colmectcd with the firing poiht as to enable tllo firer; by turning a handle, to wind tlie target towards liim to note tlie results; cr affix • fresh paper. The working of the machine evoked stjmo interesting discussion, one speakbr recommending that provision should also be madb for obviating tlio risk of skying the bullets. Tho weapon used is tho ordinary Winchester saloon rifle, and, at Saturday's demonstration, quito a number of those present tested tjie ranco by actual practiw;. The Hon. Mr. Buddo managed to find tllo ''bull's-eye," Tile Cost of the range, _ which is being introduced to sblibals by Lieutciiant-Cdlbiiel Loveday; is, roiigbly, about £2 10s. At such a modest cost, every school cadet corps in tho Dominibii should soon liavo its bwn.miniature rifle range. -• Teas grown in different localities iiavo differ* j ent .characteristicSj and .even the tea from any particular garden is not the samo in .two successive seasons. Cliiilatic tliailpes, differences of soil, exercise influences: aiid it is in the art of tlie tea blender to bring .together the different teas and by combination to produce a particular flavour. Crescent Blend Tea is a choice combiridtitih of Cfeyloii and Indian Teas, and the flavour never varies, All storekeepers, 2s. L pci lb;

The annual meetings of - householders, convened by statute for the elections of school committees in tho various school districts, will ho held to-night. Two shocks of earthquake, a slight one, followed by an unusually sharp one, were felt in Wellington at 10.25 p.m. oil Saturday. Dannevirko reports that two shocks were also felt there about tho same time. Tho Premier, when questioned last night by a Dominion reporter, said Cabinet had not yot considered tho question of appealing to tho Privy Couhcil agailist tho Appeal Court's decision in regard to the Ohinemuri Commission. There llavo been no further developments in connection with tho assault on , and robbery from, a young woman on board tho Moeraki on Friday. Tho description sho gave of her assailant, is considered somewhat vague to bo of much service as a clue. It is annouueed in our advertising columns in this issue that, "owing to the rise.in tho price of . flour,; members of tho Master Bakers' Union hro compelled to charge 7}d. per 41b. loaf, Coupons will bo sold at 3s. ,Bd. per dozen. This change will be. on and after to-day aid until further notice." Uridor tho direction of Elder L. H. Booth, the Mormon missionary at the Native settlement in Porirua, a now school ,is being erected closo to the wharepuni. Tie Mormolis aro establishing ail Agricultural Collego. in tho Hawke's Bay . district,, whoro Natives may learn the best means, of turning their lands to good account. Mr. J. W.. M'Ewan, Mayor of Petone, aud Councillor Smith interviewed tlio Minister for Internal Affairs (Hon, D. Buddo) on Saturday morning in regard .to tho inclusion, of section 9 in . the borough in connection with tho proposal to build a substantial bridge over the Hutt Rivor near its mouth, to which work the borough of Petone would botho principal contributor; Tho matter was left undecided, and it is understood.that a commission may be required to settle it.: All enjoyable smoke concert was held last Friday evchiug Under tho auspices of tho Wellington Corporation Tramways Recreation and Trhniways Football Club. It was iri. .did of tho gymnasium; : Mr. Patchott took.the chair. The following contributed to a lengthy jwogr&mnfo :—Mr. • Wilford) M.P; (song). Mr. Fisher, M.P., Mr. Liardot (conjuring feats)y Parker Brothers (wrestling), the Randall Boys (exhibition in boxing), arid itr. Minifio (an exhibition iii bill punching). The Traihwajs' Band was also ill attendance and played selections. ' Special pi'aiso is due to the bfficeis of the club for the maimer iu whicli thoy Arranged tlio evening's programme. ' That tho knowledge of how' to uso one's lists for tho purpose of defence and not aggression is a very useful asset exemplified on board a ferry, Steamer on the way hom Auckland to Northcote. A Maori passenger was inoffensively taking a trip across the harbour when a tall, athletic man endeavoured to strike up, a conversation in the Maori language. ' The Native jocularly informed his interviewer that ho could not talk Maori; and that he was only "making a fool of. it." Upon this the '■ tall fellow became abusive, atid eventually assaulted the Mabri. As it'iVaS a very one-sided con-, test owing'to tlio. long, reach of tho taller man and his persistency in continuing the attack, several passengers .'vainly .tried to ihtel-fcre. Seeing their fruitless endeavours a yourig man of light,build and short stature stepped into tho breach, and,, notwithstanding the odds agajhst. him 1 on these points; was so well M@ted in tlio art of using his fists, that he settled '.the big fellow m a couplo of seconds, much to tho delight and relief of tho deck who were afraid of some serious injury resulting from the . attack on the Native.. i. A sjibcidl meeting of the City Council is to be held at 4.3b p.m. to-day to corisidbr tho. eMting of buiidirig permits t'o Mr. H. Brittaih (Mariners Street), and Messrs. Piko and Bate (Willis Street). Tho matter of granting thekb permits iiiVolves the streotwideniiig scheme ih respect to thb thoroughfares named. The first-mentioned application hdis be'cn hungup for a couplo of months, owing to thd proposition riolv before the .council to widen Manners Street on the same .basis as Willis Street. An excellent opportunity ejeifcts at preseht for ivideniiig M'annters but somo peoplo cbiisidor it' ijiifeStionable-if it 'Shottld bo. done oii tho . south side. ■ Oil tlie riorth llanfe, It is pointed but; there is An liriilitorrliptcd lino of old wooden buildings extoiidingfrom the Dukd of ]?dihbiii-gli Hotel to tho New Zealander Hotel—over liblf the distance, between Willis iiiid Cuba Streets, but. fi ; om the Nfew ;-ZcdlaHder, oh . to, the bank corner , thero are some pretty substantial brick Structures. Perhaps, from an economic View, it would be advisable to take in part of tho soiithern Herbert alid Cuba Streets—into tlie scheme, biit that is a matter for an expert's report. That the schemb is , one .that fenould not be lost sight of when for building arb applied for: is beyond question.