LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 566, 22 July 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Mr. T. Y. Soddon, M.P., bM.errangedfora deputation to interview tho Minister for Minos (Hon It. M'Kenzio) to-morrow afternoon, on tho water-power question. Tho deputation will oompriea tbo Hon. A. It. Guinness nnd Mr. J. Colvin, M.P.'s, and Mr. Taooii, who roprcscnts mining companies which aro applying for water rights in Mr. fleddon's cloclorato.

It in understood that tho law sociotiee in Christcliurcli, Auckland, Duncdin, and Invorcargill, intend taking a strong stand ngninst the proposed changes in the Stamps Department, outlined by Dr. Findlay.

Sittings of tho Arbitration Court .in fhe Wollington rlietrict have been arranged as follow:—Wanganui, Tuesday, August 17; Palmorston North, Thursday, August 19; Napier, Monday, August 23; and Wellington, Monday, August 30. .

The dato of tho colebra4ion of tno eeventh anniversary of tho Y.M.C.A. in Wellington hue been fixed for September 23, on which evening a mooting nil! be hold in.the. Town Hall. Tho chief speaker on that occasion will bo Mr. J. J. Virgo, seerotarj of tho association at Sydney. .

Tho firs'! anniversary social gathering of tho mombors of the Methodist Church, Island Bay, was held' last evening, the function boing a. very successful one. Tho pastor, tho Itev. W. R'. Tuck, presided oyer tho ittcoting. After tho, annual report and balance-sheet had been read ana adopted ( tho Rev. S.J. Serpell, of the Taranaki Street Wesley Church, delivered an interesting address. During the evening, musical and'other items were given. Mr. Allen pro-: sided at. tbo organ. ... •■'' ■. .;. •, ,'..

The second meeting of the New Zealand Club,'to be held on Tuesday next at 1 p.m., will be made notable by the presence as chief guest of Sir Charles, Lucas, Assistant Urider-Secretary; for the Colonies, who will spoak on! some congenial topic of Imperial import. His coadjutor, Mr. A. A. Pearson, will also' bo present. ■ Mr. H. N , .; Holmes (secretary) desires all members who intend to bo present to notify him in order to , facilitate ■ arrangements in connection with the luncheon. .:> .' . ■'-, ■ ':

"Wanganui is fostering the Navy. League movement with considerable enthusiasm.'Mr. Palmer, Secretary of, the "Wellington ■ Branch, has just received from Mr; Louis Cohen, the' local secretary! there, a letter stating that preparations were in train for a league demonstration, on similar, lines .to that held recently in. Wellington. ; He also remitted:£l3 odd for the purchase of Navy League maps;. Much of the success of the movement in.Wanganui is the outcome of the recent.tour undertaken by.Lieutenant Knox. : Kent Terrace was not the scene of any .of yesterday's arboreal functions, though there scorns to have 6een ; an impression. public miud that trees were to be planted there. ' The scheme which is actually Being carried out comprises three grass\lawns, and; two asphalted playgrounds, with a continuous path along the centre. Shelter' hedgeS'of the native taiipata (coprosma'biueri):* will surround each of t'ho lawns and playgrounds. The'"■.'shrubbery- at the end adjacent' to the Basin Beserve will be retained, but its hedge, which is hot thriving very well, will:be re- ; pkced with .taupata, vhich is recognised as pne.of ..the best'plants for such; purposes. In yes'terday'sDoiiiNloN, a correspondent, "Blenheim,"' suggested thatj ; in view- of. 'the largo' number of visitors from Nelson, Mnrlborough,« and the West Coast in town for the races,;it would- be a great convenience if the Arahura's departure could be timed for, 7.30 or 8 p.m., instead: of 12.45,' the usual time. The Union Company state that ■ theyi have arranged for another, vessel to pick .up cargo'at,;the Weet Coast, so the Arahura, i therefore, will be able 'to stay until 7 p.m. A special train, from Picton to Blenheim will be arranged :for the convenience of; Marlbbroup: visitore.r'']!.:"TvT , "^'.''•'-.'-'""i'.''•■■"■:"

