LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 779, 31 March 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

.The postal authorities advise that H.M.S. Pioneer, which loft Sydney for Auckland on Monday, March 28, at 2 p.m., has the letter portion of the English mail for Wellington, which in all probability will reach here by the Main Trunk express on Saturday. afternoon. : A Gazette Extraordinary has been is-, sued further proroguing Parliament until April 30. ■'■• ■■■■ '■• .• According' to the Hon. R. M'Kenzie, Minister for Public Works, .£SOO,OOO has already been spent on railway construction works ia the Dominion, this year. He declared at Auckland the other day that the co-operative. system upon tha railway works, was working, satisfactorily, and that, the men were doing very well.. "Of course," he added, "there are always a number of men on the-works who have never done any navvying before in their lives, and. in many cases an experienced man has to. be put .in with them to show them., how to do their, work." ■ , . .; The new railway time-table-comes into force to-morrow. The alterations have already been set out and explained in Tub Dominion, but, readers may bo reminded that' the Wellington-Napier ex-' press, via llonawatu,- leaves Thorndon at .9.10. a.m., arrives Palmerston; 12.58, leaves 1.23, arrives Woodvillb ,2.25, leaves 2.40, and arrives Napier 7.18 p.m. The down express on tho same route leaves Napier ; 8.50 a.m., is at Woodville from 1.15 to .1.22, Palmerston 2.20 to 2.43,' and reaches Thorndon at 6.22 p.m. The New Plymouth express leaves Thorndon at 7.45 a.m., arrives Palmerston 11.32, leaves 11.42, arrives Aramoho 2.32, leaves 2.45, and arrives New Plym'outh 7.55 ; p.m. Wairarapa passengers, by : the WellingtonWoodville train leaving Xambton at 7.45 a.m.. will be able.to connect, with the Wellington-Auckland express at Palmers,ton or with the - Wellington-Napier express' at. Woodville. ■':.'■. . •■■ ... The booking of .seats for inmates of local orphanages and other charitable institutions at the "Peter Pan"'.matinee next Wednesday afternoon has been placed in the hands of Mr. George Willis, secretary of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Superintendents of charitable institutions are requested to acquaint Mr. Willis without delay', of ..-the'numbers intending to 'be present. ■ ' . '■■■' '. Large numbers of . people yesterday visited the model/ aeroplane, built by Messrs. Pechugin/ and Little, whioh is being exhibited in Willis Street. The machine will be on view during the week. :.. ' '■'■•:. - .-■■;"■■■■ A meeting of the ratepayers of Makara was' held at the Makara Hall-last evening for the purpose , of deciding whether a poll shall bo taken in connection with ■the, raising of a loan of j26000t0 be expended on the new road over'"Makara* Hill. Owing to the inclemency of the; weather,; there was only a email attendCouncillor Hawkins .presided, i It I was unanimously decided that a poll .be taken, tfie date of which, will".bo .fixed. by the next meeting, which will be held on April. 8! In compliance with the Act, the poll is to be taken within three weeks; -.-■■-*' i -;■■■"■.-'. ■.-■■•■■.',

A _ young New Zealander (says "JohnBull"), of sft. llih., and .'corresponding girth, called on us recently .to make a complaint. He ' came over from New Zealand, with the :■ intention. of joining the Army, and he took a letter with bini to the War Office from the Agent-General testifying.to character, etc To his surprise, 'he has now received a communication from the Agent-General informing him that he cannot be allowed to join the Army_ owing to ''defective . teoth" : Some of his baok teeth, in the lower jaw, are. past mending. He is keen,.for tho service, strong as a.lion, wears , the South. African, medal with two .clasps, could take an average recruit in each hand and knock their heads together, but he may not join the Army because some of hi 9 back teeth are defective.. It seems odd. ■ The establishment of libraries containing inexpensive continuous readers for the use. of pupils at the primary schools ivns by the Minister .for Education (the Hon. ■ Geo. Fowlds) to an Auckland "Herald" representative, who drew his attention to the complaints that had bcti made against the provision which prevented the children taking home the free Bohool books. A direct remedy for this complaint is', in the Minister's opinion, impracticable. The practice of rending would be much , more cultivated through the medium of libraries. "Once we get school hooks supplied free all tho way through the school," the Minister remarked, "there should be a surplus available towards the object, and when the parents are relieved of the cost of school books it should not be too much to ask them to contribute towards tho libraries, as has been- done at eome southern schools." '•■ ' ■ . . :

