LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1053, 16 February 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Cabinet'decided yosterday to. invite tenders for.construction ' of., a new,police station nt Kiccnrton, and a vote of .EBOOO was authorised to bo expended on the Gisborne-Rotorua railway. Road votes totalling JC2300 were also pa«ed for expenditure.

The'postal authorities.advise that English and American mails, Tin. Vancouver, per Makurn, will arrivo at Sydney on February 20, Auckland on February 26, and Wellington on February »7.

Tho postal authorities adviso that the s.s. Maiiai, with English and American mails, left San Francisco, via Tahiti and Karotonga, oil Fobrunry 8, time-table date. She is due to arrive at Wellington on Thursday, March 2.

"A brick extension of the Girls' High School, to cost between .£4OOO and .£SOOO, is about to bo erected, The plans provide for two larse class-rooms,' two laboratories (physics nnd botany), a luncheon room, an art room, and cookery and cloak rooms—to bo Jerected on the Murphy Street side, of the grounds. The plans havo been prepared by Messrs. Penty and-Lawrence'

The : Mariffe! 'Denartment is in.' '■' receipjt of advice^whliili , -statos that the : training ship Amokura is still at- Katfau, but Captain Hooper intends to return . to Auckland toiiie timb to-day. Five boys are down with scarlatina, and not four as originally stated. .

The Hupmobile touring party (consisting of three Hup cars) arrived in , Napier at 2 p.m. N BI).,,T<WMIWVi 'hn actual runnin'K time Worn XflbKland being only 20 hours. The party was dtio to" arrive in Wanganui last night; and is expected to reach Wellinston- on Saturday. ■

Among 'the passengers .to arrive.-from Sydney by the Manuka yesterday were Mr. Thomas • Humphries, ox-fiarvej-oa-General of New Zealand, and Mf. John Strauchcu. •■ present ■• Suvveyor-Generjl. Both gentlemen attended the conference of Surveyprs' Boards held at Hobart, where preliminary arrangements were made with reference to representation at tho big conference of surveyors to be held in London, commencing on' May 3Q. All tho Australian 'States, were represented, nud Messrs..Cpuiuell and-SpowcH, Surveyors-General of Tasmania and Queensland ..vospe6fively,'l'-were' appointed delegates.to the co'n/rre.'s in London. Mr. Strauchori interested himself in Departmental methods at Hobnrt, Melbourne, and Sydney, and also paid a visit to the Blue Mountains, '

AmoUK the' passensers ■to arrive from Sydney, yesterday were a Rarotongan woman and her threo children,-who; sittina high 'on a stack of deck carßO in their dresses of niauves, apple frroens, and baby prints, presented a,bright spot of colour. Inquiry elicited tho fact that the woman was the wifo of a.Chinese settler in Rarotonxa. and with him the little family party had come from Rarotonso, on the last trip of the Aorawri, intending to pay a xisit to the Flowery Land. When in Sydney tho Chinaman, who is said to have been wealthy, died, whereupon the Rarotonstan made arrangements to return to her island home'.

At a concert held on the Manuka on Tuesday evening during the voyage irom Sydney, tho sum of £2 ,10s. waa raised for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Fund. At the concert, given.: on- the voyage from Wclliugton to Sydney. .£6 Us. was the amount, rea1i5ed...,..,.,.... ... x ~_.... No date has yet been appointed for the commencement- of wood-blocking operations in Willis Street nnd the streets adpoining tho Post Office. Supplies of Powcllised blocks of New.Zealand birch are already in hand, and a shipment of jarrah blocks is expected to arrivo at the end of tho present month from West Australia.

Tho concrete work of tho new eurface reservoir at Wadostown will be completed in a fow days. Pumps for tho completed reservoir at Roscneath, and for that ( at Melrose, havo not yet arrived. Some delay bos occurred in connection with their shipment from England, but it is nowanticipated that thoy will arrive about a couple of months hence. When the threo surface reservoiis are in operation a good supply of water will bo assured for nearly all the high levels of .the city. Only limited areas on the top of Mount Victoria, at Northlnndron the top of Tinakori Hill, and, at; Brooklyn will bo-out-side tho.scope-ot-the supply. With.these few exceptions, tho high-level reservoirs will command the high levels and ensure a sufficient supply for many years to come. : Tho four tanke which maintain a pressure on tho intermediate levels greatly mitigated the inconvenience arisirift from the failure of tho'Wainui main when it burston Monday morning. . •

Tho examination of the candidates f6r admission to the Commonwealth Military College as cadets for traiuing in connection with the now defenco scheme is being hold this week in tho four principal centres. As already stated, the total number of candidates nominated for examination is sixteen, and.of these eight wero to sit at Wellington. But only threo havo presented theniwlycs. A fourth is sitting clacwhere, but nothing has been heard of tho remainder. Tho examina. tiori t which commenced on 'Jlondov nnd will continuOifhroughout iho week, , is being held .'ftt.,Parliament .House, under tho conduct of the New Zealand University, bv arrnnscment with the Defonco D'epnrtmcnt. ■■':•' ',

An application has been filed at the Court for a rehearing of, the case Black v. Glynn. M a result of the caso in nuestion. which was hwird l>ofore Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., on February 3, H. W. Glynn, a police constable, was convicted of having nssiiulted a civilian nnme<l Archibald Black "in Tosy Street on tho nicht of January 2(5.

