LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 676, 29 November 1909, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

~—' The s.s. Victoria, which arrived at Auckland at 6 o'clock last evening, carried an Australian mail (which will arrive in Wellington by the Main Trunk express this afternoon), but did not convev tho English mail.'' It is believed that tho latter is on the Moeraki, which left Sydney on Saturday , night'..for Wellington dircct, and will arrive hero on: Wednesday. ' Tho proposed modification of the - licensing agreement, which has been put forward by the No-Lioonse party, -has not yet' been formally considered by'tho "Trade," but a meeting for the purposo will probably be held in a few days. It has, however, been regarded as a foregone conolusion from the first that tho proposed amendment of the compact will not be entertained, and' a refusal to agree to it may be regarded assured. There is unlikely to be any further parleying/on the flatter, or any licensing legislation. during this session. Weather conditions locally wero very favourable for viewing the total cclipse of the moon 011 Saturday evening. Tho sky was cloudless,, and the air clear throughout the duration of tho eclipse. - Tho moon, already paTtially in the shadow, roso in tho northern heavens at 7.1!), and tho total phase began at 7.44 p.m'. and lasted until 9.G p.m. Tho last contact with tho shadow was observed at 10.8 p.m., and the last contact .with' the' penumbra at 11.8 p.m. ' . T- • / ' King Sport leaves .fairly"broad and . obvious marks on the community's, business, .and his. call is. not less distinct -and imperative than the, famous Call of the Wild of which Jack London wrote. It is now stated that the staffs of several of the Government Departments are. willing to begin the. "daily round" an hour' earlier on Saturdays in ord?r to be in a position to throw' down the pen an hour earlier,, at" middayi and get away in good tkno for tlie/ playing fields. They wish tho Saturday hours altered- to 8 a.ra.-12 noor., instead of 9 a.m.-l p.m'. as.at present. ■ . Some sayings by Mr. Will Crooks, M.P., at the Opera' House; last night:—"The Imperial race, which is ni ado up ;of men and women; and, not of Dreadnoughts -and huge armies." "TJio foundations of:the British Empire'are in the ..kitchens of its workers." "Personally, I've not much' faith in a leader that can't give a' push; behind." .. "Nothing : degenerates so quickly;as the unemployed man;.he getsjower and lower,: until you can't raise, him." "Lawyers were for oight days discussing the question whether a well 4.0 ft., deep was a building 40ft, high." : "Wo don't believe there's enough money coined yet .to compensate for. the loss of one husbandi father,, and breadwinner.'' ,

The proposed alterations in the ' railway time-tame are causing great dissatisfaction In the Taranaki district. As'soon as the changes were mado public, Mr. Okey, M.l\, approached the authorities in the matter,vand pointed out the serious inconvenience' tho. changes would canse. - Protests have been mado by 'various ' publio bodies, and as a result an influential deputation, consisting of . Messrs.': G. - Tisch (Mayor of New Plymouth), Burgess, Cock, Bellringer, " Newton King, Connett, .aiid .Sangster (ohairman of the Stratford County; Council) will wait upon the Minister for Railways today. Tbey will bo introduced by Mr.' Okey at 11, a.m. ; A' Wairarapa ' deputation on tho same subject has been-fixed for this evening;

' At an early hour yesterday mornings Sergeant Rutlpdge and Constable M'Kelvey wero scouting on the trail of alleged sly, grog-sellers.' The scene of their operations was at a place in Hol/and Street, where they effected a . raid, anq seized a large quantity of liquor. : . ,;! "I am prepared to go out of public life at any niolhent, but 1 1 am not prepared _to express aflj-iin'ng hat hatred of the principles of ; the. present •' New Zealand Budget affecting tho I land of this? country ."—Mr. pi. M'Laren, M.l'.j at ; tho Opera House .last nig.ht.; . . .. .. i , "An engine, travelling, between the - Welling? ton and Thorndon Stations without appendaee, at about 6.3o:p.m..yesterday, left-the rails; the accident delaying- the evening train to the Hult for a time. The cause of the accident will bo tho subject of a Departmental inquiry. ■ ; Delegate's from the. branches within the Bof minion of the Amalgamated Society of.Engineers >vill meet in confercnce in-the Queens Chambers to-morrow. For the purposes .of: the conference the .Australasian Institut© o*'Marino Engineers• have. placed their rooins at, the disposal of the society. , . ; The' 516 third-olass : i passengers'bn' board;.the Athenic, which Is duo at this port about , midday to-mqrrowi', inclijde ;',234, .'immigrants.'*: OoMs'iMtoT:-ljlS w'dinen,' 60 are raw;' an'd '& 'M' uatftf twelve years -of' age. Eighty-four ' (including, 21 children under'. 12) have neen'nominated by relatives in -New Zealand, and 150 others have obtained; the approval of, tlio High Commissioner., Twenty; W these are childron under'l2. It' will be cheering news to worried housewives that 93 of the assisted passengers .have ■ declared, themselves domestic servants, but fifteen- of these have already .been secured.by ; the.ladies' 'syndicate, in Hawke's: Bay,. - There ,are 37' farmers, 12; farm labourers, ono : nurse, .three housekeepers,, and. ii wives "who are coming out to join their husbands. 'The capital'brought out by those who jiaye . passed' ,-tno High Commissioner's office varies from JC4OO to .£25. ■ ■' ■■ ' Woek-eild (camps are becoming vory popular among the. Wellington volunteer ~ . companies, and with the .advent- of. the summer, weather hardly .a' Saturday, goes past which'..docs .not see- a company's commissariat / and. .stores dumped down at tho; defence siding. 0;i Saturday. afternoon last,' tho Zealandia Rifles, under Captain Corri|an, went into camp—not for the first tim« this season—and devoted (considerable time to. skifnjishing: exercises and field work.' ; The- corps..returned to. town last evening. Last - Friday the. cadet companies. of'"Wellington Collegobegan, and completed their, annual . course of class firing' at - Trentham.. There was, a muster 1 of ISO,, and good shooting' generally .was recorded. This weok, the cadet, companies of. St. Patrick's College will go out to -Trentham ;for their class-firing. Something of : a record was put up by a number of railway servants on : Thursday morning (says tho- "Utngo : Daily Times").' 'At. a quarter, past 8 o'clock 23 trucks containing .'1(1 horses from tho Taieri were; received in the railway * yard.,; The; usual".shunting- had' tg bo done, and alter that the train was taken over the light line—a very slow Tahuiia ■Park. : Yet the trucks wore at tho park gates in time .to allow delivery to be niado to tho owners .; of - the horses at a.. quarter to 9 o'clock, .- :, . . . . / ..

