LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1139, 29 May 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Hmldart-l'arkcr intercolonial liner Wimineio, uilli a .small English mail, and the u.Mial Australian mail, arrived at Auckland at 1.3(1 p.m. yesterday. The Wellington and southern portion*of the mails will arrive in town by the Main Trunk express this afternoon.

The npinini of (lit AVnirarapn "i"* : ly Xevrs" is this: "Sir Joseph Ward appears 11 l>e well nnintiining New Zcil im'.'s honour among the groat statesmen of i'no Empire now gat here :1 together in London. He has quickly heroine a puf-un of note among them, and his utterances and opinions arc evidently received with interest and respual. . . . Kir Jos?ph Ward is an ardent Imperialist, and his advocacy of an Empire Parliament will no doubt bo able, and will, by hia puinirence in the in, give prominence to New Zeahiid. Ho is proving a thoroughly satisfactory representative of this pomini.in, and Kew are following his doings at Home with much complacent satisfaction."!

Of the 50 passengers who arrived by the Dr.iyton Grange oni Saturday from Liverpool, two were prevented from landing by the Customs authorities for failure to pass the language test. One of them, a Jew, and naturalised British subject, though he can speak broken English, is unable to read or write in any language except Yiddish, and this is a language, which the Act does not take cognisance of. He is in a rather unfortunate position, as his wife and family passed the test without difficulty. As regards the other, he is a Syrian Jew, a tailor by trade, and apparently can neither read nor write, in any language. A member of (he crew, a Pole, is also detained on board for the same reason.

The movement to induce the Government to purchase the Papaitonga Lake reserve, near Levin, has been taken up by Mr. \\\ H. Field, M.P., who lias written to the Government on. the subject. He lias urged not only that the native trees shall 1* preserved, but that the' remainder of the property be constituted a Stato Botanical Garden, which, he contends, is a great need in New Zealand. He also suggests thai the western end of the lake, which does not. form part of HlO Buller Estate, should be acquired, together with the adjoining swamp?, so .as to prevent the possibility of private owners attempting to drain the swamp, and so lowering the level of the lake. In addition, he urges that the lake and swamps should be made a permanent sanctuary for waterfowl. The property was greatly improved by the Walter Buller, and is now in the hands of the trustees of his estate.

Although the free plans and specifications of houses for borrowers under the Advances to Werkers sections of the New Zealand State Guaranteed Advances Act have only been available for about three, weeks, it is stated that inquiries have been received in such numbers as to indicate that this will bo a popular feature of the work of th'o Advances Department. The plans are on view at forty of the principal post offices in all parts of tho Dominion, and any worker who has been granted an advance may choose one. He is then supplied gratis with working drawings and printed specifications, and in the course of erection (for which he makes his own arrangements) the house is inspected periodically by a Departmental, vainer. There are eighteen designs, by Mr. Temple, architect to tho Labour Department, and they range from a two-roomed dwelling, estimated (o cost .£l2O. to an eight-roomed house at .£G2O. This scliome is. of course, quite uncoime?led with the 'Workers' Dwellings Act. tinder which the Labour Department buys land, erects houses, and lets or sells them. Advances to worker? by tho State Guaranteed Advances Department are limited to a maximum of £450, and must neither exceed the valne of the buildinsr. nor threequarters of tho value of the property.

In a report just presented to the City Council, the Tramways Engineer (Mr. S. Richardson) declares himself strongly of opinion that tho system of workers' concession fares, lately inaugurated,' should not w< made operative on care leaving later than 7.30 in the mornings, as any Further extension of the concession must result in serious loss of revenue. From returns recently' compiled, it. is found that the concession to workers is averaging about £U per day, nnd will probably total about .£ISOO annually on -the basis of the present traffic.

A small charge- for the carriage of passengers' luggage on. tramcars is advocated by the City Tramways Engineer in a report to the council. A small charge is mado for this service in Auckland. At tho present time, Mr. Richardson states, aa enormous amount of luggago is carried by passengers in Wellington, especially to and from trains, without any charge being made.

Messrs. Fuller and Sons.«xpect to be ready to begin the erection of the new His 'Majesty's Theatre in about six weeks' time. A start will also be made with tho new theatre which is to replace the Theatre Royal before the end of tho year. With-a n«iv theatre in courio of erection for tho Star Pictures at Newtown, and the prospect of a new theatre being erected for .T. C. Williamson, Ltd., theatre-building promises to bo particularly lively during tho next twelve months.

There are thirteen British newspapers represented in tho "Sheffield Choir,," which is duo in Wellington on June 29.' These are as follow:—London: "Daily Standard," "Daily Express," "Standard of Empire," "Musical Times," "Musical Herald," "Musical Courier." Sheffield: "Independent" and "Telegraph." Leeds: '"Yorkshire Post." Bradford: "Yorkshire Observer." nuddersfiold: "Examiner," Newcastle: "Chronicle" and "Journal."

The Central Mission service in the King's Theatre last evening was attended by a conprregatbn of fair dimensions. The ■Rev. C. H. Olds delivered atr.addrpss on "Altermtives to Christianity." Taking as his text "To whom shall we go but to Thee; Thou hast the wjrrls of eternal life," Mr. Olds contended that in facing the great facts of life, and particularly sin, sorrow, and death, tin human heart craved for satisfied ji, and fo'Mcl none save in reliance on tho Great Master of life, Jesus Christ. Besides preaching, Mr. Olds contribute! α-solo, "Dream, of Paradise.", The Mission Band played a selection entitled "Housseaa's Dream." On WednesUy afternom <uul evening next the Central Mission will hii:l the "Cherry Blossom Fair"—a sale of work—in the Herbert Street Hall.. Many attractions are pio'nisol, including competitions and solo singing.