LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 611, 14 September 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A'constable, giving evidence before the Police Commission yesterday, told'of a colleaguo (not howin the force) who lttul only passed tbo second standard at' school, and without further study was given a-sixtli standard certificate by a schoolmaster to enable hiui. to. become a policeman. '' The; witness knew that the man could not pass the sixth standard. Mr. Bishop rem that this was not tho first instanco. of the kind that had' come boforo the commission. He thought' thero■should bo more elasticity in the regulations, because a man might make a good Constable'even though he could not pass i the sixth, standard. ■ At the request of Jlr. Dinnie, the witness wrote down the n&me of the num lie had referred to. , Messrs. B. H. Abbott and Co., warehousemen, have closed yp. their warehouse in Wellington, and Moots.'l). Bonjamin and Co., who, have been established here-for sixteen or seventeen years, are about, to. follow suit. In the case of another wholesale firm several dismissals:have been made recently, and salaries have been roduced 10 per cent, all round. A It is stated as a fact that if a Celestial over attempts to alight from a tramcar or any other vehiclo whilst it is in motion ho invariably does, so in the wrong way. A Chineso named Ah On, who attempted to alight from a car on Sunday night, was no oxcoption to this rule, and .ho nearly met with a grievous accidentas a result of his application of the back-to-front theory,. Ho foil, and his legs slipped beneath the back wbeols of tho car, but a smart application of tho brakes provented his being run over, and ho escaped without injury, Farmers from all over tho Lower Valley are. expected to'attend the meeting in Foatherston this morning to consider a scheme to control tho ltliamaliunga lliver from Moiki to tho sen.. The. scheme, ,if carried out (says bur lfciithorston correspondent), will bo a vory big undertaking. aud will run into a sum estimated at near X 150,000, - . , The Mission Band gave a performance at the Hospital grounds on Sunday afternoon last. The musio was much appreciated by both the inmates, and the visitors. Tho net result collected by tho band was £2 lis. Id,

Tho Jpivisli New Year, which bears tho number 5G70, begins to-morrow night. Tomorrow also begin the ton penitential'days Winch cud with the great day of atonement 011 heptembcr '-5. Services connected with' tho I'estiyal will bo held on Thursday and Friday Mornings, and on the 25tli.

. Betting and gambling were vigoronslv condemned by tho Rev. A. L. Hansel!, of Karori ill the course of an interesting address at St! Pauls pro-Cathedral on Sunday.hight.' He stated that tlio-Anglican'Church, through the' recent Pan-Anglican Congress, had most emphatically condemned gambling in all its forms, and had called upon Churchmen to discountenance it in every way. The Anglican Church did not take a narrow view of this question, for it looked with favour on all true sport and recreation when carried out under proper and healthy "conditions! but betting spoilt sport, and gambling had assumed the proportions of a national evil. When 0110 noticed .how.it was spreading among, tho women, it gave one quite a shock. Some people contended that they were strong-minded cno"ugh to indulge in gambling without going to excess; but even if that were the case, it' their duty As Christians to consider its eiFect not on themselves only, bilt on others also.

Says our Pahiatua correspondent Messrs Thomas Horton, Ltd., a well-known firm of nurserymen in tho Pahintna district, havo just executed an order for. the Wellington City Council of 40,000 trees, embracing all tho best kinds of timber and ornamental trees. Tho 4irm havo received word that the' trees ■ have arrived at their destination in. splendid con■dition.

At the meeting, of the Wellington District Branch of the New Zealand Education Institute, to-bo held shortly,- iurther consideration will bo given to \the motion (adjourned' from last meeting)-: "That is in the best interests of the teaching profession that teachers, except under special circumstances, should not bo promoted, especially by transfer, more than one grade at, a timo, a?; otherwise of. necessity it smaller number- of promotions must take place." Remits for the annual meeting of tlio New Zealand body will also be considered. It is expected that an announcement will shortly bo made with regard to the appointment of four junior Imperial, infantry officers, who were to have been selected for temporary service in New Zealand in place of the four Now Zealand officers who recently tfent Eome for twelve months' training in England. :

: p The l city bowling greens, arc beckoning a lively welcome to the followers of "kitty," and their custodians are. busily engaged in work-, ing: up the .sward ;to that desirable pitch' of perfection so' soothing to the 6pnng-timo bowler. Both the Wellington and Kelburno Clubs have dccided to open their greens,' for., play, on Saturday, October: 2.' The list of. clubs owing allegiance to tho local' centre has' been added to by the admittance of the To Hiwi Club, which experts in Maori nomenclature .will quickly recognise as neither more nor less than the Hill : Club. This is a little club initiated by tlie veteran ,bowlir . Mr. 'CharleA 'Hill, who has a 1 cosy four rink green on-his estate'at Island Bay, where many local bowlers have enjoyed :some delightful games from time to time. "Te Hiwis." will doubtless be hoard of at tournament time, as the door has opened wide for all to enter in the Northern Bowling Associa-. tioh's, tournament to. be held hero, in January next.V. .... '.' ■

- The usual fortnightly, lunchoon t of'the. New Zealand Club has been postponed from to-day until September !1. , ; . •