The first meeting of the National Provident Fund Board wus hold on Tuesday, presided. It reported that all arTho Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward] Saugements were 'complete for the estab. ishmtnt of the fund.. Contributions will i» received »t any DOitnl.mon«j--ortlsr-of. i« on ftsd after Much U

The Public Service "Board has been reelected unopposed as follows:—Messrs. G. Allport, Secretary for Marine! H. W. Bishop, S.M., Christchurch; H. R. Spence, Collector of Customs, Invercargill; and In-pcctor Ellison, of Wellington. , The following have been nominated for the positions on the Post Office Siipsrannuatbh Board:—Messrs. 11. 11. Huggins, assistant accountant, Wellington; W. M'Nicklo, PostmnMrr, Bulls; A. T. Markmaun, principal clerk, staff division, Wellington; and W. R. Thompson, Postmaster, Onunnke. Tho election will take place on March 0.

A meeting of delegates from the Druids' Lodges iii and about Wellington was held last evening in the Druids' Hall. Mr. J. C. Cnsack was in ■ tho • chair. It was decided to form a Druids' Sports and Pastimes' Association, tho annual meeting to bo held on March 15. U was also decided to hold a plain and fancy dress ball during tho month of March. A subcommittee was elected to make arrangements for carrying out the same.

Our Greymouth correspondent states Hint sawmillers are again complaining that laok of rolling stock on the Westland sections of the New Zealand railways is seriously impeding their operations. As a result, vessels nro delayed and it is impossible to , fulfil contracts to time. Representations have been made to the Minister, through Mr. Seddon, on the subject.

Mr. Justice Chapman caussd a smile in the Court yesterday by a Scriptural reference.. Referring to th'e cartoon which was the cause of the action between Mr. Massey and tho "Times" Company,, reported elsewhere, he said one of the allegories in it depicting Ananias, was a littlo puz-' zling. Ananias in this cartoon appeared to be a debased donkey. His Honour's recollection of Ananias was that of an unbusinesslike.business man in transacting, a very transparent pJece of business rotorted.to a sordid lie. Then, too, AnaniaA Was not hitched to a cart (as depicted in the cartoon); he was hitched to a wife. (Laughter.)

A- well-attended meeting of lady supporters of tho Labour party- was held in the Trades Hall last evening, Mr. D. M'Laren presiding. / A brief address was delivered by Mr. Prendergast, , a Labour organiser from New South Wales. Arrangements were made with a view to supporting the candidature!) of tho Labour representatives at tho forthcoming municipal election. . A meeting of the Accountants' Students' Society, called for last, evening to consider proposed amendments to tho regulations, lapsed for want of a quorum. Mr. D. Pctrie, M.A., F.L.5... Inspector of Schools of Auckland, who is at present visiting tho Mackenzie Country and Central Otaspo in connection with his investigations regarding tho resrassing of the arid, lands in those localities, found in the vicinity of the Hermitage, Mount Cook, a native grass that has not been collected since its origirir.l discovery by the late Dr. Julius yon Hanst during his early explorations of the Southern Alps some forty years ago. This-grass is named Doyeuxta Youngii, and keons £recn tho memory of Mr. Young,, who was Dr. von Haast's' assistant end corunaniqn in his explorations. Dcyeuxia Youngii is of rare occurrence, and reaches a height of three and even four feet, being drawn up by tho shrubs amongst which it grows. It is too early to secure seed at this time of tho year, but, according' to Mr. Petrie, this grass does not give much promise of economic use. '

Before last winter the, Maoris at Tuahiwi, near Kaiapoi, undertook to improve, tho highway through their village. The inon turned out in full force for a working bee.iand with more zeal than theoretical knowledge of road-making, very soon had tho road in such a broken up condition that its last state was much worse than its first. When the winter rains set in it becamo simply a quagmire - and the children were-'unable-'to cross it tc attend school. The men appeared to accept tho position very stoically, but not so their lady consorts who, exasperated into -action,' started collecting subscriptions from both the Maoris and their pakeha. friends to, have the road ■ put in ordor by. practical men. Eventually a deputation was sent to theNative Minister, at. Wellington •end-ri n raised by voluntary.subscription was obvaincd. . As a-result of tho.-energy displayed by the Maori ladies the sum of £100' was collected, and on Friday'a deputation, consisting of. Mr. and Mrs; ,\V. Uru, Mr. . and .Mrs. ■. Taitnha Hope, ond Mesdanies ' Pohinga and Keri Hopa, waited on tho Eangiora Road Board, and placing the' .£IOO on the table, asked tho board to take it together with tho subsidy and carry but tho work of forming and metalling about 55 chains of the road and footpaths and putting down, concrete korbing and channelling. Tho board, after fully discussing,the quest, acceded to it and the deputation went away happy at the prospect of hav-, jt|ff;;a\;.£Op(J Jlighn ; ay ( : before nest, winter. : In .the motion , of Mr. J. W. ikedonnld, solicitor to the Public .Trust Office, the Supreme Court has jtrnnted to the Public Trustee probato of the , wills of tho following.deceased persons:—William Favcett Cnthbertsori, lato of Dunodin; clerk;-. William Stone Pardy, New Plymouth,' retired police inspector; John Tobin, Seddonyille, miner; James John Macheth. Christchurch, retired clerk; Kelt Helen Gore, married woman. Orders to , administer were also granted in the estate of tho following deceased intestates:—Frederick Herbert Harpham, late of Umutaoroa. farmer; Peter John Lewis. Ladbrooks. farmer; George Basher, Christchurch, labourer; Preen Louise Kezia, Rotorua, married woman.