LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 713, 12 January 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal authorities advise that tho Mara ma,; which leftSydnoy on Saturday for Wcllington, :has on board- an English and ■ Australian' inaili i which in' due here early this morning. W ' • It the committee of the-. Wellington Society.for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals "could traco : the owner of tho | unfortunate. horse vhich,with tv broken i fetlock, was turned out in a certain padi dock. m Miramar ,to ■■die, things would 1 110. doubt; happen. Unfortunately, they; ['cannot. r One oonsequenco of the late arrival of this neck's English mail is thatanum- [ ber of consignees. pi', cargo by the' Euahme wor® unable- to take delivery of their. Roods, as the ship arrived four days ahead:of the;documents. 'A month i or two ago, the'Kia Ora also -"beat: the mail" by several days at Auckland, and t tho.vessel waited a couple of days before .discharging cargo.- The"delay;; of' ' this 1 week a.mail, is j attributed by the postal authorities to the failure' or the R.M.SI Orvieto to Cowiect with the eipress train leaving Adelaide to catch - the -Wimmera,which Bailed' from Sydney for Auckland ion ■,< Wednesday -last;. ■ Before'. the - Newcastle strike ,a;,sj^al;Sunday train ;■ was put. oni to convey the ■ mails from;-Ade-laide, and this connected with* the Wednesday boat at Sydnoy, but on accocnt i of .the curtailed supply of; coal this train was discontinued,' ana the New Zealand portion of rthe mail ■ did not' arrive 1 -at Sydney fall Inst Thursday. The whole of .the mail is on board. tho Marama, which is duo here, this morning. : ','Undesirabies of -some kind 'wereVatvihe. poriy racesat ' Miramar i'la'st- week, That •is the,, impression which-, the • Hon. D. Buddo has gathered from, press reports of itlje. meeting.i ; Speaking to,'a reporter ontnis ■ matter yesterday, the I Minister stated that.he.'was about'to'deal'fwith .the,.position ,which would ari66'in consequence of the ; amendment.' of' the., law ' relating : to horee racing last session;. :, Regulations which, it'wm'hoped'would carry out tho intention of Parliament-'would be - published at an early' datcS.: V.;"-'"-',--:.K - !-'v-J ■ Reorganisation -of . the.' Public Health Department,, under',.'the\retrenchment scheme,./has;. been n completed. ?; Only two appointments of an 1 - important nature yet .require to ibc'-madK ' nounced' Svithin. a.. fortnight.- ./ .' t ,

"We should go down: on our knees and ;pray that '. they make another 'euch mistake," 'xafi'. the remark* of.' a member of; 'the 'Hospifcal'Truitees, --when '> -letter covering :a; chequefor ; 418' sa. as; a'. dona-' .tionimade as/the,result of a:mistake, in the sum paid .out from 'the' totalis'ator at the. recent meeting ofthe ,'HuttValley Trotting; Club, was. read ' by '•. the' secre,tary."; ,-The' chairman,.l with Vai deprecatory ,cough, ventured'that he might be tempted to: go • as ■ far. as- "fervently. wishing'? ■ for .a repetition, of the mistake/and-he thought tho trustees should' expreW their ,thanks, for. the donation. • As provioualy reported, the 1 gift' came- about through o; mistake .of tM.little being .made when; pay-: irigrout to. idvestors on- a'Certain' horse; The Benevolent Trustees have also henciitM to the. extent, of'i£lß ,ss. ! ..through ; .thfl' mistake.-. ' y

;. The. monthly meeting of. the Welling-, ton. Presbytery was, held -in 'St. 1 ? John s Vestry' yesterday;, morning, the' Bevi W..J. Comrie. (Moderator) >'Elders' commissions for ' Messrs. Jbhh'Wingate (Masterton), It.. Wilton (Pahiatua), and William. Allen (South' .Wairarapa);, as re-' presentatives of; their respective .churchis in -the Presbytery, were' received and sustained. . The oommittee on the; plans' for ,a manse and additions to the psurch at Brooklyn recommended that .the. plans for alterations and additions to the ohuroh be approved.; . The. recommendation was adopted. "y; Y 'Vi.y'f y

Mr. Campbell Colquhoun has been appointed olerk o! works; for the ' erection of the Infeotious'DiseasM Hospital. There were nine applicants for' the position., /

