LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1362, 13 February 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The mails -which left Wellington on January 5 per the s.s. Ifoana, tnd connected at Sydney with the Naples mails per the R.M.S. Orama, arrived in London on (he morning of February 11.

The Post Office advises that the telegraph office, Parliament Buildings, will be opened from to-day.

''The stock of coal on hand I estimate at about three months' supply, which it might be wise to increase in view of the unsettled state of labour at present." Thus the engineer of tho borough of I'ctone in a report presented to the council Inst night; and he appended the following naive comment, "although being so near tho end of the financial year 1 should have liked tho stock to bo as lowas possible."

■ A syndicate of Wellington nnd Auckland business men has arranged with the trustees of the Hotel Cecil for a 21 vears' lease of the portion of the property facing Charlotte Street, where it is proposed to erect a theatre and skating rink. The building, which is to bo designed bv Mr •I. lioiime, architect, will have a frontage ol G2ft. to Charlotte Street, by-a depth of 133 ft Gin. Tho cost of the building will bo about iCSOOO.

There is nothing so faultily spoken in Aeiv Zealand as Maori place names. Occasionally a smile is raised by a new-comer pronouncing Pcloiio "Pot-one," ■One-hunger," and Rotoiti "Ro-toy-ty°" but many New Zoahimlers are just as'incorrect in their pronunciation as is tho brand-new tourist fresh from the broad decks of the Shaw-Savill liner. It is mute common to hear a person pronounce the word Waingawa is "Wine-gawer," whereas it should be pronounced Wv-na-Y a > , a ' ul '» the schools the children are ,V? S , ■ } he loc " li °'i of the "Ma-hv-a" (Jlniiia) Peninsula instead of the much piettiOT and correct word Jfa-hee-a, with :i slight accent on the middle syllable. Kotomaliana is invariably pronounced incorrectly. As in tho case of Mahia tho aspirate is sounded when the word becomes "Boto-malmna," each syllable bein" given equal tmphasis. Tho rext Maori word to worry the public will bo the name of the Union Company's new steamer Maungaimi, which is almost sure to jo pronounced ■'Miiwng-.iinii" instead oi Mau-nn-nui." It is the Native sylhjblo "nga" which is such a stumblii'igblock_ to the correct speaking of m nnv Maori words. If people wil 1 remember that it is pronounced lik'. a short "nn," the euphony of tho word will be at once revealed. L.he literal meaning of Maungaiim is said to be big hill.

A water famine seems to be uncomfortably imminent in Pctone at present, us tho following paragraph in the borough engineer s report to the council Inst nHit goes to shmv:-"pnrinß the dry weather oi the past fortnight a'very considerable amount of water was used' for vnlorin™ gardens, ami all last week tho prcssuio was very low. On Saturday afternoon Inst the settling tank was reduced from overflowing In within 3ft. of the bottom, and. smeo then it has been impossible to fill the tank, and until this has been done it is impossible to do anything further in the way of discovering the cause of tho decreased (low in the mains."

A preliminary examination for junior staff corps officers was held yesterday and will be continued to-day. Tho following are tho names of those sittiiv all of whom nt present hold the rank of wcoml licutennnt:-T. 51. Wilks, R G I'tirdy, W. A. Burns, and A. 11. Pjpor. Colonel Knox is the president of the l.oartl of hxammers. and he will be assisted by Captains Robinson and Thornton.

Kaster has bs-on .approved of as a date for the sth Regiment (coast defence) to go into encampment. The camp will Uo held either at Kurori or Trontham, but as yet it has not been definitely decided which of the two places will be fixed upon.

At a meeting of tho trustees of tho Wellington Presbyterian Orphanage, to be held to-dtiy, arrangements will bo made for tho laying of the foundation stone of tho now building. His Excellency the Governor is to be asked to perform tho ceremony.

The question of joining the city system was considered by the Onslow Borough Council at a special meeting held yesterday. No decision was arrived at. The case of the Funnell family, of Auckland, who suffered nt the hands of the bailiff a- few days ago, whilo the father mother, and some children were lying ill iu hospital, has excited widespread sympathy in tho northern city. Up ( 0 Friday Inst the sum of ,£lO9 had been subscribed to relieve their sufferings. The failure, or neglect, or procrastination on the part of the Lands Department in tho matter of cutting up and felling the Wilford and lleretaunga settlements called forth a protest from the Petone Borough Council a few weeks ngo. The Petono Council were especially hi! teroslod, because while tho laud is' hold by the Government it pays no rateThe following reply to this protest was received by the Borough Council last night from the Under-Sucretary for Lands:—"ln reply, I have to inform you that before your council's proposals could bo given effect to, the Land for Settlements Act would havo to lie amended. Personally, I have not the slightest doubt that within a very short time the whole of the lands in question will be taken up Your suggestion hns, however, been noted' and the whole matter will receive verv careful consideration at nn early dnte" This letter was rend at. the ' Borough Council hist night, and was received merelv.

The members of the City Council will pay their annual visit to the Wniuui waterworks on Friday next, not to-day as Ims been announced.