" During, his recent visit to • Germany,: the Secretary df- tho, Post and Telegraph Depart ment kept a. bright look-out for any improvemonWn postal.facilities likely, to be of servico in' New Zealand. One feature that struck him was the -.design of * letter-tax, whieh isefved' as a' kind of auxiliary to the ordinary, pillarboxes, of the: street corner;' This.was a liandyeized'square box .of steel (a 2ft. ; cube),'whieh. could bo fitted'into a niche or corner where a full-length pillar-box would, be out of place. He ordered a sample of the box, and' the particular kirid .of big used for 'clearing,.them. These hayo, now arrived, and were, inspected 3*esterday ,alternoori. .- The front of .the box (which is brilliantly enamelled a bright , blue colour, with gold embellishments) bears the formidable ' word; "Postbrieflcasten," below whieh are.spaees for the insertion of tho clear-ing-time notices. > Tho letters; are ' posted on j 'either, .ride, nnder .HapS, which must be raised for the insertion ef the; letter.: The feature of the box is'the manner;, in which it., is clearedj .' Instead ;of scooping tho contents, out by - hand, 1 the/steel jaws of the ; clearer's. bag fit iilto grooves' underneath, and with; a' turn of the key. tho bottom' of the box opens up and empties its contents automatically .into the bag/ It, is the; intention of, tho .Department'to make a trial of tho German,letterbox, to .test,its efficiency tinder, local conditions.' .-.

Out- of sikteen - tenders ' for the new King's Theatre, (to bo erected by West's and . the Royal Picture Syndicates in Dixon Street) that of Messrs. Meyer 'nnd . lUiiigworth . has been accepted. .The new ■ theatre, a description of which was given somo. weeks ago, is to seat ,1500. peoplo (rather more than, the Opera Hanse). .It will be erected in brickf with -floors'.and' staircases of reinforced concreto, and will' be constructed to. display; kinematograph pictures to, the very best, advantage, whilst providing the maximum; comfort for patrons. Ample provision, tori, is. being made in. the .way of , bxits,iit bcing.>laimcd that the theatre.can be emptied in two minutes..

It is rumoured that; tlifc vacant•' Anglican bishopric of Waiapu may be offered either, to Canon Mac Murray, of St. Mary's Cathedral, Auckland, or Archdeacon, Williams, of; Hawke's Bay.. Tho name of Archdeacon' Averill, of Christchnrch, - has also been mentioned. A diftculty in connection, with the appointmont arises out of. the fact that tho bishopric enis so small, that it is almost essential that .the bishop should 1 have 'considerable private means. ' • .

_ A branch of tho Bank of New: Zealand j 3 , be. opened at Otaki' shortly, says our local correspondent. - , ;.,

In Cuba, Street, yesterday-morning, a horse, attached to a spring dray dashed into the verandah of tho Coffoo Palace. Fortunately there was no damage done.beyond the carrying awav of one of the verandah posts. •

On and after , to-morrow, Constable Street cars will run to La'mbton, Station 'only, and : the service from Constable Street to Thorndon Station will be discontinued.; Cars will run from Newtown to Thorndon Station, via Cuba Street and Lambton Quay,', b'otweeii the hours of 7. and 11 a.mv, and 2 p.m., and 5 and 8 p.m., -

At'the Mount Cook Polio©' Court yesterday morning,. before Mr. H/ Baker,' J.I?/, .charges of insobriety: wore dealt with as follow :—James Fyffe, convicted and discharged; John Sheriffs, fined. iii default 24 hours' " imprisonment.; Francis E. Malloy, convicted and discharged; one first; offender, convicted and discharged..

V.lt of a- past .generation u*ho- dwelt in ( Calcutta could see tho youth of; native Bengal playing, football—and playing it well, too—they would be : more than mildly astonished; • This, develojpmbnt is evidence of a kind of coiirago with : which the Bengali character is not usually credited. His lightnessi and nimblencss will often render him less likoly ; to. incur blows or .severo falls than; the heavier-built -; Duropean; but considerable courago raust bo required to play barefooted as he often does,; against heavily-booted opponents. The popularity.of the.,game.is growing rapidly in Calcutta, and will no doubt spread to the.mofussil also; lt caunot fail, to have some effect upon the national character, in coutso of time, and may rosnlt iu some improvement in the standard of physique generally among. the inhabitants of Bengal.—"Englishman" (Calcutta)/, ! :

. Though it scorns incongrnoils, the taste of quite , a number of limelight favourites run to "a .little .farm".well tilled." A beautiful little farm near the Tillage of Wimille in tho north of Iranco has recently been purchased by Mr. Thomas Kingston, the well-known! actor, who is looking forward to settling down to tho dolights of a. farmer's life when his stage career is over. - At present the villa is in tho'charge of 1 , caretakers, ivlio live rent frco, and mako'a living out of tho fruit and vegetables which thoy grow- on tho land surrounding the house. 1 his has long been -Air. Kingston's ideal for the time, when he enters upon that period of rest all actors look forward to, ana so few realise.' . ; ' That well-known landmark in known as tho "Old Windmill,"> is under offer to the City Council fpr tho sum of .£IOOO. Tho owner of tho property (Mr. 'James Wilkinson) lias written to.- tho council. stating that ho intends to sell, and has riven it first offer, Ho is fixing a set of sails to. the building, and suggests that owing to. its commanding position tho mill could bo .mndo' a revenueproducing . asset. ' , Interviewed respecting tlio- position of tho shiircmarkot, Mr. hysnar, chairman of tho Gishorne Oil Company, stated that there were no shares now available for the general public, tho shares having all' been taken up to the limit of tho issue, 5500. After the news that oil had been discovered got abroad, a largo number of applications wore mado for shares, but would-bo buyers were disappointed. Mr. Lysiiar added that it was. improbable that further shares would be issued, at #11 events, at tho present juncture, and if any were issued it' ivoiild only , bo for'tho purpose: of providing capital for immediate, work that might bo. required. That, however, was a matter entirely J for tho directors to consider. J