; A" trimmer. named Walls' was arrested ■ on the Orari'rlast'-.night; by- Constable Tate. This morning ho will- be charged with ..the "theft; of certain,, articles''from tho ship. ;y : Y,',^j';- v :,

y "It is' reported' that extravngant'-pre-sehts j went■ „to outsiders,". said Mr. ;R■' T.. Moore'at yesterday's ni'eeting of the; Hospital Trustees, when ■ disoussing.'ari .item of expenditure, 'which/included the "cost of the Christmas' .'tree.- aid-; refreshments to. visitors; at the hospital. Mr. Moore J added .that,he ? had not been present at the gathering in question, but rumour was abroad; to ; the" above and he, proposed that' a committee, consisting ;of tho Hon.'. C. : Mi I,uko : and Messrs;' Geo. Nash,. Gy Loudon,' and T. Moore be set, up to 1 make investigations as to the expenditure, etc., and report to-a bator Nash, 0. London,and F. T. Moore be did not think that things were; quite as they : ought' to be, and, although 1 "'.the transactions in the past • could ! not iow be altered,' he nevertheless' thought that they should go thoroughly into tho question and guard against the future. Mr. Nosh stated that he. was present at the gathering, and saw nothing expensive on the. ,Christmaß.■ tree. Mr. Moore. replied, that this was; probably : quite true, but the allegation '.which • hehad heard was that extravagant' presents ' were made that were .not on the tree at all. He had heard it stated 'that certain valuable irtioles; wrongfully got away 'from 'tho hospital into private 'quarters, the; allegation being that certain persons had; taken these things to their own homes and their friends'; homes. He.; knew : of. or two ladies who were prepared to sup-' port' this statement; - Mr. Luke remarked that if • Mr., Moore had been present-he would have seen no extr&vagancd. Poi'-? eonally, he was sure • there was none. Some of tho money had gone to purchwo articles of clothing for persons unable: to buy them, and some luxuries had,- of course, been distributed in the way of tobacco and; cigars. -However,' ho would lie glad to second Mr;". Moore's motioh. seeing that the rumours were abroad, aiid the allegations were serious ones. - At''the same time'he was certain' they would be exploded.' He trusted that tho ladies mentioned by Mr. Mooro would appear • beforo 'the committee.. ..The .motion was carried. ■'.■■■ ■ '

The Presbyterian Church of: Victoria has been making a sjrecial -appeal on behalf of ; foreign : missions. A : lady : in Melbourne was so touohed by the appeal .that she . went to her minister arid said she had little.means, to give, but she'had a long-oherished_possession, viz,,., a threestone diamond ring, and this she handed over.' The ring was sold and realised the sum - of JES9 10s., which has been placed to the mission account.

