LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 801, 26 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

An Auckland Press Association telegram states that the Hnhenc, haying been delayed by bad weather did hot- arrive there from Sydney till H o'olook on Sunday -night, too Into to connect With the Wellington; express. Tho' southern 1 mails went on by train last evening, and should reach here this afternoon. ,': The postal authorities advise.that the Mcana, which left Sydney on Saturday, April 23, is bringing an Australian mail for the Dominion. She is expected to reach hero on Wednesday morning next. The mails that: left Wellington on' Maroh i 18, per. s.s. Warrimoo and connected' at Sydney with the 1 Naples mail, per E.M.S. Otranto, arrived in London on the afternoon of.April 23. Prior to Lord Kitchener's- departure' from the Dominion, Colonel Storrcfw, on behalf of the Empire Veterans'. Association, sent'him a letter thanking him for having taken the trouble to.inspect the veterans on.parado .while in- Auckland, and expressing the hope .that he might long be spared to enjoy his position as head'of the British Army.--'ln reply. Colonel Morrow received the following telegram-.—"Give the' veterans, this message from me: I am very pleased to have inspected Such a loyal lot of old soldiers, and hope that they miiy be.'spared a good few years yet to wear their well€arned decorations, and enjoy their pensions." ''■'..' By an exchange of Maori implements with the Imperial Academy of Science'at St. Petersburg, the Dominion Museum has just received an interesting collect tion of coins. 'Most of the specimens belong to the various Russian, coinages from the year ; 704 down to the present time. They inclnde coins of -the various denominations from 10 kopecks to' quarter kopeck. Some of the coins are interesting from their design and history, and a few of them' are from the outlying portions of the Eussian Empire, such as Siberia and tlie a.icicnt kingdom of Poland. In return for tho coins, Mr.' Hamilton'has sent to, Russia a variety of Maori axes and stone implements' which were desired for purposes of comparison with thoso of other countries. It may not be generally known.that Russia possesses a number of very interesting Maori relics which were obtained at the time of Captain Cook's death.; With a view to securing these for the Dominion Museum further exchanges are in contemplation. The contract of Mr. Wakelin has been accepted by the Public Works' Department for the erection of a detention building in connection with- the Manners Street Police Station. contract price is about ,£500.An easier method of acquiring dwellings under the Workers' Dwellings Act is desired in some quarters. It is suggested that a system should be adopted under which the worker would pay down a small sum by way of deposit, and the balance would'bo : payable in the way of a weekly addition to- the rent. It is reported that the proposal is engaging the attention of the Minister for Labour. . , ~ . The borer-worm is still making his unwelcome presence felt at St. Murk's Church, notwithstanding all tho efforts made of late yea'rs to check his progress. During tho past year the sum of <£32 18s. Id. had to be spent on repairs to tho chancel, rendered necessary through the piles having been eaten away by the boror. There is a good deal of dissatisfaction among' local business men in connection with the now rule undor which the telephono exchange, when claiming payment! for out-of-town merely sends in' a monthly account, without giving particulars. When such particulars wero furnished, there was somo check upon tho use of tho telephone for long-distance conversations by employees or domestics, but it is pointed out that under tho now mlo, a clerk, whilo his employer- is out of hearing, might ring up a. personal friend, say, at Palmcrston North, and havo a littlo private talk,' for which : his employer will nnvo to pay. Tho new nilo is warded in business circles as a distinctly retrograde stop. Shampooing, Clipping, Hairdresein?. Manicuring, Face Massage, Treatment of Falling Hair, and Dandruff. Combings made up. ■ Natural Hair-pads. Mrs. ■Rolleston (over Carroll's), U Willis Street, 1 'Phone 1588-Advt. J

Tlio next sitting of the Bankruptcy Court has been fixed for Monday, June 27, at 10.30 o'clock. ■ Mr. W. H. Bennett, contractor, has begun the big three-story brick building, which is to bo erected at the corner of Manners Street and Herbert Street for the Hon. Goo. I'Wlds. According to the Auckland "Herald," there is dissatisfaction in the Civil Service regarding a recently-gazetted provision that annual holidays can no longer be obtained without special application to the heads of Departments. In other words, it is stated that the annual leave, Which is so essential to office workers for the, preservation, of health, has ceased to be regarded as a right, and is looked upon ns a special privilege. The further statement is made that in the cases of applications forwarded quite recently replies were received that it was not convenient to grant the annual holidays. It has been decided that the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts sketch exhibition will be hold from May 21 to 25 (both days inclusive) The Thames School of Mines has decided to approach the Mines Department with a view to having a syllabus drawn up in conuectiou with mine mmagers' examinations and the inclusion' ct electricity. Mr. Justice Cooper will preside at a sitting of the Supremo Court in Chambers at 10.30 o'clock to-day. Commenting on a falling-off in general offertories during the past year, the annual'report of St. Mark's Church attributes . the decline rather to the general depression that has prevailed than to failing interest in the parish. After extensive trials of two lots of Pnparoa coal, of 250 and GOO tons respecticely, in H.M.S. Challenger, the naval authorities hare accepted a tender for the supplies of this coal 'to H.M. ships in New Zealand waters. . It is a curious fact that parents in Marton and Bulls districts seem particularly unwilling to give their children the benefits of a secondary' education, while in the Taranaki province practically all the children who pass Standard VI. spend, at any rate, a short time in ' the secondary classes, 'says the Kangi tikei ''Advocate." The number of pupils within reach—this is from schools within a radius of- six miles—of Eltham, Hawera, and -Patea District High Schools who passed the Sixth Standard in 1909 was 76, and of these 70 proceeded to the secondary classes. In the 'Marton and Bulls district the pupils who passed- Standard VI numbered 49, but' of these only 23' took advantage of the secondary classes available. A little /.further south at Peilding 33 out of a possible 42 were receiving secondary instruction. So that it seems that the neglect of higher education can only lie considered as a purely local fashion.

I During .the month of March a contract for no fewer thixn six thousand tons of steelwork, comprising four- hundred bridge spans, varying from 7ft. to. 105 ft. in length, required in connection with tho doubling of the South Mnnchnrian . railway system, has been awarded' to Messrs. Dorman, Long, and Co., Linyi.ted, of Middlesbrough. It is stated that the keenest competition was experienced from American bridge-builders. According to cable advice received by the police, the man Ernest Borlyn, who failed to answer his bail at Christchurch last week, has. been arrested in Sydney,' and will be brought back to New Zealand., • No difficulty , is, '. says the "Herald," being experienced by the Auckland branch of the Labour -Department in. finding work, for all < applicants who are willing to ,work in the country. Between April 1 and April 20, a total of 153 men were dirccbM to avenues of employment, 107; of that number .. being placed under private employers, while the- remaining 46 Were dispatched to Government works, mainly m connection with the construction of; the North of Auokland and Kawa-kawa-Grahamtown railways. \None. of the trades are over-supplied to any serious extent,: although tailoring,' its is usually the case after the Christmas and Easter rushes, is somewhat slack. ' At a. sitting of the Juvenile, C6urPyes- s terday two children (twins) aged 2 years were committed .to/the /Wellington. Receiving Home as they, had no means of subsistence. '.'.'.'