LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1158, 20 June 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The postal authorities advise that tho s.s. Moana, which left Sydney at 2 I p.m. on the 17th instant, has oil board an Australian mail. She is due in Wellington on Wednesday morning. Tiio mail which left Wellington on May 12, and connected at Sydney with the R.M.S. Osterley, arrived in London on Sunday morning. The Fresh Air Fund, tho object of which is to send children from tho London slums to spend a (lay in the country, must command sympathy, as every nincpencc that is contributed to tho fund will confer this boon on one child. The following contributions are in hand: Amount already acknowledged, 11s, Cd.; W.R., 9(1.; T. 33., od.; "Nemo," Is. fid.; "Balmoral," 28s.j K.. Is.; A.W., 55.; total, .£7 lis. Cd. This will cover the cost of a country trip for about 200 children. A cable appearing in yesterday's issue announced that the Now Zealand Shipping Company's R.M.'S'. Ruapehu would make a call at Marseilles for the purpose of picking np Sir Joseph Ward and party, who will he passengers to Wellington. On receipt of the cable the officers of the company stationed in- Wellington were approached concerning the news, and they stated that they had received no information concerning tho proposed alteration in the steamer's movements. Upon further inquiries being made it was found that the Ruapehu is to leave Plymouth on July 8 and call at Marseilles on July 13. She then proceeds on her voyage through tho Suez Canal, via Port Said, Colombo and Hobart. It is usual for these steamers to come out by way of Capo Town, but in this instance that route has been abandoned. It is usual for the company's passengers to take about 10 days on the direct route, but it is probable that tho Ruapehu will reach Wellington a few days ahead of her scheduled time—August 22. ,

The civil notion of William Edwin Redstono v. the Silversheain Land Company will bo resumed at the Supremo Court tomorrow before Mr. Justice Sim and a special jury. When the Court adjourned last Saturday week Hie case for the defence only had been heard. It appears that Messrs. C. Morrison and P. Pratt, who left tho French Pass in a motor->lauucj) l last. Thursday for Picton, and who were reported 011 Saturday morning as missing,'reached Picton safely oil Saturday afternoon. Delay was caused by tho continued breaking down of the engine, and by bad weather. Under the auspices of the Vivian Street Baptist Church Literary Society, the Rev. .T. Gibson Smith, of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, delivered an interesting aildress last night on "Robert Louis Stevenson." Tho lecture was very well attended, and the Rev. J. J. North presided. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer at the close. A deputation of cab proprietors and horse owners will wait upon tho ActingMinister of Customs (the Hon. H. M'Kenstie) at 2.30 p.m. to-dav. Tho object of the deputation is to ask that tho duty on chaff be remitted 011 account of the high price now ruling in Wellington. The deputation will be introduced by Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P. On Sunday evening Mr. R. T. Robertson, Consular Agent for Italy, paid a visit to tho Garibaldi Club for the purpose of presenting that institution' with a diploma of "honourable mention" forwarded by the Government of Italy as a mark of appreciation for its efforts in raising funds for the relief of the sufferers by tho great earthquake, which so seriously disturbed Calabria and Sicily three years ago. Tho Society for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has obtained permission to erect a contribution box within tho Coronation Exhibition. Tho box will be placed in position to-day, and it is hoped that the appeal for "our dumb friends" will net bo in-vain. For the first time for many months the Lahoir Department is in a position to advise capablo clerks of a few vacancies. The employment, which is in Wellington, is of a casual nature, and will probably last about a fortnight. Thanks to tlic fine weather, the work in connection with the laying down of tho tramway track between the Bank of NewZealand corner and tho General Post Office is proceeding rapidly. Yesterday saw tho completion of the trench as far as Hunter Street, whilst the advance gangs are already at work nearly as far down Customhouse Quay as the Grey Street intersection. 'A new method of laying tho rails has been adopted for this section in the utilisation of reinforced concrete sleepers, which are said to combino the solidity and wear of a solid concrete base with the resilience of the wooden sleeper. As soon as the work of track-laying is sufficiently advanced, a start will bo made with wood-blocking the Quay.

A petition to the Governor is (says tlie "Lyttelton Times") being circnliitcil in Christchurcli for the release of Lionel Terry, wlio was found guilty of murdering a Chinaman in Wellington, and who is now in tho Runnysido Mental Hospital. The petition expresses an opinion that Terry is sano, and it aslcs that he should be granted a free pardon and released for the following reasons:—(l) Beeatiso his crime was equivalent to one of impulse, being the result of over-anxious thought on tho subject of race-pollution, on which ho had written with great force and literary power in a book published by liim. (2) Because we believe that ho has expiated his offence by serving over fivo years' imprisonment; that he is not in any sense ft homicidal maniac; and that we have reason to believe that, he will, if liberated, at once leave Now Zealand. (3) Because his crime arose from excess of patriotic zeal, and we think he is therefore a fit object of -Royal clemency in Coronation year, In furtherance of the Auckland City Council's policy concerning Ihe licensing of advertising hoardings, the cit'y engineer has reported recommending tho removal of a number of hoardings and that in future no hoarding above 10ft. in height should be allowed, with the exception of tho one at the new pc-st office, which would disappear when the post office is completed. Tho Works Committee's recommendation that no further licenses be granted for advertising hoardings was adopted. For warding off Influenza, "NAZOL" a'cts like a charm. As soon as you fee! the slightest symptom take "NAZOL," according to directions, and you're safe. The death took placo on April 27 at Marseilles of pneumonia of Major Edgar William M'Kenzie Ballantyne, of the 27th Light Cavalry, Indian Army. lie was (ho second son of tho lalo Jlr. K. M. Ballantyne, the well-known author of [ boys' books, '