' The following delegates, have, been elected to attend', the biennial conference of the Amalgamated Society of-.Railway Servants, to be held in' Wellington.'early; next., month:—Auckland: Messrs; G. Frost and :D.' \Dwyer.v New Plymouth : ! ;Mr. J. Foreman. ■'Palmerston . North: Messrs. W.' T. Wilson and H. C. .L« Grange. Wellington: Messrs.-'J. \ Churc- ■ house and M. Lee. Napior: Mr. G. E. Williams. West Coast: Messrs. W;,; E.; Wells and J. Robertson. Canterbury: Messrs. K. : Hampton and: E. Cameron. TimarurMr. -E. J. Dash. Oamaru,- Mr. J. M'Nab. Otago: Messrs. P. Gaines and T. M'Tigne. liivercargill: Messrs. ■M. Thomas and J. A. B. Walker. < The order paper, which is a lengthy one,;, includes items relating to; superannuation,' a proposed sick benefit fund, and. the internal reorganisation of. the society., ; , . Lord' - Kitchener seeni6 to have -impressed, people in China by his enthusiasm for old. 'porcelain, writes a Simla correspondent to an English Contemporary, and tho suspicion has been; hinted, that the great organiser 'of Britain's' army came, to China not to look at forts, or guns, or such like paraphernalia, but,to discover something. new -in ' the' matto of ;• por T i celain. Lord Kitchener has acquired;the finest .collection in Hong-Kong, - Becond only to that owned by the. gentleman who has been. given the aamo of : the Porce-. lain : King by Viceroy Chang,, of Canton,. Sir Panl Chater. The up Main Trunk express. was. again delayed on Saturday' through the tablet apparatus on tho engine failing ito, catch the tablet "at Levin, says the Manawatu 1 "Evening .'Standard."'-. The littlo block of . wood wa« hit hard by the passing, engine, and the result- was that tho whole of the passengers . spent tabout two'hours searching for- it.; It -was cvontnally unearthed in- tho long grass, and the train bustled into Palmerston at; 5.20 p.m. : . Aciordirig to a report received, in Wei-1 lington : from the Palmerston branch ■of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Aninials, - pigs being', railed in trucks are often treated with the.'- most callom neglect. Crowded' truck loads ol pigs were often, stated the report, left for four or five days- without iood or wateT. In one case a truck load of 4G pigs, railed through from tho Waveriey racecourse, were m such a state of neglect that five of them died,; and wero found lying on the'floorr-a. state of things which evoked • some strong ' comment' at ' the v. , society's 'meeting -' yesterday, . The - inspector . (Mi. Seed): was asked to make, some inquiries, with regard to the matter, and to roport to.,the next meetimr of the committee. - Tho Minister , for Agriculture is to ba approached by the committee of tho iWellingtin Society for tho Prevention ,of Crnelty to Animals, for the. purpose of. obtaining tho assistance of tho officers of the Veterinary Department in proceedings -against,owners. of: alleged' neglect or cruelty, f.-::- v ;.; Atthe fortnightlymeeting yesterday the committee.; ot the ■ Wellington..-Society, for; the, Prevention, of Cruelty to Animals recorded its acknowledgment of the followr. iiiif -to tlio funds':of the,;.' society':—E. W. Mills and;'Co.i',Ltd., ;(n. Is.; Evans Bay- Timber.-, Company, and sympathisers, j£lj Mr. G. Webb, _ 10s.; Mr. Harland, 25./ Cd.; , A Friend, 2s. 6d.; total, £2,165. . '. ' At- Coif's -H!irbour ;:(N.S.W.) recently a' block of land was sold, on account of the Bishop of Grafton and Armidale, : for the "sum of This land wm bought by - Bishop. Green, of sev6n or eight years ago for .' • . The' building trades "of Sydney ■ have; ended the best 12 months on .record.' Private • enterprise ■- alone gavG .them . 6092 buildings : deal . with;> either; ii entire construction orm extension;: but 85 per cent.:;were , new '.buildings. . Old - Sydney is * fast :.disappearing. •>; Business; premises, whichV3o; ycars' ago .• ivero regarded as: ahey.'of' the.' times,', are;, making .'room. fpr:;modern;.ahd- handsome':blocks., \Fiftyi of: the., ciiy.' buildings,', either.' > begun-, or' completod' this year,., involved an ;expe'n-. dituro of .£977,000. • The total . oxpendi- ' tufe in' Sydney on, buildings'.Ms: not' been less than- 1 . As:re'gards the' suburbs, 1500 more chouses, shops, and i factories' ;were. built .than'lii .1908,', providing additional .accommodation for',; 28,080'.pcor pie. Tho value! of these buildings' ;is '■ set; down' as■■■"'£3,Hl,ooo, '■ as:; compared-.;with <90,000. last year. ' The /prospects : ; for: tho coming year j in' the building. trades; aro also bright.

"Wo must look into the Motor-car.Act,''' observed thci'.'Mayor of Lower Hutt at the conncil . Monday '- evening.' "The rate at which these cars; go along is.simply appalling., There will ■be a serious i accident, oni the"; Hutt Koad .'before loiig." ; ; Councillor; Baldwin- remarked that motor-cars : were,; generally speaking, no, respecters 'of persons or- anything else.' Nothing' definite, however,: was- decided upon. ' Tho New Plymouth Borough ' Council. has ; ,been : .supplied ,mth>',a; scheme * for lighting' tho town with electricity, the total, cost of -works' and', installation bo-; ing set down at . .. ' '

AH his. .Excellency the . Governor's horses; carriages,- harness,: etc., are to be sold.;: at the Qovernm'eht - House.: stables, adjoining Parliament. Buildings. to-day at 1 o'clock. . -.-.v., •■■■. :

It will: surprise many persons to learn that; • the. occurrence: of • .earth ); tremors, which : are recorded by the seismograph at the Melbourne Observatory; are, comparatively frequent (says'the "Argus"). For /instance,; the . latest • records published show that -in- twelve months 115 slight -earth iremors 'in addition to 3t disbnct shocks,. 11 of which appeared to. belong to' tho- class of ;lent 'earthquake; bo sensitive, is' the instrument that the slightest local tremor or a violent earthquake in any:part of . tly globe probably ,is recorded. One, of the eleven mentioned was the disastrous . Sicilian, earthquake of; December, ; 1808.' Thirteen- of the ..shocks, recorded . were- so slight-' as to be felt; only within '• this' , State, ;one',- was also felt m New South Wales,; one in. South : . .Australia,. , and three ; in' New Zealand. All these :were probably of local origin; but there were twelve records , which appeared! to; cor.lespond: with earthquakes reported from other-parts of the world.