; that good laTm'Jabourersare.'in'keeri demand Was afforded at.a meeting'.of the farmers' Union yesterda)' (states .our Cliristchurcl) -'' tcorresfhMetit);-' Tho secretary stated received' a lett«r from'' -a, recent arrival frotnj Scotland;. a' young able-bodied single "farm labourer, who desired work as a pJoiighman. Ho : . was. accustomed . to; horses; mackiner/, and mixed;farmiiig, .could, repair \ drains,, clean' ditches,, mend tocos, and was prepared >to tackle anything. Thcrd was keen competition for' the', services of • thisj , industrial paragon; three or four farmers present desiring to secure his assistance. Ultimately ho was engaged, by an'Ellesmere, district set--tler./Within five .mmutes after his letter wae >read to tho meeting..'■'„.■" ■'■:■'. '■-;;■■;..■ .■•'■' > , : , •;.

.A .well-known' Ney? ■ Zealander,- new resident in Englandj .yrites to a friend here about the King's Derby, apropos of which he tells, an excellent story,; that has not yet appeared' in p,rint. The: King; of .course, is very popular in England, and the public were almost frantic with joy when his horse Minoru won; When his Majesty' led Minoru to the paddock, the crowd knew no bounds; they surrounded him, and even patted him on 'the'back.'" Reserve and dignity alike were thrown to'.the winds.Vand one, man-actually,' after patting him on the back, said, to him: "Well done, Teddy; you've won the Derby, now turn out your- damned Government. , .This, adds the writer., is an absoluto fact, and the King related the story at the Jockey/ Club dinner in the evening.—Christchurch "Press." •';■■■ ','['.''.■■.' ' . .';'■' ■.■'.' •'.-'■ "' ■

Promissory notes, like .the proverbial chicken or curse, have a knack of sooner, or later coming honie to roost, but it is ; seldom that one payable on demand takes so long in;coming upjfor. payment as one which arrived■i':'from.- ; New. 2k!aland,'.' last :• ...week (states tho; "Sydney Daily Telegraph"). It was very usual many, years ' ago for the various agents of- liquors, etc., to place hero and there! a note promising to pay.£l when pre»rnte(l, : these being secreted in ) the cap-, sules or behjnd the labels.' Wolfe's SchnoTOa however, state that they stopped'this practice about ton years ago, .but nevertheless on Monday last, in a letter from Mas-' torton, N.Z., was one of..their , notes' dated 1890, or 19 years ago. As only the name and. address of the sender accompanied ,tbe nbtoj the romance of-, how it came, to light after "so-many years must, bo left to the imagination.." ;■ .. . ', :.' ~'. ,-.'

Hie proximity-of, highly-paid bushfelling work is said to-bo causing some anxiety at AVaitotara. The Waverlo.y corre-spondolit of tho l'atea . "Press" . says:-j','A bushnxin of long oKpo'rience advised that'if the work kept moving on present lines individual men of good gangs would make from £3 to £3 ss. per week clear of expenses: This is supplying a feeling of disquietude to many settlers who, ; 3'ot having many ,i acres of land still under bush, find it impossible to get mon, who are* attracted, by the better pay; now being 'offered by the Government, The Government's pay works, out at, anything from 255. to 30s. an apre, as compared with private price 0f,245. and.2ss. The trouble they 'anticipate isj, that- when' the' present work has been completed the men Will not care to revert back to the lesser rate. \ The general opinion at Waitotam was that good, work was being done and a high-class job was expected to result." ;-, '/; .■ ; . " ;..'-..• .'

Charles Sells,' an old age pensioner, died at Ballarat 18 months ago. Since his death someone has been drawing his pension. Under ■ tlie" State •■ system' it was possible for a' representative of tho pensioner to, draw tho fortnightly sum to which.the latter was entitled, and this privilcgo. has been regularly exercised..in regard to Soils for the past 18 Kionths.. A few days, ago a lad, who'said that he represented Sells, called at the,federal Pension Pay •' Office at Ballarat,: and stated'that ho had called for his ; grandfathor's pension. Tho new form for paymout tb a proxy 'had not, however,: boon Bent in, and the lad was informed that Iho money dno could liot bo haiidcd' over until the now fonn had: been" properly filled in and sent to'the authorities. This procedure was subsequently nttended to, the papers being certified to as. correct. . At this stage the document came undor tho notico of a junior clerk, «'ho said Soils had died about 18 months aptb. An invcstiga.tion is being mado as to who was responsible for the drawing of .tho pension after the. man's death. ■■•• ■'■'■,■ ■■• •■■;■'

