LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 793, 16 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

:Tho postal authorities advise that the Vancouver mail which left. Suva on April 14 for Sydney, per Maitai, should leave Sydney on Wednesday,"April 20, and arrive at Auckland on the following Sunday. The mail is expected to arrive in Wellington per Mam Trunk,express on Mondayj April 25. ■...,. Volumes of smoke issuing from tho vicinity of .Carroll's corner early last evening ■ had the ,' effect, of drawing a large crowd of spectators ■ evidently impressed by tie anticipation that a big blaze was imminent. Vehicular traffic at that busy corner was effectually blocked for a short period, but the fire, as eJsewhere reported, was quickly 7 subdued,-and the crowd dissolved' as quickly as it assembled. :■■" ■■.!;...'.'. . -. When the new Governor arrives in Auckland, he may have some trouble in persuading the public that he. is not a practical joker seeking • to ; . emulate the feat of the cobbler of Kopenick or the more recent exploit of the young naval officers concerned in the "Abyssinian" hoax mentioned , in today's cable news, for his appearance will disagree in the . most > striking manner. ; with the portrait of him which appears in the Auckland "Star" of Wednesday. This portrait is reproduced from the picture printed by our morriing_ contemporary. It is a very, attractive picture in its way/ but: as a likeness of the new Governor it suffers from at least two serious defects. For it is ■ not in. lie least like him, in tho first place; and, in the second place, it is a portrait of another person. ' "I shall be very glad 3 yon apply to the president of the Arbitration Court for a decision on the matter," remarked Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M., after ho had given judgment in an industrial case yesterday. . "Magistrates are not experts in these cases," he said, "although I have no doubt that they can pick up the points as quickly as anybody else." He added that magistrates, in being called upon to decide arbitration cases, wero given a difficult task, which it was almost impossible to fulfil satisfactorily. The Arbitration Court, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time in going into these matters.

"Do you know how to treat a customer?" asked Mr. Haselden, S.M., of a grocer who appeared before him as a witness in an industrial case yesterday. The magistrate ' remarked that some grocers' assistants : would nod familiarly at the customer, as though he had known him intimately for years, and proceed to chat about the football matches, or the Palmerston affair. "The efficient counter-hand suits himself 'to the customer,"- said Mr. Haselden, "but others. sometimes make mistakes, for instance, when a lady comes in who is not wearing the latest bonnet." Inquiries are/being conducted by the Labour Department with a view of ascertaining tlie prospects of employment throughout the Dominion during the winter months. .■'-.-' ■.■-.'■' ■ ' ■ Owing to the heavy weather yesterday it was a matter of impossibility for a divor to descend to make a further inspection of the .concrete work at the dock, which is believed to be free from "laitance." As soori as the weather -moderates sufficiently this inspection will" be made, and if it is proved beyond all doubt that the concroto laid three weeks ago has set close, hard, and water-resistant, it is assumed that the specifications will be varied to suit the altered conditions in rospect to the constituents of the concrete, and the work will proceed. Sentence will be passed this morning on Henry Stephen Coburn, manager of a newspaper called "New Zealand Truth," who was convicted at the last Wellington criminal sittings on a chargo of distributing obsceno printed matter for public sale, and in connection with whose case an appeal has just been disposed of. Mr. Justice Chapman will also sentence one James Baldwin, who pleaded guilty at New Plymouth to two charges of burglary. His Honour will deliver judgment this morning in the civil caso of Hohnwood v.Reid. The want of shelter shede at some of the important tramway stoppingpjaocs was remarked upon at yesterday's meeting of tho committee of ; tiio Shopkeepers' Association. Lambton Station, tho Government Buildings, ■ and the ■ Bank of New Zealand, were specially mentioii'Hl. It was resolvixl to send a letter to the City Council ixmrting out tho insufficiency of the shelter sheds, and suggesting 'that light verandahs should be erected in several places, ;

Shopkeepers have a grievance against tho city by-law which forbids the sweeping of pavements after 9 o'clock in the morning. Mr. .H. Seaton, president of the Shopkeepers' Association, speaking at its meeting yesterday, said that ho hoped all shopkeepers tried to comply with the by-law and'to sweep the pavements in front of their shops before 9 a.m., but even if they did "so, many of them found it absolutely necessary to sweep them again two or three times in tho course of the day. The high winds blew the dust and filth of tho streets on to tho pavements and thence into tho shop, damaging the stock. They-were bound to sweep it away in tho interest' of cleanliness, and to avoid serious loss, yet it was a breach of the by-law to do so. The by-law required to be altered.

