LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1252, 7 October 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

% Speaking upon a northern petition in Parliament yesterday, Mr. Jfa&sey advocated the establishment of an Appeal Board for Government employees.' He contended that if a tribunal of this kind were set up a great deal o£ time which Parliament now spends in considerinc; petitions would be saved. Tho Hon. D. Buddo agreed that tinio mißht lie saved in this way, but did not endorse the suggestion.

A largo area, of agricultural and prnzino: land forming part of the Clayton Estate, nino miles from Fairlio, has been offered to the Land Purchase Board, through Mr. T. Buiton, M.P., by Mr. G. S. Hamilton, of Fairlie, for close settlement, The block comprises 3823 acres of freehold agricultural land, and about 34,000 acres of leasehold second-class grazing land. The block adjoins tho Shonvood Uowns Estate, which has been acr|iiiral, and is now being surveyed for subdivision, and Mr. Buxton is urging that tho two nrens should be niado into ono settlement.

It is staled that bricklayers nre leaving Auckland at the rate o£ six or seven cachi week. On inquiry on Auckland reporter was informed that bricklayers aro being induced to go to Sydney by offers of 3d. nu liour more than the prevailing rutti of pay hero, and were being refunded their passago money on arrival. In Brisbaneit ia said as much i\s Is. Ud. per hour is tioioff paid, with ;>.n additional bonus iif the men stay six laontlis,

In order that members of the Philatelic Society of New Zealand should havo authentic information TCRardinß tho proiwsed now issue of jiostuffq stamps, tlio lion, secretary o£ tho society recently wrote to the I'ostmastor-General (Sir J. G. Word) asking when tho new stamps might be expected, ami also for certain particulars regarding the method of printing that would be adopted, etc. Tho following reply was received from tho secretary of tho Post and Telegraph Department:—" ... it is hoped tlie new issue of stamps will be ready within six months ... It is not intended that there shall bo a London printing, as was tho case with tho pictorial issue. The stamps will bo printed from steel plates, as at present, excepting tho halfpenny and penny values. It has not been decided definitely whether tho series will bo complete." Education Boards in tho Middle University district outside Wellington are entitled to representation on tho Committee of Advice of the Wellington Training College. Mr. William Lock, of Nelson, has been elected unopposed as the representative of the Nelson, Marlborough, Grey, and Westland Boards. Thero are two candidates—llr. Gilbert Carson, of Wanganui, and Mr. C. M. Whittington ,of Waipawa, for tho representation of the Tnranaki, Wauganui, and Hawke's Bay Boards, and an election will bo held during tho present month. Some amusement was caused rn tlio Dunedin Magistrate's Court when tho first witness in an important case, a woilknown engineering export, was called. Instead of going into tho witness-box he made straight for tho dock. Various solutions were propounded by learned counsel, one suggesting that it was tho force of habit, and another that it was duo to an instinctive knowledge of where an expert witness ought to be, His Worship wm understood to say that the witness was probably following the misdirection of counsel.

At tho monthly meeting of tho Hutt River Board, held on Thursday evening, the overseer reported that as a result of the recent heavy southerly storm, the sea banked tho river up to a height of 6ft. near tho month, submerging the foot of Gear Island, and damaging a portion of tho lower dam across the western branch of the river. This latter had since been repaired. On tho eastern branch of the river, also, tho waters wero backed up, and the lower portion of the Hutt Park flooded. Other property in the vicinity was more or less flooded, but wth e flooding occurred seldom, and woe chiefly owing to tho action of. tho 6ea, it was uot thought sufficiently ee-rioufl to warrant consideration. The river bank protective works in the tidal area of the river were subjected to some buffeting, but sustained no serious damage.

Four of the converted box trarocars, with a combination extension and.double trucks, ivero passed by the Public works Department yesterday.

It was mentioned by an expert witness tit tho sitting in Duuedin of the Royal Commission on Mines that there are r>ooo steam boilers under Government super vision in the Dominion. There were' no expert boiler inspectors representing th<. Government in England or in the Com monwealth, as there are in New Zealand. Here an official record of all boilers was kept from their birth until they were condemned to the scrap-heap. . In proportion to tho number o£ boilers in usi. there were fewer explosions in New Zen land thau in Great Britain, Australia, or America.

A leoturo on tho moa was given b> Mr. J. Drummond at the nieetina of tho Christchurch Cathedral Union on Monday. Ho said that the moa had attracted more attention probably than any other bird in thu world, but, unfortuuatoly, little was known of its habits and methods of life. The moa was tho only bird known to be absolutely i wingless. The loss of wings, however, could not be taken as evidence that the moa was nn ancient type, became the oldest fossil bird discovered up to the present time, the Archaeopteryx of Bavaria, found in slate belonging to the Jurassic period, had very large and powerful wings. Investigation made showed that Maoris had known the moo in former times, and it was probable that the lost of tho moas were exterminated by Maoris. It was unlikely that the moa was ever seen by civilised men. Other 'members ot tin? struthionidae family, to which tbo moa belonged, roamed over large tracts of country, and it was strange- that the largest member, tho moa, and tho smallest, the kiwi—the giant and the pigmy—shouid have lived together in this limited area. Tho lecturer also dealt with the great auk, the aenyornis of Madagascar, which, ho paid, was" believed to havo given rise to the stories of the fabulous roc, and with the dodo of Mauritius and the hespevornis of Western Kansas. Tho committee which was set up by the sports bodies of Wellington to further the passage of the Daylight Saving Bill is sparing no effort to make a success of l.he public meeting to be held on Monday. Members of Parliament have consented h> speak and it is hoped that tho public will attend in largo numbers; not only those who viow tho measure with favour, but also any who may not so far bo impressed, are invited., A notice in our advertising columns gives details of tho meeting.

It was the tender of Mr. H. E. Maiming, not Mr. J. Manning, which was accepted for the alterations to tho premises of Messrs. W. F. Shortt, Ltd., in Willis Sfreol.

Some 2G ponies were shipped to Lyttolton by tho Maori yesterday evening. Tlioy tiro intended for tho Mawson expedition to tho South Pole.

Tho last instalment of tho Home Rule Fund, amounting to £M Bs. Bd., was cabled Ilomo yesterday by' Mr. Martin Kennedy. Altogether about JC9BBO Bs. Bd. has been so cabled, and if the cxpciues of each district aro taken, the Now Zealand subscriptions must Lave reached fully jeil.OOO.

The Hon. R. M'Kenzio, Minister for Public Works, states that ho believes electricity could be generated by waterpower for use in dairy factories in country districts at a cost of. .£6 or M 10s. per horse-power per annum. The cost of steam power for tho same purpose would bo .£2B per horse-power per annum. This is in correction of an error in our report of tho deputation which waited upon the Minister on Thursday in regard to the proposed harnessing of tho Alakuri River.

On Monday next at 2.30 p.m. at tho Parliamentary Buildings Mr. J. P. Luke, member for Wellington Suburhs, will introduce a deputation to the Minister for Railways (tho Hon. J. A. Millar) in order to point out that the residents between Johnsonvillo and Paekakariki feel that tho timo is ripe for the Department to take up the question of inaugurating a morning and evening service that would hd available for city workers. It is also contended that tho fares need adjusting if they aro to bo brought into line with all the other suburban lines running out of the four main centres of New Zealand. These and other matters mil be brought forward.