... Considerable alarm. and" a . certain- amount, of damage were caused by a faulty blast, fired at half-past. 11 o'clock .on Thursday morning at tho. Musselburgh, quarry, which is leased byMr. M. Stevenson, contractor (says' tho "Otajjo Daily Timoe"). , The }ilast, which wasiaid. in Mr, Stevenson's absence by some of the workmen 'contrary'L:to his instructions;' was, made with about donblo tho ordinary charge of ex-, plosive, and'- being practically no tamping, it blew: straight -up' in tho air. A piece of stone, weighing upwards of lewt., was.hurled into tjio St. iiilda .tennis court, rwid landed on the asphalt at a . spot from wliicu oho of the lady players had,just'nun in compliance with .the warning shout of another;player. . It left a hole in; the asphalt. It was accompanied .by ; a nutaber. of smaller stones. A largo number of stones- also' fell on' : Mr. Adams's '.house in tho vicinity of the quarry, and pierced the roof. - One piece of rock,, about .the'size:of a> man's fist, •which.'; must havo ■ been : projected to ;a" considerable ' height,' penetrated' the roof and the ■ fibrous plaster ceiling of a bedroom and actually broke- through tho flooring. It was extremoly fortunate tuat no ono was injured. // '■ ' • r '" ;'

■ The. judgment o£ Mr. Justice, Copper in-the. caso ;of.' the New Zealand Times Company,; Ltd., versus the Commissioner of Police was deliVored - on Saturday. The Court had beeri asked: to .decide .whether a- proposed competition; was contrary, to. t«e pnwsions;of the Gaming" Act* /His Honour held -that the Court liad.no jurisdiction, under the Declaratory Judgments- Act, 1003, to decido the question. The Act contemplated two;parties, and the Court had jurisdiction : to m?tke a. declara* t,6rv <jrdcr only could bo bound by it..' Defendant, was the; servant, of. the Crown and would, not bo bound, and the judgment o£ the - Court would . , therefore ' be waste, paper, and would bind neither- parly. A mooting of the Wadestown ratepayers, convened by the Mayor, to consider , the proposal to riiiso'a special loan of for tramway purposes, will bo hold in the Tonn Hall Con» cort. Chamber at 8 o'clock to-night. ; 'To-morrow being St. Androw's Day, the City. Corporation 1 oilices," including tho. Electric Lighting and Tramway Offices, (Harbour Street, iyill be closed all day. ; 7 The holiday. mil also lio observed by the banks and Government offices throughout tlio Dominion. ; The finance of the London County Council during' the Progressive .regime'.:.- (according, ' to Mr. ;Will Crooks) was conducted, on sound businpssiines, and the party, 011 'going out.-of office, left-a surplus :whicli would lm\'is enabled themV to reduce tho rates-by Ijd. in the £; In tho report of an interview- with Jlr. Crooks in our' last -issue, this statemont was attributed by an obvious error.: to la, London'publication which 7 had • previously .bfcon}, quoted in those columns. --. Shampooing, Clipping, HairHressing; Manicuring, .Face Massage,' Troatni<^ and Dandruff, Corabinga mado np, Natnral Hair-pads. 'Mrs. Kolleston (over Carroll's) 14JYiUis Street. 'Phono 1589. CISI7

