LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1052, 15 February 1911, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, which sailed from Sydney at 2 p.m. ou Saturday last, February 11, has on board nn Australian mail. She is duo in Wellington this morning. Since the main, municipal roll, was closed on, January 2G about 5500 names have been «nrollel on the supplementary list, so that tho roll now contains upwards of 22,000 names. Yesterday, about 250 applications were handed in. This represents what is believed to be a temporary drop from the average daily enrolments of late. Enrolments will continuo until March 28. : Early in November last a conference attended by representatives of the Hospital and Charitablo Aid Board and. oi other bodies connected with' the distribution of charitable relief in tho local district was called to consider proposals made by Dr. Valihtiue (Inspector-General of Hospitals) "as to the introduction'of a measure of co-ordination. in the prosecution of their common work. A committee was appointed by the ■ conference to consider details of the proposals-and report later to its parent body. The committee met on December 1 last, but it has. not yet reported to -the conference, nor : has n dateyet been set down for the re-assembling- of the conference: to receive the committee's. report. A report has,.however, been prepared, by the latter body of which a principal feature is a recommendation that two members, of each private charitablo .organisation should bo appointed to co-operate with, the Charitable Aid- Committee of the board in compiling a list of all persons now in receipt of charitablo relief in Wellington. This was recommended by Dr. Valintine.at the. lnst meeting of the conference as an essential initial step towards the co-operative endeavour which ho desired to 'see inaugurated.' It is understood that the list of recipients, when compiled, will.be regarded as strictly confidential. Since matters are ■ thus 'in train it is-probable that the. conference will hold , a meeting shortly to further. consider. : the inspector-General s pro- ■; ~.■ "..■',.'. jj ,' ;.; It is a good many years since .Wellington had the pleasure of hearing goorak si striking cantata; "'The SnoctrW-BrW! which is now beint; rehearsed by the Wellington Musical Union. It was last per-, formed at a,musical fastiva\;held,ii» tho Opcra-Houseovcr.a decade aso,' the soloists on that occasion beinjr Madame Bns-; tow, Mr. A. U. Gee, and Mr. Charles Sounders. ' , '

At a special meeting to bo held -onFriday morning at 10 o'clock the gity Council will deal with, tendtrs for water pipes and fittings for tho Wainui main, .and tenders fer steel tyres for the Tramway Department;-• ■ . : ' r -!. -■';'•'.■

Yesterday-morning a burst'occurred in. ■thtAVaiaui..water-main at a-point;' between • Juuwavra • and • Nghauranga.'.' :A twelve-foot pipe rsplit .throughout.,-.its length., It is considered' that :an earthquake which , occurred a few, weeks ago jnay have bmn partly responsible' m causing tho damage to the pipe. The immediate result of. the accident was a considerable reduction in the available city water-supply. Ordinarily the greater, part of tho supply is drawn from Wainui and a small proportion from Karori. When tho accident occurred the whole, available supply ha<l to be drawn from tbo latter reservoir. At the Thorndon end of the town.water emerged from the taps for a time in a discoloured condi-, Hon. This was due to the fact that the water coming from Karori to the north; end of the' town ran in an opposite direction to that .'which customnrily flows: through the 'mains from Wainui; This caused a certain amount of disturbance in tho mains, with the result indicated. On, some of .the higher city levels.the. supply gave out altogether yesterday, forenoon; the pressure being,. reduced owing to the great area which the Karon reservoir had ,to servo umided. Repairs to ,the damaged Wainui main completed last evening. ..,•,.- ■.-■'

Mr. _W. H. Field, Jl.P.,' of Wellington, and Mr. Bartholomew, of Levin, recently, made-a brief visit to Jlotu (Poverty Bay). Mr. , Field states.that he was very favourably impressed with tho district. Proceeding to Alotu, he travelled by the Front Koad. It was a terrible- road, ho declared, and could have;been improved in places. Tho first few miles of country we're, disappointing; but . after passing Whakaru , the land was really good; Right up to the tops' of the hills, around Mqtu and beyond, tho country was very fine. It was even better down through Matawai. Mr. Field declared > that the hills and flats of Motu were splendidly suited for dairying. There was ono thing he did not understand. Ho was informed that notwithstanding the wet climate,the growth of grass only stopped for two months'of'tho year, July and -August.He expressed deep regret that the timber had been destroyed. The waste .was hideous, and there must have been millions of pounds' worth burned. .It was a great pity they had not waited for the mills. The milling should'have'gone on before settlement. The difficulty, of course, was to meet the demand/for settlement. People would not wait for the mills to come along ■ when the timber, was destroyed. , . . .

Although the official trial of the Karori extension tramway has uot yet been made the line was unofficially tested yesterday, when a ear driven by - Mri G.-E.. Janies (traffic superintendent to the City Corporation), and carrying, as a passenser, Jir. It. Cable (assistant tramways, engineer) was taken over tl\e new lino as far as the Karori Council Chambers, a distance of 'fifty-three chains froni tho present terminus. The test was in every way satisfactory, no fault being found 'either in the new track or in the overhead gear. Application will shortly :be mado to the Public .Works Department for permission to open the completed section of the extension lino for ■ passenger traffic. This is the first section of tramway in the local district to he submitted for approval .under the provisions of the new Tramways Act of last session. As things now stand, application has to be niailp to the.Minister instead of, as forirerly, to tho engineer in charge of' Public Works. •'' . ;

The Young Australia League, which was organised in Pcrtlr(West Australia),is already assured of J:2170 towards' defraying the cost of tho proposed tour of'the world by a number of selected Australian boys. That will be• sufficient to pay the expenses af 30 hoys, but the league desires to raise another iiOO in order to send 40 boys. Tho party will leave Sydney by the steamer Jlakura on August .28, and entrain via Brisbane and Honolulu to Vancouver, thence via San Francisco, T.os Angeles,. Yosemito Valley. Oregon, Washington, and British Cohiniliia. Knterlainmonts will bo given at dilfirent centres, and if funds permit England will' be visited on the return journeji