Tho position of the- Government in regard, to votes appearing ( on the Estimates, is the subject ;of an interesting communication from the Hon. It: M'Kenzie to the Hobson County Council. It appears that the' council had complained anent the ■ delay in expending a- grant; This is the reply given by Mr. M'Kenzie:—"Any. provision made on the appropriations for tho: construction of a public work .is merely an authority from Parliament to the Government to expend public money for that purpose, and the Minister is-empowered, if ho thinks fit to do so, to hand over the money so voted, or any part thereof, to tho local authority concerned for expenditure on the authorised work; but the law confers no right whatever on the local authority to demand the money as a right, nor does the warrant issued for the payment of the grant to the local authority confer any absolute right, for as you ifijl observe the authority expressly provides that it may be cancelled by the Minister at any time. It has, there-' fore, beon decided to withhold payment of: the grant to.tho Hobson County Council, so far as it relates to that part of the proposed work which runs through the Karaka Block; and the engineer's refusal to approve the draft contract prepared.by tho County Council for road work within' that block' is ratified and confirmed." -,' ■-

Interviewed upon his roturn from tha Wanganui district yesterday, Dr. Pomaro (Nativo Hoalth Officer) stated that thoro were altogether four cases of typhoid among tho Native residents'lit Jerusalem. Two experienced nurses hail been- attending to the cases sinco tho outbreak was discovered—about three . weeks ago—and all other necessary steps had been taken to cope with tho disease, :

Mr. F. J. Pinny, a member of the Hntt River Bonrd, has pven notice to move at next mooting of tho board on April 7 that tho (imp has arrived when the functions of the board should he vested in the Lower Hiitt Borough Council.

A branch of tho Bank of Australasia is to be opened in Dannevirko. on April 12, in tho premises hitherto occupied by Mr.' i'ry, bootmaker (says tho Daunovirke ''Evening News"). The manager will be ii • -.V - c - Cos > at Present accountant in the Masterton branch of the bank. A wonderful escape from death occurred. lately at Meadow Colliery, Adderley Green, Longton, Staffs. A young man named Philip Shenton, whilst working at a new .inset, went to load a tub into the cage, which he thought, was waiting in the shaft. As a matter of fact, the cage had not descended to tho intake, and Shenton, instead of pushing the tub into the cage, pushed it into the ompty space of tho pit shaft. Having hold of the tub and being taken by surprise,, ho was also dragged after the truck, and fell headlong down the shaft from the Little Mine seam to the Cockshead seam, a distance of 2-49 feet. The tub and man further fell into the sump at the bottom of the shaft, which .contained water to a considerable depth. Everyone concluded that Shenton had' met with ins-tant death, but' to' the amazement of. those who witnessed the accident a v voice was presently heard from the depths calling for help. Tho cage was promptly lowered, and Shenton was able .to enter it, and was taken to the surface. He was'examined by Dr. Keller, who reported that lie had sustained a slight cut on the head, but no bones'-had been broken. <:He had evidently dropped down the shaft into the water without, coming into contact with the side or any obstruction. The water had saved his life. ■ -'■-.■:

Some persons heed bnt little the: too common cry,that there is dangerous dirt in everything—that everywhere lurk microbes ready to pounce upon and destroy slowing human' life, remarks the Dunedin "Star. , " During a discussion at Dunedin on Tuesday morning by the Libraries' Association on the matter of library hygiene, Mr. H. Shaw, an .Auckland representative, said she had handled books for forty years, and. some of them had borne the'dust of centuries: As a matter of fact, he once got a book-that in the sixteenth, century had been in the library of a monastery in which.an epidemic of disease had been'very fatal to ™ nionke.' It was a very,'dirty, book. He had cleaned up ' everv'page, and he was j still alive.' (Laughter.) He had handled thonsands of second-hand books m all etages.'and had never been -anv tho worse ifor, doing so.-'Most sellers'of second-hand .books 1 lived to a green old age. The bacteria' to be found on'tho books, did not affect them. He had never heard of any public librarian, secondhand ' bookseller, or any collector stiffering disMfe as airesult ,of handling books, rhe bacteria on books was a very common sort of dirt microbe

