LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 841, 13 June 1910, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The steamer Victoria, from Sydney, with English and Australian mails on hoard, did not arrive at Auckland ■ in time to connect with the Main Trunk express yesterday, and tho mails, therefore, cannot reach Wellington until tomorrow afternoon. The postal authorities ndviso that the Victoria was not expected to make port until 3 o'clock this morning. Plans for the new steamer which the Government will place on Lake Wakaiipu have been completed, and the Minister intends to take an early opportunity of submitting them to Cabinet. When they have been approved, tenders will be invited. it has been stated in the press that railway officers are indignant at a new regulation under which, in the ense of the clerical staff, sick leave has, in future, to be counted as holiday leave. .When this was mentioned to the Minister for Railways (Hon. J. A. Millar) by a Dominion reporter, he said that it had been the practice of tho Department to pay members of the clerical stall' their full salaries while they were away sick, but an official report showed that the privilege had boon abused. The amount of sick-leave, had increased out of all proportion to the increase in the membership 'of the division. It had, therefore, been decided that, when an oilicer's sick-leave in one year exceeded a certain period, his holiday-leave would be reduced in proportion'. The Department should not be asked to pay a man for four or live months' work which he had never done. Liberality had always been shown in the treatment of officers who fell sick, and individual cases would still be considered un their merits. The Minister added that members of the railway service outside the First Division bad never been allowed sick pay.

The Wellington sittings of the Arbitration Court open this morning at 10 o'clock, in the Supreme Court buildings. The Conciliation Council having been unable to settle the dispute between the .Wellington Licensed Victuallers' Association and Jho Wellington Cooks' and Waiters' Vninn, tho case will now come before the Court of Ar.bitration, and may be heard at these sittings.,.

Speaking to a Dominion* reporter last night,' tlio Prime Minister said a statement containing tho full details in connection with the new defence system had been prepared, and would be published early this week. It would, Sir Joseph remarked, include a great many details which would enable the whole matter to be thoroughly understood. The Government have not yet considered the proposal which emanated from Auckland that a largo Government exposition :should bo held in the northern centre in the spring of 1915 or 1910. In reply to an inquiry by a Dominion reporter last night, the Prime Minister stated that hu was not yot in a position to make public tho name of the Imperial officer who is to bo appointed commandant of tho New Zealand forces. A slight shock of earthquake was felt in Wellington at 2.13 p.m. yesterday. Out Potone correspondent notes that it was felt also at Petono and the liutt. Mr. G. Hogben describes it as an "average New Zealand shock." Tho bronze symbolic figure which is to surmount the monument erected over the late Mr. Seddon's grave was shipped from London by tho steamer Arawa, which arrived in the stream yesterday evening. At AVaaganuj last Friday, the Hon. J. A. Millar expressed the opinion that •■the- residents of that town will ho able to purchase coal for 10s. or lis. per ton when the Waimarino coalfield is opened. In replying at Huntly on Thursday night to a deputation which urged that the Main Trunk express should stop at Huntly, the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) made reference to the policy of the Department in respect to express trains. He pointed out that if expresses stopped a.t every station they would cease to be expresses, and it was necessary therefore to select a limited number of stations between the starting and stopping points of the expresses. Tie same demand that expresses should stop at every station had been received in the Ecuth, but it was impossible to grant them. He was speaking generally, and would leave tho Minister for Railways to weigh tho arguments for the particular request made by tho deputation. The Wellington Employers' Association will hold its annual meeting tonight. Proposed alterations to the Arbitration Act, the political activity of labour, and other subjects of interest to employers will' be'discussed, Mr. Pryor being the principal speaker. "Education is tho one. question on which Government and Opposition members alike work in concord for the public good," said Mr. Hardy, M.P., at a recent meeting of tho , North Canterbury Education Board. "It is a subject entirely outside the range of party politics." Lectures will be given before tho members of the Garrison Officers' Club on Thursday evening as follow : —Major C. D. Mackintosh: "The Campaign of the Waikato"; "Surgeon-Major Begg: "Organisation of a Medical Unit on Service"; and Surgeon-Captain Napier M'Lean: "Practical Hints on Care of Health in tho Field." Three of the members of the Ohincmuri Silting Commission—Messrs. W. Ferguson (chairman), F. R. Flatman, and C. R. Vfckorman —arrived in AVellington on Saturday. The commission has finished the taking of. evidence, and tho" members will, during the next few days in Wellington, prepare their report. Tho children from some, of • the orphan and charitable institutions were the guests of the management of His Majcsty's.'Thcatre on Saturday afternoon. There Hero children from the Levin Homo, St. Mary's (Karon), and the Wellington Receiving Home,, and all appeared to thoroughly enjoy the 1 pictures. Contingents from some of the other homes and orphanages .will attend His Majesty's on Saturday afternoon next. Tho management deserves credit for its kindly action in this regard. ' ' Our Carterton correspondent telegraphs: Mr. A. R, AVallis, of Carterton, is tho successful tenderer, at £843, for of a cheese factory at tho Carrington Settlement. There wero six tenders. It is understood that a lot of business awaits transaction at tho mooting of Cabinet to-day, which will ho tho first for about a week. On the motion of Mr. J. AY. Macdonald, solicitor to the Public Trust Office, the Supremo Court granted probates of the wills of the following:—May Louisa Johnstone, of Palmerstou South, widow: Mary Jane Sparrow, of Auckland, widow; Robert Godard, of Rivershead, settler; Margaret Ferguson, of Dunedin, widow; John Riordan, of AYaihi, restaurant-keeper; and AVilliam Hazelhurst, of Prebbleton, insurance, agent. Orders to administer the following estates) were granted: Virginia Hannah Taylor, of Sunnyside, spinster; Roes-Davis, of Christchurch, farmer; and John F. AV. Sixtus, of Noudorf, farmer. An order was also made under the Public Trust Office Act, 1008, Part II Unclaimed Lands, vesting Part-Sec-tion 66, Lyttelton, in the • Public Trustee.