; The-Nelson Painters' Union has filed claims 1 for, new; conditions-of work, similar to: thoso existing in..Wellington.' The matter will be gon«. into by a Conciliation Council, which Mr. P. . Hally, Commissioner; ivill open. at :Neison oniJanu-': ary 26. 1

; A case showing how.'some people toward ■honesty. came 'under the ' notico ■of a Tiraani "Post" representativeroeently.'- A young ; lady ,> upon entering . one of this bathing machines at -Caroline' Bay, found! a. purse left by the previous occupant,', and' containing .i£4 :in : money,; a'rauway ticket, and a steamer:- ticket. '. She'; in- • formed the caretaker of : her find and left her address with hjm. : for the information of i tho loser of';,the purse. ■. The loser promptly hunted; up the address,' and "demanded the: p'urse in a tone that dearly indicated her opinion of the finder,. The young -lady> bore with the ' insinuations patiently,; and ' aecertainilig from; the de-; scription given that the' woman was ,the. owner, of , the .purse, she, handed it over,' \with the dignified . remark' that the return of thb purse at least deserved a word of thanks. The woman replied that sho "didn't think so," and walked off. . • . .Advertisements ! are frequentiy . seen in the' fiowspapers to the . effect tnat somebody haa foiuid a bicycle, and is willing to return it'on payment of. expenses nnd presumably a /small roward. On • other occasions (says a southern exchange)- tho advertiser, is, more bellicose,and 'throitons to rail' the goods if not claimed within;, seven days;.... Such an advertisement appeared not 'long ago:in ■ Christchurch in respect "of a motor cycled i- A' reporter was' informed by a police' officer on Saturday that all such advertisements wore promptly replied: to by .the visit' of" a constable, who took the found "property." to the police station. It was. pointed out th(\t no person finding a ; bicyole, and advertising 't had any claim, on the .owner, even . for the cost of the advertisement, othorwiso.Sa person might, mako ,'ic.practice of stealing, cycles, and ,;.'advertising them.; in tho hope .of reward and V ex.pensea. The finder had no other course than to lodgo . tho property with' the police. : '

■The Hon. C. It, Luke,-chairman of tlje Hospital ..Trustees,, and Mr, Geo. London have, been authorised to'seal and'sign theV contract for the crection of the infectious ■ diseases. Hospital. is ; tor.be■ commenced/ immediately, and - the tratees will-.,pay- a'.'final visit to; the' site .rthis mormng, : in company with Dr. Frengley, of the . Health Department. ' ' According :to the Hon. B. M'Kenii«i the West Coast was never in otoK a pros-' ; . . porous state,as obtainsi;at .-the-present. ■ time. With three-new coal mines working, arid the early completion of the Otira : tunnel, ho looked forward to the time when ooal would he .oarricd to, Christchurch ss. a ton cheaper., than at pre- '• > sent. He was- confident that , this 1 could be done to the benefit of the district, as V it : Trould, ■ also .increase : railway: revenue, : '■< and at the same ;time,,provide : cheaper coal in Christchurch. .'■ v ,

.Mr. H. F. Allen, secretary of the Wei- : - •lington.;. Provincial . Industrial .; Associa-, tion, is already receiving letters from manufacturers; stating that, they -wish to secure : space at; the .-proposed exhibition-; ■ of New: Zealand-bianufactured products to be held in the' Harbour Board's; IT Wool Store, nest May or Juno. ■•■■ ■■> '-.The* Hospital Trustees have decided that-: the contribution, of ..£25 recently made by the Freemasons is. to, bo rataside for the purchase of a piano for tha Children's Hospital. . ■. .i ,■■

~ A ■ recommendation, submitted' by ths House Committee of the Hospital Trustees to yesterday's meeting to the effect that the. estimates ■' of -the cost -. of the. excavations and buildings in coimeotion - with the - Children's Hospital , •be further considered,'has been held'over , for further consideration- by the Hons# ' Committee.: ;.v:^y;.. iV ;.....v■'.'■;