An important point'was raised von March 1C w the Bankruptcy Court at bj;ctney. During the examination of a ■: w 'taess; who was an officer: of the Bank of New- South Wales, tho solicitor for .the Official Assignee asked "him. to pro.dtice a copy of the account of another customer of-the bant with whom it was assumed tho bankrupt had 1 had dealings'■ The witness - (says '.the "Telegraph") asked the. registrar's ruling' as to whether he was bound to; produce counts of customers other than theba'nkrupt. Ihe. 'registrar decided that the bank.was not bound to do so. The point, ho'said, was; as far ! as he knew,■ a -new one, and it raised a serious question as. to the duty of the bank in such .circum- 1 stances.. In 'this- instance, tho party in question' could 'be called before tho Court and examined,-and'.if it was shown that he had ■ dealings with tho : bankrupt he could be ordered-to produce his -bank account.'v . ■..■-.,;■•,■■:.■■.■■■...■,.:.[•-

It is announced by "Country Life" that a very interesting experiment. is to bd tried in tho Blagdon reservoir, near Bristol—the introduction into it of a.large number of trout from' New Zealand. It i 8 pointed out (writes a Lon'don correspondent) thatthis is a reversal'df the earlier policy of sending out' Englis h, trout to the Antipodes,, whore they have grown to such great sizo in some of. the large.rivers and lakes. It will be curious , to; watch whether, the race of New Zealand giants will have the effect'of increasing the size of .the native stock. Doubt is expressed as to whether this wUI happen—or for more than' a''generation :ahead—because the!* growth' of fish> is' largelv dependent on tlte food supply. But should it ever so far succeed, an'.interesting: result will hnife been arrived;at. The' Blagdon: reservoir is already a well-stocked water. ,-■., ;.;■ ' ■■ - ... ' .. .'■ A somewhat Temarkable phenomenon was to be'.observed at'the Strath-Taieri A. and P. show at Middlemarch on Tuesday, says tho "Otago Daily Times."' The air woe'full of .what seemed. to be a coarse'. whito.; dnst,. dancing and-'. shim;mering.in th« sunshine, and," : as the Tβ--snlt of a: gentle: breeze,: drifting 'slowly' across ; -the '-"showground.-",- Investigation showed that the dnst' was really myriads of tiny activo insects, best known to the harassed farmer under thenanie of turnip; blight; ' .This scourge is at present very prevalent ih,the Taieri and StrathTaieri- districts, and when ' there is ; a warm sain and gentle brwze it rises off the inoro or less ruined turnip'crops and drifts about in the manner-described.-''' Speaking of the advantages of the North Auckland line, the Hon.. 11. M'Kenzie remarked to an Auckland "Herald" representative:—"The country, just before get-, ting into Maungaturoto,. and' from there 0n,., is -fiTStiblass. I certainly think, the line will pay.' It is almost impossible to 'develop : .the North Auckland peninsula without a railway, as in winter.the.roads are.almost, impassable. I think, that-the chances of the Royal. Commission. adj-ndi-cating upon the route south of M'Carroll's Gap have now been knocked on the head. It. wouldiinean stopping the construction .works, which. have been .proceeding for three or four . months,. and, there is no reason for that. Besides, I do not think the "people would' desire. such . a thing.. There.is no reason to .doubt that the western route is the better. There arc moro. people, and the right kind.of- country." . The experiment made by the Adelaide City Council of. oiling various city roads has proved most successful. The city engineer recently said: "I inspected the eity stveMs on' Sunday, morning, especially those wtick had been .'oiled, and was'very pleased to find that there was not a scrap of mud on them, oven though, we have had such a, soaking rain. The oiled streets were all'as clean as possible/ 'It was really surprising, as : the oil had been sprinkled on those streets which.were too dusty and broken up to be tarred. Frome road, which has had a lot of, show traffic on it, was remarkably: clean. .That 'otherwise; dusty thoroughfare had been piled by the direction of the Mayor, who desired to niake' it as pleasant as possible for visitors to the show, .and. it.' has proved a great'success. Although some of the streets were- oiled about six weeks ago the sprinkling they, received, was smelling quito fresh.. ;:Th'e oiling lias, been .most successful, not only in keeping down the. dust in hot.weather, but also.in preventing mud when it rains.". . ';..;■,

The London County Council recently decided that kinemat«graph shows should be allowed on Sundays only when given by some recognised society or organisation . unconnected with the .. premises concerned, and then not for. private gain or by way of trade. Accord; ing to the "Daily Mail," Mr.. Montgomery, who moved an amendment in favour of SuidaJ kinematbgraphs providing employees wero given a weekly rest day, said. that 500,000 people patronised: these places e,very Stmdaj'. Mr.. W. E. W. Peel said that the municipal reformers wore determined to do nothing to enconrage Snnday labour-or weaken quiet and restful. observance of the day.