Tho Court of Appeal heard yesterday the last case on the list, the Gisborne Harbour Board v. Frank Brayton Barker and Percival Barker, an appeal from the decision of Mr. Justice Sim. The Court of Appeal has adjourned until Tuesday.

The portion of the Boy Scouts under the junior cadet regulations was the subject of an. interview between the Commissioner and General Secretary of the organisation for the North Island and the Hon. G. Fowlds (Minister for Education) yesterday. It appears that the Boy Scout authorities felt that some of the canses in the regulations might be interpreted to mean that the Boy Scout umts which joined the junior cadets would no longer belong to the Boy Scout organisation. In reply Mr. Fowlds said that it was in nowise desired to restrict and control tho work now being carried on by the Boy Scout organisation. The clauses referred to merely ensured thai wlien, in common with other junior cadets, the Boy Scouts :and : their officers are engaged in work at official times and places, as cadets, they should be solely under the control of the Commandant: of Cadets. The Boy Scouts will now continue their work as hitherto with the addition that those units which join tho Boy Scout branch of the junior v cadets will be governed by the official regulations whilst engaged on any work under, the Defence Act. Tho additional comments by Mr. A. R. Barclay, ex-M-P., in. regard to the operations of the Death Duties Act recently, in the : case of a small estate at Dunedin. were brought under tho notice of the Hon. Dr. Findlay yesterday. Dr. Findlay said that it had to be remembered that there were two kinds of duty-'-estate duty, which was levied on the estate, and succession duty, which was levied upon the shares taken by legatees. Estates up to £500 escaped estate dnty, .whilst those from £500 to £1000 paid 1 per cent. ' Mr. Barclay' had all along ignored•• what he had insisted upon, viz., that if strangers in. blood received a gift, it was only reasonable they should pay succession duty,-no matter what the size of the estate. If the legatees in the case in question had been, children of the deceased, they would not have had to pay succession duty, because the gifts did not total in all £500. .TJnder the old law children of a deceased person/ had to pay duty on all gifts of over £100. The burden upon families on smaller estates had undoubtedly been lightened, and the only difference in regard to those estates was that any Rift to a stranger in blood was now taxed. ■'•' ■ ; : '.

The proposed industrial exhibition, which has been postponed, was briefly alluded to at the \ meeting of the Shopkeepers' Association yesterday.. The president (Mr. H. Seaton) attributed the failure to obtain the required guarantees to the '[ unoartain position caused by tie want of legislation permitting the '. employment of assistants in the exhibitioirin the evenings. The idea of the> exhibition had been well taken up by many of the shopkeepers, and some of them .would have made good displays.' He 'felt sure. that it ; would become a fact-next year. For ; the ■ benefit of ladies and others who complain that the chairs in the Town Hall are too high for their comfort, the first four rows of "chairs downstairs, and tie front row in the gallery, have been made a few inches lower. The Shaw-Savill steamer Athenic, due from London via Cape Town and Hobart on Monday, is bringing 68 assisted immigrants. The ■ greater portion of the assisted immigrante aTe wives who are coming out to rejoin their husbands, or domestic servants. . There are in all 27 children on the assisted list.; ; ; ' The Government offices throughout New Zealand will .be closed on St. George's Day, April 23. ' The values of the principal New Zealand products exported from Wellington for fho fortmght ended yesterday were:—Butter, £27,913; cheese, £20,467; frozen beef, £14,408; mutton, £21,545; lamb, £3-1,613; flax, £20,736; tow, £2520; bidee, £4398; skins, £17,288; tallow, £23,953; wool, £133.332.

The question of the appointment of a successor to Mr. D. Petrie, M.A., as chief i inspector under the Auckland Education Board, occupied the attention of the board on Wednesday, when a report was presented by an executive committee suggesting the dnties which should attach to the office. With regard to salary, the chairman said they were paying their chief inspector more than any other board in the Dominion. He was personally favourable to making the salary £550 per annum at commencement, with an increase which might be subsequently considered justified. Other members of the executive, however, -thougb.t~tb.at as certain other officers of the board were drawing salaries •■ of £600, the important office of chief inspector should not be filled at a lower figure. "If I were permitted to," remarkod the chairman, "I might make some observations regarding the other salaries referred to, but this is not the time or plice to do so." It was decided to advertise for a chief inspector at an annual salary of £600, for a guaranteed term of three years. ■ The Department of Labour will shortly issue' circulars to all factories and other places where manufacturing industries are carried on, with a view to securing industrial statistics for the 1911 census. iTho Department has not formerly taken any part in the collection of census statistics. The tender of Messrs. W. Lrfctdejokn and Son for the manufacture and erection of a olock for the Post Office at Hastings has been accepted. .It mil be somewhat larger than the imported clock supplied Dy the same firm for the Lower Hutt Post Office. The contract is.to , be completed by August 5. Bunker coal and stores to the value of £1500 were purchased in Auckland for the use of the P. and 0, steamer Morea on the homeward voyage. The stores included. 10J tons of moat and 1} tons of butter, a quantity of fish, fruit, and vegetables. The bunker coal amounted to 300 tens. The Auckland agents.for tho company estimate that the three vessels which have visited Auckland have been responsible, on the average, for tho payment of £1500 each, or £4500 in all, on stores, coal, 'and dues. ~

The Keichol Automatic Fire Alarm Company, Ltd., has just received the following m-eesago from Wallace and Company, Chomists, Christchurch:—"Please arrange to instil immediately your.Roichel Automatic Fire Alarm in bnr premise®. The scat of fire on Snnday morning Inst convinces us it was burning for a long time before it was observed by a corporation street-sweeper, and, notwithstanding the prompt arrival of the Fire Brigade, it will require a large sum to recoup loss. Had your alarm been installed, we feel sure several hundred ponnds would have been saved.—Wallace and Company." Full particulars on application to local agents. H. A. Smith and. Company, Cuba Street, or company's office, Nathan's Buildings, Feathersto'no Stoeet.-Advk -

The steamer Moana, which sailed for Sydney yesterday evening, carried 284 passengers. There was heavy booking in the steerage, tho vessel having to obtain a permit to carry over 50 extra in this class. . ■,

At a general meeting of the General Labonrers' Union, held last evening in the Trades' Hall, the following officers wore elected for the ensuing year: President, Mr. P. Shannon; vice-presi-dent, Mr.E. B. Lumsden; treasurer, Mr. J. . 11. Campbell; committee, Messrs. H. Adams, F. Stott, P. Qnirk, J. O'Brien, and J. Nicholson; delegates to she Trades Council, Messrs. J. M. Campbell, F. O'Keefe, M. J. Reardon, P. Shannon, F. Stott, and Williams. The sum of £5 was voted to the retiring president (Mr. Q'Keofe), and £2 10s. to the retiring vice-president (Mr. J. M. Campbell). Congratulatory references wero made to the phenomenal success which the Labour party has achieved in the Federal elections.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. W. B; Haeelden, S.M., in his capacity as Disjtrict Coroner, concluded the taking of evidence in connection with the inquest on Mrs. Amy Heron, who died suddenly at Brooklyn this week. Thereport of the Government Analyef. (Dr. MLaunn), on the questione referred to nun with regard to traces of poisonf s l 0 the efcct tka* none were * j ?? t ! ct f d - Coroner 'therefore found that death occurred from natural causes, the direct cause being embolism of the pulmonary artery. •

The manager of a larg e tabushment expressed the opinion,- in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, that the men whose names were on the employment book of the Labour Department were, in his experience, either rejects or new arrivals. When charged with having committed a breach of the award, in 'engaging a non-uniontst without first ascertaining whether competent unionist grocers were seeking employment,; he said that the: man whom he engaged had previously been in his employ. He pointed out that he could not send a stranger out on the rounds of the customers with any- confidence whatever. ' . . . . ; . . -.■

While in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne within the last few days Mr. W. Pryor, secretary of the New .Zealand Employers' .Federation, found ,that the employers were unanimously in favour/ of the creation of. a new industrial district, to include Hawke's Bay': and Poverty Bay, and that a considerable number of industrial unions had expressed the same opinion. , ■