To,a large congregation at St. ! John's-Church,' last evening Dr. Kirk, who leaves soon for tb« Canton .mission field, preaclicd an earnest sermon, on' missionary.: enterprise and the nocd of workers, with special rcforcnco to tlio Chinese mission. "'v.'"'''-'':-'' '. .. '."-V-v , - Members of the Otago Education 'Board d 0..; clarcd at last week's meeting that they were being "irritated beyond onduranco' by . tho treatment they and tlaeir affairs were receiving at the. hands of the • Education Department,.' says tho/'Otago ; Daily Times." They pointed : , out .indignantly - that everything they do is scrutinised,, critioised, and frequently • negatived by the Department; that their recommendations tiro disregarded! and that when■, they want any money for expenditure in their . district they have to go begging hat in hand in 'order to' obtain itr ,Certain members' nn<. plied during discussion that the board, was rapidly becoming a mere figurehead, and thai the actual control and administration district wero being, centralised in Wellington, In two cases tho board passed resolutions, protesting in the most emphatic manner against decisions that had.been arrived at by officials, of tho Department... • Work in connection with tho publication of the results of tliei scientific expedition .to,, the: sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand is steadily proceeding under tho editorship of, .Dr. Cml-. ton. Tho reports by the various specialists aro 1 vorymuch longer than was at first .anticipated,and tlio work will , consist of; two quarto volumes of about -100.pages.each, and will be illustrated. with numerous platos, sonio coloured; photographs,; and,text figures, and will bo accompanied by a lwargo coloured map of the Antarctic and snbrkntarctio regions, showing the. ocean depths as ascertained by recent expeditions.; It is: hoped to havo-J-ho work issued before tlio i end of tho veal'. rjio printing of tho work, ,w)iich has been dona with groat caro by tho Government Printer, will, greatly exceea . tho grant of .£SOO mado by the Government 'for- the purpose, and t_ho .Council of the Canterbury Philosophical In-., stitute lias been unsuccessful in its attempt 10,. have the ! grant increased.' council, in its . annual report, says that .it will-thetcforo bo j nccessary, for. the institute to be responsibla ■ I for the additional cost, about-«C550., This will entail a serious drain on the finances of tho institute for a few years, but the value of the . work for tho purposo of. exchanges for the , library will bo. very• great, and. some part:-pf,. the cost will bo regained through the salo ( ofv the work. The price of the publication, has been fixed at two guineas, and it is proposed to., allow members' of the institute to purch&sa . the work at a'slight reduction. Tho play, of tho two youthful Australian billiard cliainpions, Lindrum and Gray, has been, a revelation' to those who liavo- . witnessed: it, • Nothing ■ to equal - the exhibition on Saturday afternoon, for, instanco, has over been seeli in. Nevf Zealand, Roberts and Stevenson at thoir best did- pot put up such performances in this; country, For eleven visits each to tho labia Lindrum . and Gray . feacli recorded an average .; of over CO.- Gray's breaks of 300 and 271 wero bigger, than anything" achieved by Lindrum at that afternoon's play, but tho latter in' three siicccssivc breaks scored 154, 157, and "197. Tho tablo 011 which the game was played , was a remarkably fine ono of Alcock's built to standard requirements... ..The /young champions,; leave for the Wairarapa, this week, giving exhibitions at Tentherslon, Carterton, Maslorton, Eketahuna, and, in :■ fa,ct, ■practically right, through ' to ; Napier. Gisborno and Auckland follow, after' which towns on tho Main Trunk line, New Plymouth; Wanganui, etc.,. and .then tho principal; towns of tho South Island. : :,y : . ■ The ' Minister for' Justice (tho' .lion. v-Dr.; jFindlay) presided at tho last : meeting .of; tho; Police Provident Fund Board,' which was also attended by the Public' Trustee -(Mr.; J.. W. l'oynton), Commissioner Dinnie, and Inspector Ellison. ; Sergeant' Watt, of Rotorua, who is retiring as modicfilly .unfit for sorvico, having; sustained 1 injuries while on duty,' was' granted'. the full pension of .£1,25 a' year, ' Constaplo ,' Hugh Mulnolland. of-St. Clair, who bus reachcd tho age limit; and Constablo E. H. Law, of Coromandel, who has been certified, medically unfit, wero granted full retiring pensions bf JDIO4.

■' In roply to a question by an "Otogo. Daily. ;Times" reporter oil tho.subjeet of the decision of tho' Government that'its various officers, ill future ore not to divulge any Departmental information,; the lion.' T. Mackenzie; Minister - for Agriculture, stated'that .there! was never any ■ suggestion'• that' ; the .Government exports who undertook the duties of judges at agricultural shows should refrain from giving ,thoij criticism on tho exhibits. To.place such a construction; on tho'pdsilionivras.quito-absurdjibut there was l no' doubt,' speaking- on'the general' aspect of the matter, that.Departmental. officers had iii'the past been giying •information' which they:'had no riglit, to give, and it. had; beon foutid absolutely necessary to', introduce some' regulation sue)) as that now in force.

Tho polling oil the Lower Hutt Borough Council's proposal to borrow .£IO,OOO for drainagp. works; will: take place'/, next Wednesday, 'l'lie Lower Hutt Town Hall and tho : Ilutt :Coilnty Ctiuhcil offices,' Lambton Quay, will 114 the polling places. .