\Vc have to advise that wo linvo taJcen'up the sole agenoy for New Zealand for the Burgon andißall Sheep Shearing Machines;: Write for; Quotations for instillations. • A&dereons, ,llmited, 15 Bank Cbsunbers. ■::■-.■ :.■,:■■:. ■<. P 138;

An interesting topic discussed by the Sydney Zoological Society last week Wμ snakes. This council, like the general public, has littlo time.to waste on the ordinary snake, but tho reptiles under consideration wore not orthodox serpents. They were, one gentleman was hesud to suggest, of a variety, somewhat new to zoology. The honi secre--tary (Mr. Aubrey Halloran), in the course of reading tho correspondence, gave put the contcnte of a telegram from a foreign source, which read: "Two typhons, 18ft;'and 20ft;, captured. Arc you a purchaser at ss. .a. foot?" Ho suggested that there was a pos-sibility-of-their being pythons, ■ and .'tho council agreed that such, interesting specimens) especially if they proved to bo pythons, were cheap at tho price. ' ' '. . . :

Muoh interest is being turned to a paragraph going the rounds of tbo papers ia this district, which states that four Natives, the only survivors of the Ngati Hikawara. Hapu in tbo Wairarapa, are now immensely wealthy,, and hold an estate aggregating 65,000 acres (writes our Auckland correspondent). On July' 8, there camo of ago To Raro To llangi Katukina, • the grandson, of the chief who kept tho land for his: people.[''ortunatfily for this young Native, his estate was put into tho hands of the Public Trustco by .Judges Barton and Von Sturmer, and, in constfqjuonce of careful management by\ the Public <Trustee,, there was payable ..'to! him recently the; sum of £60,000 approximately, tho result of investments madp,.and interest accumulated.' In addition to that, in his estate there are over 8000 acres of. land which is leased to good tenants., , : .

' A Melbourne harbor, Viliv Dennis, at- ; tempted last week to establish an Auetralitn record , for. shaving with , one razor (unset) as many men as possible within one hour' When he had shared"2s men in. 18 minutes,; there was not a face in the vicinity" of ■ the ' Temperance Hall (th<S sceno of ■ his exploit) that could show the slightest voatigd of V. bpard,; and then ■ Mr! Dennis reluctantly closed 'his razor. Ho had' established an Australian I record for shaving. Ho had also put up a record as a taciturn barber—bo, bad not spoken for 18 minutes. The • longest "operation lasted ;62; seconds; The world , * record in shaving ie" claimed by an English barber named Weckes, who shaved 70 ■ inoa in an hour.; That record (save a Melbourne correspondent)' would probably have ' been broken by Mr. Dennis had ;be | obtained, sufficient material to work on. .■; ■ [ ;;' ;[' .;:;■■;

Cohduding argument was hoard by Mr. Justice Cooper yesterday in the case of Nancy Bridge v. Alfred Booth and the Public Trustee, the evidence of which km taken some months ago. . The plaintiff claimed £268 and interest under a legacy left by. her,father, William Booth, sawmill proprietor, of Taratahi, Cartcrton. She alleged that her father had left her £300, and that Alfred Booth, and;■!';■ A. Krull had been appouited executors. She had received oriry £3110 a. in 1891, and sho'sought to recover the halance of the legacy: The defences was that at, plaintiff s request Booth and Co. supplied her with cash and poods to commence ;storckeeprog, and th.at : siiß agreed that these goods and moneys should be* regarded as advances against) the legacy, i His Honour, reserved judgment. The counsel appearing: were Mr. von Haaet for tho, plaintiff, and Mr. H. D< ;Bell- for the: defendants'.;. '■■ ■■'■■■[ ■■'.■■ - : ■'■■>'■ .V ■'■;.;•: "'-'.•'.■.';:'.-,.-.