A meeting of the committee of the Shopkeepers' Association was held yes-' terday afternoon, Mr. H. Seaton presiding. A letter was received from ilr. J. Lomas, Chief Inspector of Factories; The association had written to him re- • garding shopkeepers being prosecuted for haying their shops open after 9 p.m., in accordance with the requisir tion fixing closing hours. Mr. Lomas Btated that it was the practice of the Labour Department to' give all shopkeepers an opportunity of complying with the Act before proceeding to take action, for breaches. Inspectors were directed in all cases to satisfy themselves that the shopkeeper knew the: provisions of the Act, and in cases where such was not the case to give warning. In one recent instance in Wellington, -the inspector had \ urgent business at. the same time elsewhere, and therefore did not go into the shop \ until the next morning, when the shop- ! keeper admitted the breach. The shop-, j keeper had already been named ;for a. similar offence, and hod signed the re- , , quisition in.the first place: The associa-V tion could rest assured that the Depart-: meat would not take proceedings! against any shopkeeper without giving! him" ampk opportunity of knowing thec j provisions "of the. Act. " ■ . , i ,;. v> .. .,{

1 The Slaughtermen's Federation ha*i forwarded;a cable message .to Mr.: A. : W;'Styles, secretary of-the South, Australian Slaughtermen's ' Union; :.£.congratulating him- on .his.' election; to the Federal Seriate. ' ' ■■'.' :''■■ ".'• V :

' The work of the buildings > in connection with the Mount View Mental Hospital ■ will be commenced on Monday. A gang of about 20 men will be engaged, and it is expected that the job will last from three, weeks to/.'a. month.. The materials are to be classified and stacked, and then sold by, auction. . ■ .. _ . .

■In the Bay of Islands a chance 0$ .making money out of buried wealth is talked_ of, and the story is a rather interesting, one (says a northern exchange). In the old days,- when theBay'of Islands, was the chief coaling centre for all the big ocean vessels visiting New Zealand all kinds of vessels would berth at Opau. It, .wae a. common thing for ships to carry freight from overseas to the Thames, and thenhaving disposed of their cargo, proceed to Opau to take in a fresh cargo of Kawakawa coal. Before leaving tha Thames, they would take' in ballast,and the material most use/1 was mining tailings. Thousands/of tons of Thames tailings were therefore carried to Opau,: and. dumped out. at a certain'' spot under the lee shore. Since thos» days a better method of treating i orajt has been brought into operation, andja great deal of what was; considered/ waste in the old times has been retreated, at the Thames, and worked at a profit. The question now arises as tor whether it would be worth recovering the huge , pile of material at Opau, and again treating it under modern methods in.search of gold. ' , .. - ~' ...

.. The animal: general meeting of the Victoria ) College Glee Club was held in. tie' gymnasium building last night, Mr. S. J . Anderson being in. tike chair. There was a good attendance of members; The hon. secretary and treasurer was able to report ■ a . very successful year's work, and the annual balancesheet showed that the club's finances were in a very satisfactory condition.' The election of officers for the present year' resulted as follows:-r-Hon. conductor, Mr. Waters; deputy conductor, Mr. J. D. Smith; lion, secretary, Mr; W'.'F. Hogg; hon.' treasurer, Mr. F. Wilson; librarian, Mr: J. M'Dowall; committee, Misses Reeve and Clachan, and Mr. L. Shortt; hon. auditor, Mr. S. J. Anderson.- After general Business the meeting concluded with a hearty vote-of thanks to the chairman and retiring officers and members of conunrfc. tee. ' ' ■ ■■ ■■■■■. ' \ ' • ■■•

At the Motmt Cook Police Court yes? terday, before Mr T. S. Lambert, J.P.,' John Toomy pleaded'guilty to a charge of • drunkenness. He was admonished, convicted and discharged. James Roy pleaded guilty to a charge of insobriety in Banks Terrace, after having taken out a prohibition order on the preceding day at his own request. He waa given another chance, and after some admonition, was convicted' and discharged- David Hugh McDbnnott pleaded not : guilty to a charge of drunkenness in Binham Street. The arresting constable and the watehhouser keeper gave evidence, and accused was fined 405.; in default, 14 days' imprisonment. . . ■ ".-.;-■

A total of 3557 men were employed during February on various railway works in the Dominion, consisting of 323 artisans and 3229 labourers. On the Stratford-Ongaruo lino 515 labour, crs were engaged, 457 on the' North Auckland line, 401 at Kawakawa-Gra-hamtbwn, 317 at Gisborne-Rotorua, and 177 on the Nolson-Inangnhna line. During the same period, 1057 men wore engaged on different road works, Taranaki having the largest shaio with 305, Auckland being nqxt with. 258, an? Wellington third with 103.