Further confirmation has (says the JtollxMirne "Age" of February li) been received of tin- defective condition of (he boilers of H.M.S. Prometheus. The warship, which was onk'ivd to China some weeks ago, was delayed eu route, owing lo defective boik'i's, a most alririning stale ot affairs having been reported bv n ni-pinber of Ilio ship's company. The vessel had to put into a Queensland port for water. Alter considerable dolay, during which the vessel was at the mc-icv of the I'k'ini'Kts, Pert Darwin wa< readied. Despite assurances from the Admiralty iitilhorities that the vessel wnperfectly seaworthy and ihe boilers in good order, further tiviiibU' npprai-s i,-, hav<- occurred on the run north, and Ihe vessel has now arrived nl Ambnnin. The Commander cammmiicuteil with tho Admiral. On (hi! receipt of I lie report from Ihe IVonii'thoiis". arrnngeinenU were made for U.M.S. Cambrian In priwd wilh ail di-|mtrh lo Ainlxuiin, nnd render sislnnre. U is probable Hint (lie Cnnilirijin will convoy 111" I'nimetlipus lo China. 'Hie '"'.imbrian is now c« rou'i> fj'oin Jlohirt, -ind, nf'.or t.ikinjj in cool nnrl Rl-nri*. will proceed cv,t tJirougli I'orroe StxaiL.

It is reported that tho Wellington Harbour Femes, Ltd., have offered to soil the harbour steamers Duchess, Awaroa, and Collar lo the Eastbourne Borough Council for » sum in tho vicinity of X' 21,300. The offer iva* considered in committee at Saturday's mooting of the council lield at lliiritai, when it is understood that the council did not favour acceptance of the comiany's proi>osal.

For the foiirlh year in succession the Raglan County Council has collected all its rate*. For the present' year ending .March 111, ]!)12, flic total rates of the county amounted to approximately .£7OOO, and the whole of this amount was paid by r'ebniar.v 9. The above amount, of course, was all dun by Kurope;\ns, as owing to the unsatisfactory slate of the present law, tho county (iocs not place lands occupied by Natives on its rate book.

As a result of the recent strike of students (states a recent, cable message from Madrid) the Government Jut's decreed that in future women may bo admitted to the universities on the samo terms as men, and that (hey may practise any profession tor which a university training fits them.

Ihe London "Standard" reports (says a cablegram to a Sydney paper) that tho Communion table recently placed in the parish church at Crathie, Aberdeen, biking ticprgo us a memorial to his lather has been the cause of considerable agitation m Scotland. It is said that the table does not conform to Presbyterian law and usage, and tho Rev. Primmer, who is leading the opposition, has denounced his Majesty's gift as Popish. A movement is on foot for tho presentation of a petition demanding the removal of tho table.

Under distinctly adverse conditions, a trial of the "Ajax" fire extinguisher was made on the reclaimed land at the foot of Tnranaki Street extension last evening, but owing to tho fresh breeze then blow-ing the result was unsatisfactory. The "Ajax' is a powder extinguisher, and the mixture is contained in a sheet-iron cylinder, which may be hung oa a hook in any convenient place. On the fire being located the powder is thrown on the (lames. This develops a strong gas, fatal to fire. Even with the strong wind blowing last evening the extinguisher acted effectively on the lower half of tho flaming packing cases, but tho gas arising was blown away before it could act on the top half. 'Further demonstrations, under moro favourablo conditions, it is hoped, will be given this week. The postal authorities advise that English and American mails, via San Francisco, Tahiti, and Baratonga, are due to reach Wellington on Thursday, February 29. Three suicides by drinking lysol occurred in Sydney on Tuesday last. Superintendent A. ]{. Sherwood, Acting-Inspec-tor-Oeneral of Police, in commenting on the large number of. suicides from lysol, said it was surprising that so many occurred, considering the excruciating' torture experienced by the victims. A leading doctor was of the opinion that the pvevnlcncy .of lysol poisoning was owing t.q its general use in households as a disinfectant, and its consequent accessibility. "If people only knew the intense and excruciating agony it causes," he concluded, "they would leave lysol severely alone. Tho hrst effects are intensely painful, as the poison whitens and corrugates the stomach; afterwards the sufferer gradually lapses into unconsciousness." The Postal authorities advise that a temporary telegraph Office is now open at the Oringi Camp. Tho hours of attendance are from 0 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Telegrams are delivered regularly. The office, will be closed on Sundays and holidays. On the voyage from Melbourne to Sydney a fire broke out on the Indraleina. Iho vessel arrived in Sydney at about 3 a.m. on February C, and proceeded to a. berth at the company's wharf. iShe came from London and Liverpool via Melbourne and other ports, witn a general careo. Iho vessel left Melbourne for Sydney on the previous Friday. On Saturday night, at about 11 o'clock, the alarm of fire was given. Tho outbreak was discovered under the No. 2 shelter deck, happily before it had got a strong hold, ilio ships nre-iighting appliances were called into requisition, and the blaze was attacked with, such good effect that bv nmnight-an hour after tho smoke had irtit been sighted-tho conflagration' had' been extinguished. At no period was any (Treat alarm felt, for the fire was only 'a small one, doing but slight damage to a general class of cargo. A few pounds will, it ia said, cover the total damage winch was scarcely more than tho charring of a number of packing-cases The cause of the outbreak was not known, captain Lea was in command, and the vessel carried no passengers.