Judgment will be delivered by the Chief Justice at 10 o'clock this "morning in the cases: Greville v. Parker, and Pressor v. the Ocean Accident Guaranteo Corporation, Ltd. In the afternoon, the Chief Justice will deal with several matters in divorce. The divorce petition, Clover v. Glover, will be finally disposed of to-morrow.

A request that provision be made for sending strawberries to Wellington from Auckland by the Alain Trunk oxpress was made to the Minister for. Railways (Hon. J. A. Millar) on Friday by an Auckland deputation. It was explained that it was impossible to send the strawberries by the goods train, which ran at hours necessitating a delay of twelve hours at each end. The Minister was. asked to provide a van or half a van two or three days a week. Mr. Millar said that last year lie offered the growers a van at £22, which just about covered the cost of haulage, and this was the most that he could give them. He would like to do what they asked, both for their snkes and for that of the people of Wellington, but he did not think he would be able t<i alter his previous decision on the.subject. Ho .promised, however, to obtain another report on the- matter. A man who has been arrested by Constable Doylo, of Mount Cook, will come before the magistrate to-day charged with stealing a set of weights from a shop counter, a jug from a boy in the street, and a bicycle lamp, for which an owner is wanted. The Duncdin agent of the Labour Department, in the notes which he contributes to the Department's journal,. is not satisfied with describing labour conditions, but goes on to draw a moral. He writes as follows:— "Butchers, however, state they are still handicapped by the produce auctioneers selling meat by auction. This no doubt a fleets the butcher; but it makes meat cheap, and emphasises the necessity for markets being established in the city." An unusually high tide was experienced on Friday night—one only a few inches lower than the highest recorded for Wellington. A large number of cellars of warehouse*- and other buildings, from Foatherston Street to the waterfront were flooded. Shampooing, Clipping, Uairdressins. Manicuring, face Massage, Treatment of Falling Hair, anil Dandruff. Combings made up. Natural Hair-pads. Mrs, liollestou (over Carroll's), 11 Wiiiis Street. 'Phone 15S9.—Advt,

It was suggested to the Minister for Railways at Auckland on Friday by a deputation that in' future railway stations should be constructed' of brick instead of in wood. In replying, Mr. Millar said that a new form of ferroconcrete, whioh was about 12J per cent, cheaper than either wood or brick, was under the consideration of tho Department. The social under the auspices of the Garrison Officers' Club on Friday evening was well attended, and proved very enjoyable. During the early portion of the evening cards were indulged in, and, later, there were a number of musical items and recitations. Those who contributed items were: Colonel Collins, 1.5.0., . V.D. j LieutenantColonel Campbell, Major Mackintosh; Captains Samuels, Mabin, Ross, Hume, Hall, and Corrigan, and Mr. F. Proctor (accompanist). Major Mackintosh and Captain Hall wore in charge of tho arrangements. Amane, chief of the Ouega tribe, and his wife were passengers by the French warship Kersaint, which left Noumea on May 11 for the Walils Islands, where Araane haß been condemned to remain in exile for three years. Some years ago the Ouega tribe, which occupies a mountainous tract of country in the north of New Caledonia, and which was then in practically a savage state, broke out in revolt against the French rule. It is probable that the affair was merely a local disturbance, but a landing party from a man-o'-war was attacked, and one mail killed. It was then rumoured that Amane had entered into a compact with the less barbarous chiefs of tribes to the south, and a scheme was on foot to bring about a general rising of the natives. There is now little doubt that the scare was greatly exaggerated for peace was quickly restored amongst the Ouegas, but the affair developed a strange importance through the rivalries of political parties, and Amane was alternately decried as a monster and commiserated with as a much-wronged chief. Bigger political questions, howover, have arisen, and it has probably been thought that the wisest course regarding Amane was to get him peaceably out of the way for some years at least. The weather being fine yesterday afternoon, there were many listeners to tho music of tho City Military Band in Nowtown Park. The' progranvmo comprised the following selections: —March, "The Light Horse"; overture, "La Lyro d'Or"; trombone solo, "Ora Pro Nobis"; selection, "La Straniera"; romance, "Hearts and Flowers"; selection, "Miss Hook of Holland"; march, "Tile Cavaliers." Mr. H. Moschini conducted. A collection was taken hi aid of the band's uniform fund.