A formal stntement of tho estate left by Mr. Jay Gould and the amount of tho income enjoyed by each of his sis children has-been (ilea before Mr. ■ Arthur Berry, whom Judge Lacombe appointed to examine the accounts of Mr. Georgo J. Gould and Miss Helen Gould as receivers for their sister Anna, ■ Princess do Sogan, to settle the debts she incurred by marrying Count Boni de Castcllanc. The statement shows the amount of the estate to have been .£25,000.000, and the income realised in 1001 i' 877,977. making tho share of each heir .£140,32!). Tho income rose in 1903 to' £939,595, but fell in tho panic year of 1908 to 4370,395, when the individual shares were only ,£95,005. From the statement made to Messrs. Coudert Brothers,' attorneys, by 120 creditors of the' Princess do Sagan, it appears that during tho first four years of her married life with the Count de Castellnnc she became responsible for debts to tho total of nearly .£1,200,000. Since 1001 tho Princess has baen allowed .£■lo,ooo a year "for her. support and maintenance," while the remainder has been disbursed by tho receivers to tho creditors, who have received w£777,(i28.— "Daily Mail," '

It was. hoped by many interested that the Japaueso warships Soya-and Aso, now m Sydney, would visit New Zealand, in, which case a hearty welcome would have been assured, and more than ordinary interest would have been displayed owing to both vessels having been captured from the Russians in the late war.' Mr. ' T. Young, Consular Agent for r Japan, has been notified that the vessels will not visit these -waters; - - :. " ; The "lady of the House," a Dublin journal, in a recent issue, Plunket, who has lately taken a houso at Cheltenham, where Lord Plunket will join, her on his return from New Zealand, had a somewhat uncommon hobby as a girl—namely, collecting cloverly designed picture posters. While her father, the late Marquis of Dufferin, was Bri-' tish Ambassador to l'rnnco, Lady Plunket got togethor a fine collection of French posters, executed for wealthy business-firms by prominent French artists. At that time artistic posters were practically unknown in the British Wes, and the comparatively recent improvement in this form of advertising-is due to an enterprising English manufacturer who studied in Paris the methods under, which pictorial advertisements were executed there. Lady Plunket brought all her pictures to Old Conna Bray, after her marriage,. and the room in" which they hung was often- . visited by '■ her friends." - ■..'.-.•■.

The Shanghai correspondent of the "Tung Wah Times" (Sydney) writes:: "In : consequence of. the rumours that the Powers arts going to propose at the next Hague Conference that; China's finances be-..controlled , by foreigners, the Princo Regent has personally ordered the presidents of the Wai Wu Pu and the Board of Finance to furnish him with a'detailed account of China's foreign debts,'with a .view to : devising means to'.'pay j them off. In order to help.the Government,in , : the matter the Chinese in Tien-Tsin have' formed an association to raise funds for the payment of foreign indemnities, which':■ : were incurred after the Boxer .trouble of-.., 1900. All patriotio Chinese abroad;.are'... to be asked tojoin in the movement and follow the example 'of the Tien-Tsin Association'." Mr. : Torig Chai;CMh;-;'editer!. of tho "Tung ,Wah Times/' eays he feels , confident that all Chinese abroad would j sacrifice a little towards contributing to the fund for: so loyal a. purpose,; so as to relieve the .nation of , her , financial burdens and facilitate reforms of the nation. .'. .' •...' ■•■ . i. .... -.-"•:."...,■.■ ;'■ Racial feeling (says the Sydney' "Daily Telegraph) among;.the .seafaring. men of ■ Newcastle reached bursting point .on' Sat- :; urday afternoon, ..March. 19.-- The.- tug-of- . war had been' decided at the showground. It was generally, considered that the committee was deserving of censure: for. including such, a contest in the programme, because on previous occasions deep-rooted ■bitterness was..the only outcome. After the Germans, were-declared ' the winnerr :their leader, held'aloft the Teuton flag, and the rest.pf.the team,walked beneath . its .folds,, being .followed by: the .-. Nor-', wegians. . When '..'.tho.'. Britishers camo. . abreast of-the foreign victors tho'old bull- ■ dog breed "could "not be suppressed, and ' one aggressive spirit nished at the Ger-\ :man:leader.: Before the. flag-bearer had time to, prevent the onslaught■■ ho warifelled- with a well-timed .'right swing. ,A. free ght appeared imminent, but the immediate intervention of the police acted ' like oil: upon troubled waters. ■■'■.-■ ■■!•■: