NEW-ZEALAND NEWS

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1036, 27 January 1911, Page 6

NEW-ZEALAND NEWS

IBy Tclssraph.-Prcss Association.) . ACCEPTED TRAM TENDERS. THE INVERCABGILL SYSTEM. • ti, n •nyorcaraill, January 2G. • fi,n h s 1 ? or ? B S h ,Co«ncU to-night accepted o lollowing tender in connection with he dec nc tramways about to bo infts p CpS f an,oll »«ns ia all to J-l-Ak-i-loirarhouso plant, National Elec:ncal ami Engineering Co., £16$. permanenc way material, John Du'thie and Co., Wellington, .£10,613, and Bichardson, Blair, and Jl'Cabe, W'3 ■ Z todies, Boon and Co., Christchurch .ioiaj; car equipments, National Elcd Incal and Ingmeerii.ig Co., Jam-, car trucks. Brush Electrical Engineering Co. England, JElloo;..overhead material Richardson, Blair, and Jl'Cabe, £\m' wires, and cables, National Electrical Co., ilsli-2; steel poles, Stewart and Lloyd Glasgow, ,£001; tower wagon, Briscoe and Co., luvercargill, . ,£105; doff spikes Briscoe • .and Co., . Invercargill, J545; street lighting plant, Electrical and Engmeering Co., Dunedin, gun metal littings, Thomas Danks, Christchurch, •£202; iron fittings, Booth and Mac Donald, Christchurch, .£212. . The contracts , accepted wero not in every case the lowest, that . particularly for lighting being accepted because it is the same system as is used in tho powerhouse, whereas the only, other tender was a rival system but .£22 lower. The specifications wero specially arranged so as to give 'Dominion firms, an. opportunity to tender.

NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. ' ■ ANNUAL MEETING. ■ Auckland, January 2G. At the annual, meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute to-day, the president, in his opening address, said the research work dona had been much.larger than.those unacquainted with it.might suppose. Much of it had been of excellent" cmalitv. So far th,ere had. been little endowment of research-work, and nearly-all had; been done in a necessarily scrappy fashion by men in professional employment. Men could be found to do .the work if opportunity was presented. Undoubtedly the" best plan was to provide research scholar-' ships for young graduates, tenable for short terms. The Hiitton. medal, in recognition of scientific'work since December 31, 190G, had been presented to Erofessor Behliam for' his contributions to the zoology of New Zealand.

"GOOD-BYE EVERYBODY." A NOTE IN A BEDROOM. ; Whangarei, January 26. ' On Monday night Norman Kiells, aged twenty-sis, of Hikurangii left a note in. his bedroom stating that he had gone to': see a doctor, as he was very ill, but would' be back as soon as-possible. Ho did not return, and yesterday a further search of the bedroom disclosed a note, which read: "My life has not been a success in this world, but I hopo for a better time in. the next.' Good-bye everybody." An unsuccessful search for the missing man haa been- made by the police. THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS. SCIENTISTS OBJECT TO LEASING.' Auckland, January 26. Scientists interested in the-preservation of our indigenous flora. and: fauna were displeased at the recent leasing of tho Auckland- Islands by the Govemmjnt for . the purposes of raisins stock. At to-day's meeting of the board of tho Now Zealand; Institute the -matter was referred to by--the president (Mr. A. Hamilton), ivho; remarked-'that the small rental (undei .£SD a year) did not give a return for thu' disadvantages due to the stocking of the' islands. The Institute had itself tried to get a lease of the islands, but was toolate, as matters had then gone too far. LOCAL BODIES. . .' .-.-•■■■'. ", Dunedin,.January 26. \ ; At a meeting of; the Harbour Board'tew day the following motion was carried:—. ''That in the..;opinion of .this .board-, the; recent legislation bearing .on,the. qualifica-' f tious of. members of local bodies has not, been, framed in the best interests of tho ■ community, and that tho Mayor of Dunedin be asked to convene a meeting of delegates of various local bodies in the province to be held in March to fully dis-. cuss .the question and submit to Parlia-' ment such recommendations as may bedeemed expedient." .;..•.

DUNEDIN HARBOUR BOARD. ■ •.'.■.;:'-tiiV Duhodin, January 2G. '. In reviewing the. operations of the Har« boiir Board .for. the past year, the chairninn (Mr. Barclay) ■ said tho year opened with a credit balance of £13,262 14s. Id., and closed with a credit balance of «£20,14S 13s. 9'd., of which .420,328 was in the hands of the bankers, to meet coupon interest due. The total receipts were .€176,610 is. 5(1. .The ordinary expenditure was £55.370, and the expenditure on works'out of loan £29,150. Imports of general merchandise increased by 25,7-13 tons, and transhipments by ■ .2620 tons. The imports of coal and timber showed a slight "decrease. Exports were practically the same' as last year, this feature being the least: satisfactory of the board's operations. Shipping entered amounted to. 1,012,826 .tons, an increase of -10,770 tons over 1909. Regret was expressed that the passage of the Harbour Amendment Act compelled the retirement of three of the most useful members of the board. The chairman"said he considered it dangerous for almost any business man to take.a seat on the board at present, as he might find himself any day compelled to resign, and subject to heavy penalties through no fault of his own.

THE DOWNPOUR. Timaru, January 26. • Rain has been ■ general throughout South Canterbury, including the Mackenzie Country. There is a lot of grain out in stook, and much lying flat from; tho stooks, which -were upset by a gale a week ago. The rain is therefore unwelcome. ' RAIN AND.A GALA. Timaru, January 26. . The friendly societies arranged a united excursion to Ashburtou to-day, two special trains being engaged, and . a party of 1000 was expected. A very wet morning,, however, cut down the number to one•fourth. ... LIFE-BUOY-FROM. THE DUCO. Nelson, January 2G. A survey party at Grevillo. Harbour, near D'.Urville Island, recently pickejd up a life-buoy with the word "Duco" on it. The buoy, which'is, in good order, is now onion oil-launch in the locality. . ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. Greymouth, January 26.Charles Finoran, caretaker of the Wal« tham School, Christchurch, attempted to commit- suicide yesterday morning by cutting his throat in four places with a razor. . Ho did not -sever - the jugular. Uo was removed to the-hospital, whera ho lies in a critical condition. OTAGO A. AND P. SHOW. Dunodin, January 26. The Otago A. and I'.. Society has decided to immediately reinstate on tho old site the buildings recently destroyed by lire. .