LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1274, 1 November 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is improbable that the Government will do anything until after the general election towards giving effect to tho recommendation of tho Railways Committee of the House of Representatives, that a Commission should bo appointed to inquire into the petition of the second division of the railway service with a view to the removal of grievances and anomalies.

A Gazette extraordinary issued yesterday prorogues Parliament until November 20.

The result of tho ballot of waterside workers taken during the. last two days lias been in favour of affiliation with tho New Zealand Federation of Labour, by -130 votes for to 27G against. The effect of this declaration by the wharf men in favour of the organisation, which has declared against arbitration and in favour of the strike, remains to Ire seen.

Out of the largo number of immigrants who arrived by the lonic last week, only fifteen applied to the local office of tho Labour Department for emploj-ment, and of this number twelve wero placed in carious occupations, the remaining three having left the district. Those arriving by to-day's Homo boats-tho A theme and Turakina—should have no anxiety on Hie score of finding employment, for tho Labour Department states that skilled tradesmen, and those used to heavy manual or farm labour, should havo no difficulty in obtaining work.

A regulation which, in effect, puts another crack in that beta noir of public health propagandists, tho school slate, was added to the School Committee allowances regulations by tho Wellington Education Board yesterday. It reads:—"The Ward mny purchase and supply to schools stationery, including paper for .use in school instead of slates, charging to the committee fund riicli amount as it may determine, but not exceeding net cost, nor in any case exceeding (id. per child in average attendance." Tho chairman of the board (Mr. Kobcrt Lee) explained that the board was paying to the school committees sums amounting to 55d. per child, which amounts were available from undistributed moneys. This would practically meet the possible demand of Cd. per child.

Although the date of the general elections has not. yet been officially announced, it is rumoured that Wcdiu-fday, December G, will be the day of Hie battle.

A meeting of creditors in the estate of John Ward M'Kain, saddler, of Lower lhitt, was held at the office of (he Official Assignee on Monday. ]n his statement Hie debtor hi id that he .started business in May, IMI, with a capital of .£7O, and did fairly well for about 18 months, lie attributed his bankruptcy to the general depression in trade. The amount <iwiii!{ to unsecured creditors was stated In be ,£:H3 i<. 3d., stock-in-trade .£lB 4s. lil.. book do.bls, .£2"i!) Ills, (estimated to product! .LM.)O). deficiency X'l4l (is. J Id. The Official Assignee said he did not think tho book debts would realise more than j>so. It wns agreed that tho Official Assignee should wind up the nstatc as soon ils nossibla.

Tho Society for Hie 'Prevention of Cruelly to Aiiinuils met W evciiiiiß. The followi'nj,' donations were aflciiowlcdßod:— Virion U.S. Company, -£l Is.; Stewart Daw Kin and Co., .CI; Vcilcli «iid .Allan, 55.; Hon. .1. Uurr, Messrs. R. ]). Ilanlon, and W. W. Tucker, 2s. (id. cadi—7*. (id.; Miss Kearney and .Mr. Oram, Us. each— I* ■ Messrs. Hood, Honchcr, and Hnico, Is. oach-.'ts.; total, J;3 Os. Gd.

Tlie number of cadets and territorials registered in Wnngnnui in connection with the new defence sclk-uip is 11G5 (writes our correspondent at Wangnmii). Of those 103 were rejected ns unfit. Many of these, however, will be. railed up for re-oxamination in twelve months' time.

The vital statistics for tho eitv of Wellington for October were as follow ((lie figures for the corresponding month of last year are given in parentheses) :— Birtlis, 180 (1(12); deaths, (12 (SG); marriages, 89 (82) j marriages (by registrar), 21 (22).

Cabinet has approved plans for the Te Jlora extension of the Stratford-Onga-rue railway.

Between five and six o'clock laft evening a man, whoso name is unknown, whilst walking along the Queen's Wharf, near No. 10 berth, opposite E 8h«l, accidentally fell into the. water. Mr. 11. Kvans, tolls clerk, happened to bo in the vicinity at the time, and, by means of a pole, effected a rescue.

A woman was arrested in Christchurc.li v&sterday afternoon, and charged with breaking and entering a boardinghouso with intent to commit a crime (reports the Press Association). The facts were peculiar. The woman arrested is a boardrnghousc-keeper, and it is alleged that out of jealousy through love of a boarder, who left her establishment for another, she visited the latter during tho night, and dashed cayenne- pepper into tho eyes of the cook of that establishment, who she believed entiowl her boarder away. The accufed woman will appear before the magistrate to-day.

The S.P.C.A. is still battling away at tho problem of protecting diseased and decrepit horses. At its meeting last evening several members criticised the existing system tinder which the City Council licenses the vehicle of a cabMnnn or expressman, and ignores the horse which is doomed to draw the vehicle. "It is a Gilbertian thing altogether," one member remarked, "to license an inanimate trap which cannot well bo hurt, and to refuse to license a horso which may bo utterly unfit for the task which it is condemned to perform. A number of members considered that the humanitarian work of the society could never be efficiently carried out until the practice- was adopted of licencing and numbering every private vehicle, as well as those h. c p;l for commercial pnrposas. It was pointed out that this was already ilpno in tho case of motor-cars. Jn addition it was suggested that horses should be inspected when a license was applied for, and each animal licensed to draw a specified load. One member stated that City Council inspectors paid little attention to the condition of horses used by carriers and others to whom licenses had ))E?n issued. They simply went by and looked the other way. Tho inspector, Mr. Seed, stated that the condition of express horses in Wellington was much better than in former years, though it still left a good deal to bo desired.

The returns of arrivals at and departures from the port of Auckland for October show a substantial balance on tho right side (states a I'ress Association telegram). The arrivals totalled 1113, as against 982 departures, the former thus being in n majority of 161. In September there was also a majority, on the same side, of 181, tho excess on the incoming side for the two months being thus 3M. Tho returns for the ten months of tho present year so far expired .show totals, of 10,118 arrivals and 13,043" departures, leaving a deficit of 2G35.

Dr. Cameron will move at the next meeting of tho City Council:—"That his Worship the Mayor and city councillors, together with Mr. Jiortnu (City Engineer), -Mr. Ames (city valuer), and Mr. Drummond (building inspector), visit tho properties owned by the. City Corporation in Adelaide Koad and Riddifonl Street with a view to forming a definite policy concerning tho same and fixing a rental value for the properties at present to let."

The recent flood in tho Upper Waiinakariri must (says the "Lyttofton Times") have teen something liko a record. The Cass River lias been very high, and lowlying camps have been badly flooded, and the read much injured. The Public Works train, which was derailed half a mile from tho Cass station, still obstructs the main line, and a loop-lino has been constructed to enable the traffic to reach tho station.